BOO!

Happy Halloween!

One year ago exactly, Marcus proposed, so to celebrate, we helped out at a multi-ward primary Halloween activity :)

I made this poster for our bean bag toss, and Marcus made bean bags from his mission socks. Yeah, it almost worked out to both of us putting in the same amount of time :)

Luckily, he decided to sit behind the board for the majority of the activity, so he was the one pelted with the socks when the kids couldn't (or didn't want to) aim. You can't really see, but he's dressed up like a bowler. It was one of the shirts I tried to trash when we got married, but I lost... obviously it was useful!

And I was a witch again...

One of the kids made all three bean bags in the holes-- he was celebrating

Ellie (from our primary class-- she's the one who knows EVERYTHING about the Titanic)

J.J. (also in our primary class)

We bought some pizza on the way home, and it was delicious! We ate it as we watched The Nightmare Before Christmas. (Fun fact: I bought that movie for Marcus last Halloween before I knew he was going to propose. He got a movie- I got a diamond :) Fair.) It is one of Marcus' favorite movies, and it allowed me to choose the movie later...

Then, it was time for our fun Halloween treat!

CARAMEL APPLES!

Marcus l-o-v-e-d peeling the wrappers off the candy (yep, we made the caramel the easy way)

Chillin'

Our fun toppings

Preparing more for the apples

Our masterpieces... they look a little Picasso-esque

APPLES :)

Marcus really enjoyed his

I think more ended up on my face than in my stomach

Good thing we stayed home because FOUR kids wouldn't have gotten candy from us. But I am glad we were prepared. It would've been embarrassing to have needed to hide from the doorbell. After our movie ended, Footloose was on tv. I was hoping for Hocus Pocus, but lucky Marcus, he was able to enjoy Kevin Bacon's dancin'. Probably ten minutes into the movie, Marcus said, "That looks like Utah!" Love it!

We had a great Halloween. Low key, not too scary... Definitely my style :)

BYU Homecoming

Despite a depressing football game, Marcus and I really enjoyed BYU's Homecoming. Jon and Celeste invited us to go with them (and Nate and Briana Weir) to the activity for married/engaged couples. You know you're at BYU when there's a specific activity for that category :) We had a blast!

First there was a dinner catered by Tucanos. It's a Brazilian grill, so there was definitely enough meat to go around, plus rolls, salad, and potatoes. Yum!

Marcus was so excited when he saw the buffet lines-- we ate more than we probably should have :)

Then Humor U (BYU's stand-up group) did a show. They're hilarious! I think we may have to go one of their shows. Of course there were lots of jokes about being married and going to BYU, but we especially enjoyed the ones about little kids wetting the bed... I guess you had to be there.

The Millers

This guy played the recorder with his nose, and then two of them at the same time with his nose, and then two at the same time harmonizing with each other! What a talent ;)

The Strouds were also at the dinner, so naturally we have a Bryan and Marcus picture.

Nate and Briana

Jon and Celeste

me and Marcus

Celeste also has some pictures, so maybe some more will be added soon. My computer died this past week, so it had been difficult trying to post anything. But I'll post more this coming week... cross your fingers.

Witches Night Out

This past weekend, I went with this crazy girl to Witches Night Out at Gardner Village...

Celeste loves Halloween, and her enthusiasm convinced me to go and dress up (as much as I could).

I was a little hesitant to go because Marcus was home sick, but he assured me that Celeste's husband, Jon, would be a great babysitter -- they went to Wendy's and watched a movie. :) So Celeste helped me create a witch outfit, later accompanied by a big, pointy hat.

We walked around Gardner Village with Celeste's mother-in-law and sister-in-law. We had a blast looking around the different shops (as well as people watching).

It started getting cold, so soup in a bread bowl was a popular meal.

There were so many people there-- I had no idea it was such a big event! You can't really tell in these pictures, but there were people everywhere... usually girls dressed like witches.

I really did enjoy "Witch Watching" -- and it was great theorizing why some guys were there too...

The whole place was decorated for Halloween. I wish these pictures could've captured the intensity :)

This was my favorite picture from the night-- If you can't see it, the sign reads, "Witchy Poo."

Back to the Norm

We had a great Conference weekend. I really enjoy how Utah basically dies for the few days, so it is easy to relax a little. We were able to go to Draper and Salt Lake on Saturday, and Marcus went to the Priesthood Session with his brother Derek. Marcus did have to work a crazy 2:00 A.M. shift Sunday morning, but I think his multiple naps throughout the day made up for the missing hours of sleep.

While we were at Marcus' parents' house, Cozette suggested putting Corona on my wrist, and the little miracle worker helped make huge improvements on the scar. Now I just need to work up the mobility, and it will be back to normal.

But now, we are back in Provo, and life is finding a routine. I taught orchestra this morning at 7:20 A.M. It was crazy cold, and I'm afraid to be moving around that early when it is snowing. Luckily I have a great class, and all the students are always incredibly enthusiastic... which is a blessing and a curse :) But I really do enjoy it, and I think the students are making some improvements. (I also have another private cello student!!! yay :) And there's a chance I can add about four more soon. That would be great, so cross your fingers!)

I am still working as a Lunch Clerk at another school in the Provo City School District. It's a great school, and I love being there everyday. It's always fun (and I have only talked with one angry parent so far). I don't know how much longer I will be at the District Office helping, but I have definitely learned to appreciate my life and all that Marcus does to ensure we have somewhere to live and enough food to eat.

Marcus has been working a lot, as normal. It is great once it hits Thursday night because we both have the weekends off. Well, Marcus worked this Sunday, but that was only due to Conference. He works all night Wednesday and Thursday, and I still don't understand how he can do that all night. I guess I'm a sleep wimp. He is able to get some homework done at work, so maybe that helps.

School is pretty busy for Marcus right now. It seems like there is always a test coming up, so he's coming up with a plan that will force him to be in the library more. I've seen him study, so I can witness that he does do at least some of his homework :)

Actually, Marcus has the best topic for a paper right now, so I helped him with his "research." He's writing a biology paper on Emperor Penguins, so he watched March of the Penguins to help. And last night, we watched Happy Feet. Next on the list is Surf's Up. Penguin movies are the best! Those animators are awesome!!!

-----

I realized we only have Ugly Apartment pictures posted, so here are a few while it's relatively clean.

Our bedroom... I think it's cute, but I decorated :)

And the living room....

So that's us... at least for now. Time to get back to work...