Thanksgiving and Smoke

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house this year, so I volunteered to do the turkey again. I did it last year and it turned out well, so I was feeling pretty confident. I learned from my mistakes before and got the turkey out of the freezer well in advance so that it would be good and thawed on Thanksgiving day. I brined it the day before and it was looking awesome. I put it in the oven with plenty of time to cook, and the smell was killer! We were off to a good start!

Jacob was in charge of fruit and, as usual, did an extraordinary job, making apple turkeys. We had an insane amount of pies, thanks to Tessa, Dominika, and Mom, and all the food was fabulous.

With about an hour left for the turkey to cook, we started hearing hissing noises from the oven and realized that the juices were overflowing and spilling on the bottom of the oven. We lived in a state of smoke for the next hour or so, as those juices continued cooking on the bottom of the oven. Apparently the pan we'd used didn't have sides high enough to keep everything in. Woops. It was a bit chilly for a while, since we had to keep the windows open to ventilate, but I didn't mind since I was chillin' by the oven anyway.

Aside from the juices mishap, the turkey was looking good so I put the thermometer in, but it was only reading 120 degrees and it's supposed to reach 165! I was fretting because everything else was ready, but the turkey was still far from cooked. We just hung out, waiting, and my dad decided to chop down the dead tree in the backyard, since he'd planned to do it after dinner anyway. Totally normal for Thanksgiving, right? My mom and the kids helped haul the smaller pieces to the house once he cut it up.

Campbell's adorable cat hat that has a tail on the back. It flips up when she squeezes the pompom on the front.

The turkey was looking pretty cooked but the temperature wasn't really improving much, so finally Tessa and I decided to just pull it out and check it. The skin was crusty and when I cut into it, the meat fell right off the bone! Our thermometer had been totally off! I was so furious. I had been so careful, and here I had overcooked the turkey because of the stupid thermometer. We must have caught it in time, though, because all the meat was still really good, and with the juices, it wasn't dry at all!

We had planned to play some games, but everyone was so full and tired that we ended up just playing a bit of Catch Phrase before people started trickling out. This is the only picture I have of a large group of us. Not pictured: Tessa, my dad, Jacob, or Shear and Tabitha - friends of Isaac's from work. I'm so thankful for this group of humans!

The Gift of Time

On my mission, I became acquainted with a book called "The 5 Love Languages." My companion told me about it and we tried to figure out what ours were. If you've never heard of it, very basically it talks about five general ways that people receive love. The key to happy and fulfilling relationships is to figure out how others feel love and show it to them that way. The five that it talks about are time, words, gifts, service, and physical touch. Through a series of questions, I figured out that my primary love language is time. I feel most loved when people make an effort to spend time with me. I feel most hurt or unloved when people don't make time for me or put other things above me. 

My birthday is a pretty big deal to me, so I really like it when people are willing to spend time with me on that day. Two of my very best friends, Jaime Zogmaister and Ingrid Michaelson, made great sacrifices to be with me on my birthday. That's how I know they love me. Jaime flew out from Utah to spend my birthday weekend with me and Ingrid arranged her tour schedule to stop in Bloomington, Indiana - only an hour away - on my birthday. So thoughtful and kind. :)

My mom and my sisters and I were supposed to go down to Bloomington for the concert, but Micah was sick that day so our friend Barb Salee came with us, which was super fun! All of them sacrificed to be with me on my birthday, too - Barb wasn't even planning on coming until ten minutes before she left, but she dropped everything and came, my mom had to get up super early for seminary the next day but stayed out late anyway, and Tessa had to drive all the way to Fishers to get the kids, arranged for a babysitter, then drove all the way back down to come to the concert with us. Jaime surprised me by coming out and had even bought herself a ticket to the concert so she could go with us! All kinds of love. We had dinner at an Afghan (from Afghanistan) restaurant before, then went to the concert in the beautiful Buskirk-Chumley Theater. This tour was a small, stripped down tour with only Ingrid and three other musicians so it was pretty low-key, but I still had a great time! Ingrid's hilarious and fabulously talented, so she puts on a great show.

Since Jaime was in town, I was able to arrange things so I could be off work the next day. We slept in and caught up on our favorite TV shows, then did some shopping. Friday night, some members of my family came over to have dinner and play a few games.

Saturday morning, I had to work at a Showcase of Schools at the mall downtown, so Jaime tagged along with me and made food runs for us and she and I walked around looking at the booths. Ours looked pretty bomb, if you ask me (I definitely made it).

After my shift was over, Jaime and I shopped at the mall for a while, had lunch, then drove around some of the historic neighborhoods just north of downtown and dreamed about the day when we'd have enough money to buy cool houses like that with so much character and charm.

We met my friends Jeanette Brickley, Lauren Futrell, and Natalie Haight to see The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 in the theater. It was really intense and really good. We went to Studio Movie Grill which is a theater where you sit in recliners and you can order full meals and there are servers who will bring it to you. We just had popcorn, though (so good!), then had sushi for dinner at a different restaurant.

Sunday, Jaime came to church with me. I sang in Sacrament Meeting so Isaac, Dominika, and Adelina came to my ward, too, which was really thoughtful of them. Jaime and I came home and made dinner, then she did my dishes! She really is the best. This was by no means a super exciting evening, but I have to mention it because it's pretty much the only picture I took from the whole weekend. :)

The rest of the time she was here, we pretty much just hung out. We ate a lot, watched some documentaries on Netflix (I'm now obsessed), and laughed a lot. I wore this outfit, which was super stylin', and we just had fun being together.

She was supposed to go home Monday night, but on the way to the airport we found out her flight was delayed, which would've made her miss her flight in Denver - the last flight of the night. It's super silly for her to be stuck overnight in Denver, so we called Frontier and they put her on a flight the next day! Last time she was here, her flight kept getting cancelled due to the crazy snowstorm we had. Clearly, Indiana just wants her to stay forever! She ended up leaving Tuesday afternoon, though that flight was also delayed by an hour. I love when she gets to stay extra time! We had a great weekend, and I'm so grateful she's willing to sacrifice money and time away from work to come spend time with me! She's the best! Here's to being 29!

Jason and Jane

My friend Aaron had some sweet seats to see Jason Mraz and Raining Jane at the Murat Theater. I wasn't feeling very good that day - I had been sick that whole week - so I had seriously considered not going, but I'm so glad I did. It was such a fun show! The music is all very intentionally positive and uplifting, and Jason and all four of the Raining Jane ladies were so fun to watch. It was very interactive and engaging and I loved it! I'm sure being fifth row didn't hurt. :)

The Murat is gorgeous, but the rows are super narrow so if someone needs to get up, the entire row has to stand up to let them through. I could not believe how many people needed to get up throughout the show. These are grown adults who could not hold it for an hour - he even said in the beginning that there'd be an intermission! Nuts. It wasn't really that big of a deal to me, but the lady in front of us was super annoyed by it, and she shared her opinions with us. Apparently, that created a bond between us, because later I complimented her on a photo she'd taken and she offered to send it to me along with several others. So I benefited from her iPhone 6+ camera! As you look through these, you'll easily be able to tell which pictures are from her. Hint: they're the cool ones. It didn't hurt that he had super cool backgrounds.

 

 

The Most Beautiful Downtown

One (very, very, very) brisk Saturday morning I went to our downtown church building to help clean. Afterwards, I took a walk along the river and canal. I think Indianapolis has the most beautiful downtown of any I've seen. 

Halloween 2K14

Winter came early, and it came on Halloween. The weather outside was certainly frightful. Tessa hosted a Halloween get-together and I guess I didn't get the memo about dressing up.

Babies are just so cute and round. How can you resist the comparison to pumpkins? 

Adelina was sick that day, so she was extra cuddly, which was fine by me. She started as a pumpkin and ended as a dalmatian. I continued to not be in costume.

Nalon got a transformer costume, so Jacob surprised him by making his own transformer costume. He looked pretty great! He was good enough to take the kids out trick-or-treating in the snow.

Everyone went all out, making Halloween-themed food. These pineapple, orange, and whipped cream cups looked like candy corn until the whipped cream fell.

Cruella Deville, Jasper, and their Dalmatian...and ninja. :)

Snuggly pumpkin/dalmatians are the best.

Temple and Texas

Working at the temple brings several occupational hazards, one of which is dust. Lots and lots of dust.

Five year-olds making crazy faces at Texas Roadhouse.

Angel Moroni

Working at the temple has been an answer to prayers in a variety of ways. It has shown me how much my Heavenly Father knows me and cares about me. I was able to be there the day they placed the Angel Moroni statue on top of the temple. There were a lot of tender mercies involved that allowed me the be there. Glen, the carpentry boss, said that he's never even seen a Moroni go up because it's usually up before his team gets there, but because of the harsh winter we had, the outside work was behind schedule. There's no way I would've been working at the temple, if it weren't for my brother working there and the opportunity I had to meet his boss in Nauvoo. I was also out of town for over a week, but they put him up the first day I was back in town. On top of that, I usually only work in the evening because I have to go to my regular job, but I was still on Fall Break, so I was able to come in that morning to be there. There were so many circumstances that were just right and allowed me the special privilege to be there close to the action. 

Isaac texted me the day before, asking if I'd be coming into work the next day. He suggested that I come in the morning, but couldn't disclose why. So I came in about 8:30, and I was worried I'd missed it because the cranes were already up. It didn't happen until later in the morning, though.

When they opened up the crate, I was able to go right up to it and see it close up. He wasn't quite as big as I thought he'd look. I absolutely took a selfie with the Angel Moroni, even though the sun was blinding me.

Our Granite Mill (the lumber company) team

My favorite part of working at the temple is working with Isaac. It's fun to have this in common with him.

They lifted Moroni up on a crane, then a lift with a couple of workers followed him to secure him into place. It was a thrill to be a part of it!