Trick or What?

So, Pennsylvania is weird. They moved Halloween! They decided that the real Halloween was too dangerous and unpredictable, so they said made it a law or something that Trick-or-treating is to take place only between 6 and 8 pm on the THURSDAY before Halloween. If you want to have trick-0r-treaters stop by, you must place a sign by your door or something. Scott threw the paper away when we got it early this month, so we might be eating all of the candy ourselves.

I guess it is sort of nice for the public to be all uniform in when they can expect to be doling out the treats, but what's to stop those rubskalions (delinquints) from tossing eggs and toilet paper all over on the Thursday before Halloween when everyone is out anyway?

Don't get it? Me neither. Then again, I come from Nevada, where October 31st is both Halloween and Nevada day which meant no school on Halloween! So, how about no school on Halloween while we're changin' the rules? :)

We'll be handing out candy tonight and then pretending Halloween is over tomorrow. Hope the real Halloween is good, for you who get to enjoy it!

Gettin' Creative

Sorry for the long-time-no-post. I've been putting it off 'cause I hope to have the perfect post, but that is kinda silly. So, here's a not so perfect, but perfectly decent post on the stuff I've been making lately.

Like this apple pie, for instance. Yummy and so fall. I got to learn how to bottle/can apple pie filling with a fabulous friend in my ward. She let me take some of the bottles home, too! I got out Scott's trusty pie crust recipe and started baking.


Except for completely burning the crust because I did not follow the baking directions (pretty much at all), the pie was very tasty. The crust was flaky and flavorful and the insides tart and juicy.

Then, some time last week, I decided we finally needed some sort of fall decorations. I was feeling too cheap to buy real pumpkins, so I made a few from fabric samples. Yeah for free fabric! There are really only 2 of them, a big one and a small one, but I wanted you to see the big one up close and then both of them together. They were really easy to make. I got the basic pattern from this blog and then tweaked it a bit to make it a little more me.


It would be fun to make a whole table full of slightly different sizes and shapes. We'll see how far I get! What I like about these is that the warm fall colors will last clear through Thanksgiving.

One small step for my fabric collection, one giant leap for me finishing projects.

Winning and Losing Part 2

The Winning:

On a happier note, here is the promised list of things I have won in more or less chronological order.

- a family 4 pack of tickets to the circus (it is disputed that Heather may have won these as we both participated in the coloring contest, but as no one can remember, I'll claim it, cause I still felt like a winner)
- a $100 savings bond, a trophy, and a ride around the Vegas track in a race car (which I did not go on cause I was scared) for my "Race Against Drugs" essay in 8th grade
- a years supply of McDonald's Super Value Meals; I took my friends and family to a lot of breakfasts! (I don't know about you, but breakfast and that chicken sandwich are about all I can stand at the golden arches)
- first place in the costume contest in 6th grade; they told us in elementary school that we couldn't dress up for Halloween in Jr. High, but they were bitter and wrong. We could dress up and there was a contest, even!
- the English Department scholarship from my high school
- lots of games of catch phrase, a few of cranium, and my fair share of phase 10
- the folklore award! Last year! Yeah for my family's quilts and a great program at BYU
- 9 great prizes from Covetier.com, which I may never actually see, so be careful where you place your hopes
- the love of my life and the heart of my love, Mr. Jones

Ooh! Pretty!

I followed a post on Design Sponge and found this fabulous twig-inspired serving spoon and teaspoon. We are kinda lacking in the serving spoon department, which is opposite of our overflowing amount of pyrex. These make me happy.

Serving spoon above and teaspoon below.

Winning and Losing

This is part one of a two part series in which I will attempt to catalog the various things I have lost and the various things I have won. Hope it's fun! {And if you've seen any of the stuff I've lost, send it my way!}

LOST:

(in no particular order, though naturally the ones I think of first will probably be the most bitter)

- brown corduroy jeans from GAP that only cost me $10
- brown lacy camisole
- red ribbed tank top with gold sparkles
- not one, but TWO Primary Children's Song Books; Scott and I both had one, but now we don't have either. Mine was even engraved with my name!
- a white sweater from Target
- a "my child doll" that I got the Christmas Heather was born. I gave it away in a weak moment.
- a few arguments
- one sock from several pairs, usually of the cutest or most comfortable kind
- a paper I wrote for my English 392 class
- my favorite blush brush; now I'm stuck with one that feels like sand paper on my face
- more games than I'd like to report (liars dice, clue, monopoly, and the list goes on)
- my appetite when it comes to greasy food or moldy pie
- my heart to Scott Jones

Hiking or Hunted?

This weekend Scott went on his first camp out as Scoutmaster! Though I missed him, I think it was a success. Scott said, "There were no fatalities, at least." That, my friends, is the litmus test for a good camp out. Here are some pictures. This is Scott now. The camp was great. I got to learn a lot about youth and camping. One that they are a lot of fun; two, that they can be slow as tar on a hike and setting down the camp; three, a whoopee cushion is always funny; four, we got a good group of kids.

Lookin' good

So, I've decided that hair makes the difference. You can have the perfect make-up, but if you didn't really do your hair, it won't matter.

Conversely, if your hair looks really nice, your make-up is less essential.

Just thinkin' about how I should do my hair more often. That's all.

D.C. 'n stuff

Last Saturday Scott and I got to go to the Washington, D.C. Temple. It was fabulous to have a Saturday to spend with Scott at all and even more fabulous to go to the temple. The drive was beautiful! On the way there we passed fields of sunflowers. So cool. Here are some pics.


And the temple was made especially nice by a fun surprise. We saw Nicole and Tyler Johannsen! Don't know them? That's okay. We do. I was "roommates" with Nicole when she was roommates with Addie and Laura. Tyler was our mutual neighbor. They are now married and live in Pittsburgh, where Tyler is going to dental school.

It was so nice to see some familiar faces. I had started feeling really homesick this week, and they certainly helped. You know, not exactly family and not exactly home, but definitely some people who knew us before we were "the Joneses who live in the manor who are going to medical school, no wait, graduate school, they both wear glasses, he's the new scoutmaster and she leads the music." I mean, Tyler and Nicole were the first people we told in person that we were engaged.


To top it all off we had a fun dinner with our good friends Alan and Lyana. Another dose of anti-homesick. We ate at this restaurant called "Cheesburger Cheesburger" where everything is customizable. That's my kind of place! You can choose from all sorts of toppings and cheeses and condiments for your burger and then there's an enormous list of options for your milkshakes. We got a cheesecake, caramel apple, toffee, snickers shake. Think about it for a minute and you might realize what a phenomenal concoction it truly was. Real chuncks of snickers and toffee, too!

And the winner is . . .

ME! I win! I win!

So, I opened up my email tonight after a long and tedious day of work to discover that I won some fabulous prizes!!! I entered this giveaway on coveiter.com a while back. The site is fabulously fun and was full of inspiring images and fun ideas. And then, I actually won! See, do you see the cool stuff I'm going to get here? I'm so jazzed. The jewelry is gorgeous, the prints are right up my alley, and the designer lip-balm and the list goes on. NINE fabulous prizes! I'll be sure to post pictures when these fun items arrive. If you live close, I might even let you taste the carmel corn!

You too could be lucky someday, if you're lucky.

Re:: organized

Hi there. I finally had to break down and re-organize my blog links. It was just too crazy to lump family and friends all in one long hairy list. I love you guys, though, so if I've lost any of you in the transition, PLEASE comment here and I'll update it. This is really for my benefit so I can come and visit your lovely blogs!

post post: the picture is from a Harrisburg Senators baseball game that Scott took me to in the first few weeks of our being here.

The implications

Protecting marriage has wide-spread implications. I was completely sickened by this story about a family in Massachusetts (where same-sex marriage is legal) who were denied their request for parental notification when their kindergartner would be introduced to homosexuality as "normal."

Please take a moment to watch and then consider how we can be proactive in promoting marriage as defined by God: between one man and one woman.

Watch the video.
(approx. 6 min.)

A time to blog

You've heard about Proposition 8, right? Well, what are we doing about it? Let's protect marriage!!!! I got a lovely email from my friend today, I hope she doesn't mind me sharing:

No matter what your opinions are now regarding the church's involvement, I hope you will consider the following effects:

If a new precedent allowing gay marriage is adopted, it could prove detrimental to our church. The Church would be forced to adopt/accept gay marriage, or it would lose its tax exemption status. Just think for a moment what that would mean for the welfare programs--hence our tithing money. This is also setting precedent for gay marriage to be taught in schools not as an alternative lifestyle, but equal to the traditionally defined marriage.

This has been something I have thought a lot about the last few months. Marriage is not a man-made institution. It is ordained of God, and as such we should do all we can to protect such a sacred union. Marriage can be nothing but what has been defined in the Proclamation-these are not the words of men but the words of the Lord.

If you are from California or have friends to send this to, I would encourage you to think about these implications and decide if you are willing to act.

I registered at www.protectmarriage.com-a site collecting names in favor of Proposition 8-to keep marriage as between 1 man and 1 woman. And for you Californians please do something!!

Thank you Katelyn! I signed up at protectmarriage.com as well. Go sign up to endorse Proposition 8 today! This is so important, as you probably know. Let's blog about it, facebook about it, email about it, sign up, donate, blab, and generally do all we can to protect marriage. Here's a link to "The Divine Institution of Marriage" which The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued recently. It's a good read—very clear, direct, and lovingly inspired.

Ooh it makes me mad when the judicial branch starts legislating and thereby undoing the will of the people!

Photo Date

Scott took me on a super fun date this last weekend.

We started out on a photo date, where we go and take the time to take pictures where we've been wanting to but haven't. Friday's spot was some nearby cornfields. Oddly enough, the corn husks had been cut that day. . . so, we got some pictures of the area in general and of the machine that cuts (threshes?) the fields.

Then, we drove east past where we normally go. I wanted to show Scott the pretty farms that I saw on the way to Philadelphia several weeks ago. Very pretty drive.

After that, Scott took me out to dinner! So fun! We had no reservations, so we just went to the first place that didn't have a wait. This restaurant happened to be the one I secretly wanted to go to anyway. :) The school had taken us here on the weekend we visited for Scott's interview. Scott ordered a tasty burger on focaccia and I ordered some pesto raviolis with lots of veggies. Tasty, tasty.

We were thinking of going to see a movie (they have a $2 theater in Harrisburg) but by then we were ready to go home, so we rented Iron Man, and had a cozy evening at home.

Here are a few of the fruits of our photo date. I've been experimenting with "textures." It makes for some dramatic photos, I think.

Does this remind anyone of anything? We tried to remake a picture Eric sent!

Gardens and Deals

Thank you for your wonderful comments on my last post. I learned a lot, and not only about your bright look on marriage. I learned that you like to read thought provoking posts. I learned that you are more likely to respond to such posts if I invite you to. I also learned that I'm related to a lot of you who read my blog! Thanks for keeping up with the Joneses.

This last week was full!

It rained, again. It was foggy and scary one night and now I know what a mist of darkness looks like. We lost a headlight, but then it revived again right after we bought a bulb to replace it. I worked like crazy, but I also played a bit, too. On Tuesday I got to go to the Hershey Gardens with my friend from the ward. The gardens are beautiful! I sat and overlooked Hershey Park and a field of rose gardens and wrote in my journal. So lovely.



Then, later that afternoon I went to a grocery outlet place called Sharp Shopper and got some sweet deals! We're talking pasta for 99 cents, Tropicana fresh squeezed juice blends for 99 cents, bacon and sausage for 99 cents. It was a shopper heaven! I went nuts and stocked up. We'll have juice and pasta and canned chicken and crackers and cheap peanut butter for quite a while! That bacon, mmm mmm.

Wednesday was Scott's first young men's activity. It was an Eagle Scout service project, so I joined him. We dug into the ground and raked gravel and got a little walkway ready for some cement. Totally fun. Scott is a good leader already, and I only felt slightly out of place. :)

Oh yeah, and the biggest news of the week. I'm applying for graduate school! If accepted, I will be getting my masters degree in American Studies at Penn State Harrisburg campus. I'm jazzed! Send your good writing vibes to me. I'm going to need it.