Our less-than exciting life

Melissa was sustained as the second counselor in the young women's presidency in our ward today. This will be her second stint in young women's. She was a Mia Maid advisor when we first moved to Cedar City. This time around she'll be working with the Beehives (12-13 year old girls). She said she's glad this calling is coming when she's almost done with this semester -- her final full-time semester. She spent nearly all day Sat. working on two final projects. She is the biggest non-procrastinator I know. She does her very best to get things done way earlier than they are due. I commend her. She is never frantically trying to get something done at the last minute. She's the exact opposite of me. When I was an undergrad, I remember starting a paper I knew about for three weeks at 10 a.m. the day it was due (at 2 p.m.).

I sent in the third draft of my thesis (yippee!!!!) last week, so now I must start studying for comprehensive exams. I hope and pray that I will FINALLY graduate with my Master's Degree in May. I probably could have been done earlier, but as I mentioned in the last paragraph, I am a major procrastinator. I am officially the sports editor of the new newspaper I'm working for, Iron County today. Even though I'm making the same as I was with the Cedar City Review, it's still a promotion. It'll look better on a resume! I talked to the the SUU football and men's basketball coaches this week. It's really nice covering college sports again. High school students are going to help us out with our high school sports. It should be interesting at first, but I'm sure two or three of them will be solid.

Well, those are probably the most exciting things going on in our boring life. We're pretty much homebodies -- me more than Melissa. Seriously, for the last month or so, I generally only get out of the house to go to games, talk to coaches, shopping and church. Going down to Hurricane for Thanksgiving will be a real treat. I hope your lives are more exciting than ours right now!

In spite of our boring lives, Leah keeps us entertained. Below is a video of her walking through our messy living room (courtesy of her) . . . . in circles. Yes, she is now a full-time walker.

Halloween on Veterans Day

We dressed Leah up in her Halloween costume (a skunk outfit that Melissa made) this evening since we were in Arizona on Halloween and forgot to bring her costume with us. Below are some pics:

She's not a big fan of the skunk hat

A smiling skunk with Mommy

Skunk with a cell phone

Leah is always playing with our cell phones so we fired up Melissa's old phone. It lights up when she presses buttons, etc. but can't call anyone!!

And now for some bragging -- I have to brag for Melissa since I know she probably won't brag about herself (she's a modest person). Last week she was invited to join both Psy Chi and Alpha Chi. Psy Chi is an honor society for psychology students reserved for the top 35 percent of students in the program. Alpha Chi is an honor society for students in the top 10 percent of their program!! Melissa is achieving excellent grades and, as she puts it, will graduate with "extra tassels on her graduation gown." I'm very proud of her. She's doing way better in school than I ever did!!!!

Fabulous Freshmen

I just couldn't resist naming this post that after events that have taken place the last few weeks. As many of you know, my nephew, Colin, is a student at SUU (It's nice having a family member still in town since Melissa's parents moved two months ago). Since he and most of his friends live in dorms, they come to our house for dates (carving pumpkins during Oct.) and to hang out sometimes. So our excitment the last few weeks has been spending time with 18 year olds. Leah has enjoyed them too. They love playing with her.

The last week of October, the newspaper I was working for, the Cedar City Review, shut down. It was quite a blow to hear it and I will admit, I had some days filled with anxiety after receiving the news. Fortunately, the owner of the Davis County Clipper (based in Bountiful), Gail Stahle, is starting a new newspaper called "Iron County Today" that, for all intents and purposes, will replace the Review. He had been looking to start a paper here 12 years ago and even thought about buying the Review. He has been in the newspaper business for a long time and knows what he is doing. The new newspaper will be bigger and better than the Review. Stahle met with the former staff of the Cedar City Review last week to start putting his plans in motion. Iron County Today will officially begin operations on Nov. 17 and the first issue will be Nov. 26, the day before Thanksgiving. I've already started some of the groundwork because the paper will feature an expanded sports section and will cover SUU sports, which the Cedar City Review did not.

Melissa and I both had what we think was the stomach flu last week. Melissa had it on Wed. and I had it on Fri. I think Melissa has the stronger stomach. She didn't throw up. I did. She cleaned up my vomit for me -- now that's true love! Yesterday I covered 1A and 2A high school football semifinal games (played at SUU) for the Deseret News -- nearly six hours of some of the sloppiest football I've seen. Interestingly, the final score of both games was 26-13. What are the chances of that? Needless to say, I won't be signing up to cover back-to-back football games again any time soon.

Our ward split today. I lost the entire Elders Quorum Presidency, both instructors, half of the district leaders and half of the committee chairmen. I'm going to have to start nearly from scratch. I'm going to miss my first and second counselors, especially -- I've served with my second counselor for a little more than two years and my first counselor for a little over a year. A lot of cool people that live mere blocks away will now be in a different ward, which is kind of weird. I welcome the ward becoming more manageable, but I will miss the association of good friends in a ward setting.

And lastly, it looks like Leah is finally becoming a regular walker. She was more determined to walk today than we've ever seen her. She is walking longer distances without falling and getting up much easier after falling. It won't be long until she's running around the house!

The secondhand, retro sweater!

I could not resist uploading this cute pic of Leah in her new snowflake sweater. In actuality, it is not a new sweater because it is from a secondhand store (the most cost-effective way to shop for baby/toddler clothes). Melissa fell in love with the sweater because it reminded her of similar sweaters she used to wear when she was in middle school (the mid 90s). This pic is taken from the bleachers at the Sheep Dog Trials that were part of the Livestock and Heritage Festival last weekend. More on that event later . . . . .

A trip in our future

Melissa:
Five more Monday's!!!!!!!!!!! Melissa hasn't lost site of her countdown for school. You know, out of all the semesters and years of going to school, this year by far has been my funnest, coolest and most educational !!!! I have learned so much that is so very applicable not only for myself but my family and friends. Sorry, I just had to get that out there. Right now I feel I eat, breath and sleep homework. Leah is awesome. She is growing like a weed and I swear getting smarter and smarter everyday. Though, I think she is a little lazy on the whole walking thing. She can walk but just rather crawl. Whatever, just grateful she has those physical abilities.

Reuben:
It was my birthday last Monday -- the big 32. I told Melissa that I'm not mature enough to be 32, or at least I don't feel like it. My birthday celebration was simple. My Mom and Dad took us out to dinner and my nephew Colin, who is a student at SUU, joined us. Instead of cake, my Mom made a pear pie, so we had pie and ice cream. Melissa gave me a very thoughtful gift. She gave me a jar decorated with the Italian flag colors and little pictures of Italian-related items such as a map of Italy, the Leaning Tower of Pisa and a Venetian carnavale mask and labeled it the "Italy Rome Temple Dedication Fund." It was very sweet of her and meant more than any store-bought gift. It is our goal to attend the Rome temple dedication.



It's been my goal since I came home from my mission. My mission president sent us an email saying that he wants to have a mission reunion in Rome at the time of the temple dedication. There's only about $3 in the jar now, but we're determined to save enough to make the trip. I was so ecstatic when I heard President Monson make the announcement. Melissa and I gave each other high fives. I wasn't expecting it to come this soon. My mission president said he was shocked it came this soon, too. Still, it'll probably be 3-4 years before it is dedicated, so we've got some time. We'll gladly take donations to the fund if you would like to donate! ha ha ha

High school fall sports are winding down and I'm kind of sad actually. I will especially miss the girls soccer games. The two local high school teams were really competitive this year. I wrote a column in this week's issue (Oct. 30) commending them for their good seasons. It's so nice to have the job at the Review. It's way more fun that writing web text. I feel like I'm actually making a difference. I've received a lot of positive comments from players, coaches and parents saying they're glad that our paper is giving the local H.S. athletes the recognition they deserve since The Spectrum (the So. Utah daily newspaper) does not do that great of a job. If any of you are interested in reading my articles they are at http://www.cedarcityreview.com/. Click on the "local news" link in the top left hand corner to see anything written by me since usually only news stories are on the home page.

Yah, as Melissa said, Leah is pretty lazy at walking. She's excellent at getting into things we don't want her to get in, as most kids are. Lately, she has had a fascination with the books on the book shelf in our office. It seems like the first one she always grabs is one of my books about Butch Cassidy. Perhaps she'll have a fascination about outlaws like me.

I'm working on the third draft of my thesis and hoping to get it back to my committee chair in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully he'll like it this time and it will be "defensable." Once it's done, I'll study for my comprehensive exams and take my comprehensive exams in the spring and FINALLY get my Master's Degree more than five years after starting my program!!!

My soccer sidekick (by Reuben)

The editor of the Cedar City Review, the weekly paper I write for, told me the other day, "Leah is going to like sports when she gets older." At the rate she is going, it's very possible. She has attended quite a few sporting events in the past couple weeks.

This week Leah was my companion at two soccer games and a football practice (Tues. and Thurs. afternoons) because on Tuesday afternoon Melissa had a study group and on Thursday she was sick needed some rest. My main reason for attending the Cedar High School football practice was to talk to players for a preview of the team's homecoming game next weekend. After Cedar's assistant coach (who also happens to be the second counselor in our ward's bishopric) summoned the two players (the quarterback and star running back) he told them, "You're gonna half to answer to this young lady," pointing to Leah. They both grinned. Leah then sat in her stroller without making a peep while I interviewed the two players and took a few pictures of the team practicing.

At both soccer games, Leah did fine sitting in her stroller during the first halves, but in between halves she grew restless. During the game on Tuesday, we were camped out next to the goal(which I've found is the best perspective for taking soccer pictures). Leah was fascinated by the goal net and played with it most of the second half, under my close supervision, of course. During the game on Thursday, I felt like I had taken enough good pictures after the first half, so during the second half we sat on the sidelines by the Canyon View team. By this time, Leah was getting restless in her stroller again so I let her out and allowed her to roam a little bit. For some reason, she almost always headed straight for the white line that delineates the field for about the first 20 minutes she was out of the stroller, after which I'd fetch her and bring her back, but then she'd head there again once I let her go again. When Canyon View scored its first goal 10 minutes into the second half, I put Leah down to record the information about the goal and by the time I was done, she had made her way back to the white line as the game resumed without me even realizing it. I held her for about the next 10 minutes, after which she was content hanging out by the stroller.

After the game on Thursday, one of the first things the Canyon View coach said to me was, "I see you brought your 'date' with you again." I also talked two of the Canyon View players. The first one I talked to didn't have much to say, but as she was walking away she said something like, "By the way, you have a very cute daughter."

I'm beginning to think I'm building a reputation as the sports writer who always has his little daughter with him. Last week, Leah and I went to a tennis match together because Melissa had a study group. When Melissa doesn't have any school commitments, she usually comes with me though. High school sporting events have become our family outings. You can't beat getting paid to spend time with your family, right?!?

A new direction

For all of you who don't know yet -- our house is up for sale. Any takers?

We really like Cedar City, but it's time for us to move on. Melissa will graduate with her B.S. in psychology from SUU in May, and after that we plan on moving, most likely to the Phoenix area. It's time for Reuben to move on in his career. Being a "copy, paster and reworder" as Melissa would say, has done us well for our stage in life -- but really . . . who wants to do that for the rest of their lives! Until we move, we'll enjoy the rest of our time in Cedar. Melissa is glad that this is her last winter here.

The above photo is from a little train Melissa and Leah rode in (pulled by a Snapper lawnmower) at the "The Great American Stampede" last weekend. The event includes a horse parade, a rodeo, and games in the park. This year it featured the Budweiser Clydesdales for the first time ever. Pretty exciting, huh? Reuben had to take pictures of it for his second job, reporter for the Cedar City Review, which he enjoys more than his "real job." The job means we get to go to high school football games together every Friday night -- Melissa is the photographer and Reuben is the reporter.

Melissa no longer works and has enjoyed being a stay-at-home/full-time student. We have no idea how this is working out, but it seems like whenever Melissa gets home from class, Reuben has to leave to cover something for the newspaper or go to an Elders Quorum meeting. It's a crazy schedule, but we're making it work. Melissa is counting down -- 12 more Mondays of until she is done with this semester.

We'll try to do our best to update this regularly, but no guarantees (please see our disclaimer).

We hope to hear from many of you soon!

P.S. If you would like to get ahold of us, email us at melspaz@hotmail.com or rangerreub@yahoo.com