The "Annie One Can Cook" Halloween Extravagaza

..yeah, not really.

This post is actually going to be pretty weak but I felt like I had to do something for Halloween!

Truth be told, I have never been too big of a Halloween fan.. I mean, don't get me wrong, I loved it when I was a kid (you get to dress up and get free candy? umm yeah, sign me up!) but apparently once you're an adult, it's looked down upon to go door-to-door asking for free food.

Psh, whatever.

Anyway, these last few years have been fairly decent and I am starting to actually get more excited for the holiday to roll around (24 hour horror movie marathons on AMC are fun, right?). I'm so excited to dress Baby Sand up as a little lion, Alex from A Clockwork Orange, or something as equally adorable next year! Please know that I'm semi kidding about the Clockwork Orange costume But until then, I will be handing out candy (come trick-or-treat at our house!) and working on assembling a few Christmas gifts.. does that sound like a perfect Halloween or what?!

Here are a few pictures/stories from Halloween's past that I would like to share with you (my parents have all of the cute childhood costume pictures at their house so the following pictures are ones I found on my computer/Facebook).

This isn't really a throwback picture.. this is my husband at work yesterday. He ordered a horse head off of Amazon for $18.. just thought I should share. 

Halloween 2003.
My dad took Jen and me to the video store after school on this particular Halloween to get some scary movies for the sleepover we were having--we were so excited! Long story short, we had a few titles like The Exorcist and Texas Chainsaw Massacre picked out, my dad immediately said no ("Those are rated R. Here, get this one!" *hands us Casper w/Christina Ricci*), I was mortified, threw my 13-year-old hissy fit, and we left empty handed. We were somehow able to talk my mom into taking us back to the video store (she didn't know my dad had already taken us.. not good, I know..) and this time left with Children of the Corn! It was going to be an epic night! We dressed up as little kids (pictured above) and went trick-or-treating so we'd have candy to eat while we watched our movie.

We wound up not being able to sleep that night because the movie scared us so much and I was so grossed out and disturbed that I couldn't eat for the next few days (candy included).. Good call, dad. Good call.

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I don't have any pictures from Halloween 2004 (ugh!) but I have to tell my haunted house story. Jen and I went to (the park formally known as) Six Flags Elitch Gardens in Denver with her church youth group for Fright Fest and we were pumped--we were going to ride so many roller coasters, eat so much greasy carnival food, and go through their awesome haunted house! 

The. Haunted. House. Was. Terrifying. 

Jen and I walked together and held hands the entire time but somehow managed to get separated about halfway through. I was freaking out! I finally found her again (a few rooms later), grabbed her hand, and we continued walking along. "Jen, I'm so scared," I kept whispering over and over. Suddenly, off in the distance, I heard the blood curdling scream of a girl who sounded an awful lot like Jen.

Wait.. It couldn't be Jen.. Was that Jen?? But, if that was Jen, whose... hand.. was.. I.. hoooooooooooldiiiiiiing.. Not Jen's!

Definitely not Jen's!

I had been walking and talking with one of the scary monsters from the haunted house.. and I was holding his hand!

I gave him my most scared/disgusted face, made some weird gutteral noise, pushed his hand away, and ran.

I finally caught up with the real Jen but we were once again forced to separate after one of the actors scared me into a corner and Jen karate chopped him in the throat..

We had to finish the rest of the haunted house separate. 

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Halloween 2008
It was my first Halloween in college (and political season, of course)! Here are a few shots of me as Hilary, my dad as Bill, and Jen and I with "Grandpa Moot." I think I spent that actual Halloween night making dinner with Jen at her townhouse. 

Halloween 2010
Left: Abby, Jason, and I went to a bar (oh, college..) dressed as a mob princess and Greek god & goddess.
Right: Abby and me as Thing 1 & 2 on Halloween night.

Halloween 2012
We spent last Halloween with Brandon's family and had a blast! Mamma Nancy dressed as a vampire, Benny as a scary robot, Baby Sara as a beautiful flower, and Aunt Annie as a mob princess (again). We had such a fun time taking the kids around the mall in their costumes and making smores around the fire pit!

That concludes my walk down Halloween memory lane.

Have a safe and fun Halloween!