A Long Weekend Update

On Friday last week we went out with our friends Ryland and Megan. The Riverwoods is an outdoor shopping center, and every winter they decorate it in christmas lights and giant fires. Usually you can find bands playing or small concerts in the gazebo in the center too, so it's usually a fun place to go. This year they advertised that they were putting up more christmas lights than Temple Square in Salt Lake City. That's kind of a big deal. So we went to see what all of the hallaboo was about. It ended up being really pretty when they flipped the lights on. There were tons of people, free horse drawn carriage rides, a christmas concert, ice sculptures, and the Waffle Love truck. I've worked at a belgian waffle shop before, and I like to think that I know a good waffle when I eat one, so I can confidently say that Waffle Love has pretty decent liege waffles.

Mrs. Stephanie Wood had her birthday on Sunday, so on Saturday we met up with Matt and Stephanie to celebrate. We went and saw the new Thor movie (which we all liked), and then we went out to eat at a place called Bajio Mexican Grill. It's a lot like Cafe Rio.

Afterward I had to work the Saturday night shift at the library. I actually like working Saturday nights because my friend Derek is always scheduled to work them, so it gives us a few hours to catch up. I set him up with my friend Sarah Kay last summer on a blind date, and now they're planning on getting married. I've never set anyone up before them, so I'm 1 for 1.

Bad news update: When Clayton came to the library to pick me up from work he dropped his phone on the floor and it died. He has had it for two years and it's a really old model of the iphone, so it was time. He was still pretty bummed though. We are now looking into new phones and phone plans. It's a drag.

Sunday after church I met my new visiting teaching companion, Rebecca. She is such an awesome lady! We visit taught a girl named Kaitlyn, who was equally great. We all got along really well, in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if we became real friends. I often feel like a lot of the people in my life are not there by chance. For example, when my facilitator in Romania was deciding who was going to live in what apartment I was so sure that he was inspired to put me with the girls that he did. We were such fast friends and the right kind of support for each other that we all just seemed to fit together perfectly. Not that I didn't love the other girls and become friends with them too, but there was just an obvious difference between us all that we didn't know about until we got there. And now with my visiting teaching companion and assignments, I feel like the Lord assigned me to them for a reason.

Sunday night was the Arhet's Family Thanksgiving. The food was great, the company was better, and we even got to see Tatum's new puppy. We ate so much food I was surprised we could waddle back to our cars at the end of the night. I guess it was good practice for the real Thanksgiving. Clayton and I will be spending it at my sister's house with her family, but Clayton's family lives so close now I wouldn't be surprised if we stopped by there too for seconds. 

Today was my Dad's birthday. I called him up to wish him a Happy Birthday and let him know that we sent him a gift in the mail to look out for. I don't talk to him often, but it's always nice to catch up. I told him that I'm taking a cross country skiing class next semester, knowing that that kind of thing is right up his ally, and we tentatively planned to do a back country skiing trip sometime. We'll see.