Lovin the season

You know what is great about Halloween? You can sleep over at your friends' house after an amazing party, and wake up, look around the room you slept in, and realize you shared your room with a skeleton, stuffed raven, a fake rat, and formaldehyde-ized creatures. And none of that seems weird.

And, as you might be able to tell from the url of my blog, I like pie. Love. Adore. And the best part of November? (other than celebrating my parents anniversary - Happy Anniversary Tomorrow Mom and Dad!!) The best part of November is pie. And turkey. But mostly pie.

Two stories - One post

Last Saturday, my family descended upon the Sprint store to change phone plans. If you happened to be one of the many people who were upset because the only employee in the store was helping us for a few hours, and if you gave us dirty looks because he was helping us instead of you - tough. We got there first. And as a note to my friends, I now have unlimited texting (yes, no more being limited to just 100 texts a month! Don't hold back anymore! Text away!)

In a completely unrelated matter, I decided that I am not one of those girls who wants a romantic "how we met" story with my future spouse. I would take humor over romance. To illustrate - my family is currently remodeling our bathroom. After all the work was done for the day, my mom was chatting with the plumber (named Bubba), and somehow the conversation led to my mother mentioning that I was single (this happens frequently). The plumber said he had a number of single guys in his ward, which led to my mom asking (jokingly, of course), if any of them were single. Bubba (the plumber), said, "Why yes, there is one that is a really great guy. Although, to be honest, he is into weird stuff - he likes Star Wars." Which of course led my mother to explain that Star Wars is not weird to me, that in fact, I'm going as a Jedi for Halloween.

Long story short, there is a high probability that I am going to be set up on a blind date by my plumber to a Star Wars loving man. I actually hope this one works out, because then, forever and ever, when people ask "how did you meet?" I will be able to tell people that a plumber named Bubba set us up. Please universe, let this date actually happen!

big hair for big occasions

I'm the most excited for Halloween that I have ever been in my life. Well, at least since I was a kid. When I was a kid, Halloween generally involved finding a wonderful outfit like a fairy or a princess, and then resorting to a hobo costume the day of trick-or-treating because it was so cold outside that my mom couldn't fit my fairy costume over the snowpants and coat that were required to keep my tiny body warm. So, we resorted to a bowler hat and a funny shirt over the coat, and called it good.

As an adult, Halloween generally sneaks up on me, and I quickly through a costume together that generally involves me ratting my hair to unfathomable heights (never underestimate the power of natural curl + ratting + super-stiff hairspray). This year, however, I actually planned ahead! Probably because I'm on a quest to not hide from anyone my passions (in the past, I used to wait at least a month to figure out if a potential friend was prepared for the full onslaught of the geekdom that is my life. Now, I give them a day, if that), my Halloween costume for this year is from a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. I was originally going to be Princess Leia, but my desire to run around with a light-saber far exceeded my desire to put my long hair to good use in those massive buns. Yes, I will be a Jedi knight. And don't be surprised if I end up wearing this costume at other times that are not Halloween.

Of Bugs and Men

Gnats have overtaken Centerville. Gnats and In-n-Out customers. The similarities are remarkable - both descended upon our town in droves and only seem to leave late at night. There seems to be nothing we can do about either horde, except deal with it. They both might leave when winter sets in - might. The one difference is that I do not have a windshield plastered with In-n-Out customers. That would be disturbing.

I do wonder how long it will be until I break down and attempt the visit to the In-n-Out. I mean, its super cool that my hometown has one, and the burgers really are good. However, every time I look down that road, I see police cones, cars everywhere, and more people than could possibly have fit into those cars. It makes the claustrophobic within me shudder at the thought of going near.

In related news, I have chosen a poor time to start exercising again. The biggest problem with gnats is that they love to act like they are wandering around aimlessly, but they must have a sixth sense for those people who are exercising because they will go right into joggers mouths or eyes.

Now doesn't this post make you want to visit Centerville?

A Letter

Dear Custodial Department at the Place Where I Work,

I appreciate your need for automatic toilets. The sanitary benefits would appear to be huge. However, is there a way for you to reduce the water pressure slightly so that water does not SPURT out of the toilet when it flushes? Water splashing from the toilet onto my nylon-covered legs is not the most pleasant experience.

Signed, a concerned intern.

So you all know

Over the last few weeks I have seen a lot of buzz on the internet debating various topics of LDS doctrine, I have watched news reports of a former seminary teacher being convicted of raping his student, and have heard of friends and acquaintances leaving the church for one reason or another. With all of this negativity being raised in one arena or another, I decided that I wanted to raise my voice here. It might not have a far reach, but I sure will feel better.

I know that God loves his children. I know He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to show us the right way to live in order to return to live with him again. I know God set a pattern of communicating with His children through prophets. I know that God once again chose to have a prophet on the earth when He called Joseph Smith to be the prophet in 1830, and that since that time, we have always had a prophet on the earth.

I believe in the admonition of the Savior to judge people by their fruits. One fruit is "The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ." I believe it is what it says it is, another testament that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, and that it affirms the Bible's claim that Christ rose from the grave.

Another fruit is the actions of the people. No, we are not a perfect people - far from it. But we are trying. Our humanitarian efforts go to far countries such as Mozambique, or close to home at local food kitchens. These efforts are for Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, atheists - anyone who is in distress or in need.

Finally, I just want to point at that for every argument somebody can make as a reason to leave the church or doubt whether or not it is true, another argument can be made to stay. If you are looking to leave, have your doubts, or concerns, please ask. Ask your faithful friends, ask leaders, but most importantly, ask the Lord. I don't know everything, I have been hurt by LDS members, and I have had my own confusions. All I do know is that I need God in my life, and when I go to church, when I pray, and when I read the scriptures, I feel God's love for me. And that's why I keep going.

And so it goes

In the continuing tradition of sharing the odd injuries that I sustain, I have one more story for you, my faithful blog readers. I went shopping with my mom the other day, and was trying on a cute turtle-neck when the tag (almost with a life of its own) went directly for my eye. Luckily my eye was closed, but I really did get a cut on my eyelid from a pricetag. Yet another injury I do not recommend.

In other news, I have been in ward-limbo for the last month. The last time I attended my Provo ward was August 15, and I had every intention of starting my new ward as soon as possible. However, a series of events in the last month have led me to be unable to attend my own church services (but some weeks I have attended 2 sacrament meetings, so don't think I'm falling away!). This week, I realized that since it has been over a month since I have belonged to a ward, I had every intention of attending my new singles ward. I stayed in Provo last night, so I woke up early to drive up to C-town to get ready and make it to my new ward. However, when I went to get back in my car to drive to church, my dear car refused to start. I simultaneously laughed and held back tears as I walked to my home ward. Here's to another week of a social life consisting of playing with my adorable 2-year-old nephew.