Fall is a Favorite

So I am a Summer person through and through.  I love the sun and warmth, the endless stream of activities, and late summer nights.  However, since leaving AZ I have come to also really love the Fall.  It's one thing to experience Fall in Utah (beautiful, up in the canyons especially), but completely another here in Oregon.  Fall colors seems to last at least 2 months here.  Weather is perfect.  The rain has not started yet.  I'm sure glad I caught the last 2 weeks of it.  The drive up here was absolutely gorgeous.  Seeing yellow, orange and red on the trees makes me so happy.  I cannot believe the holidays are already here.  This week is Thanksgiving.  Didn't see that one coming!  You have to remember, I came from 90 degree weather in AZ one day (summer essentially) to 50 degree weather in Oregon the next and no time to anticipate the holidays.  What a surprise!

October Has Been a Good Month.....

October 1 - Mtn. biking w/ a classmate at Powell Butte nature park in NE Portland. It was absolutely gorgeous & a pretty good ride too.

October 3 - I was introduced to the caramel apple spice at Starbucks. Delicious. I may just need another 1 or 2 in the next few weeks.

October 8 - Went through a corn maze at Sauvie Island's pumpkin patch. It was a tricky one. This maze had sports trivia questions along the way to direct you in the right direction. Good thing I had a sports wiz with me. Too bad we couldn't have seen the layout beforehand. Might have avoided our utter confusion in the first half. MJ's "Beat It" blaring through the corn stalks inspired us to move on & conquer.

October 12 - So I bought a bag of candy corn to keep me studying for my test that week and I made a huge discovery....... Candy corn really is NOT that good. Definitely not worth the calories and sugar. Man, what is happening?? I used to love that stuff. Remember this post?

October 15 - Mtn. biking with a couple of friends from the ward at Brown's Camp, about an hour drive towards the coast. 3 and 1/2 hrs. of biking. Booyah! The trail was absolutely GORGEOUS, not to mention a FABULOUS ride. Some good climbs, tricky technical sections, and amazing downhill. It's definitely my new favorite (yes, even more than Lambert Park in UT). These pictures don't do it justice, but it's just SO green here. Towering trees, ferns, lush vegetation, moss, etc. Oh man, it never ceases to take my breath away.

October 21 - Mtn. biking w/ a classmate at Cooper Mountain Nature Park. It was a LAMO trail compared to the previous one. It's like otter pops to Magnum bars. No comparison really. Well, come to find out bikes are NOT allowed on the trail (what can I say? I'm a rebel). No wonder the trail wasn't that great. Full of gravel and extremely short. Never climbed such a monstrous hill in my life though. It's 5 min. from my house so it was worth checking out. Too bad it wasn't a better trail. All the good ones are so far away.....

Later that night I went out with my classmates to Typhoon (delicious Thai food) to celebrate a birthday. I was entertained by some new dudes I met along with red wine glasses falling & spilling on people :) Not mine of course, but there's never a dull moment with my classmates! I love them!

October 27 - Introduced a friend to Portland for the first time. It was an adventure in downtown. Started out by eating some delicious authentic tacos (carnitas & carne asada) from the world famous food carts while longboarding across the Hawthorne Bridge. We caught a spectacular view of downtown Portland (one of my favorite skylines) from the other side and then boarded back over the Burnside Bridge. I had no idea the Portland Oregon sign was just on the other side. Some homeless lady complimented our longboards. Who knew there could be so many friendly bums in Portland? It's the place to be. We picked up some tasty donuts from the famous Voodoo Donuts and enjoyed them in this cute little alley w/ lights while listening to one of the many street musicians trying to make their way. She was actually pretty good - a jazzy beautiful voice like Adele on the ukulele. Perfect. To finish it off we wandered through the many, many aisles of Powell's Books. I could spend hours in there.....one whole city block w/ multiple levels of great reads. We happened upon this one for example. "Stuff White People Like." Hilarious! You have to read the link. I love it. Once again.....I love Portland. I might be here to stay.....

(I one day aspire to taking pictures such as these.)

Pumpkin Patch

Can I just say I love Fall? Yes, I love a hot summer day, but there is nothing like Fall here in UT. A group of friends and I went on an outing to a pumpkin patch in Santaquinn. We got to go on a hayride (the driver wouldn't let me share the front seat with him on the tractor. Darn.) and pick out some fresh pumpkins. I also conquered the corn maze in record breaking time only to get my heart knocked out of me at the very end. One of my friends thought it'd be funny if he unexpectedly hid at the end. Little did I know...... I won't be so careless next time.

Colors of Fall

I LOVE FALL! I grew up in AZ without experiencing Fall, so I enjoy it thoroughly every year up here. Except this year the colors have seemed to escape without even making an appearance. Allison and I have been mtn. biking every Tuesday now so we decided it was time to head up the canyon before it was too late. It was one of the most beautiful rides and the picture doesn't do it justice. We rode through canopies overhead of red, orange, and yellow leaves with a smattering of the same colors on the ground, crunching as we rode over them. It's a good thing October has just begun! There's more fun to come!

Hallowen Fun

So I've always wanted to go to the famous Cornbelly's mostly because my sister Snowb always talks about it. So my roommates and I all got together and went on a group date. They have a giant corn maze and then lots of other little activities and games like the picture shows

It's a great time. Here's some pictures of us on the Jumping Pillow and at the end of the maze - longest one ever! Haha!

A week or so later we went to the pumpkin patch to pick a few pumpkins both for carving and for making dinner in a pumpkin, made by my roommate Allison. Dee-liscious! We look pretty funny in this picture....on the move!

Mr. Esqueleto

My roommates and I had the privilege of hosting FHE this month. In honor of October we threw a spooktacular Halloween party! Allison knew how to make these bone-shaking skeletons from paper plates. So everyone hopped on over with their pair of scissors and away we went! Wish we had the music to go along "dem bones, dem bones, dem dry bones...." Here's the progess....

And here's the completion..... I'm the one taking the photo :)

After our lovely little operation, we had a donut eating contest in the kitchen. Boy did it get wild! Ready to dig in......

Getting clotheslined or something to that effect :) I think I lost sight of my donut! Haha!

Now that's dedication!

Fall Break

Last weekend was Fall Break for me, a badly needed break and boy was it glorious! I had Thursday, Friday, and Monday off of school. It was a perfect weekend and I had a lot of fun. Great weather, reading, going out to eat, seeing old friends, hiking, bike riding, carving pumpkins, watching movies, anything relaxing. I spent a good deal of time outdoors with Lisi. We hiked the Y one morning...I love the view from up there! I love my face in this picture....classic! Don't you like the outfit?



My favorite thing, though, was riding a bike (I have really wanted to buy one for a long time now...I'm still saving up) up the Provo River Canyon trail. Who knew it could be so fun? With fall colors in the trees and the sun shining down, it was perfect! A good enjoyable workout. I'm excited to buy my own bike now. Here's Lisi and I - I was the irresponsible one riding without a helmet....

Ode to Candy Corn

A pure bundle of goodness
But why oh so good?
All you are is pure sugar
Disguised as something more
Really not very appealing
But oh so addicting!!

I really have NO idea why I like candy corn & candy pumpkins so much, but at least I admit it. All the rest of you are too cowardly to admit it....joining in on the candy corn bashing. Ha! You really don't know what you're missing out on! Plus did you know what the secret ingredient is? You'll have to ask me....!!

Fall Foilage

We got out today on a little hike in the mountains to enjoy the fresh autumn air for one of the last chances before it turns cold. Can I just say it was SOOO beautiful!! I haven't seen yellow, orange, or red trees in two years! I love the Fall in Utah! It's my favorite.