Yes, I said "spider hunt." I'm not kidding! But first, now that I've got you hooked, I'll give the regular specs on the holiday before telling you the spider story.
Thanksgiving at Teri and Kelly's was wonderful, of course. Traci and Greg and their baby, Jude, were there. Nick and Sierrah and her parents were there. Jeremy and Megan and their kids, Cecily and Simon, were there. And then me and Mom. Thanksgiving day itself was filled with eating, cleaning up, preparing the next meal, eating, cleaning up, a nap (for me), preparing the next meal, eating, cleaning up, and finally preparing the next meal, eating, and cleaning up. It was a day of gluttony for sure. But the food was all sooooo delectable! I certainly wasn't eating to satiate hunger pains - I was eating to feed my taste buds and gluttony. We
are beginning to wonder if we do too much cooking and eating on Thanksgiving . . . On Saturday we had the privilege of attending Nick and Sierrah's temple sealing. Oh and we watched some movies, as usual, too.
On Friday, Mom and I went to Ogden to take some Christmas decorations to her dad's and grandmother's grave sites. Then we stopped at Farr's for some ice cream, and then Maddox's in Brigham City for lunch. (Mom loooooves Maddox's and goes every chance she gets.) Then we stopped by the Logan cemetery and visited some more grave sites of grandparents on Dad's side of the family. It was on the way to the Logan cemetery when the spider hunt begun . . .
in Mom's car!
We stopped to get some gas and while mom was filling up her car and I was sitting in the driver seat, I noticed a black, hairy spider on the windshield. Thinking the spider was on the outside of the windshield, I thought, "That's funny. That spider is upside down on the windshield." And then I realized, it wasn't upside down: it was
INSIDE the car on the windshield. So I tried to kill it with my shoe - you can guess how that turned out - but it went down into the heat vent by the windshield. And then as we were driving along, thinking that we'd get it later, it decided to reappear on the dashboard. So Mom tried to kill it (while I'm driving) to which it responds by bolting over to my side of the car and coming down the dashboard
toward me!! And for those of you that don't know me, I have recurring nightmares about spiders. Every month. I. Do. Not. Like. Spiders. At all. I can't even stand to kill them with a tissue; I always use a shoe or something.
Anyway, so with the spider bolting over toward me and while I'm driving, I take my shoe off and try to smash it. But it escaped into the heat vent between the steering wheel and the driver's window. Knowing that I cannot drive any further with that thing scurrying around at will, I pull off onto the next side street and immediately pull over. I jump out of the car and so does Mom. And then we think, "How are we gonna kill that spider while it's in the heat vent?" Well desperate times call for desperate measures: I turn on the heat and fan
full blast! The spider then flies out of the vent and I think it landed in the car, but Mom is pretty sure it landed outside the car - but I trust her because she was over on the driver side, so closer to it, when the spider took flight.
I walk back over to the driver side, get in the car, and am getting ready to roll again, when I notice something black in the corner of the floorboard. I remove my shoe again and commence trying to kill the "black thing" which then runs around like a crazy
spider and again I jump out of the car. The spider escaped under the seat and went under the carpet that is under the seat. Mom gets her flashlight for me and we're moving the seat forward and peering underneath it from the backseat with the flashlight shining in its beady little sparkly eyes. Ew. I can see it under the carpet, but I'm unwilling to try to kill it because I can't get my shoe in there: I'd have to use a tissue and jam my hand in there! So Mom, in heroic fashion, gets down on her knees (on the hard ground), bends down onto the floor of the backseat, and, with tissue in hand, begins the blind hunt and kill project of jamming
her hand into the small space. We don't know for sure if she was successful or not, but we never saw it again. I consented to drive for the reason that Mom would have the bravery to kill it (without a shoe) if it start crawling all over my lap while I was driving. I don't think I would have been able to do the same if
she was driving and it was crawling all over
her. Yick.
Mom and I laughed for a long time over the scene we must have been giving everyone on that street! Ha ha!
First, China. Yes! I went to
China for five weeks this past summer. It was a mini study abroad of sorts. I
went with seven other graduate students in my Master of Public Administration
program, as well as a professor, and an administrator – also from BYU. The
professor that went with us taught an Ethics for Management class to us and
eight Chinese students at Xiamen University in Xiamen, China – that’s where we
were home-based. We were in class on Monday and Wednesday mornings. It was so
fascinating to hear the Chinese students’ perspective on ethics – here’s one
good example: they will break any law or rule for the sake of helping a family
member or really good friend because helping that family member or friend is more
important to them than obeying the law or rule. Interesting, huh? Then every Thursday
we would fly out to a different city in China for the weekend. Xian to see the
Terra Cotta Warriors; Hong Kong; Shanghai; Guilin to see those amazing
mountains; and Beijing for a week at the end of our trip to see the Great Wall
of China and the Forbidden City. I picked up a tiny bit of Mandarin: thank you, yes, and no. I also learned their hand signs for numbers so I could barter
with the vendors. By the end, I could recognize the Mandarin characters for exit and entrance. I can’t say that I ever got really good at hand washing
my clothes in my hotel shower, but I did learn a few tricks. Lastly, I became
much more grateful for a few luxuries we enjoy in the United States: timely air
travel, potable tap water, unrestricted access to websites, and queues to check
out at the market or get on the bus. 
Secondly,
I graduated with my Master’s in Public Administration in August. Three years in
the making and it feels 
Lastly, no year of mine
would be complete without an epic backpacking trip to the Uintas, bagging the
peak of Mount Nebo, running into a ton of animals while mountain biking (a
black bear, a skunk, a moose, and a badger), and taking up cross-country
skiing! And the cherry on top: I endured a little bachelorette show of my own
earlier this year when I was going out with three or four different guys for a
few weeks and came out with one bachelor that made it through my gauntlet. We’ve been dating and having a blast together
ever since. The lucky bachelor is Mike Kniephof, originally from Denver, and he
is so wonderful. I’ll finally have someone to kiss at midnight on New Year’s!!
Ha ha! 
