Looking on the Bright Side

Before I forget, the donut recipe I used is right here.

Moving on. Here in the strange land of Arizona, our leaves start falling in December. We had a huge pile in front, so I went to rake them. I soon found myself drowning in leaves. As if I didn't feel overwhelmed enough, my sweet (and rather chatty) older neighbor saw me and came over to say hello. For thirty minutes. I had no idea how I was going to get the leaves raked as well as everything else I had to do.

Then along came my very favorite jolly neighbor boy offering to help. He grabbed his dad's giant rake and worked up quite a little sweat. It was so kind of him to help me! And truthfully, I needed it.

He noticed that as we were raking away, the leaves continued to fall. It's a never ending process. Just like life I thought and sighed. After thinking a minute, he looked up all chubby-cheek-smiles and said, "Maybe some of them will land on the pile!" I laughed so hard. It was such a clever and optimistic thought, even if a little naive. He's definitely a cheerful kid, and that positive attitude seems to be working for him. I could benefit from a little of that optimism.

Sunday School Game

Ryan played a game with his Sunday School class today to help them review the lessons from this year.

Ryan: Because Jesus died, He saved everyone who lived after him. Who saved the people who lived before Him? [trick question!]

Boys Team: Nobody!

Other teacher: So they didn't deserve to be saved??

Boys Team: No.

Somehow the boys team still managed to win.

Homemade Donuts and the Garbage

Odd, unconnected thoughts race through my brain when I first wake up in the morning. It's in that first 30 minutes that I remember everything in my life that I've forgotten to do or need to do (like, the morning after I quit my job, I remembered every single thing I didn't train my replacement on), but I also just have random thoughts.

This morning one of my first thoughts was, "Mmmmmmm....I can still smell the scent of homemade donuts from last night." I'm telling you people, they not only smell but taste incredible. I just hope they taste as good this morning. Oh, and they're probably the ugliest donuts ever to exist, but this is just my practice round. Shhh, I'm making them for my mom for Christmas!

My next thought was, "Wednesday. Tomorrow is garbage day." I don't know why I always remember this because my next thought was, "When was the last time I had to empty the garbage cans around the house?" I couldn't remember the last time. I think I decided I may have done it once in the 2+ years we've been in this house. Yes, I take out smelly or full kitchen trash sacks . . . but basically, Ryan just takes care of it. I never asked him to start doing it. We moved in and he has done it ever since. I woke up thinking how grateful I am for that. Maybe Ryan woke up thinking he was grateful for donuts. I'll have to ask him.

Oh, Divine Comedy

One of our favorite things to do at BYU was to go to the school's improv group Divine Comedy. Anyway, some of you may have seen this floating around and some of you may be offended. Regardless I admit I giggled and even watched it twice.

Going to the Dentist

Going to the dentist is not my favorite pastime. I hate the scratching and the scraping on my teeth. I hate the tickling of  the polisher. Also, I hate the awkwardness. The hygienists have you captive to whatever conversation they want to have. And while they're having this one-way conversation I never know where to look! The light? The wall? The hygienist's eyes? Or should I just keep my peepers shut? I'm just relieved to be home.

Men and the OB

Nathan is always reminding me of funny stories in my own life. He shared a story about having to see an OB. He is actually not the first man I know to see one though. Joe* is quite the character. One of his fun idiosyncrasies is that he listens to Mannheim Steamroller--year round. At any rate, he went to his wife's OB as his general practitioner. Apparently he felt she was a very attentive, patient doctor. That is one secure man.

*Name changed.

Tired but Grateful

Ehhh, I debated whether to write this post or not, and even as I'm writing I know I may or may not publish it. I've had a long absence from blogging as I've been pretty busy with personal matters. Invitro was a miserable process, but I made it through the first go around. It worked, and we found ourselves shocked (=biggest understatement in my 26 years of life) to find ourselves pregnant with identical triplets. We had about two and a half weeks and three good ultrasounds to adapt to the idea of triplets before their three strongly beating little hearts all decided to stop. I could go on and on about the range of emotions last month brought (not to mention the physical exhaustion and morning sickness), but I think I won't. I'll suffice it to say that we're doing okay. I feel very tired emotionally but I still feel grateful. Somehow I still feel like we're being watched over.

A Break from Football

This evening we had the following conversation . . .

Ryan: I've been doing some thinking, and I'm going to take a week off from football.
Me: Really . . . ?
Ryan: Yes, so I won't be watching the BYU game this weekend.
Me: It's a bye week isn't it?
Ryan: Yes.

I may not know much about football, but I do know my husband.

Too Early for Moral Decisions

After a blood draw this morning, I decided to treat myself to a little Chick-fil-a breakfast before running the rest of my errands. At the window I went to grab my wallet but couldn't find it. My wallet is always in my purse. Embarrassed (and panicked), I told the lady that I couldn't find my wallet and that I was sorry to make them pull together an order. She said it was fine and asked if I wanted any condiments. I said no, remember I don't have my wallet? She said it was fine again and handed me my order. Chick-fil-a will have my loyalty now for life.

By the time I came home I remembered I put my wallet in my Temple bag on Friday (meaning I'd been driving around all weekend without my license, yikes!) and also found an extra item in my order! Not only was my breakfast free, but I got free chicken mini's too!! So here is my dilemma . . . do I go back and pay now that I have my wallet? I doubt the same girl will still be there two hours later, and I don't want to get her in trouble if she wasn't supposed to give me free food. Obviously I want to do the right thing though and am happy to pay. What do you think?

I'm an Accountant

Tonight I had another welcome to life moment. It's more sad than funny though. Ryan and I were watching Ghostbusters tonight. During the scene in the hotel where they zap Slimer, I kept thinking such thoughts as, "Be careful! Watch the china! You're not even TRYING to avoid hitting the chandelier! I can't even imagine the magnitude of this financial loss." The magnitude of this financial loss?? Seriously?? Who thinks like that while watching Ghostbusters? Then I realized I think like that during all movies with destruction. I'm always wondering how much it cost and who is going to pay for it all.

While this is definitely a sign I'm an adult, I think it's also a sign I'm an accountant at heart. Sigh. Not what every girl dreams of becoming. The good news is that I got the uncontrollable giggles during this scene:

Warning! There may or may not be a 4-letter word beginning with "s" in this video.



Oh that marshmallow man.

Grocery Store

Apparently I've found my true calling in life. I LOVE working at the storehouse. While I love the service and could go on and on about what a great environment it is spiritually, I also just plain like working at a grocery store. I love both food and grocery shopping anyway, and that's the basic premise for the storehouse. I either pseudo-grocery-shop or restock shelves. Surprisingly I love both. I obviously love the orderliness too. The Church is just so organized. The whole system flows so efficiently and it makes me feel good to walk through the process. Not to mention, restocking involves sorting and organization in itself. Who knew all these years I probably would've been happier restocking shelves at Smith's than working in accounting?

 

Image courtesy of PreschoolRock.com

Crazy Pills

The doctor put me on some medication that has the lovely effect of blocking dopamine. It has some pretty crazy side effects like increased desire to gamble and engage in illicit activities. I am proud to say that I haven't had any of those desires, but my emotions have been really haywire.

I was watching the Price is Right a few days ago and somebody won a car. I burst into tears. I was just so happy for the guy! Then somebody else won a boat. More tears. I think I cried a total of three times during that one episode. I guess that's still better than seeking out drugs.

Run of Bad Luck

I had all kinds of funny things to post about but have been really under the weather and forgot them all. Sorry. Well, all but today's run of bad luck.

Today is the first day I really got hungry for real food (as in not just toast and soup), so Ryan sweetly brought me home carry out. I ordered a sandwich with the croissant substituted with a tortilla to make a wrap. I opened the box and saw lettuce, tomato, turkey, bacon, and avocado. That's it. No croissant. No tortilla. No bread at all. It was, however, nicely held together by one of those decorative toothpicks. WEIRD. And Annoying.

Then, as another surprise, Ryan brought home Mario Kart for the Wii. He opened up the game case to find . . . instructions and ads. No disc. Luckily he kept the receipt and they did exchange it, but the customer service lady seemed AWFULLY suspicious.

Seriously, don't ask me for the winning lottery numbers tonight. I'm sure I won't be winning any blog contests either.

I Won!

My brother is the lucky one in my family. You know those claw things at arcades? He actually won more than he lost at those. It was incredible. I can't think of any other good examples, but he really always has been lucky. Not me. Until now! I won a blog giveaway and couldn't be more pleased.

Do you remember my good friend Meredith at Lily Jane Stationery? Well, she had a giveaway on her blog right before we left town. If I was really a good blogger/friend, I would have posted about it during the giveaway (sorry, everyone! I was pretty consumed with packing and quitting my job). Anyway, I am excited to say that I won my own calling cards. I picked the red one below, but it was a tough decision.

Pictures courtesy of Meredith at Lily Jane

The timing on this could not be more perfect for me. Working at the storehouse means I will be coming into contact with many people I may want to share information with, but a business card wouldn't be appropriate. Not to mention all of the every day life situations this will come in handy (like at church or even staying in touch with former colleagues!).

If you ever need stationery, I would highly recommend checking out Meredith's stationery. She does custom orders too, which are my favorite. She made a lovely little ballerina card for my grandmother, a charming snowman card for my mother, place cards for our Thanksgiving dinner, and a personalized stationery set for my cousin in Oxford. Anyway, I love my calling cards and am so glad this was finally my lucky break for giveaways.

My Spider Catch-22

Last night I found a spider on my roll of toilet paper. Now how am I supposed to deal with that? I probably shouldn't add that I didn't find it until I was....comfortable......and thus couldn't get up to get tissue from the other bathroom to kill it. I couldn't kill it without toilet paper, but I couldn't get to any toilet paper until it was dead. Finally I remembered I had another roll under the sink and grabbed that. Who knew the bathroom could be so stressful?

Fall Vacation

Our vacation was just what we needed. It was so great to get away and just have fun. We really enjoyed spending time with family (even though we missed the family members who couldn't come!). Anyway, our first stop was in Provo to watch BYU beat FSU. It was a great game. We're just hoping it's not the only win of the season . . . We also got to do some hiking, wandering around campus feeling relieved not to be students, and visiting all of our old favorites. Then we headed up to SLC for the night and got to have a lovely visit with our good friends the Churches.

We caught back up with family in Seattle for an Alaskan cruise. It was incredible. I just couldn't believe how beautiful Alaska is. We were lucky and got to see a lot of wildlife like dolphins, porpoises, whales, otters, bald eagles, and blue herons. Ryan was sad not to see a live bear, but maybe it's for the best.

Here are a few of our favorite pictures:

Kayaking on Lake Mendenhall

 The glaciers touching the water were just incredible.

Hiking the Chilkoot Trail

After the hike, we got on a raft and floated down the river.

I Hope They Call Me on a Mission

For 101 reasons we've debated my job situation for months. Right before we left on vacation, we finally made the decision that I should quit. The biggest reason not to quit was, what do I do with myself? Once we have kids they'll keep me plenty busy, but until then . . . and not knowing when then will be . . . what???

We decided to take a leap of faith and just quit anyway. My friend and I were talking about how you have to take that step into the dark sometimes before the pathway will be lit. I HATE taking chances, but I do think you have to trust that God knows what He's doing. I felt nervous but still at peace.

The next night (before telling my boss but after the decision was made) I had a message on my answering machine. Well, it turns out that my bishop wants me to serve at the Bishop's Storehouse (sorta like a food bank?) for a part-time service mission. They'll be flexible with doctor's appointments as long as I work at least eight hours a week.

Sometimes I wonder why we struggle so much to make leaps of faith. Not only do things work out, they usually work out rather extremely fast. I am so grateful (and a little excited) for this opportunity to serve. It's been hard to stay hopeful when other problems haven't resolved so quickly, and I definitely needed this tender mercy.

Quick Update

We just got back from vacation and are trying to get into the swing of things again. It was so nice to get away and to have fun with family. Pictures will be forthcoming.

Also, I gave notice before we left, so my last day of work is this coming Friday. More on that later too.

We're starting the process of invitro. I haven't wanted to talk much about our struggles in that area, but I think I'd like to share more. Hopefully you don't mind.

Until I get some order and catch up with blogging, I'll just leave you with this:

Go Cougars.

The Other Woman

I'm sorry to say that Ryan has expressly forbidden me from disclosing his Cougarboard identity. Maybe it's because he think he's batman. Regardless, I should follow orders since I technically blogged about him without permission. Maybe I could hold a contest to see if somebody can guess his screen name . . . then I wouldn't be blabbing, right?

Eh, anyway. This is a funny time of year for me. I still get strong back-to-school anxiety even though I've been out of school for over three years. It also means that "the other woman" will be getting a lot of Saturday airtime. "The other woman" = football.

Ryan assures me that he loves me more than football. I'm pretty sure he would've married football instead of me if he could have though. Then again, he has a sweet setup now because he gets us both.

I used to hate football season. Ryan would drag me to the games then monopolize the TV with more football. In between he's on Cougarboard, of course.

Somewhere in our marriage my sentiments have shifted. I can't say that I love football (although I do now know there is a quarterback AND a cornerback! It isn't just people slurring their words), but I don't hate it either. As I came home on a Saturday morning a couple of weeks ago, the TV was shouting at me about football. Instead of thinking, "Football already?!" I thought, "This feels nice."

I like that Ryan has a hobby. I like that Saturday football means we're both at home instead of working. I like that it means cooler weather is around the corner. Mostly I like that it makes Ryan very happy. He deserves it. Besides, it could be worse. He could like baseball instead. :)

Anything for a Laugh

Did you know Ryan will do literally anything for a laugh? It's true.

The thing vying for his time most (besides me) is Cougarboard. [Just to clarify, it's a BYU sports message board, not a message board for those older female cougars. I guess I should be grateful to be competing with football, not older women looking for younger men.]

I digress. The point is that Ryan announced today that he is banned temporarily. Again. No, it's not the first time and probably won't be the last. Basically he's on suspension for posting something inappropriate. "But it was funny!" he protested to me. "And the other Cougars get banned all of the time too!" Really, he's quite proud of his joke and isn't really phased by the punishment. Today.

The problem is that the pride won't last. See, he'll wake up tomorrow deeply bemoaning the fact that he can't post anything for three whole days! His world will be dark and empty! He just can't make it that long! And I'll be expected to give him sympathy.

A few months down the road, he'll forget how painful it was to be banned. He'll think of something funny (although inappropriate!) to say. So he will post it, unconcerned for the consequences. Thus goes the circle of life.

Friday's Police Entertainment

After weeks of a blogging writer's block, I was finally provided material by the lovely residents across the street from work. Please keep in mind the office is NOT in a good part of town. Still, I admit I was pretty excited to hear my cubicle neighbor say he heard there was police activity across the street, so I ran upstairs to watch the drama from the 2nd floor window.

"Police activity" would probably be the understatement of the century. They blocked off the street and even our parking lot. There were no less than 50 police and off-duty police cars including two vans full of more than a dozen SWAT people. SWAT had full on helmets, AK-whatever huge guns, those shields, and some other weapon like things I couldn't identify but guessed were used to bust into places. I have NEVER seen so much law enforcement in once place and so well equipped with weaponry.

The odd thing was that everyone seemed a little . . . well . . . nonchalant. On the one hand, they had big guns but on the other hand, nobody seemed in a big hurry. One family with kids was hanging out watching from the stairwell for a good fifteen minutes before they were asked to leave. SWAT entered (easily, it seemed) an apartment and then just stayed in there for a good thirty minutes or more.

We could NOT figure out what was happening, but we certainly made up some good stories while watching. Someone suggested the there must be a dead body because they busted out the police tape and blue latex gloves. I said that they probably wouldn't need those kind of guns if the body inside were dead. My friend countered that it could be a zombie and I couldn't really argue with that.

At any rate, we were all captivated and waiting for something really great. Then SWAT finally came out of the apartment. With an older, larger woman. In a purple mumu. "What?!" We all said in disgust. They needed THAT kind of circus for a crazy mumu lady? I found a short blurb later explaining that a mentally unstable woman was taken into custody after allegedly stabbing her boyfriend. As the boyfriend is stable (in the physical sense, I make no assessment on his mental state) the most the lady can be charged with is aggravated assault.

Either the police expected much more out of this woman (a bomb? a hostage?) or else they had nothing to do yesterday and took advantage of the cool weather to do SWAT drill in direct view of our office. My coworker suggested our CEO hired SWAT for our Friday entertainment. I guess I like that idea better than thinking our PD felt the need for almost 100 government employees to take down a lady in a mumu.

Speechless

I think of all these great things to blog about during the day and then go to type realizing I've either forgotten or it isn't as great written down as I'd thought. How do you talented folks come up with such clever and dear things to say? I'll be it starts with avoiding the word "folks."

Lessons from the Past Week

1. Posting a question on facebook about the ethics of cooking with wine leads to some very passionate responses.
2. Wolf spiders not only can be the size of my palm, but they also apparently live in my backyard.
3. Being an auditor sometimes means finding serious financial discrepancies and bearing news of said discrepancies. Let's all hope they don't kill the messenger.
4. They call them potstickers because they stick to the pot.

5. Ryan is very patient with his emotional wife when she ruins dinner and he has to get carry out to stop her silly crying.
6. I can roast a chicken! And it wasn't even that hard. Especially compared to the potstickers.
7. Noon church may just save my sinning soul. Another week of 8am church and either Ryan or I would have cracked (most likely me; Ryan's the stable one).

Sometimes People Anger Me

An alternative but more accurate title to this is "Always People Anger Me on Facebook." I haven't been on as much as usual, but got on for a few this morning. Whenever I peruse the statuses, somebody angers or annoys me. Whether it be too politically charged or annoyingly Polly-Anna-like or just outright mean. So I will now spend the rest of my morning contemplating why I shouldn't just delete my facebook account.

I should also try to keep in mind that falling asleep during my morning prayers is probably a sign that I'm too tired to make a decision like that. Especially since it's also a sign that I'm cranky because I'm tired, not because of facebook.

Backhanded Compliments

I've noticed that I've been getting a lot of backhanded compliments lately, usually in reference to my clothes. Now, I don't pretend to be a fashionista or even able to coordinate a reasonable outfit, but I would think most people wouldn't point it out to me. Here are some examples:

"That's a REALLY bright shirt."

"You sure are wearing a lot of colors today."

"That's a very equestrian look." [Equestrian? Really?]

"No, really. That's a VERY bright shirt."

And today was, "Wow. That's sure an orange shirt."

Come to think of it, I'm not sure those are even backhanded compliments. Seeing them in writing makes me think they were outright insults. Well. I guess I have fewer office Christmas gifts this year.

The Distant Land of My Father

Have you ever read a book or watched movie that touched you so deeply you couldn't really talk about it? That's how I felt after reading this book. I believe I have a new #1 favorite book, and I'll forever wonder how Bo Caldwell was able to capture the emotions so perfectly.

Heavy Sleeper

Before I get into the meat of my post, I would like to announce that the honeymoon of my new position is over. Remember how much I love my new boss? She's no longer with the company. Big sigh.

On a happier note, I had a nice weekend with my family. It was far too long since visiting my mama--and my puppy who is no longer a puppy at 13 years old. He slept with his head on my leg and I couldn't have been happier. Speaking of naps . . .

The lady next to me on the airplane fell asleep. We had some really nasty turbulence, and they weren't even able to finish the drink service. The lady slept on. Well, when the flight attendants felt confident enough to brave the rocking plane aisles to pick up the trash, they had only a few minutes before landing. As they rushed through, the woman on the other side of me tried to hand over her peanuts wrapper but dropped it . . . directly onto the sleeping lady. The flight attendant looked at the trash for half a second then walked away. The other woman (I'll refer to her as the litterer) hardly batted an eye before returning to her book.

Seriously people? Who leaves garbage on the sleeping lady?

One of the Family?

Ryan's brother was in town this weekend, and we really enjoyed spending time with him. I found out that he reads my blog from time to time so I can't share all of the embarrassing stories I was planning on telling.

In all seriousness he was probably the one embarrassed of us. We got to meet his new "lady friend" and I will be shocked if we didn't scare her off. Apparently she told him later that we are all the same.

I have to say this has really made me think. Ryan's brothers do all have similar humors, but I never thought of grouping myself with them. We've been married 5 1/2 years, so am I one of them now?

If the answer's yes, then I think I can live with that. And maybe feel secretly pleased.

Too Morose?

I just can't seem to get this song out of my head:



Does that make me morbid? Or is it just the fact that it gets me thinking about my own funeral that makes me morbid?

New Recipes

We all go through phases of dinner slumps, and I felt like I'd been in one for months. Part of the problem was being so busy at work that we were eating out far too much. Anyway, I've been working harder at getting a meal on the table at least five nights a week, and I've been trying new recipes like these:

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes
Guacamole (look, I don't even like avocados and I could eat this with a spoon)
Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos
Simple Sesame Noodles (sooo easy, but so delicious! also, great leftovers)
Brooke's Best Bombshell Brownies
Asian Lettuce Wraps

We've also had some failures, but I won't report on those. We both feel refreshed, I think to try some new things. Not to mention we have more to try this week. Someday I will get brave enough to cook a whole chicken and try the recipe my mother-in-law sent me that sounds super good but intimidating to someone without roasting experience.

Have you tried anything good lately?

Better Than the CIA

Did I mention my new position was the position Sam was let go from? It makes me feel awkward in all kinds of ways. I inherited some of her office supplies (like a personalized mouse pad), and I ended up getting rid of it all. Even though it's not my fault that she's gone, I still feel a little guilty using her old stuff. However, it has reminded me of another impressive fact about her. We were having a political discussion once and somehow it turned to the government knowing where Bin Laden was hiding but intentionally not acting on it. I tend to tune out the conversation about the point it goes into conspiracy theory, so I almost missed an important piece of info. Not only does the government know, but she knows. Yup, Sam knows where Bin Laden is hiding. In case you're wondering, he's in Canada, near Niagra Falls. If ever he's caught and that's where he's found, remember you heard it here first.

Thoughts for the Weekend

I have a lot of thoughts floating around this morning, so this post is going to be in a different format than usual (a thought list).

 1 - I lost half of my 4th of July decorations. They are nowhere to be found. Thus I will not be celebrating.

 2 - Just kidding. We will be quietly celebrating at home by relaxing with the half of decorations I have.

 3 - Monday is my grandpa's birthday. The last birthday/4th of July we spent together was two years ago at an assisted living facility. They gave us patriotic ribbons to wear. It was so good to see him and yet he was in so much pain. He passed away three weeks later. I still have the ribbon in my medicine cabinet.

 4 - We are planning a trip! Ryan's parents invited us to go on an Alaskan cruise with them and Ryan's aunts and uncles. We are VERY excited. It's good to have something to look forward to.

 5 - My new boss is great and I love my new job. Who knew internal audit was so much pleasanter than accounting?

 6 - They merged departments at work and now the accounting department of 14 people and financial planning & analysis group of 1 person are together. They're calling it the "finance" department and the 14 people in accounting are annoyed. Understandably.

 7 - Have you ever had a coworker that got really mad at you and you didn't know why, but then the coworker acted like nothing ever happened? What did you do? Were you just grateful the drama was over, or were you worried you might set her off again since you still don't know what set her off in the first place?

 8 - One time the guy I was dating (this one) shot me with a BB gun. He didn't know it was loaded but laughed for approximately 20 minutes after it happened. I was considerably irritated by both the wound and the reaction.

 9 - When it's over 106 degrees, I am tired all of the time.

10 - Ryan told me that I could have an alternative title for my blog called "Sometimes I Care about Really Dumb Things."

11 - Ryan has NEVER shot me with a BB and definitely wouldn't have laughed about it. So I forgive him for #10. Actually it made me laugh.

Without Missing a Beat

Remember my lovely grandmother Ruthy? I've been thinking about her a lot lately. She gets $10 to spend for their weekly (monthly? not sure) visits to Wal-mart. The sweet woman used it to buy a pair of Miley Cyrus sweat pants for my mom's birthday. It reminded me of another great Grandma story.

A woman from church, bless her kind soul, decided to start visiting my grandma. She was telling my mother about this, but my mom tried to brace her. "I think it's so nice of you to visit my mother," she said, "and I'm sure she really enjoyed it. I have to warn you that she probably won't remember it though."

"Nonsense!" exclaimed the woman. "We had a really great visit, and she seemed very with it. I'm sure she'll remember." Just then my grandma walked up to the conversation. The woman introduced herself and said, "Hi, Ruth! I'm Elizabeth Jones [name made up for protection and also I don't remember her real name anyway]. I came by to see you the other day."

Without missing a beat my incomparable grandma lamented, "I am so sorry I missed you! I must've been out."

Cue the sound effect. On the bright side, this woman has been visiting regularly for months now, and my grandma does remember her and her two boys.

Most Likely to Succeed

Did you know I was voted "most likely to succeed" my senior year of high school? It's true. I don't usually tell people because I'm a little embarrassed. Plus, I'm pretty sure it's only because you could only win one award, and they ran out of cool kids before they finished dolling out the awards. Anyway, it was awkward because everyone kept asking me what I wanted to do with my life. As Miss Most-likely-succeed I knew I should have a killer answer.

Doctor? Lawyer? Rocket scientist? Or maybe even an entrepreneur? I didn't know what to say. The only thing I knew for sure is that I wanted to be a mother. People weren't overly impressed with that answer, but it didn't bother me too much. I knew that was the best thing I could choose to do.

So I got married. Finished my accounting degree (which, accountant probably would've been a more acceptable response to people had I known that's what I'd do). Started working. And here I am. Totally not where I expected to be in life.

I know people hate to ready sobby, whiney blog posts, which is why I haven't posted it before. Today I decided this is a big part of me, like it or not, so it's important for me to post. Yes, it's negative and yes it's personal, but it's who I am and what I'm struggling with today. Most likely to succeed, and I haven't been able to do the one thing I always wanted.

Days like today are crappy. I want to curl up and just tune out life. And honestly that's what I did today. But I also know I'll wake up tomorrow and get on with life again. A fast forward button would be really handy, wouldn't it? Since there isn't one, I have to say I was grateful to watch this instead:

Much Belated Thank You

After reminiscing about our engagement, I realized I owe some very belated thank you's. As I mentioned, my in-laws encouraged Ryan to take the plunge and have probably regretting it every day since. But they've been nice to me these 5 1/2 years nonetheless! Because that's the kind of in-laws they are. Then on top of the encouragement, my sil and bil also carried out the grunt work of the entire performance, driving up to Sundane and arranging the flowers and candle. And of course my sil welcomed us into her house afterward to take pictures and congratulate us.

Lastly (I think I hear the orchestra starting to drown out my thank-yous), I owe a thanks to very supportive friends. My roommates were patient in listening to my excitement and doubts. My cousin gave me the best advice in telling me that I already knew whether I was going to marry Ryan but that I just had to work through to get to that answer. She was right.

I realized that so many people helped to bring us together and regardless of whether they regret it now, I certainly am grateful.

Failings of Church Leadership

I know we're not supposed to speak ill of church leadership . . . but I think you all know I'm not perfect. So oh well. Nathan's story reminded me of some of the poor leadership my brother experienced. I actually dated a guy who later became my brother's church adviser. We'll call him Stewart. He was probably my brother's most consistent and concerned leader, in his own odd way, but he also did a few questionable things. Like taking the boys with him on his date. Instead of an activity.

Stewart decided to help the boys prepare to be better missionaries by giving them opportunities to teach. I have a fishy feeling that his real objective was to get out of teaching the lesson himself, but I can't prove it. Anyway, it seemed like an okay idea until he had my brother (my shy, still-scared-around-girls, 14-year-old brother) teach . . . the chastity lesson. Poor soul. I think he muttered a few words of "don't have sex before you're married" and sat down with something like 20 minutes left. I'm sure my brother's inspiring words kept at least half those boys virgins for their wedding nights. Probably.

It's Against My Religion

I've been reminiscing about high school a lot recently and remembered a funny story involving this girl. We went to a teppanyaki restaurant with my friend Nicole and my family. When the server brought out the shrimp appetizer Nicole politely declined, as did I. My dad (the always adventuresome eater) started to give us a hard time about not eating seafood. Without batting an eye she said, "Oh, well, eating fish is against my religion." "I thought you were Mormon," he said (by the way, he wasn't). "I am," she shrugged. He was genuinely confused for a few minutes before he realized she was teasing him. I have to say, that's a talent I wish I had. I really admire people who can deliver a good joke with a straight face. I'm pretty sure Nicole might've kept him going longer if I hadn't started giggling.

The Evils of CNN

I thought of Holly's experience yesterday when a lady at work came back from lunch very upset. "Why do people have to watch that CNN in the lunchroom? I just don't understand it," she complained to the lady in the cubicle next to mine. I thought to myself that I couldn't blame her. I don't really enjoy eating to the tune of the news either. Especially the same depressing/angering/irritating story over and over again. Apparently that wasn't her complaint though. "How can they watch that stuff? Words going across the bottom, things popping up on the sides, all while somebody's talking! How can anyone figure out what's going on with all that happening at once?"

If CNN is a mystery, I don't think my sweet coworker will be picking up a Kindle or registering for facebook anytime soon. It does somewhat explain why I think she prints and saves her emails though . . .

Not Proposition 8

As I mentioned before, I had to convince Ryan to date me. He tells people sometimes that I tricked him into dating him, but then he tricked me into marrying him

Remember how I had doubts about marrying Ryan? We had been dating about five months when I realized we were pretty serious. Marriage became a part of our conversations, but I just wasn't SURE. I guess I expected a big sign from the Heavens, but Ryan was content with a general feeling of rightness. He told me he would wait until I was ready but not to expect any proposal until then. He wasn't about to propose to someone who might say no.

After meeting Ryan's parents I flew home to see my family for a couple of days. They teased me about getting married but I assured them that was nowhere in sight. Little did I know that Ryan's family was convincing him a few states away that he should just man up and propose already.

Keep in mind, that you know how this story ends. I didn't. Not even a little. This may have been the densest day of my life. So when Ryan picked me up at the airport and said we should go to Sundance, I just thought he was being sporadic. We had our first kiss there and had been back a couple of times just to soak up the romantic, mountainous atmosphere. Now, what really should've tipped me off was the fact that he was wearing his special black shirt. Or the vase with flowers on a little stool with a lit candle sitting to the side of the walkway.

Neither did. In fact I was very close to saying, "Hey look! I'll bet someone's going to propose!" when Ryan stopped walking right in front of the flowers. I almost told him that we better not stop in someone else's proposal spot. So did I realize he was proposing then?

No. He started saying the mushy kind of stuff I prefer not to blog about and my honest-to-goodness thought was, "Wow! He really missed me while I was gone! What a nice welcome back!" When he went down on one knee and pulled out a ring I peered in expecting to find a ring pop or something. There was just NO WAY he could possibly be proposing! He promised, right? I knew I hadn't told him I was ready, so what the heck was he thinking??

After a little period of silence I realized he had just proposed and was waiting for an answer. I had better think of something awfully quick. Brilliantly (not) I tried to stall. I told him I loved him too and even tried to distract him by kissing him. Alas, he noticed my avoidance and again asked for an answer.

I really did know that I loved him, and I didn't want to lose him. I knew that if I said no I probably couldn't change my mind. But if I said yes, I could just back out later. So I muffled something that sounded like, "Errmm.....yeah?" and he accepted it. He got the yes part and completely ignored the hesitation.

Later in the car I told him that I still had some praying and soul searching to do, but he was totally confident at that point. It didn't ever occur to him that I'd back out. And I'm glad for that. Because I didn't change my mind after all. The truth is, I may have never been "ready" enough and probably needed to be forced into decision. Did you know that 96.6% of the time I can't make up my mind at a restaurant until the waitress is staring me down after everyone else has ordered? That's what Ryan must've known I needed--somebody to force me into a decision.

Engagement Disclaimer

My friend Kate requested I share my engagement story. If I'm going to tell the story accurately from my point of view, I may have to admit to some of my . . . er . . . hesitations about marrying Ryan. So before I do that (which I plan to do in the next week), I think I should make a disclaimer.

Regardless of any doubts I had before getting married, I am very happy with the decision we made. Ryan and I are pretty different, but that helps to keep us more balanced. Even though our differences drive each other crazy, they are also our greatest strengths in our marriage.

Can you imagine if I married someone like me?? It would be constant emotions and talking and anger and stress and more talking and a lot of ranting and way too much analyzing and then random bursts of happy. We would both explode. Of course I see that in retrospect. I just didn't see it as clearly at the time. But the point of this growing post is that I DO see it now. I definitely plan on keeping him around and think he feels the same way about me. Uptightness and all. Just keep that in mind.

Our Favorite Creations from Mom

We asked the children at church, "What is your favorite thing your mom makes for you? And how does she make it?" Then our pres. typed them up in a newsletter to give to the moms of our ward. I will just share a few that made me giggle:

"Cookies! She mixes them and puts 'em in the oven. Now she has to stir it. Then she eats it all gone without her husband."

"Rice. She puts sugar on it. And she makes it with eggs and puts flour in it. And she puts cotton candy in there. And last pizza in the rice. It's yummy! Oh, and she puts it in the oven." Note: the mother denies this is a true recipe.

"My favorite thing mommy makes is me feel better when I'm sad. When I have a boo-boo or get my feelings hurt, I find Mommy. She hugs me an sings to me. I feel all better."

"Fire. She gets the sticks, then some paper and then burns it with a lighter."

"Cinnamon toast. I make it with my mommy and then put sugar on it! Do you want to come over and make it with me?"

"Taco Bell. Drive there!"

"Happiness! :) 4 cups of sugar and 2 cups of kids!"

"Pancakes. I love my mom's pancakes. She mixes it. She cooks it. Then I brush my teeth so I don't get a hole in my tooth." Her dad's a dentist.

"Cookies: Chocolate chips, cinnamon, wheat, another kind of wheat, a sugar wheat, a healthy wheat. Then she puts them in the oven and then she sets it for something and when it beeps two times it's done."

"Pumpkin seeds. She doesn't make a lot, but sometimes she makes stuff that I don't like."

Cry Baby

Yes, I am a cry baby. All kinds of things set me off. Happy things, sad things, frustrating things, touching things. I do have a fairly good mastery of my emotions, in the sense that I can hold it in until an appropriate moment. Usually that entails me excusing myself to use the restroom where I can quietly cry on the throne. Twice, however, in the last couple of weeks I've failed to maintain my composure. Once in front of my boss's boss and once in front of a coworker. It's really pretty humiliating and awkward. But not as awkward as poor Glen; at least my tears aren't on video:

Shout Out

I always blame my lack of creativity on being an accountant. We're really discouraged from "creative accounting." That leads to Enron-like situations, you know. But apparently that's a lame excuse. Check out these finalists on Pioneer Woman's photography site. See the one from Ivan Makarov? This one here. He was in my accounting program. I was stunned to see his name beneath such an incredible picture. I mean, he's an accountant too! Obviously I've been upstaged, but really I'm proud that an accountant is good at more than just numbers. Ivan, you've definitely raised the bar for us. Awesome shot.

Best Buddies

My brother was in town this weekend. We did a whole lot of nothing very exciting, but isn't that the best thing you can do with your little brother? I was going to write some of the funny things we talked about . . . but I'm having trouble thinking of anything that wouldn't offend someone or would even be funny to anyone outside the family. We did laugh pretty hard when the older lady checking receipts at Costco told us she had a brain fart. Especially because Mom says she hates that word and we're not allowed to use it.

Anyway, we are pretty weird siblings. I mean, we're weird in a lot of ways but what makes us the most different is that we hardly ever fought. We've always been buddies and have taken good care of each other. For example, I almost punched a kid that pushed him at school in 5th grade (the weaselly kid ran off before I could hit him though). My junior year he gently told me the truth about my poor hairstyle choice before going to a concert and embarrassing myself. I helped him dress like a thug for Halloween in middle school. He hung out with me when I didn't go to my senior prom and made me laugh so much I didn't even regret not going. Well, regret very much.

I could go on forever. The point is that we still look out for each other. I took him to find a storage unit, and he ran errands with me. I kept him well fed all weekend, and he got the toilet paper roll that's been in the tree for two years because Ryan and I weren't crazy enough to try to climb such a flimsy tree to get it. I gave him bug spray to douse his storage unit and he stole cookies to take back with him. The sweetest thing he did was to install our new smoke detector. When it didn't work, he went and bought another one and installed it too. I should've known he would be into fire safety.

It was a great weekend.

Book Club

My friend started a book club and I couldn't be more excited about it. We have a list of classics so we'll be picking challenging but wholesome books. Some months one book will be all I can finish, but other months not so much. Like last month. Meaning, I need more book recommendations. I got some great suggestions the last time I asked, so I decided to incorporate books into this blog regularly. I added the Goodreads widget to show what I'm currently reading. If you're reading something you love, please share!

Weekly Menu

One way I show my uptightness is my weekly menu planning. One of my New Year's resolutions for '08 was to make more meals at home, and I figured I'd need to get organized to do it. So I started an Excel workbook (yeah, I'm in accounting). See?

It's sick, really. I plan for each day across the top and then list the ingredients along the left. The sickest part is that I order the ingredients. Yes, they are in the same order as the grocery store aisles. Who does that? For the record, I don't always do so well as the week above. Lately we've had a lot of Hamburger Helper and frozen pizza nights but you get the idea.

A Churchy Moment

I was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons) when I was 13. As I learned more about my new found religion, I was anxious in sharing it with everyone (I do mean everyone) around me. Even though I feel like I did so with good intention, I realize now that I offended some people, even close friends and family. It is one of my biggest regrets. So I share this hesitatingly, not wishing to offend but to share a very important part of who I am. Please consider this my disclaimer for anyone wanting to close the browser window without reading the rest. This is your last chance.

When we first started meeting with the missionaries, we'd been going to church for over a year and a half. They asked us to read the Book of Mormon and then to ask the Lord if it was true. Heavenly Father, they said, would answer me. I had complete faith that He would answer me. Honestly, I didn't know what His answer would be. I had learned so many good things from church, but I just wasn't so sure about the Mormons. I mean, they seemed okay, but I wasn't convinced.

Yet, if there is a God, which I did believe there is, I knew that He wouldn't want me reading a book that preached falsehood or any other blasphemy. On the other hand, He would certainly want to encourage me to read a book filled with truth. So I read. And then I prayed. And He did answer me. A warmth filled my heart and I knew the words which I read were good and true.

My faith in other areas of life hasn't come nearly so easily as that. In fact, when I told the missionaries about my answer they were thrilled and asked about my baptism date. My 13-year-old self blurted out, "You asked me to pray about the Book of Mormon, not whether I should get baptized. Look, you're just going to have to wait until I pray about that too."

I'd say the Book of Mormon changed my life, but it literally is life and our purpose here on earth. My words aren't very eloquent, but Elder Holland shares his solid testimony of his faith in the Book of Mormon below. And thank you for indulging me a churchy moment. I'll try to keep them to a minimum. :)

Too Uptight

I'm too uptight. Did you know that? Well, I tricked Ryan into thinking I wasn't. Because I was also friends with his friends, I knew he didn't like me. They told me he thought I wasn't very sporadic. Even though I knew I was anything but sporadic, I also felt very strongly that it was important that he give me a chance. Where I'd have given up on other guys, I sensed that I shouldn't give up him yet. So Ryan's friends continued to talk me up (or so they tell me).

Ryan decided to devise a test. It was early into the semester but I was already feeling overwhelmed with schoolwork. After a ward activity I was anxious to get back to studying, but I had been warned by his friends that some kind of test was coming. He approached me and asked if I wanted to hang out.

My mind screamed, "NOOOO! You have studying!!! What is he thinking???!" but my mouth said, "Sure, what did you have in mind?" We did something silly (like buy Trivial Pursuit DVD edition at Walmart and then played it with some friends at his apartment) and I played the part of a go-with-the-flow-kind-of-gal rather well.

It probably doesn't sound like that big of a deal, but it was enough for Ryan to give me a chance. And honestly, being that sporadic almost killed me. I still don't know how I had the courage, but I'm glad I pulled it off. This story would have a happy ending (which, it does for me), but now Ryan is stuck with me, the most non-sporadic person I know.

Someone Else's Yard

We have grackles*. They give me the willies. I don't know why exactly, but most of my feelings (positive or negative) toward animals is irrational. The point is just that I hate them.

Lately, I've seen the black ones (males) bullying the brown ones (females). The males keep ruffling their feathers and screaming and chasing away the females. At first it made me mad because, well, domestic violence, right? But then I had a "welcome to life" moment.

Have you ever had a moment like that? I was not raised in a bubble, and yet I blocked out as much unpleasantness of real life as possible. As I've gotten older I have these moments where I have some realization that a normal person would've intrinsically known. For example, I'm listening to a song I listened to in high school and suddenly think, "Wait, that's what this song means???"

Anyway, the point is I realized the birds are not bullying. I asked my brother about it (he majored in wild life sciences) and sure enough, they are mating. Mating!! I'm my backyard! Ech. I'm both disgusted by their shenanigans and horrified at the thought of more grackles.

So I've taken to chasing them out when I catch them. Sometimes I just pound on the window, but I did a dumb thing the other night. I had just had enough and I opened the back door to yell, "Go do it in someone else's yard!!!" Then I realized if the grackles could hear me, so could the neighbors. Probably, I'm now the crazy, prude neighbor. Which was always true, but now they know.

*For most of my life I thought they were called "drackles." It made sense because it reminded me of Dracula, who is also dark and sinister. I've never seen my mom and brother laugh so hard as when they realized what I'd been saying.

LOL Mishap

My friend had a little misunderstanding with her boss. He wrote her an email that was somewhat amusing. Her response? "Lol." After a few minutes he walked out of his office with a confused/concerned look on his face. "I'm not sure I understood your email," he said. "What's to understand? I just thought what you said was funny," she answered. Again, he looked confused. After a minute he asked, "Wait, what does 'lol' mean?" Of course she explained it meant laugh out loud. Instant relief flooded his face and he exclaimed, "Oh!! I thought it meant lots of love." My friend blankly stared at him for awhile, blinked a few times, and then her boss walked back into his office. Awkward doesn't even cover it.

Two Weeks Notice

I really do try not to whine too much. I mean, who wants to sit around reading about my life's complaints? But work has not been happy for me in a loooong time. It seems to get worse and worse. Yesterday, in fact, I was very close to marching up to the controller with my two weeks notice.

But I didn't do it. Because I don't have to! [Also, I don't have to follow the rules of grammar by not starting with conjunctions. Because it's my blog and I'm REALLY tired.] Really though, I am moving back into the exciting world of audit. Sorta. I will be working in the internal audit department.

Honestly, I didn't think that I would be focusing on my career at this point in my life. Since my other plans are taking longer than expected in coming to be, I may as well further my work experience, right? Besides, I think this will be a more rewarding, less stressful position. So, goodbye accounting department!

Well, in another month after they've found my replacement anyway. Let me tell you, they cannot find one fast enough for me. It is time to move on.

Meeting Ryan's Parents

The first time I met Ryan's parents, we'd been dating for six months and were very close to engaged. In fact, as soon as he got the parents' approval of me, he proposed like two days later. Needless to say, I was a little nervous.

We went to dinner at Tecano's where they have a little salad buffet. As I was spooning some pasta salad onto my plate Ryan all but shouted, "Christie, you can eat more than that. You're eating for two now!" Of course Ryan's mom was right behind him and I just about died. I turned around to smack him on the head, but his mom beat me to it.

She even apologized for her son being such a goof. I'll always be grateful to my MIL who assumed the best in me. And I'll forever begrudge Ryan for such a rocky start with the in-laws. Payback is still lying in wait for that one . . .

They're Back

Sunday I heard little tiny cheeps and new we had some new friends. My brother thinks they're house finches. Anyway, I think they're great and more than welcome to stay.

This guy is not welcome. Ryan started going on his nightly hunts around the backyard and found the first two last night. Ugh. I'd trade the baby birds out in a second if it meant I didn't have to have the scorpions. Actually, I'd give up almost anything in my home for a scorpion-free yard. The TV, the piano, maybe even the bed. But not Ryan. If I got rid of him, who would kill the scorpions if they came back? He better stick around; he's needed.

Weird Start

I decided to put in a new set of contacts this morning. Left eye went in fine, so I opened the package for the right one. The contact felt weird in my hand. Almost thicker, but I didn't think about it too hard. I put it in and couldn't see a thing. I took it back out. I made sure it wasn't inside out, no specks of fuzz, and put it back in. Blind again; pulled it out again. Then I realized, my contact isn't in and I can see perfectly!

I won't lie to you. My first thought was, "It's a miracle! My right eye is healed!" Then I check my eye and saw it had, in fact, a contact in it. I realized I must've put my old contact in my eye without thinking AND THEN put in the new one. Nope. I had both my old contacts accounted for inside the case. I checked the garbage to make sure I hadn't pulled out two new ones for right without thinking. Nope.

The only thing I can figure, is that the new contact was actually two stuck together in the factory. Weird. Hopefully it's not an omen for the rest of the week.

March for Team Lily Jane

Some of you may know my good friend Meredith. Well, I think she's great, and I'm very sorry if you don't know her. She has a good husband and the cutest little boy at home. She also has the sweetest baby in Heaven named Lily Jane. In fact, Lily inspired Mer to start an Etsy shop where 10% of the proceeds are donated to March of Dimes in honor of that beautiful baby girl.

This spring Meredith is also walking on team Lily Jane. March of Dimes is a really good organization as evidenced here.* I'm sure Meredith would love to have you walk with her team if you're in the area. If not, another option is to provide a donation.

[Image courtesy of Meredith's design blog Lily Jane]

I know money is tight for a lot of people right now, but even small donations would be appreciated. I promise, I do not intend to use my blog as a way to solicit funds very often. :) I have very strong feelings about this cause. Unfortunately, Meredith is not the only friend I have who has lost a child. I can't even begin to imagine the pain, so I guess this is the only thing I can think to do to show my love and support. If you can, I think this is a great way to show your love and support too.

*Note: give.org is a VERY useful tool. I always try to check out a charity before giving to see how much of my donation is going to go to the program. My rule of thumb is that approximately 3/4 of funds should go to the program. March of Dimes is 77%

[Image courtesy of Meredith's design blog Just Lovely]

A Priceless Note from Ruthy

This lady here, she's my grandma. Ruthy is a lovely woman, and I completely adore her. My #1 biggest goal in life is to create a home filled with as much warmth as I felt in hers.

Grandma has a form of dementia. My grandpa passed away just over a year and a half ago, but I feel like Grandma left with him. The best option for our family has been to move her to a dementia care facility. Obviously that was a difficult decision, but she's reasonably content there.[Although that doesn't stop her from asking my mom 106 times daily why she can't live by herself.]

Clearly our relationship is very different now from what it once was. Every time I see her, she says she will write me. It's been years since she could pull together a letter. I always tell her I look forward to hearing from her and that's that. I'm content writing her without ANY expectation of a response. Well, my mom went to pick her up from church last Sunday and lo, there was a letter! A complete note to me sitting on her dresser. [Granted, not ten minutes later she said, "I really need to write Christie a letter sometime soon" but still.]

The letter is mostly small talk updating me on family events that happened anywhere from 1-6 years ago, so nothing special about what she wrote. But let me tell you, the fact that she wrote at all is positively priceless. It could easily be the last note she is able to write, especially considering we all thought her days of correspondence ended years ago. As my grandma would say, "Oh, Ruthy, I will treasure it always."

Sweet Dreams

Have you been Russian Rick-rolled yet? No? Then check this out. My friend said it best when she described him as a mannequin taught to lip-sync, but the mannequin isn't very good at it. Regardless . . . creepy.



[By the way, I know that the point of Rick-rolling is to trick the person into watching the video. I just worried the shock of clicking on a link to Eduard Khil may cause me to drop down to two followers. Don't worry, Ryan wouldn't leave. This guy is his new hero.]

A Little Jumpy

I'm a pretty jumpy person. On occasion I scream when I realize someone is standing behind me at work. But also I've met my match.

I was getting off the elevator last week and apparently surprised the new marketing intern. He actually threw his empty water bottle into the air and nailed me. Poor kid. He hasn't looked me in the eye since.

Living in a Hotel

Let me preface by saying that I love the idea of a hotel (having somebody make up your room, etc.), but in practice it grosses me out. The thought of sleeping or showering or sitting where who-knows-whom did who-knows-what actually gives me mild anxiety.

When we got married we bought cheapy sheets, and only had one set. Needless to say, after five years, they were wearing awfully thin. So thin you could actually see through them in places. We also had a comforter from Ikea (this is one thing I DON'T recommend from Ikea) that I hated. I think the down comforter actually cost less than the sheets, and feathers kept poking me in the night. Yuck.

So when this bedding went on sale a little while ago, I decided to replace all of our bedding at once. Note: we paid a fraction of what the online price shows now.

Image courtesy of Dillards.com

Basically, we don't have a nice headboard, and I still haven't bought the bedskirt yet (we have our old sage-colored one...I know, it clashes terribly). But I still feel so fancy! I've never had white sheets before, and it feels JUST like staying in a hotel. Except no anxiety! Because I'm in my very own home. Tell Hannah I think I have her beat for the best of both worlds.

A Moment of Self-adverstisement

I have so few followers I haven't had that gadget on my blog. My insecurity kept me from it, but recently I decided I should have more confidence in myself. I'm 26, not the awkward girl wondering why nobody asked me to the high school prom, for Heaven's sake! Besides, what if people wanting to follow aren't doing it because there's no link on my blog? Regardless, I decided I'm proud to have even 6 followers and have added a followers link. So even if you don't follow my blog, I hope you enjoy this catchy, though odd U2 video. Oh, and yes, I am one of the six, and so is my husband. [shrugs]

What Day Is It?

I've been having a difficult time adjusting to 2010. I keep trying to write dates like 3/3/19 or 3/3//0. Just to confuse me more, I've heard no less than three commercials for Presidents' Day sales in the last week. What? THEN two days ago I saw a Christmas Hershey's Kisses commercial. You know, the one where the green, red, and silver Kisses ring like bells? Anyway, I have NO IDEA what today is or what time of year it is thanks to all of the mixed messages. Does anyone want to clear this up for me?

This Girl Is Nuts

My fellow blogger over at Talkaholics Anonymous posted this HILARIOUS video about a funny little girl. My coworker referred to the video as "outstanding" and I hope you think so too.

Scarred for Life

Dear man-I-saw-today-on-the-freeway,

First off, I understand the traffic going your direction was really bad. Like, going nowhere bad. But that is NO excuse! Sir, you are tall. The median wall was short. Thus, I saw it all.

Next time, please go before you get in the car.

Many thanks,
Christie

P.S. Please don't write back. I plan on doing my best to forget this incident as soon as I hit the publish button.

The Cookie Thief

Sam had a few enemies. One in particular I would like to call Fred. He is a very non-confrontational soul. Sam, believe it or not, is a very confrontational soul. This created many conflicts.

During one such conflict, Sam was being especially pushy. I believe she was trying to tell Fred he was doing his job wrong. [By the way, telling someone they're doing their job wrong is ALWAYS a good idea] Fred was not appreciating the coaching, and he was dealing with the problem by withdrawing.

Sam took the withdrawal as ignoring her (eh, technically he was, but can you blame him?), so she did the only thing she could think of to get his attention. She noticed a stack of cookies sitting on his desk, grabbed them, and ran off. Yup, she totally stole the cookies. And ate them.

Poor Fred just sat there stunned. Oddly enough Sam wondered why Fred was even more distant after that. Maybe it was something she said.

Valentine's Romance

For some reason Ryan decided he wanted to watch me read my emails. He kept pestering and asking to read the "juicy" emails. Finally I turned around and said, "Look, my life is an open book. I've probably you told about every aspect of my life 26 times. In the last hour. What exactly do you expect to find?" He then burst into fake tears and sobbed about how it's true and something about why don't I have an off button.

And then a bit later he said,"Christie, you just get so angry about things you shouldn't get angry about." I think it was because I was yelling about how my computer hates me. Or something like that.

Truth be told he puts up with a lot of crazy. So, happy Valentine's Day, honey! Thanks for putting up with me! And I ain't monkeying around.

Aha! He's not going to find that funny at all. But I'm laughing away.

My Kind of Love

Last week some mid-day show was on TV in the lunch room. They were reading Valentine's stories sent by the viewers. One lady said her husband wrote a note on every single tissue and put them all back in the box. That way, she could read something sweet and romantic throughout the year. I'm not even going to explain why this disturbed me.

Did I ever tell you about the time my grandparents were almost mugged? They had just attended a session at the Albuquerque Temple and dinner at their favorite restaurant. They stopped at the ATM when this guy approached. He game up behind my grandma and grabbed at her purse while ordering her to give him all her money.

My grandpa did what any God-fearing man of 80 would do when his beloved was in peril. He took the guy DOWN. In the process my grandpa lost his own balance, but the message of "don't mess with my wife" had already been impressed. The guy bolted, getting away with nothing more than the cash they'd just taken out of the ATM and the debit card.

[picture used without permission from my brother]

That's my kind of love.

A Valentine Act of Kindness

My mom is a school nurse. She has all kind of sad stories about the children at her school, but this one has a happy ending. When she got to school yesterday this boy was crying in the office. Apparently he'd left his Valentines on the bus. He was devastated. The poor child is overweight and has been teased, making the situation more pitiable. But what can you do but send the kid to class?

A few minutes later the principal walked out of her office, putting on her coat. "I'm going to the school bus hub," she announced. "I doubt I'll find them but I'm going to try. And if I don't find them, I'm going to buy him new ones." And off she went. By some miracle she found them. She called the boy into her office and gave them to him. He immediately gave her a gigantic hug. He was so happy.

Am I a total sap because that story got me all choked up?

Kitten-tron

We get phone calls periodically about lost pets. It's a pretty good system that sends an automated message to people in the neighborhood alerting them of missing animals. While usually that makes me sad, we had a pretty funny one this weekend. Apparently a black and white cat named Kitten-tron (unsure of spelling??) is missing. If my owner named me Kitten-tron I would run away too. Poor kitty.

Sam and Tofu

This isn't as good as spontaneous combustion, but I don't know if I can top that one. Anyway, a few people from our department went to a Mongolian barbeque for lunch one day. While in line we talked about what we would be putting in our stir fries. I mentioned that I like mine without meat but that I really didn't like tofu either. Sam agreed that tofu was gross and didn't know who would want to eat it.

When it was my turn I requested a heaping helping portion of this:

Sam raised her eyebrows and accused, "I thought you said you didn't like tofu." "By the way," she added while pointing, "I hate that stuff too." That =

.

It wouldn't have been so funny except that she said it with such genuine conviction. A better person than myself would've kept her mouth shut. Not me. Maybe she'd just called me "kid" too many times, but I promptly laughed and corrected her. What a jerk I am.

Muffins

I go through phases with my breakfast foods. All of elementary school I would eat nothing but pancakes in the morning. Flat, undercooked, whitish-yellow pancakes because that's how I like them best. Gross, right?

Anyway, I am currently on a muffin kick. Here are the recipes I've tried so far and quite enjoyed:

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Muffins

Blueberry Muffins

Both were excellent although I subbed buttermilk for milk in the blueberry muffins. I would love to have more recipes to try. So if you have a good one, please share in a comment.

Bad Luck or Paranoia

Apparently P's were a difficult letter for me in elementary school. In 3rd grade I got a ^ on my handwriting assignment. I think that translates to a D. I was horrified. I did the only thing I could think to do: throw it away. But then it occurred to me, what if the janitor sees it and knows that I threw it away so I didn't have to tell my mom? I decided to put it at the very bottom of the trashcan. No, better yet, fold it into a tiny square so you can't see what it is! So that's what I did. Spent ten minutes folding and folding and folding again until it wouldn't fold anymore. Remember this is only an assignment. ONE assignment. Not even a test, much less a final grade. Sounds like paranoia, right?

Well, I ditched school twice in high school. Yes, only twice. [Unless you count senior ditch day, when I got special permission from my mom. And still went to seminary anyway.] As evidenced by the above story, I have a morbid fear of getting in trouble. [Plus, I kind of liked school; just don't tell anyone.] Anyway, the two times I ditched were for a boy. Shocking, right? Well, I had a glorious day of washing his truck together and hanging out with his mom. So obviously nothing scandalous except that I should've been in class. When I got home (about the right time, I might add) my mom asked me how school went. Another one of my faults is that I'm a terrible liar. So I don't do it. I said, "It seemed very short." She dropped what she was doing and blurted out, "You ditched??!!"

Now, some of you may be thinking that my friend's mom called her or somehow she'd known before I walked in the door. If that were the case, she would've said so because that's how our family operates. We're just not sneaky people. So if she says nobody told her, nobody told her. SHE JUST KNEW.

See how bad my luck is? I guess I can't really take credit for doing the right thing anymore. It's only because I know I'll never get away with it. By the way, I ended up telling my mom about the P handwriting assignment within 0.5 seconds of walking through the door. I am so lame.

Sigh

Today was just one of those days. One of those days where nothing really sounded good to eat, the staples littered around the copier desk particularly annoyed me, and I feel awfully tired. Hopefully the next couple of weeks will bring good news. In the mean time, here is a song to brighten a Monday night.



P.S. That wasn't sarcasm. I think the song is very comforting. I mean, who wouldn't want to see my family's parade?

2010 Goals

I think I've got my goals together enough to write them down. So here comes another dry post.

1 - Write my grandma monthly.
2 - Transfer CD's to my Ipod.
3 - Visit teach
at least one of my sisters per month.
4 - Finish the Book of Mormon, studying not just reading.
5 - Get our guest bathroom remodeled.
6 - Replace the front screen door.
7 - Clean out the remaining closets.
8 - Fix our yard (and maintain it!).
9 - Do Temple work for my father.
10 - Visit my grammie's farm.
11 - Keep my journal up to date.
12 - Learn to bake loaves of bread as well as artisan bread.
13 - Plan and have one date night a week.
14 - Change the water filters in the kitchen.
15 - Wash all of the baseboards.
16 - Clean out the garage.
17 - Settle my dad's affairs.
18 - Get into shape.

I might add more as I think of them. This is a good start though. Wish me luck, I guess.

It Was Meant to Be

While talking about stress at work today, I was reminded of a good coworker story. You remember "Sam" my ex-coworker? I was actually her replacement as she had accepted a job in another department. Thus, she trained me. It was awful.

"Sam" believes that we all release certain energies. Apparently some of us have energy that isn't compatible to other energies (I guess that's what you tell yourself when you're a cantankerous person). She said that she and I were very high energy. Translation to me: high strung. Which is true.

Anyway, she told me this long winded story about a heated argument she had with one of our VP's. As the conversation become more and more tense, she began to feel warmer and warmer. Finally, she felt so hot she got up and went to the bathroom to take a breather. When she looked in the mirror her eyebrows were singed! [I think I was supposed to gasp at this part of the story] Yes, her energy levels reached such incredible levels that it burned her brows.

"And now I know why you were meant to work here," she said. I couldn't possibly imagine how her story related to me. "To warn you." .....?? "about spontaneous combustion." Usually I'm pretty quick, but it took me a minute to put this together. She thought I was in danger of causing self spontaneous combustion? And then I went to the bathroom and cried.

A Little Slow

I've always been slow to join the band wagon. I mean, I got an Ipod less than six months ago. We JUST got Guitar Hero, and I only added texting to my phone plan a few months ago. I think you get the point. At any rate, it doesn't really bother me. I like to make informed decisions, and it takes me awhile to decide a fad is worth doing. But what was I thinking not joining Netflix??? This thing is great. Has everyone else been using them for years?

Recap of '09 Goals

This is a tedious post. I advise you not to read unless you're really bored. Or want to become bored. 2009 was the first year I really made an effort to set goals. Specific, reasonably attainable goals (I think my buddy Stephen R. would've been proud). Anyway, I think blogging about my progress on said goals will provide some accountability. So basically this post is for me, not you.

1 - Learn to make breads: cinnamon rolls, loaf breads, rolls, pizza crust, and artisan breads.

I have made yummy cinnamon rolls plus decent rolls and pizza crust. For Christmas I got two baking books and some supplies, so I should be on track to learn loaf and artisan breads this year.

2 - Fix our yard: get grass growing, keep tidy and presentable, get patio furniture, plant flowers.

Ehhh, Ryan got our grass growing (looks great, honey!), and I've tried to do better about sweeping the porch and raking the leaves. Note: leaves are littering the front yard as I type. We now have a good grill and a fire pit but no other furniture. I guess this is another to be continued in '10.

3 - Replace the front door with a nicer one that lets in light.

We have the new door picked out, but we've had trouble finding a contractor to do the work. The first guy tried to hoodwink us, the second guy hasn't returned my calls . . . we will be calling guy number three shortly.

4 - Catch up on writing in my journal (this was actually #6 but I was getting low self esteem listing so many unaccomplished goals in a row).

Although I still have much room for improvement, I am actually up to date through the new year on my journal writing.

5 - Do Temple work for my father.

I'm a horrible person, but I didn't do this one. I'm only a month or two late though. Yeah, no excuses . . .

6 - Settle my dad's affairs.

This was perhaps my loftiest goal and I am closer than I expected. We have a few straggling issues to finish, but we're almost there! The house sold (truly a miracle), the estate sale was successful, and the Harley sold (I am sooo glad I'm not stuck with a motorcycle).

7 - Visit my grammie's farm in Texas.

I added this one late in the year, so she didn't have any trips planned. She has been informed that I'm interested though, so we will be going sometime this year, I hope.

8 - Get into shape.

Big fat no.

9 - Reorganize the filing cabinet.

Yes! Finally an unequivocal yes.

10 - Clean the baseboards.

Another yes.

11 - Clean the garage.

Yes.

12 - Learn the Articles of Faith.

I know this is embarrassing. I mean, what adult does that? But I never memorized them as I child (being baptized at 13). It seemed like I should learn them before we have children so that I can teach them. Well, I did it! I have to sing some of them, but I can do it.

13 - Go camping.

No. Our trip was canceled due to some bad timing.

14 - Make a cake from scratch.

It was not the loveliest cake, but it was pretty tasty.

15 - Make a pie (that actually tastes good).

My first pie attempt was a disaster. I guess I overfilled it, and the filling seeped over and then beneath the crust. The entire pie was encased in black burntness. My next attempt was Alton's blueberry and it was great! I've also made a couple of pot pies using , and they were okay. The trust was tasty, but it fell apart and had to be pieced back together. Probably I just need to practice.

16 - Repaint our side gate.

Yes! And since I used tinted sealant instead of paint, hopefully I won't have to do it again for awhile. Also, I pretended I was the Karate Kid.

17 - Clean out the closets.

One down and two more to go.

18 - Start food storage!

Ryan's parents had the genius idea to give us two 30-day supplies for Christmas each year. At our second year, we now have 60 days a piece. I also bought a can rotating system so we have canned goods to last us probably another 60 days. I redid our 72-hour kits (that previously were without food). So I'd say I'm off to an okay start. If food storage is even a fraction as scary to you as it is to me, check out this website: http://foodstoragemadeeasy.net/ which helped me tons just to get motivated.

Well, I guess I have a lot of unfinished business to roll to this year. Soon to come, my 2010 list. Again, to add accountability; I don't expect anyone to read them.