Powder Puff Girl

Happy Birthday Britta

2010-03-15T03:11:00.000-07:00

This last week I got a real treat my family all came down to SLC to visit and the excuse for the visit. Not my birthday but my sister Britta's. Last Friday they all came down and met at my favorite restaurant, Thai Siam. After dinner we all went to see Alice in Wonderland in 3-D, it was pretty good but I have to admit there were some really cheezy lines. After the movie everyone met at my place for cake and gifts. Here are some of the pictures.

Mason always gives the same gift to everyone. He pulls out his wallet and gives you the cash he has inside. We all actually look forward to it.

That's right, it's a Phineas cover from Phineas and Ferb. Britta's a big fan of Phineas, she likes her men quiet.

Selina got her a super cute skirt.

And in the Quist Girls tradition we scream sang Happy Birthday to Britta.

You may not think it to look at Annicka, but we had a really good time!

Sikh's and Sables

2010-03-05T23:13:00.000-08:00

Due to the many requests made, here is an update of our visit to the Sikh temple.

For my World Religions class Sean and I went to attend a Sikh service. What we didn't realize when we got there was that it was going to be so long! Apparently that weeks service was going to be a little different than the usual service. It seemed a lot like when we have the primary do a program for sacrament, only with an actual sacrament meeting added to it. But it was still really neat to visit. In the temple you had to have your hair covered so Sean and I wore these orange bandannas on our heads. The men sat on one side and the women sat on the other. At the front of the room there is this gold canopy hanging from the ceiling and underneath it sits one of the Bhais (a sikh priest) and in front of him on a large pillow is their Adi Granth (their scripture) which they read from but it sounds more like chanting or singing to me. Their Adi Granth is their Guru and they treat it like they would a Guru. So it sits on a pillow, they keep it clean and free of dust, and they put blankets over it at night just like you would a person.

I wasn't sure if I could bring a camera so I didn't, but here is a picture from our lecture notes of the Bhais and the Adi Granth

The ceremony was really neat but I have to admit sitting cross-legged on the floor for three hours was not very fun. And the entire time they were making food down stairs (they always serve food to everyone after a service) was wafting up the stairs and making my stomach grumble. As distracting as those things can be it was nothing compared to how distracted I was to the clothes those women wore, they were beautiful. They wear Salwar Kameez which is basically these loose pants that are tight at the ankle (kind of like what Aladin wears) with a long fitted tunic that has slits in the sides up to the hip and a Dupatta (head scarf). I know it sounds weird but the clothes were really flattering and very feminine with all their bright colors and embroidery. I came out of there wanting to change my wardrobe. Plus they seemed so much more comfortable in what they were wearing than me in my jeans.
Here's a picture, check out the colors! Don't you just love it!

It's sad that I should come away from that so focused on the dress and not the actual religion. It's the worldly part of me. Sadly we had to leave before they could serve the food because my family was celebrating Selina's 16th birthday that night. So right after the service Sean and I drove up to my fam's, we had dinner, ate cake, and opened presents. Here is where I would stick some pictures if I had taken any. I really need to get into the habit of bringing my camera. Anyway, it was fun to go up there. Selina got the Universe 3rd season, new lenses for her telescope, an itunes gift card, and some dress scarves. I can't believe she is 16, it's crazy. She's already applying to colleges.

So that was Sunday, Monday is when Sean and I changed a part of our lives. Now before I tell you what happened, let me tell you what I've been thinking lately.

It started about a month ago I got this weird thought in my head from a radio program I was listening to. The program was talking about ways to save money and one of them was a suggestion for couples that they go from two cars to having one car. In my head I thought "that's a great idea." Shaking my head I wondered where that thought had come from, I most certainly did not want to go down to one car not when I have so much going on. So I tried to forget about it. Instead here is what went on in my head:

"If we go down to one car it would have to be Sean's, his gets better gas mileage"

"Why would I want to do that, I love my car"

"It would be relatively easy to go down to one care I would just drop Sean off in the Morning, go to school, then when school is over I would pick him up"

"Why would I want to get up earlier than I do just to take Sean to work"

"Call wouldn't be a problem because any time that I'm on call Sean's already home"

"I would hate driving his car, it doesn't even have power steering."

"We would save so much in gas alone, and it would be nice to see Sean more than I get to."

This is the thought process I have been having for the last week up to the point that I decided to suggest to Sean that we sell my car and just use his. I was and am completely convinced that these thought are not my own but eventually I got comfortable with the idea. So on Monday I was driving home when I got hit, nearly T-boned (they hit my back wheel instead of the middle). The damage was obvious and the car had to be towed back to the condo. Sean and I both knew that getting it fixed was probably not an option and this was the end of the Sable. So here's the thing, had it not been for the thought process I've been going through for the past month, I would have been devastated. I loved my car, it might have been a grandma car but I loved it. It fit my snowboarding gear, it was great for road trips, and it was incredibly dependable. So here's go you Gary the Grey, I'm going to miss you!

It's Dull, But I'm Going to Do It

2010-02-27T20:48:00.000-08:00

So, I haven't been blogging much lately. Mostly because I feel like I have nothing to blog about, and I certainly don't have any picture to post. I'm always forgetting to bring my camera, let alone take pictures. So I've decided to do weekly updates. They might be boring, but at least I'm keeping everyone posted. So here's this past week...

On Monday Sean and I met up with my family at the Gateway to go see "Space Pirates." And if any of you are thinking of going, don't, unless you have a year pass to the planetarium. It was one of those things that you go to that is uncomfortably cheesy, because you know that the people who made this were completely serious. At the end all of us looked at each other and said something along the lines of "What the heck was that!" Anyway, even though the movie was painful, the thing that looked like a giant game of "mouse trap" was fun. Plus we went to the gift shop and I got terribly distracted by these stuffed animals they had, wait...correct that....stuffed microbes. They had all kinds of stuffed contractible diseases. There was, to name a few: a pink plush mono, The Flu, E. coli, H1N1 (oddly enough looked like a pig), Shingella, Ebola, ect. It was really fun to look through them, in the end I gave Sean Herpes and he gave me Syphilis. After the planetarium we all went to The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and got Carmel apples. It was so fun to see my family again.
School's been good so far this semester. I'm loving my Social Health and Diversity class, it's been really enlightening. Part of my grad in that class is service learning which I'm going to be doing at Horizonte with the ESL program. I'm also taking a World Religions class which is also made me realize how much I didn't know. The cool thing is that I'm required to go on these "field trips" do the different religious sessions, and I can take Sean with me. This week we are going to the Sikh temple which he is excited for because they feed you after and he loves Indian food.
We've also been going to the gym together, which is good because I'm so out of shape and I need some outside motivation to get back into shape. He's also getting me to do weight training which I absolutely hate, but he gets me through it.
So that's my week, it seems more eventful now that I actually think about it.

Yes Bishop, we plan to stay here a few years

2010-01-19T18:41:00.001-08:00

Or do we?....Well I thought that was the plan. Let me tell you a little story about my husband. Every time we go to a movie we always drop by a store before hand and get a candy. I usually get circus peanuts or peanut M&M's. But my husband has to weigh all the options. Does he want chocolate, does he want fruity, does he want a lot, does he want a little, how much does it cost, and so on. It usually takes him about 30 minutes to decide on a candy for the movie. He will always ask my opinion at least a few times, but I usually don't give it because I notice that the person that makes the decision has to live with the consequences of the decision. So I let him just stand there and figure it out himself while I look at the magazines which are usually located very close to the candy no matter what store you are in. This is just a candy decision, the indecisiveness increases with an increase in price I've noticed. I don't even want to tell you how long it took him to decide which blu-ray to get let alone weather or not to get one.

Now take that scenario and I want you to imagine my husband deciding on a house. You can imagine why I suggested to him that we wait until I'm done with school to make such a big decision. Well a couple of weeks ago, my husband told me that he realized that even with all that we are saving, we won't be able to out right buy the house that we want before we have kids (like we were planning). So the question now became "should we wait?" I told him if he wanted to look he could look, I was going to school.

Well, one of my co-workers who is a real estate agent said she had found a house that she thought I would be interested in. It was 140,000, bank owned, and on a larger piece of land, not quite an acer. This was all the info that she gave me. So I go home and I mention it to my husband. He then starts to ask me a million questions that I do not have the answers to, nor does he expect answers to them (he's just thinking out loud). So to pacify him I ask my co-worker for more information. I should never have done that.

This is what the past 72 hours of my life have been like:

"Honey, I think we should go look at it"

2 hours later:

"Honey, I think we should just keep saving our money"

2 hours later:

"Honey, lets just drive by the house on our way back from church"

2 hours later:

"It's better to have the compound interest working for us"

2 hours later:

(to some one else) "Well, we might be moving"

2 hours later:

"You know they say the price of homes is still going down, we can probably get a better deal if we wait"

To all of these I respond "Ok, Honey"

I'll start to worry if he applies for a loan.

2010-01-09T01:21:00.000-08:00

So I'm doing this because I don't have anything to post, and even I'm sick of looking at my christmas post

-Any names your parents were thinking about that you would prefer?
I am madly in love with my name, and my parents must have been too because they weren't thinking of any other names either.

-If you had to pick one outfit that you currently own to wear for the rest of your life, what would it consist of?
A pair of jeans, a 3/4 sleeve tee, and a hoodie jacket. So I want to be comfortable, so what.

-What TV show have you seen every episode of?
Arrested Development, Gilmore girls, The X-files, Ghost Writer, Psych, and The Office

-What movie can you quote every line to?
What movie from my childhood can't I quote. My mom use to show it off and I would start quoting movies for them, I even did the music in the background that was between lines. Here's a few of them: Cinderella, The Little Mermaid, The Princess Bride (which was odd to memorize as a child because now as an adult the jokes make sense), all the disney sing alongs, It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World, Sister Act, Beauty and the Beast, While You Where Sleeping, Sabrina, Sense and Sensiblity, Remember the Titains, October Sky. I'm going to stop there, I'm embarassing myself.

-What bands have you seen in concert?
Tim McGraw, STYX (3 times, I love STYX), Journey, REO Speedwagon, Yellow Card, Relient K, Mae, The Brobeks (not sure I'm spelling that right), and a few Big "A" shows and Warp Tours

-What bands would you like to see in concert?
Ones that are impossible: Garth Brooks, The Beetles, and Simon and Garfunkle. I might see Adam Lambert, the kid can entertain.

-If you had the money to retire anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Eden, as in Eden Utah. I've always loved it there and it's close to my favorite resort.

-Is there a piece of jewelry or something similar that if you lost, you would feel naked?
Does my cell phone count, no, I gues it would have to be my wedding ring, although I don't wear it much because of my job.

-What is one thing [appearance-wise or other] you would change about yourself?
I wish I had a crazy high metabolism like my husband that would allow me to me warm all the time, eat what ever I want, and never gain a pound.

-One thing you would change about your best friend?
How much he moves around in his sleep.

-Everyone remembers their first birthday party that involved friends. Describe yours.
I don't remember much. I rememeber I was turning five, my friends were all invited and they all wanted to play with my new Barbi doll.

-If you could go back in time and change your first kiss, would you?
No, for being a first kiss it was pretty good.

-How many times have you said “I love you” to someone of the opposite sex [romantically] and meant it?
I say it every day and only ever to one person, My Favorite (Sean).

-How many times have you said it and not meant it?
Sometimes I say it a little Sarcastically to friends and family, but even then I mean it.

-Which member of your family has the biggest influence on your life?
My mom, even now.

-If you won a $1,000 shopping spree to one store, what store would you want it to be?
REI, that store is so expensive but has everything I want.

-How old were you when you learned how to ride a bike?
Six, it was purple with training wheels.

-Describe the first real party you ever went to [i.e. first party with alcohol].
It was a work party when I first started at LDS Hospital, that's when I realized people aren't really very fun when they are drunk, unless you are drunk yourself.

-Did you like high school? Why or why not?
I was indifferent to high school, probably because I didn't go.

-Do you prefer the sound of electric, acoustic, or steel guitar?
Electric, Classic Rock lives on.

-Have you ever read the Bible – even just a little part of it?
Yes, mostly the Four Gospels. But I did read the entire Bible once.

-Out of all the states you’ve visited/lived in, which is your favorite?
Utah, but Oregon comes in at a close second.

-Do you enjoy jigsaw puzzles?
Yes, but not all at once. I like to start a puzzle and leave it for a while, come back, work on it some more, and leave it for a while. It drives Sean nuts.

-What’s the best Christmas present you ever received?
When I was about five or six I went into my Dad's shop and he was making these toys out of wood for charity. There were blocks, trains, baby doll cradles, little rocking chairs, and doll houses. I saw the doll houses and said how much I wanted one and why should the other children get a doll house when I didn't even have one. After some talking to a strong lesson in charity I decided it was alright if the other kids had a doll house and I didn't because at least I had a house to live in. That Christmas when I went up stairs my dad had made a doll house for us too.

-Which of your birthdays was the most memorable?
My 22nd, That was the day that I shared a birthday with another roommate and another friend. We spend the day at my friend Tia's pool, went to the drive in early to play games and have pizza, then we stayed for a couple of movies. It was so much fun and is now a tradition every year.

-Out of all the teachers you’ve had, who had the biggest influence on you?
I had one teacher who had the biggest influence on me and I'm not going to say her name because some of you might know her, and it wasn't a positive impatct. Knowing what I know now I can understand why she did it, she was going through a really rough point in her life. But out of all my classes which were average grades she was failing me. I would ask her why and she would say "you know why." I didn't, I was handing in my assignments and I was learning the material. So when my Mom saw that I was failing, she made an appointment with the teacher and asked why I was failing. The teacher said out right to my mother that I was unintelligent, lazy, and should have been held back in a remedial class. My mom pulled me out of her class immedieatly, but unfortunately the dammage had been done and after that my grades plummeted because I believed her.

- When you were little, what was your favorite Disney movie?
Beauty and the Beast

-What’s your favorite Disney movie now?
Finding Nemo

-What’s your favorite kind of chips?
Cool Ranch Doritos (mostly because they remind me of my mom)

-That you know of, do you have any famous ancestors?
I don't think I do, but I know that Sean is descended from Charlemagne.

-Did you ever beg your parents for a pony?
Did I ever. I wanted a horse so bad I begged my parents for one from age 6 to age 12

-Would you rather be blind or deaf?
Deaf, I think it would be an easier transition.

-What’s the stupidest TV show on the air right now?
A lot of people are going to hate me for this one, but Glee. It's like they took a bunch of twelve year old girls and had them write the script. Did the fans of Gossip Girl get together and write a musical? Oh, there's another one, Gossip Girl. Also Big Love, I'm just not a fan.

Last but not least, type some funny or inspiring lyrics as a closing:
A song....ok...
I'm singing and I'm blogging
And I didn't have anything to write about
But here I am....I'm writing...
And I love you, I love you, I love you.
(Yes I love Elf)

Bringing back the Christmas Mystery

2009-12-24T01:40:00.000-08:00

Remember when we were kids and Christmas would come and we would get crazy excited. Now don’t get me wrong, I still get crazy excited about Christmas, but I feel like as adults we have lost a bit of the wonderment Christmas use to bring to us. I remember as children when we saw presents under the tree we use to go around and count how many were ours. We would look at the size and shape of each present and tell each other what we thought it was. We would shake them when my mom wasn’t looking. Some of us would get a little carried away, I remember Annicka actually would gently pick at the tape and gradually unwrap her presents before Christmas just because she couldn’t stand the suspense. What ever happened to that!? Now as adults we don’t even glance at the presents under the tree. What happened to the mystery!?

Well in years past I have tried to bring back the mystery by wrapping presents in boxes that were too large or putting caned goods in with the gifts just to try to throw people off and make the curiosity come back. And it has worked to a degree, but never the way I wanted it to. So this year I tried something a little different.

As some of you know my mom was a scrapbooking addict. Let me re-phrase that: my mom was a scrapbooking supply addict, and when she passed away she left a legacy of scrapbooking supplies. The unfortunate part of this legacy is that none of her children scrapbook. Last summer I finally took all of her supplies and organized it into one of those four-drawer metal hanging file cabinets, and it filled the whole thing. Hating to see my organizational work just sit there and collect dust I started looking into card making and found I really enjoyed it. So this year I took my card making skills and made a card for each gift. The fun part is that inside each card is a clue to what their gift is. Here’s some examples, see if you can guess what they are.

1: This one is for Sean's sisters family

2: This is one of Selina's (I had her name this year)

3: This is what we got for Sean's Brother's family

4: This is one I got for Sean.

5: This is what Sean got his friend Danny

6: This is what we got for Sean's nephew who is 2

7: This is the other part of Selina's gift

8: This is what we got Sean's niece who is 2

Even Sean tried to get in on the card making idea. But he left me no clue (which is alright because I could tell from the packaging exactly what it was)

So there is some of my Christmas fun this year, we'll see if it is well received.

The Principle of Balance

2009-11-24T15:48:00.000-08:00

I know I've never been much of a fan, but last week I couldn't help myself. It all started when I revisited a favorite book of mine, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. It's an interesting book to admit to reading because in other peoples eyes it means you are either an over achiever because your favorite book is a self-help book, or an under achiever because you aren't a teen any more and should read the adult version. Just so you know, I have read the non-teen 7 Habits but it is terribly dull and reads like a doctorate paper (no offense Stephen Covey). So as I was reading the part on how to be principle centered and when you feel confused remember your principles and find the one that you need to focus on. Like if you find people don't trust you, work on the principle of honesty. You want to learn to play the guitar in a month, the principle of hard work. If you are feeling worn out and beaten up by life, the principle of balance. This last one almost screamed at me. I was feeling completely worn out, and it was all my fault because I had been so focused on school that I hadn't taken out the time to do anything else except watch tv at the end of the day because I was to completely exhauseted to do anything else. So in an endeavor to be more balanced Mentally, Physically, Spiritually, and socially I made goals for the next day. I would eat a healthy breakfast, read my scriptures, and call my sisters to see about having a girls night out.
Well, that week happened to be the opening week of New Moon and of course that would be what they were doing. Knowing full well what I was setting myself up for I called my sister Britta and asked if it was possible if I could get a ticket and go see the movie with them. She said sure and she would get me one. So I planned to go up friday and spend some quality time with my sisters. The next morning (Thursday morning, I procrastinate) I realized I didn't know what time we were getting together and I texted my sister about the movie. Here's how it went:
Me: Hey I was wondering what time is the movie
Britta. Midnight
Me: Tonight
Britta: yep
Britta: is that a problem?
If you can believe it, I was actually excited. I love going to opening night movies and over the past few years I haven't been able to because I've been working every thursday night. I love going to opening nights so much, I even dress up for it. When Star Wars I first came out I remember going with my mom and wearing a starwars T-shirt that I had found at DI. I've worn a witch hat to many a Harry Potter movie. And I even put on elf ears for going to see Lord of the Rings. I'm not a fanatic about any of these movies, in fact I don't think I own any of them, it just fun. Unfortunately this time I didn't dress up, I didn't have enough time to prepare, but to be honest I don't know what I would have worn. I was so excited until I was brought back to reality and realized I had a test the next day, one that I was not at all prepared for. I contemplated not going but the fact that I wasn't doing anything like this on a regular basis was the reason that I wasn't ready. I had studied, but it was tired studying, the kind where you read a paragraph over and over and over again. So I decided I would go, I would just have to study at the same time too. The more I thought about it the better I felt. I could study while we were waiting in line for the movie. Plus my sisters have always been very good at helping me study for tests and I've done well on every one that they have helped me with. So that night Annicka, Britta, Brittany (the neighbor who practically is one of my sisters) and I went to the movie (Selina who I love, wouldn't be caught dead there). So we went to the theater at about 8:00 pm, got our ticket and our bracelet that marks our spot in line, and went to the Layton Hills mall. There we visited with Selina who was working at the Popcorn Cottage, Britta showed me a coat that she had been wanting to get and looked great on her, and Matt and Annicka met up with us. It was fun hanging out with my sisters and walking around the mall, something I haven't done in years. Then we went and found our spot in line where my sisters proceeded to help me study. I admit I wasn't to terribly into studying at that point in time, but they helped me anyway. Then we were taken into the theater where we were seated and I, without warning, manifested my age. I feel asleep. I have never fallen asleep in a theater before, even when I have wanted to. But there I was sacked out, thankful that the noise of the theater was too loud for anyone but my sisters to notice that I was snoring. But I didn't miss the movie because when it started there was a loud applause, it was like my own personal alarm clock. My sister had a large caffeinated soda which she offered me and I took advantage of so that I could at least stay awake through the previews (my favorite part of any movie). I have to admit, the movie wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It could just be that sleep deprivation made the movie less cheesey to me, but it seemed like an ok movie. Sure Edward looks like a heroine addict and Bella talks only into peoples necks. Even among the screams of young and middle aged women every time a guy took off his shirt, there were some sweet moments and even a few whitty lines. In all it was a good night, even though I was completely tired. And just so you know, that test was the highest test score I've gotten in this class all semester.

Neck Talker:

Close talker:

Who Do I Love More

2009-11-14T02:23:00.000-08:00

So last Thursday I took the afternoon off to drive up to West Point to visit my family and have my hair re-colored. I was actually really excited about this because I love going home and visiting my family. We can joke and laugh about anything. I am more energetic and happy when I'm around them. And I just feel so comfortable and at ease when I'm there. So I, looking forward to visiting, decided that I would end my study session early and drive up right away. So I got there a couple of hours before the rest of the family started to come home and I did some cleaning. It was nice cleaning a house where I know where everything is and I know all the tricks to straightening up. Then my sisters came home from school and we watched "So You Think You Can Dance" which my sisters tivo every week. We quoted movies we all knew and just had a really good time. Annicka came home at about five thirty and I got my hair colored then stuck around for a while so that I could see my dad before I went home, and that's when an awful thought came to me. Am I really just staying because I want to see my dad, or am I staying because I prefer the company of my family more than Sean? Do I prefer hanging out with my family more than hanging out with Sean? Am I horrible for thinking that way? Is our relationship in danger because I've been studying all this time and not really working on our relationship? I realized I might be in trouble. It's right to love your family, but not more than you love your spouse. Aren't we supposed to leave our family's and cleave unto our spouse. What's wrong with me? Why do I feel this way? Realizing my true feelings I decided to take a proactive step and leave my dad a note saying hi instead of using him as an excuse to put off going home. So I started to gather up my things and I couldn't find my keys. I always loose my keys, especially in my family's house I don't know why. So I looked everywhere for them. I figured they couldn't really hide anywhere because I just cleaned the house. I was looking for them so long that my dad came home and I still hadn't found them. I have an extra set of keys, but they were at our condo in SLC and I didn't want Sean to have to drive up just to bring me the keys especially because it was getting so late and he had to work early the next day. So my dad suggested I spend the night and let him drive me down the next morning to get my keys. And that's when the unexpected happened, I broke down into tears. The very thought of not seeing Sean until he got back from work the next day was unbearable. I missed him. I hadn't seen him yet that day because I had worked a grave the night before and he left before I even came home. This was too much! That's when I realized, I do love my husband more than my family. It's nice to see my family once in a while and I do miss them, but to be honest I don't want to see them every hour of every day. But with Sean I do want to see him, he's my favorite person to be around. This thought brought on more tears, but different tears. Unfortunately my dad couldn't tell the difference and just saw more tears and scrambled to come up with other options like driving down right then to go get my keys, or having me take one of my sisters cars for the night. Realizing what my dad was doing I stopped crying and told him either one would work. But there was no need because right then my dad found my keys. Usually I don't have life's questions answered so quickly, I guess this one was important.

I can't breathe

2009-10-31T23:20:00.000-07:00

So I've been getting a lot of grief that I never post anything on my blog. To be honest it's because I have nothing really to write down because the only thing that seems to be preoccupying my time is the pathophysiology class that I've been taking. Although the stuff that I'm learning is interesting to me, I doubt that I could make it appear so. But if you want to hear from me that might be what you are getting. So feel free to skip this next part if you aren't interested.
Have you ever read a really good book/series of books or rented a show on DVD only to find yourself getting lost in the story and loosing touch with reality because you were so consumed with what was going on in the characters lives and, oh my gosh I need to know what happens to Harry Potter in the next chapter I can't put this book down who care if I haven't showered in days they are so close to finding the answers. If you can not relate to this please skip the rest of this paragraph so that I am not further embarassed. If you have experienced this before and just figured it's becasue the story is so compelling and interesting, think again. I now have a strong belief that the loss of one's self in something else correllates more with the ammount of time spent on it, not with the degree to which a plot is considered riviting.
So this past week I've been studying the lungs and the pulmonary system and disease. The tricky thing that I've realized when you are studying the body and disease is not to picture it as a part of the process of your body but as the process of someone elses body, for safety sake distance yourself from the subject. The reason for this can be explained in the fact that this last week as I was studying respiratory rates and pressures and how the pressure in your lungs has to be less than atmospheric pressure to get the oxygen to even pass into the capillaries in your lungs. And the affilliation of the hemoglobin molecules to oxygen has to be higher than it would be for carbon dioxide to even expell the carbon dioxide from your body. And that the respiratory centers of the brain need specific stimuli from the chemo/baroreceptors in your left atrium and aortic arch to make sure that the respiratory rate meets that of the needs of your body. And while I was struggling to understand all this and how it works I realized that I was getting anxious and starting to hyperventillate because how would my body know what to do if my brain didn't understand the concept of breathing and all the mechanics of the action. If I don't learn this and soon I might just die in the next moment. I need to figure out how all this works so that my body will know how to keep on living. Now keep in mind I have been studying this stuff non stop for the past week, to say I was consumed with it would be an understatement. The very fact that my body has been living and breathing on it's own for the past 27 years, with out my knowledge of how it works, didn't even cross my mind.
So what did I learn from school this week: the more you delve into your own education, the more you loose touch with reality.

P.S. Just so you know, I ran a spell check on this and it says everything is fine, which has never happened before and I doubt to be true. Since I don't have the patience to edit my own stuff, I'm going to leave this as it is.

You & Me Goin Fishin in the Dark

2009-07-05T02:08:00.000-07:00

Well, it wasn't dark. But it was early, or rather it was supposed to be early. Over the 4th of July weekend Sean and I decided to go fishing. And just so that you know, it was more me than him pushing to go fishing. I've never been fishing and I've wanted to go for a long time now, but no one will take me. Finally the one man in the world I could count on for anything took me fishing. I got up early, Sean not so much. After dropping off some food at our ward breakfast we set off to Mirror Lake. The day was really overcast so I brought my jacket (I should have brought my coat but I didn't think it would be that cold). I didn't get a fishing license so I couldn't fish but Sean said he would at least show me how to. Honestly, I think he just didn't want to watch me fish, how frustrating is that? Anyway we got up to the lake at about 9:30 am and set up on the west side of the lake. Here is a picture of Sean getting ready to start fishing.
I had brought things to keep me occupied while Sean was fishing. But I found myself doing a lot more looking around than anything else.

I liked looking across the lake and watching the fish jump out of the water. I liked watching the family next to us teach their kids to cast off with their little fisher price fishing rods. I liked watching the clouds go by and trying to predict their direction. In the end I did very little reading and just a lot of relaxing, it was great. Sean caught I can't even recall how many fish, but he would mostly just catch and release. Here's a few pictures of the fish that he caught.
None of the fish were very big, but that's alright because it was still fun. The weather was a little fickle. When we got there it was sunny. Two hours later it was cold and rainy. Then two hours later it was sunny. In the end I ended up with a sunburn and so did Sean. But as you can see we had a really good time.
And even though I didn't get to fish much, other than hold the rod when Sean went to go answer natures call or when he was eating a sandwich, I still got in my fishing lesson. While Sean was cleaning out the two fish that we were going to take home. I was just sitting on the beach holding onto the fishing rod that Sean was having me hold. Now the entire time that I was with Sean I was watching him fish and paying attention to what he did. So I was watching the bubble to see if it went down, and it did. So I waited for it to go down a second time (I figured from watching Sean that you don't reel it in on the first bite, he only explained why later). When it went down the second time, I gave a good tug on the rod and started reeling in. And low and behold guess what I caught!
That's right, I caught myself a fish! A little fish, but a fish none the less. We released it back into the lake, but I still named him "my wriggly, and he shall be mine, and he shall be my wriggly." Yes I'm a natural blue.

Paris Continued

2009-07-05T00:50:00.000-07:00

Sorry this has taken so long to get up. I’m not really blog savvy and I’ve been struggling to get this to fit just right. Anyway, here’s the rest of our honeymoon in Paris.

Day 3
We started out our day with a trip to the Palace & Garden of Luxombourg. The Palace looks amazing from the outside. Unfortunately we didn’t get to go inside because that’s where their senate meets.

But as you can see the exterior architecture is amazing. But it’s the grounds that are worth seeing.

The Park was huge and there was so much to it. There were play grounds, tennis courts, ping pong courts (that’s right, table tennis is everywhere there), and vast amounts of statues and fountains. People would go there during lunch and just relax in the park and read a book. It was interesting because it seemed like the French were relaxing just as much during their work week as we were on our vacation. Here’s a picture of us in front of one of those Statues/fountains.

After Luxombourg we went to the Pantheon.

On the main floor there are giant paintings covering every wall. But the really neat part wasn’t on the main floor but what was above and below. We just happened to arrive at the time of day when they do a tour up on the roof. It was neat to see the city from the roof and walk around the rotunda. Here’s a picture of the inside from the balcony.

Here’s a picture of Sean on the balcony of the outside on the roof. It’s a little hard to see but the Eiffel tower is in the back ground.

Also in the basement was a crypt where they put Dr. Braille (oddly enough the only name that is actually in Braille) and also where Victor Hugo’s body is. Here’s a picture of me in front of Victor Hugo’s crypt.

After the Pantheon we went to the Opera House. Now this place was incredible and is still a functioning opera house.

Check out this stair case. If you’ve ever seen the Phantom of the Opera, it should look familiar to you.

This is a picture of me in the ballroom.

We didn’t end up with too man pictures inside the opera house because of the lighting which was supposed to mimic how the light originally was. After the Opera House we went over to the Madeline. Here’s a picture of the inside.

Day 4
Our fourth day we spent entirely at the Louvre. Here’s a picture of me in front of the Louvre. I think Sean was trying to be artistic by taking the picture at an angle.

Here’s a picture of Venus de Milo(sp?). Who knew that a bilateral amputee could be such an icon.

Here’s a picture of the Hall of Greek Statues.

Here’s a picture of Sean in front of a….faun?

I have no idea what the name of this Statue is or what it’s about but I really liked it.

And of course here’s the Mona Lisa. Honestly it was kind of a let down. It’s no bigger than the picture of Sean and I in our house and you can’t get very close to it.

This painting was ginormous, it’s a painting of the last supper. I’m sure Christ is in there somewhere.

Also in the Louvre was the Napoleon apartments. Here’s a picture of what would have been Napoleon’s living room.

Here’s a picture of Napoleon’s bed, he really wasn’t a very big guy.

Here’s a picture of me in front of an Egyptian tomb.

Here’s a picture of Sean in between the sphinx’s guarding the entry to the Egyptian hall.

There was so much to the Louvre, we didn’t even get to see everything and it took all day. Some day we will go back and see the rest.

Day 5
On this day we started out with a boat ride on the Seine. It was one of the best ways to see the city. Just make sure you don’t get one with the canopy over the top, it was hard to take pictures. This is Sean and I in the boat.

Here’s a picture I took from the boat of the Bridge Alexandre III, it was my favorite bridge in the city.

After the boat ride we went and ate our lunch on the side of the river. It was a fabulous way to enjoy a French lunch. After that we went to the Hotel des Invalides. It’s a museum of the armory. Here’s a picture of the court yard.

Afterwards we took a walk around the city to see where it would take us and we found ourselves in this park. Here’s a picture of us in front of the fountain in the park.

Here’s a picture of the table tennis in the park. And you thought I was kidding.

And that’s our honeymoon. Honestly it was the best Honeymoon ever. I’m so blessed to have some one I love so much and love’s me so much. Life is good!

Best Honeymoon Ever! Days 1 and 2

2009-05-24T22:51:00.000-07:00

So for those of you who don't know. Before Sean and I got married, I had no idea where we were going on our honeymoon (surprises are so much more fun). Well, the day after our wedding he told me where we were going just hours before our flight took off. And guess where he took me...

PARIS

I know, I was shocked when he told me. I knew that we were going some where foreign, but I certainly didn't expect the city of love (which I probably should have, considering it is a honeymoon). So for those of you who don't want to read over my vacation log, feel free to skip over it and just look at the fun pictures.

Day 1 Sunday:
We departed at about 11:40 a.m. from Salt Lake City, and arrived in Paris on Sunday at about 10:00 a.m. Paris time (about 2:00 a.m. in Salt Lake). We went to the Hotel (pictured below) to drop off our bags and look around (check in time was 2:00 pm). Since we had made no plans for our first day there, except to catch up on some much needed sleep, we just walked down the street. Right in front of our hotel was this beautiful stature or rather monument in the middle of a round about, called Republic.
It was so neat getting up every morning to see this just in front of the hotel. There were some wonderful information signs all over the place telling us the history. Unfortunately it was all in french and neither Sean nor I can speak let alone read french. So I'm sure there is some fantastic history behind this (I can only assume the French Revolution), but I don't know what it is. It's a beautiful monument though, so much detail. But then again everything in Paris has so much detail. From there we just kept on walking down the street when we came up on this arch. It actually has a twin further down but we didn't go that way. Still it was neat to just happen upon something like this.

It's amazing how many of these are all over the place. Every where you turn there is something to look at. Even the apartment buildings are intricate and decorative.

From the arch we proceded on to find a museum just down the road. There are museums everywhere so it was completely impossible to see all of them. This one was their science and industry history museum. It had all kinds of things in there from ancient abdacus's to the worlds first super computer. It was really neat to see, but every few benches we had to sit down and regain some strength, we still hadn't caught up on our sleep yet. But things there were facinating enough to make us stay. After that we proceeded to get something to eat and head to the hotel to sleep.

Day 2 Monday:
Monday was an immensely full day. The first thing we found when we came out of the Metro (their underground transit system) was the Hotel DeVille. I couldn't help but wonder if this is where Cruella lives (lol). We didn't get a chance to go inside because we were off to Notre Dame.

If you think the outside is amazing, the inside was incredible. There was so much going on inside. So many seplecures, paintings, statues, not to mention the stained glass windows. Something with so much detail, made so long ago, costing so very much, not to mention the countless lives that were lost in the making of it. It's impressive to think of the faith of the people at that time. They must have really, really wanted a place to worship. It's nice to know that time doesn't separate us that much.

From there we went to the Arc
de Triomph, the uninsured round-about. This is the scene that was of particular sorrow to my parents, they got in an accident on this round about and have had a bad taste in their mouth for Paris ever since. To be honest it was because of my parents experience that I had very little desire to ever go to France. Lucily I made a very good friend in Nancy who changed my perspective of France, and I'm glad she did, or else I would never have gotten to see Paris. Anyway, We went to the Arch, we didn't get to go on top unfortunately, which I'm told if you stay up there for more than five minutes you are bound to see an accident.
From there it was on to the Eifel Tower, but we didn't take the Metro, we walked instead which is a wonderful way to see the city. But on our way we
found a fantastic pastry shop. These pastry shops are about ten times more common than Wal-Mart's here, and they are fantastic!

Every one goes to these little shops at least every other day to get their baguet or other bakery items. We went to one every morning before we left each day. They also have these baguet sandwiches that are so yummy. Sean got a quishe every day.

We eventually arrived at the Eiffel tower and it was bigger
than I thought it would be. It was so neat to see the trademark of Paris. We at first were just going to go to the middle of the tower, but then I got over my fear of heights and we went all the way to the top. Luckily I wasn't the only one to be so freaked out, there was another kid there who asked us to take a really quick picture of him. He litterally ran to the edge and back. But it wasn't that bad. They had maps all around the top showing where things where, so we got to see some of the sights we'd gone to and some that we were about to see. We didn't stay long enough to see sunset from the tower because we were starving (we only had little tarts for lunch), but it was still a fantastic experience.

So that was just our first two days in Paris. There will be more to come, so stay tuned.

"Are you spending too much time together?"

2009-03-30T04:47:00.001-07:00

I love this picture! Thank you Crystal. You might think it looks a little funny, you might think "it looks like he's leaning." Well, he is. We are both fans of the movie While You Were Sleeping and we both quote it constantly (maybe him more than me). Sean loves to quote it while he emphatically leans towards me. The two of us have a million inside jokes and while visiting my family my Dad asked me "Are you spending too much time together?" I love my Dad. The three months before he married my Mom they spent practicing a long distance relationship (he spent the summer at his mothers house in Arco ID, and she spent the summer at her parents house in Eugene OR. Each working and saving money). My Dad didn't even see my Mom again until the day before they got married. That time apart was hard, but good for them, he said. They weren't tempted to go further than they should. So my Dad asked me "Are you spending too much time together?"

I grant you, it is like we practically live together (about 90% of my things are over at his place, even my clothes). And yes I'm already changing my address because I'm pretty much more at his place than my own (and I should refer to it as our place). I also have all of my food over there, and none of it where I live. So shouldn't I be more careful than I am, after all this is a long engagement and it gets no less easy to wait. To that I say, you are absolutely right. It is not easy. That's why Sean and I together took precautions, so for anyone who is worried maybe this will give you some comfort.
A long time ago, about the time that Sean and I got engaged, we decided that we were not going to let a Temple Marriage escape us. So we made a list of things we were going to do to prevent that from happening. I'm not going to share the whole list but I will share a few things. One thing we do (it's more forced upon us than by choice) is that we have a 10:30 curfew. That's right, early, not even my youngest sister has a curfew that early. But it has helped parting before it gets too late. We always plan our time together ahead of time, so we never find ourselves bored. We attend a Marriage and Family Relationships Institute class, where we are constantly reminded to stay clean. Also on this list is a bunch of other No's and No longer than's that I won't insult your intelligence by listing. But the most helpful thing that we have decided to do is to Pray together and read our scriptures together every time we do get a chance to get together. This one thing has amplified our relationship in ways that I never knew was possible without being married. Wee have gotten to know each other so well and i don't think it would have been possible without that one act every time we are together. I'm also amazed to find out just how good we are for each other. We still have not had one fight, not one. For those of you who really know me, you know this is not an easy thing to accomplish, and I've tried to start a fight. We have so many goals and ideals in common. You'd think my jaw would stop dropping open every time he tells me what he thinks about one thing or another. I love Sean so much, and one of the reasons I love him is because every time I look at him I see evidence that God lives and he loves us. Our relationship is no coincidence. Two people so made for each other don't just "happen" to get together on their own. I love Sean so unconditionally, and I can't wait to marry him (but I will).

Pictures courtesy of Envision Image Photography

A.K.A Crystal Rocks

A Spring Break Well Spent

2009-03-23T01:01:00.000-07:00

So this past week Sean and I got together and we were looking at ways to cut back on some of our bills (we have a goal to accumulate 8 months worth of income and put it in savings, yea, not an easy task). So as we were looking at ways to cut back we decided that we would go to a low minutes phone plan which means no more long conversations on the phone with friends and family (not that it happens so often, but it was nice to have it as an option). So I realized that in order to really keep in touch with Friends and family it would have to be through the Internet. So, yet again, I am resolved to blog more (yea, yea, I know I've said it before, what ever). So I'm going to try to do a post once a week letting you know what's been going on with me for the past week.
So for me this past week was spring break and I decided to take full advantage of it. It's been hard to balance school along with everything else. So this week I practiced being completely unbalanced and didn't study one bit this last week. On Monday I decided it was time to post my room for sale and my phone has been going crazy since. It's nice to have a room that's so cheep, everyone is interested in it. But it is a mess. Ever since I moved most of my stuff over to Sean's (I felt a whole lot safer with it over there, plus I'm over there all the time) it's looked like complete chaos in my room. So I decided it was time to move the rest of my things over to his place, and so i did.
Also later that night I got together with Nancy and we went to see The Marriage of Figaro, and I dragged Sean along. I was so excited to see it, I've been wanting to see it for the past 10 years and haven't gotten a chance to. It was so great and so fun to go see, even Sean liked it and most guys can't stand the opera.
Tuesday I spent at work, meh. Then Wednesday through Friday I spent up at my Dad's place helping Britta to finish the table runners for the wedding reception, and got a great many wedding to do's taken care of. Who knew that cutting school out of your life could make you so productive.
Then on Friday evening Crystal drove down to SLC and she took our engagement pictures. I honestly didn't know that having your pictures taken could be so much fun, and I can't wait to see them. I don't usually feel very comfortable having a camera pointed at me, but I had so much fun. Crystal, you're the best!
And at last on Saturday my Dad came down to SLC and took Sean and I to Ikea to get our bed frame and headboard. I told my dad when Sean and I first got engaged that if he paid for our bedroom set, that I would pay for the wedding and reception. He seemed to think I was being generous, but in reality I just didn't want to hear any complaints about how much everything costs. Unfortunately he'll be in for a big surprise when one of my other sisters gets married. After Ikea, Bed Bath & Beyond, and lunch at Pei Wei (Pronounced Pay Way, as if that lack of knowledge hasn't embarrassed me before) Sean and I put together the bed. It was fun working on a project together, even though we realized there was something else we were supposed to get (how was I supposed to know that the center beam for under the bed is sold separately), we had fun. I am kind of jealous now though because now he has this queen size bed, with memory foam on top and a down comforter, pshaw!
Later that night Sean took me with him to his bosses house and we had dinner with his co-workers. There is a lot that you can learn about your fiance from his co-workers. Turns out he's just as bad at spontaneously making small remarks into songs as Carolanne, he doesn't do it around me. He also has a song that he sings when he's about to go around collecting some documents from everyone. I guess putting together these documents is an annoying thing to do so he sings a song to make everyone think it's really better than it is. I'm not sure it works. In all it's been a great week. I wish I could remember to take pictures of things so I could post them, oh well.

Wedding Dress Insanity

2009-01-17T17:09:00.000-08:00

I have finally gotten to the point in my wedding planning where I'm starting to enjoy planning. For a long time I just couldn't see the big picture and it was just becoming an overwhelming mess. And like any normal human being I put off the unpleasant until I absolutely had to face it. I probably should have started planning from the moment we got engaged in November, but I think I was reeling from the shock of him proposing so soon, so no planning happened that month. The most I did was reserve the Temple and Recteption location. During the month of December I did relatively no planning other than the merest of thoughts, in the name of "It's Christmas, the busiest time of the year, I'm too busy right now to really take on any of that." Then right after Christmas it hit that I needed to start planning. So I started to call up Wedding dress shops and make appointments to try on dresses. The first time that I called a location I was given the impression that I was calling really late and four and a half months simply wasn't enough time to find a dress and have it ready for a wedding, and could I come in that day? I was a little shocked, and thought what kind of a dress shop have I called. Then when I called up several more locations and they all gave me the same kind of speech. Feeling horrible about myself for having procrastinated getting a dress and even more stressed about a wedding I started to make room in my schedule for trying on dresses sooner than I had anticipated. Unfortunately this re-arrangement of scheduling meant that I would no longer be going to these dress shops with my sister as was originally planned, I would be going by myself. I would not recommend this practice to anyone. More than half of the places I went to they would bring you some dresses to try on and you would go in the fitting room and try to put it on yourself, the most they would do is zip you up when you were done. On top of that they would give you this corset kind of thing and have you put it on instead of your bra. I have never seen so many hooks in my life. After ten minutes of trying to put it on straight, I finally caved and put it on with the hooks in front, then when they were all hooked I would try and spin this corset around my abdomen and try to get it into place. One place would only let me try one dress at a time, so I would wait in the dressing room in a tulle slip and boostea (I have no idea how that is spelled) and wait until they brought me another dress from up stairs, all the time remarking how if I lost some weight I would be better equipped to find a dress I liked. And finding a dress I liked wasn't easy in spite of me having what I thought was a broad idea for a dress (square neck, clean lines, empire waist, with pearl beading if possible). I was starting to settle for any dress I could. Not all the places were that bad, I did go to Allyse's Bridal and they were so great at finding dresses I actually liked, within my price range, and they helped me put on my dresses. They even had the dress I was beginning to think I would buy, even though I wasn't quite in love with it. As I was starting to get towards the end of my list of appointments ( I had made 6) I realized that I would probably have to go to a few more stores to try and find something that I was wiling to spend a fair amount of my savings on. Then the last place I called was a place called Bridal Corner, they were the first people to take my call with absolutely no comment on the lateness of my planning, not even a hing, and were all congratulations and best wishes. Jokingly I told Sean I would probably buy my dress from them just for that. Well I went to my appointment there and they were so great to me, I explained what I wanted and they told me they could do that. They let me brows through the dresses if I wanted to and picked out things that I thought I might like. And the attendant, Darci, was so good to me. She helped me pick out dresses, helped me put them on and even did up my corset thing for me. And when I said that I had a pearl ring and was hoping for a dress with pearl beading, she brought me not one but three dresses with pearl beading on them (none of the other dress shops had dresses with mostly pearl beading, they were mostly sequins and diamonds with little hints of pearls). One of which I tried on and it was "the dress" so happy to find something I was actually in love with I did what I promised I wouldn't do. I payed for it right there and then, disregarding the fact that I still had two more appointments to go to. I figured after trying on between 60 - 70 dresses, it was unlikely I would find something I would like, much less love this much. So to all those out there that have gotten married and have gone through the wedding planning process, I now tip my hat to you. How did you ever stay sane?

Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, and other winter activites

2008-12-27T23:44:00.001-08:00

Who said winter is a drab?! As many of you know Winter is my favorite season and for an assortment of reasons. First of all Winter is magical. If any of you are familiar with the show "Gilmore Girls" (I expect no man to ever take a serious interest in this show) I have the same strong feelings about the first snow of the year as Lorali Gilmore does. There is nothing better in the world than waking up to a fresh foot of untouched snow with little sprinklings still coming down. I grant you that it isn't the best to drive in, but magic makes up for that.

Also there is that wonderful holiday season associated with winter in which you do tons of different things, like go see the lights on temple square, put up a Christmas tree, and decorate the house with reds and greens even if it does clash with your furniture. This year Sean and I didn't really get a chance to do a lot of Christmas activities, but he did get a recipe from his coworker for roasting chestnuts. So we decided to go to the grocery store and try some. If you've never had roasted chestnuts before, they are interesting. I don't think I'll ever crave them but they tasted pretty good. They were a lot like little baked potatoes. Now that I think about it, they would probably taste great with ketchup, or even sour cream and cheese. Here is a picture of Sean making Chestnuts. You just cut a slit in them, throw them on a cookie sheet, go to town with the salt, and bake them at 100 degrees for about an hour. Then when they are done, peal the skin off and enjoy.

We also had a chance this past month to do some Ice Skating. And I am proud to say that the only time I fell that night was when I stepped into the ticket area with my stiletto high heels on and pretty much just did the splits in front of the ticket desk. They were pretty hesitant to let me on the ice. In the rink I did do a lot of arm flailing, but I didn't fall. I also never went further than five feet from the wall and never faster than five miles an hour. Sean just stayed by my side and would catch me when I was about to go down (half of those times he was the one helping me fall). It was a blast, and I ended up wondering why I don't go more often.

And then there is that one activity, that if it were the only redeeming quality winter had, would still make winter my favorite season. If you don't know what I'm talking about, you don't know me. Oh, that's right, Sean and I also got a chance to go take on the mountain, and it was fabulous. It was freezing, I couldn't feel my toes most of the night, but it was so worth it. I am sorry to say, that I did punk out earlier than I usually do (which is before the resort closed). I'm not as in shape as I use to be, and this is giving me a whole lot of motivation to get into shape. When you are going down the mountain and your thighs start to feel like they are on fire, but you have to hold your stance or else you are going to have to walk the rest of they way, it's time to get into shape. But oh what a burn!
So yea for winter, may it last as long as possible! (or at least long enough that it doesn't interfere with my outdoor reception)

Here's the Story

2008-12-13T23:53:00.000-08:00

So here's the story that I know that you all have been waiting for... The story of Sean and I.
Well it all started in a student ward in Sugar House on a December afternoon. I was walking into church when out of the corner of my eye a guy caught my attention. I to this day don't know why he gave me this feeling but I remember feeling shocked to see him there and thinking "What is he doing here?" I was totally confused at my own thought and dismissed it, because I had never met the guy before and why should I be shocked to see him there. Well Months passed and I dated other guys, but still this guy kept popping up. One day my roommate and I were looking through the Ward menu and we were making a list of guys to "order" (something that I always made fun of, but when I did it I found it strangely gratifying to make a list of guys to flirt with. It was especially effective after, and some times before, a break up), and I saw this guy in there and found out his name was Sean. Well, he went on the list, but after a few attempts to get his attention without success he went off the list.

Then one night in April, there was a ward snowboarding night. Well, I went up and of course loved the entire night and there was this guy there that I didn't recognize. He rode pretty well and was really cute, but he didn't talk much. So the group of us kept riding 'till the end of the night and we all met at the bottom for hot chocolate. I was just talking with some others when a mutual friend of ours, Danny, called out Seans name to him. I thought "That's Sean?" I didn't even recognize him, but as soon as Danny called out to him, I could see it. Before I had time to process it, Sean was walking back to his car. I realized that finding an attractive mature financially stable (I knew that he was really good with and worked with money by what friends had told me) LDS snowboarder was hard to come by and I'd have to give this guy another try. So I indiscreetly caught up to him and acted like I just happened to be going to my car as well. So I struck up a conversation and he didn't act like he just wanted to get to his car with out being bothered, a good sign. So we talked for a bit about his work and my going to school, then went our separate ways. Well, two weeks later we were both in Sunday school and I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Sean was sitting in the back. So I decided to give him a little "confidence" and practiced the art of "making eyes" at him (thank you Stacy Lightfoot). Next thing I knew I was walking with him to Sacrament meeting and he was asking me out for that Friday where we would celebrate my being done with finals, and he was nervous asking me out (a very good sign). So I said yes and we went out that weekend and every weekend after that. Just so you know, "making eyes at him wasn't what got him to ask me out, in a much later conversation I found out that he was already going to ask me out and didn't even remember me looking back at him.
Well, Sean was well aware of his feelings for me before I was aware of my feelings for him. And luckily the Lord blessed him with patience because for I made him wait a couple of months before deciding to be exclusive with him. He was also the first to say "I love you." I remember when I finally said it back being first of all shocked that I said it, wondered if I meant it, then realized I did. If we ever get to watch the film of our lives and you see me on that night you'll see me saying I love you back to Sean and giving him a hug while my face is contorted with confusion at what just happened slowly turning to a smile of realization. I love my life, it makes me laugh. Our relationship took me through some crazy times, not the least of which was the death of my Mother in which he was so incredibly supportive, loving, and patient. It was probably the thing that made me realize how much I loved him. To be honest, Sean is proof to me that my Heavenly Father loves me because he sent me a beacon of light in the darkest time of my life without which I would be in a devastatingly bleak place and would struggle to get out of. In the midst of such times, we had a great many good times. We both discovered how much we both liked the out doors and went on many hikes getting to know the canyons in the Salt Lake Valley. We also went to many movies, great restaurants, and sometimes just chilled and enjoyed each others company. We also were able to take a little trip to Las Vegas where we went to see the CircDeSole called "Love" which was a medley of Beatles songs and was so much fun to go to.
Well we kept dating when in the fall we realized that this relationship was going somewhere. Sean came over on day with this book "1001 questions couples should ask before they get married" under the pretense that he knew that I loved getting to know others intimately, but he really didn't know how to do that. So one night I was at his place and the book was on the table and there was a printed out folded piece of paper in the back of the book. I opened it up and there were a bunch of pictures of diamond rings, me being the kind of person who takes great delight in teasing others, held the paper up and asked him straight out "What is this?" It was then that we realized that we should start thinking and praying about this, but I told him straight out that I wouldn't marry him until we had been dating for a year. Luckily he loves me enough to wait that long.

Then on a anything but extraordinary Saturday night he came over to get me to go out. Starting out the date with "what do you want to do?" I suggested that we go to the Indian place that we both like and then go see the new James Bond movie. So we did, and I didn't think too much of it, it was a typical Saturday night. After the movie which ended about ninish, I asked him what he wanted to do now. He had no suggestions so I said let's go play a game at his place. So we started driving that direction, enjoying a good conversation, about what I can't remember. As we were driving along he passed his place. I figured that he just forgot and we were heading to my place, he'll figure it out. Then we passed my place and I thought, well he's on autopilot to his mom's. Then we passed her place and I really didn't know where we were going, as we started up Emigration canyon. We got up to the top and he was searching for a look out that we didn't find. So instead we got out and sat on the trunk of the car and looked up at the stars naming what constellations we knew. Then we talked a little more and after a bit of peaceful silence he turned to me, pulled out a ring and asked me to marry him, to which I responded "Right now, you're asking me right now, right now?"But eventually when I got over my shock I said yes.
I truly am excited and so thrilled to have found the one that I will spend the rest of eternity with. I love Sean so much! I must admit, this love isn't what I expected it to be, I didn't expect it to bring such peace and calm to my heart. We are getting married on May 15th and I can hardly wait!

Conference Picnic

2008-03-26T11:44:00.000-07:00

So it's that time of year again, Conference weekend! And I intend to keep the annual (so far only for three years) tradition of holding a picnic at Memory Grove Park. Every year I have hosted a very miniature event where, whoever wants to come, comes with me to Temple Square for the second session on Sunday. We go to the grassy area next to the reflecting pool and listen to the talks while enjoying the warm spring weather. Afterwards we all go to Memory Grove Park and enjoy a little picnic. It's been so fun every year that I've done this and everyone has enjoyed it. The only problem that I've run into every year is that Sundays aren't very good for everyone. So this year I've decided to change it to the second session on Saturday. The only problem here is that Every Saturday for the past few years it has rained, but it's been sunny every Sunday. So I'm taking a chance and planning the picnic for Saturday so that everyone can come, so cross your fingers! Even if it does rain we can relocate to my place in Sugar House. You are all invited and anyone is welcome. I will be making my chicken salad crescent sandwiches. If you can come (and I really hope everyone do) please bring a treat to share. I hope to see you all, and happy spring!

School, School, School

2008-02-24T02:20:00.001-08:00

So this past week I have been putting off my studying as much as is humanly possible (one way in which I've done this is to post this update). Well, now the school work has caught up with me and I have one week left to study for a big test that I haven't even prepared for. On top of that I have another test coming up this Wednesday that I have to study for and I haven't. Why do we procrastinate like this, what is it that is so terrible about studying? I'm usually fine once I get going on studying, it's just the getting there that I need to work on. I need some tangible goals to help me overcome this fault that I have. I'm not even a full time student this semester so I have no excuses. What do you guys do to help you get going on your school work? And how do you fit life in as well? I'm just so clueless! At least I know that I'm not going to have to do this forever, or am I?

Ouray

2008-02-20T17:41:00.000-08:00

So this past Presidents Day weekend, I did something that I've never done before and I thought that I would never do. I went with my two roommates (Abby and Shae) to Ouray Colorado to do some Ice climbing. Crazy, I know, but I had an absolute blast and I fell in love with the sport. We left Friday night and got up bright and early Saturday morning to do some climbing.

Here's a pic of me climbing , I kind of blend in with the scenery, but you get the idea. It was so crazy and scary because I thought that I would fall and die so many times.
These are the crazy shoes that I had to put on. They are called crampons (I think a girl came up with that name to give guys a visual of what we go through). When John first handed them to me I thought that they were little bear traps. I very soon learned to love these crampons and depend on them a lot. Here's some Pics of Abby and Shae climbing.

I also got to try my hand at Belaying, I didn't do half bad either (Shae lived to tell about it).
But it wasn't all freezing cold conditions, near death experiences, and adrenalin rushes. When we got back to the cabin at night it was a party goin' on, yayeah! Check out our sexy hair!
And Branigan and John singing the brownie song.
In all it was a fantastic trip with good friends, new friends, beautiful scenery, a sense of adventure, and all out fun! I can't wait to go back next year

Silent Movies

2007-10-01T05:09:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I got to enjoy a step back in time. The Capital Theater hosted a night with Charlie Chaplin. Tickets were 25 cents so who could pass that opportunity up. They pulled out the old organ that use to play for the silent movies when Capital Theater was still playing them. It was a really enjoyable night (after the they finally ended the radio program. Who decides to broadcast a silent movie over the radio, I ask you. Well they seemed to make quite a bit of commentary to fill up a radio program. So as soon as they were done with their program, they started the movie). It was great to see a movie like that. Nobody does comedy like that anymore, its actually really disappointing. In all it was a really great night, and they do it every year. I highly recommend it everyone go to it next year. But you do have to get there early, the seats filled up really fast.

converted to blogging

2007-08-31T21:13:00.000-07:00

So after quite a while I have finally started up my own blog. I don't know how often I will get to it and I don't know if there will ever be any pictures on this because I haven't any pictures to put up on here because I don't yet have a camera. But I am really excited to get this started because I have found it to be a great way to keep in touch with everyone. To be honest, it's the way that i find out a lot of things that are going on in the lives of quite a few of my friends because it's been so hard to keep in touch these days. So keep in touch, cyber touch.