It's a Wednesday night and I forgot all my school materials at school so I can't do any work. Trick-or-Treating and blogging it is!

 

Today is Halloween and for the first time in these kids' lives, I'm actually here for it! A couple of months ago, Tessa and I were talking about Halloween costumes and she was trying to think of an idea for the twins that would coordinate but that they would actually go for. I suggested Mickey and Minnie Mouse since they love to watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. She liked the idea and went for it. That's right, friends. This cuteness was my idea.

 

 Emerson was a lovely fortune teller.

 I know, right? Cooper is an excellent "Cheese"er and Campbell was not having it. Cooper was even encouraging her, "Say cheese!"

Jonah was a black ghost. Earlier in the night he said he was Death. We'll go with the black ghost option.

The loot. The twins were very generous with their treats and were willing to trade for any form of gummy or gum. The wee ones love to chew.

 

 

As soon as they got home, Jonah and Emerson set to organizing their loot, preparing for their trade.

 

They have more candy than any human should consume in their lifetime. They're all set up and there's some pretty serious bargaining going on over here.
"How about this and this and you can have an extra small candy."
"Ok. I'll take these two and you've got yourself a deal."
Word for word people. I'm transcribing like a court reporter.

 

 

I was initially pretty proud of my lack of desire to indulge in their treats. I wasn't too tempted by our candy at the door and when they brought theirs in and offered me some, it wasn't too hard to decline. So far I've had two Reese's and a Milky Way. Reasonable, right? But now they've been sitting here for an hour...and it's still in front of me...

 

Oops, there are some peanut butter M&M's.

Last weekend was Fall Break. It was FABULOUS. It was really hard to be grateful for the two days that we had off when seemingly everyone else had two weeks, since many schools in Indiana have gone to a balanced school schedule. What I would give for two weeks off right now. I think especially as a first-year teacher, two weeks after the first quarter would be invaluable to get things together, make some plans, and get yourself set up for the rest of the year, now that you have an idea of what it's actually like. But alas, just two days for me.

I spent the first day at home working on stuff for school. The next day, though, I went home and had lunch with my little sister, watched a movie with my sister and brother, and went to my brother's football game (which I mentioned in my football post recently). I didn't even take work home with me, which was so nice.

The next day, my mom and I went to a multi-stake Relief Society conference with Sister Linda Burton, General Relief Society President of the Church. She was fabulous. She talked a lot about temples and one thing she mentioned was that there should be no obstacle too big to make it not worth it to go to the temple, meaning that no matter what we have to do, it will always be worth it to go to the temple. I thought about that a lot and how easy it is to find excuses not to go to the temple, especially now that I live over two hours away from the nearest temple. This past weekend I went to a conference for work in Columbus, Ohio. We had Friday night free and I remembered that there's a temple in Columbus. I didn't drive to the conference, so going to the temple would require packing my temple clothes and paying for a taxi to get from my hotel to the temple and back. It was pretty expensive, though I'm not sure it was a whole lot more than what I would pay in gas to go to the temple in Louisville. I remembered Sister Burton's words and decided that the money and the inconvenience was not a big enough obstacle to keep me from going to the temple. I went and I'm so glad I did. I was very sleepy and struggled staying awake, but I knew I was in the right place, I felt a sense of peace and coming home, and I wasn't nursing a hangover the next morning like most of my friends who had decided to do something else the night before. :)

After that conference with Sister Burton, my mom and I came back up to my house and my dad, Micah, Jacob, and Isaac were all here helping Tessa get some things done around the house and yard. Since I live in Tessa's house, that meant they were also helping me. They got the futon out of my room and my mom helped me set up my new queen-size bed that I bought from my sister. We put my new bedding on it (which I got for a steal at Marshall's) and Isaac helped me hang pictures in my room.

 

After eight years of sleeping on BYU apartment twin-size beds, I finally have a big girl bed! I love it. It's very soft, my sheets are cozy, and I love the bedding even more than I did when I bought it. I've been living here for over three months and I finally feel like I'm living in my room, instead of someone else's guest room. I don't know what my sister was expecting when she said I could stay with them for a while, but I'm here to stay, sister. Hope that's ok.

 

That Sunday I gave a talk and sang in my branch's Sacrament Meeting. My sweet family drove an hour to be there to support me. I love being close enough to have them involved in my life in a more direct way. I was honored that they came. My talk was about fasting, which I don't think was an accident. I really struggle with fasting. When it comes to going without food, it's just not a good time. I learned a lot about the importance of fasting, though, and found a quote by President Henry B. Eyring that changed my view of it. He said, "By our fast, we both keep our covenant to care for others [through fast offerings] and we prepare to keep our covenant to bear testimony [at the testimony meeting]." Viewing fasting as a way to keep the covenants I made at baptism really changed my perspective and helped me understand better why it is so important. Covenants are not a joke, and my poor efforts in fasting aren't either. I've committed myself to do better this coming week to prepare for Fast Sunday on November 4th so that I can more fully keep my covenants to Heavenly Father.

 

After my church meetings that day, I was also able to ride home with my family to have Sunday dinner at home and play games with my siblings, then ride back with my mom who gave an awesome fireside that night for single adults. She talked about the Second Coming of Jesus Christ and went over a timeline of what will happen and when. When talking about the bad, scary things that will happen, she likened them to the plagues of Egypt when Moses was a prophet. There was some pretty crazy stuff going on in Egypt at that time, but the Hebrews were protected. Why? Because they had a prophet, Moses, who was telling them specifically what to do to protect themselves from the plagues. We also have a prophet in our day who is telling us specifcally what to do to protect ourselves from the plagues that will come. I think it's easier for us to not take the warnings seriously because the threat isn't immediate and doesn't seem real. I kept thinking about the prophet's counsel to get out of debt. He hasn't said exactly what might happen that will be bad news for those who are in debt, but the threat is there and it is just as real as a plague of grasshoppers who came and destroyed crops which were the livelihood of the people at that time. Being out of debt could be the difference between stability and security and financial ruin. I'm choosing to be on the stability and security side and have made a more concerted effort to pay off my debts so I can feel safe in our tumultuous economy. When you think about the Second Coming from the perspective of the righteous who will be prepared, it is exciting. I want to be on the right side when He comes so I can fight for the truth and stand confident in His presence.

One of my favorite, favorite parts of being back in Indiana is being able to go to Thomas' football games and Micah's soccer games. I didn't get to go to many of Micah's games because they were often during the week when I'm swamped with school or other meetings. But I've only missed a few of Thomas' games so far, even though some of the games have been in freezing, rainy conditions, and one of them even went into the wee hours of the morning due to lightning delays. I love when they play in Indianapolis, because that's much more convenient for me. I also love it when they play at home, though, because it gives me an excuse to spend the night and hang out with my family.

 

These first two pictures are from a game in Southport at Perry Meridian High School. This was the first game I'd been to where Thomas' team just dominated the entire game. That was fun to watch! The second two are from the first sectionals game, which was a very close, very exciting, very awesome game where they won by only 2 points. I love football games that keep you screaming and jumping up and down up until the very last minute. That was one of those games.

Thomas likes to pretend like talking to his family after the game is torture, but I know he secretly loves it, especially when he gets to take pictures with his cute sisters.

 I LOVE this family. But seriously. I love them.

 

I missed this past weekend's game because I was at a conference for work, but they won their second round of sectionals in a killer comeback to beat Franklin Central. They're playing in the sectional tournament this Friday at Center Grove. Center Grove's a giant school and a tough team, but I have faith in the Bull Dogs. We're going to the 'ship!







A few weeks ago I had the chance to go to Utah for a long weekend to visit friends. Since my job is the bain of my existence, getting to miss two days of it was the most fabulous thing that has happened to me in a long time. It was so, so fun.

 

The night I flew in, Jaime picked me up and we went straight to Happy Sumo. I'm so sad I didn't take a picture of our sushi that night because it was one of the most amazing sushi experiences I have ever had. I've had sushi at some other places, but there is just no equal to the perfection that is Happy Sumo, specifically the Cabana Roll. I don't know why, but it is one of the most glorious things I have ever put into my mouth. After dinner that night, I told Jaime that that meal made the plane trip (which was awful) totally worth it. Even if I'd done nothing else, I would have been happy to have just had that sushi. Except I DID do other things, which were also fabulous.

 

The next day, Jaime and I went to the Salt Lake temple, had lunch at Olive Garden, then met our good friends Hailey and Angela at City Creek Center in downtown Salt Lake. I'd never been to City Creek before. It's a beautiful outdoor mall, with some pretty sweet fountains and a great view of the Salt Lake temple. The temple is actually in this picture, but the light washed it out.

 

 



We did some good shopping and had dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. I was not kidding around with food on this trip. We ate out almost every meal and every meal was mind-numbing delicious. It didn't even feel excessive to eat out so many times in so few days. It felt right. And good.

That night we stayed in a sweet hotel in Salt Lake. It was supposed to be Jaime, me, DeeAura, and Whitney. Dee and Whitney ended up bailing for different reasons, so Jaime and I each enjoyed our own pillow-top mattresses and plethora of pillows. You know how I feel about hotels. Any hotel. Now times that by a lot and you'll get how I feel about nice hotels and not having to share a bed. I was in heaven.

Whitney drove down the next day and she, Jaime, and I went to the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference. It was so nice to be around friends who share my same beliefs and standards again. I love Indiana but I definitely miss that about Utah. Oh, and we had lunch at Cafe Rio, which was divine.

 

That night Jaime and I did some more shopping and topped off our eating binge with a nice, healthy meal at Texas Roadhouse.

Yes, this looks like a heart attack on a plate. But you know what else it looks like? Euphoria.

 

We spent the next day watching General Conference with her family and enjoying the culinary skills of Michelle Ulm, who is just as good as the chefs at the aforementioned restaurants. Except the sushi. Sorry, Chelle. It's really hard to top that sushi.

 

The next morning I flew back to Indiana. It was pretty much the saddest day of my life. My school experience was at its worst at that moment, and being in Utah was just so comfortable. It was really hard to go home to what I knew would be hell when I was just so content there with my friends and my former, much easier life. I actually missed my first flight because I couldn't get myself to get out of bed and get to the airport. I made it home, though, and got back to the grind.

 

Fortunately, it was timed just right so I got home at at time when my nieces and nephews were home. It's a lot easier to come home when you come home to cute faces and big hugs.