Not So Happy Halloween :-/

Okay so I have finally *big sigh of relief* finished the Paris pictures! I ran into so many problems and now I'm way behind on my blog (It's after Thanksgiving and I just barely have my Halloween post up!)!! I actually have a lot of posts ready but I know it gets overwhelming if I do them all at once so I'm taking it slow! Okay...

I didn't go to bed until 2 am the night before but like a good little girl I went to church! I'll have a post all about my church adventures soon but I do absolutely love it!! It was raining all day! Right in the middle of sacrament, you could just hear it pounding on the roof! Haha it was terrible!!! I actually like rain  lot as long as I don't have to go to school but if I can just be hanging out and  have it there, then I'm good. I went straight over to the Ashtons :-) I hadn't eaten dinner, breakfast, or lunch so I got there and was starving! Stasha was so nice and she made me tomato soup and salami grilled cheese! My mom always made me grilled cheese so it made me happy :) I talked a lot with the adults and played a lot witht the kids! They like to climb on me a lot! I feel like their jungle gym! They started putting on music and I had to get up and start dancing! They all made fun of me... I blame my brothers for my bad dancing skills!

We hung out a lot on their new couch. And they got their TV working while I was in Paris so the kids love that... Stasha and I talked a lot about the holidays, traditions, and stories!



 And how they compare in France!

Halloween... Well... It is definetly celebrated to a great lesser degree here. I was utterly disappointed! Halloween is by no means my favorite holiday but I've enjoyed it very much so it stunk that France just really didn't care much... It was a sorry excuse for a holiday.I'll list why...

Reasons Why Halloween Is Not Nearly as Good in France as It Is in the US

1. You have no clue it is Halloween!
~The stores aren't decorated. The schools don't do anything special like "Boo Grams".  There aren't Halloween movies or shows on TV. Me and my sister used to watch all those Disney movies like Halloween Town High and Hocus Pocus etc...for the whole month of October. There is zero decoration!!! I had forgotten it was Halloween until the day of!
2. Trick or Treating is impossible!
~This is due to a number of reasons... The houses are gated in and you usually have to be beeped in on an intercom or walk up a hill or some awkward thing. It isn't very time efficient. The US especially in the suburbs of AZ it was so easy to go door to door. You are there and back in a matter of seconds! If you planned it well, you could get a whole pillowcase full of candy! I don't think the French like the idea of just giving out free candy too. They don't understand the spirit of it. Even if they wanted to, it was raining all day so a total no go.
3. Costumes are very basic and boring
~The little kids will dress up but they always have to dress up as something really traditional and typical Halloween like a witch.


There was millions of those I heard at the little get together in the old village. [Abby-rocker girl, Sophie-Devil cheerleader, Sam-Frankenstein, Carter-A skeleton] In the US, we dress up as inanimate obects, catch phrases(my friend was the "Holy Cow"), celebrities, and just funny and random things. A witch would never win a costume contest. We have evolved past that!
4.No candy

~So even though there wasn't trick or treating, you would expect at least some candy cause welll... it's Halloween but no... not here. They are all health nuts and the idea of giant bags of candy is upsurd!
5. There is no Halloween spirit
~I think this is the all-encompassing factor in why France sucks at celebrating Halloween. Houses aren't decorated all spookily with cobwebs, witches, ghosts, etc.. I had friends who would go all out! Candy corn is everywhere! House are decked out! Scary movies the whole month! There aren't haunted houses or mazes here. Nobody even cared!!!

The snowman pumpkin is hilarious!!!

As you can see, I'm very bitter about this. I love Halloween and I feel like it was so rottenly represented here. This pictures is exactly how I feel France's attidude about Halloween is... Disregard the caption at the bottom. It's not important and I think you all understand "Non merci"! Well then again Ashlee is reading this... She's blonde! It means "No thank you!" ;-) You're welcome Ash!!!

 I just kinda laughed because the French are the ones missing out. American Halloweens rock the socks off of anyone. I missed my family traditions and just the memories of it all. Carving pumpkins! Making cookies! Trick or treating and trading with my sisters! Roasting pumpkin seeds! My parents saying they needed to check my candy and they would eat a quarter of it! Watching Halloween movies! Haunted houses! This was my first holiday away from home and it was hard. It made me miss my sis because we always spend Halloween together. We fought to no end but thats not what I remember. I remember the good times.

Candy corn in non-existent in France!

Okay back to the rest of they day! They were having company that night so they had cleaning time. I got to supervise the children cleaning their room. Reminded me of my sisters when we were little. We had assigned jobs and we always fought to be the supervisor. We had a bunk bed and the supervisor got to sit on the ladder and point to what wasn't done and boss the others around. Haha they were good cleaners though and they got down pretty quick! I was there pretty much all day! I started tiring after a bit with the disappointment of Halloween, the kids, and sleep deprivation so I just had to go upstairs and just go on the computer and chill!

Pascaline, Nicolas, and I went back to the house and it was just us there. This is where my day started to turn around. We put on the floor heater! Oh yeah!!! Keeps your toesies all nice and toasty! Haha I love it! It kinda sucks up a lot of energy so all the lights went out later because of it. I ate some salmon salad but had to pick out the tomatoes and give um to Nicolas! We watched a James Blunt concert on the TV. I liked that because it was language neutral. They are so nice! And we watched the rain! It would just randomly stop and we would be like "Oh it's tired from falling all day so it's just taking a nap!" Haha :-) The fire was going on but Nicolas caused some loud explosion or something with gas. I only heard it from upstairs. Haha so the fire got put off for a bit... I was also talking to a good friend who made me feel a lot better :-) That so helped turn my night around!!!

Because I have break until Thursday, I decided to Skype my family since I wouldn't have to wake up early the next day for school. I would chat with friends on and off. Then I Skyped my friend Ashlee... Well sorta... I can't see her face but we can talk and she can see me. Next, I skyped my family for so long! One of my best friends, Sami, and her entire family were there. I consider them family. We had some good laughs! I got to talk to my mom. We hadn't talked in a while so it made me feel a lot better. She can always make me feel better no matter what. That's a mom for you! Unfortunately, I didn't get to talk to any of my siblings. They were partying it too hard. I guess Lane went trick or treating. She's 15! What a punk... I also got to say hi real quick to the Powells! Well half the Powells-Jenn, Brian, and Macie. Our families have been friends forever. They are so cool! Carli is Elena's age and Spencer is my age and he is one of the coolest kids I know. I miss them so much!!! So with all this Skyping hour after hour passed and I ended up not going to bed until 6 am... I don't know how I did this because I had gotten very little sleep the night before because of the trip. I guess I was that desperate to talk to my family. Haha my mom wasn't especially happy with me but I think she was glad to talk with me. It was a holiday so it kinda called for it! I was on break so no big d! I slept in until 11 the next morning.

So all in all, it wasn't a completely terrible Halloween but definetly not my best!!! It was a pretty good day but not a great Halloween! Oh and I didn't show you my costume!!!

Because I went straight to the Ashtons after church, I was wearing my skirt all day and I was wearing leggings because it's cold so when I got back home, I put on knee high socks. I hate cold feet! And I just took of my skirt so I was wearing Sophies and leggings. I put on a Tshirt and got my big sweater and a scarf. I looked ridiculous I bet... What was I??? Hmmm.... I was WARM!!! :-)


My face is classic in this one!


The holiday of candy and this was all I ate... Candy from the stash... Pitiful I know!



I was telling my brother, Josh, how sad I was and he said the sweetest thing that made me so happy! He said "Ahh buddy I'll make sure next year is amazing for you!" Woo hoo! I got that to look forward to! He is such a great brother! I miss him like crazy! :)

Even though they stink at Halloween, this is pretty cool! You gotta admit!


So as one last laugh... My brother's friend made this I believe! :-)