Topaz Mountain and Dugway Geode Beds

We took a rather rural camping trip this weekend. By rural, I mean driving for hours on unmarked dirt roads that even Google Maps couldn't find and not seeing another car. Anyways, we started at Topaz Mountain. Don't be fooled; I'm pretty sure there are no topazes there. We dug for them for quite awhile and all we found were tiny quartz crystals. We had better luck at the geode beds. We didn't find anything spectacular but there were lots of little geodes and other nice rocks. I didn't do much digging at either place because I have a hard time squatting because of my belly. It was a fun trip, and we brought back lots of rock samples.

Geode beds

Topaz Mountain

Since Poodle and Fernash keep asking

I put an updated belly picture. Sad Eyes is getting very big, which is good. As for me, I really like the shirt. And the earrings (thanks, Poodle). Also, my highlights have grown out quite a bit, but I decided I kind of like the brown, so I'm not going to redo them. That's all.

Dear Mom,

I found a countdown widget that doesn't have a "creepy rotating baby." I hope you like it; it's just for you.

Work

Yes, that is all I'm doing lately, so that's what everyone gets to hear about. Apparently, not a lot of people that buy ice cream are very smart. I always get people asking for ice cream on a cone with a topping. I always ask them if they want it in a bowl instead, and they look at me like they are really confused. I guess they don't realize that toppings don't stay on cones; they fall off. I'm pretty sure everyone is familiar with the shape of an ice cream cone so it should just be logical that toppings do not stay on a rounded surface without anything to catch them. It is especially annoying when they ask for something like caramel or raspberry topping. One of these days I am tempted to just put in on there and give it to them and let it drip all over their hands and say "Well, what did you think would happen?" As Bill Murray said in What about Bob, that was NOT SMART.

Relief

It has been a little hot here lately. I know, Texas is hotter, but we don't have AC in our apartment OR our car, so it is pretty bad. I am especially hot right when I get to work because I have to walk there, and going up a hill when I weigh 20 lbs more than normal is hard. Then I get to put on long pants, closed-toed shoes, and a sexy apron just in case I'm not hot enough.

Well this week I had enough of that, so now when I get to work I come in a little early and sit in our ice cream freezer. It is about as big as our extra bedroom and it is kept at -10 degrees. Needless to say, it feels nice. Getting samples once in awhile is nice, too, but we are down to a pathetic EIGHT FLAVORS since the Creamery STILL hasn't been rebuilt. They are telling us that it will be running again in October, but if we don't get Graham Canyon back before I have my baby, I might just go into labor right there at the store.

So pretty

Sometimes Brandon and I go to Lowes and just to look around and see what things we would like to have in our house. I always get stuck in the tile section and stare at the pretty glass tiles like these ones. They make me want to have a house so I can tile a kitchen backsplash or bathroom. Or maybe just find a big mirror and tile the frame around it so it looks interesting. Oh well, it will be awhile.

Dear Poodle,

Remember those earrings that you stole from me four years ago? I really want them back. I get sad every time I check my mail and they're not there. I miss them.

Love, Shady

What has been going on

Last week:
Buying $4 maternity jeans
Not being able to sleep because my back hurts when I lie down
Driving to Idaho in 100 degree weather and no AC in the car
Going to Brandon's family reunion
Climbing up a huge rock; Mom would have freaked out if she saw me
Putting together our crib

This week:
Figuring out that if I sleep with a pillow under my legs, my back doesn't hurt
Wishing I could figure out a way to make my back not hurt at work
Only having 4 more weeks of work
Still not knowing how to cut my hair

In two weeks:
Brandon's little brother staying with us for the week while he is at soccer camp, hoping he doesn't stink up our apartment

Three weeks:
Fernash visiting, going out to eat with her, getting half of my food boxed up in advance because my stomach is so squished by the baby

Five weeks:
Brandon going on his field trip; me not having anything to do

Ten weeks:
My baby is full term! I can pop her out anytime after that.

Big long road trip

This week Brandon and I went on a trip with his family and his uncle's family. We went to Indio, California. It is pretty much in the middle of the desert, so it was around 115 degrees the entire time we were there. Brandon and the older kids were brave enough to go golfing in that weather. I don't like golfing that much. Luckily, I found other things to do.

At night I showed the little kids how to hunt for toads. This was the first one I caught. They were all fascinated. Playing by the pool was fun, too, and pretty much the only thing to do during the day. This picture is for Ashley.

I also helped Brandon and McKay grill some potatoes and hamburgers. McKay was excited because grilling makes him feel manly.

Also, when McKay walked into our apartment to pick us up he looked at me and said, "Look how fat you are!" That was great.

This week's events

-Having my whole apartment clean for the first time since we moved in (there was always one dirty room)
-Remembering Brother's birthday, which I always forget. Happy birthday, Brother!
-Buying tons of pastries because they were half off last night, and I can't pass up a good deal (mom would have been proud)
-Eating them all
-Getting two coupons just beacuse the student manager is afraid of me, and I made him feel bad about making me come in to work early
-Having a freakishly lumpy belly because Sad Eyes likes to put herself in weird positions
-Finishing a few sewing projects
-Trying to replace a zipper on a dress, and realizing that the dress is now way too small for me
-Getting our crib sheets delievered, but no crib
-Brandon finishing our picture
-Packing to go to California with the Harpdogs tomorrow; there will be a pool at our condo so I am excited

This weekend's new thing

Today Brandon and I decided to splurge and we went shopping for a rocker for the baby's room. First we went to Babies r Us, and the only fully upholstered rockers were $400. Even the cheaper wooden ones that just have cushions on them were $250 and up. So we went to a furniture store to see if they were any cheaper there. One store was having a big clearance sale and we found this nice, comfortable, leather rocker/recliner for $199. I looked at Brandon and said "I want it" and it was sold. Also, I promise my belly is bigger than it looks in this picture. And I think I need to get my hair cut again soon.

All done!

I took all of my spring term finals today, which means all I have left of school is a 1-credit class in the fall, then I graduate. I am so happy about that! Now I can just sit back, relax, and have a baby. Because after the baby comes, there will be no more relaxing. Ever.

Today we went and got fabric for the baby's room. We tried to do that on Monday, but when I found out that the fabric I wanted cost too much, I started crying and we had to leave. That is how hormonal I am these days. Believe me, it's not fun.

We are bold

Well, at least when it comes to colors. Here are some of the projects we have been working on the last few weeks. The headboard is the one that I found in our dumpster and cleaned up. When I found it, it was silver and had a missing knob on the corner. So we sprayed it bronze and replaced the knob with a curtain rod knob. The dresser was this weekend's project. It is a hand-me-down from Brandon's family and it used to have mismatched handles and ugly milky white stain. On the other hand, it is a really good dresser since it has solid wood construction and dovetail joints. So we sprayed the handles bronze to match our bed and painted it LIME green. You can't tell from this picture, but there is a little bit of lime green on our comforter, so that's where the weird color comes from. Anyways, we really like it and I am excited to get started on decorating the baby's room. The baby has been busy lately with kicking Brandon in the face and making me eat weird things. She is a little hyperactive, but at least she will be athletic.

The rocks

About a year ago, I was in a geology class and my professor used to bring rock samples to class. It always amazed me that every time we talked about a certain rock, he could magically pull out 5 different samples of the rock. It made me wonder how he did it. Do all geologists have magic rock collections that they can pull out of nowhere?

Then Brandon became a geology major. Now every time we go hiking, our rock collection increases by 15 lbs. It started taking over our apartment so we bought Brandon a 6-foot tall shelf just for his rocks. He has already filled half of it. He spent last night dilligently washing his rocks and scrubbing them with a toothbrush so that they will look pretty for the shelf. It was very cute. He could easily teach a college course with the samples that he has, not to mention the 500+ pictures he took of things like convolute bedding and cross stratification. Now I know that geologists aren't magic; they're just nerds. And I am SO glad he is majoring in something he loves so much. Maybe someday he will love me as much as he loves his rocks. (just kidding)

the ultimate burgers... yum

Lately the baby has been making me crave spicy things even more than I already do.

Today I was wanting burgers and fries, and I made some that were awesome! I was so proud of them that I had to take a picture. Mine had bacon, pepper jack cheese, grilled onions and a grilled serrano pepper. I think I should have added 3 more serrano peppers but it was still good. So here are my pretty little creations (Brandon did make the buns, so it wasn't all me).

Birthday shopping

Of course, I couldn't go without showing off what Brandon got me for my birthday. He got me these shoes (yes, they are zebra-striped AND shiny) and the toenail polish that I am wearing. When I got them, I said, "Great! I have been worried about looking too mature lately." Being pregnant was beginning to make me feel old. These will definitely reverse that, along with realizing that I am only 21. We also got more plants to put in our little garden. Now we have basil, thyme, serrano pepper, tomato (growing out of the fish's mouth), and jalapeno. Brandon made the fish pot in our ceramics class.

He even took me to get some body spray, but they were out of the kind that I liked. Oh well. I still love my birthday presents!

A little birthday miracle

I had a great birthday yesterday. Brandon posted about everything we did, so I won't repeat anything. But he did leave out one part. After we had dinner at Tucanos, we came home and found a dryer sitting out by the dumpster. Well, in 2 weeks, we are moving into an apartment with washer/dryer hookups and we already have a washer from Brandon's parents. All we needed was a dryer, and we were going to buy one on Monday. As I was calling my friend to help us move it, the owner of the mysterious dryer drove by and informed me that it worked very well but they had just gotten a new one, so it was up for grabs. So I sat on it and Brandon rode in circles on my bike for about 30 minutes until our friend got here and helped Brandon carry it into our kitchen. While sitting by a dumpster on a dryer wasn't what I had in mind for finishing my birthday, I am very glad that we found it. And now Brandon and I will have a dryer to make our kids sit on when they get in trouble. Thanks, mommy, for staying for my birthday and making it awesome. And thanks, Brandon, for sharing me with her.

More naming fun

By now, everyone knows about the joke that Bethany played on me with my baby name. That episode reminded me of another naming joke she played on me years ago.

I was 12, and I had just gotten a new rabbit. Bethany thought it would be really funny to convince me to name him Herpes. I fell for it.

Unfortunately, Ashley gave it away by giggling and saying, "When I have a rabbit, I'm going to name it HIV-Positive." I DID know what HIV was. After that I figured out that Herpes was an STD, but not until after I had been calling him Herpes for at least a week.

It's a girl!

And she is beautiful. I saw her little face, hands, feet, and her four-chambered heart. So, everything is there, except for a penis. She is a little small for her age, but I kind of expected Brandon and I to produce a very small child. She moves a lot and she yawned at us. I couldn't tell if she has sad eyes yet. Anyways, we are so excited!!!

Also: Yes, we have a name picked out. No, we aren't telling anyone what it is. So don't ask.

Our eventful weekend

Actually, our weekend started out being pretty uneventful. But on Saturday, Brandon had a filling fall out, so we had to make an emergency trip to Idaho to get that fixed (his uncle is a dentist). We got to Idaho at around 1 AM that night. Mother's day was fun-- Brandon and Mia brought me breakfast in bed and I got a tomato plant at church (they were giving out plants to all the women for mother's day). After church I asked all the little Harpdogs what kind of baby they thought I was going to have. I got the best response from Cameron-- "If he's a girl, then he won't be very fun." We shall see. I called Mom the Bomb and we planned out what we are doing this week when she is here. That night, we drove home and now I am just getting ready for Mom to come. This weekend will be even more fun!

So excited

I am very excited about this week. Mom the bomb is coming to Utah and we are going to party. In fact, I have been telling everyone that I work with how excited I am to see her every day. Sometimes I even start jumping up and down because I am so excited. On Thursday, we are going to my doctor to find out if I'm having a boy or a girl (please vote on what you think it will be on the side). Mom will even be here for my birthday! I think it is going to be a great two weeks.

Dear Bethy,

Here is the room I would like to stay in.

Beds with just a headboard always look comfortable, and they are cheaper than the headboard/footboard set. This one is courtesy of Pottery Barn. The seagrass gives it a good texture. If you want a footboard alternative then you can put a bench on the end.

I like this comforter from Target. It is a fun color but not too bright and it compliments the brown really well. I wouldn't go with the matching sheet set, though. Too geometric. I would stick with solids.

If you are looking for accessories, lamps are an easy way to go, especially in a fun color like this one from Pier 1.I would end with sheer drapes (floor-length), because I like how much light they let in.

If you are painting, I have ideas for that too.

Of course, these are just suggestions.

And we're back

So we did it. Brandon and I went camping for 5 days in southern Utah and Colorado. It was fun, but there were definitely points where I wondered what I was thinking when I agreed to spending 5 days outdoors when I'm 4 months pregnant. Oh well, we got through it and it was definitely worth it. Here are some pictures: Bryce Canyon hoodoos. This was the prettiest place we went to, but it was in the 40s for alot of our visit, and I was pretty grumpy.

Okachomo bridge, in Bridges National Monument.

Brandon, cooking dinner over the fire. We camped in La Sal National Forest, and it got into the 20s that night. Again, I was very grumpy.

Canyonlands National Park. This was at the end of our 6-mile hike. I was pretty tired. And this was a waterfall that we found near our campsite in Canyonlands.

Other highlights included:

Almost crying because we had to drive down a really scary cliff (seriously, I was freaked out)

Realizing that Moab is a horrible place to camp because it is crowded and they charge alot for sites

Being kept up all night by a crying toddler in the site next to us

Learning that a 4-year-old girl CAN go down ladders and walk along cliffs as long as she is on a leash

Learning that ooid, loes, and facie really are words

Having so many mood swings that Brandon didn't know what to do with me

Running out of a slot canyon because we were afraid of a flash flood

And many, many more stories.

Yay, spring

Spring is finally here. I am done with all of my finals but one and the weather is nice. Yesterday Brandon and I went hiking and I realized that I will have lots of things to do when I'm not in school. I'm excited about everything I will get to do this summer. I need to:

Learn how to sew
Learn how to take good pictures
Learn how to use photoshop well
Plant tomatoes and maybe a few other things
Move into our new, TWO bedroom apartment
Figure out how to decorate baby's room using only gender-neutral colors
Find a place to keep Brandon's rock collection (it gets 10 lbs bigger every time we go hiking)
Learn how to cook
And lots of other things.

As for this week, Brandon and I are taking advantage of the break to go on a road trip. We will hit Arches, Canyonlands, Mesa Verde, Escalante, and either Capitol Reef or Bryce Canyon. It will be fun, and there will be rocks. Lots of rocks.

Ridiculous

Normally, I'm not a Utah-hater like the rest of my family. There are several things I like about it. I like the mountains, the national parks, getting free food from Grandma, and the ice cream. But waking up to this in the middle of April really makes me want to kick Utah in the face and run back to Texas. I think I will spend the rest of my day shopping for plane tickets.

Our little Easter

I was very excited for Easter this year because it is the first holiday that Brandon and I have been able to celebrate all by ourselves. In the morning we looked for Easter baskets. I must say, I was impressed with what Brandon got me. I tried to pick something out of it to eat and I just didn't know where to start. It all looked so good. After church I started making dinner and put the ham in the oven. To my surprise, Brandon started throwing things together and made a glaze. It made the ham DELICIOUS. I never knew I could like ham so much. I was impressed again. So here is a picture of our baskets: Yesterday I had to walk around with my pants unbuttoned all day because my belly is starting to stick out. So that I don't flash people, today I got a belly band to cover it up. I don't know whether to blame this on the baby or on Brandon and his delicious Easter goodies. Actually, it's probably my fault for wearing super tight jeans. Anyways, Fernash has been asking for a picture so here's one, belly band and all. It doesn't look like much yet.


Brandon went on a field trip on Saturday. When he got back, I found this scandalous picture on the camera: I asked him about it and his response was: I had to put something in there for scale.

I didn't ask who brought their barbie doll on the trip.

Good old Daily Universe

Last week, BYU's trusty newspaper "the Daily Universe" had a typo. It was the issue that covers General Conference, but on the front page, instead of saying something about the LDS church's quorum of the twelve apostles, it called them the quorum of the twelve apostates. It was obviously a mistake, and I thought it was pretty funny.

Apparently, though, the DU did not have a sense of humor about it. As soon as they found out, every single newspaper bin was cleaned out and replaced with a sign that said "paper recalled because of a printing error." I was surprised that no one followed me home to steal and burn the copy that I had from that morning. I was expecting an apology to be issued in the next day's paper, but there was none to be found. I also expected there to be a few Readers Forum letters about the typo the next day, but they didn't publish any of those, either. They sure tried to destroy the evidence.

I did hear, though, that the typo made the evening news in Salt Lake. So much for covering your tracks, DU. I think an apology would have been more effective.

Bouquet

If anyone was wondering what the flowers on my blog are from, that is the bouquet that I made for my bridals on Tuesday. I was so excited to find roses in my colors, then I almost peed my pants when I found ranunculuses, too. I was very proud of this bouquet.




So I had a fun little romp in my wedding dress, but I decided that's the last time I am going to put it on. It is getting pretty tight. At least the pictures turned out well, and Brandon had a fun time staring at me for two hours.

Dear Bexar,

I nominate you for Best Blog award. Not only did you title your post about having another baby "Oops, I did it again," but you topped it off by telling everyone that we are trying to populate the world all by ourselves and that's just how we roll. I laughed out loud. Keep up the good work.

Love, Shady

Dear Fernash,

I am not a pushover anymore. In fact, I'm a jerk sometimes. But that's only when people do stupid things. So if you want to see me confront someone, just call me "ghetto booty" or "cankles" one more time, and I'll come all the way to Dallas just to kick your butt.

Fired?

Yesterday I was looking at my bank account and I realized that I hadn't been paid in 7 weeks. I normally get paid every 2 weeks, so this was a little alarming. I talked to my managers about it and they said they would find out what was wrong. Well, they figured it out-- the Cougareat secretary had apparently fired me in January and hadn't told me or anyone else. (I'm assuming this was a mistake. She isn't even in charge of our store.) So, my managers had to re-hire me and have me look at the schedules for the last couple of months and tell them when I had worked. They were very apologetic, even though I wasn't mad at them-- they had no idea I was fired. But if the secretary fires me again without telling me, I am going to have to have a talk with her. That's just rude.

Go Brandon go

I wanted to take another post to brag about how cool Brandon is. He got invited to do research for the geology department this year. He also wrote a paper that was so good, his professor said that if he edited it well, he might publish it. Oh, I can see him becoming more employable every day. It makes me happy.

What doesn't make me happy is that he has a geology field trip this weekend and I will be all alone on Friday and Saturday.

No, stoop dogs, it wasn't an accident

I think I am going to punch the next person who asks if my pregnancy was planned. It bugs me to realize how nosy people are. What difference would it make if it were planned or not? It seems like any time someone finds out that I'm pregnant they say, "Really? Did you plan this?" as if they want to say, "Whoa, this must be an accident. Do you have any idea what you're doing?" Hey, it's my first baby. OF COURSE I don't have any idea what I'm doing.

Redo on the pic

Remember this picture? Well, I kind of lied in my caption. This isn't really how Brandon feels about school. This is the face Brandon made when he found out I was pregnant.



Don't be fooled; he really is excited. He even changed his gmail chat status to say "Brandon is pregnant." He might be sympathizing with me a little too much. His friend saw it and congratulated him. He congratulated her back. Ever since he found out that pregnancy is measured from the first day of a cycle instead of from conception, he has this theory that all women are pregnant all the time. Most girls get pretty mad when he tells them that.

I had my first appointment today and heard the baby's heart beat. So yes, Ashley, I DO have proof that I'm pregnant. I hope you believe me now. As if being sick all the time wasn't proof enough.

Dear Cougareat customers,

We do not accept Bookstore gift cards. If you ask me why we don't accept them, I will look you in the face and say, "Because we're NOT THE BOOKSTORE." This will make you look really stupid in front of your friends. And believe me, I won't feel bad about it. I'm not as nice as the other employees. I won't go check with a supervisor just to make sure you can't use them. I am a supervisor, so that would be a really stupid thing for me to do. So next time you order a dozen brownies, make sure you have an alternate method of payment.

Windy

Today I walked outside and was literally almost blown over by the wind. I had to regain my balance so that I wouldn't fall. I love days like this.

Impulsive

I went to get my hair cut today. With my last ounce of bravery, I told the stylist to give me full-on bangs-- a style I haven't sported since 4th grade. I still have mixed feelings about them, but I think they'll work.

This will make you jealous

I got to see mom and dad this weekend, and I only had to drive to St. George to do it! We took mom to Zion because she had never been before. Here are some pictures.
Brandon always loves to stop and ponder the geology.

Mommy and me on the trail!

And a pretty view.

I had lots of fun!

My hero

Yesterday Brandon and I went grocery shopping. Brandon let me buy a huge jar of pickles, grapefruits, burritos, and all the yogurt I could handle. Sometimes I think he'll never understand how much I love him.

Hearing impaired

I'm not a fan of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Some people might gasp and say that I'm going apostate, but I don't care. The reason I don't like it is that it is SO HUGE, I can never hear the words to the song clearly. They also like to divide themselves into tons of parts and rounds and all sing at the same time. This is not good for me beacuse I have a tendency to hear things wrong (Dad will remember me singing "she's got me on the pretzel.") Here are some things I have heard them sing:

Breakfast, breakfast, buns of salt
He's smart, he's smart, he's veeeeeery smart
Ringing in the cheese, ringing in the cheese
Away thy sheets

I did not find out until relatively recently that they are really singing "bringing in the sheaves" and "and we, like sheep." I still have no idea what the first two really say. Until I can read along when they sing, I'm listening to something that's easier to understand.

Pavlovian response

I'm assuming everyone knows about Pavlov's experiment with the bulldogs where he rang a bell when it was feeding time and soon enough they started salivating every time they heard a bell. Well, something similar has happened to me, and it is really annoying. Last semester, I would get home from school every day, take out my keys, go in the house, and go to the bathroom. Apparently I have done this for too long, because now every time I get home from school and take out my keys, I have to pee. Really badly. I am completely fine until I take my keys out, and then it hits me. It doesn't matter what time I get home, either. I don't even notice it until I see my keys. I think I have a pavlovian response to my keys-- they make me have to go to the bathroom because I associate them with the bathroom.

This is problematic because it's February, and our door gets harder to open when it's cold, and I wear snow boots, a scarf, and a huge jacket. It takes me much longer to get into the house, and then shedding all those layers and making it to the bathroom takes even longer. So I am stuck outside my apartment every day doing a "pee pee dance" and trying to get my key in the door. There have been some close calls. This is ridiculous! I am not a bulldog! I shouldn't wet my pants because my keys remind me of the toilet.

I don't know what to do. Should I slap myself every time I see my keys so I associate them with being slapped and not with going to the bathroom? This is annoying.

An update

I went to target and found rugs on sale for $15 each. They were small, so I bought two and put them together to make a big one. It's kind of ghetto, but they are so much prettier than our yucky brownish-gray carpet.

I also found a plane ticket to Houston for $278. I might come the week that Brandon is on his field trip, if we don't drive down before that. I just really don't want to be home alone for 2 weeks in August when Brandon is on his geology outing.

This is how Brandon feels about school right now:

Please help Brandon!

Brandon has a problem. He is double-majoring in civil engineering and geology, but BYU will only award one degree, so when he graduates, he will have a degree in civil engineering with a secondary major in geology. He is worried that any geology company will take one look at his resume, see that he has a degree in civil engineering and not in geology, and throw it out. This would not be good because he doesn't really like engineering and he has done all the requirements for geology, so he should get credit for the major.

I asked him if he could just switch his primary major to geology, and that would be problematic, too. Since geology is a much shorter major than CE, if he switched his primary major to geology, he would have to take a lot of electives to make 120 hours, and he has only taken as many electives as CE requires. In short, he would have to take 2 extra semesters of classes that have nothing to do with either major.

I have now sent myself on a mission to find out how to set up his resume so that geology companies will see that he has the same qualifications as anyone who got a degree in geology. The best format that I have found is this:

B.S. Brigham Young University, April (year)
-Civil Engineering and Geology double major

Would that be good enough? Is it misleading? He is so smart; I would hate to see him not get a job because of a technicality like this. And he loves geology. He even has a blog post about his rock hammer. I need help.

Trying to be healthy

Lately Brandon and I have trying to be healthy. I have been doing a workout video 3 times a week and yesterday I even learned how to make wheat bread. Of course, 1/3 of my workout video consists of standing in one place and putting my arms in different positions. Also, I'm not sure if wheat bread is more healthy because we put a little more sugar and tons of honey in it. But at least we're trying.

Spanish flubs

Yesterday I was editing Brandon's little sister's spanish assignment. I came across something funny that she wrote:

Snowboarding en el infierno es divertido.

For anyone who doesn't know spanish, the word she meant to use was invierno, which means winter. Instead, she had a typo and wrote infierno, which means hell. It reads: Snowboarding in hell is fun.

I corrected that, thankfully.

Everyone that knows me will find this funny:

Brandon once told me that sour cream was the most useless condiment.

Not only is sour cream my favorite condiment, it almost constitutes an entire food group. So I told him the story about how I used to sneak out of FHE and eat sour cream.

He also told me he doesn't like hot dogs. I won't even go into that one.

A good cook

I must preface this by saying that Bexar is awesome. A year ago, she sent me the recipe for the best stir fry EVER. I make it all the time now. But tonight I was especially proud of myself because I made it into a wrap! I put chicken, lettuce, and chow mein noodles on a tortilla and drizzled the stir fry sauce on top (made of soy sauce, peanut butter, and honey). It was delicious. I am slowly getting better!

Vote on my future!

I have been at BYU for two and a half short years now. I am going to graduate in August or December (August if we can find cheap health insurance, otherwise I need to stay in school for another semester to keep milking the cheap insurance). I am at the point where people ask me what I want to do with Spanish. And my answer is this: I have no idea. And they usually respond with "Well, you could teach Spanish." And I say, "Thanks, that's really original." (Sorry, but going through 2 years of being supervised and critiqued on my teaching skills is the last thing I want to do. I have real issues with being supervised.) So, I am letting everyone suggest things that I can do once I graduate. If it's not a real job, (i.e. volunteer work, or something I do at home to make myself feel productive) that is perfectly acceptable. Please, give me a future. Or at least something to tell people so they stop asking.

Ghetto booty

Everyone knows that Ashley loves to remind me that I have a "ghetto booty." But apparently, she forgot over Christmas and sent me some tiny jeans. The only problem is that I LOVE the jeans. They were not something I was about to take back/exchange. So, for a few days I tried sucking in and pretending I didn't have a butt to get them on. It worked, but after walking around in them for a few hours, my legs started hurting because they pinched the nerves in my hips. Then Brandon came up with a great solution-- he unstitched the button (which was off to the side like on most trouser jeans) and put it back on in the middle, giving me an extra inch. Now my zipper won't close all the way, but I have enough room to squeeze in my "ghetto booty." I just wear long shirts so I don't flash people. It works so well. Thanks, Brandon and Ashley.

Good news!

Valentine's day is on a Saturday this year, meaning Brandon and I actually get to celebrate it on Valentine's day. I'm so excited, I even made my blog festive. Yaaaaaay!

Things my teachers said that made me like them

My spanish teacher:
"Nothing I teach is offensive to normal people. Unfortunately, this is BYU, and we don't have normal people."
"I don't believe in censoring, so if there are any crazy nut-jobs in here who are going to get offended and complain about what I have them read, they should leave now."
"If you come across a four-letter word when reading, just move on. It's probably nothing you won't hear me say in class."
My religion teacher:
"Theologians are a bunch of religious prostitutes."
"I'm an equal-opportunity offender."
"Does BYU still have it written in their handbook that women must wear bras?"
"I speak fluent Catholic."

Picutres

I really wanted to post pictures from Mexico on my blog. Brandon and I got some good ones. However, our computer is really slow. So everyone will have to wait until I go back to school and use the computers there.

Bargain shoppers

Since we had some Christmas money, Brandon and I decided to splurge today. We spent a whole $100. We went to Lowes, Target, and DI and got:
2 huge picture frames (one is 2'x4')
a golf bag
4 pillows for the couches
new sweat pants for Brandon (thank goodness)
WARM gloves for me
a coat rack
superglue (to fix one of the frames)

I think we got a pretty good deal.

Then he gave to his siblings...

Lots of things. Brandon's sister wanted him to paint her snowboard for Christmas, so we spent the morning doing that. He actually got the design from our bedspread and made it very purple.

On the first day of Christmas, my Brandon gave to me

Snow boots that are warm for my feet. I got the black ones. He said he didn't want to carry them all the way to Mexico so that I could open them on Christmas. And it was snowing like crazy this morning.

Another reason I love Brandon

We were watching a home improvement show on Saturday (I think those shows are pretty cool) and Brandon already knew how to do everything they did on the show. He even made fun of them for using fancy tools for easy work. Wow, I am going to have a cool house when I grow up.

There goes my incentive

It is no longer beneficial for me to work a closing shift at work. The Cougareat changed their policies and employees are no longer allowed to take home leftover food after closing. This officially sucks.

pictures from Thanksgiving

Opening presents-- Brandon tried on the hat his mom made for him, but she realized it made him look like a girl.

Mia had fun decorating the little castle I made for her.

And here is the house Brandon and I made.

Hauling in the enormous Christmas tree--that thing barely fit on the Suburban.

And here I wanted to show Mom how my would-be wedding dress turned out.

6 whole months

I had a startling realization while I was at church today: Brandon and I have been married for 6 months. Then I realized that this time had gone by so fast that soon I would be graduating, having kids, getting old, and wishing I was once again a newlywed. So now I am going to list all the reasons I am glad to be married to Brandon.
- He lets me take naps whenever I want to.
- He doesn't make me make dinner every night, he loves to help me.
- He doesn't care that I'm not a very good cook.
- He cuddles with me every morning when he wakes up.
- He makes me take calcium pills every day because he doesn't want me to break myself when I'm old.
- He takes me on dates.
- He gets me to tell him what's bothering me when I'm grumpy.
- He doesn't care that I have a useless major.
- He encourages me and tells me that I can finish things, even if it takes me a long time. Like the 10-mile hike that took me all day-- he was so proud of me just for making it to the top.
- He is good at everything that I'm not.
- He is thrifty to a degree that I never thought possible.
- He helps me through my frequent attacks of self-doubt.
- He loves me even when I'm weird.

Things I learned in Idaho (in no particular order)

1. Brandon is exactly like the rest of his family--none of Brandon's family can make decisions. It's starting to worry me, because eventually someone will have to wear the pants in this relationship, and neither of us want to.
2. One of my pet peeves is being woken up in the morning. I haven't realized this because I have gotten up on my own since I was about 10 years old and I know exactly how long it takes me to get ready. Somehow, even though I'm 20 and married now, Brandon's siblings still think they need to be my personal alarm clock.
3. Brandon and I make awesome graham cracker houses.
4. Brandon was Elvis in his 6th grade school play. He sang and danced and combed his hair for all the world to see.
5. Nature is not very good at growing Christmas trees. I never knew how hard it was to find a full, teardrop shaped pine tree in the wild. It takes hours.
6. No one should ever eat anything that Brandon's dad and brother cook. They made jalapeno poppers for me and gave one to me last night. However, they hadn't taken the seeds out, they made it with an extra-hot red one, and I'm convinced they dipped it in hydrochloric acid. I took one bite and had to drink about a gallon of water and run to the bathroom because I thought I was going to throw up. It was by far the hottest thing I had ever tasted. Bryce and McKay thought it was really funny.

More like Bethy, less like a wimp

Today before work I was heading to the dressing room to change into my work clothes. When I got there, I noticed that it had been closed off and there were three maintenance workers standing around. I stopped and read the sign posted on the door which said "Closed for repairs" and walked away a little irritated.
When I got to my locker, I heard one of the workers say, "Did you see her just standing there staring at the sign? How long does it take to figure out it's closed?"
So, I stood up and said, "I can hear you. You know, if you're going to say things about people behind their back, you should at least wait until they're out of earshot, otherwise people might think you're a big jerk."

The only problem with this story is that it is a lie. Yes, the maintenance guy was a jerk and yes, I heard him, but I didn't say anything. I just walked to another bathroom to change. Then I thought about the time when we were in the Newark airport and the flight attendant was yelling at everyone, so Bethany told her that she didn't have to be so rude. And I decided that I need to be more like Bethany and less like a wimp.

Back

Brandon and I had a delightful time in Midway this weekend. We got in on Friday and went out to a Mexican restaurant that served at least 12 different types of salsa. Sadly, every one we tried was completely flavorless. Of course, there are only 2 restaurants in Midway, so it was either that or some expensive-looking one.The next morning we went on a drive and I found this little stream that I fell in love with. Something about green moss and yellow grass is really exciting for me. So here's a picture for those who haven't seen me in awhile and another of just the stream.

We tried driving the alpine loop but it was closed for the winter. Instead, we walked around the back of Timpanogos for about 5 minutes until I got too cold. Anyways, here is little Brandon.

After that we had a picnic. We made sandwiches and I was excited to have spicy brown mustard on mine. Anyone who knows how much I love mustard will understand. I have to thank Bexar for force-feeding me mustard when I was little-- it has grown into quite a love affair.

For the rest of the day, we watched movies in the condo. Even though we didn't do much it was way better than being stuck in our little apartment. I had tons of fun with Brandon.

Question...

Who wants to see Brandon in a skirt? If you said yes, go here.

Exercise

Lately Brandon has been encouraging me to exercise. No, he doesn't think I'm fat, he just knows that I feel much better about myself when I do, and he is all about self-esteem. Last night he was coming up with suggestions of things I could do (he even offered to work out with me), but nothing seemed to work. It gets dark at no later than 5:00 this time of year and rains all the time, so that eliminates anything outdoors. And our apartment is too small for just about anything-- I was going to have him teach me ju jitsu (he took a class last semester) but we don't have any open floor space. In fact, we hardly have enough space for me to lie down to do crunches. And anything involving running or jumping would make our neighbors downstairs really hate us. I told Brandon that if he got me a dog, I would happily take it on walks for hours a day, rain or shine. But that's out of the question, too. So I'm going to ask Bexar, since she seems to be the queen of working out, how do you do it? Because I can't seem to do anything.

Thanks, mommy, I fixed my spelling errors.

Okay...

Can you see it now?

Halloween, and the previous weekend

Here is a picture of little Brandon working hard on our false wall. It was supposed to be gold but turned out to be about the color of the couch. Bummer. We can at least re-paint it.

I decided that I couldn't go the entire day without wearing a costume, so I dressed up as a "shady lady" before going to a friend's house for soup.

Last week I got to stay in Salt Lake while Brandon took his FE test. Since it started at 7:45 AM and I had nowhere to go, I went and took pictures of the temple because it's generally pretty in the fall. Can anyone spot the big dipper in the vertical picture of the temple? The people who built the Salt Lake temple actually put the big dipper on the west side and the stars align and point directly to the north star. It's very faint, but it's there, in the blank space on the center pillar.

And here it is with the pretty fall colors. I actually wan't too bored in Salt Lake- I went to the gateway and got a skirt for $2, visited a friend, and visited grandma and grandpa. After the test Brandon and I went out to Cheesecake factory to celebrate. Brandon got the crunchy cashew chicken and it turned out being one of the best things I've had there. Yum.