Fall Fun

Happy Halloween!
I LOVE this time of year and all of the wonderful holidays that come with it! While I miss the beautiful fall colors of the Utah mountains, it is very nice not having to drive through snow or scrap frost off our car window. :) The weather has cooled down a bit and we now have some days were it is cool enough to wear a long sleeved shirt and/or light jacket. YEAH! So far our first fall in Texas has been packed with holiday fun and memorable experiences. The people here are wonderful and making it easier (not easy, easier) to be away from our family and friends during this holiday season. Below are some pictures of our latest adventures.:)

 We carved pumpkins with James and Monica. This is one of my favorite Halloween traditions! Jeff and I carved Dr. Frankenstein and Frankenstein's monster in our pumpkin. (Yes Dr. Frankenstein looks like a scared nerd, but you get the idea. :) )

 The Stewarts carved "Aloha" on theirs with the Hawaiian islands. 

 We also went to the San Antonio temple with James and Monica. This was our second time going. We live one and a half hours away from the temple, but want to keep the tradition of going there once a month.

 Halloween costumes! Our friends had a Halloween party the other night and I stole Abbie's costume from last year and was a "speed bump." :) 

 Jeff loved how simple my outfit was and decided that he wanted to be a road. Haha I couldn't get him to dress up as anything last year, and he didn't want to dress up this year, so this was a big deal. :) (He put the "danger" sign on there just for fun) 

 Donut eating contest! those of you who know me, know how much a love food eating contests and usually do pretty good at them, however, this time I failed miserably. I have decided I like my food to be sitting still while trying to eat it. I couldn't get the darn donut to hold still and came in 2nd to last. :( 

 Us and the Stewarts! They went as two characters from the new movie "Moonrise Kingdom." 

 Divinia and I decorated Halloween sugar cookies! She kept wanting to eat all of the sprinkles and chocolate chips, rather than put them on the cookies. :) 

 The finished products! 

The cookie that Divinia decorated for me. Under all those sprinkles and chocolate chips is the name "Jane." haha 

 The cookie I decorated for Divinia. :) 

Mmmmmm! 

I love taking care of Divinia and love that we are really starting to get to know one another and have such fun times! Jeff is also loving school and working for two wonderful professors. He doesn't have as much free time as he did earlier this semester, but still has plenty of time for us to go explore, spend time with our new friends, and just spend time together. Of which I am very grateful! We have been so blessed and hope that you are all well and having a fabulous time so far this fall! As always, we love and miss you all! 

Have a SPOOKTACULAR Halloween! :D 

Husband Lovin!

WARNING! - Contains sappy and lovey dovey material. If you dislike said material or do not wish to read an entire post about Jeff Bean, please skip. :)

I am not making this post because of some special occasion, or something wonderful/sweet Jeff has done. I am making this post because of the everyday events of our lives that make me love him more and more. I knew I loved Jeff when I married him, but I didn't know how much deeper that love could and would grow! And we've only been married for just over 1 and 1/2 years! I'm positive that throughout our lives I will look back on times past and think the lines from one of my favorite Brad Paisley song "and I thought I loved you then." Below are some pictures from this week that may seem silly, or of little importance, but were moments that I love and cherish in our daily lives and things about Jeff that I absolutely adore! :)

 Jeff usually rides his bike to and from school, but the other day I picked him up so that we could go to a used bookstore before some friends came over for games. When we got home, I ran into the house to whip us up some dinner and straighten up a bit before our friends got there. As I am doing this, I turned around just as Jeff came through the door, and this is what I saw. My adorable husband (not wanting to make two trips) had not only grabbed his backpack, helmet, and the bike, but had also put the bike wrack that goes on the car, over his head to carry it in. I could not stop laughing for a couple minutes and demanded that he let me take a picture. I know some of you probably don't think this is that funny, but there are so many things about Jeff that make this a classic picture of his character! His active lifestyle, love of education, desire to get things done the fastest and most functional way, and his very nerdy side that is so endearing! :) 

 The other night I went to open the glass balcony door and shut the screen one, to let some cool air in, when this little guy ran up past my face and to the corner of the screen; on the INSIDE of the door! Needless to say I let out a "little" squeal, Divinia (the girl I tend) ran from the room, as she doesn't like lizards, and Jeff of course was called upon to catch the little guy and put him outside. 

 Jeff was more than happy to do this (I'm sure you all have come to know his fondness for catching anything that crawls, slithers. climbs, jumps, hops, etc.) This wasn't the easiest lizard to catch, he ran all over the blinds and along the edges of the room's walls before Jeff was finally able to grab him. Watching Jeff attempt to catch the little guy not only filled me with laughter, but also made me reflect on how much I love him and his love for life. Jeff isn't afraid of much and he finds such joy in all of Gods creations. I cannot wait for our little boy to get here and for Jeff to teach him his mad reptile catching skills! 

 Once again here is my adorable husband with a little amphibian in his hands. It had been raining the other day and when we went to the church to play some volleyball, Jeff found this little guy in the grass. How he spots them I will never know! He immediately caught the little toad and played with him for a little while. Setting him down, watching him jump around and then catching him again. This man turns into an excited little boy whenever he get outdoors and around little creatures. :) Our own little boy is going to have a great teacher and partner in crime, as I know Jeff will be the one leading him into all kinds of mischief and adventures that will worry his mommy! 

Every morning Jeff wakes up about an hour before me, gets some cereal, browses the internet for half an hour while eating his cereal, hops in the shower, gets ready and then comes and wakes me up. However, the other morning I woke up on my own and found Jeff in the living room wrapped up in a blanket and asleep on the couch. The poor man had been up late the night before working on a few school things and after waking up at his usual time, promptly fell asleep on the couch after eating his cereal. I know this seems like such a small thing, but I love waking up to this man every morning. I love what a hard worker he is and how stubborn he is about always waking up at the same time, no matter when he goes to bed, because he is afraid he'll get in the habit of sleeping in or will be more tired that day because of it. (Plus he's really cute when he sleeps. :) )

Everyday life can get very routine and sometimes I feel like I am in a rut, but then I take the time to look at the small moments in life that remind me how much I have to be grateful for. I have been SO blessed throughout my life with many amazing people who have loved and helped me through so much! (You know who you are. :) ) I still cannot believe that after blessing me with all that, Heavenly Father then blessed me with Jeffrey Kevin Bean as my eternal companion! I am so grateful and am going to try to always take notice of the small things in life that make it so joyous! With Jeff by my side, the trials are so much easier to face, the happy moments so much more enjoyable and the everyday events so much more meaningful! I love him so much and cannot wait to see him as a father to our little boy! 

"I come to you tonight with a plea that we stop seeking out the storms and enjoy more fully the sunlight. I am suggesting that as we go through life we try to "accentuate the positive." I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still our voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort." - President Gordon B. Hinckley

Fun little story, Exciting news and This weeks adventure. :)

FUN LITTLE STORY
As many of you know, I have always been a very "small" sleeper. And by that I mean that I have always curled up in a ball or against a wall when going to bed and not moved from that spot until I wake up. I have been this way for as long as I can remember. It is the reason My sister Abbie always wanted me as her sleeping buddy on camping trips. I would flatten myself against the trailer wall and she was free to have the rest of the bed to herself. :) (You're welcome Abbie!) Well apparently this has changed in the last month. It seems that with a growing belly and growing discomfort, I am no longer the "small" sleeper I once was. Several times Jeff has told me that he has come into the room while I was sleeping, only to find that there was no room on the bed for him. I refused to believe him, as I have never been a sprawler and didn't believe I ever would be. Well the other day I awoke to a triumphant husband holding a camera with a picture of me the night before. He had come in to go to bed, only to find once more he had no room. This time he decided to take a picture as proof. See below.

Poor Jeff has put up with so many mood swings and craving and now must fight for a place to sleep. He always insists that I am beautiful and not at all moody, but I don't feel that way and am just SO grateful to have such an extraordinary and loving man as my eternal companion!

EXCITING NEWS!

I finally got a job! After over a month of trying to find a job that was okay hiring a 5 month pregnant woman (something like a call center rep., receptionist/secretary or an at home job), I wasn't having any luck and was getting pretty downhearted. However, I started to get hopeful again when I found a babysitting/nanny site and created a profile. I soon began to loose heart again, as all the people who were interested in me, changed their minds after finding out I was pregnant. (Which is completely understandable as people often want someone who can commit for a long term, which I couldn't.) When I was once again about to give up hope, I was hired by a wonderful single mother to take care of her little girl while she was at work during the week. (She works three jobs) It has been so much fun tending again and I am so grateful for this opportunity to get to know this little angel. :) 

THIS WEEK'S ADVENTURE

We went to the Zoo! Jeff found this great deal online for the Austin Capitol Zoo and we decided that since today was a cooler one and we didn't have anything planned, we'd go. We didn't know what to expect when we found out the Zoo was in the middle of nowhere and saw that the entrance building looked like a petting zoo, but we were very pleasantly surprised! There were so many different, cute and even exotic animals! They had fossas, lemurs, a black bear, lion, white tiger, hippos, and many different types of birds and monkeys! (One parrot even knew how to say "hello pretty bird" and would repeat me when I would say it.) There were even antelope, wildebeest, alligators, a camel, boars, pigs, black leopards, snakes, deer, zebras, and so so much more! Below are some pictures of this little adventure! 

 Albino raccoon.

 This cute pony had free range of the zoo. :) 

 Fossa!

 Some comical duckies that followed us around the zoo for a bit. The tall skinny one just followed the short round one, while the short one ate all the food. Jeff thought they could be cartoon characters. :) 

 Feeding the guinea pigs. There were close to a hundred of these in one pit!

 On second thought, I think there was more than a hundred. . . 

Of course Jeff had to catch one! Shhhh don't tell. ;)

 Desert Tortoise. 

 Feeding the goats and deer.

 They REALLY wanted that food! It wasn't long before they started fighting one another to get closer. 

 Jeff didn't like how much they slobbered over his hand. Haha 

 Black leopards! We really were this close to all of the cages! It was really neat! The vast majority of the animals were very active too. (Which I had never seen at a zoo before.) 

 White tiger! He came right up to the bars and was walking all over the place. He even took a little bath in his tub while we watched. :) 

 African Porcupine. I would hate to get in a fight with this guy. 

Lion!

  Feeding the zebras, deer, antelope and wildebeest. Jeff was so excited he finally got to touch a zebra! 

 Lemurs. (ZABOOMAFOO!!!)

 Servals! Yes I want to adopt one. Yes I know it is illegal. And yes I am going to anyways. :) 

I feel a deeper bond with pigs lately, not sure why... ;) 

This may look like a lot of pictures, but I assure you it is only about 1/4 of what we took. Haha. Most of the animals we saw I can't remember the names of, and I didn't think ya'all would want me to post so many. :) 

Jeff and I are having so much fun here in Austin and think it's crazy that we've already been here 2 months! We've meet so many people from different cultures/backgrounds and it really is such a wonderful experience getting to know all of them! However, we do miss our family and friends back home in Utah and hope to see all of you soon! Know that you are constantly in our thoughts and prayers and that we love you! 

Until next time!