Memories of Halloween

Halloween has always been one of my favorite times of the year. I used to love to dress up!

I've been challenged by the wonderful ladies over at The Secret is in the Sauce (SITS) to write a post about my favorite Halloween memory. I couldn't decide on just one.

First up, flashback to 1990, 8th grade. I dressed as a banshee.

Halloween was so fun that year!

My costume was great!

My make-up was scary.

(It would've been better if I'd been able to take a pic

with a more stoic expression. Oh well.)

It took a lot of time and effort to tease my hair just right. I vaguely remember my sister spending some time on the bus ride to school teasing and teasing and teasing it some more.

The best part of that Halloween, though, was trick-or-treating. You might say that 8th grade is too old to go out trick-or-treating, but it was absolutely fun! I went with a group of friends from school, and we walked around their neighborhood.

I remember a lot of laughter and fun!

I also remember how I refused to wear my glasses (I hadn't discovered the wonders of contacts yet) because they would've ruined my make-up. I don't know how I was able to do that, but I do recall a near run-in with a tree branch!

Next up: 1999.

My boyfriend at the time and I dressed up as Neo and Trinity from The Matrix. 

I don't really recall any particularly exciting thing happen that year. I just love how great our costumes turned out.

Happy Halloween, everyone!

Hope it's safe and fabulous.

This post was written as an entry for a contest to win a Canon Rebel T2i camera. Hop on over to SITS for great blogging tips and more awesome Halloween memories. 

Come back, fall! I want to bask in your loveliness a little longer.

The weather this fall has been crazy warm! I'll have to check the actual stats later, but to my recollection, it's been one of the nicest, warmest falls.

Most days I've been able to enjoy going outside in T-shirts and flip flops. Jeans, too, of course. That would be terribly inappropriate to go out without them. Of course, many days campus was filled with girls sporting their short shorts. No shorts for me, though. I'd already packed them away for the season.

Anyway, I digress. Let's just leave it at it's been unusually warm. And beautiful.

The leaves paid no mind to the warmth and changed colors and fell to the ground all the same. Actually this added to the gloriousness (is that a word?) of this season.

All this came to an abrupt end a couple days ago.
The temps dropped.
The winds became fierce.
This morning, I awoke to falling snow.

I love the look of snow, and while it's not in the least bit unusual to have snow at the end of October, the fact it's been so unseasonably warm the past few months, makes today's weather unusual indeed.

Mostly I feel jipped of the gradual transition from summer to winter.

My hope for fall this year is gone. :-(
Today I dug out the winter coat and gloves.

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Have you been experiencing unusual weather this fall? What are your predictions for the weather this winter?

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What was I thinking?!

Remember my inspirational woman post?

Well, I've bitten the bullet and decided to join her next summer for a women's only pedal and paddle weekend excursion. It's a Friday through Monday experience with a 45 mile bike ride one day and a long kayaking trip another.

I've mailed in my registration form; I'm all set.

Well, except for that fact that to date, I don't think I've ever ridden more than 7 miles at once.

I DEFINITELY have some training to do!

Wish me luck!

Do you have the time?

I was walking home from work today when a passerby tapped his wrist to ask if I knew the time.

I was about to say No, because I knew I had no watch upon my wrist.

Then I remembered my cell phone was very easily accessible in the pocket of my hoodie!

I grabbed it and told him the time, but I was amazed at my reaction to this universally recognized symbol.

That tap to the wrist barely even registered as a valid question until AFTER I'd verbally heard the request as well.

With the ubiquity of the cell phone, has this simple gesture lost its meaning?

Or am I just old and losing my mind?

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Can sitting at your desk be harmful?

I never realized how dangerous working in an office could be. I mean I rarely even leave my desk.

Yesterday, I did explore the tunnels between the Grain Exchange and City Hall during lunch. I was hungry and wanted to avoid the rain. A few trips to the bathroom in the afternoon, but other than that, I was pretty much sitting the entire day.

And the day dragged and dragged and dragged.

Finally it was 4:30! Time to go home!!

OUCH!!

@#$%@#$!!

I didn't trip or twist or slip. Just all of a sudden my right ankle was in pain (at least that's how I recall it).

It started out as just a slow throb. I mean it HURT, but I was still able to maintain my regular pace (a little on the brisk side) as I walked to the shuttle.

The shuttle ride was a nice little respite, but the pain increased as I walked across campus back to my apartment. I even hobbled my way over to the auditorium on campus to listen to Roxana Saberi, the American journalist who was imprisoned in Iran in 2009.

I thought my right ankle even looked slightly swollen compared to my left, but my sweet husband assured me that my ankles are just naturally big. Nice.

So, I tried to sleep it off.

No go.

And naturally, I was in a rush this morning and left about 2 min late (which can make a huge difference), so I was forced to maintain a pretty healthy clip walking to the shuttle this A.M. I even made it with time to spare. In fact, I had to wait for the shuttle to arrive.

Guess I hadn't needed to walk that fast after all.

From the shuttle to work, I tried to take a slow, easy pace, but it was COLD and WINDY, so I walked slower, yet still a little briskly.

Now I'll try to take it easy throughout the day.

Hopefully it will just be a 24-hour thing (like a stomach bug) and will spontaneously stop hurting at 4:30 this afternoon.

Let's hope because I have a ward volleyball game in the morning, and I WANT TO PLAY!

You Again!

Since we had no YW going to mutual last night, my first counselor and I went to see a special preview of You Again.

I didn't really know what it was about, so I made sure to watch the trailer before heading to the movie. It looked like it would be pretty funny, so I was excited to go.

These special previews for movies are always so CRAZY! We arrived at the theater 45 minutes early only to be place in a huge queue that seemed to wrap and wrap and wrap...

Good thing we'd grabbed some drinks and popcorn before getting in line! :-"

Once we'd got to the front of the line, we had to "check" our phones. NO RECORDING OF THE PREVIEW was going to be allowed. What phone doesn't have a camera nowadays?!

Naturally, by this time, we'd been waiting in line for awhile sipping our sodas (well I had an Icee). By the time we were ready to find our seats, we both had to pee. We took turns and were comfortably seated in the crowded theater by the time the movie began. Phew!

The movie started out hilarious! =))

The interactions between Marni (Kristen Bell) and Joanna (Odette Yustman) were terrifically funny. I thought they played off each other really well. They were arch-enemies during high school. Joanna was a big-time bully. Now, she was about to marry Marni's brother!

Gail (Jamie Lee Curtis) and Mona (Sigourney Weaver)? Not so much! I didn't really care for their storyline. They were supposedly BFFs throughout grade school and high school. I guess I was expecting a little more pent-up drama from their characters. Something a little more similar to the Marni/Joanna dynamic.

About mid-way through the movie, I got a little bored. The funny was kind of wearing off, and I didn't particularly like where the writing was going.

I was definitely disappointed by the end.

Don't get me wrong. I'd watch it again, if Jeff wants to see it. It was funny. There were just also a lot of things about it that I didn't enjoy.

I'd even recommend it to others - provided they go into with low expectations. It's definitely not the funniest movie of the year!

Felt like Phoebe!

I hope I didn't look like her, too.

Remember this episode of Friends?



Well, last night I went for a run. Usually, what I do would only be considered jogging. I'm not that fast nor do I push myself too hard. Slow and steady wins (or at least finishes) the race is more my mindset.

But I'm doing the Reach Your Better Body workout from Fitness magazine. The cardio portion of the plan is running intervals. After a warm-up, last night I ran (really pushing myself) for 1 min, jogged for 2 min and repeated that 5 times.

In order to run faster and harder for that one minute, I really lengthened my stride and picked up the pace. I was running much faster than my usual pace, and I really felt like I looked a little like Phoebe Buffay.

Hopefully my arms didn't flail quite as much as hers.

Hopefully I looked ridiculous only in my head. :D

On another note, I usually run during the morning, when there are few cars and fewer people outside. Lately it's even still been dark. I found last night that I much prefer this. Hopefully it won't be raining in the morning, so I can run before work!!