Why I Dislike Halloween- or Reasons for Staying Home on October 31

1. I feel silly wearing a costume. No one needs to see a 30+year old lady dressed up like Snow White or Wonder Woman.
2. I feel tempted to dress my dog in a costume. We all get those spam emails featuring pugs dressed up like Yoda and dachsunds dressed up like hot dogs, which of course make me want to dress up my shihtzu. This never ends well, as I feel embarrased, both for my dog and for myself when other people start treating me as if I've lost my marbles.
3. I feel upset/irritated when other people feel the need to dress like the members of another racial/ethnic group. I am Asian. I feel supremely annoyed when other people dress up like samurais or geishas. Its like yellow blackface (or yellowface, I suppose). This Halloween season, I've encountered white people dressed like geishas (with slanty eye makeup), Aunt Jemima (in full blackface), and a particularly questionable Hispanic-themed costume consisting of a pancho, sombrero, and an empty tequila bottle. It is as if they are saying, "hey, your racial identity is so unreal and unhuman, I'm wearing it as a costume." What, was Party City out of zombie costumes this year, so you decided to dress in blackface/yellowface/brownface?
4. Candy ain't free. 'Nuff said.
5. I feel annoyed handing out candy to infants and/or trick-or-treaters whose voices have changed. If you don't have teeth yet and can't sit upright, I'm pretty sure your parents are going to be eating your weight in milk duds. And if you're old enough to have a drivers' license, don't you dare ring my doorbell and demand free candy.

All Good Things Must End

I think my car is close to breathing its last breath, lumbering its last mile. There are some pretty severe sounds coming from under the hood, and one of my coworkers refers to it as the "deathmobile." No bueno.

This car has driven many miles between here and Utah. I've listened to many great albums in this car and had many epiphanies while behind the wheel. I've driven this car to my first teaching jobs. I've used this car to move into a host of apartments, classrooms, and most recently, into my own home.

While I'm feeling all weepy and nostalgic, I do look forward to the day when I can drive on the freeway without worrying that the engine will drop out while I'm driving 65mph.

Wedding Photos... yeeehaw!

The whole family! Ramptons, Gaskills, McKinneys, Marshalls, Johnsons, Leavitts, Bays, Ferneliuses

My captions aren't very clever, but the pictures are a'plenty! For those who thought this day would never come, here are over 90 awesome photos from the wedding! Some of them are out of order thanks to the magic of blogger and I'm too tired to try to figure out why. It was a beautiful July day, and Steve and I are grateful for all of our friends and family who came to celebrate. We started out at the Bountiful Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. After that, we had a ring ceremony and luncheon at the Wight House Reception Center, which turned out to be the home of my great-great grandfather, Henry Rampton! Later that evening, Steve's parents had a reception for us at their home and a couple weeks later we had a reception in Las Vegas. Those photos will be forthcoming.

 

Bridal Party: Bethany, Wendy, Briana, me & Steve, Robert, Newt, Colby

Me & Mom with a photo of my late father, Roger Rampton

 me, Briana, and Dave- some things never change!

 me with Madison

The Bay Ladies! Katheleen, Jane, Grandma, me, Mom, Nancy, Amber

 The Original Three Bay Cousins!

My mom walked me down the aisle. We've looked forward to this day for a loooong time!

Amy read one of Steve's favorite poems.

Wendy's awesome toast/roast!

My cousins read "Oh the Places You'll Go" by Dr. Seuss.

Dave, Briana, and I played "All this Time," which is a song that is special to Steve. It was awesome.

It turned out that The Wight House Reception Center was once the home of my great-great grandfather, Henry Rampton!

We got the band back together! lol

Forgive me if you've heard this one...

It seems like many of my favorite bloggers take an occasional hiatus. Sometimes it is because they're having a baby, finishing grad school, moving across the country, etc... I have done none of these things (recently).  I have, however, taken a quarter year hiatus. Yikes. Here's a quick recap:

APRIL/MAY
I wrapped up another amazing school year with my students. The usual end of the year madness involved packing up my portable classroom trailer (where I moved in December due to school remodeling) and moving back into the building. Literally. Moving. Everything. Every box, book, pencil, piece of paper, file, etc... Let's just say this year taught me a lot about space management and getting rid of clutter. Perhaps this year saved me from being a hoarder in the classroom. Files that were passed down to me from someone who retired years ago? GONE! Random collections of mismatched paper plates from the last 5 years of birthday parties? GONE! Homework from students from 3 years ago? GONE!

MAY

Not to toot my own horn, but in May, I was named Nevada's History Teacher of the Year by the Gilder Lehrman Institute. I was nominated by Christy Keeler, who has mentored me and supported me since grad school. I really felt honored to represent my colleagues in Nevada and receive this award. More on this later...

JUNE

We successfully held our third annual Girls Rock Vegas summer camp. Forty girls learned to play guitar, bass, keys, or drums. They formed bands, wrote original songs, and rocked out at the showcase concert. Our volunteers were especially fantastic and the girls were inspiring. In fact, this was probably the best ever year of camp up until some crazy meth head rear ended our car on the way to the showcase concert. Boooooooo crazy meth heads. YAY, however, for awesome children who melted faces at the showcase. Seriously, these kids are FEARLESS!!!

JULY

In the midst of everything else, we planned a wedding. That's right folks, Steve and I got married a couple weeks ago. In another state (Utah). We are also having a reception here in Vegas.  And for those who were wondering, of course we "got the band back together" to play a special song for Steve at the reception. Also, I learned that you can indeed fill up an entire rental car, drive for eight hours, unload it in 15 minutes and still make it to rental return on time.

Don't worry. I'll post photos later. Because I know you all want to see photos.

So friends, that is where I've been. Love you all.

Bridesmaid Dress Blues

Would anyone be really upset if the concept of bridesmaid dresses was just eliminated from the Earth? As a bridesmaid, I was very lucky that my friends selected comfortable, modest, stylish dresses that could be worn again. However, as I've been perusing the bridesmaid dresses currently on the market, it leads me to believe that people must really hate their friends. Why else would we make make our closest girlfriends wear these ridiculous, expensive, revealing frocks? I literally cannot find reasonably priced bridesmaid dresses that are not sleeveless, which presents a problem, considering that the majority of my bridesmaids are LDS and need to be covered up.

When did we decide that all bridesmaid dresses need to be strapless? Visit the websites for David's Bridal or Alfred Angelo. I dare you to show me even one sleeved dress. Go ahead, I dare you!

The easy answer, the answer I'm dreading, is that I need to suck it up and go to one of those LDS specialty stores. However, they are ridiculously overpriced and, based on four separate experiences at four different stores, I've found them to be generally obnoxious and very unlikable. But that's a blog for another time...

Another option (that I'm afraid I might have to reject) is having my friends just wear a dress they already have. My issue with this is that I want my bridesmaids to stand out from the crowd and look special; I don't want my very special friends to look like just another wedding guest. They have been so special and so important in my life, and I want them to look that way on my big day.

The most ludicrous option, of course, would be for me to attempt to make the dresses on my own. Unfortunately, this would involve sewing, and as we've already established, I am unable to sew in a straight line.

Yikes. Its a good thing I'm only getting married once because I really suck at this.

The Happiest Place on Earth

Steve's family invited me to join them on their family reunion trip to Disney World, and of course there's no way I could turn down a trip to sunny Florida. It was so good to spend time with everyone in such a fun place. We visited the Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, and my favorite, Epcot Center.

No matter how I try, I can't find a good photo of the entire family, so here's what I've got:

We also ran into Alicia and Cash!

Can I mention again that I love Epcot Center?

This was a much needed break. Let's be honest, Disney theme parks aren't Steve's favorite thing in the world, but he was (mostly) a very good sport. At one point, he even promised to bring me back in ten years, so we'll see how that turns out...

First Thanksgiving at My House

Okay, so I realize that Thanksgiving was almost six months ago. But life happens. Anyway, my family celebrated Thanksgiving at MY house for the very first time. This was exciting and frenzied, especially considering that my refrigerator was delivered just a couple of days before the relatives showed up. Also, I had just moved in a week or so before the big day, so I wasn't really unpacked. Oh, and did I mention that I spent the day before Thanksgiving in a very-un-Heather-like WalMart shopping spree picking up kitchen necessities that I've been lacking (ie: a spatula, casserole dish, and tin foil).

It was super fun to have my mom, grandparents, and Aunt Jane/Uncle Bill/Finn over to cook and celebrate. We made ice cream, played board games, and overate.  And yes, that is a card table covered with a cheap table cloth. So what if I only had seating for four? That wasn't ghetto at all, right?

Anyway, hopefully next year at Thanksgiving time, my home will feel more like a home rather than an unpacked dorm room.

Also, perhaps I should be in the market for a larger dining room table...

So we meet again...

Hello blogger, long time, no see... I haven't written anything in, like, five months. Some of my other blog buddies have taken hiatuses because they were moving across the country with small children, or because they were birthing children. But not me, nope. I did move, but only across town. I'm really happy with my new home, which I won't post photos of because there are weirdos out there. Trust me, I'm in a much better place.

And for those of you who have been wondering, I'm in the midst of planning a wedding... which is awesome because I don't have any idea what I'm doing and also because I have a budget of about $16.00. If anyone has any ideas about how to throw a low budget wedding that doesn't look/feel like a white trash hoe-down, please let me know.

Other than that, I'm good. Just trying to get caught up.