It's my half birthday, and oh yeah, I joined pinterest

I did it. I jumped on that Pinterest bandwagon.  I asked for an invitation a year ago but never activated it.  I'm still getting the hang of it and adjusting to the fact that people can see what I find interesting enough to pin. Like for instance, I'm planning a baby shower but I don't want people to make any assumptions and/or I don't want the person I'm planning it for to look at my ideas (No peeking Janelle!)  I'm sure I'll get over it soon.

Anyway, follow me on Pinterest, in like a month. I'll have more than 3 pins by then.

Also, on a related note, my username is '36paintsamples' due to my lack of decisiveness when it comes to choosing paint colors. Remember? Well, I found an awesome blog that I would have loved to have seen before purchasing 36 paint samples...It's www.favoritepaintcolorsblog.com/...people submit their favorite paint colors and it's organized by color. genius!

So moral of the story, I like, and will soon be addicted to Pinterest. And I had half of a cupcake in celebration of the half birthday.

Thanksgiving 2011

This year for Thanksgiving it was just my parents, Brent and me.  But of course, we had enough food to feed 10 people. It's all about the leftovers right? Dinner was delicous but this year, instead of the annual post-meal nap, I convinced my dad (not hard to do) and mom to go shoot my 9 pumpkins I bought this year--I'm addicted to buying pumpkins-sad, but true!

We had a blast! I hope we continue this tradition!

Check out that shot!

After firing a few rounds, we decided to smash the pumpkins!

Chicago! (October 21-24, 2011)

My brother-in-law, Jared, found some sweet deals to Chicago and they let me tag along with their family! Plus, lucky for me, I had already planned this trip and then was asked by my stake president to speak in stake conference! Way to get out of speaking huh?

Anyway, the trip was so much fun! The kiddos had no idea they were going to Chicago until they got to the airport! And they had no idea I had already caught an earlier flight and was there waiting at the condo we stayed in! It great to see their faces when I opened the door!


FRIDAY NIGHT:
Willis Tower and Giordano's Pizza-per recommendation of my old college roommate, Carol, who lives outside the city.  The pizza was delicious and super cheesy! I'd recommend this place to anyone who goes to Chicago!

 haha...grumpy grayson

 Cheese! Can you see me??

 Willis Tower Overlook

Sisters and dead weight Grayson

SATURDAY:

We went to the Field Museum to see "Sue", the most complete T-Rex. This dino was the reason for the Chicago trip because my nephew, Benjamin had been talking about this dino for years! 

After the Field museum, we went to the Aqarium. They had a spot where you could make a lei. My sister and I had to tag team up on some girl scouts to get a needle.  Yes, I really wanted to make one! And then we made it for Quinn but she didn't want to wear it, so I did!

Then for lunch we ate the classic Chicago dog at Portillio's. Delicious as well. Except I just got ketchup and mustard :) 

I love this picture.

 SUNDAY:
 I went off on my own this day! I went on a architectural boat tour of the city, then to the Art Institute of Chicago, had an amazing meal at my old CT favorite, Cosi, and went to see the Bean.  I jumped on a commuter train that took me outside the city to Libertyville, IL to see my old college roommate (ok, she lived across the hall-but still) Carol lives there with her husband, Tyler, who was in our freshman ward as well.  Carol and Tyler are one of those couples that it's always a party whenever you're around them.  It was so good to see them and their 2 boys!

 This is the reason I've always wanted to go to Chicago! I loved this painting by Seurat in my BYU Humanities class and vowed I would one day see it in person! And it was amazing to see all those dots!

 The Bean

 Carol!

 Other Random Pictures of the kiddos

 Grayson making faces on the train

And my favorite part of Chicago....

 AUTOMATIC TOILET SEAT COVERS!

in Chicago O'Hare Airport!

3 Cheers for Sanitation!

SATURDAY:

Jill-O Party {Sept. 2011}

We did it again! Birthdays are so much more fun when you're covered in Jell-O.

Can you please come this year?

I've always wanted to do it, so I did it. #2 { GLASS BLOWING }

For my birthday this year, I shamelessly told Janelle what she should give me for my birthday. It was a win-win for her cause she hates to get deadline presents and she got to come with me for this gift! I saw a Groupon for Glass blowing class.  I'm weird, I know.  But I still remember when I was 11, I went to visit my aunt up in Oregon and one of our many fabulous stops along the Oregon Coast was a little glass blowing shop. I was fascinated with watching these men heat up the glass, blow it out and make cool creations.  So, since this visit 17 years ago, I've always wanted to give it a try.

Our teacher, Robert, was great! He had this awkwardly contagious laugh that had me smiling the whole time. 

It was a blast!

 Sweet purple eye protection

 Robert

I've always wanted to do it, so i did it. #1 {SURFING}

I love the beach. But really, who doesn't? Anyway, I've always enjoyed watching the surfers out in the ocean every time I go to the beach. But truth be told, I'm a little scared of the ocean. I blame it on a little movie called Jaws. Enough said. 

Insert awesome bishop right here... My single's ward bishop is an avid surfer and goes multiple times throughout the year. So when his family was going to Cali in August, I bummed along for my first surfing lesson!

We started the morning early and hit the water by 7am. But before we got in, I got a very brief, 5 min surf lesson, yes, 5 mins.  "Wet suit? Check. Long board? Check. Ok let's go. "

Turns out, I need to get back in the swimming pool a little more often because just paddling out there, I was dying! My bishop stayed with me the whole time. He would jump off his board when a good wave was coming and say, "Ok, jill-o, you ready?" and then just push my board as a frantically paddled to catch the wave.  There were a few sucessful waves but I wouldn't say I'm going pro by any means. 

After a few hours of more wipe outs than successes , I paddled back to shore for lunch and a good book.  We went out the next morning and the waves were more intense! I had some good wipe outs that day :)

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics with my awesome instructor! But I did with his wife! Words cannot describe how incredibly cool my bishop and his wife are. 

let's be honest...

The real reason I haven't been blogging is I have been trying to decide what color to paint my walls.

For the past 6 months, I've...

had 16 samples on my wall.

then went with a light gray.

then didn't like it.

{i know, i'm a mess}

then 18 {yep, 18} more samples later,

I made a decision!

Here's hoping that deciding on a husband is easier!

this one is for you glade...

This week, my Uncle Glade is retiring as a captain from the Navy after serving for close to 30 years.

Why am I choosing to break my blogging absence with this tidbit of information you ask?

Well, because you see, my sweet uncle likes to catch up on his niece on her blog.

And he keeps asking my mom when I'm going to post about my life.

And he's threatened to stop checking my blog for updates.

Maybe you have as well.

So, as a retirement present to him, I plan on blogging more!

I'll try to update soon.

But in the meantime, Congrats on Retirement Glade!

3rd Annual FLASHLIGHT Easter Egg Hunt!

This year we had about 80 people come to search for over 800 eggs!