Conference Weekend

Two weekends a year we stay at home and watch General Conference. This is a live broadcast of our prophet and leaders in our church receiving inspiration from God and speaking directly to us. It is an amazing experience of hope and renewal. And family time. I love it and get so much peace and hope from it. 

The kids and I painting:

 

Talmage left for a week long conference in Flordia on Sunday of conference weekend.

You are What You Eat

 How we've changed our eating habits after watching Hungry for Change:

• The label says it all; we try to buy more FOOD and less "food like product." 
• We buy more organic vegetables especially spinach.
• We have a lot more smoothies with cleansing ingredients such as adding parsley, spinach, cilantro, etc.
• We try to make meals that we are used to but with a healthier twist. For example, brown rice instead of white rice.
• We eat less meat and more fruits and vegetables, it seems to even out budget-wise.

Honestly, it's a challenge to find that balance of taste good and is good for you; a challenge worth working on. Because you are what you eat.

Hungry for Change

Rachel and I feel that we have drastically improved our eating habits lately. The underlying theme to our new lifestyle is eating more food and less "food-like products" (said with a latin accent). We have made this change, in large part because of a video that we watch that was recommended by my cousin Lucy. The Hungry for Change book has just come out and to promote it the video is available for free until midnight this Saturday October 6th. It's long (about an hour and half) but well worth the watch.

Heber and DaMAN

So the other day we were walking down the street when we saw these kids playing. One of them as he saw Heber yelled, "Hey you got the same shirt as me!" So we got a picture of them together. The little boy's name was Daman (pronounced da-MAN). He made sure we knew it was with a "d" not a "th" as if that is a common mistake.

Hokie Pride and Military Appreciation

Blacksburg, VA is home to the Virginia Tech Hokies. When there is a home football game here the whole town is centered around the action. Businesses close. Students party. Alumni return. And old timers tune in their radios. When I try to describe it to people, the best comparison I can come up with is to imagine a University of Arizona Wildcat football stadium right in the middle of Globe, AZ. Anyway, last Saturday the Hokies played Bowling Green University. They aren't too great so it wasn't hard to get some free tickets.

It was also Military Appreciation Day and both the football players and the fans dressed appropriately.

Bowling Green (carrying the ball) and Virginia Tech (making the tackle)

Heber (top) and Talmage (bottom)

We had some nice seats, in my opinion. I was hesitant about them at first because it was in the north end zone student section. But they turned out to be at the very back of the student section giving us a nice view of the whole stadium and a view of the campus behind us.

Our seats were right up there where those people are standing 

Overall it was really exciting. Heber complained about it being loud and we were only able to hold out halfay through the second quarter. After a slow start, Virginia Tech won 37-0.

BG field goal attempt. The fans are signaling "Block it." If you look close you can see the ball next to the left upright.

The front of our shirts weren't too hokie-ish

Opening kickoff. It was so windy that someone had to hold the ball for the kicker.

Utilizing the Cartoon Effect option on my camera phone

What is a hokie? I've not yet heard an adequate answer. Maybe this?

 The plan was originally to bring Hannah since Heber got to go to a basketball game with me. She wanted to the night before. But once here and Rachel got working on her new bike, she lost all interest.

Turning Heber's $10 spider-man bike into a girls' balance bike. 

Scrubbing off the old

On with the new

Olive doing her part

More on her new bike and a more thorough update of our new car-less lifestyle to come.

Sometimes I Like to Donate My Body to Science

The Peter Pan pose so that the cameras (e.g. right of my head) could catch everything

Immersed in Books