October happenings

Well, October was one of the craziest months I have had in quite a while. It was just full of things...and I am grateful for that. I much prefer being busy than having time on my hands because time equals thinking, and sometimes it's better if I just don't think. But it's been a fun month (for the most part). The month started with the the upsetting news of my father's open heart surgery. I am happy to report that he is doing ok and my parents actually came home to Arizona this weekend (for a few days). It has been really good to see them. Believe it or not, I kind of missed having them around...

For some reason our Branch decided to have our Halloween party the second week of October. Not many people showed up, which was sad, but it was still fun to dress up and see everyone's costumes. We had some spaghetti and then carved pumpkins. I am not much of an artist, so I simply chose to take pictures of my group carving our pumpkin. Here is Tricia the Jailbird, Sandy the Autumn, and Jenna the Fairy carving away:


Oh, yes...here is my costume. I was a very big, very unattractive baby:

And this was by far my favorite costume of the night:

Of course, this is the real reason I liked the costume so much:

Again, Tricia the Jailbird poses with Tommy the Forrest Gump:

And who could forget Super Andy:

All in all it was a pretty fun party. But then again, I am kind of a Halloween freak! Any excuse to dress up as a clown and not get strange looks is a good time for me! Here I am in one final picture with my new best pals Tricia and Sandy:


Later on in the month I threw a bridal shower for my best gal pal in AZ named Sarah. She is getting married on November 13th and I am really excited for her (and possibly a touch jealous). The shower was a lot of work (but that is just because I don't know how to throw simple, low-key parties) but completely worth it! I rearranged some furniture, blew up some balloons, hung up some decorations...

..and made a lot of food:

It seems these days that bridal showers are just come-and-go, eat some food, open some presents and that is pretty much all there is to it. However, I am a firm believer in throwing a big party with games and prizes! Being the overachiever that I am, I made sure all of the game pieces were easily accessible in a cute little carrying case:

Just a warning, my camera has been sick lately (I think it's the swine flu), so most of my pictures turned out blurry...which is unfortunate because the pictures could have been cute...

Speaking of cute, here is the cute little bride-to-be, Sarah, sportin' her "Bachelorette" sash and glowing engagement ring:

Because of blurry pictures, you don't get to enjoy the pictures of our game and prize winning fun. We played the Wedded Bliss Word Search (Kenny and Sarah's wedding themed), Who's Got the Garter Belt? (the title sounds horrible...but I don't know what else to call it), Who Knows Sarah?, and Wedding Gift Bingo. I think the games were fun...but I could be totally wrong. And, of course, we watched Sarah open some gifts:

I was really hoping for some embarrassing lingerie, but she mostly got games and house decorations. I did give her some zebra print pajamas though. I am so excited for Sarah and so happy that I could throw the shower for her. She is AMAZING!!!

And finally, October is not complete without a Halloween celebration. Tricia, Sandy and I did throw a fun Halloween party, but those pictures are just going to have to wait for another day. There are only so many pictures you can post in one blog entry...