Arctic Circle Flashlights

Halloween is one of my favorite times of the year. Maybe it is because we all get to pretend to be something we are not. Perhaps it is because we get to write fun Halloween stories in school. (This year I am writing a story about a Vampire Penguin, I'll let you know how it turns out.) Whatever the reason, the candy corns, the pumpkins, or the fall colors...it is great!

One of my favorite memories of Halloween is when we would get the little coupons to Arctic Circle for a free ice cream cone. What an awesome treat! How can a tootsie roll stand a chance against an ice cream cone? Anyway, because of some traffic issues, Devin and I found ourselves driving by the good old Arctic Circle the other day. They had their big signs out advertising their really cool Halloween flashlights. We started talking about the really cool Halloween buckets that they use to give out with their kid's meals. One thing led to another and after two trips to Arctic Circle, we are now the proud owners of the complete 2007 Arctic Circle Halloween flashlight collection. I guess this is my way of getting over the fact that I never got one of the cool Halloween buckets as a kid.

Vampire Soapbox

Have you ever read a book that is so completely annoying, yet you can't stop reading it? This sums up my recent reading of the WAY too popular book entitled Twilight. I have had innumerable amounts of people tell me that Twilight is just the "best book ever!" That "sleep is 2nd to reading this book" That "I just couldn't go on with life until I finished them." And the most shocking, "I wanted to read more than listen to General Conference."

I was intrigued to say the least. Months ago I bought Twilight, with a gift card from our wedding (Thanks! That's my favorite kind of gift.). I put it at the bottom of my stack of books to read. Finally it ended up at the top. I must admit Stephenie Meyer is a great writer. No complaints about her writing style. I really enjoyed it....until the characters became so completely annoying that I couldn't stand it anymore! Maybe it's the "Tomboy" in me, that was craving some really good blood and gore. It is a book about vampires, so one only expects some good action. No! Instead I find myself reading a way to dramatic teenage romance that is somehow beyond my power to stop reading (I tried once but curiosity go the best of me). I am happy to report that I did not stay up ridiculously late reading this book. The characters were a little over the top. But I keep reminding myself that it is a teenage romance, so the characters are suppose to be dumb. The best part of the book was from about page 375-480. I'd read that part again, the rest... I'm not so sure. And what does the stupid apple on the front cover have to do with anything in the book anyway????

Ok, so I'm done with my soapbox on a really really really over the top way too dramatic cheesy yet way too addicting book. I don't know if it is healthy to read these kinds of books. Harry Potter was at least fulfilling. It had at least 100 great life lessons you could learn from it. Twilight had only one for me....To be obsessed with something is to destroy your very existence.

And why do I somehow want to read the next book New Moon....right now?

Happy 10 Years!

Do you ever wake up and think, dang where did the time go? How did I get to be this old so fast? Wasn't it just yesterday that...? The sad thing about life is that it never slows down. So today's blog is to celebrate the fact that 10 years ago I was a freshmen at BYU.

10 years ago I met some of my very best friends while living in the luxurious Helaman Halls. To celebrate this important time of my life we decided to get together with my very first roommate Megan Brenner (now Tolman). We went down to the good old Cannon Center to have dinner with our cute husbands. We spent way too much time reminiscing about what life was like 10 years ago. We ate our fill of the all you can eat buffet, we had to get our money's worth. It did not take us long to figure out why all freshmen living in the dorms gain 15 pounds. We never eat that good anymore, except on Sundays when we have dinner at my mom's. :)

We then went over to good old Taylor hall. That's were Megan and I were roommates. Good old 2200 floor is very different now. We were one of the last chosen groups of freshmen to live in this great building before they gutted it and made everything REALLY nice. Though I can't imagine that they have as much fun in their new fancy building as we did in our prehistoric one. They no longer have the ledges outside the windows, people can't crawl out there anymore. Now what are you suppose to do for fun??? I guess you can always slide down the hills on the cafeteria trays, write chalk messages up and down the walk ways, and well...Police Beat is still fun to read.

Anyway, yeah for the last 10 years! I am so grateful that I decided to live in the ghetto dorms and meet Megan, Nikki, Cheri, Sarah, and Janelle. What awesome girls! I'd do it all over in a heartbeat so that I could walk away with friends like them. I must say the six of us have done well over the last 10 years. 6 college graduates, 3 full time missions, 5 temple weddings, and well Nikki's kicking all our trash as far as kids go. Not bad, not bad at all.

Happy Conference Weekend!!!!

If you were to ask me what my favorite holiday is I would quickly respond...General Conference. Really! Think about it. Christmas comes just once a year, but Conference TWICE!!! There are so many great things about General Conference! Why don't we list just a few reasons why General Conference is by far the best holiday of the year. I will list only the top four.
1. You get to listen to the General Authorities of the church for 8 hours if you're a girl, and 10 hours if you're a boy. Talk about drink from a spiritual fire hose!
2. Thanks to the technological advances we can listen to Conference in our house, on our comfortable couch, in our pajamas if we so choose.
3. Priesthood Pie! This is the highlight for me. We get together with all the girls and make treats for the guys while they are at Priesthood session. Then when the guys get back we sit around the table and listen to what they were taught at Priesthood Session and eat good treats. Nothing is more fun then just hanging out with your family and talking about what is really important.
4. There are no holiday decorations involved. No presents to buy!
Just hang out with your family and listen to the Prophet's voice. Now I think you agree? It is the best holiday right? :) Even the ducks liked watching Conference.

So there might be a question about the picture of the puzzle. What does a puzzle have to do with Conference? Well, one of my favorite memories of Conference as a kids, was that the Friday night before Conference we would go to the store and we would each get to pick out a puzzle to do during Conference. It was a way to keep us entertained and still listen. So I was in charge of date night this week and I remembered about the puzzle tradition. We picked out an easy 750 piece puzzle and we worked on it Friday night while watching Music Man. Not a bad date if you ask me. It was really fun. We finished the puzzle on Saturday night after all the Conference Festivities were over.

I hope you all enjoyed Conference as much as we did. What was your favorite talk? Not picking just one is easy. :)