Falling for Fall...

I love fall. I love the crispness of the air. I love how the mountains in Utah are ablaze with vivid orange. Even though it's 85 degrees here in LA, and the leaves are mostly green, you can always find a yellow, orange, or brown one if you look for it. I love crunching in the leaves! I love the sound they make under my shoes. Matt and I managed to find some crunch-able leaves on a walk to the park the other day. I love pumpkin spice candles. I love how my dad can't stop sniffing the breeze, knowing that it's time for the dear hunt. I love football season. I love apples...and apple pie of course. Plus, I LOVE Halloween!

This weekend was a definitely a Fall weekend. Friday night was our Ward Halloween Party. Matt's and My costumes were admittedly a little cliche, but under the current circumstances, they were cute. Matt was frumpy dentist and I was the Tooth Fairy.

My favorite part of Matt's costume was his parted hair. Once he parts that hair, he really has a gift for resembling Kip from Napoleon Dynamite. If you've seen a picture of him with the part plus the mustache...it's even worse! I was very pleased with the sugar cookies I made for the party. They turned out lovely. I loved playing with with my friends Nicholas and Riker or should I say Woody and Buzz.

Nicholas remembers my favorite color, the color of my eyes, and invites me to play trains. Riker shares his roll with me and I share my grapes with him. Plus, he steals your heart.


There was Trick-Or-Treating. Matt and I manned a classroom door. The little kids would walk down the hall and knock on the different doors to Trick-Or-Treat, Pretty clever, huh? Gotta hand it to the activities committee.

Saturday started with a fall gourmet breakfast of pumpkin waffles, sausage, eggs, pumpkin hot chocolate, and apple juice at Christian and Nicki's house. It was the best breakfast we've had in a long time...Hands Down!

Then, Matt and I participated in "Clinic Pride Day." Yeah...I know...It sounds a little suspicious like we'd we walking in some "pride" parade or something, but no, we got to clean the UCLA dental clinic. Matt sanded down the counters and I followed by sponging off the counter residue and disinfecting. I guess it was good practice for having our own office someday...


We left Clinic Pride Day and made a mad dash to the UCLA football game. What could be more fall than a little college football at the Rose Bowl?
The cheerleaders and the band were dressed up in Halloween costumes...I thought it was adorable :)


Unfortunately, UCLA lost, but they definitely had their chances in the 4th quarter...They blew it. However, it was fun to go on a date with my honey! - especially after Midterms.

The party continued when we arrived home. We went over to the Johnson's for a Halloween party. We made carmel apples which tasted amazing. I had never made one before. Now the best part was Matt's costume. You see, he has this cute obsession with the 80's. He built this 80's costume when we lived at liberty square for Halloween one year and has wanted to wear it again every year since. It consists of bright blue swishy sweat pants that tighten in at the ankle, a grey gymnastics shirt, a sweat band, a fanny pack he had as a child, and occasionally his old football jersy. Hot. I keep trying to encourage him to explore other possibilities for Halloween, but for this party he won out. I'd already disassembled my toothfairy costume, so the only thing to do was to make Matt's day by suggesting we dress up in 80's costumes :) One happy man.


After church on Sunday we carved our pumpkin! Matt obviously carved the anotomically correct mouth portion :)

We also had some friends over for a spooky Halloween dinner.

(Matt trying to appear "toothless" with black oreos)

We dined on coagulated blood (spagetti sauce), small intestines (noodles), brittle bone breadsticks, torn cellulose (salad), witch's brew, and the best dirt and worms I've ever had for dessert.

We played the mummy wrap game...


And "Don't Eat Casper!" - not to be confused with "Don't Eat Pete." :)

It was such an enjoyable evening and the first time Matt and I got Trick-Or-Treaters!
Happy Halloween! Happy Fall!

See Matt...

See Matt. See Matt wax teeth. See Matt rock his midterms. See Matt's a Dentist in the making :)


I get to see Matt. I get to see him study. I get to see him wake up at 5:30 on Mondays to get to institute at 6:30. I get to watch him wax teeth. I get to see him study Anatomy, Foundations of Science, or Dental Materials while I watch Bones with my headphones so I can be by him, but not distract him. I see him wake up at 1am to come walk me in from the garage after a late night at work. The man works hard, and he does well. Proud wife moment: He finished his midterms in an honorable fashion. I'm so happy that I get to see his hard work pay off. Way to Go Mr. Matt! See...You really are amazing :)

The Ants Go Marching...

Look at the picture. What do you see? A phone jack...yes...but there's a small brown dot to the left of the jack. A small brown plague. A small problem. A small ANT. One of the many....


I am currently waging a war with the ants who have decided to invade our home. They made their first attack when the Balle fam was in town and have fought relentlessly since. Here's the problem: I may win the battles, but the ants are winning the war. You see, I'm very big compared to the ants. I can squish them, roll them up with a lint roller, or even suck them up with my vacuum, but they're numberless....They just keep coming. They have no sense of remorse over the loss of their comrades in battle. They just keep marching...


P.S. I think they came from the neighbors...They're only on that side of the house...only in the bathroom and the guitar's bedroom. Let's be honest...I just need someone to blame :)

Happy 1st Mid-term Over Day!

Matt and Christian took their very first Dental School Mid-term. They had studied hours for this test. In fact, it was the most Matt said he'd ever studied for a test. Anyways, lucky for me and Nicki, it was definitely an excuse to celebrate! Perhaps celebrating getting our husbands back for a night :)"You Are Special Plates," some Bubblely, frosted glasses, and home-made chicken nuggets made for quite a party. Plus, Nicki and I definitely got to participate in some more collaborative cooking. After dinner we even got to watch a movie with Christian & Nicki and Mary & Jared. What a dinner! What a night! Can't wait till the rest of midterms are over! Oh wait...just kidding...I'm suppose to be enjoying the journey...not trying to increase its speed - right Gandhi?

What a Beautiful Mess I'm In...

Wow. So it's a BIG day... the day I've been counting down for for the past 3 months....October 25th. The day I submit my application to UCLA's Nurse Residency Program.


This is UCLA...UCLA's Nurse Residency Program sounded perfect, a real dream come true. Working at world renowned medical center, making great money, having insurance, working L&D. It sounded like answer to prayers and too good to be true! It started making sense why I felt so strongly about doing L&D for capstone...I started thinking that my capstone experience had prepared me for this opportunity.

I've been conversing with UCLA's nurse recruiters pretty regularly for the past few months. I wanted everything to be perfect for today. Transcripts - Check! -plus, the grades on them are pretty near perfect if I do say so myself - not being cauky - just confident:) Resume - Check! Proofread and perfected by myself, Matt, Mom, and Dad. Cover Letter - Check! Took me an entire day to write after going through several drafts, then once I had it written there were several editions...striving for perfect. Letters of Rec - Check! Letters of rec so perfect, that I can read them when having a bad day and feel like I'm wonder woman. One of my letters was from my nurse preceptor - Kathy - specifically about L&D. Wooohoo - Just what I needed to set me apart!


I was ready .... Everything was saved as a PDF in my special UCLA Residency folder for today.

Woke up 6am ...checked the website for the application....Not posted.
Went back to bed.
Woke up 7am...checked the website for the application....Not posted.
Went back to bed.
Couldn't sleep...Too excited. This was my Christmas...All I want for Christmas is a JOB!

Sat down at the computer. Checked the website for the application....POSTED!

Now was my time to dance with destiny! My "perfect" portfolio was ready to go.
However, when I opened up the application, I found, with A LOT of dismay, that Labor and Delivery was no longer on the residency list... Ouch...my heart heart. The tears came... Disappointment stinks. I called UCLA...hoping there was some mistake...I mean I had just talked to a recruiter a couple weeks ago...Sadly, it was not a mistake. No more L&D. Plus, the recruiter told me that since one of my letters of rec was specifically about L&D, I needed another one. What! I thought. I had my letters months ago! Plus...My Labor Letter or Rec was the best one! Yet, the recruiter still wanted me to submit my application. The sooner I got it in, the more likely my chances were of getting it read. When there's over 1,000 applications, not all may get read.


I scrambled to edit my cover letter tailoring it now only to Pediatrics (General Pediatrics, NICU, & PICU). I submitted the letters of rec I had and then I composed a "draft" of a new letter of rec tailored to peds and sent it in desperation to my Pediatrics clinical instructor. Being the saint she is, and miracle from above, she got my email, and wrote me a letter of rec. Amidst the choas, I couldn't figure out how to attach another letter of rec after my application had been submitted. Once again...I called my friends (not sure if they're still my friends) at UCLA. After being on hold for forever, they found my profile and after a LOT of persuasion from me, they consented to let me bring the Pediatric letter of rec to the office in person.

So...wish me luck...my portfolio isn't quite so perfect...and neither am I for the job...but it's a shot. A shot at something I want desperately. Prayers aren't always answered the way we hope... but that doesn't mean they're not heard. Please pray for me. This is a big deal for Matt and I.

The Happiest Place on Earth

Once upon our time...In the land of California...far far away...There lived the Brave Prince LeCheminant and his Principessa Mykel. With the exception of Saturday, Prince LeCheminant slayed the Dental School Dragon Daily, while the Principessa showed her family their own Magic Kingdom on the Balle Fam's California Adventure!

Greetings from California...Everything under the sun...literally...I'm becoming less and less surprised by thing things I see and hear here in LA...Anything is possible....for better or for worse.

After a sweetly timed pick up from the LA airport, we arrived home to celebrate a "LOVEY DOVEY" birthday! There were enough doves and hearts to make anyone nauseated - Brett was a very good sport! Happy Birthday Brett! Big 12 :) We had taco soup for dinner with LeCheminant Birthday Cake and home-made Snickers ice cream. Yum.

Notice our dear Tara joined in for the happy birthday song over the phone.

Now even though it was Brett's birthday, Matt and I were the ones who got the presents. The Balles bring surprises! Matt got new shoes (the others have holes) and I got yeast, glue to fix my dancer statue that broke on the move, mouth sore medicine, contact solution, my old lock from Jr. High to use in our laundry room, garlic, a new shirt and necklace, and a tooth fairy Halloween costume!


Thursday we took a dip in the pool. Of course Brett remembered to bring his goggles! My favorite part was that mom fed us all Dorritos - I felt very much like a dolphin.

I mean...Just look a that flipper jump....


We took a trip to Malibu Lagoon, hoping to check out the tide pools. However, it was high tide when we got there, so we watched the surfers and played some Frisbee. My mother turned out to be quite the Frisbee thrower. Funny...I don't have a picture of her throwing it though.



A crab we found...
And a clam Dad found...It was totally intact and HUGE!

Brett playing peek-a-boo in his air mattress. I LOVE my little brother!

Thursday morning we headed to the temple bright and early for Baptisms. It was Brett's first time! I loved seeing how excited my brother was about having received the priesthood and doing temple work. I'm so thankful we were able to be together in the temple, the house of the Lord - the REAL happiest place on earth!


Following Baptisms, we headed to UCLA to take Matt to school. He had to fight that dental dragon you know... It was fun to walk through the gardens. It's one place where it doesn't feel like we're totally in the city - especially if you plug your ears...then you can't hear the honking horns or traffic. We dropped by the institute and Brett loved the Foosball table!


Came home and after a trip to Ralph's made some delicious omelets. I have to say, the food is always better when my parents are around. We had luxury things like cheese, bacon, and chips! We had to play a few games of Sorry, a Balle classic.

This is a picture of my father in a snuggie...yep. It was probably after our Costco Thursday... Sampling can be pretty tiresome.

Saturday was Disney Day...Once again we woke up bright and early- it kind of became a theme of our trip :) We set off to explore the real Magic Kingdom. Disney Land was all decorated for Halloween time! The characters were in costumes. There were pumpkins everywhere, and Space Mountain had been invaded by ghosts!


So I love the movie Cars - especially Lightening McQueen! I went to Disney Land with my college roommates, the Lovelies, a few years ago hoping to meet him. I wore a bright red Cars shirt, but I couldn't find him. This time I decided to try again. I dawned a different Cars shirt and lo and be hold, we found him!

And Radiator Springs...
We watched the Pixar Parade which is 10 times better than the Celebrate parade if you ask me! There were really cool floats....the toy story one had uneven bars with gymnasts doing sweet tricks on them dressed like Woody and Jesse. Here's Matt being a Dude...

We waited in the longest line ever for the new Toy Story ride. Mr. potato head told lots of jokes trying to keep us entertained.

Matt found something to keep him busy... study Anatomy of course! He was a really good sport to let us steal him away from studying and come with us. How can you pass up the happiest place on earth?

The ride was worth the wait. Pretty Amazing!


Almost as amazing as Matt looks in those glasses!

We saw the Bugs life 3D...It's amazing what they can do with your imagination, a little mist, air, and 3D glasses!

The "Dung Brothers"

The Tower of Terror survivors! Yes, we made it through the twilight zone and back in one piece. I also learned that Matt has more persuasive power over Brett then me...Dang. Brett's a dare devil, he'll do anything. I just assumed he'd come with us. However, he was a little nervous as any sane person would be. Matt whispered a few magic words in his ear and boom! Brett was on the ride. Call Matt the Brett whisperer or something!


So I have been dying to see World Of Color for the longest time! I've watched the preview on the Disney Website on several occasions. I've read reviews about the show. I mean huge colored water fountains with movie clips and music...it was nothing short of Disney's magic and pixie dust.

We waited a long time for the show. Everyone was packed like sardines, but my cute dad was tired and decided to lie down and take nap amidst the crowd!

Sunday was Rib day...Our tummies became the happiest places on Earth! I had gotten these baby back ribs on an 8 hour sale at Albertson's for quite a good deal - such a good deal that I walked to grocery store to make sure I was able to get them :) They were worth it and more. Dad used his magic rub and mom cooked them just right. All I had to do was apply the best BBQ sauce ever...Sweet Baby Rays!

Brett is an inventor in the making, and Matt just has great ideas... Their powers combined made a pretty cool domino track.

Monday we took a trip to Ocean Park - Our Beach. We found amazing shells, played some more Frisbee, and just enjoyed being together. I love having my family here...

You're never too old to hold your Daddy's hand.

We missed Tara...every day we missed Tara...There was definitely an empty seat on every ride, at the table, and even in the car on the way to the beach. We had to rotate who had to ride alone at Disney Land. We love you Tara!

Wet feet...humid hair...and still looking good.


I miss the fam already... the day they were leaving...I could feel the anticipatory missing coming on. You see, family is the Happiest Place on Earth. Where ever we are, no matter what we're doing, family is joy. We're a forever family...Forever happy. What could be better than that?