Digging out

We had our first Nor’easter of the season this weekend. We had about a foot of snow on Thursday, a break on Friday and then the Nor’easter socked us - it started snowing Saturday night and snowed all day Sunday. It was bad enough that church was cancelled. We got snow, then some freezing rain, then some more snow and then some wind. The roads looked scary so we only ventured outside once on Sunday and it was to unbury our cars and dig ourselves out. Then we went back inside to warm up since it was pretty cold. NYCC was on a 2 hour delay on Monday morning, which was very good since it took a while to unfreeze the car. We’re just grateful that it looks like decent weather this coming weekend since that’s when we are flying home – good thing the Nor’easter didn’t decide to come then or we’d be in trouble.

Cory is done with his 5th trimester of chiropractic/nutrition school!! YEA!! He’s done 16 finals, 2 powerpoint presentations, 2 big papers – all in 2 weeks!! We are both really happy that he is done and definitely looking forward to the break and going home to Utah.

From left to right: Cory digging out our sidewalk; our car covered in ice from the freezing rain; the highway in front of our house (nice plowing, huh?)

What decade are you?

I confess I found these funny things on Cassidy's blog, but I hope you think they are as funny as I do!

You Know You Grew Up In The 80's if:
1. You used to buy cassette singles … and still have some stashed somewhere …
2. You can sing the rap to the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and can do the Carlton
3. Girls wore biker shorts under their skirts and felt stylishly sexy
4. You yearned to be a member of the Baby-sitters club and tried to start a club of your own
5. You owned those lil' Strawberry Shortcake pals scented dolls
6. You know that "WOAH" comes from Joey on Blossom
7. Two words: Hammer Pants
8. You watched "Fraggle Rock"
9. You had plastic streamers on your handle bars... and spokey- dokies or playing cards on your spokes for that incredible sound effect
10. You watched "Duck Tales" (Woo ooh!)
11. It was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons.
12. You (your sister, cousins) wore a ponytail on the side of your head.
13. You saw the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on the big screen ... and still know the turtles names
14. You made your mom buy one of those clips that would hold your shirt in a knot on the side
16. You wore stonewashed Jordache jean jackets and were proud of it
17. L.A. Gear ... need I say more?
18. You remember reading Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing and all the other Judy Blume books
19. You know the profound meaning of "WAX ON, WAX OFF"
20. You wanted to be a Goonie
21. You ever wore fluorescent clothing (some of us ... head-to-toe)
22. You can remember what Michael Jackson looked like before his nose fell off and his cheeks shifted
23. You have ever pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf
24. You remember the CRAZE, then the BANNING of slap bracelets
25. You still get the urge to say "NOT" after every sentence
26. You remember Hypercolor t-shirt
27. Barbie and the Rockers was your favorite band
28. You thought She-ra (Princess of Power!) and He-Man should hook up
29. You thought your childhood friends would never leave because you exchanged handmade friendship bracelets
30. After you saw Pee-Wee's Big Adventure you kept saying "I know you are, but what am I?"
31. You remember "I've fallen and I can't get up"
32. You remember going to the skating rink before there were inline skates
33. You ever got seriously injured on a Slip and Slide
34. You have ever played with a Skip-It or Elastix
35. You had or attended a birthday party at McDonalds or Hardees
36. You've gone through this nodding your head in agreement
37. Don't worry, be happy
38. You wore like, EIGHT pairs of socks over tights with high top Reeboks
39. You wore socks scrunched down
40. You remember boom boxes and walking around with one on your shoulder like you were all that
41. You remember watching both Gremlins movies
42. You know what it meant to say "Care Bear Stare!!"
43. You remember watching Rainbow Bright and & My Little Pony Tales
44. You thought Doogie Howser/Samantha Micelli was hot
45. You remember Alf, the lil furry brown alien from Melmac
46. You remember New Kids on the Block when they were cool ... and don't even flinch when people refer to them as "NKOTB"
47. You knew all the characters names and their life stories on "Saved By The Bell," The ORIGINAL class
48. You know all the words to Bon Jovi - SHOT THROUGH THE HEART
49. You just sang those words to yourself
50. You remember watching Magic vs. Bird
51. Homemade Levi shorts ... (the shorter the better)
52. You remember when mullets were cool!
53. You had a mullet!
54. You still sing "We are the World"
55. You tight rolled your jeans
56. You owned a bannana clip
57. You used to (and probably still do) say "What you talkin' 'bout Willis?"
58. You had big hair and you knew how to use it
59. You're still singing shot through the heart in your head, aren't you!
ROCK ON!!!

Okay, so I can confesss to most of these ... born in 1981, I was half a child of the 80's and half a child of the 90's. Cory, however, relates to all of these. He secretly still wants to be a Goonie :) Rock on 80's children!!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Well, we got our first big snowstorm for the season this weekend. It rained for a while, and then it turned cold ... so we got freezing rain. Not fun. Then it snowed on top of a layer of ice. We didn't venture outside the house on Saturday - Cory studied and I watched some college football (and cleaned, my favorite Saturday activity). Both our phones rang Sunday morning as we were trying to convince our bodies to get out of bed - it was people from our ward telling us that church was canceled. I thought Cory was playing a joke on me - I must have asked him like 5 times if he was kidding. No jokes - church was actually canceled since the roads were so bad and it was so cold. So we stayed in all day Sunday - I even did some scrapbooking! I can't ever remember a time that church has been canceled - so yesterday was a first for me. It started raining again and most of the snow washed away before we got around to taking a picture - but never fear! We're still under a severe weather alert - more snow is coming our way :)

A Great Holiday

Hmm, where to start? We had a fabulous Thanksgiving!! I realized how grateful I am for so many things. I am grateful for Cory and grateful that we have been sealed in the temple, making him mine forever. I am grateful to a wonderful family and grateful that some of them took the time (and money) to fly out east to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. I am grateful for awesome friends – I am truly blessed by wonderful friends who are great examples to me. I am grateful that I was raised by loving parents who did all they could for me and instilled values and ethics into me (and continue to support us in so many ways). I am also grateful for my awesome extended family! I am grateful to be a member of the true church, restored here on earth. And I am grateful that we can live in the birthplace of the Restoration – it really is a neat place to spend a few years of our lives.

Now that the mushy stuff is over … we had the best time in Washington D.C!! Man, what a cool city. It was my 2nd time being there and it was Cory’s 1st, so it was fun to share it with him. We did some sightseeing on Wednesday morning – we saw the Washington Monument, the WW2 Monument and the Lincoln Memorial. The boys went rock-climbing in the afternoon to a state park in Virginia, and climbed along the cliffs that run alongside the Potomac River. On Thursday we played a rousing game of football and ate ourselves silly. My aunt Karan produced a feast and it was delicious!! I thought I might never be able to eat again, I was that full. Mom, Dad, Cory & I got up at 5:30 a.m. to participate in Black Friday shopping. We found some good deals on stuff we actually needed, so it was good to go. Plus it was Cory’s first Black Friday shopping experience, so that was fun. We did more sightseeing on Friday – we went to Manassas, which is where the Battle of Bull Run was fought (Civil War for those of you who need to brush up on American history). It was a very peaceful place to visit, and neat to see. We also went into the Air & Space Museum at Dulles airport and that was neat. They have all sorts of historic planes, including the Anola Gay (the plane that dropped the Atomic bomb on Hiroshima). We had our last day of sightseeing on Saturday, and we went into Arlington Cemetery. It’s such a neat place! There’s such a feeling of reverence and respect there. We saw the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and watched the changing of the guard. We also saw John F. Kennedy’s grave, along with the eternal flame that burns next to it. We took plenty of pictures there, since it’s such a large cemetery!! Mom, Joel, Em, Brett, Cory & I also got to go into the National Archives – we saw the Declaration of Independence, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution. They are all very faded, but still – we were actually there looking at them! It was sweet!! My family had to split for the airport, so that left me, Cory, Em & Brett to explore some of the Museum of Natural History. We saw the Hope Diamond (largest in the world) and some cool mummies! It got cold so we went to dinner and then back to Em & Brett’s to watch Missouri trounce Kansas in college football. Oh well – at least LSU lost, too!

Pictures (from left to right): Manassas, WW2 Monument, Lincoln Memorial, Arlington Cemetery, a rousing game of football in Karan's backyard, JFK's grave, Lincoln himself, Joel rock climbing, General Stonewall Jackson (in Manassas), Sarah holding her adorable cousin Paige, Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington, and the FEAST we ate.

Another book plug ... and Happy Thanksgiving!

My mom found me this great book! It's called Austenland and it's by Shannon Hale. For all you Jane Austen/Pride & Prejudice fans out there - this is the book for you! It's a modern day spoof on Jane Austen and it's hilarious! Never fear - it's still romantic and has the sweetest ending. So for those of you looking for an easy read, go get Austenland.

I just have to throw in here how excited I am for Thanksgiving!! We are headed down to Washington D.C. to spend time with family and friends. We’re going to (of course) go sight-seeing, so I will be uploading some new cool pics in the near future. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!

In love with a vampire

Okay, I did something impulsive. I had New Moon (the 2^nd book in the Twilight series) on hold from the library and I was 4^th on the waiting list … then I placed a hold request for Eclipse (the 3^rd book) … and I was 16^th on the list. 16^th! I would be waiting forever … and you all know I am not that patient when it comes to waiting for good books! So I ended up buying all three books online, so I didn’t have to wait. Plus, now I own them so I can read them whenever I want – and they are sooo good that they are definitely worth owning! They finally came in the mail! I spent a good part of the week reading them … and I must say that I haven’t been this invested in the characters of a book since Harry Potter – which is partly why I find these books to be so good. Any author who can create fictional characters who feel so real that the readers are invested deeply in their lives – now that’s a mark of a very good author. Stephenie has created some wonderful characters! If you are reading this post and you still haven’t read the books in the Twilight series – go out and get them! They are as good as the Harry Potter books – which is the highest recommendation I can give a book - and that makes my heart very, very happy. Plus, she’s currently writing book 4 in the series, and that gives me something to look forward to reading!

Sacred Grove

This weekend was stake conference for us, which meant a trip to Palmyra (only about 45 minutes away). Elder Jensen from the Quorum of the Seventy was the visiting general authority, which was neat because he is from Huntsville (as is Cory), so we got to chat with him and his wife for a few minutes on Saturday night. After the general session on Sunday, we decided to take a walk through the Sacred Grove. It’s absolutely beautiful in the fall – I think it may be one of the prettiest times of the year for the Grove.


The Palmyra temple sits on part of the original 100 acres owned by the Smith family and you can see it clearly from the Smith home (which is next to the Sacred Grove). It's beautiful in the fall, framed by all the colors of the fall leaves.











We stopped by the Hill Cumorah on our way home and took a couple of pictures there, too. It was so pretty with all the fall colors surrounding the Hill. You can see the statue of Moroni in the top left hand corner.