Caution: Star Wars Spoilers Abound!!!

Having been to see Star Wars VII twice this week, and having indulged in reading many many articles on various theories about the movie... I finally decided to indulge in writing my own theories. Obviously, spoilers ahead for those who haven't seen Star Wars. If you haven't, DON'T read this. Just don't. And go see the movie, unless you're one of those crazy people that really doesn't like Star Wars for some reason.

I mean, just look at this epicness:



Don't you want to see that?!?

So the big question on my mind (and many others) is... who the heck is Rey? The other characters all react to her as if she's very significant, but we never learn why. I fall into the camp that thinks she's likely Luke's daughter, but... I'm not totally sold on that either. All I know for sure is that Luke seems to recognize her when she shows up at the end.

With that said, let's dive into some of the clues in this movie. Seeing it the second time, I picked up on a lot more. I'm desperately wishing I had it on DVD already so I could rewatch some key scenes and make more headway in understanding who she is.

The evidence we have so far:

• Rey's appearance: Rey just looks like a Skywalker woman. Put her next to Amidala and Leia and she'd fit right in--a brunette who likes to tie her hair back in funky ways.
• Luke's voiceover in the trailer: "The force is strong in my family. My father had it. My sister has it. I have it. You have that power too..." because you're my daughter and therefore in my family. BOOM.
• Rey's ATAT: We see a brief shot of her home as she's eating dinner, and there's a crudely made doll on a shelf, designed to look like an X-Wing pilot. So, clearly Rey has seen X-Wing pilots before and she thinks highly of them. She's also got that helmet she keeps.
• The old dude who died at the beginning: Is it really a coincidence that a close friend of Leia's, someone who apparently holds the last missing piece of map to find Luke, lives so close by to Rey? Especially considering how well he knows Kylo Ren--it would seem that he knew Ben Solo before he fell to the dark side, and that he knows Kylo still feels the pull to the light, partially because of who his family is.
• "They were assisted by a girl..." The way Kylo Ren reacts to this suggests he knows who Rey is... and all he hears is that she's a girl on Jakku, who steals a freighter with Finn to help get BB-8 back to the Resistance. What does that mean? Is he the one who put her there? How did Rey end up at the same place as the stolen Millennium Falcon?
• Han Solo: At first, I was convinced Han and Leia were Rey's parents. It seemed set up that way, the way she was able to finish his sentences and what not. By the end of my first viewing, I had changed my mind, and the second viewing cemented it even more. If Han had a daughter out there somewhere... he would have recognized her when they first met (instead of planning to dump her and Finn on the nearest inhabited planet). But... and this is why I need to see it a third time! Sometime happens between him finding Rey and taking her to meet Maz, where I swear he realizes who she is. I'm not sure what could have triggered this.
• "I thought Luke Skywalker was just a myth!" A very weird thing for Rey to say if he is, in fact, her father. So not sure what to make of that.
• Han Solo part 2: As they land on Maz's planet (whatever that's called), Rey says something like, "I never knew there was so much green in the whole galaxy!" Han looks stricken when she says this. Sad for her, maybe even a little guilty... I don't know what's going on, but that line impacts him. Then they land on the planet, watch his eyes as he asks for her name... His eyes are so twitchy! Why? Is he figuring out who she is? Or is he just nervous to be offering a job? Is he doing it because of her mad skills and because he feels a little bad she's spent her life as a scavenger on Jakku, or is he reaching out to a long lost niece/daughter of a friend/etc etc? I swear he comes off as a little bit guilty there.
• Han and Maz: I might be inclined to think Han just liked Rey, no backstory required, if it weren't for his conversation with Maz. At Maz doesn't take much notice of Rey, but after Rey goes after Finn to try and convince him to stay with her, Maz asks Han, "Who's the girl?" And the scene cuts immediately. We don't know what he says, but it seems to be significant because the next time Maz sees Rey, she calls her by name and encourages her to take up Luke's light saber... the light saber that belonged to Luke and his father before him. The only thing we know Han told Maz for sure is that Rey wants to go back to Jakku, because (if I remember right) Maz says Han told her about that. She then counsels Rey not to go back, because the people who she is waiting for are never coming back. (Is that Maz being perceptive, or did Han say something? Rey hasn't told Han about her family, so... if he knows about them, he must know more about Rey's abandonment than she does). That next line confuses me... something along the lines of "They aren't coming back, but someone else could." "Luke Skywalker?" "Yes. The sense of belonging you seek lies not behind, but ahead of you." So... right there, Maz seems to imply that Luke is not Rey's family. She speaks of them separately.
• Rey's "Flashback": Okay, but now let's talk about what Rey sees when she touches Luke's light saber. First, she finds herself in the hallway where Luke and Darth Vader fought, immediately prior to Darth Vader's classic line "I am your father." This is also the scene where Luke loses the light saber. So, are we seeing the light saber's memories?!? Don't know. The next scene is Luke Skywalker, reaching out to touch R2D2. And... they are next to a fire!! Is it a Jedi funeral pyre? Then we flash to Kylo Ren and the Knights of Ren, surrounded by dead bodies (presumably the other Jedi Luke was training)... and then we're in Rey's childhood, watching her be abandoned.
• So... what's going on here? I don't know. It's interesting, the sequence of events... I am curious, is it possible Rey was there when Kylo Ren did his slaughter? Did the slaughter lead to her abandonment? It's interesting that we see Luke and Kylo Ren in these "forcebacks"... more evidence that she is a Skywalker? I don't know. 
• Han again: The clincher for me on my first viewing that Rey couldn't be Han's daughter is how he reacts when Kylo Ren takes her. He freezes up, you can feel his pain at seeing his son... and that's his focus, not Rey. Compare his reaction to Finn running after her and screaming and trying to say her. (Although maybe Han just realizes it's already too late).
• Kylo Ren: He totally tries to seduce her to the dark side. No sibling vibe there... not even sure there's a cousin vibe. One of the most interesting developments at this point is that he reads her mind and sees that she puts herself to sleep by thinking of an ocean and an island... the very same place we find Luke at the end of the film. (Shauna caught that, not me.) Why is this? Does she remember that place? Has she been seeing Luke is force visions all her life? If that's how she goes to bed every night, it's not something she just picked up from touching the light saber. Also, he makes a comment that she views Han as the father she never knew. Rey never specifically talks about her parents, just about her family (I think, if I'm remembering right). Maybe she really never did know her father? And that's why she thought Luke was just a legend?
• Leia: Han and Leia talk about Rey off screen. We know this because when Finn runs up to her to ask for help rescuing Rey, she says, "I know, Han told me." They must have had this discussion while they were talking about Kylo Ren. What did he tell her? My theory is that it's something significant about her identity, which is why Leia greets her with a hug when they meet. Yes, they're both mourning Han, but they've never met. Why does Leia go to her instead of Chewy? It's because Han has told her who Rey really is...
• Poe: My friend Hayley pointed out that Poe and Rey never meet, which is sort of weird because typically in the first act, you want to introduce all the main characters. It may have just been cut for time, but I'm wondering if it was intentional. Would Poe recognize Rey? Does he know something about her that random old dude told him at the beginning of the film? Is their meeting going to be hugely significant? I'm very curious. If they just meet up and say "hi" in VIII, I will be disappointed.
• Going to Find Luke: Leia sends Rey instead of going herself. This seems like a big deal to me.
• Luke: We only get like two seconds of Luke and Rey together, but there's a bit to analyze. He knows someone's behind him, he turns around, and his eyes get big. It looks like he recognizes her and he's surprised to see her... and was it just me, or did he get a little bit teary? Even if she's not his daughter, I think he knows who she really is.

So... who knows? I'm hoping we learn more about Rey in episode VIII and they don't wait until IX to reveal her identity. It makes sense for them to tell us in the middle of the story, right? That will set the stakes for the conclusion of the story.

Someone else pointed out online that however they reveal Rey's identity, they will have to do it in a way that makes Episode VII just as captivating as it is now when we don't know. Like watching the original trilogy knowing all along Darth Vader is Luke's father. Even though we don't have the same shock and surprise as people watching back in the 80s... Darth Vader's true identity only adds to the story, knowing that he is Luke and Leia's father as he does all this horrible stuff to them. So... going back and rewatching knowing who she is should add all sorts of new intrigue and insight into her relationships with all the characters she meets in Episode VII. I hope that ends up being the case.

Who do you think Rey is? 

Ponderizing: Isaiah 41:10

A Little Credit

A few company Christmas parties ago, I caught a ride back to the airport with 2 of my coworkers. One of them, a man in his late 30s-early 40s we'll call Sam, started asking me for dating advice. He was wondering if it would be okay for him to pursue a younger woman, or if that would be creepy. I encouraged him to go for it. Age is just a number, right? Our other coworker argued strongly against big age gaps in relationships, but I stood firm that if two people are compatible, age isn't such a big deal. I reminded Sam that our company president is 20 years younger than her husband, yet the 2 of them are blissfully happy. More than anything, that seemed to resonate with him.

Not long thereafter, he started dating a younger woman in our company. They got married and they seem very happy together.

Sam brought his wife to our last Christmas party. She told all of us that she'd had a crush on Sam for a while before they dated, but she didn't think that anything could happen between them. Then one time, Sam came back from a company meeting and mentioned to her that the company president was 20 years younger than her husband, but the two of them were very happy together. And that's when Sam's wife knew things could change between them.

I'm taking this as evidence that my advice to Sam helped the two of them get together. :) It probably would have happened anyway, but that made me feel pretty good!

Star Trek Beyond

Yes, I'm going to go see the new Star Wars movie and I'm looking forward to it... But this is really what I want to see!



Which is kind of funny because I am a Star Trek purist and I don't like the new Star Trek movies that much... I've never quite forgiven J.J. Abrams for blowing up the planet Vulcan (THE MOST PEACEFUL planet in the franchise!) in the first one, and the second one is too much of a Wrath of Khan rehash...

Wrath of Khan is awesome, by the way. The Director had never seen Star Trek before. He dealt with its cheesiness and plot holes by deconstructing the franchise and making the characters face consequences for their actions... and it's brilliant. Almost universally hailed as the best Star Trek movie of all time. J.J. Abrams deals with the cheesiness and plot holes by playing them up in a way that's basically a parody.

But, even though the new Star Trek movies aren't my fave, I do like them. When I was a teeny little elementary school kid, I'd pretend that the characters were my age and that'd we'd play together. As an adult, it is kind of fun to see my favorite fictional characters changed to my own age. This time I hope they let Dr. McCoy have more screen time.

Goodbye Max

Today we had to say goodbye to Max.

There was an accident when I was in DC. He was accidentally run over by one of the family cars a couple nights ago. Dad and Shauna nursed him as best they could all that night and the next day. They waited for me to get home before taking him to the vet, because I think they knew already that'd we'd have to let go and that I'd want to say goodbye.

I stayed with him last night and we kept him as comfortable as we could. But he couldn't move his back legs, and occasionally he would cry out in pain.

By morning, I understood too that he needed a release from his pain and suffering. Since Dad was working, Shauna and I took him to the vet. I was still hoping maybe there would be a way to save him.

The vet told us Max's pelvis was fractured badly. It would require a very extensive surgery to reconstruct it, one that would take weeks of recovery, and there was no guarantee that he could ever use his legs again. At his age, it would be very rough on him. Or, we could let him go. He gave us some time to call our parents and make the decision.

So we called, and together as a family we decided to let him go. It was a hard decision, but I think it was kinder than him enduring the pain of such an extensive surgery. I was praying desperately for guidance, and when we made the decision, I felt a deep reassuring peace that we were making the right choice.

The vet was working two critical cases at the same time (one of them being Max) so he was gone a lot and we had time to pet Max and tell him we loved him for a long time, maybe as long as a half an hour. At first, he was frightened and moaning and trying desperately to drag himself off the table with his front legs. He doesn't like the vet's. I think he was scared to be there again, remembering past surgeries he'd had to endure, and having his humans sobbing (despite our best efforts!) just panicked him more. But soon he calmed down. He settled onto the exam table, wrapped in a blanket, and started to drift off to sleep, long before the doctor came to administer the sedative. First, the vet sedated him. Then he came back with the final injection. He warned us it would be quick, less than a minute. I was shocked that it was almost instantaneous.

But I felt peace, even in the sadness, and I know Max is better off where he is now. No more pain. He can walk again--for the past few months, even before the accident, that's been a struggle for him.

I'll miss him a lot. He was 15 and a half. I've had him for over half my life. I'm grateful that I moved back home when I did, so I could spend his last months pampering him and showing him how much I loved him. And I'm grateful that he didn't slip away last month--that we had the gift of one last month with him before he went.

Stubborn Old Dog

Last week was a blizzard, today was 61 degrees and sunny. I love the spazziness of Colorado weather!

I decided to take advantage of the warmth to take Max on a walk (yes, in his stroller!). He was content to stay in there for most of the walk. But when we turned onto our street, he got so excited to get out that he almost jumped out of the dang thing.

And then this happened:



I guess it's safe to say this little guy has made a full recovery! Makes me happy to see him so spunky.

PS: Youtube offered to stabilize the video because it was shaky... so I said yes, and that's why the stroller warps weird in the corner there. :)

Blizzard!

Starting last night, Colorado Springs got buried by a good old fashioned blizzard! I haven't been in one of these since 2006. They're kind of fun, actually, as long as you are someplace safe and warm where you can stay indoors. Dad closed his office, all the schools shut down... One of the few downsides of working from home is you don't get to take snow days, dang it.

But I still enjoyed the epic snow piles outside. Here's a picture of the front yard... Note how high the snow is in comparison to the roof.

It's not like this everywhere. Blizzards involve high winds that pile the snow up like this in huge drifts, while in other places, you can still see the grass poking through.

Tomorrow is supposed to be in the 40s and sunny, so a lot of this snow will be gone by tomorrow night! The big piles, though... those could last for months.

Note for Future Stargazing

Tonight for our ward activity, we drove out to a bishopric member's ranch in Larkspur for a hay ride. It was a pretty magical experience. I am a sucker for stargazing, but always disappointed because in this modern world, it's hard to find good places where you can really see the night sky.

Well, add Larkspur to the list! It was a perfectly clear night, and we could see billions of stars (probably :) as well as the Milky Way. I even got to see a falling star so I could make a wish.

Add to that epic stargazing that we were on a hayride complete with old school lanterns (okay, the candles inside were electric). It was one of my favorite ward activities we've done so far. Can we make that an annual tradition?

All Better?

Good news--Max is doing SO much better today, thank goodness! I really thought he was a goner yesterday. In the morning, he was so weak he could barely lift his head. He wouldn't eat. He couldn't walk.

But Shauna had the smart idea to rip his breakfast up into tiny little pieces, and hand feed him. He was able to get that down, just barely. All day he lay in a heap in bed next to me. We'd bring him water and food every once in a while.

By dinner, he actually sat up to eat out of his bowl, and he was able to eat it all without help. A little after that, we carried him outside to do his business, and he actually started walking around. When we brought him back inside, he went straight back to bed. We dragged a mattress upstairs so I could sleep by him and keep an eye on things. A couple times in the night, he actually got up and walked to the door to ask to go outside.

Today, he seems pretty close to normal, if a little bit sluggish. He's been walking around the house again. He is able to walk to his water dish when he's thirsty or his food dish if he's hungry.

I don't know what was going on yesterday. It really scared me. But he is doing so much better today, I'm really hopeful he's going to make a full recovery and stick around for a while longer!!

Saying Goodbye

I think my dog might be dying today.

He's very old--15, and his breed usually lives to only 13. His health has been deteriorating a bit the last little while... His left back leg doesn't work right anymore, and sometimes he falls over. But this still caught me off guard.

This morning, we just couldn't get him out of bed. I gave him his favorite wet dog food, and he licked it a couple times, took a couple tiny bites, and then ignored it. He can't walk at all today. He's just lying in a heap and breathing very shallowly.

I looked up these symptoms online and of course it took me to an article about how to know when your dog is dying. It looks like the only thing a vet could do would be to put him to sleep.

All I can do is stay close by him and pet him and tell him how much we love him. I wish so much that I could do more. And I'm still hoping that somehow, he'll snap out of it, and go back to the way he was yesterday. But I don't think that's going to happen this time.

This is a weird blog post, I know, but writing it out is helping me somehow. Right now it's just me and Max. Shauna and Mom will be back here soon but for now it's just me keeping watch.

At Last I See the Light

Ever since I've seen the movie Tangled, I've wanted to go to a floating lantern festival, and tonight I finally got my chance. Lori and I went to the Lantern Fest held at the Pikes Peak Roadway down in Fountain. It was even more magical than I thought it would be.

Lori thought she was borrowing my camera to take a picture, without realizing it was set to video mode... and caught this cool video of the underside of a lantern as it was preparing to launch.



You can skip to 2:12 to see me and Lori (and hear our excitedness when they played the song from Tangled, "At Last I See the Light". :)

Crossing that one off the bucket list! :D I realized later that was especially appropriate considering my word of the year is Light! What better year to go? Before we sent the Lanterns up, we got to decorate them with markers. I covered mine with the quotes from my word of the year post. And of course, Mormon.org. :) Probably it will just get tossed but figured it couldn't hurt!

Ponderizing: Psalm 37:4-5

So I neglected my ponderizing for a couple weeks, but I'm getting it going again today. :)

This week's verses: Psalm 37:4-5.

My Sister's Awesome Sewing Skills

My sister Shauna is incredibly talented at anything related to knitting, crocheting, or sewing. She can make just about anything you could ever come up with.

And this year she made me this awesome Halloween costume!!

Those of you who know me know I am a total Trekkie, and I like the original series with Kirk and Spock the best. :) But I never could find a decent uniform from that era, because that was back when the women were all rocking teeny-tiny mini-skirts, and I didn't want to try to fit into a guy's uniform... that never goes well.

So, Shauna made me this beautiful uniform comfortably extended to knee length. :) I am very pleased with it and in awe of my sister's awesome skills. If you ask her nicely she might make something for you too at a good price. ;)

Missionaries Are Safe

Hurricane Patricia ended up being much less severe than expected (a miracle, I think) and it sounds like the missionaries and the members in that area are safe. Here's the link for the latest from the Guadalajara mission blog: http://hasteningtheworkinguadalajara.blogspot.com/2015/10/missionaries-are-all-safe-and-sound.html

Please Keep Jason and Mexico in your prayers!

So, the largest hurricane ever recorded in the western hemisphere is headed straight for Jason's mission. Listening to the description of it gives me chills. I remember when the weathermen were forecasting Hurricane Katrina--a hurricane of Biblical proportions, they said. Now the weathermen keep stressing that this hurricane will be far worse than Katrina--worse than any hurricane any of us could think of.

Jason should be okay. He is pretty far inland. His mission president has moved all missionaries off the coast, and they're keeping a close eye on things (and posting updates on the mission blog here: http://hasteningtheworkinguadalajara.blogspot.com/) But of course we're worried anyway. And what about all the people who live along the coast? Mexico is working to evacuate them. Hopefully they can get everyone out and they will be safe.

Please keep Jason and Mexico in your prayers!!

Back to the Future Day!

Has anyone else been looking to this day basically forever? There is a reason it's a cult classic! Tonight my family and I watched Back to the Future part II... This is something I've planned on since I was a kid!

I got goosebumps when Doc announced they'd travelled to Wednesday, October 21, 2015. I bet when they made the movie, they figured anyone would have forgotten about it by the time October 21, 2015 came around. So glad I watched this today.

I almost died laughing when I saw Marty McFly Jr. stopping to use a futuristic phone booth. There are a few things they got right, but so, so much they got wrong... and it's hilarious to see it now. But right or wrong, those movies are classics and people will be watching them for years and years to come.

So... the White House made Back to the Future Day an official thing. We have May the Fourth every year to celebrate Star Wars, plus this year there was that crazy Force Friday Star Wars marketing thing... When do we get to have a Star Trek day?!?

Published

Since I was a tiny little kid, I've always dreamed of publishing a book.

I was thinking more along the lines of an epic young adult novel, but... I think this counts too. :)

I got my free copy of the Family Life Education: the Practice of Family Science textbook today. They included one of my research articles as a book chapter. I'm especially psyched about this, because it's a textbook I used in my classes back in the day, and some of my professors will probably be using it in the near future here. :)

Sorry for all the pics. I know I'm a dork. :)

Now, to go work on that whole novel thing...

Ponderizing Week 2: Alma 32:21

All's Well that Ends Well

So, we finally got word on our grants. Sad news first--we didn't get the Healthy Marriage and Relationship Education grant that we've relied on as our main source of income for the last several years. But the good news--we did get the New Pathways for Fathers and Families grant, devoted to promoting responsible fatherhood. It's not for as much money as the other grant, so we're having to cut back a lot, but Healthy Relationship California is going to keep on keeping on!!

Because our funding level has dropped, we've all experienced a pay cut and a cut in hours. But I'll still be making enough to get by, and I may even pick up a part-time job to make up the difference. One way or another, it will all be okay.

Ponderizing Week 1: D&C 29:5

Devin G. Durrant gave a great talk at General Conference yesterday about Ponderizing scriptures--that is, picking a verse each week to ponder on and work on memorizing. He challenged us to pick a scripture to ponderize each week for the rest of the month.

Here's mine (made this fun little thing with Canva, a free meme designer type thing):

This is a scripture we discussed in Institute a couple weeks ago. The teacher suggested that "the kingdom" spoken of here refers to an eternal family. I thought that was a beautiful thought, and it's one I'd like to spend some time pondering more deeply this week.

Beating My Head Against the Wall

STILL. NOTHING. AHHHH!!!

I think this is the last day in the 72 hour period for our Representative to contact us with the news. The Administration for Children and Families promised to send electronic notifications after that, by Monday at the latest. Assuming those go out on time... I'll be put out of my misery by Tuesday.

I really, really hope those emails go out on time. Or that our Representative reaches out. My boss called his office and one of his aides has been trying to figure things out for a couple days with no luck.

Despite all this, I've mostly managed to stay upbeat this week. But I'm very very ready for the suspense to end. In case you couldn't tell. :)

The Latest (Still not sure yet...)

Well... the latest news is that all grantees' Congressional Representatives have been contacted. They have 72 hours in which to call the grantees and give them the good news. After the 72 hours are over, the Administration of Children and Families will send out electronic notifications of grant awards no later than the 5th.

So... at least there's some news! A few grantees have heard from their Representatives already. We haven't, but I'm still very hopeful. I'm crossing my fingers we'll hear more soon!

Still Nothing....

...and we still can't find any signs that anyone else has heard anything yet, either!

NOW I'm starting to freak out a little.... I mean, it's close of business on the east coast in 15 minutes, and today is our last day of funding from our current grant! And the new funding is supposed to start tomorrow!! So, they have to tell people if they got it, right?

Is it possible other organizations have been contacted and we just haven't heard about it? Surely at least one person funded would have put it up on Facebook or on their website or something?

If we don't hear back today... do I even have work tomorrow?

Somehow it will be okay, but I sure hope we hear something sooner rather than later!

No News...

isn't always good news, I guess.

I wish I had an update to share, but the reason none of you have heard one is... there isn't one yet. We haven't heard anything from anyone. I assume the call usually comes from Washington, and it's long after close of business there. Not sure what to think exactly. Our Federal Project Officer told us all grantees picked would be contacted by today, and all those who didn't get the grant would hear by October 30 why they didn't get it.

So... it's possible we didn't hear anything because we didn't get it.

It's also possible that they are running a bit late with the grant announcements, and we'll still hear tomorrow. I guess last round of grants, our company was notified by a call from someone in a congressman's office. Congressmen are busy... maybe they just haven't had a chance to call yet.

Our current grant ends tomorrow, and the new one starts on 9/30... so if we don't hear by tomorrow night, we'll know for sure that we didn't get it.

But, I woke up this morning feeling deeply at peace, and mostly I've been able to hang on to that today. I still think somehow things will be okay. I'll keep you posted on how things go tomorrow... or maybe even today, who knows? It's after business hours in Washington, but not in California for a while yet.

And.... now it is after business hours in California. Still no word. But my boss has talked to several other applicants today. As far as she knows, no one has heard anything yet. That's comforting. We'll see what tomorrow brings!

THE Day

Well, it's official.

On September 28, we get word on whether or not our company will be funded for the next five years. If we are, then no worries for 5 years! If not... then I'll be out of work by the morning of the 30th.

I've managed to stay remarkably calm about all this, but now that I'm potentially a week away from unemployment, I'm freaking out a little. I think I'm mostly optimistic though... We worked hard on that grant app, and we have a great track record as a grantee. I hope we continue to get funding.

If not... well, that's part of why I've moved back home. At least I won't have to worry about rent while I'm applying for other jobs.

Fortune Cookie Gift

Friendship karma: when you go to Panda Express for dinner, but they forget to give you your fortune cookie... but then your best friend goes to a different Panda later and they accidentally give her two and she brings her dinner to institute and gives one to you. :-)

Staycation

All the McAllisters managed to get some time off this year around Labor Day weekend, so we took some time to enjoy the wonders of nature around the Springs this week.

Helen Hunt Falls

Red Rock Canyon

There's a lot of beautiful places around here that I still haven't been. I want to work on fixing that... especially before winter comes.

Balloon Glow

Finally made it to my first Balloon Glow! And I loved it. Definitely going back next year.

Balloon glow #nofilter #100happydays #day8

A video posted by @coolshelece on Sep 5, 2015 at 9:06pm PDT

See the Good

A little bit of wisdom from my sister Kristie, who is currently serving a mission in Finland:

"Over the past few weeks it seemed as though nothing was going our way. Sister Bruce and I just laughed it all off and kept working, but deep down it was still a little hard, then I realized a few things. First of all, things can always be better then they seem. When you are just waiting for the next thing to go wrong, and focusing on the negative side of things then of course it will seem like everything is going wrong!! So this week I started to focus on every good thing that happened, no matter how small it was and I realized that there are so many amazing things and little miracles happening right before my eyes every single day that I had been missing. This is the Lord's work and I can truly see his hand in things. Everything that I thought had gone wrong started making so much more sense, we needed to be in certain areas at certain times for certain people and if things had worked out the way I thought was right we wouldn't have been. We just need to trust in the Lord and try to see the big picture. "

So proud of that girl! And our brother Jason who is serving in Mexico right now. Can't wait to get them back but I know they are where they need to be right now.

Hiking in the Rain

Yesterday for FHE, we went hiking in the beautiful Red Rocks Canyon Park.

Except... we did it in a thunderstorm with rain pouring down. Believe it or not, it actually made it more fun haha. I wish I'd snapped some pics, but you know, I was trying to keep my cell phone dry. :)

A few of us decided to camp out under a tree for a while in a vain attempt to stay dry. From there we ran back and hid under the Red Rocks for a bit, before finally making a mad dash back to the parking lot.

We ended up hanging out in a car for a long time, using the heater to dry off, laughing and goofing around and waiting for everyone else to come back. It was really fun. Maybe I'll have to do rain hiking more often (although, maybe only when there's not so much lightning!).

Dog Stroller

So today, I became the semi-embarrassed owner of a dog stroller.

I know, I know. If you're like me, you've seen dog strollers in the store or out on the sidewalk somewhere, and you've been a little weirded out. Aren't strollers for babies? Isn't the whole point of walking your dog to, like, let it walk?

But my poor sweet little puppy is now a very elderly 15. He still wants to go on walks, but his body just isn't up for it anymore. It seriously took him half an hour just to walk to the end of the street the other day. For some reason, he's perky at home, but walks wear him out fast.

So... I caved. A dog stroller seemed like the perfect solution. It took me forever to find one that was cheap. It came in the mail today--fortunately in a camouflaged box so the mailman wouldn't think I was crazy.

Yeah.... I'm pretty sure my mailman thinks I'm crazy...

Shauna and I may have gotten a little bit too excited about it.  I took a break from work to help assemble it. As soon as we had it up, we woke Max up (um... not a great idea, in hindsight) and off we went!

I think we both had visions of Max being thrilled that he could go on a walk again. That's... not quite how it went down. At first he was looking around with an incredibly confused expression. What is this thing and what are we doing? But he stayed put, until I said, "I think he must like it, otherwise he would be trying to jump out." Yeah, he totally understood that because he immediately started trying to jump out.

So, we stopped, and let him out to stretch his legs. Immediately the little guy took off at a dead run. Our little dog... the one that took half an hour to walk down our street... running as fast as he could go. I took this as, "I don't need a stroller!!! I have four legs!" Eventually, though, he tired himself out, so we stuck him back into the stroller... until he got his strength back and we let him out again. It seemed like a pretty good system. He'd run, get tired, we'd stick him back in the stroller...

So, the jury is out on whether or not he likes it. I think it will grow on him. :) It better!

My first (semi) Pro Soccer Game

Highlights of my first semi-professional soccer game:

• The look on the security guy's face when he found a full bottle of ketchup in Lori's purse. He let her through. What was she gonna do with that? He did not find the hot dog in my jacket pocket. (It was all for a girl who was too late for the tailgate but she'd asked us to please save her food.)
• Saving seats for our group and realizing I have no clue which team was ours out on the soccer field.
• Playing frisbee with the adorable toddler in front of me. He kept throwing it at me and giving me the biggest grin until his parents finally distracted him with candy. :)
• After Lori told me we were the blue team, enthusiastically cheering for them until the white team got the first point and the crowd erupted and we realized we'd been cheering for the wrong team the whole time.
• At halftime, when five lucky audience members got to run in circles for 10 seconds and then try to kick a soccer ball past the mascot... and when it was a little kid's turn, all the other contestants tackled Ziggy (who is a goat by the way) so the kid got a clear shot.
• Oh, and the soccer playing was pretty good too. :)

Hello Again

Hello there, blog. It's been a little while.

Before my company dove into grant writing season, my boss warned me it would be all consuming for all 8 weeks of the process. I believed her, but I didn't really understand. Let me tell you, she was not kidding. And I apologize to all of you that had to listen to me talk about nothing but the grant app for the last few weeks.

But... we did it and we made the deadline and it's all over now! :) Let the celebrations begin!

Summer is Here!

Summer really crept up on me this year.

I think a big part of it was all the crazy stuff going on with the weather. First we have the warmest winter I can ever remember, then the coldest and wettest spring... and then boom! It's June 1 and it's in the 70s.

I went on a long walk that day to enjoy the sun, and I caught myself thinking how beautiful the weather was, just like summer. Then it hit me... oh my gosh, it's June! It IS summer! Where has this year gone?!?

Being back in the Springs has brought on a weird mix of nostalgia. Even though I always came back to visit here frequently, there were a lot of places I didn't go, and when I go there now I'm amazed how much things have changed.

I keep having flashbacks to my high school years, the last time I was living here full time, and to summers spent working here during my time at BYU.

And I keep having flashbacks to Provo too. There's so much I miss in Provo--people and places. I'd built a life there that it was hard to leave behind.

But, onward and upward! Even though life is hectic, I have a feeling the summer is going to be amazing. :) Which reminds me! I need to keep up my summer tradition of creating a summer bucket list. That's a little harder this year, since I don't know off the top of my head all the places to check out in Colorado... Anyone have any good suggestions?

Shauna's Graduation!

Today Shauna graduated from BYU!

Technically she graduated back in December, but December graduates come to the April graduation.

We are all really proud of her. It was fun watching it all sink in and watching the smile on her face get bigger and bigger. I know she has a very bright future ahead!

Being at the graduation was crazy. I had so many flashbacks to my own BYU graduations in the past. Then, we ran into some friends of my parents--apparently the husband was someone who attended optometry school with my dad. Watching them catch up after twenty years was like catching a glimpse of my future--someday when I run into BYU friends when we're old enough to have college kids ourselves.

Crazy how fast life ends up going. It's been 5 years since I  got my bachelor's degree. It'll be interesting to see where we all are in another 5 years!

Leaving Provo

I had started to think this day would never come.

I moved here in the fall of 2006 to start my freshman year at BYU. At first, I was crazy homesick for my friends and family. Every year this place grew on me until my degrees were complete and I realized I couldn't imagine living anywhere else.

This is the place where I did my second round of growing-up. My emerging adulthood took place here--my first attempts at leaving the nest and flying solo. This is where I shifted from an anxious little college freshman to a confident professional woman.

I have so many memories here, and I know this place will ALWAYS hold a special piece of my heart.

But... it's time to go. The last couple years when it came time to sign contracts, I began to feel that... that it was time to give up my BYU glory days and move on. I didn't want to leave, and so I stayed.

Now, though, I'm finally at a place where I'm ready for a change of scenery and new adventures.

For the first time in years, I've been homesick for Colorado. I miss my family. My parents are still there, my youngest two siblings have left on missions, and Shauna has graduated--she could end up anywhere.

My two closest friends from high school have made their way back to the Springs, and I've decided they had the right idea.

So... I'm packing my bags and going back home at the end of this month. I'm super torn about it, not going to lie. I feel like it's the right thing to do, but the closer it gets to my move-out date, the more nostalgic I get for all the good times I've had here in P-Town and the list gets longer and longer of things I'm going to miss.

I know there are good things ahead, though. I'm excited to see what happens next.

A Little More Natural

And..... my hair saga continues!!

So... when I last updated you I'd gone in to get my hair toned down. My ombre was super two-toned and I wanted it to be more like the subtle sombre style I'd initially wanted. My hairstylist fixed it in two steps: 1) adding some brown lowlights (close to my natural color) to break up the line between blond and brunette, and 2) toning the blonde to a less dramatic blonde that blended better with my natural color.

I was very pleased with the look. But unfortunately, the toner didn't last. Within a couple weeks, it was back to a pretty vibrant blond. The lowlights stayed, which helped. But it still wasn't quite what I wanted.

So... back to the salon today. I stole these pictures from my hairstylist's instagram (@hairbykayleekret).

MUCH better! I am very happy with it. :)

Also, today I found out that my natural hair color is the darkest shade of blonde! All these years my family teased me about being a blonde, turns out they were right. I always figured it was light brown.

Cinderella

The new Cinderella movie is lovely! They did a great job of honoring the original Disney film, while updating the story a bit and filling in some plot holes. For example.... watch the original Disney movie. You know that whole "This Is Love" sequence? Watch closely. The Prince and Cinderella don't actually speak until the clock strikes midnight. And then when they do speak, it comes up right away that they haven't exchanged names. Cinderella doesn't even realize she's with the Prince--he assumed she knew who he was so he didn't even introduce himself.

Spoiler alert: They do speak in the live action movie. :)

Actually, they switch up how they meet just a bit so it's clear the Prince is attracted to Cinderella because she is kind, not just because she is beautiful.

The theme of the movie is "have courage and be kind." I love that message. Cinderella is as she should be--kind to a fault, even to animals; optimistic even in the face of great suffering; and hard-working and willing to go after what she wants.

Sometimes she is taken advantage of for her kindness, and sometimes her optimism falters. But she carries on.

I feel like sometimes, strong women characters are the anti-thesis of this Cinderella character. They're tough as nails and they don't take crap from anyone.

I love that this movie takes a different angle, and instead shows kindness as a strength, an attractive characteristic. Being kind and sweet doesn't make Cinderella weak.

I hope my little girls like this movie someday because I think Cinderella is a great role model!

Blast from the Past: Baby Shelece

Tonight my Dad let me access his computer to get some of his pics from our Disneyland trip.

While I was in there, I did some digging through really old pics just for fun... and I found some classics! :)

Our 1989 family Christmas picture!

Me on my 2nd birthday. My mom's parents gave me that Baby Goofy doll. I slept with it every night until... oh, probably 8th grade. :) It's still in a place of honor in my room.

Me and my mom on the same birthday (you can see the back of Goofy's head in the foreground).

Little me. Look how cute I was! :)

I love that we both have the same expression on our faces

That's a Chipmunk doll I'm holding--Britney from Alvin and the Chipmunks. I was OBSESSED with that show from age 2 to age 8. I used to pretend that my human form was a disguise, and I was really Britney.

Oops

I am not a big fan of telemarketers.

Mostly I screen their calls, if I can. Recently I got a call and tried a new tactic. They asked to speak to Shelece. I said she wasn't in right now but I could take a message for her.

The telemarketer in question said, "Oh. I'll just call back later then. Thanks." And I felt like I had hit the jackpot.

Today I accidentally answered another telemarketer's call. I tried the same tactic, thinking it was genius. They would either hang up, or leave a message, without expecting me to commit to a sale, because I wasn't the person they wanted to talk to. (Yeah, I know. But it seemed so brilliant at the time.)

Here's basically how the conversation went:

T: Hello, may I please speak with Shelece?
S: She's not in right now. Can I please take a message?
T: Oh. Sure... *Proceeds to make sales pitch*.
S: Okay, thanks. I'll let her know.
T: ...Don't you want my contact info?
S: Oh... Is it different than what popped up on the caller id?
T: You have to dial an extension, extension ???.
S: Okay, great. I'll let her know.
T: Okay. Thanks, Shelece. Have a great day.
S: *pause while I try to figure out how to address him calling me by name when I told him I wasn't Shelece* Uh... Thanks. You too.

Yeah. Guy totally had me figured out. Cuz it's not that hard to do.

Lesson learned. Keep screening calls, and never be afraid to flat out say you aren't interested in their product.

Duh.

And She's Off!

Dropping Kristie off at the entrance to the MTC

Sister McAllister goes off to Finland

Or, at least to the MTC.

The last week and a half have been a blur. Shauna and I flew out to Colorado on the 20th, to attend Kristie's farewell talk on the 22nd. (Mormon missionaries usually speak to the members of their congregation on the Sunday before they go out--Kristie was speaking two weeks out because the first Sunday of each month is reserved for a special meeting called fast and testimony meeting). Then it snowed so much that church was canceled for our entire stake!

The new plan was for Kristie to give her talk right before the testimonies started on fast Sunday. So Shauna and I opted to stay in Colorado until we got to hear her speak. She did a great job. :) I can tell she is ready to be a missionary.

On Sunday, we had a family party with Dad's side of the family to wish her well. On Monday, we came back to Utah, and had a family party with Mom's side of the family too. It was fun seeing so much of my extended family in such a short period. They are all proud and excited for Kristie to serve.

We will drop Kristie off at the Missionary Training Center on Wednesday. I will miss her like crazy while she is gone, but I am so proud of her for serving the Lord, and I know He needs her in Finland right now.

A Brave New Look

So you all remember my latest hair experiment, when I decided to go ombre. It didn't quite go as planned, although I did manage to get it toned down a bit. 

For the most part, I was able to relax and have fun with it. But in certain lighting, especially as its grown out more, it just looks SO two toned. No real transition between the two colors, just brown on top and blond everywhere else. And I kept remembering what the stylist said when I went to get it fixed. I asked if there was anyway she could bring the brown down to my jawline, like we originally discussed, and she warned that if we did, it would look too two toned.

Anyway, all of that is to say that it's finally time to retire the ombre and go for a more natural look. After loads of internet research, I decided to try something called ecaille.

Here's my celebrity inspiration:

So... basically ecaille is quite a bit like ombre (as you can tell from this picture's subtle caption--hardy-har). It is dark on top and light on the bottom, but inside of being two tones blended together, you mix in lots of highlights in various tones to create a more natural look. Ecaille is French for tortoiseshell--the idea is to mix the sorts of colors that you'd see in a tortoiseshell comb.

Anyway, that's the idea. I am well aware this could go awry, like the last attempt. But this time I'm going in to see my favorite hairstylist, someone who's been doing all the McAllister women hair since... I don't even know. Five or six years, I think? I trust her.

So here's my before pics:

SOOO two toned! Ack!

And... here's after!

Sooo much more subtle! :) I am very pleased.

Indiana Jones victory

So I've pretty much always been an Indiana Jones fan. It was one of the three franchises my daddy got me into when I was a little kid (the other two being Star Trek and Star Wars, naturally--but don't worry, my mom got me into chick flicks too). I've seen all the movies... but it's been probably 10 years, so I am a little fuzzy on all the details.

When we went to Disneyland, we went on the Indiana Jones ride a TON. It's one of our favorites--but Kristie can barely remember the movies. So when I came home this weekend for Kristie's farewell, I snagged a copy of "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" to bring with me (my favorite Indy movie!). I watched it with my sisters last night. I forgot how campy and how wonderful these movies are. I was cracking up the whole time over the cheesy 80s effects and the way vehicles blew up at the slightest touch and just... everything! :) My sisters seemed to be loving it too, but I wasn't sure if they were really into it, especially Kristie, since she's not a nerd like the rest of us haha.

But tonight Kristie came to tell me she LOVED it and she wants to rent the other movies before she leaves on her mission! At first I was afraid she was just saying it to be nice, but she reminded me that 90% of the time she falls asleep during movies, and she was wide awake for the whole thing last time. 

This makes me almost as happy as when she admitted she likes Star Trek too. :)

Journey to the Happiest Place on Earth!!

So, my family went on a semi-spontaneous trip to Disneyland at the end of January.

If you know my family at all, you know this is very unlike us. :) But it was a good time to go. Shauna had just graduated BYU and was still job hunting, Kristie has the semester off school while she prepares for her mission in March. And we'd heard that January is a great time to go to Disneyland to avoid the crowds. With the measles outbreak going on, we had a pretty good shot at an empty park.

The first day was the absolute best. The park was almost empty. We could (and did) walk onto any ride we wanted. Didn't even need to get a fast pass. We took a bunch of pictures with characters and we didn't even have to wait in line!

I quickly succumbed to the temptation to get a mouse hat, while everyone else resisted... which resulted (as usual) in people thinking I was the youngest in our family instead of the oldest, but whatever. :)

We got to see the parades in both parks (Disneyland and California Adventure). We waited for a little bit to see the Disneyland one, but we walked right up to the California Adventure one when it was starting and managed to find an awesome spot.

Waiting for the Disneyland parade

The second day, we mostly spent in California Adventure. There were a lot more crowds than the day before, and we had to wait in lines for rides, but never for very long. The longest was half an hour (yes, I made my family wait half in hour for the Peter Pan ride... okay, I didn't make them, but they knew I wanted to, so they supported me in my choice. :) And yeah, I know the Peter Pan ride isn't in California Adventure--we did some park hopping! It was still really fun, but not quite as perfect at the day before.

One cool and kind of funny experience. We wanted to try this Toy Story ride called Midway Mania, but Shauna and Mom get a little bit motion sick, and there was a sign out front warning that this ride could cause motion sickness. There was also a 30 minute wait to get on to the ride. There was much debating whether or not Mom and Shauna wanted to try it. Mom finally asked an employee about it, and when he couldn't quite convince us that the ride was good for everyone in our family, he offered to let me, Dad, and Kristie skip the line to ride it to see if it was something Mom and Shauna could handle.  Just like that, he whisked us through to the handicap access point and let us on the ride, no waiting. And once we were done, we collected Mom and Shauna, and he let us skip the line again to go through together.

Excellent customer service. Who knew motion sickness could come so in handy? :)

At the end of the day, we watched the Fantasmic show. We got fastpasses in the morning so we had a great place to watch. It's quite an impressive show--I liked it a lot. When it was over, we had five minutes left before Disneyland closed, so we frantically ran into Pirates of the Caribbean for one last ride. Pirates has always been one of our favorites, because it's awesome, and because it's high capacity so the line is always short. We probably rode it 5 or 6 times in those 2 days. It was a great way to finish things up.

On our last day in California, we headed to Huntington Beach. Dad grew up in California, and when he was a kid, his family brought visiting relatives to Huntington because it has fire pits there, so they could roast hot dogs when people got hungry. We had a great time just chilling at the beach.  I was too much of a coward to go into the cold water, but Shauna and Kristie had a ball wading in and looking for shells.

The whole trip was amazing and so relaxing. Disneyland really is one of the happiest places on Earth. The little kids that come there are so happy and so excited! For them it is a dream come true.

I've made some happy memories there myself over the years and I intend to keep going back. :) I miss it a lot already!