Halloween Festivities

*The title of this post is not to be confused with the post I did last year.

Even though Matt will be gone for Halloween, we still wanted to participate in the festivities. We tried something new this year by making our own caramel apples! I won a huge jar last week for guessing how many caramels were inside and I used about a third of them for these apples. They weren't as attractive as the ones we get from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, but they still tasted delicious.

This year we decided to do "The Incredibles" as our pumpkin theme. 

The goal: 

The reality:

Yeah...you can't really tell that it's "Jack-Jack"-O-Lantern. 

 Same pumpkin, other side:

Doing the "I" was a little bit easier in the design, although Matt had to spend some time carving out the circle around it so you could see the faint glow of the candle.

Matt also cooked pumpkin seeds again this year, which he will be eating all by himself (No offense to Matt's cooking, I just don't like pumpkin seeds).

What have you been doing to celebrate Halloween?

Rhetorically,

Rebekah

The Party That Almost Wasn't

Several weeks ago, I saw so many cute ideas for Halloween snacks that I decided we should have a Halloween party so I could do all of them. We promptly postponed buying supplies and inviting people until this week. After sending out over a dozen texts over the course of several days, we discovered that no one had (to our knowledge) RSVP'd in the affirmative. So we figured the party was off. It was kind of a bummer, but we figured with it being late notice and so close to the holidays that it was understandable. 

Around two hours before the party was scheduled to start, we were at the grocery store and got a couple of calls from people saying they were coming. The party was back on! Since we were already at the store, we got all of the supplies we needed and rushed home to make the following foods: 

After "dinner" we played games. The first was the Snickers game. It involves unwrapping and eating a frozen Snickers Bar with a chopstick. Everyone has a turn to roll the dice to roll the number of the round (we started off with the number one) before passing the dice on. Once you rolled right number, you grab the chopstick and go at it. The winners are those who eat a piece of the candy bar. Matt got creative in this shot and used the chopstick to scoot a chunk off the table and into his mouth.

The second game is "What if...then" where each person writes a "what if" statement on a piece of paper, switching papers with someone else so they answer the question with a "then" statement. You mix up the papers again and have everyone switches off reading a "what if" question while the person next to them answers it with their "then" statement. Not all of them turned out, but the funniest one was, Q: "What if Violet (one of the baby attendees) stopped crying?" A: "Then earplugs would be a useless invention."

We were thrilled that the party actually happened and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Rhetorically,

Rebekah

Entering the Third Trimester

I took the glucose test this week and passed! I have to say, it wasn't nearly as bad as I expected. Maybe because I thought the drink would by a syrup consistency, and it turned out to be like any other sugary, artificially flavored fruit drink. 

Buying maternity clothes that are colorful at this time of the year has been tricky, so I felt especially proud of myself for finding this awesome dress at Burlington Coat Factory.

Not to brag, but I'm in my third trimester and I can still paint my toenails. It's kind of a big deal. And yes, the pumpkins are stickers.

Only 10 more weeks to go!

Rhetorically,

Rebekah

Pumpkin Time

This post is partially inspired by the "Disneyland Pumpkin Food Crawl" post I read a few days ago. However, since I haven't been to Disneyland recently (and since they already did the work for me), I'll be reviewing pumpkin foods found locally in Provo/Orem:

Pumpkin Bagel: Meh. I don't know if it should have been sweeter or had more spices in general, but it was blander than expected. However, I didn't have it with pumpkin shmear, which may have been my downfall.
Also, this bagel should not be confused with the "Pumpkin Walnut Crunch Gourmet Bagel" which I have not tried.

Pumpkin cheesecake and Pumpkin spice cake doughnuts: Yes, please!! I think I liked the spice cake slightly better than the cheesecake, but it's a toss up. They were both sooo good. 

BYU Creamery Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream: No thanks. They nailed the pumpkin pie flavor, and there were chunks of pie crust throughout, but I guess I just don't like pumpkin pie if it's not heated up.
(However, my sister tried it and liked it, so there's a second opinion.) 

Menchie's Harvest Pumpkin Frozen Yogurt: with help, a winner. When I first tried it, the flavor was pretty overwhelming. However, after mixing it with their toasty marshmallow flavor, some carmel topping, and oreo bits, this was definitely an excellent fall treat.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies: Delicious. We actually made these.
If you don't know the super easy recipe already, here it is: 1 box spice cake mix, 1 can pumpkin puree, and your preference of the amount of chocolate chips. Mix them all up and bake for 14-15 minutes at 350 degrees. 

What are your pumpkin food favorites?

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Meet the Mormons

Messages I got from the Movie:

- there are many misconceptions about mormons (I loved the clips they showed from popular media/ interviews with strangers in NYC demonstrating this point)

- you can be mormon and still have a good relationship with family/friends of different religions

- you can be mormon and still be respectful to cultural norms/customs

- mormons live worldwide

What I liked from the Movie:

-the music

-the aerial shots

-the variety in the stories

My one criticism:

-since all of the previews were religious, I couldn't tell when the movie had actually started...for a minute I thought it was just another preview

What did you think of "Meet the Mormons"?
Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Fall Break

I will forever be grateful for the week off we get every semester in law school. A time to catch up on HW, sleep, housework...oh yeah, and catch up with family. :)

Angela came down for a night and we enjoyed hiking bridal veil falls:

Speaking of falls, looks like fall's finally arrived in the mountains:

We watched Monsters University (Angela's first time seeing it!):

And had lunch with our favorite Lund-cousin-that-is-currently-attending-BYU-Provo:

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

General Conference

We love general conference!! It's apparently become a tradition to go to the BYU Law General Conference Reception in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building between sessions on Saturdays. I think I've made it to the last 6 receptions or so. Free food and networking, right?

Selfie attempt to take a picture of the four of us. I wish you could see Matt's name tag, because it mentions our "company": Legally Insane, LLC.

Thank you, kind stranger, for taking this picture, since the selfie angle wasn't working out

Matt called me on the way home from priesthood and asked me to pull up the last two minutes of the session online. Turns out, they made it on TV! 

My family always had doughnuts for breakfast during general conference, so I've decided to carry on the tradition with Matt and I...except with Krispy Kreme doughnuts. I would highly recommend the pumpkin spice cake and cream cheese pumpkin doughnuts. Sadly, they were devoured before I remembered to take a picture. *I blame the baby.*

Sunday between sessions we drove to the Provo temple and walked around. As we were coming back to the car, we noticed a horde of missionaries crouching around Matt's car, taking pictures. There were only three possible explanations: the NC license plate, the BYU-I Alum license frame, or the fact that it looks like the letters on the plate spell "BOM" (Book of Mormon). Turns out it was the first--they are all headed to NC next week to start their missions! Matt and I reminisced about the different places we have been during conference time in the past. As a sampler: Korea, Washington DC, Utah, Dominican Republic.

We are loving the fall weather! The mountains are finally starting to change colors. Here's hoping it lasts through November. 

What are your conference memories?

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

"You don't even look pregnant from behind!"

If I were to choose a phrase to sum up the second trimester, this would be it: "you don't even look pregnant from behind!" I've gotten that comment a lot recently, since baby has decided to stick straight out and not utilize any side space. Which is fine by me. As you can see, it's taken me awhile to show (cue: "Do I show?" song from my 4 month mark). 

Because of this, I haven't done too many "watch me grow" photos because there wasn't anything to show...until this last month. As you can see from the month 5 to month 6 photos, I've finally started to stick out. I officially moved on to maternity shorts, although some of my shirts and dresses are still holding out. 

They kept on telling me that during the second trimester you get your energy back and start feeling a lot better, but I honestly can't say that happened until around week 20 (4 and 1/2 months). Since then, I've been doing a lot better! No nausea, no migraines, no exhaustion...it's like I'm back to normal! Of course, I still have had other side effects, such as heartburn, bleeding gums, and lower back pain, but compared to my first four months, these have been a breeze! I'm so glad I was able to start feeling better for fall semester--I can't imagine trying to go to school and being sick. *crossing fingers that the third trimester isn't as bad*

Here's hoping the second trimester "glow" sticks around for another month or so.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah