More Halloween Pictures!

Breck and Preston's Halloween Party 2008!

Last night was Breck and Preston's annual Halloween Party! Breack always goes all out for her party, so it was a lot of fun! PJ, Ethan, and I dressed as Barney, Betty, and Bam Bam Rubble from the Flinstones! Ethan had a hat that went with his costume, but didn't want to wear it, so we took a few pictures of him in it before we left home. At least we got some, right? We had a neighborhood Halloween party last night as well, so we went to that first and then to Breck and Preston's. Unfortunately, our arriving late meant that we missed Tiffany and Casey, which is too bead cause I would have loved to see them and I hear their costumes were great! Breck and Preston dressed as a butterfly and butterfly catcher, Paul Timothy dressed as Preston on his first day of kindergarten (he even had a picture of Preston in the same outfit pinned to his costume), Smitty and Ashley were Robin Hood and Maid Marion, Britney and her kids were Princess Leia, Anakin Skywalker, and Yoda, Ryan and Paigely were Ryan Harding and Breck and Preston's dog Soda (Paigely was wearing one of Soda's shirts, she is the only grown person I know who is small enough to fit into a dog's shirt), and Bobby, Erica, and Brody were a biker, a witch, and a ninja respectively! We hung out, made navajo tacos and donuts, Paul played the guitar, some people carved pumpkins, and there was even a pinata! I always love when my friends get together! We always have a fun time and last night was no exception!

Boulder, Colorado!

This last Wednesday PJ, Ethan, and I went to Boulder Colorado for a few days! I was presenting a paper at the Western Literature Association's annual conference, and they came along to support me! We left really early Wednesday morning, and arrived at around 4:00. Since Ethan is not a fan of long car rides, we decided to drive my parents motorhome out there to see if that helped. He loved it! Even after we had driven in it for seven hours on Wednesday he still said "car house" all day Thursday and yesterday! I had to go to a lecture that night, but we had dinner and checked in to th hotel first. Thursday, I spent the morning at panals, but then we did some touristy things tht afternoon! Boulder is an amazing city, kind of a mix between Logan and Park City! It is a total college town! We went down to this outdoor mall on Pearl Street, and it was so much fun! It had amazing little shops, great bookstores, toy stores, and a kitchen supply store that had such cute stuff! If we had more money, we would have done some serious shopping! There was also a store called Lush there, which is one of my favorite places ever! They don't have any in Utah, but we always order stuff from them online. It sells all thesew organic soaps, that smell amazing, and make your skin and hair so soft. They have a line of men's products that PJ loves as well! In the middle of the walkway at the mall there were areas of rocks for kids to climb on, and of course our little monkey Ethan thought that was pretty great! Scattered throughout the stores were these beautiful historical buildings, and even a museum! We could have spent all night there if it hadn't started to rain! I had another lecture to go to that night, but I was grateful I got to spend some time exploring Boulder! Yesterday I went to the Graduate Student Luncheon, before I had to present me own paper. I was so nervous for the whole morning beforehand. I said a little prayer before I left, and it worked cause I was able to overcome my nerves and present! I felt like it went well, though I was more happy to be finished than anything! I wached an old teacher present a paper, and then we headed back home. We arrived back here at around 2:oo am. Luckily, PJ is a great husband and drove most of the way, while Ethan and I slept in the back. It was a really great few days, and PJ and I both agree that if we could both very happily live in Boulder one day if life happened to take us that direction! It was also a great opportunity for me to present, and to network with other professionals in my field! I was able to meet many well respected writers such as Patricia Limerick, William Kittridge, and Mary Clearman Blew! They may not be well known to popular culture, but I have read and studied a lot of their individual works respectively, and I was really excited to be able to meet them and here them present on their new writings! And next year Cormac MaCarthy is going (he wrote No Country For Old Men and The Road), so maybe I'll get to meet him!