Firsts and lasts

This week was a really exciting one. It was full of firsts (and hopefully not any lasts except for in one instance).

We'll start off with Monday, when I (Christian) went and performed an evaluation on a lab assistant in the Wilk. If I did get this job, it would be a really easy one. Basically I went into the computer lab, sat down for 45 minutes while playing around on the computer, and observed the lab assistant. The hardest thing I had to do was come up with a problem that I could ask the assistant about because I had to have some interaction with him. I should hear back by tomorrow about whether or not I got the job. (This is one that was hopefully not a last.)

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On Thursday, Brittany had her first day of work as an aide at an elementary school with the child she's been doing therapy with. He (the little boy) was excited for his first day of school, which made Brittany's work just a little harder as she helped him concentrate on his work, etc. She was definitely kept on her toes all day, in more ways than one. She enjoyed it though, and looks forward to working again on Tuesday and Thursday for the rest of the semester. (Again, hopefully not a last.)

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Friday, I had leadership training for marching band. In case you didn't know, I was chosen as a squad leader for the French horn section. It was an interesting experience; I had never gone to a leadership training that was so gospel oriented. It was nice to have such a tie between my schooling and church. I am going to love being back here at BYU. It was really fun because I saw a bunch of people that I remembered, and remembered me surprisingly, from when I was in band in 2006. Another surprise was seeing a guy I knew from my Houston ward many years ago, Brett Miller! It was cool seeing him and catching up a little bit. It's going to be a great semester. (If it was a last, then it would mean I was a senior and graduating, so it could be a last, but not right now.)

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Saturday, after Brittany came home from work, we went to go buy our books for this semester. It was a pleasant surprise that for both our books together it only cost us $250. We saved probably extra $100 because Brittany had two or three books that I will need for dication and theory classes. I thought it was funny because 4 out of the 7 books I got were tips and instruction on how to play baritone and tuba. I'm taking the first semester of Brass Workshop which is where I learn to play all the brass instruments. We also got a tuning fork for my sight singing class, and we've been messing around with it all night long; tapping it on things and seeing where it resonates best, etc. I know, I know, we are huge nerds lol. (We DEFINITELY wouldn't mind buying textbooks being a last.)

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Today, instead of our regular meetings, we were told to go to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple dedication (oh darn). It was a wonderful meeting, in which the 1st counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency spoke, two members of the seventy, Elder M. Russell Ballard, and President Monson spoke, each giving a message of the sacrifice of temple building and worship, and the blessings that come from attendance there. Elder Eyring gave the dedicatory prayer. It was such a wonderful meeting filled with the Spirit.

It brought back some sweet memories for myself, as I remembered the other dedications I've been to (Houston, Winter Quarters, Nauvoo, Palmyra, and today's). Especially though, I remembered sitting with my family in the Houston Temple dedication and how awesome that was to be in a sealing room to watch it, and realizing that the prophet was just in the other room. Temple dedications are always such a wonderful occasion. (I would love for it never to be a last.)

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We decided to put the recipe at the bottom in case you got too bored to care. We'd much rather you listen to our lives, than to our food. This week we'll share one of my family recipes since we shared one of Brittany's last week. We made chicken pillows this week. They're pretty easy to make, and were really delicious.

16-oz softened cream cheese

1 tsp pepper

About 3 cu of cooked, cut-up chicken

2/3 cu sauteed mushrooms

about 20-24 frozen rolls

1/4 cu. softened butter

bread crumbs (optional)

Poultry seasoning (optional)

Preheat oven to 375

1) Mix cream cheese, pepper, chicken, and mushrooms together

2) Flatten out half of the rolls and put about 1/4 cu of mixture on each roll.

3) Cover with the other half of the rolls and seal shut.

4) Dip in melted butter and bread crumbs (1 tsp poultry seasoning to 2/3 cu crumbs)

5) Bake for 15-2o min.

My mom always made them with a brown gravy, but that's optional. If you have leftover filling, it makes a really good sandwich with some mustard. I also think it could have done with some salt in there too. Enjoy! (Of course not a last.)

Love love

Christian and Brittany