Life

Hello friends!

These past couple weeks have been good. Nate and I are happy to have one more semester of school under our belts (if 2 classes for me counts as a whole semester) and a little less happy to have snow nearly up to our belts. Ok not really, but for about a week Provo was totally dumped on and there's snow everywhere. Luckily we have 2 cars until Sara gets back from VA, so I've been able to drive myself to work! Thank goodness, or I'd be a Bethsicle. Fortunately, its warmer this week, at a whopping 45 degrees! Who knew I'd ever be happy about that?

Nate celebrated his 22nd birthday on December 24th, and he got lots of fun presents from our families, who spoil us rotten. He got a fancy electric razor (from me), some clothes and gift cards from various people, a vegetarian cookbook, about 4 movies... lots of good Nate stuffs. And of course, we celebrated with large amounts of calzone for dinner. mmmm. We watched Dark Knight and ate lots of sugary sweets.

Then there was Christmas.
I stayed up to an obscene hour making homemade cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and I must say they were quite a success. I only should have started making them earlier.
Because our parents both sent us huge Christmas packages, we actually had quite a stash under our Christmas tree. I think my favorite presents were an awesome pair of gloves from my mom, a massive box of Gushers from my mom (haha!) and a dishrack. I know it sounds pathetic, but when you don't have a dishwasher, a dishrack is a lifesaver. I'm pretty sure Nate's favorite thing was a little robot-bug that was a stocking stuffer. He crawls around and when his antennae hits something, he turns and goes around it- he also stops if you startle him with a loud noise. His name is Fred, and he's awesome. Thanks, RadioShack.
We watched Wall-E after opening presents and feasting on cinnamon rolls, and then we got ready to go to my friend Paul's house for dinner. Meanwhile, Spencer (Nate's brother on his mission in Riverside, CA) called. I think that may actually have been Nate's favorite present.. he can't wait for the next 6 months to go by so he can have his little brother back! June will be an exciting month, with Spencer's return, and Cait having her baby! Hurry up, June!

Paul and Stacy's House.
We hung out and chatted for a bit while the prime rib cooked (mmm) then we feasted. Dinner conversation was mostly centered on Lydia, Paul's 2-year old daughter, who kept demanding more juice. We lied and said there wasn't any left, but she's a smart little cookie and wouldn't have it. So she got more juice. Another highlight was when Allen (another work friend) found out you have to have a Beard Card at BYU in order to have a beard, and he was in shock. "A what!? Are you serious?? No wonder whenever I go bowling out there everyone looks at me funny!" (Allen has more facial hair than your average LDS guy).
Then, while heating up the oven for some homemade custard, it caught on fire due to a grease puddle in the bottom. It was pretty exciting, and we learned that their smoke detector does not work. Good to know. The fire put itself out in just a couple minutes, and eventually the smoke aired out, though we were freezing from the open windows.
We played MarioKart Wii and Scattergories after dinner, where we learned that negroes jump or bounce, and nuns can be found in a park. Ah, what a great game.
Overall, Christmas was a fun, relaxing day. Maybe next year we'll get to be with family.

In other news...
We're thinking about moving again. There's a place we were considering back when we first moved out of Heritage Court, but you have to be on a waiting list and we just wanted out ASAP, so we didn't bother with it. But it's close to my work, and your rent is a percentage of your income. You see, I'm (finally!) going to interview to become a supervisor at the store, and if I get the job AND we get one of those apartments, then Nate can finally quit working at the crappy car place. He'd probably get a part-time campus job to supplement my income a little bit, but he's taking a very full class schedule and wont be able to work as much. But we'd still be able to afford everything with the cheaper rent. And the apartments are really nice and homey, and we're told the ward is great, so that would be really cool. We'll see what happens.

So Eric knows I read his Blog

8 TV Shows I Watch:
1. Pushing Daisies (the only one I watch every week, the others are just when I have nothing better to do)
2. Dirty Jobs (I heart Mike Rowe)
3. Man vs. Wild (I heart Bear Grylls)
4. Without a Trace
5. Cash Cab
6. What Not to Wear
7. ???
8. ???

8 Favorite restaurants:
1. India Palace
2. Olive Garden
3. Chilis
4. In-n-Out
5. Claim Jumper
6. ???
7. ???
8. ???

8 Things that happened yesterday:
1. It snowed
2. I went to church
3. Nate and I watched Water (excellent movie)
4. We watched Jet Li's Fearless (pretty good)
5. We ate dinner...
6. Sundays tend to be
7. a little bit
8. boring sometimes.

8 Things I'm looking forward to:
1. Nate's bday
2. Christmas
3. Cait's baby
4. Getting promoted
5. Graduating
6. Getting out of Utah
7. Seeing family
8. ???

8 Things on my wishlist:
1. A new fancy computer
2. A new fancy Camera (Canon Rebel)
3. Cute rainboots.
4. Homey stuff
5. ???
6. ???
7. ???
8. ???

8 is a bigger number than I thought.

Can't Stop Now

I am... hungry.

I want... it to be Christmas.

I hear... "Clocks" by Coldplay, and my cell phone ringing...

I never... make the bed.

I wonder... what my future will be.

I always... sit cross-legged.

I usually... take a nap every Sunday.

I search... for ways to make people happy.

I am not... going to stay in Utah any longer than necessary.

I dance... when I'm feelin' groovy.

I sing... whenever I know the words, and sometimes when I don't.

I wish... I lived in a house.

I dislike... mean customers.

I rarely... hide my feelings, unless I'm at work, and the customer "is always right."

I cry... when I'm hormonal, mad, or hungry.

I jump... to catch runaway balloons at the store.

I fear... driving in snow, which I have to do today.

I have... a fun job.

I should... go eat lunch.

I dream... the most random dreams ever! seriously.

I need... to send presents to my familia.

I love... my husband, my family, and my life.

I tag Cait, Jessie, and Ashley.

Reason 4

Here's another that happened just minutes after my last post.

I'm riding on the sidewalk, going downhill, and 2 girls are coming toward me, walking side by side. As I get closer, does one of them kindly step behind the other for two seconds so I can pass? No. I have to go into the grass to avoid hitting the stupid girl who wouldn't move. One of these days I'll just mow someone over.

Pedestrians

As many of you know, I ride my bike to school and work every day. And because Utah drivers are scary and dumb (I've nearly been hit multiple times just trying to cross the street in the crosswalk) I choose not to ride in the bike lane on the street, but rather on the safety of the sidewalk. Now, I try to be a courteous biker, giving people on the sidewalk as much room as possible and not rushing past them so fast they're afraid I'll bowl them over.

HOWEVER.

Utah pedestrians might just be more stupid than the drivers. Or at least more annoying.

Reason 1: Everyone and their mom is plugged into some form of music that is blasting their eardrums so hard, they don't hear me yell "on the left!" and I have to slam on my brakes or ride through nasty thorny grass to get around them. Thorns = popped tires. Turn it down a little, eh?
Reason 2: Even when people aren't plugged into earphones, they don't know what to do when a bike comes up behind them. It's simple. When you hear "on your left" or "on your right" GET OUT OF THE WAY. It's a pain in the rear to have to slam on my brakes and then restart when I've already got good momentum going.
Reason 3: People don't know left from right. The pedestrians who have actually tried to get out of my way often tend to move TO the left when I say "on the left" rather than to the right. And that's just dangerous. If I'm coming up on the left, it means you move to the right. It's that simple.

Stupid pedestrians.

December.

Well, November has passed, and with it Thanksgiving and the time I had to see my family. I am back in Utah, and trying not to be too depressed.

But California was awesome.

We arrived the evening of the 26th to an empty and dark house (it was only 4:30!) and were slightly dismayed at the homecoming. It was ok though, cause then we had some time to rest after the 11 hour drive, and were able to unload all of our things. Turns out Chase & Cait were actually home, though they had been sleeping...

Thursday of course, was a very busy day. First, in the morning, we had all the young relatives over for our annual Christmas cookie decorating party. Yes, it was a little earlier than usual, but that is because we actually had people in town, whereas for Christmas, the usual numbers will be much smaller. We made about a gazillion batches of sugar cookies, and some were decorated very nicely, while others were not so appetizing. Then we served them to everyone that night at Thanksgiving dinner.

"Twas the Night before Thanksgiving" was read, with everyone's favorite adjustments. (Hi Douglas! Hi Natalie! Hi Bethie and Nate! Hi Allison! Hi Rachel! Hi Chasie and Cait!) And there was of course, lots and lots of food, though I could barely finish my first plate, due to overstuffing during the cookie party. Luckily there is always room for mom's delicious fudge.

Basically the whole time we were in California, there was much hanging out with the cousins and other rellies. Dad got his early Christmas present: a brand new, custom-built bicycle put together by my awesome husband, and now my dad's favorite son-in-law (he said so himself). Of course, because of the new bike, there were also a few biking excursions, though sadly on the second one, my dad crashed pretty badly and broke his foot. Now he has to wait even longer to get to play with his new toy again! Poor daddy. :( I think Nate's still the favorite though.

We also got to see my sister's first sonogram of her baby. We decided it looked like some sort of cross between a hamster and a wombat. I guess we all did at around 7 weeks old...

I also went to see Twilight with Rachel and Yara, and was... well, not really disappointed, because I didn't have very high expectaions, but I was pretty surprised at how BAD the movie was. Yeah, it was low-budget, but that wasn't the problem, cause it was fairly well-made. The problem was the acting! Horrible, horrible. It's a shame, because it really could have been a good movie.

Nate and I drove home last night, and got in sometime around 12:30am. We crashed into bed and I slept through my class. Now it's back to boring, cold Utah life... at least I'm done with the semester on the 15th, and will get a full 3 weeks before the next one!