Where did Halloween go?

I was walking through Rite-Aid yesterday evening, October 30th, (to get some last minute gifts for my students) and I saw that they no longer had Halloween stuff out because they had to make room for their Christmas stuff. Sam and I also noticed that Kohl's had their Christmas stuff up the first weekend in October! Halloween is barely here and everyone's all gearing up for Christmas.

Now, don't get me wrong because Christmas is my FAVORITE time of year, but at least let us enjoy Halloween and Thanksgiving! It seems like every year Christmas starts coming earlier and earlier. This cartoon is right....pretty soon Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas will all be conglomerated into one holiday! Perhaps I wouldn't enjoy Christmas so much if everyone has their Christmas stuff out in July!!

Oh well!! I hope everyone has a happy and safe Halloween!! :)!

Random Thoughts

I'm sure many of you wondered if Sam and I have dropped off the face of the Earth. Obviously, we haven't, but we feel like we have. Our phone line and internet have been out ALL week (I think I went crazy this week without either!). Verizon finally came out and solved our problem! WOOHOO!

We've had a pretty uneventful week this week. We picked up our glasses and Sam LOVES his glasses...he can actually see! As for me...I don't think they're the right prescription because I can see better WITHOUT my glasses than with them. I guess I need to take them back to the eye doctor's.

We (as third grade teachers at our school) decided to be the 3 blind mice for Halloween, and our honorary 3rd grade teacher is going to be the Farmer's wife with a carver's knife. So we're going to wear gray hoodies (with felt ears attached), gray sweatpants, gray socks over our shoes, gray gloves, and another gray sock for our tails. We're pretty excited to dress up for Halloween because we've never been allowed to before (at least, since I've been at our school!). I'm getting more and more excited for Halloween to come (all except for the candy part...that makes my students NUTSO!). Happy almost Halloween! :)

Great Recipe!!

Lately, Sam and I have been trying to eat healthier. So on Saturday night we ate turkey burgers and we wanted to try a new recipe for butternut squash fries. Sam was sitting on our couch watching baseball (of course) and as soon as he takes a bite of his butternut squash fries he shouts "Wow! This is really good!". Now I knew this was a great recipe for 2 reasons: 1. He said he actually liked it, and he's a pretty picky eater 2. He actually said something coherent during a baseball game. As soon as Sam shouted that he liked the fries I raced over and tried them too and they were REALLY good! They tasted like French fries, but it has a nutty, sweet taste to it. So, I thought that perhaps some of you would like to try this recipe (and it's SUPER easy!).

Bake-Tastic Butternut Squash Fries

(From The Hungry Girl Cookbook)

Ingredients

-1 medium butternut squash (about 2 pounds-large enough to yield 20 ounces uncooked flesh)

-1/8 teaspoon Kosher salt (I put in 1/4 teaspoon)

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Use a sharp knife to remove the ends of the squash. Cut squash in half width wise (making it easier to manage) and then peel squash halves using a vegetable peeler or a knife. Cut squash lengthwise and then scoop out all seeds.

Next, cut squash into French fry shapes. Use crinkle cutter to make authentic looking crinkle-cut fries (they'll taste great any way you slice 'em though). Using a paper towel, pat squash pieces firmly to absorb any excess moisture.

Place squash in a bowl, add a light mist of nonstick spray, and sprinkle with salt. Toss squash to evenly distribute salt and then transfer to a large baking pan sprayed with nonstick spray. Use 2 pans if needed. Squash pieces should lie flat in the pan.

Place pan(s) in the oven and bake for 40 minutes or so (longer for thick-cut fries, shorter for skinnier fries), flipping halfway through baking. Fries are done when they are starting to brown on the edges and get crispy.

Serve with ketchup, mustard, sugar-free syrup, or however else you enjoy regular fries or sweet potato fries.

Educate yourself and then vote!

For those of you who are confused about Prop 8, I've attached a website to hopefully help you! Don't forget to get out there and vote!

http://newsroom.lds.org/ldsnewsroom/eng/commentary/the-divine-institution-of-marriage

A Sign of Growing Up!

Sam and I went to the eye doctor today. We've both been very fortunate because we'd never been to an eye doctor before. Sam was having some problems seeing things in the distant so we decided to both get an eye exam. Holy cow did they do lots of tests on us! It was good to get it done and sadly enough....we BOTH have to get glasses because we're both near sighted. *sniffle*sniffle* Luckily we're just slightly near sighted, but it's just a sign that we're getting older! ALL of my family and most of Sam's family all wear glasses, so we knew it was just a matter of time before it was our turn. I did pick out some REALLY cute frames and I'm pleased with Sam's selection. Thank goodness for good eye insurance otherwise it would've cost us a fortune! Oh well! It all comes with growing up!

Marcie's frames (they're cuter in person)

Sam's frames

OH NO!!!

OH NO!

I had a HUGE realization today! I was watching General Conference today and a man (Gerald Cousse) began his talk and I had a REALLY hard time understanding his English because of his accent. As he continued his talk, I realized that he had a FRENCH accent! It then hit me that although they may speak English in France, I'm going to have a VERY hard time understanding it. Yikes! I guess we'll have to rely heavily upon my Dad. Either that or I need to start taking French classes!



BTW.....is anyone else getting more and more excited about Halloween coming?! I LOVE walking into the stores and seeing all their Halloween displays! It just makes it seem more like Fall! I LOVE this time of year!