Talking about November

Today is the day. Bill is going to write his paper.

I forgot to mention that Bill was accepted into Western Governor's University back in October - good things!

This. Is. A. Big. Deal.

Not because it was "difficult" for him to get in, but because Bill hates school. Bill and I have never been able to see eye-to-eye on this subject. Bill tests incredibly well and retains information like a sponge holds water, but he hates the busy-work that comes with being a student. I have to give Bill some credit...for he tried college...twice. Each time, things didn't work out so well for him. School is just not his cup-of-tea. Having spent practically everyday with Bill for the last year and a half, I've come to realize, truly, that school is not meant for everyone.

But when Bill learned more about the program his mom went through to get her degree, there was a magic little spark. WGU is an accredited online university based out of Salt Lake. Bill's mom graduated with her Master's in Nursing back in February, and it got the wheels turning in Bill's head. The way WGU works is that you pay a certain amount for tuition for each six-month semester. Then you take as many credits online as you want during the course of that semester. You only take one class at a time. As soon as you are done with one class, you can move on to the next. So really, WGU is most beneficial for those who want to get their degree fast, and save some money. Otherwise, there's not much difference in attending Utah State, or any other in-state university for that matter.

We felt WGU would be a really good move for Bill. It was geared directly toward his learning style and they offered the degree he had been looking into. With that! Bill is currently working for his Bachelor's in Network Engineering. Hooray!

The first few weeks, Bill was on fire. He tested out of classes and earned 12 or 13 credits without even having to try very hard. Granted, they were general credits, but he earned the same amount of credits in two weeks that I had to work for for four months as a Freshman. I was really happy for him and excited to see him so motivated about school!

Then as soon as he finished those up, the next task on his list was to write a research paper. Kill me now. Bill tests. He does not write. This research paper has been like the plague in our house. He had no motivation to work on it and couldn't get over the fact that he hates writing papers. His adviser calls out of Arizona every Thursday at 8:00 AM to check on him and see how things are going. There hasn't been much to report. Bill has been at a standstill for the last two months. His adviser says that this is the point that most of the Network Engineering people get hung up on. Once they get over this piece, they are usually set to go! Apparently, Bill is just following the trend...but really...since when has Bill ever followed the "trend?" ;) Oy...why now?

Then bless his mother's heart, Judy graciously offered to take a whole day and sit down with him and help him work on his paper! For her Master's program, most of her courses were based off written papers, not tests. She's an expert. And what made me most excited? Bill actually consented to doing it!!! It's a New Year's Miracle!

So while Bill and Judy are working on Bill's paper, I am here blogging away with unsurpassed, positive, happy, and elated feelings that Bill is actually getting his paper done! Wahoo! And after two hours, Judy has just emerged from the room to switch over the laundry and to report that Bill has picked a topic, has four bullet points, and will have an annotated bibliography come the end of today! *fingers of joy*

I'm so dang excited. Really. I don't think Bill will ever understand how truly happy this makes me! Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope that he'll keep this motivation through til the end of the semester! ;)

(Catch my drift dear? Hehe. Love you!)

Let's talk about November.

Well....probably more important than Thanksgiving, Taylor came up to visit!!! Okay...maybe not more importantly, but I know I was more excited about it than eating food! :)

Tay stayed the weekend over at Mallory's and Hilary's apartment.

Friday night was the infamous basketball game between Utah State and BYU. Yes. THE Game of the year. Spinning off all the Occupy Movements going on the strongest at that time, USU started up "Occupy the Spectrum" where people camped out in the HPER Field in tents in order to secure their seat for the game. It was crazy, but hysterical at the same time, to see all the die-hard basketball fans and Freshmen camped out in the field.

For those who are a little less crazy, but passionate all the same, (like Hilary and Kaitlin and Mallory) they went early on Friday morning, wrapped up in blankets, and waited in line to get a wristband. Their waiting paid off and were guaranteed a spot in the Spectrum! And somehow (I'm not sure how it ended up working out exactly) they got one for Taylor too!

After the intense battle, which USU came out the victor, all the gals came over to Bill's and I's apartment and had pizza and chatted. It was good to see all of them again and to seemingly pick up right were we left off.

On Saturday, Bill and I were invited by our neighbor and ward member Kristi, to a Nikken product launch/get together up at the USU Conference Center. Kristi had been very involved with Nikken and had been asked to speak and share her experience with the Nikken products at the launch. Bill and I wanted to be supportive and decided we would attend, but we would have to come late.

By the time we had shown up, we had missed Kristi speaking, but we were able to hear a few more stories and see a few of the new products that were being launched for the 2012 year. Nikken is a multi-level marketing company that focuses on using and selling magnets and other products that help your body to be well. It is actually really amazing stuff! We had noticed a change in our friend Kristi just in the small time frame that we had known her...but we hadn't known or suspected what it was. But because of Nikken, Kristi has gone from a sickly, pale, insomniac, with a lactose intolerance, celiac disease, hypoglycemia...and even more troubles, to some one who has color in her face, can eat gluten, and sleep again. Kristi looks amazing! And all because of the power of magnets and natural dietary supplements that Nikken offers. It's really powerful, and Bill and I were deeply impressed - not only by Kristi, but by the other people who were in the room who had life-changing experiences because of Nikken.

Out of all the places to run into an old friend, my old next door neighbor, Denise Murri was at the Nikken launch! I used to baby-sit her kids before they had moved away to Idaho Falls! Denise was a part of a group that had traveled down from Idaho to be at the Nikken gathering. And it was really interesting to see the change in her as well. When Denise had lived next door to us in North Ogden, there was no doubt in my mind that she had severe depression. She always seemed winded and had bags under her eyes. Her and her husband were both nurses who constantly worked odd-ball hours of the day and night. It was good for them to be able to get together and go on date-night every once and a while...that's when I would come over to baby-sit.

But I instantly noticed something about Denise when we saw her at the Nikken launch - she had a smile on her face and she laughed. It was a different Denise...and she just seemed better! Healthy! Kristi and I went over and talked with her after the presentations were all done and we caught up on LIFE a little bit. :) It was good to see her and hear her share her story with me about how Nikken had helped her in her LIFE as well.

I couldn't stop thinking about my Bill...he regularly has severe migraines, a constant dull headache, allergies like you wouldn't believe, exercised-induced asthma, a hatred of water, and an ankle that gives him guff every now and again after he hurt it going wake-boarding. He has the hardest time falling asleep and cannot get up in the morning without a half-hour battle with me nagging at him. The stories these people were telling were stories that I could relate to...because my husband has the same problems! To hear how they were skeptical at first, tried a couple of products, and noticed a change...I had a very distinct feeling and prompting that this might be a solution to some of Bill's problems.

We invited Kristi and her lead, Les, to come over and talk to us later that month...with all these impressions I was having, I knew we had nothing to lose.

After the Nikken launch, I popped on over the Hil's and Mal's to meet up with the girls so that we could all go over to the USU Hockey Game...an old roommate pastime, and one of Taylor's passions. The game was against Weber State. We slaughtered them. They got away with a single pity-point after our goalie accidentally bumped the puck into the goal. It was almost more sad than anything. But we all had a good time despite the uneventfulness of the game. ;)

Hilary, Taylor, Mallory, and Kaitlin

We love hockey!

I came back with the girls and we talked and watched Hil and Tay do "melty-crayon" things on canvas. :)

The next day was our ward's first choir performance! We had been working on an arrangement of "I Need Thee Every Hour" for a few months...and it had finally come together! It truly was beautiful. I invited Taylor to come to our sacrament meeting and hear us perform. It was fun sitting by her in church again. It had been too long. :) We performed our piece and made the speaker cry...a true mark of success, in my book. Haha. It was a great sense of accomplishment! Going from shaky fingers at the piano and Bill not sure of how to direct a choir, to confidence in both our parts. Our choir was beautiful.

We had the girls come over for dinner again that evening and enjoyed some barbecue chicken and alfredo (reminiscent of the first meal Bill had ever made for me back in the dating days). And of course we talked until it was time for my dearest friends to go.

I love those girls - Kaitlin, Mallory, Hilary, and Taylor - with all of my heart. I'm so glad you are all in my LIFE.

Although we were not engaged this time last year, I had gone up to Idaho Falls to celebrate Thanksgiving with Bill's family. It was certainly a Thanksgiving I will never forget...spending it in a hotel because the Herrin's house had flooded, and using a stranger's house to cook and eat our Thanksgiving feast in. :) Uncle Dave slipping and breaking his ankle. Bill being sick. Trying bacon-wrapped water chestnuts. It was absolutely crazy and wonderful.

With that being last year, we shared Thanksgiving with my family this year.

We have the long-standing tradition of having dinner over at Grandma Sorenson's every third Sunday of the month. This year we would be having Thanksgiving at Grandma's as well. It wasn't that much different than every other time that we go over there, but it was nice to spend time with family! :)

We also have the tradition of going to the movies on Thanksgiving night. This year we went to go see "The Muppet's Movie." It was hysterical! Bill and I still quote it all the time. Waka waka!  We loved it.

We stopped by at the Kiefer's after the movie and collected more leftovers before heading back up to Logan. :)

The next day, we went Christmas Tree Hunting with my family. Bill had never been before, and I had missed out on it last year. I was super excited! The Sorenson's and the Nichol's swung by and picked us up at our apartment before heading out to Preston to pick up our tree-permit.

It was a lovely day for Tree Hunting! It wasn't bitter cold, and it wasn't snowing...yet. We met up with Chad and Shallen at the hardware store and bought our tree permits. Bill picked up a nice pair of gloves that, to this day, he is quite fond of. We also made my family stop at the gas station so that Bill and I could grab some breakfast from Burger King. Thanks familia.

We drove up Mink Creek (? I believe it was) and had to face the slippery icy roads of the mountains. Dad fishtailed a couple of times...but he made sure we were safe. Then out of nowhere there was a freak whiteout! It was kind of scary, but we were able to park, and just as we did so, the storm passed and we were able to go searching for my family's tree.

We found it pretty quick! It was just on the side of the road, begging to take it home with us. :) Not able to resist its pretty pine brows, my mom and dad consented and cut him down. Done. That was the quickest tree we had ever found.

 Team effort to cut down the tree!

Pops and Bill

Bringing the tree back to the Yukon

The loveliest and easiest-found tree on record

Randomly, I ran into a girl I went to high school with! Jessica Morgan! Here family was up in Idaho hunting for Christmas Trees too! Crazy coincidence! Later on, my dad and Bill had to go help her family dig out their truck when they tried to go further up the road. I'm glad I have great men in my LIFE - ready to help at the drop of a hat.

We ate lunch, but we still had to wait for Chad and Troy to find their trees. Bill and I talked with little Tyler for a while and then I played with Kaleb in the snow. Just then, everyone returned to the vehicles with beautiful trees in hand. What a glorious site to see!

I look forward to the day when Bill and I have a home big enough to bring home our own real Christmas Tree. For now, we get to use my little fake tree that I bought last year! When we got home from Christmas Tree Hunting with our family, Bill and I went and got Chinese Food...which is a weird tradition that my family had kind of picked up on the last few years I was at home. I kind of wanted to carry that tradition on. :)

Then it was important for us to have ornaments to decorate our tree with! So we went to the dollar store and picked up some red and gold ornaments and some silk poinsettia flowers to place in our tree. It was also important to have a Christmas tree topper! So we went to Wal-Mart and found a beautiful star to place on top. I was pleased. I had a red fleece blanket back at home that we would use for the tree skirt.

 Our first Christmas Tree

Detail of our Star Christmas Tree Topper

While at Wal-Mart, sifting through other Christmas goodness, Bill came up with a brilliant idea. He wanted to place a lit up wreath on the front of his suburban! Heh heh. I wasn't sure how exactly he was going to do that, but I know my husband is a genius and is very resourceful. He would find a way to make a wreaf...I mean wreath...light up and attach it to the Subby! So we bought all the parts we would need to do that. A wreath, a strand of Christmas lights, and a big red bow. It would be perfect. 

The wreath that will somehow get onto the Subby...

And a few days later, Bill, did in fact, figure out how to put the wreath on his suburban! It was so cool!

 He did it!

"The Wreaf"

If I have a very favorite part about the Christmas season, it all revolves around decorating the tree. I love eating Chinese food together, and getting creative about our holiday creations. It's the part that always comes to mind when I think about the joy in Christmas. :)

And that my friends, was November.

(And Bill is almost finished with his annotated bibliography!)

Octubre

My mom always said she disliked Halloween. As a kid, I could never understand why! Who doesn't like dressing up and getting candy?  I was in a state of constant bewilderment and noted this as a topic my mother and I could never agree on.

Then I entered the awkward days of Junior High. Too cool for a costume. Go to a friend's house and watch a scary movie. That's the thing young teens are expected to do. I used my mom as an excuse and claimed to hate Halloween. Because all "grown-ups" hate Halloween. Pssh. Trick-or-Treating is for babies. Right?

Fortunately, I made some friends who kept me young at heart. At 16-years-old, it was okay to go trick-or-treating again. Sure, we got many, "Aren't you too old for this?" remarks, but who wants to gain the reputation as the old witch who wouldn't give a kid candy? We took full advantage of Halloween to reinforce the stereotype of the annoying teen. Loud, obnoxious, but harmless. :)

Although Utah State is renowned for The Howl, its epic Halloween party, I felt like it was nothing more than an excuse for college girls to dress as scantily as society will allow and a holiday where a whole lot of no-good was doomed to happen. The last two years, I never got around to dressing up. I was indifferent to the whole idea.

But at this point in my LIFE, I have begun to figure out why my mom said Halloween was her least favorite of the holidays...and I realize I misunderstood her reasoning.

The whole concept of Halloween is rather corrupt and polluted...and practically pointless. That's what my mom doesn't like about Halloween. But I believe there is a spirit of Halloween. :) Not a devil-worshipping type of spirit, but a wholesome spirit! And it's exciting!

Here are my thoughts. What would our lives be like without holidays? After a summer of care-free and whimsy, I countdown the days until school starts again so that I can put structure back into my LIFE. As soon as I'm back in a routine, I look forward to the moment I can take a day off! It keeps me motivated as I take LIFE one day at a time. Just one more week. Just two more days. I can make it until tomorrow! 

Holidays are touch-points. Mile markers, if you will. Society revolves around them!

The last few years my mom has really gotten into Halloween. She decorates our front porch with orange lights and black tinsel and funny spider lights. She used to make our costumes when we were little. She made helped me to be Jasmine, Mary Poppins, Esmerelda, and Captain Catherine Janeway. :) Too cool! She doesn't sew our costumes any more, but she was always okay with us going out and being whoever we wanted to be. We have a family Halloween party where everyone comes over and eats food and the little cousins go trick-or-treating. It certainly makes for a good time.

 Phoenix and Erin Kitties at the family Halloween party.

Ben wearing my aardvark ears. :)

I say, why not have a holiday where it's okay to dress up like a silly-goose? It's about lightening up and living LIFE a little bit! It's all in the name of fun. :) It's a form of positive stress relief! The spirit of Halloween is delightful and allows everyone to perk up and be themselves. They can be WHOEVER they want to be for a night, and no one can say anything. It's okay. We can just laugh!

With that, I love My Bill. :) He was willing to loosen up and dress-up with me. I cannot even express to you how happy I was because of it! We had so much fun!

We dressed up as Arthur and D.W. Yes we did. FOR THE WIN!!! It was the most brilliant costume idea and it worked out better than I had ever hoped!

Al and Loraine were having a murder-mystery dinner party at their place and we needed costumes. So we went off to D.I. - the best store in the world! While we were picking out costumes for a murder-mystery novelist, and a mountain climbing enthusiast/architect, we were also keeping our eyes peeled for Arthur and D.W. material. And we found it! I found a pink jumper that I could cut to knee-length and I picked up some little black Mary-Jane's that I fully intended to paint blue. Bill found the perfect yellow sweatshirt and even some white Velcro tennis shoes in his size! Holy toledo! I was so excited!!! We bought some craft paint to paint our shoes and some felt and headbands to make little aardvark ears. :)

D.W. and Arthur

We were adorable. :)

We had a grand ol' time at Al and Loraine's dinner party! We enjoyed Loraine's delicious home-cooking and got to know a few more couples. I was a murderer. Not THE murderer, but I had killed someone in the past...that's what made my murder-mystery novels such a success...I had experience! ;) And I was also a hypnotist in a circus. Go figure.

Bill, of course, was the actual murderer of the evening!!! He knew from the very beginning!!! He played his part well and was one sly dog faking to be the illegitmate child of Sir Astrid. Not everyone was convinced it was Sir Roger B. Astrid when it came time to frame a party member, but hedunnit all the same. :)

Roger B. Astrid and Dame Bigh

Have I ever mentioned how much we love our ward? It's full of good people and lasting friends! President Berg, Bill's twin, planned a ward Halloween party. Everyone brought chili (we cheated....and dumped six cans of chili into our crock pot...and added a few things to spice it up. Heh heh.). And we had a fashion show! Everyone was so creative!

The Birds and the Bee

The Mermaid, the Baby Fish, and the Fisherman

The Puppet Show!
 

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Count Dracula and a Witch

Pirates! 

 Bishop and Sister McMahon

We played the most intense game of Jenga on record and a rousing game of Clue. I held the Jensen's new little baby girl and Bill crawled around the gym floor with baby Maggie, the ward pet. :) When we first moved into the ward, every time we saw Maggie, she was with a different couple. We weren't quite sure who she really belonged to! :) Our good friend, J.J. Butler affectionately dubbed her as the ward pet. We each take turns taking care of her, just as you would a class pet.

 David taking his turn at Jenga

 Maggie and Arthur

After reading a blog post, Bill learned how to make our own fog machine! All it required was glycerin and water and a little bit of heat. We were set on trying it, so after a crazy run around town looking for glycerin (which you can only buy in the pharmaceutical area, by the way) we gathered up all the materials to make our very own fog machine. We experimented with it all night while listening to the music from the happenin' Halloween dance party in our parking lot. We love being surrounded by single student housing. :)

The next night we invited Kyle and Kristi Allred over to Sunday dinner at our place. We had some great conversation and got to know them a lot more. The Allreds' LOVE Bill. They ADORE him. They think he is the bee's knees! They always sit by us in Sunday School and we do quite a bit together as couples. It's really fun, and I love how much they admire Bill. It makes me laugh. And I feel that much more honored to call Bill my husband. :)

 Kristi and Kyle - carving pumpkins!

We carved pumpkins after dinner and Bill thought it would be cool to somehow place the fog machine inside a jack-o'-lantern and watch the fog billow out of it! It kind of worked...

See the fog?

Somewhere in October we also went on a double date with our good friends Michelle Pfost and Chris Roche - some of our very favorite people. We had steaks over at our place and talked for a long while. Then we made our way over to Cache Valley's annual Pumpkin Walk! It was so fun to see all the creativeness that exudes in the valley. :)

Oh we're walking to the Pumpkin Walk!

Angry Birds!

The Nightmare Before Christmas

 Tigger

 Plants versus Zombies!

 Michelle and I with Tangled!

A scene from "The Christmas Story"

Me, Chris, and Bill

Yoda

Also, October marks the month I finally discovered the goodness of Pinterest. Inspiration station! I found the directions to make a cute little ghost decoration, and I actually went through with it. It hung above our table all throughout October. He brought much happiness to our home.

The importance of networking has been reaffirmed to me again and again. Getting a job is all about who you know. Bill has been working closely with the owner of AlphaGraphics of Cache Valley for quite some time. One day Bill and James were talking and somehow the topic of conversation turned to the fact that I'm majoring in Graphic Design and minoring in Marketing. James was very interested in this fact and had been thinking about taking on an "intern" for quite some time. He asked Bill if he thought I would be interested in such a position.

So Bill came home and talked with me about the opportunity. I was flattered and absolutely hesitant. I loved working for USU Housing, not because of what my job entailed, but because of the people I worked with. They were my second family. My Housing job was also consistent and fit perfectly around my school schedule. I didn't want to give all that up. An internship seemed terribly risky at the point in my LIFE.

After thinking about it for a couple of days and after talking with Bill, I realized that it would be terrible to let this opportunity pass me by. Although I love Graphic Design, I don't have any experience within the field to place on a resume. To get hired on anywhere as a Graphic Designer, a big thing they look for is experience. James also offered to pay me the same wages that I made at Housing. I wouldn't be losing any income. My risks were not as high as I had previously thought.

I finally met with James face to face and he explained to me a little more about what the internship would entail. We looked at my schedule and realized that I would certainly be able to work it around my school schedule. It would be a little crazy, but very doable! If I was willing, they would like to see me start as soon as possible.

Without a lot of notice, I talked to my supervisor Christy at Housing and let her know of the good and bad news. Good in that I had this wonderful opportunity ahead of me...and bad because I would be leaving. I told her on Wednesday. Our boss, Jason, okayed, it on Thursday. They found another gal to fill my position, and my last day at Housing was that Friday. Wow! When things need to change...it will happen.

The Lord is always giving us opportunities to stretch and to grow and to get out of our comfort zones. It's incredibly hard for me, but I've realized that I have NEVER regretted any decision I've made that requires me to grow. The Lord really does know what it best for us! We just have to be willing to put our faith in Him.

And now I am an employee of AlphaGraphics. I really do love it there! There are some dull moments...looking for things to do to keep me busy, but I've had some exceptional opportunities I know I would not have been able to gain anywhere else. A lot of changes have happened in the business in the short time that I've been there, and I've been able to learn and grow with everyone else. It was a good time to come in and join the team! And I really do love the people I work with. They each have extremely different personalities, but I enjoy getting to know them. :) They are great individuals!

I didn't realize how jam-packed October truly was! But it was a fun experience as a couple and a window of opportunity for personal growth.

Happy Christmas Adam everyone. :) I'm almost caught up!

Try to Remember the Kind of September...

What a lovely day!

It all started at 12:30 AM.

I had been working on homework for a stretch of eleven hours yesterday, trying to pump out an Olympics Opening Ceremony website for my Graphic Interface class. It was near complete, so I felt a wave a success sweep over me when I finally wrapped things up at midnight. I was up talking with Bill and had decided to start getting ready for bed when all of a sudden Bill's phone started to ring.

Curious. Who would call at 12:30 at night?

That would be our friend, Chris Roche of course. ;)

Deciding that Chris wouldn't randomly call us in the middle of the night unless for good reason, Bill gave him a call back.

Chris was driving home from the Elite Hall Dance Benefit when he came across two girls stuck on the side of the road. They had left the dance around 11:45 themselves, and had been completely stranded with no idea what to do. A kid with a truck stopped to help them, but he had no tow-strap. Chris would normally have one, but he had recently had repairs on his car and had taken his out. Chris says he called half of Cache Valley trying to find someone still awake and willing to tow Andrea's car back to her apartment on campus!

Luckily, we happened to be awake and were ready to rush to the aid of these damsels in distress.

Bill hooked Andrea's car to the suburban and expertly towed the car from Hyrum to campus with Chris's help. Andrea drove in the suburban with us, while Andrea's friend drove Chris's vehicle, and the boy who stopped to help the girls followed behind us all. Andrea was a freshman from Alaska (who doesn't like chocolate) and was completely distressed about her "new" car that she had just purchased with her own money. It looked like she would need a new alternator before her car would be up and running again. Poor thing.

We got the car parked in a nice parking spot (with a little bit of curb-hopping) and the damsel was escorted safely back to her apartment.

I came along for moral support and to observe the epicness of the night so that I might blog about it later. I love how willing my husband is to serve! He does it with the biggest heart and utmost excitement. I admire him full-heartedly.

We came home a promptly crashed for the night.

There is something positively wonderful about snow in December. I'm not the only one to think so. Our ward member and friend, Kyle Allred, told the ward of his deep passion and abiding love for the snow today. When he woke up this morning, he could smell it. ;)

All day there have been snowflakes floating through the air and it is even more fantastic because the sun has been out! It's the prettiest site you'll see.

After church today, Bill went out to help our friend Andrew with a networking issue back at our old ward house (from the days when we were single). I stayed home and watched PianoGuys youtube videos...for a good hour, I would suppose. And then I decided it would be appropriate to pick up around the house before the Bergs' came over to join us for dinner this evening!

Once again, I realized that I love cleaning. I've always known it, but today that fact was reemphasized to me. When I don't have other things pressing upon me and vying for my attention, cleaning helps me to de-stress. I didn't deep clean, but with a morning of excellent lessons at church, some Jon Schmidt playing in the background, a little smelly-good dusting, and some vacuuming helped my mind to settle.

Bill came home after helping Andrew and then left soon after to go Home Teaching to his three families. That left me to make dinner all on my own. I was kind of excited! Not gonna lie.

I made lemon chicken! It turned out pretty good! I had no idea what to expect, and I prayed with all my heart that it would turn out all right since we had company coming over! Between making rice pilaf, a pasta salad, and the chicken, things almost got tricky. But I remained calm and managed! I was proud when it was all done cooking at about the same time! Just in time for the Bergs' to arrive! But where was Bill?...he came home five minutes later. I felt like a good little housewife. ;)

And my moment of success? It actually turned out pretty good if I do say so myself. :)

We then carpooled with the Bergs' up to the church house to watch the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional. After sneaking in a few candy bars to snack on, we finally began to settle down and listen to what was being said at the devotional. Wow. I love Christmas time. And now all I want is to focus in on the Savior's birth this year! I felt so inspired!

When we walked into the chapel...who did we see? None other than Bruce and Alyssa Hoffman! At last! My best friend growing up has lived up in Logan for the past six months and I had not made the effort to make a visit to see her. I assumed since we were in the same stake that we would rub shoulders now and again...but it took this long to finally make that happen! It was so good to see them! I was overjoyed. :)  

(Bruce and Alyssa -specifically Lyssa? If you are reading this, I know I mentioned dinner in November sometime. I know that didn't happen. I haven't forgotten. The Holiday season is crazy for us and I'm sure for you too, but I'm thinking January? Don't give up on us. Haha.)

We came home from the devotional and had some ice cream with the Bergs' and chatted for a little while longer. And now I am here blogging...preparing to inundate you with memories of September.

Those Days in September:

But really...I'm going to start in May. 

I once had six fish. I've written a memorial here on my blog, to each fish that has died...except Mike and David. I'm not entirely sure what happened to Mike-fish (you got that one Tay?). And David died at a particularly crazy moment in LIFE. 

With that? I give a memorial to David. 

David died on May 5, 2011. It was that time of year where it was the final week of the semester and everyone was moving out of the apartment. I was cleaning up the apartment and I happened to notice how dirty the fish bowl was...and how I only saw one little fish swimming around in the murky water. I approached the bowl and saw that poor little David had passed away. I was the only one in the apartment right then to mourn his passing. So I ceremoniously swept him up in the green net and deposited him in the toilet...and took a picture - because I'm morbid like that.

 Poor Little Dead David... :(

 Deposited by the green net...

 ...and into the toilet. So long little fellow.

I knew David was on the verge of death. He had some floating issues. For the last couple of weeks prior to his death, he had a problem where he couldn't stay at the bottom of the bowl with Ryan. He kept floating to the top and was constantly trying to swim downward. 

We had read somewhere online that one could cure a floating goldfish by feeding it a pea because it would force all the air out of his belly. This actually worked for a few weeks, but every time I changed the water, I would have to feed little David a pea. Ryan-fish was perfectly fine. So really, it was no surprise to me to see David limp at the top of the bowl. 

On a happier note, David's memorial was posted at this time because in September, we celebrated Ryan's SECOND birthday! 

Can you believe it? Ryan the Albino had made it to his second year of LIFE on September 21, 2011. I couldn't have been a happier fish-owner! 

We had a birthday party over at Hilary's, Mallory's, Kaitlin's, and Aubrey's apartment. Phil and Tim were there (they're from the original apartment full of boys that we named the fish after) and Shanna and Michelle came by. Hilary's sister was also there to celebrate with us. 

Tim and his lady-friend gave Ryan a birthday card and a present of plastic farm animals! Ryan was so excited!...and perhaps traumatized. Bill and I brought Swedish Fish. Mallory made a Funfetti cake. We celebrated with a rendition of "Happy Birthday" and played a round of Book of Mormon Go Fish! It was a most excellent evening. :)

 Happy birthday Ryan-Fish!

 Book of Mormon Go Fish!

 Mallory serving us Funfetti Birthday cake.

 All those who have played a significant role in the LIFE of Ryan-Fish.

Ryan is still alive and well today and is kept company by Cricket, the African dwarf frog, in the bowl next door. Cricket will celebrate his first birthday sometime in April. :) 

Who is Cricket you ask? When Taylor and Hilary went to Baby Animal Days last year they came home with a new pet to keep the fish company. Good intentions! But Taylor was deathly afraid of the frog and it was up to Hilary to clean the little guy. :) When it came time to moving time, Bill said he would love to keep the frog if neither Taylor or Hilary wanted to take it home with them for the summer. So I offered, and Cricket now belongs to Bill and I. We call him Frog. 

I'm convinced Fish and Frog communicate through their bowls. When I turn on the light in the morning they always seem to be looking at one another through the glass. I should right a children's book about them one day. 

We also went camping at Grandpa's Mountain over Labor day. This time, Bill and I had bought our own tent and it's big, green, spacious, and a massive bee trap. 

As we were setting it up we managed to get three yellow jackets and a huge evil-looking insect stuck inside. When it really came down to the fact that Bill and I were terrified of what was inside our tent, Madre came at them with Grandma Sorenson's electric swatter. Bye-bye buggies!

Our awesome tent and bee trap.

And cousin Tyler had the most awesome maniacal frosting goatee. :)

Evil Tyler. :)

That is all I have documented for September. You can definitely tell that school had begun by this point because my photos dramatically fall in number from here on out. 

And here are the lyrics to the song that inspired the title of this post. It's from the musical, The Fantasticks. I find it appropriate seeing as it integrates both December, the month we are currently in, and September, the month I have finally written about. :) I hope that one day I will look back on these last few months with fondness and remember all the great times we had as husband and wife.

      Try to remember the kind of September when life was slow and oh, so, mellow.
      Try to remember the kind of September when grass was green and grain so yellow.
      Try to remember the kind of September when you were a young and callow fellow.
      Try to remember and if you remember, then follow, follow.

      Try to remember when life was so tender that no one wept except the willow.
      Try to remember when life was so tender that dreams were kept beside your pillow.
      Try to remember when life was so tender that love was an ember about to billow.
      Try to remember and if you remember, then follow, follow.

      Deep in December it's nice to remember although you know the snow will follow
      Deep in December it's nice to remember without a hurt the heart is hollow
      Deep in December it's nice to remember the fire of September that made you mellow
      Deep in December our hearts should remember and follow, follow. Follow.

 Happy September.