Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween everyone! I am writing this post at 7:00 at night - and I haven't had a single trick-or-treater yet. Crazy! I remember when I was a kid... as soon as I finished dinner we got to go trick-or-treating. I'm sure it was no later than 6:30 when I started! Not sure when they'll start coming, but I'm turning off my porch light at 9:00! Anyway, I thought I'd share this picture with you. At work, our group (the systems group) decided to dress up as "The Grading Scale". I know that might be a little corny, but it's fitting for a Registrar's Office! Anyway, here we are, dressed as A, B, C, D, and F. Diana was super excited to be the F because she got to wear sweats and slippers to work - lucky her! She even brought her "homework" which had a bite out of if from her dog and was stuck together with chewing gum :-)

100-Post Club!

Today I join the ranks of my fellow bloggers who have reached the 100-post mark! Can you tell that I really enjoy blogging? I have averaged about 10 posts per month, and I actively read my friends' blogs. I've never really been a phone talker, and am not that great at sending personal emails, so I love this method of communication. It has been so much fun to reconnect with old friends via blogging. So, along the lines of blogging, thought I'd share these quotes that I found - enjoy!

• A blog is in many ways a continuing conversation. ~Andrew Sullivan
• Blogging is the new poetry. ~Unknown
• A blog is merely a tool that lets you do anything from change the world to share your shopping list. ~Unknown
• A blog is a personal diary. A daily pulpit. A collaborative space. A political soapbox. A breaking-news outlet. A collection of links. Your own private thoughts. Memos to the world. ~Blogger
• Your blog is what you say when there is nobody standing over your shoulder telling you what to do. ~Lorelle

Have You Seen Chuck?

While The Office still tops my list of weekly must-see tv, the new comedy Chuck is a close second. This hour-long show on Monday nights keeps me laughing and wondering what will happen next. Chuck is a computer nerd who plays spy in his spare time. He basically accidentally downloaded a bunch of government secrets into his brain, and when triggered by a person or image, the related government secrets flash through his mind. He is then able to help his fellow spies solve mysteries and capture the "bad guys". If you haven't seen it, you can catch up by watching previous episodes on nbc.com (although their video player sucks). I give Chuck two thumbs up, and look forward to the show every week!

Yardwork!

I love my mature landscaping, but it sure is a lot of work to maintain! For those of you who haven't visited my house, I have wisteria growing up and over the roof of my deck. Once spring hits, my deck is almost completely covered - keeping the sun, rain, etc. out. I love walking out back when the purple flowers are in bloom because it smells so sweet. But wisteria is messy! Once those purple flowers drop, I will sweep the deck for weeks. And then in the fall, when the leaves of the wisteria drop, there are several more weeks of sweeping - of course they don't all drop at once! I spent about 4 hours yesterday afternoon doing yardwork... pruning, raking, digging up the plants in my garden, etc (the picture isn't even a fraction of what was done - I have about 20 bags of trash this week). I was dreading getting on the roof to prune back the wisteria growing over the house and to clean out the gutters that were filled to the brim with wisteria leaves. Luckily, I was able to recruit my sister Beki and her friend Spencer to do the roof job... it took them quite a while to prune, clean the gutters, and unclog my drain spout - thanks guys!

Unleash Your Inner Chef

Each semester, Boise State has an "Unleash Your Inner Chef" night, featuring one kind of cooking or another. I loved the class I attended in the spring (featuring local and organic cooking), so I jumped at the opportunity to attend this semester's Mediterranean cooking class. I was not let down! We learned how to make and got to sample hummus, risotto, bruschetta, polenta, and more. I especially loved all the cheeses we got to sample. And when I say sample, I mean heaping plates with seconds :-) I am excited to try some of the new recipes I got, and when I do, I'll let you know how they turn out on our recipe blog!

Schrute Buck

To all of you Office fans out there - I just thought this was fun so had to share!

Iron Chef Boise

I went on a date with my dad tonight to Iron Chef Boise IV. It was so much fun watching two local chefs battle it out for the title of "champion". The secret ingredient tonight was lamb, and let me tell you... everything smelled SOOO good! For those of you familiar with the Egyptian Theater in Boise, I sat up in the balcony, and the smell of the food made me hungry all night. I was hoping to win the raffle or one of the auctions to taste the food, but the bidding on the plates went pretty high because it was for charity. Thanks dad for the great evening!