Black Friday

I think it was definitely agreed across the board that this Black Friday was the craziest yet. We headed out around 8pm on Thanksgiving Day, and half of our group went to Walmart while the other half went to Target. Black Friday is definitely much easier in groups, and a lot more fun. Although I didn't really even want to shop for anything until 6 am on Friday, I headed out with the group, and everyone helps each other wait in line and grab this and that.

Of course Black Friday starts by buying the papers and searching the ads for a few hours

The first stop at Walmart--I was waiting in line for a micro SD card for my Aunt, and the lady in line next and I started talking about what we wanted/Thanksgiving/family, etc... Turns out all she wanted was a micro SD card for her phone so that she could download all of her cell phone pictures of her husband who had died a month before of stage four pancreatic cancer. Definitely a humbling conversation, and gives you even more to be grateful for. Makes you stop and think as you are shopping for essentially meaningless material things.

After Walmart, we met up with the other half of our group who had gone to Target. After they were finished at Target, they went over to Kohl's and Best Buy to wait in line at those stores. Most of our group wanted to head over to Kohl's, and Kavya was after a camera for her mom in Best Buy. Grandma went and suffered through almost two hours in the Best Buy line before we found out we could just order the things we needed online, as we probably wouldn't even get them from the store anyway (there were only two of the cameras in the entire store). Suzanne and I went and rescued her from the cold and the line, and we all joined Aunt Tara and Suzanne in the Kohl's line. We were very close to the doors for once--Kohl's always seems to be crazy. We got everything we wanted, however, which was great. There were enough of us for one person to go ahead and get in line, so by the time we were all ready to purchase, we didn't even wait in line. Groups are the best.

The line/doors at Kohl's

 Our whole group waiting in line--Mom, Suzanne, Rachel, Aunt Tara, Me, Kavya, and Grandma

Everyone at Kohl's with their purchases--starting to get tired...

After we were finished with Kohl's it was nearly 2am. Mom was super tired and ready to head back to the house. The rest of the group went over to KMart (mistake--none of us had ever been there before--very interesting). We ended up just getting a pair of footie pajamas for one of Aunt Tara's boys, and then we all headed home too. JCPenney's was actually one of the top places that everyone wanted to go... ALL of us had items we wanted from them, and they opened at 6am. Well, between everyone being so tired and going to all different places and what-not, we got mixed up, and we thought JCPenney's opened at 5, so we headed back out at about 430, and when we got to the mall, there was nobody even in any lines for the store, which was nice. It was also a nice change that the lines were INSIDE, nice and warm :). Grandma and I went over to the Men's/Household department, which is on the opposite end of the mall from the women's/kid's/juniors section. Kavya, Suzanne, and Rachel waited in line there, because they were after clothes. Grandma and I were after kitchen/cookware things, which were pretty hot ticket items, so I was surprised we got all of the ones we wanted. Anyways, we finished up our shopping, and headed home around 7:30.

The girls and Grandma were going on 0-2 hours of sleep here... Mom and Aunt Tara chickened out and enjoyed at least 5 hours of sleep!

I'm pretty sure Grandma will continue to show all of us up, whether that be with cooking, cleaning, shopping, etc... She's tough. Kavya was way impressed with her.

You would think we were done shopping at that point, but nope, not yet. We go to JoAnn's every single year. Their snuggle flannel is always SO cheap, and so is there blizzard fleece. The girl's make tie blankets with the blizzard fleece, and we use the snuggle flannel for rag quilts. So off we went to JoAnn's. We got home around ten, and then Mom took Ryan over to Five Below because he really wanted to spend five of his dollars to invest in a snuggie. One of his first purchases, and man is he proud of that snuggie.

Just a few cute pictures from the rest of the night:

Cute Evan hiding in the cabinets

 

 Gray and Andrew came over with Derek and Shen... never seen another friendship like Gray's and Andrew's friendship that is for sure.

 Catching another snooze after a long day! 

 Apples to Apples!

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving was great this year, and I was actually eagerly anticipating the holiday. My friend Kavya was spending Thanksgiving with my family this year, and so obviously I was excited to have her around for the craziness of my family. My Dad's family came into town also--Grandma, Aunt Tara, and two of her boys. And in general, there is literally just a ton to be thankful for, and this holiday and season is really a great reminder to just be thankful and count your blessings all the time.

Grocery shopping

Kavya and I were beyond ready to be home for Thanksgiving and for a nice little break from classes. We got out on Wednesday after Organic Chemistry, and Gray, his friend Derek, and Suzanne came and picked us up from school. We both had two FULL buckets of laundry to wash at home, so the car was nice and packed between us and our stuff. We headed home, and later that night Grandma and Aunt Tara joined us. Mom began some of the Thanksgiving prep and I we finished gathering all the ingredients and everything needed. Last year the Black Friday Thanksgiving Day papers came out on Wednesday night, so we wanted to check and see if the same thing was happening this year. Suzanne and I went for a run (which ended tragically, actually--she shattered the screen of her iPod touch during a tragic fall) to WaWa near the house to see if the papers were in--they were indeed, and so we headed home, grabbed the car and wallets, and purchased six Thursday papers.

 With our Papers chock-full of coupons!

Every year when we go to purchase the papers we get a copy for each girl that is going shopping. Yes, it probably would make more sense just to share, because eventually it all gets thrown away anyways. However, part of the fun with our papers is all sitting around looking through them at the same time, each getting excited about all of the different adds, etc... So Suzanne and I went and bought them. We got several looks, but we were satisfied. We brought them home and set them on the counter for the next morning. Kavya and I ended up going back to WaWa the next morning to get her some coffee, and it is a good thing we got our papers on Wednesday night--there were only a few left by early Thursday morning.

Thursday morning was nice and lazy. We were having dinner at four, so we got a few things prepped and ready, and then most of us just lounged around for a while. I made some homemade cranberry sauce this year, Mom made the blueberry jello salad, Dad started the turkeys and ham, etc... The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was on TV, papers were strewn across the family room, and most of us stayed in our PJ's until the afternoon.

Pretty color of the cranberries

Parade on TV, computers on laps, people sleeping on couches and chairs, papers and ads starting to be opened--good start to the day

This is what Mom's turkey looked liked--stuffed, seasoned, and placed in the oven

Since we had two turkeys, Dad wanted to try something unique and new. We made use of our fire pit, and smoked the turkey outside in the pit. It was actually really moist and very good. Harrison and Dad had a good time setting up all of the coals and experimenting.

Eventually we all started to get showered...

For Thanksgiving dinner we had some good family friends come over from church, and we also had the missionaries over. All in all, there were 22 people in the house for dinner, which was awesome. I love having a big, packed house. The huge table that Dad and Gray built was well over-crowded between the food and the people, and the kitchen was nice and full with the littler people. We had tons of good food and wonderful company.

Dad's fire pit turkey. Tasted delicious! 

Kavya really enjoys coming to our house (or so she tells us!), but sometimes it tires her out just a little :) She just has too much fun.

Those sweet potatoes... so good. This was the first year I actually liked them. Everything else was great, too.

Mom and our friend from church--she made awesome rolls and some awesome chocolate pies that everyone loved

A very full table!

After dinner we all enjoyed some pie and cheesecake for dessert, and all of the girls got ready to go out shopping. It's kind of crazy how early the shopping has started. Everyone in my family wishes it would just start early on Friday--like 4 or 5am, and not on Thanksgiving, but so long as the stores open early, we will head out and start shopping. Crazy, but fun.

One Down

Today I had my first "final" for this semester. This was the first semester of Nursing School, and our first nursing course was Health Assessment. The lab portion of the class was learning how to perform a complete head-to-toe assessment of an individual and document normal and abnormal findings. We picked our lab partners the first day, and lucky for me I lucked out with a great partner for the semester. Totally down to Earth, comes from a big family, goes with the flow, smart, etc... Loved having her as a partner! Stephenia and I had our final assessment today where we completed the head-to-toe on each other for our lab instructor, and we passed and have completed the lab portion of the course. One final down, just a few more to go, and then I'm out of here for the break.

Four Eyes

A few weeks ago Mom took Evan to get a pictures taken. As she was reviewing the pictures and having them printed, she realized that Evan's eye looked a little bit funny. We all called it his Lazy Eye, because it wasn't aligned with his other eye. Nobody else realized it except for Mom. So she got him into the doctor to check him out, and the pediatrician agreed and sent Mom and Dad and Evan on their way to the optometrist.

  

Evan had his appointment this morning, and he went with Dad. Mom was down in Richmond at a dentist appointment. Mom came over to campus to have some lunch with me, and so as we were sitting down to eat, Dad called multiple times to inform us about the appointment. Little Man has to get glasses! Turns out he is far sighted, which has made his one eye slightly weaker. The glasses will hopefully help to correct that eye and help him see better.

Although it would be awesome if Evan had 20/20 vision and his eyes were strong and saw everything crystal clear, I think glasses have so many pros to them. First, glasses on a little baby--adorable. This kid just gets cuter and cuter every day. Second, when you see a baby/toddler with glasses, don't you immediately  think GENIUS? Yes, you do. As if this kid wasn't smart enough already. We're just creating a little Einstein over here. Third, the glasses are supposed to help correct the problem, which is awesome, too.

So Evan had his little eyes dilated and everything today. Tonight Mom and he are going to go get some fresh new shades. We're going to have to start fighting off all the little baby ladies now.

UPDATE: Little Man found himself a nice pair of shades:

 

 And seriously? So cute.

I rest my case.

#$&@!

Yesterday I was in physics and my friend reminded me of a funny story that I had forgotten. I want to make sure I have this written down, because I know I'll forget again...

Last year during my first semester I was taking a required Honors Creative Writing course. The "professor" was just a graduate English student, and so she wasn't very old--somewhere in her mid twenties. We read a lot of poetry throughout the course, and when we were in class she would call on people to read and then we would all analyze the poem as a group.

One day she asked me to read a poem--I don't even remember what it was or anything about it for that matter. Anyways, I was reading and got to the last line of the poem. The author had decided to end his poem with the "F" word.

I generally do not use profanity--especially the F word. I suppose they are all bad, but there are definitely varying degrees of profanity. So as I got to the last line, I just didn't read it--it isn't a word I can ever remember saying in my life, so why would I say it now just because I was in a class? The teacher just sat there for a minute, then said to me, "You can say it in this class. It's fine."

I said, "I know, but I don't want to." I think she, and a lot of the class, probably thought I was such a weirdo. After all, I hear words like that about every other second walking around campus or on the floor of my dorm. However, after being reminded about this incident, I am glad to know that by not saying something I didn't believe in saying, it made an impression on at least one person.

Pumpkin Patch 2012

For Halloween, my friend Kavya and I went home to spend the weekend with the family. She's from Canada, so her family is just a little bit farther than mine is. I met Kavya last year on the crew team, and now she's my closest friend here at school. Anyways, so Kavya had never been to a pumpkin patch or picked her own pumpkin before, so we definitely wanted to go to Belvidere Plantation one weekend we could both head back to my house. We decided to go back the last weekend of October so we could squeeze in the family/church Halloween Trunk-or-Treat, too. 

My family has been going to Belvidere Plantation for years now, and this year Mom got seasons passes from work for super cheap for the family. Also, Suzanne worked as a Farmer this year for her first job! She because a master at making Fresh Lemonade and looked so cute dressed in her farmer overalls every weekend. 

The weather for the day was perfect--a little cooler, but definitely not cold enough to warrant wearing a jacket. That Saturday was actually pretty busy and there were a million things going on: I had to get some lab work done, Mom was preparing a dozen things for the ward's Trunk-or-Treat, Bryce and Ryan had a Halloween party, etc., but since Kavya had never been, we were definitely going. Kavya, Suzanne, and I took all of the little kids and Kyan with us, and Mom and Rachel stayed at the house.

Kavya coming out of the big pipe slide!

Evan LOVED swinging on the rope, too. In general, the Pumpkin Patch was a huge hit for him!

We all had a blast. We played around in the pipe slide and in the big rope barn. My favorite part was splitting up into two teams and taking on the corn maze. Kavya, Harrison, Evan, and I were on one team, and Suzanne and her friend Aaron were paired with Kyan, Bryce, and Ryan. For one who works right next to the corn maze, Suzanne really didn't have an advantage at all. She got lost as could be and even tried to cheat her way out of the maze. 

Suzanne's group wondering how in the world they could have lost :)

 Suzanne's group still stuck in the corn maze

 

 One of the "Farmers" Suzanne works with--Farmer Skipp. Evan was enamored by this farmer for some reason. Was very curious about him!

 

After the corn maze, we took the hayride out to the pumpkin field and all picked a pumpkin together. It was quite a challenge finding a good pumpkin--the were pretty small and a lot of them were rotten. Evan LOVES pumpkins, so he was in heaven just spotting out every "umpkin" that he saw. He did not want to leave at all!

On the Hayride out to the field

Bryce, Kavya, and Kyan

Evan exploring every single pumpkin possible. LOVED them!

Harrison trying to help find the perfect family pumpkin

 Kavya is studying to be a neurosurgeon right now, so she has a LOT of schooling still ahead of her. However, when she does have kids one day, she will sure be a great mom. She loves all those little, crazy guys in my family. 

Our whole group in the patch! 

Kavya--so proud to have picked her very own pumpkin for the very first time.

Suzanne and her friend, Aaron

So grateful for such a great friend and a great fall day spent at Belvidere with the family!