Halloween 2013

Halloween was low key this year. Again. We just have a hard time planning it when Halloween falls on a day when we don't see each other at all. The next time we get to go to a Halloween party, we are going to go ALL OUT.

But, this year wasn't too bad. The Special Ed teacher and aides at school usually plan a group costume, and as usual Brandon helped me come up with the theme.

Where's Waldo! I couldn't find a shirt that had red and white stripes, so I just improvised with a white shirt from DI and red duct tape. It was a success, even the kids told me "Hey, you look like the guy from Where's Waldo!"

But here's the 3 Waldos, one of my aides was a baseball player.

Side note: I made the hat. I figured out how to make a pom pom... I smell an etsy sale.

Brandon was even less ready for Halloween than I was... he wore an orange shirt under his scrubs and called it good.

I did get home and find something to keep me from going trick or treating:

We will dress up again someday, but for now we'll settle for taking selfies.

Brandon went to the temple while I was at work. He said he wants to make it a tradition, because what better way to clown rate Halloween than by doing work for the dead? He's so righteous. Love him!

A weekend with two of my favorite men.

I don't get to spend that much time with just my dad. So, when he said he was going to be in Utah over the same three day weekend I had from school, we made it happen so we could head down.

Our original plan was that I would bring Brandon to work for the Friday morning shift (6 to 2), them pick him up and we would be on our way. That hit a snag, however, when Brandon went to go wake his wife up and got a growl in return. I will go ahead and excuse myself... It was parent teacher conference week and it was long.

So, instead of us leaving from Rexbrg at about 1:30, we left at 3. We were trying to make it down to the Boise State BYU game, and we did make it but around halftime. It was still great... And BYU won! My favorite commercial was where someone was determining statehood for different territories, but Boise applied and they denied it. The caption was, "Boise is not a state." Haha I loved it.

Brandon and I.

We are so much shorter than my dad.

The next day, we started out by going to the gym. It's been a while, and I'm running a 10K in 2 weeks so I figured I should get a start on that... And it was painful. But after that, we went to the Draper temple and it was BEAUTIFUL. Seriously, I can't get enough of these temples. We were there for a couple hours, and I just felt a peace that everything was going to be fine.

We took our customary picture outside the temple (#15 for Brandon and I)...

We hit up Mac's lacrosse game, and then got ready for the custom Brick Oven cousin dinner. It's been years and I've never made it down to one, so I was thrilled to be a part of this one. I think hanging out with cousins is the best.

And, look who showed up!

Sunday was spent at church with Grandma and Grandpa Murphy, followed by naps and another Murphy cousin dinner.

It was seriously a great weekend, I'm so glad we had the chance to come down. Now, if I could fight off this impending cold it would be even better!

First year of teaching, continued.

Ok, yeah it's been a while. It's been a long couple of weeks... except for Spud Harvest. That was a beautiful week off. I went to California, and didn't worry about a single school-related thing. But ever since then I've been up to my nose in work... The learning curve just got a little more steep.
But instead of dwelling on that, I'm trying to think of the positive things that are going on and that I'm grateful for.
-I have such a great support network.
- I don't always agree with all of the teachers, and it's weird being in charge of the aides that have more experience than I do, but when it comes to the kids I work with some of the most compassionate people ever.

Also, I'm almost done with my first semester! yayyyyy.
I can safely say I have worked my TAIL off this semester.

Barry University.

So, Brandon had his interview in Miami for PA school last week. This interview was REALLY early, because all the other emails said something to the effect of around the new year. But we were so excited! Just having an interview was a good sign.

He stayed with Tanner and Alyse (and sent me a picture of their cute baby boy):

 

I was on pins and needles the entire time. I knew that Brandon would do well, and between his Spanish history, work history, and raw animal magnetism (No? Not a qualification for PA school?) he would do fine. But still. It's nerve-wracking!

Well, he called me tonight... HE GOT IN!!!! Yessssss! It is STILL super early, since he hasn't heard back at all from any of the other schools. But they have a deposit, which we are going to put down now. And see what happens with other schools.

But yay! I'm so excited. This week has been one of learning at school, and it's good to know we have a future beyond Rexburg. (I like Rexburg, really I do. Just after a while...)