GRE

Tuesday was the big day. I took my bike to park at This Is the Place, then rode onto the U's campus to the Student Services Building for the GRE. I was nervous.

I had to empty all my pockets and take off my watch before I entered the test. It amazes me that there are people out there who cheat, especially if they're committed enough to apply to grad school. I couldn't live with myself!

The GRE starts off with two essays. For the first, you are presented with an argument and decide whether you agree with it. For the second, you get a proposed idea and then decide whether there are other questions that need to be analyzed for the idea to be correct. I don't think I did great on the essays, but I'm guessing I did well enough.

Then you get a verbal section, which is vocabulary and reading comprehension. I finished these sections with a little extra time. Then you get quantitative reasoning, which is math. It's high school math, but it's presented in ways that you don't see in school; many of the questions have two equations, and you have to say which is bigger, or if they're the same, or if you can't determine it. I'm not mathematical, so it was tricky to me. I had to guess on several of the questions because I didn't have time to figure out how to do them.

Then there was another verbal, then another quantitative, and then I had another verbal, but I think it was experimental.

I got my unofficial scores for the quantitative and verbal. I don't know my percentile yet, but I think I did great on the verbal, and good enough on the math.

And I was so glad to have it all done! I have been studying at work for the last three months, so now I can go back to reading academic books! Last week I was tossing and turning one night because I was dreaming that I had to find the perimeter of an unusual shape (and I was also thinking about the Edmunds-Tucker Act of the 1880s). I thought I'd be done with those stressful dreams, but then I had another one this week after the test about writing the essay again.

I hopped on my bike to head back to my car. I had to get off my bike to ascend a staircase, and I found that a cool orange spider had hitched a ride.

Yay! No more test!

Last week we made grape juice, so this week I used it to make grape jelly. It was the first time I ever made jelly, and it was very easy and quick. But unfortunately, it's not very flavorful, even though it has a pretty pink color.

We also have a small tomato garden, so I used our tomatoes to make a margherita pizza, my favorite kind (my mom made the dough).

Yesterday at work, Church service missionaries from the Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission came into the print shop, and one was asking about octavo paper. He said, "I was reading The Autobiography of Andrew Jenson, who was Assistant Church Historian," which made my ears perk up. I asked:

"When you read The Autobiography of Andrew Jenson, did you read the original 1938 version, or the—"

"I read both. First I read A Historian in Zion, and then I read the original to see how it was different."

"I'm coeditor of A Historian in Zion!"

I never expected people to read the first book with my name on the cover, because frankly I don't think it's that interesting, so what a surprise it was!

I have been trail running in NSL for five years now, and it amazes me how much the trails have changed during that time. Unofficial shortcut trails now look like regular trails, and parts of the regular trails have gotten wider. And the Bonneville Shoreline Trail has boomed in popularity for photography. It's nearly impossible to go on it now without passing several groups of people taking wedding or family pictures. What really annoys me is when they have the couple on one side of the trail and the photographer on the other. If you both got on the same side, people wouldn't go through you! Once a photographer asked me to wait while she took her shots of the couple walking down the trail. What gall! Last night, someone had even rolled out an old, rickety piano onto the trail!

There's this guy in my ward who is very autistic. Well, he's high functioning, but he's on the low end of high functioning, and he frequently says outlandish/awkward things. This morning before church started, he got on the stand and asked the bishopric if they had a Sharpie so he could black out his teeth. I taught the lesson/led the discussion in elders quorum today based on President Nelson's talk, and when I talked about dressing and grooming, he went off on wearing clothes for a certain time and place, like settings when it's appropriate to wear military clothing, like camping. He even came up to me after the lesson to ask about other settings for military clothing. And when I asked, "How can we better honor the women in our lives?" he said, "I was thinking I hate the girls in this ward." I don't think he does, and I don't know where he was going with his statement, because we collectively shut him down.

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Week 2 of pumpkinundation roundup!

This was my first picture, taken in the dark, of a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie at a ward activity, and I was sure I took another one, but it vanished. So even though you can't see it, the cookie was typical. 7/10.

I bought this Caramel Apple Cow Tale at work. It's like a caramel-flavored licorice with an apple-flavored filling. Weird but fine. 6/10.

My family has been buying Nature's Path Organic Pumpkin Seed + Flax Granola since 2010. I loved it at first, but I've grown tired of it. Back in 2010, I remember the back of the box said "Pumpkins: not just for Halloween." 6/10.

Entenmann's Little Bites Pumpkin Muffins are tasty, but I feel guilty eating them, since they're unhealthy and have wasteful packaging. 7/10.

This Wienerschnitzel Pumpkin Spice Dipped Cone was my post-GRE reward, and I was pleasantly surprised. It's just a vanilla ice cream cone with a topping, but the topping tastes like a spicy pumpkin shake. This is probably my favorite ice cream topping ever! 8/10. (Wienerschnitzel's dairy products have the name brand of Tastee Freez. In 2012, my brother lived down the street from a Wienerschnitzel, and I was so confused why they had a neon sign in their window that said "Taste Free." Only later did I figure out the sign was broken on the last letters of the words!)

I bought these Pennsylvania Dutch Candies Nut'n But Natural Pumpkin & Oats at work; they were expired, so they gave me a discount. They are basically pumpkin seeds with cinnamon, sugar, and oats, with a few dates thrown in. Simple but tasty. 7/10.

The Corner Bakery Maple Pecan Pumpkin Baby Bundt Cake is tasty and decadent. The sugar pecans provide a nice textural contrast. 8/10.

This Blue Moose Sweet Shoppe Pumpkin Pie Fudge is similar to other pumpkin fudges, but it was tangier and stickier. 7/10.

Last year, I bought these Trader Joe's Pumpkin Recipe Dog Treats because my sister brings her dog, Buddy, over all the time. When I tried one last year, it was really bland and hard, so I didn't finish it; and since it was sitting in the cupboard for a year, I certainly wasn't going to try one again. The fact that we still have them should tell you something. They don't seem to be Buddy's favorite; he doesn't always finish them, even though he eats anything. Last year I rated them 2/10.

I first had a Caramel Apple Pop in 1997, and their simple deliciousness has made them endure. 8/10.

I liked the Russell Stover Candy Corn Marshmallow much better than I expected, and I like the orange and yellow marshmallow on the inside. I mostly like the white chocolate fudge. 8/10.

I decided to try the Trader Joe's Harvest Spice Trek Mix, even though it doesn't have any pumpkin (and Trader Joe's is the ultimate pumpkin store!). It has spiced nuts, candied ginger, and dried apples. I like it, even though I don't think dried apples serve much of a purpose. 7/10.

Last year I didn't find the Trader Joe's Pepita Salsa, so I was glad to see it this year. Pepitas are pumpkin seeds, but this salsa doesn't have any crunchy bits. It's surprisingly creamy. It's a fine salsa. 7/10.

The Russell Stover Caramel Apple is decadent, but I don't remember the apple flavor being noteworthy. 7/10.

Trader Joe's Organic Pumpkin Bread is like cinnamon raisin bread without the raisins. Dense and OK. 6/10.

Trader Joe's Pumpkin Butter is a classic, and I use it on my PB&J sandwiches at this time of year. 8/10.

For some reason we always seem to have this Stephen's Pumpkin Spice Hot Cocoa in the house, even though it's mediocre hot chocolate. 6/10.

Pumpkin Spice Frosted Mini Wheats haven't really improved since their 2015 debut. They're OK. 6/10.

I didn't officially see a name for this cookie, but I think it's a Sugar Fix Pumpkin Cookie. Sugar Fix makes the best cookies you will ever get from a gas station. 7/10.

I didn't feel like another Clif Bar, so I was glad when I remembered I had a Pumpkin Spice RXBar. As an energy bar, they're fine. The pumpkin and spice weren't super strong. These are chewier than most energy bars. 6/10.

It doesn't belong here, but I'm showing you this TruMoo Orange Scream Milk. I justify getting these milks because chocolate milk is frequently used as a recovery drink. It's sweet and enjoyable, but still not as good as chocolate milk. 7/10.

Everyone knows peanuts and candy corn are a winning combination, and so is Archer Farms Candy Corn Crunch Trail Mix, which also adds pretzel balls and raisins. 8/10.

Pumpkin Spice Life has also not improved since 2016. I like it for its Life-like qualities, not for its vague spice flavor. There's no pumpkin to be found. 6/10.

I've heard of pumpkin hummus for years, so I was delighted to finally find Delighted By Pumpkin Pie Dessert Hummus. It tastes and feels just like pumpkin pie, but it's vegan hummus! 8/10.

The gluten free pancakes I had last week were great, but unfortunately the Trader Joe's Gluten Free Pumpkin Spice Bagels are not so great. There is a bit of pumpkin flavor, but the texture and flavor of the bagels themselves are not so good, even with pumpkin hummus and pumpkin butter. 4/10.