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

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!

• Thomas went to Acoustic Explosion with his old roommate and went to a talk by a coworker!

• 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...

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

With Friends Like These...

Saturday night, for the Relief Society Broadcast, I decided to throw a little party with some girls I formerly lived with as roommates. Thomas had to work the broadcast, so it was a "girls only" event.

Prior to the get-together, Thomas made sure I would be able to set up my computer with the projector and our sound-system. It appeared that I would be ok, but he asked me if I had a plan B. "Why would I need a plan B? Do you think something will go wrong?"

An hour (or maybe less?) before my dear friends were to arrive, I began putting together our dinner, some yummy enchiladas. Things went fine in the kitchen, and pretty soon I was just waiting for the first arrivals.

My friends began to trickle in. It was close to 6 o'clock when everyone had finally gotten here. 6 o'clock was also the start time for the broadcast. We sat down to dinner and Thomas texted, "Working?" I replied that we were just about to eat, and that I thought we could start streaming the broadcast late.

Well, I was wrong, and a few minutes later, he sent a follow-up text message to let me know that this plan might not work. I quickly worked to set up the computer/projector/sound system so that we could migrate with our plates into the living room. The image was soon projected onto the wall, but the audio refused to play through the speakers.

10 minutes later, with Thomas on the phone, I discovered that the reason for this was that I had plugged in the audio cord to the microphone jack. Oops!

Unfortunately, we entirely missed the first talk, and will have to catch up on Sister Beck's message another time (we did get to hear President Thomas S. Monson speak, which was the highlight of the broadcast for me!). However, the rest of the night went on without a hitch and my friends and I (4 of the 5 of us are now married) got some much-appreciated girl-time!

Thank you, friends, for a fun time!

Not a bad picture, when you consider Kalan (see below) took it! Just kidding - my first attempt at using a mini-tripod and the timer on the camera. L to R: yours truly, Lisa C, Natalie B, Trista H, and Megan R in the front!

Baby Kalan with Mommy Trista - my original room-roommate from Arcadia 1!

oxox

YADB: Yet Another Drab Post

(so sorry for the wait - Thomas wrote this post 4 days ago and wanted me to add pictures, which I haven't had time to do until now! so it's all my fault :o) Enjoy! -Lisa)

Since Lisa's been too busy to play lately, you're stuck with another post by her best friend. I'll try to post some photos as well, as the last entry was a little lacking.

On Sunday evening we were invited to a party with several of Lisa's roommates and their respective spouses. We had marvelous food and good laughs.

Dara, our hostess! Of course, Tyson was there too.

Joyce. Another roommate, Beth, was present as well, but we didn't get a photo of her?

Megan (and the blue thing on the right is her hubby, Evan)

On Monday evening, we were treated by Del Taco to dinner. That's right: free food, whatever we wanted. On further inspection of the receipt, all became clear. Notice who our host was...

"Host: Jesus"

Lastly, a few more statistics. Our site has been booming despite the internet outages and busy schedules and such. Read on for a few milestones:

• Visits: 3457
• Cities: 302
• Countries: 40

Feel free to help us fill the gaps on this map:

Quoth the Raven

Well, per the BYU calendar, we have completed two weeks and have 13 weeks to go (not including finals). We've been staying busy with our long days of work and school, but still manage to find time to fit in memories.

Labor Day was rather uneventful, as Thomas worked all day, and Lisa did some schoolwork and housework.

We cooked German Pancakes, Chocolate Pudding Pie, and Tuna Taco Things.

We went to the weekly devotional to hear from President and Sister Samuelson.

Saturday evening and Sunday morning we were able to attend regional Stake Conference where we heard from Sister Beck (Relief Society President), Elder Holland, and Elder Packard

We also were able to watch some episodes of Remington Steele, some of which can be watched here.

School days, school days...

To wake us up for school on the first day (and beyond), my mother used to come into the room I shared with my younger sister singing "School Days." To my surprise, I've learned that not every mother sings this song to her children! I'm not sure how much of the song my mom actually knows, as she only ever sang the first couple lines of the chorus, but she did get the tune right!

Although I haven't been singing the song to charm Thomas out of bed, we've officially begun our school days routine. We've both already written papers for our classes and I've successfully completed 4 Calculus assignments. Fall semester 2010 is off to a nice start. We've been walking to campus together in the mornings.

In case you haven't already figured this out, we attend BYU

 Our schedules do not coincide very well, unfortunately, so the morning walk and an 11 o'clock break (for the Tuesday devotionals) are our only opportunities to meet up on campus. This is in sharp contrast to my most recent semester of classes, when we first began dating: our schedules, though not intentionally coordinated, kept us in the same or neighboring buildings at the same times, so we could walk to our classes together. We also had pretty much the same breaks so we were able to lunch together frequently. What a blessing that was!

Thus far, Thomas seems to be enjoying a music history class he is taking, and I think my favorite is my Doctrine and Covenants course. I am sure grateful to have the opportunity to attend a university at which my spiritual education is considered as important as my secular education!

Aside from school-related things, we have managed to continue working (with brand new schedules) and enjoying ourselves as well. Last weekend, we whipped up some yummy Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies (the photos are new, from last weekend) and some exceptional banana bread.

banana bread - it tasted as yummy as it looks!

Of course, we shared our treats with friends, neighbors, and our home- and visiting-teachees.

One (yes, just one) of our flowers has bloomed; the little plants look very funny, as they're all very tall and thin.

our lone little zinnia bloom

tall, skinny marigolds and zinnias, with tomato plants in the back.

We hope everyone else's school year (if applicable) is off to a wonderful start!

oxox