Murder Mystery Party

Welcome to the 60's! The local Deputy and Moonbeam, an undercover FBI agent posing as a hippie in the local commune, help solve the murder of Marvin Stank!

There were 15 of us who played and everyone seemed to have such a fun time! There is talk of playing another murder mystery during Thanksgiving break. For all those wanting to play a murder mystery game though, realize that it takes a LOT of work. As my husband, the host will attest, when the instructions say to start planning a month in advance...START PLANNING A MONTH IN ADVANCE. Three days before is not recommended.

Halloween Treats

Pumpkin Whoopie Pies!

I found this recipe online and decided I had to try it! SO yummy! The filling was a little runny, so I had to keep the cookies in the refrigerator, but that might just be because our house is so warm in the afternoons. In an air conditioned house, I'm sure it would be fine.

http://www.delish.com/recipefinder/pumpkin-whoopie-pies

New Obsession

I LOVE this song.

 It was the melody that first hooked me, but I really love the lyrics. 

It's sad and sweet and genuine all in one. 

Beautiful.

The Band Perry

A must listen to if you haven't already.

Bad News...

Well, I have finally completely given up on our car ever working again.

Thank you Transport Services for screwing over my family.

Too unhappy at present to explain more.

Soooo, what to do what to do?

1) E-mail Transport Services a very "tactful" message

2) Bake (when I'm frustrated, it's either baking or cleaning and I choose baking tonight)

Bloody bones!

Made out of yummy homemade breadsticks!

More cute treats!

Isn't this the cutest? I can't wait for the weekend to come! While every holiday has good food, I think Halloween has some of the most creative food.

Yum!

Sadly this is my phone at present. Meaning until I get a working car, I cannot text anyone because I will not have a working phone. I can make phone calls, but only if I know the phone number by heart. As much as I have loved this phone, the fact that it can only be fully operated as a touch phone is rather inconvenient right now...

Poor poor phone...

In need of help!

Any suggestions for what to include in my 60's costume???

Halloween Preparations

I'm SO excited about Halloween this coming weekend! I absolutely love celebrating holidays! Probably because they are always good excuses to bake. :) Here are some of the cute Halloween treats I've found in my web searches this season...

Beau and I are planning a murder mystery party for Saturday with a big group of people. Can't wait to try out some fun recipes!

Yummy dinner

I started feeling better last night and actually got up to make dinner. I found this great vegetarian recipe online and thought I would try it. It actually turned out really good! And to Beau's astonishment it was actually very filling.

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Orzo-Stuffed-Tomatoes

Delicious!

Sick day

At home curled up in sweatpants, studying for a Biopsychology exam, and missing my husband. What more to do than pass the time away by listening to Sugarland's and Taylor's new albums?

What I'm Grateful for...Day 7

1) Temples all over the world. It is amazing to know the joy and happiness that comes from Temples. The groundbreaking for the Rome, Italy Temple occurred yesterday.

http://beta-newsroom.lds.org/article/president-monson-breaks-ground-for-rome-italy-temple

2) My fantastic husband who makes me meals when I am sick.

3) Having the option of staying curled up in bed for hours on end.

4) Being able to start a new week. It's like having a clean slate.

5) The goodness that all people have.

What I'm Grateful for...Day 6

1) Beau and I got to sleep in this morning! I love not having to set an alarm for Saturday mornings. Such a nice change.

2) All the people that have been so kind in helping Beau and I out with our car situation. We have had so many people willing to give us rides. It is MUCH appreciated. :)

3) Being able to stay in yoga pants almost all day long.

4) My beautiful school...But more grateful that the semester is halfway over! Yay! Just got to make it til mid December, then we get a break from classes :)

5) The many people that work behind the scenes at the Temple. Beau and I went and cleaned the grounds last night after the Open House.

What I'm Grateful for...Day 5

1) It is finally Friday!! Always something to be grateful for.

2) SO happy that the Laie Temple is opening up again after 2 years of renovations. Beau and I attended one of the Open House sessions today. It is absolutely BEAUTIFUL.

It was such a gorgeous day today.

3) My husband's appreciation for the simple things. In thinking about what to write and asking his opinion, he suggested I be thankful for the softness of the bread that we just ate. You see, we love sandwiches, but we used to buy the cheapest bread we could find, because we are trying to save money. Once we realized we were tired of stale-tasting bread and bought a new brand, that was not much more expensive, we have never gone back to the awful tasting brand.

4) My little brother. I can't believe is a Junior in high school! I wish I could be there for his last years of high school. He is a pretty awesome kid.

5) Afternoon naps! I plan on taking a short but wonderful little nap today. Hopefully it actually happens.

What I'm Grateful For...Day 4

1) Transport Services is FINALLY refunding us money!!! I thought this day would never come. AND we have a mechanic who is coming to pick up our car next week! Things are starting to look up for us!!! :)

2) Rainy days. If not for the mere fact that I get to curl up in sweatshirts all day.

3) Different cultures. I think that is my absolute favorite part of BYU-H. I love knowing people and having friends from literally all over the world.

4) Pictures! I carry my camera around with me everywhere!

5) All the great friends I've had over the years. There are lots more pictures I wish I could show, but I only have so many on this computer. I need to get old friends to send me pictures!

What I'm Grateful for...Day 3

1) The middle of the week! Thank goodness it is Wednesday already. When did everyone's lives become so chaotic? It seems like everyone always has a million things to do every day. I thought perhaps it was just college, but now I think that's actually just life.

2) I absolutely LOVE when I pass by someone and they look me in the eye and say hello or good morning! This happens so rarely! When did we become so withdrawn that we cannot say a mere hello to a passerby? So thank you perfectly good stranger who said good morning to me earlier today. I really appreciated it.

3) Humor. There are few things better than enjoying life with a good laugh.

4) The ocean. Oh how I wish I could be there today.

This beautiful beach is only a ten minute walk from my house :)

5) Despite my complaints about homework, I really am grateful for my education. BYU-Hawaii is a much better school than people think, and I really believe I'm getting the a great education here. Not to mention Beau and I have been given great opportunities while being here.

What I'm Grateful for...Day 2

1) Having 24 hours in a day. I don't know what I'd do if the days were shorter. Well...actually I'd probably just sleep less. So THANK GOODNESS for 24 hour days!

2) Everyone who has been so kind in helping Beau and I with our Family History work! We love taking this class this semester and it's been great to learn more about our ancestors!

Before this semester, I had never even heard of a PAF (personal ancestral file). But now, both mine and Beau's are filling up nicely (unlike the above picture..)!

3) I'm grateful that Beau and I have such good friends here. BYU-Hawaii is truly filled with wonderful people (students and faculty).

4) How EASY it is to talk to people. I love e-mailing, calling, texting, and blogging! As frustrating as technology may be at times (especially for someone who lacks technological skills such as myself), it is SUCH a blessing to be able to talk to people across the country just as easy as we can talk to our neighbors.

5) I'm grateful for my parents and Beau's parents. Thanks for raising us right. You did an amazing job. :)

What I'm Grateful for...Day 1

1) Wonderful family members who send my husband and I packages :) Thanks Stacey, Scott, Nanna, and Poppa!

My husband looks like a true southern boy with his new hat :)

We LOVE getting food surprises. Beau has already warned me I'm going to have to hid the yogurt covered raisins from him. :)

2) The internet! (After having to go door to door to distribute some survey for my class, I've NEVER been more grateful for online surveys.

3) Beautiful weather. Sometimes I complain about how the seasons never change in Hawaii, buuuut, come on, it IS Hawaii. And it is beautiful here all the time.

4) Comfy chairs. After running around from meetings and assignments all day, it is nice to sit and relax in such a big comfy chair.

5) My incredible husband. He finds ways to make me love him more and more each day. Even the days when he might not think this is true. :) Thanks hun, love you.

Catch up on our lives

So since I've been so bad at blogging lately, I figure I'll make a catch-up post. Here has been mine and Beau's lives lately...

Last night we enjoyed delicious Food Fest

We ate Taiwanese food

And Samoan food

And cinnamon buns

An overall great night :)

The last few weekends we have spent relaxing...

We spent time at the beach

We played in the waves

And poor Beau got stung on his ear by a blue bubble (portuguese man of war). There small jellyfish-like creatures at the beach that have crazy powerful stings. Unfortunately he got stung all over his wrists and on his side and his ear, but after a couple hours of pain and a nice shower, he managed to survive. Always a trooper he is. :)

So I guess that's all Beau and I have really been up to lately. Nothing too much. School is always keeping us busy, but we always find time for each other. We live in such a beautiful place and have such a great life. We really shouldn't complain so much. Soo, this week, I'm going to write each day something I am grateful for.

Lazy Saturday

Today has been such a lazy day. And lately I have been SO bad about blogging. It's been hard to find time lately.

Beau and I slept in this morning and we've spent our day doing homework, watching football, working out, and reading. Ohh I how I LOVE Saturdays. They would be much more enjoyable however if we didn't always have homework, but that's just life at college I suppose.

Beau graduates in April and I've been very envious lately. I won't graduate until the NEXT April. I tried convincing my counselor yesterday to let me double major in Social Work, but she was not very enthusiastic about it. Sooo, it looks like I will be sticking solely to Psychology. Which is fine of course. I just haven't quite figured out what I want to do in life yet. But like I said, it looks like I have a good amount of time to figure things out.

Last night, Beau and I finally hung out with friends again! It seems like everyone has been so busy, and getting together has become more and more difficult for everyone. We went to the Haunted Lagoon at the Polynesian Culture Center. There were 5 couples plus one 14-month year old (who was probably the bravest of us all!) They put you on a canoe that holds probably 30 people and you take a 20 minute "tour" of the lagoon. It was pretty scary, but we all enjoyed ourselves! I love living in Hawaii, but because the weather never changes it's sometimes hard to remember that holidays exist. I've always associated Halloween with pumpkins and changing leaves, but here, there aren't many pumpkins, and the palm trees never change. So it was nice being able to do something Halloween-related.

Tonight we are going to BYU-Hawaii's semiannual Food Fest! Lots of people, good music, and PLENTY of food. Not only will there be plenty to eat, but there will be plenty of choices. Food Fest is run by the various school clubs, many of which are culture clubs, so there is food available from tons of cultures. YUMMM.