Some of my favorite moments from Halloween Week 2009. School carnival, fun parties, trick-or-treating, fun, fun, fun!!!

Great Mom Blog

Visit my friend Annette's great blog for moms and enter her giveaway! She has the best ideas on everything!

One Step Closer!

I took the GRE test today and I can't tell you how relieved I am to have it behind me! It was the hardest thing I have done in a long time. I don't mean the language section, although I had hoped to do a little better on that but the math was insane. I literally cried at the end of the math section! 

The very first question resembled a wall of Egyptian hieroglyphics. I did not recognize any of the concepts I studied and because it's a timed test, I only gave each question as much time as I thought I could before making my best guess. I felt like I guessed on almost every question. The whole time I kept thinking "I am in so much trouble!!" AND...when I had 30 seconds left in the test, I still had about 9 questions to answer so I read through and clicked on the handiest choices before the time ran out. I don't even think I got the click in on the last before the PROCEED button appeared. 

The lowest score you can get is about 200 and I fully expected to see a score in the upper 200s or lower 300s if I was lucky...so imagine my shock and awe when I got my score and it was a 570!!!  That was better than my practice exam, and granted, I only answered about 18 out of 28 right, but I'm counting it as my miracle for the day. There is no way I should have scored that high, but there it is! I must have made some pretty good guesses or I had angels whispering in my ears.  

I got a 620 on the Verbal section, so that makes a combined score of 1190.  I was hoping for a 1200 and it doesn't get much closer! I am very happy to be done, to have my scores, and to be able to send in my application on Monday! 

LOL

Taylor was taking a new profile picture for me and this was me at the end of the session! I thought it was a funny shot. Kind of how I feel today too! HI-larious!

Test Day Tomorrow!!

I take the GRE test tomorrow at noon and I am literally falling apart. My hip is deforming, I'm having a polka-dot party (my HS friends might remember this particular euphemism); my brain is overflowing with numbers, letters, expressions,and random math facts; and one of my co-workers at FRIS is down with Swine Flu as of yesterday...I've been holding my breath and bathing in AB gel since I found out....(feel better, Trish!!!)....AND I've got a to-do list about a mile long!!!!  AAAaaaauuuughghghgh!!!


Okay. I feel a little better. I've done my daily affirmations and I'm feeling better about some things. For example...this test is just a test. It doesn't mean anything. I will get a good enough score so  I will not should all over myself...(sorry....I'm having a Stuart Smalley morning!)

Plus, Halloween is right around the corner...and I love Halloween. We have a fun party tonight...can't wait!!!  I'm looking forward to having something to take my mind off the test! Trunk-or-Treat is next week and I always love doing my Miss Fortune Teller show.  I love how much the kids enjoy it! It is very satisfying. And I told Taylor she could invite some of her friends for a party next week too....not to mention the actual having of Halloween. Lots to get ready for but it's always one of my favorite times of year.

In retrospect, I should probably have planned the test date a little better, but there I go again! Focus, Tonya. Think positive!. What's done is done! Tomorrow is a new day (also Test Day) but the day after that will be awesome! Wish me luck! I will need it!

Fall Family Fun

We had the best time up north this weekend! We loved the fall colors in the Canyon and visiting with grandparents for a short time.

Friday, we visited my Dad and Pam for a little while then headed over to the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point. It was a huge carnival with bounce houses, slides, boutique, games & activities. The girls had a ton of fun. The highlight was the bungee trampoline for which we stood in line for over 2 hours. (I have video, but my computer is being stubborn!!) They had fun, but we weren't sure it was worth the wait in the end.  It was a perfect day for outdoor fun. Scott even got to see a train pass right by the Point, one of the longest trains I've seen.  I found a cute watch band at the boo-tique and the Kettle Korn was so yummy!!!

Saturday, we went into SLC to visit Grandma Rose and the Hogle Zoo.  Another beautiful day! The animals were so active and there were so many baby animals. We saw the baby elephant, baby giraffe, baby tigers (sort of), baby monkeys and baby crocodile.  So much fun! The Zoo has so many new habitats and a new carousel.  It's very nice! After the zoo, we went to one of my favorites--Crown Burger on Highland Dr.--I love the food there! So yummy....I had been craving a Gyro forever!

Later that night, we headed back up Provo Canyon to the Heber Valley Railroad "Haunted Canyon" Ride. It was a blast! We thought it might be colder, but it wasn't too bad. We rode in the open-air car and listened (as best as we could) to ghost stories over the speakers...there were scenes set up in the woods all along the tracks and we had spookies wandering the cars.  It was so much fun! Shaylie wasn't so sure. She doesn't like to be scared much but we had just the right amount of scary silliness. Plus it was on a train!!! What more could the Jesienouski family ask for? (Some pics on Facebook, but my computer won't let me upload to my blog for some reason!) Great fun!

Some other trip highlights: renting Redbox movies and chilling in the condo, the gorgeous fall colors--the canyon was breathtaking, we loved Bridal Veil Falls too--seeing "Chowdy with a Clance of Meatballs" in 3D with my Dad and Pam, spending time together!!!  So good to have some time to renew and refresh so we can face life again!

My Groupie Moment

This weekend Taylor marched with the Pine View Middle School band in the Dixie State College Homecoming Parade.  We took her about a half hour early and set up our chairs to wait for the parade to begin. We got some pretty choice seats right next to the announcer's speaker. 
As the American Flag made it's way toward us, the voice on the PA announced that the Grand Marshall for the parade would be Elder Jeffery R. Holland, of the Quorum of the Twelve, who was a graduate of DSC back in the day. And sure enough, he and his wife followed the flag in the back seat of a convertible car.  The crowd was pretty sparse and they were only about 10 yards away from us. I couldn't resist the urge to yell, "We love you Elder Holland!" to which his wife replied "We love you too!"  
I don't know if Apostles get that many groupies, but I definitely have a special place in my heart for Elder Holland. I had just posted his conference talk from last week on my Facebook page (which was amazing) and it was such a surprise to be in such close proximity and in relative privacy to this great man. I kept trying to relive the moment and think of other more clever things to say, but I decided that I said exactly what I felt in the moment and still do. 
Taylor did a great job in the parade too, but meeting Elder Holland (sort of) was definitely a highlight!

Updates

Life gets pretty busy and I haven't had much time to blog, but I wanted to post a quick update on a few things. Hopefully, things will slow down before long and I'll get back to a more routine schedule. 


Puppy: Cricket is doing great! She is almost housebroken. Much easier to train than BB was and so sweet. I'm glad we got her, even though some of my FB status posts may have led others to believe differently. :)  The two dogs are getting along well enough and I think BB might actually be starting to like her. 


Grad School: My application is just about complete and my GRE test is in just over two weeks!!!! I have been taking a short break from studying to indulge in a novel that I wanted to read, but I'm back at it and will be glad to have this behind me. 


Children: Taylor and Shaylie are keeping me busy as usual. Taylor's had soccer, volleyball, piano, and school activities. We had her SEOP (parent-teacher conference) today and she is doing very well. I can't believe we are talking about college and scholarships already, but the next 5 years are likely to fly by so best to be prepared.  Shaylie had a fun field trip to Staheli Farms today and invited her friend Kamryn to Activity Days. They made pumpkins and Kamryn says she'd love to go again. Shaylie still wants to take Karate, but I haven't found a place for her yet. 


Work: I'm still enjoying my job at FRIS! It is very varied and completely stress free. I am enjoying the kids and the ladies I work with...they are awesome.  It is also nice to work in a library where I have access to all kinds of wonderful reading material. So glad I made this change!


Diet: I was so excited to go shopping with my first paycheck of the year. I was in desperate need of clothing that fits me after my 75+ pound weight loss. I had never been shopping in Vegas before and was so thrilled to find some wonderful stores down there. Ashley Stewart is my new favorite store. I found some great jeans and the prices were fantastic. I also discovered the LV Outlet Mall--so many great places! We didn't even have time to look at everything I wanted to. I couldn't believe that it took me so long to head south to shop. I will definitely be going back! It is so fun to shop when clothes actually look good on you! 


My @#$! Back: Still killing me. I got a couple of Rx from my doc, but they ran out and they weren't really helping much anyway. I am going to have to Do Something soon but I'm not sure what. I found a clinic that advertised everything from chiropractic to decompression and quite a few treatments in between...so I might try them out. This can't go on forever. Other than my back, however, I am feeling better than I have in years. 


Well, that's plenty for now. I'm excited for Halloween and the holidays coming up! Fall Break will be here soon and Thanksgiving is at my house this year. Yikes. Fun times ahead...