Fall-la-la-la...Fallelujah!

 I'm officially that person. I'm the person that gets REALLY excited about fall time. Some see it as the milestone next to cold, dark, winters. Well...I enjoy winter as well. Call me crazy! I feel like this post could turn into something like "Oprah's Favorite Things". It's fine...

• Fall Scents

Mahogany Teakwood, Leaves, Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin, Farmstand Apple, Sandalwood Vanilla, Autumn Sky, and Tailgate... You get the idea. Some of the best memories of this time of year have a sweet scent that follow along with it. I can vividly remember lazy Saturday mornings and afternoons as my mom would motivate me to clean something or anything in the house. The day was filled with the smell of Windex, furniture cleaner, and a fall scented candle. I would follow up my Saturday cleaning with any plans of getting out of the house with my friends to cause any kind of trouble throughout Snake River. Those were my favorite days...

• Fall Fashion

Layers!...Fall seems to be the only season I can actually layer my cute clothes without having to cover them up with my coat. It's not too hot and it's not too cold. Boots come out of the closet and those cute jackets you have been stowing away since April are finally being put to use again. Boot socks and button ups are paired perfectly together. Light knit sweaters and your favorite denim begin to surface to your dresser drawers. And for all you girls that are all about comfort...patterned legging are begin to become acceptable to wear as pants again. Clearly this is why I work in retail...

• Concert Season

If your passionate about music as I am, you have noticed that your favorite bands are starting to tour the western states and releasing new albums with handfuls of new songs to download. Its the time of year to plan your trips to Salt Lake and Boise in hopes that your favorite rock star will make eye contact with you. I'm merely only mocking myself. I am all about it. I love live music. My fall playlist is full of a little bit of everything. Your favorite artists are about to hibernate for winter so they are getting their work onto iTunes before they do so. In case you didn't know, Itunes updates every week around 11PM on Mondays. I nearly stalk Itunes this time of year. I'm only in the works of building my "Snow Jams" playlist for skiing.

• Colors

There is something about the leaves changing colors that is magical and refreshing. I tend to get the urges of hunting down these trees and taking pictures of their colorful leaves and shedding branches. I'm sure you will get to see these photos as the time comes near. The sunsets seem to linger a little longer and the sky becomes hazy with smoke as summer fires hopefully come to a close.

• Weather

I'm not a hot weather creature... I enjoy the crisp dry air this time of year. I couldn't tell you what it is but something changes the air. I'm not crazy, Dakota agrees with me. The slight chill in the day reminds you that snow will be here before you know it. It is still sunny outside but you will not scorch your feet if you walk to your mailbox in bare feet. Regardless of the amount of rain we have gotten this year, it has been pleasant.

• General Conference

Let me let you in about a secret about me...I never had actually listened to General Conference or realized what this great thing was all about until later in my high school years. However I have been to conference a few times since and I have loved it. I think that living only three hours from the LDS church headquarters and conference center is a blessing. The time of year is such a great time to regroup and take notes on the things that we find we need to work on. We look towards these leaders to give us the guidance that we may seek. I may not write about my LDS beliefs often, but I do love conference and the spirit it brings into homes around the world.

There you have it...Jayme's Favorite Fall Things. My mind and heart are so full of the best of times I have had in the autumn. The friends that I made and the trouble we couldn't seem to avoid. I figure this is a great time to include some of my favorite fall pictures! I love these days of reminisce and the great people that fill my memories.
(Here's to the "awkward years" and better times, in no particular order.)

Feelin' 21

I know I am not the only one out there that as soon as summer hits, you feel like you might have all this spare time...then all of sudden all of your weekends are booked up and your busier then the rest of the year. Summer has literally slipped away from me, leaving me with little to no time to write on my blog. That's life for ya! What was going to be a short post back in June has now turned into a summer recap.

I don't care who you are, but everyone loves having a birthday at some point in their life. My birthday was on the 22nd of June so I am a little past due on telling everyone thanks for the birthday wishes! I had an awesome weekend and it was full of fun. I know there are some people out there that celebrate their birthdays just like I do. They tend to turn into an all weekend extravaganza some years. I think I honestly just like to use my birthday as an excuse to spend some time with friends and family and sometimes just get out of town. Dakota and I planned ahead and decided to go to Lagoon! I have been determined to go for a few years now. It is a little harder to make it to Utah now that I am living in Rexburg. We invited Sierra and Justin (our fun newlywed friends) to go as well. Previous to this, Dakota told me to pack an overnight bag and be ready to leave our house at 3 PM the day before Lagoon. So he surprised me and took me to City Creek in Salt Lake to stay the night and of course to do some shopping! He's seriously the best and just knows me so well. We had a blast at Lagoon the next day, but were worn out from the fun and sun.

The Log Ride at Lagoon                          Shopping at City Creek, UT

Time Lapse in front of the SLC temple.

Fourth of July came around! Everyone has to love some aspect of this holiday, whether is be the BBQ's, fireworks, family get-togethers, parades, warm weather, festive clothing, or simply having a day off work. I was not so fortunate. Usually it is me that has the day off and Dakota has to go work. It was the other way around this year. The Jean Girl was at three locations for Fourth of July selling clothes for the day. It was fun to get out in the communities and do a little bit of people watching as I worked. Dakota is seriously such a trooper. He had the day off and still came with me to sit in a hot booth for a majority of the day. Afterward we went to a BBQ and watched the Idaho Falls fireworks that are put on by Malaleuca. If you are ever in the area, it is a great show to watch. It lasts long enough to be worth traveling a little way for it. However the crowd is huge. Unless you have connections with someone somewhere, it is hard to show up spontaneously and get close to watch. The week previous we went to Huntsman Springs in Driggs to watch the firework show there. We loved it! The environment is laid back and super family friendly. However I must say that I am partial to the events that happen in the upper valley in the Jackson Hole and Driggs areas. We were surprised by the amount of people that were there. They had a few bands playing throughout the evening including some of the original Beach Boys. They also honored Mr. Huntsman himself. He seems to have a pretty incredible life story. This firework show is one we will more then likely be attending in years to come.

Huntsman Springs Fireworks, Driggs, ID

 
Malaleuca Firework Show, Idaho Falls, ID

The next fun getaway we had was going to Bear Lake! The VanOrden's always have a little family reunion in Bear Lake during the summer. It always happens to fall on the same weekend right before spring finals at BYU-Idaho. However Dakota and I were lucky enough to have most of our finals over and were able to make it. All growing up, my family owned rafting boating instead of boats for lakes so I had never been to Bear Lake with my family. So this year was my fourth time going. It is an amazing lake and really fun for families. The beach is awesome to just play around on and enjoy the sun. We had a great time and it is always fun to get out of town to be with family. I always seem to leave with a good sunburn and even better memories! My skin is still in recovery.

The week after getting back from Bear Lake was full of packing our whole apartment and moving to our new apartment. We love our new place. We literally didn't even move more then a quarter mile from our previous apartment, but dang did we find out how much stuff we really have.

Well as busy as our summer has been, it hasn't slowed down yet. August will be full of more fun weekends. We have a Fisher family reunion in Jackson, weddings, and welcome homes. There will be some more fun pictures to come!

P.S. I'm not one to make up my mind easy. So bare with me as I may change my mind here and there about naming this silly blog. I will eventually settle with something. Until then...

It Started With A Fence

Dakota and I have come across such a fun opportunity! I have to start by saying, my husband just completely rocks! He puts up with all my little ideas, but better yet he helps me make them possible. So I don't know about you guys, but when we first got married I just really wanted our apartment to be "homey" and to be decorated well. Buying decor is hard for me to do since I'm just barely getting into it. As newlyweds you don't necessarily have a bunch of money to spend on stuff like decor either.

So this is where the fence comes in. We are now making barn wood frames. I am seriously IN LOVE with these! If you are a sucker for rustic, aged wood then you will love them too!

We are excited to be able to start making more of these and selling them! We would LOVE your feedback about this! You can vote right here on my blog, right under 'About Me' in the right column of the page. You can also leave comments or contact me if you are interested in buying one!
We are looking forward to seeing your feedback!

Catch Up! (A Lot Of Pictures!)

What a crazy few weeks it has been! May and June is a beautiful time of year! Graduations, weddings, warm weather, and finally getting outside are such refreshing things. A few weeks back I had a photography project that I needed to finish up. PORTRAITURE. I feel strongly that this could be my downfall when I am behind a camera. I love being able to take a great photo of someone, don't get me wrong. But practice, practice, practice...right?! I took some pictures of Kristi and Kort, Cody Martin, Lacey Hokansen, Cassie Albertson, Hayley Harrington, and Dakota. All of which are friends and family who were fairly easy to work with. Come to find out I actually do like taking pictures of people with the things that they love or what their lifestyle is. Kristi and Kort's lifestyles revolve around the gym, being trainers, and working for specific goals. It was fun to see them in their "natural habitats". Plus they have to be one of the cutest couples I have ever been around!

Next we had Cody Martin. I tend to really like "vintage" things so I chose to shoot him and his motorcycle. Plus, I think it shows a little more about him if you don't already know him. 

Unfortunately when I shot Lacey and Cassie we ran short on time and missed the good lighting outside. I only walked away with a couple descent shots.

It was good to get a hold of Hayley and catch up while I shot some photos of her! I loved her hair color in the shots. Plus she made a huge sacrifice and faced some stinging medal while we shot! She's the best!

And last of all I was able to shoot my very patient husband! He kinda hates being my model but he is just so great. I shot him when he was getting off work at the recycling yard. There is always some thing to look at there which made for fun backgrounds!

All of it was fun practice but it is always a good feeling to be finished with a school project. Next was Memorial Day weekend! Dakota and I were having a hard time deciding what we were going to do with a Monday off of school and work. My good friend Sierra got sealed in the temple the Saturday of that weekend. We were able to go watch them be sealed and spend the day at their wedding events. Everything was beautiful! Seeing others get sealed in the temple is such a great thing and is a sweet reminder of the day Dakota and I got sealed. Gosh, they are just the cutest couple though!

So when Monday rolled around we had decided to go drive through Yellowstone National Park. As some of you may know, making one of the full loops can really be quite the day. But we were up for the challenge since Dakota had never actually been past Old Faithful (coming from the West entrance). I definitely wanted to make it to the upper and lower falls. Right into the park we were in a line of cars for 9 miles and one hour because of buffalo in the road. We stopped at the popular turnouts and took a look around. We actually ended up running into Sierra and Justin on their honeymoon. Eventually we made it to the falls and they were just as great as I had last remembered. Fortunately the crowds had slimmed out past Old Faithful and it made it a little more enjoyable.

The following week were were able to go to Blackfoot to watch Dakota's sister Annie graduate from high school. I was able to see some friends and some of my old teachers there. I remember the day that I graduated and how important it was. Three years ago I would have never guessed that I would be married and going to school at BYU-Idaho, but it has become such a huge blessing in my life. It was fun to see Annie start this new part of her life!

And lastly... summer has finally gotten here! I kicked off summer with a fire by the river and a new job! You heard it!...it actually is possible to get a job in Rexburg. I am now working for The Jean Girl, a fun little clothing boutique. Check out their website full of cute, modest, and trendy clothes! You'll love them!
The Jean Girl

We definitely got a good start to summer and are looking forward to any adventures that are headed our way!