Halloween!

We had such a fun week! This year Nevada Day landed on the 31st (apparently it changes...weird holiday) so we had school off on Friday. Since there was no school on Halloween, kids and teachers got to wear their costumes on Thursday. I was Tinkerbell this year and had a ton of fun! My costume was made of an elastic waist band, green ribbon, and as much tulle as you can imagine! It was glittery tulle too, so by the end of the day there was glitter all over my room. I was considerate to the custodians and only wore my costume in my room so as not to glitter-fy the entire school. A lot of the other teachers and students dressed up so it was a lot of fun.

A while back a student in student council approached me about being in the pie eating contest during the Halloween dance. I accepted, and after school on Thursday was the dance. I was also asked to chaperon, so it was a win-win! The pie eating contest had a teacher, an 8th grader, and 7th grader, and a 6th grader. At some point shortly before the contest began, it occurred to me that the objective was to actually eat the whole pie as fast as I could (which somehow slipped my mind when I initially accepted the challenge). I was going against an 8th grade boy and was sure he would win, but I ended up winning the contest! It was no easy feat: I nearly threw up. You couldn't use your hands, so that would have meant me barfing all over the student who was holding my pic tin for me...speaking of pie tin: I was a little aggressive with my pie eating and ended up cutting my chin on the aluminum pie tin! Sheesh! my strategy was to get as much pie on my face and in my hair so as to eat less which ended up paying off. My reward for winning? A $20 gift certificate to Marie Calendars for more pie. Awesome.

Overall I think I had more fun at the dance than any of  the students. I was dancing the whole time! When "Shake it Off" by T-Swift came on, there was a circle of students just watching me dance because I love that song and I was working it! So so so so so much fun.

*Plenty of pictures were taken of all the above, but not on a camera I have access to yet: I will show those pictures when I get the chance!

When I got home to shower the chocolate pie out of my hair, Justin was on the phone doing his second interview with DaVita. He won't find out what they thought about the interview until Friday of this week. We don't really know what to expect, but Justin felt good about his interview, so we will see.

Thursday night was also our ward activity. A lot of the youth and kids were dressed up, but not as many adults: lame much?! Justin and I dressed up of course: you can't NOT dress up if you're married to me! I made our costumes and I worked on them for quite a while throughout the month. I was stoked to show them off! Another couple in our ward had the same costume idea which was hilarious: she was Tink, he was Hook, and their baby boy was dressed up as Peter Pan! Of course we had to get a picture. Justin and I brought soup and a dessert to share and we were in charge of one of the kid games after dinner. We enjoyed hanging out with a few people in our ward during the trunk-or-treat part of the night. It was an awesome ward party!

This is Justin's red jacket fresh from Goodwill. I transformed it into his costume!

All of this is homemade: I added the gold trim and buttons to Justin's red coat, we made hit hat and added the feather, his hook is his hook from his kitchenaid, and his shoes are also trimmed with gold ribbon. My costume is all tulle with a green ribbon tied around my waist and wings safety-pinned to my back. So much fun!

Somebody has great taste in costumes!

The Bishop drove the kids around in this darling train. Love it!

Friday I had school off so I deep cleaned the entire apartment. There is this thing you can buy at WinCo: SOS. It's steel wool with some kind of soap/bleach integrated: it has totally changed my life. Our apartment will never be the same: it's totally spotless! Sinks, stove, bathtub/shower...it's all been transformed thanks to this new discovery. I am one of those crazy people who will clean for 3-4 hours and enjoy every minute (which was my Friday morning/early afternoon).

That night we were invited to a Halloween party by a couple in our ward. We got to hang out with a lot of families and their kids. We took them trick or treating around the block and ate lots of delicious food. Trick-or-treating in the city is amazing! I was explaining to my friend Rachel how in Lost River you bundle up with your winter coat underneath your costume, drive a mile to get to a house, trick or treat, and then drive a mile to get to the next house. Wow Mom and Dad are total TROOPERS! It took two hours to trick or treat! We trick or treated for 15 minutes and we were done! It was actually more like 30 minutes but, you get my point.

sorry for the camera weirdness, but it's trick-or-treating time! We have Tinkerbell, Dorothoy, a pirate, a 50's girl, Thor, and Minny Mouse. 

I trimmed my costume up for Halloween: it looked so much better!

Saturday Justin and I traveled to the west side of town to visit Red Rock Canyon. I am obsessed with this place because geologically it is baffling to me! Since Justin might be getting a new job, we are fitting in all the things we want to do in Vegas before our time here is up. It was COLD. The goal was to drive around and hit up some of the hikes, but the desert heat has officially changed my tolerance for cold. I couldn't stand to be in the brisk wind for more than a few minutes. Luckily, much of the canyon is easily enjoyed via car anyway. We enjoyed our morning seeing the different sights.

All sandstone...and a random strip of oxidized sandstone sandwiched in between....I don't get it! It's obviously time to start my research.

One of the best examples of preserved wind direction

gorgeous alternating red and white sandstone

weather permitting, I probably would have bouldered all over this place all day. I think Keaton would have loved it. It's so easy to climb around, and there's so much to explore!

That afternoon we worked through some Best Buy/Verizon drama to figure out our phone situation, but by the end of the day I walked away with a free upgrade so, not really complaining. We ate at Red Robin to stuff our faces with bottomless fries before starting our fast. 1:00 church is kind of nice on fast Sunday because you get to start so late on Saturday, but also pretty horrible...especially on daylight savings Sunday. Wow, I officially hate daylight savings. At 6:00 this evening it felt like bed time! There is still plenty to get done after 6:00, yet I feel like it's time to watch Netflix and eat the rest of the night. This is not boding well for my figure.

Today Justin and I subbed in Primary. The last time I attended primary for any reason I was 11: it was an adventure! We only had two boys show up for our class assignment. Another class had seven rather rowdy five year-olds which was quite the sight to behold. Our two boys were total rock stars and we had fun doing singing time with them and teaching them about service. I made lasagna soup for dinner and it made a ton, so we went to the Haymores and shared with them. Rachel made a Texas sheet cake for dessert which was totally awesome! Isn't food the best thing EVER?

Tonight Justin's family did a Google Hangout with him and played a game where he earned a gift card of his choice for his birthday present: he won a Red Robin gift card and a movie gift card. This special guy has a birthday coming up this week! I am lucky to be married to such a gem!

That was our fun-filled Halloween week. Until next time!

Salt Lake Wedding

Justin and I took a trip to Utah this weekend to see Kristi Montgomery's wedding, and of course to see Kelsey Montgomery! She got home from her mission two months ago, and a wedding was a wonderful excuse to finally make the five hour drive to see her. After being reunited, it was like we hadn't been separated for more than a day! We pulled into Orem at 10:30 and we chatted it up until we couldn't keep our eyes open anymore.

Saturday was Kristi's big day. She had a beautiful wedding! Kelsey drove her to get her hair done in the morning, and when she got back we had McDonald's breakfast. At 11 we met at a stake center to have a brunch for the bride and groom. They had these amazing waffles and cute pancake ca-bobs with all sorts of fruit. Yum! They had the last scheduled sealing for the day at 4:20, so Justin and I headed out to spend some time together at Temple Square. The weather was superb! We enjoyed people watching - especially all the weddings - and spent some time at City Creek Mall. I got such a kick watching all the brides and grooms. It was so fun! Justin could care less - like any normal person - but he was a good sport. Out of all the brides I saw that day, however, Kristi was the most beautiful! She had an AMAZING dress, and her wedding colors were so cute. It was such a fun occasion. The reception was back at the stake center and we threw the disc around a bit while we waited for it to start. I kidnapped Kelsey after the reception because she normally would have helped everyone clean up, but I stole her away so we could hang out the rest of the night. We picked up Spider Man 2, ordered Dominoes, and chilled at her place the rest of the night.

Kneaders for lunch :)

One of the senior missonaries came and talked to Justin and me about all history of the Salt Lake temple and I learned so much I've never heard! It was awesome.

I love watching temple sealings because they remind me of of the best choice I made two years ago to marry this handsome man!

We drove back home early this morning. It was awesome to see Kelsey after so long and her family: I'm really close with most of them. The weather was amazing, and the fall colors were to die for! It was a great weekend. But it's always great to come home. Justin had a phone interview this week for a position at DaVita: a company in Tacoma, WA. There is no news, but there is a possibility we will be moving within the next few months to Washington. So we're basically going to leave Vegas during the best time of year to move to Washington during the worst time of the year...ha! Of course, when I know more, you will know! 

Justin and I are really enjoying coaching our city leauge team. Our team won both our games last Monday, and we have two more games tomorrow. I'm teaching piano again; I have seven students, and I drive to their house to teach them. That, plus teaching school, plus teaching skin care a few times a week...it makes for a busy life! In the meantime, Justin's quadcopter is giving him some issues, so he's working through those quirks. He is having tons of fun building it, regardless. My hair is already at an awkward length and it's time to cut again. This is going to be a high-maintenance change. Oh well - it's not like I'm opposed to high maintenence #lesbehonest. That's all for this week!

Mud stains from a layout on Monday: so fun!