Pumpkin Time

Happy October!!

I really love fall. I'm 99% positive that it's my favorite season, but that 1% thinks it's suppose to be my birthday season. I do love the month of February and I do love winter clothing over summer, but fall just has the all around package.

To welcome in the glorious fall season and to celebrate October 1st I made this bad boy...

That is pumpkin cheesecake from the cheesecake factory. I found the recipe on pinterest and totally made it from scratch! Sadly, I haven't tried it yet, but Dave says that's what we are having for dinner tonight. Life of poor college students. 

Want to know another awesome thing about the start of fall? I took my first test of the semester yesterday and I got a "Fantastic!" next to my student id number. Now for those of you non-BYUers when you get a 90% or higher you get some type of comment next to your name. Starting off the semester strong!!

Want to know ANOTHER reason why I love fall? It's the most decorated season. Halloween, then Thanksgiving, then Christmas! Sadly, I might actually be moving into our married housing apartment in November so we will have to see how much decorating actually happens this year. Lots going on!!

Well, that's all for now. Happy pumpkin eating! Happy decorating! and Happy Fall!!

3 days until I go home!

50 days until I go through the temple!

74 days until I get muuurrieeed!

Meet The Fam

Toots came into town on Tuesday with Mary Lou! Dave and I had a yummy lunch with them and then I met my great-great aunt (Tootsie's paternal aunt) who lives 5 minutes from me! You'd think I would have met her sooner. She is the last of her generation that is still alive and it was fun to be with her and some of Toots' cousins. And if I look as good as Nettie Marie does at 94 I would be a very happy person. Her comment about being in assisted living, "I don't like living with all of these old people!" haha.

Let me introduce you to my heritage...

My great-grandpa Otis (Tootsie's dad)

My great-great grandmother hazel (Otis' mother)

Samuel Rose Parkinson and Charlotte Smart Parkinson
My great-great-great-great? grandparents 

Nettie Marie's generation and her mother
Kirma, Claire, Nettie Marie
Otis and Hazel

And then I think you all might know these people...(sorry for the blurry picture)

Yes... that is my lovely grandmother in the nice checkered pants, my grandfather with hair, my mother with hair, my aunt Debbie...luckily her style senses kicked in later in life, my uncle Geoff setting a pick, and my uncle Scott looking like young Michael even in a blurry picture.

Hooray for family! I'm so glad I was able to meet Nettie this week and see Toots and Mary Lou. Even though I'm going to be home one week from today. Bridal showers are perfect excuses to come home, right? :)

Also, bought "evening" wedding shoes today and bridesmaids tops this week! The guys suits came in too - it sure is all coming together. 78 days!! Happy Friday :)

Find A Man, Learn To Cook

I've always liked cooking dinners, but it's not always easy or fun to cook nice dinners for yourself. So, when Dave and I started dating I finally got my chance and now I cook almost every night...and yes left overs still count just as long as you eat at the table. I probably cook 3-4 meals a week and then we eat leftovers the other nights. This past week I made Taco Soup and Zupas Wisconsin Cauliflower Soup. Here are some pictures:

In the past I've also made pesto stuffed shells and chicken and avocado quesadillas. 

The soup looks really bland, I know, but it tasted pretty darn good. I'm trying to use recipes that hide vegetables or something healthy! The stuffed shells have spinach. The quesadillas have avocado (not really hidden). Taco soup has lots of beans, and cauliflower soup...that one's a little obvious.

I'm so excited to be able to cook in our own little kitchen and have dinners at our own little apartment. Most of the recipes I find are from pinterest, so go follow my "Yum" board and they should all be on there. Happy Cooking!

Time flies...

12 days until my first shower.

59 days until I go through the temple.

83 days until I get married!

Just Call Me Jillian

Oh wait, my personal training client already did that today!

Yup, my dreams have finally come true! I was compared to Jillian Michaels today at my internship. Although, I am for sure not as intense as she is - I obviously pushed my client enough that she felt extremely challenged.  (plus, I finally got my name tag today and I feel really official!)

Maggie Ingersoll

Personal Trainer & PT Assistant

Speaking of Jillian...did you know she is coming back to Biggest Loser?! Yup, that's true too! In January I will be able to start watching TBL without feeling like my girl crush is missing. 

Also talking about training, I've decided by the end of the semester, aka by my wedding day, I want to be able to 2 pull-ups. Just 2! I've been working on the assisted pull-up machine almost ever other day and I'm not going to lie, I'm feeling stronger! I feel like my muscles are taking over. I'm running faster and longer. Yeah...the scale isn't saying much, but I think having this "feeling" is better than what the scale says. As long as you feel good that's all that matters! That seems like enough motivation to me. 

Anywho, I'll stop my workout rant. Classes are still rolling! My internship is kicking my butt time wise, but I LOVE it and I'm learning a ton. Things couldn't be better! (OK, maybe seeing Dave more) PS. He had to get pepper sprayed last night as a part of "training" for his new security job. Poor guy was one of the first to get sprayed and the very last to leave. He's "the one that doesn't react well" according to the police officer. He's fully functioning today though! Happy Thursday!

Dye Job

When I got back from Europe and felt like I needed a change of pace with my hair, I decided to try  dying it myself for the first time. I figured if it went horribly wrong I could go to the hair salon and get it fix- no big deal. Turns out it's pretty simple! Sure it's a little bit more messy and it may not be perfect your first try, but man, is it a LOT cheaper!

First attempt: Mom said I shouldn't go super dark cause it always turns out darker than what's on the box. Not true. It didn't really do anything to my hair besides even out my highlights and maybe turn it a hue of orange-ish brown. Sounds worse than it actually looked. I kept if for a few days because I was just going down to my sisters to help her move. She looks at me and says, "Did you dye your own hair??" Yess...She then thought it looked orange but my sister exaggerates sometimes. It wasn't that bad, but I wasn't in love with it either so...

Second attempt: I went darker and it turned out dark (what a surprise)! There were a few strands here and there that I might have missed, but not even noticeable unless you looked really closely. The weirdest part was that my ends turned out darker than my roots. I kept that dye job for most of my time at home and then I came to school...

Third attempt: I went with "deeply brown" (picture below) to even out the top and the ends. The top part of my head was still lighter than what I was looking for, so hopefully this will be the final attempt too! 

Waiting for 25 minutes!

Final product!

What do ya think? Third times a charm! Well, I'm off to class! 

Happy Monday!!

Biggest Frustration

Falling asleep during movies. Period.

Dave and I have tried to get through the Lord of the Rings trilogy and it's taken us forever. Wanna know why? Because I literally cannot stay awake when I watch movies. No matter what time of day it is. My roommates laugh every time they walk in because we are STILL watching LOTR. (Yes they are very long movies, but this is ridiculous how long it's taken us) Dave gets frustrated especially when it's getting to the good part. I try sitting up straight and being uncomfortable, but then I'm just preoccupied with how uncomfortable I am. I try watching movies during the day, but that's probably prime nap time. I don't know what it is, but man it's frustrating-especially when your fiance is a big movie buff and wants you to see all of them! I feel super lame, too. No offense Toots, but I'm already turning into you and I'm 20. Anywho, now I'm off to bed. Workouts at "oh-dark-thirty" tomorrow. 

One Week Down

After my first week of school, I realized I only have one more "first day of school" which I might not even get either! Dave and I could be at bullock and I might have started my online classes which totally doesn't even count as a first day of school. Super lame, but very exciting times ahead :)

So how was my week of school? It was exhausting, but good. It's almost like my body is jet lagged trying to adjust to a new sleeping schedule. Here's what my class/internship schedule looks like for this semester:

click on the photo to enlarge

I get some sleep-in time M,W,F if I want but I've been trying to wake up with Dave and go workout when he has ROTC workouts. I figured it'd be better than confusing my body having all different wake up times. So yes, here I am going to bed on Friday around 9 o'clock.

My internship is awesome. I'm going to learn so much and I'm hoping to get all of my hours completed this semester so maybe I can be hired for next semester. The people I work with are great; very funny, enthusiastic  and helpful. I have my first personal training client on Thursday already too! Lots of information to learn, but that's why it's 4 credits of my semester. 

What else. Biomechanics is pretty fascinating, especially since my professor really works with athletes critiquing their technique. Amanda was a TA for that class, so she's my go-to-girl for that one. My professor for Obesity and Weight Management is also my on-campus internship supervisor. What's nice is he really likes to show research data and backs up what he says. Chronic Disease Prevention is probably the least interesting out of all of my classes, but we really haven't gotten into too much material yet. My professor is pretty quirky, but his slides are very bland...hard to look at for 50 minutes haha. Lastly, First Aid. I only have it once a week, but during our first class my professor pretty much asked the class how we wanted to be graded...awesome! He seems very flexible and really wants us to learn the best way WE think we learn...if that makes sense. 

Before my First Aid class I went to the opening social for ROTC with Dave. I was pretty much the only girl, but with both of our schedule's completely swamped and almost at completely opposite times we try to see each other whenever we can. Anywho, the opening social was awesome and I really am getting more and more excited for him to commission and for us to start our cute little army family. Until then my life consists of school and getting into wedding shape! Happy Sabbath, September, and Labor Day!

15 hours completed at my internship...185 to go.

33 days until I go home for my first Bridal Shower. 

82 days until I go through the Temple. 

104 days until I become Maggie Bracero :)