304: happy halloween

Our two ninjas and a 60's skeleton, with Rory the Witch {our neighbor}!

 Our trick or treating friends!

Jim takes Halloween very seriously!! Each year we amass more and more outdoor decorations! From tombstones, to ghosts, to strobe lights, to fog machines. Spiders and webs, skeletons and more. His most favorite thing out of all, is dressing up on Halloween and scaring the trick or treaters! It is serious business and he does it well!

303: first ragnar meeting for socal 2012

Here we go again!! 6 months away and we're already having our first meeting! We're kinda running nerds! Seriously, a meeting this early? I'm with a big group of planners..my husband being 1 of them!

302: finally!

 Skyler was a captain at todays game! What an exciting game it was!! After 5 losses in a row, they finally won..36-0! I totally had empathy for the other team and knew exactly how they were feeling..but I can't lie, it felt good to finally WIN!

301: party all day

 A wild rumpus party in the morning, a wild rumpus party in the evening! Partying the day away with my favorite people!

{who's the party pooper?? Skyler is without costume..boo! And yes, I squeezed my body into Sky's football uniform. So I lost circulation in my arms, no pain, no gain! Jim's costume..my biggest fan!}

300: figuring it out!

My Mac Pro, which I was told had copious amounts of memory, has been telling me that I'm about to run out of space! I googled, then youtubed, and figured out how to order and install my own memory. They wanted to charge over $50 just to snap something into place! Rip off!! I love figuring things out on my own! I love saving money!

299: chaos

No rest for the weary! Got home at 1:00 in the morning and was exhausted but I had so much to do today there was no time to be tired! The Laurels were in charge of the 3 ward Halloween dance tonight and both me and the YW Pres were out of town all week. So all day I was running around gathering food and decorations for the dance. Despite the lack of planning, the dance was a huge success. It just goes to show, you don't need fancy or over the top to have a great time!

{In case you couldn't tell what my costume was, I'm Lindsay Lohan..maybe I needed an orange jumpsuit!}

298: i love to see the temple

My last day and I'm on my own, so out comes the Xshot! 

I dropped Theresa off at the airport this morning and had 5 hours till my flight, so I decided to drive to the Washington D.C. temple...which is actually in Maryland {interesting fact: it is one of only 5 temples where the angel Moroni is holding the golden plates}. It was absolutely beautiful. It was nestled in a forest of majestic colors. It was such a peaceful and serene setting. I felt as if I was the only person there. The only other people I saw were maintenance workers. I took a walk around the temple looking for the reflecting pool. I finally found it up by the visitor's center and it was being emptied for cleaning! Bummer! I did get a little reflection in the puddles that remained. After the temple, I drove through Georgetown. The homes were to die for..definitely not low rent district. With all the DC traffic, I found my 5 hours went by quickly. I headed back to Dulles and started my long journey back home! I was up at 7:00 a.m east coast time {3 hours difference} and didn't get to Temecula until 1:00 a.m. Luckily I was able to sleep on the plane from Denver to Ontario. 

297: taking over our nations capitol

Our day in Washington D.C. started at the Dept. of Printing and Engraving..the place where all the money is made! Seriously, this was the most fascinating tour ever. I was surrounded by hundreds of millions of dollars..just laying in crates on the floor, ready to go through all the steps it must take before it can be called money! 

Here are some interesting facts about $$:

Life span of $$

$1.........42 months

$5.........16 months

$10........18 months

$20........24 months

$50........55 months

$100.......89 months

95% of the notes ($) printed each year are used to replace notes($) already in, or taken out of 
circulation.
During Fiscal Year (FY) 2010, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing produced approximately 26 million notes a day with a face value of approximately $974 million.  

Next, it was off to Ford's Theater..the theater where President Abraham Lincoln was shot. After being shot, the fatally wounded president was carried across the street to the Petersen House, where he died the next morning. 

Enough with the seriousness..time for a little silly!

Planking in front of the White House. Another benefit of traveling with a girlfriend..Jim would NEVER agree to take this picture. He would be acting as if he didn't even know me and walking away!

It was here, the Smithsonian Castle, that Theresa realized that she had dropped her sweater. We tried retracing our footsteps, but it could have been anywhere between here and the White House. Someone is now the lucky recipient of a brand new, purple cardigan! The one bummer of the day! 

Our last stop for the day was the Air and Space museum. It was the one museum I didn't get to see last time I was here! 

5:30 p.m., we're exhausted and ready to go home!

296: monticello & montpelier

One of the many smashed penny machines I visited while traveling. I don't think Theresa could really understand the scope of my addiction until she lived it. I had a website that listed all the different machines within the state. It was my goal to get to as many as I could! She was patient! She did, however, seem to really embrace the license plate game. In fact, she even downloaded the license plate app onto her phone. It can also be a little addicting, especially when you're in an area where states are so close together and different plates are popping up all over. It all started when we saw an Alaska and Hawaii plate! By the end of the 1st day, we had over 28 plates!

 The search for the smashed penny lead us here, the U.S. Marine Museum at Quantico. It was actually a very cool place and so well done. Here is the  original flag from Iwo Jima. We also learned the significance of the tootsie roll in WWI. We ran through it quickly because we had lots to see that day!

We were headed to Monticello and saw signs leading to Montpelier, home of James Madison. We decided to check it out and I'm so glad we did. I knew he was a president, but that's about it. Come to learn that he was pretty much the father of the constitution! He had a fascinating life and contributed immensely to our country.

Next stop, Monticello, home to President Thomas Jefferson. It is just outside Charlottesville, Va. Another fascinating man who also authored the Declaration of Independence and Constitution. He was a great creator and loved his gardens, which are still maintained and beautiful. There were rows and rows of vegetables and flowers {which I found out go to the workers at Monticello}. It's interesting to note that despite his great successes, he died bankrupt.

Last, but certainly not least..I have complete toilet envy! Who would think one could love someones else's toilet? While at Theresa's brother in laws house, I went to use the restroom. This toilet had me at the very first flush! I immediately lifted the top off to see what kinda of machine could create such pressure. I knew I WANTED THIS, I NEEDED THIS! Basically it has the flush of a commercial grade toilet. Even the biggest of Jayden's masterpieces could not clog a toilet with this power. I immediately asked where they got these toilets. Greg, the brother in law, informed me that they were regular toilets with special innards that I could order from Home Depot and assemble ourselves. Don't think this isn't the first thing I'm going to do when I get home!! 

{I'm home and it was the very 1st thing I did Wednesday morning!}

295: an incredible day

I was a little bummed when we left because the Temecula stake was going to have an awesome speaker come for a 4 stake fireside on the Sunday I would be gone! Low and behold, the very same speaker, Brad Wilcox, was here in Virginia, presenting at Time Out! He did not disappoint! His talk was very powerful! We went up to meet him and told him that we were probably the furtherest attendees at this conference and the funny thing was, he'd be in our hometown tomorrow!! The conference was just incredible! It was uplifting and inspiring..just the boost I was looking for!

During our lunch break, we walked around and found the Capitol building. For being the capitol of a state, it was a pretty quiet downtown. It was almost like a ghost town. I guess not much happens in Richmond!

Although we probably didn't hit the leaves at there peak, the colors were still gorgeous! 

After the conference, we drove about an hour northwest to Fredericksburg, Va.  Theresa's brother in law lives here and we were going to stay with his family for the night. We walked around some old war battlefields and another cemetery. This stonewall is the original wall built by some confederates during the war as a shield to protect themselves. I'm loving that anywhere you go in Virginia, it's like walking through a history book.

294: on a quest for fall leaves

{this dog statue is watching over an infants grave}

{The 4th President of the U.S., James Madison is buried here. Monroe is also buried in this cemetery.}

{18,000 confederate soldiers were buried underneath this pyramid}

For Christmas last year, Jim got me tickets to "Time Out for Women" in Richmond, VA. I was a little baffled as to why Virginia? Then he explained to me that it was in late October and I had always said I wanted to see real fall leaves! He saw an advertisement for Time Out and decided it would be a fun surprise. I've waited for 10 months and it's finally here. I got my friend Theresa to come along with me..it's not very hard to persuade her to take a vacation! She was a perfect traveling partner!

Time Out didn't start till Friday evening so we took a little time to explore Richmond. We came across the coolest cemetery: Hollywood Cemetery. It is a cemetery where thousands of confederate soldiers are buried and 2 past Presidents. It was quite fascinating and strangely serene. 

The XSHOT came out a lot this weekend!

293: I love technology

Believe it or not, we have never Skyped or used the FaceTime feature on any of our computers or ipads. So before I left for Virginia, Jim set up the boys' computer so I could call them. It is just amazing the things you can do with technology these days. Jim was picking up dinner when I called and Jayden was having trouble on his math homework so he held up his paper and I was able to help him over the computer!! I guess that's our version of ONLINE school.

292: moles!

I guess I have my dad to thank for my wonderful moley skin {or the years of careless suntanning..I'll stick with my dad, therefore taking away any personal responsibility}. This is a picture of my upper right thigh. I have had one particular mole removed 2 times, but it keeps growing back. The dermatologist doesn't like it and wants it removed once again, this time he sent me to a plastic surgeon. She drew 3 possible solutions. The first is out of the question {the largest eye shape about 3 inches}. Next, was to just cut out the original scar, but deeper. The last was to cut just outside the stitch marks of the last removal. Anyway you look at it, I'm going to have one nasty looking scar and believe it or not, they want to put me out for the procedure! Look at what great things I have to look forward to!

291: a visit from pizza

It's always so exciting when you get to visit with friends you don't see very often! Tonight was no exception! Lisa was out from Utah for her families annual Palm Desert retreat! She was kind enough to drive out to Temecula {on her vacation}. We met up with a couple other friends at BJ's for dinner and had a wonderful visit!

290: pumpkin patch

 It's getting kinda sad..my boys are not nearly as excited as they use to be to go to the pumpkin patch! I'm thinking I only have a few more years! This was FHE, however, the father of our family had to work late and couldn't make it! I was leaving town in a couple days and this was the only night we could do it, so I took the boys myself. Somehow propping the boys up on a pumpkin for a picture just isn't as cute as it use to be! Now we need the manly truck for our photo opp!