Fat Fingers and Frogs

Hansen Family Photos

2010-08-28T23:16:00.003-06:00

Deric's Graduation

2010-08-28T22:31:00.002-06:00

Lauren and Kailyn

2010-08-28T22:24:00.004-06:00

Hardin Wedding

2010-08-28T22:16:00.006-06:00

Twins...not mine

2010-08-26T23:35:00.005-06:00

Hansen Fun

2010-07-27T19:37:00.005-06:00

2010-02-02T20:52:00.001-07:00

It has been a long time, this is true. However, this is big....

I just got invited to be a friend with a girl named Amy Griffin on facebook. This girl is ONLY friends with girls named Amanda. I figured it was a serial killer making a list of victims, I didn't make her my friend, that's just weird.

Lucky and Shiz Stanley

2009-10-09T16:35:00.007-06:00

This is the story of two Flat Stanleys: Lucky Stanley and Shiz Stanley.

Lucky Stanley, like Black Eyed Peas, had a feeling that tonight
would be a good night.

Shiz Stanley, on the other hand, started the evening off with
some creepy-looking stuff.

Lucky Stanley took a ride on Destiny, and sipped a refreshing
CapriSun. Lucky!

Shiz Stanley, on the other hand, somehow found himself inside a Coke bottle, being sipped by Destiny. Shiz.

For dinner, Lucky Stanley had some delicious Taco Bell. Lucky!

Shiz Stanley, on the other hand, had to fish through the garbage
for some scraps, becuase he forgot his debit card in his OTHER pants.
Shiz.

After dinner, Lucky stanley found the men's room unoccupied! Lucky!

Shiz Stanley, on the other hand, upon finding the men's room
occupied by Lucky Stanley, had to sneak in the women's room, where
there are no urinals, and hope that nobody would see him. Shiz.

Lucky Stanley caught a plane and visited beautiful Barcelona, Spain! Lucky!

Shiz Stanley, on the other hand, had to wait on standby, and then his flight was cancelled, and had to trade his ticket for the only destination left. Canada. Shiz.

Lucky Stanley found a happy family of statues and frolicked with them! Lucky!

Shiz Stanley, on the other hand, got picked up by a creepy
mummified girl statue. Shiz.

And then he got mugged and stabbed. Double Shiz.

Meanwhile, Lucky Stanley headed home on his new bike! Lucky!

Since Shiz Stanley is still a FLAT Stanley, Lucky Stanley didn't
notice that he had run over Shiz Stanley. Shiz.

After a hard day, Shiz Stanley lay down on a barbecue grill to relax.

Things were starting to heat up for Shiz Stanley!

Shiz.

Pros and Cons

2009-10-05T19:49:00.003-06:00

I had some really exciting things happen to me lately.
Then some not so exciting things happen to me. I will not name them all but I will share some.

We had a code blue at the hospital. For those that don't know, code blue is usually a cardiac arrest. Some times it's something else, but the main idea is a heart attack. Now, usually I am never there, but this time I was. Not only was I there I got to direct people, tell the defibrillator carriers where to go, and let the doctor in through the locked door, I also got to know everything about it because I was so close. How cool!

I am an official at work that gets benefits and paid time off. Yeah! This officially happened today, and currently Jack and I are reviewing what we need for our benefits.

We used the last of a gift card from our wedding for a dishes set that is square. Unfortunately, they don't fit in the cabinet.

I am now feeling so much better from being sick.

George-Michael the fish is really trained to eat when I tap the glass.

Now for some unfun things.

The house is still a mess.

I have had to work 6 days in a row.

Our window in the front room still doesn't close properly, so every once in a while it blows just right on the curtain, and makes a moaning noise like its haunted in here.

I dumped my DIRTY mop bucket water all over my feet. My feet were bare in my flip flops, I had already changed my shoes.

I have really grown to love milk in cardboard cartons. I have them a lot for breakfast at work. I think I know what I am going to be for Halloween. It's silly its going to be a secret, but I am at least proud I figured something out. I was also thinking a lot about blogging lately, I need to do it more.

Flat Stanley in Houston!

2009-09-25T10:58:00.002-06:00

As luck would have it, the day after i got him in the mail mom and i took the girls i babysit to the museum. That's right, Flat Stanley visited the Natural Science Museum and got close (maybe a lil too close) to some of the earth's craziest predators as seen in the pics (couldn't pick which one so you can just pick which you like). He also inspired the creation of another flat stanley by greta (one of the girls) so he was quite busy during his stay here in Houston.

whit

Flat Stanley

2009-09-10T18:22:00.004-06:00

This summer due to the distance between me and my friends, I solved my problem. I couldn't visit them, but Flat Stanley could.

For those that don't know what Flat Stanley is, he is a little paper man that uses the mail to travel. He is taken to amazing places and then sent somewhere else.

ADVENTURE #1

Boise, Idaho to San Fransico, California

Flat Stanley enjoying the flight from Boise, Idaho to Sacramento, California. Flat Stanley meeting his first deer in Manteca, California.
Flat Stanley meeting his first armadillo also in Manteca.
Flat Stanley sneaking up on a duck (Manteca).
Flat Stanley being hunted by a racoon (Manteca).
Flat Stanley swims with some BIG trout (or whatever - in Manteca).
Flat Stanley gets stuck in vintage CocaCola product (also Manteca).
Flat Stanley drives his first boat (guess what, in Manteca).
Flat Stanley gets ready to go inside the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield, California.
Flat Stanley takes a tour of the Jelly Belly Factory and enjoys his complimentary Jelly Belly Beans.

On Flat Stanley's first day in San Francisco he meets the San Francisco Fire Deptarment.
Also on his first day in SF, Flat Stanley takes his first ride on a cable car (the only moving national historic monument).
Before boarding the cable car, a cable car operator (remarkably resembling Mr. Miyagi from the Karate Kid) wants a picture with Flat Stanley.

While walking the streets of SF, Flat Stanley comes across a store with a very confusing, and probably misspelled name.

After breakfast on Flat Stanley's second day in SF, he meets some friendly pigeons.
Flat Stanley journeys closer to the Bay and sees the biggest, most pirate-looking ship he's ever seen.
Flat Stanley goes swimming with some prettier fishies.
Flat Stanley prepares to ride his first subway.

Flat Stanley enjoys his first professional baseball game (Giants vs. Diamond Backs) at AT&T Park.

He had a wonderful trip! But the adventures aren't over! Stay tuned for the next adventure of Flat Stanley! Who knows, maybe he will turn up in your mail box!

I didn't have a good day

2009-09-09T17:52:00.003-06:00

I am tired of mean people. Especially those with no reason to be mean.

I went in to get a spouse USU card. The room had 4 employees and they were all huddled around a computer. I was the only one in there, so I walk up to the counter and they all ignore me. I looked around the room for anyone else, but it was only them. So I sat and stared until one looked in my direction. After telling them what I wanted, all four looked at me like I told them all they were ugly. One woman says "how long have you had your number? because if it's new we can't help you until tomorrow." I said I have had it since Jan. The woman told one kid to go help me and that they would wait for him to come back, because whatever they were doing was SO important. After telling me my number wasn't coming up in the computer (he tried once) he told me to come back tomorrow. I was a little mad because he didn't try so I got a little testy with him and said "well how am I supposed to prove that I already paid you for this?" He was a little scared I think because he backed off a little and wrote a reciept. However, I wasn't done so I interrupted them again and asked if they had a list of things that the spouse card does and the woman looks at me and says "NO we don't have a physical list." she then rattled off what it did and then looked away from me.

Jerks

Dear Lorena and family

2009-08-15T14:22:00.004-06:00

I spent many of my life min. with the Dayley/Davis clan in high school. While I have a ton of embarrassing moments with them all and I could go on for many days of experiences, I am going to focus on 3 physical activity memories.

You see this wonderful family loves physical labor and hard work. I learned fast to buck up and deal with it when I was around them. There is no room for ninnies, and while they may love you despite your lack of physical drive, there is also no room for failure.

Physical feat #1

I learned to move pipe at their house.

Being only 111 lbs in high school I looked very silly in those giant rubber boots. I looked even more silly the first time I tried to lift the pipe and it didn't to anything. But I was tough and I imagined my non-existent dying children trapped under the pipe and lifted those pipes full of water. I think it was on the second one I was shown how to drain them first. Even then I didn't always wait to empty them because I was a slow worker. Like I implied before, an attribute such as this wasn't the most valued. So I grew some muscles and carried those water laden pipes because I wasn't about to fail, because FAILURE is unacceptable.

Physical feat #2

I learned to survive.

In an effort to do activities more like the boys, Katie and I formed a coalition to backpack like scouts. We worked together, with help, and put together a backpacking trip that the scouts had been on before us in search for a trail to the lake. Never having found the lake, we too were subject to the hard work of 14 miles through the brush, trees, bugs and mud. This first trip was littered with beehives. Lucky for all of you, I can only guess which ones came. If I rack my brain, I think I could get all your names, but I am choosing to just leave these up for the imagination.

The Hike started out well, everyone had energy and we worked well together. However, eventually the hiking went something like this:

in result, packs became heavy. At first we split the goods between the adults, however that only worked until they all had almost 2 times the weight they were supposed to be carrying. We had to make it work so Kate and I took extra weight as well. I remember it as a large amount more than we were supposed to have as well. We didn't have a choice we had to keep going because whether we made it to the lake or went back, we had to learn to survive. (ah ha! the magic lesson word!)

After splitting up some of the packs girls were carrying, we came up with a better plan for the hiking Kate and I were in the back this time setting the pace from behind. Efficiency. Beautiful.

This is where I mainly learned the "no room for ninnies" rule first hand because Kate was quite the slave driver. She did a lot of yelling/encouraging. But we got there! in just enough time to set up camp for the night.

This being my first backpacking trip, I learned how wonderful food is. It's amazing what you can survive on. It's also amazing how good bare essentials can be when you have been working so hard for them. I am specifically trying to get to squeezable peanut butter. We only brought one tube for one lunch of crackers and peanut butter. After the lunch was over Katie and I had the responsibility of holding it, which meant we ate it while we walked. I can't describe how fantastic it was to squeeze a strip on your finger and lick it off slowly. I've tried it since and clearly it's not the same. However! I can't shake the memory as one of the best things I have ever eaten.

The next trip Katie and I had to carry all our own food because we needed to be punished for eating all the peanut butter.

Physical feat #3

This has no lesson learned and doesn't really end all that happy.

Those that wanted to were invited to go on the 20 miler with the scouts out on the BLM land. For those of you who need to know what BLM land is

It's just like this. Its barren land that animals are allowed to graze on. The only water sources are large tractor tires full of water in the middle of nowhere. Usually they have dead rodents floating around in them because the mice are so desperate for water they dive in and then can't get back out.

Clearly you don't drink out of them.

It was hot and long and supposed to be done in one day. We didn't bring anything other than food and water really. Some barely brought that. In fact, many ran out of water. We were having to ration our water between all of us. I remember one person needed water so bad and then drank a whole bottle. All this no water business occurred half way through.

Those boys they trucked through without one complaint. Well, maybe that girls were out there and they had to share their water. Something stupid to say would be "well we created opportunities for them to be prepared little scouts." I guess we did do that, but I don't think in scouts they teach you to be prepared to give all your bare essentials to idiots that didn't bring their own.

In the end most of the girls got picked up with 2 or 3 miles left. One got picked up because of blisters that had popped and come back and popped a few times and had taken over her feat. All in all I did it, but it isn't a fond memory.

And there you go, a tribute to yet another of Lorena's posts. While I enjoy the physical activities, I hear ya sista!

2009-08-11T17:33:00.001-06:00

I saw this today on failblog.org I just thought it was funny. I usually get a smile, this one I laughed at.

Things that I have been doing lately

2009-08-08T15:10:00.002-06:00

Time goes by pretty slowly around here. I have had some interesting experiences that really only I appreciate fully. Here are a few of my favorites.

I am proud of the name wall. It took me a while because I had to make each one a file because I don't have any of those fonts on my computer. The flash caught the papers, but imagine it as I see it, it's almost like I used my bottle of whiteout to paint each one of those on!Yeah you see it now!

This is my first attempt at fondant. It tasted better than it looks.

A little bird decided it wanted to live here. I wouldn't have minded if he would have been quiet. I thought it was the smoke alarm with a dead battery. It was frustrating for a whole freaking hour of answering the phone and not finding the bad smoke alarm. When I found the bird all he did was hop away from me and not back out the door.

Once he got out of the door I stupidly left the door open and he came back in. Again the bird when out. I shut the door, but not hard enough because yes as you are predicting it opened and he came back in.

I didn't realized that we could rent more than I dwelling. I think that if a group of us get together we could rent some other place which would solve having to beat out people for an apartment because we can stay wherever we want, we are renting it.

This was the sign outside a preschool. I have nothing else to say.

I made this at work. It ruined my right thumb cuticle. But I used a whole box!

I do all the paperwork here and I got one of these in the box. It's not that funny, but I still giggle when I read it. HA

Just words no pictures

2009-07-29T13:49:00.002-06:00

So I love pretty sparkly things. Thus naturally I enjoy looking at prom pictures, wedding pictures and pageant pictures.

This month, I miss the pageant. I enjoyed it, and later decided that I had got my fill of being in it, but I still enjoy watching and being interested in them. However, I wish that things were different because I want to be in it. I never got a sash. I think thats what it is. If only I had a sash I might not have this want or need to do a pageant.

Things I really enjoyed:

the crown it was really pretty

the dress it also was really pretty

the thrill

the smiling

learning to dance

Things I didn't like:

not knowing the girls very well

always comparing myself

I guess I always felt good because I had decided that I had had my fill. However, now I feel left out because I can't be in it.

I have come up with a solution. I am going to have my own pageant. It will probably take place bi-monthly in my living room. I welcome contestants but know that I am experienced and I am also the judge. I will probably win but it would deffinately be more fun if someone was there.

Yes I think this will be a great solution.

Great plans!

2009-07-15T19:11:00.000-06:00

I am going HERE this weekend

2009-07-14T17:30:00.000-06:00

Not much of a friend to me. Looks like a rock.

I've Been Mislead

2009-07-11T17:59:00.004-06:00

I was googling things to do in Charlotte. By the way if anyone knows of something....

I came across this link that says "Carolina Raptor Center"

Of course my first thought was "oh my gosh, all of that raptor attack training will come to use as I place myself at the mercy of the ever so feared creatures.

Unfortunately we are now calling all birds of prey "raptors." I realize that I knew something of this before...but why can't it be called, "Carolina Birds of Prey Center," or "Carolina Nearly Extinct and Mostly Illegal to Kill Birds Center." I am outraged! Clearly I expected more of this place.

An event to remember

2009-07-01T17:52:00.002-06:00

We were all sitting around the pool when a fight broke out. Ofcourse I started snapping pics in case something fun happened as they fell in the pool together. Except I got something so much better.

With permission of the victim, I was able to post the event. However, I promissed not to name them by name so they might be able to find jobs in the future. But it was as funny as it would seem.

Mostly thoughts for myself

2009-06-19T18:51:00.004-06:00

I think it's been while since I just shared a thought without pictures. I was commenting on someones blog realizing that what I was saying was preachy so now I am going to preach for myself.

I admire people that make decisions. I really dislike people that take forever to just pick what meal they want (Jack does this bad, but I actually love him, dislike waiting) I especially admire people that make them and then admit that's what they want to do.

A friend of mine once talked to me about deciding something, and as long as you stick to it whether you are confident or not, that is the way to make a decision. Having faith in yourself and not justifying your actions for others is the way to go.

It's said that when you dislike something about someone else, chances are that is something that you hate about yourself. I think that about this decision making thing. I can do better.

I think in the last year, I have made the best decisions. I think what made them good is, I decided and I stuck by myself for them. Many times I was tempted to go back because I enjoyed my life. But that is when things don't change, and clearly I can see that my life is better. I don't ever think where I am now is where I thought I would be a year ago. I mean I didn't even want to talk to Jack, thought I was going to be with someone else. I figured I would stay in Provo, happy working in my favorite job at the middle school in Special Ed. Really, my life wasn't all that bad before. But I wasn't progressing.

I think taking my leap of faith with something different made my life MUCH better! While I am somewhere different, at least I feel like I am learning to swim instead of still dog paddling. This is literal because for the first time in years I swam under water without plugging my nose because I decided it was best to progress with my swimming. Really, standing around has gotten old.

I did it because I jumped, I changed my direction, left my comfort zone, quit making excuses.

Now to muster the bravery to keep it up, more jumping. Maybe tomorrow I will dive in the water. Thanks Lorena

Here are some thoughts from the shower....

2009-06-05T18:48:00.005-06:00

My best friend Mandy.

I'm sad we wern't in the same type pose, but switched spots, tender enough!

Once when I was living in Park Place our shower was unavailable, so Eric and Mandy were so nice to let me come over and bathe myself. I think this was the first time I noticed how neat and clean she is. There was just enough shampoo/cleaning supplies for what she needed and nothing extra. The sink had soap and Eric's favorite Gold Bond lotion (I made a link for this because I want to make sure that everyone knows that it is indeed an awesome lotion for your skin.) I am and was so impressed with how she keeps her home.

I thought of this today in the shower when I counted how many bottles of things I have and Jack has in there. 4 bottles for hair care, Shaving creme, body wash, loofah , razor, wash cloth and then 1 hair and 1 body bottle +loofah. I thought "Mandy's shower doesn't look like this."

The more I thought about Mandy and her cleanliness, the more I thought of all the extra things I have vs. her. The amount of clothes, makecup, hair stuff; I guess stuff in general. Then I thought of her simple personality as well. How she doesn't seem to complain, and she is very good about keeping her business to herself or just those that she feels she should know.

Once I made a big mistake and gave her a skunk streak when highlighting her hair. She was very forgiving, especially since we really weren't best friends then.

And now a list of things that I like about Mandy:

Her love for pink

Her simple, direct and effective parenting style

Her ability to look at a situation for the pros and cons

also to deduce the next best solution

Her efficientcy on the phone

Her talent in quickly solving problems

Her taste in music, clothes, baby clothes and kitchen untencils

How she likes gilmore girls and our discussions we have about the show

Her googling ability (saved me a few times)

Her williness to jump to help when needed

Midnight Harry Potter movies

Her smile

Her family (it's not her, but I do like them)

Her collection of flip flops

Her need to use a lot of pillows-in conjunction the way she sleeps (or slept, it's been a while) on them

The way she rolls her eyes

The way she celebrates "whoot-whoot"

The way she cooks

How she gives directions

Our matching movie popcorn shirts

How she was the only one (and eric) to give me real bystander advice when it came to a few decisions I've made in the past couple of years

How she still cared about me just as much when I gave her the immature "I know what I'm doing"

How she let me live with her for like a year

How she fed me durring that time too

Her name

I especially like how much I like being her friend

so this ode to Mandy, the bestest best friend I have had. Happy Birthday!

2009-05-29T19:09:00.002-06:00

Um...I just figured out that a crazy girl I once knew somehow works for/with my uncle? hmmm....Rachel, Megan, Lillian, Chelsea I think you'd remember her. I don't feel anything but uncomfortable.

The Ween-o-Rama

2009-05-28T16:14:00.003-06:00

I am embarrassed that I have never blogged about this. I am proud, I just didn't realize that I never recorded it.

two years ago I participated in a competition called queen o the ween. I beauty pageant held at the ween o rama.

With help I made this dress out of a giant roll of shrink wrap. It took about 5 hours. This was the dress and questions section.
This was my talent. I ate a hot dog like a turttle. This talent has not been shared very often since. Most importantly, my husband has never seen it.
I had a big group of support. I think this might be an outing that Ruby went to and could be added to Sara's list.
This is when I won.

This was my competition. It was tough, but I pulled through in the end.

I was one of the best experiences of my life! Wouldn't you know it's going on again this year. Click Here to check out the website for more details. There is a little pic of me on the site as well. Even a button with my picture as the watermark.

If any of you have a chance to attend, I would encourage you. It's a wonderful way to spend an afternoon!

Coolest things

2009-05-21T17:47:00.003-06:00

Lately I keep seeing some really cool things. Later tonight I will be seeing terminator. I think it might end up on my coolest things list, so I hope I am not disappointed.

I got to go hang out with some of the other wives at the park yesterday. It was fun. We got to go downtown in greenville to a cool place called falls park. On the way back we walked past this cool little bike shop. This one was $400. Maybe after I pay for everything else, I will buy this. Cool!

Greetings!

2009-05-20T16:31:00.002-06:00

We are still alive. And to be quite honest, really liking it here. We are liking it so much that as a WE, we would like to tell you about our experiences together. Thus, you should go here to check it out.

Pool party and a BBQ

2009-05-11T13:48:00.004-06:00

Well our office has been doing rather well here in sunny Greenville. To celebrate we had a shindig at our complex's pool. The food was great, and so was the entertainment. As you can see there was a basketball game. On the side for those that didn't want to participate with them there was a yoga ball that was too cool to leave alone. View the videos so really capture the magic.

Jack was happily watching, and I was happily watching him.

New Surroundings

2009-05-08T14:19:00.002-06:00

Thinks are going well here. Oh boys it's been quite rainy! But my job doesn't really require me to go anywhere. I sit in the office all day and schedule installations.

However, lucky for me I am not all on my own. I would like you to all meet my assistant Nygil.

As you can see he is very helpful. A cross between a pig and a cat, he spends most of the day reminding me of his presence by snoring next to the wall.
But all is well and at least I am not lonely!

South Carolina, we made it!

2009-05-05T15:35:00.005-06:00

Well we made it! Here is a view of the land and about where we live. We are only 6 miles from the airport so really this is about it.

It seemed like every plane we got on got smaller and smaller. Yeah there were only 2 seats on our side and one on the other side.
We were getting bored, but we wanted to document the beginning of our trip!
Before we left we stopped at my Aunt and Uncle's house. That day their daughter Emma had brought home their class assignment of re-creating the farmer and his wife picture that most are familliar with. However, they were supposed to turn it into an Easter style picture. I think my favorite is the carrot ears.
This is Emma. Yes, we all decided the picture was a little disturbing, but yet creative.
We took miss jenny with us to the storage unit. She now is gaurding the unit. We figure if someone tries to steal all of our stuff, then they deserve to pee their pants in fear.
This is what our trunk looked like before we shipped it out here. It was totally full. Oh and yes of course when we got here the car had to be jumped. Isn't that awsome.
We got a good deal because they ran out of smaller units so ours was huge. We may consider moving in. Our friends Heather and Will came to help us out. That is Will in the background.
The last day of work we had some fun with the camera. This is one of my jobs to take the C-section biohazard cart down to the processing center. I get to go in the operating room to retrieve it and mop up a little. So obviously I get to dress up a little.
This is Heather. She and I worked on the Labor and Delivery floor together. We had a whole heap of fun playing with color.

Moving

2009-04-19T18:46:00.002-06:00

We have decided to move. Jack has an oportunity to work with a mission buddy/ies selling security systems this summer. So in about two weeks we leave for South Carolina. The company is shipping our car out for us and then flying us out there. We are pretty excited to move, live in the south, have a change. But no worries we will be back, and we will keep you updated on our happenings!

Trying to keep up

2009-04-06T17:00:00.006-06:00

Seems like everything gets so busy at the end of the semester, even if you aren't in school. For Jack and I, well Jack describes it as "Friday I will have a life again." This is only partially true for he still has finals at the end of the month, but whatever.

First of all, I took a picture of a picture so I could post to all the world that Becca did in fact reach her goal for the wedding jumping picture! Not only that but she looks really good doing it!

We had a chance to go to Jack's mission reunion. It was pretty entertaining. We met some unique people. The mission pres. wife spoke which was pretty good.

We also had a chance to use our mini-slider from Mary and Braxton. Because it was such a unique gift we felt like it deserved a spot on the blog. It was so fun, and it came with recipies. The slider is a stove top mini-hamburger maker. SO COOL!

A few weeks ago my Grandpa Rice passed away. He was buried here near Logan so my family spent some time here for a few days. Here are a few highlights. Here is a link to the rest of them if anyone would like to have some.

Mostly I just wanted to post about how we got to the cemetery as they were digging the grave. I have never seen that so I tried to capture a few shots to share. I think the guys working were a little confused, the one looked like we had just driven by like he was some safari atraction. Really, it was kind of like that.

That's it! until next time!

Lauretta '09

2009-04-01T19:48:00.002-06:00

I finished most of the general editing of Lauretta's pictures. I am embarrassed because it took so long. However, all those that would like to see her beautiful face over 100 times click here!

Being a cowgirl

2009-03-19T19:11:00.002-06:00

When Jack and I first kissed he took me out on a sunrise horse back ride. It was very romantic and memorable. However, not many people know some of the un-romanticness of the experience. There were many, but I want to talk about one.

He tried to kiss me on the horse, but the horse kept jumping around so we had to wait to get off. Well standing next to the horse it stepped on my foot. It hurt a lot because I was wearing converse type shoes and I may as well have been barefoot; I had no protection.

For our wedding, I got these boots so I can develop my cowgirl skills. I am so excited about them. I wore them to the athlete center to tutor with my pink shirt. Even though my pants cover up the pink I still felt pretty dang cute.

I thought about green ones and just plain brown ones. I figure these are more my style, and to be honest the pinkness about them makes being allergic to horses unimportant.

My first week of being Married!

2009-03-16T19:40:00.009-06:00

I am a married woman now. Here is a small capture of a few events that transpired over my first week of marriage. First of all Jack and I have spent countless min. calling eachother husband and wife, just to let it all sink in. Well our first activity being husband and wife was to go shopping for things that we needed....
We did treat ourselves to an awsome dinner on our honeymoon that had a shrimp cocktail, litterally.

I got to sign for the check as Amanda McKie for the first time, here is how I did
No we did NOT leave just an .18 tip. We had a gift card, gave the extra in the tip and left our own on the table. I did feel I had to justify that so we focus on the new name, not anything else in the picture.

We also arrived in Logan moments after the foot and a half drop of snow settled onto the ground. so we had to shovel our way to the garage because the car couldn't drive through massive amounts of snow. We would have parked it in the street, but Logan has a law that you can't durring the winter so the plows are sure to get through. So we made it in the house around 2 am.

We got an awsome Kitchen Aid from Jack's grandparents. So after our first trip to the temple as married people we made some pizza together. I did the dough.
and sprinkled some cheese....
Jack prepared the toppings and set up an excelent dining area.

Our pizza and uh...breadsticks turned out great. We've decided that this would become a regular activity.
I had to work while Jack was on spring break. So I would come home for a nap. Jack was nice enough to make sure that I was comfortable.
For our one week anniversary Jack made shrimp, lobstertail and fet. alfredo with french bread for me to come home to and enjoy. It was an awsome treat!

Tribute To Heidi

2009-02-26T18:55:00.002-07:00

So before anything else is said, I do need to give some credit to my sister. Heidi came through and did my pictures for me, actually using the amazing Cannon camera that we all have. I then used Picnik to do the edits, even the collage. I have been flattered enough to think that they look professional by the intense questioning I get when I go to Walmart. I guess Heidi had to sign some stuff saying that it wasn't professional. Good Job to her.

Almost time...

2009-02-25T20:27:00.003-07:00

So we are at 10 days until the wedding. I am excited. These are the things that I know:

-I won't have enough room for Jacks things to fit.

-We still are really poor.

-We aren't getting a joing blog, but I am going to have to change it

-I have more pictures to post, but don't have time

This is all that I can do for now. Hopefully things will change a little so I can post more since I realize this is the only true source for my happenings.

2009-02-11T19:49:00.002-07:00

I was in Walmart the other day and I was looking intently at some items. I was approached by a woman and her daughter who was about 5. The woman and I were discussing uses for the items while her daughter continually asked if she could buy this and that. This girl even went as far as to give 3 reasons why they would be beneficial for her to have. (she was quite the girl)

I started to ask the woman a few questions about some of the products, opinion type questions. Understand that I kept saying things like "I don't know anything about this," and "what would you suggest for this." Well, I guess Heather the little girl needed some more attention so she started to talk to me. Finally as I focused back on her mother she said "You're a liar." and then she would giggle and say "just teasing, youre a big liar." more giggling "You're a big fat liar." I was so shocked, I have never had someone talk to me like that, much less someone that I could easily pound into the ground.

Lucky for me her mother finally stepped in, and consider her response as a defense for me.

"Heather, I think you better shut-up."

and that was it. What a strange experience. I bet a raptor would have eaten her first.

At least he wanted to date me, oh yeah, and he did.

2009-02-08T20:30:00.000-07:00

A couple of dreams come true

2009-02-08T18:08:00.003-07:00

I realize that my blogging has been a little sparse lately. However, I am going to work on updating strategies. I currently don't have Internet access and I have to find time to sneak up to the student athlete center at USU to use the Internet there. But usually I am working so being on the Internet isn't working. I decided to express a few things that I deem worthy of my future million dreams book.

I single handedly conquered a beast, yes, that was my final blow to his head. The tank is no more.

I have somewhere to live after much searching. Not only to live, but with somewhere to sit. Which is another dream. We needed some couches, and then my aunt found some, the same day we mentioned it to her. For $20 we got the set.
I witnessed the best white elephant gift known to man. I think after this was removed from it's packaging, I knew I would never be the same, or enjoy myself at another white elephant party again.

Whitney came home. I know some of you may be confused, but this is gummibear Whitney. Do you not see her Russian Fur atop her head?

I also had an amazing weekend. I feel quite stupid because I have no pictures of my cousin's wedding that I attended. so I can post anything to be enjoyed. But take my word, it was beautiful.

I also go to hang out with Becca, Kyle, Katy, Celia, Emily, CB and Neiman. Neiman is in my ward up here, and sadly, I think we hang out more in Provo. :) This was also enjoyable, even though it was short lived. I wish I could have done more. However, it was good that I left when I did because it started to snow the moment I pulled in my driveway.

It was an emotional drive home because I didn't want to go, nor did I want to be away from Jack too much longer. I also started to feel the pressure of things have to be done very soon. And then, I found out that they didn't deliver the invitations to my house because of a signature and a big dog. So I called the postmaster of Fruitland, and I asked if he would meet my parents at the post office so they could go get the invitations that day still because it was like 8 at night. And he did and they got them so now they will be in the mail. oh..another dream to add to the list!

The year of a million dreams

2009-01-26T17:54:00.002-07:00

I use Shutterfly for all of my online picture needs. It's come in handy MANY times lately. Well they sent me a fun offer for a free picture book. Which of course I am going to take advantage of but coming up with something to put in there is a pain. It has to be done withing the next 2 days so I have to come up with something quick. I came up with this AMAZING plan and started to work on it, but realized that I will have to spend more time on it. But the idea is so good, I am still going to do it.

book theme : THE YEAR OF A MILLION DREAMS

the reason I can't make this book is because the year is not over until april 28, 2009. in the meantime I am puting together a book of pictures that represent big events that have happened to me in the last year. I was going to keep it to just fun things, but realized that there are a few amazing things that really weren't fun that I would like to include. ofcourse I will begin with the amazing dream come true in disneyland which you can read about here. From there who knows what great things I will come up with!

any suggestions of things to put in would be greatly appreciated.

post number ONE HUNDRED!

2009-01-16T19:45:00.005-07:00

on this special occasion celebrating 100 posts...

I JUST HAPPENED to be working on wording for the invitations and looking at web sites when I happened upon this website and looking at a few I noticed a guy and a girl named Diane and Alan that I used to go to elementary school with and they are getting married, well they did last month. I wouldn't ever have known. This happened to me with my own family. I think I blogged about it a while ago that my cousin married a girl I went to elementary school with. She recognized me and was afraid I wouldn't remember her. It's kinda fun to think about actually, people I've known since I was little and what happened to them, and if they might be related to me.

Emily Beck...I know you have a blog already. If you forgot the password let me know, actually forget it, I have already taken care of it here.

Some things

2009-01-14T21:14:00.003-07:00

I have many other things to post such as pictures and stuff, but I am waiting until the internet stops blinking in and out. In the mean time here are a few thoughts that I have had in the last 10 min and I have been timing myself:

I really want to know what I have been missing at the work that I love but left...

Saw some pics from freshman year, I was skinny...

Read Becca's blog, while it was enjoyable there is one thing that made me so excited that I am going to change my daily habits...

I miss Whitney....

I had a weird dream about Whitney...

When is Whitney going to call...

HA! Becca's blog...

When is the next time I can go to Provo?

MMMMM....wedding cake

*sniff* I have to get rid of my favorite pair of pants, I couldn't save them today...

oh it's almost time to go dancing...

I have got to Google a few things resulting from Becca's blog...

I hate watching sports on TV

My Dress!

2009-01-02T01:19:00.007-07:00

There are a few new posts. I realized I needed to

catch up a bit, so keep scrolling down!

My Aunts, a few of my cousins and my Grandma came with me to try on my dress durring the break. Here are a few pics at the store. The link to all of them is on the right of the blog. We decided that my flowers were going to be brown, and I am SO EXCITED about it. It was such a fun outing! every time I wear it I can't help but get even more excited to get married. March 7th! Yes!

Christmas Fun!

2009-01-02T00:54:00.002-07:00

Here is a quick overview of our good times in the last two weeks. It snowed at least a foot Christmas eve and Christmas day. Then it rained and half of it melted. But not before we had a good time in it ofcourse! Jack totally surprised me with a sewing machine. I just said I wanted one in passing and never expected to get one. We got all kinds of good stuff for our apartment. I am so excited to go and move in.We were so blessed this Christmas to get a lot of things we could really use as a coule. That's a weird phrase to me. It's kinda official, we are a couple and now I live in Logan, and I got a whole bunch of things that I have to take back with me so I can be a married person. WOW!

Bridal Shower!

2009-01-02T00:33:00.000-07:00

Just a few shots from such a fun day!

The BEST weekend so far!

2008-12-01T17:58:00.002-07:00

So clearly if you read facebook you know I am engaged, if you don't you know now, I am engaged. For the record his name is Jack and I am so excited to be with him forever! Jack and I are from about the same place, neighboring towns. I have been eyeing him since I was 15. He played basketball in High School, and I have always thought he was pretty attractive and would pay particular attention to him on the court.

We got engaged early Thanksgiving day morning. We had dinner with our families the night before, and believe you me, we all were curious what was going on. However, it was much better the next day.
Jack came and got me early in the morning, and the fun thing about where I am from in Idaho, in the winter time it's always really foggy and beautiful. So lucky for me it was as though the world was just me and him at the time because you could only see so far infront of you blocking the view of everyone around us. He took me out to where we had our first kiss. If you need to review there is a great post about it in august.
We stopped and Jack says "I think I saw a dead calf out here." so I hopped out and started to look around, actually thinking he did because I saw a black thing before.
Here he said to me "wow the world looks so beautiful in white, you know you would look beautiful in white. I am going to have to ask him to clarify because I don't remember how the comment about the ring went but I eneded up calling him a turd and then he took the ring out and got on one knee. It was beautiful. I put the ring on, we took a quick picture and then we got in the truck because the turkey bowl was starting in like 10 min and he was playing and I wanted to go shower. And that is how it happened

I skipped Halloween

2008-11-10T21:30:00.004-07:00

This is my new buddy Amy, who is going to be my buddy until Christmas comes! I am so excited because I get to work with just her (and her sidekick/best friend) because Amy's interpreter just had a baby and I was chosen to love her just as much until the interpreter can get back. On Halloween we were both princesses at school, she however was Cinderella, which was cooler as I think anyone would agree.

Many people were mistaking Chris to be Jack Sparrow, to which he would politely reply "no. I am just a pirate." I don't get to spend a whole lot of time with him, so in the 30 min we had lunch, I think I heard him say that to 3 or 4 people. He was a great pirate.
Everyone gets a chance to become an add for the library. You get to pick a book that goes with your costume and then they post them around Halloween.
I was awfully thirsty during work, lucky for me there was a beverage passing by.
The Wolfpack, they usually make my day, everyday.

Brandi and I bonded on Halloween. Brandi's interpreter also left to have a baby. So she has a sub now. On this day however, Brandi's sub had to get a sub. Well by the time I arrived, the sub's sub hadn't come yet, and that put a cramp in her ability to communicate. It was so cool to walk in and have her run up to me and give me a hug and not let go of my hand and just love me to death. If you had no way to talk to someone, you would be scared too. It made me feel pretty good, and I think I learned a big lesson that day about how even the smallest contribution I make, is a bigger deal then I could have ever thought. Who knew that one day, just because I could sign, I would be the most important asset to someones life for a few min.

Adventures with Jack

2008-11-02T21:20:00.004-07:00

This weekend was especially exciting because not only did Jack come, but my grandma and parents were here too. So we all had the opportunity to go to the game. If you will look below, you can see that the tickets we had were amazingly great, yes we were on the floor.

Here you can see how our shoes rested next to the court. The players actually could talk to us or fall into us.
This is after the game, Jack decided that his little brother would think that we were pretty dang cool.

Jarom tried to catch a ball, missed, and then the guy handed it over to him because he didn't need it. That was pretty amazing.

I didn't know if it was against the rules to be taking pictures, since it seems that everyone around us was too cool to be doing the same thing. You see we have some amazing family friends that are important to the Jazz and they wanted to make sure we had a good time. I love the stone family very much.

part of the half time show was the bear having three little bears follow him around and imitate him. This included stomping on the foot and squeezing the bumb of the refs on the court.
in the end, one of them didn't want to leave the court, so the mascot had to chase him down and carry him off the court.
The bear also wore stilts and golfed.
This man would stand behind the hoop for foul shots and swing his rubber chicken around. It's hanging down between his legs.
Well the Jazz won and we had the time of our lives. Outside the dressing room, I bumped into one of the clippers players and he turned around and said excuse me. He was also a little sweaty so I don't plan on washing that part of my body, ever. We also got basketballs that the entire team had signed which was so cool.

You know how the security is usually kinda pushing and demanding. It was so fun to have them treat you like you were the most important person you have ever met. We got to be around the "secret" parts of the arena, and nobody cared if we lingered around. We are so lucky!

Picture tag

2008-10-30T00:18:00.002-06:00

I wanted to play too. Here is my sixth picture in my sixth folder in picasa. This is the air pump my family owns for our camping airmattresses. That is clearly bird poop on the pump, as I am sure you are all assuming.

Cold Urticaria-it's real

2008-10-23T20:35:00.002-06:00

At work I can look up information about every student in the school. As the term comes to an end I get a lot of questions about grades. Well today on one kid's record it had the little medical symbol, so I checked it out and the kid has what is called Cold urticaria and a little note that says "allergy to the cold, this is for real, look it up" So I did:

Cold Urticaria (essentially meaning "cold hives") is an allergy where hives, or large red welts form on the skin after exposure to a cold stimulus. The welts are usually itchy and often the hands and feet will become itchy and swollen as well.Red welts, wheals, or hives that vary in size on the skin or mucus membranes. They may or may not itch. Hives can last for a few minutes or a few days, and vary from person to person. Also a burning sensation occurs. During a severe reaction, hypotension, which can be life-threatening, can occur. A serious reaction is most likely to occur if the hives occur with less than 3 minutes of exposure (during a cold test).

The hives are a histamine reaction in response to cold stimuli, including a drastic drop in temperature, cold air, and cold water. There are many causes for cold hives, most are idiopathic (meaning they have no known cause). Some rare conditions can cause cold hives, and it can be useful to test for these conditions if the cold hives are in any way unusual.

So we all decided that it's very important that our room have heat, which it really doesn't. strange huh?

The Wedding and Such

2008-10-19T23:53:00.006-06:00

We finally made it to the day that Council Bluffs would be married! Wow, a little while ago it seemed like so far away. Here are a few of my favoirite highlights of the day.

The Classic Jumping Picture

This was a picture of the temple while they were getting married, upon request I have about 50 different pictures to pick from for the new Bluffs Family

I apparently am really squinty

Right before a kiss, I mean, we don't ever see them kiss so I don't have a picture of that

We then had a chance to go and play with some ropes that Jack brought. Because of a lack in wild animals to rope running around, we found a willing handicap sign to rope. We all were able to successfully rope the sign, it never went to fast for us.

Then we went over to Becca's Aunt and Uncle's house to hang out with them and Uncle Scott took on the challenge. He did pretty good. Good enough that he was able to scare his son around the yard. Poor Ben. Oh and the cat Pumpkin, I don't think he had a chance either. I have a video of both bellow.

Spirit Week

2008-10-08T17:39:00.005-06:00

Don't we all remember how fun it was to be in middle school when you had dress up weeks? Well this year for work we had some really good ones. It started out as Super Model day. So instead of reading like they were supposed to, they modeled for my camera. I guess it was so fun they wanted to keep it going.

Some weren't really that into it

Some misunderstood what models actually do

This was blast from the past day. Those shorts really are shorter than you think.

Pirate day, the monkey shirt is because that is the only "pirate" thing that she had

The next thing it a real treat for all. For super model day we had some entertainment. Some of you will recognize it from the musical stylings from Nacho Libre. good stuff.

Quick note: I really have issues with people talking during class, and CRUNCHING on things, it's loud and obnoxious. But I am more irritated when I am getting the "can you knock that off" stare for TYPING in class, I could shove my pencil up his nose...

Oh My Miss Jenny

2008-10-01T17:28:00.002-06:00

My visiting teachers came over yesterday, which was fun. However it was funner that they were freaked out by miss jenny. Unfortunately I hadn't redressed our friend. Right after they left, I decided that it was time....after all it is october and halloween is upon us...

He kinda sits in a dark corner. The plan is to leave the blinds open one afternoon and miss jenny in the middle of the floor of the dark apartment so it freaks people out as they walk by. I am excited because she looks great with his face painted green.

I used my Miss Western Idaho dress, which I couldn't believe fit around the waist. I had to pin the top on because as we all know the body of a man doesn't mix with the dress of a woman. I also used some of the old face paint I found from the good ol' ninja rap days. I feel like our apartment has never been so festive!

Carson's Funeral

2008-09-22T20:21:00.004-06:00

A while ago carson died, yes this is a sad thing. But...I think it was my fault. I was careless with the temp. of the water-I think. Moments after we cleaned the bowl, he died.

This picture really is of him dead, even though he is at the bottom of the bowl. It was kinda weird, I mean not only was he at the bottom of the bowl, he was stiff-even the fins. They stopped flowing like he was petrified or something. It was weird.

Lucky for all of you, we had a cerimony at my aunt's house with my cousins Hannah, Emma and Logan and my aunt Laureen.

2008-09-06T21:04:00.000-06:00

It's been a while, this I know, sorry for those who may have thought I had dropped off the face of the earth. I kind of feel like I have. Over the past couple of weeks my grandpa's health rapidly diminished. For a while now his liver has been failing him. We were hoping at some point, that he might get on to a donor list, but because he had previously had prostate cancer, his chances were slim to none. Well, he took a turn for the worst and my family prayerfully decided that we would bring him down to live with my aunt and uncle who recently moved to Highland to get some treatment down here. This whole time he has been sick is kinda surreal as we just expected him to get better, he was still in his 60s and pretty young and full of life. The idea was he would be close to Salt Lake and a special doctor named April. I think I have talked about her on my other blog. Anyway, after draining his large stomach from fluid, we transported him down here (to utah). This being labor day weekend, I went home to visit Jack's family so I was in Idaho when he came down here. Before he came there were a lot of preparations to be made, so it seems like so long ago because it's been so stressful and emotionally taxing. On Labor Day, we received a phone call from my mother saying that grandpa woke up that morning and decided that it was time to go and that he thought it would be that day or the next. My entire family immediately loaded up and caravaned down to Utah. Things went smoothly, getting down there. A car accident happened right in front of Jack and I to watch, and that seemed to just add to the intense drive. However, lucky for me, Jack was very good at keeping me calm and happy and I have to say my ride was quite pleasant. Jack and I arrived about an hour before everyone else so I was lucky to have a lot of time to talk to my grandpa before anyone got there. He reviewed specific things he wanted me to do for his funeral, a lot of them having to do with music. He talked to me about his hopes for my future, meaning marriage. He wanted to make sure that Jack was the tallest of all the men, so we promised to size him up on the wall in my grandparents house when we got a chance. The most important thing I want to share a little bit about what what he said about how he knew it was his time to go. He had mentioned that he talked to the Lord, and in short the Lord told him that if he was ready He could use his help. My grandpa agreed to come. My grandpa also talked about seeing his brother and sister, his parents and my grandma's mother. They were all there encouraging him to come. My grandpa shared with us what Heavenly Father looked like and many other things that he said to him. It was a really spiritual experience for my whole family. We each had a turn to talk to him individually and to tell him we loved him. This will be something that I won't ever be able to forget. What a blessing it was for me to be able to have a glimpse at the unknown. I am so grateful that I know my Heavenly Father's plan for me, and even more grateful that His plan includes a family that I get to be with forever. So while this was a really sad experience, I can say that my family and I feel that peace and confirmation that everything is as it should be, and the Lord has us in his hands and we will be together again someday.

Mind Tricks

2008-08-13T16:48:00.001-06:00

Today I spent some time reading archives of blogs, you know from a couple of years ago. Every time I would start I would read a couple and start to miss life back then, get mad and stop reading because I am happy for a change. And then I find myself on someone else's blog. Not funny brain.

We used to be close you know, all of us. And we were funny, it's strange how things ended up.

Probably the Last FHE

2008-08-12T12:33:00.003-06:00

Last night I was in charge of FHE. We had something spectacular planned, let me tell you. You know the Office olympics episode? Well we mimicked it using yogurt tops and paper clip chains, water races. Except we also did an artistic event with sidewalk chalk, tie tying, and fingernail painting. Given there were only 5 of us, I think we had a good time. We ended up having sandwhiches afterward, like we weren't tired of being together so that was cool.

Here we are at the very end. We all got medals, which wasn't hard because we had good chances. If you can see, we are kinda wet. That is because after the water race around the building, we got rid of it.

This is the winner's podium. I think I am going to miss this prison view, it's been home for so long.
These are cindy's nails at the end of the competition. each face is supposed to be a different expression. Take special note of the thumb, those are pieces of glitter that Bret dug out of the the glitter nail polish and made tears for the little guy.

It may have been more fun if more people were there, but it was pleasant and good. I had a good talk with Adam Alt. He made me feel pretty good. I really miss hanging out with F6 sometimes. It was like they were my older brothers, in a sense I kinda view them like that. I really want them to screen my dates still, have opinions and what not. But all things must come to a close I am aware. However, I have many exciting things to look forward to, in 10 days I am going to Logan, in 17 Jack is going to come visit down here? Maybe? we shall see what's going on, but there has been an agreement that there will be pictures taken. No worries!

Oh that BYU

2008-08-06T10:07:00.003-06:00

I got on the internet this morning and opened up MSN and noticed they had a story about both the top ten most conservative and liberal universities in the nation. It shouldn't surprise anyone that we were number one most conservative. but I found the interview blurp kind of amusing so I thought I would share.

1. Brigham Young University (Utah) (Provo, Utah)
"Because of the nature of BYU as a private institution run by a religious group, the school typically attracts a lot of Latter Day Saint (Mormon) individuals," most of whom are "friendly, clean-cut and religious," with an "emphasis placed on education and social interaction." They "never drink or smoke, work part-time and spend weekends either at the library or trying to find someone to marry." As one student explains, "Because of our religion, many students are very preoccupied with marriage and finding their special someone. This also is hard for those of us who are not yet ready to look for a marriage partner or who don't want to start a family right away." In fact, atypical students -- there are some, "usually distinguishable by the way they dress (they try to stand out)" -- can find it "hard to be around this culture." One student writes, "Sometimes I get really frustrated and don't like how close minded and judgmental a lot of the students can be."

Long but worth it

2008-08-04T17:42:00.002-06:00

My weekend was incredible, really, I think I could write a fairy tale about it. I think I feel like I stepped out of a different world, like life hasn't even existed while I was gone. Not that I will, but if given the opportunity, I would miss zions to go back. I won't lie, I am sitting here really wondering why I am not there. Becca made jokes about having to send my stuff up there, but right now that seems like a good idea. Here is what my trip was. I got a phone call from a guy named Jack I knew in high school, and decided to go home and visit my family and perhaps catch up with him. In the F6 R22 circle, we call him Jack Jack. Like on the incredibles. The following is a three part description about the whole thing, hopefully explaining the rash decision entry from a few days ago.

Background:

Jack and I graduated the same year from neighboring towns. Thus, our schools would play each other in sports. we also were in the same stake growing up and he asked me to dance a couple of times as a kid. I used to take stats for the basketball team so when we would play New Plymouth,(the town is made in the shape of a horse shoe, it's famous for it or something) he would be playing, and I always thought he was good looking, but you know, I had a lame boyfriend at the time, so I just admired his good basketball skills and beautiful face from a far.

Last summer when he got back from his mission, I was asked to come home and speak to the singles ward. This was last august when there a was a little drama going on in my life about two boys and not knowing who to date. Well during my talk, I mentioned this situation, which may have been a mistake on my part, because I recently found out, up until I said that, he was going to ask me out. and I crushed his dreams or something. :)

Well, while he was on his mission, his family moved to Weiser Idaho, into my grandparents ward. My grandpa has been eyeing him for a while and has been trying to get me to talk to him for months. Jack was kinda dating somebody so I would just laugh and mention that to my grandpa and he would roll his eyes, but he never quit. He attempted to invite him over all the time, and even introduced us once hoping that I would buck up and talk to him. But, I just didn't think he was interested, especially since he was kind of dating somebody else. When I would go home to visit, I would be sure to talk to him and say hi at church, but it was mostly so I could joke around with my grandpa that he was talking to me.

How it REALLY happened:

I was able to go rafting, (see recent post) and he was there. He had sent me a couple of messages on facebook about dunking me in the water and whatnot. so I said hi when we got there. but let's be honest, my confronting boys skills are pretty bad, that is my weak spot, I can't talk to boys that I like right off, it's really hard for me. well, he was going to get my number after we got back, but, I took off too quickly.

so in the car he mentioned it to a guy named Matt (yes I know this matt) and matt tried to encourage him by offering to get it from my sister. So Matt called Heidi, but at the time, CB cannon, Heidi and were at my cabin by then out of cell phone range, so we didn't get the message. When Jack got home he told his mom about not being able to get a hold of me and she said "we have a phone book, call her mom." so he did. My mom gave him my number and he called me. We were in the car coming back from water sliding at my cabin, we took a mini vote in the car, CB and Cannon thought he was really brave to ask me out when I had two boys with me and that it was really admirable. So I said yes. Everyone went back to my house and I went out to dinner with Jack. It was at this point that Jack got his nickname "Jack-Jack" We had just watched the incredibles in the car, and Council Bluffs suggested that "Jack should take me to Jack-in-th-box and then we should go watch Jack Jack Attack together at Jack-in-th-box.

About a week later, he called me during clean checks for a few hours while I cleaned. I promised him that I would call him that weekend to tell him how it went, but I got sick and couldn't talk at all, so I had to call him the following Tuesday. We talked a lot about the rodeo later in the month, and how I couldn't come up at all, and I was pretty disappointed, but I went to bed and called it good. I kind of already knew I wouldn't be able to pull it off with work, and having to take lots of other trips with the group so I really didn't think that I would be able to go anyway. Well the next morning, I went to work and started to talk to Becca about it. It was kinda weird, I just decided to go. I looked up plane tickets, called up Bret and Carrie who were also going the next day. But in my mind I knew that I couldn't go, what was I supposed to do, get work off. Nobody was going to be in the office, I would be leaving my boss stranded, it was late notice, we wanted to take another trip this weekend. But I couldn't get it out of my mind.

I guess I was thinking about it pretty hard because my boss asked me what was up, so I told him and he was like, "I can cover the office when Megan is gone, this will work out, do you have enough money? Here's $100.00." I immediately texted Jack to see if I could get him to come and get me the next day when we rolled into boise around 6 in the evening. Then Bret calls and says "we want to leave tonight" So I ended up working extra so I could finish somethings that I would be missing the next day. And we took off at about 9 and got to boise early in the morning.

I am not quite sure what I was expecting, it was kinda thrilling to think that Jack would want to do something with me while I was there. However, when I called him to tell him I was going to be there earlier, he instantly started to make tentative plans with me for every night I was going to be there.

The real fairy tale:

On Thursday night he came to my house to pick me up, I was supposed to have picked a place to go, but of course I didn't, I was too busy trying to change my clothes and do my hair in the car to think about that. So luckily my dad came to the rescue and suggested the fair, and then to test drive new cars. So we left for the fair, and had a great time. He explained somethings about team roping that I didn't know about, and we had the best hand dipped corn dogs. (or cattails as in accordance with the meeting in the shade) We then went and got ice cream at walmart, came back to my house - ate the ice cream- and sat outside looking at the stars and talking until 3:30 in the morning. It was beautiful, there were so many shooting stars and it was so clear outside, and you could hear the sounds of the country that I didn't realize I missed so much until I was laying there.

On Friday the singles ward had a temple trip so Jack picked me up and we went together. I had a good time, I didn't really know how to act while we were there because, well small towns talk, and if nothing happened, I didn't want Jack to be stuck not getting a date because I made it seem like we were dating. After the temple we drove to weiser and I met his mom, I have met his dad before so that was fun. then we sat outside again and just talked for a while. at one point it looked like there was lightning in the distance, but there were hardly any clouds. we were out until around 2:30. when we got to my grandparents house, my grandpa had just gotten up to go use the bathroom. so he ran into us coming in. I thought it was really funny, here it is late at night, and I don't think I have seen my grandpa that delighted to see somebody. I am referring to Jack because Jack is his favorite person. Obviously, my grandpa has been trying to encourage me to ask out jack for at least 6 months if not longer. The night was so pleasant, it was as though I go outside and sit with Jack every day. Jack has the cutest dog, it's really big, but he is so big he looks like he has to toddle over to you.

The next morning we got up and rode horses up in the hills behind Weiser and watched the sunrise. It was so cool, I don't think I have ever watched a sunrise. I got to ride buck, who was such a beautiful horse. Jack's mom described him as the real version of the Disney cartoon spirit. It made my day. We then loaded up the horses, took them home and helped make breakfast at his house, which was so good. I told Jared about a month ago that I was into breakfast again, still haven't done it yet Jared, but this huge breakfast just reaffirmed that I am still into breakfast. For goodness sake, we even had hot chocolate with whipped cream. Jack's youngest sister Grace made sure that I had it right, because you can't have whipped cream if you don't make the sound effect as you spray it. I think I agree, it was the best hot chocolate I have had to date.

After breakfast, we decided that we were tired and went out under some trees with a couple of sleeping bags along the bottom of the truck bed. We rolled both the bags out, talked for a while and fell asleep talking. We must have been so tired because we were both out for a while. When we woke up we watched the biggest (and most disgusting fish) I have ever seen jump out of the river. It was white and HUGE. That's how we noticed it, because it was making such big splashes.

We then decided to go change some siphon tubes since we were in the area for it. However, we didn't have any boots or anything so we had to do it barefooted. Now, I claim to be from the country, and it's true, I live out with the farmers, and I have swathed hay and moved pipe, but I have never done tubes. I don't really know anyone that uses them. At least not the people I hung out with in highschool. So Jack starts to show me how to set them. Now for those of you that don't know what a siphon tube is, I have tried to create a diogram for you. The pipes use presure to naturally suck water from the ditch to the feild. We learned about it in physical science. I remember this because there was a test question with a picture and it was confusing. Anyway, naturally Jack tells me that the easiest way to get the water up is to put your hand over the tube making a kind of straw for yourself so you don't have to put your mouth on it. you then suck as hard as you can and put the pipe down before you suck up the water. It was really hard and I had him show me several times before I tried so I could get it. After a short period of time I turned around because I couldn't get it, by that time he was way behind me and yells "just suck harder" so I did. and I got a face full of river water. it went in my mouth, up and out my nose and eyes. I am sure it was the funniest thing, and had it been on film, it would become the next big thing to watch on you tube. Of course, that is NOT how you get the water through the tube, you use the palm of your hand and create a suction that way. I got him back by slipping and falling and punching him in the face. All totally an accident. We then went back to get cleaned up and had dinner with his family. They left and we cleaned the kitchen up a little and then went to see batman. He hadn't ever seen it so it was fun for me as it was my third time. He then took me home and once again we talked for a while outside, and again he got home really late.

On sunday after church he came over and ate a whatever's left in the fridge dinner, arm wrestled me (of which only proved that I am the biggest weakling there is) and then he doctored my foot and got a sliver out of it from the day before using his pocket knife. He cleaned me all up. Jack is doing his pre-med stuff right now, so it was kinda weird because he was like my own little personal doctor. He even talked to me in a calm voice and just kept going until it was all taken care of no matter how much I squirmed.
He then took me to boise to meet up with bret and carrie. After he drove off both of bret's parents told me how atractive they thought he was, and that they approved. It wasn't until I finished telling the car about my weekend that it hit me that I missed him already. Becca, you had good reason to fear sending my things up, because if I had a choice right now, I wouldn't be here for sure. For those of you that like it, I will be providing both rootbeer and oatmeal and more details.

$137.00, Boise, Stars, one hundred dollar bill and 2 days of missed work

2008-07-30T15:04:00.003-06:00

The funny thing about this picture is I found it thinking I was going to find something clever about making rash decisions, and then this came up. Let's interpret for my situation, and then let's open the picture up for discussion.

I just made a rash decision. I couldn't be happier about it. I am very happy with my life, living in provo, around people. The phrase I used with Becca was "citified."

Well my new decision that will effect my weekend directly is to go back to my roots, wranglers, and ropes, animals and crickets at night. Cowboys and pure outdoor entertainment.

Basically what happened is, I woke up this morning, called Jack Jack, and now I am going home until sunday, for no reason. I kind feel like this picture, like I am disappearing for a few days, and the rest of the world is going to be put on hold until I am ready to resume.

Rafting

2008-07-21T13:22:00.002-06:00

This weekend Council Bluffs, Cannon and I went on a rafting trip in Riggins, Idaho. At the last min, Emily couldn't go, so we brought Mandy Trejo in our ward with us. We had so much fun! The trip was with my dad's singles ward, so there were about 145 people that went, so several boats were on the river at once. The above picture is my favorite of all of them. I dropped off our disposible camera earlier today, so I am excited to see those pictures. These are my favoirtes of the 30 pictures that the lady on the river bank was taking. I will make them all available for viewing when I get the other picture CD back from walmart tonight. Like most of my pictures, they will be located on the sidebar with a link. With the four of us was my dad in the red hat on the right, the stake pres. daughter Jaunee in front of him. Jeremy our guide is in the very back. To the left of him is my sister Heidi and then the girl in front of her is Mackenzie. I would like you to pay attention to everyone's individual face and body position. I have a ho-ho for the person that can give the funniest caption to any of these pictures, for any one individual person.

After the river, went to my cabin and went watersliding. we have several pictures and videos of that too, but since I am at work, those will have to be added at a later date.

2008-07-18T03:47:00.005-06:00

The much awaited comic is here. Batman was too good for words. I am going rafting, and going to bed. have a wonderful weekend

I DID IT!

2008-07-11T10:35:00.003-06:00

I found this great comic about raptors today in the newspaper, I am trying to figure out how to get it on the blog, but I figured all of the my raptor invasion preparation friends would appreciate it so I will keep working on it.

I also am announcing I did it. I applied for a few schools in Idaho. My plans are not yet final but, I meet with a dude at BYU on monday to negotiate how much they want me, and then it's onward from there. I think for sure I am going to try and stay fall semester. But it sure was fun to say to myself "it's time for a serious change." So basically if you are out of the loop, mission plans are still in the making, I am just adjusting my life so I might actually afford to go. Yeah for decision making! For some odd reason all of the pressure feels almost gone, I think I am kind of relieved to try and leave. I love provo, don't get me wrong, but I need something different for myself. I had a great time hanging out with Carrie last night, I feel so much better! I love Jenilyn and Becky for saving my trash yesterday as well. Not that they read my blog, but thanks guys.

Background

2008-07-09T08:56:00.003-06:00

apparently the place I got my background is having server problems, so that is why it's not working, however, no worries. I will fix it soon, not that I don't change my background all of the time...

Hansen Family Campout

2008-07-08T21:11:00.005-06:00

This past week was the Hansen Family Campout. We spent most of the time working on our Cabin that you can see in the background. We put in most of the windows, wrapped it and laid the 1300 sq. ft. deck. A lot of us still slept in it which was fun. Carrie Robinson came as you will later see in the pictures. My family has been camping for this week for a long time, since before I was born. I LOVE this outing. I look forward to it every year.

This year my second cousin Megan came. She is mentally retarded, but so fun. She loves to love. She brought her picture book, and was showing everyone. She also spent a lot of time helping me throw away people's empty plates. Apparently I wasn't doing a very good job and she would have to get my attention every time.

These are most of my cousins.The packer family couldn't make it, so we are missing four. Starting with me we are in order of birth, except for the very end Brooke and Blake did NOT want to be there so we just threw them in and they cried for the whole thing. We had a few moments of accidental matching...

Little Brookie really wanted a cookie
We are trying to hide our goods from the little kids, especially my Dr. Pepper
Kailyn and Breanne made friendship bracelets, they made a forever for Emma for me to take home for her because she wasn't there.

Brooke and Reagan were watering the duck and the Hippo, I guess they were thirsty.
We had to go on an Ice run to the local town of 200 Council Idaho. They were in the middle of their Fourth Fest and we needed to get back so I could direct the Cousin dinner. We also caught a lot of attention because we weren't from them there parts, and we were jacking a cart full of ice.
Lindsey wasn't sharing, we are working on that with a new behavior plan.
I introduced Werewolves to my cousins, which they loved and are addicted to, and surprisingly good at.
Here at the end we see it's Carrie's first time driving a four wheeler. She did very good, especially since it is a manual and she was wearing flip-flops and that hurts a lot. I didn't include many pictures about the slide, but I will. I think that deserves a whole entry of it's own because there are so many meories there, and Carrie came up with a new move. Which is a big deal because this slide has been around for about 5 or more years and all of the moves we thought had been taken. Thank goodness I have such a wonderful family because I don't know what I would do with out them. I have wonderful cousins, whom I love very much. They were so nice and social with Carrie. And they are so dang smart and funny. And guess what else, they are mine for enternity!

Swimming!

2008-07-08T20:53:00.003-06:00

One Saturday we went for a dip in the riv. pool. We played some ball with the natives. CB and Emily spent most of the time trying to drown eachother. Cannon tried to teach me to swim. AND we actually got Nate to jump in!

This was a good day, for I got a little tanner after this, and I fixed my swim suit a little bit. I think I have decided that I can get one more summer out of it before safety pins aren't going to cut it anymore.

SPARKLERS!

2008-07-08T20:45:00.002-06:00

In Honor of Summer's Baptism, Randy and I bought sparklers. After ward prayer we lit them up, here are some of the highlights. It was pretty fun. I felt kinda like I was being too bossy making everyone wait and then stand there for a picture. However, it was worth it to me to have it. I then spent the rest of the night playing with matches.

Mom Richards to the rescue!

2008-07-08T20:30:00.002-06:00

Due to the severity of Carson's almost death, Whitney's mom sent me a rescue package. Complete with a fish net to avoid fish life threatening experiences, much like the garbage disposal.
Not only was there a net, there also were a few fun things for Carson to enjoy, like I think my favorite is the Lilly pad. Thanks SO much Mom Richards!

Things I am doing before I think about blogging

2008-07-08T10:32:00.002-06:00

I know it's been a while, but good things are to come. I have a whole list. However, the list of things to do other than blog has been bigger here is what it is.

Go camping with my family
Finish Lauretta's Senior Pictures
Find one Million Dollars
Sew up Paul's Ties
Read Harry Potter
Shave off my Arm Hairs
Ice My Foot
Go to work, and work there
Judge bad mom accross the street
Clean my room
Put away All my clothes
Buy a duck
Email people back
Feed my fish
Eat all of my roommate's food
Try to get a date
Ride an Elephant
Make dinner

If you bothered to read the list, you can note that some of them I have not done yet, thus the blog famine must go on....dang elephant

2008-06-16T21:59:00.004-06:00

There have been a few requests that I tell how I got carson in the garbage disposal in the first place. I uh...well when I got the F6 bowl of fish for my birthday, I didn't recieve a net for them. And since everytime I go to the store I don't think about my fish, I never by one.

So I thought I would clean Carson's bowl in celebration for deciding on a name. and since I didn't have a net I decided that I would just dump the water out slowly, like I usually do until there is a little left to put in a cup or something. well I wasn't thinking and used the other side of the sink.

*floooop* down he went. I of course stood for a second, shocked that I dropped him down there but imediately stuck my hand in there to get him out. I instantly felt his slimy skin and pulled, but it turned out to be noodles that hadn't been chopped up. There were a whole lot of noodles, so I spent a lot of time grabbing a lot of slimy noodles. I would feel him flop around and in my mind I am thinking. "he's gonna die, I am going to have to corner him against the wall of sharp blades unavoidably skewering his little body to get a hold of him"

eventually after a min. I caught him long enough to fling him onto the counter were he kinda layed there. I thought that was it. but I scooped him up and dumped him in. I fell to the bottom and rested there not moving, his tail scruffed up and in pieces. I put some blood worms in the water, but it took all of his strength to lunge up to get one. He is a trooper.

Now he sees me come in the room and always swims to the glass and stares at me for about 30 sec. and then goes back to his business almost as if to say. "you better get me a good treat because you almost killed me jerk."

Here is a diagram of where I caught carson:

Carson

2008-06-14T10:38:00.004-06:00

Well I named my fish......and then I dropped him in the garbage disposal. I was able to get him out but he's pretty beat up. He may not make it, he has a hard time swimming up to the top to eat he has to swim around the bottom. This is a big deal because he is a pretty active swimmer. Sad.

These are pictures of him, but you can't tell how destroyed his tail actually is, I think he isn't feeling good right now because he isn't swimming like normal. Which is understandable consicering that his tail is all chopped up.

Dumb Ideas

2008-06-14T03:52:00.003-06:00

It's four in the morning because I just figured out how to put more pictures on the blog without overpowering the blog. To the right you will notice a section called pictures. Here are some links to some pages with some pictures under the category of which they are labeled. Just for my STUPID sake, look at one at least so I feel like I didn't totally waste my time-even though I know it's ridiculous to stay up until FOUR to blog.

2008-06-13T18:00:00.002-06:00

On Tuesday I wasn't feeling very good so Jared helped me take my laundry over to the wash hut. I had a lot thus my need for help. Well while I sparated and loaded the laundry Jared was talking to this really nice man who was on his way through town. He said he was meeting his daughters and they were going to go on a cross country trip. Well while they talked I was having the worst time trying to load things and get quarters. I must have looked like an idiot. I was one quarter short and had some more in the car. As I left to go get it, the man stopped me and gave me one. Thanking him we left. about 45 min later I returned to find that all of my clothes had been put into the dryers and they had been started for about ann hour each, and he left this little post it note on one of them. What a nice guy.

Quick thought

2008-06-13T14:03:00.002-06:00

I am at work doing nothing once again, and I thought to myself I will check my blog because I haven't written anything in a while - true all true. Well I want to post some pictures so I have been holding off, but my computer is still having issues. last night my computer said to me

"This program's installation has been interupted avast! it can not be loaded." you can ask kathrine and megan they were both there.

In conclusion I plan on posting pictures perhaps this weekend as we are still trying to fix the issue in our spare time around here. It's just hard because I don't really know what I am doing.

Re-schedule

2008-06-03T14:50:00.001-06:00

Gavin Pants can't come tomorrow the re-schedule has been made for

Thursday at 7:00 same rules still apply, dress code all that.

Gavin

2008-06-02T23:06:00.003-06:00

One year and three months ago I got 6 fish, each was named after a member of F6. Slowly one by one each would die - we think Cannon was the first to go, I think Alan was also taken pre-maturely. Gavin has survived a lot. Weeks without being fed, he still managed. Acutally, I didn't feed him consistantly because he had some bowel problems and would get bloated a lot.

The funeral will be Wednesday at 7:00. I ask, for respect for the dead, that everyone wear all black. If not all black I ask that everyone wear their most drab garb they own, this is a sad event.

Gavin Pants will be giving a eulogy and those that feel impressed to share a poem, song, memory and whatnot are strongly encouraged to.

And to entice those that are on the fence about attending...there will be refreshments.

tomorrow I will post more details, if we will meet in the T and walk to the pond or if we will meet there, a tentative program. Enjoy this video of past moments where I thought it was time, but it wasn't.

So lately

2008-05-04T01:45:00.008-06:00

Well friends, lately I have come and gone to Disneyland. I love Disneyland. Here are a few pictures that I really enjoy. It was a great trip, especially since it was so warm outside.

Our classic jumping picture. Of course it was hard to get a really good one, but it was so nice for one of the cast members to take it for us. I particularly love that the word California is in the background. In pictures that I didn't post, there is a guy in the background that looks as though he was filming us, I hope so. we are cool enough to be remembered.

Yeah Winnie the Pooh! I will explain more later, but the pass around my neck was particularly exciting for him. He would stroke it and wave it and he did a little dance.

While Eeyore is so cute and sad, he totally wanted lots of hugs. AND when Jared tried to make the joke "cheer up Eeyore you look so sad" Eeyore definitely protested and wouldn't let us leave because he really had a smile on his face.

Of course, Tigger was all for doing a jumping picture with us. It was so worth the wait. I love the characters, they are so fun. It was so hot however-they are amazing. Tigger was my favorite because he seemed the most excited to see us, like he didn't want us to leave.

My flipping sweet pair of ears that Kyle and Becca bought me. It was totally like I was a princess the whole day!

This was right after Katy and I just happened upon free ears that they were giving away! It really was the year of a million dreams. We all decided that it was a year of great things to come. It was so strange that every wish we had came true. I have always wanted the pink ears- bam, I got them. Jared wanted to be in the front-bam, he was. We all were sad that the park wasn't open very long-bam, we once again were in the right place at the right time. We just happened upon some very happy cast member that were giving out passes and all they would say is we got to stay an extra hour and to come back to that spot at 8:00. YEAH! another wish come true.

We obviously were trying to escape, and obviously, we did.

Katy and I on our trusting steeds. Bam-another wish come true. We talked a lot about wanting a specific horse when we were little, and once again, it seemed just as important to have the right horse. Katy's was so cool, it was like a warrior or something.

This was as close as I was willing to get to the tea cups. oh the spinning.
These guys were so cool, and my new favorite characters. They only agreed to take a picture if I would share my rum. They then put on a little show for us. As you watch the second clip, watch carefully for when the pirate on the right almost cracks.

This is us, the ones that got to stay later. It was so sweet! at 8:00 they had everyone with a pass go to the back of the park to a theater, where there was a dance party that awaited us. Here were a thousand people all doing the cha-cha dance together and then they had some high school musical, followed by some grease. Meanwhile everyone else in the park was sent out. Mickey and Minnie came and announced the opening of the park for everyone, rides and all, for one hour. It was so cool! there were no lines, nobody was around. the park was almost completely empty. So Jared, Katy and I went to the new finding nemo subs that were broken down before, but suddenly fixed after hours bam-another wish! and then in the sub, we sat next to a bunch of people from utah. What a happy time!

2008-04-19T12:59:00.005-06:00

I haven't posted in a little while, and I meant to while I was still at home. BUT...my family was calling! I had a wonderful week with my family, on the way home my car's fuel pump became disconnected and that sucked because it put me back 6 or so hours. However, I came home and went on an AMAZING date that made it all better. I'm not really even mad at Chester (the mechanic) anymore.

Well when I went home, I had a photo shoot with some of my cousins that were hanging around. Here are a few of my favorite shots. (the one on the train tracks doesn't count, its just me and my brother playing around, but it's cute)

The jumping pictures live on...

Little Blake was being so funny, he would wait for the girls to finish with whatever they were doing and then would take his turn.

I would tell these two what to do and then they would mimic me. I did the Carrie face not thinking and they did what I told them.

They are hiding their cake, you can see Reagan's on the right.

I bet Tally won't be to happy with me but I made them play in the water, it was too cute!

My trip was so great. It started out with a bang by meeting my extended family in Idaho Falls and doing baptisms together. I will never forget it. I never get to see that side and what an amazing feeling being all together as a family, bringing more of our family into the gospel. The spirit was exceptionally strong, I can't wait to do it again.

Another fun thing, I also found out that one of my cousins married a girl last year that I went to elementary school with and hadn't seen for YEARS! Her name is Heather, and just in case she happens to see or read this post I want her to know that I was so excited to see her and my family only had wonderful things to say about her.

wow...I really had a great date last night

General Conference

2008-04-06T19:00:00.004-06:00

Today I got to go to the afternoon session of conference. Basically it comes down to having wonderful people that I am about to move in with. I was over at their house yesterday watching conference, and they asked if I wanted to go.

This was where we were. I never noticed on the wall where it looks like there are yellow strips of light, its actually just gold. It's beautiful.

Jenny Lynn was having more fun than this picture is letting on.

We really were right up against the wall.

This guy was walking around all over the place, before and after. If you can't tell what it says, "The Antis are just jealous, feel sorry for them"

Going to conference again was really great. I am so lucky. I know that I have been to general conference more than many other people. Some people have only ever been once-if they are lucky. I remember when I went for the first time the session that they did the dedicatory prayer with the white handkerchiefs. We forgot them so we used tissues. Even more wonderful is the fact that I am getting new roommates that are already too nice to me. Dinner, movies, they have been helping me move my stuff. They are so wonderful, I don't have to worry at all because they act as though I have been their friend forever. I am really excited to move in with them. These girls have been wonderful the last couple of days. They somehow just show up or call right when I need them. I've had a pretty hard weekend, and it was nice to have a place to go.

I am also excited for this coming weekend. I am going to Idaho Falls to be with my family this weekend to do some temple work on some family names. I found out today there are going to be 400 names and I am one of 6 doing the baptisms for them. holy crap, that's a lot of water, but I guess it's a sacrifice that I am willing to make. Yeah for the temple and families and conference .

Long Friday Nights

2008-03-29T00:44:00.002-06:00

It seems like it's been a while since I have posted, I don't have too much to say really. I can say that if you, the reader, were lucky enough to be reading my blog for the last couple of hours you would have seen this extreme changing of backgrounds. I feel like my background has got to be just so. But it's not working, I still am not satisfied. It however is better than what it was before.

I didn't even know it was 1:00 A.M. I must be a pathetic loser.

Rex Lee Run

2008-03-15T21:46:00.005-06:00

Today was a momentous day. I was in the 5k for the Rex Lee Run for cancer. There was a time in my life that I never thought something like that would ever happen. But it did and it was wonderful. I stayed with Megan the whole time, and it was most enjoyable. AND there was a great deal of people from the ward there that is for sure. I liked what Kathrine had to say about the event. It was something to the effect of it's wonderful that we donate money to a great cause to find cancer because not only are we donating funds for the research, we also are physically sacrificing for it too. It means so much to us that we would show that we care.

It may have not quite gone like that, but that is the way I went away feeling. Anyway here are some moments to remember the day.

Council Bluffs

2008-03-13T23:06:00.010-06:00

I wish this would have been posted earlier, but I couldn't help it-at work the internet blocks all websites worth looking at because of the kids, other wise I could have posted at work or something. I am also on campus and my computer is doing something funny. Actually it's been doing something funny for a few days now and I am not sure what to do about it. Anyway, some pictures (only some because I don't have all of them, but I will and want to.

The Bluff's Beast

We of course had to fight and kick the beast's trash.

We had a few casualties.

A few noble sacrifices.

It all worked out in the end.

The happy couple's first dance.

We of course were dancing to spice girls.

I believe this was the beat it dance.

It was a beautiful moment outside the temple that is for sure.

We were on our way to wedding party pictures and we found this amazing sight. If you look carefully you can see the fourth dog and the dog sled on the top. I don't know how popular dog sled races are in Iowa/Nebraska, but I would vote that it was cold enough to have one somewhere that is for sure.

We wanted to make sure that grandpawattamie got all the attention her deserved. He was fun to have around. And he totally tore it up on the dance floor.

Oh look how cute. If you look carefully, you can see on of my curls down by my neck that looks like it's kind sprouting from the bottom of my head like it doesn't belong.

These were cute ol' pictures of us going to our bachelorette party that I can't say was terribly exciting, but we did go to applebees and enjoy ourselves. looking silly.

I think we were going after a full windsor?

The following is one table moment full circle of all of us eating our favorite council bluff's food

This was taken before we left. The sun was the enemy that day.

Oh rusty, he was all over trying to play around and sneak in that bathroom for some toilet paper, and he for some reason LOVES flip-flops, as janae about it.

These CB shirts are my favorite because all these pictures are fun to look at, far more than any other pictures of groups of people, I think mostly because we match.

we were trying to get a good jumping picture of rusty too.

Of course there had to be a jam session. It wouldn't normal if something was done. I know that every time we have ever gone anywhere with instruments to play, they inevitably are going to be played.

There will be more pictures to follow, when I get more of course.

Oh boys

2008-02-21T23:14:00.002-07:00

Lately at work I have had only boys stay after school. I am not sure what that means, but we went from having maybe 3 or 4 kids stay for after school, to averaging 10. All this week it has only been boys. I just noticed this yesterday. They of course are the same kids, the ones that I track, so they are all failing a class in one way or another.

Today I had a kid who is named after a country come in and he worked on his science something. He was typing it up and he kept asking me for my email address, but he was confused because he thought that an email address was actually where I lived.

I had to keep on one kid every health question he was doing because if I wasn't to say "ok, now look up friends" he would stand up and walk around and touch, move and bother anything within reach.

One was working on his math, and he told me that I suck at it.

One had punched his locker right after school and was having a hard time writing because his hand was completely swollen and black and blue.

One was looking at elementary pictures of himself.

One was actually kicking trash at his Algebra and hardly looked up from his work. Given I had to keep telling him to turn down his ipod because I could hear it, and we all know what kind of music kids listen to right now.

One came in and was really happy to see me. Since he was sent from a different teacher he was half an hour into it. So I instantly figured that he would start a break in the silence I had worked hard to maintain. BUT NO! I asked him what he was going to be working on, and to find a desk and HE DID! and for the first time I have been the strict teacher I have been waiting to be that gets respect, silence and kids that are producing homework.

Boy Scouts!

2008-02-19T20:06:00.007-07:00

I got to go home this weekend, which was so great. But the greater thing was the reason I went home. My only brother who is 15 had his Eagle Court of Honor and I of course wouldn't have missed that. Here are some pictures to commemorate the occasion.

The table of Deric's scout stuffs, my mom saved all kinds of things from cub scouts and boy scouts. I think we had the prize winning pine wood derby car. some sort of noise maker.

You could tell he was really enjoying every min. I think he was a little nervous too because he, for the first time ever, was a little testy when he would talk to you.

My mom really did earn that mother's pin. On this event alone she would have received her own Eagle. I think some of the first words out of her mouth when we got home were "so what about that palm you almost have, what else do we have to do."

Regan thought Heidi's shirt was immodest because she looked under her sweater and said "why are you wearing your bra," so they had to button up so nobody saw that.
Kendal, Luke and Nick doing the flag ceremony. I know I appreciated the fact that my family had part in this too. It was far more meaningful.

Regan had to check out my glasses. She couldn't believe that I didn't only wear them at night.

My uncle Jerry and aunt Karen and their Daughter Allyssa. I am not sure I spelled her name right now that I think about it...and my Grandma Lovette. This is the Perren side that I don't have many pictures of so I am excited that they came so I could have some.

This is the Monson family. They were in our ward in Burley and they were the best, most faithful hometeachers we ever had. And wouldn't you know, there they were-the best.

The Eagle's nest

Crazy faces

we don't have enough pictures like this

Please make special note of my yellow banana hair. It was bad and I will always be embarrassed about it. But not enough to not post it so everyone can laugh with me.

Communication

2008-02-10T16:52:00.000-07:00

Lately I have been thinking a lot about the way we can communicate with others and the world and how even with the chatting and texting and phones and emails and faxes and messages and voicemail, all I have to say it seems as though talking face to face is the hardest.

Maybe it's because expressing ourselves in front of others is intimidating. Maybe we prefer to be passive aggressive and leave notes and texts so we don't have to front our worst fear of actually talking to each other.

I have a hard time letting people know how I really feel, especially in the moment. However, I also find that every once in a while, I have an issue with it and I can't help the tone of my voice or the comment that I make. This happened to me just the other day. Maybe it was because I was already stressed about recent events, but my tone of voice really ratted me out in the way I felt. And even though the other person got that I was upset, I still am bound by that aforementioned fear of having to confront the way I actually feel and I feel like I shouldn't have let that part of myself go, I should have been stronger.

I want to be the one that can be independent, or that is so strong words and actions can't break down the wall. Sometimes the knowledge that everything will work out just isn't enough, I still let little things get to me. I had to make a list of things that have been bothering me. Some of these were the way I have been treated lately, or the situations I may be dealing with. What bothers me the most about this list that I made was, there isn't any quick fix to any of them. So I have resolved to just pray for more patience, understanding and perseverance. Perhaps having a stronger store of these three things will make it easier to communicate and I can feel like I have control over my life again.

Feb. 2nd?

2008-02-02T14:53:00.000-07:00

I worked really hard on this a while ago and it never worked...so pretend that this happened yesterday, or that you have suddenly been sucked back through time.

Last night Brady's ward had a talent show. I got to attend, and yes it was a privilege. There were several humorous moments however, of all of them-this one takes the cake. A couple of weeks ago, Brady decided he was going to yodel- at least that is what he said happened. The performance was rather good, especially since he got the loudest cheer of the night. I got it all on film, it's like 3 mind but make sure to watch until the end because it gets a little crazy.

I also was enlightened last night. Actually it's been a long process of being enlightened. I have learned a lot about myself, and what the Lord has in store for me in the last year or so. Good thing I am lucky to know the truth about the gospel and that the Lord I am blesses me every day. Anyway, last night I actually got to pin point how I felt. It's like a crazy impulse, the need to feel organized. Like the cleaning that I sometimes do when I need to clear my thoughts. I know it's crazy but I think when I am cleaning crap I can relate it to cleaning crap in my mind-then I feel better.
Here are some other things that are like cleaning crap in your mind
blowing your nose
using index cards or post-it notes
buying manila file folders
writing a letter to whitney
separating pictures into their appropriate computer files
making your bed
doing your laundry
putting your clothes in your closet short sleeved, 3/4 sleeved, long sleeved, sweaters, skirts
re-doing the dry erase calendar
making excel lists-thanks for those formulas
organizing using labels
sleeping on it

DANCING!

2008-01-27T16:06:00.000-07:00

On saturday a group of us decided to go to Salt Lake for contra dancing. This was exceptionally exciting because most of us didn't know what it was we were getting ourselves into. We spent forever trying to call other people to come with us to have even numbers. Our efforts were thwarted and we still went with odd numbers. In the end it didn't matter because the people we went with were so friendly and amazing. It was held at a Unitarian Church and most of the people there were older, except for the 3 little kids there, and even they were amazing!

most of the group, Dan, Nathan, Chelsea, Cannon, Lora, Lillian and Kaley

Not really knowing what was supposed to be going on, a lot of the time people would push us where to go, which was fine, at least for me.

I am getting so much hight right here! Kasey was throwing me all over the place!

Mandy and Eric Have A Baby!

2008-01-26T02:25:00.001-07:00

Here is a tribute to my evening spent with the new Nathan Eric Dow! he was born January 25 at 3:13 in the morning at 8 lbs. 1 oz. He really is one of the cutest babies on earth!

Here is Ashley kicking it with her Dr. Pepper

Of course the most important people of the day, Mandy and Baby Nathan!

The nurses like to make a cute little name tag for each of the babies for their little boxes

Oh my goodness look at that cute face and all that hair, he is so little!

me and Nathan bonding. He was so little and so soft!

This picture makes me want to be asleep, he looks so peaceful

The Doctor said that before Nathan was born he must have sucked on his toe and made a blister that popped and then he came out with a scratch on his toe. We have a toe sucker!

Mommy being checked on, everything was ok no worries

Me and Lauren having a picture session

This was the first time that Nathan was opening his eyes for me he is so adorable
I am so excited that he is finally here. I felt bad because while I was there I kept sniffling a little, but it wasn't because I am sick, it's because I almost cried several times. I think that was the first time that I realized what a miracle babies are. Every other time, they have all been family, and I never really went to the hospital. Don't get me wrong I have loved everyone of them. But really, just a little while ago, this little guy was still in the presence of our Heavenly Father. What an amazing responsibility to get to raise a child of God, especially one as cute as Nathan. I guess it made me really put into perspective the importance of my divine role of being a mother some day. I really am looking forward to that time, someday. I can't be more excited for Nathan!

Being Racist

2008-01-26T02:07:00.000-07:00

Clark and I were bored so we made a racial cake. In an effort to not be racist. one black and one white and then we cut shapes from one and inserted them in the other.

Don't laugh this is very artistic. These cakes represent the union of people and late night activities planed at the last min.
We then frosted the cakes white on black and black on white. They were looking completely uneatable.
However in the end I feel as though we got the point. We make look different on the outside, but when it come down to eating each other, as long as we mix it up it should taste fine.

Del Taco So Far

2008-01-22T23:56:00.001-07:00

This was the night that Mitt won, so we celebrated if you can't tell

Fast internet = cooler things to blog about

2008-01-21T10:30:00.000-07:00

We were playing a game called lawyer, I think. This is all at FHE by the way. The person in the middle (katherine) is going around asking questions and to whomever she is asking the question to(in this case it is John Bay), the person to their left (Boomer) is their lawyer and has to answer the question. The answer doesn't have to be true, it just has to make sense.

Pay attention to Boomer and how he is looking at John first and then snaps his attention to Kathrine.

Kathrine asks what her middle name is
Boomer says brick

I only add this just in case there is any confusion.

So things are fine?

2008-01-15T00:36:00.001-07:00

Things are fine. I am going to describe how fine they are using synonyms from the thesaurus.

I have I accomplished several things this last week that I never thought I would, deciding not to go to school being one of them.

I think my patience with my students has been admirable lately.

When the bridesmaid dress is done and finished and all of those dang pleats and darts are sewn, I think I will look rather attractive.

I was told that I looked beautiful on saturday and it made my day

I saw Jenilyn with a gingerbread house that was supposed to be the capital building

I also have made the choice to let the Lord guide me, and to quit fighting for what I think is right when I know He has a better plan.

I have had the most enjoyable time hanging out over at F6 lately. I was exceptionally concerned that I wouldn't fit in and be doomed to buy all new expensive friends. But it has been great.

Things really are good/fine, however, one thing is unsatisfactory (the antonym for fine). I have been trying to be very forward with the way I feel about things. Mostly because I have been stressed lately and I want to get things off my chest. I have been doing rather well. But you know that feeling you have when something bothers you and your heart beats harder and it's almost like your ears take momentary hold of your brain as you struggle to keep yourself from saying something rash? This could be one of a few reasons. You are acting on impulse, you have just had soap squirted in your eyes, it might hurt someone's feelings, it might risk your own feelings, it might risk the present or the future of your situation.

If you can't tell, I have something to say, this is my effort to be forward, so I can't get stressed about keeping it in. This in turn leads to the fact that my heart and my mind don't want to work together. What is it you ask that bothers me so?

I can't decide whether or not I am the kind of person that can accept unpainted toenails, and soon mine will be uncovered. Do I hold on hoping that they like being painted or can I let them be free? Naked, open to the world once more to find a new path.

Yeah for analogies

One last good-bye

2007-12-30T21:34:00.000-07:00

Well now that I am heading back in the morning I am going to share some of my favorite moments about Idaho this Christmas.

This is me, Emma and Kaylyn and the oldest play tee pee I know about. It was old when I was little. Being around my family is always my favorite.

This is Luke and Kendal after they had just come in from sledding. They were all sweaty. We had this conversation about what they wanted to be when they grow up. They said they were too tired to really thing about it. They were shocked when they found out that I wasn't getting married any time soon and that I still chose to be in school.

This is a table shot at the single sister's stake thing that we sang at. It was an amazing brunch complete with journals for all and Heidi making faces at everyone.

Gavin got me and my family some tickets and we got to go to the BSU vs. BYU game. It was so fun, until we lost. It was a sad lose because BSU fans are loud and mean. I am a BSU fan because well lets face it I thought about going there and if you are from around here you have to pick sides and I like Boise State. But I chose to be on BYU's side, as well as my family.

I think this may be my favorite thing. My parents gave themselves this new bathroom faucet for christmas. It is the coolest thing. Each of us keep finding ourselves walking into the bathroom just to turn it on.

It's been great to get away. I have had a chance to really focus my thoughts and think about my goals for the next semester. I have had some great opportunities to go on some fun dates. Tomorrow I am going out with this kid from England for new years and I am excited. Then when I get back I guess with another boy named Cole. It's good to know that I have other opportunities to meet people in a fun environment.

I won't lie though my heart is torn and it's still really hard to go out with other people. I guess I am looking for that feeling of contentment. The one that comes when I feel like I can be myself and do goofy things, or have silly opinions with someone. So I can mess around. It's fun to think that I could be with someone that would sing Disney songs in the car with me. or watch cartoons. I really want to feel like if I rolled around in the mud, my condition would be endearing instead of revolting. Some of the guys I have been around lately didn't give me that impression. I have really only felt that once with anybody, the sad thing is I don't think they ever knew that. I know that I took him for granted.

My family must be feeling like I am going to following in my unmarried uncle's footsteps. Even my dad said today that I should throw out the 500 mile rule and just find somebody. It's all a joke really but we did have to talk about "my plan" today so this has been fresh on my mind. It's nice to get it out where it can all make sense.

2007-12-27T23:56:00.000-07:00

It's hard when you want something so badly that in your mind you've probably made it up. I wish things were different most days. It's amazing the amount of things I wish for.

I wish I was done with school
I wish I had a million dollars
I wish I wasn't so cold toward people I still am not used to
I wish I had gone farther in the beauty pageant-this was unexpected
I wish there was more parking
I wish it wasn't so cold
I wish my dog didn't smell so bad
I wish I had instantly cleaning skin so I wouldn't have to shower, I would always be fresh
I wish I could trust more
I wish I were in love with Clark Kent

Gosh why can't being in love be different.

Christmas!

2007-12-25T23:23:00.000-07:00

Well I am a lucky person. I got to give a Christmas to someone else, and I still got one myself. I had a hard time today because I felt like everything I got was a little extra-more than I deserve. Until I got something I wasn't expecting, and then it wasn't good enough. I made a bit of a stink really, and then I felt horrible for being...so petty. I still am kind of beating myself up over it, but
I will eventually get over it.

I also got to spend some time with my family thus far which has been pretty fun. Both sides actually, we went sledding with my dad's side and then we had dinner with my mom's. So fun. Here is a small sampling.
These three little guys think they are so cute. The one in the green coat Tanner wants 5 fridges, 200 pieces of candy, 18 water bottles and a laptop. He's like 4.

This is Jared's artistic design, "Life through an inner tube"

This is what I thought Jared wanted me to take a picture of as "life through an inner tube"

This is me and my Cousin Sammantha. A fun story about her name is my parents almost named me that, and then they didn't.

Speaking of names...I can't believe I never thought of this but I vow to name one of my children after myself and her name will be Amanda Lynn

.....I don't know why that isn't my name.

Be Honest

2007-12-11T18:57:00.000-07:00

This is a true story, that I will probably use later on in some talk. Today my Math class sat down with our tests we took last week and self corrected them as the teacher gave the answer out loud. In the past he has always allowed us to take them home later and fix them for half credit. This time however because the final is next week, he had to let us take them without recording how many we actually had missed with the understanding that we obey the honor code and shouldn't have to think we were going to cheat.

Later in the period he acted as though we had 15 min left when it was really 45 min.

Nobody said a word.

He called us on it, he was testing us to see if we were really honest.

WE SUCK

Thanks Alan

2007-12-02T01:03:00.000-07:00

The fifth time the gnomon strikes the pall of the intergalactic planetary alignment fractal, other dignitaries must adapt in a cromulent, forceful way. This complicates things for the Germans. For example, if a Sherpa were to attempt an algorithm analysis more intense than a rattlebear is typically able to comprehend, then we may find ourselves in a bind greater than some crappy global warming threats. I’m goin’ to the BK to eat with the ladies. The honeys. And the homies. Rattle rattle.

I’ve got sunshine on a cloudy day. When it’s cold outside, I’ve got the month of May. I guess.