Back to Stories from the Heat

New Blog

2007-12-02T10:32:00.000-07:00

Matt and I have decided to start a family blog. The new address is SchafferFam.com. I don't think I will be posting on here anymore, so you can hear about our going-ons there. Enjoy!

Every boy's aspiration

2007-11-22T08:55:00.000-07:00

I was going through a list of conversation helpers from Real Simple at the dinner table with Matt. There were questions like "If you could only go to one place on vacation every year. where would you go?" So here's how one of our conversations went:
H: Would you rather have the power to be invisible or have X-ray vision?
M: Be invisible
H: Why?
M: So I could be the world's greatest Ninja.
H: (thinking "boys are weird")
M: Every guy wants to be either a ninja or a pirate. I want to be a ninja.

And that, my friends, explains everything you need to know about boys.

Lots and lots and lots of pictures.

2007-11-06T13:50:00.000-07:00

Okay, I'm finally ready to give everyone an update! Sorry it has been so long. Ezra's been home from the hospital for two weeks now, and we're all doing great! He spent exactly three weeks in the NICU, and we are so happy to have him home.

For your viewing pleasure:

My mom thought I was crazy because I was smiling in between pushing. At that point I was starving and super uncomfortable, so I was really happy to be done with the whole thing.

I gave Ezra a quick kiss before they took him off to the NICU.
(Look how huge my arm is! I was so swollen from being on an IV for so long, I think I gained 10 lbs. in the hospital alone.)

This is how Matt got to see Ezra in the NICU. It's not very fun to watch your child get poked and strapped up to all kinds of equipment.

Ezra's off the ventilator and I got to hold him for the first time.

Daddy holding Ezra for the first time.

He didn't get to wear clothes very often in the hospital, so we always liked to take pictures of him when the nurses dressed him.

Apparently this was some kind of luxury hotel Ezra was staying in; the charge was $600 a night... Thank goodness for Health Insurance.

Mema called this his "party hat" The IV's kept blowing out his little veins, so they tried putting one in his head.

Ezra in his sweet bilirubin mask.

Ezra can sleep in any position.

Finally going home from the hospital!

Yay!

Matt with Ezra wearing his "I LOVE DADDY" pj's.

The boys hanging out.

Dressing up babies is way funner than dressing up dolls!

Ezra loves tummy time!

"All the babes want me."

So, there you go! Someone asked me about his weight and height. When he was born he was HUGE for being almost 6 weeks early. He was 5 lb 13 oz. and 19 inches long. When we went to the doctors after he got out of the hospital he weighed 7 lb 7 oz. and supposedly 21 inches (2 inches is a lot to grow in 3 weeks).

We have lots more photos on our photo gallery. If you're interested in looking at more photos just leave a comment with your email, and I'll send you the link to our gallery.

5 Weeks Early

2007-10-08T12:54:00.000-06:00

Last Friday after work I had a severe stabbing pain in my upper right abdomen. We called my doctor, and she said to take some tylenol, drink plenty of water and lie down. The pain seemed to go away, but on Saturday night I had some bleeding. We called the doctor-on-call and he suggested we go in to labor and delivery to get checked out. Thinking I would just be given a pat on the back and sent on my way, we didn't bother to bring anything with us. Imagine our surprise when they told us I was 6 cm dialated! I hadn't even had any pain yet (besides the stabbing pain which went away anyway); I hadn't felt any contractions. Of course two hours later I was beginning to feel lots of pain. When we found out the news we called my mom and she and my dad started looking for the first flight out here. We didn't think she would be able to make it in time, but I finally asked for an epidural and everything just stopped. (Literally I went from 7 1/2 cm to 8 cm in about 18 hours, and now I don't want to ever have an epidural again.) My mom made it in the next morning, and was there for most of the experience. I tried to get some sleep, but I was a little anxious. The doctor was fine with waiting for the baby to come in his own time (since he was early), so after being at the hospital for almost 24 hours she finally broke my water and little Ezra came out shortly after that. Unfortunately since he was 5 weeks early he was rushed to the NICU right after being born. He's been in for a week now, and progressing really nicely. He was only on a respirator for a few hours, he's finally off of phototherapy, and he will be off his IV today. As he is progressing I will get to feed him more often, which means lots of time at the hospital. As soon as he can eat from me exclusively we will be able to take him home. The doctors say to plan for him coming home by his due date but believe it will only be two or three more weeks.

Anyway, we want to say thanks to all of our friends and family for your support. It has been tough not being able to take him home. He sure is a cutie though. I'll post pictures next time. I'm writing from the hospital, and I'm not sure how to get pictures on here without saving them to the computer.

Belly Photos

2007-09-19T12:00:00.000-06:00

We missed several weeks of belly photos. We've been very busy setting up our new home and getting ready for Ezra to come. So I have two photos to put up today. One is from 26 weeks and the other is from 31 weeks. There is a HUGE difference between the two photos; it's pretty crazy.

26 Weeks

31 Weeks

I don't really even fit into that shirt anymore. It shows a little bit of my belly now. You can see the whole set here.

As Promised

2007-09-04T16:59:00.000-06:00

Maggie called me on never posting, so this is for her. (Our internets were unreliable for a while, not to mention I've been very busy and I'm sharing computers with Matt... but I don't want to make any excuses or anything.)

About our new home the front room and the kitchen look great, the office and the nursery however are both disaster areas. Which brings me to about the baby/pregnancy. I am totally in a panic here. We only have 9 weeks to get the nursery ready for the baby. As I mentioned it is a total disaster in there; I don't even know where to start. Other than that, I love being pregnant, and I love my baby. He kicks like crazy, especially at night when I'm trying to sleep. When he's not kicking me he gets the hiccups, which are funny and annoying at the same time. I also feel like a big fatso, and I don't think I'll ever be able to fit into my old clothes again. Oh well!

I cut my hair today. Literally, I took the scissors to my own head. This is the shortest haircut I have ever had, and I actually like it a lot. Plus it was FREE, even if it took me probably two hours to cut it all. (I usually just go to the beauty school, and the students take almost two hours to cut my hair anyway.) I took off about 4 or 5 inches, so it was a pretty drastic cut. I know I'm crazy, but this isn't the first time I've cut my own hair. I used to do it in high school all the time.

Our good friends Boz and Maegan just had their baby boy this morning, Congrats! I can't wait to go see him. I love babies!

Okay here's my to-do list for the nursery.
1. Clear out anything that's not staying in the room and put in storage.
2. Put away anything we are storing in the baby's closet.
3. Sand down and clean baby's furniture.
4. Paint or refinish furniture.
5. While room is all cleared out paint room.
6. Put bassinet in our bedroom.
7. Arrange furniture in nursery.
8. Buy crib.
9. Hang any pictures or decorations.
10. Do not go insane...

I've been tagged!

2007-08-15T09:38:00.000-06:00

I think you become an official blogger once you get "tagged" is that right? Well, if it is I guess the past three years of blogging don't count...

1. What is the best thing you cooked last week?
Our new home has a nice big porch (I mean big for a condo). So Matt got out our mini charcoal grill, and I made us barbecued chicken with corn and a green salad. I homemade the BBQ sauce and it was totally killer, and the chicken was still juicy! I was so proud of my grilling skillz.

2. If money, time, and babysitting were no object where would you go and with who?
Matt and I would die to go to Santorini, Greece. It is so beautiful, Matt's dying to take pictures there. (We first decided it was a lifetime goal of ours to go there when we watched Giada in Paradise, a show on the foodnetwork). Also if money were not an option I would want to take my whole family on a vacation to the Harry Potter theme park when it opens. (Plus it's in Florida so we could go to the beach and Disneyworld.)

3. When was the last time you cried.
Probably yesterday sometime. I'm pregnant; I cry all the time.

4. What is the most played song on your ipod right now?
I've been listening to a lot of Norah Jones lately. It's very mellow and soothing, and I like it.

5. Is there something on t.v. this week that you are more excited about than the So You Think You Can Dance finale?
I'm so happy about my answer to this question! We don't have cable or an antenna at our new house, so I haven't watched any TV since the Monday we moved in! Three whole weeks without TV, yay! We just bought a new TV, which I'm sure Matt will blog about because it was the deal of a lifetime. So we will be borrowing an HD antenna from a friend of ours, but we'll only be getting a few channels that way (Gotta make sure Matt can watch his Eagles). I used to watch a lot of TV, so I'm happy I can't because now I find other things to occupy my time with (which isn't too hard to do since we still have work to do on our new home).

So now I get to tag other people... I think I will just tag Maggie. P.s. Margs I was supposed to call you when I got your package, and then I never did because I am a bad person, but I got it thanks!

Update

2007-08-01T18:03:00.000-06:00

We're alive, well and living in our new home. More posts to follow when my house looks a little less cluttered.

It's Official

2007-07-18T09:30:00.000-06:00

Matt and I closed on our condo yesterday! We should be getting the keys to our new home today! We still have a TON of packing to do. Our big moving day is Saturday (everyone's invited! bring your swimsuits to swim afterwards!). We are going to buy a new couch! I am soo excited because our current hand-me-down couches are pretty ugly (and by that I mean I hate them). We are planning on getting this couch:

It's from IKEA, and I love it. But Matt thinks we should get a couch from Big lots because it is microfiber and will cost about the same. (I told him it looks like a Grandpa couch, it's really puffy and big) We're going to go look at it though. I'm just excited to have a home that I can decorate and paint however I want. I have lots of ideas, but we'll see if they all happen. Well I have to get back to packing. Here's last weeks belly photo:

Belly Photos!

2007-07-04T15:40:00.000-06:00

Finally, here's four of them!

18 weeks:

19 Weeks:
20 Weeks:

21 Weeks:Whew! My belly is getting big! I'm at 22 weeks now too, so I will hopefully be putting 22 up soon. Everything is going great here, our house is a mess, and I have no motivation to try and straighten up because we're going to begin the packing process soon. Yay!

Happy Fourth of July!

Things I love

2007-06-27T09:31:00.000-06:00

In no particular order.

1. My new maternity jeans. The cutest jeans I have ever owned. Cute tush and comfy belly.

2. My Mattie. He's doing such a good job being a daddy, except he laughs at my belly button being a half in-y and a half out-y.

3. Cruiser bikes. I love these bikes at Trek.com. The prices aren't too bad.

4. My mommy and my family. I love talking to my mom about my life. She is always happy to hear about all that's going on in our life. (Which is a lot with my pregnancy and us buying a house.)

5. My baby. We're having a boy, and we have three names that we like so far: Ezra, Elijah and Truman. I told this guy I work with about these names and he thought they were "overdone". I have never met anyone with any of these names, so I thought that was weird. I love feeling him move around inside me. It's so funny. Since I can't see him growing inside me I hope he's okay in there. I often worry because there's nothing I can do to make sure everything is okay inside there.

Well, Matt and I have been taking my belly photos every week, but Matt hasn't taken any of them off of his camera. Once Matt gives them to me, I will post all of them.

Coming in 2009

2007-06-10T18:16:00.000-06:00

If I start saving up now, I know I could take my family on a vacation here when it opens.

"Owl's Eye View - Inspired by J.K. Rowling's compelling stories and faithful to the visual landscapes of the films, fans will now be able to experience the world of Harry Potter in a physical environment at the newest island of Universal's Islands of Adventure, "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter." Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Universal Orlando Resort are partnering to create the world's first fully immersive Harry Potter themed environment. Opening in 2009, "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" will feature rides and attractions, as well as shops and restaurants that will enable fans to sample fare from the wizarding world's best known establishments." (http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=apm&id=1807763769&cf=pg&photoid=970438218)

My Beautiful Family

2007-06-07T13:11:00.000-06:00

Having a photographer in the family is so nice. I'm sure my family loves that Matt's hobby is photography. He set up this photo for my family. (He had to run from the camera to make it in the photo) It turned out so beautiful.

And here's one of my little family:

*If you click on the photo, you can see a bigger one.

16 weeks

2007-06-07T11:55:00.000-06:00

Here's 16 weeks:

18 weeks should be up tomorrow.

Little Heartbeats

2007-06-04T19:55:00.000-06:00

Matt and I were planning on getting a 3D ultrasound this week, but we somehow thought the cost was going to be a lot lower than we found out it would be yesterday. The price that we thought we would get the 3D ultrasound for is actually the price for a "gender test". Anyway we didn't really think it was worth it just to find out the gender for that price, when we're going to find it out anyways in two weeks for free.
We had our 18 week appointment yesterday. My very favorite part is hearing the heartbeat. The baby could feel the Doppler sticking in my stomach and kept kicking it. It was so funny, but I couldn't laugh because then we wouldn't be able to hear anything. I've been able to feel the baby move more often too, and it always make me giggle (even if it hurts a little). I guess it's kind of surreal knowing it's a person moving around inside of me.

With the baby we'll be growing out of our little apartment. So we are looking to buy this summer. We're going to look at some condos in Eagle Mountain tonight. We really love these condos and have been pretty bummed missing out on some of them. Anyway my blog posts have been getting boring lately, so I think I'll just leave it here.

Week 15 & Family Vacation

2007-05-20T18:03:00.000-06:00

Here's last weeks belly photo. I got it up before the 16 weeks, so that's something.

Week 15:

I made a "photo set" on my flickr account called Pregnant Belly. If you go here you can see all of the belly photos together consecutively. It's fun to look at the thumbnails all next to each other and see my belly's progress.

Next week we leave Friday for our big summer vacation. My family is planning a Higgins reunion (it's kind of a reunion, but it doesn't involve any extended family, just my parents and all of my siblings) starting a week from tomorrow. We are going to go camping for 5 days at the Carlsbad Beach in CA. The campsite is right next to the beach, I am way excited! Our vacation starts Friday though, because we'll be driving from here to Southern California by way of Carson City, NV; Pleasanton, CA; Oakhurst, CA; and Fresno, CA. At each stop we'll have someone to see too. On Friday we'll stay the night with Grammy. On Saturday we'll spend the day with our friends in Pleasanton and stay the night with my cousins Brittany, Ben and Baylee (Were you guys going for a 'B' theme there?). Then Sunday we'll drive to Oakhurst (Matt's hometown) and spend the day with his dad and some of his family, then drive to Fresno and spend the night with his mom and sister. Then we'll finally make our way down to Carlsbad and spend the whole week with my family. It is going to be such a fun trip! I am so excited about everyone we get to see and spend some time with. Matt and I are both so excited for a nice break. Even though the first few days probably won't be that relaxing, I'm sure the week at the beach will be. Also Matt and I went to Sports Authority and bought me some board shorts that I really like and they fit me. I will be the cutest pregnant lady on the beach.

Weeks 13 & 14

2007-05-13T17:30:00.000-06:00

Here are my belly pictures from weeks 13 and 14. Matt wanted me to start wearing the same shirt every time so that the change from week to week would be more noticeable. (sorry these are a week late, hopefully I'll get on the ball soon and start posting them the day after they're taken, instead of a week)

13 weeks:

14 Weeks:

I have a feeling I'm going to have a huge belly.

Tulip Festival

2007-04-30T20:04:00.000-06:00

Matt and I went with our friend Paul to the Thanksgiving Point Tulip Festival on Saturday. This is our second year going, and I love it! Matt and Paul both enjoy photography, so we took tons of photos. I inherited Matt's old camera when he got his fancy new one for his birthday. Here are a few of my photos:

Here's Matt on a Segway. They had a free demo at the Festival.

I really liked this little Cherub.

Here are some of the pretty tulips.

If you want to see more photos we took you can look at our flickr pages.
Mine
Matt's
Paul's

12 weeks and 11 weeks

2007-04-26T20:43:00.000-06:00

Matt decided he wanted to document my pregnancy by taking a picture of my belly every week. So, I thought you would enjoy coming along for the ride. Here is last week, 11 weeks:

and 12 weeks:

In the first one I just look chubby, so that's fantastic. It turns out if I wear actual maternity shirts I look less chubby. It's fun to be able to wear maternity clothes. I haven't tried any bottoms yet, just shirts. Although when I sit down it kind of feels like I'm full all the time, and I want to unbutton my pants. I asked Matt to get me one of those Bella bands, so I will start using that before I get too uncomfortable I'm sure. Today I was sitting on the couch and my belly started twitching. I thought it could be the baby and I started giggling so much thinking about the baby kicking against my belly. I don't think it was the baby really (I think it's too early to feel the baby, and I don't really know what to be looking for), but it was funny to think about the baby kicking me. Then I was laughing so hard the baby probably felt like I was kicking it back. Anyways, it was fun. I haven't really felt pregnant. I haven't been able to really tell there's a baby inside of me (besides that I felt nauseous a lot, and other things like that), so it was fun to think about the baby kicking me.

Oh I wrote to Design Mom about my problem with gliders (I think they're hideous), and I got some good info about where I might get a pretty rocking chair. I like the one from Ikea they talked about, and the idea of getting an old one from eBay and fixing it up. Utah gets their very own Ikea in May, so I have quite a few things I want to check out there. We're hoping to move soon, and I have been eying a few things on their website. I'm pretty excited.

Big News!

2007-04-09T19:38:00.000-06:00

I've been waiting to tell everyone for a long time. I am pregnant! According to the doctor visit today I am 10 weeks along, but that little counter thing says I am only 9 weeks. So, It's going to be a little off from my doctor's calculations. (Okay only 2 days, but it's a big deal to me.) We told my parents as soon as we found out and Matt's. My mom couldn't keep it a secret though. She told my cousin and her husband and my little sister accidentally. Then she told my grandparents. Then Matt and I visited AZ, and my mom spilled the beans at Relief Society. So by now I expect almost everyone that knows my mom knows that I am pregnant.
So far, I am healthy. I just get some morning sickness and I am always tired. According to Matt I go to bed at like 8, sometimes 7. Anyway, we're both really excited. I haven't been posting because I've been really busy with work and really tired. I didn't even decorate for Easter, so you know I must be exhausted.

P.s. Congrats to Maggie and Dan and their new baby Charlotte! I haven't been able to get a hold of Maggie to tell her yet.

Oh Boy!

2007-02-07T15:08:00.000-07:00

Today I received a gorgeous package from Jordan Ferney at Oh Happy Day. She had a contest a while back to find some cleaning supplies for her. You can find the post here. I was so excited to win something; I love prizes!

Here's some photos of the pretty things:

Her packaging is so cute!

She wrote little notes on each gift.

Look at the cute bird necklace, mini Eiffel tower and vase. I'm excited to try out the toothpaste; I've heard good things about it. I forgot what the red thing is called, it's kind of like a kaleidoscope, a very cute idea. Jordan says she always keeps the salve in her purse. I'm sure it will come in handy and make me look very posh and up-to-date as well.

Thanks so much Jordan! I love all the prizes. I'm not sure I deserve all this for finding a mop, but I sure am happy. Yay!

Happy Half-Birthday

2007-02-05T12:04:00.000-07:00

At my elementary school each kid got to bring treats to school on their birthday and share them with the class. For the poor students whose birthdays were over the summer they were either left out or had a designated day to bring in their treats at the end of the year. My mom didn't want me to be left out of all of the festivities, so she would bring treats for me on my half birthday. I remember one year she made these cupcakes that were baked inside of an ice cream cone and topped with marshmallow creme and sprinkles. I was the coolest kid in my class on that particular day. Ever since then I have considered my half-birthday almost as important as my real birthday. Since today is my half-birthday, I'm totally going to have a party! Maybe I'll make a cake.

Happy Groundhog Day!

2007-02-02T10:07:00.000-07:00

I really love Groundhog Day. I think my family is one of the only I know that celebrates this day. Matt and I would usually order some groundhog pizza and eat that for dinner then watch Groundhog Day, but we're going to a friends reception tonight. I think we'll skip the Groundhog pizza, but we'll still watch the movie afterwards. If anyone has a hankering to celebrate today you can come over around 9ish to watch it with us.

The Search is Over

2007-02-01T12:19:00.000-07:00

Well, I got a job... Don't laugh. Wait, do you want to guess?
I wear a "uniform".
I help customers.
This hint will give it away, the uniform is red and khaki.
I totally got a job at Target, well only if I passed the Drug Test, which I have a pretty good feeling about. Now I just need to find some cute red shirts and khakis.

Background info.

2007-01-23T11:44:00.000-07:00

When I was in Junior high my best friend convinced me to try-out for the Dance Line. As it turned out we actually had to memorize dance routines and then make one up to show individually for the coaches to judge. I made up a dance routine to the song by CAKE "The Distance". I think my routine would have been pretty good except that after the first few steps I forgot everything and just started making it up off the top of my head. I was cartwheeling. I'm pretty sure it was a disaster, but I really don't remember what happened. In the end my best friend made the Dance Line and no surprise here I didn't. I have no idea why she wanted me to try-out with her. I am not a dancer type. I am a soccer and softball type.

Another drastic change in my hairstyle

2007-01-16T10:59:00.000-07:00

Here's some photos of my new hair. Enjoy!

I'm no good at this

2007-01-16T10:44:00.000-07:00

So, I really stink at this blog thing. I just never feel like I have anything interesting to write about. I need to be thinking about things to post throughout the day I guess.
I'm looking for a job right now, and I really don't want to do anything professional. I am very intent on finding a job that allows me to forget about it at the end of the day. I obviously hope I would enjoy my job, but I guess after being in school for so long I would love to just be able to relax at the end of the day instead of thinking about all the assignments and projects on my plate for the next several months. It's really weird talking about this with people though. I feel like I would be letting everyone down if I don't get a job that would reflect my degree. People keep asking me, "so what are you going to do now?" expecting me to have some amazing plan for my future. I am really happy with the idea of working somewhere like Old Navy though. I keep getting the feeling that everyone will be disappointed in my career choices. I guess I should just be worried about making myself and my family happy. I just don't like the feeling of being a disappointment.

So much to write, so little time to write it

2006-12-16T15:14:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to write for the past few weeks, but when I thought of something clever to write I wasn't in a place where I could write it. Then when I was, I either didn't have time or couldn't remember it. So, here I am again playing catch up in list form:

I recently won a prize from the Design Mom Give Away A Day! It is so exciting to win things sometimes! Especially the lovely Nina Handbag I won from Aster & Sage. I'm going to give it to one of my sisters for Christmas, shh... don't tell.
Matt took me to see The Nutcracker for my big Christmas present last Saturday. It was so much fun, and I am glad I got Matt to go see a ballet with me. Included in the present was a new dress for me. It was a really great evening, and the perfect Christmas gift.
I am taking 3 finals this next week. My last 3 finals ever. It will be really nice to be done with school for a long time. Maybe someday I'll go back for a Master's, but I am really happy to be done with college for now.
We are going down to Arizona for Christmas. I am so excited to see my family. Brooke just had her third son a week ago and we are excited to see him. My family also finished the pool a month ago, so we are bringing our swimming suits and are excited for sunny weather. Last year it was 85 degrees on Christmas Eve... hopefully it will be in at least the high 70's this year.

Hopefully when finals are done, and we're back from our vacation I will be able to be more regular with my posts. Until then, Merry Christmas!

Crepes and Seminary

2006-11-29T10:40:00.000-07:00

Last night I made sweet crepes for dinner and they were soo good! We gobbled them up. We like to make a sweet lemon, butter syrup and I also like butter and cinnamon and sugar on them. I really want some more now. My family makes crepes for birthdays and easters, and I love them. But these sweet crepes were the best crepes ever.

I'm putting the recipe on here just in case I lose the paper I wrote it down on. You can also give them a try since they're so so good.
Sweet Crepes
2 Large eggs
3/4 C + 2 T. milk (unless you want to put your favorite liqueur in like the recipe suggested then put 2 T. of the liqueur instead.)
1/2 C water
1 C flour
3 T. melted butter
2 1/2 T. Sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
(It didn't call for any salt so I put a pinch in just in case they were too sweet, and they turned out fantastic)
Pulse all ingredients together in a blender, then let sit in fridge for 20 minutes to let bubbles settle. Warm frying pan to medium add small amount of butter. Put 1/4 C batter in center and swirl around pan quickly (it cooks quick!) Heat until golden brown, then flip and cook other side until golden brown. SO DELICIOUS!
I spread a small amount of butter on each crepe as they stack up. Then when we're sitting down we serve with lemon syrup and cinnamon and sugar. For the lemon sauce I use powdered sugar and lemon juice until it's at a runny consistency, then add maybe 1/2 T. butter and warm in microwave. When you put the syrup on the crepes DO NOT drench the crepe in the lemon syrup, you only need a little.

Today was my first day of my 10-day teaching experience at Timpview Seminary. I love the class I teach. Everyone is willing to participate, so there aren't any long, awkward silent moments, and we learn a lot from each other. Our class was only 12 minutes long today! They have a late start day every Wednesday and it was a half day too. So it was really quick, but also really fun!

Thanksgiving Menu

2006-11-20T15:25:00.000-07:00

I love to cook, so I get really excited about the holidays. I've never been really crazy about Thanksgiving food though. I don't like green beans, I prefer stove top to homemade stuffing. I like the fake cranberry jelly tube instead of homemade cranberry sauce (they always seem to have nuts in them gross!). I also really don't like Sweet potatoes.
There are a few items that I love. I love turkey, gravy and mashed potatoes. And of course desserts.

My favorite easy dessert:

Pumpkin Gingerbread Trifle
2 (14-ounce) packages gingerbread mix
1 (5.1-ounce) package vanilla pudding mix
1 (30-ounce) can pumpkin pie filling
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 teaspoon ground cardamom or cinnamon
1 (12-ounce) container frozen whipped topping
1/2 cup gingersnaps, optional

Bake the gingerbread according to the package directions; cool completely. Meanwhile, prepare the pudding. Stir the pumpkin pie filling, sugar, and cardamom into the pudding. Crumble 1 batch of gingerbread into the bottom of a large, pretty bowl. Pour 1/2 of the pudding mixture over the gingerbread, then add a layer of whipped topping. Repeat with the remaining gingerbread, pudding, and whipped topping. Sprinkle the top with crushed gingersnaps, if desired. Refrigerate overnight. Trifle can be layered in a punch bowl. (courtesy of foodnetwork.com)
Yum Yum!

I tried a lemon rosemary salt rub on our turkey roast last year (since it was just Matt and I eating I didn't bother to make a whole turkey) it was delicious. I'm hoping to make a whole real turkey this year, but we'll see. I was going to go crazy and make lobster and go really non-traditional since it's just me and Matt, but maybe I'll save the lobster for Valentine's Day.

A quickie about my old roomie

2006-11-03T09:41:00.000-07:00

One of the things I like best about my old roommate, Margs, is her system for picking out cereal. Margs is what we like to call a connoisseur of cereals. She knows all about them, even that there are two types- hot and cold. Margs also loves all types of cereal, she even had a cereal bar at her wedding reception. Whenever we used to go shopping together cereal was always on her list of things to buy. However, since she likes ALL of the cereals she would have the dilemma of deciding which cereal she wanted the most. So, to solve this problem she would always get the biggest box with the best toy in it. And that is one of the reasons why I like her so much.

Pumpkin Carving Party

2006-10-30T10:34:00.000-07:00

Our Pumpkin Carving party was super fun. (Even though we didn't have as many people show up as I had hoped.) We had lots of yummy treats, including my family's fall favorite caramel brownies.
I made my pumpkin very non-traditional, and it's not because I am offended by Jack-o-lanterns or anything like that. I just wanted to do something different.

Our good friends Maegan, Elyette and Luke Millar all came.

Look at how cute Elyette is!

Good thing Elyette was here to help!

Oh. Yum!

Costume Success!

2006-10-30T10:23:00.000-07:00

My idea worked out pretty good for our ward Halloween party, but I am supposed to dress up for a work party tomorrow. I don't know what to do... It's gotta be something that will keep me warm, and won't make me look crazy.

Anyway, here's Matt and I as Clark Kent and Lois Lane:

Lemurs

2006-10-18T12:29:00.000-06:00

Lemurs are different than both monkeys and apes. Something that's particularly cool about them is that they are ONLY found in Madagascar and the Comoro Islands which are between mainland Africa and Madagascar, but they are still pretty diverse within those regions.
Lemurs tend to have a longer rostrum (snout) than other primates.
This is a ring-tailed lemur.
Most lemurs have a very distinct look that distinguishes them from other animals. Almost all lemurs have very long tails, often longer than their body. They have both opposable thumbs and big-toes. Unlike other primates they have a very sensitive nose. They are the least closely related to humans of all of the primates. Their tail is not prehensile (they can't hang from it or grab things with it) like many monkey tails are.

Hope that helps!

A monkey and an update

2006-10-17T22:22:00.000-06:00

I didn't get to post about my monkey last week. So I'll give it to you this week. (Which is good because we don't have to present an animal tomorrow.)

This is the Black and White Colobus Monkey:

The Colobus is mainly awesome because it looks so cool. I like the white tuft of hair at the end of its tail and its cute nose (it is an old world monkey and all of the old world monkeys have a similar shaped nose). They don't have thumbs, this is to help them be really speedy when climbing around in trees.
The Colobus has two stomach regions. The first has a neutral pH and is used to ferment all of the leaves and planty material they eat with the help of bacteria. This means that they are able to get out way more nutrients from the food they eat than we can. This also allows them to live in environments were not many other monkeys can live because they can still get lots nutrients out of poor food resources.

Okay, I don't really know what to update on, but I feel like I haven't written on here in a while.

I'm still graduating in December.
I am currently looking for a job for after I graduate.
I have applied/am applying to a wide variety of places... Private School Biology teacher to Old Navy Manager, so everything's still up in the air right now.
I am really enjoying my choir class, and I found out today that the concert at the end of the semester is free and my professor said the more the merrier, so everyone's invited.
Our choir actually sounds pretty good even though we're just a Univeristy Chorale, non-audition choir.
This is the rainiest fall I have ever encountered, I don't really like it. Being wet all the time is kind of dumb, and I'm pretty sure I'd never survive in a place like Seattle (sorry Matt, I think we'll have to cross that off the list--I'm sure mom and dad will be happy though, Seattle's too far away from home).
We are having a pumpkin carving party at our house this Friday. This is to keep up with the tradition that my family had. We had a pumpkin carving party every year, and I always loved it growing up. We have a pretty small apartment though, so we're going to take down our table and cover our living and dining room area floor with newspaper and just let everyone go at it. (Margs if you guys happen to be coming down this weekend bring some pumpkins and come over Friday night.)
I've decided I want a cute pumpkin this year. Maybe I'll do something boring like spots or squares, something not very traditional.
Our ward is having a Halloween costume party and dance this year. I am so clever and thought up an awesome costume for Matt. He has a Superman t-shirt, so I told him to go as Clark Kent with a suit on and have his dress shirt partly unbuttoned so you can see the Superman logo underneath.
I don't know what I should wear then... Maybe I could be Louis Lane, but I wouldn't really know what to do to be Louis Lane, and nobody would know who I was unless I was standing next to Matt.

Okay, that's all!

Blog Genre

2006-09-26T21:40:00.000-06:00

I decided that my blog isn't very popular because it doesn't have a genre. There are religious blogs, political blogs, blogs for moms, Christians, fashion, computers, families, photography, etc.
So, I am going to give my blog a weekly genre. On Wednesdays I have to present one of the mammals we are supposed to learn about that day to my mammalogy class. I thought it would be fun to show all of you my mammals as well.

INSECTIVORES:
This last week I signed up for the Pangolin (Manis spp.) because I had never heard of it before.
So I present to you the pangolin:
The Pangolin is cool because...

1. Its tongue muscles begin at the lowest rib and it can extend its tongue out 25 cm (it is an ant and termite eater).
2. It has scales made from agglutinated hair (the hair is glued together).
3. The scales on its tail are super spikey and it can use them to swipe at predators.
4. It has super tough claws that can break open a termite home (a termite home is like the hardest cement on earth).
5. It can close up its nostrils and ears so that ants and termites don't get in.

Since that was my animal for last week you guys are going to get TWO-FOR-ONE this week!!

BATS:
My mammal this week is the Western Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus hesperus) (I totally picked it because of its name):

1. The Western Pipistrelle is not as cool as the Pangolin, sorry Pipi.
2. I think Pipi looks pretty cool with his Black leathery face, ears and patagium (that's the leathery wings specific to bats) paired with a brownish gray furry coat.
3. This bat mates in the fall and hibernates in the winter. Because of this the females can carry the spem inside her through her hibernation before becoming fertilized in the spring. Also if she rouses from her hibernation (which causes her to become fertilized) in the middle of winter she will remove the sperm, so that she doesn't become pregnant before the hibernation period is over.
4. Newborns only take one month after birth before they look just like adults.
5. Newborns are taken care of by a maternal colony because the bat is short-lived (the mom might die before the young is weaned).

My walk home

2006-09-25T16:38:00.000-06:00

I get to walk home from school most days and while I was walking home today I was thinking of all of the reasons why I love walking home so much. I thought I would compile a list of reasons why I enjoy my 30-minute walk home so much.

1. I have a soundtrack to my life for each time I walk home. Matt gave me an ipod shuffle for our 6 monthiversary in February and I love walking home with it. One of the things I like so much is the variety of songs you can listen to. Today as I bounded down the stairs south of campus I enjoyed the robust voice of a big Italian man accompanied by a mandolin (I totally felt like I was in a movie). After that song it was Dashboard Confessional, Jewel, and several other genres of music.
2. I really like walking home (when dressed appropriately) when the snow or rain is really coming down. It's fun, and someday I'll be able to tell my kids that I walked to school in the snow, uphill both ways.
3. Right now I get to walk by houses with gardens full of pumpkins squash and zuccinis (I wrote about that already).
4. If I walk fast enough I feel like I'm getting a work out in.
5. After spending all day in class or working it's really nice to get outside, walk, look around and think through things on my mind.
6. I like looking at all the old homes in neighborhoods I pass through. I really want to live in an old house someday, they have a lot of character and history behind them, sometimes they seem more homey than newer ones. On Jordan's blog "Oh Happy Day" she does an affordable house of the week every week and they are always cute old homes that may need some fixing up. That sounds like a lot of fun to me.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share the joy of walking home. Maybe you all should try it sometime.

Mi oficina es su oficina

2006-09-20T21:27:00.000-06:00

So I work "behind the scenes" at the law library on campus. It's called technical services, which is funny because even though we work with computers to organize the library, no one in there is really technically savvy or anything like that. I mean it's not like they're/we're all a bunch of computer nerds, cause we're not. Anyway, I like working there mostly.

I have my own office at work which is really neat because none of the other student employees have an office, they're all in pitily little cubicles, ha! Okay, so I say it's my own office, but really it's kind of open to the whole library, well everyone that works at the library. My office has all of these nifty supplies in it, so other librarians are going in and out of my office all the time. There's a laminator, two drills (which I have yet to see anyone drilling any holes in anything), a velo-binding machine (I think I'm the only one that uses that, people just drop off stuff in my office for me to velo-bind), a paper cutter, a sink, three cabinets full of all kinds of library goodies, so on and so forth. I think the sink is what gives my office the most attention. If you're working with old books your hands will get dirty, you will come into my office and wash your hands. If you want to eat an apple at work you will come into my office to cut up your apple, eat it while talking to me, throw away the core in my trash, and then wash your hands; then you will come back a few minutes later to brush your teeth in my office (Yes, there is a full-time employee who does this every day, brushes his teeth... in my office).
I actually usually really like it when people stop in my office. Sometimes it adds up to several minutes of getting payed to chat with a co-worker.
What kind of environment do you work in? Do you have any funny/awkard/interesting work-related stories?

2006-09-15T17:07:00.000-06:00

Here's me looking all intelligent and graduate-esque.

I love fall and Christmas carols

2006-09-15T16:23:00.000-06:00

As I wrote about in my last post I'm taking a choir class this semester. Our one and only concert for the class is in December so starting with the first day of class all we ever sing are Christmas songs. It's fun getting ready for Christmas in September, it also makes me really anxious for the end of the semester though.
Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE Christmas time, but I am really enjoying the beginnings of fall right now. I really love the weather. I love walking home and seeing pumpkins, squash and scarecrows in people' s gardens. I love the smell of fall and the feel of fall. I can't wait for October, so I can feel justified in decorating my house with fall colors and a few Halloween favorites including my Jack-o-lantern doormat.

The first day of my last semester of college

2006-09-05T18:52:00.000-06:00

I am really excited about this semester. It makes it really easy to go back to school knowing this will be my last semester of college.
I'm taking a univeristy choir class so that I will have enough credits to work on campus. That was the only class I had today, and it was really fun. I've never been in a real choir* before (just orchestra), so it was neat to see how things run, and I'm glad I get to do it before I graduate. I sat down with the 2nd sopranos and a young, fresh-faced girl sat next to me. I quickly found out she was a freshman, and told her this is my last semester of college, to which she replied, "oh that must be nice." Yes, yes it is.
I have a lot to do this semester. I'm not worried about school at all; I'm more worried about what happens after it's all over. I would really like to find a nice biology related job, that's close to where Matt works and pays well. I don't know if I'll get that lucky though. Oh well, I know I'll just be so happy I don't have to do schoolwork anymore.
What's one class you wish you could/ would have take(n) before you graduate(d)?

*Ward choir doesn't count, even if I was the director.

My hair smells like smoke

2006-09-03T20:20:00.000-06:00

I got my hair colored on Wednesday, and I figured all the girls who read my blog might like to see the results. I decided to go brown. I think it's darker than when I did it my freshman year, but I don't have any pictures to reference it with.

I like it, and Matt likes it. I decided I'm going to keep it long for a while because I put so much effort into growing it out. Before I got it colored it was a little over half-way down my back, and I just got three inches cut off of it. I think after Christmas I will go short. It is easier to do when it is short and I think it will be better for winter time, since I probably won't wear it wet as often.

Okay, since all the guys who read my blog are probably not interested in the color and/or length of my hair I will now tell a good story.
We are having a big BBQ tomorrow because we have lots of old friends in town and thought it would be a fun way to get everyone back together. We decided on ribs because they are much easier than burgers and much tastier. Matt and I are in charge of the ribs and everyone else is bringing the extras. We have a great way of doing ribs to get 'em nice and tender and delicious. We boil them for a few hours the day before, then let them marinade in BBQ sauce over night before grilling them while basting with BBQ sauce. They always turn out great. We had a lot going on today though so we tried to get in the boiling part while we were out of the house, well we ended up staying out of the house a little too long. When Matt opened the door to our apartment when we came home smoke came billowing out of the apartment sending us both into panic mode. Matt ran over to the stove and turned it all off and then tried to bring the smoking pot out of the house. Then the smoke alarm started going off, and our house smelled bad! We opened the windows, and turned some fans on, but there wasn't much else we could do because we had to leave the house shortly after that. Right now it still stinks, but we put bowls of vinegar in every room, have two fans and the ac going, and we spray febreze on anything fabric throughout our house every thrity minutes or so. It's been super fun. The BBQ is still on though, we had to get new ribs and start over, but they should turn out good still.

School too soon

2006-08-29T19:50:00.000-06:00

So, school doesn't start until next Tuesday, however one of my professors thinks it's appropriate to be handing out assignments before class even starts. Not only are we supposed to have a reading assignment and a reading quiz done, but also a class quiz to be taken before the first day of class. I know it's college and all, but seriously I'm still trying to enjoy my two-week break. Actually in my four years of college I've never had a class give out an assignment before school started. Maybe my luck's run out.
On a happier note, my Grandparents are in town staying at my Aunt's house and I got to work on stamping Christmas cards. It was fun.

random ramblings and an opinion poll

2006-08-23T22:37:00.000-06:00

I'm not really a pink person, but I think I like pink the best of all the colors I've tried for the background. What do you think?

Matt and I are headed to Park City for a few days. We're taking a mini vacation. I'm excited for a nice break just the two of us, and we're going to go shopping too. That's the one thing I miss about being single. If I felt like I needed a new shirt or new pair of pants I wouldn't think twice about going out and getting something. Now I feel like I am being selfish when I get new things, or I think the money could be put to better use. (I'm sure any of you married girls can relate to that.)

We have a pretty small apartment and my family mostly all stayed here when they came up for my commencement. My parents brought an air mattress, my grandma slept on the couch and Chandler slept on the love seat. It was really fun having them all here though. I always love to have my family visit, and I think it is fun having family sleep at our house.

Two days in a row I've been fed at work. I really like getting paid to eat. We had sloppy joes and pasta salad on Tuesday and muffins, fruit and juice today. I hope we get fed again tomorrow.
Well, I think that's about it for now. I am tired and can't really think of anything interesting to say.

Happy Anniversary!

2006-08-20T08:32:00.000-06:00

It's our one year anniversary today, Happy Anniversary Mattie!
My family just left for home this morning, so I guess I'll be able to start posting longer, more interesting posts tomorrow (maybe).

Under construction

2006-08-18T21:32:00.000-06:00

I thought I'd take advantage of my husband's nerdy computer skills, so my blog is gonna look sweet when it's all done.

CONGRADUATIONS!!

2006-08-18T18:02:00.000-06:00

I'm so graduated right now... for reals.
Okay, I do have 8 credits left, but still I'm the most graduated person I know.
Anyway, as soon as all the partying ends I'll be able to post again. And probably a lot too. This is because for two weeks I will have nothing to do except work a measly 20 hours a week and sleep in. Those are my two definite plans for the two week break. My mom is taking me to get a pedicure tomorrow. I am so excited! I love being pampered.

M&M's

2006-08-10T21:36:00.000-06:00

M&M's
Originally uploaded by shafnitz.

My husband is a buh-genius.
He is so popular with his m&m's photo. Yay!

Vacation

2006-07-19T13:21:00.000-06:00

Studying and writing on my blog at the same time, I am so multi-tasking right now...

As evidenced by the fact that I haven't posted anything since this term started, you may have noticed that I have been very busy. So busy in fact that I am in desperate need of a vacation. Oh wait! Just my luck, I am going on a vacation! Matt and I are heading down to Vegas Friday morning to meet up with my family. We are going to go see the Phantom of the Opera! I am so excited! We've never seen the play before, so we are totally stoked. Good thing Matt already likes The Phantom of the Opera, we went with some friends to see the movie and the other guys there thought it was boring and/or dumb.

Oh yeah and I am so excited to collect some bugs while I am down there too. Actually, I'm not that excited about it. I am for reals excited about Port of Subs though. YUMMY.
All right I have to actually study now.

Entenmannology

2006-06-28T20:50:00.000-06:00

So, I'm currently taking an entomology class. Every time I mention this class to my mom she's all like, "what's that? the study of Entenmann's?" Actually I was even on the phone with her when I first told her I would be taking this class. Luckily she just happened to bump into some friends back home, in the grocery store, while I was telling her about entomology. So the first thing she says to the friends in the store is, "Heather is almost graduated. She is taking a class called entomology, it's the study of Entenmann's. " (Maybe Maggie could have taken a class like that?)

My mom is really funny. and so is my dad. I think I definitely get my sense of humor from them. Matt thinks we're all crazy.

Anyway, entomology is actually the study of insects, and it's way nerdier and never as tasty as an Entenmannology class (my professor did mention something about sauteeing grubs in butter). I do get to make such a thing called a 'killing jar'. Which is a cool name. It's really just acetone soaked plaster of paris in the bottom of a lidded jar. I have to collect insects for the class, which I'm a little skeptical about. I really don't want to get stung or bit during the process of collecting. I also don't want to so thoroughly enjoy myself that my freezer begins to be stocked with insects (although in class we've learned that you should only keep your insects in a regular freezer for a couple days). It is actually interesting learning about insects. We have some kids in the class who are just taking it for fun, and are in majors that have nothing to do with biology (and Matt says I am a nerd).

Anyway, that's all I really have to say about bugs for now. I really want an Entenmann's danish or donut now.

Professional-grade Sno-cones

2006-06-24T19:44:00.000-06:00

Here in UT when it starts hitting 90 degrees they start rolling out the temporary sno-cone stands. At our local Albertson's they have one out front and Matt begged me to let us get some sno-cones after grocery shopping today.
These were some of the worst sno-cones I have ever seen. You're probably wondering "how do you mess up a sno-cone?" Let me tell you it was like a sugary syrupy drink with a bit of ice in it. I watched in horror as the ill-skilled sno-cone maker lazily poured the syrup onto the unpacked mound of ice. So syrupy I spilt it all over my pants trying to get in the car.

You see having grown up in Arizona, I take my sno-cones seriously. (Actually we call them shaved-ice in Arizona, maybe because they don't come in a cone?) One shop I frequented often was Bahama Buck's My favorite was the Pinacolada shaved ice with cream. MMMM. The cream is the secret, it's the best part. Their whole business, year-round is based on the sno-cone (they have other things like smoothies, but no one went there for those). We also have the local Water 'n Ice chains, my friend's dad owned a few of these in highschool so we used to get discounted rates on our shaved ice.

Anyway, I guess I can understand why Arizona would have superior sno-cones to Utah, but this sno-cone maker lady (the one in front of the Albertson's) created her sno-cones as if she had never seen and/or heard of a sno-cone before in her life. Do you think a shop like Bahama Buck's would do well in UT, where it gets cold in the winter? Is this the kind of treat you should be able to enjoy all year round (that is in places where it actually gets lower than 50 degrees in the winter)?

Funny Signs I

2006-06-16T20:45:00.000-06:00

One time when I went to the mall I saw this sign:

I thought it was so funny I immediately took a photo of it with my cell phone. I am so grateful to have my cell phone so I can always remember the time I saw a sign at the mall for 'Tooting Tailors'.

P.s. For any of you who have given up on looking for new posts on his blog, Matt finally wrote on his blog.

Pooh-wiches and Gilmore Girls

2006-06-15T11:40:00.000-06:00

I took my final this morning, and I am done with classes for a week and a half! I thought I'd celebrate by turning some of our leftover graham crackers (we brought three boxes for smores, aparently that was a little overkill) and some delicious chocolate frosting into pooh-wiches for me. Yum! I don't really know why they are called pooh-wiches, that's what my family has always called them. Also, I found a tv station that plays re-runs of Gilmore Girls and this is pretty much the best day ever!

Grand Canyon Recap

2006-06-13T19:22:00.000-06:00

We had so much fun camping with my family at the Grand Canyon this past weekend. Everything was gorgeous including the weather. The camping food was super yummy too. Matt took tons of photos; I'll put a couple up here, but you can see all of them here.

Here's Matt and I, you can't see much of the canyon though.

Cotton was really enjoying throwing dirt in the air and wiping his grubby hands on his face. Adorable.

Here's some of the wildlife we got to see. We saw a deer too, but I like this cute little chipmunk better.

My mom decided Saturday would be "Family Solidarity Day", so that's why we're all wearing pink or red. You, can't see much of the canyon in this one either...

All right here's a few Matt took of the actual Grand Canyon:

It was a little hazy while we were there; you may be able to catch a glimpse of the fire that was raging along the south rim. Well, I hope you enjoy the photos!

Camping

2006-06-06T08:52:00.000-06:00

Matt and I went on our ward campout to Payson Lakes this last weekend. It was super fun! It was really great to get to know some of the people in our ward better. We're in a married student ward, so it's hard to make new friends. Everyone's in the "I just got married to my best friend, and we already have close friends, so I don't really need to try hard to make anymore" state of mind (yes, even Matt and I). We had a lot of fun telling stories, and played the two truths and a lie game. The camping part was great, except that we had no soft mattress for under our sleeping bag so all that was between us and the rocks in the ground was the tent. This made it a little hard to sleep, but we made it through, and I took a long nap when we got home.

We decided to take it easy this trip since it was our first ever camping trip together and it was only from 6pm Friday to 11am Saturday. I packed us some Tuna salad sandwiches instead of trying to bring raw meat and stoves and charcoal and all of that great camping stuff.

This weekend we'll be going all out. We're meeting my family at North Rim, Grand Canyon NP. We are so excited! Matt and I are in charge of breakfast one day while we're there. So, we're doing a peachy dutch oven french toast, and a bacon, egg and cheese hash. Yum! I love camping food, everything tastes better when you're camping. We're also bringing chocolate and grahams for smores and strawberry lemonade and I'm freezing a bunch of strawberries to take for ice cubes in the lemonade (I really like food, so I always pay attention to little details in a meal).

We are also so excited for the trip because my whole family is coming. Matt and I are the only ones that will be roughing it in a tent, my family has one of those fold-down campers, and Brooke and Nate are renting a mini RV (I think it's mostly because she has two little guys and they don't have all of the camping equipment they would need to accommodate their whole family, plus Brooke is pregnant!) I'm sure Chandler or Hayden would love to sleep in our HUGE tent with me and Matt. I hope we will get to go down to the bottom of the canyon; I haven't been there since I was about 6 months old (so, I don't remember much about it).

P.s. Blogger is having a problem with the photos, so sorry if they don't load.

Coolest website ever, and I am an artist

2006-06-02T14:55:00.000-06:00

I found this place while "blog surfing" (I know I'm a total dork, but it's okay because I took a test today and I am totally on top of things right now). So, here's one of my original paintings:

And this is where you can make one yourself. You should try it, because it is fun, and cool.

blog update

2006-06-01T17:33:00.000-06:00

I finally fixed my blog. It might be a lot of blue for some of you, but I like it. I got the background of my blog from the makers of the new Superman movie so thanks to them for helping me fix my blog. I feel very hip and very nerdy at the same time. Hope you all enjoy!

I am Abe Lincoln

2006-05-29T12:38:00.000-06:00

I always think it's funny when people post their personality, by what kind of Christmas tree you are, or Hollywood celebrity, or maybe what kind of Irish paraphernalia you are. It amuses me, but then I want to know what kind of St. Patrick's Day paraphernalia I am too (I believe I am the green bowler hat), or who I was in High school... So, I take the tests too, but I don't like to let anyone else know. So, I'll admit I have also checked my personality on the basis of what kind of crappy Christmas gift I am, the type of food I am, and what kind of jack-o-lantern face I would have.

Well, just took a test that I actually liked, and agreed with the results. I took the "What Famous Leader are you?" test. I like the outcome, except the "assassination victim" part. I don't think I am famous enough to worry about something like that. (I am glad the personality test didn't deem me Adolph Hitler, Bill Clinton or Saddam Hussein)

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

One last thing

2006-05-16T21:54:00.000-06:00

I'm working on a project for my evolution lab, and I stumbled across a creationist's website and I found this little bit on "Creation Science" funny.

"Creationism, also known as creation science, is the study of scientific evidence for the creation of life on earth by God. The courts have ruled that creationism cannot be taught in the public schools because creationism is religion and religion cannot be taught in the public schools. However, this conclusion depends on how creationism is taught. If creationism is taught in the proper way, it is not religious in nature." (emphasis added) This guy goes on to explain why it is not religious, but I think he's kind of digging himself in a hole here.

I don't know, to me teaching evidence of creation by a God seems religious to me, and I don't think you can ever get away from that being religious. My problem with teaching about the creation in the public classroom mostly stems from the fact that I wouldn't want to put my kids in a public classroom and have someone teach them religious ideas that do not concide with my own religious beliefs. I don't know who is making up all the drafts for creation science in the classroom, but I do know I don't go to their church. I don't know what kind of stuff their going to be putting in my kids heads. To top it all off, I have no problem with the way science is done today, I approve of teachers teaching science according to modern science's current views (which also happen to include the view that ID is not science).

Anyway, I hope I'm not burning you out, but I just think this is important, and people tend to treat this as if it's not a big deal when it really is.

Solution to no religion in public schools?

2006-05-10T14:22:00.000-06:00

I've been thinking about why Intelligent Design is so appealing to people. As we all know religion has been a target in the public schools for a long time. My brothers and sisters now have a "winter break" whereas when I was in grade school it was "Christmas break". They can't celebrate most holidays in school. There's no prayer, no pledge of allegiance, nothing to do with religion. So, the general Christian public is concerned, they want religion back in the school and for some ID looks like a good way to do it (and degrade evolution at the same time, 2-for-1).

Obviously the problem here is putting religion in the public school is unconstitutional. The only way I see to fix this problem is to put MORALITY back in the public schools. Teach students to have higher moral standards. Teach them to have respect, charity, humility, determination, tradition, etc.

Does anyone else have a solution? Or perhaps a way to implement putting morality back in the schools. Maybe the parents should be taught to have higher moral standards, or taught how to get their kids to have higher standards. Now I'm just rambling... what do you think?

And something more entertaining...

2006-05-08T23:35:00.000-06:00

Matt and I went to the Tulip Festival at the Thanksgiving Point Gardens a few weekends ago. I thought I'd put up a few photos. Matt took tons of photos (111 total), it was beautiful and sunny and warmy.

I'm a tulip! Oh I mean I'm hiding behind the tulips. (and don't I look amazing in those shades)

Here's Mattie and me with some more tulips and an old lady too.

The Idols of the Marketplace and why Intelligent Design is not science

2006-05-08T22:20:00.000-06:00

Well after a 4-week hiatus, I'm back and back with more fascinating evolution and religion information! Yay! So, let's dive in then.

I want to talk about my feelings on why I disagree with Intelligent Design, and do not want it taught in the public classroom. I have a lot of things I want to say though, and I'm not really good at organizing my thoughts into a cohesive unit (unless I'm getting graded on it) so bare with me (unless you don't want to, in which case you are going to be missing out).

Intelligent Design formerly known as Scientific Creationism (they cleverly left out the word creationism so that people won't know they're trying to put creationism in the schools) is something that has been around since Darwin first published his The Origin of Species. In the US, in 1925, Creationists won their first battle in Tennessee, where a law was passed that outlawed the teaching of evolution in public schools. Since then states throughout the US have been trying to pass similar laws, and now we are seeing several states bringing the "new" idea of Intelligent Design to their legislature.

According to Sir Francis Bacon their are preconceived ideas that man must fight off in order to accurately interpret observations; he called these ideas idols. The Idols of the Marketplace are the semantic problems that occur when people try to communicate and use words differently. This is largely the case with evolutionists and Creationists. For a scientist the Theory of Evolution is irrefutable fact, while a Creationist would say "it's just a theory". The problem is in the scientific world the word theory has a different meaning than in every day language. A Creationist will argue that the theory of evolution shouldn't be in the classroom because it is just a theory and scientists argue about its factuality. To a scientist the word theory is structures of ideas that explain and interpret fact. So the process of evolution is fact (something that scientists do not argue about) the mechanism for the process of evolution is not set in stone (it is this that scientists are trying to figure out and are "arguing" about). This is much like Newton's gravity and Einstein's theory of gravitation, Einstein didn't argue that Newton's idea of gravity was wrong (because it is a fact that gravity is real and occurs) he simply found a possible mechanism for how gravity occurred. Anyway the point of this was to say that when a Creationist says that evolution is not agreed upon by scientists and it is just a theory, now you know what's really going on in the scientific world. There is no reason to throw a scientific fact out of the classroom, if you want to throw out the Theory of evolution as just a theory then you'll have to throw out all the rest of science with it.

All right secondly, Intelligent Design is not science. Creationists are trying to get Intelligent Design into the public school under the guise that it is a science. Science is something that can be tested, it is something that can be made falsifiable. Intelligent Design states that science can't explain the supernatural and so there has to be a Designer who created these things that science can't explain. The Creationist Duane Gish says it best. "We do not know how the Creator created, what processes He used, for He used processes which are now not operating anywhere in the natural universe. This is why we refer to creation as special creation. We cannot discover by scientific investigations anything about the creative processes used by the Creator." So Intelligent Designers also known as Creationists admit that there are no possible tests that can be done to confirm Intelligent Design as a science. I really can't see why that would be allowed in a classroom of any kind. It's basically a Creationist's doctrine that their trying to force on unsuspecting students. Let the Creationists spread their doctrine in their own churches to their own congregations.

(I would call myself a creationist, but I don't like the connotation that goes along with it. So I can simply say that I believe their is a God and that through His own means (yes, it could be evolution, some other scientific possibility yet to be discovered, or something else entirely) He organized this earth and the beings on it. I don't believe God is trying to confuse us, if something is scientifically proven to be true I believe that it was intended that way because of the laws that rule the universe and the laws that govern our existence.)

(I had help from my good friends John A. Moore in Science as a Way of Knowing: the foundations of modern biology, and Stephen J. Gould in Science and Its Ways of Knowing: Evolution as Fact and Thoery.)

I'm a Christian and I "believe" in evolution.

2006-04-11T18:23:00.000-06:00

I'm taking an evolution class on campus (It's funny some people are shocked we have an evolution class on our campus) along with a class called history and philosophy of biology, which basically has been discussing the relationship between science and religion through the years. Recently there was a letter to the editor written by a student at BYU to the Daily Universe. This student basically gave a creationists viewpoint of why evolution is wrong, and that it will be the downfall of our society.
I guess I just want to know if that's what most LDS and other Christians think.

The reason why I put the quotes on believe in the title is because evolution isn't something you believe in. It isn't supernatural or anything like that. It is a fact that evolution occurs; I don't believe in evolution so much as accept and agree with the Theory of Evolution. I would like to write more about my feelings on evolution and creationism and about different religious groups (Christian groups that also believe in "the creation") that accept the theory of evolution into the doctrine of their church. If my regular readers (which I think there's like two or three of you) are ok with it I'm going to be writing several installments of my thoughts on the subject. For anyone just passing by, sorry if this bores you, but it's my life.

In fact I'll even post a completely unrelated picture just to add a little bit of entertainment:
My family spent their spring break here in Utah with Matt and I: The fam and The Gianormous, and it really was, just look at Chandler's face.

Beware the black beans

2006-03-31T16:01:00.000-07:00

It's spring time and the little bunny rabbits are prancing in the fields depositing decorative eggs for little children to find.
And while we all celebrate this season, I would like to warn you about the black beans. When you find yourself reaching your hand in a bowl full of jelly beans, don't eat the black ones, they're really gross.

Cop Out

2006-03-28T20:16:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know I haven't been posting regularly and I really should have something super cool and interesting to write about, but I'm tired and I liked reading this on another friend's blog. So this is my cop out for a real post. Hate me if you want, but at least I am doing something.

Five Movies You Can Watch Over and Over:
1. Harry Potter, any of them
2. Gattaca- you know I'm a huge science nerd
3. Winnie the Pooh- I just can't get enough of that silly old bear
4. Emporer's New Groove
5. White Christmas- I'm pretty sure Margs and I watched that in like April last year.

Five embarrassing Songs that You Know All the Words To:
1. I Saw the Sign (Ace of Base) I hope anyone who was alive in the 90's can relate to my pain.
2. Get Another Boyfriend (Backstreet Boys, I know you all think less of me because of this now)
3. Do You Believe (Cher) due to long hours listening to the radio, yuck.
4. Newsies, any of the songs I may know from that movie is embarrassing.
5. Do the Locomotion, thank you 80's (and I loved it when I was a kid)

Five Memorable Halloween Costumes:
1. Parker and Nate as "The Crocodile Hunter"
2. The M&M costume all of the little kids wore
3. my sunshine bear (carebear) costume
4. Brooke as a dead Japanese lady?
5. The millions of Napolean Dynamite's I've seen the past two years.

Five Occupations that You Know You Could Never Do:
1. Teacher for kids under 11 years old. At that point the subject matter being taught is so uninteresting to me I would get bored of it, plus all the little kids running around. I would go crazy.
2. Any job where I don't really get to talk to other people much. I need the social interaction at work or else I get really bored, unmotivated and want to quit.
3. I couldn't work in an ER, I don't want to see people with a nail driven into their hand or any real severe bleeding or anything like that, I'd probably pass out. (Funny I don't mind cadavers though)
4. Managerial work. I like to do my own work. I don't mind being told what work to do, but I know I couldn't tell other people what to do.
5. Um, Fast food, ick.

Five Books You've Recently Read Outside of Schoolwork:
It's sad but there aren't any except the Book of Mormon, which is good a book, I just wish I had more time to read for my own leisure. Everything I read really is for school.

Five Ways to Perfectly Spend an Afternoon:
1. Doing nothing with Matt
2. Picnic and a nice walk
3. Going to a matinee
4. Sitting and relaxing after cleaning up the house
5. Taking a small trip to Park City or Salt Lake, somewhere close (I'm really excited about the Strawberry Festival in Payson this summer)

Not Your 5 Favorite Foods, But the 5 You're Most Likely Eating:
1. Something easy to fix like Mexican chicken and rice or Tortilla soup
2. E.L. Fudge cookies
3. Girl Scout cookies... Thanks Mom!
4. Cereal
5. Salad, made from whatever's in the fridge

So, that's the end. I hope you are okay with my lame excuse for a post.

Mattie's Birthday! and my family's spring break

2006-03-14T21:48:00.000-07:00

Yay!
It was Mattie's big day today, too bad he had to work. I got to have half the day with my mom, sister and aunt. We went out to lunch and got pedicures. I'm going snowboarding tomorrow with my family, so I don't know how well the pedicure will hold. It's a price I'm willing to pay. Matt has to work again tomorrow, so he's really missing out on all the festivities. Hopefully it was made up for with all of the great camping gifties and a delicious dinner at Red Lobster, yum!

The Testing Center

2006-03-06T20:14:00.000-07:00

I don't know what possessed those people at the Testing Center to start assigning categories of greatness for how well they felt you did on a test.

Background info* at the BYU testing center after you turn in a scantron exam you can see your grade on a tv screen before you leave. The screen will have your id number, your test score and then a space next to that for them to leave their own comments about how well you performed on your exam. I'm not sure what the exact grading rubric is, but it's something like 90 - Good Job! 92 - Wow! 94 - Fantastic! 96 - Awesome! etc. I think the idea behind the whole thing is ridiculous.

I got a 96.6 on an exam I took this weekend. Right next to my score was a big "Awesome!" While a 96 is certainly deserving of an "awesome" who's to say an 85 isn't. Let's take my Molecular Biology class I took my sophmore year for an example. The first test we had was out of 140 points when we took it. The professor put a cut off of 100 points on the exam though. So if I got a 96/140 approximately a 70% the testing center would not have given me an awesome even though in reality the professor considered the score to be a 96%. The final for that class I got 124 out of 180, and since the professor made the cut off at 120 that meant I got 100% on the final. Was that reflected with an "Awesome" at the testing center? Nope.

Maybe I see this happen often because of the kind of exams I take; pretty much no one gets in the 'A' range with the exams I take for class. The professor will curve the exam after it has been taken, so while the highest score may have been an 80 they didn't get that "Awesome" at the testing center that they certainly deserved.

Anyways, what I'm basically trying to say is the testing center should mind their own business. I don't think they can properly consider how good a score really is. I mean my 29/30 on my religion exam, that got me an Awesome this weekend, was not as great of an accomplishment as the 124/180 on my Molecular biology exam, which definitely did not get awarded any title by the testing center.

Not much

2006-02-28T19:26:00.000-07:00

Matt and I went on a picnic on Saturday. For whatever reason Utah decided to get warm all of the sudden, and I am all for it. I walk home from school usually so the warm weather has been really nice. I love a sunny sky in February (or really any other time of the year too)! Today it was warm and rainy, and we got a small lightning storm. I love lightning storms. We had them all the time in Arizona. I remember being a little girl wrapped in a sleeping bag with my sister, Brooke, peeking through the window, and watching the lightning illuminate the sky.
Also:
I think I'm the only girl in my ward who is not pregnant.
I made cinnamon swirl sponge cake, mmm it is so tasty.
My family is coming to visit me and Mattie soon. I am so excited! I really miss my family.
I took my final for my plant anatomy class today, all done!

current activities at the Schaffer household

2006-02-16T21:47:00.000-07:00

For Valentine's day I made Matt a huge homemade valentine. One of those classic big red hearts with pink loops as a border. It says 'Happy Valentime's Mattie!' It was fun making it, it felt like elementary school. He loves cashews so I got him some chocolate covered cashews, they looked like hearts too. I got him a book that's called 365 Ways to Kiss Your Love, it's really cute there's one kiss that's called the fishy kiss and you make a fishy face and then kiss your love like that. I also got him a magnet that's purple and it says You & Me on it (we like a song that is called 'you and me') and I especially am happy that the magnet is purple. Mattie did a really good job this Valentine's day. He got me roses a day early so I could enjoy them all day on Valentine's they are really pretty roses too, pink with redish tips.

He also got me a gift certificate for a massage and an iPod shuffle - not a gift certificate one, a real one, but that was more for our 6 monthiversary (we don't usually give monthiversary gifts, but Matt was being especially thoughtful at the time).

I made us an AWESOME Valentimes dinner featuring pink heart-shaped pancakes, crescent rolls with raspberry filling and raspberry jam for the pancakes. Yummy! and Cute!

I can't wait for us to have kids so they can talk about their crazy mom and how she does crazy things for the holidays, like I do with my mom.

This is me being very valentimesy:
Then after Valentime's day was over it was back to regular-not-as-fun-time's day(s). I took the first of several midterms tonight, and am really tired. Matt and I are excited for Saturday so we can sleep-in.

Groundhog's festivities!

2006-02-12T22:09:00.000-07:00

It'a miracle! Matt has finally written on his blog again! He wrote about our Groundhog's Day Celebration! Yay!

Sixlets or M&M's

2006-01-31T16:06:00.000-07:00

Many have pondered the question of which sweet confection is tastier, is it the sixlets or the M&M's?
Maggie and I have had many discussions on this topic. We are both clearly for the sixlets. These tiny candies are much tastier to me than the plain old M&M. I find that each hard candy shell has a distinct flavor. Maybe I'm just imagining that the orange candy shell has a citrusy flavor and the red a cherry flavor, but to me it's there. Then you may ask yourself, "what does the brown colored one taste like...?" I honestly do not know; it is a flavor all its own, and I love it. By careful examination of the wrapper to the sixlets I see that they come straight from Toronto. Immediately I have lost a vote from Matt, who thinks nothing good comes out of Canada.
Anyway, as I sit here in the Wilk waiting for Matt to get off of work and come pick me up, I slowly and thoughtfully eat my little sixlets.

P.s. Maggie what is carob? It's one of the ingredients.

Who's the huger dork now!

2006-01-29T22:27:00.000-07:00

So, this is Matt's side of the room we like to call our office...

I still don't know the answer to the question of who's the bigger dork in our family. I think part of the problem is that we're under two different classifications of dorkiness. He would be called a geek, while I would be called a nerd. So, the battle's still on. I would just like to point out the SEVEN computers on Matt's side, as well as the multiple monitors. I think this gives Matt a few more marks on the dorkiness chart. Luckily, you can't take a photo of the things that make me dorky really. You'd more have to record me talking about stuff. Although, I do think my leaf/plant collection from last semester can be used as evidence. Well, the least I can say for the two of us is: neither of us use pocket protectors and we both wear pants that are past the ankles.

Buddy Study

2006-01-25T19:25:00.000-07:00

I agree with Maggie. It is easier to get up the motivation to study when there are two of you needing to study. Matt's not in school, so when he gets home all I want to do is hang out with him. This means all studying must be done during the day. BUT what about the laundry, oh and I need to eat lunch. Also, I've been meaning to deep-clean our bathroom, organize the office, put away unneeded holiday decorations and put up needed holiday decorations, as well as solve world hunger and bring world peace. So, I couldn't possibly study right now.
Margs and I used to head to the library almost every night to study. We had our little nook on the first floor of the HBLL (which they've put computers on almost all of the desks there now!), Maggie usually brought some fruit snacks, and we would share earphones and im each other while sitting next to each other and studying. Funny, I actually got a lot of studying done that way. So, I'm supposed to be writing an abstract for a 39-page research paper about turberculosis for my evolution class now... But that world hunger is still looming over my head, so I think I'll work on that instead.

On the prowl

2006-01-17T13:03:00.000-07:00

Each week I am required to turn in an abstract of a peer-reviewed journal article for my evolution class. I've been searching the library database for articles I can use throughout the semester. We are to compile the abstracts into an annotated bibliography at the end of the semester on a topic of interest or in our field of study that relates to the class. The topic I chose to research is bacterial resistance to antimicrobials/antibiotics. I chose this topic because it is so fascinating how the little boogers figure out how the antibiotics are working to combat them in our bodies. Then they can modify themselves in a way that makes them nearly invincible to the drugs we try to battle them with. SIDENOTE: This is evidence to why I am a huge dork. I was reading about the history of HIV for the class last night and was explaining the processes of the virus to Matt, and I don't think he was nearly as excited by the topic as I was. I mean, how did those viruses get so smart?! END SIDENOTE. So, I've been researching diligently for the past hour and I have discovered two new articles to use... that's it, just two. I hope this isn't a steady trend since I have several more weeks worth of these to write an abstract on. Ah well, such is the life of a college undergrad.
On a happier note- I really love my intro to seminary teaching class.

P.s. I wrote this post twice because BYU is stupid and doesn't allow pop-ups, so I lost the whole thing when I tried to do spell check. It was more well written the first time around, sorry.

I need a pudding snack

2006-01-09T14:07:00.000-07:00

First day back to school. I have one class today. Yes, one. I am taking four classes that add up to 9 credits: History and Philosophy of Biology, Evolution, Plant Anatomy, and Intro to Seminary Teaching. I am super excited for three of the four classes. I don't know, plant anatomy is nice and all, but I just can't get my excitement level up for the xylem and phloem, call me crazy. (Speaking of 'call me crazy' I recently acquired a pair of socks that say 'call me crazy' all over them, they were $1 at target.)
So my one class today is history and philosophy of bio. Tuesdays and Thursdays are my cramped days. I have all classes but my his/phil of bio on Tuesday and all of them on Thursday because of a his/phil of bio lab. No classes on Wednesday or Friday! This a major break through people. I have never had a semester with a single day without any classes. This semester I have 2 days, TWO WHOLE DAYS of freedom, my friends. Ok, so I still have to go to campus to work on those days, but still you are all jealous.
After this semester I have approximately 12 more credits to take, and I am graduating! Finally! It feels so good knowing there is an end to all this craziness. I love school, and I am so glad I have learned everything that I have, but a break from school life sure would be nice.
In proper going to school fashion, I ate my cup of mandarin oranges like they were gooey bugs today. Thank you, Maggie for showing me the proper way to eat mandarin oranges.

The Higgins Luck

2005-12-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

Matt and I are supposed to be leaving for the big AZ this afternoon. We're going to sell his truck down in AZ, so we've been planning on driving it down, and then flying back up after Christmas. Yesterday, when I tried to start the truck to go to work, it wouldn't start up.
I called to tell my mom about the truck not starting up this morning, and she asked me if I had told Matt about the Higgins Luck. Basically the Higgins Luck goes as follows: if anything can go wrong, it will. So, now that Matt's married to me he's got to be on his toes, ready for anything and everything to go wrong that possibly can.
Fortunately my awesome cousin, who is a mechanic, came right over when I told him about our truck problems. He even thinks he knows what's wrong and we'll be able to get it fixed in time for Matt and I to leave. I was getting really bummed about the possible delay, so it's nice to know all hope is not lost. I'm so excited to go home, I hope everything goes smoothly from here on out.

Chewbacca's Christmas Carol

2005-12-16T15:45:00.000-07:00

This is my favorite ornament on our tiny Christmas tree. We have a 3 ft. tall tree with lots of "old-fashioned" ornaments, mini candy canes, a plastic, gold glittery star on top and white lights. Oh yes, and I can't forget the furry chewbacca Matt put on it.

I drove through Burger King on my way home from class in Salt Lake a few weeks ago and ordered myself a big kids meal. The toy in the meal was a mini stuffed chewbacca. The second I got home and showed Matt my toy, he immediately asked if he could make it into an ornament and hang it on our tree. So out comes the bent paperclip which was nicely forced into chewbacca's head, and he is now perched atop our tree. Our tree now seems to say "Merry Christmas all you Star Wars fanatics!" I guess that's what I get for marrying a computer nerd and being a bit of a nerd myself.

Signs

2005-12-15T21:52:00.000-07:00

A small list of how you know finals are over and the semester is done with:

I took a shower today after almost three days straight without one.
I am posting on my blog...
I convinced Matt to drive me up to Salt Lake to take my last final, so we could "celebrate" afterwards (I'll add the email I wrote him on here later).
I am so tired.
We have plans to sleep in tomorrow-that is sleep in compared to the early morning study sessions I've been having.
I can read other blogs as well as other entertaining non-school things.

I've been trying to convince Matt all semester to come with me to my 7:30 pm class up in Salt Lake. I would say enticing things like..."You can come sit in my class and listen to my crazy professor." Followed by, "We could go out to eat and have fun afterwards," as well as, "Plus you love me and will miss me so much when I am gone..." Anyways, for whatever reason these didn't do the trick. I really turned on the magic today though, when I told him that he should come up to my class in Salt Lake with me while I took my final.
Here's a copy of my email to him:
Here is a least of reasons why you should come to my class tonight.
1. If you drive that will give me an extra hour of studying.
2. This test should only take me an hour to 1 1/2 (less time than my class is normally).
3. After class we could go get something to eat to celebrate me being done with this semester- nothing fancy or anything.
4. You love me, and you want me to be happy.
5. I could really use that extra hour of study time.
6. I ran out of reasons, but I thought 6 sounded more convincing than 5.
Okay, that's all for now. I LOVE YOU Mattie shnookie-wookie bunny face pie snuggly fuzzy bear pants!!!

Obviously that was the work of a pure genius because he came with me to the Salt Lake Center, and we celebrated my last final by eating at Subway afterwards.
So, now I am free to do whatever I want. Yay! What I really want to do though is go to sleep!

White Christmas

2005-12-06T21:51:00.000-07:00

I took these photos today with my phone when I was walking home from school. It snowed like crazy today! It's been snowing off and on for a while. It's so much fun! Except that I am now trying to learn how to drive Matt's truck vs. my little car in the snow.
This shot was taken right after I fell on my bum. It was so slippery!

Tears and Triumph

2005-12-05T14:38:00.000-07:00

I haven't had the best of luck with college advisors at BYU.

Because of this I have become more and more hesitant of trying to seek help from anyone at BYU. Unfortunately I recently decided it would be best for me, even though I am a senior, to switch my major. This would of course be an instance where seeing a college advisor is somewhat necessary. I finally gave in today and went to see an advisor, and I was so stressed out about my decision to change my major and having to see an advisor who may not be able to or willing to help me like passed advisors. When I met with the advisor for graduation I had a bit of pent up emotions, and while I was explaining my situation, I started to cry.

The advisor listened to me though, and then went right to work. She switched my major then took a look at the classes that correlated between the two majors. She waived one of my classes in place of two others. She found two other classes that I could substitute for two I have already taken, and determined that after next semester I only have to take 6 credit hours more to graduate! If I want to I can graduate in August! This is much sooner than I have been anticipating (I think I was preparing myself for the worst). I now have the best advisor ever, and I am so happy to have that load off of my shoulders.

A compilation of my random thoughts

2005-12-02T12:21:00.000-07:00

It started raining last night and it has been raining all day. I think it's weird because it is wintertime in Utah and it isn't snowing...it's raining. AND it's still really cold outside.

I wrapped my present for Matt yesterday, and he has no idea what it is. Seeing it wrapped just made him even more confused as to what it could be. It is so fun being so secret!

Okay here's a question for you... Why don't people walk on the right side of the sidewalk? We all drive on the right side of the road, shouldn't there be some kind of uniform policy that applies to the sidewalks as well. The other day I was walking down the sidewalk-on the right side mind you-and this guy comes walking towards me on his left side. I am then forced with the decision of whether to stick to my side (the right side) or to move and let him pass without having to walk around me. We got closer and closer so finally I moved out of the way. So, not only was he walking on the wrong side of the sidewalk to begin with, but he also forced me to move to the wrong side, which by the way was closer to the road. Isn't there some kind of rule that says that guys are always supposed to be closer to the road anyway? Maybe I'm just making this all up, but honestly, I like order and simplicity. So if we could all stick to the right side of the sidewalk that would really help me out a lot.

Matt and I spent Thanksgiving here. It was just the two of us for Thanksgiving, and we did surprisingly well. I made us a small turkey roast with a rosemary citrus salt rub, as well as mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, crescent rolls and a delicious dessert called pumpkin gingerbread trifle. After we ate, we went to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I thought it was awesome. Matt says he liked the third one better. We were pretty lazy and everything was really low-key for Thanksgiving; that's the only thing that made it seem like it wasn't really Thanksgiving. Usually there are tons of people and it can be pretty chaotic in the kitchen. That definitely wasn't the case this year.

I'm reading a book for my Ecology class, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. I think it would be a lot more enjoyable if I weren't reading it for a class. It's pretty interesting though.

butterscotch pudding

2005-11-18T12:27:00.000-07:00

MMMmmmm...

I made some butterscotch pudding for Matt because it is his favorite, and now I am eating some of it. Yum!

Christmas Dreaming

2005-11-16T16:46:00.000-07:00

My current theme song.

I am soo excited for Christmas. I love Christmas.
buying presents, non-stop Christmas music, decorating, playing with younger siblings' new toys, hot apple cider, sweaters, traditional Christmas foods, seeing the reaction of those you gifted when they open them up, scheming and secreting and teasing about the presents you've bought and won't reveal their identity, making treats for others, making treats for us, driving around random neighborhoods to look at Christmas lights, putting up the Christmas tree, watching White Christmas, Walking around the Mesa temple, looking at my mom's growing collection of Nativity Scenes, being with my family and dealing with all of their crazy Christmas antics...
I'm sure I can come up with more, but Christmas is going to be different this year and I want to talk about that...
This is obviously mine and Matt's first Christmas together. I am so excited to mesh his family traditions with mine, and start some of our own. We are going to my home for Christmas this year. I can't wait to go see them! This is my first ever Thanksgiving I won't be spending with my family. I'm sure going to miss being with them. I am glad though, that I get to spend it with Matt. I would like to try and do the traditional Thanksgiving feast, but it turns out it's just the two of us, so that might be a little overkill... Maybe we'll have a slightly toned down version, or try to see if anyone we know will be in town for Thanksgiving.
Anyways, I'm doing my Christmas dreaming a little early this year...

Soo sleepy...must keep...eyes open...

2005-11-09T15:36:00.000-07:00

I'm trying really hard to study my ecology right now. No matter where I sit myself to try and get a good read in, I immediately fall asleep. This is really frustrating right now because my exam for the class is tomorrow. A good nap is always nice, but this is ridiculous. I thought sitting down and reading/writing something a little more entertaining would help wake me up. I must be tired because of those apple butter smothered English muffins I ate earlier today...

should be working

2005-11-03T11:15:00.000-07:00

I work in the law library here at BYU. I have been working for Technical Services in the library since my Freshman year. I love the people I work with, and I actually like what I do. My job title is "looseleafer". However, I haven't been looseleafing since I got back to school in September. We have two looseleafers, and we haven't been getting enough releases for both of us to be able to do our job. Because of this I now get to do all kinds of odd projects for my boss, Bonnie. I'm pretty sure Bonnie is the best boss ever. The other day I finished a huge project for her and the next day she had left a thank you note and a gianormous Mr. Goodbar on my desk, yum!
Lately the circulations librarians have been undergoing a series of meetings...I don't really know why, but that's besides the point. There's a girl that works on the main floor where all the law students "live" along with most of our book collections. All she does is sit by the entrance/exit doors and listen for a loud siren signaling a student leaving with a book that has not been checked out yet. Because she is a circulation employee she has to go to the circ. meetings. This then forces my boss Bonnie to supply one of her employees to help out the Circs. So here I am on the main floor with access to the internet and absolutely nothing else to do up here. I even tried to bring up my latest project to work on up here, but I can't access the documents I've been working with. Oh well! I think I'll play solitaire now...

Forgetful Mattie and my poor toes-ies

2005-10-26T14:05:00.000-06:00

So as Matt's post suggests we had a few mishaps getting out of Provo to our vacation in Las Vegas this past weekend. First Matt forgot to turn into the left lane on Center St. out of the gas station we filled up at, so we missed the entrance to I-15 South-bound. Then after we were about 30 minutes down the 15 Matt realized he forgot to grab the tickets for the concert we were going to. Since we were already running behind he thought since the tickets were only $5 each we could just get them when we got to Vegas. Shortly after that he asked me to change the CD we were listening to since we had listened to it several times already. So I asked him were the other CD's were. This is when we realized Matt had forgotten another item back home. Since there's no way Matt could drive for 6 hours listening to the same music this is when we turned around and headed back to Provo. From Provo to St. George it's about 280 miles. My little car could make it there without stopping for gas, but since we had already driven out over 30 minutes and then back, we had to fill up the car again, and turn out onto Center St. again. This time we made it onto I-15 S the first time and this time we didn't forget anything.

We got into Las Vegas pretty late, so we headed to the strip to eat. As Matt mentioned we had to get some flip-flops for me while we were out. I was wearing my nice new tall black shoes, and I've gotten pretty used to them, but Matt walks really fast. My little toes were getting torn up while we sped down the strip so Matt could take pictures in front of the Bellagio and so we could eat. Luckily Ceaser's Palace has a huge mall in it, unfortunately pretty much all of the stores where high-end fashion boutiques like Anthropologie, Diesel and Juicy Couture. For some reason these places don't seem to sale flip-flops, especially not cheap ones to replace the shoes that were seriously killing my feet. We found an Abercrombie & Fitch and we noticed they had men's flip-flops so I found a lady who of coarse didn't speak English and asked her if they had any women's flip-flops. She directed me to some girls who spoke English and they helped me. I just told them I needed their smallest size of flip-flop of any color, if they had any. One of the girls went to the back and came out with a large brown flip-flop. She says "this is the only size we have in brown." I'm thinking "did she just say what I heard her say?" So, I'm really confused. Did she go back and look at only the brown flip-flops? I already said I don't care what color they are I just need some flip-flops... So we go back to the non-English speaking lady and I tell her I need a SSMMMALLEERRR SSSIIIZZEEE, AANNYY CCOOOLLLOORR....I think she understood me. She not only got two smaller sizes, but they were both BROWN. I don't know what was wrong with that other girl who supposedly "spoke English" but she obviously wasn't able to find me a smaller size of any color including brown, which I never even specified as a color that I wanted. So my feet were saved from further torment, and we left A&F to go eat.
The next day the blisters on my pinky toes pretty much covered the entire toe. No wonder I was in so much pain.

So Mattie and I finally left Caesar's Palace we got all the way out to the strip when Mattie realized he had forgotten something once again. He forgot his very nice, not-so-cheap digital camera on the table we had eaten at. Poor Matt, he was not having the best day. I felt bad for him.

The rest of the trip however went off without a hitch. So, we had a lot of fun. Except I thought my ears were going to be plugged up for the rest of my life after the concert we went to. I loved Josh Kelly and Better Than Ezra, but once they were done I was pretty much pooped and ready to go home. We stayed for Collective Soul though, and they were pretty good too.

In case you were wondering the I-15 is pretty much under construction everywhere in Utah.

Decoration dilemma with the culinary genius

2005-10-13T13:00:00.000-06:00

We have this gorgeous white picture frame hanging up on our wall without a photo in it. It's been hanging up in our living room for about a month, empty. I want to put a wedding photo in it, but I haven't been able to decide on a favorite or most suitable picture for the frame. I have made a few criteria: it has to be a color photo because the frame is white, it has to have both Matt and I in it, preferably looking at the camera. That's actually about it. Anyway, if you happen to take a look at our wedding photos, let me know if you think you've found the right one.

Matt thinks I'm a dessert guru. Last night I made us some homemade ice cream to go on top of the homemade raspberry cobbler I made. It was so delicious. I think this is pretty much the only dessert I've made for him though, besides the no-bake peanut butter cup dessert(which obviously doesn't count) and the super flat chocolate chip cookies I made. Anyways, he can go on thinking I'm a brilliant cuisine artiste. After every meal I make, I ask if he thinks we should keep it on the list of meals I should make. He hasn't said no yet, and there hasn't been any repeats yet either, so we're doing pretty good I think. I really like cooking, a lot.

Missing Mattie

2005-10-05T12:57:00.000-06:00

I dropped Mattie off at the airport at 8:30 this morning. I got home around ten, which gives me plenty of time for studying and getting ready for class. I'm having a hard time concentrating though. I miss Matt. He's only been gone for a few hours and I'm used to him being gone for the day at work. I just don't like that I can't even call him to tell him I miss him. He's on a four hour flight to Philadelphia right now. He won't be back until 8 p.m. on Sunday. I should be able to handle him being gone really easy since it's only 5 days, and we went 5 weeks without seeing each other this summer. It's different being married though. I've gotten used to him being around. On the weekend I never do any studying because I want to spend all of my time with Matt. My friend offered to hang out with me and have me sleep over, but I really do have a lot to do this week/weekend. We'll see how it works out.

Wooo WOOOooo...

2005-10-01T23:22:00.000-06:00

List of things I've done recently:

Mom came to visit this week. It was fun having mom here. Plus she helped me get on the millions (okay I exaggerate) of thank you notes I need to write.
Went to AMAZING Ryan Shupe concert last Friday. I loved them on their album, but I loved them live even more, especially their rendition of Devil Went Down to Georgia.
Went up the canyon to see beautiful changing leaves, drive to Park City, picnic, identify native plants, look at waterfall, etc.
Slowly but surely getting caught up on LOST. I never watched the first season and the second season is now on. Matt is catching me up so we can start watching the second season. Without fail every episode I say, "I like this show; it's scary." Followed by, "I don't like this show; it's scary."
Stayed in SLC after dropping off mom at the airport to celebrate Matt's raise.
Have quenched my rook craving... I'm ready for more at anytime though.
Went shopping in Park City with mom. It's always fun shopping with mom. I found this amazing diesel watch at the Fossil outlet. It was $20, which was my reason for not getting it. I looked it up on the internet, the original price is around $140. I might have to take a trip to Park City again soon...
Got attacked by the killer ALLERGY- I took Benadryl last night, and I'm pretty sure I still haven't woken up fully (it's 11:40 pm). At least I'm not sneezing uncontrollably, or blowing my nose every minute...Thanks mom for buying us tissues!
Matt and I love gift certificates/cards to restaurants; we've been to CPK, Macaroni Grill, Chili's and Red Lobster recently.
I love the fall.
I love decorating for Halloween. Mom bought us a cat we put in our window. He's black. We call him Boots, Boops, Bootsy or Boopsy. We also have a black flannel blanket with ghosts on it. It's a good decoration and it's very nice for cuddling under/hiding my eyes while watching LOST.
I already know what I'm getting Matt for Christmas. And I am doing soo good keeping it a secret.
Matt's going out of town on a Business trip on Wednesday. I am so sad. He doesn't get back until Sunday.

I had a lot to write about, so I thought the list would be the most appropriate way to get it all down.
Happy Halloween!! I can say that now because it's October. The woo's are for because it's almost Halloween.

Football

2005-09-21T21:24:00.000-06:00

Is a concept I will never understand.

Matt is sitting in the same room as me watching a football game he recorded on Sunday. He couldn't watch it on Sunday because the game took place entirely while we were at church. So, he has spent the last couple of nights getting caught up on the game he missed. The thing is he already knows the score. The Eagles ("Matt's team") killed the 49ers. I don't understand how it could possibly be entertaining to watch a whole football game that you already know the final score of. I have a hard enough time sitting and watching a regular football game at home. It's just not entertaining. Actually I take that back...watching Matt's reactions to the events taking place can be very entertaining. "T.O.!" is something he shouts often as well as "blam!"
We're going to a BYU game in October, I'm pretty excited about that. Watching football in an actual football stadium, where you can see the players right in front of you is very exciting. It makes it feel like it's actually happening, not just something that's on tv. Why is it just as entertaining for guys whether they're at the game or in their home watching it?

Bitter Sweet

2005-09-16T12:28:00.000-06:00

Matt and I got TONS of Target giftcards from the wedding. We got so many in fact, that we weren't able to use all of them on household items. Instead we now have extra grocery money! I'm not sure how I like grocery shopping at Target. Their selection is very random. They have to have the top brands in everything so they are more expensive, but they also have generic target brands that aren't too bad. Anyway, when you go to target and you're using "play money" you can splurge without feeling guilty. We have a big bowl full of delicous, creamy, smooth, decadent Ghiradelli Chocolate squares of the milk, mint and carmel filled variety. MMmmmm... AND they were on sale, 3 bags for $5! Can you believe it? Cause I can't! If you happen to go to Target in the next couple of days I highly suggest you check the sweets aisle to see if those Ghiradelli squares are still on sale. Yum!

My faithful black "tall shoes" I've had since junior year of high school broke today. It was a sad day for all. Tears were shed, ankles were bruised, and hearts were lifted at the thought of buying new shoes to replace the old ones!

Blaine Furniss

2005-09-12T19:16:00.000-06:00

I'm taking a field botany class. The professor's name is Blaine Furniss. I took a basic botany class from him my freshman year. This is when I first learned of how awesome Blaine is. He's super old, and he has a passion for plants. When we are touring campus identifying different plants he walks with a bounce in his step and a certain speed like he is beside himself with excitement to see more leaves. He says the weirdest things too. I like to write them down and look back at them and have a good laugh. The other day we're talking about how people like to say that a tree or a cone is a female or male cone/tree. Blaine gets a little heated up about this and tries to explain why a tree or a cone can't be specified as male or female (only the zygote can). To bring his point home he says, "Chlorophyte tissue is about as sexless as a fence post." I don't know why I thought that was so funny. It must have been the way he delivered it. Then last Friday we had a girl in our class leave after our quiz at the beginning class. Prof. Furniss started talking about her because we found a tree that was native to where she grew up and then he remembered that she wasn't with us. He says, "oh yeah, she's not here; she's picking up her boyfriend from the airport. Ashley's going to be getting some lip action tonight."

It's about time...

2005-09-08T16:13:00.000-06:00

There are several reasons why posting on my blog became impossible. But I'm not going to bore you with that nonsense...

So it turns out, I'm married!
I run into friends on campus and they are shocked to hear that I am married. (not because they don't think I would get married, more like no one was really aware of how serious Matt and I were before because we got engaged at the very end of the semester and hardly anyone knew about it.) Anyways, I ran into my friend Kim on campus and she asked me "how is it?" (being married that is) I couldn't help but say it is the greatest thing ever; I love being married and highly recommend it. I guess it probably does help that Matt is such an amazing guy, but I'm just saying, it's a lot of fun.
If you read Matt's blog you'll get a pretty good run-down of the whole thing pre-wedding to post-honeymoon. Now we are so cute in our two bedroom (with Matt it's one bedroom, 1 computer room/office) condo. Everything's still not organized, but it looks pretty good. The walls are completely bare because we've left the putting up photos, shelves, mirrors, etc. til last because I kind of want to see how everything looks before I start putting stuff up all over our walls. I love "decorating" our home. Everything's just the way I like it, simple and classy. I'm hoping to get everything up on the walls by Saturday.
We also have a pet. It's a blue Betta fish. He's pretty awesome, but I don't know how long he will survive. Every time we feed him, he doesn't eat any of the food...I'm pretty sure that's a bad sign. And luckily the Betta fish food is made of little brown pellets, so when he doesn't eat them it looks like there's fish poop floating around in the fish bowl. Anyway, we got Babe the Big, Blue Fish from the reception we had in California. Matt's mom and sister put fish bowls on every table with blue Betta fish in them, and we got to bring one home. So Betta fish are the ones that are really fiesty. Babe is super fiesty sometimes he'll just slam himself up against the wall of the vase, that we're using as a fish bowl, repetitively.
All right I think I've brought you up to speed then. We are married. We live in a condo. We have a blue fish named Babe. I love being married.

Hurry up, before I go insane!

2005-08-04T19:15:00.000-06:00

I'm getting really...restless.
Is that a normal anxious reaction towards something exciting that you know is coming?

I have a hard time concentrating. At work when there's not much to do I'm positive I really annoy my co-worker by asking her repeatedly if she has anything else for me to do. Today I was so desperate for work that I went out in the warehouse (yes, where there is no ac) to file credit card slips. This forcing another offensive thing on my co-workers...my sweaty smelly body. Ok, it wasn't that bad, but still. We have been really busy at work, and it has been really good for me, but I seem to be working much faster than I have before. I am always out of things to do before everyone else is halfway done with their work-load. I think the impending joy and happiness that is to come is currently making me crazy.

Matt came to Arizona this past weekend. Everytime I see him I get more excited about marrying him. He's my favorite! We didn't do anything really special. Well, I mean nothing special to write about. I definitely had a great time with him and it was very special for me. Anyway, we got our marriage license and finished up buying things for Matt's wedding day attire. We got me some pretty earrings and matching necklace to wear for the wedding day. We got to spend lots of time with the fam. Everyone really likes Matt, I think that's a good thing.

I have three wedding related appointments this weekend. I have a dress fitting, a reception hall final appointment, and a trial hair appointment. I am so excited for all of these, I feel like I'm getting things done, and everything is all coming down to the most important day of my life.
I AM SO EXCITED I CAN'T EVEN HANDLE IT!

an electric toothbrush and monsoon season

2005-07-26T19:49:00.000-06:00

Driving home from work yesterday I witnessed one of the best features of Arizona summers. I was driving in the awesomest Monsoon storm ever. The rain was pouring down, just dumping on my car. With the wind as strong as it was I thought for sure the water was going to penetrate the seals at the doors and windows and begin to fill my car up with the monsoon rain! It was AWESOME! I love monsoon season! While I was driving I got on a road that was under construction. All of the cars were forced onto one side of the road making four lanes of two-way traffic into two. Arizona roads are built to have the maximum amount of run-off because when we get rain it is usually a "flash-flood". So we're driving on the slightly sloped road, (the highest part being in the middle and lowest on the edges..it makes sense) the cars in my lane are closer to the middle of the road while the cars going the other direction are in a lane hugging the curb. So you can imagine that the people in my lane can hardly see for the torrential downpoor, and are actually glad for the orange beacons paving the lane. While traffic in the other direction has no choice but to drive through the immense amount of water that is being forced to their side of the road before making it into the sewer. When I got home I watched the news to see more on the conditions in the Mesa area since the rain was so intense, and it turns out the road I had been driving on was undriveable (which is a word that means could not be driven on). A car stalled in the lane that was going opposite of mine because it's engine was waterlogged!
The best part about Arizona rain is that it is warm, so you can play in it and not be upset when you get all wet. Oh man, I love storms in Arizona.

Matt and I received our first wedding gift yesterday. We got an Oral-B electric toothbrush from my dentist! I am so excited to get married and use my new electric toothbrush! Maggie can testify to how much I love clean teeth. In fact I recall a quote from Freshman year about my roommate and I, "Brushing your teeth, it's a conspiracy!"

For Katie

2005-07-25T18:48:00.000-06:00

This is me taking a photo of my new hair for Matt

He's finally going to get to see it for reals now! He comes here on Thursday! After he comes and leaves we have less than three weeks until the wedding! It's so exciting, to quote Maggie, "I can't handle it."
Anyway, this post was in response to Katie's request. Sorry, it took so long to get to it. I'm not even sure if you'll be able to tell that it's quite a bit blonder, still really long, and much thinner!

about to take a nap

2005-07-17T16:33:00.000-06:00

I was about to take a nap, when I heard my blog calling to me... You know it's really bad when you're blog is calling to you.

More wedding news and some other stuff:
-I picked up the fabric for the bridesmaids' skirts, it is gorgeous. I am jealous that I don't get to be one of the bridesmaids and get a gorgeous navy blue skirt to wear after the wedding.
-I have been driving around in my dad's non-air conditioned jeep with the top down for the past couple of days because my beautifully air conditioned car is having some work done on it. When I went to pick up the fabric yesterday I was afraid it was going to start raining and ruin the fabric because monsoon season just started. It began raining the second I pulled the jeep into the garage though, Phew!
Driving the jeep has been pretty intense. It has been reaching around 115 degrees out, making it feel almost better to just be at a stand-still in the jeep than rushing down the freeway because the wind is like hot oven air blowing on you after you've been running outside for the past three hours. Very unpleasant. Luckily I grew up in Arizona, I am quite used to this weather, and I get my car back on Monday after work.
-I got to watch Nixon and Cotton overnight on Friday. It was so fun. These are some of the cutest kids around. Maybe Matt can help me post some pictures I took of them while I was babysitting them this weekend.

This was the best photo I could come up with for now. It was a family photo we had taken for Christmas. Nixon looks awesome, and Cotton you can't really see much of, but he's a beautiful baby.

One of my favorite Nixon moments: A bunch of us are downstairs in Parker's room listening to him play his drumset. At one point Parker stops playing and we hear Nixon from the bottom of the stairs yell, "Farky (he can't say Sparky, his nickname), it's too loud. I'm crying now." Totally serious he stomps back up the stairs...oh man, that's a good one.

-The invitations are frustrating. I don't even want to talk about it.
-I got my hair colored this weekend. I love it! I am excited for my wedding! I am going to go to my friend's salon this weekend to book a trial appointment for my updo.

Can you believe there's less than five weeks until I'm married? Cause I can't! (That was for you, Margs)

Here's another photo of Nixon, he was already riding a two-wheeler without training wheels when he was two!

So, I think I'll take that nap now. I have been keeping so busy, time is flying by. I am so excited to get married to Matt, and more excited all the time.

Busier than I thought...

2005-07-11T18:28:00.000-06:00

Okay, so this whole planning a wedding thing is really getting in the way of my blogging...
Right now I should be revising my invitation address list, but I haven't posted in ages.

I went to Utah this past weekend to see Matt. It went by way too fast.

We got Matt his suit for the wedding. We decided to go ahead and buy him a nice new suit because after the wedding he can wear it to church and his other suit is from his mission. It's a beautiful navy blue suit.
Matt and I mostly just spent a lot of time together. We have a lot of fun together and get along perfectly. I never knew someone could love me so much. On Sunday before church I asked Matt how I looked. Of course he said I looked beautiful, so I asked him why he thought I was so pretty. He stood me in front of a mirror and said, "if you can't see perfection, you can't see what I can see." I almost started balling when he said that. When we were driving to the airport I only cried a little when I was thinking about leaving Matt again; he only cried a little too. It was so good to see him, and I am so excited that in less than three weeks I get to see him again and three weeks after that we're getting married! I can't wait to be with him always.

I have a lot to do this week-many vital things to accomplish for the wedding. The one person who I need the most to help me with everything is gone. My mom is on vacation for two weeks!Actually my whole family is gone, but every girl knows they need their mom to help with all of the wedding plans, and I really, really need my mom.

So, I have been getting really busy with everything and still spending all of my spare time on the phone with Matt (hey, I can't help that I am so in love with him that I have to be talking to him constantly). So, I will continue to try and update.

Oo Oo! I almost forgot my funny story of the weekend!
Matt and I went shopping for his suit at the mall. First we stopped in Mr. Mac, and then we headed over to Meier & Frank. On our way to Meier & Frank there was a Scion (the one that looks like a toaster) parked in the middle of the mall. We stopped for a second while Matt read about the "catch" that went along with entering to win the Scion. As we were stopped there an old lady walked up to us and asked, "do you think you have to wind it up?" and then laughed as she just walked away like she had been waiting for hours for someone to stop there so she could tell them her funny joke.
Okay, that wasn't that funny, but we laughed.

Eureka!

2005-06-20T19:57:00.000-06:00

So, I've figured out why I am the way I am... okay, maybe I already had an inkling, but still I've figured it out.

So we're eating dinner. We've had our dining table and chairs since we first moved into our house on Maple street, that was almost 12 years ago. So, the table is in super good shape, but the chairs have definitely seen better days. Anyway, we're eating dinner. Paige starts banging her foot on the bottom rung of her chair. To this my dad says, "Paige you gotta stop doing that. These chairs keep getting ricketier and ricketier, which is a word that means more rickety."
Oh man, I laughed so hard! I could definitely see myself saying that.

Now a recent finding about Matt...
I was driving home from work the other day talking to Matt on the phone (who was also driving home from work). Someone apparently cut him off or did something that a common Utah driver does to him. So he got a little upset and flustered he may have said some choice words... well here's what happens next:

Me: Mathew!
Him: What?
Me: Hi.
Him: I did, I already did.

We're not even married yet and he's already 1) ignoring me and 2) pretending that he's listening to me and responding with an "appropriate" answer...
I am so excited to marry him! When Matt realized what he did he busted up laughing, as did I. It was fun.

So those have been my recent discoveries.

You're my favorite and other type hits...

2005-06-11T13:52:00.000-06:00

Disclaimer: this post is pretty long, so read when you have time, or something.

You know you're in love with someone when the best time you have with them is over 20 hours (total) in the car together.

I flew into Reno a few hours before Matt, so Grammy and I went shopping together before meeting up with Matt. Seeing Matt was so great, he had the hugest smile on his face as he walked out of security to meet me. Matt met Grammy. We got our rental car, went out to dinner with Grammy and started our first trip to Carson City.
After staying the night at Grammy's we woke up early to head to Fresno where Matt's mom and sisters live. We took a "shortcut" courtesy of the internet, through some amazing mountains. Since we were driving a rental I wasn't allowed to drive it at all because you have to be 25 to drive it. Luckily Matt is super old, so he could drive it (Just kidding Matt, I love you!). Anyway, I loved him driving because I could look at everything and just enjoy the trip. Matt and I work really well together. When we were driving we could talk about everything and nothing. We laughed a lot, and I in my usual manner said some pretty crazy and off the wall things. In fact some of the things I said even surprised Matt, I covered it up real well by blurting out I love you when he didn't know what I said, and I didn't want to repeat it and embarrass myself. I slept off and on in the car, but mostly I was so excited to be with Matt, I couldn't fall asleep, even when he told me to. Anyway, we were driving to Fresno, and during the 6-hour drive I had to pee. I had to go REAL BAD. Luckily this happened when we were in the middle of nowhere. When we finally found a "town" for me to stop and go to the bathroom, nobody would let me go! They either had a sign up that said "Restrooms For Customers Only" or they told me "we don't have a bathroom". So then not only did I have to go real bad, but I was also upset. So, we were still driving and I started crying because I had to pee so bad. Fortunately I was with the greatest guy in the world, so he didn't think I was crazy or anything he just felt bad for me and drove faster. The first place we found was a K-mart of all places! There were no gas stations or anything like that the rest of the way out in the middle of nowhere when I was about to pee my pants. So, I found the only person who spoke English and asked her where the restrooms were, I waited in line for about an hour and then I finally got to go. When I looked at my face it was all red and puffy from crying, after that Matt still said he loved me, so I was pretty happy about that.

Anyway, we finally made it to Fresno! YAY! Before going out to California everyone was asking me if I was nervous to meet Matt's family. I was never really nervous though. I think it's because I am so comfortable with Matt, and I already know we're getting married so I didn't really have very much to be nervous about. I could just be me, and let them see who their son/brother is marrying. Matt and I registered at Target while we were there. I loved registering with Matt! He and I laugh a lot and are really goofy together, he was really excited about the "gun" he got to use to "shoot" the things we put on our registry. He's really good at finding things that I like too, so he would always point out things that he knew I would like, there were a few things he picked out for himself too though... like a snow-cone maker... very classy, we'll store it in our front room probably. Matt's sister made us dinner. It was sooo good! She made us steaks and baked potatoes and a delicious salad plus strawberry shortcake for dessert, yum! I met one of Matt's best friends growing up, he clued me in to how much of a dork Matt was when they were younger, but I can handle it since he's still pretty much a big dork now.

Saturday we drove up to where Matt actually grew up, a small town called Oakhurst. We just drove through it, and went up to Yosemite though. Yosemite was GORGEOUS, which is probably the reason why there were billions of people there to see it. We didn't really get to park and walk around too much, until the very end when we were just about to leave we got the perfect parking spot and went up to one of the falls, Matt took some photos and then we walked up to the vista point where we got soaking wet and it was so great!

After we went to Yosemite we went back to the house Matt grew up in, where his dad now lives. So, I met Matt's dad. He was super nice and as Matt promised full of cheesy jokes. We went to dinner with his dad and his brothers. It was fun to meet all of them, and my favorite part of the evening was Zachary, Matt's nephew. He's only 7 months old, but he's as big as a tank. He was so cute and so much fun to hold while we waited for food. After dinner Matt and I went out to Bass Lake which is about 5 minutes away from his house. He took me to a dock where he and his friends used to go hang out, it was pitch black outside and the stars were amazing. I love being with Matt, we always have fun together.

On Sunday we went to two sacrament meetings so Matt could "show me off" to all the people he has known all his life. It was fun, and everyone was so excited for Matt (finally Matt!)... Then it was time for Matt and I to drive back to Fresno, and back to Carson City. So, by this time I was exhausted, but I couldn't sleep while we were driving. So, sometimes I would put my hand up to Matt's mouth and he would kiss my hand. One of these times he kissed my ring, and he says "I kissed your ring" and I say "Yay for the ring!" While we were driving back I also kept telling Matt he's my favorite. Here's how the conversation would go:
Me: You're my favorite
Matt: You're the best
Me: No, you're the best
Matt: no, you're schmoopy
Matt and Me: schmoopy, schmoopy, schmoopy....
Man, we are so funny...people would get so sick of us if they had to hang out with us all the time.
So we did that all the time while driving back to Grammy's house. We made a few pit stops for me to go to the bathroom, and one to eat, and I finally slept, per Matt's request; he worries about me a lot. We got to Grammy's and talked for hours knowing we were going to leave each other in the morning. Monday came; we said good bye to Grammy and drove back down to Reno to fly home.

So, since I've been home I've spent everyday leaving the house at 6 and being out until 9:30 or 10:00 at night. So, I've been getting very small amounts of sleep, and less time to talk to Matt than I would like. Especially after 3 days straight spent with him. I finally had time to sit down and write about my weekend though, so enjoy!