an erie thanksgiving

we had a fantastic pennsylvania thanksgiving this year. our friends, smitty & ashlee, invited us to their house in erie PA. it was so much fun to see them, along with maren & ryan. we ate a very tasty Thanksgiving meal. it was ashlee's first time cooking a turkey and she did amazing.

after the feast, we decided to go check out lake erie, which actually looks more like an ocean. it's huge! there are waves and everything.

that night, we watched the Disney*Pixar Up and then played a long game of Phase 10.

the next day, we hit up some bowling. tannon was a little bummed that he didn't have his ball & shoes on hand, but he made it through okay.



although we missed our families tremendously, we had a really great thanksgiving!
now it's time to whip out the taylor swift, kenny chesney, & alabama Christmas albums!

a girl can dream

forget about all of your student loans & monthly mortgage.

***if you could be anywhere right now, where would you be?***

tough love

a special thanks to miss shay for giving me the "Worst Blog Updater Award".
she gives me tough love. and this is why i love my shay.

i had a wonderful weekend. visiting maren is always a delight. i have to say that the highlight of my trip to D.C. was stumbling across this beautiful building.

do ya see it? there in the background? okay, so most of you won't give a crap about this. but hopefully my fellow nerdy IP friends will think it's half as cool as i did. i really REALLY miss working in Intellectual Property.

* * * * * * *

i love november. i love seeing the updates on facebook. you know the ones where everyone posts something they are truly grateful for? it is really refreshing to be surrounded by all of the gratitude.

this is my first thanksgiving away from family. boy, is it gonna be a tough one! my family always takes a trip to St. George to go visit family. it is one of my favorite traditions. we eat our thanksgiving dinner at Golden Corral (used to be Chuck-A-Rama... we are moving up in the buffet-style restaurants, so back off). lots of people think we miss out on a good home-cooked meal, but i don't care. no preparation, no clean-up. i wouldn't have had it any other way.

also, november is the month when both of my mom's were born. i look up to them both so much and i am so glad to be such a big part in their lives! they are both amazing examples to me of how i want to be a mother.

HaPpY nOvEmBeR!

whoopsie!

i used the word "shiz" at work. really, mccall? really?

i will NEVER hear the end of that. ever. sometimes i forget i'm not in utah anymore, where made up swear words are socially acceptable.

what's your secret?

something must be seriously wrong with you if this isn't your favorite time of year. i love the vibrant trees, the fall festivities, the carving of pumpkins, the crisp air, soup, i love it all.

the trees back east are incredible! i can't wipe the smile off my face as i walk and drive through this place this time of year. the foliage is full of life and color.

i don't know about you, but it is so easy for me to fall into bad habits around this time. the air turns cool, the home-baked goods surface, and the walks & bike rides come to a screeching halt. so, i need your secrets. how do YOU stay motivated throughout the holidays to be healthy?

i ate my weight in chocolate

since there aren't too many back here, us child-less folk

decided to take a quick trip to Hershey, PA.

cold weather - check

lots & lots of chocolate - check

pregnancy announcement - check (no, no, not from me)

fantastic company - check

free admission to Hershey Park - check

since it was raining, most of the rides at the Park weren't running.

we all had our heart set on riding roller coasters, so this wasn't going to stop us.

the park was still charging full-price admission and we were not okay with that.

we opted for a "shoppers pass" which allows

you to enter the park for 45 minutes to "shop". we were all over this! we ran from

coaster to coaster trying to fit in as many rides as we could in 45 minutes.

hershey park is even better when it's fa-ree.

i think i should end every get-a-way with a massage from now on.
it was the best thing ever!

excuse me?

today while at work, a co-worker asks, "if you were to kill your significant other, how would you do it?"

"excuse me?"

"oh come on... if you haven't thought about how you'd kill your spouse, you haven't been with them long enough. i know how i'd do it. my wife can't swim."

should i be scared?