Carving Pumpkins

I always think that carving pumpkins is a great thing but the second I open the pumpkin to clean it out for carving I realize I have just undertaken a project that is more work than I actually care to do for a couple of days worth of decoration for a house.

witch over a cauldron

Last night I felt the same way, good thing pumpkin carving this year was a group effort activity. This pumpkin was carved by myself, Anya and Valerie. It still took the better part of an hour to get it all cleaned up and carved, even with three of us working on it. I have to admit I walked away the most but I would come back every now and again to put in some work, just in case our team won the carving contest. It came really close, we might of for sure won if we had picked the hardest pattern to do. It was the prettiest but would of been way too hard to actually carve out. It seems that though it was a small activity we all had a great time anyways and that is what Family Home Evening is really all about.

Driving The Night Away

Family Home Evening this last week was a really great one. We ended up going to the driving range, which I know is just whatever for most people but for me it is more of a sentimental event. Golfing was always something that I did with my Grandfather when he was alive.

About to swing

When I was 8 years old I started to go golfing with my Grandfather his co-worker friends. I would get all kinds of food and snacks and drinks. Once in a while they would let me attempt to hit the ball off a tee. I knew they were laughing at me, I usually missed the ball altogether or couldn't hit it very far. If we were away from the clubhouse I got to drive the golf cart, which started my obsession to eventually live somewhere that I can drive a golf cart around. If I could drive a golf cart everywhere I went I would be super happy every day of my life.

At some point I even took a youth golf class. You would think that I would be decent at mini-golf because of this but putting and driving have never been my strongest areas. Chipping was always so easy for me. Anyways when we went to the driving range for family home evening this last week it gave me a chance to feel closer to my Grandfather again. It is amazing how things like that can give you a calm comfort like your loved ones are right there beside you because this is something that you enjoyed together. I am planning to make another trip out to the driving range soon especially since the holidays are coming up and missing Grandpa means so much more during that time.

Hit the 200 yard sign

12 Miles to Victory

Saturday was definitely a day to remember. Our branch did our Annual Relief Society (Branch) Hike for Big Basin to the Sea. Everyone who had been on the hike before said it was fun and mostly downhill, even if it hadn't been I was ready for the challenge, well that is until I saw the following sign.

If only I had known before hand

Strenuous is not necessarily a word you want to hear on a Saturday morning, not to mention that by the time I had seen this sign our group was well on the way AND the cars that transported us up to Big Basin had already gone away. So basically by the time this sign came around there was no going back. 

Sis. Burgon being a rebel

Berry Falls

By the time we reached the waterfall and had our snack I was glad for the time to rest and stretch out my knees. Plus to get a little bit of food in my stomach. It was a beautiful view and a great place to stop and reflect and converse for a bit.

There should be a law against hiking and taking photos, I almost fell of the side

The ride home

The camera cut out the thumbs up she was giving

After all the hard work, and some very hardcore aches and pains, we finished our 12 mile hike, had a bar-be-que and as you can see some people needed a little nap on the ride home. But we all made it in one piece and I know that although I could barely move the day after, I had accomplished something that I could look back on for proof of my personal strength and something I knew would make my body stronger.

As The Day Turns

It is always amazing to me when a day starts out in what seems to be the worst possible way and ends up evening itself out with some good and bad. When I woke up this morning for work, I hadn't slept much, I had an argument the night before with a good friend and a headache and neck pain that made me want to cry. I knew that it was best that I call in sick for work because there was no way that I was going to be able to do any work in the condition I was in. It bummed me out a little bit because for the first time in a long time I had a great number of consecutive days of work without calling in sick.

Besides the aches and pains of my body, I received a call from the hospital telling me that the application packet that I sent in back in June and they originally told me that they had was actually lost in the mail. Interesting to say the least, I do feel a little bad for raising my voice at the lady on the phone, she was just the messenger of bad news. I knew that I had to get this taken care of so I decided to hand deliver the application packet this time. I had to go to my office and get all the paperwork, then go to the hospital where I was shuffled to three different departments before I found the person who could actually help me. He was a rather understanding man and even let me print out the only paperwork I was missing from his computer.

Then came a decently restful afternoon and a difficult should of been dinner. I was starting to lose hope that the day was gonna be a loss, then we went to the pub. I was thinking it would just be a chill night with some karaoke and meeting new people, nothing special. Then it just turned into all kinds of fun. My friend and I were cheering for the singers and random people just starting talking to us. We danced, we laughed, we conversed, and by the end of the night we begrudgingly had to leave so that we could be ready for a hike in the morning.

It is funny how things can happen that just change your perspective and attitude and make the world right even if for just a short time. All I know is that we vowed to go to the pub again sometime soon. 

Corn Maze Adventures

Had a great time at the corn maze this last weekend. There are many other activities there other than just walking around in the corn maze. We got to shoot corn out of a corn cannon and pumpkins from a giant sling shot. There was great food, homemade fudge in all kinds of delicious flavors and winning free stuff from the radio station that was there that day. I am excited to go back at night time and go through the night maze and haunted houses that they have there.

Corn Maze entrance

Lea picks out the perfect pumpkin to sling shot

Epic win, I hit the target with the corn

Team work to launch the last pumpkin, it went pretty far