And They All Fall Down

Day 273-Sep 30th: It's already the end of September. My midterms are starting this week and I think I have one test or another every week for about 5-6 weeks. There's no slowing down this semester! As for Halloween decorations, they are all falling down! My cool lanterns fell, as well as the trick or treat banner which you can see laying on top of the loveseat. I guess I need something stronger than tape to hold them up!

Day 272-Sep 29th: It's time for a new pillowcase! We put our Halloween pillowcases on this week. If I remember right, they glowed in the dark last year, but I think the glow-stuff washed off, so they don't this year. Oh well, they are still cool. Now that Mom is not working at the dance studio though, Russell is expecting more and more pillowcases!

Too Much Food

Day 271-Sep 28th: Today we went to dinner at Grandma Chatfield's. She had planned to be out of town, and so Caleb had planned a big pot-luck dinner. Grandma ended up being in town, which was fun, but we still did the potluck, and there was SOOOOOOOO much food. Caleb and I made homemade Macaroni and Cheese. There was chicken and rice, salad, potatoes, peas, and about 4 pies, ice cream, snickerdoodles, brownies, and this s'mores cheesecake I made. I found the recipe on a blog I read, and it looked amazingly good. I was a little disappointed of how it tasted, but it was alright. Probably not something I'll spend time making again though. Oh well, it put my springform pan to good use for the first time.

Halloween Decorations

I couldn't wait any longer today, so I put up our Halloween decorations. Here's my cool photo collage of them. The skeleton is even glow-in-the-dark! Way to go K&Company! I forgot to take a picture of the little halloween pins I made into magnets. I guess I'll to that another day.

Surprise!

Day 270-Sep 27th: Well...we did it. I finally started teaching Russell how to drive my car tonight. He actually did a really good job. We mostly practiced just getting the car going, but he did shift into 2nd and even 3rd once or twice. We spent about 1/2 an hour tonight, and we'll have to spend some more time, but it's a start. By the end he had done several really smooth starts, it will just take some practice to get them every time.

Day 269-Sep 26th: I bought this little journal and added the ribbons on the edge for Elizabeth, a girl I work with. It was for people to write advice in at the baby shower Keera and I were throwing for her tomorrow. Except.....she had the baby Thursday night!!! Like two weeks early! You can't have the baby before the shower....HELLO! Anyway, we kept the shower on and just collected presents for her and let people write some advice/notes and we are going to take her the presents on Monday.

Caught Up!

Day 268-Sep 25th: Today we got a package from my mom, and then main thing in it was these new pj pants from Cooper. She got them for him in New York this summer, but Mom had to buy two pairs, make one into shorts for Cooper, and sew the bottoms onto Russell's to make them long enough! Here he is modeling his new pants, they have taxi cabs.

Day 267-Sep 24th: Wednesday's are pretty busy for me. Today I didn't work, but I studied or went to class from 8am to 5pm, then came home, ate dinner, and did homework until 7:45pm when Russell came home from teaching. I realized about that point that I was sooooooooooo tired. I went to bed at 8:15! That's so early, but it felt soooooooooooo good!

Day 266-Sep 23rd: So we were in the grocery store sometime this weekend and a "Shape of My Heart" by the Backstreet Boys came on the radio. I was determined to get my old cd's out and enjoy them after that, something I only do every once in a while. So tonight on my way to and from conducting I did just that, and I turned the music up WAY to loud, and enjoyed the Backstreet Boys!

Day 265 -Sep 22nd: Tonight as I got into bed, I realized that the decorative top of the sheet is on the side of the bed. Well......I guess that's what happens when your husband puts the sheets on! I'm just glad he washed and changed them over the weekend!

Is that good Lyndsey? I'll try to be better about posting!

The S Days

Saturday and Sunday that is.

Day 264-Sep 21st: I went to Provo tonight to pick up my friend from high school that is now here at BYU for dinner at our house. Well, it turns out her phone was broken, so I ended up just sitting in the car waiting for her. I had the key in, but only turned the car on enough to see the clock. Rachel pulled up in the car beside me and I opened the door to talk to her, and then got out to go up to her apartment and let her roommate in. Well....I forgot the keys in the ignition. Ugh. Rachel was up in the canyon and I couldn't get her, so luckily Russell's friend Ken gave him a ride up to Provo to save us!

Teaching Russell how to drive my car? Scheduled for Saturday!

Day 263 - Sep 20th: I went to work this morning and left Russell in charge of making these baptism wheels for our nursery kids. I knew when I left them that it would take him a long time, because every time we sit down to cut out things for nursery I cut about 3 to his one. I guess maybe it's my scrapbooking skills, but I'm not sure. Anyway.....I was very appreciative that he stuck it out and finished 10 baptism wheels! Then we almost had 11 kids, but we managed to take the one that is supposed to be in Sunbeams to his Mom because he was NOT cooperating, so we ended up with enough, and the kids really liked them!

Simple Dates

Day 262 - Sep 19th: We weren't very tired tonight, so Russell said we should go geocaching in the dark, and that's what we did. Russell looked up some caches, and we were off. It was about 10pm when we left. We looked for four, but only found one. Turns out geocaching is really hard in the dark, but we had fun anyway!

Day 261 - Sep 18th: Tonight Russell was craving some Papa John's pizza, and since Thursday's are the first night of the week we get to spend with eachother, we turned pizza into a little date. We ordered the pizza, drove up to Provo to get it, and then ate it at Kiwanis Park. It was a really nice night, and there were tons of people playing soccer, frisbee, football, etc. We had a great time just being together and enjoying being outside now that the weather is cooling down a little.

The Start of Another Week

Day 260 - Sep 17th: Eggos. Lately these have been a large part of the Ahlstrom diet. I know, not the most healthy, but it gets us through the days when we are eating individually. I also always seem to be starving when I get home from work on Monday/Wednesday nights or conducting on Tuesdays and they are something quick to make. So this week, we decided to buy the 24 pack in hopes it will last us longer!

Day 259 - Sep 16th: Tonight in my basic conducting class we had an exam. During exams we each get up and conduct, and the professor records us on a DVD so we can watch it and learn what to do better by observing ourselves. It was kind of crazy to watch myself conduct. I was so much more confident the week before, but then we added in dynamics and the left hand, and there was just so much to think about!

Day 258 - Sep 15th: Ticket to Ride: Dice Expansion! I can't wait. Russell shared this story with me on google reader, and I can't wait to get the game. You could say I'm addicted to anything and everything Ticket to Ride. The dice expansion comes out sometime like the middle to end of October, so I'm hoping to get it for my birthday!

More from This Week

Day 257 - Sep 14th: I worked today from 9-3 or so. We had to do a major cardstock shift and it took a while, but wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. Most everything is in it's place now and things look a lot better than they did before. For the picture of the day, I took a picture of the article in National Geographic about Elephants. My dad's friend Chuck sent me the magazine when he saw the article and it was fun to read it. They talked about how they have been tracking the elephants with GPS units and have found out all sorts of things about their travelling/general life patterns. It was a good read, and not just a boring article!

Day 256 - Sep 13th: I went to Mania tonight with Kathy and won the grand prize again! It was awesome because I really, really, wanted it. They are the chipboard shapes from Fancy Pant's new All Fall line. Now I just need to get the papers/embellishments to go with them.

Day 255-Sep 12th: It's been a crazy week, and I was grateful tonight to have "Monster-In-Law" from Netflix for my leisurely watching. Russell doesn't like the movie, but he worked on something on his computer while I watched, and at least we were home at the same time!

Soo Tired....but Need to Blog

Day 254-Sep 11th: During a break in my classes today I went and filled out my graduation application! It was rather exciting to take the first step of graduating, and it actually made me feel like I'm close to being done. This year is going to be really busy though. Hopefully everything goes as planned. I'm a little worried about scheduling next semester....

Day 253 - Sep 10th: Business Law....Wow. There is a lot of reading in this class that takes forever! But.....I'm finding out this is one of my more interesting/fun classes this semester. I think it's mostly because the teacher makes it fun. He is a prosecuter for Provo City, so he has real life experiences to share with us, and they are often funny. It might not be so dreadful after all!

Day 252-Sep 9th: Tuesday's I have a basic conducting class from 7-9 p.m. and when I get home I always seem to be hungry. I made some waffles tonight when I got home and was happy that I had finished up my bad strawberry syrup and could open the good smucker's kind. Last time I bought syrup the store didn't have smucker's so I got Knott's or something...Smucker's is much better.

Day 251-Sep 8th: Monday's are absolutely crazy here at our house. I have class basically from 10-5 and then usually go to work from 5:30 to 8:30 or 9. Russell works his normal 8-5 and then teaches from 5:30 to 7 and usually helps some people after so he gets home about 8, which still beats me! So today I decided since I didn't do anything special I would take a picture of the elephant Grandpa Flanagan carved for me. He is awesome at carving and has made me a couple of elephants, along with christmas ornaments each year for us kids up until a few years ago. This is one of the coolest pictures in our house.

On Reserve

Day 248-Sep 5th: I really don't like to go to the library (for school things anyway), and so when Sister Benson said there's a few things we have to read from books she had on reserve in the library, I really had no idea how to do that. I figured it out today though, it really wasn't very hard at all. The reserve desk is in the front, and you just tell them the call number and they get it for you, and you have it for two hours. The first book I needed was already checked out, so I got what I needed for class on Wednesday, and then came back after my Short Story class and read the other book I needed for Monday.

Regional Conference

Day 250-Sep 7th: Today regional conference was broadcast from the Marriott Center. All 135 stakes in Utah and Wasatch counties were in attendence. We heard from Sister Dibb, President Uchtdorf, and Elder Packer. It was also a really good session. I never quite figured out what Elder Packer was talking about, but the other two talks I really enjoyed. Sister Dibb talked about making sure the things in our lives are real, not counterfeit, and President Uchtdorf talked about increasing our individual faith in the Savior and our Heavenly Father, and strenthing our eternal marriages and families. He said the three most important things for us to do are to hold a current temple recommend (and use it!), study the scriptures daily, and talk with our Heavenly Father daily. He told us that while our CTR rings stand for "Choose the Right," they could also stand for "Current Temple Recommend." That's one I had never heard before.

We put up our Fall ladder kit this week. I made Russell wait until September, which just about killed him, but he managed in the end.
Day 249-Sep 6th: We ran a lot of errands this morning. Took some things to Archiver's so I had things to eat for lunch/dinner at work, got some printer paper, glanced at AT&T and Verizon for pricing on a Family Plan, went to Barnes and Noble, and managed to get rid of our old microwave! Tonight was our adult session of stake/regional conference. I'm really glad we went, because I thought it was a really good meeting. Some of the topic were teaching the children, going to the temple, and making conscious choices to choose the right. I think it's probably the best adult session I've been to, so I'm glad I went - even though I could have gone to Mania with many good friends. I hope they had fun without me!

Anyway, these sunflowers are growing along the street by our house. They are in really random places, so I think the seeds got blown or something. They've just come up in the last two weeks probably, and are really pretty to look at each day.

More of Mr. Jack

Here are the rest of the pictures of my Halloween mini-book.

Mr. Jack Book Pictures

Here's pictures of the Halloween mini-book that I made at Mania last Friday night. The pictures are of Russell and I carving our pumpkin last Halloween. I used the Making Memories Spellbound Collection, made the book out of chipboard, and bound it with some white, orange, and black ribbon. The rest of the pictures are in the next post.

The First Week

Day 247-Sep 4th: Today was much more calm as far as school goes. I only had Business Law and then headed to work. When I got there, the mall smelled HORRIBLE! Turns out that last night some workmen were welding together something for the new play area and a spark lit the tree on fire! The sprinklers in the mall hallway came on, and there was a small flood in Archiver's. Now....the big flood happened just a year ago on Labor Day! I was not very excited when I walked in and saw this fan blowing the floorboards, but I guess at least there was only one instead of 10-12.

Day 246-Sep 3rd: The second day of class, and introduction to the classes I hadn't been to yet. Monday and Wednesday's are pretty packed for me. I have Church History, Short Story, Organizational Behavior, and Managerial Economics. Turns out to be quite a long day, with quite a heavy backpack. I gotta figure out if I can leave some books at home or something.

My classes seem like they are going to be a lot of work, and right now I'm kinda stressed out about it. I guess we'll see how the first few weeks progress. Any ideas for a good short story??? I have to write one for my short story class.

Day 245-Sep 2nd: Today was the first day of school, and new microwave day! Russell stayed home today to wait for the GE guys to come and install the new microwave. They came pretty early actually, just after I left for class, and now we have a great microwave that is QUIET! Amazing! It has a turntable and a rack. I've never seen a microwave with a rack, so I'm not sure what to do with it.

My first day of class went alright. I had Business Law and Basic Conducting. Conducting is at night, and the teacher is kind of boring, so it might be a struggle, but at least it's only once a week. Boy do I wish basic conducting was not a higher level class in Houston. Taking it from Mr. Krager would have been a much, much, much better experience. I might just have to email him and get some hints.

Threesomes Four

Day 244-Sep 1st: Turns out as I was trying to get all the pictures off our memory card and onto my computer a little bit ago, the memory card got stuck in my slot on the computer. I eventually got it out, but the card is no longer. Good thing I had just gotten all the pictures off of it! I guess we'll be buying a new memory card sometime soon!

Day 243-Aug 31st: I went over to Keera's tonight after dinner at Grandma's so we could make baby shower invites for a girl we work with. We had a good time, and the invites we got done turned out super cute, but it took longer than expected so we have to plan another rendezvous to finish them up.

Day 242-Aug 30th: We went to the grocery store today and stocked up on things for lunches since school is about to start. Russell always takes his lunch to work, but I've been able to eat at home or take something to microwave at work during the summer, so we had to buy about double what we usually do for the month. It makes our pantry look super full, but I'm sure it will disappear quickly!

Threesomes Three

Day 241-Aug 29th: Russell had a boys game night tonight, so Holly and I went to Mania. I made a super cute Halloween mini album (pictures coming soon) and also won the grand prize, these cool Halloween paper lanterns! All in all, it was a great night, much better than one spent hidden upstairs while the boys slay monsters in the kitchen!

Day 240-Aug 28th: Russell was reading the Ensign the other day, and noticed a small blurb about a new Nursery manual. I went to the Distribution Center today and picked one up, it's awesome! The lessons are sooo much more geared toward the nursery kids and their attention span and aren't wanting us to go into all the details of scripture stories the kids have never heard of. It's going to be a great help.

Day 239-Aug 27th: I went and bought my books for the Fall semester today. About half of my classes say I don't need books, I guess we'll see if that's really true when they start. The big kicker was my $200 Business Law book, and don't worry, there weren't any used ones because it's a new edition!

Threesomes Two

Day 238-Aug 26th: BYU canceled one of my classes, so I had to figure out how to fix my schedule today. I couldn't just drop the class because I have to have 15 hours to keep my scholarship, so I fixed it all up, dropped the class, and added a church history class taught by Sister Benson. I had her last year for New Testament and it was awesome, so I can't wait for the class.

Day 237-Aug 25th: Tonight we ventured to the every popular Quilted Bear with our 10% off your entire purchase coupon and ended up with this halloween cat, frankenstein, and a Spooky word. There's always something there we want, but we have to ration ourselves.

Day 236-Aug 24th: Today after dinner at Grandma's Caleb pulled out Take Off, a game we used to play as kids. He had been wanting to play it, and we had time to kill so we did. Russell liked knocking people back to the start with his "nuclear bear pilots" and I won, much to Caleb's dismay.

Threesomes One

Here's a few posts with 3 pictures each to catch up on things here in Spanish Fork.

Day 235-Aug 23rd: Russell's Mom took us to the bookstore yesterday to see all the art displayed for Education Week. I found a promising San Diego picture, and now just have to save my pennies. The more important part is I got the BYU Football shirt for this year! A must have, especially at only five bucks! So I sported it tonight with my pj shorts.

Day 234-Aug 22nd: I received these new stamps from Hero Arts today, and immediately thought Russell would LOVE them. And...I was right. He's easy to predict really, robots, dinosaurs, dragons...

Day 233-Aug 21st: I went into work early today so I could come home and wait for the plumber. He came about 15 minutes from the start of his time window, but then had to leave twice to go and get the right size pressure gauge to fix our humming pipes problem. The next morning Russell's mom was nice enough to sit at our house so they could come back and adjust the pressure while Russell and I went to work. Now....no humming noise, no squeaking shower heads, and water pressure that actually rinses the shampoo out of your hair!