Finally an update!

Ok, my apologies for taking so long to post again. It's been busy (story of my life) and my camera has been dead, but I finally have updates, so although this might take a while, I've had lots of requests for updates. So here you go. This is how much I love you.

First up was the "Season 4 Office Premiere Party" that I had for the first episode of NBC's "The Office". Except for a couple of technical difficulties it was a hit. Tons of people came and some of us even dressed up as our favorite characters. I got a bunch of themed goodies from the Target dollar section and even successfully put a stapler in Jello (although I forgot to get a picture)!
Jim (Ben), Madge from the Warehouse (Cary), Pam (me) and Angela (Holly)!

Next was the annual ward campout to Sharon VT. I forgot to take pictures, lame I know, but it was beautiful, although cold. I slept in a cabin this year, so much better. We went to the Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream Factory which was delicious and fun, then to the Von Trapp family Lodge and to an apple cider press. We had campfires with s'mores and singing and then had sacrament meeting outside. It was a lot of fun.

The big event of October that I've been working on as part of the committee for the last several months was the YSA Education Conference. Elder Holland came and spoke and it was so amazing! I was a complete mess of stress since I was in charge of the main event of Sat. night, the Black & White Ball at the Massachusetts State House and also the Sunday Service, but it all turned out well. Because of the stressing and running around I had no time or presence of mind to get pictures! I am bummed because it looked great, but my friend Tim, who is a photographer took tons and has promised to post them, so when he does I'll be sure to put up the link. We had a live jazz band that was a huge success and had a dessert bar. Everyone looked great decked out in their semi-formal black and white. The best part of the weekend was when I got to meet Elder Holland and his wife Patricia, they were so sweet. Sister Holland gave me a hug and thanked me for all I had done. I also got to sing for him since I put together a small group number for the Sunday Service and that was amazing too. It was a wonderful experience that I'll never forget.

Next up is our Halloween Party! This was a lot of fun, but after the Ed Conf and Halloween I'm definitely done party planning for a while! It can be stressful! But it's usually worth it, as it was this year. Our house is perfect for a Halloween party, so it became the Haunted Mansion, complete with "scary Butler" in the front hall! We had a little dance party upstairs afterward and it was a blast, check out some of the pics:

Cleopatra (me), Alice (Abby), The Geisha (Lora), Crazy Dr. Nicole, and Lisa the Stepford Wife.
Me and Nicole
Adam in Nicole's wig and crazy sun glasses... very scary!
Our orange wall worked great as a pumpkin! Don't worry, it doesn't usually look this orange.
"Crazy Alice"
Dance Party!!


And finally the grand finale! Last night we had an event that weeks of preparation went into! The Pride and Prejudice Ball! For the last few weeks we've been meeting with a group in the gym and learning dances from Jane Austen movies! And amazingly it turned out to be such a great night! So many people participated and we were only short a few guys! It was a huge success and so much fun to learn the old dances. I finally was able to make a Jane Austen dress (which I think turned out pretty well for my first one) and it was great to dress up and dance in a fancy room at Harvard. Here's more pics from that event:

Ben and I at home before the event. Doesn't his cravat look great? I did that too.
Christina, Holly and I at the beginning of the dance.
Dancing with Ben
Another lovely Austen dress made by Shauna's Mom!
Dancing a waltz
The Men!

And the lovely ladies in costume. There were more girls but not all in period garb.
Seriously it was such a fun night! We had a live orchestra play for the 4 P&P dances we learned and it was almost as good as being in a movie! I'm glad there were more people than just myself interested in doing something like this. Maybe it will become a tradition!

Ok, so I hope you're happy with that for now! Coming up in the future: the Holiday Gala this next Sat. with dinner groups beforehand, Thanksgiving in Maryland/DC (I'm excited to go to Baltimore!) and then Christmas in Alaska with the babies! I can't wait! Also, I'm waiting to hear about a job I interviewed for last week at the Rare Book lab at Harvard. Keep your fingers crossed for me!