Trick-or-Treat!

Halloween is just around the corner, and is one of my favorite times of year! Last year I decided to do my first ever group themed costume, Scooby Doo, which turned out better than I ever could have imagined.

I wanted to carry on the tradition this year, but wasn't sure what to do. We had thought about being 80's rock/pop stars i.e. Madonna, Cindy Lauper, Prince, etc. and we also thought about being TV commercial personalities i.e. Flo from Progressive, the Orbit gum lady, Dex, the Verizon guy etc. But as my cousins and brother and sister and I were sitting at a family reunion over the summer, the rest of the family decided to pop in a particular movie, and we all knew at that instant we had our group theme.

Costumes

Tis the season for dressing up, which is why Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. To quote the ever hilarious movie Mean Girls: "Halloween is the one night a year when girls can dress like a total slut and no other girls can say anything about it." And therein lies the beauty of it all. You can be whatever you want, and no one can say a word to you. Especially those who don't dress up. And why? Because it's Halloween! Dressing up is what you are supposed to do! So I urge you my non-Halloweeners, to let loose, let your freak flag fly and go to town this Halloween!

The past couple of years I've kind of been into the whole group costume thing. Last year My older brother, my younger sister, my cousin and me went as the Scooby-Doo gang (pictures below) . This year we have decided to continue the group theme and have come up with another (although probably not as epic) group theme. I will include a "hint picture" to see if you can guess what we are doing.

The Gang

Looking for the culprit

Here's the hint for the group costume this year

A Change for the Better

I don't know why, but it took me a year to figure out that accounting was a HUGE mistake for my minor, so I finally came to my senses and switched it to music. Yes everyone, I realize that switching this late in the game will set me back a semester or two, but I have given it a lot of thought and came to the conclusion that I would much rather be in school a few more semesters learning about things that I actually like and am good at than completely hate my life for the next 3 months. So, if you think I'm an idiot for switching this late, you can take it up with the Man Upstairs and see why he waited so long to tell me to switch.

Accounting Bad

Music Good

And Your Next American Idol Is....

Well it sure as hell isn't me haha.

I will compare American Idol auditions to pregnancy. You forget how painful and agonizing it is, so you keep doing it (or so I've heard). And I honestly forgot how grueling the audition process was, from early mornings to long waits in line, but I assure you it won't happen again

This year didn't turn out to be as promising as the last time I did it, and I am actually completely ok with it. I have a lot more important things to focus on right now, the most important being my degree. With only one semester left, I can't afford to mess around.

Even though I didn't make it past the first round of American Idol, I was able to spend a couple of days in beautiful San Fransisco (and Oakland). I ate some amazing food, walked around the whole city, saw the Oakland temple (which happens to be my favorite one), and went to some really fun clubs. I will be back to visit again San Fransisco!

Me in front of the Oakland Temple

Pretty fountain on the temple grounds

The Temple

View from the temple grounds

Jordan and I partying it up our last night in San Fransisco

Let's Get Some Shoes

Ok I admit I have a slight addiction, but I can't help it! There is something about a good pair of shoes that makes me go weak at the knees and I have to give in! Hey, it's better than being addicted to something like Heroine or Cocaine, and is probably less expensive.

I confessed to a good friend the other day that I may or may not have a small problem, and she replied with "at least you do it in style". Thank you for making me feel better about my enslavement to shoes, Bri! :)

There is an old adage that says "If the shoe fits, buy it in every color". And so that is exactly what I did. In my recent shoe-buying endeavors, I came across a pair of shoes that I couldn't between 2 colors, so I got both. Here they are:


Nice Eh?

A Sig I Am, A Sig I'll Be

I was able to spend 4 days in North Carolina for my fraternity's annual leadership convention. Despite the humidity, I had a really good time and learned a lot.

The University of North Carolina's campus is HUGE and took a good 20 minutes to walk from one end to the other. I would definitely be in the best shape of my life if I went to school there.

We stayed in the dorms at UNC and it got pretty crazy every night. Drunk frat boys up until 4 AM singing drinking songs and chanting, mattresses being thrown off the tenth floor, guys throwing beer cans off the balcony trying to make a basket in the basketball hoops down below (yes that stuff actually happens). But it all made it part of the experience.

My brother Devan and I on UNC's campus

My dorm room

UNC's Football field under construction

The room where my meetings were held

The Sigma Chi house at UNC

We Are Family!

Whether we like it or not we are stuck with the family we've got. Lucky for me I really like my family so it's never a painful experience spending time with them.

This last weekend was the annual Barnett Family Reunion and it was held at Mammoth Creek. There is always good times, great ( and A LOT) of food, and fantastic company.

Liza reading to Lisa (much to Liza's dismay)

A bunch of the family playing games

The view from our hike

The house that fell on the Wicked Witch of the East

We love a good game of kickball