Whoo hoo for 20 year olds!

Hello folks, I turned 20 on Saturday and so now I am no longer a teenager. How depressing. Now I have nothing to blame my stupidity or ignorance on. Oh well.

Thanks Mom and Dad for the delightful doggy card plus keychain. I just got it today from the post office and was pumped that I got a card at all. Thanks Morgan family--I look forward to reading a new book. I haven't done that in ages. I appreciate the texts and the love I got from other members of the family as well. You guys are the greatest!

I spent my birthday attending the family reunion in Park City, writing a talk for Sunday on families, and going to a friend's art show, as well as Home Depot for wood. It was a most unique day.

The family reunion was good, but I didn't know a ton of people there. I mostly am able to recognize my great uncles and my cousins, but most relatives seemed to know who I was, since I apparently look "just like Susan" which I don't mind at all. I like my mom :)

Ryan and I both got ambushed to speak earlier this past week so we were pretty prepared for Sunday when it was time for us to talk. Our topic was family and we were the only "official" speakers. The Bishop had a couple of youth get up (so it was like 2 minutes a piece) and talk about their respective camps they attended this past week. We got a lot of compliments so I suppose we did alright.

We went to Blue Adagio's art show in Provo and it was pretty cool. She had done a lot of awesome looking sculptures, and I liked how she had rigged up water to go through her artwork. She even said that Ryan and I could go to her studio before she has to move out of it and pick what we wanted since she didn't know what to do with the rest of her work. We'll get to have an artist's work displayed in our home. Cool huh?

Home Depot was a trip for lumber since Ryan wanted to build us a bookshelf. We bought the wood, some stain, brushes, and all of the necessary tools for us to build it. Ryan got to try out his Radial Arm Saw tonight by cutting the boards. So exciting!

Last of all, I got to try out a website called simpsonizeme.com. If I was on the Simpsons, I would look like this:

And if I was a teacher, I would look like this at Springfield Elementary:

The Latest

Okay, so it's not the super latest but it's better than nothing. We got a dog about a month ago off KSL. She's an Alaskan Malamute named April. We got her for FREE because she got hit by a car in February, and since she's a show dog her career was pretty much over. She's seven years old and the sweetest, nicest, friendliest dog I have ever met. She's about 70 pounds (probably rivaling me in weight) and will lick your face and hands dry. She's got the cutest smile and eyes. The best part is that since they're Alaskan Malamutes, they don't bark. They howl. She likes to howl at trains and occasionally the moon. She's a nut but she's my baby :) I give her doggy massages and she just loves them. Note: the dog below is not actually our dog. It's one I stole from the internet but she looks a lot like this dog. We'll have to post some pictures.

Next item of business, my brother Robert got married June 29th in Salt Lake to the most lovely girl. Her name is Beth and she fits right in. We're all pretty thrilled. Anyway, the whole fam was in town and of course it was a blast. A very tiring blast since we were moving into our house the same exact weekend. It was great though because it was the first time in years we got EVERYONE together. You try getting seven kids with spouses and children together in one place and see the luck you get.

Now for our house. We're working on finding renters for our basement to earn a little extra moola for the mortgage payments, which aren't too bad. We had two ladies who were going to live together sign a contract but were extremely flakey. I did not feel comfortable around them and wanted to dump them since they never showed up when they said they would. Both were on welfare, one on disability, and it was just getting crazy. Luckily, they broke contract (they were supposed to move in today but I think were having trouble coming up with the money) so now we're back to the drawing board. I think most people look for places on Mondays because we had hardly any calls during the later part of last week, but three since Monday. Hmm. So hopefully we'll have better luck this round. It should be easier finding tenants the next time because we can start looking while we have people already living there.

Just in case anybody has a fettish with apricots, we have a tree full of a fruit that neither Ryan or I enjoy. We have attempted various juices and beverages but they all to be frank, suck. So, if anyone like apricots, feel free to pick as many as you would like. Come on, you know you want to. Soon apples will be in season, and then pears. Hopefully they won't have worms in them since we haven't sprayed. Don't worry, the apricots are okay. We actually tried a few of those.

Last order of news, we bought a couple of couches off KSL for $180 that are a tan microfiber. The downside is that they have stains and dirt everywhere. So we have tried running the cushion covers in the washer and that seems to help, as long as you use only a little detergent, cold water, and use the air dry setting on the dryer. The difficult part is the rest of the couch since we can't put that in the washer. I have tried rubbing alcohol, water, and dish soap with little result. My boss at my custodial job recommended some rug doctor with a hand tool. Maybe we'll test that out. But we are open to any suggestions. Perhaps I shall ask the all powerful 100 Hour Board. Wonderful folks.

Other items of interest, on campus July 19th, all ice cream cones at the creameries and Sugar & Spice are only 50 cents to celebrate ice cream day. I"ll have to take them up on that offer. Also, Ryan and I celebrate our 7 month anniversary this week. Whoo-hoo! Good for us. Anyway, if you made it to the end of this extremely long note, go pat yourself on the back. Buy an ice cream cone. You'll feel better.

P.S. This is also on facebook so if you have that too and see a note there from me, it's the same thing. Except for the P.S. part.

P.P.S. The Simpsons movie comes out in 10 days. Whoo-hoo! Who will conquer, Homer or the Donut?

How much did the pirate pay to get his ears pierced? The answer: a buck an ear! (kneeslapper-Mom I hope you're laughing)

So...it's been a while kids. Ryan and I have been busy working like crazy. I have a second part time job where I basically do data entry but in a cut and paste fashion. Good fun. I signed a confidentiality agreement so I had better not tell you too much. All I can say is that I'm going through newspaper articles and assigning each story a number in a catalog system. I can't tell you what they're going to do with it though. In case it doesn't happen. Or something. My job sounds more secretive than Ryan's stint at being a Border Patrol agent. The fun part is reading the newspapers. They're from 1850 and mention my ancestor Jonathan Browning several times, especially in advertisements. Depending on what they do with it, I would like to have a personal copy for family history records. Good times.

Ryan and I are also in the process of buying a home. We found one in Springville we like, made an offer on, and are now waiting to see if our loan application will go through. We're pretty sure that it will but we don't want to take any chances. Here's a link http://www.utahrealestate.com/689413 that will hopefully work. You never know with them computers. We love the space the house has and the ability to turn it into a duplex. Then we can rent part of it out and go nuts. Meaning make money and pay off the house faster. We shall see. It's pretty exciting to plan out though. If all goes well we move in June 20th. Which is the day before our 6 month anniversary. More on anniversaries in the next paragraph. The house is also on a quarter acre of land. Ryan wants a malamute someday so we just put a gate at the end and we're set for a doggy.

Ryan and I have known each other a year this week. We met May 21st last year on Sunday, and the rest you all know, is history. May 21st also happened to be our 5 month anniversary. We've been married 5 months. It sure flies. And I've never regretted a day of it.

Anyway, I hope ya'll are getting out and enjoying some of the new flicks coming out. This is the month and year of threes. Spiderman 3 (it was okay, the singing and dancing took away from the action that the film provided), Pirates 3 (I don't even know the title of that one), and Shrek 3. I heard they missed the mark on Shrek, so it'll be Dollar Theater fun for me and Ryan later. I'm very excited for Bourne Ultimatum though. Maybe one of these days I'll read the books. As for Harry Potter, this is his 5th film, and I have yet to be really impressed with those films. The books are a million times better. I just wish the actors and sets could capture the jokes and intelligence the books have, instead of the actors wearing name brand clothing with their 70's hair cuts. (Sorry, I digress). The important thing is that they're trying and most people are satisfied. Wow. I am such a nerd. Good for me.

Anyway, toodle oo. I still have some TA quotes I've been meaning to post and send to the other students in my Bio lab but that hasn't happened yet. Eventually I suppose.

More from the funny side of life

I've got more from the craziest TA in existence. I would like all to enjoy them and laugh as much as I do in class, except you're not in class with me, so this is as good as it's gonna get folks. Happy Easter!

"I will fight you!"
"I say that we kill him."
"I'm the cool TA."
"La dee dah"
"Turn on!" (in a commanding godlike voice)
"I'm a thucker." (instead of thucker)
"Ugh! I hate it when my clothes fall apart!"
"Who's got the crocking roll!" (slams hand on podium)
"I don't think you're quite catching the drift."
"I would cut you for plagiarism."
"A very complicated factory down the downtown." (discussing DNA and RNA)
"Talk about how you feel about your paper, deep down inside."
"Patience. Patience. My good children."
"That's the money shot right there."
"No matter what the Fundamentalist Christians think." (about matter being created or destroyed)
Space-ghetto t-shirt on
"Might be useful if you want to feel special."
"Sugar. Delicious."
"Heavens to Betsy."
"We have a tyranny; a dark, dark tyranny over plants."
"I just watched a video on Japanese eating dolphins. It was beautifully gory."
"That is what DNA looks like in my crazy world."
"This is how it breaks with my power of breakage." (DNA)
uses the words "magic" and "crocking" to describe DNA and science
"My eyes sting because I didn't sleep."
"DNA makes your eye color blue, your ears grow weird, and your skin color weird."
"And those super powers you possess because you've been bitten by a radioactive spider."
"Can I get a hoo-ha?"
"Ahh! I killed it!" (marker tip goes into point/grip dealy)
"If not it would be all higgly-piggly."
"Meiosis, which was created by the good Lord to mess up you guys."
"They are both haploids and go through the blissful experience of life."
"If the sperm's got half and the egg's got half, let's get together yeah yeah yeah." (Parent Trap theme song)
"Homogeneous dominant." (Milk is homogeneous, not alleles)
"I have hay fever like mad."
"Final group paper of the thingy."
"It's Festivus! You have to fight for your freedom."
"I hate the Germans. I don't care what you say."
"Feel my disease." (sing-song voice)
"How in the devil."
"You're a metafemale."
"One of the x's sucked!" (sex chromosomes)
"Cuz Dad's sperm is shootin' blanks as far as that goes." (Turner's syndrome)
"They're dwarves. That's scary. Makes you never want to have kids."
"It's the Mormons!"
"Charlie!" (I think this one has something to do with Una Tonteria's youtube clip)
"My eyes hurt."
"Ha! I'm gonna jack you in the face!"
"Illustrate with words!"
"Share my disease." (perhaps has something to do with feel my disease as stated earlier?)

Maybe next time I'll have something besides TA junk. I only have one more week of classes! Yay! And I actually went to most of them this time!

TA ta for now!

I have a nutsy (is that a word?) TA for Biology 100 this semester and started a quote wall for him. In case none of you have heard of him (I would be surprised if I had), his name is Shawn Curtis. Nothing like sharing the dumb things one says over the internet with the world. I'll give you all I've got for now and maybe next week I'll have another installment.

"crackpot"
"diminish ranks"
"I guess that's the high and low here"
"Let's shall."
"...discuss to me"
"We are all a family deep deep down in our hearts."
"Use purple, it's better."
"We are the same height and that's neat!"
"Yes..." (beginning high pitched then descending low slowly)
"interweb" (later he said that's how all of the trendy kids say it; I replied to my peers, "meaning you?")
"My mom's Jo"
"mad tight"
"Why don't you hand it up to this chap?"
"Madam?"
"The hippies want you to think they're connected."
He wore a hoodie one day to class that said "DNA" and then underneath "Detroit Ninja Association
"This is new crap."
"They were fun cats."
"That bass messed me up inside." (musical, not fish)
"We're running on a shortage of staples here" (seeing the lack of staples on our packets of paper we were handing in)
"If it's spurious, then I'll come down like a hammer on you."
"Writing lab huh? That's cheating."
"We all die anyway of something." (sounds like something I'd say)
"Alright, b-r-b" (he actually said the letters)
"You have to pay a toll for me to hold this for you until next week."
"St. Simeon's Day." (Valentine's Day/Single Awareness Day-he called it St. Simeon's Day. What the...?)
"Let's get a little drama goin'."
"You can mix religion with it and go crazy."
"They all have sugar cane running up their armpits."
"Make sure it's scientific and not whacko hippie"
"That would be fun. Funner."
"Ah man. That guy's rad."
"Good. That's how we do things in Mother Russia."
"Chop-chop slaves."
"Slowy-McSlow Pants."
"What does your heart tell you?"
"Feel the picture."
"It's tragic, really."
"Alright folks" (follks, extra l-ness)"
"Hi chaps."
"Pretty sexy, no?"
"Hollistic way of learning."
"...cronking."
"prothesis" (process plural)
I love you sign language symbol without thumb to explain a point
"That's dodgy."
"Merman father merman"
"I would be honored" (pronouncing the "h")
"Fail him!" (slow goat voice laugh)
"The peas! The peas! I've got all the peas!" (ended up that he was quoting some website dealy)

That's all for now folks. May you be quoting his weirdness all day. And he wonders why he can't find a girlfriend.

Combos

Inspired by Pink Emmers, I have recently learned that before I was married, fifteen people shared my name, and with my new name, a mere three. Whoo hoo for being unique! That is quite an achievement in my case.

So if any of you watch tv as much as I do, you will notice that TGIF has a three course combo meal for $12.99. So Ryan and I went and tried it out. It definitely was great and it gave you your moneys worth with actual appetizers, believe it or not. And then Applebees decided that since that was a great idea, they'd like to try it to. So their commercials state that they have three course combo meals as well, starting at $9.99. So you think that you're getting a better deal because it is starting at $9.99. So we went to Applebees a few days back to test out their combo powers and they lost. Their appetizer was a couple of pieces of toasted bread and some dipping sauce. It was alright, I guess. And then the meal I chose was $12.99 anyway, so it was the same price as TGIF. This is starting to sound like a Ryan rave. I guess it's my way of trying to educate the world to get a better deal.

And now McDonalds is copying Wendys on the Dollars menu. I guess imitation is the highest form of flattery.

I'll have more flower pictures next time folks, don't you worry.

Floral Arrangement plus a hair cut

I have informed everyone of my choosing to take the floral design class, I believe, and this is my first bouquet that I have ever made. The teacher is great and the class is really interesting. Everytime I go to that class or my Anthropology class, I think that my mom would love to take these classes, which is kind of funny. Anyway, my teacher was telling us that what we would be making that day would be worth about $30 or so. Pretty cool huh? And all I paid was tuition, the price of the book, and a $90 lab fee. And I get to keep the flowers. All I have to say is that it's fun.

I also got a hair cut which Ryan loves and it's really cute. I went to Command Performance again, and the girl had been married about a month as well who cut my hair. Except the week she got married, it was Christmas, her grandmother died, there was a funeral and her wedding. The good this is that she's a lot like me and she didn't want a ton of attention on herself anyway, so it all turned out for the best. Yesterday as I was looking at myself in the mirror, I was just reminded of my mom a lot for some reason. I know perfectly well that I am turning into my mom, so I might as well embrace it.

Have a nice Sabbath folks, and make good choices!

Getting to know him all over again

My brother Jon is coming home from his mission in Carlsbad, California on the 31st of this month. Which means that since today is the 26th, he will be home in about four days. How exciting! I wish he were stopping in Provo to say hi to the siblings, but I don't think that's going to happen. I really hope that he gets to come to school here in the spring because then we would actually have a chance to get to know him all over again.

We didn't get along really at all before he went on his mission. I love him very much, of course, but I thought he was immature and so was I. Looking back, we were both punks, to say the least. We have both grown a lot and it will be interesting to get to know each other as new people. He has never met Ryan and will get to talk to him on the phone and to see a ton of pictures of us at home in Chicago, I'm sure. He'll have to catch up on all of the latest music and movies, as well as adjust to the cold. He can check out girls without guilt, start playing the euphonium again, and make money. He'll have to see how disappointing it is to observe what his high school friends have made out of their lives, and to see how important the gospel is.

I know this because I have had two other brothers serve their missions, and when they get back it's really exciting but it's like talking to a stranger that you know is your friend and that you're related to. I got to bond with Joe through the Simpsons when he would get back from work at 10 o'clock at night, and Compulsive Indecision with weekly Devotionals and the occasional lunches/dinners. I don't know how Jon and I are going to have that kind of relationship, sad as that is to say. Maybe I'll just have to hook him up with some of my old roommates. They're all cute and one of them has this thing for guys named John/Jon/Jonathan, though she's got a missionary out named Phil.

I think part of this is that I feel that I have nothing to offer him as a person. He has grown a ton spiritually and maybe filled out a little bit physically as well. I have a tv and movies, but so does Una Tontaria. I have a computer but so do my other siblings. I guess I don't have anything that can draw him into my life so I feel like I won't have a chance to get to know him, especially since I'll be moving to Arizona later this year.

I want to be the one to introduce him to campus, to get him a cell phone, to help him find a campus job, to help him find housing, but I don't think that I am necessarily the best one to help him, since most of the stuff I had interest in or appreciated he thought was gay. But that was two years ago. And now I've got a truck. Ha. Beat that.

Anyway, those are my impeding thoughts on the subject regarding Jon. I love him dearly and I hope he figures out what he wants to do in life. It's taken me long enough to find my own path and I wish him luck on his.

School and Life and Ryan

Another year has started, another season of 24 has begun as well. This indicates the start of a new school semester. I have five classes thus far, Russian Choir (of course), Biology (oh how I have been dreading this course), Doctrine and Covenants, LDS Marriage and Family, and Floral Design. I just added Floral Design, which my roomate last semester took and really liked it. I have heard good things about it so I looked online yesterday and found that they had a few openings for the time slot I desired. I emailed the professor and she told me all the information for the Add card. However, since she didn't have any classes on Friday or Monday, she just told me to sign it with her name. I have yet to meet this teacher. But I think the flowers will make a welcome change to my basement apartment. They'll be nice to have when Ryan's gone so that I have something to brighten my day.

Ryan and I are doing well. It's fun to do things together, like go to the store, or watch a movie, or eat dinner. He even comes with me to my evening LDS Marriage and Family class. I love him every day. Especially when he does such nice things for me, like the laundry or cook me dinner. Who wouldn't love the person doing those things anyway?

The sixth season of veinte y cuatro is underway. We like to watch it at Una Tontaria's home with their projector and with a group of people. It's exciting so far. I think it's interesting how far Jack Bauer's character has come and to notice the changes in his personality from season to season.

Date night's coming up. I asked Ryan if I could plan the date and he said to tell him what it is first so that he doesn't have to do something gay. So here's what we had in mind. He said that he could get coupons for Doc's Pizza Buffet at work, so I think we'll do that and then if there's anything good at the friendly neighborhood dollar theater, then I think that we'll catch that. Seriously. And maybe even good times will be had by all.

Anyway, so that's what's been going on lately with the Que Sera family. There are challenges, but if you take them a day at a time, a challenge at a time, then all will be well. At least that's what I have learned thus far. And pray always. And make good choices. And it's now optional to be nice to dogs. The end. I love you guys. At least whoever is reading this. Yup.

Happy Old Year!

I think it's funny that no one ever celebrates or evaluates the old year that just passed. Instead they just pretend to have tons of new goals since they haven't messed up the new year yet. That's all I've got to say about that folks.

This is my seventieth post since I began being bloggolicious. It's all good fun for all. I think. I start work again tomorrow, which I am not really looking forward to. It's a monotonous job but the money is kind of nice. And I know that I'll be bored out of my mind and actually doing a small percentage of productive work. Usually they had us cleaning things during last year that we had just cleaned or whatever. Again, not very productive. I'd much rather be spending time with my husband. I could've taken all of break off but I felt bad because no one was going to be there to work. It's also nice because I can pick up a few extra hours.

Ryan and I are almost all moved into our apartment. Just a few more boxes to sort through and then organize. We've got a storage area furnace room which is great for boxes and luggage. So we kind of have shoved a lot of empty boxes in there. I'm a bit hesitant to throw them away since we'll be moving to Arizona sometime this new year and it would be nice to have the box it came in to store it in during the move. At least that's my logic.

And here's a picture of me and my new hubby on our wedding day. Good times.

Ryan and I are also extremely addicted to 24. We got the first season from Ryan's sister, Wendy, and have been watching between one and four episodes a day. It's pretty bad how addicted we are.

So that's the gist of that. During 2006, I have gone on my first date, gotten my first kiss, my first boyfriend, my second boyfriend, my first break-up, and lots of other firsts. I've seen the ocean, gone to Las Vegas, and have grown a ton as a person. And now I'm married. Whoo hoo! D'oh. Anyway, that's a very short summary of my life this year. If you want more details, there's something called a blog archive that will lead you back to my past escapades. So overall, it's been a very fulfilling year. The end.