A Little of This, A Little of That

We have stayed busy lately. For Halloween, we went to a family party dressed as Lady and the Tramp. I was the lady, and Corey dressed up as a scroungy tramp. It was fun to visit with everyone, see their creativity shine and have fun. Sorry, I have no pictures as I am not at home where my camera currently is. Leading up to the 31st, we decided to do what we could to make our home a little more in the spirit of Halloween without breaking the bank. We had purchased a pumpkin that went missing before we could do any carving (it was sitting on our front porch), so we bought 2 more. Corey decided Thursday that he wanted to carve a pumpkin, but I did not. We also found that Walmart was selling their pumpkins for only $1 so we bought two more. We lined our front walk with decorated candle bags (white lunch sacks, put sand in the bottom, light small candle, place in bag), and when I got home from work, we put the finishing touches on our front step. Corey did finally carve his pumpkin, like it was puking, and we set the other three (including one that had started to turn bad but was still a beautiful shade of orange) around the steps for further decoration. Corey had downloaded some spooky songs and made a CD that played outside. Our neighborhood has not been a good trick-or-treating area in the past years, so we weren't hoping for much. We got more than we hoped for (but still had plenty of candy) and saw some really cute kids.

While I was in London, my friend Katie and I saw Wicked. I had only heard a few things about it, the basic story line, but she had heard tons about it. We decided to go and it was the best Musical either of us had ever seen. The national tour of Wicked is coming through Salt Lake, and for my birthday, Corey bought me tickets to go. It is playing April 8 - May 3. Our tickets are on Tuesday, April 28. I can't wait! Thanks Sweetie, I love it already!!!





Corey has been working hard. No, he doesn't have a full-time job yet. He has been helping people out with their projects. He went and resurfaced a deck for someone. A couple are moving out of the ward and needed help packing and moving, so Corey has been able to help them out a ton! We have benefited from his time of service over there already, and the house is not done. So far, they have given us the largest Luv Sac's they make, although without a cover (I am looking forward to sewing my first project after my sewing classes.), a large tub of Mr. Potato Heads and all the pieces you could imagine. These were prior to our Saturday event of cleaning out their house. They left Friday sometime. Saturday, Corey and I went to their house to finish cleaning it out. One of my counselors, Michelle, was with us as well. We were not prepared for what we found at all. Garbage was piled everywhere with miscellaneous belongings scattered throughout. It seriously looked like a tornado came through. It smelled, and was totally awful. While we were there, one of their neighbors asked us if they were gone and wondered what we were doing there. We told her to come in and see the status, and she was amazed. Later on, we were cleaning the bathroom and bedroom, all the windows were open, and Michelle had stepped in something gross in the kitchen and we were all making the appropriate groans and other gross sounds. This neighbor heard and started laughing at us. We are not done. We got the entry way, living and dining rooms, bathroom and bedroom mostly done and that's it. Each of us was there for 3 1/2 hours. While going through everything, we have found some pretty neat things that we are allowed to take. Corey and I got an entry table, a coat rack, two DVD players (potentially not ours, but we are taking them to see if they work), a TV, a crib (no announcement to accompany this), a gun cleaning/service kit, shelves, a dresser, and tons of other smaller miscellaneous things that are going to be useful. One of my favorite things that Corey and I got is this wooden bowl set. There is a large bowl, and 8 small bowls. The biggest unfortunate thing about the situation is that we come home stinking. Hot showers feel great anyway! They are paying us $10/hour, good compensation for what we are dealing with.

We found out recently that there is a community development center that we can get inexpensive, yet decent quality and condition, things to finish remodeling our house. We went on Saturday to see what they had, and they have kitchen cabinets. Yes, even though we got that screaming deal on them, we need more. Because Corey lost his job and has been unable to acquire another, we very well could get them for free. They would maybe not initially match, but when we are both working later on, we can then afford to have the additional faces made to match the ones we already bought and love. Good news! The only appliance we still need is a dishwasher. Dishwashers are hard to find in good condition, used, so we are probably going to have to purchase a new one. Oh well, the cost will be minimal compared to the priceless feeling of having a fully functioning kitchen!!!

We finish our doggy class with Bo tonight. We have been terrible and do no training work with him during the week, and expect him to perform perfectly for the trainer. Yeah, she can tell sometimes worse than others! It's still been good, so we don't regret purchasing the class. He has been so much better, and once our lives are done revolving around the house, we will be able to spend a little more time with him in the evenings.

I have started on a fertility drug. So far, taking it at night, haven't felt much of a difference. Great. Last pill tonight for this cycle. Then get to pee on multiple sticks every day for a while to see if I am ovulating. Could result in multiples at birth, chances are slim, we welcome it!

I have really enjoyed some of the cooking/recipe blogs on my sidebar. They have been helpful for meal planning, great deals, and even better recipes that are simple and healthy!

I gave my first lesson/talk in Relief Society as the president. I have surprisingly never felt so comfortable speaking in front of people. Maybe this is my fear being conquered. I'll keep you posted. My topic was based on two from the October General Conference. President Eyring's 'Our Hearts Knit as One' and President Uchtdorf's from the Relief Society Meeting entitled 'Happiness, Your Heritage.' I talked about being unified through sharing our talents. I was trying to get to know the sisters as well as introduce myself to them, but in a different way. It was a positive lesson, and I was so proud of myself.