Good Year, guys.

{Last New Year's Eve}

Instead of eating, drinking, dancing, or doing puzzles - my normal New Year's Eve routine - I am sitting in bed with my sick, sick husband, proving my undying love and devotion.
This is what it's really about, right?

After reading Twilight for 8 hours I needed a little break, so I stole this nostalgic questionnaire from the lovely Fig. Thanks Fig.

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?Bought a car. Lit a propane campstove. Slept with a man. Went through the temple. Visited Las Vegas. Cried often.(the last half) Started a blog. Watched a game of golf. Voted.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't remember what they were, so I'm not sure. I'll probably make more for next year because I need goals in my life.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?Laurel. (Kind of amazing that she's the only one.)

4. Did anyone close to you die?Yes, my grandpa. The gold Avalon. The dream of a man.

5. What countries did you visit?
In my dreams? Several European ones, and recently Japan.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?A DIPLOMA. A house? Four new family members.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
March 7, the day Slice stepped off the plane and I knew things would never be the same.
March 13, Slice's birthday. He drove to Provo, took me to dinner, and stayed WAY too late. He got stuck in a snowstorm and spent the night in Daniel's Canyon.
March 16, the day Slice spoke in church (and I sang); we were dating by then.
April 20, the day I said yes.
June 20, the day I said yes again. Forever.
September 10, Grandpa died.
November 1, I lost a baby.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?Finishing school, I think. Or getting married in the temple.

9. What was your biggest failure?Taking too long to apply for a teaching job. Not being patient with my husband.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?Yeah, my 3-month bout with strep. Whatever misery that was before/during our Flaming Gorge reunion. And my neverending winter cold.

11. What was the best thing you bought?Toss-up between the car and 3-piece towel rack for the bathroom.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?My brother Alex, who ran 2 half-marathons and decided to serve a mission.
First-time voters who turned out in droves.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
Mine, too often. The government's, even more often. Black Friday shoppers.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Rent and gas. Darn it all.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?The hot air balloon ride! Phantom of the Opera! And a projector.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?
Not Enough, Flaw (Shawna knows why); I don't wanna be in Love, Good Charlotte; Won't Go Home Without You, Maroon 5; Viva la Vida, Coldplay

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? happier, definitely
b) thinner or fatter? thinner
c) richer or poorer? richer, in many ways

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?exercise, scripture reading, praying, letter writing

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
brooding, cleaning, web surfing

20. How did you spend Christmas?opening presents and lounging with family

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?Perhaps. Maybe my love just grew, changed.

22. What was your favorite TV program?There was a time when I watched America's Next Top Model often.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
No.

24. What was the best book you read?The Goose Girl. I loved it.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?The Last Words of David. Singing a sunrise is the coolest thing ever.

26. What did you want and get?A man, a beautiful wedding and ring, a cute house, a good job, pounds lost, new jeans, boots...

27. What did you want and not get?A mission and an exotic elopement. A hot tub. A teaching job.

28. What was your favorite film of this year?The Return of Martin Guerre, arguably the best historical film of all time.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I went to church, found a red rose, smooched my husband. I was 21.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A longer courtship? Smaller wedding dress? Better hair day on June 20th?

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Time-saving.

32. What kept you sane?Sane?

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?I love David Archuleta. I'm listening to his CD right now.
But I did fancy Sarah Palin.

34. What political issue stirred you the most?The blasted bailout.

35. Who did you miss?Far-away siblings and old roommates, friends. Provo in general.

36. Who was the best new person you met?
My bishop's wife. She's a kindred spirit.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
Some dreams are really hard to let go of.

Save your money.

Marriage is awesome.

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
these are the days you will remember

for the rest of your life

I hope your Christmas was as AWESOME as ours was.

I sang in the community choir for our annual Messiah sing-in.

Ogden's Christmas Festival...which Slice wants to start in Roosevelt

We visited the Morgan brothers in Ogden and played with their lovely children.

We ate lots of food (namely chocolate) in the car, because we got stuck in SLOW snow traffic.

Slice went to a shooting range with TR, and brought me back the target to show me his manly skills. I was duly impressed.

We bought lots of food storage for Christmas, then had to rearrange our whole house to fit it in the cupboards.

Slice got really tired on Christmas day.

But, then he vacuumed our front room with our brand-new vacuum! Thanks Ki.

We got practically snowed-in the day after Christmas. No, we didn't stay in bed all day, even though I wanted to.

Matt ruined his leg/ankle/foot whle sledding, went in for surgery (while Jordan watched), and is now waiting to see if he will enter the MTC in 2 weeks. On crutches.

More word on that later.

I gave Braden the best haircut he's ever had.

(ask him)

We hosted a crazy wassail party. And...

Dad bought drinks with caffeine in them (unknowingly).

Dad: "I am ashamed."

Me: "Did you just say 'I am ashamed'?! YYESSSS!"

We hope you are enjoying your break!

Happy New Year!

Wow.

8 months ago:

l-r: {windblown} deer-in-the-headlight, relieved fiance

6 months ago:l-r: Happy as clams

Here's to the first six months of eternal bliss!

The biggest surprise: Pt 2

Later that day I came home from church early. Slice was driving from Roosevelt to Provo, picking me up, and then we were going to his grandmother’s condo in downtown Salt Lake. He showed up and we were on our way.
As we drove, he told me that he needed to get the address of a Japanese sister on Temple Square. We had seen the sister on previous visits – she was from the place where he served his mission – and would be going home soon. I was doubtful about finding her on Temple Square on a Sunday afternoon, but agreed to try. We also agreed to stop for gas before heading back to Provo.

After a quick stop at Grandma’s we walked down the hill to the temple grounds, as we had so many times before. Once before the mission on an overnight trip to retrieve keys, once for a MoTab Easter concert, once for a first kiss, once for General Conference. We sauntered and sat, enjoying the flowers and the quiet (but not the wind) of that April afternoon. Slice eventually told me that he didn't really need the sister's address, it was just a ploy to get me to Temple Square, and I told him he was ridiculous. Finally, we came to the shell-shaped fountain between the North Visitors Center and the Temple.
Slice pulled some coins out of his pocket and we sat, tossing them over our shoulders. {I pretty much cannot flip a coin in any precise direction.} I gave up after a while and threw the last few in, waiting for Slice to finish.
“What did you wish for?” he asked.
“I’m not telling you,” I replied. Hello. You don’t ask someone what they just wished for.
“Come on, tell me,” he tried several times, but I refused or countered with the same question. I didn’t want to admit that I hadn’t actually wished for anything.
He kept pushing so finally I ventured, “What would you say if I told you....that I didn’t wish for anything?” I’m so sly, aren’t I?
“I want my wish back,” Slice said, and started unbuttoning his long sleeve.

“What?? No way. Why didn’t you take my last few pennies? I could care less! Why didn’t you take some of mine?” I couldn’t believe he was about to fish pennies out of the fountain.
“I’ll wait until they’re gone,” he indicated a group that was at the fountain. They left, and another walked by.
I started to get impatient. “Slice. I will get it for you. Look, I can just pull my sleeve up (he was still adjusting his suitcoat and sleeve), and there’s a dime RIGHT THERE.” I was three seconds away from grabbing the penny when Slice said “No, I got it,” and turned away from me. He plunged his hand in the water, knelt before me and extended a sparkling ring all in a split-second.
“Will you marry me?”

I stared at the ring as if it contained my entire future within its round, sparkling diamond.....I couldn’t even look at his face. I had never been so shocked in my life, and the eternal implications of this decision attacked me all at once. They should have attacked me long before.

I thought of my old roommates, my mom, Shawna, my plans to serve a mission and attend law school. I thought of my family and his, all those years I had patronized Slice, denying any chance he had to win me over.
And kept staring.
I thought of my recent relationships and the heart I had worn on my sleeve, only to be broken again and again. I realized how much Slice had helped to heal those wounds while asking nothing in return. Plus - he had asked me to marry him without even discussing the possibility with me beforehand. That took some guts.
I thought of my future family, the struggles and triumphs that would constitute its existence. Hard times would surely come. I thought of how much harder they would be if I didn’t know that my husband loved—adored—me as much as this man did.
“Yes.” I said.

We ran out of gas on I-15 between Highland and Lindon.

The biggest surprise of my Life, Pt. 1

I’m a really big fan of surprises. In fact, I just might like surprises more than anyone else you know.

One time my sister drew my name for Christmas, and a few weeks before the Big Day I spotted some pink furry slippers in a bag on her bed. I knew they were for me; I was (literally) sick about seeing them for the next three weeks. Oh the remorse.
Christmas morning came, and it turned out, they weren’t even for me.

Many times growing up I told family members and friends that I DID NOT want to pick out my engagement ring. How fun is that??? There’s no surprise! If you’ve picked out a ring, how can your man surprise you with a proposal of marriage? “Um, remember that ring I picked out? So when you gonna give it to me? Maybe tonight since we're at a really fancy restaurant?” So unromantic, I’d say.
I blame my lifelong obsession with the romantic on Anne of Green Gables.

Eight months ago, I was eating lunch with some former roommates at California Pizza Kitchen and fawning over Bonnie’s recently-acquired engagement ring. It was beautiful and really unique; none of us had seen anything like it before. Of course, we discussed the topic of engagement.
Slice and I had been dating for a little over a month, which at BYU means that our apt. whiteboard had displayed my roommates’ guesses for wedding dates for at least three weeks. (They thought I didn’t know what those were, punks.) But we hadn’t talked about Marriage yet…hadn’t even mentioned it once. This provided my brothers with constant entertainment.
Brother calls: “So, how are things going? Have you talked about the M word yet?”
Me: “No. Thanks for asking.”
B: “Why not?”
Me: “I AM NOT GOING TO BRING IT UP.”
Repeat every day for two weeks. They never even called me before I was dating someone, sheesh.

Anyway, we sat talking about engagement and rings and such, and I related a funny story about how some Union high-schoolers had thought Slice would be proposing to me soon. I dismissed the possibility because – as I reminded them – we had not talked about Marriage yet.
Roommate: "I thought you wanted it to be a surprise when you got engaged.”
Me: “Well, yeah, I have always said that I didn’t want to pick out my ring or really talk about marriage beforehand….but, uh, now I’m starting to think that was dumb. Especially the talking about marriage part.”
Roommate: unusually quiet

The next day, Sunday, I had a similar conversation with my mother before getting out of bed for the day.
“Mom, I don’t know what to do. I need to make plans for this summer and fall [MY LIFE], and we haven’t talked about marriage, I’m not going to bring up, but I don’t know what’s going on!”
Mom: “Hon, what if he did propose to you, soon? Do you want to marry him?” (She was not the first to ask me this question.)
Me: “I don’t know, mom…..I just don’t know.”
Mom: “Well, that’s probably something you should figure out soon, isn’t it?”
Me: “Yeah. Probably.”

LMC notes

• We’ve been weeding our collection. This is even worse than cataloging, because it’s emotionally taxing. Who am I to say what should stay or go? I love books too much to discard them. (Which is why I keep coming home with bags-full of old books to add to my bookshelf or those of family members.) At least the district found a guy who recycles books, so the conscience-pricks are easier to deal with.

• I park my car in the same spot every day - in the middle of a row, by the door that I come in. A couple days this week the parking lot has been completely covered with snow so I guessed on the yellow lines. Lo and behold, both times I found later that I was parked between the lines. Boo-Yah! Three cheers for spatial orientation!

• Some students STILL have not figured out where the book drop is. After being here for three years! “Um, put them in the book drop please. Right there. That slot RIGHT THERE.” Wow.

• There’s a feature in our catalog system that shows the top ten titles being checked out. (What does ‘top ten’ mean? I assume the titles that are checked out the greatest number of times.) I’ve been checking this list semi-obsessively since I started here 3 ½ months ago; just can’t get enough of statistics. The first month or two that I was here, Stephenie Meyer’s books were naturally the top four, switching order occasionally. A Child called "It" is consistently in this list. But Brisingr (the third Eragon book) came in and toppled the dynasty, and now the Manga is emerging. (I'm not alone!) I keep telling myself that I ought to read the books in the top 10, just so I can be “in the know” about high school pop culture....you know, since that’s so important. But I’ve been too busy with my last class and Shannon Hale’s books to even read Twilight yet…maybe this Christmas break I’ll bite the bullet.
• Maybe.

• We sell earbuds here in the LMC, marked up to $1.50. And they sell like crazy! The ironic thing is that kids always lose them, forget them at home, or break them. HEAVEN FORBID they go for a whole 7 hours without listening their iPod! So the same twenty students are providing the media center with funds to keep it running. Thanks, guys.

Note to the world:

This girl should be a child model.

Look how beautiful she is.

Naturally wavy hair, those big Eddington eyes,


a chipped front tooth, and an adorable little family.

I am this kid's #1 fan:

World, if any one if my children are as cute as any one of my sister's, my life will be complete.

Oh, and-

If you're ever supposed to sing a solo from Handel's Messiah, and you're wondering if you should do it even though you're nasty sick, please remember my advice and SING IT ANYWAY.
Handel's just too good to pass up.

Woolly Bully

We’ve got a bully problem here that is really bizarre. These two boys come into the library every day before school, practically as soon as I open the doors, and ferret out another boy that is always in here as well. It’s hard for me to catch what they are pestering him about, but we’ve got it all on videotape. (What did the world ever do before security cameras?) If the usual victim is not in the library, these boys either leave to look for him or find another subject within reach.

What kind of loser has nothing else to do but pick on someone else?

The most bizarre thing about it, though, is this victim-boy’s reaction. He’s got a mouth to match theirs, albeit a more pathetic one, and it’s sometimes hard to tell between typical high school teenage-boy banter and bona fide bullying. If his mother hadn’t complained I might not have known what was really going on. Sheesh.

On a related note, my husband was really mean last night. This cold I’ve had seems to be getting worse, not better, and yesterday was the straw that broke……whatever. My throat and lungs and nose and ears were waging a mighty battle against my head, and I guess Slice had had enough. He made me take a really really hot bath, wrapped me up and tucked me in bed and left me there ‘til morning. I even feel a little better today. Who does he think he is, anyway?

I is for If you don't want to read any more, then I probably won't blame you...

Slice:
Whats the deal? I did not have an email from you after class got out. Rob is going to have to put the hurt down on you. Just wait I will get him to one of these days. Well I was going to write you another big email but I forgot that I had a college tourney tomorrow down in Manti so I got to go to bed early. we leave at stinking 5:00 and it doesn't even start until 11.
I was just writing so I wouldn't forget that you didn't write me. Well come to think of it I never get emails anymore i.e. You and Laurel hasn't even emailed me in a long while and I called her last and she told me she was going to email me that day.
Well it's getting late and I need to get my sleep. It would really be nice to have a email from you when I get home tomorrow. (you might want to include something like "sorry Slice that you didn't do good at the tournament but you know I still love you." yea that would be really nice.) :)
ok i am done now
bye bye


Me:
Hey Slice,
Rob is not going to put the hurt down on me for two reasons: 1--he won't take orders from you like that and 2--like I would LET him!
I had a dream about you the other night, and Laurel, Kelsie, Cade, Niebs, Jer, Rob, my whole family. It was a weird one. So I went to choir today, and then at church one of the choir members sat next to me and he had a great voice. We had a fun time singing together; his name is Henry.
Sorry Slice that I wasn't there to watch you at the tournament but you know that I still love you...= ) How was that?
That's all I have. Have a great week,
Jean

Slice:
That was a short one. You say have a nice week? What are you not going to write me for a week or what. If so that is very disappointing, because Roosevelt is starting to get real lonely here.
SO I am learning how to play a sweet Jimmy song on my guitar. Its pretty good.
I didn't really want you to come to my tournament but just say its OK that I did bad. So how was the dance was it really big and such.

Me:
There is no reason for Roosevelt to be getting lonely. You still play with half the BH during the week, what more do you want? You have much more of a social life than I do.
I want to hear you play the Jimmy song on the guitar, I'm a sucker for guitar players.
I took a quiz online today that was supposed to tell you which character from "Princess Bride" you are. I was Princess Buttercup. So was one of the boys I work with....
The dance was a pretty good time. I liked having all the people there. I don't know about Rob though.
I don't have a car anymore, so I've been walking all over the place. I told Peter that I'm getting legs of steel. This is good.
Well, there's nothing else going on here. I have to decide what to do tonight; I have a fat book to read, and a concert I should go to, and Enrichment that I should probably go to. But I don't have a car.
Oh, one more thing, my home teacher came to visit me last night. Only one home teacher. It was kind of weird, he's way older I think. That's all
Have fun playing with the wonderful Roosevelt people....you live in the best place on
earth.
See ya
Jean

Flying Solo

I guess I signed up for this, so I can't complain.
But just so you know - if Slice ever dies and we have children, I will be remarrying just as soon as I am able. Call me insensitive. I do NOT want to be a single mother.

A couple months ago, a former teacher/ward member approached me to ask if Slice and I would be willing to babysit overnight while he took his wife on a romantic getaway, to celebrate their anniversary. I said I thought that would be fine. This family has six energetic boys, the youngest barely a year....but I knew that Slice would be done at the golf course by then (hallelujah!) so we would be all right. He IS better with children than I.

We talked about it and decided to go ahead and try.

A couple weeks ago I reminded Slice of our upcoming adventure, and discovered that he was planning to play in a St. George golf tournament the same day. (We have some work to do in the planning department.) A pretty important one, too. But I was not about to back out of a commitment we made months ago.
Slice: "It will be good practice for you!"
Me: Glowering. "Good practice being a single mom?! Don't ever say that to me again."
(I have some work to do in the meekness department.)

And so it was that Sunday afternoon I arrived, pillow and clothes and a secret stash of chocolate to assuage my sense of coming doom. I knew from our get-acquainted dinner that the baby clings to mom, #5 climbs on the table,#4 can pick his nose with his tongue, #3 and #4 look almost identical, and that the noise level in the house is not generally below a dull roar.

It started within an hour.

The baby was sleeping and #2 decided to play the piano loudly.
Me: "Please don't play the piano, L is sleeping."
#2: continues to play
Me: "Don't play the piano please, you'll wake up the baby."
#2: ignores
Me: "#2. You want to watch the baby for the rest of the day?"
#2: plays even louder. "Sure."
Me: "I don't believe you. Stop."
#2: still doesn't stop
I went to the piano, pulled his hands off and the lid closed. He fought me while I held it down. Then played again when I left the room later.
(The baby woke up.)

Later, #3 came in and pulled up his shirt, showing deep red scratches on his back which came from #2. When I went downstairs #2 started throwing blocks at me and at his brothers, which resulted in wrestling matches and crying. (Pretty much everything in that house results in wrestling matches and crying.) But I didn't yell until dinner, when #2 threw FOOD at #4, who threw it back. And still the only thing I could threaten with was "you won't get a snack tonight." The snack on schedule was ice cream.

Yesterday the baby was sick, runny nose and all. Once I answered the phone, took a message, and when I found him he had opened the prescription toothpaste and dribbled it down the living room couch onto the floor. Thank heavens for microfiber. Another time I took a phone call (should have learned my lesson) and walked into the kitchen to find #5 standing on the counter, licking his fingers as he scraped the frosting off a donut in the off-limits corner. I had already told him several times not to get on the counter.
The snowstorm created an outlet as well as freezing hands, fights over snowmen, crying babies and a delayed return home. My MIL brought over some new toys for them to play with...which was great until they fought over those, too.

About an hour before the expected return time, I announced that it was time to start cleaning up. The boys had thrown cars of all sizes around the living room and down the stairs. To my announcement, #2 replied "No." And my eyes burned a hole through his body.

Well, I wish.

When the parents returned home, mom asked #5 if I had been nice to them. I scoffed inwardly. She never even asked if they had been nice to me.

And now I remember why I always hated babysitting growing up. Sure, I could handle my seven younger siblings. Neighbors assumed that I was a natural. And I was, if you consider an I-can-handle-any-crisis-your-kid-can-dish personality "natural." But I never had the real skills - or the desire - to watch anyone else's kids.

So I told my husband last night that 1--I don't ever want to have children (that was a lie, yes) and 2--if he dies before our children are grown, I will find me another man without a second thought. And then leave him at home while I go to law school.
(Well, I just added that last part.)

Man, do I miss my man.

It happened again last night.

Image from here.

This time I was with my mom.
We were in a store I'd never been to before; I found some fabulous deals on the exact clothes I wanted - and had been looking for. I tried them on, got ready to check out, and....

I woke up.

It was so disappointing.

Why do I shop in my dreams??? This happens fairly frequently. I rarely shop in real life, don't even think about clothes very much - at least I don't think I do.
Maybe in the recesses of my subconscious mind, some alternate reality, I'm a clothes horse with an eye for fashion. And money to spend. Wouldn't that be nice?


I just remembered a conversation Slice and I had on our honeymoon. We were walking through the Bellagio in Las Vegas, and Slice asked me what clothes I would buy for a million dollars. I said if I had a million dollars I wouldn't buy clothes with it. Now to convince my subconscious...

The Making of a Diva

Last night I went to the local Zion's Bank tree-lighting ceremony.
Every year the elementary school choir puts on a little show, singing a few Christmas songs and waving at camera-laden parents. The cute kids filed in wearing an assortment of Musical Mustangs shirts, Santa hats and well-worn jeans.

One girl pranced in wearing tights, heels, and a frilly pink dress made of velvet and chiffon. Her hair was a trendy A-line bob curled in large ringlets away from her face, showing off big dangly pink earrings. And to top it off, she was wearing....makeup.
I threw up a little in my mouth.

I kept staring at this girl wanting to think she was little-girly and cute. But she wasn't. All I could think was she doesn't look precious, she looks RIDICULOUS. What are her parents thinking? Do they know they're creating a little diva monster?

I don't think any second-grade girl should be allowed to wear makeup. There are more than enough messages today that tell her looks are all that matter. Girls need to grow up thinking they are beautiful for who they ARE - not their sparkly lips and perfect haircuts. One time when my dad heard me talking about how pretty other girls were, he asked "and how much time do they spend making their insides beautiful?" I realized that my personality, compassion and accomplishments mattered much more than my outward appearance.
But you could probably tell that just by looking at me.

The English teacher is skeptical

"So if a pedophile is Twittering, is he Twitter-pated?"

"If there are verbs for Blogging and for Twittering, shouldn't there be a verb for thinking about blogging?"

for Family Night we

Put plastic in our windows (per our $75.88 gas bill), we'll see if it does anything.

Ate our classic dinner (spaghetti squash and sausage).

Put up our little borrowed tree.

Finally pulled out my massive Nussknacker from Vienna! It's been sitting in my hope chest for two years. I bought it my last week in Wien at a Christkindlsmarkt. *sigh*

Cracked walnuts (ahem) and made ornaments.

Lit the tree.

Totally used a blanket we got as a wedding gift for a tree-skirt. Thank you Shar.

Admired the finished product.

Slice: "When we have kids, we can tell them that we were so poor our first Christmas, we made our own ornaments out of walnuts!"
Me: "Yeah, we could. Only the 'so poor' part would be a lie."
Slice: "So?"

Shhh!

Don't tell my husband, but last night while we were making walnut ornaments, I poked my finger with my Cutco paring knife and it's been hurting all day.
(Slice kept telling me that I was going to cut myself, and I kept getting offended.)

{I've cut myself with Cutco many times before....and it's so sharp, even deep cuts are clean, so the wounds heal nicely. But my Grandma still doesn't believe.}

Do you know how hard it is to break open walnuts right down the center? Nigh unto impossible. Go ahead, try it. It took me at least an hour to figure out how.

Pictures will be posted anon.

Slice took these at the party

just checking in

I feel pretty good about my life when I’m too busy living it to write about it. But not so good when I don’t take pictures. Then my blog is like an old empty journal, and I have enough of those already! Oh well, you’ll just have to trust me when I say that last week was pretty much fantastic. Some highlights:

• Sister in town from St. Louis again! And a wee bit pregnant. This makes 4 expected babies [in the family] in the early months of next year….yes, that is one for each of my married siblings. Is the pressure on? *ahem* Do you even need to ask?
• Kung Fu Panda made me laugh.
• Still haven’t taken the final for the class that was supposed to be finished, ah, a week ago. This has caused some frustration and anxiety. Because If I don’t get my diploma……
• Two-pronged reunion with the high school friends. The boys played basketball while I watched (as usual) (only it was different this time), and Friday night Slice and I hosted a cake-waffle party complete with the most hilarious game of Curses I’ve ever seen. Rhett and Napoleon and Lucky Charms, oh boy.
• Nacho Libre made me fall asleep.
• Shopping-free Black Friday, of course. Instead of being trampled by crazy mobs we went
• skeet shooting on the land in Not-Gusher. (I forget where it really is, Tridell? Lapoint? I don’t know the difference.) I was reminded of how terrible I am at shooting moving targets, how fond I am of my .22 long rifle, and
• how fun baseball is! Holy cow! We played two innings of wild ball with a tennis ball, 14 players aged 7 to 50, and clay pigeons for bases. The cowpies and knee-high weeds made for good, good times. Seriously.
• The Errand of Angels made my heart hurt for Vienna. Has it really been 2 years? I still dream about Europe all the time, I think that is abnormal but I’m hoping it’s a sign that I’ll be back there SOON. Please?
• Sore throat again. I think it's a routine cold (as the symptoms suggest), but I still worry that the 3-month bout of Strep has caused lasting damage.
  
• Combined lesson in YW yesterday about the temple, which I gave. I think it went well. Can't wait for our Salt Lake trip!
• Family sealing session in the temple Saturday. Grandpa W. officiated and we sealed 18 couples, 18 daughters and 17 sons to loved ones. The best part was that they were family names! Yay Mom! The worst part was my husband wasn’t there. Matt, I guess, is the next best thing. ☺

It's adios reality

My newly-found fame might be going to my head.


Friday I found a biography of President Lyndon Johnson, signed by the subject, in my very own library. Pretty much the entire school knows about it by now.
Yesterday I sang in church with my brother, and people asked me about voice lessons all day!
It was awesome!
{the musical number actually wasn't my best--but we only had 12 hours' notice. dumb phone.}

Today, I'm wearing dangly earrings.....to work.


Hard to believe, I know. Earrings and I have never gotten along well, much to the dismay of my Better Half. This is probably because my ears aren't pierced, also to the dismay of Better Half. One time I got a surplus projector and screen (for $6!) from work, and I was so excited I called Slice to tell him that I had a surprise for him. His first question was: "You got your ears pierced??" Imagine the disappointment.
(And I thought he would be so excited! After all, he's like, the Projector King!)

Anyway, I can think of two previous instances in which I've worn dangly earrings. I think both times had to do with "Prom." My head has been swinging much more than usual...
...not unlike little girls with painted fingernails do everything daintily.
Only different.

(How do you feel about pierced ears?)

This just in

While going through books looking for missing publication dates, I found this
in a biography by William S. White. Why do we have a book with LBJ's signature in it? BG is now trying to find out who R.V. Larsen was/is.

{fuzzy backwards Photobooth picture with my left-middle-finger scar shown prominently}

Also, Google Reader suggested a blog (as usual), and this post made me laugh out loud.

And....I've ordered my final exam for my FINAL CLASS of undergraduate education. This is my last chance to try something I've always wanted to: taking a test without studying at all.

Should I, should I not?

Fiction M-E-Y

Is what you'll probably hear me say if you happen to walk into this library.

How long do you think this will last?

Last night after the Temple

We were sitting in the Wal-Mart parking lot, eating Crunchwrap Supremes from Taco Bell - Oh, how I love those things! - and talking about our Youth.
(I was dismayed about the baptism trip. More later.)

Slice: "You know I'm going to spank our kids, right?"
Me: "Umm.......ehh......." {We'd never actually talked about it.}
Slice: "Well I am. I don't care if it's against the law, I'll spank 'em."
Me: laughter
"That's going in the blog."
Slice: "Good."

So I used to be a knife salesman

Slice and I did some major cleaning/throwing away/reorganization last night, which made me very happy. Clean house = happy wife, no?

In one corner-box was my old leather carrying case with Cutco book, demo leather and rope, sharpening video, etc. Yes, I used to sell Cutco. I'm totally sold on Cutco; my mom has had her set for almost 30 years. THIRTY YEARS with one (free) sharpening and do you know how much use those knives have gotten?

Twelve kids, over a hundred relatives, ward and neighborhood party-hosting...
(Because for 10 years we had the biggest house...)

Forever Guarantee people. Anyway.

Slice pulled out the carrying case and was going through my stuff, no doubt chuckling at the fact that his wife used to sell knives. I guess, if you think about it, it's kind of funny.

He found my binder.
S: "Are these your receipts?"
Me: "Yes."
S: "Of stuff you sold?"
Me: "Yes."
S: "Wow, you sold that much?"
Me: "Yes, thank you--Why are you so surprised?"

Water off a duck's back. Water off a duck's back.

I am often surprised at how easily offended some people are.

That even the most personal, unassuming decisions somehow become a personal affront. A call for change is a denunciation of everything that currently stands. It's like everything turns into a moral issue.....and I don't understand.

I’ve wondered, is this especially common in a small town? Or do I just see it more because of where I live?

Perhaps I should be used to it by now. A few times during my school years the grapevine found its way to me, bringing the revelation that “so-and-so doesn’t think you like her.” My bewilderment invariably resulted in days, even weeks of rethinking everything I'd ever said and done, wondering how she could even think that. Then I would try harder to go out of my way, to be more friendly, to show how much I liked everyone.

Because I did – do – and why shouldn’t I?

I thought that only teenage girls were insecure enough to play those games. I wish I had been right.

I have opinions, but I don’t force them on anyone else. I evaluate carefully. I like to be asked what I think. My parents never talked about politics at home and when I finally asked them why, my father said, “Because I want you to form your own opinions.”
I love him for that. And I respect his opinion even more because of it.

So I have this philosophy that goes like this: Give others the benefit of the doubt. Don’t get offended unless someone attacks you personally and intentionally....even then, most of the time you should let it go. And don’t involve their family, friends, or acquaintances. It's not fair to assume guilt by association.

I keep hoping that someday, these silly little battles will cease.
After all, there's a much more important war going on on.

Why I got Married, Zwei

The REAL reason:

To get a beautiful quilt from my mother

{which is finally finished!}

I picked out the fabrics, not knowing that they would match my house - and almost everything I have in it - perfectly. Isn't she fabulous?

I scored 41

I love these lists that say "If you haven't traveled, you haven't lived or accomplished anything!" Really. Paris is in here three times, like it's the center of the universe or something.

Copy and paste the list, then highlight the things you have done in your life.

1. Started your own blog

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more money to charity than you can afford (what if you can't afford to give less? What does "afford" mean anyway? Priorities.)

7. Been to Disneyland

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightening storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train (If you can call that sleeping.)

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill (not sure about this one)

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a marathon

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunset or sunrise - many times

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors (someday)

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied - Doesn't take much for me.

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo's David

41. Sung karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater

55. Been in a movie (no specifications for how big the movie was...)

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies

62. Gone whale watching

63. Got flowers for no reason

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check (Um, a few actually)

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Eaten caviar

72. Pieced a quilt

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone's life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous (Does the prophet count?)

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seem the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

100. Visited Italy

What have you done?

Off to write my own list...

Got.....?

I came to a solemn realization about a week ago,

one along the lines of I have no friends.

Not that I really have no friends, because of course I do, they are really great friends and I love them dearly....but I have no friends nearby. None that I can call up to go out to dinner, catch a movie, attend a party or concert. Or even Divine Comedy.

My Roosevelt friends have effectively shunned me since my engagement to Slice. My college friends are still in college, except for Lu who is in the MTC, and not exactly a phone call away. Other friends have moved on or away, and for various reasons we haven't kept in touch.

Why is this coming up now?

Because Slice is taking his dad to a movie tonight. And it will be the second Friday night - in a row - that I'll be on my own.
{Remember all that cleaning I did last weekend? I did most of it Friday night.}

It's times like these I marvel at the change that my life has undergone in a short time. Only six months ago, if I wasn't out playing most nights of the week, I felt like a failure.

In honor of the old "single" times (which were also "college" times), I'm posting a portion of the QuoteWall we had in my 4th-semester apartment. Thanks Chantelle!
Don't worry about me, I'll be chilling with my mother and sisters tonight; always a good time. I love those ladies THIS MUCH.

§ Do you like my belly-button?—Megan (said in a sensual voice)

§ Sometimes I have dirty thoughts—Brittanie

§ I got in a staring contest with your slippers—Liz

§ Things happen, and I'll get new cinder blocks tomorrow—Chantelle

§ Oh, look! Another marshmallow!—Lu

§ It's like a mustache on your knee—Lu

§ Can you be my tomato?—Craig

§ What's more important, your eternal exaltation or…--Brittanie

§ I'm stinkin' tired—Rachel

§ I'm not a sea lion—Rachel

§ We should have a jammy-jam party and talk about our feelings—Kevin

§ Ahhh! See, I'm warmer already—Rachel

§ Kissing is gross—Rachel

§ Chantelle: I don't know why I'm eating this late. Tricia: Me neither, let's do crunches instead

§ That's because you're blind—Bonnie to Liz

§ What's the point of the internet if you can't lie about who you are?—Shane

§ I look good in Jedi clothes!—Lu

§ If you're gonna make out in front of me, I'm gonna stare at you—Brittanie

§ Is the clock permanently stuck on the the wall? (repeated over and over)—Brittanie

§ I have this really bad tendency to run into walls—Liz

§ Somebody wanna lick my elbow?—Bonnie

§ I feel like I'm in a blond joke—Brittanie

§ I'm so glad I'm not going to be celibate—Lu

§ He's a nice guy… and I like his balding head—Chantelle

§ Be your own valentine—Melanie's Chocolate

§ *sigh* I hate boys, Chantelle. Do you want a brownie?—Megan

§ What makes a whorish earring?—Brittanie

§ I think I need a teething ring or something—Brittanie

§ This is my least favorite strand of hair on my head—Bonnie

§ You need some bones in your fat—Lu

§ Why do we pray for moisture anyway? That's like dew! If you want rain, say rain!—Liz

§ There is no bathroom. Guys do not go to the bathroom—Ben

§ I need a glute massage—Lu and Brad Mortenson

§ My leg is NOT the word of God!—Chantelle

§ *Gasp* I thought you said dead girls!—Megan

§ It burns, but it's fun—Liz

§ It's probably down someone's pants—Chantelle