Crazy Corn Maze

Sean and I have been planning to go to a corn maze for quite a while and we finally had a chance to go last night (we made a little detour to the pumpkin patch that is close by).  I have been going to this corn maze for many years now (once my friend Tony and I had to pay an attendant $5.00 to get us out of it) but this year it didn't seem as much fun.  The maze was really easy.  In fact, Sean and I made it through in about 20 minutes.  There were lots of little kids and strollers (the bane of my existence) and there seemed to be a lot of side activities geared more to small children.  Sean is such a good sport but we've decided that we want to find a different maze that is more complicated next year.  It was still really fun to spend time with him and I did get to cross off another item from my fall bucket list!

Pumpkin Patch

Sean has decided that we will be carving pumpkins next Sunday (we usually carve them on the Sunday before Halloween except for that one time).  He had his Mom buy a bunch of kits so we just needed the pumpkins.  Last night he and I went to Schmidt's Pumpkin Patch which is near my old house.  There were tons and tons of people there but we found a relatively empty area.  Sean meticulously picked pumpkins for himself, me, Tashena, and Marilyn (he picked a 20 pound pumpkin for Marilyn because she loves carving them).

I'm really glad that Sean still loves all of our holiday traditions!

Dutch Oven Cook Out

I really love cooking outdoors in Dutch ovens but I haven't done it for a long time.  I thought fall would be the perfect time to make a fruit cobbler.  I went to one of my favorite picnic sites in Millcreek Canyon Friday afternoon and made some.  The recipe is so easy!  In a 10-inch Dutch oven, pour a can of pie filling in the bottom (you can use any fruit that you like but I used cherry in this cobbler), then sprinkle a yellow cake mix over the fruit, and pour a 12 oz can of lemon lime soda over that.  Place the Dutch oven on some charcoal briquettes and then place 10-12 briquettes on top of the lid.  Let it cook for about 45 minutes or until it is bubbly.  I packed a lunch and read my book while it cooked and it was so nice to be in the canyon.  The temperature was brisk but not too cold (there were a lot of people hiking in the canyon) and I loved walking through all of the leaves on the ground.

It was such a nice afternoon.  The cobbler was absolutely delicious and I got to check off another item on my fall bucket list!

Fall Drive

Thursday morning I happened to be in American Fork getting my car serviced so I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to drive the Alpine Loop between American Fork Canyon and Provo Canyon.  It is one of my very favorite fall drives and it was just beautiful.  The temperature was brisk but not too cold and the smell of decomposing leaves was intoxicating.  I had a lovely time driving the switchbacks with the window rolled down and I got to check another item off my fall bucket list!

The Hate U Give

A lot of my students are reading the best-selling Y/A novel The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas so I decided to see the movie adaptation last night.  Starr Carter (Amandla Stenberg) lives in the poverty-ridden and gang-controlled neighborhood of Garden Heights but she attends a prep-school in the wealthy Williamson area.  She suppresses who she really is in order to fit in at her white school but tries not to alienate her black friends.  One night she and her childhood friend Khalil (Algee Smith) are pulled over for a routine traffic stop and a white police officer fatally shoots Khalil.  Starr witnesses the entire incident and, when the police officer is not immediately charged with the shooting, she faces pressure to testify before a grand jury from an activist group.  She fears that testifying will draw unwanted attention which will affect how people view her at school and she is threatened by a gang leader because testifying could reveal that Khalil was selling drugs for the gang.  Ultimately, Starr realizes that she must use her voice to stop the cycle of hate.  This movie is intense and incredibly powerful with an amazing central performance by Stenberg and some strong supporting performances by Regina Hall, Russell Hornsby, Anthony Mackie, and Common.  It was sometimes difficult for me to watch but what I liked most about this movie is that it emphasizes so many different perspectives (the scene between Starr and her uncle, who is a cop, just about brought me to tears) and doesn't seek to vilify any one particular group.  The message that hate is what divides people really resonated with me and I think this is a movie that everyone needs to see, especially young people.  I highly recommend it.