It's a wonderful time of year!

Here's to weeks and weeks of beautiful fluffy snow! 

To a huge appreciation for socks and undies fresh out of the dryer, and hot showers. To tubing... snowballs... soft mittens and scarves... hot chocolate... snowboarding (or skiing, if you're into that)... ice skating... noticing evergreen trees and pine cones more than usual...

What are you excited for?

To 6 Years!

We are great together. :) We spent our anniversary in Zions national park this year. It's a beautiful time of year to visit - autumn leaves brilliantly displayed, brisk air, and even a sudden snowfall during our hike into Hidden Canyon. Amazing! Plus, Jake totally spoiled me the whole time. <3

Mmm... coziness...

I'm loving the way the changing season is making me feel. The autumn colors, the woody smell in the cool air, all the great soups and baked goods I get to make... total sensory comfort.

It's comfy in our home tonight.

Thank you, autumn.

And on that note, a very nice set of cards for which I am window shopping: 

Courtesy of: StoriesDivination

My husband is awesome...

He carved a Christopher Walken-O-lantern. You can't get cooler than that.

Timpanogos...

..a physical and mental accomplishment.

The black and white photos were taken some time in the late forties or early fifties when my grandmother and her dearest hiked Timpanogos. She hiked it often and loved it.

I found solace and family ties in being able to touch the ground they touched, and see the spectacular view they looked upon. And I must say, it was a lifetime achievement in itself just to make it to the summit of this [11,749 ft. elevation] beauty.

The sky couldn't have been more clear or blue. It took us four hours to hike 7.5 miles with a 4,579 ft. elevation gain. We saw a herd of goats climbing up a steep rocky cliff - always astounding. The leaves turned to brilliant autumn colors before our eyes. My ankles and knees were pushed to the limit, and my muscles THANKED me for giving them exerting, invigorating LIFE!

Why would they hurt Charlie?

Charlie from Always Sunny in Philadelphia is probably the coolest character on modern TV comedy. Why would anyone want to hurt him?

Rats

...I confess, I think they're really cute

...and totally mistreated

...and, why does being a rodent mean getting kicked out of, well, everywhere?

Just LOOK at this face. And the little hands... just LOOK at the little hands! <3

Let's all get along...

......YES!

Courtesy of: Threadless

This weekend

My beanbag shot lazers at Jake's beanbag, 

so he wrote "poo" on my fish and gave him a goatee and mohawk

...it's only fair

Sweet...

...what more can I say?

Courtesy of: V1 Gallery

ha-HA!

...brilliant

...seems like everyone needs a pirate cupcake!

Check it -- here.

60 cans of happiness

...he calls them highly concentrated pressurized canisters of awesome.

Stress relief...

...enough said.

Wow! Cool!

...wishing and hoping

Courtesy of: Toms Shoes

Getting in touch with my roots...

We went on a nice camping and river rafting trip up to Alpine Wyoming. The highway runs through acres and acres of farm land. My family history research has been taking me here mentally, and it was nice to be surrounded by it in person. It helps to put everything into context, and feel closer to it.

Some of the little sheds looked ready to collapse, and the style of the little houses were so quaint.

Summer Succotash...

A few years ago when I expressed a big interest in cooking, Jake bought me a lovely cookbook. This is where I got my refreshing succotash recipe that I've modified a little bit. Many of you have asked me for this wonderful recipe, so I'll just give it to you all here.

1 cup corn

1 cup cooked lima beans

1 cup green beans

1 cup peas

1 cup cherry tomatoes

1 medium red onion, diced

1/3 cup cilantro, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 jalapeño, minced

1 Tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped

2 teaspoons salt (add more to taste)

Drizzle of sesame oil (can be left out)

Freshly-ground black pepper

Serve cold.

The trick is to just throw everything together in a bowl and add or subtract whatever you want. Also, a little-known fact is that legumes + grains = complete protein, so if you are vegan this is perfect for you. Let me know if you want a list of legumes and grains. I also have a really good lentil stew recipe from my mother.

Set for winter...

...a stock of the best homemade tomato soup in the world.

A combination of things influenced me to buy a whole bunch of fresh local tomatoes and bottle them like I did with my mother two decades ago. There's nothing better than finding the good sweet tomatoes, doing rewarding work, and saving the best food of my life for the perfect cold day.

Arsenic and Old Lace...

What I love most about old movies is how quirky they are!

My shoes went hiking today... and took me with them...

It smelled as great as it looked! (not the shoes, that's just silly)

...finally, my legs moved after sitting inside and writing all week. 

We found an unidentifiable object in the sky...

...on the extraterrestrial highway. Want to see?


View Larger Map

Touch your mouse to the middle of the image, and pull it so that you can see the sky behind the REAR end of the car (keep both the car and the orange cow sign in the frame, and pull up a little). Then zoom into the sky until you see the shiny dot. I know, it looks like nothing... but it's something! :D