Bit Off More Than We Can Chew

Last weekend, Rob and I decided to finally get to work on ripping down the wallpaper so we could paint the family room and kitchen. Well, one thing led to another and we now have about a month's worth of work to do. When taking down the wallpaper, we thought, let's sand the mantle over the fireplace and throw some stain on it. We might as well laquer it, too. Oh, and let's put in a ceiling fan... and canned lights and new light fixtures in the kitchen. And somewhere in all of that we figured that the wallpaper adhesive wasn't going to come off, so we would have to re-texture the walls. Well, you can't just spray some plaster on the walls without covering everything up so we've got all of the appliances out of the kitchen and plastic over all of the cabinets, walls, and ceiling that we don't want to texturize. Come visit us sometime in 2010... the project might be finished by then ;)

My Summer Can Now Begin

Are you ready to partay? The biggest and bestest night of the year (in my world, at least) is upon us. Just to whet your appetite for this season of SYTYCD, here's my favorite dance from last season. I can't listen to this song without seeing this dance in my head. Love it!

You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby

I have an announcement to make!

Rob and I are the proud new parents of two of the ugliest babies in the world! Meet:

Lucas Orson

and

Louis Oliver

Lucas inherited some awesome eyebrows, but that's about all I can say for him. I wonder where he got his baby stache and I'm worried he might be cross-eyed. Louis looks more like Rob, obviously, with the wider nose. Is he too young for me to worry about his tongue and ears sticking out? I know babies grow into their ears and all, but I'm a little concerned. Rob always said he wants one of our children to have an LOL name. He just got his wish. We have 2 LOL babies... in more than one way ;)

If you want to make your own Lucas or Louis, go to the Routan Babymaker 3000, where you can forecast the looks of your future offspring.

You Wanna See Something?

Last night, as we're getting into bed, Rob enthusiastically asks me "wanna see something?" I got all excited because I had no idea what he was going to show me, and I thought it might be really good. He jumps up on the bed and I start to get up there, too, when he points to his big toe. I wondered what I was supposed to be seeing, when he says "look! My toes!"

I think I've mentioned this before, but I have an aversion to feet. Even my own. I think that feet are nasty, especially ones with jagged toe nails and toe jam in the corners of the nails and cracked heels, etc. Since before we were married, I have always been telling Rob to get the toe jam out of the corners of his toe nails and he always says "why, it's just going to come back." Before I finish this story, please know that Rob has very good hygiene in general and that he also authorized this post. He knows I'm writing about it. Usually, I get grossed out enough that I just grab his foot and some pedicure implements and take care of the problem for him.

So last night, the "something" he wanted me to see was his cleaned-out, clipped toe nails. He was just like a little boy, proud of his accomplishment. And, although I was not expecting his toe nails to be what he wanted me to see, I was proud of him, too.

I love the little gestures my husband makes each and every day. And even though cleaning the toe jam from his nails is a little wierd, it's still a gesture and I love that he does those little things.

It's Shake 'n' Bake, and I helped!

Just in case you were wondering, it's dang hot right now in Utah. My mother would call it "earthquake weather" if she lived in Utah and there were earthquakes of size here.

Last night I had a vociemail from my mom that said "We're OK. It was a big one, but we're all safe." And that's all she said. I didn't really know what she was talking about, but since she said "big one" it was safe to assume she meant that there was an earthquake. I pulled up the LA Times online, and sure enough, the headline says "Quake Strikes East of LAX," and since my parents live just north of LAX, I knew it was close. It was a 5.2 on the Richter Scale, which is moderately big, considering that "THE BIG ONE" will probably be somewhere in the 7-8 range.

I called my mom for the details and she told me that after the earthquake, my nephew got out of his bed and came into the family room and said, "which one of you was shaking my bed?" I guess ignorance is bliss.

TMI Pharmacist

Our house has just been full of sickies (not sickos) this week. First, Rob hasn't been doing so well after his cat bite. We don't know if it's "cat poisoning" or the side-effects of the tetanus shot and antibiotics. It could also just be the flu - probably the swine variety, knowing our luck. And I started feeling funny on Monday and by Wednesday it ocurred to me that there may be something wrong with my bladder. I called my doctor, but he was out of town until next week so I decided I'd take my chances with the InstaCare. We'd already been there with Rob's cat bite, so I was really hoping that the same people wouldn't be there because I didn't want them to think that I'm one of "those" people who just goes to the doctor all of the time for no reason. I had no such luck. The receptionist was the same, the doctor was the same, the nurse was the same. Everyone was the same.

After peeing in a cup, I went back to the exam room and waited for the doctor to come in. He enters, and says "how do I know you? Are we in the same ward down in Springville?" I could have just played along, but I reminded him that I was the lady who came in with the cat bite man. He started laughing, and said, "that's right. I'd never seen a grown man who'd been bit by a cat before." I'm not sure if that was a jab at my husband's manliness, but that comment kind of put me in a bad mood. As we're sitting there, the door opens and 2 other people walk in and ask if they can observe because they're medical students. At this point, I figure I might as well let myself be their entertainment for the evening. The lady student starts asking me questions and poking my abdomen a little too hard and then says "I see that you're a diabetic from the presence of ketones in your urine." I get really defensive when people accuse me of being diabetic, because, well, I'm not diabetic. Not that there's anything wrong with that. But I get that a lot. So, that's what I said to her, "I get that a lot." I'm glad that the doctor stepped in and told her that I was probably dehydrated, and that she shouldn't assume that because I take a medication normally given to diabetics, that I am a diabetic. Because if he hadn't said something, I would have and it wouldn't have been nice, given the fact that she was poking me. Meanwhile, the other guy just stood there staring at me like I had a booger hanging out of my nose. Turns out I did. Oops.

I won't tell you the rest of that story because, frankly, it's too gross, even for me, and kind of long. Needless to say, I got a prescription for some antibiotics and a pain reliever and was on my way. I'm loving that the InstaCare and Walgreens are across the street from each other and both just blocks away from my home. I went in to drop of the prescription and the same pharmacist from Saturday was there. And let me tell you, this guy is interesting. Had I not had the pleasure of meeting him on Saturday, I don't know that I would have been so excited that he was there. I knew I was in for a treat. Let me describe him. He's probably 6 feet tall. He's what I would call "rotund," but in a cute sort of way. If he wasn't working at a pharmacy, you'd swear he was 12 years old because he has a baby face and very patchy facial hair. Think of that Spencer dude from the Hills and imagine him 100 pounds heavier, and there you have this guy! Except that it's Spencer wearing a white vest, a nice tie underneath, and a nametag. Now that you've got a picture in your mind of his looks, I'll give you a personality. Andy Bernard from The Office. Quite a combo, right?

There was someone in line behind me while I was dropping the prescription off, so at first it was just the normal customer/pharmacist convo. I walked around the store for a while as I was waiting, but the manager started following me around (I assume he thinks I was trying to shoplift) so I went back to the pharmacy area and sat down. Pharmacist Spandy called me over (on the loudspeaker, I might add) to get my prescription and he asks "so, what's this antibiotic for?" I told him it was for a bladder infection, and he says "ahh, I see. It's a pretty strong one, so I thought it was for something like that, or an STD." What do you say to that? I just looked at him and said "I have a strict 'no STD' policy in my house." He laughed and then recommended I get a probiotic to counteract the effects of this medication. I told him that I already had some at home, thinking he'd ring me up and I'd be on my way. But no, he just had to tell me about the time he took this antibiotic and how it gave him the runs so bad that he had to cancel his cruise. As an aside, he told Rob the last time that we were there that he should use chainmail gloves to bathe the cat, just like cooks on cruise ships use so they don't cut their fingers off. You learn something new everyday!

For all of this guy's quirkiness, he sure is likeable. And even though he spouts off TMI ('Too Much Information' for all of you non-abbreviators) like there's no tomorrow, there's just something about him that is fun. I've been laughing about him for the past few days, and now I found that someone else has discovered him. I was reading CJane today and she posted about the same pharmacist. I see that he is not stingy with sharing his wierdness with the world. You can read about her encounter here.

I usually use the drive-thru at Walgreens, but never again. I'm looking forward to my next visit with Pharmacist Spandy.

Trudy Churness

I was getting dressed this morning and my options were not so great. See, I just cleaned out my closet recently and gave away a lot of my warmer weather clothes. I've been trying to find some cute stuff, but since 2003, when this well-meaning woman at a clothing store told me I had "bat wings" for arms, I haven't been able to bring myself to wear a sleeve shorter than 3/4. That means I'm up the proverbial summer clothing creek without a 3/4 sleeve paddle. No grood. I finally settled on a nice blouse that I recently bought online. I believe it looked better in the picture, but all-in-all, it looks pretty good. It's got a bold print on it, which is kind of new for me. Bold color, yes! Bold patterns, still trying to feel them out. Anyway, I got all dressed and went into the bathroom to check my look in the mirror. Aaaarrrrgggghhhh, Trudy Churness!

Let me explain. Trudy Churness was the wife of the judge my mom worked with when I was growing up. The closest thing to Trudy Churness is the Mike Meyer's Coffee Talk character on SNL, except not quite close enough.

You see, Trudy Churness wore more make-up, had bigger hair, bigger shoulder pads, longer nails, more colorful glasses (think Sally Jessie Raphael), more jewelry, and more Bedazzlement on her outfits. She always looked like she was going on a cruise or spending the evening at a casino. She always looked like that. Even her dressed-down look contained at least 50% Bedazzlement.

And when I looked in the mirror, I saw a truly Trudy Churness worthy ensemble looking back at me. Starting from the head, I had curled my hair and poofed it up a little just for a change. It actually looked really cute, but it was too much with the bold print. I was wearing my red glasses because I was about to take a medication which had a label on it reading: WARNING - URINE AND OTHER BODY FLUIDS WILL TURN ORANGE/RED. WILL STAIN ALL FABRICS AND SURFACES. DO NOT WEAR SOFT CONTACT LENSES WHILE TAKING THIS MEDICINE, AS THEY WILL BE PERMANENTLY STAINED ORANGE. So, I decided I would rather writhe in pain from a bladder infection than stain my contact lenses orange. I ditched the glasses and put the contacts in. Oh yeah, there was also a little warning that IF YOU EVER PLAN ON BECOMING PREGNANT, PLEASE DISCUSS THE RISKS OF TAKING THIS MEDICATION WITH YOUR DOCTOR OR PHARMACIST. THE FDA DOES NOT KNOW THE EFFECTS OF THIS MEDICATION ON FETUSES. But honestly, the unknown effects on my yet-to-be-conceived fetus were the least of my concerns. I just couldn't wear the glasses!

Going on, my bold-printed tunic just screamed "Trudy Churness!" Taking the glasses off and brushing out the curls helped, but this outfit was just doomed from the start. I changed from slacks and heels to a more casual goucho pant and sandals, but this entire day I just keep thinking to myself "how did this outfit go so wrong?" When I was pulling everything out of the closet I thought it was going to be a hot outfit, but it took a wrong turn. Perhaps I should just admit and embrace that there's a little bit of Trudy in me and just go with the flow. I mean, even though we liked to make fun of her and her outlandish style, she thought she was the hottest thing since sliced bread. And people did what she wanted them to do. She wasn't manipulative or anything, but maybe there was just something about her big, Bedazzled glasses that made people want to bend over backwards. She was also quite rich, but I'd like to think it was her style.

The Beast

PLUS

EQUALS

Let me see you grill!

A little while ago, Rob decided he wanted to get a grill. He looked around, did comparisons, fasted and prayed about it (j/k) and then picked out a nice Weber gas grill. Since we live in a condo, our only option for where to put it is on the porch. My concern was that someone would try to steal it. I suggested that we chain it to the railing, but Rob assured me that it would be difficult to steal a grill and that it would be OK. Since getting it, we've used it a handful of times but I had this sneaking suspicion that we weren't the only ones because sometimes the cover would be on it wanky or it would be moved out of its place. Rob is real meticulous about grill care, and there have been some food particles left on it when I've gone to fire it up. I don't know for sure, but I just have a feeling that someone else has been using it.

A few weeks ago, we went upstairs to welcome our new neighbors and as we were leaving, the guy mentioned something about our grill and after we left I said to Rob that maybe this guy thinks that he can use our grill whenever he wants. I brushed it off, but I made a mental note to keep a watch out for him. And then last week, I came home from work and the chairs on our porch were moved and there was a book on one of the chairs. I checked the grill and it wasn't hot, but now I'm being paranoid that the neighbors are sitting on our porch and using our grill. Should I say something to them about it? If they're not using it, then I'll seem foolish for saying something, but on the other hand... The other thing is that it could be 1 of 2 people who are using it. It could be either upstairs or downstairs.

Have you been in a situation like this? What would you do?

And your little friend, too.

Yesterday as I was bringing my groceries from the car to the house when this little, fluffy white dog ran up to me and started barking like crazy. He looked like the dog in the picture, except he was dirty. He was a dirty dog! Anyway, I thought he was going to attack me so I kind of kicked him. Not hard, but enough to get him away from me. I kept walking to my condo, and thought I should look around for his owner to tell him/her to get the dog and I suddenly had this memory of this same dog almost attacking me and Rob on our wedding day.

Rob came to the condo to pick me up and take me to the temple, and as we were walking to the car this same little dog and a friend started chasing after us, barking and biting our heels. I was carrying my wedding dress, purse, shoes and another bag of stuff and Rob was carrying his tuxedo and another bag... our hands were full, to say the least. I'm trying not to trip over this dog or impale him with my high-heel, when I hear this lady screaming at us, "get my dogs, please, somebody, please get my dogs!" I start looking around because, surely, she couldn't have been talking to us - we had our hands full. I do a full look-around and all I see is Rob and this lady. She's standing on the sidewalk looking like her life depends on us picking up her vicious dogs and bringing them to her. As far as I could tell, she wasn't disabled. Her feet and hands were not tied. She was just lazy and wanted someone to get her dogs for her. And then she started getting frantic and crying. Rob and I did what anyone else would do in this situation - we got in the car and drove off.

You're probably wondering what the point of this story is. Really, there is no point except that sometimes wierd stuff happens and it makes you step back and think, "that was wierd."

States I Don't Want to Live In: Kentucky & West Virginia (mostly just Appalachia)

I saw a 20/20 special about Appalachia and I don't want to live there. There is a lot of Mountain Dew consumed there so a lot of people don't have teeth. I've never seen the movie Deliverance but I've heard enough about it that I don't want to live near hillbillies. I did see Coal Miner's Daughter and October Sky and it always seems dark in the Appalachians. And wet. My job options would be mine worker or drug dealer. Both really risky occupations. If you work them right, both could be pretty lucrative, but not lucrative enough to outweigh the risks of going to jail or getting Black Lung. I bet there are also serious vitamin D deficiencies from the lack of sun. Being Scandinavian, I'm already pretty pale. I'd be downright pasty in the Appalachians. I also don't like Mountain Dew. So, no Appalachians for me. I'll stick to the Wasatch.

So great!

Here is the re-cap. These are so funny!

Remember, you heard it here first!

Remember how I made some Lost predictions? Well, some of them came true. Not all of them, but some of the more important ones. Am I clairvoyant or what?

Discuss.

Mass Hysteria

Who's afraid of the swine flu? To be quite honest, I've been thinking about it non-stop for two days. I'm wondering if I should stop eating carnitas at my favorite Mexican retaurant/Tesoro gas station because maybe someone in there came straight from Mexico because, LBH, the food at the Mexican restaurant next to my house is the best you can get outside of Mexico and inside Mexico. And what if this person who came straight from Mexico brought the swine flu with them and then coughed on my carne asada? This kind of stuff keeps me up at night. And I also figure that since Utah has all of these Mormon missionaries traveling all over kingdom come and then coming back with ponchos and soccer jerseys and now possibly the swine flu, Utah is the perfect breeding ground for a pandemic because just as missionaries are coming home, we're sending more out. Yikes! I saw this old school PSA on Word to Your Mother and it makes me not want to come into contact with any elderly people with heart conditions for fear of passing to them the swine flu I acquired from Taco Riendo.



I didn't even know the swine flu existed back in the day. All I have to say is "scary."

As if I don't have enough to worry about with swine flu descending upon Provo, now I have to worry about 80 gazillion middle-aged women descending upon Provo for BYU's Women's Conference! I was at the store today, and as the lady in front of me in line was leaving, the cashier says to her "have fun at Women's Conference!" Gasp! Just hearing those words makes my heart beat irregularly. You see, I don't like Women's Conference. Here's why: When I was going to school at the good ol' BY, I decided that I should get a summer job on campus. I was somehow able to score a job at Jamba Juice in the Wilkinson Center. My first day on the job was the first day of Women's Conference. Those women drove me within an inch of losing my sanity with their stupid questions and requests. Here are some of my favorite:

"Oh, that is far to big for me. You see, I don't eat very much, so could you only make me a third of that and then only charge me for a quarter of it?"

"I would like the Strawberry Fields, but can you substitute raspberries for the strawberries and then strain the seeds out of it?"

"Can I get an Orange Julius?"

"What does 'Jamba' mean?"

"We would like to order 2 smoothies, but can you split that up into seven cups and then divide the cost in seven ways and charge seven cards?"

"I'd like the Peanut Butter Moo'd but without the peanut butter since I'm allergic to peanuts. Can you use almond butter instead?"

"I'd like to order 25 smoothies in 75 different cups, and make it snappy because my girlfriends are saving me a seat at the next Brad Wilcox class that starts in 6 minutes in the Smith Fieldhouse."



And since I must be a glutton for punishment, I got a custodial job at Helaman Halls the next summer and who do you think showed up in the dorms for a week? That's right, the women. I had this one lady rip me a new one because her bed wasn't made when she came back from class that night. I tried to explain to her that she was staying in the dorms and we didn't provide maid service, but she got even more irate and told me I wasn't getting a tip. No skin off my teeth, lady!

But hey, even in the midst of swine flu and Women's Conference I do have things to look forward to. I ordered myself a Liz Lemon-esque necklace with my initials on it and I also ordered Wonder Hangers for my freshly painted closet. If I'm lucky, they'll both be here in a few days. I had this brilliant idea about the Wonder Hangers (6 hangers to 1 expandable Wonder Hanger)that would allow me to keep most of my clothes and still have some space for my husband to use the closet. You see, he's been banished to a free-standing clothes rack in the spare bedroom since I moved in. The poor man didn't even get the closet! Wonder Hangers will change all of that. Life is good.

Oxymoronical

I went to St. George this weekend (hereafter referred to as "The George") to visit my BFF Robyn. Here are some highlights:

1) Robyn's baby is one of the cutest babies on the planet and she does cute things like wave when you say "hi." She also has cute cheeks.

2) Robyn's nephew Maddux always gives me the best welcome to The George. He seems more excited to see me than my own nephew does... and he told me my purse was "nice." I got to go to Pirate Island with him and all of the family to celebrate his mom getting a job.

3) The weather in The George was warmer than it was in Provo. It was still cold and a little rainy, but not as cold as Provo.

4) I went to Krumpets and spent too much on cute stuff for my house, that will probably just go in a box with the rest of the cute stuff I've bought for my house. I'm waiting to decorate until the house is painted. Not much longer, folks. Not much longer.

5) I think I won a round of Skee Ball at Pirate Island... but Heather and Robyn won the other rounds. Skee Ball rocks! When was the last time you played Skee Ball?

6) Went to Target and found a fashionable/modest swimsuit and saw the craziest thing ever, which inspired the title of this post. Robyn's mom knows how I'm always on the lookout for polygamists and Amish people (don't ask... I just get a kick out of seeing them in public), so she pointed out some polygamist ladies walking into Target. I didn't know they shopped there. But the awesome thing was that one of the ladies was wearing HUGE WHITE SUNGLASSES!

Do you think she knows that Paris wears HUGE WHITE SUNGLASSES? Do you think she even knows who Paris is? She probably has no idea and doesn't even care, but I thought it was pretty oxymoronical. The sighting was pretty much the biggest highlight of the trip, other than seeing my friends, of course!

Worst part of the trip? Tripping and falling after stepping on a crack while walking out of Pirate Island. More embarassing than anything else, but my hip hurts a little. I'm still not sure how I managed to not break a bone. If anything, my clumsiness has taught me not to fight the fall. Just let it happen and try to roll when you hit the ground. That would explain how I wound up flat on my back, facing the opposite direction from where I was walking. Of course my fall drew a crowd and this one woman tried to make me feel better by telling me that she tripped because of all of the "flashing lights" inside Pirate Island. And then a really old... er, mature guy offered to help me up from the ground. I lied and told him I was "just fine" so that I could save him from embarassment and myself from further embarassment when he couldn't get me off the ground because he was so fragile. Good times.

LOLCat

Rob has a cat. He had this cat before we got married, and when you marry someone, you inherit everything that's their's, including the cat. I remember when I found out that Rob had a cat I actually thought in my head that I couldn't date him because men that have cats are "crazy." And I still stick by my thinking that *most* single guys that have cats are crazy. Anyway, I'm off track. I wasn't jazzed about having a cat, but it just comes with the territory. Right? (As I'm writing this, Rob says, "I'm crazy. Crazy in love.")


Before we got married, I told Rob that I don't think the cat likes me. In fact, I told him I think she "hates" me. He told me that she's just a cat and that's why she looks at me funny. Well, I have been building my case against her for months and I think I finally have enough evidence to convict her of hating me. You be the judge!

Kaydee on the towels

Kaydee behind the blinds


Kaydee on my wool coat with a hanger on her neck. What?


Kaydee sitting on my wedding veil (that's why I didn't end up wearing one)

Kaydee on the dining room table staring at me while I'm surfing the net

Kaydee (black hair) on my comforter (white)

I like to call this Shakespeare Kaydee (we put this headband on her just to mess with her... and no, my washer isn't always in the living room)

Kaydee sitting on some khakis that are on the dining room table

Kaydee on the fridge (she was actually on top of the cupboards before this pic)

Kaydee trampling my clean, warm clothes in the dryer

Kaydee on the stove (by far, one of her most egregious offenses)

Kaydee doing something she's not supposed to be doing

So one day, Rob says to me "I'm beginning to think that she really doesn't like you." Yeah. Case closed. Or so I thought. I'm beginning to realize that she does these things because she *likes* me. Now that I'm around, she hardly gives Rob the time of day. Does that mean she's "my" cat?

Each Life That Touches Ours for Good

I learned some tragic news this morning when I logged in to Facebook. A long-time family friend and former Sunday school teacher and bishopric member was in a horrible accident while hiking Mt. Whitney and died. Just like that. This life is so fleeting!

Kent Ashcraft was a wonderful man and a great teacher. His knowledge of the scriptures was unlike anyone I had ever known. As a teenager in his Sunday school class, I learned that the scriptures could be exciting and that there was actually some cool stuff in there that I could learn. When I was called to teach Sunday school, my first thought was "I want to be as good of a teacher as Kent Ashcraft." He and his family have been such a great example to me. You could tell that they really love one another. I'm grateful to have known Kent Ashcraft and I know that he is probably teaching the scriptures and telling jokes on the other side.

Learning of his death was shocking, to say the least, and I haven't been able to get it off of my mind all day. I called my dad to see if he had heard any details of the accident, and as we were talking he mentioned that in light of the circumstances, it reminded him that some things in life that we worry about just aren't that important. I've been worrying about my broken washing machine, the neighbors leaving trash on their porch and arguing at night, trying to figure out the placement of furniture in the condo, losing sleep over this stinking blog and comments left on it. In perspective, these things do not matter. What does matter is living life to the fullest and serving my fellow man. Instead of complaining about the neighbors, maybe I should pick up their porch trash and ask if they need any help with their kids.

In reading a hikers message board about Kent's death, every person who commented said that they knew his family was important to him, that he was a man of faith, and that he was a caring person. He lived his life so that people would know that about him. Even casual acquaintances. I want to live my life in the same way.

My heart goes out to his wife and children, but I take comfort in knowing that they will all be together again. I'm grateful for the knowledge that this life is not the end and that families can be together forever.

First Date Anniversary Date

One year ago, Rob and I had our first date. There wasn't anything particularly special about the date, but there certainly was something special about the guy who asked me out on the date :) I'm so happy that I got up the nerve to tell him that I had a really good time and that I'd like to do it again. He tells me often that those were the magic words. And it must have been magic, because all I know is that one minute I was thinking that I was ready to go home since I had such bad heartburn, and then the next minute I was telling him I would like to go out again. It must have been the Spirit that moved me.

In honor of our first date anniversary, Rob brought me a dozen roses on Saturday morning. Then we went out to lunch at Ruby River, went shopping for plants at Home Depot, did our grocery shopping at Macey's, came home and planted pansies and strawberries, and then went down to Spanish Fork to see "Monsters vs. Aliens." I would highly recommend the drive to Spanish Fork to see a movie. There were probably 10 people in the theater, and the movie was surprisingly good.

It was nice to spend a day with my honey where we could take our time and didn't have to worry about anything else. We need to do it more often.

One thing that I've realized is that the counsel we've been given by church leaders to have a date night once a week really is crucial to the health of a relationship. Not that we're having a rough time, but life just get's so busy and crazy that I can see how if couples don't take time to just be with each other and not be talking about which bills need to be paid, oil changes, paint colors, etc., that they could possibly drift apart. And when children come, that just adds to the mix. I'm grateful that the gospel gives us direction in every aspect of our lives. In my Sunday school class that I teach, we've been talking about how every commandment that Heavenly Father gives His children, although it may seem more practical or temporal, is actually spiritual. The counsel to have a date night each week may seem practical in nature, but it really rejuvinated my spirit and helped my love grow for my husband.

As busy as life can and will get, we're always going to make it a priority to continue our courtship. It's been a wonderful year with my husband, and I'm looking forward to an eternity of wonder!

Random Friday Thoughts

1. Why is Paula Abdul a judge on American Idol? Have you heard "Straight Up?" That song is whack! That's right, I just said "whack." Maybe she's just there because the producers thought it might be kind of fun to have a crazy drunk lady who gets up and dances during the performances.

2. I've used "Back to the Future" as the paradigm through which I view all time-travel movies, and Lost is really messing me up. When are people going to start fading from pictures? And when is the Delorian going to show up? Somehow I think the Libyans got their sweet VW Bus from the Dharma Initiative.

3. How can I teach the kids in Sunday school that it is important to pay attention in class and not write on each other's legs and take 7 potty breaks? They're 16-17 years old... I thought they would have gotten that out of their systems. I tried telling them that their salvation depended on them learning the Doctrine & Covenants but apparently my hell-fire and brimstone approach didn't work. I just don't know how to reach these kids.

4. Anyone want to teach me how to grow stuff and not have it die?

5. I think I may be hard of hearing... or just have selective hearing. When I was in London, poeple were speaking English to me and I didn't understand a single word of what they were saying. I went to Cafe Rio and I didn't understand a word they were saying to me. So, maybe I have accent selective hearing. It's really becoming a problem for me.

6. There are a lot of "mature" people who live in my neighborhood, and by that I mean "old", but my mom told me that it's rude to say that someone is "old". Anyway, I just have to remind myself that when people drive bad, cut me off, slam on their brakes in the middle of the street, don't use blinkers properly, get in front of me and then go slow, that they're probably just "mature" and I need to be patient with them. My patience only extends to mature people.

7. Speaking of "mature" individuals, there's this lady in my ward who calls me several times a month to see if I have done my visiting teaching yet. She sure is diligent! And the last time she called me she said, and I quote, "Well, I'm supposed to ask you how the sisters you visit are, but to be honest, I don't really care. I'm old. I don't even turn around in church anymore to see who's talking. In fact, I don't even think I know what you look like." I had no response for that. And then she asked me if I was "the young lady who came all the way from California to marry that nice young man in the ward." I just said "yes." I don't want to confuse her. Nevermind that she thinks I'm a mail-order bride.

So, those are my random thoughts for a Friday. I hope that everyone has a great weekend. My husband and I are having our 1 year of knowing each other anniversary. It's kind of exciting. We're going to try to do some of the same things we did on our first date, but the Mexican restaurant we went to went out of business. I have to say I'm somewhat relieved... that food gave me bad acid reflux. I'll fill you in next week. I'll also fill you in on all of the strange stuff the cat that lives in my house does. I promised that I would never get attached to this cat, and that I would certainly never be one of those people that blogs about a pet. But, you know, things change.

Winter Wonder?land

There's a saying in Utah that goes: "If you don't like the weather, just wait a little bit." Well, I don't like the weather right now so I guess I'll just wait until Sunday when it will be in the 70s. This is what I woke up to this morning:


My neighbor took these pictures, but since she lives right down the street, I think you get the idea of what it looked like in my neighborhood. You can tell it's not my house because I would never leave my Christmas lights up this late.

Isn't this snow crazy? I didn't even know all of this had happened while I was off in dreamland... or that trees had been knocked over, power went out, etc. I remember back to 1 year ago when I had my first date with Rob. It was April 19, 2008 and not a snowflake was in sight. We sat outside eating ice cream that night because it was so warm.

I thought April 15 was supposed to be the perfect date. Not too hot, not too cold. All you need is a light jacket. Apparently Mother Nature didn't get the memo.