Jason is home!

Jason is home!!!

He came back home last Monday. Today in church he gave his homecoming talk. I am so proud of him. He's grown and matured so much over the last two years, especially spiritually. We've had some great deep talks on gospel topics since he got home.

It feels so great to have our whole family reunited again.

Our extended family came to Jason's homecoming talk, and of course for dinner after.

It's not for very long. In 5-6 weeks or so, Kristie and Jason head back to Provo for another semester at BYU. They're both tentatively planning on staying there for Spring/Summer, so this could be the last time all 6 of us live together.

Of course, didn't I say that about the summer before Jason left on his mission? I guess you never know what the future holds.

And no matter what it holds... we'll make sure family is always a priority for us. We'll find a way to stay close, no matter what. That's what families do.

Why NaNoWriMo Is So Hard

Last night, my awesome book club went to a book signing. :)

We recently read We Were Liars by E. Lockhart. Around the same time the library was sponsoring a community read of another one of her books, so they flew her in to give a speech and do a signing. So of course, we went. Natalie helped us all make matching t-shirts so we could be a team (actually, she 100% made mine--thanks again Natalie! :D)

It was really fun and now I want to go to more book signings. Unfortunately it doesn't look like there's any more coming up in 2016, but I'll keep my eyes open.

Anyway, during the author's speech she said something that really struck me about NaNoWriMo. This is a professional writer, right? Someone who does this for a living.

She said her goal is to write 1,500 words a day.

In order to complete NaNoWriMo, you have to complete 1,666 words a day.

No wonder I never finish! No wonder it's so hard! Life is just so busy. Oh well, it's too soon in the month to give up yet!

NaNoWriMo

Every year, I try to do NaNoWriMo. Every year, I get off to a slow start, get miserably behind, and then give up.

NOT THIS YEAR!! I am determined to really put some effort in this year and make this happen. I've been exercising my writing muscles lately, so hopefully I'm in better shape for this event.

I'll let y'all know how it goes. :)

29

So, today I turned 29. You know what that means.

It's time to party like it's 1999! :D

I am determined to make this last year of my twenties the best year. Don't ask me what that means because I haven't figured it out yet. :) I'm hoping to pack in lots of fun things--more traveling, potentially some house buying, potentially some puppy buying... We'll see how it goes. :)

Confession

There is an adorable little miniature dachshund girl at the Humane Society right now and I am SO tempted to adopt her.

But I'm still not in a place where I can get a dog, and I know it would be irresponsible to do it... So I'm just stalking her page on the Humane Society and hoping desperately that when it disappears, it's because she found a good home with someone else.

I need to get a house so I can get a dog!

McAllister 2016

I saw a fun challenge on Facebook today. Your last text message is now your campaign slogan in your candidacy for president.

I thought mine was quite convincing.

I mean, I'd elect someone with that slogan. ;)

Hufflelumps

Kristie's return to the Springs allowed us to solve a long standing mystery....

What house would she be sorted into at Hogwarts?

Shauna, Jason, and I had all taken the official Pottermore quiz and fully embraced our houses with pride (once we got over the initial shock of not being Gryffindors). Can you guess what we are?

I'm a very proud Hufflepuff. :) To us, the most important trait is being nice... and that's a philosophy I can stand behind! It's also very important to us to be loyal and hard working. Other houses look down on us sometimes, thinking that since our most important trait is kindness... we are dumb without anything else going for us. But hey, what else is new? There's a reason there is a widely accepted (and not true) expression, "Nice guys finish last."

Shauna and Jason are both Ravenclaws, which of course, is the house for the smartest students are Hogwarts.

And today, we discovered that Kristie is a Gryffindor, just like Harry Potter! :) No surprises there. Gryffindors' most important trait is bravery... that fits her to a T.

We made Mom take the quiz too. She is a Ravenclaw (so that's where Shauna and Jason get it from). She's not a Potterhead like we are, and it's been a while since she's read the books/seen the movies.... so she got it into her head that my house is called the "Hufflelumps" (a slight variation off the Heffalumps Winnie the Pooh talks about... you know, Heffalumps and Woozils?). Several times today she cheerfully called me out for being a Hufflelump, and she said that we all must be fat if everyone calls us lumps. XD I laughed pretty hard. The truth is, Heffalump is a clever nickname for us Hufflepuffs. ;)

Dad watched all the Harry Potter movies with us growing up, but he never read the books, and I can't imagine him ever taking the quiz..... so we've decided he is a Muggle.

And there you have it, the basics for your very own McAllister family Harry Potter fanfiction. :) A Ravenclaw married a Muggle, and produced a Hufflepuff (assumingly to everyone's slight dismay at first), 2 Ravenclaws, and a Gryffindor. We would have had a great time at Hogwarts, it's a shame our letters never arrived!