In Taiwan, Halloween is not a traditional event in our culture. Therefore, this year was my first to see the real “trick or treat” at my American friend’s house. My friend bought candy and decorated her house to prepare for Halloween, and I felt so honored she invited me to her house to see the very traditional Halloween which I never saw in Taiwan.

When I finished classes last Wednesday, I went to my friend’s house to cook together. I saw the clock was 5:30 pm already, and I was so excited to wait for the kids to knock on the door and to say “trick or treat.” However, I was so sad that no kids showed up. We still waited until 7:00 pm, and a little girl with 2 boys knocked on our door and said trick or treat! They also told me some jokes which I had no idea about it. How adorable they were!

After 7:00 pm, there were so many kids who knocked on the door that we couldn’t sit down to enjoy our dinner. However, I still felt so excited when I heard the kids knock on our door, because their costumes were so cute! Also, their jokes were so adorable, even though I couldn’t remember all the jokes they told me. A lot of times, those kids didn’t remember the jokes, so their parents reminded them, it was so charming!

I really loved my first Halloween in the United States, because I had a good time with my best friend here and also saw over 20 kids who trick or treated. I didn’t realize how much fun Halloween night is until this year.

For this Halloween, I did not only just wait for the kids to knock on my friend’s door. I also prepared some jokes to welcome them. Here were my jokes. Enjoy them.

Joke 1: What does Tweety Bird say on Halloween?

Answer1: Twick or Tweet

Joke 2: What song does Dracula hate?

Answer2: You are my sunshine.

“What do you mean your other person?” That may be the question that comes to mind when you see my blog title. Well, if I haven’t mentioned it, I have a twin sister name Mary.

Mary and I have been together ever since we were conceived within our mom’s womb. Through thick and thin, we always support and motivate each other. We’ve been through troubles together, whether it’s family, friends, or even school. We share the same beliefs, tastes, ideas, and talent. By talent, I mean we’re both artistic. Now, I would admit that Mary is actually better than me when it comes to drawing. I can draw, but I do better when I look at pictures than by imagination.

Mary is also my best friend. The bestest friend ever. We argue sometimes, but we’ll never stay mad at one another. It’s just not meant to be. I can’t see myself being apart from her. Right now, we attend different colleges, but we still live together. There are times when I wish we attended the same schools again. Yes, it’s really fun to have a twin sibling. I love hanging out with her, like going out to eat, shopping, watch movies, anything! And we don’t hesitate to spend money on each other, either. Ha ha.

Along with that, I had a good weekend with Mary. On Sunday, we had brunch at her work, Winslow’s Home (located on Delmar and Midland), and it was delicious! The food is prepared fresh everyday and is organic, too. Afterwards, we went to our mom’s shop to “work” but we mainly chilled and worked on homework. After that, we went to Aldi’s and bought groceries for the family. Yesterday (Monday), Mary got her new car! Our awesome mommy hooked her up. It’s a red 2010 Toyota Rav4, and it’s beautiful. It’s a used one but in good shape. Mary was so happy. Then she came to my school right after I left class so we can go watch a movie. Her friend, Khanh, met up with us, too. She’s also Vietnamese and a pretty cool person.

I thought we were going to watch Paranormal Activity 4, but we ended up choosing Taken 2. Mary paid for the tickets ahead of time since we were early. Then we realized we were hungry, so Khanh paid for some Charley’s Subs. Good stuff. The movie was pretty awesome, too! Loved it. Mary just needs to watch the first one now. Khanh wanted to hang out a little longer before she had to pick up her boyfriend. We weren’t sure about what to do, but then I mentioned that our sister, Nikki, still wanted a costume, so we decided to go to WalMart. We picked one of the characters from Monster High (since Nikki wanted that) then Mary decided to buy new shoes and a new wallet, too. After paying for those, we decided to go home. We bid bye-bye greetings to Khanh and headed home.

Overall, things have been going pretty well. I just love my twin so much!!

Family is ALWAYS important. That’s all I would say. Have an awesome week!

Although officially Halloween hasn’t happened yet, Fontbonne has already been celebrating! Last week was the Fall Festival, which was filled with mask decorating, pumpkin carving, and other spirited activities… like the Environmental Club costume contest! I’m super pleased with how it turned out, because everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and came up with some great costumes – LIKE WENDY FROM PETER PAN ONE OF MY FAVORITE DISNEY MOVIES EVER. Check it out!

The Winner!!

When I saw pumpkins, I knew Halloween was coming.

This year, I’ve done my first pumpkin craving with my friends at Fontbonne.

Last Thursday, Fontbonne offered an interesting activity–carving pumpkins–to students. Actually, I’ve never thought about carving pumpkin by myself until my friend, Carlos, invited me to do it. When I saw the huge pumpkin, I was going to give up carving the pumpkin because it was too heavy for me. My friend Carlos, however, just gave me a big hand in the last few minutes. He said: “Penny, I can help you take off the top of your pumpkin, then you just need to scoop out the seeds and focus on crafting your own pumpkin.” Sure, I said. So, I did my first pumpkin carving at Fontbonne. Wow, it was a very unique experience.

Actually, carving a pumpkin looks so simple but it’s really hard, because there is too much work to carve a pumpkin: take off the top, and take out all the seeds inside. Moreover, the skin of the pumpkin is hard, so you need to be very careful when you carve it. I know one of my friends cut her finger when she carved her pumpkins.

Here are some tips for carving pumpkins that I’ve learned in the United States:

1. You can use the pumpkin carving tool sets they sell in stores.
2. Use a sharp knife to cut off the top of the pumpkin.
3. Wear a pair of glasses to protect your eye from the dust.
4. Scoop out seeds with a spoon.
5. Wear gloves to take out the seeds, in case your hand feels sensitive about it.
6. Remember to store those seeds to roast them. The flavor of roast pumpkin seeds is so delicious.

Even though it’s a little dangerous to use knife to cut a pumpkin by myself, I still feel it’s so much fun to cut it. I enjoy carving a pumpkin!

Cobwebs on front porches, jack-o-lanterns illuminating in yards, bulk candy sales, haunted house advertisements…Yep, it’s that time of year again when you see, hear, and taste Halloween all around you. Such decorations are seen on campus at this time as well. And, Fontbonne is hosting a Halloween event, the annual Fall Fest, this Thursday October 25. In addition to dressing up and competing in a costume contest, there will be other fun activities, such as apple bobbing and pumpkin carving. All Fontbonne students are welcome 7-10 in the meadow and AMC!

Every year around this time, I take a trip down memory lane and try to remember most of my previous costumes. Here it goes: clock, angel, smiley face (home-made), cowgirl, soccer player, witch, hippie, Marilyn Monroe, Harajuku girl, Cindy Lou Hou, ice princess, playing card from Alice in Wonderland, Maleficent, Pocahontas, Belle, and Lola from Hannah Montana. (Do you sense a Disney theme?) This year I’m going to be Rapunzel! She is my favorite princess.

What are some of your favorite costumes? Whatever you decide to do this week and next to celebrate Halloween, be safe and have fun. Enjoy all the candy!

Crunch Time

I know we’ve all felt like the we were are being crunched under time’s remarkably clever clock. This week has been crazy hectic for me. Maybe it has been all the trick or treat candy that my kiddos collected on Monday that I have ingested or maybe it is my inability to focus or a combo of the two.

It is times like this that I sit at my computer and read , re-read and then re-read again powerpoint directions for my classes and the assignments for them. I know that by taking notes on what I can gather right at this moment it has the potential of making sense in the morning. I also know that through the blessing of e-mail I can clarify the things that aren’t making sense tonight to me with my professor. Thank God because it is crunch time with a big assignment that I thought I had control of and now realize I have more questions than answers.

Also, I hear the clock ticking for me to get my papers for the cultural events I’ve attended this fall done and submitted for the Honor Society. I have had the pleasure of going to the Westport Art Festival with my son earlier this fall. The second event was hearing, Nancy Alcorn, speak about Mercy Ministries. If you have never heard of Mercy Ministries it is worth checking out. They have a remarkable program that transforms young womens lives. Now, I hear that darn clock ticking again because I need to travel your way and attend a cultural program at Fontbonne. If anyone has any good suggestions let me know. By the way if you see a dazed and confused red head on campus this month you know it’s me. Have some mercy on me and help me to find where the event is.

As, I close for the week I want to remind you all to sit your clocks back on Saturday night and enjoy that extra hour of sleep on Sunday. It will soon be back to the daily grind and weekly crunch times we all will face.

Blessings on your weekend- Sherry

I feel like this year Halloween wasn’t just one day but was a whole weekend. Since I was a little kid I always loved this holiday. What could be better? I got to dress up, stay out later, get way to much candy, and there was no school the next day. Although, I’ve grown out of most of the things that I loved about Halloween, I still love Halloween, for many reasons.

There are so many things that made this weekend great, first the Cards won the world series. I’m not really much of a sports person, but I have to admit that watching game 7 last Friday was a great way to start this Halloween weekend.

No matter how old you get, carving pumpkins never gets old. For the past few years I have been getting together with one of my friends from high school to carve pumpkins together. I have to admit we get pretty into it and try to carve the most interesting designs that we can think of. Although I’m not very artistic, I like to think that I’ve gotten pretty good at this.

One of the things I love about St. Louis is there is usually always something interesting to go to. In October, there are 3 haunted attractions around the city. This weekend I went to ‘Creepyworld’ for the first time. I am a huge fan of horror movies, so I was pretty excited to go. There are three attractions in St. Louis: Creepyworld, The Darkness, and Lemp Brewery. I was only able to go to Creepyworld, but I have to say I was really impressed. There was so much detail put into the set and I even got freaked out at times. I would most defiantly got next year again.

So I guess it’s safe to say this weekend was a great one. I spent time with my family and my friends. I love that the weather is getting colder. I am kind of sad that October is already over but that just means I can start looking forward to Thanksgiving!

Last night, a handful of Fontbonne Clubs put together “The Big Fall Event” to celebrate Halloween!! There were so many entertaining and different activities!! Pumpkin Carving and Pumpkin Carving Contest, Unwrapping a Starburst with your teeth, Costume Contest– just to name a few! I’d name some more but I was sooo distracted by the Pumpking Carving and the S’mores booth that I did not make the rounds to every other booth!

Pumpkin Carving– I haven’t carved a Pumpkin since HIGH SCHOOL!!! Or longer! To tell ya the truth, I missed it! I miss the whole process– the driving to the store to buy the pumpkin, bringing it home, waiting for both my parents to be home in order to carve it, picking out a design stencil and trying to follow it the best I could (I was never good with a pumpkin carving knife, to be quite honest. The specific knives are waaay to dainty for such a laborious task!!) then realizing the end result looks nothing like the stencil! Ehhh, put a candle in it and VOILA its perfect!! As far as scary Pumpkins go!!

Then, I made it out to the S’more booth–well I was working the booth so I kinda had to make it out to the booth! The fire was warm and cozy and the conversations were the same!! S’mores were prepared, burnt, and consumed!! Such a fiery activity!

Now, I am looking forward to HALLOWEEN!! Carved Pumpkin and all!!

Have a FUN (and safe) HALLOWEEN!!
Lee

(My Pumpkin)

This week I’m facing a dilemma of not only putting off my homework but now I don’t have access to a file that I need to read for an assignment. Had I not procrastinated I would have seen this problem ahead of time and called the Technology Department at Fontbonne.

Did I mention it would not be the first of many calls that I’ve made to those kind hearted people that work in technology? They are always so patient in helping me through the latest dilemma I find myself in. After being married to my IT guy hubby for a while, I dread what these poor technology people think of this computer challenged student. I am always thankful for their patience, their capability to help me in a reasonable amount of time and for their grace enough not to laugh at me. The last time, I called a few weeks ago, I shared this with them and they said that they aren’t there to laugh but to help. I consider that a blessing in itself and I go to sleep soundly tonight knowing that in the morning the technology department will help me sort out where I’m going wrong or give me the “total access” that I need.

May all you trick or treat fans out there find more treats than you do tricks over the coming week and be blessed in all that you do.

Blessings- Sherry

Now that midterms are over, all of my classes are in that stage where we’ve just started a new unit, so there aren’t any impending quizzes or tests to freak out about.  This is nice for several reasons:

a) I have a 731-page book on Alexander Hamilton to plow through ASAP for one of my classes.  Not looking forward to this.

b) As much as I like learning stuff,  school’s not really my thing this semester, and the novelty of the new school year has definitely worn off.

The most exciting reason I’m glad I don’t have much homework!

I’m making a Rally Squirrel costume for Halloween!  The plan for the costume seemed simple:  just wear head-to-toe brown, wear a Cardinals hat with ears stuck on it, and then use a brown feather boa as a tail.

Everything’s going fine, except for getting that darn tail to look the way I want it to.    It’s okay if I double it over, tuck one end of it into the back of my skirt, and safety-pin the rest up my back, but the leftover boa at the top just kind of flops over.  To try to fix this, I got my paws – er, hands – on some pipe cleaners and I’m trying to use those to get the end of the boa to kind of curl down at the end and make the tail to look less floppy and more squirrel-y.

I haven’t been very crafty in the past few years, so I’m pretty rusty at this.  I’m trying, though!

Despite my current frustration, I’m rather psyched.  I’m going to be a GREAT-lookin’ Rally Squirrel (if I do say so myself.)