Jason's Off to Mexico!

Yesterday we dropped Jason off at the airport to leave for his mission in Mexico.

He will be gone for two years. For the first 6 weeks, he'll study at a Missionary Training Center (MTC) in Mexico City, learning the Spanish language. That may seem like a short time... but our MTCs are renowned for teaching languages really quickly! The US government has sent people to the Provo MTC before to study the phenomena--but the trick isn't to copy our methods, it's to be doing the Lord's work so He will grant the gift of tongues for the missionaries to learn quickly.

After that, Jason is going to the Mexico Guadalajara mission. While he's there, he can only communicate with us through letters and emails--and he only has one day a week where he can take a break from his work to write us (Mondays). He does get to call home for half an hour on Christmas and Mother's Day, so we'll get to talk to him a few times.

I already miss him like crazy, but I'm proud of him for going and I know he's doing the right thing. He will be a great missionary!

Shelece vs. the Space Heater

So, you may have noticed that it's winter now. It's been pretty cold in Provo lately.

I live/work out of the basement room in my apartment, so it's a little chillier than the rest of the unit. Fortunately it comes with a built in wall heater to help keep things comfortable. At the beginning of the winter, the unit was great. But I noticed that as the temperature slipped down into the teens and 20s, my heater just couldn't quite keep up.

So I investigated the lovely world of space heaters. Went on Amazon, picked out a cheap one with very high reviews, and waited eagerly for it to arrive so I would be toasty and warm.

Then I decided I should probably research space heaters a little bit before I use one, since they tend to have a dangerous reputation. And promptly deeply freaked myself out.

I knew you never left a space heater unattended, but I didn't realize it needed to be the only thing plugged into its wall socket (NEVER an extension cord), that the most way space heaters start fires is by igniting the wires in the wall because you're using so much energy. In other words... I can use my wall heater or I can use the space heater. Not a good idea to run both at the same time.

I read that you shouldn't leave space heaters on carpet or wood. So I thought about setting it up on my counter top desk, only to learn that you should never put them off the floor. I thought maybe this would just need to be something I used in my bathroom, only to learn that you should never ever put one in a bathroom because if it gets wet, it can start a fire.

Basically it turns out that space heaters are complete death traps, and I'm a little freaked out to even use mine. But, it's here now, and I'm going to give it a well-supervised shot. I'm just wishing I'd researched it a little more thoroughly in advance... maybe I would have decided it wasn't worth buying!

Mitt Romney

So, Mitt Romney came to speak at BYU today.

Melissa and I headed up early to get good seats, and I snagged a couple for Shauna and Kristie too. We ended up about 6 rows back in the middle section.

It was crazy to see Mitt for real, after seeing him on TV so many times. Before he came, Melissa and I wondered what to do when he entered the room. For general authorities and dignitaries, we stand up quietly and wait until they are seated. But when Mitt came in, everyone erupted into applause, and soon almost everyone was on their feet.

BYU was super jazzed to have Mitt there. When the Dean got up to announce him as our speaker, people couldn't contain their excitement. "We are pleased to have as today's devotional speaker, former Governor of Massachusetts and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney." Applause and cheers so loud the Dean had to pause. Mitt smiled at all of us in return. "We are also pleased to be joined today by our special guest, Ann Romney, Mitt's wife." More enthusiastic cheering and applause. Mitt joined in and said something to his wife, which in my mind must have been very sweet, about how he appreciates her. "The Romneys also have many friends and family who have joined us in the audience." Again with the applause, just as loud and enthusiastic as the first round. Mitt cracked up. I did too. Yay, Mitt's friends and family!

The Dean commented that at this rate, they might have to cancel afternoon classes. That got the loudest cheers and applause of all.

And then of course, he also thanked the people who played the organ and lead the music for the opening hymn. Same thunderous applause for them. I thought it was hilarious.

Mitt shared a great message. You can read it in full here or even watch the video.

Throwing up words: My NaNoWriMo experience

This year marks ten years of me attempting to complete National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). The goal is to write 50,000 words in 30 days. They don't necessarily have to be good words... the key is quantity, not quality. Churn them out, and then go back and polish them up later.

I've never succeeded in completing this challenge. Part of it is time. To hit the goal, you should technically be writing 1,667 words a day--something that can be hard to squeeze in.

The other part is that I hate the raw writing that results. My usual process is to write a scene, then immediately rewrite it 5 or 6 times. A lot of time I'll end up with a couple versions that I like, and I have to debate which way I want the story to go. It's slow. It drags on. Just tossing words on the page without polishing them makes me nervous.

But... one of my favorite quotes is from author Shannon Hale: "Writing a first draft and reminding myself that I'm simply shoving sand into a box so that later I can build castles." I'm trying to keep that in mind.

Just last night, I wrote a scene that was horrendous. Way too over the top dramatic (which is kind of weird, because usually I write comedy). So today I spent a lot of time thinking about it... and I came up with a way to do it better. :) So that flat out writing session is leading to better things. Progress!

Daylight Savings

That awkward moment where your cell phone and laptop set themselves back an hour automatically, but you don't realize it, so you're contently staying up late, thinking it's really an hour earlier because of daylight savings.... and then you find out, it actually IS the time you see on the clock.

Someday, I'll Find My Waldo

 Happy Halloween, everyone!

I was Carmen Sandiego for the third year running. :) It's funny, people who recognize me are so happy to see that costume... but more and more of the BYU crowd don't know who Carmen Sandiego is anymore. Something must be done!!!

Melissa had a couple friends (Chelsea and Emily) join us for Halloween shenanigans, which started by going shopping to find Emily a costume, prior to catching the Provo River Halloween Cruise. We floated down the river as our brave pirate Captain Matt regaled us with the Cremation of Sam McGee, as we admired the jack o'lanterns and Halloween inflatables hanging over the water. (Jack o'lanterns give off really cool reflections in the water).

Then it was off to the Provo library for an epic photoshoot, some of the highlights of which I'll include here once I steal them from Melissa. :)

Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

Oh you know, just stealing national treasures from the Statue of Liberty.

The whole group (not at the library :)

Hats are not a good idea on windy nights.

Melissa and me with our roommate Macie

While we were there, we ran into no fewer than three other groups of people coming to the library specifically for picture taking purposes. A group of girl roommates, a group of guy roommates, and 2 couples on a group date. That cracked me up. I guess we are the selfie generation, and the Provo library is a very photogenic place!

So, you may or may not know that Carmen Sandiego and Waldo are a thing....

It's true. And so every Halloween, I make the requisite jokes. Maybe I'll run into a hot single guy dressed as Waldo and we'll joke about our costume choices, totally hit it off and....

Of course, every Waldo I ever meet is either dating someone already or not my type. Well, this year kept up the tradition. As we were finishing up our pictures round about 11:30 or so, we could see a Waldo approaching from afar.... with his girlfriend in tow. Naturally.

We actually got the two of them to take some group shots of us. While we were posing, Waldo asked me who I'm supposed to be. "I'm Carmen Sandiego," I said. He got a slightly confused look. "Wasn't she like, a cartoon character or something?"

Yep. Not only was Waldo taken... He was too young to know who Carmen Sandiego is.

Ugh. Oh well. Maybe next Halloween I'll finally find my Waldo.