Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays. Everyone gets dressed up, and goes around to houses getting candy. What can be better than that?! And then I grew up...
Not to sound disillusioned, I still love the costumes and the festivities, but it's just not as much fun if you don't have something to do, such as a party or having friends over, or have kids around to dress up and get ready. I have always loved helping my sisters get ready for Halloween. I especially love playing with the makeup. It's just weird because no one in our neighborhood has any decorations up. That has NEVER happened at my house. My family, especially my mom, loves to put up the decorations. And in the neighborhood I grew up in, every family decorated pumpkins, or put up decorations. It almost doesn't feel like Halloween without decorations. And of course, Drew and I don't actually own any decorations. It's sad to realize that I have to grow up. So the question is: How am I going to spend my Halloween?
In true just married with no kids or decorations fashion, we are going out to dinner and a movie. Is it sad that this is what we chose to do on Halloween, probably a little bit, but it is one of the only "real" dates we've had time to have in I don't know how long. I guess we finally had to have a holiday to have an excuse to do something.
So, what this all comes down to is this: I am going to be so excited when I have kids to celebrate Halloween with. I love costumes and candy, and I'm sure my kids will too! (Honestly, who doesn't). So yes, Halloween is a holiday for the young at heart, but who ever said we have to grow up?
Friday, October 31, 2008
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Another Deboot Tournament
Hello Everyone!!!
This is my first time using a blog and I'm not so sure that I like it, but I guess it will be fun. I'm realizing that only 2 or 3 people read this, but that's okay, I guess you two or three are the most important people EVER! For those of you that are wondering, deboot is my word for debate, and we had another debate tournament this weekend in Caldwell, Idaho. Britt and I have recently realized that college debate isn't quite what we expected, but it still has it's fun times and highlights. The college debate circuit is a very different place than the high school debate circuit. To begin with, you actually get paid to debate in college, while high school debate is a self-sacrificing activity where you have to pay your way. I say that because the people college debate draws is very different for that reason, it's almost a buisness instead of an activity. It makes an interesting dynamic.
Anyways, I want to apolgize upfront because we didn't take any pictures (we forgot our camera), and after reading Heather's blog for the last week or so I've realized that pictures and videos make a blog worth following...I guess you'll just have to live without pictures for now (we'll try to get some later to make up for it). But let's get to what happened this weekend (it was very exciting).
Britt and her partner Aly Shanklin and Jordan Park and I debated in Senior Parlimentary debate (the highest level of debate on the college level). Britt, Aly, and I are new to parli debate so this usually doesn't happen, but coaches from other squads wanted us debating in Senior, so it works. Britt and I also did Informative Speaking as a speech event (it's a ten minute speech informing people about a certain topic, both of our speeches are on INL technologies). So here were the results, Britt did amazingly well, and I did pretty well for myself. Britt took 2nd place in her speech event, and she got 2nd speaker in Senior Parlimentary Debate (Jordan Park got 1st speaker and he's been doing Parli debate for 3 years now, so she was phenomenal, especially for only her second time doing Parli) So I was very pround of her, I knew she was amazing, although sometimes she feels like she isn't that good. This tournament reminded her about how talented she is and showed everyone else on the team how good she is. I also did pretty well. I got a finalist award in my speech event, meaning I probably got 4th or 5th, and Jordan and I ended up winning Senior Parlimentary debate. The debate rounds went until about 8:30 last night, so I'm pretty exhausted, but it was lots of fun. Out of the 4 teams that broke into the semifinal rounds it was Jordan and I, and three Utah State teams! If it weren't for us, Utah State would have taken home 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, but we debated them all and beat each of their teams which meant we sent them home with everything except for 1st place.
So Britt and I were rather successful, we only have one more debate tournment for this semester, it is a Linfield College in the Portland area the weekend before Thanksgiving break, so we've got a good break for now to rest and regain our strength. (and catch up once again on our homework!!)
This is my first time using a blog and I'm not so sure that I like it, but I guess it will be fun. I'm realizing that only 2 or 3 people read this, but that's okay, I guess you two or three are the most important people EVER! For those of you that are wondering, deboot is my word for debate, and we had another debate tournament this weekend in Caldwell, Idaho. Britt and I have recently realized that college debate isn't quite what we expected, but it still has it's fun times and highlights. The college debate circuit is a very different place than the high school debate circuit. To begin with, you actually get paid to debate in college, while high school debate is a self-sacrificing activity where you have to pay your way. I say that because the people college debate draws is very different for that reason, it's almost a buisness instead of an activity. It makes an interesting dynamic.
Anyways, I want to apolgize upfront because we didn't take any pictures (we forgot our camera), and after reading Heather's blog for the last week or so I've realized that pictures and videos make a blog worth following...I guess you'll just have to live without pictures for now (we'll try to get some later to make up for it). But let's get to what happened this weekend (it was very exciting).
Britt and her partner Aly Shanklin and Jordan Park and I debated in Senior Parlimentary debate (the highest level of debate on the college level). Britt, Aly, and I are new to parli debate so this usually doesn't happen, but coaches from other squads wanted us debating in Senior, so it works. Britt and I also did Informative Speaking as a speech event (it's a ten minute speech informing people about a certain topic, both of our speeches are on INL technologies). So here were the results, Britt did amazingly well, and I did pretty well for myself. Britt took 2nd place in her speech event, and she got 2nd speaker in Senior Parlimentary Debate (Jordan Park got 1st speaker and he's been doing Parli debate for 3 years now, so she was phenomenal, especially for only her second time doing Parli) So I was very pround of her, I knew she was amazing, although sometimes she feels like she isn't that good. This tournament reminded her about how talented she is and showed everyone else on the team how good she is. I also did pretty well. I got a finalist award in my speech event, meaning I probably got 4th or 5th, and Jordan and I ended up winning Senior Parlimentary debate. The debate rounds went until about 8:30 last night, so I'm pretty exhausted, but it was lots of fun. Out of the 4 teams that broke into the semifinal rounds it was Jordan and I, and three Utah State teams! If it weren't for us, Utah State would have taken home 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place, but we debated them all and beat each of their teams which meant we sent them home with everything except for 1st place.
So Britt and I were rather successful, we only have one more debate tournment for this semester, it is a Linfield College in the Portland area the weekend before Thanksgiving break, so we've got a good break for now to rest and regain our strength. (and catch up once again on our homework!!)
Friday, October 24, 2008
Crazy is what we aim for...
This past weekend I had the chance to spend time with my family. They all decided to come up for the weekend, and it worked out perfect because it was also my mom's birthday, so we all got to celebrate together. I haven't had a chance to see my sisters since the beginning of school. Having them all here just reminded me of all the crazy, fun family times we spend together. We spent the better part of the first night helping Melissa, the oldest besides me, with her Affirmative case for high school debate. Luckily we had Drew there, otherwise it probably would have taken the two of us all night. And even with Drew there it still took until one thirty in the morning. (That's probably due to the fact that we went out to eat with my family, and that always takes forever!) It was fun to have my sisters stay in the apartment because it was just like old times when we all would stay up together. This also brought me to the realization that I am most definitely an old married fogie because I went to bed MUCH earlier than my sisters. Which brings me to the funniest part of this weekend.
As we were getting ready for church my sister called my name from the bathroom. In almost a panic she asked me what to do with her underwear. Needless to say I was a little confused about what she meant. She went on to say that she had stayed up so late the night before, and was so tired, that she had gotten ready for the shower and then stepped in...with her underwear on!
I guess this just proves that my family is truly crazy, me included, but I would never really want to change that. It just adds flavor to life, besides, we always have good stories to tell. (Even if we don't use our real names.)
It was also amazing to see my littlest sister, Katelyn. She is just growing up so much. I swear that everytime I see her she gets older. I can't believe that she is already in seventh grade! There is just so much going on in her life. She joined a ballroom team and is doing excellent. She is so much fun and I can't wait till I get to see them again, hopefully in two weeks, when we come home for our home town high school debate tournament.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Debate..
Drew and I finally went to our first debate tournament together. The tournament was at Lewis and Clark University in Portland, Oregon. The best way I can describe it would be to call it a learning experience. Drew and his partner Jordan did amazing. They made it into the bracket for quarter final rounds. They were the only team to make it past the preliminary rounds. I am so proud of them. Drew also won first place with his informative speech. He is doing amazing in debate and speech, I am so proud of him.
My original partner this weekend couldn't actually make it, so the coach put me with Randi. We were both told this as we got on the bus to head to Portland. Needless to say, we were both a little shocked. We had never even spoken to each other. Randi hadn't even expected to debate that weekend! As we got to know each other it was great, I was excited to be with a partner who wanted to have fun more than anything else. She wasn't so worried about us not winning, and just wanted to learn and enjoy debate. I am so happy now that I had the chance to debate with her, she made this weekend lots of fun. And we even were relatively successful. We were only about four or five speaker points away from breaking into the octa finals round. We won exactly half our rounds, and considering I haven't done debate in a few years and this is Randi's first time ever doing debate, I wouldn't say it was too bad.
We left for the tournament on Thursday and didn't get back to Boise until Monday. It was a really long weekend! When we finally got into town it was amazing to be able to go back to our own apartment. Drew and I were talking last night (when we got home) about how this apartment really has become our home now. We love it and I think that the reason we have made it a home is because so much love is in that house. Especially when we're there together. It's an amazing feeling to have somewhere you can be and feel safe and loved.
Anyway, things are still going great and I can't wait for the beginning of November when we get to go to Idaho Falls to see family and friends. My parents and two sisters are thinking about coming up this weekend. I really hope they do, I would love to see all of them! It's amazing how much you can actually miss your family! I can't wait to see everyone, hopefully it is really soon...
My original partner this weekend couldn't actually make it, so the coach put me with Randi. We were both told this as we got on the bus to head to Portland. Needless to say, we were both a little shocked. We had never even spoken to each other. Randi hadn't even expected to debate that weekend! As we got to know each other it was great, I was excited to be with a partner who wanted to have fun more than anything else. She wasn't so worried about us not winning, and just wanted to learn and enjoy debate. I am so happy now that I had the chance to debate with her, she made this weekend lots of fun. And we even were relatively successful. We were only about four or five speaker points away from breaking into the octa finals round. We won exactly half our rounds, and considering I haven't done debate in a few years and this is Randi's first time ever doing debate, I wouldn't say it was too bad.
We left for the tournament on Thursday and didn't get back to Boise until Monday. It was a really long weekend! When we finally got into town it was amazing to be able to go back to our own apartment. Drew and I were talking last night (when we got home) about how this apartment really has become our home now. We love it and I think that the reason we have made it a home is because so much love is in that house. Especially when we're there together. It's an amazing feeling to have somewhere you can be and feel safe and loved.
Anyway, things are still going great and I can't wait for the beginning of November when we get to go to Idaho Falls to see family and friends. My parents and two sisters are thinking about coming up this weekend. I really hope they do, I would love to see all of them! It's amazing how much you can actually miss your family! I can't wait to see everyone, hopefully it is really soon...
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