Wednesday, October 27, 2010

7 months...

...of wedded bliss! This year is flying by. In honor of this anniversary, we were "blessed" with some snow this morning. I had to brush an inch or two of snow from the car before leaving for work today.

Unfortunately, the snow probably was not beneficial to our "on-the-brink-of-blooming" marigold and our almost-ripening tomatoes.
Thomas has been under the weather this week. It's sad to watch him suffer through a sore throat etc.

Rest assured, Thomas has a good nurse :o)
In preparation for the upcoming haunted holiday, we got some pumpkins last week. They are sitting beside our front door, getting soaked by the recent rain. We will probably carve them for Halloween.

Saturday we went on a "shopping date" - planned a couple weeks in advance and written on the calendar! Our main goal was clothes-shopping, and while we came home with a few things, we didn't find exactly what we were looking for. It was fun anyway, and we went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner after going to the temple. We were both glad to spend the day together, free from homework and chores.

Pretty view from temple hill
*2
Temple entrance
Yummy dinner at Outback
And finally, last night, the Phantom Ghost visited our home. We're appreciative of the kind admirers who left some goodies for us!

We shared a cupcake before I took this picture... oops :o) It arrived looking much cuter.
Happy Trick-or-Treating, kids!
oxox

Sunday, October 17, 2010

Merry UN International Day for the Eradication of Poverty!

Fall has proven itself and stayed for two weeks now, so I believe school can officially be declared begun. The weather is nice, with highs in the upper 60s and coloured leaves. We're even getting bits of rain as I write.


Oh, wait...we started more than a month and a half ago! This means that Lisa is about to begin some of her exams. Exciting!

This past week and a few days we had a few fun points intermingled with far too many school projects. The highlights:
  • We visited the temple. We've averaged weekly since we've been married!
  • We visited Rock Canyon for the first time, learning about the rock formations in the area.



  • We had a dinner party with the Grigsbys!
  • We cooked chicken broccoli, chicken and dumplings, carrotised honey, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, and molasses cookies, among other things!

  • Lisa did homework and is getting use out of her new whiteboard!
  • Our tomatoes are still alive with 14 eventual tomatoes!

Also, many of our flowers reached two feet high! These are marigolds and zinnias, which I don't think normally grow so high. The other crazy thing is that we planted them in early July. They've been growing, but until a month ago none had bloomed. Then the first zinnia bloomed. Then a marigold was about to bloom two weeks ago. Now it and several of the others are in the same state. Will they ever bloom? Stay tuned...

Friday, October 8, 2010

Welcome, autumn.

Over the weekend, fall came. It crept in and we went from having 2 90-degree-days at the beginning of last week, to high temperatures in the 60s this week. We've even been enjoying some rain the past 4 consecutive days (not today though). We've closed most of the windows (mainly to keep the rain out, rather than the heat in) and my walk home from school at 7:00 will soon be totally dark.

I can't wait to carve some jack-o-lanterns! I also wish I could go to Apple Hill. (Funny how things like my family's fall trips to Apple Hill don't really seem to be "traditions" until times change and you can't easily enjoy them anymore!)

Speaking of pumpkins...Thomas can't wait to make more pumpkin pudding/pancakes to celebrate the season. He also debuted two new blogs: Random Thoughts (self-explanatory) and SocioPoliCom (social and political commentary for a school assignment but for further use as well, co-authored by Thomas' former roommate). Feel free to copiously comment on these along with the current blog and the Bradshaw Bistro (recently added: Breaded Baked Chicken Breasts)!

This past weekend, we had the opportunity to watch the semiannual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The party I had with friends the weekend before (where we watched the Relief Society Broadcast) was a prelude to the General Conference. We heard counsel from church leaders on topics ranging from our responsibility to follow the living prophet (this one was talked about several times, and this talk was referenced twice!!) to the need during busy times to focus on what really matters: our relationship with God, with our families, with others, and with ourselves.

We got to watch Conference at home via internet streaming. This is Elder Per G. Malm. "Rest unto Your Souls"
In the last post, I mentioned President Thomas S. Monson's talk. If you get a chance to read or watch it, or to listen to it, please do! He spoke on the motto of the Relief Socity, "CHARITY NEVER FAILETH." Here are some of the highlights of his talk:
  • "Appearances can be so deceiving, such a poor measure of a person. Admonished the Savior, 'Judge not according to the appearance.'"
  • "My dear sisters, each of you is unique. You are different from each other in many ways. There are those of you who are married. Some of you stay at home with your children, while others of you work outside your homes. Some of you are empty nesters. There are those of you who are married but do not have children. There are those who are divorced, those who are widowed. Many of you are single women. Some of you have college degrees; some of you do not. There are those who can afford the latest fashions and those who are lucky to have one appropriate Sunday outfit. Such differences are almost endless. Do these differences tempt us to judge one another?"
  • "I consider charity—or 'the pure love of Christ'—to be the opposite of criticism and judging. In speaking of charity, I do not at this moment have in mind the relief of the suffering through the giving of our substance. That, of course, is necessary and proper. Tonight, however, I have in mind the charity that manifests itself when we are tolerant of others and lenient toward their actions, the kind of charity that forgives, the kind of charity that is patient.I have in mind the charity that impels us to be sympathetic, compassionate, and merciful, not only in times of sickness and affliction and distress but also in times of weakness or error on the part of others. There is a serious need for the charity that gives attention to those who are unnoticed, hope to those who are discouraged, aid to those who are afflicted. True charity is love in action. The need for charity is everywhere."
 oxox