November!

So October was not very active as far as my blogging is concerned. But I did actually do a TON last month. Here's a quick recap:

• General Conference. LOVE.
• Phantom. See post below for my true feelings.
• Trip to Lansing. AMAZING. Enjoyed a fantastically fun-filled weekend of silliness with my niece, which included the coolest apple and pumpkin farm ever. It was windy, or "winny" as Carly says, and enjoyed doughnuts, fresh cider, cider slushies, and picking our pumpkins from the patch. So fun! She's so awesome. I think being an aunt is the best.
• Trip to Knoxville. Very fast trip, but SO fun. I got roped into participating in Jenny's institute activity instead of just helping, so I was in the brown bag skit entitled The Dark Side of Justin Bieber. Totally hilarious, particularly when the institute director was Bieber..... Then Jen's meet was AWESOME, and we got to see some of our friends who were there for UK, which is okay, and UT beat IU, which makes the world a happier place.
• Trip to Louisville and Cincinnati. Got to watch Jen and her team beat Louisville very soundly, which was awesome, as I tend to not be a very big fan of them, but that's besides the point. The day was a bit of an excited blur, thanks to an announcement I will discuss later. Then we drove up to Cincinnati and stayed with the Rahlf's for a few days, which is the most relaxing thing in the world, and not just because they have a fireplace that turns on with a light switch. We watched Dallin play his last high school football game, which ended in a disappointing loss and we spent most of the game angry, but I won't touch that soapbox. I would never get off. I did get to see my friend Amy, who is probably the friend I've had for the longest that is female. We hadn't really talked in a looooong time, so it was so awesome to see her. Saturday we came back home, but not before stopping in Indy to see Chris, who was there for a conference.
• Stake Conference. AMAZING!!!!!!!!!! One of the best EVER!!!!
• Halloween.

So yeah, that was October. Pretty busy. What you don't see listed are the days and hours spent working on blasted grad school applications and essays. If I never do another, it will be too soon. Thankfully, everything is done except entering the GRE scores and mailing them off. And ordering transcripts. I have to wait until November 8th for my scores, and once I have those, I will order transcripts and mail everything off. I cannot wait until all of this is over.
I am currently on a Jane Austen kick. Again. It comes every few months or so. I just love it so much. Anyway....
Halloween last night was pretty fun. Dad and I sat outside with our outdoor fireplace and handed out candy. I love doing this, because we get to see all sorts of costumes and kids and we get to talk with parents. It was cold, but fun still.
Okay, now to the announcement which has changed the course of life for the Connollys forever: On Thursday, just before Jenny's meet, we found out that my brother and his wife are having TWINS! I NEVER expected that, and obviously neither did they. It has been an entertaining few days for me, watching my parents talk about what they are going to do and want to do and being giddy grandparents. I cannot imagine how overwhelming it would be to find out you were having two babies instead of one, but I am confident that Chris and Erin can handle it perfectly and they will be the most fantastic twins to ever grace the planet.
So that is life as I know it. Now it is November, which is a nice month, but tends to be a tad depressing as all of the leaves turn brown and fall from the trees and it gets colder and darker. But Thanksgiving is at the end of the month, and I really do love Thanksgiving a lot. I'll post on that holiday later, but I feel very strongly it needs to receive its own due.
Happy November to all, and when you are out of your sugar-coma from last night, go for a walk. It's pretty today.