It's Been a Happy Last Week

I've had a wonderful last week. Here are some of the highlights:

Making pies with my mom on Wednesday.

Going out to eat at the Mandarin with my parents on Wednesday.

Thanksgiving feast with the wonderful C* family in one of my favorite places in the world!

Driving to Cedar and Manti with Nate, Michelle, Colby, Carson, and Grandma C*.

Decorating for Caytee's wedding reception with Michelle.

Caytee and Preston's reception--it was so much fun to chat and laugh with the fam, in the most beautiful setting, happy environment, and with the most delicious food! Bravo, Caytee and Carol for putting on such a wonderful party!

Caytee and Preston's wedding--there's not much that can beat the experience of witnessing the sealing of two amazing people in the house of the Lord. And it was wonderful to be back at the Manti temple where Chad and I got married. We are so thrilled for you Caytee and Preston! And you looked absolutely gorgeous, Caytee! Happy Wedding!

Watching BYU beat Utah in the last few minutes of the game. Woohoo! Go BYU! (I'm not sure if you read this Sue, but if you do, THANK YOU for letting us use your home to wath the game!)

Caytee and Preston's wedding luncheon--again, more laughs and family happiness.

Having the day off Monday to finally get things done that I have been putting off.

It snowed today for the first time and I think it is so pretty outside! While I drove home from work it was snowy and white and I listened to songs on the radio like, "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas," "Winter Wonderland," and "The Christmas Song." Perfect! I am so excited for it to be the Christmas season!


The only bad thing about it all is that I didn't take a single picture! I need to learn my lesson and start taking more pictures.

My Thanksgiving ABCs

This year I am thankful for:

A:
Adam
Audra
Airplanes to fly to visit family
All the places I’ve lived

B:
Brady
Bananas
Blogging
Book Club
the Bountiful temple

C:
Carol
Carson
Carrie
Caytee
Chad
Colby
Crystal
Curt
Cell phones and my Fave-5 Unlimited Calling

D:
Dad
Dale
David
Days off work

E:
Emily
Endless supply of love from Jesus

F:
Fall leaves
Fasting
college Football
Forgiveness

G:
Grandma C*
Grandma H*
Grandpa H*
Grandma M*
a Garage to keep the snow and ice off my car at night
Gordon B. Hinckley

H:
Harry Potter books
Holidays
my Honda Civic with good gas mileage
Hugs

I:
the Innocence of so many kids I work with
the Insight (and advice) I receive from the other women in my life

J:
Jessi
Jon
Jordan
Josh
Julia
the Joy of the Christmas season
Jokes people make at work that make us laugh and relieve some stress

K:
Kyle
a nice Kitchen to cook in

L:
Landon
Logan
Lydia
Laughter

M:
McKenna
Michelle
Mike
Mom
Mail from my Missionary friends

N:
Natalie
Nate
Neal
NPR

O:
Online shopping
Oxy Face Wash

P:
Preston H*
Preston W*
Prayer

Q:
the Quilt my mom made for me

R:
Running with Maegan

S:
Summer
Sundays
Seasons
our Sunbeams

T:
Tanner
Traveling I’ve done and look forward to doing

U:
Utah’s beautiful national parks, forests, and mountains

V:
Visiting teaching

W:
all the Wonderful Wedding gifts we received!
how Warm it has been this fall

X:
Xylophones (just kidding—I couldn’t think of any other X words)

Y:
You!

Z:
butter-Zinger ice cream (it’s the Kroger brand with Butterfinger chunks--yum!)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!!!

Book Club (aka Girls' Night Out)

I am learning by first-hand experience how small of a part books play in Book Club. But I'm okay with it, because we have so much fun talking and laughing about everything else! :) It's basically our time to have a girls' night out and talk about anything on our minds. My Book Club has lasted three hours the last two months, because we can't pull ourselves away from chatting and laughing with each other. It's hard to believe that it's lasted the same amount of time that church lasts--it has gone by so much faster! :) I am so grateful for Book Club, it has really helped me make friends in my new neighborhood and ward.

This month's book was Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians, which took me a while to get into, but by the end I was liking it for its amazing creativity, imagination, and humor. If you read it, I would recommend having a really open mind, lack of seriousness, and tolerance for sarcasm.

P.S. Since so many people commented on the flossing thing in my last post, I wanted to tell everyone how it began: When I got my braces on, my orthodontist showed me all these pictures of people's rotting, brown teeth and told me that if I didn't floss, my teeth would become like the teeth in the pictures. He said that a lot of people stop flossing when they get braces, because it's so hard to do with braces on, but I must not be one of them if I didn't want my teeth to rot. He totally freaked me out by those pictures, and I flossed every day for the two years I had braces. Once I got my braces off, flossing seemed like a piece of cake and the habit was set. :) Also, the more I thought about it, I realized I probably miss flossing more than two nights a year, because I don't floss when I camp and I camp more than two nights a year.

Tag by Jessi

Seven things you didn't know you wanted to know about me:

1. I love the moon. Some nights I get really excited about it and can't understand others' apathy towards it. It's even made me cry once, it was just so beautiful (kind of like a pretty piece of music can make you cry).

2. I have a major aversion to spending money. Unless it's a necessity or a gift, I have a hard time feeling like I can justify spending the money. That's one of the reasons I don't like going clothes shopping and avoid it as much as I can.

3. One of the things I do not have such an aversion to spending money on is food, and I would love to someday be a really good cook and be able to spend money on really nice food to make really nice meals.

4. I am an extremely unpicky eater. I like pretty much everything, and am very willing (even excited) to try new foods. But I do have a food allergy to shrimp.

5. I probably miss about two days a year of flossing. I always floss!

6. Ever since I was little I have felt like I was about six years older than I really am. One time when I was 15, I went with my sisters and their husbands to get some Krispie Kream donuts right before they closed. Because they closed, we decided to just eat the donuts in the parking lot by our car. While chatting in the parking lot, I said , "I feel like a teenager hanging out in this parking lot!" To which my brother-in-law David said to me, "Uh, Abbi...you are a teenager." My honest response was, "Oh, yeah." What a rude awakening. :)

7. I love Michael Buble's voice and songs, and I would love to go to one of his concerts.

Warning!!

Warning! If you have not read the Seventh Harry Potter book, do not continue reading this post! I had people spoil it for me and I don't want to do the same for you, so I beg of you, stop reading this, even if you don't think you'll ever read Harry Potter. Okay, on to the post...

Last Tuesday I was a poll worker for my Water District on Election Day. Well, it just so happens that the boundaries for Water Districts and Voting Districts are not the same, and only a fraction of the voters in my Voting District also live in the Water District I was working for. So what that means is that of the 220 voters that came in that day, only 20 of them voted for the Water District. Which meant that I got to sit and read all day, because there was rarely anything for me to do. And when I say all day, I mean ALL day (6:30 am to 8:30 pm). And guess what I read? H.P.!! I finished the Seventh Harry Potter minutes before we needed to wrap up (i.e., sign a hundred documents saying essentially the same thing). If it hadn't of been for H.P., I think I might have gone crazy that day, but with H.P., it was quite an enjoyable day.

Well, sort of.

And I'll tell you why it was just sort of. #1: I was in anxiety all day about what was going to happen in the book, and #2: I had to keep it all inside, because I was in a public place! There were numerous times I wanted to laugh, cry, scream, groan, sigh, exclaim warnings or retributions, etc., and I couldn't! That was hard.

Okay, so if any of you non-Harry-Potter readers disregarded my first warning and are still reading this, I'm telling you, it's your last chance to bail before you will seriously regret it.

The main reason I was in such anxiety all day is that before I started reading the Seventh H.P., I had it from more than one source that the book did not finish well and that Ron died (and I believed them!). Now, I like Harry and all, but I LOVE Ron and Hermione. I just love them! And so when I heard that Ron died in the seventh book, I was so mad at J.K. Rowling and upset that I wasn't going to like how it all ended. So during the whole book, I was so worried that Ron was going to die in the next chapter! Not to mention all the other things J.K. Rowling gives you to worry about throughout the whole book. To tell you the truth, most of the book really stressed me out, and the fact that I couldn't express my stress, worry, and frustration as I sat there in a public voting place made it all the more stressful.

But it was worth it! Because when it ended, I was absolutely ELATED! And the high lasted a good two days. I kept thinking about Harry, Ron, Hermione, the magical world, and my heart just wanted to burst with joy for how happy I was for them. I experienced all this nostalgia from all the previous books, and I just loved them more than ever. I was so HAPPY that Ron didn't die! And the ending couldn't have been better, showing how they all made wonderful families and continued to love, laugh, and grow together.

Usually after I finish a Harry Potter book, I get depressed for how it's over, but it was the exact opposite this time. I was so relieved that Ron didn't die, all the unhappiness of it being over was swallowed up in the joy that their lives continued together. And the happiness still continues. So thank you, ill-wishers, you made my last Harry Potter experience all the better.

P.S. In case you couldn't tell, I really get into the books I read. :)

P.P.S. One good thing about reading H.P. in a voting precinct is that it was a much less scary place to read it than your home at night when you're the only one home (the way I had read the first few chapters.) During those times, I was always so happy when Chad came home, and would tell him, "Chad, save me from Voldemort!" :)

Happy Birthday Audra!

Today is my other wonderful sister Audra's birthday! The other day I found a sticky note in my scripture journal from a Sunday School lesson I had a while back. I was given the sticky note to list the characteristics of one of the people I want to be like. I chose Audra, and here is what was on the list:

Devoted

Supportive

Thoughtful

Creative

Serving

Compassionate

Diligent

Understanding

Humble

Beautiful

Diligent

Clear communicator

Great teacher

Great discipliner

And I know I could add a lot more words to that list! Audra, thanks for being so fabulous, and I hope you've had a lovely day! I love you!

Halloween Report

I had a great Halloween day last week. It was my first Halloween in years to spend with little children, and it is so much more fun that way! The kids at the school were so cute in their costumes, and we had a really fun parade and party at the end of the day. At the school party and parade I dressed up as a green M & M in a costume Elaine made and let me borrow. I also wore it when I gave out candy to trick-or-treaters. Thanks, Elaine, for letting me borrow it, and thanks, Morris, for delivering to me! It made Halloween all the more exciting to have a costume to wear.

Happy Birthday Jessi!

Today is my wonderful sister Jessi's birthday. I sincerely hope that I can become as good of a

wife

sister

and mother

that she is. She is so patient, loving, hard-working, cheerful, understanding, fun, and kind. I love you Jessi! Hope your birthday is wonderful!