It's 10/10 everyone

So it's been 10 days since I stopped storing September. The first part of October has brought a work retreat (well, technically it started on the last day of september), a trip to my favorite place on earth, and a totally crazy R.S. activity.

Work and Play

I spent a day here

with them.

We did a lot of brainstorming for the magazine, learned about communications styles, built balloon towers among other team building activities, and got a free night at Zermatt Resort in Heber. Sounds like a good deal to me.

At the Cabin for Conference

Other than the snow, Bear Lake was a perfect conference weekend get away.

My cousin Alyssa came with us. She has red hair and is an artist...I'm 100 percent jealous.

Kiss the Cook

The Relief Society Octoberfest was today--10/10 at 10 a.m., we had pumpkin waffles with orange butter, nutmeg syrup and toasted pecans and played a pretty noisy game of getting to know you BINGO. All the while C1 was cooking up our waffles and cleaning up. You can see more photos on our new ward blog that we introduced today.

People I Love (the first of a series)

Jenny is one of my lifelong favorite friends. I tell you about her now, because this week she made me laugh out loud. And I have to share it with you. I just have to. So, read this if you want to laugh out loud, too. And then, if you're interested, you can read about why I love Jenny below...

Jenny and I did silly things growing up--like we made up a recipe to put in our ward cookbook. We named it "Me Oh My What a Perfect Pie." I truly hope no one EVER tried it because it was far from perfect.

One time we noticed one of our neighbors didn't have house numbers--so we decided to use our artistic abilities, cardboard, and markers, and made one for them. We hung it up one day and the next day it was gone...I guess they didn't appreciate our art as much as we thought they would.

One Spring when we were in college, we took a spur-of-the moment trip to Boston where we went shopping, followed the Freedom Trail, ate expensive cheese and bread, and even went sailing with an MIT grad. Unfortunately I dropped my digital camera in the Charles River so I have no photos to show you (well, actually it was my brother's camera...the lucky duck got a brand new one on me). We ended the trip at an inn and restaurant owned by her aunt and uncle in North Hero Island, Vermont. If Heaven isn't just like Bear Lake, then it HAS to be just like this place.

We took the hardest class of our college careers together in our last semester at Utah State (go Aggies). Communications Law had a pretty tuff reputation, but Jenny and I decided we weren't gonna let that stop us. We had a weekly study date where we edited each other's papers, quizzed each other before tests, and laughed a ton. We both ended up acing the course.

Jenny's mom calls her a domestic diva. And I totally agree. For proof, just look around her blog for a while and you'll see organizing tips, sewing projects, and get this--she is eating a salad every day this year.

She introduced me to cucumber sandwiches, gummy strawberry candy, Vermont, pumpkin soup, tap lessons, organic sugar at Costco, Etsy, earrings like these, and many many many more wonderful, uplifting things.

I've been thinking about art lately

I went to an art show in Park City at the Coda Gallery. It's been more than a week and I still find myself thinking about what I saw--paintings like this one--"The Heart's Timing." I am blown away by Melissa Peck's detail and uniqueness of her work. There was a mystery and somehow some relatable quality to every one of her paintings at the show. Being an artist is so risky. I admire you all, and thank you for sharing so much of yourself with little old me.

p.s.

unfortunately (or maybe not) I find myself relating most to those gnomes/clowns...anyone else?