Shhh, Don't Tell

Jonah, Michelle, and I did something bad today, we cut down Christmas trees before Thanksgiving. Terrible, I know. But we had the day off school and there wasn't going to be another time that we would work out as well, so what can you do? We made a trip to Calvin Crest for our trees (they gave us permission to cut them) and it was a great trip. We arrived early afternoon and got to visit with our friends Joel and Kirsten and their baby, Nathan. We decided to go on a walk and passed through the Crestview campfire area. I was the happy camper and Jonah the cool kid. It was a beautiful sunny day and we enjoyed the fresh air and trees. Most of the fall leaves had already fallen, but some trees still had their leaves and looked great. Then we hiked the Shadow of the Giants trail. We were sad to have missed the Dogwood trees with their fall leaves, but it was still a good hike. Jonah and Michelle in front of one of the Giant Sequoias. Next, we headed to Sherwood and found the perfect tree. Michelle and Jonah got this big one plus a little one and I got a mini one. Fitting the tree in the car was a challenge, but once we got it in, it fit pretty well. The car sure smelled good while we drove back to Visalia.

Nursery Demo

We started a nursery renovation project at church today, here are some before pictures: This picture is not a true before picture because it shows the new windows, which are quite nice.

The first order of business was kicking out the panels at the back of the half wall/cabinet; the boys had a lot of fun with that, as did the adults in the group. It was highly satisfying to kick out a wood panel, especially since I was still wearing my skirt. We continued to work at tearing the rest of the half wall out and taking it apart, stopping for a break to have pizza. Things progressed well over the afternoon and we got the whole thing taken apart as well as purchasing new wood, drywall, and lights. Michelle and Mom got the pieces cut for the new half wall and Jonah started nailing it together. About that time we decided to call it a day and head home to cut up our bounty of wood. Everyone came over and we had dinner and the first fire of the season.

Party Time

We had a costume party at work tonight and it was fun. Everyone was dressed up and looked good. Jonah and Michelle were the cutest couple there, but Sierra and Sam were great too. First up for the evening, we had a contest for best costume, then a pumpkin carving contest. My pumpkin is on the left and Michelle's is in the middle. I won second place, for which I got fluffy socks and a candle. Next we had a mummy dressing contest. Michelle, Jonah, Mark, and I were on a team; Mark was our mummy. He looked great. David had to carry their mummy over to the judging area, quite a feat since Sam was their mummy and he is considerably taller than David. The three mummies, our mummy, Mark is on the left. After that, we went across the street to get drinks. Michelle and I got lavender Italian soda, but they were super strong, so we couldn't finish them.

Uncle Harry's and Fresno State

Due to a canceled class, I was thrilled to be able to meet up with three of my London flatmates this morning. Juan, Alicia, Ashley, Ashley's friend Jeremiah, and I met up at Uncle Harry's bagels for an early lunch and a short visit to catch up. We enjoyed good bagels and conversation and it was so nice to get to see them again, I have been missing my flatmates and London a lot lately. Ashley, Alicia, Juan, and I outside of Uncle Harry's. Back at Fresno State, I thought it would be fun to take a few pictures around campus while I had my camera with me. This is an unexciting picture of the bell tower, which isn't much for looks, but I love getting to hear it ringing the hours and "the leaden circles dissolved in the air". It was cold and rainy today, which I wasn't expecting so I wore my flip flops and slipped and fell in one of the open air hallways. But now, I'm cozy at home wearing my socks and pjs.

Reshingling the Ridge Line

Dad, Mom, and I continued our project of reshingling the ridge line on the roof today. We started last Saturday by figuring out what we were doing on a small section. Today we began in earnest. The old ridge shingles are in terrible shape because they were defective. We have been finding pieces around the yard after wind storms for awhile, but I was surprised how bad they really are; some places are down to the tar paper. Dad pulled up the old shingles, Mom collected them, swept, and laid out new shingles for me, and I put the new ones on. After Dad had pulled off the section we were planning to do today, he joined me in nailing on the new ones. Everything went well and looks good, we were able to finish about half today and are planning to finish the second half next Saturday morning. It is quite the project, Dad and I are both sore already from the hours we put in this morning hammering and lifting, but we are happy with our progress and the results thus far.

Michelle's Birthday Celebration

Michelle's birthday was on Wednesday this week and to celebrate we had family dinner Thursday night. I was responsible for making the cheesecake. It made me a little nervous because I don't have much cheesecake making experience, but it was also exciting and I had a lot of fun. Thursday I put the finishing touches on the cheesecakes and Micah helped by eating the leftover chocolate decorations. We had two cheesecakes: a chocolate swirl and one with raspberry sauce. The birthday girl and me with the finished product. Mmm, cheesecake, I love it! We had a lovely dinner and the cheesecakes turned out well.

And the Winner Is...

We had a competitive afternoon at Wildflower Cafe today. I don't remember how it started originally, but we got an order for 2 pear walnut salads, so Mark said we had to see who could make a better one. It ended up being a tie, he got two votes for looks to my one, but I finished in almost half the time. Then we had a cake frost off. Our baker, Veronica, frosted the first cake, followed by Sierra, one of the owners. Then I got to frost a German chocolate cake, which turned out pretty good looking, if I do say so myself. Mark finished things off by frosting his first cake, but it was a tricky one that had a raspberry filling on each layer, so it wasn't fair. But we had a fun time and all the cakes turned out well, although Sierra had to help Mark a little with his, which evened things out since he helped her with hers. Anyway, it was a fun way to spend an afternoon at work.

Father/Daughter Project

Dad and I replaced the faucet and drain in my bathroom sink today. The faucet was leaking and the drain drained slower every day, so I was glad to get it taken care of. As expected, there was a nasty chunk of moldy hair/soap scum that appeared as we took the sink apart. So gross. But we got everything taken apart and replaced without any problems. And here is the result. So beautiful and they work great.

TC Fair

Thursday night we went to the Tulare County Fair. It is becoming a bit of a tradition since we went last year too, although the boys were sure this was their first time. We went by the quilt/woodworking exhibit first because last year we didn't get to see that section. It was inspiring. Outside, they had a section for the kids and they had fun driving tractors, playing in corn, and roping a steer, Evan actually roped it his second throw after some Texas tips from Isaac.

Next, we headed for the rides. Micah had been sure all week that there would be a motorcycle ride at the fair, even though we tried to tell him there might not be. Sure enough, there was one, but after waiting in line we found out he wasn't tall enough to ride it. Poor little guy, he was crushed. But we did have fun going on the dizzy dragons and a train. Next, it was time to enjoy some shaved ice, then we headed off to see the animals. We saw the pigs, sheep, and cows, but went through pretty quickly because it was about the time we were planning to leave by. On the way back out, we passed through a musical instrument petting zoo where the kids got to play the instruments. They loved that, especially Micah who loves guitars. All in all, it was a fun evening at the fair and the weather was pretty nice too.

Getting Caught Up

I knew it had been awhile since I posted on my blog, but I hadn't realized it has been a month! There are two main reasons for the delay; one is that school has started and with 15 units and a commute plus starting a new job last week things have been busy. The other reason is that I haven't been taking many pictures and blog posts just aren't as interesting without them. That said, here's a brief update to get caught up. Fresno State started classes on August 24th. I have 5 classes, one is general biology and the other 4 are health science classes. They are going pretty well, with some complaining on my part about the number of group projects and lack of lecturing skills by a couple professors. I go to school on MWF and have a couple people I carpool with on Fridays. Last Thursday, I started working at Wildflower Cafe in Exeter, where Michelle and Jonah work. I'll probably be working there Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. It's still pretty new, but I think I'll enjoy it and it's fun to work with Michelle and Jonah when our shifts overlap. Last weekend was a great one, we had four days off of school due to a faculty furlough day Friday and Labor day Monday. Saturday night we had the privilege of attending the wedding of Katie and Warren, which was beautiful. I caught the bouquet! That weekend was also fun because Jaime came for a visit. One more thing on my schedule is a tap class at COS. I have taken the class a few times in the past, but haven't been able to for a year, since transferring to Fresno State. But this semester it worked with my schedule to take the class again and it is so much fun! We are starting to get ready for the show in December, mark your calenders! So that's what I've been up to for the past month or so, in addition to continuing to enjoy time with family and being amazed at how quickly the kids are growing up.