Fall Brings Changes!

We drove out to the city this last weekend, which meant we got to drive through some beautiful fall scenery. The colors were just barely starting to turn, so there was a gorgeous combination of greens and yellows to see on the ride out. It was so nice to see some friends and family while we were out there!

While we were there, we had an impromptu mini frosting fight. Since we didn't smash cake at our reception, we thought it'd be funny to take a *slightly staged* picture.

Just in case you were wondering... I totally won.

I have to admit, I've always been a member of the "Summer Should Be Year-Long" camp; but, this year I'm really excited about the change of seasons. It probably has something to do with my still-developing love of layered clothing, or it might just be the hint of a string of fun friends-and-family-oriented holidays in the air.

My guess is that the main reason I'm excited for fall is because there are so many other changes happening in our lives too, that it just seems like mother nature is celebrating and changing with us!

 

Last week I taught my first lesson ever. The RS president stopped by a couple of weeks ago and asked me to give the lesson at the nursing home's Relief Society meeting. I was really nervous until Momma Dennis told me it was basically just a 10 minute talk. They told me I could choose any topic, so I went through a bunch of talks from last April's conference and found this one.

I adapted it a little to better fit my audience by simply capturing the first part of his talk's title, "Having the Vision", and taught the lesson on learning to have the same vision of yourself that the Savior has: seeing yourself through His eyes. It was a wonderful experience, and I basically cried through the whole lesson. While preparing that lesson, I realized it was exactly the lesson I needed to hear. It's funny how that happens. I just hope the ladies there felt something wonderful and learned something like I did.

I've been toying with the idea of transcribing my talk and putting it up here... mostly for my records. (I'm planning on having this blog turned into a book at some point in time, as my own version of diary-keeping or scrapbooking.) If it's something you'd even consider reading, let me know.

Nick had his first week on call just recently, and it was a little crazy! I felt so bad for him while he was sitting up at all hours of the night trying to fix the odd issues that came up.

I wasn't really sure how to best be supportive, since I can't jump in and help him with writing lines of code... so I bought a couple of small packages of his favorite candies and gave him a mini candy-gram. It said something like "Here's a little treat to help you "BEAR" (cinnamon bears) having to "FISH" (swedish fish) around for answers while you're on call. Good luck!"

It turns out his week on call was a sort of "baptism by fire", because they're not usually anywhere near as busy as his was! I'm just hoping the next time around it will be a little calmer so he can get some sleep! 

*knock on wood*

Our hamsters (Momma Page calls them her grand-hamsters) are handling all these changes like champs! They're quite chunky and happy at this point in their lives, and their little personalities crack us up. (Speaking of change, I probably ought to change their bedding again tonight!)  I can't decide which we think is funnier... watching them tear into the last 2 squares on a toilet paper roll, or watching Darcylu try to give them the stare-down from her semi-permanent post on the floor by the desk.

Our house is also changing constantly! We take trips almost daily down to see what new changes have been made. It's such a fun adventure to be taking, and I can't think of anyone I'd rather take it with!