The Glories of Gingerbread

Here is our gingerbread display... in all its GLORY! We've got the Eiffel Tower out of Rice Krispies, the Birds Nest and the Great Wall from China, a Nebraska home and the Pyramids of Egypt. In the center is the Baby Jesus! My Faith in God girls helped out; my main partners in creativity were Mar-bear and Keri Pratt. We learned that a hot glue gun is way better than frosting.... not as goopy and dries much faster and clearer! Shhhh.... Anyway, please notice and appreciate the Ninjas that are supposed to be Burqua'd women, the frowning prisoner (Mary's genius) the guy with the broken foot/ crutch, Spongebob! and the Hawaiian hula dancers!

The scoop on the Pete

Peter recently applied to 27 different oral surgery residency programs. So far, he has two interviews: one at Long Island Jewish in NY (Dec. 15), and one in Kansas City (Nov. 22). We'll find out in late January if he got accepted anywhere. If not, he'll apply for one-year internships all over the country, then reapply to oral surgery programs a year from now. Its likely that after an internship, he'll get accepted somewhere! I'm hoping we get to live in NY for SIX YEARS. You're all invited to come visit if that is the case! Of course, if we get accepted to Kansas City, you're still invited, but my guess is that the odds are better for NY.

Stopping for caterpillars

My sister Meredith came to visit last month. My FIRST family member visit, I might add. It was great! We laughed, cried, stayed up late talking, pigged out, went roller blading. The Omaha Zoo is fantastic (I didn't realize how crappy the AZ Zoo was until I moved to Omaha), so I made her go with Peter and me. Here are a couple of pics from that adventure. We spent nearly an hour with the gorillas. They are fascinating. At one point, one silverback was staring into our eyes, the next he slammed his fist against the glass. It freaked us out, of course! We thought we had upset him, but the volunteers told us that he does that to make people scream, which greatly amuses him.

I love to see the world through my sister's eyes. For example, we spent 20 minutes watching these "penguin" creatures as they huddled around some random door, waiting for who knows what. Meredith hypothesized about their daily feeding hour, or maybe one of them went there and the other followed, but they were such conformists. When one looked up, the others looked up. It was so fun to visit the zoo with her! Also, there were hundreds of GIANT catfish (some weighed 50 pounds) just flopping all over each other to get feed by humans over this bridge. It was cool to watch them.

Anyway, another funny story is that my husband Peter is all about "keeping it moving" when we are doing anything - from playing a game to rollerblading. He just likes to be productive at all times. To illustrate my point, in August he and I were rollerblading around a gorgeous park/lake (Zorinsky for those Omaha people) and a DEER and her two TWIN fawns were all of a sudden flanking us, about 6-10 feet away. We must have startled them, because they were running alongside us, trying to figure out to dart ahead or stop or what. It was incredible to watch them, and I was riveted. Peter interrupts my amazement to say "keep it moving." I teased him later - what, we don't have time to stop and look at the deer? I warned him that when Meredith came to visit, she would want to stop and appreciate not just the deer, but even the caterpillars. True enough, when we went rollerblading last month, Merf and Peter lagged behind and he later told me that she stopped to observe a caterpillar crossing the path! Do I know my sister or what!? I love it. Reminds me of President Monson's comments on "enjoying the journey." NOT that Peter doesn't enjoy the journey. He is the most productive, self-disciplined, and organized person I know, and I appreciate his ability to be unbalanced when it is necessary - like in dental school. But, it makes me laugh to think of the difference between those two!

And then my hairpiece fell off

There I was, having a "good hair day" with the pony-tail, braided hair piece over my wimpy, flat hair. Dang, I looked good. So, I'm up at the board, in front of my Italian class last night, when I hear some giggling from the back. I turn around and there it is... my hairpiece lying on the floor. I froze for two seconds. I couldn't believe this had actually happened... and to me. It was like I was having an out of body experience - looking at myself and this nightmare - the professoressa who wears a hairpiece!? It gets worse. I tried to laugh it off, then I put it back on, only to have it promptly fall off again two minutes later. The humiliation was complete. I threw it on the table and moved on. An hour of night class to go... Gulp. Somehow, I got through it. After class, I got therapy from a few of my friendly female students who could relate. We all had a good laugh. But it is still soooo embarrassing! Of course, if I were them, I would be chortling up a storm and telling everybody, but alas, I was the clown for the evening.

Winter Visitor

I've been debating whether or not to go to AZ over Christmas break because Peter and I are driving to UT for almost two weeks, and its already a long time to be away from my thesis.... Well, my nephew, 2 year-old Theron broke the deal. All the pictures and reports I hear of him are just too cute , he's such the jokester, he's the party animal, etc. , that I couldn't stay away any longer!? So, Theron, I'm coming to visit you... and all of the other Reynolds clan. January 2 - January 11. Classes at UNO begin on January 12, so the professoressa has to be back by then! Looking forward to it! Yay.

A spiritual feast!

I love General Conference; it is truly an opportunity for revelation and refreshment. We don't have digital cable - the only way to watch it at home in Omaha - so we went to my in-laws, where they had a laptop se up. My favorite talks, quotes and stories include:

1. President Uchdorf's talk on HOPE. I love when he said that hope is both a principle and a commandment. It is manifest in confidence, enthusiasm and patience. Quoting Abraham, when times look bleak, "against hope we believe in hope.

2. Elder Oaks talk on appropriately partaking of the sacrament and preparing for sacrament meeting. "We cannot consistently retain the spirit of the Lord unless we consistently obey his commandments."

3. President Monson's reminder to "enjoy the journey!"

4. Elder Wirthlin's story about his daughter's blind date... who turned out to be there for her younger sister to go babysitting.

5. Elder Christofferson's talk on ZION, especially his thoughts on unity.

Of course, General Conference is ALL GOOD! As Brother Mecham, my institute teacher would say, these are our "marching orders." What are some of your favorites?

Here are a few pictures of us watching conference. Of course, we always maximize our time at the Nelson home. :)

The not-so helpful husband

Peter tried to fix my FAVORITE pair of boots when the heel and bottom came loose last week. I was gone all night, teaching my night class at UNO. With all good intentions, he pulled out the 'ol gorilla glue... and here are the disastrous results. For any of you unfamiliar with Gorilla Glue, it EXPANDS... a lot... so hopefully you'll learn from our mishap. Anyway, I'm grateful for Peter's willingness to help me. He's adorable. Poor guy spent all night trying to wipe it off. Someday it will be funny. But not quite yet. :)