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. :)