Happy Halloween!

With midterms and both of us getting sick, we haven't really had the time to do much Halloween related fun. Too bad! And since we live in the middle of nowhere, we are not going to be getting any tricker-treaters. So ... sort of just a regular day for us. We did, however, take some gorgeous pictures of the fall colors out here, and so I figured I would post them. Fall really is a beautiful time of the year out here on the east coast!

These first 4 pictures were taken at our church - the Peter Whitmer Farm.

This one was taken down the road from our house, overlooking the lake. The last one is taken on the NYCC campus.

A really, really good book - take two

Okay, so yesterday’s post about this awesome book might have been a bit premature. Don’t get me wrong – the book is still awesome – but I posted that I was about 1/3 of the way done, and I should have known that I was going to go home after work and read obsessively until I was done with the book – which is exactly what I did. I stayed up until around 12:30 p.m. (which is late for me :) and I finished the book. I texted my cousin about halfway through and told her that I was in love with Edward – and she wrote back and said she was, too. This book sucks you right in, so be prepared to keep reading until the end … one simply can’t stop reading. I am not normally one for romance stories (sorry all you Jane Austen fans) but this book is just so, so good. It kept me reading until the end, desperate to know what happens with Edward & Bella. In my mind, that is a mark of a really, really good book ... and I'm very happy to have found another excellent author that I can recommend to everyone. I’ve got the next one in the series (New Moon) on hold from the library – I can’t wait for it to come! As one dear friend pointed out, I guess good things can come from BYU! :)

A really, really good book

I usually always post stuff about what’s going on in our lives … our travels and adventures here in New York. But I feel like simply waxing on about a subject dear to my heart … so consider yourself warned. :) On the topic of books: now for some rambling thoughts … many of you know how much I love the Harry Potter books. To me, they are spellbinding books … they are so well-written, so well thought out, so intricately woven, so very funny and heartwarming and teach so many good principles … all at the same time. I think they are truly literary masterpieces. After I had finished reading book 7 (twice) I was pretty bummed out. The series was over and though it ended brilliantly, I was sad that I could never look forward to another Harry Potter book. What had been a big part of my life was ended. I had a hard time finding things to read after Harry. I read some books with very lackluster interest. Nothing seemed to measure up and I honestly wondered if I would ever find another book that sucked me into its world the way that only Harry Potter books have ever done. I am happy to report that I have found such a book. On the recommendation of some dear friends, I got the book Twilight from the library. It’s written by Stephenie Meyer. And though I am only about 1/3 of the way through, I am hooked. She has drawn me into her world … all I want to do is read the book until I finish. Up until now, only the Harry Potter books have had this affect on me. I am happy that there is life after Harry (I know that I sound a bit pathetic) - but I am telling all of you to get this book! I’ll post something else when I have finished it!!

Pumpkin walk

This weekend was another nutrition one for Cory, and it was also right in the middle of 2 weeks of midterms.

Nevertheless, we went out to dinner with friends and to a pumpkin walk. I had a great time! Volunteers had carved over 700 pumpkins and they lined the path of a park. Someone even carved a Harry Potter pumpkin! We went with Jonathan & Jaime and Carlos & Erica (along with Alena, pictured, and Jacob, their 2 kids) - friends from NYCC. It was a nice night, even if the boys all had to go to school and take a test the following morning. I also got to watch most of the Florida Gators vs. Kentucky Wildcats college football game, and I am happy to report that my Gators won!

In over my head

Since Cory is so busy doing school, I got the bright idea of taking up a new hobby. After thinking about it for a while and taking suggestions from friends, I decided to buy a big puzzle. I want to put it together and then frame it. I ordered one in the mail and it arrived a few days ago ... so I finally got to work on it last night … and I think I might be in over my head. I bought a 1500 piece puzzle, which might be a bit much. Maybe I should have started with a 100 piece one :) I spent a few hours last night separating out the pieces with a straight edges so I could put the frame together first. This is definitely going to take lots of my time … and so begins my puzzle adventure. Stay tuned for future puzzle postings.

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday, Cory! His birthday was Sunday, and we celebrated with a chicken cordon bleu dinner and peanut butter fingers for dessert. Besides church, he spent most of the day studying for the tests he has this week – aah, the fun of midterms. Birthdays just aren’t as much fun when you’re doing school full-time … in his case, more than twice full-time, with 34 credits total. Yikes. :)

Fall weather has definitely arrived … no more 80° days for us. We put away the air conditioners and rescued the sweaters from the deep recess of the closet. I’m still walking on air about the LSU Tigers losing on Saturday … and the #2 ranked team (CAL) lost, too. First time in 11 years that the two top ranked teams have lost on the same day … gosh, I truly love college football. Stay tuned for the Gators game next week … should be a good one!

The Wildcats win!!

We just got done watching the #17 ranked Kentucky Wildcats take down the #1 ranked LSU Tigers ... YES!!! It was a game that went into 3 overtimes and the Wildcats pulled it out! Guess LSU won't be ranked #1 when the new polls come out and I am ECSTATIC about it! And my USC Trojans pulled off a win, too. This year's wide open ... can't wait for next week!

What a great weekend

What a lovely weekend we had! I took off a little early from work on Friday, and Cory and I headed down southwest of us to a little city called Naples. It’s known for being the grape pie capital of the world … though we did not eat any of the grape pie. :) The weather was gorgeous – near 80° and bountiful sunshine. We’ve been having an Indian fall, though it is starting to look like fall, even if it doesn’t quite feel like it yet. The area was beautiful with half green leaves and half red & yellow. We hiked up a glen and saw some waterfalls, which were very pretty. We found a huge county park and walked around, looking at the views of the valley and playing on the swingset. We drove by Bristol Mountain, the tallest ski resort out here. It looked like Nordic Valley, only shorter. Alas, these are not the mountains of Utah, but it was very, very pretty down there. It was good to get away from our normal routine just for a night and see another part of this pretty state. Cory even took me out to dinner and we went to a new place that was delicious. The rest of the weekend we lounged around on the couch and watched general conference, which was (of course) very good this year. As always after conference is over, I aspire to be a better person. The time I got to spend with Cory this weekend was wonderful, especially since next week brings the icky midterms. He will spend all this week studying for the 8 or so tests he has next week … aah, the joys of taking 34 credit hours. :)


This is Cory in the county park, over looking the beautiful fall colors, practicing his yoga stance.

The country park had a teeter-totter so we got in touch with our inner child and played on it – and had a blast!! Cory was trying to throw me off ... he was almost successful.

A chiropractic widow

Cory went to a very useful seminar this weekend in Toronto, leaving me to fend for myself here at home. It was a seminar on the activator method, which is one of the tools a chiropractor can use to adjust people. It’s like a little clicker gun (see attached picture) that can be used instead of a manual adjustment (i.e. using his hands). I had a productive, if lonely weekend. Thanks to Jaime for hanging out with me as another chiro widow! (Her husband also attended the seminar). We had a missionary themed day at church, and I had the chance to speak as one of the ward missionaries (and also as the gospel principles teacher). It was a beautiful 3 hours of church – all about bringing people into the fold of God. I am more motivated than ever to be a better member missionary. The best part of the weekend was when Cory got home Sunday night and we could eat dinner together and I could hear all about the seminar. I’m definitely looking forward to general conference next weekend, and some time spent with Cory.