Wednesday, November 4, 2015

Halloweeeeeeen


That's Ruby's cute ghost :)  I thought she was clever to write "Boo" in a speech bubble with no help.


 Two days before Halloween, we enjoyed the 8th Annual Council Bluffs Halloween party!  We even watched our Garfield Halloween movie.  It's so different with kids, but so fun. Instead of Werewolves and gossip, it was mummy hot dogs and kid carnival games. Whatever we do, Council Bluffs and Emily always throw a super fun party. It's awesome to still be getting together after all these years!



The next morning, we went to IHOP for our traditional Scary Face Pancake breakfast!

That night was our ward party. Our first trunk or treat EVER.

You can't tell from the picture, but our car was awesome and one of the best ones there.  Death Star, Storm Trooper, galaxy backdrops, and Darth Vader is there holding a sign by the candy--"You Don't Know the Deliciousness of the Dark Side."

The girls checked out their loot while I made copies of the program for Sunday.


  Halloween morning, Jane and Ruby played a vampire game in the closet. Honestly, they were obsessed with vampires all day. The day before that, it was mummies. It's fun that they're not too scared of monsters like that.

I'm not very creative...for breakfast we had toast with jack o lantern faces cut out, and for dinner we had grilled cheese with the faces cut out.

We met early for PICTURES with the Robbins and Larsons!  The saddest thing ever is that there isn't a picture of our whole group. 3 families with all Star Wars costumes!  No photo evidence!  SO LAME.

























Our cute pumpkins that we carved that day. Jack Skellington, a kitty, and a face that Ruby designed.


Best part of the day!

Sunday, November 1, 2015

RUBY FOR RUBIO!!!!!

As moooost people who know me know, I am a political junkie. I follow the news, but it's the political garbage that I read about obsessively.  So, election cycles are massively addicting for me. The current GOP Primary race is making me CRAZY.  It was so easy, the past couple primaries--if Mitt is an option, Mitt is my choice.  So this time, I had to go into it with an open mind and heart for the mass quantities of candidates and discern on my own who I was going to go for.  And, ever since the first debate, that man has been Marco Rubio.

I still kept an open mind. I like other people, (and HATE others *cough Trump Huckabee cough*) and feel pretty meh about quite a few. But RUBIO, you guys. I've liked him for a few years but now he is my guy and, in my view, the last best hope for the Republican party. 

Imagine my joy and excitement when I found out that not only was he coming to Utah--he was doing a public rally!  Guys, NO ONE DOES THAT HERE.  I should move to Iowa or New Hampshire JUST for the rallies. No one cares about Utah all that much--they just come here and raise money with the hugely rich people.  We're an ATM.  ANYWAYS, Rubio was coming and I HAD to go.  I knew Jane and Kyle wouldn't enjoy it, but I thought it was a great opportunity for Ruby. She already knew who he was and identified on her own that she liked him because of his name. So I made us tshirts (who can afford official campaign shirts? Not this girl) and drove up to Salt Lake.


Because I am a psycho neurotic freak, we got there HOURS too early. I didn't know what to expect and driving/parking at events makes me anxious. So we walked around and found the place where the rally would be held (with like 2 staffers there setting up and no one else), and then got some gas in the car and some candy/drinks.  Went back. Still WAY too early. Ruby did some dancing in a nearby gazebo and I tweeted a picture of Ruby waiting in the car. 

AND THEN MARCO RUBIO TWEETED AT US.


I just about DIED at this point. (And yeah, there were a lot of losers tweeting negative shiz about it like that reply in that screen shot, but whatever. That's what happens when you're speaking against the Trumpkin idiots.)

Waiting in line, two news reporters asked to interview me. (We were the only people in shirts, and Ruby is adorable.) LUCKILY I was able to say something when they asked me questions, although I was so flustered and probably sounded like an idiot. (I watched snippets of both interviews on the news later that night because Kyle recorded them. And of course I sounded like an idiot.)  A staffer came and told me that Marco (or whatever minion was in the car with him of course) had called and wanted to meet Ruby.  AHGLJGHSFSLEDGJ.

When we were let into the building, we had to wait another long time.  Getting there hours early was good for all the attention we got, but it was sure tiring for Ruby.  We were in the VERY front row in front of the stage though.  Worth it for sure. I chatted with the people next to me so it wasn't bad.  Ruby was just tired from waiting.  I promised her a milkshake and Shopkins if she could hold out to smile beautifully in her picture with Marco though.  It was pretty funny when a couple people around me were like "Hey, I just retweeted you!"--Twitter is weird. I don't really use it very much to tweet, I just follow my favorite political guys on there.





Also, Mia Love was there!  She is freaking awesome! She was standing diagonally across from us and smiled at Ruby several times. (There were only a couple kids there, and Ruby was cutest AND in a Rubio shirt so she got lots of attention.)



Marco came out and spoke--his stump speech is fantastic. He talked for about 45 minutes and I only teared up once :)  He was funny, and passionate, and of course charming. He also is super knowledgeable--his foreign policy is what sold me on him in the first place.  I really believe in him!!!  I trust him and support him wholeheartedly. It's a relief to find someone like that in this election. I didn't want a 2008 McCain situation again.



He came out and shook hands and took pictures with anyone who asked! He is really nice!



I am very grateful that the staffer who had spoken to me beforehand came and recognized us. I am timid and wasn't going to be brave about asking for a picture. But the staffer just grabbed my phone and said "Here's Ruby!" to Marco.  Marco knelt down to Ruby and said "I heard you were first in line! Thanks for coming to see me!"


He told her that he liked her shirt and then we ran away from the crowds. Ruby was ready to pass out from exhaustion--she was SO GOOD during the whole 45 minute speech though.  She earned that milkshake for sure!  On the way home, she had to go to the bathroom so we stopped at Toys R Us and In n Out and I made good on my promises. 


That night I was briefly twitter famous--well, Ruby was. People LOVED her. So many retweets and faves! And for a couple weeks we were on Marco Rubio's website--the news story was up on there, and we were the thumbnail.


 The news segments were kind of embarrassing--I wish I'd had time to think about my comments!--but it was fun when Grandpa Dee called me the next morning to ask about it because my great uncle David had seen me on the news. Grandpa is a political junkie too and is proud that it's being passed on. 

It's important to me that Ruby knows a bit about our country and how it's run. I've taught her the basics of democracy and voting and the two-party system. She's happy we're the elephant team--her favorite animal.  She knows that our country was established by men who were inspired by God, because it is the only place that the Gospel could have been restored.  And if Marco Rubio is the next president (please oh please oh please) that picture is going to be legendary in our family.

30, Nerdy, and Thriving (I love 13 Going on 30 ok?)

I turned 30.  DUN DUN DUNNNNN. 

The day before--my last day in my twenties--was awful. I was mourning my youth. I was realizing my own mortality. I was feeling like death wasn't even that far off, because we only change decades like 8 times and I was on my 3rd. I was certain that it was going to be the worst birthday ever.  

BUT. Surprise twist--it was the best birthday I've ever had. I felt so loved, so celebrated, and so remembered. My family went all out on presents and gave me THIRTY.  They weren't here to open them with me, but I got to spread it out all day and open a few at a time.  SO MANY NERD SHIRTS.






My friends gave me extremely thoughtful gifts that actually made me cry, because they know me so well. Kyle surprised the heck out of me with a new computer (which is why I'm blogging again!) and a great printer. 




I was busy with celebrations all day!! I woke up and was really surprised by decorations and donuts in my downstairs that Celia and Katy had brought over. Jane had speech, and right after that we met Kyle at Sonic for celebratory Diet Cokes, and he surprised me by not going back to work. I was almost immediately whisked away to lunch at Zupas, my fave place, with Katy and Celia. Soon after, Kyle and I went on a short afternoon date.  And Katy made me a really terrific birthday cake!!



A brief rest at home, and then...wait for it...surprise Real Salt Lake game with Celia!!!!  RSL lost horribly and unfairly (stupid refs) but we tried to not let it dampen our spirits.




Honestly, I am so grateful for the people in my life. Instead of facing my increasingly old age with trepidation, I can look forward to everything getting better and better because of my loved ones.