If you are anything like me and grew up loving any and all opportunities to immerse yourself in a world where you become the character of the book you are reading, you should read this book. Other than the fact that it is a "self-help/life lessons" book with really good advice, it is a fascinating look into the lives of the women who wrote their own lives into the heroines of their books. Every chapter made me realize how much I inhaled the books I read and how I learned from the stories in them.

Seriously read it. It's short, so you don't really have a good excuse not to. :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

It's our 1/2 birthday!

"We" are 6 months old!

The way it is supposed to be.

I'm a world class worrier. One of the best, in fact. 

Last week-ish (maybe a bit more) I was sitting on the floor of a building at BYU. It was light when I got there, dark when I left. And I had that weird feeling in my stomach. The nervous, uneasy feeling not unlike how I used to feel before an exam. I tried to ignore it but of course, I let it get to me. 


Kind of like last night, where I had really strange dreams and woke myself up and tried to ignore it as I hoped sleep would come back over me. 


That type of ignoring doesn't work so well. Mostly it was all about how I was just going to up and quit my job. Without having one lined up, and only having a few interviews and after sending out hundreds (okay, maybe only one hundred) resumes. And I let that worry kind of consume me. I thought about it A LOT. 


Thursday was my last day. Friday I spent sleeping in and looking for stuff for our Halloween costumes, and partying -- Ignoring the fact that I was unemployed. Or at least trying to.


Sunday came and during primary and RS, I thought a lot about how we didn't know what we were going to do for money. As I was thinking about this, the thought came to me that everything was going to be okay because we paid/pay our tithing. I have never had any hesitation about paying tithing. I try to recognize the fact that everything I have in my life is a blessing from the Lord, and I am more than willing to give back to him. PLUS, when I give back to him, he just gives me more and more. Who wouldn't want that?? And I have had that thought come to me a few times before, usually when I was worrying about something - go figure... So I paid our tithing on Sunday.


 And I very very very strongly, strongly, STRONGLY believe I was blessed with a job on Monday. I am so so grateful for my testimony. I am grateful for prayer. I am grateful for the need to turn to the Savior. I am grateful for the experiences I had growing up that led me to develop and strengthen my testimony. It even talks about this in my patriarchal blessing. 


I think a testimony and worry have an inverse relationship. The stronger my testimony (the more faith I have, the more I trust the Lord, the more I put His will before mine), the less I worry. There is such an innate sense of peace when you know that even though you have no idea what is going to happen, the Lord does, and everything is going to work out the way it is supposed to.

Halloween

My family is hilarious.

This picture came up on my newsfeed today and I started dying with laughter when I saw it.

Oh man. So sad I missed out on being part of this....

The kids in primary are so stinkin' cute! Every other Sunday I am in primary and I can't help but laugh almost the whole time. They say the most nonsensical things. And as much as we try to simplify things for them, somehow a few things are just over their head.

My favorites are the two boys, Hayden and Jack (ages 3 and 4). They pretty much are hilarious. We asked Hayden what one blessing is that we get from going to the temple. And he just held up his hand and said "5. 5 temples. And I was Woody for Halloween." haha

I'm not quite sure where he was going with that but it makes me laugh every time.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Lazy day.

BYU football has a bye week =  lazy day for us.
I think I got a good 10 hours of sleep today.
And then we've kinda just hung out. The weather isn't so fun so my idea of golfing got rained out.
We've watched a couple movies, I took a catnap, and the Real game was disappointing.
AND we are having grilled cheese and tomato soup for dinner. (Well, I am. David thinks pizza and tomato soup will be a good combination. ??) I think it's the best rainy day food. SO yummy!

I am grateful for sleeping in(!), slow days, and laughter. Being married to your best friend makes for some great days.

Who you gonna call?

Today is pre-Halloween.

I think whenever a holiday is on a Sunday, Utah decides to boycott this by celebrating all weekend long. (4th of July, Halloween....)

We are going to the ward party as ghostbusters! I found a jumpsuit at DI for $6. And then add some old boxes spray painted black, tubing and flashlights from walmart and we have packs! I think it would be nice to hold on to these for a couple years because they are so easy to throw together. AND they don't require face-paint. That stuff only makes me want to touch my face even more.

I am grateful for holidays, yummy food, good friends and fun basketball games. 

One month until Thanksgiving

I am so, so very grateful for a loving, forgiving husband who loves me no matter how much I frustrate/disappoint/infuriate/annoy him  make things difficult. 

 I am grateful he is crazy and adventurous enough to go jump out of a plane with me.

 I love that he is so goofy (You know you are, babe.)

Day 1: I'm grateful for someone who loves me for me and grateful that I get eternity with him.

Tuesdays could be better. (part two)

Oct. 19.

Work went okay (after many not-so-fun days, I finally had a good one). I got tons of stuff done (then promptly ran out of things to do and was bored). Plus, the thought of going to the REAL game kept me stoked for the end of the day. We've been planning this for awhile, didn't go to the game on Saturday because of it, and even invited Stephen, who kindly said he would get our dinner for us.

Fast forward to the end of the work day. I take David the second half of my (free) sandwich from lunch, then go home to research how to make my computer stop overheating, watch a little Bones and fold some laundry.
Our basement doesn't really let my phone get service. For some reason, HIS works, but mine doesn't. There have already been issues with me NOT getting phone calls because my phone is just plain weird. So, I figured I would put it in the spot that usually lets calls to me come through.

And normally, I check my phone like 20 times during the 2 hours I'm waiting for David to be done TAing. I should have checked it last night. But I didn't. I assumed he would maybe get out a little early, but lately the class has been going almost the whole time. At 6:20, I get stuff together that we would need for the game, especially a JACKET for me. I grab my phone and am about to walk out the door to go pick David up so we can leave for Rio Tinto. My phone rings as soon as I walk out the door. I answer it and hear "I've called you 29 times." He's just around the corner from home and we were supposed to pick Stephen up 20 minutes ago from Costco with our dinner! We get in the car and on the way to Costco, I get on my facebook app and see that the game is SOLD OUT.  They always post stuff like "Hurry and get your tickets, because they're going fast" but we have gone to games where they say this and there will be a ton of seats. So we kind of ignored this earlier. I call the ticket office to verify - "yeah, we only have about 50 standing room only tickets left. $25 each, no vouchers". 
Sad day. We've been looking forward to this game for weeks. And now there are no more home games left.

We picked up Stephen and went home to watch the Yankees (lose, unfortunately). The Rangers have definitely outplayed them this series. And then we semi-watched Real crush Cruz Azul 3-1 on the computer. With our back up players. That's a nice feeling.....


I am definitely going to miss going to the games. We got so lucky with the student "season pass" deal. And I definitely did not plan on missing 29 phone calls AND the Real game.

BUT THEN, I got a call from an RM. Fresh off the mission. So nice to hear his voice.
I'm glad my brother's home.
So all in all, not what I expected. But good.

Tuesdays could be better. (part one)

My last two Tuesdays haven't turned out like I planned. Tuesday numero uno:

(Did you know it is illegal to earn a paycheck in Utah without having a Utah license? A federal guard told me that over the summer when I applied for a government job in SLC. I had no idea I'd been doing something illegal for 4 years. Students are an exception, I thought....)

Oct. 12, I went to get my Utah license. (Weird feeling. I've lived in Utah for 4 years, with only a couple summers away, but it never felt official until they punched those 2 holes in my NY license. Sad day. My blonde license picture is gone....Maybe that's a good thing). They gave me the run-around the first 2 places I went, even after I googled the correct way to change my license in Utah.

Then, I get to the right place in the boonies of Orem and I have maybe 45 minutes to get it done before it closes at 6. However, they had a little confusion when I told them that I was changing my name AND my state. Normally, people do one or the other. Took them a little longer to figure out what to do with me. Luckily, I brought every single piece of paper I needed - in a cute folder with sparkly flowers, nonetheless. :)

I didn't have to wait very long before my number was called. I go up to the desk and the man asks for all my stuff. He goes through the whole "name-change"/"state-change" application stuff, then notices that I have a motorcycle license (thanks to my wonderful father who encouraged me to get one so I could drive his scooter and motorcycle around!) in addition to the regular license. (Note: apparently, motorcycle licenses in UT are "endorsements". NY has them as a whole other class of license. That's why he didn't notice. AND THEN, he assumes I'm applying for a motorcycle license. That's where all the problems started.) 

We go through the "name-change"/"state-change" process again. Yay. Then, you are required to take the written exam. (oh boy.) Because he assumed I was applying for the motorcycle part, I had to take that one too. I passed the standard one, easy peasy - especially because they let you use the handbook on the test!

Then they make me take the motorcycle one (I later found out that was a mistake on their part). Unfortunately for me, they put all of UTAH's motorcycle permit rules on the test. HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THOSE????? I know all the motorcycle rules. BUT how am I supposed to know how long you need a motorcycle permit for in Utah?? I already HAVE a license. So, you have to get an 80% to pass. I got a 75% because I messed up on their random questions. LUCKILY for me, you can take it twice in a visit. 

So I go chat with the lady at the testing desk. She tells me I can retake it and that she'll set it up. I go sit down and start the test again. Except it's the WRONG test. She made me retake the standard - which I had previously gotten 100% on. Please understand how confused I was when there were NO motorcycle-related questions being asked. I go talk to her again. She apologizes profusely, and sets up the motorcycle one. I still miss questions, but I passed (after checking the answers after I "failed" the other one.

Next stop, testing lady again (by this point, it is 5:55 and every other clerk is closing down their area). There were 2 people ahead of me, and they got through pretty quickly. I get up to the desk and she again apologizes, then proceeds to tell me how to schedule my road test. WAIT, WHAT? Due to the man who helped me the first time, she is now telling me I can't have my motorcycle license until I test. WHICH I ALREADY DID IN NY. It took them another good 5 minutes to figure out that I already had it. 

Then they printed me one of these:

(I greyed out areas so no one can steal my temporary identity.)

 And then, I was done. And I drove home and I don't remember what I did for the rest of the night. (I meant to write about this last week, I even put it in my planner, and then promptly forgot until now.)

A not-so-fun Tuesday.
BUT, I now have an official UTAH license. Yay!

Buddies.

Do any of you ever go to a store and always see the same people there?

I do.

Regardless of what time of day I go (usually anywhere between 4:45 and 10:30 - that's a pretty big time frame, I know), I always seem to see the same people. And I'm not talking about you running into the same person in different aisles of the store when you go there once. I'm talking about every time you go, you see them. There are 3 people I see. Sometimes they rotate who has what day, but I see them all pretty frequently (as frequently as you can go to a grocery store and see people). It is surprisingly fun to see "familiar" people at the store.


 In my head, I call them my grocery store buddies (who even uses that word anymore??) now, even though they don't know that. Sometimes, when I remember I have to go to the store, I think about what I'm supposed to remember to buy. And then, inevitably, I wonder if I will see one of my buddies at the store. Maybe one day we will say hi to each other like old friends.

I've decided I like seeing familiar faces at the grocery store. Or anywhere I go, as a matter of fact. Does anyone else want to be my [grocery] buddy ?

A new member of the family.

So we have been thinking about this for a couple weeks and we finally made a big decision last night. I am now happy to introduce the newest member of our family:

* pictures courtesy of the guy who posted it on KSL

We are picking it up tonight as soon as I get off work!
I am so happy that we don't have to deal with making this decision anymore!!!

The relief is oh-so-sweet.

Stats

1) Blogger has a whole new page devoted to stats about your blog. Kinda interesting to look at. Apparently my blog has been viewed a total of 1,125 times - of which I'm sure 1000 are from me checking to make sure I didn't spell anything wrong or hit enter too many times.

2) My parents are leaving TOMORROW for here:

They will be gone for almost 2 weeks. And they are leaving as 2, but coming back as 3.



3) I check the clock approximately 1000 times to see if it gets any closer to it being time to go home.

4) The average high school graduate makes approximately $30K a year. I'm a college graduate and I make much, much less than that. Which is kind of depressing when I think about the student loans I have to pay back.

5) Also, mint.com is really an interesting site. I think we are going to start using it to help keep a budget.

Dreaming.

JetBlue has $79 each way tickets to JFK today.
My heart is begging me to purchase them

--- because we all know new york city is way more fun than work any day.

Oh, to be able to take the overnight here.... I wish.



I'm a bad photographer

When we went to Jackson Hole, the boys decided to go crazy and raft down a smaller river that didn't really have tons of water in it. We watched them go through the toughest part, Snaggletooth. Here's the play by play (please excuse my finger that is in almost every shot):






















So much for my future photography career...

Birthday party

So we went to a birthday party for Kristen a couple weeks ago. Not a normal one. A water balloon party. Except there was a catch. It wasn't water in the balloons. It was PAINT.
Kristen has more pictures but here's the ones from my phone:



I got blue paint everywhere. I looked like a smurf!



David got a full one in the back.
We just went to DI and bought old clothes for like $3.


This was David's. It was almost a bummer to paint it.

Afterward, we all went to the mall still covered in paint and had birthday cake!

Then we went home and changed our brake pads. Fun, huh?

As promised....

Here are the pictures of my curtains.

 Here is what the pattern looks like close-up:

LIVING ROOM!
* So the blinds on the window are kind of old and very not-white. So we made a little covering that can come off if we ever want to actually look out of the window and we just pulled the blinds up out of the way. (We attached it with velco.) Oh and the little ties that hold it back are attached with velcro too.

I am quite happy with them. They won't fit any other windows because ours are the weirdest sizes, so when we have to move out of this apartment, I'm getting the feeling I will be sad to not be able to use them anymore. I'm already attached. 

Chinese cravings.

Remember what I said about having a hard time figuring out what to make for dinner? Well, after perusing the world wide web for ideas, sometimes I come home and start making stuff and make Mr. Bean guess what we are having. The first two times he got it SO fast. I was flabbergasted. For example, the first time I did it I was making chicken nuggets (NOT THE FREEZER KIND. THE HOMEMADE KIND) and he STILL guessed it.

I finally stumped him on my third try. I made delicious sesame noodles. YUM. Oh man. One of the best parts about these noodles is that you can use any  kind of noodle. Which means I DON'T have to make spaghetti with all the TONS of angel hair pasta I have. I would rather make this any day. Spaghetti is not my favorite, sorry.

Last friday, we had a chinese dinner (mongolian beef, sweet and sour chicken and sesame noodles, with a little bit of rice on the side). It was scrumptious! Especially now that we have figured out how to make everything spicey! (THANK YOU red hot chili oil!)  I took pictures. If you ever want some, we would be more than happy to make it for you.....I will always gladly eat Chinese food.

I would like some more please. 

Actually, now that I think about it, there might be some noodles left in the fridge. 

I'm going to go search for them.

The benefits of having a whiteboard as your wall.

One nice thing about having whiteboards as your walls means that you can do a practice o-chem test without wasting any paper. To prep for test numero uno, that's what Mr. Bean did. And then he had me check his work and correct it if wrong (which he rarely is...).  Pretty much just like taking an o-chem test on the wall.

It is also beneficial to practice writing the titles of the D&C sections when you have a quiz. Again, simulation on the wall. (They are still up there right now because I've been too lazy to go find the 409 and wipe it off.)

But one of the best things about having a whiteboard is when you go to sleep in the morning, wake up and drive your husband to school, come home and then, as you are getting ready to walk out the door, notice this on the walls (I really did walk past it twice without realizing it at all.):

There was writing on every section of the walls in the living room. I didn't notice. I fell asleep faster than he did the night before, and apparently he couldn't sleep so he decided to write on the walls. I felt silly that I walked past it twice and didn't even look at the walls. And at first, I was confused because I only saw the word "love" on the wall by the door, but the Chinese character for love isn't the one that is under it (apparently chinese sentence structure is different.....of course.) And then I slowly spun around the room. It really was like a bright light just turned on over my head when I noticed.

It was definitely one of the best things to start the morning with.

We went on vacation.

So in between getting a new job, moving into a new place, and starting school, we took a little trip up north to a place called Jackson Hole. We went with the other Beans and camped and had a great time. We rafted down the river and got pictures (for free!) with Andrew's cousin Jason (hilarious!). We even jumped off a cliff along the way, but we don't have pictures of that.

And I'm realizing now that all these pictures look the same..... sorry! I guess when you float down a river, get past some rapids, then get out and hike back up to before the rapids just so you can get through them again you'll end up with the same pictures.

I forgot to get a picture of the most important part - the chocolate, marshmallow banana boats we made for dessert! Soooo delicious. Gooey chocolately banana goodness. Camping could not get better.

I wish I could go on vacation again.

A few things....

1) I tried to post repeatedly on Sunday. From my iphone, from the computer. Got no lovin' from either. So, I will try again later. (It was the pictures that messed me up! But, that's the only thing people care about, so I was trying to put them up.)

2) We sold our car. Goodbye, memories! :(  And goodbye to $60 fill-ups, random break downs on off-ramps, weird lights, expensive new tires, and the weirdest car alarm system ever. Hello to RADIO!, new cars, less worry (and yet, more worry) and exciting new things!

3)Group FHE is fun when you all go to dinner together! PLUS, the Mt. Olympus burger was surprisingly good. I would like to thank Red Robin for their $5 burger secret. Your bottomless fries fill me up.

4) I finished my curtains. But haven't taken pictures yet. Soon. I promise.

5) We have one wall that refuses to hold our pictures!! They have fallen down probably 8 or 9 times. The glass is gone now and they still won't stay up. I have no idea what to do.

6) We started talking about how we want to go to San Francisco next summer (after a Yosemite trip?) and I am itching for winter to be here already so that spring can come and go, and then it will be summer and then we can go!

7) Somehow last night, I ended up on the couch. I have no clue how I got there, but I brought a pillow and blanket with me. I woke up a few times, and realized I was on the couch but didn't do anything about it. And then somehow I woke up again in my bed. Not quite sure what happened or what I was dreaming about.

8) Does anyone else struggle over what to make for dinner? I think I have this problem every day. Every once in awhile I have a bright moment and a brilliant idea, but 95% of the time, I am clueless. If it was up to me and I didn't feel bad about making the hubby do this, I would probably just eat sandwiches every night.

9) I have scanned over 600 pictures at work. Are they work-related? NOPE. Are they my pictures? NOPE. Am I okay with this? Most of the time because it gives me something to make it until 4:30.

 10) If you made it through this post, you are wonderful. You will be rewarded with pictures soon. I PROMISE.

I have a new brother.

Specifically a Brother XL-2600 - a sewing machine. It was a semi spur-of the-moment decision. All the reviews were really good and it was pretty cheap compared to others that I've looked at - even on KSL/Craigslist. I've been looking for a little bit, but never seriously. Then on Sunday night, I ordered it and it came on Wednesday! AND, get ready for this........ I've already used it!

We went to JoAnn's last night to get some fabric for our much-needed curtains. And I'm kind of really  excited to show you what they look like. Especially our bedroom curtains. I think the pattern is so cute! Not what I was planning on getting at all, but after about 2 minutes of deliberation, we decided we liked it and that it did indeed match, and NOW, I'm halfway done with the curtains.

Oh man. I'm excited for the sheer potential I have now.(And I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to have an allowance for crafts so I don't go wild and spend tons on them.) Like I said, makes me want a baby so I can make cute things for it! 

Babies.

I dream a lot about babies - which you think would be my subconscious telling me that I really do want to "grow large with child", when, in fact, I would really really REALLY like to put that off for some time. So, I'm not really understanding these dreams.  I'm not looking forward to the stress or the missed sleep because I know it's not all sunshine and rainbows when it comes to children.
But yet, I know multiple adorable pregnant women. And although I know it's completely absurd, the jealousy/coveting begins. I want one too. I want a baby I can call my own and not have to give back. A baby who can change my life forever (not to mention getting me out of working!). A baby that is a part of me.

Then, here comes Elizabeth Stone who sums it up succinctly for me: "Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body."

And I know I'm not ready. Not ready to let go of my heart. I want to keep it safe for a little while longer. Someday, I think I will be ready to be a mother and let part of my heart go. But not yet. Someday.


BUT
that didn't stop me from getting one of these for free yesterday (I paid for shipping only!):

Picture from here. (And thanks Jessi for the promo code!)

And it is going into storage right away.

Time well wasted.

Our bank lets you personalize your debit/credit card for free.

Guess who spent an hour yesterday picking out a picture?
That's right. ME.
I'm actually pretty stoked.
AND if they turn out as fabulously as I'm hoping/wishing/thinking they will, I will have to do the other card. I picked this picture:

And I am SO excited to have a white credit card. It's probably the unhealthy kind of excitement.

They come in one week!

happy day

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my little brother.
Although little is not quite the appropriate term.
He comes home in 24 (give or take a couple) days!

This was my last day of high school. He pretty much looks the same. I think I look... naive. haha

I'm hungry now.

So, I made scrumptious food yesterday. And I can't really take any credit for it.


Dinner: the most delicious tomato-cream sauce on penne. (From here.) SUPER easy to make and incredibly delicious. Hello, there is cream in there! Of course it is to die for! It's in my lunchbox for today and I honestly don't think I can wait until noon to eat it. Maybe I'm over exaggerating about how good it was because I was starving by dinner time last night, but it was so incredibly satisfying. My mouth is watering right now. This is what it looked like (minus the basil) (also from the link above):

Dessert: Chocolate and Caramel Apple Pie Galette. (From here.) OH MAN. Usually, I have a hard time loving apple pie - mostly because apples aren't my favorite fruit. But holy smokes. AMAZING. This was so good. And it is also in my lunchbox. I would have taken a picture of mine except we forgot to bring our camera in from outside and it spent the night in the yard (not even our yard - our neighbor's!) But it looks like this (also from the link above):

Lunch time can't come soon enough.