Tip Off Time

I am not a huge basketball fan, but when Ashlee said she was hosting a little Jazz get together for the season opener, I couldn't resist. Who would want to pass up on a night of treats, good company, and maybe a little sports? I was there with bells on and was even luckier to have Brooke come along with me.
I am so lucky to have such good friends and get to spend the evening with them, even if it does include basketball.

Fall Decor

There are many things I love about having my own house, one of my most recent favorite things is being able to decorate. My house lacks home decor in general, but I decided to spruce things up and bring some seasonal cheer into my house. I have loved having the rich, warm orange color, the smell of pumpkin spice lingering in the air, and the reminder of the season.

My house is slowly coming together, but I think my home decor may take a back seat to the upcoming Christmas season. My seasonal decor may get a major boost.

Quite Eventful

My week has been a bit eventful. It has been filled with family time and I love that.

It all started Wednesday with Candice's bridal shower at Jamie's house. It turned out great with festive decor, scrumptious food, and fantastic company. It's always fun when we all get together, and this was no exception.
Friday night was a night out with Brooke. Richard was hosting a pumpkin carving party and we decided to join in the fun. It was so fun to catch up with Richard and use all my creative energy to whip up my pumpkin (yes, that is my very original jack-o-lantern). Today was packed full of events all on it's own. It started with baby duty for the singles while the married's went to the temple with Candice. I was assigned the Jensen Hoard and got to take care of these cute little munchkins all morning. We took advantage of the fall weather and headed out for a fall photo shoot to kill some time.
These kids are just adorable and it makes me sad that I don't live with them any more. how can you not just fall in love with their cute faces?
We goofed around a bit and these kids LOVE getting their picture taken.
After meeting up with the family for a luncheon we headed to the Utah game. Since Jake was in town and had bought tickets, we were lucky enough to all go together. It was fun to be there and be reminded of the good old days when the siblings would all go to games together. The game kept us on our feet right up until the win in overtime. Talk about excitement.
My night is ending with a dinner in with Brooke and Shannon and watching the BYU vs. TCU game (cheering for TCU of course). Only us Jensen girls try to fit in this much football in one day and feel so passionate about it. Go Utes!

I guess that about sums it up.

I May or May Not be in Love...

...with this song.

Autumn Splendor

Saturday was an amazing day. It started out with a great girl's breakfast at my house (we missed you Jenny, Amy, and Candice). Crepes and friends! Can a day start out any better? I think not.

The day just kept improving with the beautiful fall weather. My mom, Brooke, and I decided to head out and take advantage of the splendid weather and take in the radiant fall colors. Mueller Park was our destination and it did not disappoint.
We made our own entertainment full of photo shoots, sword fights with giant tree branches...
... trying to time the perfect picture with falling leaves and jumping for joy (Brooke is a little better at this than I am).
We had so much fun just hanging out and being together. We are kind of nerds, but I love it.
We drove around the east side of Bountiful taking in the vista's and checking out the McMansions on the hills.
We spent the rest of the day going to lunch, grocery shopping, reminiscing of past vacations, looking at pictures, laughing, and just enjoying each other.

Since Brooke headed out, my mom and I decided to cap off our night with a gelato treat to take us back to Europe for just a moment. It was simply divine.

It was just about as good as it gets as far as day's go. I'm so blessed to have such amazing sisters, an incredible mom (and best friend), and a superb room mate. Yep, I'm pretty lucky.

Gotta Love Her

So this past week I had been in need of a major distraction, this came in the welcome form of Brooke. I just can't tell you how much I love being with this girl. I laugh till I cry and then just keep laughing.

We were running errands on Columbus day (thanks to the financial institutions we work at, we had the day off) and stopped at Target. We headed to the Halloween section to find some decorations for our house. Instead of finding decorations, Brooke found a little distraction herself. Let me share with you.

We've got Bumbling Brooke:
Hot Dawg Brooke
Bannana Split Brooke:
And my favorite - Cluck Cluck Brooke:
I just have to share this video with you. I apologize that it's sideways. I don't think about it when I'm recording that it doesn't flip like a picture. But I think it shows just how much fun we were having (I think you should all be jealous that I get to live with this girl).

Paris Holds the Key to my Heart

We had a long drive ahead of us to get to my most anticipated destination: Paris. We slept, we drove, we stopped and had our first pastry of France, slept, drove, and drove some more. We finally got to Paris and I got to see my first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower (YAY!) on our way to the hotel. Our room was HUGE! We finally got one of the good rooms and had our own double beds for the double night stay. If you couldn't tell I was a bit excited.

We headed to our farewell dinner with our group at a nice little restaurant called Chez Jenny. It was a fun way to end the majority of our time with our group. For the most part we enjoyed who we got to travel with. We had some interesting people that is for sure, but we made it work. That night we had an illuminations tour of the "City of Lights." It was beautiful and won my heart within minutes. The part that truly captured my heard was seeing the Eiffel Tower all lit up and SPARKLE (yes, sparkle) at the top of every hour. It was truly one of the most magical moments of my life.
The next morning was our tour to go up on the Eiffel Tower. Does it get any better than that? It is the symbol of Paris and I got to go up on it. We even made it better by getting Diet Cokes and croissants. Divine.
There are no words for the majestic feeling being at the base and coming to the realization that "I am in Paris!" Wow, I loved it.
Our morning tour ended at the Arc de Triumph and we had the rest of the day to ourselves. We walked down the world famous Champs de Elysees. We even stopped at the Louis Vuitton store. Talk about an intense store! 4-5 floors of overpriced items.
We continued our walk past all the high-end stores and reached this beautiful stretch of tree-lined walkways changing colors with the turn of the season. It was simply exquisite. To make the walk even better, we stopped at a crepe stand for delectable crepes and Diet Coke. It made for an excellent walk.
We reached the Place de la Concord and it was Paris in every direction. Paris is known for it symmetry in it's architecture and this square was one of the greatest examples. It really is pleasing to the eye, no wonder the whole city is beautiful.
The walk continued on to a beautiful courtyard before reaching the Louvre. There were beautiful fountains, gardens, and statues. I'm not usually one for the arts, but it just spoke of Paris.
We reached the Louvre and it was so surreal to be there. Who hasn't seen the Louvre in a million things?
We spent the rest of the afternoon making our way through the city, eating gelato, sight seeing and slowly getting closer to Notre Dame.
We made it to Notre Dame. Fabulous. We enjoyed our pastries out front, made our way inside , and sat back down to hear the church bells. Have I mentioned my mom loves church bells in Europe? We even got a special encore when the bells went off for about 10 minutes. Mom was in heaven.
I came up with the genius idea to make our way over to the Eiffel Tower to watch it light up. We check out the map, knew it would be a bit of a walk but knew we had some time to make it over there. We wandered along the river, enjoyed the sights, and decided to head down some side streets to shorten our walk.
After a mere two hours (of straight walking mind you) we finally reached the mall in front of the tower. It was astounding. have I mentioned I love the Eiffel Tower? I do, love at first sight really.
We grabbed another crepe, sat on the mall and waiting for the tower to light up. It was our last night in Europe and I couldn't have picked a better place to spend it.
The tower sparkled again and I did all I could to just live in the moment. Who knows when I will make it back? I had to reveal in the incredible opportunity I had to be there. I am so lucky.
A taxi ride complete the Paris experience as we headed back to our hotel. Lucky for us, there was a McDonald's a block down the street. With only crepes and pastries to eat, we were ready for some real food. I know, it's a bit pathetic when you start considering McDonald's as real food.
Departure day brought an early start, but one that we surprisingly welcomed. Two weeks is a long time to live out of a suitcase and change hotels every night. We got dropped off at the airport and didn't have too long to wait for our direct flight home. I don't think I could thank Delta enough for creating a direct flight from Paris to SLC. Thank you!!!
We were exhausted when we got home, but were so grateful to be back in America.

This is the end of my European adventure. I wish I could really share everything that I got to see and do. It was a trip of a lifetime and one I will not soon forget. I also had the amazing blessing of going with my Mom. I couldn't have asked for a better travel partner or a better way to create memories with her. I will always have those moments in my memory with her. That is so special.

Thanks for staying tuned for all of this, I'll get back to our present life shortly.

Switzerland

We headed out of Italy to enter into one of the most beautiful countries: Switzerland. I was so pleasantly surprised with our lunch break this day. We stopped at the amazing town of Lugano. This was a little lake-shore town that was just delightful.
We walked along the shore and soaked in every angle of the beautiful views. We decided on some exquisite cuisine at McDonald's (a common occurrence on our trip), but ate quickly so we could get back to our walk along the lake. It was some holiday while we were there and they were holding a marathon. We happen to be quite partial to marathons giving the nature of the athletes in our family, and it just seemed to make the town a bit more exciting.
Our hour lunch stop ended sadly as we drove away from quite possibly the site of a future vacation home (I can dream right?).

Luzern was our new home for the next two days. We were looking forward to a two night stay to get a little more grounded and the opportunity to explore the city our way. Our first stop was the Lion Monument (which celebrates the Swiss Guards who died while protecting Marie Antoinette).
We checked into our hotel and were again grateful for a place to call home for TWO nights. Doesn't sound like much, but it was a luxury. My favorite feature of the hotel? The glass elevator that you opened the door yourself. It was so old school. Loved it.
On the docket for that evening: a resplendent lake cruise. We departed about 30 min before sunset and learned about the city from the lake.
We passed some old famous houses, Mom's future summer home (only $35 million with a hillside vineyard, indoor/outdoor pool, and perfect view of the lake), and enjoyed the sunset over the water. What a perfect way to become acquainted with Switzerland.
We called in a night and were looking forward to our leisurely morning. We opted to not go on the tour the next day and were able to make our own schedule. A morning to sleep in! It was fabulous to wake up when we wanted and just lay there. We just talked and enjoyed Switzerland right outside our window.
We set out to walk toward the town center. It was a splendid walk along the tree lined shore.
The covered bridge was the focal point of the old town center. The flower lined edges and diagnal angle made it uniqe and adorable.
We meandered around the quaint, cobble stone roads enjoying our surroundings. We fit in our shopping and were finally able to visit an H& M. I had passed up so many in cities past, but finally had the time to fully partake of it's greatness.
After our rigorous morning of shopping, it was time to sit, get a Coke Light, and get some food. We ate right on the water by the covered bridge and just took our time. I wish I could explain the difference it makes in not having a rigid schedule. We even had the luxury of heading back to the hotel for an afternoon nap. Heaven.
After our little rest we headed back out to enjoy the evening (and avoid the gross group dinner) back in the town center. We found a log on the water and had prime seating for the views and fabulous people watching (Europe has a lot to offer in that department).
Once again we ended up at our "safe" food choice: McDonald's. Luckily they install idiot proof signs that point you right where you need to go. It must be a tourist town.
We called it a night with another gelato and a relaxed walk back along the water. It was a tranquil evening with the calm of the water and quiet of the town. I think I have said this about every place, but I just fall in love with that magical something each place has to offer.