Halloween Fun!

The couples in our ward got together to celebrate Halloween. We had a delicious dinner (soup in pumpkin shaped bread bowls), played games, made caramel apples and talked! We planned to carve pumpkins, too, but just ran out of time!

Hermione and Harry Potter (and Hedwig)



Cat and Richard went as nerds



Michelle and Greg Lowe: the Karate Kid and Cap'n Crunch




Susie and Brent as Antarctic scientists rescuing the Baby Fur Seal (Evelyn)



Brad and Kathy Alldredge: Cheeseburger in Paradise and a witch and our hosts!



Not pictured: Newlyweds Jon and Tricia McKean (who came as Shakers with Salt and Pepper shakers tied around their necks.)

Look who's blogging now!!!

You guys... after a year of me taking over "our" blog, Johnny has decided that he would like to have his own blog. He has a lot of exciting things going on right now- a new company, a new band, plus he's always wanted a forum to talk about the latest Google or Apple news. I invite you to check it out: JohnnyT, the blogger.

Halloween!

Johnny and I have settled on what to be for Halloween. I will post some pictures when we actually get dressed up! What are you going to be? Alternate question if you don't want to spoil the surprise- What was your favorite costume?

One of my favorites was when Catherine and I went as ballerinas. My mom found two purple leotards and added ruffles and sequins to them, then made purple sparkly crowns for us to wear. My favorite part though, is that it was freezing outside, so underneath our beautiful leotards and tutus, we had to wear leggings and long sleeved turtlenecks, plus our coats on top. We probably didn't look anything like ballerinas to anyone else, but I sure felt like one! (I wish I could scan in the picture for you- we both have these HUGE smiles on our faces because we thought we were so beautiful!)

Here's some other recent Halloween pictures for you to enjoy!

Family picture: Cousin Andrew, Steve, Kerry, cousin Christine, me, John, cousin Jordan, his wife, Erin, Richard, Catherine



Catherine with Sam (as Robin, his parents were Batman and Batgirl)



Ed, the rodeo clown



Cath with all her girlfriends



Me with Julianne Gardner's boyfriend (brain cramp, what's his name?) The naughty secretary and the professor



Cath with Emma (a dalmatian) and Kate (a USC cheerleader)



Annie as a foxy policewoman!



My favorite: the Anchormen! Eric, Zach, Jeff and Scott totally embodied their '70's newscaster roles (maybe a little too well?) They even serenaded us with the beautiful harmonies of "Afternoon Delight." One of the funniest things I have ever seen!

Sara Bareilles concert

After a particularly grueling day at work on Friday (we're talking stuffing 2, 500 invitations with 4 pieces, address labeling and stamping all to go out in that night's mail...) Johnny and I made a sweet escape to the Sara Bareilles concert!!!! It was so much fun! The venue was the old Avalon theatre- it was small and personal and after her set, she came down into the crowd and we got to talk to her. I took some pictures with John's new (well, a slightly cracked-screen cast off from his boss) iPhone, but they didn't turn out super great. I highly recommend her album- she is a really refreshing songwriter and has such a beautiful, unique voice!! She played a great set- including Love Song, Vegas and my *favorite* Gravity!

Introducing Comma Development!

After ten months as a company, Comma Development's website has finally arrived! Ironically, John's company does web development, including websites, but it's always harder to get your own tasks done when you're focusing on your clients!! A big congratulations to Johnny and Richard for a great site and a great company!! ChEcK iT oUt!!

Five Years Ago Today...

I met John.




We were both in the University of Utah Concert Chorale and had been for months. The whole choir was required to attend a retreat at Snowbird where we had intensive workshops to learn our Christmas music. John ended up rooming with Adam Toronto who he kind of knew from high school. At dinner that night, he sat my table with Adam, Ed Ashton, my sister Catherine, and Amy Young. Catherine and I were laughing and talking and I didn't notice John until Amy read his name tag and asked him if he was related to Mark Thornton, who we had graduated from East with. He said yes and Amy turned to me and said, "Barb, this is Mark Thornton's brother." I thought he was cute and we ended up talking for hours that night. We saw each other in choir every day after that, and Catherine and I would often give him a ride home from school. He got up his courage to ask me to go to an A'Cappella concert with him (Amy and I both went) and then I got up my courage to ask him to my sorority's Murder Mystery Date Night (our first official date). We have been together ever since!

Happy Anniversary, Johnny! I'm so happy we ended up together!

Family Tree

Check out this cool idea from Red Envelope. I love the stylish design and the underlying concept of a family tree as a piece of art. It's $88.00, even on sale, so I'm thinking of trying to make my own. It'd be a great wedding or baby gift, too! Maybe one day when I have free time...

Some funny photos...

Blog Action Day

Just heard about this neat idea, Blog Action Day, over at Ali Edwards' blog. Everyone who has a blog is uniting in a large scale internet discussion of one topic. This year it is the environment. I love what Ali talked about- her blog is typically about scrapbooking, so she wrote a whole post about how be a "green" scrapbooker". Since I like to scrapbook, I enjoyed her ideas (ranging from recycling your scraps to repurposing junk mail).

I have been thinking a lot about environmental issues recently. Al Gore and a team of scientists just won the Nobel Peace Prize for their work in the field of Global Warming. My sister-in-law, Chelsea, told me about her school's compost pile and trip to a garbage dump. And it's an extremely hot-button topic in the campaign right now.

I have heard some really surprising biases that people have about being environmentally savvy. I think some people tend to think of the "green platform" as being very partisan (usually attributed to the Democratic party). I can see why this bias exists, considering that a lot of environmental policy issues are decided in the national political scene, in which you cannot survive unless affiliated with a political party. However, I truly believe this is an issue that people should try to approach without any partisan bias. Whether or not you believe that humans are the sole cause of global warming, no sane person can deny that humans can have a detrimental impact on the earth. Which leads me to the gist of this post- I believe we all have a responsibility to be more accountable, more proactive, and more thoughtful when it comes to our impact. Most of us strive to be mindful in our daily interactions- we care for our family, we call our friends, we feed the dog, we water the lawn, we vacuum the living room, we report to our boss- and now I challenge all of us (myself especially) to strive for that extra accountability in our effect on the world in which we live.

Playing "Ratatouille" with Sam

This is Sam. He's my nephew. He loves the movie Ratatouille. The other day, Sam and I decided to make some dinner. We donned matching blue aprons and made delicious, gourmet grilled cheese sandwiches. As we were cooking, I told Sam he was a good cook and that another word for "cook" is "chef". Sam said, "I know, like on Ratatouille." (Duh, Barb).



Afterward, I snapped a few pictures of Sam in his apron while he was drawing me a picture (notice the pencil behind his ear, too.) I was going to get a cute shot of the two of us in our matching aprons, but right after this picture was taken, Sam threw up on his plate. Apparently he really meant it when he said he couldn't eat his sandwich. He was trying to take a bite (because I bribed him with some Disney.com Ratatouille games if he did) and he promptly threw up. Sorry little guy.



After we got him cleaned up, he apparently felt much better and said, "Can I play Ratatouille now?" So we played a little Ratatouille on the computer.

For Your Consideration

First photo, Straight out of the Camera except for a little "touch up" work to remove a scratch that my niece, Miss Lily, had self inflicted on her forehead.



Second photo, trying an antique-y, washed out effect



Third photo, a warmer, more sepia-type shot


Which do you like best??


Photos taken by Steve Spencer with his way-better-than-mine Nikon fancy camera
Photo-editing by Me

Playing at the Park

Mom, Dad, Steve, Kerry, Sam, Lily and I enjoyed some time at the park this weekend after Conference. It was a perfect day, not too chilly, and we enjoyed just being together.

Police Association Endorsement

The Police Association endorsed Dave in the mayor's race. It means a lot to Dave to have their support because his dad was a police officer. It was exciting to be with them at the announcement!

Me and Andy (he plays drums for Marmalade Hill, one of Johnny's bands, and he's on the SWAT team!)



A bunch of policemen



Jonny Harman, Dana Hale, and Cliff Smith (a.k.a. Team Buhler)

Lamb's Canyon

Quick jaunt up Lamb's Canyon with Susie, Brent, Evelyn, Greg and Michelle (aka our ward clique) to make tin foil dinners! Yummy! It was fun to see all the variations that people came up with- I definitely have some new ideas to try out (Cream of Chicken soup with chopped chicken and veggies, or strip steak instead of hamburger.)

My family is so awesome

Congratulations to my awesome sister-in-law, Kerry, who won 2nd place in the Young Adult novel division of the 2007 Utah Arts Council writing contest!! (She can build driftwood fires, too...awesome)

In Memory

Joyce Morgan Riding 1981~2007

This sweet girl was my friend and sorority sister in Lambda Delta Sigma (Kappa chapter). She was full of grace, joy and generosity- she will be missed.





Joyce Morgan Riding, 25, was surrounded by her family as she peacefully passed away September 28, 2007 at her home in Irving, TX after courageously battling cancer for two years. Joyce was born on Nov. 5, 1981 in Salt Lake City, Utah to Vernon and Carol Morgan. She married her incredibly devoted husband, Stuart Lee Riding, on Dec. 27, 2003 in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. Joyce grew up in Holladay, Utah and graduated from Skyline High School in 2000; then went on to receive her Associate's Degree from Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho. She enjoyed a semester studying in Nauvoo where she developed a love for early Church history and the Prophet Joseph Smith. Joyce always had a beautiful smile on her face and would light up every room she entered. Her life was one of service, and even in her last moments she was more concerned about the comfort of others than her own. Joyce selflessly supported her husband through medical school, while he selflessly supported Joyce through cancer treatments. Both were thrilled by the miraculous birth of their healthy son, Jacob. Joyce is survived by her loving husband and nine-month old son; parents; four brothers, Stephen (Amanda), Roger (Susan), Brian (Julie), Eric (Katie), and three sisters, Carrie Knapp (Jason), Trisha Deming (Matthew), and fraternal twin and best friend Joan Taylor (Chad); parents-in-law, Stanley and Karen Riding; three brothers-in-law, Brian (Deanna), Wayne (Terry), and Craig; and three sisters-in-law Teresa Carter (Paul), Sheryl Finch (James), and Linda Birrell (Jeffrey); and 57 nieces and nephews. Joyce's wish was to be surrounded by her family to say goodbye, and amazingly that wish came true. Joyce had a strong relationship with her Savior and she put her complete faith and trust in the Lord. She exemplified His counsel of giving ourselves completely to His will. Joyce will be missed tremendously, but we are comforted in knowing that she is truly one of the pure in heart. Funeral services will be Friday, October 5, 2007, 11 a.m., at the Payson, Utah West Stake Center, 780 West 500 South. Friends may call at the Walker Mortuary, 587 South 100 West, Payson, Thursday, 6-8:00 p.m. or at the church Friday, 9:45-10:45 a.m. Burial will be in the Salem City Cemetery. In lieu of flowers a fund has been set up on behalf of Joyce, Stuart, and Jake Riding. Please send contributions in the name of Joyce Riding to: Zions Bank, 80 East 100 North, Payson Utah, 84651. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.walkerfamilymortuary.com
Published in the Deseret News on 10/3/2007.

The Life List

Do you have a life list? I have things I want to accomplish floating around in my head, and I do have some goals written down, but I don't have a "life list." I read an interesting blog today that suggests that everyone needs a life list written down somewhere because the act of writing it down (or publishing it on the web) makes us more accountable to it. The product of that accountability is that things actually start getting checked off the list.
Check out the post from Stephanie Roberts about living out your dreams and setting goals for yourself. She also thought of a cool way to share our lists with each other- she started a Wiki (and in the process, crossed an item off her list!)

Check out this New York Times article talking about it, too!

There's a book on a related topic that I want to read, it's called The Next Thing On My List, by Jill Smolinski. I'm also going to start my own list- perhaps I'll post it on this blog or maybe on the Wiki.

One of my Aunt Barbara's life list items was visting Tiffany & Co. in New York City and we checked it off last May.

Pretty fall time!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE these candles from Pretty Barn, I mean, Pottery Barn. If I had had an exorbitant budget for my wedding, they would have been HEAVENLY on the tables!! Oooh! Makes me excited for fall and Thanksgiving and Christmas! YAY!

I collect blogs

I have become a little obsessive about reading blogs. It has gotten to the point that I am adding people I barely know to my Google Reader so I can keep updated on their lives. I think at this point, I'm collecting them so that I always have something to read- even if my friends haven't posted in a while, I can always catch up on my friends' friends!!! Maybe it's the voyeur in me, but I just love reading about other people's lives! I also can't seem to be content just checking "my blogs" every few days- no, I check them at least daily! I swear, the satisfaction of blogging for me comes in the reading, not the writing of them. Sometimes I just blog so that I'm contributing to the pool- then I don't feel guilty for just reading all the time.

Am I a total weirdo? Does anyone else out there treat blogging like this???