Can You Guess

what we were for the Halloween party?

wizard, Art Bowman (yearbook photographer from high school), gypsy
I'm not sure about the exact characters of the boys in this one but I'm pretty sure we've got 2 Luke Skywalkers and a Yoda with Tinkerbell and a fairy.
Art Bowman at it again with a princess by his side
And then the creative "moon shirt" Austen insisted to be with Tana as a witch.

What a fun party! Happy Halloween!

Fun with Fondant

I have very few hobbies. Jeff has made fun of me for this. The only thing I really "love" doing is running/exercising. So throughout our marriage I have attempted to try various things that one day could evolve into a passion. Today, it was cake decorating.

I wanted to try fondant because you can do some really awesome things with it. I found a recipe online that uses just marshmallows, powdered sugar, and crisco for greasing. It was easy enough, but things did get a little messy.
Wait a second... I remember Jeff striking a similar pose in the mere first weeks of our marriage...
Anyway, back to the cake. Things definitely got messy. You can't tell, but that counter has a nice, thick layer of Crisco under that powdered sugar/corn starch.
Jeff nibbled away at the scraps of marshmallow fondant and said it surprisingly tasted good. I was afraid to try the fondant. And I wonder if it is going to fall off the cake when we cut it. We'll have to see tomorrow at the Excell Halloween Party!

Cake decorating and marshmallow fondant get a big thumbs up.

It's a Free Ride When You Already Paid

My dear friend MacKenzie Inman once suggested that Alanis Morrissette's song "Ironic" is not really ironic, but more of just bad luck. I don't know how ironic my examples are, but I was humming Alanis's song as I discovered some funny things about my life lately.

I have run half marathons because I love running. But running half marathons makes me hate running.

It's my senior year of college. This semester, I've had the least amount of homework but have learned the most.

I beg Jeff to find ways to work more hours. When he gets called in to work a full day on a day off from school, I get mad I'm home alone all day.

We are married and still can't escape singles ward. (I actually really like being in the singles ward. But it is a little ironic.)

I watched The Biggest Loser. Then came home and ate a huge bowl of ice-cream, went to bed, and ate 4 chocolate chip muffins when I woke up.

I had to pay a $15.00 "graduation fee."

I never understood my parents were right until after I experienced what they were talking about. And they were always right.

I don't want a TV in our bedroom. Instead, we blow up the air mattress to sleep in our living room in front of the TV.

An hour of class never goes by as fast as an hour of Tyra.

We rarely get invited to go eat dinner with people on the weekdays. I also rarely ever cook dinner. Lately, on the rare occasions I decide to cook, Jeff forgets to tell me we have dinner plans.

Advertising Assignment

We got an assignment in class yesterday to make an advertisement that would go in a magazine for Amp Energy Drink. I was a little nervous about it because she suggested using photoshop and other programs I'm not very familiar with. I got home and went to my handy dandy sunday comic application on my computer and came up with a few advertisements. They turned out a lot better than I was expecting. Naturally, I had to show them off.




We only have to turn in one, so let me know which one you like better.

Staying Positive

Sometimes I can be easily irritated. My family would probably say that is an understatement, but we'll leave it as it is. It always helps me to vent, but due to a recent article in the Ensign on "Better Blogging," I'll take their advice and..."be positive" about my recent irritations:

Irritation: Our toilet has decided it does not need to flush anymore. Instead, it will fill up with water and slowly drain. Our bathroom routine now includes plunging the toilet every time after we go.

Be Positive: On Friday when a woman from New York called the front desk because her toilet was not flushing, I was her skilled plumber.

Irritation: I may or may not have purposely cleared my schedule this semester for the 12:00 Tyra Banks Show only to discover she just switched to 3:00.

Be Positive: Instead of deadening my brain in that hour, I can use it to do homework. Or maybe even clean the house.

Irritation: We live above a barber. She does perms. It stinks.

Be Positive: When she is sick, not only do we not have to smell perms, but we also get to read the detailed reasons of why she is not at work with notes on her door like, "My basement flooded last night. I will be back as soon as we get it fixed." "I have an ear infection today. Gone to the doctor. Be back tomorrow." It makes every perm she does worth it.

Irritation: I got a 48% on a test.

Be Positive: I made everyone else happy because at least they didn't have the low in the class.

Irritation: No matter how many times we go grocery shopping, it still feels like we don't have any food.

Be Positive: This has resulted in a lot of pizza nights.