Promised Pics and an Unpromised Video

Starting with the most recent pictures we have Ms. Spidey....

And the jar wherein we trapped and drown her.
(I think she's actually dead now.)

This is Jane when she's playing with me. We have lots of fun together.
See jane.

She's my best friend's little girl. Isn't she cute?

Moving on.

Yes, these are the pictures I promised I would post from our trip to Yellowstone and Canada in June/July. Yes, it took me a while. No, I am not ashamed.

This is a pretty waterfall in Yellowstone.

These are some tired hikers who are having fun.

This is a bald eagle.

Using Kai's camera, we took several interesting pictures of nature.

These flowers are naturally yellow. Cool, eh?

Blood? Or camera effects? Ponder that.

We saw a ton of cool geysers and pools, but this one looks coolest.

Sweet picture of ol' Faithful.

Moving on to some pictures of Waterton, Canada.

Look, Mom, we DO have pictures of us! But only pictures with trees poking out of our heads.

Mark and Kai look like twins.

A pretty lake. (I don't remember the name of it. Sorry!)

What I imagine God's throne looks like.

Another picture of the happy couple. We should take pictures of us when we're not camping, on days that we actually dress to look nice.

HELP!!! (I fell off and lived to tell the tale.)

Ok. Remember that really hard 11 mile hike that I told you about? The one with snow on a steep ledge with no way to go forward except for on the snow? The next few pictures are from that hike. I think it was called the Wall Lake hike, but I'm not sure.

Yikes!

Yikes again! I don't think I was the one who took this picture.

A ladder? What the... ? How long has that been there?

This is me.. Terrified and trying to look like I'm having a good time.

And this is our destination. A frozen over lake with tall mountains. Seriously, guys. Is that it? Whatever. At least there was a pretty waterfall on the way.

And that's all of the pictures from that trip that I'll post. We have a ton more, but you guys are probably bored by now. Because of that, I put in a special bonus video. Enjoy!

These are my roommates from a couple years ago. They'll probably hate me if they ever see this. Funny how I sent a text for them to look at this post.

Ms. Spidey

I'm not sure if she's still married or if she already killed her husband, but I'm hoping she dies soon. Yesterday we opened our back door to find Ms. Spidey, a black widow, hanging out on the inside of our screen door. I get the shivers just thinking about her. I took pictures (because I found my camera charger!!!) but since I normally post my blogs on campus I don't have the picture to post at this time. She was huge! We trapped her in a plastic thing that normally holds my muffin cups. I don't know why, but Mark put a hole in the top so that she wouldn't die from lack of oxygen. Later on we filled up the cup with water through that little hole, hoping she would drown. We almost dumped her down the drain when we thought she was dead, but when we jiggled the cup she had a spasm attack and gave it away that she was still alive. Thank heaven for that. I can't imagine having trapped a black widow just to torture it and set it free inside my house where it can have babies who will all come and attack me. Today she is still soaking in her bath. I'm too afraid now to ever let her out. And it's a good thing I didn't shave my legs yesterday morning because with all of the shivers I keep getting, it would have been useless.

A bunch of random pictures coming soon.

Weird

I already told my mother (whom I love and am way excited to see this weekend) this today. But pretty much every time I post I've already told her everything that I end up writing. Anyway, today I have time to do the Saturday house chores. And I'm kind of excited to do the cleaning. Anyone who knows me is probably having a heart attack from shock. Sorry to cause such a disturbance in your peaceful lives.

Yesterday I did a backbend in yoga. Today my back is really sore. I've done backbends before but I was trying way too hard yesterday (to impress my teacher named, get this, Emerald. She totally fits the yoga image). That'll learn me.

A long time ago, while delivering pizza (p.s. this is how most of my stories start - lame!) I was thinking about cheese. Like I said in the title, this post is weird. Anyway, I was thinking about American cheese in particular. Isn't it weird how American cheese is commonly called "fake cheese" or "plastic cheese"? I bet it was invented in Hollywood where most other fake and plastic things (well, people) are made. And what does cheese have to say about Switzerland? It's holy! I always that that Jerusalem was the holy land, but no. That is not true. The Swiss cheese tells me the holy land is Switzerland. Here's another one: Danish blue cheese. Not bleu cheese like the dressing. Does that mean that the Danish people are depressed? Or diseased? (I wouldn't eat that.) Finally, in honor of Mark's brother who's serving a mission in Ireland, there's Dubliner cheese. Wiki says, "Dubliner cheese is a sweet mature cheese (aged over twelve months)". In that article it also calls the Swiss (cheese) nutty. Imagine the implications! I should have married an Irishman. They mature in only 1 year! Amazing.
Pretty deep for pizza delivery, eh?

Hey, if I ever turn "normal" don't tell me. I like my unique thoughts.

Notice

Today I added a little tid-bit on the right side showing the marathon training schedule for the upcoming week. This (of course) will be updated weekly. All of those who wish to run the marathon with me next year, feel free to follow this training program. And if you'd like the original you can find it here. It is also required that you read almost everything on this website within the first two months of training so we don't hurt ourselves.

On another note, my dear mother had a surgery yesterday (nothing too serious). Please pray for her quick recovery! So far she's doing well; she's scheduled to come home from the hospital today. I'm sure that she would love to have visitors all week while she's stuck at home recovering. Mark and I will be with her on Saturday to watch General Conference and you're welcome to join us, I'm sure. I love my mother! She's the bomb dot com.

Weekends

So, weekends are supposed to be relaxing, right? Right... (If you've seen The Emperor's New Groove then you'll read that in Kronk's voice.) (Oh, right then I tried to YouTube Kronk saying "Right..." but I couldn't find anything. Sorry.) Back to business. Relaxing? Not this past weekend. We got off work on Friday night at 9:30 or so and left for St. George. We got to Spanish Fork and stayed at Mark's brother's house. We left early the next morning and made it to St. George by early afternoon. Finally. A few minutes to lounge around, since I don't consider being in the car "lounging". At 6:25 we were out the door on the way to Mark's 5-year reunion. It was fun, but most of his friends and the people he knew didn't come. The food was good though, and it's a good thing because we had to pay $40 to go to this thing. So then we wake up Sunday morning. Hooray! Killer Bunnies with Mark's missionary brother, Kai. We had fun playing a few games yesterday morning. Off to church to listen to Kai. Back to Kai's house for pie. And on the road again. We left around 3:30 or 4 and didn't get home until 11. It was great to see Kai one last time before he leaves on his mission to Dublin, Ireland, but I'm just tired of driving. And guess what I get to do after school today? and tomorrow? That's right. Drive. Because it's my job. I'm glad it's just a job and not a career. Otherwise, I'd go crazy. And I'd never want to go anywhere because I'd always feel like I was traveling too much. I apologize for all of the negativity. I'd excuse it away to being tired, but in reality I'm just sick of my job (even though it's one of the best jobs I've had and I have no idea how I'll do in the workforce of statistics sitting in front of a computer all day. I'll probably complain then too, except that I'll be making more money.)

Sorry that there are no pictures. I'm hoping to find the charger for our camera so we can start taking pictures again.

On to more exciting things. I've decided to run the Top of Utah marathon next year. I have no idea where it starts, but it ends in Logan. And I'm definitely not a runner. But for some reason I feel like I have to prove to myself that I can do this. I don't care if I walk the whole way. I haven't accomplished something similar to this since my junior year of high school when I swam a race that caused my asthma to take over my body until I felt like I was going to die. I've been much less motivated to exercise to my fullest since then. I'm terrified that it will happen again. But I need to start pushing myself again to achieve things that matter to me. If I could swim that race again, knowing that it would end my swimming career, I would have tried even harder to be the best that I could be. Truth is, I miss it; the glory of winning races. I've been dying to say that to myself and anyone else who would listen. I miss swimming. I miss ballroom dancing. I miss doing things that I'm good at, or at least that I used to be good at. I never play my violin. Or my keyboard. Or the other instruments stored at my house. I miss the symphony, the choir. Sigh. Oh, the feelings that talking about the weekend can provoke.

Recommendation

If you love and believe in Christ you ought to check out this website. The USU Institute has been hosting this art of Christ for a couple of weeks now. I took the time to walk through the room where all of the photographs are set up the other day, and I am so glad that I did. Some brilliant person also thought to play quiet church hymns in the background to bring the Spirit. And, oh, what a spirit was there. All I can say is that through this beautiful art my testimony of my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, has been strengthened. I testify that He lives. With all of my heart and soul, I know it. Through Him we can be saved; and He is the only way by which we can be saved. And He loves us! What greater knowledge is there?! He loves us and wants to save us. All we have to do is put in a little effort on our part and *bam*! We're there. I appreciate the work of those who participated in this beautiful event. The link to the website is at the top of this post. But if you get a chance, and are in Logan, you really should walk through the setup at the Institute.

Randoms

I really wish I could find my charger for my camera. I'm really bummed that I haven't been able to take pictures for over a month, especially since a lot of you haven't seen our new place! I tried to draw it on paint but it wasn't working out. Then I tried to think about how I would give you a tour with words, but I am not a good enough writer to do it justice. So, you'll have to continue to wait for me to find time to go through the last few boxes to see if the charger got stashed away in a box that wouldn't make sense. And before I do that, I must do the dishes.

A few of my friends came over on Saturday night. We were supposed to have a big Hairspray party, but there were only 4 of us total. Who cares? We had a great time anyway. I'd never seen the movie before (or the play for that matter) and the other 3 practically had it memorized. Despite (and maybe even because of) the fact that they were all singing along the whole time, I loved it! It was sooo hilarious! Anyone who likes musicals should definitely watch it. Heck, you don't even have to rent it; just come watch it with me!

Also, if you like music, you should definitely listen to this song and tell me if you like it. It's called "Proud of You" by 10 Years. It's a very calm song, and sad. And if you sometimes like to feel sad than this is a good song to listen to. Currently one of my favorites. Also, if you like music you'll like Pandora. It's pretty much the best radio station ever because it's all about what you like!

Oh yeah. My friend Kellie tagged me with a Quirks tag. I'm supposed to link to her (she's already on my sidebar) and then tag 6 other bloggers.

Quirk #1: I don't like to breathe in used air. Yes, I know, all air is technically "used" air, but if it is freshly used, like I'm right next to Mark and he breathes out, I have to hold my breath or breathe out while he's breathing out. I can't breathe in the air he's getting rid of.
(p.s. This was Kellie's Quirk, but it's one of my worst too! So I just changed the name of the husband, since it would be awkward for me to be breathing Nathan's air.)

Quirk #2: I hate hearing other people chew. I don't care if it's something soft or crunchy; it drives me up the wall. Also, chips and gum are the absolute WORST!! I remember sitting with my dad at the table while he ate chips, and his eating was the only noise in the room. I cringe just thinking about it.

Quirk #3: I have a hard time sitting through a whole lecture of chemistry. Usually I end up doing the Sudoku from the daily paper or playing Solitaire on my calculator.

Quirk #4: I can't seem to find any time to cook. I really want to be a good wife and make homemade meals every other day with fresh veggies and whatnot. Someday, when I don't work at night, I'll work on that. Until then, my cooking (skills?) will not get better.

Quirk #5: Babies make me baby hungry. And I don't want one so soon in my marriage, yet, oh, how I do.

Quirk: #6: I bite my tongue a lot. I think it has to do with a habit from when I was little. My tongue used to hang out (literally) just outside of my mouth. That was it's resting spot. Mom always told me to put it back in my mouth, but I think I was permanently damaged.

People I'm tagging: Aunt Carrie, Aunt Shauna, Aunt Rose, Steph Fisher, Adam and Dinae, and Bairdy-poo. Do it if you want, it's fun!

How Young? 30? Wow, Mom!

Happy, happy birthday, Mother, dear.
Happy days will come to you all year!
If I had one wish than it would be
A happy, happy birthday to you from me!

Mother, I love you.
Mother, I do.
Father in Heaven has sent me to you.
When I am near you, I love to hear you
Singing so softly that you love me to.
Mother, I love you. I love you, I do.

Mother dear, I love you so.
Your happy smiling face
Is such a joy to look at;
It makes home a lovely place.
Mother dear, I love you so.
Your lovely, shining eyes
Are just like stars that twinkle
Way up in the bright blue skies.
Mother dear, I love you so.
I'll try the whole day through
To please our Heavenly Father.
I'm so glad he gave me you.

Like sunshine in the morning that wakens day from night,
Like flowers in the springtime so colorful and bright,
Like happy songs of bluebirds that fill the air with cheer,
A person bright and lovely is my mother dear.

*Thanks to the composers of the LDS Songbook for writing with such inspiration and for being able to say so beautifully what I feel for my mother.

P.S.

You know that class that I'm always saying is so hard and the homework takes me forever? Well, we got an assignment YESTERDAY, and I am finished with it TODAY!
I feel like a genius.

And just so you know, I had to use spell check to spell genius.

Going Deep

I lay on my mat.
It's pink.
Pink isn't my favorite color, if you ask me,
But maybe it truly is.
My teacher tells her story.
I think about mine.
I explore my insecurities.
Where did they come from?
The accident?
The end of my swimming career?
I move forward.
How do I overcome these insecurities?
Embrace.
Drink them in.
Breathe.
Keep moving.
Feel the strength coming into my limbs.
Become aware of her voice.
Open my eyes.
I'm a new person.

Speaking of Faith: Yoga. Meditation in Action

And a couple more tid bits

The last post was made in avoidance of my homework. This one is made because I'm almost done with my homework. Look at these pretty pictures!


A dollar to anyone who can guess what they mean... And it has nothing to do with the last post - different data!!

Tid Bits

Ok. I think the ocean analogy (going from Can You Relate to Sunshine) is finally over. One more post of that might have washed everyone off of the shore of my blog... or just made you want to stop reading.
Anyway, I wanted to post a bit of the homework that I have been working on this past week. I'll try not to use any jargon that will confuse you.


You might be able to tell that these pictures have the same data points, but the U.S. looks different each time. That wasn't the hard part of the assignment. But it still makes me look cool, right? Here's the hard part:


I must explain something here. The data points are actually the average January temperature taken at that location; small dots mean low temperatures, big dots mean higher temperatures. Ok. Now these two bottom pictures show the predicted average temperatures at those locations (the upper picture) and the error associated with that prediction (lower picture). Now, isn't that neat? You can see in the prediction picture that lower temperatures are predicted in the north and higher temperatures are predicted in the south. And that's all done using the pictures at the top of this post. Feel smarter? Hmm.. Can't say I didn't try.

Sunshine

At last.. I have drifted through the ocean and somehow transported to a lake that reminds me of Lake Powell - can be scary in a storm, but is beautiful and fun otherwise. Ahead of me I see a soft sunshine and a boat with a slalom ski and tow rope. Beauty. Joy. Happiness. Peace, sent from my Savior. I know that these feelings I have today come from Him. In institute on Tuesday, the lesson I learned was "if we keep an eye single to the glory of God, He will bless us". Along with that, Bro. White asked us why we are going to school: to get rich later? to bless the lives of others? to further the light and knowledge in the kingdom of God? My first thought was, of course, to get rich. I reevaluated, and I believe that because of that I did better on the GRE than I had expected. The official scores will be mailed to me in a few weeks, so you'll have to wait until then. But I saw the unofficial scores and I am not displeased.

Now it's time to ski.

Sick, and Tired

I'm afraid that living in this ocean (i.e. stress of school) for the past week has given me a bit of a cold. Now as I sit here in the library working on the lab report that is due at 11:30 I wish I could just fall asleep. And I totally would, too, if it weren't for the fact that the dreams I had last night were dreams of this homework. It's consuming me. And if I were to fall asleep now, I would probably dream of going to class today with no assignment in hand. Those types of dreams are typically characterized as nightmares. So, I write this blog to give myself a break after only a half an hour of working, and I hope that my mind will better focus for the next two hours while I complete this wonderful second assignment of the hardest class I have ever taken.

Miracle

Rope, like manna from heaven, and more logs. A logical idea. Raft. Build a raft to help not only myself, but those I see floating around me.
The code that had to work before I could even start on the analytical part of the assignment due tomorrow is finally working. (Sorry if that doesn't make sense.) But the gist of it is: I can finish my assignment efficiently and to an appropriate standard.
And, no, I don't have much of a life outside of this world of ocean and school.

The Ocean (Cont.)

I'm still out in the middle of the ocean. But I have found a floating log and it keeps me above the water for the most part. I feel there will be many storms before I find my way to shore, some which may cause me to believe I will never feel the warmth of the sun again. The weather forecast shows a big storm in my ocean on this Thursday. Not because it's Sept. 11th, but because it's when I will take the GRE. How appropriate, don't you think? Yet I will keep holding onto this log until it's broken into a million pieces and will no longer hold me afloat. Then I will continue to swim.

Can You Relate?

Ok. It's the second day of the second week of school, and I'll be turning in my second assignment of the semester in my second class today in less than an hour. How mean can teachers get? I mean, come on people. Give us some time to refresh our memories or read the book to get started or something. I feel like I've been thrown into the current of a very fast moving river that's headed straight for the middle of an ocean... and I'm drowning... and even when the current slows down and melts into the ocean, I'm still in the ocean so deep and distant from shore that I'm not sure if I'll ever make it back to the shore. As someone wise once said, "You know what you do when [school] gets you down? Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming. Ah ah ha ha ah ha, I love to swiiiim!" So I guess that's what I'll do. Just keep swimming. And if I fail, then at least I'll have died (hypothetically) trying.

Second First Day of School

Hello! It, again, has been a while since I've written. We've finally got internet on both of our computers instead of just one, and have set it up so Mark can potentially work from home. Cool! It'd be easier to work on campus, but if he has to at least he has the option of working from home. As most of you know, school has begun. I really like the first day of school because most classes get out way early and you have time to meet up with people you used to see and buy books, etc. Lucky for many students we get 2 first days. Most classes attended on Monday are only held Monday, Wednesday and Friday. That makes most Tuesday/Thursday classes have their own first day of school.

So far I really enjoy my classes. I've been given a preview to what I'll be doing, and my two hardest classes are on different days and both sound interesting. I'm also stoked for Intermediate Yoga and Beginning Raquetball. Good times! I've made a lot of new friends again so far, since most of my old friends have graduated or just don't have classes in the same buildings as I do. But it's always good to make new friends.

As for the request for pictures of the new place... Well, I can't find my charger for my camera so I can't really take any pictures. If you want to see it, you'll just have to come over and play a game of billiards or watch a movie with us. Otherwise, tough luck.

Happy First Day to All, and to All a Good Night!

Ahhh...

Well, we're into our new house. Even though it's a condo I'm calling it a house because it sounds cooler. But that's beside the point. I LOVE IT!! I really want anyone and everyone to come hang out with me, using the excuse that you want to see my new place.. Hey, it takes a lot to get people to hang out with me so I'll take it where I can get it. Unfortunately, we don't have internet at our house yet, so I'm sitting at our friend's house while they are gone so I can write this blog. I hope you appreciate it. But that's about the only downside to the place, and it's temporary anyway.

Other things in my life:
My car is still having problems. It seems like this is the year that everything has to go wrong so that it will run smoothly next year. I'm pretty sure that when I quit delivering pizza I will sell this car and debate buying a new one or waiting until I have a steady job. We'll see. And who even knows when I'll quit Domino's anyways...

Here's a shout out to Erin Elizabeth _________ who got married today. (I don't know her new last name yet.) We grew up in the same neighborhood and I couldn't make it down to her reception. So, congrats girl! Welcome to the club!

I got a new phone for free today, by mistake of the guy working, but I was ok with it. My old one is near and dear to my heart, but it was time to move on.

Lastly, it seems like there isn't much new, and I'm sure there isn't. But I'm definitely more than ready for school to start. I love school and I don't know what I'm going to do with myself when I graduate.. Guess I'll have to finish my grad school application so that I can keep going to school.

That's all I have for now folks! Someday I'll learn how to write blogs so that you don't feel like you're jumping from cliff to cliff with every paragraph. Until then, have fun jumping!

Good Morning, America, How Are You

So, it's 7:00 a.m. and I just woke up and can't go back to sleep. How nice. Usually I'm not a morning person, but today I decided to take this bit of quiet time to write a nice long blog while my mind is clear and it's not too hot in my house. I apologize for my lack of blogging and here are my excuses for why I've been slacking: Ever since the accident at/with Domino's my car has not been working properly. For the last 2 1/2 months we have been working to fix it. Turns out we were fixing the right part, but my Cavalier is picky and wanted the part from the dealer. So after all of the hustle and bustle of taking it to different places to have them fix it, we'd spent almost $1000 on it. In order to afford this Terrible Misfortune I have been working much more than I had anticipated this summer. I may have worked enough to have that money back (in addition to what we had planned on making this summer) but we don't keep track very well. But I must keep working the same amount that I have been because Mark and I decided to buy a nice washer and dryer for our new place, and they are pretty pricey. In my opinion it's totally worth it. If I weren't working I'd be sitting at home reading other people's blogs for the 100th time that day and wondering, "what ever shall I do?" So, there's my long version of why my blogging has been less frequent. One more thing on this topic - my camera is dead and I can't find the charger. I keep wanting to wait until I have pictures, but it won't happen until I move and find the charger again. Sorry!

Things have been interesting at our house while we are in the process of getting ready to move. It still doesn't seem real that we're buying our own place and won't be in the same ward anymore. This is the only place we've lived since we got married, so it has some sentimental value to me. We've got a lot of memories in this place. (Now if only I could remember what they were...) Anyway, Mark and I can't decide what to do with our second bedroom in the new place. It's upstairs across the hall from the master bedroom. Our options are a pool table or a guest room. I want your opinion!

Lastly, my cousin Tera "tagged" me with "Three Tags"

Three Joys:
1. Mark
2. Playing games
3. Playing with other people's babies

Three Fears:
1. Any kind of accident with Mark or our families
2. Nightmares
3. Graduate School

Three Goals:
1. Being a better wife
2. Workout more often (like, more than never)
3. Gain a stronger testimony

Three Obsessions:
1. Blogging
2. Texting
3. Gaming

Three surprising facts about me:
1. I just dyed my hair blonde and cut it short
2. I'm terrified that I will fail all of my classes at Grad School, if I even get it
3. I actually like working at Domino's

Three people I'm tagging:
1. Aunt Carrie
2. Kellie Buckner
3. Dinae Pitcher

Late Night Fun

Don't you worry, this post is rated PG.

My friend Amanda and I made bread. I screwed up and put twice as much water as I was supposed to. Of course, I didn't realize it until it was supposed to be time to let the dough rise. The mixture seemed a little runny. So, we threw it away and started over. Though we had all of that trouble, the bread turned out AMAZING! It was the perfect consistency and the crust wasn't too crunchy. Yum! The only problem with it that I can think of is that the loaves are a little lumpy on top. I'm not a pro at shaping it yet, but just you wait...

A few days ago, Mark went paintballing with his Domino's buddies (where he wasted everyone else). He wanted me to go, but I was too afraid. To me, running around shooting each other didn't sound like much fun (though there are some people I wouldn't mind shooting). Because of this, Mark decided to prove to me that paintballing doesn't hurt. So, at 10:30 we went outside and he shot me with the paintball gun from a good distance. It hit my arm and didn't hurt. I guess we'll be going paintballing sometime, maybe after we move.

Now it's time for a little Killer Bunnies with my best friend!

More Stuff

So, Mark and I signed the contract for our condo this morning. Our move in date is July 31st! Yipee! Anyone who wants to help us move is welcome to come. Also, we'll probably have a party that night or sometime that weekend. I'll keep you posted on that one!

Canada/Condo/Misc.

Mark and I recently got back from our 2nd trip out of the country this year. Granted, Canada isn't quite as exotic as Argentina, but we had a great time anyway. We left for Yellowstone on the 26th and stayed there a couple of days. We saw several bears and a zillion buffalo. It was Mark's first visit to Yellowstone so we hit a lot of the main attractions including Ol' Faithful and a whole bunch of other geysers and hot springs. On the 28th we made our way up to Waterton National Park in Alberta, Canada. If ever you want to go on a beautiful, amazing, long vacation then this is the place. We hiked a different trail almost every day and each one was equally amazing. Not even kidding! And pictures can never do it justice. Waterton is a small town built in a small valley next to a big lake and lots of mountains. When I get a chance I will add pictures of some of the beautiful places we saw. The most memorable hike for me was Crypt Lake Hike. It's 11 miles long, with some parts of the trail still covered with 4 feet of snow (especially in places where you'll fall to your death if you slip). The end lake was iced over so it wasn't very pretty, but the view along the trail was breathtaking! We spent a lot of time with a few of Mark's brothers and their families and some of his extended family. It was good to get to know them, since we don't see any of them very often. All in all, we had a great time! Funny story before I ditch the topic of Waterton: On the drive back from one of the hikes I was sitting next to my 4-year-old niece, Summer. Her grandma (Kathy, Mark's mom) said "Hello, Waterton!" as we pulled back into the valley. Summer looked at me and said, "What is she even talking about? Nobody ever really knows.." I busted up laughing.

A week before we left I enjoyed my 21st birthday. During the day I went on a small hike in Logan Canyon with Kathy. We then gave ourselves pedicures and cleaned out the old clothes in my closet to prepare to buy new clothes. As far as I can remember it was a pretty good day. This picture was taken while on the hike. Don't I look older?


Hmm.. What else? Oh yeah. Mark and I have found a condo to our liking that we are buying. It's in a place called Blackhawk condos in Logan. We've got things going and we're hoping to be moving in by the end of the month! So, plan on coming over for a party sometime around the end of July or early August. I will let you know when exactly.

It seems like I had a lot more that I wanted to say, but I just can't figure it out. Hopefully when I remember what it is I won't forget to post it. My memory is failing in my old age.

Fun Saturday Night

Earlier this week my friend Kara and her husband, Mike, invited us over for a barbeque and games and we went over tonight. I was really excited because, for the first time, my game blog went into use. Kara chose some games from the list for us to bring over. Unfortunately, she had invited over 2 other couples and there are only a few 8 player games. So Mark and I brought games that would be more appropriate for 8 players. Sorry Kara! Next time I'll bring what you ask for. We had a great time hanging out with everyone and were excited to make some new friends.

Kara has been one of my best friends this past year. She and I met in a statistics class and soon after meeting decided to work out together. So, for quite a while, we spent about an hour together every other day in the gym. And for all of you women out there with a workout buddy, you know that you get to be pretty good friends. Kara has been pregnant for a time (she's due in August) and I haven't seen her since before she started showing. It was so good to see her! Anyway, we had a great time. Thanks Kara and Mike!

Summer Accomplishment!

One of my goals for the summer was to create a list of all of the games we own and rate them so that when we invite people over for games they have an idea of what they might want to play. To make it more effective, there is a link to this list on my blog! (What a clever way to make people look at my blog, don't you think?) Anyhow, if you are ever out shopping for new games to play, our favorites are at the top of the list. Throughout the summer I'll update it adding new games that we buy and creating descriptions of the games you're unfamiliar with. Also, if you're looking into 2 player games the ratings are a little different. Some games are better with only 2 players. But remember, this is only our opinions! (That was my disclaimer so you can't get mad at me if you don't like the same games.) Let me know if you think of anything else can be added to "The List".

Ahhh...

I apologize I wasn't able to keep you up to date on our trip. The only internet access I had was on an i-phone, and it was simply too hard to write a blog on an i-phone. Anyway, Mark and I had a great time in St. George. We visited a lot of his friends that he hasn't seen since before his mission, celebrated his birthday, his brother's endowment, and his dad's wedding. The traveling part seemed to fly by in our new car. And the most amazing thing to me is that after 5 hours of sitting in a car I wasn't one bit sore!

We played a lot of games including Guitar Hero, Rock Band and Killer Bunnies. In fact, most of what we did down there was play these games. 4 of the 6 Anderson brothers were in attendance and it was good to spend time with them again. I'm getting pretty excited for when this same group goes to Canada in a couple of weeks. We're going to have a blast. Two of these brothers are photographers and took a few awesome pictures of me. When I get them I'll post them up so you can all tell me that I looked good that day! ha ha.

During our St. George trip we were very blessed. Our plan was to stay at Mark's dad's house until he had to move out (we thought we'd be there until Saturday). However, the people moving in showed up Thursday morning and pretty much said "We're moving in whether you're gone or not.. So leave." So we helped pack up what was left of Verl's and Kai's things and went homeless for a couple of hours. I finally got ahold of my Uncle James who was able to reserve a room at the Trendwest Resort for only $55 for that night. He was then gracious enough to invite us all to stay in his room for the next two nights. Luckily, James had a business meeting in St. George the same weekend we were there and had 2 nights free at that resort. Thank you my favorite Uncle ever!!!

We're finally home and everything is unpacked and put away. I think it's time for my nap! (Oh yeah.. Thanks, Mom, for the delicious dinner last night and a place to stay. We had fun with you, too!

Check it out!

Well, we bought the Audi (the one that I mentioned in my last post). We're pretty dang excited about it. Next week it'll be taking us down to St. George to celebrate a marriage, and later this summer up to Canada on vacation. Yay! Pictures coming soon. Or just come on over and see it yourself. ;)

Pizazz!

I didn't know what else to name this post; I'm running a little low on creative juices. The past week I've become refamiliarized with sending pictures from my phone to my email so I can post them. Anyway, that's what has inspired this post.. kind of.

Last week finished up with getting sick after a wedding reception in Bountiful on Friday, and getting back to Logan only to come inside and throw up. Since then I haven't been getting very hungry, and I get full pretty quickly also. I hope nothing is seriously wrong. Saturday we worked all day and just vegged Saturday night. Sunday we taught primary and had a good time with it. And that was last week.

This week is going to be almost as crazy as last week; I'm hoping to leave out any car accidents/breakdowns etc. We will be working an awful lot, with our only day off until Sunday being Thursday. Yesterday before working the night shift we got quite a lot done. Well, at least it seemed that way. We cleaned the house, sent in a resume for a job Mark was offered, went to the garden store, planted a garden and test drove an Audi. Here's proof:


The top picture is actually an ant pile we discovered before planting the garden. There had to have been over a thousand ants! It was crazy looking. Oh, and don't I have cute feet? Thanks for the hand-me-down shoes, Mom. Below is part of the garden. This year we decided to plant 3 kinds of tomatoes, 2 kinds of cucumbers and 1 kind of zucchini squash. I've only had zucchini once ever, but I have a recipe for zucchini bread and thought it would be kind of fun. I hope it turns out. The tomatoes are required for BLT's which are a staple in this house.

Our dream car is an Audi A6, and we found one for sale in Logan. Kind of crazy, huh? And it had to pop up right at the time that we're looking for a house. Here's a link to some info about it in case you feel like giving your opinion. Audi
Oh yeah, and we bought couches too.

Check it out! We got the couch and the loveseat. The couch's two endseats recline, as do both seats on the the loveseat. They should be here in Logan anytime this week. That means finding someplace else for our couches, deep cleaning and rearranging the living room so that they'll look good here. If anyone is looking for new furniture, Mark and I really like Ashley Furniture.

Finally, here's some good news. Mark was offered a position as Lead Programmer for a student research group (or something like that) that is trying to put a satellite out into space (I think). He sent in his resume yesterday and has an interview on Thursday. Only a few other people have applied, and they've been really insistent on him applying for the job. We're pretty sure they want to give the job to him but he had to do the basic applying stuff first.

And finally finally, right now I'm babysitting a couple of kids so that our friend can have her baby. I'm so excited for her! She looked sooo pregnant on Sunday that it was painful to me! Wish her luck. Wish me luck, too. I'm not sure when the tornado will end, but I'm pretty sure it'll be sometime around when Megan goes to bed or her dad comes to get her. So, there's my long post for the month. Life is good!

Accident Update

The last couple of days I have been exhausted, but today I'm feeling much better. Yesterday one of the spark plugs in my car misfired so we'll have to replace the spark plugs now, but that's only going to cost $20. The souvenir that I posted a picture of is now framed above my computers. It's actually kinda cute and you should all come over to my house and check it out. That's pretty much it for now.

About buying a house: We talked to a couple of lenders today and have been pre-approved by one of them to get $160,000 house. The other lender might be able to get us more, but we'll see. Next week we'll probably go out house shopping with our realtor, touring the houses and whatnot. I'm so excited! If anyone has any advice on lenders, let me know.

Domino's Accident

So, you can call me "Crash" again. My Uncle Ron used to call me that when I was in high school for hitting a parked car. Since then, I've been in a few different accidents but the most embarrassing is the one that happened yesterday.

I was pulling into a parking spot in the Domino's parking lot where I work. My body must have been shifted somehow, and as I tried to brake my car didn't stop. I realized a little too late that my right foot (which usually pushes the gas and the brake in my stick shift car) had been pushing in the clutch. The only feeling I remember at first is confusion. After that came horror, then dread. And finally "I'm an idiot. I can't believe I just broke into Domino's.. literally. So much for buying a house." I backed out of the store into my parking lot and started crying. Police came, arrangements were made for the windows to be boarded up, and everyone told me that this type of accident happens about once a year in Logan and that's why we all have insurance. Here are some pictures. I don't have much time to write more details, but if you have questions I'd be happy to answer them. Oh yeah, nobody got hurt; it just scared the poop out of me.

This first one is the "very clean" window, and the bar in the middle of the picture is actually the open door.

This is all of the broken glass and signs that were on the window in the trash can.

This is where someone could have been sitting, but wasn't.

One hour after impact. The window guys are amazing.

My souvenir.

Happy Mothers Day!

For my Mama, Fern.

These flowers are for you, Mom.
Thanks for all that you do and have done for us.
You are the most wonderful woman I know.
I love you!

I Need Advice

We were called last week to be the primary teachers in our ward. There are 3 3-year-olds that we'll be teaching, and if you don't count nursery these kids are the whole primary. This Sunday we'll be singing some songs for the Mother's Day program. Basically, the kids will stand there and look like they're going to cry while all of the leaders sing to the moms. If anyone has any ideas on how to teach small children gospel principles, please let me know!

On another note, Mark and I are starting to look into houses. We talked to a realtor today who gave us a list of houses to look at. Sometime soon we'll go looking at houses and deciding what we really want. For those of you who own houses already, what were some random things you forgot to think about but you really wish you would have? (For example, which direction the house is facing with regards to sun, snow, etc.) Also, what kinds of questions do we need to ask the realtor, lender, etc? Any and all input would be appreciated here. And if anyone wants to come hang out at our new house when we get one, we'd love your company!

Finally, here's a picture of a creature that gave me the heebie jeebies. I found him wandering the living room floor yesterday as I was cleaning up. Gross!

April Showers Bring May What?

Stress Reliever

If you are ever feeling bad for yourself or how bad things are going for you, watch this.

Bomb

No, not as in "da bomb". I just took my first final of the semester and I'm pretty sure I bombed it. Oh well. As long as I get a C- or above I guess I'm ok. Hopefully the next 3 tests go a lot better.

Mark took his first final at the same time I was in mine, and he feels pretty good about his final. He's currently taking another one, and has 2 more through the rest of the week. Please pray that we don't die!

In Honor of My Dad

I ate a Panda Express fortune cookie today, and here is the "fortune":

"If you can befriend yourself, you'll never be lonely"

Tulibu Dibu Douchoo

Bulgarian Music Idol. Need I say more?

Games

As many of you know, Mark and I have a game addiction. That's pretty much what we do in all of our spare time. Anyway, this picture is taken from the box of a game called "Thurn and Taxis" (a way awesome game, my current favorite actually).

Isn't she happy? Right now she's the background on the main screen of my cell phone.

Recently we joked about making a brochure listing all of the games we own (that we wouldn't mind playing) with an explanation of each game, how long it takes, how hard it is and the bonus of our personal rating. I'd probably do it, but I'm not sure that anyone would use it. Mainly we'd tell people to look at it before we played games with them so they'd know which ones they wanted to try out. What do you think? Is it worth my time?

Dreams

Last night I dreamed that we went back to Argentina, but this time one of my girl friends came with us. (Sorry girls, I can't remember who it was so just assume it was you.) Anyway, we arrived in Argentina and I was talking with the friend I made there and telling the friend I brought how good the food was. I guess I really miss those people and the food I ate while I was there. This hasn't been the only time I dreamed about them and the food. Sigh. And it probably doesn't help that my sister just got back from Cancun and my parents are in Hawaii. That just makes me want to go back to Argentina even more. I suppose I need more friends here so I can dream about having fun here, too.

Poster Project

I just spent the last 3 days of my life worried sick about the poster I have to present in my Statistical Bioinformatics class on Wednesday. It was due online today, so I had to finish it, but the class won't see it until then. When I took in my rough draft to my teacher to talk about what needed to be fixed, I didn't hear a single positive comment and pretty much had to either modify a lot of it or start over. I've been sitting at the computer for 2 hours since then and I finally have it finished.

Mark at Conference

Most of you know that Mark sang in the priesthood session of general conference this year. Here is a clip of an amazing song where he gets his 10 seconds of fame, which come toward the end. Sorry if there are volume problems; the copy we were given came with very low volume so I don't know how I can fix it. The song is called "Know This, That Every Man is Free" (I think) and it has absolutely wonderful lyrics.

New Favorite

This week I bought my first ever "girl" hoodie. It's the kind that doesn't sag around the belly and basically just makes me feel skinnier. It came in the mail just yesterday afternoon from WhiskeyMilitia.com. That website is pretty cool because they just sell random things at discounted prices, but the items change every half hour or so. Here it is!


What do you think?