Passion For Things That Don't Matter

7 Weeks and 7 Things about Angela

2012-02-12T20:34:00.001-07:00

Angela is now seven weeks old. Today, in fact. She isn't doing too many "tricks" besides looking cute/beautiful or sad/pathetic to suit the situation. Instead of her achievements I thought I'd share some of my favorite things about her in general as well as some of my favorite pictures.

1. I love her hair. When it's wet and uncombed, it goes super curly! When combed, it's just wavy but oh so soft. I love to rub my cheek against the top of her head when she's lying on my shoulder.

2. She has several adorable gowns, and they're my favorite for night time. When I feed her, often her little feeties stick out of the bottom. Precious.

Look at those little feeties!

3. Angela came to this world alert and wanting to learn. She loves to stare and look around her, taking it all in. At least once a day she makes good eye contact with me and I try to have a long conversation with her. She sits and listens very well, although I have to infer a bit from her responses.

This is her at less than one week old! She's already staring intently.

4. When Angela's not alert and learning, she's eating or sleeping or crying. Being so busy makes her a serious baby. But we do get the occasional smile and it just melts our hearts!

5. She has lots of pretty faces, but she also has some pretty funny ones too. She makes a face like a pirate when she's being burped and makes a little turtle-like face when stretching. But the best one is when she's doing her "business." I laugh basically every time she poops.

See those curls! This isn't one of her better faces though.

6. Her cheeks are really filling out and I noticed her thighs are too. She may or may not be growing an extra chin.

7. I love to give her kisses. I kiss her nakey tummy, I kiss her chubby cheeks, I kiss her little hands, and I cannot resist kissing her sweet, sweet head (I sniff in the sweet baby smell while I'm at it).

Our Christmas Angel

2012-02-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

The blog has taken a back-burner to the baby. When I went to put on my shoes to go home from the hospital, they broke. Into the trash they went. I can't help but think that was symbolic of ending a stage of life. Anyway, I know she's six weeks old now, but I better start at the beginning.

While some of you love the gory details of child birthing but I know some of you don't. So I'll try to keep it clean!

When I went for my last appointment, my doctor said progress was pretty minimal (as in half a centimeter minimal). We had an induction scheduled for the following week and he and I both expected I'd be keeping that appointment. I'd been having contractions at 20 minutes apart all week, but they obviously weren't doing much for me. Nonetheless, my mom was just waiting for the phone call to jump in the car and drive here from NM. We were worried that the crazy, unusually severe weather would keep her from coming. But things let up Christmas Eve, and her and my brother drove here in between blizzards.

We had dinner at Cafe Rio (note: everything I ate was mild thanks to heart burn, so this did NOT make me go into labor) and came home to watch our traditional Christmas movies. At 9pm (during Garfield's Christmas) I felt really sick. Contractions starting coming 10 and then 5 minutes apart. After an hour and a half I knew it was the real deal. My family, however, was skeptical. I insisted we go to the hospital and the on-call OB recommended it. My poor Mom and brother grabbed their unpacked bags (they'd only been here six hours) and followed us to the hospital. We got there at 11:30ish and I was admitted an hour later.

Yes, I had an epidural, and I am not ashamed. Once the real contractions had started, they were HARSH! I was very glad to have the shot. So I labored through the night in peace. The next morning we went to work on the pushing (most pain of my life--the only part that brought me to tears). That went on for about two hours. Then the on-call doctor came in, immediately did an episiotomy(which then proceeded to tear). And when I really thought I couldn't take it any longer out came my squirmy-wormy miracle, screaming like a banshee.

Then I really started crying. She was perfect and worth every ounce of physical pain and emotional heartache I'd felt. And it may sound cheesy, but I absolutely knew she was sent from Heaven specifically to me.

Christmas at Lawry's

2011-12-15T08:59:00.000-07:00

Ryan and I had a nice dinner out last night. I was thinking it could be our last one for awhile! I was also thinking about a family tradition we had growing up.

Every year at Christmas time we had dinner at Lawry's. For the holidays, the restaurant hired "carolers" to sing to the patrons during their meals. The carolers dressed in Charles Dickens-like attire and were always very talented. We usually spent the first part of dinner trying to decide what requests we would make when they got to our table and almost never settled on just one. Luckily they indulged us and usually sang an extra song or two. My dad always tried to force them to take a tip (the gratuity kind, not the advice kind) even though they always ardently refused. It was against policy. But that didn't ever phase my dad!

For some reason, those are my best holiday memories of our family together, even more so than any of Christmas day. One year in particular we must've been having a good time. After dinner our server told us that our dessert was covered. Apparently the couple a few tables away thought we looked so fun that they wanted to buy us dessert. If you know our family, you'll know that was a GREAT way to get to our hearts. It was delicious. But more than that it's proof that we were so happy in that moment even somebody else noticed it. I will hold on to those memories forever.

Gratitude

2011-11-22T08:00:00.000-07:00

A year ago yesterday I was intently scanning the ultrasound screen hoping futilely that three little heartbeats would suddenly appear somewhere.

A year ago today Ryan and I were in the OR waiting for the anesthesiologist so that they could do a D&C.

This morning I woke up feeling a little sad but mostly so grateful. I'm grateful for the growth we've had in the last year and especially grateful to have a little one (and yes, grateful she is just one) still trying to do somersaults inside a tummy she's quickly outgrowing. More grateful than I can really put into words.

On a lighter note, I've been thinking about the importance of saying "thank you." Ryan is so good about thanking me. He thanks me for dinner. He thanks me for cleaning. He thanks me for doing the dishes. When I worked, he thanked me for helping him provide for our family. I'm not saying he literally thanks me for every single thing I do every single time I do it, but he is good about saying it more than often enough. I would do all of it anyway, but it sure is easier to do knowing he appreciates it. Hopefully he knows he much I appreciate what he does too. He works so hard at his job and then has to put in all the extra hours of class time and homework. Then he still manages to find time to listen to me blabber on and on about my unexciting day when he really feels like this:

Anyway, enough with the mushy stuff. Let me just say that I'm glad it's Thanksgiving and hope that you all have a very happy one!

Winnie the Pooh and a Dirty Mirror

2011-11-15T19:29:00.000-07:00

If I post another picture, do you promise to ignore my dirty mirror? I didn't realize how dirty it was until looking at the picture (which could be because I need to change the light bulbs in the bathroom). Well, I feel large but I still get plenty of comments about how small I am. In fact a waitress asked if I'd like a drink last Friday. On the other hand, a friend at the storehouse was laughing at me yesterday. I asked her why and she told me that I looked like Winnie the Pooh toddling around. Nice. Another lady at church told me I'm starting to waddle. She also giggled at me. I'll have to let you be the judge:

Nursery and Other Matters

2011-10-29T13:25:00.000-07:00

The nursery is done! If Angela came tomorrow (which, we hope she doesn't for her own little sake) then we would at least have a room for her. I feel really fortunate not to have too many complaints. Obviously bending over is getting harder as is sitting for long periods, but for the most part I'm comfortable and we both seem to be healthy. Just don't ask about the heartburn.

Ryan is still working away. He was on "break" for two weeks but that turned out to be a joke. His professors decided to give him homework as well as a project. At least he was at home and not in class until 10pm. He also took his first ever business trip, and it did not leave him with a good impression. The important thing is that he survived and of course hopes he doesn't have to do it again any time soon.

I'm getting my to-do list done little by little and am still volunteering at the storehouse. My mission technically ended (although that reminds me that I never was released either . . . ) but I will keep going as a volunteer as long as I'm feeling up to it. They know not to expect me back after Christmas though! Even though everyone jokes that I will just bring baby girl with me and let all the "grandma's" take care of her while I work. We'll see. I told them I'm not making any promises about that.

So here are the pictures! For some reason it seems like LOTS of yellow in the first picture, but it's just the angle inside the crib, I think. It's not really a yellow nursery except for the bed spread.

I Give Up

2011-09-30T16:04:00.000-07:00

Enough people have been bugging me that I'm finally giving in and posting a baby bump picture. I apologize that all my blogging revolves around being pregnant. I'm sure there are funny/interesting things happening, but I don't remember them. I don't remember a lot of things these days. Sorry.

Oh, and I am officially in the third trimester. The first went so painfully slow, but the second was super fast. Baby girl will be here before we know it! I just hope the fall weather gets here before she does. We're sick of 100 degree weather over here.

The Good with the Bad

2011-09-10T09:02:00.000-07:00

Do you remember our little sicky Henri? Well, he fell ill again and this time he didn't make it. Henri is the only pet I've really had (I don't count the five consecutive red fighting fish I had--which I named them all Reddy, so clever). I was surprised how much I miss his sweet, stinky face and soft poodle fur. It was really sad to visit my mom last week and not have him there to greet me, lick my hand, and snuggle next to me.

My poor mama has had an even harder time. He was her little companion for so many years. I know she misses him terribly.

Then we had another loss in our grammie. She had recently been diagnosed with cancer and had a long, painful road ahead of her. We miss her but feel relieved that she was spared the drawn out suffering. Grammie lived a full life of travel, learning/reading, volunteer work, painting, bicycling, holding tight to her faith, raising two boys, and loving five grandchildren. My mom pointed out that in all of the photographs of her, she is the one who stands out. She really did have a glow and warmth about her. She should have no regrets for the good life she lived and we know she is at peace.

Amidst the sadness Ryan and I are doing well. Angela is growing well and kicks like crazy. Ryan enjoyed his short break and is in class again. He's very excited because he got us ASU season tickets. He just loves football any way that he can see it. For his birthday last spring he got DVR and HD as his present. This is the time of year he can really use it. All I can say is that I hope Angela likes football.

People Are Noticing

2011-08-27T20:19:00.000-07:00

Today was a milestone day. So far only friends and family have been brave enough to comment on the baby bump. At the store this afternoon the sales clerk asked when I'm due. I'm officially pregnant-looking not just pudgy!

What We've Been Making

2011-08-06T22:02:00.001-07:00

First, in case you haven't heard . . . we are having a baby girl! Angela (Rose?) is growing and developing nicely and we are relieved. Ryan isn't into the baby planning so much, but he does talk to my stomach sometimes. Granted he's usually plotting with Angela against me.

Also, my appetite is back with a vengeance. It's SO NICE to enjoy food again. I can't get enough and read cookbooks and watch cooking shows on TV. Because I've had extreme heartburn I can't eat too much at one time, so it leaves me hungry a lot of the time. Maybe that's the problem. At any rate, Ryan is on break following his first semester (hooray! one down, five more to go), so I decided to celebrate with a really complicated, rich, dark chocolate cake:

Seriously the most chocolatey cake I've ever eaten in my life. It wasn't that sweet, just rich and creamy. The filling is basically a pudding. Ryan had one small slice and stopped because it was that overwhelming. It's a Cooks Illustrated recipe, so you need a subscription for the recipe. However, Baking Obsession posted the recipe here and the directions are slightly easier to understand. (NOTE: we used a cup of water in place of the brewed coffee)

In other news, Ryan tells me that BYU's first football practice of the season was today. It's probably for the best that we're having a girl because I think Ryan would be teaching plays to my tummy if we were having a boy.

Dear Walmart Patron

2011-07-16T19:18:00.000-07:00

Dear Walmart Patron,

I did not have a camera ready when you crossed the street, else I would be sending it to that people of Walmart website. Lucky you. I can only assume that you realized you were wearing a white shirt without a bra. Maybe if I was that busty I would be more eager to show it off too. But what I'd really like to know is why your father (who was accompanying you) let you out of the house wearing a see-through shirt. Or was that older gentleman not your father? You know, I'm not sure I want the answer. Forget I even brought it up.

From,
A Concerned Citizen

No News Yet

2011-07-06T13:14:00.000-07:00

I had an ultrasound today, and I am 15 1/2 weeks. I knew the doctor probably wouldn't be able to see anything, but we were hoping. Our little one is measuring a bit small, making things more difficult, and he or she is awfully shy, adding to the trouble. We did get to see some little arm and leg flailing and a bit of wiggling! The good news is that the doctor is going to send us to a radiology lab in three weeks for an official ultrasound. I have been waiting years for this appointment, and I think I can certainly wait three more weeks.

In case you're wondering, I have no inclinations or intuitions either way. Ryan says that he doesn't either. However, several people claim to have had feelings on my behalf. With the exception of my sister-in-law, everyone is betting on a boy. What do you think?

I Had the Craziest Dream

2011-07-02T17:46:00.000-07:00

Ryan cringes when I start off a conversation that way. He thinks my dreams are always crazy and does not really care to hear them. Of all the things I prattle on about, it's the topic he cares about the least. It's true that I often have vivid dreams but I've had some odd ones even for me lately. (I'm told this is normal with pregnancy)

So. I really did have the craziest dream last week. I was at a party (a nice party, like at a church friend's house) and I found myself thoroughly enjoying a Corona. It tasted like Squirt. My friend politely asked me if it was wise to be drinking. "Oh yes," I said. "My mom told me that it was okay if I only had one." The friend gave me an odd look and walked away.

Do you ever have dreams that are so weird, even your dream self can't take it seriously? Dream Christie started giving this whole Corona thing some serious thought. I remembered that I was pregnant and wondered why my mother (who is a nurse!) would tell me it was okay to drink one. Was it really okay? Somehow, it just didn't seem okay. Then I remembered, "I'm a Mormon! I'm not supposed to drink! Pregnant or not!" I was still puzzling over whether they were going to kick me out of church and if I'd killed some of my baby's brain cells when I woke up.

But what I really wanted to know the next morning is . . . do Coronas really taste like Squirt? Because I'm not really going to try one, but now I'm curious.

My Grammie's Piano

2011-06-18T10:31:00.001-07:00

I don't post much about my dad. There are a lot of intricacies in our relationship that are best left off the Internet rather than trying to explain them. Gift giving is one of those intricacies. We struggled. I never seemed to get him what he wanted, and he gave me some pretty odd ones. I'll leave it at that. He did have at least one very great success.

When I was about seven, I started trying to teach myself to play the piano. When my parents caught onto my interest, my grandmother very graciously gave us her Wurlitzer upright. I loved that piano. It made me sad when my parents decided to get a baby grand. But that baby grand was pretty awesome, so I didn't dwell on it too much.

My dad, however, didn't want to part with my grammie's piano. He knew that it would be awhile before I'd be able to afford a piano for myself, so he kept it. He put that piano and a few items of furniture in storage until I could use it. When we graduated a few years ago, it was one of the first things he asked. "Can I ship your piano to you now?"

I won't go into detail about the nightmare that was getting our piano up to the second floor apartment so that it could sit there unused for a year (I was so paranoid about bothering the neighbors I only played on Sundays with the damper pedal on). However, it now sits in our house where it's played and loved. It just looks like it's supposed to be there. If my dad hadn't gone to the trouble of storing it all those years (and shipping it all the way to AZ), my precious piano and I would never have been reunited. And the primary would've been without a sub for a few weeks since I would've forgotten how to play.

The Big Announcement

2011-06-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

I've struggled with knowing just how to write this post. Once upon a time I thought that I would be typing in all caps and using a zillion explanation points. After all the trouble it has taken us to get here, I feel much more relief and gratitude than I feel excitement. Yes, we are finally expecting.

Because I'm past 12 weeks now, I finally feel confident enough to spread the good news. There is ONE and only ONE little bean in there. No triplets this time, and I can't say that I'm disappointed. The little Black bean is planned to enter this world on December 24th. I'm not kidding. Since we already have Christmas, our anniversary, and my birthday . . . someone must have figured December just wasn't busy enough for us. Yet, I can't help but feel this is how it was meant to be.

In the mean time, Black bean has been sending signals to me that he or she HATES veggies, since I've hardly been able to stomach any for months. I figured this meant that we definitely have Ryan's genes in there, but I've also been anti-sweets. That doesn't sound like either of us. Either way, I seem to be dealing with food better than I was and hope I keep feeling like myself again. Even if it is little by little. While I thought I'd never ever be able to do daily shots (ha! I've been doing two-a-days), I found I'd rather give a shot than vomit. Vomiting is definitely in my top five greatest fears.

My next appointment is in three weeks, and I'm hoping the doctor can determine the gender. Since it will be just shy of 16 weeks, it may be iffy. Now that the news is out, I'll be better at keeping everyone posted. We're so grateful for the support and prayers during this "process," so thank you all!

Bird Feathers

2011-06-03T14:40:00.000-07:00

I neglected to inform you all that our sweet baby birds arrived! It was hard to count their little beaks from down here on the ground (okay, who am I kidding? I put a step stool by the front door so I could spy on them from inside but I still couldn't see much) but I do believe I counted four. Four! Sweet baby birds. I was sick last week and worrying only about my own pity party and thus not thinking about the birdies. At some point I finally realized I didn't hear chirping. It's been a few weeks, so I figured they'd flown the nest! It's what birds do. Then our home teacher brought over something. I opened the door and looked down to see.....gasp!! bird feathers. Beneath the soft little gray feathers was residue on the pavement. YUCK!!! We have lots of cats in the neighborhood and I just remembered I saw a calico hovering around the porch when I got back from the pharmacy last week. If only I was so anxious to get inside and start the meds and had realized what was happening! In an attempt to console me, my home teacher said, "Well, maybe they just fell out of the nest." It didn't help.

Should've Listened

2011-05-26T10:27:00.000-07:00

I kept telling Ryan I was trying not to get excited about the new Pirates movie but that I was finding it hard not to look forward to it. He kept telling me not to get my hopes up. But the two worst characters are gone! I argued. It HAS to be better than the last two! He just shook his head at me.

Then I saw this. At 33% from the critics, our odds are not so good. I should've listened to Ryan because really I did get my hopes up.

Graduate School Orientation

2011-05-19T18:56:00.000-07:00

Ryan is gearing up for graduate school in the form of a night program. He is going to be VERY busy the next year. He keeps trying to tell me that I'm going to be busy too (doing his homework) but he is going to be sorely mistaken on that one.

Last night they had an orientation to talk about the layout of the program and force him to network with his classmates. He sent me several funny texts during the evening, but I especially liked this one:

"In case you were wondering, cucumber water is gross."

Ryan hates cucumbers so I couldn't possibly figure out what possessed him to knowingly drink cucumber water. Apparently his only other choice was iced tea. So. Yeah. He said he tried the cucumber water like four times. He kept thinking, "Nothing could possibly taste THAT gross." But then it did. The thirsty boy had to resort to drinking from the drinking fountain. Now Ryan thinks his peers must think he's some kind of country yokel for drinking out of the drinking fountain, but he was really thirsty.

Luckily he seemed to like the people he met and he seems a little less stressed about starting school in a few weeks. Although he has asked me repeatedly to cut my hair like a boy and do graduate school for him. I don't think that's quite the brilliant idea he thinks it is. And I know he'll do just fine.

Under the Bed

2011-05-18T20:47:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I have great stories but they're other people's stories and I feel weird telling them. But this is one from somebody I worked with years ago, and I'm sure he doesn't read my blog. So I'm totally stealing it and retelling it here. I think Tamara knows this story, so please chime in if I've told it wrong.

Ed's son was three at the time, and he (his son, not Ed) was having trouble sleeping at night. He was convinced there was something under the bed. They kept trying to calm his fears by showing him there was nothing, but he was certain there was SOMETHING. Poor Ed was at a loss. He could NOT convince his son that nothing was under there, so he decided to turn the tables. He would convince his son that it was something good! In a moment it came to him and he blurted out, "Don't worry, it's just Jesus!"

Who knows what kind of doctrinal confusion that poor boy has experienced since. However, if I remember the story right, I believe Ed's son did start sleeping through the night.

My Mama

2011-05-08T08:43:00.001-07:00

My mom is great. I found one of those silly "where will I be in 10 years" things they make you write when you're 14 at church. One thing I foresaw at age 25 (which is me...+2ish) was that "I still talk to my mom every day." I don't EVERY day but definitely several times a week. I knew I would always stay close to my mama.

When I was in elementary school I came home and told my mom that I hated Bobby (or Billy or someone). She listened but then firmly told me that we don't "hate" anyone and not to use that word. Even now I cringe when I hear others use that word.
In high school my mom tried very hard to be home when I got home. I'd eat what I call "second lunch" and she would ask me how my day went. If you know me at all, you know how much I can talk. About nothing. For a very long. But she listened nonetheless. She told me recently she thinks right after school is a parent's golden hour to find out what's happening with your teenager. She's probably right.
My friend repeated a mildly racist joke that her mom made. I repeated it later to my mom. She was quiet for a few minutes then asked, "What exactly do you think she meant?" I immediately felt guilty and told her I wasn't sure. She said that I probably shouldn't be repeating it then. She knew I knew what it meant, but that was her subtle way of saying she disapproved. I took the hint.
Some of my friends thought my mom was mean because she kept tight rules (like good grades, an early curfew). Yet she always seemed to remember what it was like to be that age. Somehow she was both strict and understanding of why I didn't like that she was strict. I'm grateful now for both.

Just What You Need

2011-05-05T12:09:00.001-07:00

Sometimes you get just what you need. Even in VERY unexpected places. I saw a commercial for the movie "Overboard" today. Have you seen it? I don't recommend it. It's really a rather stupid movie. One year we watched it on TV on Christmas day. Our family had been going through a rough spot, so it wasn't the best Christmas. I think "Overboard" came on after something a little more Christmasy we were watching, and we just kept it on. It was just what we needed. We laughed so hard. It was so stupid but we giggled and giggled the whole move through. I've seen the movie since, and can't figure out what we saw in it. All I know is that it was exactly what we needed.

Lately I've been pretty self-absorbed (more even than usual!). I watched this movie, and I definitely DO recommend it. Seems like the lady in the video got what she needed in an unexpected place herself.

Guess Sam Got It Wrong

2011-05-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

Bin Laden was not in Canada. Not that I'm complaining!

Uninvited Guests - to Our Wedding

2011-04-27T14:12:00.000-07:00

Most girls dream of a big wedding. I guess I was one of those girls. But when it came time to plan my own, my mom and I had a long talk. Because we were getting married over Christmas vacation, things would be pretty hectic for everyone. I decided the two most important things to me were 1.) that I married Ryan and 2.) that I celebrate it with those I loved most--not everybody I've ever had a conversation with. So we had a quiet little reception with only close friends and family. For me, it was perfect. And Ryan....well, he was disappointed we didn't get steak as a main dish with little steaks as a side dish, but I think he was content otherwise.

My mom came across our guest book and sent it with me a few months ago. I went through the guest list and was surprised at some of the guests. Like I said, it was a small reception. How could there be guests I didn't invite? These uninvited guests include: Diana Ross, Jean Luc Picard, Spock, Romyulaus, Worf, Jordi, and something that looks like DHA or something. Now, the handwriting is varied for all of these signatures, so I'm thinking it was a group effort. Would anyone like to confess? Or tell on a friend? Or should I assume these people were really all there, and I was so off in la-la land that I didn't notice?

See Scott, you're the only one off the hook! Maybe being left out isn't so bad . . . ?

Two Easter Bunnies?

2011-04-26T21:36:00.001-07:00

The Easter bunny never visited my mom at our house. If you know what I mean. So I assumed things would be the same at the Black residence. ~~I took matters into my own hands and bought myself some candy this year~~ I convinced the Easter bunny to leave a little pile of candy for me, next to the larger pile for Ryan. A nicle little pile of Reese's eggs. Mmmmm....

Imagine my surprise when I went to open the fridge and found a large cadbury egg in the door ice dispenser (what are those called anyway?). I ran and found Ryan who guessed there could be seven more eggs also hidden in the kitchen. He's a good guesser. That's exactly what I found. I was so excited to go on an Easter egg hunt! [I haven't had one of those since my freshman year of college when we had one with my special eggs and Earl (name NOT changed to protect the innocent) lost one, making the set useless. Luckily the cadbury hunt went much better!]

I was so touched that the Easter bunny remembered me. He must've made two trips to our house this year!

Growing up, my mom worked so hard to make each holiday a special one. I don't claim to have her thoughtfulness, but I definitely want to be like that. She was always a one-woman show when it came to that kind of thing and never really had any help.. I'm so grateful that I don't think I'll have to do it alone at our house.

That Time of Year

2011-04-17T21:05:00.000-07:00

Remember our little problem from last spring? One year ago to the day, in fact. Well. Our situation hasn't improved. Not only are the grackles at it again, but apparently so are all of the other bird breeds. At least twice I've almost splattered a pair of mourning doves because they were . . . er . . . chasing each other in the air. Really, birds? You can't stop what you're doing for long enough to notice you're flying in the middle of the road and a car is careening toward you? I'm beginning to see why they call it the "birds and the bees." At least the birds part. My only comfort is the hope that we'll soon have some of these.

Little Sicky

2011-03-31T22:36:00.001-07:00

Henri is one of my best buddies. He gave everyone quite a scare recently when he quit eating. First we thought he was in kidney failure. Then we thought might have pancreatic cancer. This week we got his test results back, and he has neither. Hooray! We've all been so worried (even Ryan) but my mom especially.

When I had my wisdom teeth out, I came home in tears. My teeth hurt something awful, but I also felt sick to my stomach. I do NOT like to vomit. My mom made me a sick bed on the couch and Henri came over to check on me. He put his nose close to mine and just stood next to me until I quit crying. He was a very good nurse.

More recently . . . my mom has a gas oven that managed to catch fire due to some rogue, dripping monkey bread. Henri was so upset! We were trying to put the fire out without ruining the bread (my mom was hosting brunch and the guests were due to arrive any minute!), and Henri kept herding us away. It was like he was guarding the fire, trying to keep us from it. Obviously that wasn't a true emergency. The fire was small and basically contained. But Henri didn't know that, and he acted very bravely!

Anyway, we know Henri is getting older and won't live forever. We're just glad to have him around for as long as we can keep him.

Speaking of Being Nosy

2011-03-30T21:01:00.001-07:00

Did I ever tell you about the guy from church that worries Ryan? If so I hope somebody will tell me. Well, Ryan often trims his beard on Sundays. I don't really pay much attention to it because, well, it's still a beard. We're talking millimeters of difference, people. One Sunday Ryan's special friend came up to say hi to me (Ryan was elsewhere at the moment). He said hello and then, "I noticed Ryan trimmed his beard." I said he had. We looked at each other awkwardly and he walked off. This was probably a year ago, and it still makes me giggle. Why did he notice that? And why did he feel the need to comment on it?

On a totally unrelated note, I finally found my bathroom remodel post. Apparently I posted it to March of 2010. Nice.

Our Nosy Neighbor Netta

2011-03-26T20:38:00.018-07:00

Her name isn't Netta. But since I don't have her permission, I feel the need to protect her privacy. Not that she ever shows us the same courtesy. I have a feeling I will have more stories to share about Netta. For now, here is the conversation today:

Me: Hi, Netta! Isn't this weather beautiful?
Netta: It's a little chilly. I saw you and your husband walking to the greenbelt.
Me: Oh?
Netta: Yes, I saw you were going to go play ball.

I should probably explain that Netta lives two doors down, so the only way she would see us going the opposite direction is if she had her face glued to the window watching the neighborhood. I guess I'll share another Netta moment from when we first moved here.

Netta: I noticed you don't have a hedge trimmer.
[What?! Who notices that you don't have a hedge trimmer?? Was she inspecting our freshly mowed lawn and noticed the ends weren't very tidy?]
Ryan: Well, no, we don't. This is our first house and we barely bought the lawn mower.
Netta: I still have the one my husband left me when he died.
Ryan: Okay?
Netta: I'll sell it to you for $40.

As well as being nosy, she is also quite the saleswoman.

My Teenage Skin

2011-03-23T11:15:00.000-07:00

My fellow blogger Nathan mentioned an encounter with adult acne. Well, technically, he mentioned one major zit, but I do love hyperbole. After all of the tinkering with my hormones, I got hit hard with adult acne of my own. My skin is always prone to stress break outs, but this was ridiculous. The good news is that it's under control. For now.

I made a remark to a friend (who may or may not be a few generations my senior) about how I still have "teenage skin." She sighed dramatically and responded with, "Oh, you are so lucky!" What? Lucky? I admit, I'm not quite in the wrinkle stage of skin, so maybe I just don't appreciate what I have. However, who would want teenage skin? I still buy Clean-and-Clear acne-fighting face wash and dab benzyl-peroxide on my blackheads at night. I can't even put lotion on my t-zone without a violent break-out. Don't we really want children skin? Skin with no wrinkles or pimples? Now that sounds pretty good to me.

Other People's Kids

2011-03-21T11:00:00.000-07:00

Because, well, because I think the fates are conspiring against me, I've been substituting the little ones at church. Like, the 3-5 range. It is both the cutest and most difficult age. Last week everyone was especially wound up (spring break rubbing off from the older kids, maybe?). I came home from church utterly exhausted, but had one sweet little moment.

We were trying to form a line in the hallway while waiting for the class to finish their business on the potty. The High Priests (=oldest men at church) happened to pass by. One especially precocious little guy got really excited. His eyes lit up and he quickly tugged on my arm. "Teacher!" he said. "I just saw a prophet!" Since we were just studying prophets, I am going to assume it means he was listening.

On a serious note, our stake patriarch is in our ward and was part of the group that passed us. He is the epitome of a kind, gentle, Christian man; he does have a kind of reverence about him. Even though I laughed, literally, out loud when the kid said it, maybe it wasn't a completely ridiculous comment. I think his sweet spirit did pick up on something special.

More Improvement Projects

2011-03-19T10:05:00.000-07:00

Okay, I need to say upfront that I'm posting this for googlers, not my usual readers. See, we had home improvement trouble (of the we're-cheap-and-love-Ikea -and-end-up-with-cheap-products-with-lousy-instructions kind) and google became my second best friend in trying to figure things out. I hope this can be a good reference from anyone out there googling the same problems. Regular readers, well, you'll probably want to skip this post.

Ryan wanted to revamp his "office" before starting grad school. We went to Ikea and bought a new desk and bookshelf and a few accessories. The bookshelf was so super simple. The Jonas desk posed a few problems. Oh, assembling it was no problem. Even though he picked out one with a snazzy pull out work table (he's very excited about that part).

The first problem was that it didn't have a grommet to pull the computer cords through. In case you're like me and don't know what a grommet is, it's the hole in most desks toward the back. You can feed your computer monitor cord, keyboard cord, etc. up from underneath where the outlets are. Anyway, we found a grommet drill attachment also at Ikea. The directions were very vague, but I found these links helpful:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKFP2Fu-vtE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th2QgSLSO-k

Thank you Expert Village and ehow.com. I should add, the desk is not solid wood. It has thick particle board framework and then honeycombing throughout the rest. Once I got through the outside layer of particle board, I had to pull out some of the honeycombing by hand. Oh, and definitely use painters tape on the top side; it helped tremendously in preventing the "wood" from splitting around the edges. Overall it was a great little drill attachment and the final product was what we hoped it would be.

The real problem came with the summera pull-out keyboard shelf. It did NOT do well with the particle board/honeycomb combination. I meticulously measured and remeasured where to drill the holes to attach the shelf. I inserted the wall anchors included in the set. After assembling the desk, I attached the keyboard. By the end of the night, the back anchors had failed. Apparently the honeycombing isn't ideal. After some panicky googling, we found we weren't alone.

We figured the front two anchors were in the particle board and thus safe. So the next morning I made a trip to Home Depot and picked up some molly bolts. I dismantled the halfway-hanging out anchors in back, and replaced them with the molly bolts. Within hours I found Ryan working on his desk top with the keyboard hanging in front where the front anchors failed. I could've thrown something.

I'll skip the embarrassing details, but I had one more failure when I found out I'd installed all of the molly bolts upside-down. Rendering them useless. Especially stupid since I know better and was just rushing to finish. Don't be like me. It cost me another trip to Home Depot and another set of molly bolts because one remained lodged inside the desk.

Finally, it has been up for almost 48 hours now without incident. Hooray! I hope some of the above links can help other people with their Ikea woes. I REALLY recommend anybody with a summera keyboard to go straight for the molly bolts. And put them on the right direction. :) It will save you loads of time and a few tears (if you're a hormonal woman who almost bashed open a jar of salsa on the counter in anger when you couldn't get the lid to open). Good luck!

Happy Green Day!

2011-03-17T21:36:00.000-07:00

Did you do anything special today? For some reason I got really into our St. Paddy's day meal. We had roast (sorry! no corned beef at my table! I heard it's not traditional anyway), glorified cabbage, colcannon, and grasshopper pie! In all of the excitement of the food, I forgot to wear green. Oops. Luckily nobody at the doctor's office or Home Depot was bold enough to pinch me. Even Ryan wore green!

Some Changes Around the House

2011-03-10T09:46:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to posting pictures of our newly (somewhat) remodeled bathroom, and now the post is gone. I don't know what happened to it, so I guess I'll just start over. I'm too tired to rewrite the whole post. Instead you just get the before and after shots:

We think it's much improved. It's easier to clean and of course it now has a bathtub. The toilet is much smaller, which is good if you've got short legs like me. And I do have short legs like me.

After taking down the Christmas decorations this year, the house look even emptier than usual. I've been adding little odds and ends to brighten it up. Anyway, I LOVE this sign my sister-in-law gave me:

It says "this kitchen is seasoned with love." It's perfect. I knew just where to put it.

I also decided to build some shelves near the kitchen. I needed more room for my books but also thought the space needed a little something. I'm still scared we may come home one day to a horrible mess of collapsed shelves, but they've been up for two months now without incident.

Ignoring the poor photography skills (like leaving the fan lights on), I think it adds a lot to that wall. I may put a plant or vase on the ground below, but I still like it better than before.

Something More Positive

2011-03-03T15:53:00.000-07:00

Hopefully none of you were overly worried about my little rant yesterday. Things did look brighter in the morning and my day has been infinitely better (probably because I'm not acting like a whiny crank). I did get another attorney bill about my dad's estate and just sent off a nasty email explaining why I refuse to throw more money into that pit. Now I'm feeling prickly again and thought I'd share something nice to help me adjust the attitude. We're discussing The Screwtape Letters at book club tonight and was really moved by a passage. In case you haven't read the book, it's written from the point of view of Screwtape, one of Satan's minions, so the Enemy is actually God.

"Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy's will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys."

I love the last part about feeling utterly alone and without God's light but still doing the right thing. That's the kind of faith I would like to have 100% of the time. I think I'm at about 3.6% now--long way to go.

Those Days

2011-03-02T21:52:00.001-07:00

You know those days? Where . . .

You find out your hard drive is dying and cannot be cured.
You're in charge of book club tomorrow, and your friend hasn't returned your book.
When you got your battery replaced your clock and radio were reset to factory defaults.
You're watching BYU's basketball team die an even more painful death than your hard drive.
There are rumors the football team is facing suspensions too.
You can't figure out why people can't keep their pants on.
The husband is working crazy hours and you can't imagine what it's going to be like once grad school starts.
You're starting to get that pre-I'm-going-out-town anxiety.
You realize that while a grand ol' pity party may seem like a great idea, it really isn't.

Honestly, everything I'm whining about is soooo trivial. It just won't matter in a week or two. This is going to sound awfully juvenile, but I have really been excited about basketball this year. Life is filled with so much garbage it's so nice to see that something's going right. Maybe somebody is trying to remind me that there are more important things to focus on than my hard drive, book club, and sports. As my mom always says, "Things will look brighter in the morning!" They usually do

New Labels and a Crazy Busdriver

2011-02-27T09:59:00.001-07:00

I haven't been very dedicated to using labels, but I decided to start a new one for Mega Meltdowns. These may be meltdowns I've experienced or witnessed. Since I'll have plenty of my own to relate, I think I'll start by sharing one I witnessed.

When I was in 5th grade, we had the BEST bus driver named Jack. He brought us fireballs on Fridays and rarely raised his voice to us. He was kind and elderly, and I think I cried the day he retired. This is NOT a story about Jack.

We had another bus driver when I was in 3rd grade. I think her name was Cory. She wasn't awful at first, but then she snapped. I think we were all in the middle of singing a lovely song called, "I Know a Song That Gets on Everybody's Nerves" when she lost it. Not exactly good behavior on our part, but I don't think it warranted the reaction we got.

She pulled the bus over to the side of the road, got off, then proceeded to bash her head against a tree. I'm not kidding. My brother and I still try to pick out which tree when we pass that spot. She also muttered a horrible string of obscenities while continuing to bang her head. Did I mention my poor little brother was only in kindergarten?

Cory got back on the bus and obviously we stared at her in stony, horrified silence. She screamed at us saying, "If you don't sit down and shut up, I will ram this bus up the curb and kill us all! Don't think I don't know how to do it!"

As if the tree scene wasn't terrible enough, she was now threatening to kill us. Please keep in mind that elementary school kids couldn't really understand that driving a bus up a curb going 30 mph at most wasn't going to kill anybody; we took her threat seriously. As you can imagine, we were quiet the entire drive home. We quietly filed off the bus at our stop. Waited until the bus was out of site. Then bolted home to cry to our mommy. I'm pretty sure that's the same thing every other kid did, meaning the school district got about 40+ complaints from irate (times infinity) mothers about the maniac bus driver.

As an adult I realize that poor Cory must've had some terrible demons she was fighting. I hope that she's won that battle by now. And I will say this. At the time we were all pretty scared, but I don't think it actually scarred me for life. Plus, it makes for a pretty crazy story. So, no hard feelings.

A Sweet Memory

2011-02-24T14:53:00.000-07:00

WARNING! This is mushy and churchy. Please read no further if you're opposed to either of these two things. Or both.

Today is my friend's birthday. I don't think she reads my blog otherwise I probably wouldn't post this. She will always, always be special to me. See, in high school I heard this talk where this was said:

We are asking you to reach out and share the gospel of Jesus Christ with one other young woman so that she can also enjoy the sweet blessings of heaven that we have spoken of tonight. - Margaret Nadauld

I heard those words and they went deep into my heart. I prayed and fasted to know who that one other young woman was to be. I loved all of my friends and wanted them all to feel the peace and happiness I'd found. But when I prayed about each of my friends, I felt nothing. Then I thought about a girl in my Spanish class. She was slightly more than an acquaintance at the time; I think she'd hung out with us outside of school once. Oh, but she was ready.

I told God that I was too scared to talk to her about church, but she started asking me questions. She asked if she could go with me to seminary (at 5:50 in the morning!!) and to church (for three hours!). Pretty impressive for a 17-year-old. Her life began to change before my eyes as she drank up every word of truth given to her. It was one of the greatest blessings to watch her grow and change. That girl was a rock. Still is. In fact, she is a lovely woman with a husband and adorable baby girl now. And I still love her like a sister. Always will. Happy birthday, Rach! Even though I know you aren't reading this, I'll be thinking of you all day today.

Romance in the Air

2011-02-18T15:16:00.000-07:00

Don't worry. This isn't a mushy post. Sometimes Ryan talks about all the other men he beat off to get me. It's sweet but entirely untrue. Ryan's not the jealous type anyway, but he definitely has no need to be. However, last weekend was quite lively in that department.

First, I was almost set up by a woman at the storehouse. She wanted me to go out with her 40-year-old-Starwars-loving son. Well, or the 38-year-old son if I preferred. Both still live at home. She was very disappointed the find that I was married but perked up when she found out I had no children. She had some very graphic advice on how to remedy the childless situation. Apparently after six years of marriage, Ryan and I are.....uh....doing it wrong. I've never been more horrified in my life.

Then, there's Hank. I was planning on going to lunch with friends and texted them to make sure we were still on. Here is the conversation:

Me: Are you still good for tomorrow?
Reply: Huh? Who is this?
Me (thinking my friend was being funny): Christie. :) Wait, isn't this Jen?
Reply: Only if ur really attractive would I let u call me Jen! Lol! I think u have the wrong number. Im Hank.

Considering Hank could be 62 or 12, I did not answer him. Although he could be a funny guy.

Men on Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

I just got home from the grocery store. I was making my weekly trip and didn't even think about it being Valentine's Day until I got there. It was VERY hard not to giggle at the poor, bewildered men trying to find something worthwhile on the emptied shelves at Smith's. I even saw somebody's husband from church. Should I rat his ill-preparedness out?

While I found the situation both endearing and amusing, I also felt very proud of Ryan. Even though he's been really sick all weekend, he surprised me last night with some gorgeous multi-colored roses when I got home from my little weekend getaway. He was rewarded with a big bag of M&M's. Now, if you'll excuse me I need to pull my ~~tuna~~ chicken noodle casserole out of the oven. Aren't we romantic?

Home

2011-02-13T22:29:00.000-07:00

My brother sent me this link a couple of months ago. Even though the hype is probably past, I'm one of those people that hangs on. For example, I was probably the last person in the United States still listening to the blue song* when everyone else wanted to punch out the radio. Anyway, in case you haven't seen this one or want to watch it for the 100th time . . .

*Forgive me for posting to Eiffel 65. It's worse than rick-rolling somebody.

Ten Reasons We Love Jimmer

2011-02-09T22:16:00.001-07:00

It's true. We're totally into Jimmer at our house. Here are the top ten reasons why:

1 - He takes the stupidest shots and makes them. Again and again.
2 - If you guard him too close (you know, to avoid the above problem) he'll burn you bad. Or break your ankles in a crossover.
3 - He works hard. He may have some heavy raw talent, but he's absolutely worked to get where he is.
4 - He's getting all kinds of good press for BYU. I LOVE hearing ESPN talking up the Jimmer.
5 - He's not afraid to pass the ball. Yeah, he shoots. A lot. But he can pass too.
6 - He's the kind of player my dad would've loved. When we're watching him sink a shot four feet behind the three-point line, I can just picture my dad both cheering and laughing too.
7 - He's pretty humble. I don't know how long that will last, but for now he takes much less credit than he deserves. Why did BYU have such a good game, Jimmer? He says they really stepped up the rebounding in the second half. Yes--the rebounding, not the 40+ points he scored.
8 - I don't know how to put it except that he really is just plain fun to watch.
9 - Even Nelly is into Jimmermania.
10 - It's kind of refreshing to hear about somebody besides Bronco for a change (not that we don't love him too).

Stick in the Mud

2011-02-07T17:26:00.000-07:00

So most of my recent blogging has been either boring or too serious or both. Today I was thinking of a funny story and thought I'd share.

My brother and I were playing at the beach during a trip to California. Not sure how old I was but probably too old for what we were doing. Instead of building castles like normal people, we dug a hole. A pretty good sized hole. Like a foot deep and two feet diameter. Then, heaven only knows why, we thought it would be funny to put a stick right in the middle.

You know how giggling brothers and sisters get. We thought it would be funny because somebody wouldn't see it and totally get stabbed by the stick. It was a stupid idea. Who wouldn't see the stick? It was right in the middle of this gaping hole in the middle of the level beach.

Well. Apparently somebody. This man totally tripped over it (better than being impaled, right?) and then (okay, I know nobody else will find this story funny at all, but I'm actually laughing while I'm typing this) he yells, "Who put that stick there?!" He was so angry. We laughed so hard. Of course we waited until he was out of ear shot. I think you had to be there, but we thought we were hilarious. It was one of the best things we did on the trip. Did I mention I think I was 13-14-ish? Not 6 or 7 like you're probably thinking.

Goals for 2011!!

2011-01-28T16:22:00.000-07:00

I know everyone has been dying to know what my goals were for 2011 and what my progress was for 2010. I apologize for the delay, even though I know nobody could possibly care. As far as last year's goals go . . . I'm not even going to recap them. Some pretty crappy things happened (like I couldn't visit my Grammie's farm since she had a heart attack), and I flat out didn't put the focus into goals that I should've. Instead I'll list some of my accomplishments! Some of these weren't even resolutions from last year. This way maybe I don't feel so sorry for myself.

I did, in fact settle my dad's affairs! Even though one or two lingering issues has crept into 2011, I was officially released as executor in September!! I am so grateful to have survived and to have made as much sense of it as I could have. Couldn't have done it without help--from both here and above.
Two years ago I started studying Preach My Gospel. This year I finished it.
I kept my journal surprisingly up to date.
I changed both water filters in the kitchen (sink and fridge). I guess I overachieved in some areas while I failed in others.
We replaced the screen door in front and had the bathroom remodeled (pictures coming soon).
I quit my job!
I wrote to my sweet grandma every single month.

This year I decided to categorize my goals because . . . because . . . probably because I have mild OCD.

· Take care of the house

o Clean the baseboards (once)

o Clean out all of the closets

o Clean out the garage and make room for water drum

o Transfer all music to Ipod (I listen while I clean)

o Clean out the pantry

o Completely clean the inside and outside of the fridge

o Clean up the estate files, keeping only what is necessary

o Put up new shelves

· Increase my skills and talents

o Increase investment knowledge

§ Subscribe to podcasts and feeds relating to the economy and financial news/strategies

§ Read books on economics and investment, especially those recommended by Jag (Jag is our investment guy at Schwab. He's from Germany and has a cool name and accent. Luckily, he is extremely knowledgeable and personable, which I supposed is more important than his name)

§ Have reasonable knowledge of current investments

o Attend book club monthly and continue to read a breadth and depth of books

o Bake at least one something (bread, dessert, etc.) per week

· Improve physical fitness

o Exercise 2-3 times per week

o Have date night at least once per month

o Update 72-hour kits

o Fill and maintain water drum (and find a pallet!!)

o Replenish year’s supply

· Improve spiritual fitness

o Attend the Temple once per month

o Journal at least once per month

o Fast every month!

· Serve others

o Write Grandma once per month

o Make contact with visiting teaching sisters every month

I bolded ones I'm already working on to stroke my ego and remind me that I'm already accomplishing stuff. It is almost February, afterall. Only 11 months to get this stuff done!

It's Not Your Fault

2011-01-24T10:15:00.003-07:00

This is one of those posts I'm not sure will actually get posted. It's a serious post and maybe even a bit morbid. Feel free to skip, assuming I do post it.

I listen to a podcast called This American Life. Recently, it featured a story about a man whose friend was suicidal. In an effort to convince the friend that suicide was not the answer, he recorded conversations with the friend about his failed suicide attempt. Then the man sent the tapes to the friend. He figured that the friend would hear himself and realize that suicide was not the answer. Sadly, the friend committed suicide a year or two later.

It reminded me of a story from Chicken Soup for the Soul. I don't remember the exact details, but I'll try to quickly retell what I remember. Basically there was an awkward teenager who was teased mercilessly at school. While walking home one day with an arm full of books, the teen struggled and dropped some of them. Another more popular kid noticed and helped and was basically nice to the awkward kid. In the end it turns out the popular kid's kindness saved the awkward kid from committing suicide. The teen had cleared out his locker and was going home that very day to do the deed. The popular kid was a savior.

I hate that story. Not only is it not realistic, I think it's harmful. How many people have known someone who has committed suicide and then felt guilt-ridden, wondering what if they could've done something to stop it? The Chicken Soup story implies exactly that. It says YOU can stop someone from killing themselves, meaning YOU should've/could've stopped someone if they do kill themselves. But that's just not true.

People who commit suicide almost always have depression or mental illness of some kind. That's not something that can be changed by a mere act of kindness. While it may cheer up a sad friend to give them a call, a depressed friend isn't likely to feel any different after the call. I think being kind and thoughtful is always a good idea. Support and love can help people to get the professional care needed, but it won't directly fix the problem.

We've come a long way in understanding mental illness. We recognize it as true disease, to be treated with counseling and medications. Yet we still sometimes think of it as "the blues" or something people can just "snap out of." Hopefully we can remember that it's not as simple as that. While it is unimaginably tragic, it's not your fault if someone you know takes that step of finality.

The man featured in the This American Life podcast isn't to blame for his friend's death. I'm glad that he seems to realize that. Unfortunately, many people do blame themselves. They shouldn't. Let's say the popular kid from the Chicken Soup story hadn't helped the suicidal teen. Would he really be to blame? He may be a jerk, but it wouldn't be his fault.

Match-Maker, Match-Maker, It's Time to Move On!

2011-01-20T19:14:00.000-07:00

I SHOULD be catching up on the dishes that are rapidly piling in my sink. Instead I'm checking facebook and catching up on my blog-reading. It reminded me of a completely unrelated story.

There is a man at church in his late 30's. He's a very nice guy but had a hard time finding a wife. I shall call him Ernest. Because Ernest is such a kind, quiet man, some of the older women at church thought they should help him to find a girlfriend. So they frequently set him up with granddaughters, friends' nieces, etc. None of them worked out. Fortunately, a lovely girl named (I'll call her) Amanda entered the picture and they are now happily wed!

However, Ernest and Amanda do have one slight problem. The well-intentioned older ladies are having a hard time remembering the previously mentioned union. They keep trying to set Ernest up on dates! One will find him alone in the hallway at church and start talking up the most recent potential match, and he has to awkwardly explain that he is unable to date any longer due to his recent marriage. These women do know about Amanda, but they figure he's game until the knot is tied--which is the part of the story they keep forgetting.

Amanda is a very patient and understanding woman.

And Hannah Montana Is No More

2011-01-18T22:32:00.001-07:00

It's true. The final episode was this weekend. Did you know? If you have a little girl between the ages of four and ten, you probably do. Then again . . . I've noticed a pretty rapid decline of Hannah Montana paraphernalia the last six months or so. In fact, we didn't even have any Hanna Montana's trick-or-treat to our door. Clearly, it is time for her reign to end.

Even so, it seems like they blasted through the last season as quick as possible. Because it's late, and I don't want to make the effort to get up, I looked up some stats. According to Wikipedia, the last season had only 13 episodes! The first season had 26 (so double), and the other two seasons had about 30. You're hearing it here first, people. I would bet money (if I was a betting woman) that Disney knows of some Miley Cyrus scandal brewing, due to erupt at any moment. They got the season done as fast as they could in order to beat the leak! That, or market share was dropping faster than the speed of light.

[btw, I kinda like the replacement show Shake It Up! But don't tell anyone]

Enough Cleaning to Wake the Dead

2011-01-18T21:42:00.000-07:00

Our church building no longer has paid janitorial services. All cleaning must be completed by the ward members. We conveniently skipped out on our first rotation when we were out of town for Thanksgiving. It was our turn again last Saturday. We showed up late only to see a hearse. Obviously that was odd, but we didn't think too much about it.

We walked in and what did we see at the other end of the hallway. A big, light blue, OPEN casket. There we were to clean, with a dead body out on display. I really don't like bodies [let it be known: when I die, we will NOT be having an open casket! If someone opens it, I'll be coming back to close it myself ], but more than the creepy factor, it just seemed so . . . so . . . disrespectful!

All but the bathrooms were cleaned before we arrived, and I'm never been so grateful to clean a toilet. When we left Ryan said, "I'm so glad I didn't have to vacuum! Can you imagine trying to vacuum with a casket in there?" What if you bumped into it? Yikes!

Back to Business

2011-01-15T21:25:00.000-07:00

I've had a hard time transitioning from the holidays, thus the blogging absence. In fact, my decorations only came down two days ago. It is time to get moving into 2011!

So once the decorations came down I got that empty feeling inside, reflecting the empty spaces around the house. [ which is probably why I put off the clean up to begin with ] Anyway, I noticed an extremely bare wall between the family room and kitchen. It needs shelves, I thought. Besides, my collection of books is about three books away from overflowing my bookcase.

I went to Home Depot (pronounced DEH-po according to my dear Texan high school physics teacher) and made quite the fool of myself. After an hour I finally had the board I needed. A kind employee agreed to cut it in half for me.

This is totally random, but guess what they use for measuring? Yes, tape measures. But not just any tape measures. Unopened tape measures straight off the shelf! They still have the plastic clam shell packaging. I wasn't sure if I should be concerned that they were using merchandise or amused at their cleverness. You have to admit, it's efficient!

Looking on the Bright Side

2010-12-13T23:03:00.001-07:00

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

2010-12-12T22:41:00.002-07:00

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

2010-12-08T08:09:00.000-07:00

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

2010-12-06T23:01:00.000-07:00

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

2010-12-04T18:14:00.000-07:00

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

2010-12-02T18:01:00.001-07:00

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

2010-11-30T18:00:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-26T22:48:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-25T10:38:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-19T22:21:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-17T23:24:00.001-07:00

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

2010-10-12T23:20:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-11T23:16:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-09-29T08:24:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-28T16:24:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-26T09:17:00.001-07:00

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

2010-09-25T07:37:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-18T10:01:00.000-07:00

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

2010-09-05T06:55:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-28T07:54:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-16T22:01:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-12T22:47:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-05T07:41:00.000-07:00

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

2010-08-04T21:00:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-28T22:12:00.002-07:00

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

2010-07-27T22:11:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-07-20T22:19:00.000-07:00

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?

2010-07-16T21:53:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-14T19:30:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-11T21:32:00.000-07:00

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

2010-07-03T09:14:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-29T21:51:00.001-07:00

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

2010-06-20T19:59:00.001-07:00

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

2010-06-04T08:13:00.000-07:00

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

2010-06-01T21:47:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-30T21:53:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-21T07:59:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-17T22:30:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-12T23:44:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-09T15:47:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-05T22:17:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-03T21:01:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-02T22:10:00.000-07:00

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

2010-05-02T21:32:00.001-07:00

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

2010-04-28T21:15:00.002-07:00

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

2010-04-26T19:36:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-25T13:05:00.001-07:00

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

2010-04-17T08:49:00.001-07:00

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

2010-04-14T22:24:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-13T22:56:00.000-07:00

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

2010-04-09T08:03:00.002-07:00

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 . . .