I'm Getting Quite Good at Writing Suppressed-Emotion Emails

In my married student ward, I am called as a visiting teaching supervisor. This is ironic, because I hate visiting teaching, and I hate using phones. I have had this calling for eight months now. My duties include gathering all reports from the fourteen girls in my district, compiling them into one big report, and submitting it to the girl in charge of all visiting teaching. This happens once a month. The problem with this is gathering the reports. The fourteen girls in my district are supposed to call me when they have finished their visiting teaching and give me a report. They don't. So I have to call them. They don't answer their phones, they don't return calls. Some of them don't even so their visiting teaching.
In recent months, I have made a breakthrough: I now harass the via email. This has worked better for the last two months, but I still have to ask for the reports, then beg them for the reports, and I still have to call four or five girls at the end of them because they never reply.
This month I have a problem. Drek on I are going on a much needed vacation on April 29. I refuse to be worrying about visiting teaching reports while I am on vacation. I refuse! Thus, I wrote an email yesterday:

Sisters,

We have 14 women in our district that we need to uplift, strengthen, befriend, and teach. It is a calling given to us by God, as women of his church. We are called to be visiting teachers, and then to return and report. Each of you are specifically assigned to 2 sisters. These 2 sisters are in your care. You are responsible for uplifting their souls, and making their burdens light. In D&C 1: 31 is says: "For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance;" Not doing your calling is a sin. In 1 Ne. 15: 34 it says: "But behold, I say unto you, the kingdom of God is not filthy, and there cannot any unclean thing enter into the kingdom of God; wherefore there must needs be a place of filthiness prepared for that which is filthy." That place prepared for the filthy is called Hell, sisters. And that's where you will be going if you do not do your visiting teaching and report back to me.
Last month, 5 of the 14 sisters in our district were not uplifted. They were not strengthened, they were not befriended, they were not visit taught. 5 of the 14. Why is this? It's not that hard, sisters! Each of you has a functioning, willing companion to help you out with this. I got my visiting teaching done, every month, for the last eight months, with no help from my companion, who's pregnancy is making her so sick, she can't answer a cell phone, an email, or even her front door. I can get my visiting teach done, so why can't you?
Technically, all sisters should be visited by the 25th of every month. All reports should be reported by the 25. That is in 12 days. Not counting today, you have 12 days (one of those being a Sunday!) to save your immortal souls by visiting teaching and reporting back. I know it's finals. I know you are busy, I know they are busy. So is Satan. Hell is full of busy people.
Do your visiting teaching. Email me your report by the 25. If you have not reported by the 26th, my report will say you failed to do your visiting teaching, and then I will come and hunt you down, and kill you, and you will go straight to hell, because you did not do your calling!!!!

Not kidding around,
-K la


Alas, in my church, there is an unwritten rule that all sisters must be "bubbly" to each other. At all times, all phone calls, all messages, all emails, must sweet and happy. Drek said the above email was probably not fitting these requirements, so this is the actual letter I sent out:

Sisters,

Happy Sunday!
We have 14 women in our district that we need to uplift, strengthen, befriend, and teach. It is a calling given to us by God, as women of his church. We are called to be visiting teachers, and then to return and report. In "True To The Faith" it says: As you visit and serve your assigned sisters, take the time to teach the gospel and nurture friendships. In addition to serving individuals, you can play an important role in strengthening families."
Last month, 5 of the 14 daughters of God in our district were not uplifted. They were not strengthened, they were not befriended, they were not visit taught. 5 of the 14. We can do better!!
Technically, all sisters should be visited by the 25th of every month. All reports should be reported by the 25. That is in 12 days. Not counting today, you have 12 days (one of those being a Sunday!) to build the Kingdom of God by doing your visiting teaching and reporting back. I know it's finals. I know you are busy, I know they are busy. Please make the time. You will be blessed and they will be blessed.

Have a wonderful April!
-K La

Bubbly enough? Maybe not, but that's all the emotion I could suppress.

Day of Doom Version 22

This year, I will even go so far as to not call it the Day of Doom, I will call it My Birthday. It was awesome.

Monday after work Drek and I went up to his parent's house to have a birthday dinner. We were welcomed by his littlest brother announcing that the dinner they made was all vegetarian, just for me. There was a big banner wishing me happy birthday over the door. When we walked into the kitchen, the "vegetarian dinner" turned out to be breakfast for dinner: Hash browns, waffles with whip cream and strawberries, and egg kishe. It was so yummy! They had even made me a chocolate cake which was amazing. They sang to me, and I blew out the candles. They gave me a few presents (a nice smelling candle from mom, Rachie made me earrings, a box of chocolate candies). It was very birthday-ish.

That night was my very last night of being 21. Therefore, I decided to go on a crusade to make up for my last birthday. I called Russel, and asked him to take me to the liquor store. I picked him up. When he got in my car he asked if he had heard me right. I laughed and told him yes, I said the liquor store. I needed a bottle of Spiced Rum. "For Banana Foster!!??" He asked excitedly. Dead on. Crazy.
We went to the store, bought the rum (they asked to see my ID!!!) and to my surprise they even supply you with a brown paper sack to put it in. Giggle giggle. We went back to his apartment and I attempted to make Banana Foster (from the recipe provided by Google's how to...). Alas, it did not work. In order to get the flame, the alcohol has to be proof 100, ours was only proof 70. But it still tasted delicious!! And I could say that I went and bought alcohol when I was 21.

Tuesday I was woken up up by amazing husband singing "Happy Birthday" softly in my ear. He is the best husband ever. for the last week he kept asking me what I want for my birthday. Silly boy. Doesn't he know that he is all I could ever want? We went to the Bakery for a breakfast of eclairs and orange rolls, then we came back home and he made me a breakfast burrito, just how I like it.
I went into work and was wished happy birthday by my co-worker and my manager, a few minutes later my boss came in carrying a bouquet of balloons.
They were weighted down by a cheeseburger from Wendy's. "Now that you're 22, I'm sure you're mature enough to eat a cheeseburger." I declined, he said my real present was in his car. It turned out to be the most delicious chocolate pie! he had even put candles on it. He also have me a ring with a heart on it; Because I am "the heart of the store." :) It was so great!
My mom took me out to a wonderful lunch, my sister called, Kris called and even tried to get Toby to talk to me! Xirax called, which was fun. And Russel called later that night. That night we went out to dinner with Rissy and Ismail, and after having a very hard time finding the place, we had a wonderful (and hilarious) dinner. I tried to get Ismail to eat an octopus, but the waiter took it away too fast.
When we got home, Drek had decorated our bedroom in the most amazing way!

I have never seen such a wonderful decorating job! He has sprinkled the bed with my favorite kinds of chocolate, and he had bought me a picture frame that I had been wanting for a long time. He is amazing. Thank you, Drek. I love you.

Wednesday I made Napoleons. It took me all freaking day, and the crust didn't turn out right, but it was still yummy. We had a family party in the afternoon, ate Napoleons and ice cream and had a great time. My little niece is the most adorable little girl in the world. She was the entertainment for most of the party. Her birthday is next week. She will be one year old.

So now I am 22. I don't mind, actually. After I got used to it, I liked saying I was 20. I think 22 will be the same way.

I Burned My Hand...On My Muffins

Conference weekend: Always a great weekend!

Saturday was spent at work, but because no one comes into our store while the boys are at priesthood meeting, we shut the store at six. Drek was gone, of course, so I went over to my mom's house and hung out with her. A little while later, Rissy and I went to go see Nim's Island, which I highly enjoyed.

Sunday Drek and I listened to Conference from the comfort of our own home. I continued my tradition of cleaning while I listened, resulting in our little apartment being CRAZY CLEAN!! I bought a handheld steam cleaner a few days ago and used it like crazy on all walls, baseboards, coutertops, sinks, and all kitchen appliances, including the refrigerator. I even cleaned Acouchi's room. It was while I was using my steam cleaner that I burned my hand. Not on muffins, but by putting the back of my hand directly in the path of the super-heated steam. I think my subconscious is trying to kill me before Day of Doom Version 22, which is tomorrow.

For the afternoon session, Rissy and Ismail came over to play the LOST bord game and CLUE FX. We set up dinner plans for my Day of Doom. I am excited!
I see potential in the LOST bord game. I think if there were different Fate cards, and if the game was players vs. The Island instead of players vs players. I want to make it like that crazy fun game Matt had. I don't know what is was called, but I played it with Pratt and Brad like three times. I am thinking I will redo the LOST game, until it is crazy fun.

After they left Drek and I went over to my parent's house for more games. We played Killer Bunnies and Hand and Foot. My mom also discussed Day of Doom plans with me. She's taking me out to lunch (Cafe Rio!!!) and we're having a small party, where we will have a dessert recipe I have been dying to try ever since I saw it on Google's "how to of the day". I'm so excited! All in all, this birthday is already infinitely better than last year's. Worst. Birthday. Ever. Although I did get a killer game of Pirates' Dice which has come in useful time after time. Not everyone forgot my birthday last year (thanks Xirax!!).

Hooray!

Still on an Adrenaline Kick

Today has been insane. From the time I woke up, I have been on a dead run.
This morning I opened the store, then had to run over to a doctor's appointment. Well, not really a doctor, a nurse. It's a long story. Anyway, Laser Hair Removal is a go!! My first appointment is Wednesday! EEEEEE!!!
Run back to work. Today at work, we are rearranging the store. All. Freaking. Day. Moving beds, boxing them up, moving them to the truck, taking new beds out of the truck, bringing it in, unwrapping, setting them up. Building chairs, pushing five-ton cabinets around, building shelves, rearranging shelves, re-building cabinets, re-rearranging shelves. . . All. Freaking. Day. This, apparently, was hazardous to my health. Remember last Friday when my finger was bleeding all over? Today I scraped my thumb knuckle on a piece of wood and the blood was already all over the back of my hand before I noticed. I run to the bathroom, wash it off, get a band-aid, and go back to work. An hour later, I am moving pillow boxes, and get a very deep cardboard-cut on the side of my finger. The blood starts immediately. I am getting too familiar with the first aid kit. There are too many band-aids on my fingers. Also, my boss can't stand the sight of blood, which made the whole thing more hilarious.
And what should UPS deliver on this frantic day? The healing pads that we have been waiting for for over a month. Eight came in. Five we already paid for, so I had to call those five people and tell them their pads were finally here. Two of them were mine (One of them is for a little girl I massage, her muscles are always so tight, I think think it will help a lot. The other one is my birthday present to me! I'm so happy). The other one was up for grabs. We had four people's name on a list to call as soon as the shipment came in, because they wanted one, but didn't wasn't to pay for it in advance. Thus, I called all four of them, and whoever got here first, got the pad. An hour later is was gone.
In addition, noon was the deadline for a writing contest I wanted to enter. Alas, I had not started the story until last night. So every free second (and there were so very few) was spent on my laptop furiously trying to type out a good story. I failed. But I did finish a story. I submitted it 23 minutes late. I hope it still counts.
After work Drek and I went to dinner with my family. We had a wonderful time, even if we were thirty minutes late. After that, we dropped of the healing pad to the little girl's house, and then came home for some much needed quiet time. This is when I discover that they announced the performers at the Stadium of Fire on the 4th of July: Miley Cyrus and the Blue Man Group. Oh. My. Gosh. I want to go so bad. Drek says we are already spending too much money this summer. I suggest we buy fifty tickets, and scalp all but two of them at just enough profit to pay for the two tickets. Drek says no. I suggest we don't get tickets, but when we go to Vegas this summer we have to get tickets to the Blue Man Group. Drek says we aren't going to Vegas this summer. I suggest we go to Vegas now, win a bunch of money at the Black Jack tables, and use that to pay for Blue Man Group tickets and tickets to Stadium of Fire. Drek says ok??? What the...???

Down with Junk Mail!!

I have become very annoyed with mail. Drek has an obsessive compulsion that requires him to check our mailbox everyday, even though the only thing we get is mail addressed to people who don't live there anymore, and junk mail. All important mail for him goes to his parent's house, all important mail for me goes to my parent's house. Thus, the only reward for checking the mailbox is a stack of papers in a house that I am already struggling to keep clean. I have also recently realized how many dead trees are in our mailbox everyday. This is also alarming.
Internet research was done! This is what I discovered:
The average American household receives 18 pieces of unsolicited junk mail each week, according to the Center for a New American Dream, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting responsible consumerism. Tallied up, that bulk accounts for 100 million trees lost each year and carbon emissions equivalent to three million cars. By reducing the amount of junk mail you receive each year, you personally will save two trees and prevent some 92 pounds of carbon dioxide from being released into the air. Not only that, but if we only use USPS for important mail, instead of junk mail, maybe the price of stamps would go down? Or do I have that backwards?
Anyway, I did more research and went on a crusade to stop junk mail. I did went to OptOutPrescreen.com to stop credit card junk mail, I went to abacusoptout@epsilon.com to stop catalogs, and then I found ProQuo.com which basically the most useful site of all. If you are stopping junk mail, just go to this site. It will take you to all the others. Then, I called the Post Office, to see if they could not deliver to me other people's mail.
A little history on our house:
Our apartment is in a highly coveted neighborhood. Our apartment is highly coveted. It is never vacant and has a waiting list a mile long. The only reason we got it, was because the previous occupant was arrested, taken back to New York, and thrown in jail at exactly the same time we needed an apartment.
Because he was unexpectedly thrown in jail, he did not forward his mail, and he did not leave a forwarding address. Thus, our only recourse has been to mark "return to sender" on important looking mail. He gets A LOT of important looking mail. He is also getting an increasing number of mail marked "LAST WARNING!" and "FINAL NOTICE!" and "VERY IMPORTANT!" and "TAMPERING WITH MAIL THAT IS NOT YOUR WILL RESULT IN JAIL TIME". This makes me very nervous for him, because he is obviously not getting his mail, and more nervous for me, who does not want jail time. His name is King Edu (name has been slightly changed, only slightly, the weirdness has been kept for effect). Hasford Sackey also gets a lot of important looking mail. I have no idea who he is.
Anyway, I called the post office, talked to a very nice girl who obviously hated her job. She took down the information and said they would try and get the carrier to not deliver their mail to me.
This morning I got a call from the supervisor of the post office. He said he received my request, but needed to clarify the names. "Ok." I said. "the first one is Hasford Sackey, H-A-S-F-O-R-D is his first name..." The supervisor interrupted me. "his name is Hasford Sackey? First name Hasford, last name Sackey?" "Yes." I answered and the other one is King, K-I-N..." "His first name is King?" And that's when I realized what the phone call was about. "Yes. I know they're strange names. King lived here before us and I have no idea who Hasford Sackey is. But those really are their names."
He thought is was a prank. giggle giggle.

Entertainment and for Posterity

You need humor to get you through blizzards in the end of March. Stupid Snow. No one likes you.
These made me die laughing:


And This

Also, I thought I should mention this since Krisface just ended her blog.
The problem with keeping you journal as a blog, is that in the event of a cataclysmic disaster, in which the Internet dies, you just lost the record of your life. However, turning your blog into a printable journal takes HOURS!! My brilliant husband has come up with the answer to this. He wrote a website where you simply enter your Blog address, and it will instantly change it into a printable version, comments and all. He is so crazy smart.
http://stormhorse.com/blogger.php

Light's Out

Hey, guys; Don't forget!!

EARTH HOUR

8pm tonight

March BAMC: Good Omens

The Mach BAMC was "Craft", because March is craft month, or something.
I read the above book, because of Craftiness.
It was a very good book. It was well written, hilarious, and had a very pro-environment message. My favorite characters were WAR and FAMINE. I liked WAR because I want to be just like her (ironic for a pacifist, no?) and I loved FAMINE because he was so freakin’ funny. There were many times I had to put the book down because I was laughing so hard.
Anyway, the book is about the end of the world, or how the world is supposed to end. An Angel and a Demon, who are friends, do not want the world to end, and use their craftiness to prevent the apocalypse. There is a witch, a decent of Angus Nutter, who tries to teach her craft of witch-ness, to Newt, who is a witch-hunter, and learned his craft from the man running the Witchfinder's army, for both the Angel and the Demon. There is also about Adam, an 11 year old boy, who is also the antichrist, but doesn't want the world to end either. He is very crafty too.
Anyway, I highly recommend the book, and for being a Neil Gaimen book it is astonishingly clean, although there are a few bad words, both British and American.

Encounter With an Evil Monster Of Biting Fierceness

Drek is canyoneering this weekend. This gives me a fantastic opportunity to make up the two days I took of from work because I was dying and then recovering from dying.

This weekend is also the Home Expo, where dozens of business set up dozens of displays under one roof, and thousands of people come to get all home related shopping done in one place. Of course, our store has a display. It was here I encountered the monster.
I was at this display, manning our booth this morning. My manager had to go move the truck, so I was there by myself. Someone came up and asked to try out our Inversion Table. This particular Inversion Table, is a monster. It has razor sharp fangs and a jaw like a steel trap. I have included a picture so everyone knows what an Inversion Table looks like.

I adjusted the Inversion Table to the girl's height. The monster did not like being adjusted, so it bit me. It snapped its steel trap jaw full of razor sharp fangs on my finger. I did not react right away, because I was with people. Two minutes later, when they left, I looked at my finger and realized the monster was also poisonous, and my finger was swelling up with it's lethal injection. I was also bleeding all over the place. Five minutes later my manager came back and I ran to the bathroom, blood running down my arm. My finger still had some sort of swollen lump on it. I am told this is called a blood blister. Whatever it is, it is disgusting. Disgusting.

Luckily, Drek came and saved me, gave me Advil, hugs, and a bandaid, and then ran off to his own adventure, sending me back to work. I did some more expo-ing, then came back to the store. Normally, I would be home now, but I am staying late to make up hours. And because I am avoiding going home to an empty house.

As a side note, when I came back to the store, from the expo, I noticed that the paper listing the advanced sales trasining courses was out. The one in August, in Dallas TX was circed, with my name written next to it. SQUEEEEEEEEEEE!!!! My boss isn't here for me to talk to, but I am pretty sure this means that he wants me to go!! Which means a side trip to Arkansas in is the works!!!

Nothing Says "Easter" Like a Clean Car

My car is spectacularly clean. It even has a peach air freshener. This makes be so happy.

Easter was great! well, kind of. I got very sick and spent all of Friday dying. The good part of that was Ben’s package from Amazon arrived on that day. Inside was the DVD “The Great Race” and a game called “Lost Cities” which we played while we were sick. It’s a great two player game and has kept us both entertained.

Saturday I was much better, and suspected it was nothing more than food poisoning, but I was still banned from my family's Easter dinner just to be safe. Instead, Drek and I went shopping for Easter basket stuffs. We had great success. Later, we went up to his families house to decorate Easter eggs and watch “The Great Race”. While we were decorating the eggs, his dad read quotes from the First Presidency about Easter topics.
Some of our eggs turned out really well.

On Sunday I hid Drek's Easter basket and he hid mine. He found his in a few minutes, I had to search for hours. We went to church (Of course our ward had nothing to do with Easter topics) and then we went back up to Drek's parent's house for Easter Dinner. Before dinner we had a small Easter Egg hunt in the front room.


Everyone had to find a plastic egg. Inside each egg was a scripture about the Atonement and Resurrection. After dinner we watched "the Lamb of God" and talked.

I did nothing to celebrate Liberation Day, and nothing to celebrate the first day of spring.

Yesterday, however, Drek and I went to the temple to celebrate the 1 year anniversary of him proposing. That was nice.

My Very Own LOL Catz!

moar funny pictures

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So. Very. Sick.

Krisface, how dare you get me sick. You think we're still roommates or something?

Actually, I do not have strep throat. I am exhibiting flu-like symptoms. Drek is sick too, this led us to believe it is food poisoning, but it might be the flu. It could also be the bird flu. There is just no telling.
Being married and being sick is SO much better than being single and sick, but I still hate being sick. Drek has been wonderful though, he is very good at taking care of sick-me.
I left work today because I was throwing up. The good part of this is that Drek and I have spent all day together, which is why being married and sick is so great.

My Mommy also came to my rescue, bringing be juice, pills, watermelon, and everything else I might need, including the dissolve-in-your-mouth alka seltzer. This was amazing because they do not make them anymore, probably because the orange flavored ones were so delicious people ate them like candy. My mommy has squirrelled some away. and brought them over just for me.

I TOLD YOU He Was Gay!!

And I knew it in this episode:



"Trust me Kate, you ain't my type"??? What straight guy doesn't want Kate??

Baby Shower of Doom

I am most upset about not throwing a baby shower for Krisface, or even Kirsa. Not some girl who I do not know and I do not care to know.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

March 2008 is stuffed full of holidays. Almost to the point of me asploding. Almost.

Saturday was the celebration of St. Patrick's day. After the rest of the world celebrated it due to the holy days, but before the actual 17. It evens out. The party was a huge success. My mom did the most amazing job of decorating and everyone brought yummy and festive food. 17 people showed up, an amazing turnout considering only 18 were invited. We played a short round of killer bunnies, which morphed into pirates dice, then turned into two separate games of pirates dice once all the guests showed up. We then ate yummy food and played a huge game of werewolf using the IRA as werewolves, the Irish as villagers, and we even added a role of the leprechaun. That was followed by a game of Elixir. I'm hoping Xirax will post some of the photos he took.

Today I ate my traditional Irish breakfast: Lucky charms. Tonight I will try and make Champ for dinner.

Wednesday is the birthday of one of the married friends. We are taking her out to breakfast at IHOP. i am looking forward to this.

Also Wednesday, I am going over to my sister's house to make Easter cookies. I'm not sure how Drek and I will celebrate Easter, we will have to see. The fact that Easter falls on the 23rd of March (Liberation Day) complicates things. Perhaps now that I am married Liberation Day should be a thing of the past?

The 20th is the first day of spring. If the weather is nice I am thinking a picnic would be nice.


The 26th is Drek's mother's birthday. I have no ideas for this. It also happens to be the 1 year anniversary of when Drek proposed. Perhaps a hike up to the spot where he proposed? Maybe even a campfire with marshmallows. hmmm...

And, of course, the I am throwing a baby shower on the 29th. This has been a long and complicated ordeal. I will explain the ordeal later.

Happy St. Patrick's day!!

My Hands are Delicious!!

On Pi Day Drek and invited over his cousins for pie after work. His cousin introduced us to the "pi song" which is quite interesting. The pies were pecan and cherry from Village Inn. I think next year I will make fresh fruit pie cups instead of having huge pies that aren’t very tasty. Eating pie just because it is Pi day is fine, but turning Pi day into an opportunity to make delicious pie cups is even better.

That night was girl’s night out. Married friends are always fun to hang out with because most of the problems you're going through are so similar, and you can't really talk to someone who isn't married yet, or is already onto the next phase of life. The other great reason married girls night out is so great is because at the end, I realize how lucky I am with my marriage, and my perfect husband. It makes me step back and appreciate how good he is to me.
There were four of us. We met at a yummy restaurant and had dinner. Afterward we went to the mall. We picked out prom dresses for each other and then tried them on because it seemed like something you do on a girl’s night out. Margaret needed a new outfit for a huge interview so we went around finding her a nice top and shoes that went with her skirt. I think we did a great job. I guess we'll find out on Friday.
Our wanderings took us into Victoria's Secret (of course). Megan grabbed my hand and sprayed something called "whipped body moisturizer" on it. It acted just like whipped cream, but was green, because it was "Appletini". I rubbed it over my hands to make them smell good and she did the same to her hands. A few minutes later she gasped and yelled out "lick your hands!!" as it turns out, this stuff is delicious. VERY delicious. We went back to investigate and were relieved to find out that is is, indeed, edible. Yummy.
Also yummy was later that night when Megan and I went shopping for ingredients to make caramel popcorn, which turned out amazing. I will have to make it another time.

On the Subject of Food

It seems that lately a lot of my energy has gone into food, rather than getting my energy from food.

Sunday morning I made chocolate mousse for my visiting teachee. It turned out amazing. I didn't have fresh raspberries to top it with, so I used maraschino cherries instead. The presentation itself was delicious.
My visiting teacher loved the mousse, and in return gave me something called "friendship bread". Apparently, some bread (like sourdough and the aforementioned friendship) need something called a "starter" to make. "Starter" apparently, means fermented. Who knew? Anyway, this liquid mix is inside a plastic bag. I have to mush it everyday for ten days, then add a bunch of stuff, cook it, and I guess it will be delicious. It will also make 4 other bags of this "starter" mess that I am supposed to pass on. The sheet of instructions that came with the bag had been copied about 50 times. It had been spilled on, torn and such in-between these copies. It was a mess. So I took it to work and typed up a fresh copy. While I was doing this, a customer around my age came in. She has been in before, and I have gotten to know her quite well. She noticed what I was working on, and commented "instead of using vanilla pudding, use chocolate, and also add shredded zucchini." Apparently this friendship bread really gets around.

Tuesday night Drek wanted crepes for dinner. Crepes meaning fresh made crepes filled with pie fruit filling and cool whip. He also suggested that instead of using cool whip, I use the yummy crème cheese stuffing his sister uses in crepes. He called her, got the recipe, we went to the store to get the ingredients, and I made him his yummy dinner. I was not content with such a dinner. I had already made the crepes, so why not go one step further? I sautéed the mushrooms, steamed the spinach cooked the eggs and expertly made hollandaise sauce. Voila!! 30 minutes later I had one of my favorite foods in the whole world: a spinach and mushroom stuffed crepe. Oh, I am telling you, it was amazing. AMAZING!!

Saturday is the Irish party, and I am making Irish scones and Potato Farls. I have never made either of these before, but from looking at the recipe I gather it will be much easier than hollandaise sauce or chocolate mousse. I am not anticipating problems. While looking through the World Wide Web for delicious Irish recipes, I also came across something called Champ, which I think I will make for dinner on the 17th. Yum.

The next dessert for my Visiting teacher is No Bake Lime Mousse Torte. It is the same dessert my sister made for her birthday. If I can make it half as well, it will be heaven for all taste buds.

Considering I didn't cook anything until 4 years ago, and I am teaching myself how to cook, I think I am doing well.

Fish funeral

Our front door is missing. Missing; As in: gone; Taken off the hinges. Drek informs me that he thinks the landlord took it to clean it. It might be returned before the weekend.

Saturday at work, we had a fish emergency. Our store has an enormous 125 gallon salt water tank. The boss has owned it for 26 years. He collects fish and anemones, and has the biggest Elegance in Utah. An anemone had died during the night, poisoning the tank. When we opened the store in the morning two fish were already dead, and the two blue tangs (aka Dorie fish) were on the bottom of the tank, lying on their sides, gasping ads hard as they could. The purple tank had white spots on it, and the fox face fish had turned brown. We frantically call the boss and the fish guy that cleans the tank. Finally, they both came over and began emergency procedures. I'm not really sure what they did, but there was a lot of running in and out of the store. They decided to put in a device that will prevent such things in the future, and began sawing the cabinet with an electric saw. This was very noisy, and some of the customers were very confused. In the end, there were eight casualties. Included in this was my favorite yellow tang, and co-workers favorite fish, a Mandarin Gobi. Also, one of the Dorie fish didn't make it. :(

Rest in peace, yellow tang. You are the only fish I have seen swim backwards. Your antics will be missed.

1 Month

I have exactly one month to lose 21 pounds. For the past few weeks I have been dieting and exercising, and I haven't lost anything. This is very frustrating. I'm thinking more drastic measures may be needed.

Come One, Come All

There will be a Happy St. Patrick’s Day party on the 15th of March. I will be making an Irish dinner. Everyone is invited; just bring something yummy that relates to St. Patrick’s day (green cupcakes, shamrock cookies, root beer).

The smoke smell is gone from our house. I think the key was the ceiling, after I mopped it with vinegar and baking soda the smell slowly faded. Thank goodness.

The sun has decided to come out again. Despite the sunshine yesterday, it was very cold. Today it is a little warmer.

On Tuesday Drek took me to see I am Legend. I highly enjoyed it, but I think there was more to it. It never explained how that Zombie guy was so smart...smart enough to set a trap? It is intriguing enough to read the book. Does surviving as the last man on earth count as a craft? Then I could use it toward BAMC. Drek and I are going to the Library tomorrow, I will see if they have it. Thus far, I am not impressed with the Library's new HOLD system. I have had three different books on hold for six weeks. I was supposed to be next in line on all three of them. Something has gone wrong.

On the subject of visiting teaching . . . One girl I visit teach realizes she needs to be visit taught and is very good about it. The other girl needs to be bribed. I started this last month, by bribing her with desserts, which she loves. Last month the dessert she requested for this month was chocolate mousse. I have never made this before, so I attempted to practice with the recipe last night. Half-way through, I realized instead of buying heavy whipping cream, I got half and half. It turned out tasty, but more chocolate milk than chocolate mousse. Oh well, I will try again on Saturday. I have to have it right by Sunday.

Catch-Up

Saturday after work my Manager and her friend took me shopping. We went all over the mall and bought jewelry, a pair of wonderful pants that are so amazing they make my butt look small, a skirt and a dress. When I wore these to work, everyone commented. Ah, so this is why people spend a fortune on clothes: the attention.
After the mall closed we went to PF Changs for dinner (on the Boss's dime of course). Crab Wantons with Plum sauce are amazing!! The vegetarian entrees there are still not worth it, the Great Wall of Chocolate is still the most amazing dessert at a restaurant.
We finished eating and talking around midnight, I got home around 12:30. Right before I walked in the door I realized Drek had called me 4 times. Uh-oh. I was in trouble. When I got home he said he even called my manager to see if I was alright, she didn't answer her phone either. He thought we were dead.
Work has been going great. March is going to be the best month ever. I'm expecting a raise, we're already way ahead in sales, and I've earned $300 in spiffs in three working days. Wahoo!
Today I got to go shopping with my sister. We went cloths shopping for my niece, (her daughter) who is almost a year old. Clothes shopping for a baby girl is so much more fun than clothes shopping for a baby boy. The Easter dress my sister bought her is the cutest thing I have ever seen.

Also, http://bamchallenge.wordpress.com/
I am very excited for this. I'll keep you posted.

I'm Nordstrom Barbie

My boss keeps telling me that I need to look professional at work. When I ask for more details, he simply answers "the Nordstrom look". I have no idea what this is, and he will not offer any more information, so for the last 6 months I have tried a few different looks to get his approval. These have all failed. Finally, my wonderful manager talked him into getting uniforms for everyone. The uniform consists of three or four really cute shirts that we are supposed to wear. She also convinced him to give her money to take me shopping to give me the "Nordstrom look". Last night, after work, we headed to the mall. She got me shoes, socks, a pair of pants, jewelery, headbands, and even got me free samples of this new makeup that is supposed to be really good for your skin. I had a blast, and she loved dressing me up like barbie. The best part was, we were spending the store's money, not ours. Shopping is always so much better that way. She wants to get me more pants, so we will be off shopping again tonight. I'm so excited!

This morning Drek and I and a friend from Quark went out and played Frisbee golf at a Rotary park. The weather was wonderful. It was fun to throw a Frisbee around again. We're hoping the weather stays nice so we can organize an ultimate Frisbee game soon.

The smoke smell is still not gone. I am running out of options.

And There I Was, Mopping the Ceiling

The rain turned into snow. It did not take away the smoke smell. Well, it took away the smoke smell in the bedroom, and after a another cleaning, the smell in the kitchen was gone. Unfortunately, the smoke smell was still alive and well in the living room. I practically bathed the carpet in Fabreeze. It was time for another plan. I looked online, and discovered that vinegar and baking soda work well. Therefore, I produced a mixture of baking powder and white vinegar and wiped down all the surfaces. I then fabreezed yet again and placed boxes of baking powder around the room. I set an air purifier in the corner and got that working. In the opposite corner, I placed an air freshener that is supposed to absorb odors. Two hours later I could still smell smoke. This led Drek and I to sniff around our living trying to find out exactly where the smoke smell was coming from. The beanbag smelled like fabreeze. The carpet smelled like fabreeze. The counter tops and bookshelves smelled like vinegar. The curtains smelled...well, bad. Not like smoke, but bad. I want new curtains. So why did the room smell like smoke?
In the afternoon Drek and I went over to my parent's house to play games. we discussed the issue with them, and my dad suggested that the smell was coming from the ceiling. Brilliant!! That's where the smoke would have gone, right? That's where we haven't cleaned and we haven't smelled! It had to be! So I came home, made up another mixture of baking soda and vinegar, doused a rag with it, stuck it to the end of a stick and there you go!
I hope it works. If it doesn't, we might have to look into the possibility that Acouchi is stealing cigarettes from our neighbor and smoking them in the living room while we are gone.

Is Something Burning?

Last night Drek and I went up to his parents house to attend a surprise party for his cousin, Aaron. I was going to take the camera to take pictures, but I forgot. I forgot a lot of things, apparently.
When we came back to the house, three hours later, we opened the front door to discover our entire house filled with smoke. I had left the stove on.
Because it was freaking cold last night, we could not air out the house. When we went to Church this morning I noted with disdain that we smelled like smoke. The people that sat behind us noticed it too. Thus, we did not stay for the other two meetings.
Instead, I came home and took the opportunity to do some spring cleaning. We haven't been able to air out the house from painting or re-carpeting, and the sunshine today provides a good opportunity. Every window in the house is open, and the front door is open too. Fabreeze has been sprayed and re0sprayed over every surface.
My depression has peaked. It hasn't been this bad since before I was married. I'm really not sure what's wrong-except I know I have seasonal depression. Last night was very bad. This morning was not much better.
There is still snow on the ground, but it's melting. While cleaning I went outside to take out the trash and clean up outside the house. I went out without a coat. I went out without shoes. That made me feel a lot better. It also reminded me that I hate shoes.
It's raining now. It's not the winter rain that has been on and off over the last month, the kind that wants to be snow, but just didn't make it. This rain is different. This rain wants to be rain. This rain smells like spring rain. It reminds me of the condo. I hope this is a sign that spring is coming. I hope the rain cleans out the smoke smell.

Weather Crisis

I haven't seen the sun in months. The snow keeps coming down. The wind is still bitter cold. The only change is this dreadful Inversion that has settles down upon the valley, adding a deadly fog to the depressing climate.
I suppose this can't last forever, but I'm not sure how much more of this I can take.

Yesterday I booked a flight out of this cursed state. Drek and I are flying down to Texas to visit family and a very large water park. With any luck, the thought of being warm, in the sun, and in water will keep me going until this doleful weather moves on.

Before and After

On Tuesday I worked all day. As soon as I got off work Drek and I came home, moved all furniture from the living room to the kitchen, hallway and bedroom, unscrewed outlet covers, taped up what we didn't want painted, cleaned the walls, painted the walls and ceilings, ripped up the carpet, swept away the dust that 20 years ago must have padding, spent three hours pulling up cursed staples from the floor and then fell asleep exhausted. Wednesday morning the carpet guy showed up, stayed much too long, finished installing the carpet and left. Drek and I painted again, perfecting and re-touching, screwed the outlet covers back in, and moved most of the furniture back into the living room. It was was about this time that a can of paint was dumped over...ONTO OUR BRAND NEW CARPET. I could have died. I was already so exhausted from all the work, and not having eaten anything since Sunday night did not help. Luckily, most of it came up after an hour of scrubbing. You can't even tell anymore.

Before:
Acouchi is ready to start

Our poor kitchen.

Drek painted this wall
I painted this wall

The old carpet did not do to well while we were painting.
painting mostely finished. time to rip up the carpet

Uck.

Ready for the new carpet
After

Winter is Over, Why is There Still Snow?

Once again, I have become fat. I am getting to the point where people see you for the first time since you've been married, and they feel sorry for the husband. It is not unusual to put on weight after you are married, but I cannot stand this. This is a big problem, because there is still snow outside. You see, when wanting to lose weight, you have three options:
1) Exercise like crazy and no diet. This brings happiness because you can eat whatever you want, and more happiness because working out releases endorphins.
Alas, this is not an option because I cannot exercise. I can't afford a gym membership and it is too cold to do anything outside.
2) Exercise and diet. This brings happiness because when you make it through a day successfully dieting, you are very happy with yourself. And exercising releases endorphins
Alas, I cannot do this either, because I cannot exercise.
3) Just diet. This is not so fun, because you are only happy when you have the energy to be, and when you are not thinking about food.
And this is the only one I can do, thus, the one I started Monday. However, i found a diet that gives me quite a lot of energy, I does not make me obsessed with food. I am very impressed with this diet. I do not know if it works,because my scale broke, but I can pretend it is working. I am doing very well, and will continue to do this well until Friday or Saturday, when I plan to change diets and hope that it is warmer outside.
And this is the only one I can do, thus, the one I started monday. I am doing very well, and will continue to do this well until Friday or Saturday, when I plan to change diets and hope that it is warmer outside.

Acouchy Species?

Last night Drek and I went to library. This was a historic occasion. When we were dating, I discovered that Drek did not have a library card. He did read a lot, but he borrowed or bought books to read. He did not utilize Benjamin Franklin's brilliant idea. There have been a few times when we have gone to the Library and he has borrowed my card. The other day, he went to the Library without me and he got his own Library card. Thus, last night we went to the Library armed with our own individual cards. We checked out books, came home, cozied up on our oh-so-comfy bed, and read for about four hours. Breaking the silence he suddenly announced: "Hey! Acouchies!" I looked up from my book in confusion to find my cat, but then realized he was pointing to his book. The book was referencing small South American mammals named Acouchies. This morning I looked it up on Wiki. Yep, there is such a thing. 

Green Acouchi, Myoprocta pratti is a South American acouchy species from the Dasyproctidae family. It is found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru.

The Writer's Strike is Over!!

This morning I was awoke to the news that my long-anticipated bed was being delivered in an hour. Huzzah!! The bed came, we set it up, and on my lunch break Drek's wonderful siblings came over to break in the bed (Tempur-Pedic material has a cover over each cell that needs to be broken off before the bed is soft). We put the mattress on the living room floor so they could jump on it, wrestle, and do whatever they wanted. They came up with a pretty good game.
My bed is amazing!!



Over the last week there has been a four inch needle being stabbed into my left temple (I am hoping my new bed will cure this). On Sunday, the headache finally caught up with me and I decided to stay home from church. I spent a good part of the morning online at ABC, NBC, and CBS .com watching shows (My Name Is Earl, Notes From The Underbelly, and Eli Stone). This was a new experience for me. By the time I was twelve I had was too busy to watch T.V., and never sat down in front of one without an specific show in mind, and that show was starting in less than four minutes. So on Sunday I got online and was trying to find something good. I came to the conclusion that I reached over two years ago: There is nothing good on T.V., and if there is, someone in Quark will have watched it, bought the DVDs, and lent them to me. If that show, by some miracle, had not been canceled by that point (Arrested Development, Miracles, Firefly), I would watch episodes online (Heroes) or even make it a ritual to watch it every week, even with the commercials (LOST).
Alas, there is no new good shows (Although it was to have a GodSpell flash back when Victor Garber started singing and dancing). Having discovered this, I fell asleep. Later, I was awakened by a friend who also skipped church, felt bad, and decided to drag me to her brothers ward. we never found it, but we did sit through a random Sacrament meeting.
At work, there was nothing to do, so once again I was online, looking for a good show.
And then...Success! I became mildly interested in a show. (Pushing Daisies) The plot was interesting, the material was new and exciting, the banter witty and comical. And the colors!! So very vivid! I haven't finished a whole episode yet, but at least I found a show that is promising!

I have been so productive. In the last few days I have done the following:
I talked to the landlords about carpet choices and painting. I set up the appointment with the carpet guy to have the carpet done. I finally got the "Preach My Gospel" book we're supposed to have because we are taking a "Preach My Gospel" Sunday School class. I set up visiting teaching for Sunday. I went shopping for my little Preemie nephew (Kris, I need a mailing address). I went Valentine's day shopping. I went to an enrichment night for the ward and was social. I did laundry. I cleaned my house. I cleaned my mother's house (a little). I helped set up for my sister's birthday party (which was a blast and I have never had a better cheesecake). I worked out credit-card confusion with my new bed. I watched Fight Club for the first time. I set up the Baby shower for this girl...oh dear. I am not going into that story right now. Let's just say how I got put in charge of this shower I will never know, as I don't even know this girl. This will be a very long ordeal.

Now, I want to be warm and eat chocolate. I am so sick of the cold. I am so sick of the snow. I just want to be warm! Why am I still in this stupid state?

Super Tuesday

Today was Super-fly for three reasons

1) I ordered my Tempur-Pedic bed
2) My Shutterfly Calender came in the mail! Huzzah! Now I can schedule things again!!
3) Quark Werewolf started!!

Today was not-so-Super-fly for 3 reasons

1) I didn't actually earn my bed, Drek just let me cheat. The last spiff I earned was supposed to be $100, but the check I got today was only for $50. This cannot be corrected.
2) The carpet guy that was supposed to come over today and measure our room, and give us a quote, never showed up.
3) Lunch with Drek's family turned out to be not so fun. This resulted in an argument between Drek and I, and it's not even Sunday.

After work Drek and I drove over to the polls so we (well, he. I didn't have ID, or any intention of voting, actually) could vote. The line went down a very long hallway, then curved back on itself and went continued on. The wait turned out to be around 2 hours long, so I left Drek there and went to a relief society activity. Soon, I started to get these text messages:

Lonely...I'm so lonely...

Day 3 it seems like I've been stranded here for months. The fluorescent lights are beating down...No water food. No sign of rescue, but I am building a fire.

Can feel myself going crazy. Am contemplating voting Huckabee. Another survivor slaps sense into me...signal fire unsuccessful. Eat leg.

Reached end of hallway! Line curves and goes back up other wall. Am standing next to fire alarm. Temptation is strong. Relize evacuation would reset line. Bad.

Discovery: Shouting "vote Huckabee!" at a Mormon polling station equivelent to "fire!" in crowded theater. Also bad

End of texts.

As it turns out, he did yell "Vote Huckabee!" in the hallway. Someone yelled back "Vote Romny!"

It's Great! Enjoy Japan, Hero of this Movie!

This morning I dragged myself out of bed extra early for a work meeting. I was in charge so I dropped by the bakery to pickup some fresh-out-of-the-oven orange rolls that I miss so much. mmmmmmmm. Who should be there? But Stefanie, my old boss. I asked how everything was going and discovered that Mark, also my old boss, is not doing well. He hasn't been into work since the beginning of December because he is hurting so bad. This is not good. Mark is an awesome guy, and really quite young. I am very worried.

The work meeting was a lot of fun. The best announcement was that three items in the store now have spiffs on them. Huzzah!! Also, today marks the six months I have been working here. I love my job!!

As much as I love my job however, I did take a two and a half hour lunch break to eun some "errands". This was actually my opportunity to watch Cloverfield with Drek, Rissy and Xirax. It was actually a great movie. I loved it. The only not-good part was at the very end, when I though the movie was over (but it actually continued on for ten more minutes). It was supposed to be a very sad scene, and the whole theater was dead silent. It stuck me as a hilarious way to end the movie, so I started laughing, which I felt bad about because of the people in front of us, so I put my hand over my mouth and tried to giggle quietly.

After work it was off to the Quark game night!! An entire room filled with nerds and geeks playing board games of every kind!! We brought Pirates Dice (thanks again Xirax!!) and taught a group how to play. Once taught, I abandoned the group to join a game of Ticket To Ride Europe. It was most exciting. I tied for first place with another player.
The best art of activities like that is not the activity, but rather, knowing that no matter what you do, you can be yourself, because everyone in the room will except you for who you are. I forgot how much I liked Quark for that reason.
At the end, Xirax was happily taking pictures. As I came up to him he pointed the camera at me and said "I'm documenting this. What do you think of this party?" Giggle giggle.

As I mentioned in the previous post, Acouchi likes Spaghetti noodles. I now have the film to prove this.

Of Course, That is Exactely What Heroes Are For!!

No, I did not get enough spiffs to buy my bed. And nothing else in the store has a spiff on it now. curses!!

Yesterday I went to Film Forum to see The Last Unicorn, which I haven't seen in ages. it was pretty good, I'll watch it in another ten years. Bradley stopped by the film forum to drop of the memory protectors I ordered from him, or from Close To My Heart, in October. Now I can finally finish my wedding Album!!

Acouchi likes Sphagetti Noodles.

LOST in 57 minutes!!

I Guess We're Staying in the Apartment...

Yesterday morning I was hit with the idea of getting new carpet in our living room. The carpet in there now is a dark brown and is oh-my-gosh-ugly. As I pondered this idea, I remembered Kris and I painting the Krayola box and the landlord payed for the paint. I also remembered buying $200 in flowers, planting them in front of the Krayola Box (I miss summer, or, for that matter, I miss the sun) and taking $200 out of the price of rent. I actually paid the same thing I did every month, but I got flowers out of the deal that month. So what if I could do that with carpet?

Thus began my new project. I looked online to find all about buying carpet, good deals, carpet padding, installation and such. After much research I decided that Nylon carpet would work best in our high-traffic area, and that a plush would work best with looking new year after year (for future renters) and for the comfort of Acouchi. Drek and I then priced what we wanted and, armed with knowledge, marched over to our landlords.

We presented our plan. She seemed thrilled by the idea and the only conditions were that it be a neutral color and hid dirt well. Huzzah!! New carpet for me!!

LOST in 1 day, 7 hours, 5 minutes!!!!

Many Things

I've been playing Werewolf online with Quark. It has been a lot of fun. I think I've lost my touch, i have no idea who the bad guys are, but that's ok, the game is fun anyway...or, was fun. I was lynched this morning. :(

Saturday night Drek and I went up to his parent's house to play games. We ended up playing Werewolf. We turned off all the light and just had candles lit on the table. It was a lot of fun.

Yesterday was a busy day. Church, Visiting Teaching, Visit Taught, Do Visiting Teaching Supervisor stuff...
I got a text as soon as I woke up: Ok This is lame but I am not allowed to call you. I am going in to labor and the baby will be here by tomorrow.

SQUEEEE!!! My Nephew!! After church, I had not heard anything, so I called and talked to NateBot. He gave me a quick update. This morning Krisface called and said he was born last night, via C-Section, and he was at a different hospital in the NICU. She is ok, and supposedly he is ok. I waiting for more updates.

Also yesterday, Drek and I watched a movie. When it was over we got online to check Werewolf, and all over QUARK, CNN, and KSL, was the news that President Hinckley had passed away. My phone was on silent during the movie, but when I checked it I had 4 text messages from different people informing me of the news, and 3 missed calls by different people informing me of the news. It has only been announced an hour before.
Drek, on the other hand, had no texts and no calls. Ah, the differences between his family and mine. He calls his family "practical" ("If each kid got a call like that it would take the whole night!") I call my family loving. :) Drek and I knelt down in our front room and said a prayer, just because it felt like the thing to do. It wasn't sad or any ting like that. I am sure he is very happy, and the church will be fine, but it felt like we needed to do something for the occasion. I guess that's the whole point of the gospel. When the Pope dies, it's a tragic event and a huge ordeal. Millions mourn, panic ensues and then the entire process of finding a new pope starts. In our church, the prophet dies and everyone is happy for him, God takes care of his church and in a few days a new prophet is announced, but until then the members know they are still taken care of, still being led.

Krisface, I think if your baby has an old man face, you should name him Gordon. Or maybe Tobordan.

3 days, 5 hours, 31 minutes to LOST!

At last! A Trailer for the new J.J. Abrahms Star Trek Movie! Mostly I just want to see Sylar as a Vulcan.

LOST in 5 days!!

The countdown returns

8 days, 2 hours, 18 minutes Until LOST Season premier. I think there will be a LOST party over at my parent's house.

Also, I want to have a Valentine's day party. The kind with married couples where you play cute little games. I am not sure, but maybe I will try and throw a party.

The Power of Prayer

When I graduated from High School I decided it was time for a new set of scriptures. I went to the Distribution Center and got the off the clearance table. They were on clearance because the binding wasn't done right, so some of the pages aren't actually attached. I got them like that, rather than prefect, because... well, I suppose because when you are religious, you should be poor. I guess. Religion should b free. So The fact that I had less-than perfects scriptures made me feel more religious, or at least, less like a hypocrite. When I had my name engraved on them, I purposely only had them do my first name. They were very concerned about this and called me several times to make sure I did not want a last name on my scriptures. I did not. I was a teenager, and trying to figure out who I was, so I wanted the scriptures to have my first name and no family name, so they would be mine, and not...well, I don't know. It was a teenager thing. Anyway, I loved these scriptures from the beginning. They were unique. They had had class, character. They had gumption.
I took my old and my scriptures to all church functions, so I could transfer markings from my old scriptures into my new scriptures. I wrote notes, made highlights, had a very precise color coding and marking system, and even signed my name in the front every time I finished reading them. I loved these scriptures, they were with me through my toughest times.
Then Drek and I were married we started attending this Married Student Ward. In September, I accidentally left my precious scriptures in the Chapel. They were stolen.
I lost my wallet in the parking lot of an ice cream store and it gets returned to my door, fully intact. Money, credit cards, drivers licence, everything.
I lost my cell phone in a mall and some 14 year old kid calls my dad to inform him that he had his daughter's cell phone. No prank calls were made, nothing.
I leave my scriptures in the chapel of an LDS church, and they get stolen.
Every Sunday I went to the lost and found looking for them. I asked the librarian, the Relief Society President, the ward clerk and that stake president.
When Christmas came, there was talk of getting me a new set of scriptures. I protested. I did not want new scriptures, I wanted MY scriptures. After Christmas, my mother offered to give me a pair of highly rare, highly expensive, real leather bound scriptures. Again, I protested. I wanted MY scriptures, and no others would be the same. Drek started praying for my scriptures the beginning of January, when it became clear that no substitutions would do. So, I started praying for them too. We would pray that I would find them, that whoever took them would return them etc.
Today we arrived t church early so Drek could prepare the sacrament. I found us a seat, and immediately headed for the lost and found. In that hall, there was a table set up with dishes in it, waiting for the owners to claim them. On the table, front and center, were my scriptures.
4 months later, there were my scriptures. It is a miracle.

What's Going On In My Life

Yesterday morning I stepped on an earing. It went one inch into my heal. It still hurts.

Yesterday Night I was supposed to go see Cloverfield with some friends. When we go to the theater, 45 minutes before the movie started, there were NO SEATS. let alone 4 seats together. After much debate I finally asked if I could trade the tickets for a later showtime, the answer was yes, but after traded in the current tickets, and before they could print off new tickets, the later show sold out. Half of me wanted to go to the dance, because I got two phone calls yesterday, saying THEY would love to dance with me, even though I am married. Both calls mae my heart happy. I think I will go to the next Quark dance no matter what. Half of me wanted to go home and sleep. Yesterday was quite the miserable day and that just topped it off. The friends we were with voted to go home and watch LOST (we have been introducing them to LOST with mini marathons. We have only had two) so both plans were vetoed.
However, LOST makes everything better. We watched a few episodes, and now the only episode left of the first season is Exodus (which is three episodes long). We will watch this on Sunday. Hooray!

We are looking for an apartement. I love the apartment we are in, and it is crazy cheap, but it is right next door to the family of the missionary I sent off two years ago. He gets home Feb 5, and I don't really want to live next to him, mostly for his sake. This is tragic, becasue I adore his family. I go over there often, to visit with his mom and little brother. His little brother started raising chickens and seeling their eggs, so I have been eating "cage free" eggs. When he comes home, not only will I lose the visiting, but my supply of eggs as well. The problem is, becasue of BYU, apartments are VERY expensive. The other problem is, Landlords know there a a million people trying to move into their apartment, so they don't have to take people with pets. We cannot find an apartment hat will take Acouchi. The search is not going well.

I love my job. In December and November, I was very good at my job. In fact, I was the best. This month, I am last. Only by $3,000, but still. I need to take it up a notch if I am to earn that raise I've had my eye on. In December, I decided to earn the money for my new Tempur-Pedic bed in spiffs only. This was a good December goal becasue all the massage chairs had spiffs on them for Christmas. As is turns out, I was the number one salesman for this massage company in the nation. Ever. I earned a lot of spiffs. Alas, i am still $100 short of my bed. Well, I have enough for the bed,but not enough for the shipping. Right now, there are only two thing with Spiffs on them. I am determined to sell them so I can get my bed.

In other news, LOST season starts in 12 days.

Yes Basketball, No Dances

I can't go to the Quark dance tonight. Drek says he wouldn't mind me dancing with other boys, but the problem is no boys will want to dance with me. :(

In an effort to "fit in" better in our ward, I volunteered to play relief society basketball. I supose this is an event unique to married student ward, as most wards would be worried about 80 year old women playing dirty. The games are on Wednesday nights. I went this week and had fun. I'm not very good, and most of the girls either play for BYU or played in High School. But all of them are nice. It's just a game to most of them, so there is no fear of getting stoned if you miss a pass.

Best Husband Ever

Yesterday Drek picked me up from work and took me out to eat at a very fancy restaurant. We had a wonderful time. When we went home, he opened the door and much to my surprise he had decorated the living room for me.



He even bought me 6 roses, one for every month we have been married (I know you can't see 6 in the picture, but they are there).
We had Sparkling Cider in fancy crystal glasses and ate yummy chocolate truffles. It was so much fun.
Cheers!!

1/07/08

Today is my 6 month anniversary of getting married. I have to work today :( so we couldn't really do anything fun. Drek is supposed to take me out to a nice dinner after I get off work (in 45 minutes) I am very excited. I went shopping twice with my married friends to try and get some things for today, but both attempts were unsuccessful.
I was also hoping to have a new bed for us. Originally, my plan was to have it delivered today. Alas, complications arose and the earliest I could get it is February. And now, more complications have arisen so it might be even later than that.
This just makes me more determined to make our 1 year anniversary more special. We will either go camping in Yellowstone, or go to Ireland. It depends on where we are in then, as our whole lives SHOULD change once Drek is done with school.
Anyway, Happy anniversary Drek!! I love you so much. You are my most favorite husband.

Year In Review

2007 brought major changes.
Major change #1) Marriage.
I still don't think I'm quite used to be married. I LOVE being married. It is the best thing ever, but I still feel that I'm awkward in social situations because of it. I don't know how to talk to guys anymore. Am I flirting? Am I just being friendly? Are they flirting? I don't know. It's something I intend to work on and fix in 2008.
Major Change #2) Work
I love my job. Most of 2007 was spent at jobs I didn't like. I jumped from one job to another looking for a job i would want to stay at. I have finally found it. I have been working here since August, and despite some early opinions that my boss wasn't going to work out, it HAS worked out. I love my job, I love the people I work with, and I love my boss. Not only that, but unlike the bakery, I get payed well. I don't get free donuts, but the paychecks are bigger and I get very nice bonuses every month. My Christmas bonus this year was a nice check, instead of a pie. I really think (and want) a future here. It's a nice change.
Major Change #3)Friends
Friends have gotten married, moved away and things like that. I've made some new, quite wonderful friends, but still kept in touch with old friends. The biggest change is Krisface, who abandoned me this year. The great thing about the end of 2007was that Krisface was here in Utah again. We had many adventures before she had to leave again. The strange thing was that while she was here, it was like she had never left. I am no longer apprehensive about her being so far away, because I know that it will always be the same. Whenever she comes back (June!!!) it will still be as if she's never left. The new friends I have found are also amazing. Both of them are married with no children just like me. I got to spend New Year's Eve with them and their husbands. It's hilarious how much we have in common. We were talking about kitchen items our husbands have forbidden us from using (cheese graters, electric beaters) because husbands get so sick of hand washing them (we don't have dishwashers). It's also a harsh realization that most of my guy friends don't want to associate with me anymore, because I am married. I knew that before I got married it would be an issue, I just didn't realize how much of an issue.
Major change #4) Babies!!
April 2007 gave me a niece. She is the cutest baby in the entire world. She has also proved to be amazingly intelligent. My sister is teaching her sign language and at 9 months old, she already understands certain signs.
Krisface is pregnant with a little baby boy. I'm sure he will be absolutely darling. I cannot wait to see my nephew.
My Parents got a dog. His name is Jake and he is a very smart, and very big dog. He knows that every time I am over at my parent's house I will give him a treat, so he will wait by the backdoor every time I am there, so I won't forget.

In Summary, 2007 was a great year, and I think the changes that were made will make 2008 the best year yet.

Ka-Boom!!

I was in a car accident yesterday. Now I hurt all over. Basically I want to go home and sleep away the sorenes. Instead, i am stuck at work on what was supposed to be my day off. This is NOT how you're supposed to start the new year.

Acouchi's Christmas

On Christmas morning, Acouchi decided to sleep in. After much coaxing, she finally came out into the living room to open her stocking.

She got a new brush, a dangly-toy, cat-nip two balls to spray cat-nip on, and the best present of all...


a laser pointer!!!

A movie of Acouchi playing with the laser pointer can be found here.

No LOST, No HEROS. Stupid Writers.

By LYNN ELBER
AP Television Writer


LOS ANGELES (AP) - "Lost" will return next month after an absence of eight months, but fans of the TV drama may still feel deprived because of the Hollywood writers strike.

The series, like other dramas and comedies, faces the possibility of a season cut short by the strike, now in its sixth week. Eight episodes of "Lost" have been completed for the series' return Jan. 31 _ half the number originally planned, ABC said Friday.

Whether the entire 16-episode order for 2008 can be filled depends on the duration of the contract dispute between studios and the Writers Guild of America. The strike has sidelined production on dozens of scripted shows, and networks are running out of new episodes.

Prospects for a deal were hurt when talks collapsed Dec. 7. No new negotiations were scheduled.

"Lost" viewers can expect at least a mini-cliffhanger ending, no matter how long the season, the network said.

Happy Birthday, Drek!!

Thank you for the snow, Bradley.

Happy December to all!!