Friday, November 26, 2010

The Forgotten Holidays

So, as I was getting ready to celebrate one of the greatest days of the year (Halloween) I was walking past an apartment in our complex and saw that they had already put up a Christmas tree and decorations! Now, I love Christmas, but when preparations have moved to before Halloween I get a little upset. So I decided that I couldn't forget some of my favorites holidays and decided to dedicate a post to what happened with Lindsay and me over these last two months (mostly focusing on Halloween and Thanksgiving).

Our October was great. Lindsay had spent the last couple of months training for a half marathon that she was going to run on the day before Halloween. It's called the Halloween Half Marathon and everybody that runs it goes dressed up in costumes! Some of the costumes that people were wearing were crazy. I found about 17 Waldos in the crowd, another half dozen Thing 1's (and almost as many Thing 2's), and plenty of superheroes.


Lindsay went as an American flag.



She did excellent. I got to see the last 1/4 of a mile. I don't think I could ever run that far. I'm really proud of her for achieving that goal. Brendan and Kristin came along to help along with the cheering.


It was great. After that we went home and carved pumpkins...




Halloween turned out great. Really relaxing. We had a little get together with some friends and made some personal pizzas,


(Those are mummies if you couldn't tell) and some 7-layer dip in the shape of a ghost!


We didn't have too many trick-or-treaters so I got to eat most of the huge bag of candy that we got.

So Halloween came and went. But November is great because it has one of my favorite days of the year, Thanksgiving! What's better than a day devoted to eating and football? Lindsay had to work at the hospital over Thanksgiving, so we didn't venture out anywhere, just stayed at home. I got the privilege of cooking all day long (while watching the football games of course) and preparing the feast for when Lindsay got back back. I tried brining the turkey this year, which turned out amazingly! I recommend it to everyone if they are going to make a turkey. 


That's the turkey brining in the corner.


It turned out nicely.


Special thanks to Brendan and Kristin for the amazing rolls.


Lindsay was very pleased to have such a great meal to come home to. 

Okay, now that I have properly celebrated Halloween and Thanksgiving it's time to get ready for Christmas! Just three short weeks until we'll be hanging with family!

Wednesday, October 6, 2010

OOOOOklahoma!

Wow! For the first time I, Lindsay, am posting on our blog! From all my friends blogs, I think the women tend to post more than their husbands do... but oh well. I guess Kyle and I have always been a little backwards. :)



Or...maybe upside down is more accurate with this image...you get the point.

So today I received a call from one of my cousin's (the beautiful Tara Walker) friends. Turns out this girl is going on a mission to Tulsa, Oklahoma at the end of the month! She must have been pretty righteous because only those truly loved by the Lord are sent to the South! Okay, maybe I'm a little biased (I served in the Oklahoma City Mission from Feb '07-Aug '08) but Oklahoma is absolutely incredible. I answered a few questions for her and also offered some sage advice.

#1 Nylons are impossible to keep intact, don't worry too much about it.


#2 Get used to awkward spaces between Elders and Sisters in pictures, or really, throughout your mission.


#3 Having two companions is a blast!


#4
Temptations will come on your mission but you will be strong enough to take a picture of them and then move on.


#5
There are only so many Jodi dresses in the world, odds are another sister will also own your dress...


#6
Don't try to find cute sister missionary shoes, they simply don't exist. Just try and keep them from smelling after rainy days by using "odor-eater."


#7
There are billions of churches in Oklahoma, don't get intimidated, just remember the message you share.







#8 Biking can be difficult because of the terrain,



the skirt,



or an unhappy companion.


#9 You will meet very cute kids.



#10 Utilize public transportation, it beats walking.



#11 Be prepared to plan weddings...




that lead to baptisms!


#12 Watch out for enormous bugs, the humidity makes them double in size.



#13 There are strange mile markers on the mission. For instance the halfway mark is 9 months, hence to prego belly


A picture at "Good Year" tire at your 1 year mark.


"Killing off" your companions when it's their last transfer



#14 There is strong wind, wet summers, and harsh winters in Oklahoma.






#15 But there are always beautiful sunsets.


#16 Some addresses are hard to conceive, but they really do exist!



#17 Celebrate Special Moments!






#18 Elders will be Elders...



#19 And Sisters will be sisters...





#20 You'll meet amazing people and witness miraculous things!