Dan & Claire

Guess who we are

??????

If you guessed Rocky and his super hot girlfriend Adrian than you were right! 

I LOVE Halloween, or anything that gives me the excuse to dress up. It took us a while to come up with what we wanted to be but as soon as I suggested Rocky, Dan was hooked.

With quick trips to DI and Walmart we were set for the night. Let me tell you though, going from long blonde hair to short black hair was no easy feat, however, I think I pulled it off nicely.

We celebrated with friends playing games and eating food.

Did I mention Dan walked around with his ipod playing the Rocky theme song? 

Hope you all had a fantastic night, scomps to those of you who dressed up :)

      I think I speak for millions when I say, "can this election just be over already?" For months the candidates have been duking it out, trying to do anything (quite literally) for votes. Finally America has settled on the two that they believe best represents her values. 

      They inspire, attack, give "facts", and deliver soaring rhetoric to bring home their point. But what IS the point? Are we to believe that all who were on the campaign trail at the beginning of the year were doing it for their country? Out of the goodness of their hearts? Because they want to give the hard-working middle class more money, security, and happiness? 

      On the other hand, does someone want to be President of the United States for the power, glory, and fame? Do they want to add a chapter to history books as someone who passed lots of legislation? Who knows?

      When asked a question, in politics, apparently the best answer involves enough dancing around to be considered for America's Got Talent. I saw the following a while back and I feel that it illustrates perfectly why Americans have no idea of the policies, plans, and motives of political leaders. Here's how to answer a question like a presidential candidate.

"Hey [Dan], what are you doing this weekend?"

"Well, that's a great question-- and an important one. And I WILL do something this weekend. But let me take a step back and answer a broader question. What are we ALL doing this weekend? As a nation? As a world? This weekend I will be doing something comprehensive and robust, yet fun. We all should."

"But what are you going to do?"

"What I'm going to do involves three things: First, it's going to be relaxing; second, it's going to be enjoyable; lastly, I'm going to make sure that it's cost-effective so I don't get into a deficit. Four weeks ago I said I was going to do something- and I did. This weekend will be no different!"

Ok, so obviously we didn't get anywhere with that conversation. If I were to say, "I am going hunting this weekend", it might offend animal lovers. What a terrible thing to say! If I were to say, "I'm going to go out to eat at my favorite restaurant." Well which one? Because if it's Arctic Circle then I am quite perturbed because they use only Black Angus Beef, which hurts cattle producers everywhere. Well, now we might know why they answer questions this way. WELCOME TO POLITICS!

I believe that there are a few "I's" that we all need to see in our leaders. 

1) Integrity- If we don't agree with the way they are living in their personal lives, how can we be ok with them on the grandest stage of them all?

2) Intellect- whether they give good speeches should not determine the number of votes they receive. Were they successful in their field before politics? And is it in something that could benefit America as a whole?

3) Industrious- Are they hard working? If you gave him a shovel, would he know what to do with it? If he can't pass the "shovel test", then he can't relate with a large chunk of Americans.

Well there it is; everything that goes on in the confines of my mind. If it seems all over the place, it probably is. Welcome to my life. Hopefully this has been thought-provoking, or at least entertaining. 

Happy Voting. [Thank goodness it's almost over]

Salmon family tradition constitutes eating peaches/pears and popcorn for dinner on Sunday nights.

Tonight, Dan and I indulged in Homemade {home canned?} pears and popcorn! 

{popcorn popped in a pot on the stove, not to be confused with not-as-delicious microwave popcorn}

Try it, it's sooooo good! Also, my favorite thing is to put my popcorn in the juice and then eat it, I know it sounds gross. My whole family thinks it's disgusting and Dan tried it and he doesn't exactly love it either. However, he enjoyed the meal in general: 

Happy October! I think it is one of my favorite months of all time. I love fall when it starts getting a little bit chilly, the leaves start changing colors, and it rains more often {of course here in Rexburg it will skip rain and go straight to snowing, unlike WA where it rains all year 'round}. Also October holds many great things to celebrate: General Conference {watched all weekend and LOVED it}, my birthday, Canadian Thanksgiving {celebrated earlier this day with my wonderful Canadian relatives, shout out to Chris and Linda and their kids for coming to Rexburg, inviting Dan and I to eat with them and then giving us all the left over food!}, my birthday, Halloween, and did I mention my BIRTHDAY? 

Okay, I love birthdays. Anyone's birthday. I think it's because you get to focus on celebrating one person and that's so fun! My best friend's Keri and Andrea also have October birthdays {me 16th, Keri 21st, Andrea 29th} so pretty much we would party a lot in October. Just the other day I thought about how sad it was the Keri is in NZ because I literally cannot remember the last birthday I celebrated without her! Even here at school these past 2 years we've always celebrated {super hard core} together. This year will also be different because now I have a husband! Last year Dan wasn't even at my birthday party because we barely knew each other.  I'm sure this years birthday will be blast and I'm very excited to celebrate :)

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays because I LOVE LOVE LOVE dressing up and thinking of creative costumes. For the past few years though, this has been my favorite costume:

 Cows are my absolute favorite animal. Don't be surprised if I whip this costume out again this year. I have thought of being a pirate {I know how to make awesome looking fake dreads with my hair} and then of course it would be cute if Dan and I had matching costumes {I've never had a boy to match costumes with before, so presh} but then again, I could just make him be a cow :)

October also holds mine and Dan's first date one year anniversary! It's crazy how time has passed so quickly. On October 22nd we will celebrate the anniversary of our first date!

Well the contents of this post are kind of random but it's just a few things I've been thinking about so be entertained.