Thanksgiving

Tonight, I helped my mom in the kitchen with my sister as we prepared some Thanksgiving dishes.  It was fun.  We watched A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving and part of the Charlie Brown Mayflower feature. :)  Have any of you ever seen these?  They can be pretty entertaining.  The clever humor that laces the plots provided a considerable amount of laughing for us. :) Also, I couldn't help but think of the added insight I gained about the pilgrims and humble beginnings of this country a couple summers ago when I traveled to and learned about the entrance and settlements of many newcomers.  Their resilience and sacrifice are incredible.
   

Here's a peak at some recreations/representations of live events and places:
The Mayflower II

Plymouth Rock

The "Moo-Flower"

Re-enactments of settlements

This year I am grateful for my family.  They have been so good to me this year that I've stayed with them.  :)  I am also grateful for employment opportunities, traveling opportunities, and educational blessings that have come my way.  I've also been very blessed in the friend department.  I've had a lot of fun and created a lot of good memories. :)  I'm grateful for the upcoming semester at BYU-Idaho in January and the blessings of learning, fun, and growth that will come there.  I've been super blessed this year and I hope you all have a very memorable Thanksgiving. :) 

Fall Fun

Birthday Celebration

My birthday celebration was a rousing success!  :)  I was surrounded with warm blessings, wishes, and love.  One of my favorite parts of the day was enjoying a delicious pulled pork ("fresh mex" style) with rice and beans.  I am a huge Mexican food (especially the "fresh mex" variation) fan for sure! :)  

 family -and David :) at the "dessert" table  

 We scored a doozy when we found this recipe in a new cookbook that practically fell in my mom's lap & begged her to buy it (over dramatized and not 100% accurate of course). ;) 

I found this recipe in about September and decided that it would be a delicious birthday dessert and began setting things in motion for that to happen.  I asked for some extra layers (wish you could see them clearly, but it got pretty melty).  They are made of brownie mix, mint chocolate chip ice cream, (she repeated those two layers) and whipped cream with shaved Andes Mint pieces sprinkled on the top. :) 

Pumpkin Fun!  

 My sister, mom, and I had fun in the kitchen a while ago making some pumpkin bars! :)  I made a mistake measuring & adding the baking soda so in order to even out all the proportions we doubled the batch, but it's okay because it turned out great! 

My cute mother helping us put it together! :)  She's pretty great at "punting" when there's such miscalculations that could mess up results! 

Also, my best friend of many years, David Morgan & I have officially embarked on a journey into romantic territory! :)
Some of you have waited a LONG time for this to happen and to you, I say "haha joke's on me!"  ...we are both eating many of our long-time sustained words as we become "more than friends" :)

One of our fun dates was carving pumpkins together!  Anyone who knows us well can probably identify who did which pumpkin, but I'll tell you. :) 

left (me), middle (mostly David), right (David) 

...he has the dominant creative touch when it comes to pumpkin carving! :)

haha.  I just listened to the lyrics to this song called "Oh No!" by Mindy Gledhill and thought of it in context of David & I and it just makes me laugh because we've resisted this for so long but alas!  We've joined the roller coaster blast of dating together!  I'm so happy! :)  

Precious Birthday Gift

{picture of the birthday treat Spencer gifted to me} 

My favorite birthday gift so far is this small (by look but not meaning) ice cream cup with a twix bar & a candle! :) 

Now is good

I just had a little glimpse into the future when I browsed some photos of a former room mate's newborn baby and thought about my upcoming stages and happiness ahead.  I started to wish away the present for the future, but not too far into it, I realized my special, current stage of life, in its own way, is beautiful too!  

Just before I about hopped out of the car of a dear friend who treated me to lunch and dessert for my approaching birthday, I had a whoosh of hope and light gloss over me as I expressed my excitement for my near future plans to go back to school and work.  

Since I embraced my plan to go finish my degree at BYU-Idaho, I have begun to get increasingly more excited for taking all of the classes for and using my degree in Communications.  I feel good things coming and I am blessed to be exactly where I am right now. :) 

Step by step

...or "piece by piece" as a favored author would say. 

"Peace is always waiting for me after I despair.

In the quiet moments, inspiration and comfort always comes again.

Every time without fail.  Piece by piece, 

God puts me back together and I keep moving forward."

-Taken from my memoir, "Heaven is Here" pg. 302

-straight from her blog is a magnificent quote that I resonated with tonight.  I am grateful for her inspiration.  If you have not read the book she wrote, Heaven Is Here I cannot describe the depth of her courage and hope but the book can! :) It gives me hope too! 

Highlights of the week!

Today, was the first day of the 183rd Semi-Annual General Conference for the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It includes great talks and music that inspire people worldwide (through  broadcasting from Salt Lake City, UT) I'm so glad I was able to listen to most all of it! :)  One of my favorite quotes is: 

"Above all, never lose faith in your Father in Heaven who loves you more than you can comprehend." 

-Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.  

For more quotes and information about it, check it out here! 

Also, you may be wondering why there's a picture of Melissa in her serving outfit for work holding a Spanish-English dictionary...this is a captured moment of joy she experience last night when she came home from work and discovered the new dictionary on the table that came in the mail today. She is taking Spanish 5 in high school right now and loves it.  (Every now and again I find her contentedly listening to Spanish music!) haha She is working and preparing for her next big steps and she is so excited for her upcoming adventures as she finishes off her senior year.  In the mean time, she gracefully balances her many responsibilities that demand her time and energy.  She is such a delight and I'm glad she's my sister! 

This past week, I was blessed to sit with a friend and hear about a great job opportunity that will likely aid my progress in developing my talents and skills within my major and anticipated career.  I am so grateful for this and would invite all my blogger friends to join me in sending some good vibes toward this cause!  

Music Memory + Why I love my siblings!

Last Fall, I sang in the Women's Choir at BYU-Idaho.  I loved singing in this choir.  I felt so spiritually uplifted, refreshed with greater capacity to face my daily challenges through cheerful interactions and positive, happy people, and blessed to be in the presence of such great talent and choral skill that made me want to be a better musician.  This was such a great experience.  I felt especially tender when we rehearsed the hymn "More Holiness Give Me."  

Each Tuesday afternoon at BYU-Idaho, pretty much the entire campus shuts down for a school-wide devotional with a special speaker and musical number that lasts about an hour long.  I enjoyed going to those devotionals from the beginning of my college experience.  However, I felt a different spirit at them when I got to SING in them. :)  [The auditorium where the devotionals are held is huge with 15,000 seats, equipped with cameras, fancy teleprompters, and a large stage used for a variety of meetings and performances.  Basically, it's quite the venue for a mere 70?ish ladies to fill with {hopefully} beautiful sound for all to hear.]

For one of the devotionals, we (Women's Choir) sang "More Holiness Give Me."  My favorite moment of singing that song was actually during a rehearsal we had previous to one of the performances of the song.  It was so powerful because I felt the combination of emotion and musicianship eloquently carry the message of the song to be more like the Savior.  It was truly unique.
To date, it holds a special place in my heart and I love to hear mass choirs sing it. :) 

I am so excited to attend BYU-Idaho again in the Winter and look forward to the many more positive memories to unfold there! :) 

Serious Sisters

Funny Sisters

...sisters either way! :) 

For now, I am living at home and it is different than living away from home as any college student who has left and returns (or anyone who every has) is familiar with, but it's not unbearable. I have a different set of challenges that make me grow but also many blessings that accompany those challenges.  Most recently I have appreciated the cheerful company of my sister.  She is involved in work, school, church, and music right now and SO busy!  But somehow we manage to find time to laugh, cheer each other up and hear about our concerns, goals, funny moments, and enthusiasm in our lives. :)  It's a blessing I cherish in this season of my life!  :)  

In addition to her, my brother Andrew has also been quite entertaining lately.  He comes home with stories, practices his french in the car ride, at the check-out line, or just around the house, and generously showers our home -and yard (see below)- with his vibrant personality.  Whether it's mowing his initials with a display of his new age into the backyard for his birthday, or practicing the trumpet into the wee hours of the night with an energy that can hardly match an ordinary practice session, I am glad he and I are around together for at least this season more before my adult wings get too ambitious for long spurts at home. :)