Welcome to Winter!

I returned to Utah in the middle of November for a work trip. Before heading to Provo for some partner meetings that we had scheduled, I spent some time with my mom up in Ogden.

It snowed that weekend, but we were troopers and made the drive to Logan, so we could go up to Logan for a temple session.

It felt like we officially brought in the holidays.

We had a fun drive up and enjoyed the freshly fallen snow as we walked the temple grounds. I love fresh fallen snow on the trees before they loose their leaves.

They are fun to photograph and breathtaking.

It was a great weekend spent not only with my mom, but my grandma, family, old college roommate Janae, and this great guy:

Grandpa Whitehead

After an enjoyable weekend, I headed to work and stayed very busy.

Okay, so I didn't take a lot of photos, but I did work very hard that week. However, I did find time to prank a co-worker's office with another co-worker of mine. It was a hit and everyone loved it! Who knew I was such a prankster? :)

It felt like I spent that entire week eating...and eating...eating.

The dessert pizza is the best!

The end.

A Spooktacular Halloween!

This Halloween was a fun one. I'm not in the mood to write a long boring post that I know most people will read over, so for this one, I will try to let the pictures do most of the talking.

We picked our pumpkins out from a local pumpkin patch in town. We always try to find unique ones.

Rob's pumpkin is below:

Chosen because of it's distinct coloring.

We had a carving party with friends and here are the results. That's a ghost in the above picture, in case you were wondering.

My pumpkin is below:

Chosen because of it's awesome stem.

This year we decided to be creative with our costumes.

Robert decided to go as himself...the Stetson 7-Time Intramural Champion.

He has quite the reputation around school. When you win an intramural sport you get a plaque put up in the weight room, so most people around school know who Robert is since he dominates the wall. Since we were going to a Stetson party, he thought it would be hilarious to dress up and show off his mad athletic skills.

He really loved playing it up, hence this is what the back of his plate said:

Listed are some of his friends and obvious people.

The full outfit:

For my costume, the idea to dress up as a Magic 8 Ball just hit me out of the blue one day while at work. This is what I came up with:

Lucky number 8.

We had a fun time partying it up with friends.

Happy fall to everyone from Florida!

Is it just me or did September fly by?

I feel like I woke up one morning and poof, "Hello middle of October."

September kept me very busy because I was helping a Laurel in our branch at church pass off one of her Personal Progress projects. I assisted her with coordinating a Young Women's Fall Fashion Show on modesty. It was a LOT of work, but I think Beverly felt really good about her accomplishment and success of the show.

Beverly and I after the show.

I didn't get very good pictures because I was running around like crazy, so these will have to do. I was even in the show as the wedding dress model. I love excuses to pull out the ol' dress. Beverly modeled one of my prom dresses. She loved it!

The girls had a fabulous time modeling their outfits and feeling like they were on America's Next Top Model.

Or maybe it was just me...

Here are the girl's getting ready for the show to start.

September and October have also brought back nights spent at the softball field watching Robert and his team play in Stetson Intramurals.

Robert loves to spend Wednesdays down on the field helping out with umpiring and game management.

October shot off like a gun, as we celebrated Robert's 25th birthday!

We enjoyed a wonderful night out on the town in downtown Gulfport trying out a local restaurant.

After dinner, we came home to open presents and watch the BYU game. It was a low key birthday for him this year because I ended up taking an unexpected trip out to Utah where I got to see my first snowfall of the year. Crazy Utah weather!

I flew out to Utah because my dear cousin, Colter Tolsma, passed away and I wanted to be there for his funeral.

He was a talented motocross rider.

To a dear friend and cousin with whom I shared many memories with,

like camping trips and sleepovers,

dinners out at El Matador,

and many more, you will be missed! RIP Colt.

I was very glad and blessed that I was able to make it to the funeral. It was a beautiful ceremony and a great opportunity to spend time with family.

May we always cherish those around us and keep the memories of those that have passed strong.

Fall is in the Air...Or Not

It's that time a year again when the seasons begin to change, well for most of the United States. Here in Florida, we are still experiencing summer temps. However hot it might be, I like to imagine it is fall. I even try to pretend it's cool enough outside to start wearing three quarter length sleeves and jeans most of the time...

So what have we been up to this past month? Staying busy of course with lots of reading and studying (for Robert), working (for JoAnna mainly, but Robert too), church and settling into the post summer groove.

Robert is staying busy with intramurals again. He is playing tennis, football, and softball.

We still find time to catch some Rays baseball games. Fingers are crossed that they make it into the post season, 2 more games to play!

On our last outing to the ballpark, we picked up an early birthday present for Robert.

An official baseball bat from Evan Longoria's collection. His eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas. He loves his new bat.

We enjoyed our last summer concert, where we saw Miranda Lambert (or shall I say Mrs. Shelton).

We enjoyed the concert with some friends, three of which went to my high school. It was fun catching up.

Well, the boys did try to enjoy the "country girl power" concert. However, they mostly looked like this throughout the event - trying to find anything else that would keep their attention.

While Leigh and I enjoyed ourselves, well...maybe just me then?

A few videos for you from the concert:

Happy fall everyone!

Unexpected Trip

Right before Robert started back to school, I was given an opportunity to travel back to Utah for some work and training. I love going back to the 'ol stomping ground. It always brings back so many fun memories and I enjoy seeing friends and family.

I traveled all day Wednesday to get there by Thursday. The only good thing about traveling all day and arriving very late into the airport is that the economy car you rented may be gone by the time you arrive.

So instead, say hello to my new best friend for the next week:

It's a funny story actually, when I arrived at the window to pick up my vehicle the guys in the office said they apologized but the car I had reserved was all out, but that they had a MINI VAN for me. I responded with, "a mini van?????" with a look of all seriousness.

I mean, I may be a female, but does it look like I want to go cruising around Provo in a mini van? I think he took the hint and quickly suggested with doubting eyes that the only vehicles they had left were large SUVs. I laughed and said I would definitely take one of those instead. So, I ventured for the Yukon. Needless to say, it was a fun week.

I went back to work to train a newly hired office admin and lend some help around the office for a week or so, while in the meantime I enjoyed wonderful lunches, dinners, and activities out with co-workers. I work with really great people. I even learned how to play racquetball, there's always a first time for everything, right? I think I may need a helmet next time though because I can see myself running into a wall and doing some damage upstairs (not that I am talking from any personal experience).

In between the work week, I went up to Ogden for some family time, where I spent some time with my mom getting pampered with a mani and pedi.

Our toes and nails looked fabulous by the time we were finished.

Just in time to get all dolled up for a wedding reception. I lucked out that one of my good guy friends from back home, Brock, was holding a reception that evening.

It was great to catch up and see some of my GA friends. It always amazes me how we can go a long time without seeing each other, but pick up right where we left off. I love having good friends.

It was a great weekend visiting family and friends. I spent time with my Grandpa Whitehead, Dad, Susan, Kevin and Shari, and Grandma Tolsma.

There's nothing like sharing a quick Sunday nap together on the floor with Grandma. We spent the day together making dinner (tuna casserole), driving around town visiting places, and talking. Thanks for a great day Grandma!

After the weekend concluded, I headed back down to Provo for some more...fun?

Well, that's what it looks like...I promise I did do work.

Tiffany, a co-worker of mine, and I definitely had some fun hanging out after work. :)

This photo makes me laugh. Only Tiff and I will know why it's so funny. Tiff, I'm glad you are my friend! What can I say, girls will be girls. I was able to see a few other friends before returning home. There's never enough time to see everyone. I definitely missed some important people. Next time!