California

Wow, I didn't realize how long it has been since I last posted! I'm not on the computer nearly as often as I was before because I don't have to be, no more Blackboard to check or emails from teachers. I thought I would stranger for me to not be in school, but because we're here in CA and it is still really hot outside, it still feels like summer vacation. I'll probably start to miss school more a little later. For now, it has been nice to just spend time with the family, hang out with Rick and so some relaxing.

The last two days Rick and I have spent out in Pasadena, Downey, Hacienda Heights, Montebello and El Monte doing some house hunting. When we came out a few months ago we went to way more cities and highlighted the areas with apartments, and the nicer neighborhoods so we don't end up anywhere scary like where we lived in Long Beach. This time around we went to actual apartment buildings and had some appointments with real estate agents to tour some houses. One house we went to was totally gross, with goo of some sort splashed on the walls and ceiling and dripped all over the carpet. It was also missing kitchen cabinets, had an old, empty pool in the back and was just generally very much a "fixer upper". We definitely don't want to have to do so much work to a house just to make it liveable, so we passed. A condo for sale was much better, a little old fashioned but with a relatively new kitchen, two bedrooms, two bath and a fireplace, which Rick loves. We drove around to many houses with for sale signs in the front too. In Downey there were tons of for sale/forclosed houses, so we're definitely going to keep our eyes out in that area. We found one house that I really like, it had a nice look to it on the outside and was in a nice neighborhood, but when we called the realitor, they didn't have the info on it anymore because it had just been foreclosed. I told Rick we'll have to check on it again pretty soon to get the foreclosed price, I think I would really like it there. Pasadena turned out to be too expensive to buy in, but if we rent an apartment we most likely will do it there because most of the apartments are within walking distance to metro stations and it is a comparitively short drive to LA than from other cities. All in all, no decisions made, but we made tons of progress and are definitely a little more savvy than we were before.

There have been other exciting California adventures too. First off, we've eaten at El Burrito, which Rick just loves, so that is a good thing. Rick is also on book 9 of the Wheel of time series, and he checked out numbers 10 nand 11 already from the library, so thanks Caleb for suggesting them. We got to clean the Temple, which was pretty awesome. It was a little hard to do some of our assignments because it involved bending over, but it was still fun. We've also both been enjoying helping Kellie with her Spanish homework and getting to hang out with the girls. We've only been to the beach once so far, it was really fun and the water was so clear! I did get a pretty sweet sunburn too, which has turned into a pretty sweet tan, I'll have to put up a picture, it is very artistic around my ankles. That has been a fun adventure too - since being here I've had my first (and second and third...) experience with my ankles and feet swelling. It isn't as bad as I thought, it is just uncomfortable.

A big adventure we've had was this past weekend. We were helping do a fundraiser for Kellie to earn money for marching band. We each got $60 to help do work at the Auto Club Speedway in Fontana during their big NASCAR races over the Labor day weekend. Most of the volunteers (including Mom, Dad and Rick) worked inside the stadium doing different jobs. Our family had positions as ushers. Pretty much they had to stand and look official, break up any fights they saw, take away any aluminum cans or glass bottles and remind people to smoke in designated smoking area. From what they've told me they really didn't run into any problems and most people were very understanding. The worst parts were the heat, the noise (race cars are LOUD) and the long day of standing there from about noon to 9:3opm.

Kellie and I had a different job. They were nice enough to find me a position driving a shuttle van so I didn't have to stand all day long. Kellie was my assistant/shotgun and her job was to open and close the doors of our 15 passenger van. I thought I was going to be miserable all day because I've never driven a van that big, I hate driving, and I thought the people would be hard to handle. Our route was from the furthest away RV lot, so they are the fans that camped for the whole weekend and are hardcore fans. I had a pretty good time though. It was airconditioned in the van and I learned to handle the car pretty well. Many people we met were very nice and helped teach us about NASCAR since I know absolutely nothing about racing at all. Some people were rude or annoying, but luckily it was only about a 7 minute car ride, so it was bearable. Kellie had some fun experiences though. Many people thought she was older than I am and they voiced some concerns about my legality to drive. She also got bribed by a guy for us to take him to a different drop off spot. She also got her first experience being around drunk people, which many of our passengers were after the race. Only a few were loud, obnoxious drunks, most were pretty tame. The funniest parts of the day for Kellie was that she got hit on a lot by adult guys. One guy offered her his shirt, one guy drew a heart in the air and mouthed "you're sexy" to her, and other guys were just telling her how cute she was. Pretty good for a 15 year old. I only thought I would have to tell one guy to back off her, because he was a little creepy, but the other guys were just flirting and I thought it was awesome. We drove our shuttle from about 12:30 to 10:30 pm, so it was a long day but not too bad.

Wow, this has been a long post, but a couple last things. I've been able to feel the baby move for probably about a month, but he usually just kicks once or twice and stops, so it has been hard to get someone to put their hand on my tummy fast enough to feel him. Just in the last few days has he been moving around more, and kicking a little harder. Tuesday Rick felt him kick for the first time and he was pretty stoked. In his words it was "really, really, really cool" and now he can't get enough of it. The baby still doesn't move an awful lot though, but that will probably change as he keeps getting bigger. In other baby news, Rick and I finally started playing the name game and have been coming up with some pretty funny ones, but also some actual possibilities. We've made some first and middle name combos, nothing is set in stone or anything, but here are some of the first round results: Jeffery Richard, Corey Logan, William Jett, Alexander James, Jason Howard, Jeffery Tyler and Joshua Stephen. We came up with a list of names and then just kinda stuck some together, so these are a very rough draft, but Rick has fallen in love with Jett as a middle name and thinks it would be a sweet nickname to call him, but we'll see what happens.

A little bit of everything

A lot has been going on lately, I may or may not be able to remember everything I want to post about. Just some random things first. I went to visit a couple of my old roommates on Sunday, it was fun. There were a lot of their other friends there too, so it was fun to hang out. It was also fun to catch up with Steph, who got married not too long ago. The random part that comes from that trip though is that she mentioned on of her hubby's favorite new foods: pizza sandwiches. I had never heard of them before, but Rick and I tried them and they were actually really good. It is pretty much just like a grilled cheese sandwich, but add some sauce and desired toppings and use mozzarella instead of cheddar cheese. Also, today we hung out with Steve and had delicious Indian food. I'm glad I didn't get mine too spicy, Steve's dish made my nose run it was so hot! I also went with Holly today to get my birthday present: a pedicure. It was pretty magical, there was massage chairs, they massaged my feet and calves and I got a cute pink nailpolish. Only one of the things they did made me giggle, usually my feet aren't ticklish but I guess sometimes they are. Then we went and got some Coldstone ice cream and it was too yummy. I got chocolate cake batter ice cream with strawberries, carmel and chocolate chips, yum yum!

One of the biggest things that has been going on in my life recently has been.......the Olympics! I love them soooooo much. I have them on pretty much as often as I can, and I'll watch any sport. The opening ceremonies were absolutely amazing! I can't wait to watch them again with Rick, it was just a beautiful display put on by the Chinese. And since then I've been keeping up with as many sports as I can get my hands on. I've been missing a lot of the morning sports though, I am usually still sleeping. The Olympics are pretty much the only time I watch sports, but it is just so amazing what people can do, and the way the world can come together to do this is just so great. It is pretty much the only time the international news has happy, positive things in it.

I guess the other big thing going on is moving. We got an extra week which made it so we can take it slow and steady for packing. Our living room is pretty much full of boxes and we have another stack in the bedroom. I've been cleaning slowly too, but there is still a good amount to do. Rick has been great and has been doing a lot. He has some more packing experience than I do, but it is still nice of him to take so much on himself. The walls are looking pretty bare, which is really wierd. The reality of moving hasn't hit me yet though, so hopefully when our truck arrive's tomorrow and the big furniture moves out the move will hit me as real. Right now it just feels like we'll be visiting CA, not living there. I'm excited to spend time with my family. I'm also excited to look for apartments some more, I think that will make it even more real.

Another exciting thing, I've been able to feel the baby move, it is pretty awesome.

Two Odd Days

This whole week has been a little weird for me. Now that I don't have homework to do, I really don't know what to do with my time. I do some cleaning and I've been reading lots of library books, but besides that I just don't know how to spend the day. The last couple days have been especially strange. Wednesday I woke up and just lazed about for a little bit. Rick and I got some business done when he got home from work. We reserved a storage unit for the time we'll be staying with my parents, I made reservations for Julie's birthday lunch, Rick made an appointment to get the car all checked out, and we reserved a truck for the big move. I was bummed when we tried to rent the truck, cause they didn't have any available for the weekend we wanted to move. So now we are moving almost a week later. It really made me sad cause that means Julie's trip to CA is going to basically be cut in half, I won't get to hang out with my sisters at all before they start school, and I was just ready to be done with this whole waiting game. I got really sleepy and took a nap at about 5, and I told Rick to not let me sleep too long. After an almost three hour nap I woke up. We had a delicious dinner of breakfast burritos and Rick went to bed not too much later. Unfortunately, I haven't been sleeping well at night anyways, and the late nap took a heavy toll. I didn't get to bed unitl about 8:30 Thursday morning. I slept till about 3 in the afternoon and didn't have a super productive day.

Tomorrow is going to be action packed. It is Julie's 2oth birthday and we're going out to lunch to a Brazilian restaurant called Tucanos. I have heard great things about it and I'm excited to try it. Later I must sacrifice my blood to the vampires at the Health Center to make sure the baby is doing alright. Then (if I'm not feeling completely sick from whole needle-in-my-body thing) Rick and I are having dinner with Steve.

Happy Birthday to me!

Turning 22 on the 22nd was pretty awesome, and I had a great day. It all starts the night of the 21st. Rick took me out to dinner at the Italian restaurant Carrabba's. We got some zucchini fries to share and I got a delicious chicken alfredo and Rick got some grilled chicken. For dessert, which we could barely squeeze in after our yummy food, was a double chocolate brownie topped with chocolate mouse. Tuesday morning I woke up and did some accounting. Rick came home from work early and made me waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. He stayed home with me for the rest of the day and we hung out and did some chores around the house. I opened my presents in the afternoon. I got 4 new CDs, a Willowtree statue of a pregnant woman which is beautiful, a computer reformat, a cute Alice in Wonderland purse filled with a baby name book and tons of cute and colorful socks and a date for a manicure/pedicure.

Then Rick and I made a fun picnic lunch and headed up into Provo Canyon so we could hike up around Bridal Veil Falls and eat our picnic dinner. We saw a really cute raccoon during dinner. Then we hiked around for awhile in the cooler beautiful weather and just relaxed. After that we headed home to bake my birthday cake and my sisters and caleb came over to play games. We played Whoonu which was pretty funny, especially when we played the "What you would want most on a desert island" version. Holy and Caleb left then and Julie stayed and we played Disney Sorry. I suffered a crushing defeat. I had three people in home and Julie had all her players in start. She came from behind and took it all. It was a great and relaxing day. One of the best things about it was that I was able to get to sleep before 1 AM.

Today was also a good day. I woke up early in the morning (for me) and got to spend some time with Rick before he went to work. I picked the hymns for Sunday and answered some emails before getting started on my accounting. I did accounting pretty much all day with some breaks. I read some Animal Farm, played online and talked to Holly and found out that she's having a baby boy and I get a new nephew! For dinner Rick and I made french toast and we used up some fruit that was just about to go bad and made some smoothies. Mine was sooooo good, I used strawberries, pineapple and passion fruit juice , it was cold and fresh, perfect for a summer night. Rick's didn't turn out as well, so I think we will definitely have to try again. I only have two more days of accounting left before I am DONE WITH SCHOOL.

Doctor's appointment

Well, I wasn't able to get to sleep until a little after 6:30 today, so I only got a couple of hours of sleep before my appointment, so I think I'm going to take a nap today, just earlier than yesterday's nap. My doctors appointment wasn't too action packed today. Turns out I've only gained 2 pounds which the doctor says is great. He listened to the baby's heartbeat again. This time it was way easier to find, he barely had to move the little doppler thing around before we heard that heart pumping away. It was a little slower this time too, and it sounded different because the baby is bigger. He measured my belly and laughed when he saw that I was wearing my shorts unbuttoned. Then he gave me a paper so I can go get the triple blood test done for the down syndrome etc. Another highlight of the appointment was a very friendly toddler who was in the waiting room with us. As soon as we walked in he walked right up to us, he loved my Alice in Wonderland purse. Then he brought us a book and came up to us again to say hi, all to the embarrassment of his parents, but he was super cute.

The rest of my day holds a nap, accounting, laundry and going to get ice cream with my friend before he leaves for the rest of the summer. And maybe hanging out with my sisters to watch So You Think You Can Dance. Tomorrow I'm really looking forward to going up to Ogden to my friend Megan's Open House. I was sad that I missed her wedding, but I'm glad I get to see her and her cute hubby all dressed up.

Rick and I made a list of things we want to do in Utah before we move, and this Saturday we are accomplishing our first item off the list. We are going to Thanksgiving Point to visit the Dino Museum and the gardens they have there. Other fun Utah activities include playing with friends who live here, sessions in the SLC Temple, possibly going to Arches, a picnic at Bridal Veil Falls and hiking the Y.

Late Night Nap

After dinner today I felt sooooo sleepy I couldn't keep my eyes open, so at 7:30 I fell asleep on the couch. We were supposed to go have ice cream with a friend at 8:30, but Rick rescheduled hoping I would just sleep through the night. Well, at 10:30 I woke up hungry, hot and thirsty, so no sleeping through the night for me. And now I'm afraid it will be another late night since I got a nice long and late nap in. I'm gonna do some accounting hoping that it will make me so bored I get sleepy.

Today was a good day all around though. I went over to Holly's house to hang out with her, Julie and baby James who Holly baby sits a couple times a week. He was so cute and chubby and he (eventually) fell asleep on me, it was fun. Then I came home and just hung out with Rick for a little bit, ate dinner, and the rest is history. The last couple days have been weird since I am not working anymore or actually going to classes. I've been doing that for a long time and the change is going to take awhile. It was nice not to think about how many missionaries went into the MTC today though.

The fourth of July was a blast. We got together at my Grandma Chatfield's house with Holly, Caleb, Shyla, Russell and Julie and had a fun lunch. Then we played a couple games that Russell brought, which were pretty fun. Then Holly, Julie and I played some killer Uno while everyone else played this Robo Rally game which looked confusing. Afterwards we went swimming in Grandma's pool. We swam around, played with the frisbee and cooled off. Afterwards we played more games and had a barbecue, which was delicious. We all went home for a bit after that then got together again to watch the fireworks, which was really fun. I love to watch fireworks a ton. I wanted to use my chemistry degree to make fireworks, I always thought it would be so cool.

Well, tomorrow is my 4 month doctors appointment. Rick has been really great and come to all my appointments, and wants to come to as many as he can even when he starts his new job. Obviously he'll miss a few because we'll be in different states, but thats fine. I was filling out my pregnancy journal (the Belly Book) that my mom gave me and it will be fun to do for each pregnancy, see how each one is unique. I just can't wait to find out weather or not it is a boy or a girl, then we can really do some planning. It will also be nice when we find a place to live in CA, that will help the whole planning thing too. But, at least Rick has a job and I'm excited to stay with my family for awhile. It will be weird getting used to living with my teenage little sisters, cause sometimes I still think of them as little. But living close by will give my fun opportunities like seeing their performances, hanging out with them and having my baby have two aunts nearby.

Tagged...

Here is the survey thing Caleb wanted me to do.

1. Last kiss? Richard Stephen Allison the 26^th.

2. How do you flush the toilet in public? Hands, I am completely not afraid of germs. That’s what soap is for.
3. Do you wear your seatbelt in the car? Always when I’m the driver, but only if I remember to if I’m the passenger
4. Do you have a crush on someone? Besides Rick, probably Dr. McDreamy

5. Name one thing you start to get tense about if you are close to running out of it: food

6. What famous person do you (or other people) think you resemble? In high school a guy I knew said I looked like Cindy Lou Who, not a celeb, but a character at least.

7. Favorite pizza topping? Pineapple

8. Finish this sentence: If my life was a sitcom my theme song would be... an original composition written for the show and performed by Maroon 5
9. Do you pop your knuckles? Yup, ever since elementary school

10. What song do you dislike the most when it gets stuck in your head? Anything right as I’m laying down to sleep.
11. Did just mentioning that song make it get stuck in your head? Nope.

12. What are your super powers?
13. Peppermint or Spearmint? Peppermint, hello people, just think candy cane.

14. Where are your keys? On the microwave

15. Who's answers to this questionnaire do you want to hear? Whoever would want to do this
16. What's your most annoying habit? I talk too much.

17. Where did you last go on vacation? Maybe California for apartment hunting. If that doesn’t count, than Payson AZ during Christmas break.

18. If you could punch one person in the nose and get away with it, who would it be? Moises Acevedo, a coworker.
19. What is your best physical feature? Lots of people compliment me on my eyelashes.
20. What CD is closest to you right now? Probably all of Ricks computer games.
21. What 3 things can always be found in your refrigerator? Milk, water, jelly.
22. What superstition do you believe/practice? I like to pick up lucky pennys.
23. Does size matter? Nope, cause great things come in small packages.

24. Paper or Plastic? Plastic, usually

25. Do you talk on your cell phone when you drive? Not often, it is dangerous.
26. What are your favorite sayings? I don’t really have sayings.

27. What song do you sing most often in the shower? Songs from the Scarlet Pimpernel.
28. If you could go back or forward in time would you, and where would you go? I would go back, and date Steven Nguyen in high school, just to get the experience.
29. What is your favorite Harrison Ford movie? Anything with the title Indiana Jones.

30. What CD is in your stereo? My Maroon 5 CD

31. What OCD qualities do you have? I like the cabinet doors to be closed, but I’m not really that OCD about it.

32. How many kids do you plan on having? 5 or 6, but however many we’re supposed to have we’ll be happy with.
33. If you could kiss someone famous who would it be? I don’t want to kiss anyone famous

34. Would you really want to kiss someone you didn't know? No, it would be weird.

35. Would you rather die in a blaze of glory or peacefully in your sleep? Sleep all the way.

36. What is your favorite movie? I don’t really do the favorite thing, but Pride and Prejudice is always good.

37. What candy from when you were a kid do you miss the most? I can’t think of any that they don’t still have around.
38. Favorite musicians/band you've seen in concert? Never been to a concert.

39. Have you ever been in love? Of Course!

40. Is there anyone who you wish would just fall off the face of the earth? Not specifically, just people who make me angry, like dictators who keep money away from their poor countrymen or really violent people.

Mission President's Week

Today is the last day of the one week training that new Mission President's get at the MTC and I'm so glad. Work has been crazy and exhausting. In the four days I've worked mission presidents week I've worked 35 hours. My arms are sore from all the lifting I've had to do. Today is going to be just as busy, but at least it is the last day. Today we have two big set ups. We are setting up 7 rooms as dining rooms and only have an hour to do it. Then we have to change to whole building back to the way it usually is, which will definitely be a lot of hard work. But, thus far I've seen/met: Elder Oaks, Elder Perry, Elder Holland, Elder Hales and Elder Scott, and all the apostles will be in the building tonight for the special closing dinner the mission presidents get.

In other news it was really great to take my final last week, I'm so glad it is over. It was also really fun to get to see Rick's parents, it is always fun to have them in town. I was sad we couldn't really spend more time with them, but finals were the same time and I had a lot of studying to do. What has also been pretty nice is that I've been feeling better for the last few days. During the day I've pretty much felt fine but nights are still just a little rough.

So, Holly tagged me for this thing, here goes nothing.

Four places I go over and over:

• The Tanner Building-where my last class of college is!
  
• The MTC
  
• Grandma Chatfield's - for Sunday dinner
  
• Smith's Grocery Store- Rick and I manage to eat a lot!
  

Four people who e-mail me regularly:

• Tara Hall - we communicate about the hymns I pick for Sacrament each week
  
• Facebook - updates etc
  
• Cindy Allison - I get to see pictures and hear updates about their adventures
  
• America's test Kitchen - cooking tips and yummy recipes!
  

Four of my favorite places to eat:

• At home with my hubby
  
• Olive Garden - I love pasta!
  
• Carls Jr - one of my favorite fast food places
  
• Grandma's House - the food is always great and the company's not half bad either
  

Four places I would rather be right now:

• In Bed, sleeping soundly
  
• At the beach
  
• At a delicious restaurant, I just got hungry again and toast, crackers or cooking for myself really don't sound good
  
• Hanging out with friends
  

Four people I talk to on a daily basis:

• Rick
• Myslef, I need a lot of encouragement these days to get things done!
  
• Mom, well, almost daily
  
• Holly and Julie - see Holly, you're not the only one who is gonna make her sisters share
  

Four TV shows I watch over and over:

• Law and Order
  
• Grey's Anatomy, except the latest season
  
• The Office
  
• Ugly Betty
  

Four people I’m tagging:

• Rick Allison
  
• Julie Chatfield
  
• Alexa Allison
  
• Jen Houston

Well in other news I just finished taking my last quiz for my finance class and I got 100%. Finals are this week and I can't wait to be done. I've been a bad student this semester, at least attendance wise because I often sleep through class, but I've been doing alright grade wise. It feels so nice to be so close to the end of school, but I'll miss it too. Geography classes have been so fun and I love learning all the new things. I want to keep learning even after school, so I have plans to read up on my favorite countries and religions and just keep the mind going. I also am going to work on my baking, sewing and knitting skills, which I haven't gotten to do much of with school being so busy. We also are going to start hunting for specific apartments when school gets out, we want to find a place we love and will be happy in for at least a year or two, if not longer. It will be hard, but I'm looking forward to it.

Also, as we've already told most of you cause we are so excited, Rick and I got to hear the baby's heart beat this week. It was soooo awesome! It made it real that there is an actual little person growing in there, and that I'm not just sick all the time for nothing. I couldn't believe how fast it was, about 157 beats per minute. The doctor said that fast heartbeats usually mean a girl, but we'll see for reals when we do the ultrasound. And I just am at the end of my first trimester, so hopefully the sickness will die down so that I can get a good nights rest. Work is getting pretty hard on me though, so I might stop working a little earlier than previously planned. Rick wishes I would stop now, but extra money never hurt anyone.

Success!

Rick and I just got back from a pretty fun afternoon. We started off at Olive Garden for their soup, salad and breadsticks lunch special thing. Rick loves, loves, loves the breadsticks there, and he pretty much filled up on them. Then we headed off to the mall on the quest for new pj pants for Rick. He's had the same ones forever and they're looking pretty rough, so for a Father's Day present I took him, cause I knew I wouldn't pick the right ones if I shopped alone. We covered the mall end to end and finally in the last store found a pair he actually found acceptable. He pretty much just wanted the exact ones he has now, just new. The ones we got are a little different, no secret pocket and they're a little thinner, but he likes them. I also brought home a few things. Working at the MTC lately has been making me so hot! I do a few jobs and wish I could go find somewhere cool, but the whole building is warm, so no such luck. Part of the reason is we have to wear pants and closed toed shoes, and I am not the worlds biggest fan of shoes. So today I bought some closed toed shoes that are also mostly meshy on the sides, so hopefully my feet will be able to breath more which will hopefully help me be cooler overall. I also went and partook of the summer sale at Bath and Body works. I love bubble baths and I ran out a couple months ago. One is normally $9.50, but they were having a sale, 3 for $10, so I got three.

Pretty much now I'm really tired though, so the rest of my day will probably be me taking a nap, doing some homework, and spending an hour or so at work to set up for church tomorrow. Fun times.

Nocternal

I'm pretty sure I've become part vampire, because my sleep pattern is waaaay off. Laying down makes me feel sicker, and it makes it so I can't sleep. I've tried propping myself up, but I just can't sleep that way. So I stay up most of the night, and sleep all morning and into the afternoon. I feel like a bum, but I need the sleep, everything makes me so tired!

I'm really posting because it has been so long, and a lot has happened. I'm only a week away from finals for my Cooperate Finance class, which is very exciting, it hasn't been a fun class so far. But, it has taught me one lesson, I think I'm going to shy away from the entrepreneur thing, I cannot imagine handling the finances by myself. Then all I have to do is finish up my independent study class and I'll be officially done with college! I do still want to get my travel agent's license, even though people are spending less on travel because of the economic slump, I just think it would be fun. We'll see how ambitious I feel when the baby comes. Other exciting news, one of my very best friends got married this last weekend, and I'm so happy for her. Another very good friend is getting married in a couple of weeks, and I'm excited for her too! Even though it is busy, I'm excited to host all the new Mission presidents at the MTC next week. It is our busiest week of the year, but it is cool to be able to meet general authorities and such. Last time I worked Mission president's week I met elder Holland, Elder Scott and Elder Perry. I probably won't be able to work as much as I used to though, all the lifting and moving of furniture tuckers me out pretty well, and it makes me sore.

Friday celebrates the official end of my first trimester, which is really exciting. I want to start doing tummy pictures to see my progress. This week we've also been doing some more planning for our pending move because we have to turn in our 60 day notice, which is crazy! This has been our house pretty much since we've been married. It is a scary but exciting change that is coming upon us. I'm really looking forward to the change though, I love California and I can't wait to be able to see my family more and do things with my sister's like go to their performances and stuff. But I'll miss my other BYU sisters, it has been fun having them here to hang out with.

This post is getting long, but in other fun news I found an old blog I used to keep, it spans from half way through my senior year of high school through the first few months of my marriage. Some of the posts make me laugh out loud to see how crazy I was about Rick before we even went on our first date! It is a great find because I'm horrible at keeping a journal, so that blog is pretty much what I have to go on for that time period. I'll have to post some of the old entries, they are pretty classic.

A quick Summary of Events.

So here I am at work just waiting until I can start my next cleaning assignment. And my co-worker hasn't shown up yet, but I don't really mind. Fridays aren't busy until after 9pm, there's a lot to do around here at night, but the afternoons are pretty chill. So California was great, we've narrowed down our options to three cities: West Covina, Pasadena and Downey. We found all the nice looking areas of town and found where metro stations are, both great things. Hopefully after our classes are over we can have the time to look for apartments, but Rick has training starting on September 8th and will be gone for about 6 weeks, and it wouldn't really be super fun to be in an apartment all alone for that time, so we'll see what happens.

Graduation was really great. It was fun to have both sets of parents in town, and to see my grandparents and my aunts, uncle and cousins. Thursday was commencement and it was alright, except for the fact that it snowed. But it was fun to do the processional into the Marriott Center and Elder Bednar gave a great talk. Early the next morning I had my convocation, which was pretty good, except for the 7:00am arrival time. But we got to do another processional, and this time I got a better seat. The student speaker was pretty good, and the professor who spoke also did an excellent job, he even did an amazing cow impersonation! Then the reading of the names and walking. It was long, but it was really fun to walk across the stage, hear my name, and get to shake hands with all the college big wigs. My friend from work was there and she said I had a little swagger across the stage, which I didn't do on purpose, but I think its cool. After that was over we all split up and I went home to take a much needed nap and Rick went to take a final. After that we all met up again for Rick's convocation which was alright, but by that time I was kind of done sitting through speakers etc. Rick had declared, on the bright side, that he was planning on leaving right after his name was called, which I think most of us were excited about. And they had the undergrads line up alphabetically, so Rick was very first after all the masters students. We then had to part ways with Steve and Cindy as they started their drive back home.

Since we got home from California I've been to my first day of my spring term class, and I definitely shouldn't have saved this one for last. It is a finance class and it, thus far, has been booooring. I know I shouldn't really judge until a little later, but I should have saved something good for last, like cultural geography or my survey of world religions class. Oh well, I'll just stick it out until the end of June and then be done! And I was happily surprised by my grades for winter term: 2 As and 3 Bs. I had a hard time focusing, so I'm glad they all turned out so well. Okay, well it is time for me to get back to work.

Adventures in Southern California

So here I am sitting in a Motel 6 just hanging out. We graduated Thursday and Friday (more about that later) and then on Saturday we drove down to California with Mom and Dad. Rick slept the entire drive and most of the evening afterwards. He had stayed out all night with Matt, Bill, and Ben playing on the computer, so he needed to catch up. Sunday we left to look for apartments, we looked in Hacienda Heights, West Covina and Montebello. Today were going to look in Glendale, Pasadena, and Downey and possibly Artesia. Its pretty exhausting, but we've been having a good time too. Well, we got pretty lost in Montebello because we couldn't find a map of the city anywhere, we finally had to go to another city to get a Thomas Guide of Los Angeles county. I think rick is ready to go, so where going to head out.

Decisions, Decisions, part 2.

Well, Rick finally heard from PWC about his start date for work. Turns out it is VERY different than we were anticipating. We were thinking he would start mid to late July. Turns out it is actually September 8th or something like that. So that changes our plans considerably. Now, we could take classes in summer. Or we could just stay up here and work and play until the move. Or do we move in June as planned, take our time finding a good apartment and play in California till Rick starts working. Just a lot to think about.

Well, only two weeks left of classes, and then finals for a week. I have one short paper, one long research paper and 6 quizzes left before finals, so I'll be busy. But I'm excited about conference this weekend, to hear our new prophet speak and to hang out with friends and family.

And I'm glad the snow melted, thats a good thing too.

Decisions, Decisions.

There are so many weddings coming up, I just don't know what to do! I just found out from my friend Steph that she changed her wedding day. . . by over a month. I was planning on going before, because my July is pretty empty besides finding an apartment, and I was going to make a big trip out of it. Niagara Falls, possibly NYC and a wedding, a very fun trip. But now she's getting married in early June, during which time will be the weekend right before the last week of my last term in college. If I did go, it would be a quick trip, just a couple of days because it would be hard to miss school. And I would miss some time getting ahead on the packing up since we would be moving a week and a half later. Two weeks to the day after Steph's wedding is Megan's wedding. That is looking like more of a possibility now because finals actually end the 19th, and I'll probably take mine on the 18th, so plenty of time to pack the truck and make the drive. I just hate when things are complicated, especially when it has to do with deciding between school and a good friend.

Saturday is a special day

Today is going/has been action packed. I got up early and wasn't feeling too hot in my tummy, I think I ate dinner too late or something. But watching dance 180 was fun, and I saw a lot of people in my dance class, which was awesome. I kind of had totally forgotten about the Rex Lee run cause I just assumed Julie would get called back. But she didn't so we decided to run. We had to change really quick and then they weren't letting any cars near the starting point, so Rick dropped me off kind of far away (or so I thought). Turns out that I went the long way, but we started only 5 or 6 minutes late, thanks for waiting Julie. And Julie, we did take the wrong route, but it wasn't too different, so we're okay. With my tummy not feeling too hot, I think I did okay. We jogged and walked on and off, and It was really fun. I don't run as much as I should, and I'm way out of shape. But I had fun, it was cool to do at least once before I graduate. Then I came home and helped Rick with the dishes and have been studying for my Organizational Management test, not fun but necessary. Then later I'm going to take the test, and read some of both the books I'm reading, Road to Sata and Do (Not) Feed the Bears. One is for Geography the other for history. The first is about a man walking the complete length of Japan through back roads and villages, and I like it a lot so far. The other one is about the history of Yellowstone park, and about the interaction between bears and people, interesting topic but not well written. Tonight we are going back to Dancesport to watch the finals and the amateur dancers go at it, I'm so excited! we have great seats and the dancing is just so fun to watch.

Beautiful day

It is warm (mostly) and sunny and great outside today. I just want it to be like this all the time, that would be great. Well, today I've got lots of homework, history reading, research for my Great Wall of China presentation, an organizational behavior lesson and a chapter to read about Hinduism. My hand is looking a lot better today, too. It is still a little red and sensitive, but I don't need a bandaid anymore and it doesn't really hurt, which is really nice. It has been nice to be able to do stuff like open jars, twist door handles and just generally do anything with my left hand. Also, today in dance class we learned a fun new waltz step and are continuing to perfect our cha cha for the competition this weekend. We had a chase-off, and it was pretty funny, lots of flirting. Well, Hope everyone is having a great day!

Well, went back to the ER today to get the stitches out, and I'm so happy! I can do pretty much the normal stuff again, my hand just hurts a little bit. But once they took the stitches out, I looked at my hand and it looks gross! I guess a week of not washing it there and a big scab never really look cute, but still, gross.

Well, life here has been pretty good. Rick and I got our caps and gowns for graduation and ordered our announcements, which is really weird. I remember doing it for high school and how cool it was, but it is even more cool to be graduating at the same time as Rick (even if he is a less than willing participant). And I'm walking at the same time as two of my best college friends. And then I get to look forward to moving which is crazy, I can't believe we're leaving provo. I mean I'm happy, but It will be weird to have a place that will be home for a long time. And I'm excited because this summer I'm flying out to NY to go to the wedding of my friend Stephanie, and I can't wait! She is great, and her fiance seems really nice.

Well this week is going to be busy, two midterms, lots of research about the Great Wall of China, the quarterly enrichment activity and preparing for the 5k I'm running soon. I really am not super excited for my tests, but it'll be okay I think, I'm feeling ready.

Happy New Baby day for Tim and Alexa tomorrow, and happy no pink eye day to Jen!

a first

sorry, no caps today, it hurts to stretch my hand that far. last night i had my first trip to the emergency room. I was cutting a pan of magic bars, and the edges were a little hard, so the (really) sharp knife I was using slipped up the side of the pan when I put a little extra pressure on it. unfortunately, i had my left hand holding the pan, and i stabbed myself pretty good in the bend between my pointer finger and my thumb. it bled, i fainted and poor rick ran all the way home from campus to come save me. he also sent caleb to check in on me, thanks for coming caleb, it was nice to have some company. then off to the er, and i ended up getting four stitches, which means (as my mom pointed out) that i am the first person in our family to get stitches. i cant extend my thumb or pointer finger too far, which makes doing things pretty dang hard. but, i'm alive, and I get to miss class today, just as i'm taking time getting used to doing things one handed. rick has been taking really good care of me, he is really great. the worst part about all of this is that i made the magic bars to take to a big dance lab for my social dance class. i'm bummed i didn't get to go. but i did look extra fancy for the er.

Seriously? Seriously!

Sorry for all these short posts, but I'll post a longer one soon, I promise.

So, Rick and I went snowshoeing and skiing this weekend, and surprisingly, I had a blast! I think I am finally understanding this winter sports thing. Vivian Park is where we snow shoed and it was beautiful with all the snow and ice, really unique. Skiing was a blast, I've never liked going too fast, so I kept it slow, and it was really fun. However, funny thing, we had to fill out some papers to rent our equipment. Rick filled out most of mine but kept a few blanks that he didn't know the answer to, and guess what one of them was, my age! When I asked how old he thought I was, he said 22. 22! Then I asked him how old he was, and he said 24! How could he get both our ages wrong? Funny, and sad.

And I found out I have a thing for Vampire love stories. I read one in middle school called The Silver Kiss, and I thought it was so romantic and great. And the Twilight series is pretty good too, better than I thought it would be.

Okay, I'm going to write a book review now on Working at Play, oh the joys of being a Travel +Tourism major.

Rare occurance

Now, what I'm about to post may come as a shock to some of you, but stay strong.

The snow this morning was really pretty and I liked it a lot! It was like glitter falling from the sky. The snow has been extra sparkley the last couple of days and it has been really fun. If only snow were so pretty all of the time, I might actually like it!

That is all.

Awesome

Well, I just finished watching President Hinckley's funeral, and it was a very good tribute to the life of a great man and prophet. Fun stories were told, and he was described as adorable, awesome and as an optimist. I'm glad they broadcast it so many people could be involved. It was very touching and a good way to say goodbye.

The rest of my day includes homework, shopping and thats pretty much it.

February already?

It seems like January just flew by. All those papers and projects due in February seemed so far away, and now they're here! February will be a good month though. Rick and I are planning on going snow shoeing next Friday, and I'm really excited. We're also going skiing next week, it'll be my first time doing that, and Rick is going to try his hand at snow boarding. Valentines is coming up and that is always a fun holiday, especially since I have an awesome husband now! this will be our fourth Valentine's together, which is crazy to think about. February also is the big dance lab for social dance, and it will be fun to practice my skills with a bunch of other people. Sadly, February also holds the funeral of our beloved prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, but he did a lot of good work here on the earth and I'm sure the Lord will take care of him. And he is now reunited with his wife, which is happy news.

Well, this week has been pretty uneventful, just school and work. I did take my first midterm of the semester, which went pretty well. I think I nailed the essays and I only felt shaky on some of the multiple choice questions. I ran (and walked) 7 miles this week, which isn't half bad. Thank you Holly and Caleb for the use of your tredmill, it is a zillion times better than trying to run in the snow. Well, I'm gonna start reading about the history of resort vacations in America, which sounds pretty exciting to me.

Tagged!

Well, Julikins tagged me, so here we go.

A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B: Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 years ago: I was 11 years old, I was in 6th grade at Cope Middle School and was in the marching band playing my flute, my best friend was Alison Lenox, but I was also friends with Gabby, Elizabeth Houghton, and had made a new friend, Rave Nasser. Oh, and I was probably hating math and english because I had Mrs. Kovakavitch and she was the hardest teacher I had ever had up to date.

5 things on my to-do list today: 1) write a personal travel paper 2) clean the bathroom 3) do a couple of Organizational Behavior lessons 4) Find a world heritage site I want to do a presentation on 5) sleep in my brand new bed!

5 Snacks I enjoy: 1) chocolate chip cookies 2) jumbo red licorice 3) brownies 4) nachos 5) french fries (These are all unhealthy, but I took snacks to mean treats)

What I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire: My list is close to Julie's, I would pay off all the debt of both my families, I would take a few years to travel the world, I would set up a foundation in Africa to educate the people about AIDS and a foundation to help the people earn money and get food, I would buy a two story house with a wrap around porch and a big balcony, I would hire some company to make a cartoon movie and I would want to be one of the voices, and then I would put the rest in savings and investments

3 of my bad habits: 1) I sleep in 2) I peel/bite my nails 3) I just throw my clothes on the floor on my side of the bed

5 places I have lived: 1) Redlands, CA 2) Provo, UT 3) Long Beach, CA and thats about it

5 jobs that I have had: 1) Cleaning the Bishops' house 2) Jose's Mexican Food doing multiple things 3) TCBY 4) SAS custodial 5) Custodial at the MTC
5 Things people don't know about me: 1) I dance and sing while I do the dishes 2) I'm glad our touch lamp broke 3) broccoli is one of my favorite foods 4) I want to get my pilot's license 5) I watch movie and TV credits and look for cool names that I might want to give to my children

Alright, I tag Jen, Rick and Roxy

Thank heavens it was just a dream!

So I had a dream last night that was really bothersome to me. Well, a big group of us was at this crazy inside pyramid thing, and it was like a maze but you had to go up to the top of it. At the top, I dropped my glasses all the way down, and they went down a storm drain that was near the bottom of the pyramid. I was so sad, I guess I really loved those glasses. Julie and I reached in and tried to grab them, but instead we found a bunch of other odd glasses, like glasses that measure people's heights and rectangular sunglasses. Well, later that day we were in a doorway, I think waiting in line to go do something else, and Rick walks up to me and he gives me a new pair of glasses. I was so happy I kissed him, and lo and behold, that causes outrage amongst everyone else I'm with. Then, like in a movie, I see the background before this moment. It turns out Rick and I dated, but I had some doubts, so I just up and married someone else. It turns out that my marriage was miserable and horrible (by the way, I was married to Zack Ruben). I was so sad, because we had gotten married in the temple, so I knew I had ruined the rest of my life and eternity, because I would be stuck in this miserable marriage forever. Well, I guess for the past two years of our marriage I had been having an affair with Rick, which made me even more sad because he was so great and I knew I really loved him. But we could never be together because I knew that I could never get divorced. So, in kissing Rick, everyone found out about my affair and I was even more miserable.

So when I woke up this morning, I felt awful. I woke up with a feeling a dread because I had sabotaged my own future. Only after a shower did I remember I really was married to Rick. That made me so happy! So, I'm glad it was only a dream, because an eternity of misery was not really fun to look forward to.

Now I want to Travel with Charley

I just finished reading Travels with Charley in search of America by John Steinbeck and I'm itching to get out of here! How fun to drive on all the small side roads of America and meet the people and see the sights, to immerse yourself in it. If only there were time, and if Rick wanted to do it, which he says might be alright but doesn't really interest him. Provo seems so small now, I want to hit the open road. Maybe, when I finally get around to making one, this journey will be on my 100 things to do before I die list.

Well, a lot has gone on since my last post, so I'll just summarize. Finals were fine, I studied a lot and I did pretty well on all of them. I got two As, two A- and two B+. Not bad at all. Christmas break was a blast with Steve and Cindy. It was fun to just hang out and sleep in. And playing games was great because it is something that I like to do but don't get the chance to do much. Christmas day was nice, and I got a lot of great things from great people. We got back and school started all too soon. My classes for this semester will be pretty awesome though, and I get to read a lot of really good sounding books about things like American Cold War holidays and travels around Europe to where certain fairy tales take place. Plus I am taking a social dance class, and it has been awesome so far. Work is pretty much just the same. Well, I can't think of anything inspirational or witty, so I'll just sign off.

Great way to start the week

Well, two finals down 3 more to go. I took my religion test last week, which was okay, we'll see how I did. Today I took my map reading and analysis test kind of on a whim. I decided I was as ready as I'd ever be, so I went and took it. I got the test and I thought I was doing pretty well, until about half way through. Our TA came into the room and said that most of the people who had taken the final already had done really poorly. I got nervous at that point because I was wondering if I wasn't doing as well as I thought. Well I finished the test and I just looked at blackboard and saw my grade. I got about a 91% on the test which means a 93% overall for the class. Not bad at all, I'm really proud of myself. Hopefully the rest of my finals go as well.

Oh, and I just want to say that my integrity is worth more than $20. I went and returned a book and our iClickers to the Bookstore and the lady accidentally gave me one too many twenty dollar bills. I returned it when I noticed, because I'm just that honest. And extra blessings during finals week never hurt either.

I'm still thinking

Sorry Holly, I'm not going to write my 6 interesting things about myself until I can think of really good ones, so this post will not have those six interesting things.

Work went very smoothly last night even if I froze while taking down those dumb flags. Then I came home and had the most delicious veggie soup for dinner, it was really good. Then I felt like watching a movie, but not one we own, but I also didn't want to go rent one. So I watched some tv for a long time till I was bored to tears. I went to bed at 3am and woke up this morning at 11:30. I feel kinda like a bum. Today is going to be busy. I have 4 finals to study for, the house to clean, dishes, laundry, and we might go to Salt Lake tonight to see the Christmas lights on Temple Square. We did it last year and it was great. Oh, and we might go finish our Christmas shopping so we can get this show on the road and go to AZ. I'm really excited to go and to do fun things like hiking and just plain relaxing.

Ok, dream time again. But these are violent, so for those who are faint of heart, please don't read this.
My first dream took place at an outside cafe. I think it was my freshman ward reunion, even though none of the people there were really in my freshman class. We were all chatting and having a great time when all of a sudden, one of the guys pulls out a large gun and tells everyone to put their hands on their heads. We do so, and then we line up facing the wall like he tells us to. He then went through everyones pockets and took all our money and jewelery and the like. One of my brave friends got a call to 911 and told them our situation. The mean guy saw this and shot the girl making the phone call, he shot her like 3 times. Then we hear sirens, and we all start running around trying to get away. The police line up outside the cafe walls and they can't see the guy very well, but they decide to take the risk and just start shooting in hopes they hit him. They pull out their machine guns and start shooting everywhere. People were dying all around. It was very terrifying.

Next dream. We're all at home and getting ready for a huge party. The Birds are there helping us set up, cook, and do the other party things. From the moment I woke up I had been getting the party ready, so I hadn't showered or anything. Finally, we're all done setting up and it is time to go to the park where the party is happening. Everyone is ready except for me. I tell everyone to wait while I get ready. Mom (who looked beautiful) told me it was my own fault that I wasn't ready. Oh, and there was no more hot water for me to take a shower, so I should just come. Dad says they should just leave me, and if I really want to come that I can get myself there. I was so mad at daddy, he was being so mean. Then I turn to Rick for support, but he tells me he's taking our car and that I can just come when I'm ready, but that probably won't be for a long time and I'll miss the party anyway, so I just shouldn't come. That was the last straw. I start throwing upper cuts at Rick, yelling at him, kicking him in the face and the tummy, punching him wherever I can reach as hard as I can. Then I woke up. I apologized to Rick, cause I shouldn't beat him up, even in my dreams.

Blueberry Muffins

I thought it would be a nice surprise to make muffins for rick this morning since it is snowing, but he ruined it when he woke up earlier than I expected him to. The muffins, however, were still delicious. The snow is still cold though, and it looks like a blizzard outside right now, not fun.

Today is homework day which I hope I can stay concentrated enough to actually do. I've got 2 papers, one oral presentation, one portfolio and NO GPS ASSIGNMENT! It got canceled because the units had an error an couldn't make a route using the datum NAD 27, which is what we made the points in. Sad. I had even chosen a fun one entitled "Christmas Light around Provo". It was too good to last I guess, but at least it is one less assignment.

In closing, I will type out a dream I had the other night.
I was in a mall in a bookstore and was tossing books off the shelves in a sweeping motion. Then I saw some people who I knew were bad, so I tipped like 3 bookshelves on top of them. A mall police man saw me and started chasing me. I ran out of the store (which was on the 3rd floor of the mall) and ran down a flight of stairs. I saw that I hadn't lost him so I ran down to the first floor. I lost him but decided not for long, so I wanted to get a disguise so he wouldn't recognize me. I went into a beauty parlor and had my hair permed curly and dyed brown. I obviously had them change my race to because when I looked in the mirror I was Hispanic. I flirted with a cute boy for awhile but then was caught by the police man, who I don't know how he recognized me. I was really sad, but only because I thought the boy would like me less if he knew I was a criminal. The police man walked me out of the mall (it was night) and I don't know where he was taking me. Then a bunch more police men showed up, and I noticed they had batman logos on their shirts. They tassered the police man who had me and Robin came up to talk to me. He said they could get me out of this. The bat lawyer was going to write up stuff for me for my court appearance. Robin was my representative in court, but as he read the Bat lawyer's testimony, it made me look more guilty. Little did we know that the Bat lawyer was actually in league with the Joker. Then I woke up.

I love GPS

So I just got back from an Enrichment activity. It was pretty fun, but a lot of work. I was there for 3 hours earlier today and then I was there from 6pm to 9 for food serving, the activity, and take down. Rick was awesome though and helped babysit and then take down.

I did a GPS scavenger hunt thing yesterday and it was fun to put together. He wanted it to be fun when others do it so I gave it a theme. I did Freshman Memories and I went to some of my favorite places around campus. I hope other people think its fun. I get to do someone else's next week and I'm excited, GPS is a fun toy. Yesterday I also got my hair cut. I love it! I finally fixed those layers I never liked and it looks cute. Thank you Holly for inviting me to come with you.

This weekend I have a bunch of homework and I really need to dig deep down and find my motivation, because I'm just ready to be done.

Was there....

me making out with a guy from a TV show?
the dreaded beach elephant?
Caleb working in a shady office in which no one ever knew what he was doing?
a trip to Antarctica?
the swankiest hotel room ever?

Yes to all of the above.
No that wasn't real life I was talking about, it was a dream I had last night. Many of the details are not included, these were just some of the most memorable things.

I have to take a test tomorrow and I really don't want to. But, I also get to use the GPS again tomorrow, which is fun. We went out and did a little field work on Wednesday, and it was fun but freezing! It was 25 degrees when we left the SWKT, which wasn't exciting.

Thanksgiving was really awesome. It was nice to get some sleep, see the family, do some fun things and eat some great food. It was bad if only because now I'm totally out of school mode, which I haven't really been in for this semester. I'm so antsy and ready to be done.

Okie dokie, well here is whats on my mind right now, but I'm going to go write a paper about sex.

Thank you kind stranger

For the first time in my whole life I won something. It was only because a nice boy gave me his raffle ticket at the e-business competition. I got a 1gig jump drive, not an iphone, but still pretty good.

This last week was busy, but a lot less busy than I have been in the past. I could have gotten more done to get ahead, but I didn't and I will probably regret it later. This week I am so excited for! I love Thanksgiving and I love California, and I get both! It will be fun to hang out with the fam and to go apartment hunting. It will be our first real apartment and I'm really excited. I think I'll start feeling like an adult once Rick starts working full time and we have our own apartment, it will feel weird, but awesome.

Everyone out there should be thinking of what they want for Christmas. And I know I'm a hypocrite because I can't think of anything. I'm working on it though.

Today I feel lazy

I slept in really, really late because I went to bed at 3am. I have been reading for most of the day, and not the school books like I should be reading but I have been reading about Narnia. I feel like a bum, and I know I should be doing school work, but during the week I do so much, I feel like on the weekends that I don't want to do anything. But alas, I am looking at my list of things to do and it is long. Just thought I would post.

Candy Corn Cannibals

My shirt from Woot Shirt came today and I'm totally going to wear it to work. I'm really excited about it, because I think it is funny to have candy corn cannibals on a shirt. I should post a picture of it. But not now

It's coming...

Halloween, that is. I think I'm gonna go to school on Wednesday as Batgirl, but we'll see what happens. Mostly, we'll just see if I remember it's halloween when I wake up on Wednesday morning. I don't really have anything to post, I just decided that I should. I talked to the family on the phone today for about an hour and a half, my cell phone was really hot afterwards. Mom said they are moving the washing machine out of the kitchen, that will be nice, but will look odd when it happens.

I got another calling today, which means Shelley: 2, Rick:0. When the second counselor in the bishopric called and asked to come speak with us for a bit, I was sure it was to give Rick a calling, but I was fooled. I'm now the Ward Chorister and I'm on the Enrichment Committee. I feel kind of bad, because work prevents me from ever actually attending Enrichment, but at least I'll get to help plan it. I think it will be fun.

So the semester is officially half over, and I have mixed emotions about that. I'm happy, because the closer to the end of the semester, the closer I am to finishing school. On the other hand, I still have a few big projects and papers which I have to finish. I just am ready for a break. I think Thanksgiving will be fun. Julie is driving down to Redlands with us, and it will be fun to see the family. Then it is just a hop, skip and a jump until Christmas, and hanging out in AZ with the Allison's will be fun. We might take the long way and see the Grand Canyon while we're at it, but only time can tell.

The Trees are raining!

So yesterday it snowed, and my brain is not ready for that yet. There is white stuff all over the ground when the only thing on the ground should be crunchy, colorful leaves. Can't we finish one season before we start another? Well, because of all the snow, and then the warm day today, the snow is melting off the trees and dripping down, like rain.

Let me try to summarize whats been going on, but I'm sure I'll forget parts. Today church was pretty good, I was tired though, and when I woke up it was dark and cold, not good wake up conditions. Then I went visiting teaching, and my new girls are nice. One is from Korea and she's really cute. The other is an artist, but only as a hobby. She works full time as a civil engineer while her husband is finishing school. Yesterday was a kind of yucky day in the fact that it snowed and that I missed my freshman ward reunion. I was excited to go and see people I haven't gotten to see in awhile. However, because Rick and I can't seem to get to bed at a decent hour on the weekends, I slept in and missed it. And we we're late to the opera for a couple of reasons: A) I was having an emotional meltdown because I didn't get any homework done and B) Totally forgot there was a football game, so the traffic was horrible, it took us 25 minutes to get from our house to the Riviera to pick up Julie and friend. But the rest of the opera was really great, and my friend Sarah was a hoot. Everyone was so talented, it was awesome.

Other going on's in life... we're going to carve a pumpkin for FHE this week, and I'm ecstatic. I wish I had some other decorations, but a pumpkin will be awesome. I made chicken fingers this week and they were very tasty. Rick and I are going to attempt to make calzones this week, and I'm excited to make a BBQ chicken calzone. I can't stop thinking about graduation and how then I will be done and moving to CA and having kids. I really can't wait to be a mom, I see babies and I just want one of my very own. And I want to get them cute clothes, like this cute bear hat the baby in our Marriage and Family class wore on Wednesday. I thought I had died and gone to cute heaven, it was so cute.

Well, I should go do more productive things now.

It's going to be a busy week...

This week ahead of me is not going to be fun. I have 3 papers due, 2 midterms and all the normal business of a regular week. Plus I haven't gotten ahead like I wanted to this weekend. I'm so busy during the week that I just want to relax on the weekends. I know I shouldn't but I just hang out and then by sunday night realize that I've pretty much wasted what time I had and have to cram a zillion things into one night. Not really a great system actually. I just am having a hard time getting back into the swing of school. This was the first summer in many years where I wasn't either going to school, working or doing both. So I really got out of the habit. And I know this is my last year, which makes it even harder.

I am looking forward to Halloween though. I want to make ghosts in the graveyard, carve a pumpkin and give candy to the adorable trick or treat-ers.

Don't want to be a hypocrite

So, I wish everyone would post more often, but then I look at my blog and see that maybe I should be a little better at posting, too. Well this week is busy! My boss, Phil, is gone for the week, so I'm the boss lady, which means I have to go everyday and make sure things are getting done. That means I'm scheduled for almost 30 hours, on top of all my class and homework. But so far nothing horrible has happened, only had to clean up something gross once this week, so far at least. And we get to set up for conference, which makes it a little more busy. But we're having everyone over on Saturday, and I'm totally excited. Plus, conference is always great, and I'm really looking forward to it. But, I guess some teachers forgot it was conference which equals zero homework time, because I have about a zillion things due next week!

In other news, I entered a contest today to win 10,000 dollars for anything travel related. If I win I'm totally going to Italy, Hawaii, a train ride through Canada, and Probably go see Japan or China. I just really have always wanted to travel, but it is expensive! I've never won anything before, maybe this will be my chance.

Oh, and for those of you out there who want to see The Marriage of Figgaro with me, what would you think if I invited Grandma Chatfield to come see it with us? She loves opera, and I think it would be cool to hang out with her.

cause wakin' up is hard to do

Yesterday was an emotional roller coaster. I woke up in a good mood, ready to tackle a bunch of homework and get some things done that I needed to do. First I made some banana bread for Rick, because I know he loves it. Then I did some homework and got ready to leave the house and get a hair cut and go pants shopping. Well, the shopping didn't get done. I went to get my haircut, and basically it looks horrible. It isn't what I asked for at all, and I hate, hate, hate it. I was so sad that I just went home and took a bath to try and relax. Then I did my hair to see how it looked after I washed it and did it, and it didn't look any better. So Rick was nice and we went out for dinner and then came home to chill. I started doing some more homework, but I fell asleep. And the next thing I know Rick is helping me get into bed. I slept through the night, from 8pm on. And that is really early for me to go to bed, but I really think I needed it. School is really roughing me up, and my new work schedule is hard on my body. But church today was great. It is kind of nice being back in Relief Society, but I still miss primary a little. And I'm excited about going to Grandma's house today, I'm glad she's feeling better.

Its a beautiful mornin'

So, this week hasn't been all that exciting, just the normal school, work, homework etc. I did find out that my friend Dani is the TA for my Geog 347 class, which is pretty awesome. Oh, and I bombed an english quiz, that was exciting too... Work last night went better than the week before, no vomit to clean up. Today hopefully will be an awesome, productive day. I want to get my hair cut, buy some new pants, and do tons and tons of homework. I already feel kind of behind, and I would love to get rid of that feeling. And this week I have too much to turn in to be behind.

Yuck

So, this is going to be a quick post just to say one thing, getting rid of a wart is gross. I've been putting medicine on it since Sunday, and it is killing the skin all around my wart, and the wart is hard and black. Just thought I throw that out there.

Here we go again

Two days down, two days left to go (for this week anyways). Tuesday was a pretty good first day of school. I got permission to take History of Tourism in America instead of Economic Geography, which will make my schedule a lot less crazy and it sounds like more fun. And, it will be my first history class at BYU. And then I went to Adventure Tourism and Ecotourism, and it sounds like it will be a pretty cool, laid back class. Then I went to my business lecture series class, it was okay, but not life changing or anything. The best part of my day was seeing a bunch of cool people like Becky Johnson, Chris Gibson and Dani S. Work was okay too, there are a lot of new people working there and they seem pretty nice. And I found out I don't have a single shift with Moises! Hallelujah!

Wednesday was a little rough just because it was so long. I have four classes back to back, being Tourism, Marriage and Family, English 315 and Map Use and Interpretation. All my teachers seem nice, and marriage and family seems like a class where I'll learn a lot. Hopefully it isn't too bad for Julie though, he says he directs the class mostly to people who are already married. Thats okay, May is right around the corner. My geography classes seem like they're going to be fun, and my teachers are nice, and one of them reminds me a whole lot of Toby Maguire. Then I had work, for 8 hours and it was loooong. I was alone till 6:30 because the other two people didn't show up. And we trained two new people last night, and that just always takes a long time. But at least I don't have to go to work today!

Today will be a read a zillion chapters of homework day, grocery shopping day, and go to one class day. I just really need to get back into the swing of school, because homework sounds so awful right now.

Back in Provo

Well, here we are back in the land of BYU, it almost feels like we never left. I have mixed feelings about being back. I did love being able to have fun and play with my family during the summer, and I just plain love California! I did, however, miss the pretty mountains here in Provo, and I'm excited to be back at school because I'm a senior and this is my last year. It is pretty crazy to think Rick and I are almost done and are going off into Grown-Up land, the real world where a whole new set of adventures begins. But I'm glad I get to start that process as a married person, it is a lot less intimidating knowing Rick is going to be there with me.

Our trip to Vegas was a blast! It was awesome, except that it felt like it was a million degrees outside, even at 2am! We stayed in the Luxor (aka the pyramid one) and it was nice. The only downside was that we didn't get our preferred room choice of a room with one king sized bed. We had a room with two beds! Oh well. We pretty much just hung out, we didn't have a schedule or anything. But we did manage to go swimming, see the lion habitat at MGM, tour a chocolate factory, go to M&M World, see Ka ( a Circ de Soilei show), and watch the fountain show and the conservetory at the Bellagio. We also just walked around and checked out a ton of the hotels on the strip. We also ate a ton of good food, which I think was Ricks favorite part. It was mostly just a fun time where we could be together and not have to worry about work or school or anything.

Since we've been back we went mega grocery shopping since our apartment had no food, plus I finished reading Angels & Demons and Rick and I went on a date with Matt and Christina and saw Ocean's 13 at the Dollar theater. It was a very good movie and it made me laugh. I think Rick was happy to see Matt, they are so funny together and such good friends. We made plans to hang out again and include Ben and Liz, and I think thats a great plan. I really like Liz and Christina, and when the boys get together it's like insta-entertainment, so much fun to watch.

Meteor Shower

So my husband is in Florida today soaking in the sun and staying in a swanky Disneyworld resort hotel. I'm pretty jealous, but not too much I can do about it.

This morning I woke up at 1am so I could drive Rick to Pamona, to meet up with a friend of his from PwC so they could carpool to LAX to fly to Florida. It wasn't fun, because I had only gotten about 2 hours of sleep before that and I hate the early morning anyway. We woke Julie up at 2am so she could be my riding buddy for the trip home. I'm glad she came, cause by 3am I was sleepy and might not have made it. I told you all of that so that I could tell you this: the only good part of waking up at this God forsaken time was that Julie and I got home, went in the back yard and we watched the meteor shower. It was pretty awesome, I've never seen one before. Even from the city we saw quite a few.

After going back to sleep and sleeping till almost noon, I had a pretty bland day. Did some homework, picked up kellie from band practice and ran some errands. I got another 100% on my accounting quiz though, which already puts me worlds ahead of where I was when I took this class in the spring, so I'm pleased. The rest of my week holds more homework, some clothes shopping (cause I really need some new clothes!), having Holly come down (Yay!!!!), picking up Rick from the airport and going to a wedding. Not too shabby, actually.

Yesterday was a blast because there was so much family in town. Dad was made bishop, which is kinda weird and hasn't really sunk in yet. But it was fun to have the Birds in town, and it made me really look forward to having Brittany at BYU in a few weeks. And the Walkers came over, and they are so funny. Grandma Chatfield was there too, and she is such a nice lady and so funny when she is with Sister Peterman. We had a day full of family, excellent food and a nice 2 mile walk.

Yay!!!

So today was a totally great day! I had the chance to just sleep in and hang out. I didn't even put on a bra till around 2pm. I played pirate Life and a game carlie has. We watched Princess Diaries 2 and I made cookie dough. But the news we got today is what made it really great. Rick was offered a job! I'm so happy for him, that is so great. We're not sure this is what we want to do when he graduates, but just that they offered him one is awesome. Plus that means he gets to spend all of next week at Disneyworld!!! That is so great! Plus, both Rick and I got pell grant money!!! Yay!!!!!!

Today will (hopefully) be a great day

Well, first of all, I am so happy just to be around still. I got hit by a semi-truck yesterday, and I walked away without a bump or scratch. My throat is a little sore from screaming, but thats it.

For those of you who don't know, this is how it went down. I was on the onramp to the 10W freeway. I was stopped at a red light waiting to cross alabama street and go on the freeway. I looked in my rear view mirror and saw an ambulance 2 cars behind me and I thought to myself "I hope he doesn't turn on his lights right now, I wouldn't know what to do cause I'm the first one at the light, where would I move". That really doesn't have too much to do with the story, but it's the truth.

Then the light turned green, I saw the cars in the cross street lane closest to me stopped, so I went. I wasn't even half way across the intersection before something hit me, something coming perpendicular to me, like I got T boned. I got scared and let go of the wheel. Then I saw it was a semi, I then started screaming and literally thought I was going to die. He hit me with a couple parts of his truck, but lucky for me he only hit the front corner of my car and then near my door. When all was done, my car had been turned 90 degrees by the truck. A guy ran over to my car and opened the door and asked if I was okay. I was crying, but I hadn't even bumped my head and our airbags didn't go off. Then the nice ambulance guys came over. I was so shocked and scared I had a hard time talking, and they called the police for me. They also helped me feel a little better by saying they saw the whole thing and assured me the light had been green when I went. They made sure I was okay and they were amazed that I was perfectly fine. Rick says I should have said yes to the ambulance ride they offered me, cause then I could be like on Grey's Anatomy.

The police finally got there and had us move out of the middle of the intersection. I had called Mom and Dad to come to be with me and for one of them to pick up Rick from the metro station, since that was where I'd been going. The policeman was very nice and understanding. He said it was the other guys fault since I had gone on green and he had run a red light. So that is at least a good thing, hopefully our car isn't too far gone, it was good enough to drive home, so thats a good sign.

And Rick is wonderful. He was so nice to me and offered me anything I wanted, like ice cream, a pony, a puppy and a bunny. Julie says I should have asked for crest white strips :)

Today is a big day for another reason. Rick has an interview today at 3. At this interview he is going to find out if PWC wants to hire him full time when he graduates. I think he will be just fine, and I really hope he gets a job. That would be so nice to know he has a place to go when we're done with school. And, he would get to go to Disneyworld, and mom has quite the shopping list for him. Well, this post is long enough, so everyone be safe today!

I'm gonna smack you!

Okay, so last night Rick and I went to see the Harry Potter movie. It was a pretty great movie, even if they left out a lot of story cause the book was so stinking long. However, the people sitting next to me were so rude. No, they weren't talking or kicking me or anything. They were shush-ers. They sushed babies! And then at one scary part a little kid said something to their parents, I'm not exactly sure what cause they weren't that loud, and the guy next to me said "Not right now, Kid". Then they proceeded to shush babies and kids a few more times. I wanted to just lean over to them and say "It's not like you don't know whats happening or how this is going to end!" Because from listening to their conversation before the movie, they are avid Harry Potter fans. I couldn't believe them.

You know you watch too much Grey's Anatomy when...

Every night you dream about it or dream you are in it.

Yes, that is what has been happening to me, Grey's just never leaves me alone. But besides accounting, I haven't really been doing much else, so really its my own fault. Well, today was a productive day. I took my first accounting quiz and totally scored 90%, which is pretty dang good. And I found out there is a certified testing center only 3 miles away, which is also pretty awesome. I really do think I can get this class over with before the fall, which would be totally awesome. Then, I only have two semesters until I graduate. And they aren't even that full, less than 15 credits each if I want them to be. Not bad, not bad at all. Then I will be able to say "Yeah, I have a college degree, which means I rock".

Well, recap on what has been going on with me lately. Last week I spent most of my time with the fam just chilling and having fun. The 4th of July was cool, we went swimming, ate some good food, played some catch, and watched some spectacular fireworks while eating cookie dough. So it was a great day, all in all. Then Kellie came up with me to Long Beach and we had a blast. Our furniture was delivered, so we finally had a place to sit, which is wonderful beyond belief. Then we saw Spiderman 3, which was good, better than I expected. Then the beach, where the water was warmer than I ever remember it being before, but it was overcast so it was cool once you got out of the water. But we had a delicious beach lunch, and Kellie was looking beachalicious. Then the aquarium of the pacific, where we pet some sharks and stingrays, plus we got to watch the big sharks get feed, it was cool. We also saw the Lovetts and I reminded Kellie that she needed to marry Parker, which she says is a bad idea but I think is a great idea. Then a long luxurious nap and back to Redlands. Church was awesome because Greg gave his homecoming talk, and I am so happy he went on a mission and am happy that he looked so happy. He is a good kid.

This week has pretty much just been some cleaning, laundry, accounting and lots of Greys. Plus I started wearing my retainer again, and it hurts so bad. Today I dedicated some time thinking about my birthday, and I think I've decided on either pie or cheesecake, and possibly a picnic instead of going out to eat. But I'm really not sure yet. Well, thats really all I have to say, so I'm just going to go...

Chocolate chip mania!

So I just got home from work and I am tired. We do a lot of set ups on Tuesday nights, we were behind, and we were short people. With the new chairs in all of the classrooms it took a lot longer to set up, too. But we got it done, we just didn't get any extra stuff done, but today was my last day so I don't care! I'm kinda feel bad I'm leaving Phil short people and during the busiest week of the year, but there isn't too much I can do about that. I guess I could stay and just go down with daddy, but I think I would totally fall apart being away from my hubby for so long.

I'm not nearly as stressed as I should be, though. I am taking a final tomorrow and I have only studied for 1 hour so far. Plus I still have tons of cleaning and packing left to do. But at least I'm not going into work. But I do want to go see my homies down in Cinnamon Tree though. I can't believe Amy graduates in August! I want to say goodbye before we part ways pretty much forever. Which is sad, the posse is breaking up for real. Okay, well, I've done my part posting quite a bit, now it is everyone else's job to step it up!

Worst. Idea. Ever.

Let me paint the scene for you. Me alone, about 10:15pm. I'm bored and I don't want to study. I put in a movie, but not just any movie. I put in a chick flick. Now, let me tell you why that wasn't very smart. I am a lonely wreck right now and I shouldn't have been watching a movie about people being together and falling in love because my husband is a few hundred miles away. I cried at the end of the Holiday. Not even at the sad part, at the happy part because I am alone. It was a pretty good movie though, I have to admit.

Work today was boring, but I don't mind it much. I also got an 80% on my midterm, which is pretty good. And I finally started cleaning the house. I got the living room organized and all the dishes done and cabinets cleaned out and started making piles of things to take, to give away, and to leave here. I'm getting excited to leave though. Rick said the apartment we're living in is pretty nice. And I'm just excited for a change of scenery and a chance to do something different for awhile. I'll finally get to do the stay at home wife thing and have the house clean and dinner ready when my husband gets home from a long day at work. I'm pretty excited about it, actually. It will definitely be different than what we do now.

Whats my name again?

Property Applied for - Name / Address:

Paradise Gardens
6479 Atlantic Ave.
Long Beach, CA 90805


Applicant Name and Address:

Allsion C Shelley
787 Wymount Terrace
Provo, UT 84604

This is an email I got from the apartment complex Rick and I are living in while we are in CA. Is Allison my first name? No, actually it isn't. No wonder they kept asking Rick to make sure I filled one out, cause obviously we have different last names.

I'm a toothbrush murderer

Hey all! Look what I'm doing, I'm posting on my blog! pretty awesome, I know, now Caleb you don't have to be so bummed. It's just hard posting when it doesn't feel like I'm doing anything interesting. Today is not interesting either, but I'll write something anyway.

Well, the last couple of days I've been working late so make more $$$. Next week will be my last full week of work at the MTC, at least for this summer. I can't believe we are moving so soon, we're going to begin packing stuff for Rick to take with him when he drives down. It is just weird because we need a lot of our everyday things, but not everything since we will only be gone a couple of months. And we don't have to pack everything because we still haven't found anyone to sublease our apartment, so we're planning on leaving most of our stuff in here. We'll probably give Holly and Caleb a key so they can check up on it every once in awhile and make sure it isn't flooded or broken into. Also, Holly and Caleb, we're planning on giving you one laptop and possibly the destktop too while we're gone so you can use them all you want!

Well, interesting things going on. First, I have been scrubbing tile and grout the last 3 nights, which is why I'm a toothbrush murderer. It was hard to get the grout, so I used a toothbrush like tool and I totally wore the bristles down to nothing. Second, I finally rented Dreamgirls and I love it! I really want the soundtrack now, because so many of the songs are so good! And Beyonce wasn't even half bad either. Third, today in my marketing class we spent the first 20 minutes watching a group present, then we spent the rest of the time preparing for and performing skits. There were three groups and we were given a theme to present and we had to do some type of shopping experience. Our group had the Pride and Prejudice theme, and the other two groups had Indiana Jones and Freddy Kruger. We all had props and costumes because we had about 45 minutes to prepare, so we left to people's apartments to get stuff. Let me just say, the Indiana Jones skit was amazing. Fourth, I watched the first Pirates movie, and it is totally the best of them all.

In other news, I can't wait to go home! And living in Long Beach will be sweet! Our apartment complex has a pool, a jacuzzi and a workout facility with a bunch of treadmills and stuff. I'm gonna work out every day since I'll be at home all the time. And the apartment layout looks like we'll have plenty of space, especially since we're taking very little. I'm going to be sad to leave my calling though, and by the time I get back Amy will be a graduated woman! I can't believe that she is graduating so soon! Another good thing about going down to CA though, is that Rick and I are going to finally go to Las Vegas. We're probably going to spend 3 or 4 nights there, we're for sure going to see a circ du soleil show while we are there, and it is going to be so much fun!

Okay, well, that is a pretty good post for now, but I promise to be better at writing on it!

A lot of crazy events

This week has been full of the crazy. First, I agreed to go on a road trip. It will be fun, but I'm so nervous something will go wrong and Rick won't be there to fix it! Oh well, just got to roll with the punches.

Second: Roxy left. That is crazy sad. This summer will be lonely without her, she is so awesome.

Third: My boss is gone for the next week so I'm in charge. And of course that means that something has to go horribly wrong. So at work yesterday I get a call that a toilet is leaking, Okay not a big deal, I can fix that. When I get there, it isn't leaking, it is full on flooding the bathroom! There was probably an inch of water on the floor and when I opened the door to get in it got the carpet outside of the bathroom soaking wet. There was also poop all over the floor, gross. So we got it turned off but couldn't fix it. So we just cleaned up and called emergency maintenence. Then I got a call that the floor underneath the bathroom was leaking onto the floor below. I cannot fix a leaking floor, sorry.

Fourth: I stood in line for two freaking hours to get into the testing center. Two hours! Then the test took me two hours. I didn't leave till Midnight, which is disgusting and wrong on every level. I was tired and I think the essays I wrote got a little crazy just because I was so tired.

Fifth: I slept until almost 12:3o today, which is super late and stuff.

But, at least school is over and I feel I did well on most of my finals, with Econ being the only exception. And I got $100 bucks for some of my books, which isn't great but it is more than I was expecting to get. And I'm going on a road trip! We'll be there for Carlie's prom and for Daddy's birthday! And we're going to the beach and possibly disneyland, because Steph may never get the chance again. The only bad thing I can see in the near future is that I have to work Friday and Saturday this week. Saturday nights are pretty much the worst because there is so much to do, but it's only once and I get more money.

Party Like Its Your Birthday!

Happy Birthday Holly!!!! 22, totally awesome! Well today was a mixed day. Had a pretty interesing guest lecture in my Geog 250 class and we got our tests back. I got the highest grade in class!! How awesome is that? I didn't miss any points on the essays or definitions at all, which is cool. In Geog 130 we talked about disease, and I started to feel a little woosy because we talked about AIDS and how it spreads, a lot about blood and needles, not my two favorite subjects. Question for all those out there who still read this. How far do you think kids in grades k-6 can walk to school? Then I went to the store to prepare for the picnic and for girls night. I'm really excited for this weekend!

Last night was fun because we got to see Rick's dad Steve. He is so awesome and totally nice. He took us to Goodwood barbeque and it was so good. I go bbq chicken, french fires and coleslaw, yum yum. We found out about rick's family since we're no good at keeping in touch. His brother Tim just worked out a few kinks in his research and presented it to his mentor. Pretty much all he has left to do to finish his Ph. D. is write it up and present it at a couple of conferences. It only took him 2 years, and steve said the average is 5, basically he is amazing. Jen and family are moving to PA in June, and it will be sad to have them be so far away. But the fun thing is that we're getting together in the end of May for an Allison get together! I'm really excited, I'll finally get to meet Alexa and Joseph, and I'm very excited.

And in other news I'm here at work doing not much of anything, just waiting to do work later, like set up the gym for Conference and do all the locking up of the buildings. Also, Rick and I might have aquired more technological goodies today because he redid the Dell kiosk again. I hope we did, then we would have 3 printers, 4 mp3 players and 4 computers. That would be a total blast. Actually, I hope we do get to keep them only because then maybe we could relieve Holly and Caleb of some computer woes. That would be a pretty good birthday present.

I'm gonna party like its 1999

Well, not really. Rick is gone to sunny California again for the next couple of days. I'm fine with that, I can make tuna and take a bubble bath and not clean the house and feel zero guilt. But, I do have multiple midterms this week, which I definitely need to study for. One of them will be the first for the class, so I don't really know what to expect. One of them I already know I'm going to fail, but I'm going to try as hard as I can not to (stupid economics). Geography I really want to ace. I want to get an A in this class, that is my goal.

Well today was an exciting day because we got a new refrigerator today. It is the same as Caleb and Holly's which is cool, except I don't like the weird handles to open the doors. I'm sure I'll learn to love it though. It was good because I could finally sweep under there and get all the broken glass from about 6 months ago when in two consecutive days I broke a jar of salsa and a cup right by the fridge.

So, I'm really excited for tomorrow. And no, not because of aerobics, that class gave me sore armpits today. It is because tomorrow is International Pi Day, which is one of the best days of the year. And I know none of my classes will celebrate it like they did when I was a chem major, but I still love it. I'm having Rick pick up a pie at Marie Callender's while he's in Salt Lake, and it will be delicious. Well, I'd better get back to studying. And I'd better get back to preparing for the first top 12 competition for this season of American Idol, it will be awesome

Today is a Tired Day

Fridays feel long because I spend 5 hours in the SWKT. All my classes are geography classes too, which is good, but a bit of overkill. I'm tired and I just want to sleep. Either that or go rent a chick flick and eat cookie dough. I wish my life had music in the background, just like in movies and TV shows, because it is too quiet right now and I wish some outside being would pick a proper song for the mood and just play it. Well this weekend will be filled with a bunch of homework since I have a midterm next week and prof. Jackson decided that he should give us an atlas assignment. I really don't like those, he makes some stinking hard questions. Also I need to get a head start on my Econ because it always seems I do hours and hours of it on wednesday nights or thursday mornings, which isn't any good at all.

In other news, I got my new Mary Kay foundation yesterday and I'm just loving it! I hope that all the stuff I got will do wonders for my skin, because my skin is always angry. What would even be better is if I could find my nail file so that they could be smooth and I could start growing them out. How awesome would it be for me to have smooth hands and at least some semblence of finger nails?!

I'm bored, so I'm just going to keep typing. Rick should hear back from PWC by the end of next week. Hopefully it is a yes because that is the company Rick really wants to work for. And it would be nice to find out so early because then we can try and find someone to sublease our apartment and I could start looking for possible work in LA.

Last but not least, I've decided that I'm going to start a dream journal. I'll type as much of each dream that I can remember, details and all. I wish I was an artist though, becuase most of the time it would just be easier to draw what I see instead of describe it. Someday maybe I'll publish it and make my millions!

Hard week

This weekend I took two midterms, and it was not that great. I have an economics midterm to take tomorrow, which I know I will do very poorly on. I didn't even like high school economics, and I really don't like it in college. I also have a 5 page paper due tomorrow. Thursday I have econ homework due. Friday I have two assignments for my GIS class and a paper due in human geography. Tonight I am working till 11pm and I'm not really excited about it. And I woke up this morning in the most foul mood. But religion was good today, and I saw Julie, Roxy, Stephanie, and Megan. Also, Rick got me lunch at the Cafe in the Tanner building, and it was very good. I'm excited to tell Rick about his present tomorrow, it will be so awesome! And I'm excited for the three day weekend coming up, hopefully I'll actually get ahead on homework! Hope everyone is doing well!