Christmas

Christmas was great to us this year. We went up to Montana to spend time with Jason's family over the break. This year we flew non-stop, got there about 2 hours early, and had no car issues! We did have a delayed flight and were on the plane for quite a while, but no car problems!

We spent our time in Montana going out to eat, spending time with Denny and Rita, shopping, and visiting family.

We had a lot of fun and loved spending time together. We also got to do ichat with my family for Christmas eve and Christmas. It was a lot of fun.

Jason and I have been so blessed, and we are so grateful for those great examples around us.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and able to remember the reason for the season.

P.s. I am now officially a senior! I passed all my classes including my math class, only one to go!

Merry Christmas!

It's Christmas! More to come later!

Christmas List

Christmas is coming so soon! The only "decorations" I have up are the presents I wrapped last night. Since we aren't going to be at our apartment for Christmas and we have been super busy, we never got around to setting anything up.

Anyways...

Without further adieu, here is my Christmas list:

1. World Peace (but since that isn't going to happen, yet, I will post things that are a little easier to get)

2. I want some of these (any brand will do).

3. I couldn't find a picture of this next item. It is from Bed Bath and Beyond. It's an ottoman, the top comes off and the inside is storage space. (It comes with a "large" and a small.)

4. Socks! The costco kind. I don't care if I get white, or color. If they have black I would like a pack of those too.

5. Makeup- foundation, eyelash curler, mascara... (a year supply of chapstick, hehe)

6. A personal chef to make us food all the time.

7. Maybe some earrings...

8. Lots of hair things. (thick ponytail holders, bobby pins...)

That's all I can think of. Merry Christmas.

Temple Square

We took my parents to Temple Square last night to look at the lights and then go to The Gateway to do some christmas shopping. We had a lot of fun, but it was freezing! Luckily there was only a tiny bit of snow in Salt Lake so the roads weren't bad.

I guess it was too cold for a real smile from either of us.

I loved the red and orange lights, especially next to the temple.

I have always loved the architecture of this building. It looked so beautiful with the orange lights surrounding it.

This was an awesome Christmas tree at the gateway. My camera batteries died so I had to take this with my phone.

BYU v UTAH

Such an amazing game! We had so much fun watching this game! We were on the 3rd row in the North endzone. Where the game was won in overtime! Here are pictures because I am too excited to write.

(These are all my pictures, DO NOT STEAL THEM!)

We won in overtime and the fans rushed the field!

Some of the players were lifted up...

And so was my brother!

And just in case you missed the end, here it is from my camera.

Thanksgiving week

Monday we went to Kate's play at the high school. For a high school play it was pretty good. We also found out Jason has been accepted to the University of Colorado, Denver School of Medicine.
Tuesday was pretty much a normal day. Wednesday Jason played video games and I watched Monk at my moms. We then had home teachers over.

Finally, on Thanksgiving, we started out the day with cleaning. We did all of the dishes, put all of our laundry away, cleaned our bedroom, our living room, the bathroom, and our spare room. When that was done I worked on desserts for the big dinner. First was my favorite, chocolate mousse pie! I then worked on a chocolate trifle. We got to my moms and our dinner was delicious! Each of the kids made something to contribute to the wonderful thanksgiving dinner. Tanner bought pumpkin pie, I made dessert, Janna made salads, Kate made mashed potatoes, Penny set the table and was going to make a cheese ball but didn't get the recipe so we improvised and it was delicious! My mom and dad did everything else. The Turkey was really good, and very moist. After dinner we each helped clean up, and then went downstairs to watch Star Trek and then UP. Two WONDERFUL movies to end the day with.

Later that night Jason and I prepared for the morning. We worked out our game plan and were all set.

The alarm was set. We got up at 4:45 and quickly got ready. We got in our fast car and proceeded to Target. We got there just in time. (The doors were open) We grabbed the games we wanted and hurried over to electronics to see if they had any of the other things we wanted. We found some tv series that we wanted but we ran out of luck when it came to getting a hard drive. 1 terabyte was on sale for $60! We wanted to get a couple but unfortunately they were out. The lines were insane! We ended up going to the electronics check out. While I waited in line Jason went to Office Depot to get some memory for our computers to make them faster. The line took so long at Target, when I checked out, I only had to wait 10 minutes for him. We then went to the Target and Office Depot in American fork to get more memory, and to see if the Target had the hard drives and another tv series we forgot to get at the first Target. I had no luck at the Target, Jason did get more memory at the Office Depot so it wasn't a waste of time. We went back to the Target in Orem because Jason insisted he saw the tv series I was lacking, at that Target. I jumped out of the car and looked for the show. I found it within 3 minutes and got in line. The store had calmed down a lot, there were still a lot of people but not as many and the more crazy ones were gone.

Our next stop, Best Buy, to see if they had anything good. We found a couple of BluRays for only $8 and bought those. The line wasn't very long, which was very nice. Then we went to WalMart to see if they had any BluRays left. We were told they didn't, but what the person meant was that the good ones were gone. We did buy a gift for Jason's nephew (best gift ever for a 12 year old turning 13 EVER)!

We were finally finished, we stopped at my moms for breakfast and then Jason stayed and took a nap while I went with my mom and sisters to Spanish Fork to a Christmas craft fair thing. There were so many neat things there! We ended up getting a couple of great things.

After our shopping it was time for me to crash. Jason and I went home and watched some tv and then I napped.

We are back.

It certainly has been a while! Oops. Here are a couple of things that have happened the past couple of weeks.

Jason had his interview with University of Nevada (in Reno). I was able to go with him, we drove to Elko, Nevada on Thursday night, and then to Reno the next day. Jason interviewed at 2 and finished at 5. We then drove to Sacramento and slept.

After Sacramento we were able to backtrack just a little bit and meet up with some friends of ours from our old ward. I was finally able to meet their daughter, who is 1 year old. She was so much fun, and so cute! I loved seeing them and getting to spend some time with them after not seeing them in over a year! Thanks for letting us come over and see you guys, Shea, CJ, and Naomi!

After Sacramento we drove to San Francisco. We parked in a parking garage, and then walked around for about 1/2 an hour. It was so much fun being back in San Fran. The first time I went I was in high school and I went with my sister J and our friend C. I was glad to be back with Jason, and our GPS. We saw some really cool buildings and took a couple of pictures.

This time around we were able to see WICKED! It was amazing! It turns out the Glinda is the same one as when my mom and sister saw it in New York. She was hilarious!

After Wicked we got back in the car and headed to Ghirardelli Square. We drove up and down the evil hills of San Francisco. They were so steep! I almost peed my pants (but not really). There were times when I couldn't see the road over the hood of my car. Very scary. It was a really clear night and from the top of the hill (as we were going down) we could see alcatraz and it was amazingly cool looking. When we got to Ghirardelli Square we got a banana split which was so delicious! They have a really cool display where it shows how the chocolate is made, it was spectacular!

We drove back to Reno that night, stayed at the Circus Circus, and went home the next morning.

We got to Orem around 7, went to my moms house, had dinner and then went home to sleep. Jason got up really early and drove up to the University of Utah for his interview!

The next day (Tuesday) after school, work, work, and more school I picked Jason up from his school and we went to a benefit concert at UVU. It featured bands like Slaughter, Adjacent to Nothing, Parralax, and some others. It was a very neat experience, and Mark Slaughter is pretty dang talented! There were so many cool people there. The writer of the movie The Rainman was there, and so was the man the story was based off. They also brought the Oscar that the movie won and Jason and I were both allowed to hold it! (The man in the background of my picture is the man who inspired Rainman) (yes, the Oscar is real, and yes it was HEAVY! The color had also faded because so many people have held it)

On Thursday Jason headed off to Denver, Colorado for another interview. Even though he left on Thursday, the actual interview wasn't until Friday. After the interview he called me and let me know how he thought it went and then told me he got a phone call from Minnesota saying that he has been accepted there. At least now we have two places to choose from (just in case).

Last night (Friday) Jason was still in Denver, but about to come home, and I had nothing to do. A friend of mine at work and I started talking and I ended up going with her to the Pow-wow at my school. I got in free because I was with her, and ended up being one of the volunteers. I helped shred lettuce for the Indian tacos that are being served there tonight, and I also helped cook the fry bread. It was so much fun and I am glad I had the chance to help out, and learned a little bit of Native American culture.

Today we went to the BYU vs Airforce game, it was very fun. I saw some girls I went to school with. It was really fun seeing them at the game. (Hello Kelsey and Marianne).

U

Jason has an interview with the University of Utah. We are not sure on the date yet. We heard about it sometime last week, but I didn't want to post until we knew when the interview was, obviously I couldn't wait any longer.

First response from a Med School.

Jason just heard back from his first Med School yesterday.

A letter came in the mail for him at my parents house. My sister Penny sent me a text telling me there was a letter for Jason from some med school but she couldn't remember which one. I didn't think much of it because he has been getting a few letters from schools asking him to apply to them.

I got Jason from school so he could come home and study for a test. When we got home I told him Penny said he got a letter. He asked which school, so I texted Penny asking which one. While I was texting my mom called me. Asked if I wanted to meet her at Costco for grocery shopping. I had to take Jason back to school to take the test so I most likely wouldn't be able to.

I asked her where the letter was from. Dartmouth. My jaw dropped a little. They told Jason he wouldn't hear from them until January. I told him it was from Dartmouth. Jason looked a little down, he said it was probably a rejection letter because it came so soon. We asked my mom to open it.

"Dear Jason: Congratulations... It's a pleasure to inform you... Dartmouth Medical School Admissions Committee has accepted your application for admission and approved a position for you in the 2010 entering class of the M.D. program... A deposit is not required... Call ______ if we can answer any questions for you"

I thought it was a hoax when my mom was reading it to me, or at least a tricky way of saying he wasn't accepted. Jason was studying while I was trying to relay the message from my mom to him. He didn't get it. After she read the letter to me (the important parts) I turned to Jason and said, "You were ACCEPTED! You made it!"

He looked shocked and then ecstatic! He called his parents, I texted my siblings. I asked if I could post it on my blog and he told me as soon as he saw the actual letter and made sure it wasn't a fake I could post it.

Needless to say I got in the car and met my parents at Costco to get some groceries, and the letter of course.

I brought it home, read it, took pictures of it, and then let Jason read it ;) It also came with a personal note telling Jason congratulations and to call if he had any questions, it was from the director of admissions.

WOW! I am so glad he is in! Now we can drop some of the other schools (ones we don't really care about, but applied because Jason knew he could get in)! He will still go to interviews to ones that are in the locations we want (if he gets interviews with them).

Interviews

Three more interviews:

Minnesota: University of Minnesota (twin cities)

Reno: University of Nevada

Colorado: University of Colorado

Birthday, over a week late, oops.

My birthday was last Tuesday. We had family in town for general conference (Janna, and Jason's parents) which made the birthday extra fun.

During the weekend we went to the afternoon session of General Conference on Saturday. It was so great. After conference we went to eat at the first KFC ever (it is in SLC) it is also a buffet! Then we went to Tai pan to look around, we didn't end up getting anything, but they have great things. Then it was Nordstrom rack (very over-rated) I only found a couple of things that were even cute, it was awful. Then Rue21, which had a much better selection and the prices were better too! After shopping we went to Tucanos to celebrate Tan getting into BYU.

Sunday we watched conference then went to my parents where we had amazing BFD (breakfast for dinner) opened presents, and then played apples to apples (bible edition), and Trivial pursuit pop culture2.

Monday was a long day. I had 2 english classes, work, another english class, work, ASP (after school program), and back to my school for math.

After math I went home and opened some more presents, then we met up with my family at Los Hermanos. Dinner was alright. Not the best.

Tuesday, my actual birthday, was another long day. Started out with an english class then work until 3, ASP, back to my school for math, testing center to take a math test, Olive garden to pick up birthday dinner, home to eat birthday dinner and watch tivo'd house.

The President..

Oops, In my hurry to get that post out I forgot to write a couple of things that happened.

While I was wandering around the Capital by myself I decided to go to the Washington Monument. As I was walking I heard a whole bunch of sirens. I looked all around trying to see what was going on. On my left were 2 cars one a dark SUV and the other a dark Lincoln. In front of those cars were two cop cars and one Dark SUV all had lights and sirens and behind them were two more cop cars. I watched them drive by and then heard their sirens heading to the white house. I tried to take a picture, but I couldn't pull out my phone fast enough. I may have seen the Pres driving around, then again it may have been his family, or just some other important people with a police escort...

Washington DC

First things first. Jason had an interview at George Washington University in Washington DC a couple of weeks ago, and I was lucky enough to go with him. While he interviewed I checked out the city, and when he was finished with the interview we went around together. It was a lot of fun, and way cool! Unfortunately I forgot to bring an actual camera so I had to make due with my phone. Here are some pictures.

Taking the metro to our hotel

First day: Washington monument

Farmers market outside the department of agriculture

This freaked me out a little. There was a helicopter overhead, ambulance, firetruck, firemen all dressed up, more cop cars not in the picture, and more cop cars on the other side of the building too.

Turns out it was just a security drill.

The White house

Awesome map made of each state's license plates found in one of the Smithsonians.

International spy museum

Museum of the American Indian

The national book festival outside of the Library of congress. There were so many people it was crazy, and such amazing authors!

...

Stay tuned for pictures from the weekend (I'll post them later)

I got home from work today around 5:45pm. I got out of the car and walked up the hill to the stairs to our apartment and I saw something right in front of me move. It wasn't a person, but it was large. Standing on four legs with beautiful light brown fur. Eyes as big as golf balls sparkling in the sunlight staring at me. I got closer to the apartment and closer to the deer, and realized there wasn't just one. There were ten. Right next to my apartment. Just grazing peacefully, and I had to take a few pictures although the only camera I had was my phone. 

Ivy League...

Jason got back from his interview at Dartmouth today. He said everything went well, so we will find out  eventually. 

I am excited that he got an interview with them. When he went into the interview they told him that they were really impressed by his secondary application. How neat! Dartmouth was impressed by his application. Anyway, we will see what happens. He still has 2 more interviews (so far) and then if he gets more interviews with different schools, we will have to see which ones accept him, and which out of those we feel would best suit us. 

Life is going well for me. I am just working and going to school, as usual. Both jobs are great, this year at the after school program (I will now call ASP) I will be working with the 1st graders. It will be completely different from the 5th graders that I worked with last year. The kids last year were great, so energetic, and fun. I am excited to be working with a younger grade this year, and hopefully have as good of an experience as last year. 

I wish I had pictures to post, but I don't. I will be sure to post some pictures most likely on Sunday... But we will see. 

Yes, I'm alive...

I have fallen off the face of the Earth! My semi sched this semester: classes, work, another class, work, other work, back to school for one more class. 

When I get home from work and school I veg out in front of the tv and then do homework. 

On a different note, Jason has been to one interview for med school at the University of Arizona, in Tucson. He left this week on Monday and got back on Wednesday morning. He thinks it went well, so we'll see... He has a couple more interviews set up and I will post them on here after he interviews.

surprises

Last night I told Jason I wanted to take the Acura to school because I was just about out of gas and didn't have to get any this morning. 

*Fast forward to 8:30am

I decided I would take the X-terra to school and get gas after school/work.

I got in the X-terra and started on my way to school. I had just stopped at the stop light on University Parkway and had to stop at Freedom Blvd. I was sitting there for about 10 seconds and then my car lurched forward. For a split second I thought my car had stalled or had died, it kind of freaked me out. Then I noticed there was a big Chevy suburban behind me and I knew I had been hit. I put the car in park, put the flashers on, and walked to the back of the X-terra. We have a trailer hitch on the back with a rubber cover for it so it doesn't get rusty. The only damage to my vehicle was that the little rubber cover had been scraped a little bit. The only thing wrong with her car was the license plate holder was scratched. We pulled into a parking lot and I got the woman's phone number and name just in case there was more damage than meets the eye. She apologized a lot and explained that her kids were causing problems, she wasn't paying attention and she hit me. As she was driving away I took down her license plate and description of her car, just in case. 

I got to school about five minutes late, good thing I left for school early.

The thing I am really grateful for was that I took the X-terra, not the Acura. That would have been a great travesty! I am extremely happy that I took the X-terra and that there was no damage to me, the people in the other car, or either of the vehicles. 

The rest of the day was great and a good reminder to be thankful for all the little things. 

School

School is back and I am taking more credits than I ever have. This semester I am going to find out what it is like to be Jason... (With different classes of course) I am taking 17 credits, which is ridiculous for me. Fortunately I am taking some very cool classes and only one potentially awful one! 

Advanced Writing

History of the English language

Literature of the Sacred: Adam and Eve

Adolescent Literature

Math

The classes so far are really fun. I think my favorite so far is the adolescent lit just because I get credit for reading books. It does make the workload a bit heavier as in 2 books a week heavier, but at least they aren't text books, which I am fine with. 

Birthday time!

Yesterday was Jason's birthday. We started out the morning at a very early 7:45, I had to take Jason to work. While he worked, I cleaned the apartment. I picked him up at 11:30 and we came home to have lunch and open presents. A pair of pants, socks, and jacket from his parents, and two gift cards from his aunt. 

We went and rented the new college football game for the 360 and Jason played that for a while. Then we went to wal*mart to get an ink cartridge so Jason could print things out. 

                        On a happy side note, Jason got a secondary for Med school from the University of Utah, on his birthday.

He printed out his things and we took them to the post office to be mailed out and then went to Tucanos for dinner. It was really good as usual. When we got home Jason decided we would return his football game and get a movie. We looked all around the store, and they didn't really have anything, so we ended up getting Race to Witch Mountain. It was alright. There were some pretty funny parts, and some cheesy parts. It was an alright movie, something kids would really enjoy. It wasn't like the original Escape to Witch Mountain. It was very different. I was kind of hoping they would have just done a remake of the original. 

It was a pretty fun day. I am so grateful for my wonderful husband, whom I love very much and I am so happy to celebrate his birthday with him. 

MOVIE REVIEW!

Technically it should be "movie reviews."

The other day I borrowed 17 again from my mom. The movie was very cute, very predictable, and very cheesy. I did enjoy it though. There were only small parts that I did not like, namely the parts with the principal. I thought those were overly cheesy and distracted from the film. 

Push was a really good movie. It has Dakota Fanning in it, and I really like her! It was a very interesting movie, with lots of plot twists and action to keep you going. It was fairly intense and very fun. I will see this one again. 

We also watched knowing, with Nicholas Cage. It was pretty good. A little jumpy, but nothing bad at all. The girl in the beginning of the movie was great! The rest were only alright after her. The movie was interesting. A little sci-fi, a little suspense. It was an interesting story.

Yesterday we rented a movie called The Brother's Grimm. It was fairly good. It has Health Ledger and Matt Damon as the brother's Grimm. They are called to a town to help them find their missing children. It was a clever movie that incorporated many of the Grimm's fairy tales. After seeing the cover I thought the movie would be a lot more trashy than it actually was, which was pleasing. It was an entertaining movie that I would possibly watch again. The acting was pretty good and the story was entrancing. 

When we were finished with The Brother's Grimm, we went back and rented The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button was pretty good. I thought the special effects and makeup were done very well! The story was interesting, and the acting was good as well. I did not like that it was based on a flashback through a journal. They cut into the story way too much to cut to a dying old woman with lung cancer and her daughter. That part could have been easily done without. Or at least cut A LOT of that garbage out. It was very predictable (at least with the mom and daughter) and I was just so sick of it. Anyways... Brad Pitt did an exceptional job and I truly loved his "mama" in the movie!

The Time Traveler's Wife...

On Sunday evening while Jason and I were at my parents house for dinner I noticed a book on the couch, "The Time Traveler's Wife." I immediately picked it up and started reading it. Janna came upstairs and told me it was her book, I just couldn't put it down. I kept reading through dinner and caught up to where Janna was in the book, and then passed her. Our laundry was finished and it was time to go, but I couldn't convince Janna to let me take it.

Monday morning I got up and watched tv wishing I could read the book instead. I went to school and in class I texted Janna and she said she didn't even have a chance to read the book while she was at, which is why she wouldn't let me borrow the book. 

Monday evening: We went to see Joseph at the Scera Shell with my family. Janna showed up with the infamous book in her purse. She went to get a chair, and I took the book. I read and read and eventually Janna realized her book was gone. She was engrossed in the play and let me read. I asked her when the play was over if I could just take it home and finish the book, she relented and I got to read the book, in exchange for editing out the bad parts.

This continued until this morning after class, so let me give you my review...

POSSIBLE SPOILERS:

The book was actually really good! I really enjoyed it. So much better than Twilight. However, there were some bad parts. The book has a LOT of F words. Seriously, there are a lot! There are also some very explicit sex talk/scenes. REALLY EXPLICIT! If you cut those parts out the book is good. It has a great story and plot. It is well written and very interesting. Even though you kind of know what is going to happen, the book is actually suspenseful. The characters were very interesting and developed. I loved the relationship between Henry and Clare, it was believable to me. I didn't like the morals the characters had, but I guess not everyone has high standards, and of course the situation Henry was in, I understand some of his actions. 

I would give the book 4 1/2 out of 5 stars, but I am warning you that this book is really graphic. There is a lot of trash and garbage in it. The f word is literally on almost every other page, and there are some very trashy scenes. I wish they could edit trash out of books like clearplay does with movies! I guess you could send me your book and for $5 I'll go through and cut out (black them out) the unnecessary f words and sex scenes, since I've already done it for Janna's book and can just copy my own work. ;) ;)

Anyways...

The movie comes out on August 14th. It looks great.

Oh and the actors who play the characters from the book seem to fit the images of what I had in my head, for the most part.

Pictures!

I love it when I am driving around and see odd/interesting things. I reach for my phone and pray it will go to the camera fast enough that I can snap a picture while stopped at the light.

I went from school to my moms house and I saw this on my antenna! He came with me all the way from my school to my moms house, what a brave grasshopper!

Jason and I were on our way home and we saw this (extremely slow car) with a gatorade bottle sitting on the rear bumper. Maybe it was glued there because it didn't fall off.

This is for my cousin Leisy. I was on my way to school and I saw this license plate in front of me and had to take a picture. 

Apartment

We signed up for a 2 bedroom apartment in North Wymount a couple of months ago about two weeks before we were to move back we got an email saying that the people who were supposed to move out of our future apartment decided they wanted to stay. We were given two options. One in south Wymount and the other in North. One was a two bedroom and the other was a bedroom with a study. We picked the bedroom with study.


To be honest it was an alright apartment. I only had a couple of issues with the apartment.
1. First and most importantly, our items were not going to fit inside the apartment.
2. The living room was almost as small as a hallway. It was long but narrow.
3. The kitchen was decent, but the stove was honestly from the 40's As you can see from the picture.
4. The kitchen was filthy when I went to look at it.
5. Someone was parked in my designated spot

Jason was still in Montana when I first saw the apartment. I knew there was no way our stuff was going to fit in that apartment. It did not reflect the pictures we had seen when we looked at pictures online. I went to the office and spoke with the woman I had been emailing and spoke to her about my problem. She gave me 4 keys so I could look at four apartments in North Wymount and see which one we wanted.

They were all very nice. Bigger than the apartment in south wymount. The main thing we wanted was a bottom level. Out of keys she gave me only one was the bottom level. Amazingly it had just gotten a brand new stove. There was tape still on it and the oven manual was on the counter.


We are still in the process of setting it up and maybe I will post more pictures.

HP:HBP Midnight

HP HBP

We went to the midnight showing for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

We waited for about 4 hours in line and then got to wait in the theatre for the next 2 hours until the movie started. We went to the new University mall theater and it was so delightful (minus the stupid arm rest. When you lean your chair back and have the arm rest up it doesn't recline with the chair so it gets really uncomfortable).

The movie was pretty good. They left out a TON of stuff, but with only 2 hours and 35 minutes what did you expect? They changed a couple of things, some vital to the books story-line. 

All in all the movie was pretty darn good. It had fantastic acting, wonderful special effects, and beautiful cinematography. 

You know when you are watching a movie and one of the actors has to cry? These parts usually bug me so much because it looks like the actor is totally faking it, which they are, but I don't want to think they are pretending- that's the whole point of ACTING! Anyways... No such instances in the movie.

Anyways... I am a little tired, and need to get ready for school.  

quick catch up

Jason and I are back in Utah and settling in. I now have internet and figured I should do a quick catch up. 

The first and most important thing is that Jason and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary on the 26th of June! 

The 4th of July was really fun this year. We went to dinner at the Brick Oven and then went to watch the fireworks by the bell tower. 

We have moved into our new apartment in Provo. We are VERY pleased with it so far. We have upgraded to a 2 bedroom apartment and it is treating us very well. The living room is ginourmous! The apartment doesn't have wireless internet so we went and got a wireless router today so we could use the internet throughout the apartment. We went to Ikea for the first time ever! I had a gift card that I got from Caidy for Christmas of 2007 (oops, it only took me forever)! We walked around, and I got a little lost. We ended up getting a pack of beautiful glasses and a fairly large rug! That store is seriously awesome. It has such great deals that it's worth the drive up to Draper. 

Trip blog

I don't want to get too far behind, so let me do a little intro and then I will tell of my weekend.

A couple of weeks ago my mom decided she would fly up to Montana so I wouldn't have to drive down to Utah alone. Jason has to work until Friday and then he will be coming down with the rest of our stuff. Jason has been shadowing doctors at the indian hospital in Crow for the past few months so he could have enough shadowing hours to be competitive for med school. Anyways... 

Rita and I decided to make the weekend extra special. The boys had gone golfing at least a handful of times while I was up there and we needed a pampering day.

Day 1: Thursday: My mom got there in the afternoon on Thursday. Rita was still at work and Denny had to go help someone with family history. My mom and I spent some quality time going pawn shopping! She had never been and it has become a big part of my life ;) When we walked into the first pawn shop my mom looks at me and says, "this place smells bad!" Yes, it did. We went to three pawn shops that day and found 4 bluray dvd's for her, and then went to Costco for lunch.

Day 2: Friday: The next day (our anniversary) the girls woke up fairly early and drove about an hour to Crow for the parade. We got there just in time. Even though it was a small parade, the Provo Freedomfest parade needs to take some pointers! At the crow parade they threw TONS of candy! I could have gone home with my purse stuffed with candy. Instead, I gave it to the little kids sitting behind me. The people in the parade also threw t-shirts. I got three from the same float thrown at me! One almost hit me and the other two landed at my feet, one for each of us! 

After the parade we went to the hospital and met up with Jason and Quita. Quita had to run back to the pharmacy to work, and Jason gave us a tour of the hospital. It was almost lunch time so we left Jason to finish work, while we went and got a table at the local cafe. We were planning on going to the reenactment of Custer's last stand, but it had started to rain, and I didn't want to sit in the rain for who knows how long. We watched a little tv and went garage sale-ing until Jason got back from work. Unfortunately we didn't find much on that trip. When Jason got home we went to the Temple and did sealings, then we went out to eat. Dinner was delicious! 

Day 3: Saturday: The next day we woke up at around seven got dressed and were out the door by 8am. The time had finally come for the pampering!

We, the girls, went and got pedicures! It was the first time for all of us. They were so nice! We all enjoyed them a lot. After pedicures we stopped at a garage sale and I picked up a different brand of ihome for 2 dollars-yes it did work! 

We went to Wal*mart and then to lunch and a couple more pawn shops. Saturday night we watched Alfred Hitchcock movies on tv. I packed and put things in the SUV and then went to bed. 

Day 4: Sunday: Sunday morning I woke up at seven and finished loading. We had breakfast and said goodbye at around 9 and took the 10 hour drive home. The drive was long, but bearable. About halfway through the SUV started making weird noises. I really don't like it when vehicles I am driving start to make freaky sounds, so we pulled into the nearest gas station and I checked the oil, thinking there must be something wrong with the oil. To me, it looked fine. Unfortunately, it had been a while since I took auto and I didn't know what I was doing. We went on our merry way and drove a while longer, but the car kept making noises, we pulled into another gas station and I called my dad. He reminded me how I need to check oil (flat) and since the oil hadn't been changed in a while, we decided it best to put in a quart of oil. You have no idea how annoying it was trying to get the stupid oil into the oil thing. It was tilted so I had to buy a funnel in order for the oil to make it INto the oil thing instead of ON the engine block. We did that and filled up the coolant a little bit and were finally on our way, now an hour later. The car stopped making the noise, thank heavens, and we arrived home at exactly 7:15. An hour later than planned and we didn't even stop for food.

Two years!!!

Yesterday was our two year anniversary. I really can't believe it has been two years already. They have gone by so quickly, I still feel like we just got married. I am so grateful for Jason and for what he does for me. Our two years being married have been wonderful. I have learned so many things, and grown so much. He really is the perfect husband for me, and I love him so much. I think we compliment each other quite well. Of course there are times when we disagree, but we learn and grow from those experiences. 

In celebration of our two years together, we were able to go to lunch during Jason's lunch break. When Jason got done with work his parents, my mom, he, and I went to the temple and did sealings. It was such a wonderful way to celebrate our two years of being married. After the temple we went to the temple we all went out to dinner. It was so much fun and the dinner was wonderful. I am so happy to be married to my best friend and I am so happy it is for eternity. 

Where have I been?!

Last weekend Jason's parents took us up to Wolf Point. It's about a four hour drive from Billings, and there isn't a whole lot going on up there. It was neat to go up and see where Jason's parents grew up, and where Jason was born. It's a little bigger than Manti, Utah. 

We got to visit Great Aunt Lou. She is 94 years old and still lives by herself. She was so entertaining and I really enjoyed getting to know her. 

We went to an indian museum, which was really small. It actually used to be a jail. Here are a couple of pictures. 

This was a doctor's uniform. You can tell by the necklace he is wearing.

I thought it was really funny that they had mannequins in the cells dressed up.

Jason's grandma's significant other used to drive this actual ferry down the Missouri river when he was 14 years old. He is 82 years old.

This is the weirdest thing I saw up in the middle of nowhere! It is a laundromat, video rental, semi casino (with slot machines), and a little restaurant. I was amazed. 

This is Jason's cousin's three legged dog. Poor thing. 

Ouch.

I wish I could have taken a picture, but I wasn't in a position where I could. 

While I was exercising last week I put on my retainer and left it on my teeth for about an hour. I took it out and went to sleep and was awakened by excruciating pain in the middle of the night. 

Ever since I got my braces off my back tooth has hurt. Food would get stuck up in there so I would have to carry around floss in my purse wherever I went. 

This was different. It was a throbbing pain that wouldn't go away when I brushed and flossed. I knew I had to go to the dentist... 

Let me tell you a little secret... Dentists are freaking expensive especially when you don't have dental insurance... So get the darn dental insurance! 

I went to the dentist's office hoping and praying they could fix whatever was wrong. I went in and the dental hygienist tapped on my teeth and put a cold qtip on them. She finally took an xray of my trouble tooth. She left the room and when she came back she told me that the xray didn't save, so we had to do it again. I told her my bottom teeth were a little painful and I wanted to get everything checked so she tapped on those teeth too and then took xrays of the upper left and bottom left. The doctor came in and explained to me the reason the top tooth was hurting was because it was broken and it was being eaten away on the inside. He said it looked like I might need a root canal... 

I have never had a root canal, but I did know they were EXPENSIVE.

The dentist said that he didn't have time right then to go into the tooth to either fill it, or to see if I needed a root canal. He asked if I could go back at four, and of course I said yes. The receptionist printed out a bill of what I might have to pay. If I just needed a filling it would cost $200 (OUCH) and if I needed a root canal... it would cost me (brace yourselves) $2000. BIG TIME OUCH!!!

Three-thirty rolled around and Denny drove me to the dentist's for the second time that day. The entire time I was praying and crossing my fingers that I wouldn't have to have a root canal. What a horrible way to spend $2000. 

I went in and the dental hygienist put numbing stuff in between my lip and gum and let it sit for a while. The dentist then came in and numbed up my mouth with shots. The only one I could feel was the one he did on the roof of my mouth, and it only pinched. The hygienist had this pink sheet of rubber or something, she punched 5 holes in it really close to each other to put on my teeth to prevent the stuff from getting down my throat (I'm sure it had other purposes like keeping my tongue away from everything else going on in my mouth). 

Then they went to work. I sat there and listened and tried to determine where the drill was and what they were doing. When they were finished the dentist said it looked good. Only time will tell if I need to have a root canal. I need to wait for 2 weeks. If it still hurts, I will need a root canal. 

I am seriously hoping and praying that it doesn't hurt in two weeks!!!

Typical day...

This past week has been quite busy, and not in the way I am used to being busy. Here is a sample of what a normal day has been like while I have been in Montana.

6:30-wake up and make Jason a quick breakfast.

7:00 make myself breakfast and watch random tv until 

9:00 turn the channel to The Price is Right

10:00 I will usually do my homework

12:00 (ish) Denny (my fil) and I will sometimes go to lunch or I will make myself some sort of deliciousness

1:00 do the dishes and clean the house

3:00 watch GSN and check blogs ;)

4:00 work on mini projects 

6:00 eat dinner

7:00 watch some sort of tv show

9:00 exercise

9:45 shower

10:00 watch some of Conan 

10:30 go to sleep

Sounds like a pretty busy day right?! Right, well, not really. The schedule does change and sometimes it is more packed (with more important things, like write a paper, but most of the time it is like this schedule).

This week it has been much much different! Here is my schedule for this week:

6:00 wake up (usually doesn't happen until  6:15)

6:30 try to heat up a breakfast sandwich for Jason (I forgot this morning)

6:45 get dressed and put the things I will need in my bag. Grab my case with all of my tv series (oops, forgot that today too)

6:50 get in the car and drive to Jason's sister's house. When we get there Jason and his sister Quita head off to work.

7:00 put in arrested development and watch for a while until I fall asleep on the couch. 

9:00 I wake up hungry so I have breakfast

10:00 Zynan wakes up. If he has drawn on himself or wet the bed it is time for a bath. 

10:15 it's time to get dressed. Zynan will only wear batman or spiderman clothes. If the one he wants to wear is dirty he cries for a couple of minutes and eventually picks a different shirt.

10:30 I get him breakfast. While he eats I clean whatever I have made messy in the kitchen (or attempt to clean)

11:00 we run around playing batman (one day we went to the park until lunch, it was way fun)

11:30 he wants to go outside so we play outside for a while

12:00 time for lunch

12:30 more batman playing

1:00 time to pull out that magical case of tv series and put in either batman or spiderman

1:15 I fall asleep on the floor watching batman/spiderman

1:40 Zynan wakes me up from my nap and either go outside to play or go to the park

3:00 He wants a snack so we go inside and eat something

3:30 he says a bad word or hits/kicks and goes into time out. I let him have his blankie and he falls asleep (only worked the last 3 days)

3:30 (if he doesn't fall asleep) it's time to put on the batman mask and run around pretending to be batman. 

4:00 time to watch more batman/spiderman

5:00 have a small snack 

5:30 Jason and Quita are back and we talk for a while

6:00 (ish) Jason and I go home. 

6:30 we eat dinner 

7:00 watch tv

8:00 watch more tv

9:00 exercise

9:30 shower

10:00 watch Conan

10:30 sleep

(I did not include time outs, which happen occasionally for hitting, kicking, and saying bad words like "shut-up")

Zynan usually stays home with his dad but his dad is out of town (something to do with firefighting) and his mom is a pharmacist and is at work all day. 

I have learned so much while watching Zynan this week. We have had a lot of fun playing and watching batman/spiderman. Zynan's brother Navarro was home for the first part of the week and he was such a great help! He is 12 and is probably the nicest big brother I have ever seen. 

Anyways... I have had so much fun and even though this kid is a handful he is so cute and fun to be with. 

Here he is at the park pretending to be spiderman 

He had so much fun in the swing and made a friend. Not the boy next to him, the boy's father. Zynan kept saying, "look at me" and then the boy next to him would say, "look at me too."

After a long day he hit or kicked or said a bad word and I would send him to timeout, give him his blankie, and he would fall asleep.

One day we made smoothies. He would put his glass up to mine and say, "cheers." This is a picture of his smoothie mustache/smile. I told him he looked like the joker. 

McDonalds... Need I say more? Oh, I do? He was really polite to the other kids and went about his own business playing in the playplace.

Batman mask! Probably the coolest mask ever. It's not made out of cheap plastic either!