Happy Halloween!

Sweet Dealio- An Update

As you all know, Halloween is coming. This weekend my ward, along with 3 others, had a big Halloween party. I, once again, thought that my 80's get-up would work best. However, I spruced it up with a sweet dress! Thank you, DI. Sadly, I let Allen Sabey (Cameo's husband) borrow my pink tights for the weekend (he went to an Ultimate Frisbee tournament in Colorado and they had to dress up for Halloween; he was a pig, hence the pink tights...with shorts) so it doesn't look quite as...striking. But it still worked. I liked it. I was quite happy to receive compliments on my outfit, such as: "Wow! That is truly 80's. Most people when they do 80's don't actually look 80's, they just look trendy. But you, you look 80's!" Rock on! (Sorry about the orientation of the picture, I tried but couldn't get it to remain upright.)

In order from left to right: Me, Ellen (Jannelle's friend), Jannelle/Jasmine (she made the costume herself. Unfortunately, you can't see her sweet MC Hammer-like pants (rather, Jasmine pants) because they are dang tight!...and by tight I mean rad or cool, because they are anything but tight as in opposite of loosely fitted.), Laura (Jannelle's friend), Kristy my roommate. Ahw yeeeah.

Here is a close up of my face. Pretty awesome, I know. :) I would like you all to take note of my crimped hair. Yes, that is right, I crimped my hair. It is actually kind of cool and I think I might do it again for real life, not just for a costume! Please ignore the fact that my cheeks and my lips are the same color. Gee, I wonder how that happened...

The weekend before this current one we are in, I went camping at a place called Six Lakes, east of Heber. To be more correct, it was Six Ponds. We went camping and had a nice fire and also went biking and canoeing. Creighton and Garrett would scoff at my listing biking among the activities because my biking skills are...a little under par. But we had good times. As you can see, there were insects around. Apparently, they don't mind Creighton's shoulder.

This is while I was out canoeing out in one of the ponds. It was pretty fun.

Life is going well. As usual, I absolutely LOVE work. It is so great. The Lord is amazing. It is incredible how tailored my current situation is to what I need in life. My ward is also amazing; it is full of such good people who are doing exactly what they should in life. Honestly, it is so great. Other than that (work, church and activities), not much going on. Just thought ya'll would enjoy seeing and reading up on my life. I love you all!

Pumpkin Time

Last Monday we took a trip to Milburn Orchard to have some Autumn fun and purchase our seasonal pumpkins. The girls had a fabulous time seeing the giant pig, feeding the goats, picking out their pumpkins, and playing outside. Kaylee even did a little missionary work. The girls were playing on a little school bus with some other children. The children took turns being the driver and also choosing where the bus was driving to. When another child asked Kaylee where they should go next, Kaylee proudly said, "the TEMPLE". :)

Logic

Last night the plan was for our whole family to go to the church for mutual, since I work with the YW and Russ was just called to work with the YM. However, Ashlyn developed a fever later in the day so I decided to stay home with her and just send Russ and Kaylee to the church. Kaylee was already excited to go, so I didn't want to make her stay home as well.

Kaylee (and probably all children) often projects onto herself the things she observes in others. So yesterday afternoon when I told her that Ashlyn was sick, she began claiming that she was also sick. I told her that because Ashlyn was sick she wasn't going to the church, and that if Kaylee was sick she would need to stay home as well. Here was Kaylee's response:

"I'm sick at home, but when I'm at the church I'm not sick."

I'm sure that logic made perfect sense to her little three-year-old mind.

Update

That is me at the top. I'm rock climbing. This was over a month ago, it was pretty fun.

This was at Megan's wedding. Yep, that would be the first of the freshman roommates to get married. It was way fun to see her and her reception and invitations were all just beautiful. She did a very nice job. One of the few receptions and invitations that I have actually liked. It was especially fun because all 5 of us (the other freshman roommates) all went up together.

This is Creighton and Jannelle cleaning the plastic that melted onto the burner.

Hello Family- I thought that I might join in the blogging. I don't really have anything exciting or funny to tell, just thought I would post the basics, so then ya'll know. Right now I work M-T from 10 until, well supposedly 2 but I always stay late. I think they will get on my case for that pretty soon. On Fridays I work beginning at 1 until somewhere between 4 and 5.

I am really loving my job. I love that I have a job, but more importantly I love the job itself. It is really great to work with people from ALL over the world. The majority of students are from Mexico, but we also have plenty from Brazil, Peru, Argentina,...South America in general, Ukraine, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Africa, Bulgaria,.... I really enjoy hearing different languages all the time and just being around such diversity. Foreigners always seem to be so happy, too.

I love my co-workers. There are actually two people from Guanajuato, Mexico (the state in which I lived last Fall), one from Irapuato (the city that I lived in each weekend last Fall. Imagine that! Latinos are a lot of fun to work with. They are crazy. The two that I work with most (Mexican and Peruvian) are ALWAYS super happy and just singing all the time and laughing and saying nice things. It is great. My supervisors, Jason and Jason, are wonderful. We have so much fun together and I really enjoy working with them. They are so easy going, relaxed and open-minded. At Nomen Global, it is pretty dang easy to get stressed out, annoyed and curt, but no one ever does. It is really good to witness and practice that. Not to be creepy, but I have learned more about marriage just but watching Jason and Jason, in a good way.

My official title is Registrar, though I really wear lots of hats (Front Desk Receptionist, Assistant Office Manager, Treasurer,...). My main job is to take care of the students, make sure they are registered in classes, make sure they have paid, keep track of their folders and information and all that kind of stuff. But, I also answer the phones, take payments, open the vending machine (my most favorite part...not really) and so forth. It is good. I have a lot of opportunity to learn, learn how to work with people, learn to always be happy and kind and not ever get stressed, learn how it is to work for a real bussiness, English grammar rules (which are incredibly complicated by the way). It's great. I really love my job.

I am still on the hunt for a second job. It looks like right now my best bet will be something in food services. No, I will not be working for McDonald's, so I don't want any jokes about that. Just in general, and this isn't to be mean, it is to let you all know, let me tell you about a new job once I get one instead of you asking me. As many of us have recently learned, it is no fun to tell people over and over, "Nope! No job yet." Because it just isn't something we enjoy telling people.

My ward is really great. There is just a very very good feeling amongst those people. You can just feel that it is FULL of individuals who are all striving to follow Jesus Christ by living His teachings and who look forward to becoming friends with everyone in the ward. My bishop is a wonderful, humble man. You can sense his love for us just in the way he conducts (not that he cries or anything. :) )

I am a Relief Society teacher, for which I am SUPER stoked. I love teaching. My first opportunity will be this Sunday. Most fortunately, Pres. Kearl is still my stake president. He was my stake president last Winter semester and I just fell in love with him. I did my mission interviews and my temple interview with him and he is an incredible man, very wise and in-tune with the Spirit. Last Sunday was stake leadership training and when we split off, Pres. Kearl took the teachers, feeling it is the most important calling. He explained to us that teaching in the Church is much different because, unlike in school, it is not a situation of Expert-Novice teaching (the teacher being the expert who has more knowledge than the students who are novice) but a situation of Peer-Peer. It is not a given that the "teacher" knows more than the "students". In fact, if he had it his way we would not be called teachers but discussion facilitators. As a teacher, my job is to be very familiar with the material, teach doctrine for about 5 minutes and then have prepared 4 or 5 good questions which will inspire discussion, discussion which has the purpose of learning to apply the doctrine in our lives. This is not just as a RS teacher, but as any "teacher" in the Church. I have a list of questions he gave us as examples, if any of you would like to hear them.

Other than that, I hang out with friends, especially Garrett and Creighton, Mallorie, and Rivka from home. We go biking and camping a lot and just other stuff that comes up. I am really happy and enjoying life. It is different living in an apartment, I prefer the house living, and with the people I do.

So, that is the update on my life. I love you all-

Angela

Rules

"When kids are out, you don't kiss. But when kids go to sleep, that's when you can kiss." -Kaylee Burnett, age 3

Birthday Fun

Russ enjoyed a very happy and a very "Pollini" birthday last Sunday. Thanks to all for the gifts, cards, and phone calls. Here are a few pictures of the celebration (and the cake I was quite proud of).

Well, here are some pictures of our "new home". I know the door color looks really wild, but it dries much darker and I love it. Dad is still adjusting... The color of the garage always looks different from the house because the blue roof reflects onto the walls on the house, while the cement in front of the garage gives it a different color. The roof is brighter than ever because Dad power washed it for hours. We are considering having the roof painted a different color, but that won't be this year. It would appear rainy season started today so we just barely squeaked this project in, though we are not quite done with trim. What do you think?!

The painting project

Happy conferencing!

Hello again! Anne just asked me for my cinnamon roll recipe for conference, so I thought it might be a good idea to post in on the blog. I have used several different recipes over the years, but this is the one Sheryl Gleason makes for cinnamon or orange rolls. Some might even remember that their family would make these and sell them to earn money for camp, etc.

No Rise Cinnamon or Orange Rolls

From Sheryl Gleason

Mix and rest 15 minutes:

· 3 ½ cups warm water

· ¾ cup sugar

· 6 TBSP yeast (not rapid rise)

After yeast mixture has rested add:

· 3 eggs

· 1 TBSP salt

· 10 ½ cups flour

Mix until smooth. Gradually add remaining flour. Dough will be sticky.

Divide in half. Roll each into a rectangle. Spread butter or margarine on top and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. (Variations: Use orange peel & sugar for orange rolls or brown sugar and cinnamon for caramel roll.)

Roll up from long side.

Cut about ½ inch thick sections with string/ thread. Place on a greased cookie sheet 1-2 inches apart. Bake at 375-400 for 10 minutes. Spread on icing while still warm.


ICING for CINNAMON ROLLS:

· Melt 1 stick butter or margarine (This is what her recipe says, but I would reduce or omit the butter)

· 6 TBSP milk

· Start with 3 cups powdered sugar (add more if desired)

· 1 tsp vanilla

Mix together until smooth.

ICING for ORANGE ROLLS:

· Melt 1 stick butter or margarine (This is what her recipe says, but I would reduce or omit the butter)

· Juice from an orange (or can use orange juice)

· Start with 3 cups powdered sugar (add more if desired)

Mix together until smooth.

Enjoy while being spiritually fed!

Love, MOM