Thanksgiving 2007

This Thanksgiving was a little strange. Only because it was my first one without Tom in 6 years. We had a total of eight people over for dinner. It was a really good time. My roommate and I set the table really nicely. We had several comments on how nice it looked. We loved it.



This was the turkey that I made. In the picture it looks like only half of the turkey is cooked. I used a meat thermometer, and it said 180 degrees when I took the turkey out of the oven. It tasted really good. Very moist, not dry. I love oven bags. No basting.


We ended up having a ton of food. Man was it good though. We sent everyone away with plates of food. After we ate dinner, we went to the movie theater and watched the movie "Enchanted" It was really cute. Then we came home, ate pies (lemon meringue, apple pie, pumpkin pie, Brownie Pecan Pie) and called Tom on Skype. Tom actually got to talk to a bunch of other people besides just me. I'm sure that was a little enjoyable for him.


After pie and talking to Tom and playing a few games, the guys watched football in the living room while the girls piled on the brand new bed I bought and watched Grey's Anatomy. It was really fun.


All in all it turned out to be a great day. I just wish Tom was here with us. Only 25 more days until I get to see him. I can't wait.

The Stressful Week and a half 11/1-11/9

Well, November 1st came and I was really excited to be flying to Utah. I had it all planned out. I would be all packed and ready, go to work, leave from work at about 1:30 and head off to the airport. I get out of the shower and get all dressed and notice a little puddle on the bathroom floor. I wipe it up thinking I must have gotten it wet getting out of the shower. I go to my room to get my suitcase ready, go back to the bathroom and there it is again. The little puddle of water. Come to find out there is water leaking from underneath the toilet. Not a good way to start out this day. I eventually called the plumber and they said they would come when they could. I asked if it could be before 1:30, they said they would try. Luckily, I was able to hand this task over to my roommate so she could take care of it and I could go and enjoy time with my family and my cousins wedding.


The flight to Utah was fine, everything was on time if not early, it was great. Little did I know...
Sunday night came and it was time to fly back home. Everything from Salt Lake to Phoenix was fine, then I got hit with a delay in Phoenix. Instead of getting home at midnight, I got home at 4 am. I bring my stuff in from the car, get ready for bed, go to blow up my side of the Comfortaire air bed, the motor dies. I check all plugs make sure things are plugged in right, nothing. I go and try Tom's side of the bed remote...nothing. I slept on Tom's side of the bed, but it was more like sleeping on plywood. Monday night was spent shopping for a new bed, and I got a nice one, Sealy pillow top. I dreamed from Monday night to Thursday night about this new bed. All the week long, lots of stress and little sleep. Three extra duty basketball games, 1 wrestling tournament, 1 choral concert, and a dance later, I finally got the rest I was hoping for, only to wake up with a really bad sore throat and all of the other cold symptoms you could think of.

I felt I had hit my wits end. Then this morning, I was looking through our file cabinet for the warranty on Tom's camera. I came across something that I hadn't read in awhile. It reminded me that there will be times when I am going to be challenged and need to be prepared so that Satan can't persuade me to do otherwise. I gave Satan an inch with my toilet leaking water. That little bit of discouragement opened up a river of discouragement and has been sneaking up on me little by little until I broke down. Needless to say, I think I caught on to his game before it was too late. I am working harder at not letting those "little" things bother me. My hometeachers were over on Sunday and they gave the analogy of having a bowl with a bunch of rocks. Some rocks were pebbles that represented the "little" things in life, the others were larger rocks that represented the more significant/important things of life. If you fill your life up with the pebbles, there isn't going to be room to work on the stuff that matters. That is exactly what I have been doing. I am trying to stop that now. Little by little I will be able to get back to where I want to be. I don't want to sweat the small stuff.

I am feeling a lot better now. I am missing Tom a lot and I am sure that that weight was added to my woes last week. I only have 38 days left until I see him though. That is exciting.

6 Wonderful Years

Today, Tom and I celebrated our 6th Wedding Anniversary. Since Tom is in Japan and I am in Kansas, I did a little celebrating of my own. Three of my wonderful friends from work and I went to a restaurant called The Melting Pot.

The Melting Pot is a really yummy fondue restaurant in Kansas City on the Plaza. We had so much fun. I don't remember a time when I laughed so hard. This is Carol and Carice.

This is Lisa and I.

When we came out of the restaurant, we came out to this bus that had jumped the curb somehow and was kind of blocking the entrance and exit out of the restaurant.

Next weekend, I will be in Utah for my cousins wedding reception. I am very excited about that.

The Maple Leaf Festival

Every 3rd weekend in October, Baldwin City, Kansas has something called The Maple Leaf Festival. Basically, you walk around to a bunch a different booths that are selling art, crafts, clothing, jewelry and food. It is a fun thing to go to, even if you only go and look. The leaves are usually changing into fall colors around this time. The first year we lived here, Tom and I went. I think it was kind of a cool day. Last year we didn't go because it was raining. This year I went with our friends Jen and Jason and their baby Joshua. It was about 80 degrees out, but very windy. All in all, it was a pretty nice day to be out and about.

I am looking forward to next weekend. It will by mine and Tom's 6 year wedding anniversary. Even though he isn't here with me, I'm not going to sit home and sulk. On Friday night I am going to go and see the movie Dan in Real Life with Steve Correll. Then on Saturday night, some friends from work and I are going to the Plaza in Kansas City to a Restaurant called "The Melting Pot." It is a fondue place. We are all very excited about that.
Other than what I have already mentioned, there isn't a whole lot going on.

In Town Football Rivals, Red and Black vs. Green and White

The evening started off with my good friend Twyla (the Central Junior High Cheer Coach) and I going to a Native American Pow Wow. We were only able to stay for 15 minutes or so, but it was neat to experience something from a different culture. We then went on to have a tailgating party with the Central Junior High School Cheerleaders.
In Lawrence, there are two high schools that are obviously rivals. You have Lawrence High School and Free State High School. When LHS and FSHS play each other in football, all of the cheerleaders from the four junior high schools in Lawrence learn the cheers of the high schools and spend the first half cheering with one highschool and the second half cheering with the other school. It was a lot of fun. The atmosphere was filled with excitement. It brought back a lot of memories of when I was in high school and I participated in the football games by being in the marching band. As I was people watching, it caused me to reflect on the behavior of some of these kids and wonder if I acted the way that some of them acted when I was in high school. Sad to say, that yes...the drama was there. Looking back now, it is kind of funny to see how much I have matured since those high school days. I also realized that it has been about ten years since I have been to a high school football game. Time sure does fly. Free State High School won 27-0. High school football is so much more exciting than Junior High football.


Tailgating Party with Central Junior High School Cheerleaders.


Lawrence High School Cheerleaders and Free State High School Band.


Twyla and Erin.

The First Month and a Few Days

It's hard to believe that Tom has been in Japan for a month and a few days now. The time is kind of flying by quickly. Of course I don't mind that part. Tom seems to be enjoying himself and I am glad. He seems to be picking up on the language way better in Japan. I guess immersing yourself really might work. =) The pictures that I have seen really make me wish that I was over there with him. Unfortunately there were too many "cons" for both of us to spend 10 months in Japan. Seeing the pictures really make me want to visit. Now that I know that they have KFC and Denny's and Ramen Shops and Hamburger places, I am sure that getting me over there won't be so hard.
As hard as it is having Tom so far away, I am glad that he is able to have this experience. He seems to be learning quite a bit. We get to talk to each other several times a week, so that makes it a little easier.
I have been managing to keep myself busy lately. I am working quite a bit. It is kind of nice to have distractions so I don't focus so much attention on the fact that Tom isn't here.
There are a couple of events that are coming up that I am really looking forward too. The Maple Leaf Festival is this weekend. I am trying to find someone to go with. I am flying to Utah on November 1, to attend my cousins wedding reception. I am glad about that. I didn't think that I would get to go, but things worked out. For Thanksgiving, I think that there are several people in our ward who will be getting together to have dinner at the Institute Building to watch movies, play games and of course....eat Thanksgiving Dinner. Then on December 21, I will be flying to California and counting down the minutes until Tom's plane lands at LAX on the 22nd.
The hot weather in Kansas seems to be subsiding. I am very glad about that. The fall weather is approaching. With all of the warm and cold weather fronts, we have been having some exciting Rain/Thunder & Lightning storms. All of Friday night into Saturday morning there was thunder and lightning. Needless to say, I didn't sleep very well that night. At about 6:30 am, I witnessed the brightest flash of lightning and the loudest clap of thunder I have ever seen and heard. Later that afternoon, I found out that a tree was struck by lightning on the next street over. It was split in half and had to be cut down.
I like walking outside to the crisper fall weather. It beats walking outside and immediately sweating. I am sure that once winter hits and the snow/ice come and I have to scrape my windshield... I will be wishing for summer all over again.