Mrs. Frizzle for a day

Happy November!

It is crazy Halloween has come and gone. Before we know it Thanksgiving will be here and then of course the splendid Christmas. What a wonderful time of year!

For the past couple of weeks I have been in Practicum. So everyday, I get to go to Riverton Elementary and spend most of the day with some adorable 1st Graders. It is a joy to be around such sweet kids and work on my teaching skills. Halloween, as we all know, is just the best in elementary school and this year was no exception. All of the kids dressed up, so of course I had to as well.  

I decided on Mrs. Frizzle. So when I was home in Pocatello last weekend my momma helped me put some planets on one of my dresses. Aunt Teresa was the sweetest and consented to helping me put sponge curlers in my hair on Tuesday night. I think it turned out pretty great. The kids called me Mrs. Frizzle all day long. We had a parade, party, a little writing lesson on Halloween, and pumpkin estimating and counting/measuring. So school was great. 

my wonderful momma

I look like an old lady :)

right after curlers were out

combed out a bit

there we go

Last week was exhausting with lack of sleep trying to finish up some big projects for my evening classes, but I made it through. This week will be better and with more sleep (hopefully). 

So Park and I went home last weekend because he went through the temple! What a sweet man he is. It was a special experience to be in the temple with him and my family, minus Choco :(. What a wonderful missionary Uganda is getting in February. I'm impressed with the strong and faithful young man Park is becoming. He's so grown up. He is a great student, a hard worker, and just a solid guy. I sure do love him and am so proud of him. What a blessing it is to have him in Provo to keep me company. He is simply great.

siblings

Elder Thomas

In other news, my husband will return on Saturday at 9:05 am. I am terribly excited! What a blessing it will be to have him home. Just counting down the days and hours and minutes. 

5 days with the hubby

Time for an update. So my sweet husband has been working in Arizona, a lot. He spent two weeks there, one week home, and four more weeks there. Then this last Saturday he got to come home to me. Although it was not nearly long enough (only 5 days), it was delightful and needed. Now he is gone for 3 more weeks. I know, bummer. But while we're not looking forward to these next three weeks, we can do it.

I wish I was already done with school, so I could go with him. But I am grateful to be in school and am enjoying the program and things I am learning. We start practicum next Tuesday, so I'll be in Riverton Elementary School everyday for a month or so. I'm excited! Only one more semester after this and student teaching and then done! It is good I'm busy here at home with school, but I obviously get lonely and miss my husband. But we're being positive.

My parents came on Friday to go to the game on Saturday. It is always so good to see them. Saturday, mom and I went shopping at Target. I found some good finds: a new red Crockpot and a candle warmer (which I have been wanting for a while). It is cute and makes the house smell delicious. I love it. I also discovered why all of the gloves have weird things going on on the thumb and pointer finger. My mom and I were thinking that it was such a weird fashion statement. Then, lightbulb! it is so you can still navigate on smartphones. Cool. And it really works. I didn't buy any, but mom did. We are funny. I love my momma.

Fabulous candle warmer that fills the
house with the scent of pumpkin spice. 

Chris flew in on Saturday. After we made it back to Provo, we ate some soup and cornbread with my fam. Then Chris and I went to Pitch Perfect after they had gone home. We have been pretty much partying the whole time he was home. Sunday was wonderful to sleep in together. I suggested Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat with the classy Donny Osmond. So we watched and sang the fun musical before church. It's Bible related, right? So I thought it was appropriate :). After church, we had Parker and Kevin over for some crock pot pork chops (made from my fabulous red crock pot). Yummy and the company was great.

After my one class on Monday, we went to lunch at the Olive Garden. I love the endless soup, salad, and bread sticks. Yum yum. After a long nap, I went to work for a bit. For dinner Chris has been craving nachos, so we bought a huge can of the cheese sauce and some jarred jalapenos and of course chips. It was fun and delicious.

at the olive garden

Tuesday, we carved pumpkins. We had to do this while  he was here since he will be gone for Halloween :(. We even had a fun idea for our costumes, but that's ok. There's always next year. Because I don't feel very skilled at the pumpkin carving art, I stuck with the basic: a smiling face. Chris, on the other hand, of course did something fabulous. He mimicked the typical Dia de los Muertos face. It is awesome. And the pumpkins make our front little step look so festive. Papa John's amazing pizza was on the menu for dinner.  Followed by Here Comes the Boom. We had both thought it looked great and were not disappointed. We laughed and it was refreshing it was clean. It was a fun outing and movie. We just partied, I know.

before...

a little help from the hubs

my happy face

Choco's fancy finished product

Yay for fall. The baby pumpkins were
just too cute at Macey's.
I couldn't help myself.

Wednesday, Chris worked unfortunately. But we went to Chili's for dinner. We love the 2 for $20 deal. It is always fun to have an date night out together. It was exciting to talk about ideas and dreams for the future. In conclusion, (I feel like I'm writing an essay=too much school) it was a wonderful few days with the man I love. Such a treat to be with him. I can't wait until that is the normal again. But for now, we have Skype dates, which I'm grateful for. What a blessing technology can be. Hopefully, he will be home for good soon.

His hair is getting long and is sometimes out of control.
But mostly I love his marvelous curls.
Still crossing my fingers our kids will get the
curly hair from him because it is the best. 

This is kind of silly, but I love the evidence
my husband is home: our 2 toothbrushes,
 his razor, and contacts. 

 P.S. It has been beautiful here in Provo. I think that I am ready to get out of here and have some adventures, but honestly it is so beautiful in the fall here. I am grateful for seasons and the mountains. And for Provo, this lovely place where we live.

I love when the clouds hang on the mountains.
and the overcast weather makes the mountains
even more gorgeous with their fall colors.

just my incredible view while
walking on campus.
no big deal.