Life Update

Nothing too exciting is happening here, but we do have lives, so I thought I'd share some of our recent happenings.

• First Pack Meeting is next week. I think I'm in for an adventure in disorganization. Blessings and curses to working with three wards all together. I took on refreshments and my old Parish feelings of injustice towards the boys/YM budgets were renewed. The girls would never get that much money!
• When hearing about the housing crisis, I often wonder what kind of people are late paying their mortgage. I mean, really! Apparently, the Hartwells are. But don't worry, to make up for it, Chris paid it three times this month!
• I joined a city league volleyball team with some people from our stake. Co-ed volleyball makes me happy. Our first game was a blow-out in our favor, but last night's game had us back on our toes and fighting to win by two in the third game. Our stake has open gym for the women every week and once a month for co-ed, but it's really nice to play a little more competitively. Makes me miss my sophomore year and the standing Friday night date I had to be at the gym, ready to play.
• Chris was extended a calling on Sunday, but hasn't been sustained yet. I'm still in shock over it; it's almost too ironic. I'll share later. We also spoke last Sunday. It's good to fit into a ward and have a place.
• Last week was Chris's fall break. He took Monday afternoon off from the grindstone and we made our first visit to Indianapolis to redeem birthday freebies. Red Robin and Baskin Robbins, and exploring of downtown Indy. We both really liked the town. And while driving through a very wealthy suburb (Carmel) I told Chris, "I can see the church building the temple here. This is the type of neighborhood where the church puts temples." And a few days later we heard rumors that the site selected is there. Happy because it's a beautiful place, and double happy because it's on our side of Indy! We'll see if the rumors pan out.
• I went back to Indy yesterday to take a couple in our ward to the airport. And make a stop at Trader Joe's. It's nice to be able to load up my trunk with food in my cooler bag without being limited to treats that fit in a carry-on after a visit to TJ's. I love grocery shopping-- particularly there.
• Tonight is the last of the three Halloween parties we've been invited to. All have been a great time, and it's fun getting to know even more people. I'm so excited about the party tonight because it's the type that I've thrown the past two years. This time I get to participate without all the stress of planning it!
• We feed the sister missionaries about every week and a half and love having them in our home. It has been such a blessing to get to help them in their work. (It helps that they're just awesome women. I'm already starting to think of arranging friendships once they go home.) They've brought me in on a few meetings with investigators and are hoping to pull Chris and me in on another. These opportunities have made me strive to be better and try harder. And it's helped me recognize the blessings that I have. When we were moving to Buffalo I was told that we could be a great help in the "mission field." I bristled at the term, because I think anywhere we live we have the opportunity to be good examples and share the gospel, whether in Utah or a foreign country. But our opportunities are different here, and more frequent. I'm still not down with the term, "mission field," but I've recognized the differences.
• Chris continues to plow ahead with school. He's dove into his research assignments with vigor, had several tests over the last few weeks, and for the most part, makes it all look manageable. His dress code has relaxed significantly since the first week of class (jeans!), but he's gotten several comments on how sharp he dresses, and not just from me. I think it helps that most of his male cohorts are single, but Chris has a wife who stocks his closet.
• We've started making real, genuine, love-to-hang-out with them friends. It's nice. The circle is small right now, but it's fun to have people we enjoy hanging out with for way too long on a Sunday evening. The husbands pulled out pillows and laid down on the floor for the last part of our visit. We aren't quite sisters & brother-in-laws comfortable with them, which might not be a bad thing, but it's nice to have people we really enjoy.
• In less than two months we leave to go home for Christmas break. The thought of home and family and Christmas get me very excited!

My camera is still out of commission, which means no sharing pictures, but even worse, it means no pictures of all these adventures. Good thing I have no problem with wordy posts.