Halloween in the Shire

Happy Halloween! 

I Cast My Vote

Today I rode to the mouth of Little Cottonwood Canyon -- a 20 mile ride.

The weather was cool but not cold, sun was shining, and I rode strong. 

Felt so great! A perfect end to the outdoor season.

Voted today...

After months of pondering, praying, weighing the issues and considering alternatives, 

I made a decision last week, thought about it for a while and ultimately made my choice.

While I was on my ride, Nick whipped up waffles.

At night, while Dan and I were out to dinner, he made stir fried rice. 

I love his cooking talent.

 

Quiet Time

Today was a slow day. And so welcomed!

I got my hair cut and colored today and I love my stylist, Leslie.

We both love to write -- she's the one who inspired me to do NaNoWriMo last year.

(She actually told me about it two years ago, and it took me that long to do it.)

At other times when she's not writing, I inspire her to start up again.

Our kids are about the same ages and she's open about sharing happy stuff and hard stuff.

We're a lot different, but our humanity is a lot the same.

I always look forward to being with her -- and I've known her for almost as long as we've lived in Utah. She worked next to my old stylist, Erica, but I went to Leslie from time-to-time when Erica wasn't available. And Courtney used to go to her too.

When Erica stopped doing hair and the salon closed,  it was easy to just switch to Leslie at her new salon.

Anyway, I had a good chat with Leslie today and as a bonus came home feeling pretty.

I read my book (which is actually homework), had a short nap, went on a walk with Dan and Kershaw, talked to Courtney for an hour while Michael was out on a run and Dan took a new ward member to dinner, had Zoom office hours with my writing professor and got good answers to some writing questions I had, then hung out with Nick and Dan and surfed options for Spring Break.

And then it was time for bed.

After a busy last few days, I liked being quiet. 

I'm so grateful to have time. Time to take a writing class.

Time to write. Time to nourish my body and soul. Time to nurture relationships.

 

Cutting Back and Sprouting

My goldfish plant was getting leggy, so I cut it back. 

I left just a couple of leafy branches so it... he... she...

didn't become simply sticks in a pot of dirt. Some motivation, you could say.

And now they're starting to sprout!

While on the topic, I started more mung beans and lentils yesterday 

and they've already popped little sprouts. It's so fun to watch things grow.

Yes! Dodgers!!

They WON!!! 

Soooo exciting to see our Dodgers take the World Series!

Their last two times making it to the finals were in 2017 and 2018 when Marty was on his mission.

And when they lost, I was like... Dang, I wanted them to win, but I'm kinda glad Marty didn't miss it. 

So this was so sweet to have them take it when Marty could watch.

(Sorry, Chris!)

It was so fun to have been at Game 4.

And finally, finally, our dog's namesake gets a ring!

To top off the night, I dreamed that the whole team came over for a party at our house after the game.

We hung out with all of them and I got a pictures of Marty and Kershaw together and I was really excited about that. So in my head, I'm pretty much best friends with all of them now.

Mookie Betts is new this year and so cute.

He's such a great hitter and runner and is so enthusiastic, and his smile reminds me of Chris.

I can't help but get happy when I watch him.

For the first time in my life, I actually know the whole team--especially after so many have been together for the last five years, (we miss you Puig). Another reason I like them so much is several are Courtneys' age -- Seager, Bellinger, Will Smith, Buehler -- and for so many years we see their ages and birthdates come up when they hit and we've said, "Wow! those guys are Courtney's age!" 

We watched all the post-game interviews and award presentations (MVP Seager) and just hung out with the team (cuz it feels like they're our friends). I'm sure the Fox announcers were also at my dream party, because I loved watching their joy reliving their glory days with the Dodgers win and their disappointments with Tampa Bay's loss. Loved the humanity in their commentary.

Side note, I'm feeling kinda bad for Snell, Tampa Bay's pitcher. He was absolutely amazing for the first six innings and it looked like he would easily finish us out. But he got pulled after allowing two hits. And Wow! his face said it all. He. Was. Ticked.

As a Mom, I totally recognized that look. It was exactly how Chris looks when he's mad! Ha.

My mom heart hurt for him because you just could see that he knew he could do it, and it wasn't given a chance.

But aside from the sad fact that one team has to lose 

(and it's been the Dodgers' turn plenty of times),

 it was a great, great night! 

Monday Inspiration

It's cold outside so its officially Peloton season.

Well, maybe the end of this week I'll get outside to ride again. 

(I don't ride when its under 35*. That's my limit.)

I like the Peloton Instructor, Ally Love, because she's got such positive self-talk during the rides. 

It's exercise for the body and soul!

"Self worth and confidence are two different things.

Confidence is based on your skill set. When you can't do something, 

or you don't know how to do something well, or at all, you're less confident about it. 

That's not connected to your self worth. Today we build confidence to go the distance."

-- Ally Love (Peloton Instructor)

I also got sweet inspiration from Clara's positive outlook today when I talked to her:

I can’t keep track of what is going on each day. I don't remember, so everything is a surprise.

I’m like a little child. I keep an eye of curiosity and 

just try to be excited about whatever surprises come along. 

I’m in Heavenly Father’s hands. I know he’s in charge and I just let whatever happens happen.

I trust him implicitly. He knows things are hard for me now, but he is always with me.

--Clara Whitson, 94 years old

Happy Monday!

Nice to be Home

Yikes! It's COLD!! We arrived back home to snow on the ground!  

Lizzie and Marty came home with us from the airport so we all got to watch the game together tonight.

Nick made homemade chicken nuggets for dinner and we rummaged together a pretty good dinner with a basically empty fridge. And then we ate while watching TV and saw the Dodgers get a win!!

What A Game! 😭

Well if the Dodgers had to lose, at least it was an INCREDIBLE game!

(With a catastrophic ending! It was so bad it was almost comedic. And definitely cool to be able to say, 

"I saw it! We saw that horrible ending in person!" Three errors by two teams in one play. Wow.)

We flew from Scottsdale to Arlington. 

Coolest fact about Scottsdale FBO making it extra special, is that Marty (Dan's dad) built it! 

Dan in front of Scottsdale FBO

On our way to Dallas, we flew over Clovis. 

From the air, we could see the airport Dan's family would fly out of when his dad was flying. 

(I honestly couldn't think of a better way to say that. I'd get hammered in writing class. 

But its also 1:18 a.m. so my brain is slowing down.)

Speaking of writing class, I did homework the whole way. And its such fun homework! 

Go Dodgers!

Covid Rules #2020

Game got COLD! And they only had Texas Rangers blankets for sale.

But glad to have them!

It was a close, exciting, intense ball game right up to the end.

So many great hits and great plays. It was fantastic.

The end kind of sucked when the fielder missed the ball and then hucked it to the catcher who also missed it and the player running home tripped and fell and almost gave up until he saw the catcher had missed the ball and ran home for the winning run. 

That's really what happened.

We were disappointed, but it was so fun to have been there and have had such a great game that the good outweighed the bad. Plus we still have two more attempts at a win.

C'mon Blue!

Goodbye Scottsdale

Boys went golfing again today.

I took a walk around the golf course until I ran into two coyotes and aborted my walk. 

Lizzie worked and worked. She and Marty did get massages during her afternoon break. 

I did some homework until the boys got home. 

Dan and I napped by the pool and Nick napped in the room. Lots of good relaxing on this trip. 

 

Goodbye, Arizona! 

Cactus and Palm Trees

While Dan and Nick hit their tee time, 

I took a walk around the neighborhood, resort and golf course,

then sat outside and got to work on my homework for this week. 

I also watched these guys get the Christmas decorations set up.

Tonight we went to Gram's for enchiladas and met up with Ian and Lauren and Marty and Erin again as well. Erin brought her quilt to show us in person too -- she's so so so talented! 

(Honestly, I don't know anyone as artistically talented as she is across so many different mediums!)

After dinner we came back to the resort to go to Pumpkin Nights! 

Marty and Lizzie on the giant slide!

Nick and Lizzie were brave enough to go on the spinning Sizzler!

Settling In

While we're here, Marty and Lizzie have school and work, albeit remotely.

So they only had a few minutes of break today before it was time to go to dinner! 

Nick, Dan and I are on a more relaxed schedule, but of course Dan still has calls

and I am working on this week's homework for my writing class.

But we've all agreed its pretty great to work in the warm sun overlooking a golf course and pool!

Singing: "My name is Baldy Eagle, I'm here to tell a story..." #iykyk

The Shaeffer boys are having bad luck at the race track recently.
Last race weekend Uncle Marty came to town to race, but crashed in his first lap.

Here in Phoenix, we went to the go-kart track
 (Dan had sent the karts down to Marty when our track closed last year),
and Nick, our-Marty, and Ian took turns racing. 

Unfortunately Marty spun out and Nick did too and crashed right into him at 50 mph.
Both boys were fine, however one of the karts was not. Fortunately they'd each gotten in some sessions before then so everyone got to have time on the track.
(Nick had the fastest lap time. But Ian caught him in his last session.)

While the boys raced and Dan and Marty III helped them, me, Lizzie, Gram, Erin and Lauren sat on the bleachers hearing all about Erin's newest projects -- both quilting and art -- 

and having fun catching up with Lauren.

The weather is so warm -- perfect sitting outside and talking weather.

(Cool fact: The Phoenix Temple was a spectacular backdrop all lit up behind the go-kart track.)

More Summer in Scottsdale

 We're getting away for Fall Break and enjoying a few more days of summer. 

See anything special about these shampoos? That's quite a marketing effort.

Cornbelly's 2020

 Cornbelly's 2020

Dan & Ang, Marty, Lizzie, Nick.

Eric & Steph, Parker, Rennie, Adler, Carter, Millie, Jane. Abby & Mikey were there for dinner

At JCW's, of course.

#maybeyourfriendshouldtakeit.

Oh, Steph.

Eric found this photo from 2012. 

How much do you love this?!?!

(You know Nick must have been really ticked to have to wear his Waterford clothes to Cornbelly's!