Let's just say it moved me...to a bigger house!

I know, I know. It's been months and months since my last blog post. Ryan and I have decided that with two incomes and the small likelihood of social security being around when we would need it, to move into a new home. We have been working to build up our savings the last several months to put in a large down payment. We were looking at an unfinished home in Springville for a while, but with the time frame the sellers wanted and the daunting task of getting contractors and materials, we opted to look at already finished homes. We did our research at utahrealestate.com, put in our price range and square footage, and began viewing homes.

The first one we viewed was on Halloween--it was a large home in Springville. We toured it and were impressed with the first floor. That feeling ended when we went to the second floor, then the basement. The craftsmanship was shoddy at best. Here's an example of a theme throughout the house:



I'm not quite sure why they didn't just shift the switch when building, or select a smaller door frame, but that was the result.

We looked at several others that looked good on paper and in photo, but the actual result was usually disappointing or not as expected. I learned to view the pictures as the highlights, then view the price and ask myself, "What are the real problems we aren't seeing?" And a walk-through usually took that house off the list. Here are a few fails from various homes that were not featured in the photos in the listing:

This was in the front room of a house in Elk Ridge:



The steps to nowhere:



This was in the basement of a house in Lehi: (the tube was coming out of finished dry wall into the middle of the hallway floor)



This was from a huge home in Provo; it had a sauna but it also was half-finished (the bathroom didn't have a ceiling):



This was a note about a porch in Highland:


And then we found our dream home, in Alpine, Utah. It's 6700 square feet, 8 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, a nice kitchen, half an acre lot, 3 car garage, and it's got 2 fireplaces. Like I said, our dream home. There's nothing unfinished or really strange. The layout is great, and so as styles change, you can update without it seeming dated. Here are some photos:











We plan to close at the end of January, and to rent out the rest of our home in Springville. Hopefully by the time we get both homes paid off, we can retire and enjoy receiving the rental income from our Springville home. :)

Quality Church Video

I know I haven't posted for a while but I have found one of my favorite Church videos via "the Board." The Phone Call has reminded me of an early Napoleon Dynamite, so I am hoping that this is enjoyed by that fan base as well. Here is a link!

http://www.mefeedia.com/entry/the-phone-call-an-lds-film-classic/14163735

You know you like it:) Now laugh!

I am tired of unpleasant breakfast surprises

So, yesterday I was having my usual breakfast, hot chocolate and toast. I tear each piece of bread in half, dip it in my hot chocolate and eat it. Then when my bread it done, I sip my hot chocolate away. When I was taking my last gulp at the bottom of the mug, I felt something a bit crunchy and chunky in my mouth. I got out a napkin and spit it out, to find that there was a dead and blackened wasp in my mouth! Gross!!! I was definitely a little freaked out. It wasn't in my mug that I got out before I poured milk, and I am really hoping it wasn't in the milk. It concerns me how the wasp got into its blackened state—in the microwave? I thought it might have flown into my cup while I was grabbing Juneau to take him back inside for his noise outside. Either way, it was not an experience I wished to repeat. Then, this morning, I was carefully looking in my milk and other places for unwelcome insects. All seemed to be well until I looked at the surface of my hot chocolate mug and saw something floating. Gathering up my courage to face the gross unknown, I took my spoon and lifted it up. Turned out to be a piece of foil. Now that was a real puzzle to me, because there is no foil in the NesQuick or milk, at least not usually. I am just worried about what I will find in tomorrow's breakfast.

Now Ryan is in Ireland, the land of the leprechauns

Ryan is in Cork, Ireland. Word on the street is that there really are as many pubs as are stereotypically related to the Irish, and for it being an English speaking country, Ryan is only training one native English speaker. Ryan is also annoyed that the sun doesn't set until 10:30 pm. It has also been as rainy there as it has been in Utah this past week.

That's the short version. He is going to be gone until either this next Saturday or the Saturday after. It all depends on if he has to go to France on a side trip to their Louis Vuitton client. That's all for me.

Ryan's flight

In what I hope is the first of many interesting blog entries to come, today I’ll be writing about flying to India. Later, we’ll write about what it’s actually like in India—the food, the traffic, the security, the Florida-like atmosphere of equal parts humidity and warmth. On Friday, I got onto an airplane in Salt Lake City at 11:10AM. I had to pass through security (for those of you keeping track at home, this is trip 1 through security), show my passport and visa, and get on the flight. I arrived in Chicago at 3:15PM (Chicago time), and hurried to meet my father-in-law Doug in the unsecure area; I enjoyed a sub sandwich, something I already find myself sorely missing. That done, it was off to the international terminal, where I passed through security yet again (second time) and got on a flight at 5PM bound for Paris.

Luckily enough, Air France seems to know how to do on-board meals (at least on flights from the States to the EU), so it was a fairly comfortable flight. Air France also serves alcohol free of charge to all on board, including those in coach; between the other 3 people on my row, just under a dozen airline size bottles of wine were consumed. And then, around 8AM Saturday morning, French time, the plane lands. We get an interesting tour of the countryside on a bus (apparently the jetways weren’t working at Charles de Gaulle air port that morning, and everyone was being bussed around) as it delivers us to our gate. We have to hurry to get to our connecting flight. This means yet another trip through security (third time around). Somehow, I managed to set off the metal detector this time around, so it’s time for frisking and wanding. They don’t find anything and I manage to avoid setting off the wand, so I collect all of my various belongings and rush to catch the plane.

By the way, EVERY time I went through security, I had to use up 4 of those bins they hand out—1 for my personal laptop, 1 for my work laptop, 1 for my carry-on backpack, and 1 for my belt, shoes, ring, wallet, passport, pen, and jacket. I’m still trying to figure out what exactly triggered the detector in France, as I was able to pass
through security in Chicago and SLC without any difficulty. My personal laptop, an 11-pound Itronix that is made of magnesium and titanium, drew great interest wherever it went through security, but luckily nobody asked me to disassemble it or anything.

So, off to Bangalore we go. This flight is leaving at 10AM and is scheduled to arrive at just after midnight Sunday morning. The food served on this flight was atrocious. Again, lots of free booze flowing. The flight arrives at Bangalore without incident, and by some miracle all of my luggage made it and the flight was on time. I’ve never been on a flight where both of these things were true
(timeliness and luggage, that is).

Now, the final airport hurdle—we have to clear customs and immigration. This is actually a two-step procedure; prove you have a passport, a valid visa, and that you have a place to stay and that you’re going to be leaving within the terms of your visa; when this is done, your bags get tossed and you’re cleared to leave the airport (fourth time through security).

You step outside the airport into a seething mass of humanity waving signs and honking horns. I was reminded very much of Florida—humid, warm, etc. We find our two contacts here in Bangalore (who were kind enough to wear Decho shirts, thereby making them easily identifiable) and piled into an Indian-made SUV branded “Scorpio” (insert your own Simpsons joke here). Tomorrow, perhaps we’ll cover more on the joys of driving in India. Fortuitously, the streets aren’t particularly full at one in the morning, so the drive to the hotel wasn’t nearly as nail-biting as I expected.

We get to the hotel, where our car is checked for bombs by two very lackadaisical guards (they saw our suitcases in the back, but didn’t open them), complete with those nifty under-the-car mirrors you always see in the movies. After we’re given clearance by the bomb guards, we go to the front door, where there are two more guards manning yet another metal detector. There’s no tray in which to put metallic objects, and they just motion us through the detector, bags and all.

As soon as my carry-on (two laptops, remember) goes through, the detector starts screeching ferociously. My carry-on is subjected to yet another cursory search and I’m subjected to another frisking and wanding (second one, for those of you keeping track at home). In the meantime, we’re rather vehemently expressing to the various porters lounging about that no, we are quite capable of getting our bags up to our rooms. Having to deal with the metal detector is now a daily ritual, though the security is more for appearance’s sake than for actually providing security. The guards don’t have firearms, radios, or batons, so even if someone did walk in with a bomb or gun, there’s not a whole lot they can do about it.

In any case, having checked into my room and being quite tired, I crashed onto my bed and got a good 6 hours worth of sleep. More to come tomorrow!

India Man Updates

Ryan made it to India (Bangalore) successfully!!! Yay!! He called me at last night after getting a couple emails from him telling me that he would call on Monday. So Sunday night, being Monday morning to him, was when I actually got the call. He says that the temperature is a lot like Florida and some juice he drank made him sick. He says the Indians are friendly and he is going to go to the market this weekend to buy me gifts (that's the whole purpose for the trip, right?). Something interesting about his hotel room is that there is not an inch of carpet in his whole room. I told him it was probably because carpet would insulate or something and the room would be warmer. His hotel is really nice and it seems like he already misses meat. He rides a cab to work with his co-worker. We're still getting used to the 12 hour or so time difference, especially when we were working out when he is going to call today. I had a final this morning at 7, so when he called last night, that would have been the evening on that same day. Weird.

I'm not the only one that has missed him already however. Due to lack of substitutes for the organ, guess who did a piano solo for sacrament meeting? Me! I got to go up and play prelude, opening, sacrament, closing, and postlude. I hope I pounded loud enough to make even the back row hear the piano. I'm sure Joe's presence and Jon and Rainah's really helped my confidence :) The tenants also missed having Ryan when Joe did a little tinkering with a fridge leak upstairs which caused a flooding from the ceiling in the apartment. Thankfully I wasn't dealing with that little surprise alone, and the tenants have been very flexible and accommodating with that change. We're praying for little water damage and zero odor. We'll see how that goes.

I have one final left as of right now today and am expecting most if not all A's in classes. I get a few days off between Winter and Spring semester, and then back to class. I have three classes left: Children's Literature (I'm looking forward to that one), Exercise Science for Elementary Teachers (we'll see how that one goes), and Statistics 221. I'm really kicking myself now for not taking the AP test Senior year, because I got an A in that class. Hopefully I will be successful in remembering stuff from 4 years ago and it doesn't ruin my GPA.

I enjoyed Killing Bunnies with Joe, Jon, and Rainah yesterday. I know Joe enjoyed at least reading the cards because they were so funny. It was also nice seeing Joe's possible home for the rest of his life. It has a lot of good potential and I don't think he'll ever lack for space.

That's a recent update in a short little summary. Ryan is planning on sending me his daily log of India so that I can post it. I guess the company there has reliable but expensive Internet where they pay by the gig or something. So I will be putting his stuff on my blog. Anyway, hopefully this entertains all of you and makes you all want to go to India or back to school at least :)

The Giraffe Burger

I saw this today at school and had to share this with the world. This is what giraffes look like when McDonalds reaches Africa.

Shooting

On Saturday, I went shooting with Ryan. This is the second time in my whole life that I have gone. We both got memberships at the Hobble Creek shooting range in Mapleton that's only about a mile or two down the street. The cost was the low low annual fee of $8. Very family friendly. There were lots of little girls mostly, that were just playing and running around (not in the lanes of course) wearing protective ear wear. It was a little strange to see, but cute. I guess in Utah, it's a family culture thing.



First I shot with Ryan's trusty rifle with .22s. That was fun. Then I used a Ruger pistol which wasn't too bad but it had a red dot scope thingy on it that was unfun. That was hard to use and it was getting in the way. But it's a personal preference. Then I tried Ryan's Sig Sauer. I couldn't hit anything with that even if I was going for the ground. The recoil was intense for little me. Part of my problem is that I was anticipating the recoil (the part where the bullet comes out and the gun jerks back; at least it did in my case) so I would screw up my shot before I even took it, if that makes any sense. And then I tried shooting with a rifle I couldn't even lift. That one I really didn't like and it kept misfiring (every once in a while, you would pull the trigger and nothing would come out). So it was kind of a "pop goes the weasel" effect. Very uncool.

I found out that I am left eye dominant and that I can shoot with either hand. Although I can't actually close my right eye on my own. I can wink with my left eye but for some reason, I can't control the right winkage (I know that's not a word guys). So we just put tape over my right eye of my glasses and that worked very effectively. I guess I just need practice closing my eye. Maybe I should do that during my boring classes.



We were there for about three hours enjoying the outdoor range and beautiful breezy day. I have my very own shooting glasses and ear protection/head muffs. I feel kind of cool. But at the same time, I am conflicted. I have mixed feelings about guns. They're weapons and I don't know if I would ever like my own. I don't really see the need for me to have my own. I never want to have a Concealed Weapons Permit—where would I put one anyway? Skinny little me couldn't conceal anything on her hip. Maybe if I were pregnant or something. I dunno. Which I am not, by the way. Ryan says that they may bra holsters for women. But I don't think that's quite what I am interested in either...

I have fun going every once in a while for "recreational" purposes but I don't think I'd ever want to go hunting or kill something. It just seems a bit wasteful since I am fine with the beef I get at the stores. Maybe my opinion or tastes will change. I find myself taking pride in my skill, as beginner's luck as it may be. It's kind of fun to release any tensions you may have by taking a rifle outside and shooting at a log.

So that was my fun weekend. I had a good time with Ryan. It was fun. Let's do it again. Maybe we could have it be a family event—I know Beth likes such activities :) I know Grandma would be proud.

Starting out my day right

So I had one of my classes for the first time this morning--Educational Psychology. I was nervous because the book was expensive, heavy, and large. She also had a somewhat intense syllabus. So when Ryan dropped me off at 5 to 8 this morning, I was freaking out that she would be super strict and very upset if I was late. So I rushed there and I got into the room 10 seconds after the bell (actually, there is no bell that goes off at the McKay building...). So I was safe. As I neared the classroom, I was greeted by the sound that has been in every class I have had thus far in the semester--chatting. So I knew that because people were still talking, class hadn't started yet.

I walked into the classroom and saw stacks of paper on the first desk and two boxes of assorted Krispy Kreme donuts. I knew I was going to be okay.



I sat down and put my things on the floor. Then I got back up, collated the worksheets and then selected the donut of my choice--a cruller. Those type of donuts are the favorite of Ryan and myself. When I eventually got around to taking a bite, it wasn't the freshest of the fresh, but it was still pretty good. It had all of the points that counted at least. It was a donut, it was free, it coated my mouth with sugar, and it made me relax. It was a little crunchy but that's just extra character for a donut of its stature.

As much as the donut was delicious, the best part was still to come. Because I'm now a senior, my teachers have been a lot more easy going about due dates and such. For this class, I get to write down in a "contract" when I will hand assignments in. But if you want, you can change the contract throughout the semester if things get busy. All in all, I'd say it was a pretty productive morning.

What's going on in my life right now

Let's see. Where do I begin? I start classes in 5 days. I was going to take 8 classes but my section for the class was canceled, bringing me down to 7. I have 14 credits, will be working part time, and will start doing my practicum in a couple of months. All in all, tons of changes.

Ryan and I are looking for a new to us (meaning used) car, most likely a BMW. It's been stressful but kind of fun at the same time. It's hard for me to get excited about features because I don't know what they mean and Ryan does. I'm trying though. Hopefully when we find the car of our dreams, we will be prepared financially and everything will fall into place. I know, probably just wishful thinking but I can dream, can't I?

I just got released from my calling in the Primary presidency on Sunday. They informed me about 15 minutes before church started because they were going to release all of us that day. I guess it was time for the Lord to change around leadership in Primary so I'm willing to let Him put me somewhere else to grow. The counselor that released me told me that I shouldn't get too comfortable; they would have another place for me soon. They weren't too sure where yet, but they have several openings. I'm sure I will benefit and gain more skills in any calling. I'm just crossing my fingers that I won't get called to be the Primary Music Conductor/Singing Leader. The current one will be moving and she's really great at her calling. We'll see...

Juneau has been really good lately. He's done shedding so he looks less mangy. He's also really lazy and spends most of his day sleeping. He's also pretty dumb because he managed to knock over both of his water dishes and wonders why he's so thirsty. Silly dog. I've been looking around for an adult female malamute to be his friend but we'll see. I think having a companion for him will curb his separation anxiety. Distraction is a great way to keep a dog's attention.

Ryan is looking all over for a different job. His current employers are moving to Thanksgiving Point without plans of providing gas vouchers, pay increases, etc. It really stinks for Ryan because he has set up a way for most of the employees to work from home. Which means he's the last person to get to do so. Rather unfortunate for him. So for that and many other reasons, Ryan has been seeking other employment opportunities. He has formed another company with a former and current employee that will help him reach his dream of working for himself. Hopefully things will be great and successful for the whole company. He has already had a few potential contracts.

Our current tenants are great. They are hardworking newlyweds that are not afraid to get their hands dirty to help out with improving the atmosphere in their apartment with renovations. They are really nice, pay on time, and are good people. Plus they're not really whiney about stuff. That's a plus for us :) I have told Ryan that next time we're looking for tenants, we just need to ask if they have guns, like to shoot, or carry a concealed weapon. So far, those tenants have been the best. So far, so good.

Ryan and I have been recovering from our recent bouts with our colds. I have mostly recovered (I think). My biggest grief from this illness has been the congestion. If I blow my nose, it's still sitting there. And I am not yet at the coughing stage. Fortunately, I have managed to prevent most other people from getting sick. Ryan on the other hand, has had two coworkers go home with bronchitis. He has been coughing quite a bit lately so I am praying he has not contracted that virus. Time will tell.

I think that's a pretty thorough update. We shall see how good I am at keeping this thing up.

Spring Semester Update

Beth has inspired me to get back on the blog horse.

So here I am. I started the spring semester of school only being late two days in a row to my first class. No real excuses but plenty of "reasons" why. This spring semester I'm taking MathEd 305 which is basic math concepts. It's um, interesting to say the least. I have just been enlightened that adding is actually referred to in the concepts world as "joining" and that subtraction is "separating." I'm still trying to find out why this class is important but I don't really have much of a choice, since it is required. I am also taking Dance 326, commonly referred to as "Rhythm and Dance." I learned today what a chug was. And that I suck at them. We dance around and then we discuss the benefits of dance. My last class is Drama, TMA 352 which I think I like. This semester we'll be challenging ourselves by making sock puppets and doing character voices. It could be an interesting semester with those classes in tow.

Ryan and I are also renovating our tenant's kitchen this week. It's been a handful of fun to say the least. I did have fun tearing down dry wall though, and hopefully we'll get it finished in a day or two. I just feel bad for our tenants because they don't have a kitchen and they were most likely expecting it to be done when they got back. It will look nice when it's done though. I hope. I have great faith in Ryan's skills. If only putting up the dry wall was more cooperative. Stupid dry wall. And the old farm sink we tore out. The farm sink is my biggest foe. That is all I have to say. I'm just glad it's going to be gone soon.

Enough of my gripes.

Our dog April is not doing so great. The bone cancer has been hard for her and us. We'll probably be saying good bye soon because she can't move very well and she's in pain. I think that it's harder to watch her in pain than it will be to deal with her loss. But on a happier note, we have a puppy, Juneau, that is distantly related to April. He keeps Ryan and I busy and is a silly little guy. We'll have to post some more pictures for everyone to see. And he's only run away once.



I think that's the quick, short version. We'll see how things go.

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.