Music I Recommend (Joe)

ROCK
*Flamingo - Brandon Flowers
*Sam’s Town - The Killers
*Joshua Tree - U2
*Achtung Baby - U2
*It’s Time - Imagine Dragons
*1 - The Beatles
*Parachute - Coldplay
*A Rush Of Blood To The Head - Coldplay
*Darkness On the Edge of Town - Bruce Springsteen
*Born In The USA - Bruce Springsteen
*Philadelphonic - G. Love & Special Sauce
*Lost and Gone Forever - Guster

POP
*Thriller - Michael Jackson
*Nilsson Schmilsson - Harry Nilsson
*Anchor - Mindy Gledhill

SINGER-SONGWRITER
*Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon & Garfunkel
*Graceland - Paul Simon
*James Taylor’s Greatest Hits - James Taylor
*Teaser and the Firecat - Cat Stevens
*Gold - Ryan Adams
*Room For Squares - John Mayer
*Tap Root Manuscript - Neil Diamond
*O - Damien Rice
*White Ladder - David Gray
*Amber & Green - David Hopkins
*Guitar Town - Steve Earle
*Harvest Moon - Neil Young
*The Stranger - Billy Joel
*The Animal Years - Josh Ritter
*Brushfire Fairytales - Jack Johnson
*In Between Dreams - Jack Johnson
*Lonelyland - Bob Schneider
*Hoarse & Roaring - Parlor Hawk

MORE CLASSICAL ALBUMS
*A Little Touch of Schmilsson in the Night - Harry Nilsson
*Come Away With Me - Norah Jones
*100 - Mormon Tabernacle Choir
*Showtime - Mormon Tabernacle Choir
*Romanza - Andrea Boccelli
*White Christmas - Bing Crosby
*My Christmas - Andrea Boccelli
*Joy To The World - Mormon Tabernacle Choir
*Glad Tidings Christmas - Mormon Tabernacle Choir feat. David Archuleta

I've gone ahead and linked some of the ones that I really feel strongly about.

Ward Halloween Party

Wednesday was the Provo Peak 10th Ward Halloween Party. It was awesome. Julia and I made Halloween decorations for FHE with our good neighbors. Then we decorated a door in the church and handed out candy to trick or treaters. Downstairs there were games in the gymnasium including pumpkin bowling and then in the cultural hall there was food and a screen playing a Halloween Alvin & The Chipmuks film.

Julia and I dressed up as Amelia Earhart and the night guard from Night at The Museum 2.

More Week Plans

Thursday -- Julia and I attended the Parlor Hawk/Matt Pond PA/Rocky Votolato concert at Velour Music Gallery.

Saturday -- We went to Lagoon with Julia's brother and his wife, the wife's brothers, our good friends Megan and Melissa, and their significant others. We also ate at Chic-Fil-A. Lagoon is excellent in part because it is clean, visited by fairly nice people, and it is home of one of the coolest rides I've ever ridden--"Wicked". The ride includes a straight shoot up and then a straight drop down on the coaster. Furthermore, since we visited during the Frightmares Season we got to do two haunted houses before calling it enough. And, we rode one of the best kiddie rides I've been on--"Oddysea". It was wet, self controlled, and fun.

Finally, we ate out and I had fried zucchini at Carl's Jr. and $1 Spicy Chicken sandwiches (I always add pico de gallo from the free toppings or fry sauce). I only make note of this because those sandwiches were a source of pride amongst my former college roommates.

The whole thing probably wouldn't have been possible if not for my brother W and his wife K. They were kind enough to give us two Lagoon tickets free. Talk about brotherly/sisterly love.

Sunday -- At church the primary children sang and spoke. It was fantastic and we chuckled and listened to some of the sweet things they said in addition to enjoying the good spirit there. That evening my sister E came over and helped Julia bake an incredible pumpkin chocolate cake with cream cheese frosting and dark chocolate ganache. We celebrated SIL K's birthday at E's home with pizza, cookies, and cake. There were several people there and it was excellent cake.

Joe: The Magnanimous Husband

October 16, 2011 is the anniversary of me and Joe's first date. I can remember a lot of details, but to sum it up: A year ago he took me out to eat at some Mexican restaurant and then to Fork Fest where he tried to impress me with the fact that he knew EVERYONE. Well, it might have worked and the rest is history.

Yesterday Joe picked me up from getting my hair done and he said that we were going to celebrate. I didn't even remember that it was our anniversary and when I did I thought it was the 14th. (In my defense, I didn't know you were supposed to celebrate this anniversary... major points for Joe). We went to Gloria's Little Italy (delicious) and then home where these gorgeous roses waited for me. Flowers are always my favorite. And that's not the best part. The entire apartment, which I had left a disaster after making candy corn mousse, was totally clean. I have the best husband, right?

The faces we both fell in love with. Happy Anniversary.

Candy Corn Mousse and Halloween Preparation

In honor of Halloween coming up Julia made candy corn mousse. We are also reading Dracula by Bram Stoker. We are still working on costumes. Recently, we also began listening to my Halloween mix--

Curse - Imagine Dragons
Supermassive Black Hole - Muse
Bones - The Killers
Dead Man's Party - Oingo Boingo
Thriller - Michael Jackson
Help I'm Alive - Metric
Ghost Busters - Ray Parker, Jr.
Don't Fear The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
Zombie - The Cranberries

In A Week

Last Saturday Julia and I went for sushi at my favorite place in P-Town...Sushiya. It was Julia's first time. We ate salmon, tuna, and eel in addition to some rolls. If you've never been to Sushiya and tried the "godzilla" I recommend it.

Sunday evening we celebrated my cousin SB's birthday with a family dinner and then cake and ice cream with loads of friends.

Monday, we signed up at Gold's Gym for FHE.

On Tuesday we had a GOP debate party with some family. We bought pizza and watched the debate and commented back and forth about the results. We even had a pocket copy of the US Constitution available for reference.

Wednesday, I went to an excellent concert at The State Room in SLC. The headliner was Priscilla Ahn (Blue Note Records) and Parlor Hawk were the openers. Parlor Hawk's harmonies and duo set up was excellent and Priscilla rounded out the evening nicely. I also spoke with her and her band including Gary who, being Japanese, chatted with me in the language. Unfortunately, Julia is still just barely too young to attend.



Thursday, my mom came for a surprise visit and we all went to see my sister and my cousin play and win their championship intramural volleyball game at BYU. It was a nail biter but the Spike Girls took it home like true champions. Then we went for dinner at another favorite spot--Zuppas.

My Mom...Is Your Mom...Is Our Mom...

Julia and I have special mothers. They are awesome. They also might have known each other before they were born…

*They are seminary teachers
*Their first names rhyme
*They both used to substitute teach for school
*They are married to Mormon men (older then them) who have masters degrees in accounting
*They use corn holders shaped like corn
*They, their spouses and thus far all of their children have attended BYU campuses
*All of their sons have served full time missions for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
*They make peanuts covered in chocolate and give them out at Christmas time (no carmel inside the clusters)
*They love to garden and are members of the Republican party
*They love to gab on the phone with their ward and family members
*They talk to their pet animals as though they were people (knowing they are not people)
*They instituted health shakes (made of fresh ingredients) to ward away illness–both shakes taste horrible and are brown colored
*They both like to read
*They both like the bands Imagine Dragons and Egyptian
*They both are bashful swimmers
*They love Mexican food and they LOVE garlic
*They LOVE their kids unequivocally
*Their mothers remind Joe of each other
*They don’t watch rated R movies but they watch a lot of movies on dates or with family
*They always discourage sleep overs
*They expect manners and will not stand foul language
*They loved to get the insider scoop on who we (were) dating
*They love to tell other people stories about the wild things we’ve done after we do them and tell…if we tell in advance they will raise all sorts of questions about how good an idea this is…
*They go regularly to the temple–how awesomely righteous?!
*They don't watch sports except for the occasional BYU game
*Both “let” their children clean floors by riding around on sponges and rags when they were younger
*Both with tease you, laugh with you, gab with you, or just get to know you if you give them the chance. That's how they learned to behave in public.

Phone Troubles

Last weekend both of our cell phones died. So, now if we have lost your phone number in the mix please forgive us. We'd still love to hear from you as we've purchased replacements.

Julia's Famous Cheesecake

Baked Thur Oct 6, 2011

When Julia was younger she ran a cheesecake business. One of her favorite customers paid as much as $300 for her handmade cheesecakes. She even hand dips the chocolate covered strawberries, etc. If she loves you and the cream cheese is on super sale, you may one day taste a cheesecake a la Julia.

First Weekend of October Plans

Friday-

We bought two glazed donuts and stayed home and watched Life Is Beautiful (1997) which is an Italian film which won three Academy Awards (including best actor).

Saturday-

I took the LSAT at BYU. Afterward I joined Julia and her sister and husband for the General Conference of the Church or Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and pizza.

Sunday-

More General Conference. More food. More time with my wife.