This year's Halloween

My last posts have shown you pictures from last year's Halloween, but I finally have pictures from this year. As you can see Amelia is little mermaid and Jacob is Superman. The pictures are from the ward Halloween party. It was pretty fun. I typically have some reservations about being social but every once in a while I make an effort. In this case the results were pretty good. We have made some good friends here. It is funny though because our best friends have actually just moved here from Utah as well. Also, I have found one sure fire way to making friends in the ward. Stay and help clean up. This observation actually started last week. So last week I went to clean the church. I wasn't originally scheduled to do so but I had missed my turn the week before so I volunteered to make up for it. But in addition to that I had cleaned the church two weeks prior because the quorum leader had called and asked if I could help because they were short. Anyway, when I showed up last week the guy that lets people in and is kind of the church maintenance man recognized me and was surprised to see me. He seemed really grateful I was there and a big deal that I had come twice in such a short period. For me however it didn't seem like a big deal. Cleaning is easy. If I could clean myself into celestial glory then I would be set. OK, back to last night. Our good friends are on the activities committee so I thought it would be nice to stay and help clean. (Which come to find out the Elders were in charge of but nobody ever mentioned it last Sunday) Well, the point of all this is that I think the cleaning up was just as fun as the party because I got to talk and joke with the others that were cleaning. So my observation is that helping is by far a better way to make friends then partying.

Today was also a fun day. Our good friends came over to watch the BYU vs. Air Force game. We BBQed hamburgers and watched and visited. BYU kind of dominated so it got to be kind of boring because we were going to win and there wasn't much drama. I like my football when my team wins with drama. Afterwards we carved pumpkins. I did the old woman/witch from Snow White and Julie did the cute little face. I have another pumpkin but it actually takes a long time to carve these so maybe I will do it tomorrow.

New Jersey, Permits, and Pie

Well, thank you all for asking about New Jersey, but as it turned out I didn't go. I think it was for the best that I didn't because it would have been a wasted trip. A lot happened and it would have been bad to have missed it. Also, I think the company that we were trying to get the bid from had already decided to not go with us.

In other random news I got my motorcycle permit last week. I know that doesn't mean too much (and to some of my family it is more of a bad thing) but it feels like I am getting one step closer to my Vespa. In case you haven't heard I am hoping to get a Vespa soon. I think the soonest it would happen is next spring but I am so excited. If you want to check it out it is the Vespa GTS. I have test rode it and it is so nice. Two guys at work have gotten scooters in the past two months and they keep asking when I am getting mine. One of the guys has offered to let me use his to get my license but for now I am happy with the permit.

So I am watching Michael as I am writing this and the part about pie just came on. I love that part. I love pie. I think it would be so fun to go to a great small town diner and just order two pieces of every pie (except the ones with nuts). Personally I am a fruit pie guy myself but Julie is definitely a cream pie person. Sometimes I wonder how we every manage to get along :) Well, that is all for now. I mostly just wanted to give an update about NJ since people had asked about it. Well, that and since Whitney has thrown down the gauntlet about posting so little (at least I hope that is what she meant) I feel the need to post more often, even if they are boring posts.

And the winner is.......

So my group won the $25 gift card at work. I found out that two of the programmers that are from BYU were speculating who would win one day and both agreed that I would. I think they were bummed they weren't on my team. We had our choice of several places and I chose Best Buy. The worst part of winning $25 dollars is trying to figure out how I am going to spend it. I just want too much. So knowing this about myself I gave Julie the chance to pick where I got the gift card but she didn't catch the hint. So after much debate I bought Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 with an expansion pack for Julie and the new Barenaked Ladies (or BNL when I am around my mother) CD. In case you didn't know I am a big fan the Ladies. LOL :-) I have to give credit to Stephen and his blog however for letting me know that they had a new album. Everybody needs to visit his blog. One of his latest posts was inspired by me (at least I will claim it) because I asked him about a group called OK Go. He posted a video for one of their songs. It is funny. Stephen, of course, is a great guy. He is one the few things that I really miss about Utah. Ahhh, good times. But anyway, the new album is great. It feels more mellow then most of the past albums but I love it. (Yes I believe it is possible for me to not like a BNL album, just unlikely) To me it feels like their Christmas album "Barenaked for the Holidays". 'Course that may be just a result of being really excited to start listening to Christmas music. I know it is way too early but I just can't help myself. Anyway, I love BNL's Christmas album. It is very cool. It was one of the favorites last year among my office mates and other classmates that would stop by my office. Maybe I will do a post on Stephen's blog about it when the season is right.


Let's see......I have lost my momentum a little but I know there is something else I had in mind for tonight. Oh well, just enjoy the cute picture of Julie and Jacob from Amelia's soccer scrimmage tonight. Amelia's soccer ends this week. I think she has had a good time and she has definitely developed some stamina in the process. She really doesn't do much more then run around but at this age that is all soccer is anyway.

October Conflict

Ahhhhh, October. Fall leaves. College football. Cool mornings. And the impending doom of Halloween. That's right I am not one that gets excited about Halloween. There were those days when I did but I have tried to forget them, not unlike those days when I wore MC Hammer pants. But I want to make one thing perfectly clear. I am not one of those that doesn't like it because 'Halloween is a pagan holiday'. In fact, I am willing to endure Halloween just to make those people uneasy. But let's not dwell on that (I have nieces and a mom that reads this blog). This is a picture of the pumpkins that Dave and I made last year. Mine is the less cool one. I think this year I will try the one Dave did and new one. And therein lies my internal conflict. I hate Halloween but Julie has a talent for finding the one thing that peaks my interest. Also, watching my kids get excited over these things is enough to hide my dislike. What a softy.

Well, honestly there is nothing to report except randomness. That is why the blog hasn't been updated. It turns out that deciding on what randomness to write about is difficult. Work has been busy. Home is busy. But neither one has been exciting enough to report. Next week I might have to go to New Jersey for work. At first I was excited about this but now that some of the reality of what I have to do has set in I am not so sure. I guess we will see. So as I finish this post I suddenly have lots of ideas for what I should have posted about. I should really keep a list as things hit me. Sorry, you'll have to just enjoy the picture for now.