Halloween

I have SO many Halloween parties to go to this year and I am so excited about it!  Sometimes I feel like since I can't trick-or-treat anymore that it loses its charm- but there is still so much to do!

Ghost Cookies!

This past Saturday was the Pugh family Halloween party.  They do this every year but I have never been before!  His mom and sisters do such a great job with all of the games and activities they do!  All the nieces and nephews have a blast and the adults do too!

The Incredibles!

We started off with a big group photo- EVERYONE dresses up!  Then we sang some Halloween songs together.  After that we had a pumpkin walk and proceeded to play Pass the Broomstick.  We had a delicious lunch of soup, salad, and spider breadsticks.  To top it off, we had homemade root beer!

The brew and the bread

For dessert, we had a donut eating contest!  It was so much fun! I'm proud to be a Pugh!

Pumpkin Patch

Last week our ward organized a hayride!  We went out to the Red Barn in Santaquin.  It was a lot of fun talking and getting to know the other couples in our ward better.  I have never been to a pumpkin patch to pick out my pumpkin and this did not disappoint!  We selected our goard and took it home to be carved later.  It was a blast!!

Hayride!

Yes, I think his tractor is sexy

 

Our 'scary' pumpkin faces

ZAP!

Do you remember that game?!  Zap!  Here are the rules:

A friend will write ZAP! on  your hand with a time on it as well.  Example: ZAP! 5:27pm

On the inside of your palm they write what you MUST do if you happen to read it before the time they wrote on the other side of your hand.  Example:  give Jayden a hug (NOT something you would want to do of course...). 

If you look at the 'dare' on the inside of your hand before the said time, you have to do what it says.  Pretty tough game huh? 

My students have been playing this game like cRaZy this week!  I completely forgot about this game until they reminded me of the rules.  Do you remember playing this?  Glad to know it is still around :)

In other school news I was voted as a 'Most Wanted' teacher in another class.  I had to get my 'Mug Shot' taken and everything.  I felt pretty cool. 

Book Review: The Hunger Games

I am always looking for great books to read.  Whether or not I actually make time to read them is another topic for discussion. 

This week I only had 2 days of school and then it was fall break!  I was very excited for this much needed time off!  I decided to just relax at home.  You know, sleep in, clean the house, get all my errands run, and best of all to read. 

This book was recently introduced to me at school.  Yes, I was a little put off since it was a book that many of my middle schoolers enjoy reading but I have to say that I LOVED IT. 

Here is the synopsis: 
In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen, who lives alone with her mother and younger sister, regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the Games. But Katniss has been close to dead before-and survival.

It definitely is not what I would say is a 'super mature' novel, but it was a fun fun read, and I couldn't put it down.  If you are looking for a fun, quick read- pick this one up!  There is a sequel and I am already on the hunt to pick that up too! 

Rising Star Outreach 5k

I am sure if you read this blog, you have heard mention of our friend Shauna.  I don't know how it happened but she somehow has this power to talk us into anything, anytime.  Take this past weekend for instance....

She talked Zack and I into running a 5K with her on Saturday.  We agreed happily!  Here is where I throw in the downer...we had NO previous exercise!  Needless to say we are both still pretty sore! 

Either way we still had a blast!  The race was up Provo Canyon at Mt. Timpanogas park- it was beautiful but a cold autumn morning.  Zack and Shauna (the more in shape and fast running type...) ran on ahead and got awesome scores- 24:00 range!  I was slowly trailing along behind and got 32:01!  Not too shabby for never practicing before! 

After the run, we were given a yummy breakfast! The run was the Rising Star Outreach program which helps benefit the lepor colonies.  We thought it was a very worthy cause and a great way to spend a Saturday!

Can you Canoe?

This Saturday was a busy one for us!  We were invited by one of Zack's former roommates to go on a big group date!  Here it is- 20 people inside a canoe and sail off to Utah Lake.  Sound like fun?!  It was! 

I asked Brian, the boy who set this all up, how he heard of the place and he said he saw it in one of those ad's they give to college kids and though, hmmm....a canoe that holds 20 people?!  How can we not do that?!  So, off we all went! 

Here are some pictures of the event!  We had a great time, thanks B-Spence!

Thanks for peepin' in the back Benjamin!

Zack with the Canoe. He was so happy I made him pose!

Proof that we made it out safe- no decapitation from tree branches we slammed into!

Japan Nagoya Misson

Conference time means mission reunion time!  Zack's mission reunion was the Thursday before and it did not disappoint!  It was held here in Provo at the Wilkinson Center Skyroom.  Zack LOVED his mission (as most boys do) and it was fun to see some of the people I have heard about and to meet his mission president.

Zack's mission president is Elder Gary Stevenson.  He is now the General Authority over Asia North (?? Zack correct me if I'm wrong).  He gave us an update of the Nagoya Mission and then also told us of his other travels to China and also to North Korea.

You might remember Elder Stevenson's talk from the April 2009 General Conference.  His talk was "You're never lost when you can see the Temple".   He used a picture of the Logan LDS Temple in this talk and at the reunion he gave each missionary a framed photo of it!  That was so nice and generous of him! 

 

They had so many pictures of the mission and people they taught up in the room!  It was neat to see all of those things.  They even had the 'Tie Quilt' there.  Before every missionary went home they donated a tie and signed it, and those were put into a quilt.  Here it is!

Here is Zack with his tie!  The one he donated is the bright yellow one with orange stripes!  Don't worry- in Japan bright pink and orange ties were totally ok!  Its Asia..go figure!

Millions of Peaches....Peaches for Me

Monday night Shauna invited me over to can some peaches with her!  I consider myself quite the home maker and crafter but I hadn't ever canned before.  It was fun!  We had a good time and I got 6 jars full of delicious peaches. 

Here we are hard at work- boiling the peaches, peeling and cutting.  We made 4 jars of peach pie filling..which I don't make pies all that often but peach pie filling just sounds so good!  Now I have to use it :)  Then with the rest of the peaches I just canned them in sugar water to enjoy with breakfast later! 

.honestly.

My friend Shauna tagged me in the Honest Blogger Tag. Here are the rules. List ten Honest things about myself and tag 10 other bloggers who I think are honest in their blogging to do the same!


1.I had a ski pass starting in 8th grade though a senior in high school- Utah does awesome student deals.  SO, when I would go skiing for the day, my friend Megan and I would make this huge game out of lying to our fellow lift riders.  You know the usual lift questions...we would always pretend we were from New York, or that we were twins (ski gear covers you up well).    Good times lying to all those people. 

2.I hated pizza when I was little.  Weird huh?  I'm pretty sure if I dug through our mud room at home, I'd find my 2nd grade VIP poster with that info listed on it.  Not sure when I grew out of it, but I do think it is delicious and have for quite some time.

3. My body goes in weird spurts of being allergic to things.  In junior high I had to put nail polish on anything metal- all the rivets, buttons on my pants, watches, etc.  Somehow I 'grew' out of that and now suddenly only my ears are allergic to metal now.  It makes wearing all my earrings very frustrated.

4.   People have told me before that I look like Anne Hathaway when she is in The Princess Diaries.  I hope they mean the Anne Hathaway POST makeover.   Either way, I love that movie even though it was made for 13 year olds.  Its one of my 'comfort' movies I could watch over and over again. 

5.  I have the shortest legs ever and the tallest torso.  I'm taller than most boys sitting down but they have about 6 inches of leg on me.

6.  I brush my teeth with warm water.  It feels better to my sensitive teeth and I convince myself that the heat makes my teeth cleaner.  Which I'm sure it doesn't.  But I will pretend. 

7.I brush my hair like Marsha Brady.  Its ridiculous. But I love to do it.  Honestly, ALL THE TIME. 

8. I love Macaroni and Cheese.  It HAS to be Kraft and it HAS to be Three Cheese Macaroni.  Nothing can compare.  I'm telling you- its amazing.  Go try it! 

9. Nothing makes me feel better than teaching my students how to do something they have NO idea how to do. I get to have that "I taught them that!" moment.  Its a pretty great feeling and I'm sure you Mom's out there get to have that everyday with your kids.

10.  I'm contemplating buying a Snuggie. They look like the dumbest thing ever but also a fabulous idea.   Don't be surprised if you see me with one in the next few months.  Who's with me???

I tag: Liz Pugh, Nicole Pendleton, Nat Niederhauser (the original ha ha), Aubrey Bickmore, Lacy Johnson, Kristen Halligan, Laura Miller, Melissa Cleverly, Erin Page and Erin Huband.

.thanks kid.

Right now is the awkward time in class when the MAJORITY of my students are finished with their project.  So, to keep all the students on the 'same page' before we move onto the next thing, I have them help me out by cleaning and organizing our class room.  My SOS class (students offering service) has been making knitted loom hats using the round looms.  I had just been throwing them in the closet and they weren't organized at all.  So, today I asked one of my students to do this.  He certainly took this project to heart and he did a great job!  Check out his tower of looms!  He was so proud, it was his idea to take this picture. This thing was taller than I was!  I'm pretty sure I can't post pictures of my students so I had to take one just of the tower. So, here it is.  Enjoy!!

BYU Football

Here are some pictures of last week's football game.  We have tickets with some of the couples in our ward.  I love it- we have such a good time- even more when they win ;)  We owe these tickets to our dear friends the Phillips.  Season tickets went on sale August 3rd and we didn't get home from China until August 4th- factor in time differences and traveling and we were probably somewhere over the Pacific Ocean when that happened. Thanks to them we get to have all of this fun.  Here are some pictures of the game for you to enjoy!  These are from the Colorado State game. 

Here are Zack and I at the end of the game.

Some of our friends from the ward

And of course, me and my best girl, Shauna

Several people have asked me about tomorrow's upcoming game against Utah State. Even though, I am a Y fan and have been since I was a little girl, I am an Aggie fan always.  I will cheer for BYU and follow them but when the Y plays USU I take it as a win-win situation for me.  I will just wear BLUE.  No logos, no nothing.  Just some beautiful blue. Will I be happy if Utah Stat wins?  Yes!!  Will I be happy if BYU wins??  Yes!!  Sadly, I have to put my $$ on BYU this year, but I am so excited to milk some cows and sing the Scotsman again.  Can't wait for tomorrow!

.ta da.

I finally finished my do-over of the drawer I bought a few weeks ago.  I must admit, I LOVE how it turned out.  To remind you....I bought this drawer from a salvage store.  The drawer was $10 and then I bought some mis matched knobs as well.  I saw the idea for it on TV one day and always wanted to make one.  Now I finally have it!!

Here is the BEFORE picture (drawer on the right...window pane still a work in progress!)

I decided to turn it into a necklace/jewelry holder.  I have so many necklaces that are too long for a jewelry box or ones that I don't want to loop in circles, so this is the perfect solution!  Here it is without the jewelry:

Sorry, these pictures didn't turn out so well- the lighting is off, but you get the idea.  Ok, here it is all ready and being used!