Twilight....

So I have succumb to the temptation. Something I don't usually do.....


It seems like EVERYONE has been talking about these Twilight books. Now when I say everyone, I do mean EVERYONE. The college girls at BYU, my friends on their blogs, my nieces and sisters-in-law, even the old ladies in my Relief Society! I was absolutely NOT going to join the cult....

Over Thanksgiving we went with all the twilight fans in the family to see the film. I liked it. I must admit, I was a little confused at times. But I really did like it. I was content to leave it at that. Be one of those people who says, "I'll just wait for the movie." After all, this is what I usually do. Then for Christmas break we went back to Washington. There have been massive snow storms here. He are basically snowed in because Oregon is too "green" to use deicing chemicals. The roads are pretty much impassable. This gave me plenty of time to get all my work done, to submit grades, and to prepare for the upcoming semester.

But we had SO much time that I was actually able to get EVERYTHING done, and even watch a bunch of fun Christmas movies too. On Christmas Eve I had some free time before dinner so I decided that since Alaina (Tyler's sister) had been pressuring me, I would start the book. I looked through it and it had over 500 pages. There was no chance I'd be finishing it before I left the day after Chrsitmas. But oh well, why not try to make Alaina happy? After all, I WAS just watching a lot of TV. So I started on Christmas Eve.

Then I couldn't put it down......

So now, less than 24 hours later, I'm DYING to read the next one!!!

I wanted to put a cool picture of twilight on the post, so I went looking for something.... here are a few of my favorites:

I couldn't find this one on a t-shirt, but it's my favorite!!

You know you're in to twilight when you look at your husband and think, "dang it, why don't you SPARKLE?"

And another of my personal favorites.....

Merry Christmas!!

Mele Kalikimaka me ka Hau'oli Makahiki Hou. (Merry Christmas and Happy New Year). Tyler and I are in White Salmon Washington for Christmas this year. There's a HUGE winter storm in the Northwest, we havea about 3-4 feet of snow all around the house. We just finished an amazingly delicious Christmas Eve dinner of turkey and potatoes. YUM. We want to wish all of you a wonderful Christmas and hope you are somewhere safe and enjoying the holiday with family!

Good Information to Know

I could survive for 51 seconds chained to a bunk bed with a velociraptor

Created by Bunk Beds.net

My friend had this quiz on her blog, so I thought I would see what my odds were. Based on the questions I had to answer, I'd say 51 seconds is very optimistic.....

The rest of the Thanksgiving Holiday

We spent the rest of our time in Washington in Tyler's home town of White Salmon. Tyler grew up in a tiny little town built in the mountains overlooking the Columbia Gorge. Pretty much every street in his town is a steep hill, and I am pretty sure the only stop light near there is in the next town over. The views are amazing and reminded me a little of Hawaii when Tyler first took me there. While we were there we went with Tyler's family to choose a Christmas tree at the local Christmas tree farm. Here's the one we picked!

Just kidding. This is the one we all chose.

There were 4 men there with us, and all of them fought over who was going to cut the tree down. So, not wanting the boys to get their hands dirty, I grabbed the saw and went to town.

Tyler's dad loves puzzles. So do Tyler and I. So one night while we were all watching a movie we put this one together. Well, mostly Tyler and his dad I guess.....I had never seen the movie before and it got really interesting....
We tried to go on a hike, but this is about as far as we got. It had been raining and the trail was pretty muddy, so we ended up turning back. But we still wanted to commemorate our try!

I love all the green moss.

My parents decided to come to Utah for Thanksgiving....while we were in Washington.....but we did get to see them for a few hours before they flew out. This is a picture of Kaden, John's son. Isn't he growing up so fast? He is just the cutest little kid. OK, I guess it's a tie between Kaden and Corbin!!

Seattle

We took the entire week of Thanksgiving off and drove up to Washington to spend some time with Tyler's family. For a couple of the days that we were in Washington, we drove up to the Seattle area. Tyler has and aunt and uncle (Dale and Anne) there that he hasn't seen in over a decade, and I have never met. They were SUCH a fun couple! This first picture is of Tyler's dad, Jerry, and his brother Dale, in front of Dale and Anne's house in Clyde Hill, near Seattle.



Their house is just outside of Seattle so Karlette, Bill, Tyler and I spent one of our days driving around town seeing all the fun sites. Tyler and I went to the top of the Space Needle. I hadn't been up there since I was a little kid, and Tyler had never been to the top. Seattle is normally rainy, or at least cloudy, but the skies were completely clear the one day we were up there! Lucky us.
After the space needle we headed over to Pike's Place Market. My parents always took us there when we were little and visited my grandparents. There's so much to see, and such yummy smells!!

The famous pig...

For our Anniversary we went to the Seattle Temple and did sealings. What a fun experience. Definitely worth making a tradition.

After the Temple we went back to Dale and Anne's for one last quick visit before heading back to White Salmon.

We had such a fun time and we were so sad that we were only able to spend 2 days visiting, but we were so very glad that we were able to go! The day we left it rained all day. I still can't believe how lucky we were!!

Spanish Fork

I was looking through our pictures and found these that I had forgotten we took. We were trying to figure out where to take some cool pictures that we might be able to use for a Christmas card. All the pictures were taken around Spanish Fork. We have such a cool town! The first two were taken at a new sports park that has this amazing walking path lined with little trails that lead to tucked-away picnic tables. It's gorgeous and has tons of room to play with kids! We almost bought a house right next to this park, but chose our town home instead. Tyler still regrets it!


These pictures were taken at a reservoir that overlooks Spanish Fork. At sunset, the mountains look like they are on fire! It's amazing how we can drive only a minute or two and find these amazing places.

It's been a while

I know it has been a while. A lot has happened, and we're still right in the middle of a lot of stuff!! I haven't been able to download photos yet, and when I do, I'll add more information. For our Anniversary, we went to Seattle with some of Tyler's family. The day was amazingly clear and we could see for miles from the top of the Space Needle. We spent Thanksgiving with Tyler's family in White Salmon, Washington. We haven't been in Washington for Thanksgiving yet, so it was fun! While we were there, the motherboard on my laptop gave out, so I couldn't access anything I needed to do school work and prepare for lectures. I was a little stressed! All this week I've been working from scratch and things haven't gone as smoothly as I would have liked. On Friday I got a call as I left my classes. Tashina is one of my cousins that is closest to me in age and we spent time together when we were younger. Since we've been older, we haven't seen as much of each other, but we keep in touch through blogs and I have always loved reading about her and her adorable little girls. On Friday I found out that her youngest, Cosette, a 15 month old adorable and happy little girl, had been found dead in her bed that morning. From what I know, SIDS was the cause. Tashina and her husband Matt had just celebrated their anniversary, and she is 5 months pregnant. I just couldn't believe it. I immediately thought of her unborn child, and of my little sister and her new son, Corbin. News like this makes me so very scared to be a mom. I have been trying to work up the nerve to call Tashina ever since, but what can I possibly say? I haven't had children, I can't possibly imagine what she must be going through. With all that our society has discovered and invented, with all the advances we have in the medical world, how can there not be more control over the safety of our children, at the very least while they are at home? Because Tyler and I have been considering starting a family in the near future, this event hit me very hard. We have not changed our thoughts on the subject, but I am much more nervous. We live in a scary world.

TOTALLY worth the 6 minutes

This video just makes me laugh. I totally wish I could just do this sometimes. I have a lot of irrational thoughts and feelings (as I'm sure everyone does), oh if things were only this simple!!

Note to self....

....Don't try to study where freshmen congregate....

So this morning I went to Eyring Science Center to get some homework done just before my class. I was there about an hour early so I broke out my laptop and set up shop on a table near about 50 other students studying silently. The atmosphere was pretty much exactly like the library. Nice and quiet. Perfect for getting some work done.

Silly me.

After we had all been studying about 15 minutes, two little freshman came in and sat at a nearby table. They were very chatty. This was tolerable. Not a problem at all. But then one of the girls opened her laptop and started playing music. Adam Sandler's, "I wanna grow old with you." Now I quite enjoy this song. But when two tone deaf freshman choose to sing to one another in the middle of 50 other students quietly studying, I did get a little bothered. They were getting a lot of very annoyed looks from several other students, but to no avail. They continued to sing for the next 45 minutes.

That's not all!! With about 30 minutes left to cram in as much work as I could, 4 more youngsters crowded around another nearby table. They were chatty as well. Once again, tolerable. After all, the singing was still going on and that was much more of a distraction. All of a sudden, one of the girls screams, "Oh my gosh, a bird just ran into the window!!" The four girls jumped up and ran out of the building to investigate. When they got back, they sat around the table telling one another how shocked they were at what they had just witnessed, and how horrifying the whole scene was. One of the girls got the brilliant idea to call someone about the problem. The conversation went something like this:

"Oh my gosh, a bird just totally flew into the window at the Eyring Science Center. Oh my gosh. Well, it's totally suffering in a pool of blood outside on the ground. Could you please come put it out of its misery or something? Oh my gosh, I can't believe I just saw that happen! . . . . But it's totally suffering outside. Please, can't you help it?"

This went on for about 5 minutes. I could tell that the person on the other side of the phone felt like bonking this little girl on the head. She had her hand to her mouth throughout the whole conversation, as it she had just witnessed a bloody car accident and was about to burst into tears. I wanted to say, "It's a BIRD," but I held my tongue.

I'm so sorry for anyone who knew me as a freshman. I'm sure I acted much like the girls mentioned above.

Yummy dinner

To make myself feel better I needed to make a comfort food from my childhood. I made some home made macaroni and cheese. Brink Family style.

Enough macaroni noodles to feed whoever is hungry (or make leftovers)- about 3 cups dry today
salt and pepper
chopped garlic
2 eggs (roughly 1 per person who will be eating)
some milk (about 1/2 c.)
onion powder (or dry onion- whatever you like)
parsley for color
shredded cheddar cheese (about 4 cups)- more makes it better!
Most of the spices are to taste, so however much you are comfortable with will be just right for your family.

Cook noodles
while noodles are cooking, mix all other ingredients together (reserve 1 c. cheese)
pour cooked and drained noodles into the other ingredients
mix thoroughly
microwave 5 minutes
stir
microwave 3 minutes
stir
add remaining cheese and stir
microwave 2 minutes (or roughly until the grease in the cheese starts to bubble)

ENJOY!!!

This is one of my most favorite meals. My mom used to make it for us when we were little, but sometimes she would make it just for me because she knew how much I loved it. My mom is amazing!!

I knew I forgot something

I knew my weekend was worse than that..... I forgot to mention that I also got a speeding ticket on Saturday. I was driving through an open and empty field and got pulled over for going 39 in a 30 mph zone. On a Saturday. It was a $100 ticket. Honestly. HONESTLY. I know there are much be better things for cops to do. I was very calm when he pulled me over. Surprisingly so. Typically my heart races whenever I see flashing lights, even if I'm doing nothing wrong. I think most people feel that way. But this time, no queezy stomach. I pulled over, he asked for my information, I gave it to him. He told me I was speeding. He told me how fast I was going and I said that sounded about right. Then he asked how fast I thought the speed limit was and I told him, "well, since I'm in the middle of an open field way outside of town, I would assume the speed limit would be about what I was going." Then he told me it was 30. I was very obviously shocked. I let out an uncontrolled, "WOW". Anyway. After he gave me the ticket, I was still pretty calm. It wasn't until after he went back to his sqaud car that I sat there and balled. I was sobbing for about 5 minutes when I looked up and noticed he was still sitting behind me. I was a little embarrassed and decided it was time to leave. I drove to the cheese factory (my intended destination) and balled some more in the parking lot. I haven't had a ticket in over a decade. For those of you who are calculating, I was 16 and had just gotten my lisence. I learned my lesson and have been very careful ever since. Not careful enough I guess. Like I said before, I've been having a tough time lately.

Well wouldn't you know it....

I guess because I was so excited about my great day, something was going to happen. I've been having a rough week. Because we're so busy, and because my favorite sister and brother-in-law have recently moved away, we didn't get to carve pumpkins or decorate cookies this year. I was really sad about this. Then, I took a math test and it didn't go as well as I had hoped. What math test ever does, honestly? So that was a bummer. On Friday I went to bed, and I slept less than usual. I woke up in the middle of the night with massive stomach pains that just wouldn't go away. I tried to sleep through them, but couldn't. When I finally got out of bed, I tried to eat, but I felt like throwing up. Then I had to go to a really early dentist appointment. I was a little late because I didn't feel so well. When I got there, they doddled as usual. I had overbooked my Friday on accident so I REALLY needed to get out of there on time. The dentist took his sweet time, which normally would have been ok. But not this day. I stood up 3 or 4 times and tried to leave and they talked me back into sitting down and waiting. The dentist was right in the next room, I'm sure he was happy to let me squirm. They finally finished with me and I ran out of there as fast as I could, trying not to throw up at the same time. I raced to school where I was supposed to meet a fellow classmate to take some VERY important readings for a test we were performing, and I was 15 minutes late. We needed to take 30 readings within the first 15 minutes and I missed them. How freaking lame am I. I was so disappointed in myself and I know my classmate was as well. I completely let him down. Then I had to get some homework done for my class, and as soon as I had finished I drove myself to the health center. My stomach pain had moved up to my chest and I was getting a massive headache. The doctor diagnosed me with acid reflux which is much more common and much more painful than I ever would have imagined. He gave me two shots, two pills, and some yucky stuff to drink. Then they watched me for about an hour. When I got up to leave I almost passed out and they had to put me in a wheel chair. I couldn't stand up from the medication. Then we spent the weekend in Logan. I spent the whole weekend doing homework in pain. What a wonderful holiday. Then today I got an e-mail from my boss announcing the search for a new professor to fill my position. As if I didn't already feel as though I was being removed as forcibly as possible. I also missed my good friends thesis defense this afternoon. I'm such a horrible friend. I was so excited to go and support her, and I missed it. To top everything of....maybe I shouldn't.... oh what the heck, only girls read my blog. I'm also entertaining my monthly friend. Yeah for me. Sorry this was such a depressing post. I'm not feeling wonderful.

We Voted!

Tyler and I went and voted today. We went early to avoid the lines. HA! They had about 300 different precincts voting at the armory in Spanish Fork. They have this HUGE facility (including a gym), and they stick 10 poling machines in the smallest room in the building. Honestly. Who are they trying to kid? They have thousands of poling machines meant to accommodate everyone on voting day, they only break out a fraction of them for early voters, then they try and coax people into voting early. There would have been more room in our kitchen. I felt really bad for all the people with children. We were surrounded by fussy babies and restless kids. The line snaked through the hallway, out the door, and around the building. While we were in the building, the line forced us to stand face to face to the people that were further up in the line. This was AWKWARD at times. When you have nothing to do but stare, everyone is trying to pass the time by "not" looking at each other. We finally got to the front of the line and voted. It took us less than a minute to cast our ballots after over 1 1/2 hours in line. From what we hear, that wasn't too bad. I'm glad we got it done now because I'm sure the lines will only get worse. If they don't work harder to accommodate people to take the time to try and vote early, they will most likely have less voter turn out next time. I think Tyler and I have decided that absent-tee ballots are the way to go. Here's a picture of the line we waited in.

Just kidding. But it sure felt like it!

Tagged

8's

8 Shows I like to watch:
1. House
2. Bones
3. CSI
4. Monk
5. Psych
6. How do I look?
7. Clean House
8. The News

8 things I did yesterday:
1. went to math class and turned in an assignment
2. ate lunch (yummy chicken salad sandwich)
3. taught a concrete class
4. had a really cool acid staining and concrete coloring lab
5. went to an info session for a construction company
6. did homework
7. watched TV
8. went to bed

8 favorite places to eat:
1. Cafe Rio
2. Zupas
3. Hickory Kist
4. Tepanyaki
5. Pier 49
6. Olive Garden
7. Carl's Junior
8. Outback Steak House

8 things I am looking forward to:
1. having a baby
2. buying a house with a yard and garage
3. school to be DONE
4. Tyler to start working
5. moving to a new and exciting place
6. less stress
7. Christmas
8. summer

8 things on my wish list:
1. a house with a yard and a garage
2. having our mortgage paid off
3. having an easy time getting prego (went we start trying- NOT YET!!)
4. traveling to Bolivia with Tyler
5. no money struggles
6. a self cleaning house (haha)
7. more travel- fun fun!
8. a happy and healthy family

8 wonderful gals that I now tag:
1. Tara
2. Karlette
3. Kim
4. Lauren
5. Brit
6. Kara
7. Cassie
8. Lynne

Halloween Bash

Last night we went to our first Halloween party of the season. The decorations were amazing! They even had glasses dripping with "blood" (which was really yummy corn syrup, and blended perfectly with the tart juice). Dan and Rebecca did an amazing job.

Tyler dressed up as "white trash" complete with the disgusting wig that will "accidentally" disappear one of these days. When I was home this summer, going through some of my boxes of old stuff, I found this poodle skirt (really a phone skirt) that I made back in high school. I LOVED to swing dance back then. Anyway, when I found it I thought for sure I would never fit it. I was tiny in high school. When I tried it on last week, it fit!! It sits much higher on my waist now, but STILL!!! So I just had to wear it! Some of the yummy juice got spilled on it, so unless anyone knows a good way to clean felt, this may be its last year, but we'll see.

By the way, that's my foot sticking up. I know it looks silly...

See the blood dripping off the cups? Yum. And creepy.

Dan putting some final touches on the ghoulish dining room.

We LOVED his costume!!

I took out the poofy skirt. I couldn't get in the car....

One of the games was this banana eating contest. When Diana pulled out the nylons, I assumed we'd be putting the whole thing in the nylon and having to squeeze it out to eat it or something. No. It was MUCH worse.... the nylons went over our heads.....

Bananas DO NOT go through nylon. No matter how hard you suck.....

If it looks gross, trust me, it was MUCH more gross to experience then to just see a picture of. I've attached a video so you can feel like you were actually there! Watch at your own risk....