Happy Halloween from the Holley House!

At the Holley House, we love Halloween.

It started over a month ago with the pumpkins. The original plan had been to wait until it was actually October to make our announcement, but even when that changed to the day of our 12-week checkup, I wasn't willing to change my plan for announcing our imminent arrival via baby pumpkin.

Only a couple of weeks later, Halloween decorations followed, first in the yard, then more appeared indoors.

Originally we had five tombstones...one got lost in the crazy wind storm!

This was followed by the creation of this year's Halloween playlist, to which I have listened incessantly for the last three weeks:

James spent an evening with some of his siblings visiting the Haunted Hospital in Tooele. I hate haunted houses. Last year while we were engaged, James tried in earnest to get me to go to a haunted house with him, and I basically told him that if he made me go, I wouldn't marry him. :P So this year he knew better, and went with several of his brothers. He had a blast!

We have also spent some time watching Halloween movies, starting off with Hocus Pocus (a Halloween must!), the Addams Family Values, and finishing up this weekend with James's first ever viewing of The Nightmare Before Christmas. 

The highlight of our Halloween this year, I'd say, was the party we held last Saturday. We invited a number of our friends, and spent most of Saturday preparing for it. We played Twister, Pin the Tail on the Werewolf, Just Dance, and Rock Band, as well as visiting and devouring snackage. It was a great time!

We also attended our ward Halloween party last night, though we showed up after we got off work, about an hour after the party started. Still, we had the chance to visit with a few people, enjoy some food and treats and the ambiance.

This evening, we are taking off from the studio as soon as we finish teaching, in the hopes that we'll be able to catch at least some of the trick-or-treaters. Having lived in various apartments most of our adult lives, we haven't had many trick-or-treaters, a lack I have felt keenly! Now that we live in a house, we are very hopeful to get some trick-or-treaters! If not, we will have an awful lot of candy left to ourselves....

General Conference moments

A friend of mine posted the other day that she loves October General Conference because it feels like the first holiday of the season, and I couldn't agree more. Part of it is the break from routine (including the regular church routine), part of it is eating yummy food (though I kind of slacked on that part this time around), and part of it is the family time.

Conference this weekend was pretty mellow for James and I. We watched the four main sessions at home. I think James would have watched the priesthood session at home too, now that it's an option, except that his family invited us over for priesthood session/girls night, and we obliged.

But you know, there was something kind of special about watching conference this way, this time. In the past, I have often watched with friends and family, at various locations. But this time, I really treasured watching conference in my home, with my family--all four of us, as we like to say. :)

I found several talks of great meaning to me. I would like to highlight a few.

First, President Uchtdorf's talk yesterday. I have had several friend in recent years decide to leave the Church, for various reasons. On the one hand, it breaks my heart that they make this choice. But on the other hand, I have hated watch them bear judgment and be ostracized because of that choice. So when President Uchtdorf cautioned us that the reasons for leaving the church are many and complex, and that we should not pass judgment, a part of me rejoiced. But then I felt even more strongly when he cautioned all of us concerning our own questions and doubts.

This graphic popped up on Facebook practically before the session was over. I'm not normally one for reposting stuff like this, but I loved the quote so much, I couldn't help myself.

This morning, I really enjoyed President Eyring's talk. To be honest with you, I'm not even sure what he was actually talking about, but I had a really profound moment in the midst of him speaking. He was talking about his parents' marriage at the time, when suddenly, in the moment of clarity, I felt so strongly the truth of eternal marriage. I looked over at James, and I knew that we are going to be together forever. I know that's like, "duh, Valerie, you knew that already" and you're right, I did. It's hard to express realizations like this, so I'll just reiterate that in that moment, it was exceptionally profound.

And of course, I always enjoy listening to President Monson. James and I wept while listening to him talk about his departed wife, and his testimony that they would be together again. What I have always enjoyed most about President Monson is his love for the members and his sense of humor. I cannot get over hearing about people who call him 'Tommy Monson.' I swear it makes me smile every time, because I just can't imagine referring to the Prophet that way. But that is why I love him, this dear Prophet of ours who can make me cry and smile and laugh and make my heart burn with the Spirit all in the same 10 minutes.

It's also poignant to realize that at the next General Conference, we will be preparing for (or maybe already have) a new baby. The talks about family all seemed to be just for me this time around!

God truly cares about me!

I have just had one of the most spiritual moments in my life. As Valerie could tell you, I've been stressing over school work recently, particularly a program assignment for one of my Computer Science classes. I've been struggling with this assignment all week, and it came to a head today, the day the assignment was due.

I started working on this program this morning, and made slow but steady progress throughout the morning. However, around 1:30, I hit a brick wall. I have never been so utterly stymied in anything I've worked on in school, but this one did it. I worked all the way through my 2:00 class and through my leadership class at Taekwondo, fortunate that I have a loving wife to take care of my Leadership responsibilities for today.

The clock kept ticking, and I grew more and more frantic. I had combed my code multiple times, and just couldn't figure out what the matter was. It got to a point where I was *this* close to a nervous breakdown, and I finally turned to the Lord in full. I had uttered some small prayers throughout the day to help me out, and had felt His presence guiding me, but the time for small prayers was over. I gave myself over completely to the Lord, begging him for guidance and direction, admitting that I couldn't do this alone.

I finished my prayer, and waited for an answer. Eventually, I felt I should check a particular section of code I thought I had already combed thoroughly. However, I did look again, and lo and behold, the missing code was staring me in the face! I was able to complete the program for full marks and pass it off on time.

Now, I know that there are some who would read this and say it's merely a coincidence. I assure you, dear readers, that I was certain of that part of my code being acceptable, all the errors pointed to a completely different section of my program, and I almost certainly would not have thought to look at the faulty section. It is my testimony and firm belief this was no coincidence, that God helped me through this struggle, and that He did so because he loves me. It is my prayer that my faith will continue to grow, and that my experience will be an example for others who wonder if God listens and loves us. I know that He does!

James R. Holley