How NOT to Vote

*This is a lengthy post that is pretty pointless, and doesn't even have a single picture. But, I think it's pretty hilarious. Read at your own risk.*

This election, Tom and I learned a thing or two about voting. The hard way. And so, I have decided to share them with you so that you hopefully won't have to learn the same lessons the way we did.

1.) It is important to know how to read a map.

I thought I had read the precinct map a few weeks ago that was published in the paper, and I was pretty sure that Tom and I were supposed to vote at Madison Middle School. Seemed a little weird since we live quite a ways from there, but hey. It's Rexburg. They do things differently here. Wrong. Should have listened to the little voice questioning me - my husband.

2.) A Middle School is definitely different from a Junior High School.

Don't ask me. I didn't make up the rules. But if you think you are voting at the Middle School, don't drive to the Junior High. Not the same place.

We made it to the real Middle School and were comforted to see a lot more cars than at the Junior High, and a lot of younger couples. We felt more like we were in the right place. We walked in, and no line! Yes! We stepped right up there and the lady asked, "Is this your precinct?" We responded that we weren't positive, but were pretty sure. She then yelled - like yelled. loud. - clear across the room to another volunteer asking if where we lived was in this precinct. He came over and said, "Well, let's check the map." Hmmm...

3.) Bigger maps taped to the wall are a lot easier to read than small maps published in newspapers.

I was wrong. Way wrong. I obviously didn't know where we lived when I looked at the paper before. But Tom knew where we lived and he read the big map just fine. Our voting precinct was up on campus. Now that makes sense...

4.) When you take your car to a mechanic's shop, sometimes the problem disappears and causes embarrassment.

As we pulled into the Middle School parking lot, Tom and I heard a very bad noise. We eventually realized that it was coming from the passenger's side rear wheel. It was an icky grinding, clanking noise that sounded like our car was about to die. Not good. It was worse when we came out of the Middle School - still not having voted. We decided to drive a few blocks to a mechanic's shop that was practically on our way. It made the noise all the way up until about a block away. We pulled in, parked, and Tom went inside. He waited in line then told the mechanic at the counter the problem. They both came out to inspect the car. Of course he didn't see anything wrong, nor was the car making the sound as we drove circles in the parking lot. "Maybe you had a rock stuck up in there," the mechanic said. We thanked him for his trouble and started to leave. But not before our car made a few more terrible noises out of the parking lot. We drove home, arguing with ourselves if we should go back because it was obviously not fixed, when it gave one last terrible nails-on-the-chalkboard kind of noise followed by a pop of some kind. It made us pull over immediately. We worried maybe something fell off of our car, so we circled back, scanning the road. Nothing. Literally, nothing. The noise was gone just as quickly as it appeared. We still have no idea what it was.

5.) When your precinct is on a college campus, it should be obvious that students will also be included.

Well, it wasn't to us. In fact, it didn't even cross our minds. Weird. We drove up to campus and luckily found a great parking spot. But then Tom realized he was wearing shorts. That, my friends, is against the BYUI Honor Code and is not allowed on campus. So, we started the car, and drove home. While we were there, we decided that we were quite famished so we ate some dinner, then drove back. By this time, a lot of students were home and the parking was even more limited. But we found a spot and headed over to the correct building to vote in. This building, though the correct one, was devoid of any voting signs, making locating the correct place difficult. Eventually, we found the place - upstairs in the Little Theater. We climbed the last flight of stairs to find... a TON of students. What else? The line was ridiculously long. But how long could it take to vote? We figured it would go by quick...

6.) Students that live on campus all have to register to vote, hence the long lines.

Tom and I also had to register to vote because it was our first time voting since moving to Rexburg. So we joined the tremendously long line of fellow voters and waited..... and waited..... and waited....
We overheard some other students say they had been in line for over 2 hours already. 2 hours.

Tom and I finally arrived at the correct place to vote about 7:30 in the evening. We didn't get home until 9:40. And how long did it take us to vote? 2, maybe 3 minutes? (Okay, it probably took me longer because I have a need to read every word on the ballot. Every one.) Needless to say, it felt like a waste of time.

7.) BUT! Voting is not a waste of time!

We are so blessed to live in America where we have the right to vote, to have a say in what takes place in our government. And I am ever so grateful for that! Even if it is a complete hassle.

So remember, know your stuff when you vote! Don't do it like the Chambers! We know next time, we won't!

All Hallows Eve, Turkey Day, and Black Friday

I know Halloween was ages ago, and is such old news, but I'm going to share ours with you anyway. It wasn't too exciting, but we still had fun. We started the Halloween season with my first attempt at making a wreath. I went to the craft store, wandered until I found things I liked, and then went home to put it all together. It wasn't perfect, but I was fairly happy with how it turned out.



We went to the Halloween store hoping to find some ideas for couples costumes. We didn't. But we found some pretty sweet masks instead. Here's Tom with a cigar, because, ya know, that's a pretty common sight.



And I have aged quite a bit since we've been married.



Together forever...



We finally decided on costumes mostly using things we already had in our closets. We are ourselves, in 60 years. Complete with glasses, curlers, and a pot belly.



Trick-or-Treat! -if you know Tom at all, you had better take the treat... :)

This year Thanksgiving was with the Chambers in Rexburg. Tom and I went up the day before and stayed the night at his parents house. Thanksgiving was great with great food, great fun, and great family. Lots of great times. To celebrate at our own little abode, I decided that I wanted to make a Thankful Tree to display our gratitude for all our blessings. First, we needed branches. We journeyed to the cemetery, where there are lots of trees with lots of branches. While we were there, we stopped to feed the squirrels. We thought we would do them a favor by giving them food when it seemed so scarce. I don't think they would have missed us a bit. Wow were those little guys chubby! I know they stock up for the winter and all, but these squirrels impressed me.





I know they aren't the best photos because I only had my phone, but I think you can kind of understand what we saw. If not, use your imagination. After that thrilling event, we gathered our branches and headed home. We were happy with our findings.



We got to work making our Thankful Tree, but not until we warmed up with some hot chocolate. I thought it turned out cute, and we are both excited to make a tradition out of the whole deal. It was also wonderful to sit and contemplate all the things we are thankful for. Our blessings are innumerable. Some examples were our apartment, our education and financial aid for this semester, piano music, unicycles, and of course, each other.



Thanksgiving Day we came back to good old Poky. We had an agenda, and that was Black Friday shopping. We had seen something that we wanted at Wal-Mart that was going on sale at midnight. In order to give us pleanty of time to find it, we went at 10:30 pm. And it was a good thing we did! There were so. many. people!! Yikes. We searched the store for an hour trying to find the items on our list. Finally, about 40 minutes to midnight we found it and jumped in line. We waited, and waited, and waited, and then, they started handing them out. Come to find out, they only had 6 in stock. Luckily, we were 4th in line. No problem there. Once we got it, we made a bee-line for the registers because we knew that would be crazy too. We were right. We made it just before the rush and managed to make it home about 12:20am. Not too shabby. I was thrilled with our purchases! One in particular...



Look at that beauty! Oh, I am in love with it. It is my new pride and joy. Tom was going to surprise me with a camera for Christmas, but he was worried he wouldn't get what I wanted, so he enlisted my help. I was just so happy to finally get such a nice camera. I'm excited to put it to good use! And just in time for our first Christmas.... :)

I'm FALL-ing behind!!

Double-you, oohh, double-yoou.
I am really behind with this blogging deal. oops. Lemme fix it.
So, FALL! It has almost come and gone, believe it or not. Here's an update of mine and his crazy little lives over the past season.

September 15 -
That was Tom's birthday! The big 22. He's getting so old... He was excited to get a slightly early gift from his parents, and no matter how much I argued against it, he opened those gifts before his real birthday.



I promise he really was excited... That picture isn't too believable, but the next one is a little more convincing!




So that was a few days before his big day. On the real anniversary of his birth we had a little get-together with family at my mom's house. We had dinner and cake and ice cream, Tom's favorites of Burritos and funfetti cake of course.

Here he is blowing out his 22 candles... one... by.... one. Only Tom.



The birthday boy likes cake!! Bahahaaha. Such a great picture!



Tom's little brother Sam. We sure like him!



So, birthday festivities all over and it was back to what consumes most of our world - school. Tom and I are both going to school this semester, just taking a bunch of general classes. We managed to get all of our classes on only Tuesdays and Thursdays. That method has its ups and downs. It's great to have the days in between to schedule work, but it sure makes for long Tuesdays and Thursdays. This picture is proof...



Okay, so I do look pretty well put together that day, surprisingly. But I was more referring to my face. I look pretty sick of it.
But really, in the end, Tom and I still thank our Heavenly Father every night for the blessing that school really is. It is so difficult and stressful, but the opportunity to learn is really something and we're grateful that everything has fallen into place for us this semester.

But, with that great blessing it is, everyone still needs a little vacation every once in a while! Tom and I had a little weekend getaway to Salt Lake City over Conference Weekend. His first mission reunion was that Friday in Salt Lake, and we decided to stay the night and just enjoy some time away. We did a little shopping and stayed at the Kimball. Such a cute hotel. Unfortunately, we didn't pull out the camera until breakfast on Saturday morning at Denny's, so that's the only documentation we have.

From under the table -



And here is how Tom spices up breakfast. No boring eggs and bacon for him.



And those are the highlights so far of this fall season. We've had lots of fun with big events, but also small events too, such as making pizza for dinner. Nothing special, but we sure had fun.





With the end of fall just around the corner, we're sad to see the warm weather leave, but really excited for the holiday season! More seasonal stuff to come soon.... :)