What Happens in Vegas...

...gets posted on our blog, of course! ;)

SATURDAY: Jed and I got kind of a later start than we hoped, but we made it to Vegas by evening. After we checked in to the hotel, I called my friend, Becky Webb, to see if she wanted to go out to dinner. We went to Buca di Beppo. Yum! I even made a conscious effort to bring my camera to dinner, and then I forgot to take a picture! I was so mad when we pulled out of the parking lot to leave and I realized that.

SUNDAY: This was our "tourist" day. We stayed at the Riviera Hotel, which is on the North end of the strip, and we spent most of the day just walking from our hotel to the other end of the strip and back. We stopped at almost every major hotel on the way down, finding neat things at each one. By the time we got back to our hotel (18 miles, and almost 6 hours later), I had blisters on (the bottom of) my feet because I chose to wear my warm, fluffy boots and apparently they weren't made for day-long excursions... Anyways, here are some highlights from our walk:

Ever seen the movie Big? I wished that I could go to Italy.

Next thing I knew, I was in Italy, watching the gondolas drift by. It was either Italy, or The Venetian Hotel. They're very similar.

This is my better half, Jed. He loves me. And he was so impressed with all the planning I did for our trip. He's easily amused. Probably why he married me.

This was Jed's favorite part, a huge aquarium in the Mirage. They had tons of fish (including some Doris and a whole bunch of Nemos)!

We found some Roman artwork at Caesar's Palace. Maybe I'll get one for the living room. We could put it right next to our Indian-print rental couch.

We couldn't find any sirens at Treasure Island, so we got a picture with the rocks. A close second.

Paris was next on the tour. Someone threw a penny off the top and it sliced this guy in half. Well, maybe not, but it would have been a good story. Je me souviens de Paris.

This is the entrance to the Bellagio Garden. You can kind of see the streams of water that spray overhead as you walk under them.

These snowmen were the best part of the elaborate Bellagio Garden. They are made entirely of flowers. The white on them is white carnations. (I love snowmen)

This picture is for my mom. It's a ginormous slot machine. She loves eBay.

Back to America with Lady Liberty.

I love castles. This is Excalibur. They have jousting shows, like in the medieval period, that you can watch while you eat dinner. We didn't get to do this this time, but I'd like to eventually.

The New York skyline at the New York New York Hotel. Do you think they changed the building after 9/11? I never saw it before. Jed and I didn't ride the roller coaster this time because we rode it last time we were in Vegas, and we've got a wicked picture to prove it.

Man, pictures look way darker on here... The boat says "New York, New York, FDNY". God bless those men and women. Fire fighters are awesome.

I thought this was a cool old Pepsi wall, so I took a picture. And I knew you'd like it too, so I'm sharing with ya. "Be Young, Have Fun, Drink Pepsi"

The M&M World store on the strip. For some reason this store makes me think of New York. And now I want to go to New York. I love that city!

Once we were rested up from our excursion and I had put on three pairs of socks to cushion my poor feet, Jed and I went to the buffet at the Circus Circus Hotel (right across the street from the Riviera). Not worth $13.50 - the food was just a tad bit better than high school cafeteria food. The good news is that after dinner, we were walking around Circus Circus, letting our food digest when we came across a circus act that was about to begin. It was a unicycle rider, and he was incredible. I didn't have my camera with me, so no picture.
When we crossed the street to go back to our hotel, I ran to beat the light and popped one of my blisters (on the bottom of my foot). It hurt so bad! Jed went off to find band-aids while I hobbled up to our room. That was the worst part of the trip, hands down.

MONDAY: Before we left, we wanted to go to the Ethel M. Chocolate Factory and Botanical Cactus Garden. So we did. :) The "botanical" cactus garden was decorated pretty cute for Christmas. It's too bad we weren't there at night to see the cacti all lit up.

We ended up at the North Pole. Lots of cacti there...

Tasty.

Cute little snowmen among the cacti. :) I love snowmen, in the desert or not.

We went on the self-guided tour of the factory and saw lots and lots of chocolate and cream and butter and cellulite... Of course we got samples, too! :D
These sculptures were made entirely out of chocolate. We thought that was pretty cool.

On the way out of town, we stopped by the Las Vegas LDS Temple. It's a beautiful building.

After a stop at In-N-Out for lunch (we couldn't leave without that fix), we were on the road home!
Jed had to take a picture when his car hit 200,000 miles on the trip. Silly boy. :)

We stopped in St. George on the way home to see the St. George Tabernacle. It's a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints building that was built as sort of a community center when the Mormons settled in St. George. Neither of us had ever been (I don't think I'd even heard of it until about a month ago...) but it was a really neat experience.

This original, free-standing, two-story circular staircase was built by Miles Romney, my great-great grandfather. He was the building superintendent and played a large role in the construction of this great building.

The inside of this building is so beautifully constructed. And sturdy. All of the architecture is original. It's just amazing to me.

This is the view from the pulpit. Our tour guide let us sit there, and then told us that every single prophet, except Joseph Smith, had sat in that exact spot. It was so neat. We could really feel the Spirit there.
When I told our guide that I was a descendant of Miles Romney, he teared up and we had a great, spiritual moment with him. I was thankful that Jed humored me by stopping there.

Brigham Young's house was closed by the time we got there, but it looks cute from the outside. :)

We made it home late because we had to drive like 40mph on the highway because the conditions were bad. It is good to be home, even though that hotel bed was so BIG and comfy compared to ours.

Tomorrow we get on a plane headed for TEXAS!!!
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Thankful Thursday

Here's my train of thought:
-I'm thankful that I'm not out in the snow storm we have going on here in Happy Valley.
-I'm thankful that I have a job that is indoors and I don't have to do any manual labor.
-I'm thankful that even though I don't have a degree, I have a stable, full-time job that pays well.
-I'm thankful that my job is easy. And I can do homework and other personal things while I work.
-I'm thankful that Jed has a good job that he likes and he is able to work while he's in school.
-I'm thankful that both Jed and I have working cars (knock on wood) that don't have any major problems.
-I'm thankful that we have a warm house to come home to.
-I'm thankful that we have a washer and dryer in our house.
-I'm thankful that we have a dishwasher.
-I'm thankful that Jed does all the dishes (one chore I hate doing).
-I'm thankful that we have enough food to eat, and we never have to go hungry.
-I'm thankful for our families.
-I'm thankful for our friends.
-I'm thankful that we have such a strong support system.
-I'm thankful for my warm fuzzy boots.
-I'm thankful that I have an ample amount of clothes.
-I'm thankful that I have generally good health (losing a few pounds wouldn't hurt either...).
-I'm thankful that my husband loves me no matter what the circumstances.
-I'm thankful that we have the opportunity to go to Vegas this weekend.
-I'm thankful that we have the time to go to Vegas this weekend.
-I'm thankful that we get to go to Dallas for Christmas.
-I'm thankful that I have the vacation time to get paid while we're in Dallas for Christmas.
-I'm thankful that my parents will be in Dallas with us.
-I'm thankful that we get to go to San Antonio after Christmas.
-I'm thankful for the freedom that I experience every day and for the men and women who have helped to preserve that for me.
-I'm thankful to live in this great country.
-I'm thankful for my religion and the enormous role it plays in my life.

-I'm thankful for my Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.I hope that everyone has an amazing holiday, filled with safety and good health.
Merry Christmas!

Where In The World Is...?

Track Santa with your kids, your spouse, or your cat. :)

Monday Memoirs

We went to a white elephant party on Saturday at Seth & Megan's house. Jed ended up with the present he wanted (an electronic key chain that has a bunch of different games on it like Sudoku and others) and I got a book called It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy by Michael Abrashoff. It's a best-seller and it looked like a good read from what I saw when I flipped through it. If it doesn't turn out so great, I can always try to sell it on craigslist. :) Oh! And we got rid of the shower head! Woo!
After the white elephant game, we played a bunch of games that I had never played before, most of them revolving around names. They were super fun for a while. And then my head started hurting because the games were mentally straining. We played pictionary and my team rocked! We won two out of three rounds!

Yesterday was full of baking! I made rolls from scratch...I had to use the recipe from the cookbook we use for my cooking class, so they were nowhere near as good as my mom's, but they still turned out well. I had never made bread/rolls, by myself, from scratch before. It's really time-consuming! I also made cocoa crispy treats, banana bread, and my (dad's) famous oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. No, I was not baking for us (even though we are eating the leftovers). We are still trying to be good and lose weight. Jed and I took the goodies around to some of our friends, and I caroled. It was fun to see everyone and catch up with them for a few minutes.

Newsflash!

This is very important for those of you who are flying this holiday season. You may already be aware of this, but I wasn't, so I thought I'd give you a heads-up. If you are flying to your Christmas destination, and you have already wrapped the presents you're taking with you, unwrap them. Airlines will not let you take wrapped presents on the plane, or in your checked baggage. They will unwrap your presents. Ship them or wrap them when you get there.I don't understand how their technology is unable to see through paper-thin paper, but nonetheless your presents will be unwrapped when you pick up your luggage.

From the TSA website:
"Remember! – do not wrap gifts you're taking on the plane. Security officers may have to unwrap gifts if they need to take a closer look. Either ship wrapped gifts ahead of time or wait until your destination to wrap them."

Stuffed Lamb

Want a free stuffed animal? Buy the cheapest thing you would use at Bath & Body Works, and then use this coupon:
http://f.chtah.com/i/34/528207786/20081216_8605coup.html

The Good and The BAD

We at "The Lord's University" have this running joke. It's called the BYU Police Beat. It's basically a list of all of the police reports for the week, and it's just embarrassing. The GOOD NEWS is that I will definitely be a highlight in the BYU police beat this week. Here's the kind of report I'm up against:
-A female resident of Wymount Terrace called in a suspicious phone call in which a man made statements with the intent of hypnotizing the student. The student said she does not remember most of the conversation, but remembers she called him her master. Police say it is virtually impossible to hypnotize someone over the phone.
-The father of a student called BYU police when he had not heard from his daughter for four days. BYU police called the student and told her to call her father.
-A blind deer was found by a resident at the Wymount Terrace. Provo Animal Control was called and they came and took care of the animal. They knew it was blind because it was running into things.
-Police responded to a call about three males with nets and a broom at the pond south of campus. The men were apparently trying to capture a duck. The officer told the men to leave and leave the ducks alone.
-An individual held a sign offering free hugs in the Harold B. Lee Library. When asked by an officer to leave, he declined to leave the area and continued offering free hugs.
-Police found a parked car with two individuals in it in the southeast corner parking lot of 2230 North and University Parkway. Police said the couple was there for “romantic purposes”.
-Road rage overtook two individuals as a female driver was driving behind a male driver and got upset. She said he was driving too slowly, and he said he was driving the speed limit. They discovered they both lived at Wymount, and after parking their cars they yelled at each other. The man later apologized for yelling at the woman.
-A student reported a suspicious individual with long gray hair and a beard inside a restricted lab in the Clyde building. Upon arrival, the officer found a mannequin in the reported location.
-A deer was hit by a vehicle on Ninth East on the south end of Kimball Hall. Police responded and reported that the deer passed away.
-An assault was reported in R Hall of Deseret Towers. One male student threw a bug on another male student who retaliated by spraying shaving cream on the male that threw the bug. Shaving cream got in the eyes of the first student and the argument quickly escalated and became a physical confrontation.
-A report was called in of an older man mumbling to himself on the intramural fields on Canyon Road. The man was gone when police arrived.
-An individual in Deseret Towers reported five suspicious men playing pool in the lobby of one of the halls. Upon investigation it was found the men were simply students playing pool with their girlfriends.
-Female students in Helaman Halls complained about a man in a gorilla suit attempting to scare students near the Cannon Center. When police arrived, there was no sign of either the complainant or the gorilla. Students complained again early Oct. 3 about a man in a gorilla mask. The gorilla has not yet been identified.
-A concerned observer reported a suspicious male in the HBLL quad at 5:45 p.m. When police questioned him, he said he was Free Running, a game where people run fast toward the corners
of buildings or other structures and attempt to climb them without assistance and flip or jump. The suspect was a 26-year old male visitor who said he’d learned of the game through You- Tube. Police directed him to go Free Run somewhere else.
-A student and her roommate were walking by Miller Field when they noticed a possibly unclothed man in the shadows. They reported that he was an estimated 300 pounds but were unable to estimate his age. He told them “hello.”
-Police responded to a call reporting suspicious individuals with red paint. It was subsequently determined that these individuals were paint contractors who were painting a fence on campus.
-A student reported a theft that had happened three weeks earlier. The student said he went into the bathroom, and when he came out his backpack was gone. The backpack contained a packed lunchbox, a fork and a bus pass.
-A student employee’s mother called BYU police after her son had not returned home from work when she expected. Police checked on the student’s workplace where they found the student was still working.
-Police received a call from the assistant principal at a private school in Salt Lake County. A fourth-grade student had told the assistant principal his dad was making a bomb in the garage to blow up the BYU football stadium. Following immediate investigation, police discovered the child wasn’t telling the truth.
-Police received a complaint about a man with a rope on the east side of the library attempting to lasso people as they walked by. The man was gone when police arrived.
-A student reported talking to a man with a chainsaw on the north side of the Wilkinson Center. The man said he was going to “cut him a Christmas tree.” Officers never found the suspect.

Now for the BAD NEWS: I will definitely be a highlight in the BYU police beat this week. Last night, I came out of my last class of the semester (Hallelujah!) and found my front driver-side light in pieces all over the ground. No note. Nothing but a bunch of my car laying on the ground. Hit and run. I called Jed and he came over, and then we called the BYU police to report it and it took the cop 30 minutes to get there. Campus is not that big... So we filed a report and now it's just a waiting game. At least I'm not up for inspection any time soon. I'm just so mad. I hope they catch the jerk/coward who did this. If you see any white sedans around Provo with light blue paint chips and maybe some scratches on the corner of the car, get the plates and let me know. Of course there are no cameras. There are just "policemen", who do nothing and are slow to respond to things. Go Cougars...

My frame isn't quite as damaged as this one, but close. And the casing around my light is completely shot.

Wednesday Weigh-In

243.4
Some is better than none.

Monday Memoirs

On Friday night, we went to my friend Cornnut's* Christmas party and had so much fun! It was a white elephant party, with fun games and good food. Jed brought a huge candy cane and I brought a foam puzzle that you put together to make a 3-foot T-Rex (it was sweet!). We ended up with a shower head that will get rid of the hard water that we don't have and a chocolate raspberry (like a chocolate orange, but raspberry-flavored). We did have some other cool stuff at one point or another... Maybe we can sell the shower head on ebay? [*Names changed to protect their identity.]

Jed and I went to the BYU Freeze Fest at Seven Peaks on Saturday night. I made a sugar cookie snowman, decorated a family stocking, drank some hot chocolate, and watched Jed play broomball on the ice. He and his team did really well and he had a great time. We left the Freeze Fest and went to the dollar theater with Amanda and Adam to see Dark Knight! So good, even the second time.

Since I've Been Slacking

I thought I'd give you some tips on cool/free stuff!

Free Christmas music downloads, one every day until Christmas: HERE.

Free $10 Restaurant.com gift certificates for you to give to others; you can give up to 3 each day: HERE.

Elf Yourself, a classic Christmas tradition: HERE.

An article with links to coupon sites online: HERE.

Also, here are a few redbox free movie night codes:
BREAKROOM
SNSDVD6
MCDMEDVD (Only good at a McDonalds redbox)

11MOMS4US (Expired)
11MOMS4UA (Good only Sunday, Dec. 14)
11MOMS4UN (Good only Sunday, Dec. 21)
11MOMSFUT (Good only Sunday, Dec. 28)
11MOMS4UA (Good only Sunday, Jan. 4)

Happy Birthday Amanda!!

My good friend, Amanda Nielsen, turns 23 today!! Amanda is my oldest friend (we've been friends since we were in kindergarten) and I have so many good memories with her. I hope you have a great birthday, Amanda!!

Wednesday Weigh-In

Back on track!!

243.8!!!

The Road To Hell

...is paved with good intentions. Jed and I really did have good intentions to go to the Provo Temple last night, but it didn't happen.

After my appointment with the Honor Code office... (Remember this post? And this one? - Yeah, both Jed and I were turned in for "lying". Jed had already done his time and it was my turn. The counselor said it would more than likely just be a "warning". Phew!) Jed and I went to Jiffy Lube to get a crack in my windshield fixed and to get his safety/emissions done.

My car was done fast, so while we waited for Jed's car, we went to DI because Jed needed to buy a computer hard drive for a school project. Luckily we found one (they are really rare at places like DI), but not before a lady came and sat in the rocking chair next to me, looked around really awkwardly, and then proceeded to nurse her baby under a nylon jacket that kept falling down. Any time someone would look at her, she'd stare them down, like they were in the wrong for wondering what the heck she was doing. I really hope she didn't get that jacket off the rack...but then again she is nursing her baby in a public store, on a hand-me-down rocking chair. Anything is possible with this woman.
Oh! Not only did we get the pleasure of witnessing nasty baby lady, but we also got to be serenaded by this family of Mexican children playing a video game the entire time we were there. I'm pretty sure the volume was up full-blast. When a lady asked one of the employees a question about the gaming console, the father of the children pipes up "Oh, no, it's not for sale. We brought that from home." What?!? 1. Why would you buy a gaming console without owning a TV? 2. Why would you make it a family night at DI? 3. Why does DI allow people to just hang out all night, playing on their stuff? What's next? A concession stand?

We went back and paid for Jed's car, but left it there while we went to Sam's Club (Yes, I know. Costco is much better, but Jed already had the membership before I met him.) to get some things. By the time we left Sams, we were in starvation mode, so we bypassed getting Jed's car and made a beeline for the house. Jed made spaghetti while I whipped up some cheesy biscuits. (I had to make them for my cooking class anyways, and they were delish!) By the time we ate, it was already 8:15 and we still had to eventually pick up Jed's car and go up to campus for some homework before the building closed at 10.

So now I am making a public goal: Jed and I will go to the temple on Thursday.

Catch-Up

I felt like yesterday's post needed a day of its own, so I didn't post this yesterday.
This is what we did with our Thanksgiving break:

On Thursday, we woke up and went shopping. We weren't eating until later, and we didn't have anything else to do. Plus, there was something on sale that day that I had been meaning to get for Jed anyways. And we didn't get up early or anything (surprisingly they still had it and I was able to get it!). Don't hate. Thanksgiving dinner was already explained - look at the post below this one. It was incredible.

Jed went in to work on Friday morning and I went over to the Keays' to let their dog, Rusty out. While I was there, surfing all of their glorious TV stations (we only have basic cable), Anne of Green Gables came on! Talk about memory lane. I only got to watch the first two 'episodes' before Jed got there, but it was good! We went and got Jed's car looked at. His brakes haven't been doing too well and we're trying to eventually sell the thing. Justin, Amanda, and Tommy came over to the Keays' and we played the Wii for a while. We were in the middle of Wii bowling and I realized that Jed and I hadn't been bowling since our first date. So we all picked up and went to the bowling alley. Super spontaneous. Super fun. We went for shakes at Sconecutters afterward. Good times.

On Saturday, I woke up to Mario theme music. Jed was playing MarioKart on the Wii. We bummed around all day, until Jacob Garrison's wedding reception. I was so glad we got to go because my friend Summer was there. I got to talk to her for a while and catch up. It was so good to see her. We had to leave the reception a little bit earlier than I would have liked because I had a surprise date planned for Jed and me. Something neither of us had ever done before. A Murder Mystery! It was...interesting. I kept getting discouraged because I was running in to roadblocks and couldn't think of who to ask and what to ask them. But after Jed and I joined forces, we figured it out and won gift cards!!

Jed rediscovered cinnamon-sugar toast on Sunday. I made my yummy crock pot stroganoff recipe and we salivated over the smell all day. We watched D2 after dinner, and went to bed.

Yesterday we did a temple walk (up and around the big hill) and went grocery shopping. Nothing too exciting to report about. :)

Thanksgiving

I wish I had taken the time to write about this earlier, but this Thanksgiving was by far the most humbling Thanksgiving I have ever had.

Jed and I went up to SLC to have Thanksgiving dinner with my mom's side of the family. My grandpa has apartments on his property that he rents out and he brought one of his tenants with him to dinner. Her name is Mariama Kallon and she's from Sierra Leone, West Africa. I didn't get to talk to her much at the dinner table because she was at the other end, but after dinner, we all gathered in the living room and she told us her story. It was inspiring. It was unreal. It was miraculous.

Sierra Leone was in the midst of war for a long time. In the seventh year of war, the rebels attacked Mariama's village. The rebels approached her house from the back and her family (mother, father, brother, sister, and her) ran towards the front door. Her parents never made it out of the house. Mariama and her siblings heard their parents being shot to death behind them, but they had to continue running. Eventually the rebels caught up to them and captured her brother to enlist him in their forces. (She later found out that they had chopped off his arms because he refused to join them, and he died as a result of the blood loss he incurred.)

Not too long after her brother was taken, she and her sister were captured, along with several other women. After they were raped, the women were lined up to have their legs cut off, five at a time. Mariama's sister was one of the first ones to lose her legs, as Mariama helplessly watched. She prayed to God that something would happen to stop the rebels. There were only two women in front of her when the rebels got word that the UN was coming. They gathered up their weapons and ran away, leaving Mariama with one of her legs (she didn't tell us about losing her leg, but I read it in an article I found online). She had been saved by the grace of God, and the power of prayer. Mariama's sister died from blood loss, just as their brother had.

Mariama found refuge with some friends and they invited her to church with them. There were no missionaries in Sierra Leone at the time (if I remember right, it was because they were taken out because of the war), so she learned of the Gospel from her branch president. She walked three miles each way to his house, barefooted, three times a week and was soon baptized. She received a hygiene kit from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and when her house was burned down by the rebels, she used the kit to keep herself and others clean while in hiding.

Eventually she went back to her village and decided that she wanted to serve a mission for the Church. Most Africans do not leave their country, let alone their continent. She got called to the Utah Salt Lake City Temple Square Mission. She was the first African to serve on Temple Square. Mariama now resides in Salt Lake and speaks all over the country, telling her story and spreading joy to everyone she meets. She is such a sweet woman and definitely an inspiration.

We took pictures with her, but not with my camera, so I'll have to see if I can get a copy. I am so glad that I was able to share Thanksgiving with this wonderful woman. It was an amazing day and one that I will not ever forget.

Wednesday Weigh-In

I lost TWO pounds this week! Woo!!

Clarification

I need you all to know that just because I have snowflakes hanging in my house, that in NO WAY means that I want real snowflakes outside. Never, ever would I wish that upon myself, with only one exception. Christmas morning. And then it's gone by December 26th. But that doesn't matter this year anyways, because we'll be in TEXAS!

For those of you in Utah: Can you believe that it's THANKSGIVING tomorrow and we haven't had winter yet? I'm LOVING it! That, in and of itself, is something to be thankful for.

Last night we finished Wall-E. I love that movie. If you haven't seen it, buy for Christmas. If you have seen it, you already know you're going to buy it for Christmas.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving!

Oh So Exciting!

We were so productive last night! Not only did we work out, we returned a bunch of stuff and got some much-needed money!! As we were walking out of Wal-Mart (just one of our many stops), two cop cars sped into the parking lot and drove up on the sidewalk at the front of the store. Drug bust? Theft recovery? Of course we drove by on our way out of the parking lot to check it out. As we rolled by with our window down (you gotta see and hear it, right?), we realized that both cops were sitting on this man and forcing handcuffs on him. BUSTED! I wonder what he did. Especially since he had Down Syndrome! Yeah, they swarmed in, roughed around a man with Down Syndrome and then cuffed him. Seems a bit extreme to me. But who knows? Maybe he is a mass murderer.

We got home and kicked our own butts. With a little help from Jillian Michaels.
Then we started watching the first half of Wall-E. Neither of us have seen it, and so far it is so cute!


Jed and I have been looking at possibly going to Vegas sometime soon, so I was looking online for prices for The Riviera (it's the hotel we really wanted to stay at, if we went). They were having a sale at Travelocity and I got 2 nights for $60, including tax. Holy Cow! I jumped on that and we're going to VEGAS the weekend before Christmas. I'm SO excited!! I spent all day at work looking up attractions and shows that we might want to experience. I found coupons, looked up reviews, and tomorrow I plan to map out our whole trip. Jed knows that we're going down there and where we're staying, but he doesn't know what we'll be doing - I love surprises!!

Monday Memoirs

This weekend went by way too fast! We got up on Saturday and cleaned out my car - dejunked it, vacuumed it, and even power-washed the mats (talk about gross-they were filthy). It feels SO nice to drive a clean car!
I heard about this free kidney screening that was going on in Orem, and I figured "what the heck?", so I went to that. Jed came with me, but he didn't get 'screened'. Apparently my blood pressure and cholesterol are great. Woo! I hadn't had very much to drink on Friday or Saturday, so I was kind of dehydrated and when the nurse went to draw blood, she couldn't get a good vein in my arm and ended up drawing it from my hand. That hurt so bad. (And I have a huge bruise from it.)
Our friends, Justin and Amanda, asked us to go out to dinner and a movie with them. Red Robin and James Bond. A winning combination. ;) We/Jed watched the last quarter of the Holy War while we ate. Sadly for Jed, the Utes smoked the Cougars. 48-24. Ouch. Home field advantage, right? ;) The movie was pretty good. $9 good? Maybe not. I could have waited for it to go to the dollar theater, and I'm sure Amanda is right there with me. :)

Yesterday, after church, I was feeling uber productive for some reason. While Jed was cleaning the fish tank, I assembled snowflakes-on-a-string and then we hung them. So it looks like snowflakes are falling from the sky. I did it freshman year in my dorm room and I loved it. It's fun for me. :)
Jed and I made pizza together (so yummy!) and I made artichokes for the first time. After dinner, I googled some artichoke dip recipes, got the general idea, and then improvised my own recipe to use up the stems and hearts. I even broiled the top, parmesan layer. It was so good!
We were going to go to choir practice, but then Jed remembered that 24 was on, so we "had to" stay home and watch that. (Sorry Megan. Next week, I promise!!) It was alright. Nothing too special, if you ask me. I probably should have gone to choir instead...


OH! OH!! OH!!!! I got my loan for this upcoming semester!! Well, it says I qualified for it... It's going to be double what it would have been (to compensate for the idiots in the financial office's mistakes) so I can pay off this past semester's tuition with it too. Phew! :D

Purple Blood

For those of you who don't know, I have purple blood. It's a genetic thing. Better than blue blood. (That would be a lack of oxygen and when you don't get oxygen to your brain, your brain cells die.) Both of my parents went to the University of Utah and then my dad got his masters degree at Brigham Young University. Currently I'm in school at BYU, but if all were equal (cost, same degrees offered, etc.), I'd for sure be at the U. I'm a fan of BYU sports, until they play the U. Then I pretty much just root for whoever is winning. Ha! Pathetically unloyal, huh? :)

Anyways, the HOLY WAR is this weekend. Honestly, I don't care who wins. Purple, remember?

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful that I'm done with that sickness thing that took over my body, whatever the doo it was. I'm feeling SO much better today than I have in the last week. I'm even thinking of going to the gym to watch The Office while I treadmill it up. Then again, maybe I'll go after I watch it. That way I can relax and enjoy the humor. (And laugh out loud without anybody looking at me, besides Jed, but he'll be laughing too.) PS~ have you seen the show that comes on right before it, Kath & Kim? It's stupid. And I think the daughter is probably the most obnoxious person alive. But I really really like to watch it for some reason. Maybe because I didn't know what to expect when I stumbled across the opening episode. But I've watched it every week and I like it a lot. Anybody else seen it? Comments?So I guess I'm thankful for The Office and Kath & Kim too. They keep me entertained on Thursday nights. :D

Let's Be Friends

Obviously if you are reading this blog, you are a friend of Jed's or mine, or both. So if you have a blog and we don't know about it, shame on you! Leave us a comment with your blog address so we can stalk you too! ;)

Wednesday Weigh-In

,No bueno. Maybe it's because I've been sick and not feeling like working out, but I haven't worked out in a while. And I haven't been eating well... So needless to say, according to my Gold's scale I'm pretty much back to square one.

I'm not discouraged. I'm the culprit. It's my fault. Now I just have to kick my own butt. Sigh.

Can I Get A Break? Maybe Some Cocaine?

So everything from yesterday has gone away. (WOO!) But now I'm having below-the-tooth jaw aches. What is the deal? I hope it's not like a root canal problem. Or cancer. Those are not welcome in my body.
I think I need to go to the dentist. It's been a little over a year. And I think I had cavities then that I didn't get taken care of. What a pain these teeth things are, especially when you have soft enamel. Maybe I'll make Jed an appointment at the same time. If I get tortured, he does too, right? Fair-ups. Even though I know it won't be fair. He's had a check-up more recently than me and he's a better tooth-brusher. Usually.

Sorry I haven't posted any pictures of us lately. But 1 video = 5 pictures, right? So I figure we're good for a little bit. :)

Don't Even Think About It

Yes, I have been sick lately. Yes, I feel sick today. My stomach hurts real bad, like hungry and nauseated at the same time. My nose is runny. My head hurts and I think it's warm. My eyes hurt, but they aren't itchy. I'm not allergic to anything. It's not from the rancid brownies last night. ;) And NO, I'm not pregnant. So don't even think about it. I'm thinking maybe I'll pick up some orange juice and chug a half gallon of that tonight. Maybe that will help. Do you think working out will bring it out, or make it worse? Should I just take some Pepto and grab some tissues? I don't think this is doctor-worthy, yet.

Last night Jed and I went over to Meals & Trent's house for dinner. Aubry and Michael came too. It was a fun triple date. Meals and Aubry made amazing chicken enchiladas with spanish rice and I whipped up a green salad. It was a really yummy dinner, complete with brownies and ice cream (I had pumpkin and it was really good). Jed had a bunch of homework to do, so we didn't get to play Cranium, even though it's his favorite game. I've never played, so I was hoping to get to, but oh well. We just bought it, so we can play whenever.

It's Not Easy Being Green!

Green = Sick.

This weekend, my two days of fun/relaxation/do whatever I want, was ruined by this evil thing called sickness. I don't know what it was, or where it came from, but I felt it. I even had to sit out when we went to the Power Tumbling gym on Saturday night. :( It looked like a lot of fun and I was able to get some videos. I did get some homework done while I was sitting on the sidelines, so I guess that's good. Each of these clips are just a few seconds long, sorry some of them are sideways... But they're still kind of fun.

PS-That last video is for Amanda... ;)



Then, last night, it was like the finale of my sickness. I won't give all the details, but I was up half the night. Good thing I slept 13(!) hours Saturday night, so it all kind of evened out. ;) I'm feeling a little better today. But then again, it's Monday. Blah.

Not This Week

I didn't do a Wednesday Weigh-In because we didn't go to the gym on Wednesday (bad, I know). After school, we went to this marriage clinic thing for one of my classes. I'll probably post about that after we're done with the assignment. :)

Venting, Wallowing in Self-Pity, Etc.

Call it what you want, but I need to write today. This week has been one of the worst weeks ever. (Part of the reason there was no Thankful Thursday yesterday.)

Well most of it is on my last post. But then, after that, yesterday my dad calls me and says that the BYU police called him at work while he was at lunch. (I have NO idea how they got my dad's work number, or how they found out we were related for that matter.) So I have Jed call and just ask for their address so I could send them cash and be done with it (and not have to give them any of my info). She says they can only take card or check because they need my info to link with the car in case they need to hunt me down or something. So then I asked Jed if he would call them back and give them his credit card, or even mine, over the phone. When he called back, the lady said they figured out who I was (and who he was) and they will just post it to my BYU financial account. I was like, fine, whatever, I'll just pay it and never park on campus again. End of story.

Then Jed IM's me and asks what my work phone is because a BYU cop just called his cell number (don't ask how they got that) and needs to talk to me and won't tell Jed anything over the phone. So this Lt. Barber calls me at work and says I need to come in in the next day or two to "have a little chat". I'm thinking "What the heck?" Why can't I just pay it online and be done with this? And I tell him I can't come in because I work the same hours as their office is open, and I work all the way in Lindon. He tells me that I'd better find a way to come in on my lunch break or something. So now I have to leave work early (second time this week) to go to BYU. This is absolutely ridiculous. BYU parking enforcement are not real cops, so me telling them false information cannot/should not be an issue. The lady that Jed talked to said something about Honor Code... However, if I pay the tickets, then they have nothing against me.

I was thinking about just paying it and blowing it off, and I talked to my friend Justin last night (he's a cop) and he told me I could probably just pay it and not go in. But then we decided that if the cop got mad or whatever, he might be able to take it to the Honor Code office and then not only did I tell the pee-on parking enforcement the wrong info, but I never went and talked to this real cop. I'm so sick of BYU. I'll be glad when we never have to deal with them again. The only redeeming quality they have, besides providing a decent education, is that it's cheap. Otherwise I/we would not be going there.

Anyways, this week, in fact this whole month, has just been one thing after another. I feel like I can never get ahead. I'm struggling to stay above water, but I feel like I'm drowning. Jed, bless his heart, is SO supportive and trying his hardest to help me out and be uplifting, but he has no idea what I'm dealing with... Any thoughts, advice, prayers, money would greatly be appreciated. ;)

Poop Sundae with a Cherry on Top

Yesterday was a poop sundae with a cherry on top. Let me preface this. At the halfway point in the semester, I still hadn't seen my loan money that I was approved for, so I called the financial aid office at BYU and the little girl on the phone told me that I since I only had 5.5 credits and needed 6 credits to get the loan, that I needed to add a .5-credit block class (taken the second half of the semester). So I scramble to find a class that would be even remotely interesting/relevant, and that I can fit into my schedule. I add the class, get the loan money, and pay off my fall tuition. Then, about a week ago, I notice that I owe BYU $4000 (repayment on my loan that I just barely got, in addition to winter's tuition). So I call them up and a new girl tells me that they've had some gliches in the system and that they are working on getting it fixed, that I should check back on Monday (2 days ago) and if it still says that I owe, to call back again.
Monday rolls around and guess what? I still owe $4000. Surprise, surprise. So I call back to their office and this girl puts me on hold for 15 minutes trying to get an answer for me. She comes back on the line and tells me that since I haven't been taking 6 credits consecutively over the entire semester, I was ineligible for that loan they gave me. My only option would be to come in and talk to a financial counselor and talk about payment options. So I make an appointment to talk to this counselor yesterday.

Jed and I get to his office and he tells us, after we'd been waiting outside for 15 minutes, that he had been on the phone with someone who was looking in to my situation and seeing what my options are, and checking to see if 6 credit hours over the semester would be sufficient (that would make sense, right? I'd be getting 6 hours whether it was each block, or total). So she calls back and tells us that there is no way that I could get that money back and that I do, in fact, owe them $4000 immediately. Are you freaking serious?? At this point I'm irrate! It was their office who approved the loan, it was their office who advised me to add another class that I don't care about or need, it was their office who dispersed the loan to me, and now it is their office who has revoked my loan and is now asking me to repay that money ASAP. I did nothing wrong. I simply did what I was told by their office. Where am I supposed to come up with $4000 by the end of the year?? That's the whole reason we got the loan in the first place - because we couldn't pay tuition out of our pocket!! (By the way, it's too late for me to drop that class they advised me to add. Now not only do I have to take this unnecessary class, but I have to pay for that too!)
Their advice to me: Take out double what I was asking for winter, and use that extra to pay back fall tuition. But while I wait for that loan to come in, I have to call the collections department of BYU like once a week to recite my case and make sure I don't get holds on my account, or get sent to collections. It's ridiculous! For the record: This is not the first time that I've had to deal with the BYU financial department. They are the worst.
**Any advice?? Anyone??**

I go out to my car (that a certain other person told me to park in a permit-only teacher parking lot) and there's a parking officer standing by my car. Since I've gotten two tickets this semester (both times a certain other person told me "oh, you'll be fine to park here"), I am on the "impound list". If I hadn't showed up before he left, I would have come out to a boot on my car. I would have had to pay for the boot, and given them my info. So I guess it's a good thing I came out when I did, however, I had to give them mine and Jed's info so they would have it in case my car was illegally parked again. I gave them my old TX license and wrong phones numbers. I was scared. I just won't park on campus anymore... :\

So after I finish with that, I picked Jed up on the other side of campus (where he had gone to drop off an assignment - thank goodness he wasn't with me when I went out to my car because I told them that he was the BYU student of the family...) and we hauled butt up to Salt Lake for my monthly weight check-up. Here's the cherry on top! I "lost" 8 pounds this month!! Well, I lost 3, but 5 pounds were converted from fat mass to lean mass!! So technically, I lost 8 POUNDS!! I know it would have been more if I had been more disciplined, but shoot! I'll take it! :D

Busy Fun

Busy, busy, busy. This weekend was full of fun stuff!!

Friday - We went to Helaman Halls (my old dorms) because our friend Amanda's little brother, Tommy, opened his mission call - he's going to Monterrey, Mexico. After the get together for him, we went back to our house and Justin & Amanda came over. We just hung out at home and played cards. It was a pretty fun, relaxing night.

No-Stress Saturday - I had breakfast with two friends from my freshman year of college. One of them brought their baby and it was so good to get a 'baby fix'. :) It was great to catch up with them and we ended up staying in the cafeteria for four and a half hours!! (Breakfast and lunch, buffet-style, for $2.50. Can't beat that.) Jed was kind of upset and worried because I left my phone in the car, and we were there for an hour and a half longer than I had told him we'd be.
Right after I got home, Jed and I left for Salt Lake. Our friend, Hanna, works at American Eagle and got us 25% off anything in the store. Jed got a zip-up hoodie and I got a beanie. :) We shopped around some more and then we all headed to The Pie. Justin, Amanda, Heidi, Zach, and Hanna went with us. That place is so fun, and so good.
Saturday was our 100 day anniversary (haha) so Jed and I were planning on celebrating by going to FastKart and racing go carts. Everybody who was with us at dinner came, and Jamie and Lindsey joined us too. That place is so much fun!! Jed won, as usual. And the guy who worked there gave us extra time and special treatment because 'we were all in couples except for Hanna' (even though she's married he was being extra nice to her, and the rest of us).

Jamie, Lindsey, Jed, and I went back to Hanna's with her and hung out, waiting for her husband to get off work. I got to see some of her scrapbooks of the two of them. That was fun. Jamie was hungry, so we went on a Crown Burger run, and then met up with Hanna's husband Chris as he was walking home from work. Jed and I didn't head home until after midnight. It was really fun to hang out with them. I really like Chris and Hanna a lot.

Sunday - My official "sleep in" day because our church doesn't start until 1:00. After church, Jed and I drove back up to SLC. This time to go to my grandparents' house for Sunday dinner because it was my aunt's birthday this past week. It was good to see everybody since we hadn't seen most of them since our wedding...

And today is Monday. It's dark and rainy outside. I'm bored at work. And BYU is telling me I owe them $4000 for a mistake they made. Can I go to Vegas now??

Thankful Thursday

I am so thankful that the election is over with! I'm ok with the fact that Obama is our next president. The tribe has spoken and he was chosen. Nothing we can do about it now except pray for him and the other politicians to make good decisions for our country.


I am also thankful that Prop 8 passed in California. I feel like it sets a standard for the rest of the country (except I've heard that Massachusetts and Connecticut allow gay marriage at this time). Because I have openly supported the passing of this proposition, I have been met by a lot of opposition.
I have been challenged, mocked, put down, and verbally abused. Most of the people who have confronted me about it (some homosexuals, and some not, all of whom are acquaintances) have just been trying to get me to see their side of it (which is totally fine as long as it's done tactfully - I'm not going to shut people out because they view something differently than I do), but some have just been blatantly rude and condescending. I've been called a bigot, I've been told that I am ignorant, ugly, and disrespectful, I've been accused of being a "blind follower" and at the same time I've been told that I'm not living my religion because I'm fat and not living a "healthy life".
All of this in response to my support of Proposition 8 and trying to keep the sanctity of marriage in tact. Is some of this relevant? Yes. But a lot of it has nothing to do with the issue at hand. What was really interesting to me was that the people who were accosting me were not homosexuals. They were straight. The homosexuals that I have talked to have not been hostile, they have been more curious as to why I believe what I do.
For the record, I do not hate gay people, I do not think any less of them as human beings, but I do not condone their lifestyle. Please feel free to comment if you feel so compelled, but I will not approve any rude, offensive, or obtuse comments. **This is still my blog and I have the right to express my thoughts/feelings however I want to - Please be respectful of that, whether you agree with me or not.** (I'm also thankful for my freedom of speech!)

[Update: I have apparently now won "the title of most hateful ignorant biggot of the year 2008" from onw of my best friend's brother-in-law. That's happy.]

Wednesday Weigh-In

I am not weighing in this week due to some female issues...
But I did go to the gym last night and I weighed myself.

Halloween!!

These first pictures are of night we (Jed) carved pumpkins at Justin and Amanda's house.

Scooping out the brains...

Jed's brother, Nathan, and our friend Hanna. Nathan had the tiniest pumpkin and turned it into a bear head. Hanna carved a ring of fall leaves around her pumpkin - it was really cute.

Hanna and her husband, Chris, getting tips from Nathan the Artist.

Justin and Amanda had awesome pumpkins! Justin's was complete with drool and Amanda turned her's into an entire house!

Ours is the love one. Kinda lame, I know. But we had no ideas, so I picked it up and drew the first thing that came to mind... :\

Our sappy love pumpkin again...

The next bunch of these are from Halloween night.
We had SO much fun! And I was really proud of our couple costume.

Before you continue, you must watch at least part of this youtube video. It is a local 'celebrity rapper' in Provo, named B-Money, and he was the inspiration for our couple costume this year.


Ok, now you are ready to experience our version of B-Money. Jed was a bumble bee and I was money. Thugged out, of course.

Jed's stinger... (sorry it's sideways)

One of Jed's tattoos

For a picture of my sweet "Hubba Hubba" cape, click HERE!!

One of my tattoos. (Yup, it's a million dollar bill...)

Chelsey the gypsy, Amanda the pumpkin, and Hanna as "Midnight" (the tutu kitty).

The Girls. Chelsey the gypsy, Amanda the pumpkin, Hanna aka Midnight, me as (B-) Money, and Linds the cowgirl.

We showed up and Jed's brother, Nathan, had dressed up like a bee, just like Jed. Not only that, but they had the exact same wings and antenna!! How random is that? Those Goodells... ;)

Adam and Amanda as street signs.

The Guys. Chris #1 as a missionary, Chris #2 as a hitchhiker, Jed as B-(Money), Jamie as a gay cop from the TV show Reno911, Nathan as a bee, and Justin as an undercover cop (technically not a costume for him).

The Mummy Game.

My husband the bee mummy. Haha. Like B-Money... ;)

The aftermath. (It got caught on his stinger...)



The next day Jed and I went for a hike up to the Y. Neither of us had ever been up there.

That was my attempt at a panoramic photo... :)