Sunday, December 14, 2008

Gingerbread House Fun

There are some things that you can't let other people win. Some things are just that important. Like the Gingerbread House Competition at Melaleuca on Friday. Here are some pictures of our gingerbread house/mansion. Granted, we only had about a collective five hours to make this bad boy. They were due at 5:00pm and we brought our masterpiece over at 4:59pm. Literally.

There were several things that we really wanted to make that we didn't have enough time to do (i.e., our automatic garage opener). Oh well. Judging ends Monday morning-- so we'll see how everything turns out. (But our gingerbread house has a bay window... so beat that suckas!)

And another thing that is big (or at least getting bigger) is my puppy. He's getting really, really big. Well, I think so anyway-- I've included some pictures of him as well.

He's so much fun! I think he'll have a lot of fun in California where we can (and will) take him on walks. Sometime this week we're going to take him to the park and let him play in the snow. He's never been in the snow before, so that should be fun.
One other thing I wanted to mention is that he's indecisive. It's hilarious. And he's like a little kid that gets a really cool Christmas present, but plays with the box instead. As you can see in this picture, he's playing with a cream cheese container-- his absolute favorite toy. He also likes this hideous tie that Freddy let him have to play tug-of-war with and another plush soccer ball. But his problem is this: he will have the ball in his mouth but want to play with the container. He obviously can't play with both, but he certainly tries--- and it's awesome. Sometimes he'll try to play with like, FOUR toys at once. Sooo funny. It's also funny when his foot is in the container and he tries to walk. Funny, funny puppy.




Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Moving Fun

First of all- I was wrong, we certainly are not skipping winter. It snowed on Sunday (more like dumped snow on Sunday) but surprisingly it's been sunny ever since and the snow is melting. I imagine the snow will come soon, and when it does--- I hope we're already gone. So for those of you that didn't know, we're moving back to southern California. We're suuuuper excited and ready to go. But now everything feels so useless. For example, why should I attend my earrrly morning meeting for the Relief Society presidency when I'm, without a doubt, being released in a matter of days? Simply put, I just shouldn't.

One thing about moving- you always have more stuff than you think. And even if you don't, there are wayyy too many things that are fragile that take up more space than you would think they do. So yeah, we have a lot of boxes. We've accumulated much more than we had when we were first married-- seems like they're all real bulky things too. That's all I really have to say about moving. I'm sure more things will develop as the week goes on.

Now, on to Christmas, I'm making it much harder for Freddy than I want to. He knows what he wants for Christmas-- he knows exactly what he wants. Me? I can't think of a single thing that I want. And maybe that's a good thing-- maybe I'm just content in life. But it sure makes Christmas shopping hard for Freddy (I'm sure he'll figure out something... he's a really good gift giver). I think the main problem is this: I'm impatient. He was going to get me a sewing machine for our anniversary, but we ended up getting it in August instead. He was going to get me a puppy for Christmas, but we got him in November instead. I make things difficult because I trick Freddy into getting things earlier than he planed. Oh, I'm awful.

Ok, I have three finals tomorrow. That's not fun. However, unlike most students that study all night for their finals, I glance through my notes and hope that I remember the important things. You see, I just work hard (mostly) and pay attention in class throughout the year, which in turn helps me to remember things on tests. And I'm a horrible studier. I can't do it. At all. Also, this is my second sememster in a row-- without any breaks. Some students just started their year in September, but I've been in straight school since April. My year is over now and I'm just ready to be done. I think that's all I really have to say about that too. Hooray for vacations from school.

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Are We Skipping Winter?

I'm sure every single one of you was concerned about the weather in Rexburg, Idaho. And to make sure each of you is aware, no, it is NOT snowing yet! How amazing is that?! For those of you that haven't been to Rexburg, please be aware that every year in the history of Rexburg, it has snowed on Halloween and somewhat regularly after that point. This year, we have a drought. I'm sure the farmers out there are sweating worried about their crops next year, but I, I am thankful that my prayers are heard.
Then I got to thinking. What if we skipped winter this year? I'm sure it's almost impossible, but just marinade in that thought for a minute. The weather here really is almost spring like, and it would be pretty nice if we just all together didn't bother with the snow and ice that inevitably comes each year. I've included a picture of the temple from last year--- mid December. It's not worth it I'm telling you.
I wish weather was a majority vote. I wish we would just have a daily or weekly ballot of how the weather should be for the day. Maybe we could have mandatory rainy days and mandatory snowy days, just so that we don't forget the beauty of different weather-- because I'm sure the majority would come out with sunny 72 degrees everyday.

Regardless. You have to admit. It would be nice. I think, anyway.

The Trouble With Giving Advice

I love being married. I absolutely do. And sometimes I get a little bit enthusiastic about others joining in on the fun of married life...
We had just finished Spanish class and my friend and I went to the bathroom to put on our makeup (Benefit #1 of Marriage: You can go to class without makeup because who really cares who sees you-- your husband isn't there and so it doesn't really matter). In the bathrooms of the Smith building you walk in and there's like a lounge area with a bench, a mirror, and a shelf. Then there's another door that goes into the bathroom area. So my friend, M, and I are in the lounge area doing our makeup just chit chatting about this and that... and somehow we get to talking about marriage. Then I, all too enthusiastically tell M, "You should get married! C'mon M, there's so many good things about marriage.. It's just wayyy more fun than being single."

She agreed. She was like, "Oh yeah! I should! Why in the world am I still single? I should just get married!" (Keep in mind that we are completely joking about this.)

"Yeah M, I mean, just get married. 'Who cares if I've only known you for 10 minutes! Let's get married!' You should start proposing to guys because sometimes they take forever to decide they want to get married and what not. Just start proposing to them."

We're still totally kidding and laughing about the whole thing. And then...

This girl (also in our Spanish class, she's from like- Albania and we'll call her O) comes out of the bathroom part and (we've been there for like 10 minutes and had no idea that we weren't alone) and she looks dead at me. "Do you have any idea what the divorce rate at BYU-Idaho is?!?! Do you even KNOW what it is!!!?? It's like EIGHTY PERCENT!!! So MAYBE you should look at that, and THEN tell her to get married right away! Everyone just GETS MARRIED to people they don't even know and then they ALL end in DIVORCE!!!"

"Oh, um, well, we were totally kidding, O... And I'm sure it's not 80%... that's seems a bit high."

"OHHH NO- it's EIGHTY PERCENT... And you know what? Everyone I know that got married young is like, 'DON'T get married!!! Enjoy being single!!!'"

"Oh, well, I actually love being married, but my husband and I didn't meet up here, we've known eachother for years. And I definitely was kidding with M, I wouldn't be serious about marrying a guy you met 10 minutes ago." (O leaves.)

Wow. It was pretty intense... So, in the end, now M and I joke about that all the time. Pretty funny morning.