Halloween Part 2

Saturday we invited some friends from our ward over to celebrate Halloween. Dinner consisted of taco soup, a veggie tray, homemade caramel apples, and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. We carved pumpkins, watched the Oregon v. USC game, talked, and laughed the evening away. I absolutely LOVED having trick-or-treaters knock on my door! All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better Halloween!

Making caramel apples!

With almonds of course!

Get a look at those eyelashes! I saw them at Wal-Mart and just couldn't pass them up. The remind me of the ice princess. Joe didn't like them at all and kept asking me to take them off. I think they freaked him out a bit, but I thought they were fun!

This is the BEST pumpkin I have ever carved. We used a pattern and it turned out pretty good. I have to say, I proud of my Batty!

The Siezmores and their impressive wolf pumpkin.

The Steeles and their cute owl pumpkin.

All three jack-o-lanterns in all their glory!!

Happy Halloween!

Pac-Man for Halloween!

Every year the law school puts on a big, and I mean BIG party for Halloween. There's a costume contest, a skit, they feed lunch (pizza) to everyone, all the students bring their spouses and kids, and then the kids go "trick-or-treating" at our desks and at the professors offices. People go all out. My favorite part is seeing all the kids dressed up. They are so cute!

This year my friend Jen had a brilliant idea that a bunch of us should dress up as all the characters from Mrs. Pac-Man. So, we made ghosts, dots, fruit, and of course, Mrs. Pac-Man. I was the strawberry. I consider myself as having absolutely NO artistic ability, so I have to say, I was pretty happy with how my strawberry turned out. We were in the costumer parade and then, just for kicks, we decided to go the the BYU main campus across the street and just walk around the commons area and see what kind of reactions we could get. Needless to say, it was a blast!

Heidi Moss, Me, Hannah Porter, Nakisa Otaku, Mary Ditto, Lornalie Merideth, Alex Hulme, Camille Borg, Lauren Shaw, and Jennifer Rajan. 

Me, Melanie Grant, and Camille Borg.

P.S.: I love ALL these girls! I'm so grateful to have such great classmates!

Sometimes. . .

. . . life is just so stinkin' hard.

A Sunday Drive

 It's been a GREAT weekend. October began and that means that fall is fully upon us. I LOVE this season!  So, after being uplifted at church, Joe and I decided to take a drive up the Provo Canyon to see the changing colors. 

We saw a MOOSE!! Actually three of them. We first was two adults but there were too many things in the way to get any decent pictures. There were so many people taking picture there that we decided not to stop and kept driving around the next bend. Joe had to slam on the breaks though because there was another moose staring straight at us in the middle of the road! It was just a baby, but it was still cool and incredibly cute! He/She walked right in front of our car. Sadly I couldn't get any really good pictures. 

(You can see him/her in the middle there looking right at the camera.) 

I was a fun drive. I has been so hot lately that I needed to get up into those mountains to actually feel like it is autumn. I absolutely LOVE this season and have already broken out my pumpkin scented candles and sweaters to celebrate. 

Montana and Famous Dave's

A few weeks ago Joe and I headed to Montana for the wedding of a family friend. It was only a 7 hour drive and his family was going to be there, so we made the trip. We had a great time. The wedding was beautiful. The weather was perfect. The hotel was VERY nice. The family was fantastic as always. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera with me most of the time. But I did have it with  me to document this lovely eatery.

(Sorry for the blur.)

Yes that is a Pig BBQing ribs. Oh yes. Famous Dave's was everything you want in a BBQ joint and more. The restaurant was complete with antler chandeliers, deer and moose heads mounted on the walls, and other hunter-esque decor. Oh, and the tables each had a whole role of paper towels just to make sure you didn't make too much of a mess. 

(Mother-in-law Gloria, Sis-in-law Julie, and her sometimes-boyfriend Luke.)

The menu had ribs of almost every kind and variety of sauces to compliment them. My favorite was Devil's Spit. Doesn't the sound of that just make your mouth water? 

Don't forget the wet naps. I especially enjoyed the sayings on each one.

All sarcasm aside, the ribs were really good and I really liked my corn bread. I would go there again. 

It was a great weekend with family and friends. I had never been to Montana before and I have to say, it was great!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

We never seem to be able to finish all out bananas before they ripen too much. I only like bananas if they have a little green on them and Joe won't eat them if there is any brown. So, I am always looking for good recipes for ripe bananas. This muffin recipe is just yummy. The muffins are light and not too sweet, just how I like them.

1/2 c. vegetable shortening

1 c. sugar

2 c. all-purpose flour

2 eggs

1/2 tsp salt

3 large very ripe bananas

1tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2/3 c. mini chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, cream together the shortening and sugar. Add 1 tbsp flour to the mixture. Beat eggs in one at a time. 

2. In a separate bowl mash the bananas to a soft pulp.

3. Set aside 1/2 c.  flour. Add the remaining flour and the banana pulp to the creamed mixture, mixing it in bit by bit.

4. In a separate bowl, stir in the reserved 1/2 c. flour with the salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Add the chocolate chips, tossing to coat.

5. Stir together the dry and creamed mixture. Pour the batter into well-greased muffin tins and bake for 25 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean.

Nutrition facts: Calories 304, Fat 13g, Protein 4g, Carbs 45 g, Cholesterol 31 mg, Sodium 235 mg

Founders Day Dinner

At the start of every semester, the law school puts on a grand dinner in downtown Salt Lake to commemorate the founding of the law school. Prominent attorneys from all over the region come (Elder Dallin H. Oaks and Elder Christofferson as well as many members of the Utah Supreme Court for example). The  school also gives awards to distinguished alumni. The school gives the law students the $45 meal for $15. So, it's a great excuse to dress up and feel like real fancy lawyers for an evening.

Here's our table. Unfortunately the girl who took the picture failed to focus it so it is fuzzy. But as you can see, the food was fantastic!

Here's some of my favorite classmates: Jennifer Rajan, Kandis Bryant, Heidi Moss, and Lauren Shaw. 

Some of my other favorites: Camille Borg, Lornalie Merideth, Rachel LeCheminat and her husband Casey.

And here we are! Don't Joe and I just look so professional?

Just so you know, it wasn't all about the food (although Joe might argue otherwise). I found the speaker's remarks really interesting. Chief Justice Christine Durham of the Utah Supreme Court spoke on the quality of our elected judges and the recipient of the distinguished alumni award spoke of her struggles in being a woman attorney in the 1970s when she graduated from law school. Overall, I really enjoyed the whole evening!

Sometimes Law School is Like High School.

At times I feel like I am right back in high school (except the homework is harder and all the students are over achievers).

Take this week for example. We had the Law School Student Body Association Opening Social. This consisted of free pizza for all who attended (we get WAY too much pizza), all the student body leadership dressed up as make shift super heroes (think thrift store leotards) and a hoola-hoop contest between the faculty and students. It reminds be of spirit week at my old high school. I'm sure that we seriously scared all the first years. The truth is, it was fun. Where else can you get footage of your Constitutional Law professor's hoola-hoop skills?

Professor Anderson-Jones is on the right with the pink hoola-hoop. The funny thing is, after this, she proceeded in lawyerly fashion to argue why should should win anyway, as she continued to hoola-hoop. She is one of my most favorite professors, I have to say.

It's a Great Day to Celebrate . . .

. . . Grandma Harris! This birthday girl has graced this world with her kindness, service, and beauty for 78 years!

Happy Birthday Grandma! I love you!

Back to School.

That's right. The school year has started again and I find my self spending endless hours in the library reading from black and white pages already. I'm taking:

Civil Rights

Wills & Estates

Evidence

The First Amendment

Basic Mediation

Overall, I'm pretty happy. My professors seem really great and I feel like I have a better grasp of things. At least I think I have a better idea of what I am supposed to be doing. The fact that I don't have any class on Fridays may have something to do with my optimism. All I can say is that it is WAY better being a second year than a first year. 

This picture of my study group (some of my very favorite people, you know) was taken last April after our last final. Don't we all just look so tired and ecstatic to be over for the year? Just imagine how we'll look at graduation!