Georgia Days

Joyeuse fête de toussaint! (Haha, that's kind of a contradiction!) Alas, my posting has been non-existent since the big move. We're loving GA (though not the 90 degree weather we had for weeks which didn't compliment our broken air conditioner...). We've spent lots of time settling-in (I still have boxes to unpack), seeing our families (we've ended-up in Fayette County every weekend since we've come, though we keep trying NOT to make it a weekly trip), and getting to know our ward (which is awesome. AWESOME!). Sterling serves as a ward missionary, specifically catering to the large Brazilian population here (our Bishop even asked us to attend the Portuguese sacrament meeting that happens once a month in our building. I'm seriously going to have to brush-up on my...Portuguese?? Yeah, I definitely never had any to begin with!), and I'm now a counselor in the YW Presidency...again. At least it will still be less work than in Chicago! I'm actually really excited about it.

Ethan celebrated Halloween by going trunk-or-treating at church Saturday night and ceremoniously going out the back door and up the front steps of my parents' house to ask for candy on Sunday evening, though he was more intrigued by the door handle than the kit-kats. Go Ethan!). Because the kid is obsessed with the theme music from Star Wars (we're still not sure why), he went as Yoda this year, and we were thrilled he kept his costume on all night! Sterling was a LOST survivor, straight from Oceanic flight #815, and I went as...the amazing and uber-talented Ginny Weasley. Here's why: At the age of 26 I finally began my obsession with the Harry Potter books. I read the first one in high school, loved it, promptly became too busy to continue the series, and never finished, though I'd seen movies 1 through 5. I read the second book right before Ethan was born, enjoyed it, promptly became too busy to continue, and here we are. In September, not wanting to have completely missed the boat of this pop-culture phenomenon, and knowing the 7th movie would soon be released, I finally dove-in to the rest of the books headfirst, and I've been blissfully swimming in them ever since! After finishing a book, Sterling and I would watch that movie (I've found that I'm a bit of a purist, and much prefer the depth of the books to the movies, despite the films being well-made. And the 6th movie's director has been my favorite by far, so I'm thrilled he's doing the 7th as well). I've just started book 7 (excuse me, year 7), and I'm having a hard time with the realization that with every page I turn, I'm one more page nearer the end of the "final installment of the epic tale of Harry Potter." Seriously, I might cry. At least the film in broken into two so the end won't be so abrupt. I LOVE HARRY POTTER!

Beautiful Nauvoo

After living in Illinois for over a year we finally found a weekend to visit Nauvoo! Despite the 90 degree heat and the bugs, we loved our time there. We traded off watching Ethan so we could each attend the temple there, which was a lovely experience. There's certainly a sweet feeling in that town where so many people sacrificed so much for the Lord they loved.

Sterling with his ancestor, William Clayton's, gun. At the printing press. If I'd lived in Nauvoo, this would have been my job!

The enormous praying mantis on our car the next morning.

At the Land and Records Office searching our ancestors' plots of land. Sterling and I had ancestors who were neighbors!

The riverbank where the wagons were launched when the saints finally had to leave their beautiful home.

"Trail of Hope" leading to the Mississippi River.

Oxen Duke and Dawn honored us with a wagon ride. Ethan did not enjoy it.

Girl's Camp 2010!

Our neighbor, the snake. He spent a lot of time in the bathroom, but at night he and a friend came to join us in our cabin. We had a rat, too. Way to live up the wilderness experience!

I loved the wholesome Wisconsin air so much that I hiked all afternoon my second day there. You gotta love going to Girls Camp as a leader! I got to be bossy at bedtime and irritatingly cheerful in the morning (I belted "Joseph Smith's First Prayer" to wake up the girls--bwah-haha!), help a little here and there with classes, and still hang-out with my adorable girls and enjoy all the odd/funny camp moments first-hand (I even painted my fingernails green in support of our group whose mascot was the Green Giant--not my idea...). It was hot, buggy, snakey, and ratty, but I had a great time!

The News!

Sterling has been offered a position in Atlanta! Much as we love Chicago and have enjoyed living here, this position will be SO much better for us (it's a real actuarial position), and we're looking forward to living close to family. Ethan and I leave on September 1st, (Sterling's driving our stuff down a few days later with his dad) and there's so much to do before then!!!

Biking in Michigan

So as not to live a too sequestered life in boring ol' Chicago (wink), we decided to jump ship for an afternoon in July and do a family bike ride in Michigan. Our bikes weren't exactly ideal for our 8-mile trek, but mine did have a basket (which I placed my camera in because you must have something in your bike basket!) and both came complete with bells! (Plus, the town was proud to boast that it was the home of Prancer the movie. What luck!) We loved it, Ethan hated it, and now I know that southern Michigan looks exactly like Illinois.

103 Stories High!

Our Chicago Bucket List is slowly getting shorter. On Saturday we finally went to the SkyDeck at the Willis (formerly Sears) Tower. We paid $30 dollars to wait in a two-hour line (no one told us it would be so long) where we were herded like cattle in dark, hot rooms, spent a whopping 10 minutes looking down on the city, but did get these pretty cool shots. One part of the floor is glass and actually juts out of the side of the building so you can see straight down from the highest man-made point in the United States. Ethan was fearless! The verdict? Not worth it if you have a toddler, but an interesting experience nonetheless!

This is your brain ; this is your brain on drugs.

I wonder if the brilliant minds who brought us the frying egg PSA in the mid-nineties had any clue how much of an impact they would have. Granted, I'm not sure how much of the non-sober society has been influenced by the snap, crackle, pop of TV's most famous burning yoke, but if I may speak for the sober part of the population, I feel the catch-phrase: "This is your brain," etc. was quite a creation. It, among other things, has kept me off drugs so way to go, yolk people!

Not once, but twice today I had people whose brains were scrambled with cheese approach not me, but Ethan and: 1. Offer him money, and 2. Tell my 15-month-old (there was no eye contact with me--the adult) all about someone she was "really pissed at"...aaaand I could make out no other word after that. The first guy was on the train with waaaay too much alcohol on his breath, among other things, and the woman, much to my chagrin, boarded the very slow-moving elevator with me at the train stop. (Gotta love city elevators. When you're longing for a good, strong whiff of someone else's urine, those things never fail to disappoint!) Basically, there was no getting away from the fried egg weirdos. I love public transportation. I love Chicago...
I want to move.