What says "Happy Holidays" to you?

So, as I guessed, I didn't keep up with my semi-daily blogging for long. But I sure tried. And unfortunately, this brief post has nothing to do with holiday cheer or gratitude.

Throughout the day yesterday I noticed a couple men putting up a long, white, runway-looking ramp in the gallery of the HFAC. "I wonder what this is for?" I thought to myself. "Maybe they're putting up a Christmas exhibit? Or a nativity? It must be something awesome--that's for sure."

This morning as I walked to my office, I glanced down and saw at the high end of the ramp a white, shapeless blob. "What is that?" I stopped to try and figure it out, and finally realized that there were two things coming out of one end of the white blob. They looked like legs--bird legs, actually. I then observed that the bulk of the whiteness looked like straw feathers. And then I realized there was a long skinny-ish portion on the other end that kind of looked like the shape of a bird's head, maybe a turkey's head? It was hard to tell for sure, because it was encased in some white substance.

And then I found out from one of the custodians that yes, not only is this artwork supposed to be a turkey, but it was in fact created from a real turkey.

A DEAD TURKEY! On a runway. In the HFAC. The week before Christmas. Joy.

Mattress sledding, and unrelated thoughts

This weekend we had snow that finally stuck. And it continues to snow. Which meant that my communte took 1 hour and 40 minutes, versus the usual hour. Which means that I am hating the snow and struggling to be positive about it. So in an attempt to continue to be grateful, let us reflect on the one thing that snow is good for: Mattress Sledding!

(Insert picture of mattress sledding here. Please. Anybody!)

I don't have a picture of us mattress sledding on the computer I'm using, and despite looking through old blog posts (mine and friends'), I cannot find a picture. But it is really fun. You should try it. All you need is a mattress you don't care about, a tarp, bungee cords, and a snowy hill.

In the process of looking for pictures, I started reading through some posts on Royce's and my old blogs. And you know what I disovered? We were way funnier when we were single. Remember all those fake posts Royce put on my blog about my violin breaking and the fake diamond ring. I think part of it has to do with working full-time, and being more tired. So here's a challenge to Royce and myself to become funny again (although, granted, we have many inside jokes that we think are hilarious and can cause me to shake with laughter--they're just not going to be funny to anybody but ourselves and therefore not blog-worthy).

O Holy NIght

I'm grateful for Christmas music. I could do without the rest of Christmas quite frankly (though I love Christmas lights too)--the music is definitely the best part. Especially this rendition of O Holy Night. I know it's not the best quality from You Tube, but take 6-7 minutes and listen to the whole thing. (Warning, it may bring tears to your eyes--it's that beautiful!)

Good clean fun

Today let's focus on another thing that makes me really happy.


I just love The Cosby Show. For my last birthday, Royce got me Season 1. Even though I had seen every episode before, I still found it delightful and refreshingly funny. There have been many seasons in my life where, for months at a time, I would find the channel that plays Cosby reruns and I would grab a bowl of cereal and watch 2 or more episodes in a row before going to bed. Good times!

(And just so you know, hon, I finished Season 1 last week . . . )

Sweet Tooth

If you know me at all, you know I love candy. Particularly the non-chocolate kind (which I think Royce has a hard time comprehending). Towards the tip-top of my list is . . .





I'm not such a fan of the jokes, though one in a hundred is half-way funny. But I just really like the taste, in all its imitation flavor glory. However, I lament the old-school Laffy Taffy I grew up with. Remember when they came in squares, and you could buy them Starburst-wrapped like, with 10 different flavors? Now I'm hard-pressed to find 5 flavors in one store. But at least I can always find banana! Yummm.

Happy and grateful

Happy December 1st! Can you believe it is already December? Growing up, I would always be so excited at this time of the year. Anymore, though, I mostly just complain about the cold weather. In an attempt to be more positive and appreciate the little things in life, I'm going to dedicate my December to being happy and grateful (I know, I'm a holiday behind here). So each day I'm hoping to post about something I'm grateful for or something that makes me smile. If I manage to post twice I'll still beat my record for the past many months.

Today, it's my cute hubby. I won't go on and on about how great he is--been there, done that in other posts. But he sure makes me smile and laugh and I'm missing him this week because he's in Florida.

(This picture was taken at his sister's wedding. Don't you love my corsage? I was feeling left out without flowers, so I made my own from flowers from the tree--I wish I could take credit, but his uncle did it first.)

Testimonial

I can hardly believe that I'm not in constant pain today. In fact, I haven't been in any pain since about 9:00 last night. I have a testimony of root canals!

So anyway, it actually wasn't too traumatic of a procedure, until the end. I decided to go for the laughing gas, which I have never done before (just makes you relax--and I definitely don't naturally relax in those situations). They also have a tv on the ceiling and wireless headphones--Monsters vs. Aliens was a great distraction. I must have looked pretty awesome with this gas thing hooked over my nose, this blue thing covering my mouth, and huge headphones, as the marks on my face afterwards attest.

I won't tell you why the end was traumatic for me, just in case you have to have one in the nearby future. But he told me that most people don't feel that particular part, but because my tooth was especially swollen I could feel it. He honestly had to wipe tears away it hurt so bad. BUT . . . it was totally worth the 3 minutes of pain, because I am pain-free today.

Thank you Dr. Matthews (courtesy of Cougar Dental). You are my new favorite person.

Overcoming my fears

(Warning, this post sounds like a sob story and reads like a travelogue.)

Some time ago I realized that my number one greatest fear is going to the dentist. Honestly and truly, there is nothing I dread quite as much. Hours before I go, my heart starts racing, my palms get sweaty, my breathing becomes shallow. And that usually lasts until an hour or two after I'm done. Especially when I have to get cavities filled.

Well, I'm going to the dentist today, and you cannot believe how much I want to be there . . . now!!!

You see, a week ago Saturday (on October 17) I went to sleep with a headache (I'm pretty much a big whiner when I get headaches because I rarely get them). I expected it to go away by morning, but it was still there through most of Sunday. It came and went through Monday, and on Tuesday it was joined by a mild toothache. I didn't think too much of it, because my teeth are hyper-sensitive as it is. But the headache and the toothache both continued, and worsened, through Friday.

I finally concluded that the headache must be a result of the toothache, so I called the dentist on Friday. Unfortunately the receptionist said they couldn't see me until Tuesday. I thought I would survive that long. Well, on Friday night and Saturday day, I thought I was going to die! The pain came in waves, each one bigger than the last. When they hit, I couldn't function. I would curl up and hold my head and sob. I had been taking a little bit of pain medication on Friday, but finally Saturday afternoon I resorted to prescription doses of IB Profen. It seemed to help somewhat, but after another bad wave hit Saturday evening, Royce said, "That's it, I'm taking you to the hospital." I cried and said I wouldn't go, that he couldn't make me.

Well, he was frustrated because I'm being a cry-baby but I won't do anything about it. I told him that if it was that bad on Sunday he could take me to the hospital. He said, "Whatever, you'll just fight the tears or walk out of the room or something so you don't have to go." He knows me so well!

Luckily, the pain was better on Sunday, and mostly on Monday too (consistent doses of prescription-strength IB Profen are amazing!). But today the headache is intense, and I cannot wait to see my dentist so he can tell me what the heck is going on. If anything good comes of this week of pain, it may be that it is the beginning of the end of my greatest fear.

I will overcome! (And I'll keep you posted--I'll probably have to have a root canal or some other lovely procedure. Yay.)

Update
Root canal it is. Think of me today at 3:15.

Grown up?

Sorry that I've been absent from this blog for so long. You might conclude that due to the lack of posts our lives have been rather uneventful. But, my friends, if you came to that conclusion you would be oh so wrong. Our lives have been a little too eventful as of late, and I've been so preoccupied with planning and worrying and resting that I just haven't been able to get myself to blog. But here's a little update with hopefully more to come later (like pictures).

1. My parents returned from their mission in the Czech Republic this past Sunday. I cannot tell you how good it is to have them home. Bring on the Sunday dinners!

2. We just closed on a house yesterday. Yes, it's true, we are officially grown up. It's all so exciting and slightly terrifying. We're very excited though. We may even invite you to our Halloween Housewarming (that is, if we get our act together and actually host it).

So that's a little of what's been going on in our lives. Hopefully you'll hear more from me soon--like in two or three weeks instead of two or three months.

Random Post

Heather says its my turn to post (again) although I've posted more recently then her....

So here is a bunch of random pictures:

Tribute to MJ-Part 2

Best news ever!

http://www.examiner.com/x-9082-Walt-Disney-World-Recreation-Examiner~y2009m8d30-Michael-Jacksons-Captain-EO-returns-to-Disneyland-Will-Epcot-be-the-next-to-honor-the-King-of-Pop

July in review

July started with the celebration of Royce's golden birthday month. First gift: Golden sparklers!

"Happy, happy Golden Birthday love,
Happy days will come to you all month.
If I had one wish then it would be,
A Happy Golden Birthday to you, from me!"

One of July's exciting events (ok, it might have been June) was capturing one of our car's milestones on camera.

We spent the weekend of the 4th visiting Royce's longtime friend Jon, his wife Angie, their son Christopher, and Jon's parents in Bakersfield, CA. They were kind enough to take us up to their timeshare in the Sequoia's. What a fun weekend!

We saw giant trees . . .
. . . and giant roots.

We rode horses . . .
. . . and yes, we wore helmets. (In retrospect, if I had known how slow we were going to be going, I wouldn't have bothered. But it was my first time ever on a horse, and Royce's second, so, hey, better safe than sorry, right? Ok, laugh away. We're not proud!)

We also rode paddle boats, went swimming (you have to when it's so, so hot!), played a million board games, and watched street fireworks. You can see more of our adventures here.

Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any big fireworks on the 4th, so we made up for it by going to the fireworks show at American Forks' Steel Days the next week. Pretty amazing fireworks!
This was our attempt at a self-portrait that night. Cute!

After that, we took a little breather before heading to Pajaro Dunes in CA over the weekend of the 24th: what could be better than a weekend with your two best friends from highschool, your friends that set you up with your husband, and their 4 adorable kids? I can't put in words how great it was, so go here, here, and here for great pictures and reports.

We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium . . .
. . . on the famous 17-mile drive, where we fed squirrels cheese crackers . . .

. . . to the famous Phil's Fish House

. . . and to the beach which was yards away from Amy's grandma's beachhouse door.
The ever-cute Lucy Truman.
The boys get in a little rumble.
Royce and I also had a little wrestling match, but thank goodness it didn't get caught on camera!
Sigh . . . good memories.

The day after we got back, Royce's brother, mom and I pulled off a very successful surprise party for Royce (we even got him in the door right on time: 7:27).


(Sparklers work as candles right?)

And then the day after that, I abandoned my hubby to go to girl's camp. Good thing Ryan and Amy invited him to Vegas so he wasn't lonely all week. Thanks guys!

Planning for girl's camp was stressful, but once we were up there everything went pretty smoothly. (Notice how our camp director actually wore makeup. So did our YW counselor that came. Whaat?)

This was actually much scarier than it looks. My eyes were not just closed because the camera clicked at the wrong time--this was the ultimate trust test. I don't know why I'm biting my lip so hard though . . .
So there you have it. July. What a crazy month. Here's to a calmer August (calmer, but definitely not calm).

Think of me . . .

As you're all sleeping in your nice warm beds, taking your nice warm showers, and eating your fresh refrigerated food, you can think of me at girls camp, not doing those things. But it will be good (right?), and I promise next week I will finally post about our July adventures (brace yourselves--there's a lot!).

My tribute to MJ

In tribute to Michael Jackson I say Disney bring it back:

American Radio Cafe

I'm playing this show--doesn't it look fun? I'm telling you, it is! And would I lie to you? Never! And should I write another sentence with a question mark followed by a sentence with an exclamation point? Absolutely!

But really, this is going to be a great production, so if you are looking for something to do during the patriotic holiday come on over to the Covey Center. Ticket information is here.

And on a somewhat random note, I realized something about myself at yesterday's rehearsal: I have a hard time equating money with music. Not in the sense that if you become a musician you'll never earn any money (although that sometimes may be the case), but more in the sense that I feel like I shouldn't be earning money when I'm playing music because I love it so much. I even sometimes feel guilty for taking money for my teaching because I like that so much too!

This realization came to me after one of the ladies asked another violinist if we were getting paid for the rehearsals as well as the shows; upon learning that we were paid for rehearsals she asked why we were not paid more for the rehearsals since they were longer. And at that point it just hit me: "Are you really doing this for the money? Do you care more about whether the check comes or whether the production goes well?" And for my part, I definitely am more concerned about the outcome of the show than the outcome of my wallet. So I'm definitely not going to get rich with that attitude, but that's just how I feel. A result of years of unpaid work as a student I guess.

See you at the show!

A Hero

*I just discovered a blog of someone who is a real-life hero in my eyes. Anthony (1st Sergeant) Martinez. I've added the link to his blog on my blog-roll, and you can access it here.

Anthony is currently serving in Iraq, for the ???? time (I honestly don't remember if this is the first time or if this is a return visit). You should read his blog. Anthony has an amazing sense of humor as well as an amazing ability to make you feel. (I realize that sounds like an incomplete sentence, but I hate to try and qualify it too much--perhaps you know what I mean.)

How do I know Anthony? He was in my ward growing up. He and his wife Maryann served many times in the Young Women and Young Men organizations and other things associated with mutual. They were the types of leaders that were also your best friends. They thought you were cool to talk to and they made no division between teaching moments and fun moments. Church lessons were entertaining. And activities, like hanging out with them at the Register's, often turned into "Aha!" learning moments.

When I was a teenager Anthony was stationed in Bosnia. For a long time. I don't know how he did it. I don't know how Maryann did it. I think he may have gone back more than once. But he was so positive, and Maryann was so positive. I remember being so excited when he came back to visit for a few days. And I remember being even more excited when he came back for good. I think Maryann painted his car in camouflage as a surprise for his return.

Several years ago Maryann passed away due to complications with the diabetes she had been struggling with for years. I remember at the viewing he was smiling and making everyone feel so good. When I walked through the line he said to me something like, "Doesn't she look just like an angel? She looks so happy." And all I could do was smile back and agree with him. I don't know how he did it.

Awhile after Maryann passed away, he met another amazing woman--Angie. They fell in love and got married. They now have 3 adorable children (I just met them for the first time yesterday). And now he's in Iraq, and I don't know how he's doing it. I don't know how Angie does it. But I'm so grateful that they are willing to put everything on the line to serve for our country. I'll never know all the fear and the heartache and the loneliness that both of them must experience, but I am inspired by them. My heart and my prayers are with them and everyone like them.

*Please feel free to correct any mistakes Kayla. My brain is so fuzzy.

They made me laugh

Here are 3 funny stories from last week (and just as a note, Royce was supposed to blog about the last one, but he's distracted by his brother being in town, so I'm blogging about it--so if it's not funny blame Royce!):

1. Royce and I signed up for a 30-day trial membership for a travel club through our bank. By signing up for the trial membership, we could send away for a free camcorder. It's probably a terrible camcorder, but it's free so nothing lost, right? Anyway, I was calling said travel club to cancel our membership before the free trial was up--no way am I going to be one of those people who plans on canceling and then totally forgets and ends up paying a useless fee for a month or two! The conversation went a little something like this:

Heather: "Hi, I'm calling to cancel our membership."
Jerome: "I understand ma'am. What is the reason you want to cancel?"
Heather: "We're never going to use it."
Jerome: "Ok. I definitely understand. But I see that you haven't gone on any trips and you or all of your friends could travel with us and you would get a million dollars cash back for every trip that you book through us and I would hate to see it all go to waste so I'm going to go ahead and keep your membership active, ok?"
Heather: "Ummmm, no, I really do want to cancel it. If I don't cancel it now I'll forget and I don't want to pay you any money whatsoever. I want to cancel during the free trial."
Jerome: "Yes, I understand that ma'am. I just want to let you know that you also get $5,000,000 cash back for groceries if you send in your receipts and your life will be changed and you'll gain a testimony of our program, so I'm going to go ahead and keep your membership active, ok?"
Heather: "No. Please cancel my membership."
Jerome: "I definitely understand that ma'am. I'm going to go ahead and send you through to our cancellation people."

It was one of the greatest conversations ever--he was so smooth at trying to make me not realize what he was doing. I bet old people get trapped by him all the time!

2. I got a fortune that said: "You should be able to be successful in anything you set your mind to . . . . "
3. Because Royce's brother has been in town, we decided to go to Lagoon last week.

After we had been riding rides for a couple of hours, Royce and Rhett decided to go on the Rocko-planes. For you non-Lagooners, they're these purple and pink cages that go round and round like a ferris wheel, and on top of that you can actually spin them forward and backward and upside-down. Not for me!

So after they loaded and had gone around a few times, I noticed that Royce and Rhett were the only ones not rocking. So I tried calling Royce on his phone to see what was up, but he didn't answer. Right after that he saw me below and tried to get my attention. I'm horrible at reading hand signals and lips, so I yelled for him to text me. So he called (my phone was supposed to be dead so he didn't think it was an option) and informed me that Rhett had thrown up and I needed to tell the attendant to let them off. Apparently it didn't smell too good and Royce was starting to get nauseous too. So I ran up the ramp that says, "Exit only!!! Do not enter!!!" and said to the ride attendant,

"They need to get off. He threw up." After she looked at me blankly with no response, I repeated, "You need to stop the ride and let them off! He puked. . . He threw up."

Still looking somewhat confused, she asked, "What number are they in?"

"Number 8--right there!" as I pointed for the 3rd time.

"Ok."

Trusting that she understood my message finally, I walked back down the ramp to wait for Royce and Rhett. Not wanting to embarrass Rhett, I started walking away from the ride as soon as Royce and Rhett were off the ramp as well. But as Royce and I looked back, we noticed that rather than calling to have the compartment cleaned or just shutting that one up, she was actually loading two teenage girls into the same compartment Royce and Rhett had been in! What the . . . ? Apparently she didn't understand the words puke and throw-up?! I'm sure those girls had a fun ride! As Royce so vividly imagined it, they were rocking back and forth and having so much fun while meanwhile puke is dripping into their hair. Yeah, sorry--I'm sure you didn't need that image. Let's just hope they recognized that there was throw-up in there and didn't rock at all!

In shape

When Royce decides he wants to do something, he does it all the way. Most recently, he decided we really needed to take part in BYU's fitness challenge (for every challenge you complete, they give you $25!). So the challenge is to walk 8,000 steps a day for 2-3 months, or do something that equals that amount of steps. Royce faithfully puts his pedometer on in the morning and forces me to walk instead of drive places. So we've been taking walks around our neighborhood, walking to the grocery store, and the most surprising for both of us, walking to the Provo rec center to go swimming.

Now, I've been talking for months about how we both need to go swimming to strengthen our shoulders and back, etc. I didn't think he was ever going to go for it. But on Monday, he pulled out our swimming suits and said, "Let's go." I was excited.

We ended up getting a 6-month membership, which I'm hoping will help motivate us when we don't want to go. We went on Monday and Wednesday to do laps, and yesterday, we went and did . . .


. . . Water Aerobics!

Royce was such a good sport being the only guy in the class. We both thought it was really fun though (and really tiring). I'm hoping we'll do that once a week now--it's a nice change of pace from lap-swimming. We're also hoping to spend 1 or 2 days a week in the weight room, so watch out ya'll. We're going to get buff!

Musings on our recent travels

My Favorite Things
1. Seeing my cute parents
2. Kissing my hubby in France (yes, that kind of kissing . . .)
3. The German and Czech country-side as viewed from the train/car
4. Gelato
5. Playing games with Royce’s family on public transportation—Charades, Bubblegum, Telephone, I Spy, etc.
6. Walking to and from Neuschwanstein Castle
7. French people that actually went out of their way to help us
8. The garden maze at Schönbrunn Palace
9. Sitting at some famous park in Paris for a long, long time
10. The trick fountains at Hellbrunn—it was nice and hot, so the water splashing on us was quite pleasant
11. Sliding in the salt mines
12. Sight-seeing in Notre Dame during the middle of Mass

What I missed the most
1. Drinking fountains
2. My car
3. Convenient grocery stores that are open all the time
4. Breakfast cereal with cold milk
5. Cell phones
6. Visible street and highway signs
7. Italian food
8. Shade (I’m bringing my umbrella next time!)
9. American TV
10. Royce (when I was home, and he was still in Europe)

Why our next vacation will be a cruise
1. Only have to book one “hotel”
2. Therefore, you only have to unpack and pack once
3. Don’t have to wonder if there’s any food nearby
4. Also don’t have to try to find a cheap and good place to eat
5. Free entertainment in the evenings
6. Don’t have to take public transportation
7. Not nearly as much walking and standing on your feet
8. Go to sleep in one city, wake up in another!

Just back from Europe

So here's a few pictures . . .

In front of a Czech castle.

In Telc--a charming Czech town.

With an 1,000-year old tree (we found a geo-cache here!). If you touch the tree, you're supposed to live for 1,000 years.

In front of the Prater Ferris Wheel in Vienna.

Enjoying some Apple Strudel and hot chocolate at the Schonbrunn palace cafe.


Getting sprayed at the Hellbrunn Palace table in Salzburg.

At the salt mines with Royce's mom and brother.

French kissing in France!


In front of Notre Dame.

Graduation festivities

Congratulations to Royce, who graduated last Friday! (If I were at home I would upload some nice photos of him, but unfortunately I haven't been at home much.)

Royce's family was in town the whole week so we had activities going on every night. The actual graduation ceremonies were less than thrilling, unfortunately. Someone needs to inform the Marriott school that 2 ceremonies are better than 1! Two and a half hours is just too long (actually, I think it was longer than that). Many people in the audience left after their graduate walked, but the real tell-tell sign was that many of the graduates got restless and stood up and left!

Royce and I didn't leave, but I suppose we were less than respectful. Here's some snippets from our text-messaging conversation:

H: They still said your name wrong. [We spelled it out sea-ver-son, but they pronounced it with a short "E" sound.] Did you hear me?
R: I didn't hear you. What did you say? I was so mad she didn't know how to read.
H: First I yelled "Yeah!!!!!" And then I yelled "It's actually pronounced Sea-ver-son."
R: Ha. That's good. I just want to leave now.
H: Me too!
R: Lets. Just kidding.
H: I dare you!
R: You.
R: I don.tv ink I can leave.
H: What is don.tv ink?
R: Don't think.
H: I know--it was just funny.
R: Gotcha. I keep smelling garlic every 5 minutes. It's really gross.
H: Are you smelling garlic on yourself or someone else?
R: I'm thinking someone else.
H: Whoever decided to do this in one ceremony was on crack. Nobody is even paying attention. This is way too long.
R: That person was on crack.
H: Your mom said to stand up and hold your diploma. She wants to take a picture.
[Royce did not stand up and hold his diploma. He did turn around, though, so his mom could take a picture.]

R: I wish I could leave.
H: So do your grandparents.
R: They can.
H: It's starting to smell like sewers in here.
R: Ha. That's gross
H: Yeah, tell me about it.

H: Your mom is bored. She says you should just walk out.
R: I don't think so

R: I'm Soooo bored I'm playing with my tassel.
H: You're like a small child that way.
R: Yes and I should walk out but don't know if it's rude.
H: Yes it is. But plenty of others have. Maybe it will teach them to plan a smaller graduation. Your mom and I are cheering for all the girls and people with leis.
R: That's fun.
H: You should join us.

Mature, I know. But when you're sitting in uncomfortable seats for that long it's one way to cope!

Game Time

We're going to have a quiz: It's called, "How well do you know Royce and Heather?" Whoever gives the most correct answers wins our love and respect (Amy and Ryan are not allowed to play until 5 pm on Wednesday--otherwise they will give away all of the answers). Ready, go!

1. When did Royce and Heather meet?
2. Where did Royce propose (this answer is 2-fold)?
3. What does Royce collect?
4. What is Heather's favorite color?
5. What will be the name of our first-born son (who is not conceived yet, in case you thought that was a hint)?
6. What exciting event is taking place this Friday?
7. Where did we live this summer (city too)?
8. How many other people have each of us kissed?
9. Name 3 places we have traveled in the last year.
10. How tall are we combined?

Ok, best of luck! I'm excited to see your responses.

Why I love Royce

1. I just do! I love him so much; words can't really describe it, but . . .
2. He makes me laugh
3. He is tall, somewhat dark, and very handsome
4. He has the best surprises--dates, gifts, etc.
5. He is so kind, gentle, forgiving, and full of love--not just to me, but to everyone
6. He loves to have fun--games, geocaching, Disneyland, vacations of any kind. We are never bored!
7. He gets me out of my comfort zone
8. He has a firm testimony of the gospel and loves our Heavenly Father and our Savior
9. He loves my friends and loves to hang out with them--how often does that happen? (but then again, my friends are pretty amazing)
10. He has green eyes--beautiful!
11. He is so honest--I never have to doubt what he is thinking
12. Speaking of honesty, he honestly views me as the most beautiful woman he knows
13. I've never seen anyone who is so good at getting their homework done--definitely not a procrastinator. Maybe I'll learn someday . . .
14. He's really bendy--I bet you didn't know that
15. He has an amazing smile
16. He's not afraid to remind me to be nicer--and sometimes I need a lot of help
17. He loves to tickle me--I freak out and he thinks it's absolutely hilarious
18. He has a great deal of common sense
19. He takes me to fancy restaurants
20. He comes up with great menu ideas so we don't have the same foods night-after-night
21. He opens my car door
22. He lets me win disagreements (even though I always feel bad after)
23. He loves to make a big deal out of holidays
24. He likes to play tricks on people on blogs
25. He'd rather spend time with me than be rich
26. He's going to be the best dad--he's quickly become the favorite of my nieces and nephews
27. He's determined to try every Jamba Juice drink (well, except the coffee and tea ones)
28. He makes up really great songs and jingles--I told him that's how we're going to make our fortune
29. He sometimes prays when it's my night because I don't feel like it
30. And there's a million more reasons, but 30 is a nice round number so we'll end with this: Because he loves me so much more than I will ever deserve!

Feeling better

Sorry for the vent post. I feel better now. So feel free to ignore it if you want, but I'm going to leave it up--this blog, after all, is the only journaling that I do and I think it's important to document my less-than-stellar moments as well as the nice ones.

Protecting my good name

I received an e-mail this morning that upset me greatly. Actually, it made me angry and defensive. It was a work e-mail, regarding a situation I have been mildly involved in. The e-mail I received included correspondence between several people. One of those messages implied that I had acted in a way that I shouldn't--but in fact, I didn't do what they said I did! And that makes me angry. Because one individual stated something a certain way, this other person decided to interpret it to mean that I'm not doing my job correctly. Well, I happen to think that I'm pretty darn good at my job. Sure, I make mistakes. I'm human, right?! But I don't do things to sabotage the program here (now I'm exaggerating--see what happens when you make me angry?).

So what did I do, you wonder? Did I, in the greatest humility, realize that in the grand scheme of things this person's opinion of me doesn't really matter and I know the truth and that should be good enough? No! In my response to the person who sent me the e-mail, I cleverly included my accuser in the cc: and defended my position in a way that they could not misunderstand my involvement. I went so far as to say (albeit nicely and diplomatically) that if they wanted me to do things differently then they should tell me so. So there!

EASTER PARTY RSVP

We're having an Easter party this weekend, and if you didn't get an invitation you are still invited (provided your not some creepy stalker blog person).

The party is this Saturday afternoon rain or shine (it will be indoors in case of rain). If you need details please ask (I won't post details here to avoid creepy stalker people from showing up-don't worry I don't think this is a problem, just a concern).

If you haven't RSVPed already I need you to do so by tomorrow (Weds.) April 8 by 2 p.m. This will enable us to ensure we have enough room and for other planning purposes. IT IS IMPORTANT even if you don't think it is. If something is holding you back from coming let us know so we can help you out with that concern. And if you don't RSVP you can still come, but it may not be as fun for you.

Hope to see you there!

TAXES/Volunteering

Hey Everyone, just thought you'd like a real update on our lives. Not some fluff like Heather's been giving (just kidding hon, its good stuff).

This semester is quickly winding down to a close. I am still looking for a post-graduation FT job/career. Currently my best bet is with the IRS, but I still need to take a test for them.

I've been volunteering A LOT for the volunteer income tax assistance (VITA) program at BYU. With training and actual volunteering I've volunteered a total of around 74-75 hours throughout this semester. By the end of this week though I'll have 6 more. I am tooting my own horn a little bit here, but it goes to show even though you have a part-time job, full-time education, you can still make time for volunteering. Volunteering has been mostly good and has kept me pretty entertained during the time I am volunteering, but hasn't had a real big good feeling on me. And it may not. I am not volunteering for the glory of men, or the glory of God really, just because its important to give back and I feel like I am doing that a little bit by getting a bunch of people money.



If you haven't got your taxes done yet and you need help doing them let me know SOON so I can do it with the software we have. This is the last week for VITA, although I'd still be happy to help you in general. Most likely you'll get a refund so it is beneficial to do your taxes.

Heather has been practicing and playing in a concert for the Orchestra at Temple Square and was gone pretty much all last week. I use to weigh 250 lbs. but now I only weigh 150 from lack of eating real meals. Thanks for cooking for me Heather!



We've been geocaching a fair amount when the weather is nice and went and saw "Monsters vs. Aliens in IMAX 3-d this past weekend which was enjoyable.



Other than that we have a bunch of fun picture we've never shown on this blog or elsewhere, but Heather's computer crashed which had all the pictures on it, and is still being worked on so hopefully real pictures on this blog soon instead of these google images.