Fall Tasting Party!

 

Wow, this weekend was full of fun (as noted from previous blog postings), and it all culminated in the Fall Tasting Party, hosted by Melanie Williams!

Seth and I brought Mom's Famous Plump Gingerbread with Zesty Lemon Sauce and Grandma's Soft Gingersnap Delights. I did something wrong with the Gingerbread, so it wasn't as flavorful as it should have been, but the Gingersnaps were SO GOOD (if I do say so myself...)!

So the food there was GREAT! I LOVED the two soups, go diedra, brittany, jocie, and andy! Oh, and pumpkin rolls, pumpkin bread, and the cheesy biscuits were to die for! There were a lot of unique dishes, too! Seth LOVED the Bread Pudding, the Meatballs, and the pumpkin Cheesecake! There were so many dishes, it's too hard to mention them all, but let me just note that I loved everything I tried, and had two clean plates at the end of the evening!

Not only was the food amazing, but the company was so wonderful. Mel and Nate are perfect hosts, they just make everyone feel so loved. It was fun to see all the couples together. I have such a respect for couples. We all have such unique stories and situations, yet somehow the drama of couplehood brings us together, and we share an understanding that is priceless.

This brings me to my next point: Couple Parties. They're so great. No one is trying to impress anyone because our sig. others have already seen us at our best and worst, and no one is flirting or competing for attention because we have the security of sole attention from our male/female counterpart! Instead of the singles meet, greet, flirt, and mingle, we get the couple conversation, sharing, understanding, and talking. And the best part is, at the end of any conversation with someone, there's not awkward pause of "who should i talk to next? oh dear, I don't know who to talk to! I look so dumb, what do i say, where do i go??" it's just a matter of finding the sig. oth, and joining their conversation! AND, as Seth and I figured out, if couples are talking to couples, then one person can eat, and the other can answer, and then vice versa. That's why people gain weight once they're married, they have more time to eat! 

Relief Society

I loved the RS broadcast. In fact, I'm listening to it again because I loved it so much. And, I was lucky enough on Sunday to experience the Love of the Lord through His Relief Society sisters.

After running around all morning on Sunday, recieving a "compliment" that really hurt my feelings, and making a somewhat awkward missionary announcement, followed by rejection after rejection to my offer of passalong cards, I made my way to an empty row in the chapel right as the meeting started. I felt myself zoning out during the announcements, trying to put my head around the morning, when the opening song started. "There is Sunshine in my soul today." After singing about 1.5 lines, I burst into tears! While crying isn't necessarily a rare occurance in my life, it was certainly unexpected during a sunshiney song! Anyway, I didn't think anyone could see me since I was near the front, so I just let the tears flow for a little bit, expecting to get over it by the time we separated for classes, but my little heart just let go and I kept going! The song chorister, Diana Dimond, aparently saw my little moment, and immediately after the song, she came straight down, sat by me, and put her arm around me as the prayer started. I was so touched that I began crying even harder! Diana saw a girl in need of a little love and validation, and immediately came down to help. She didn't ask what was wrong, she didn't try to change anything, she just showed her support and her love for me, a girl she barely knows. I was so honored to be blessed with this love, the same Love that we share in RS as we're encircled in the Savior's love. Speaking of this Love, one of the speakers said "it's constant, even though we don't always recognize it." I felt like this was a moment that God showed me, and let me recognize, His love through one of his daughters.

So while Diana doesn't read my blog, my thanks to her for being close to the spirit, which helped me recognize God's love for me!!

Dave Matthews Band in their Hometown

 
 

So this weekend Seth and I were lucky enough to get to go to a Dave Matthews Band Concert in Charlottesville, VA (Hometown of the band!) One word: Great. It was so fun to go down there (beautiful drive, I love C-Ville, and GREAT company). We snuck my camera in so that we could get a couple good shots from inside the arena for all to see. The first picture was taken in poor lighting, but thanks to Picassa, we got it to lighten up a little bit. The second is just a shot from where we were sitting to the stage.

So Concerts: Not usually my thing. BUT, I really had a TON of fun. It's fun to let the music take you to a different place; a chance for Seth and I to rock out and be carefree and relaxed! And it was fun and fulfilling to see seth's excitement. His eyes get so happy when he's excited. I love it.

And for those of you that were concerned: I did listen to the RSB at work on Monday. This will be the topic of my next blog. 

Call Luke!

Ahhh!

My bedding might come TODAY!

UPDATE:

MY Bedding was Delivered at 4:21 today, I will get it upon arrival home!!!

Swing Dancin'

 

This Weekend Seth and I went Swing Dancin' at the Kennedy Center. Every year, they host an free outdoor swing dance, complete with a live band and instructors from the area. How cool is it to go to a free event right on the potomac river, surrounded by monuments, at a historical location, great music, superb company, and my favorite form of dance??? This is also a fun event because it marks the third year that Seth and I have gone to it together.

Year One was right when Seth moved out here. He'd posted something to the listserve about it, and I think he and i had talked previously about it as well, but I went with him and a few other friends to the dance. The things I remember most? Sneaking outside on the roof of the Kennedy Center, even though it was closed "due to high winds" and being SCARED out of my mind that we'd get caught. Swing dancing and doing the "Shag" (A fast form of dance similar to the jitter bug i think...). Seth trying to send me into a lift and me forgetting to kick my legs out, and instead kicking them back, right into seth (I think i was wearing heels, sorry babe!). Waltzing on the terrace of the Kennedy. Laughing and talking the whole time.

Year two was even better because I got to be with just Seth the entire night. Besides wearing the wrong shoes and being in SUCH GREAT PAIN, I had yet another fantastic night. This time Seth and I were able to go on the roof without getting in trouble, and had some beautiful moments (in fact, sometimes I just wish that someone would follow us around with a camera to take pictures of all of our cute moments, because I'm sure they look nearly as fabulous as I imagine them to be in my mind...). After the dance we found this little area that had benches and round tables, and we sat and talked for a long time.

Year Three, equally great. I was all sorts of nerbous about the outfit this year, mostly because i changed last minute and was a little self conscious of the pirate look (it's classic, just not polka dot dress classic like the julie bradshaw). Anyway, we had fun this year, and had a great Shag dance that was SO FUN! We went up on the roof, we talked by the side, we almost died on our ride home with Dave, whos Beemer goes a little bit too fast for me.... Mostly I liked this year because it was just comfortable. It is ALWAYS fun to dance with my Seth, he's just a great leader, a great dancer, and easy to feel comfortable around. He makes me better than I am, and dancin' is just an outward manifestation of that. 

The Bedding I'm getting on Tuesday...

I'm so excited. Thrilled, in fact. On Saturday I was on a double date with some friends, and we stopped by my friend Bethany's house. I walked into her room, and there it was. My dream. Come true. Ahhhh, paisley, but not too tacky. Green and blue and yellow = classic but metro. It was perfect.

So I started doing my research, starting at potterybarn.com. Nothing. It's not Jane, it's not Elizabeth (actual names of bedding...they totally know what classy sounds like, hee hee). So i went to ebay, and continued my search. I found the Prescott, but that wasn't it. And Bennett kept showing up, but it didn't look QUITE right, so i continued looking. I called pottery barn outlets to see if they carried discontinued Duvets. "Not for another six to nine months 'mam." Ahhhh! So I called Pottery Barn directly. Cynthia said that I would have to find out what the name of the duvet was, and then she could try to track down a cover just for me, so I IMed Bethany and asked her if she could call pottery barn and have them track her order to find out the name. She obliged, and sent me the SKU# and Name. It was, in fact, the Bennett Paisley Duvet and Sham collection. So I called the Pottery Barn Catalog again, and Lisa helped me find and purchase it. MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

So It's coming on Tuesday. I can't wait. My room is all ready for it, it will be the finishing touch on my lil' pad. I'll keep you posted!

Just some things I've been thinking about....

I am a little reflective tonight as I'm sitting waiting for my Crest Whitestrips to work their magic. It's a good reflective because I realized that in the past two months or so, I've learned so much about myself! Sometimes the best of intentions have the cruelest realities when I haven't thought through my actions leading up to them. Anyway, regardless of the mistakes I've made, I think I've learned a lot of things that have helped me become a better person as I make my journey through life. Here are some of the things that I've found to be important.

-Choosing to be happy
-Enthusiasm, even in mundane tasks, makes life a lot easier and happier
-Space can be good
-I need my own Janey time! (I think I'm really fun to hang out with, so I need one on one time with myself in order to fully appreciate what others have...hee hee hee)
-Faith is essential EVERY DAY, EVERY MOMENT
-I am happier when I read my scriptures
-Loving people in an individualized way brings understanding and empathy
-When my room is clean and smells good I sleep better
-Movies aren't really THAT scary
-Things that I can get emotional about aren't really THAT big of a deal
-The more I put my trust in God, the more confident I am with myself
-The more confident I am with myself, the more relaxed and happy (and myself) I am!
-I can be happy no matter what life throws me!

Anyway, some of these may or may not make sense, but they're things I've recently discovered that have helped me find a renewed strength, energy, and dedication to do what God would have of me!

I Scrapbooked my bedroom!

Last night my creative juices started flowing, and out came a scrapbooked wall! It was so fun to put everything together and make sure that everything meshed into a collage of sorts. I have some FUN pictures!! This new decoration inspired me to clean my room and change my bedding back to my fall/winter/spring duvet! I love feeling change, it's almost like a fresh start on life!

Quiz About Janey!

So I Made this little quizzy for myself, and took it and got 100%! I'm so proud of myself, I must have acute self-awareness!

Please, feel free to take my quizzy, I'm anxious to see what you know! (And Please, don't disregard our friendship if you don't do as well as expected...let's face it, we're all still discovering new things about janey!)