Our Story

TV addiction: A mother's confession

2011-03-08T21:41:00.001-08:00

As a new mom I have lost the joys of sleep, leisure, and soon food. In fact I mentioned to Adam the other night that it may be time for me to stop pretending that I can eat whatever I want because I am pregnant/nursing, to which he thoughtfully replied, "Its been a good run..." With this impending additional loss I find I have only one real indulgence left in my life: Television. When Molly was born we didn't even have cable. I was sustained by the news and re-watching seasons of Gilmore Girls on DVD and I was fine with that. During the first week of her life I was an emotional mess, I could not cope with this tiny fragile creature, the loss of freedom, and the trauma of healing after childbirth. One day, in a particularly horrible moment, I was uncontrollably bawling and Adam came walking in the door from work on the phone with the cable company. He announced that he was ordering me cable WITH a DVR and I have never loved him more than in that moment! Since then we have also added netflix to our repertoire and I am now frequently disturbed by the amount of TV I watch on a daily basis. I really need to get control, but I find that it really gets me through the day. I'm not always watching it, sometimes I have it on as background noise or just to feel like I am not alone. Am I the only one? Those of you without TV, how do you do it?

New post, REALLY!

2011-03-05T21:13:00.000-08:00

Dear blogging world, its been so long! The thought of catching up on all the details of the last 6 months makes me want to faint, so I will just hit the highlights. First and foremost I FINALLY finished my stinking degree hooray!!! Thats right blogging folk, I am officially a doctor now so if anyone ever yells, "Is there a doctor in the house?" I am now obligated to stand up and offer my fluting skills.
Mostly this degree makes me happy because I never have to pay tuition to ASU ever again EVER!!! Hip Hip Hooray!!! Did I mention that this means NEVER EVER??!!! Other than that, my doctorhood doesn't really have any bearing on our daily lives. I like to think that Molly appreciates my newfound smartiness, but I think she loves me mostly because I feed her.

Aside from my graduation, all our other milestones revolve around our sweet little baby girl. Molly is about to turn 8 months old and she continues to be pure joy in little girl form. She has two little teeth, she sits up by herself, rolls over and recently has started to scoot around on her belly. She smiles and laughs all the time and LOVES to snuggle. I spend most of my day trying to not to squeeze her too hard, she is SO cute to me! So far I think she is going to be a chatterbox and a little social butterfly. Her favorite thing to do is be around other kids. She basically freaks out with excitement when she sees other babies, and I actually think she said her first word last week: mama. I wouldn't really count it, but I was teaching a flute lesson and my student, her mother and sister all agreed that she was definitely saying to me. I may be stretching that one a bit...She is still trying to learn how to sleep through the night. She has good days and bad days. In fact any sleep advice from seasoned mothers would be greatly appreciated...
I could talk about Molly all day long, but for the sake of the blogging world I will wrap it up. I love love love her!!!!

warning: a downer

2010-09-25T22:51:00.001-07:00

Tonight after putting Molly down, I started looking at old pictures on the computer. I came across our engagement pictures and I was actually shocked by how young I look. Adam and I have only been married for about 2 1/2 years, however it might as well have been my senior portraits considering the difference between then and now. I remember my sister-in-law once remarked that she couldn't wait to turn 30 because then she would be as old as she really felt. She has 3 children. I couldn't understand it at the time, but now I totally get it. Its not just the new added work and responsibility of my little bebe, it is just life. I have come to the sad realization that the further I get into my life, the more work it becomes and the thought frankly depresses me. I suppose the paybacks get better too, Molly smiles etc. but man I do I feel old...

p.s. Aside from my elderly status, motherhood is getting better and better. I confess I kiss my baby's cheeks about a thousand times a day. I cannot stop, they are so soft and sweet smelling! I love love love that baby, it literally makes my heart hurt aaahhhh!!!

p.p.s. Adam thinks I am furiously typing my dissertation...

Molly

2010-08-16T16:28:00.000-07:00

In honor of Molly turning one month old today, I thought I would briefly share my birth story. I was due on July 11th, however that date came and went with no action. When I went in for an appointment on July 12th, I was dilated to a 2 and effaced 80 percent. My doctor scheduled an inducement for the 15th, but she also said she thought I would go into labor before then. Nope.
On the 15th at 6pm I checked into the hospital for my inducement. I hadn't dilated any more so they gave me a pill to help me efface completely. The plan was to start petocin 4 hours later. That was at 7 and by 8 I started having very strong regular contractions about 3 minutes apart. After another hour they checked me again and I was at a 4 and ready to blow my brains out. At this point they ordered my epidural, and by the time it was administered (45 minutes later) I had dilated to a 7. Oh how I love epidurals! I have no desire to ever give birth naturally, and at some point I even told Adam I was going to bare my testimony about epidurals at church. My doctor broke my water at this point and I read magazines until a few hours later when I was dilated to a 10 and ready to push. I pushed for an hour and a half until all of a sudden little Molly came out. It was the best feeling in the world when she came out and they put her on my chest! She was so sweet with all her dark hair, I thought I was going to explode with love and relief!
Unfortunately she was soon showing signs of respiratory distress so they quickly whisked her off to the NICU. It turns out she had inhaled amniotic fluid on her way out and had a large amount of fluid in her right lung. They were able to dry out her lung with a C-pap machine and she was able to leave the hospital the next day. The birth experience was absolutely amazing, but her breathing issues were completely terrifying. I think I cried for 2 days straight, I was so emotional.
Molly's lungs are perfect now and she is a sweet and peaceful baby. Being a mother is so much harder than I ever thought, but I love having my beautiful girl. She is such a joy and we love her so much!

baby

2010-06-26T23:18:00.000-07:00

Well, the crib is up, the stroller is assembled, all the clothes are washed and folded and I think I may be almost ready for this little cowgirl to get here. Tomorrow I am 38 weeks and will be facing a meager 2 weeks until B-day. When I started this pregnancy it seemed like it would last forever, and now it feels like its gone by way too fast. In fact, I secretly wish that she would just stay nice and tucked in her little home where she doesn't cry, get sick and spit-up. I am enjoying our little girls only club, where I am the only one who knows when she has the hiccups or when she is going crazy because I fed her licorice (it feels like she is playing soccer after a good dose of red vines). And sadly enough in addition to worrying about her general health, I already worry that she is growing up too fast.

For you, wendy:)

New Embarrassing Moment

2010-06-24T12:42:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to Target to look for a couple of nursing bras. Unfortunately while trying the bras on, the door lock to my room proved faulty. This wouldn't have been a giant problem except my back was to the door and I didn't notice it had swung wide open. I had also chosen the first stall in the dressing rooms so it was situated right by the entrance and visible to all the shoppers in the store. As I turned around, fully exposed, I was able to see that I had been putting on quite the show for all of Target...

annoyed

2010-06-10T12:02:00.000-07:00

I have a new pregnancy pet peeve. It has nothing to do with heart burn or swollen ankles, I am starting to get a little annoyed by people publicly congratulating themselves on deciding to forego pain medication and give birth naturally. They brag about all the benefits and how their babies will be more alert, latch on better, stronger, basically possess super human traits, and in every way start out life already totally kicking other babies' cute little bums. For some, their pride at taking on natural childbirth makes them feel like they are somehow better than those of us weaklings who are realistic about their pain thresholds and want to rely on modern medicine to help the birthing process. I have no problem with people who actually have given birth naturally or plan to, kudos to them in fact, however I don't think this empowers people to be so condescending about others' birth choices. Millions of babies have been born with epidurals and somehow manage to embrace life just fine. So for me, bring on the meds, I prefer to give birth without begging people to kill me and put me out of my misery. Maybe someday I will feel differently, however for now I strongly stand beside my decision to be a wimp.

dissertation

2010-03-20T14:07:00.000-07:00

Things I would rather be doing than writing my dissertation:

1) Watching basketball because WHO DOESN'T LOVE MARCH MADNESS!!!!!?????? I LOVE it! I don't watch basketball throughout the year, but somehow when march comes around, I am obsessed! The games are most always nail-biters, I have personal stock in every game because I want to have bracket success, and 2 words: cinderella story! Also college basketball really highlights the pep band. You gotta love the ubiquitous trumpet player in the pep band who is blowing his guts out during "The Final Countdown" and "Eye of the Tiger". You can practically see his lips coming out of the bell, and his tomato red face about to explode on the forced high notes. The only sporting event better than NCAA's is of course the blessed olympics.

2)Watching the olympics. The olympics is the closest we will ever get to world peace in my opinion.

3)Playing outside in the sun, we have planted our garden and I want to go out and tend it with my spade.

4)Anything, because I hate my degree!

Here goes nothing...

2010-01-29T12:36:00.000-08:00

So they say a picture is worth a thousand words and since for some reason its embarrassing for me to say it out loud, here you go...

I don't know if you can see, but this is baby's profile, you can see its little nose and upper lip:)

Here are some facts about baby:

*He/She is due 7/11/10 which I like because for some reason I love July and slurpees from 711

*I have been very morning sick and dying to complain via blog, but have restrained. I think it is mean and ironic that you aren't supposed to tell anyone you are pregnant in the 1st trimester and yet that is when you would really like some sympathy. I finally told my students at BYUI because I wanted them to know why I looked pale with a greenish hue and was porking down bagels and cream cheese during their lessons.

*It has a brain. My uncle told me about a baby that was born without a brain and of course I have been fixated on that possibility until I saw its little brain on the ultrasound

*I have had, and continue to have, severe anxiety about baby's health. Right now I am worried that baby's legs are fused together because at the ultrasound it wouldn't uncross its legs to show us the gender. In fact I secretly think I am jinxing baby's health by announcing its existence to the blog world. I am out of control.

*I felt baby's first kick the other day. I was introducing it to John Mayer on the radio and after listening for a bit baby bumped me to let me know he/she would like me to buy some concert tickets for us.

Question for the void

2010-01-25T16:48:00.000-08:00

Since I am now a woman of leisure, I have become increasingly more curious about the tasks of other housewives/homemakers, specifically food shopping. I've always been too busy working to really try and stick within a food budget, use coupons, or drive to cheaper supermarkets, but now I find myself fascinated with the prospect of trying to spend as little as possible on food. Its kind of like my own personal game show where I'm given $25 dollars and I need to purchase a weeks worth of food without going over. Sometimes I am victorious, but most of the time I go a little over.
I went to the grocer's today and spent way more than I intended because in my zealousness to save money I've basically had to sacrifice fruits and vegetables. I realized we were in trouble when after church yesterday Adam and I found ourselves wolfing down a vegetable tray that was left over from an RS activity. We finally pulled ourselves away, however when I got caught up talking to someone, Adam wandered off and I found him again at the vegetable tray scarfing all the carrots. It was then that I knew my food games had gone too far. So today I spent a small fortune on groceries and I feel like a total homemaking failure. Is food really more expensive than I think, or am I just a really bad shopper? My question for all of you is, how much should I expect to spend on food each month realistically? I need a pace car, a reality check, a guiding voice of reason, a candle on the water...

Postmark: Garage

2010-01-14T13:21:00.000-08:00

Dear Pile of Boxes in the Garage-
If you have time left over after your busy schedule of gathering dust, attracting mice and ants, and making it impossible for me to reach the freezer could you please unearth the following things and place them nicely on the garage steps:
1) Mrs. Butterworth's syrup, as I painstakingly made buttermilk pancakes from scratch this morning only to find that the syrup is still packed somewhere in you.
2) Krusteaz pancake mix, so I never have to make pancakes from scratch again.
3) The 3 Netflix movies that I received before our move and never watched.
4) My contact lenses, as I have broken my glasses and they are now held together attractively by super glue.
5) My will to get out of bed in the morning now that I don't have a job.
6) A magical diploma that says that somehow I finished my stupid doctorate during my sleep and that I will never have to think about it again.
That is all.
Respectively yours,
Lazy Girl with Glued Glasses

News!

2009-12-08T10:33:00.001-08:00

So I am going to gingerly avoid the topic of my long bout of silence and get right to the good stuff- we are moving! Adam got a new job in Oregon that enables me to live a life of leisure, so we are bidding a lukewarm farewell to Idaho! As of now I am still planning on teaching at the university next semester by traveling back and forth. Its not ideal, but will have to do for now. I will miss my students, however I really don't think I will miss Rexburg at all. I know it can be a place of nostalgia for those who went to school here, but honestly its not that cool for a regular non-student person. Thats it for now! Go Ducks!

Gilmore Girls: Thoughts

2009-09-04T17:24:00.000-07:00

Warning: This post is for those of you who love Gilmore Girls like me, all you other people need to start watching STAT!

As most of you know, we (sniff) recently canceled our cable. My hands have grown weak from sadness after typing that last sentence. Unfortunately this new life change happened to coincide with my break from school, the only time all year that I could really dedicate to watching a ton of TV.
Yes I could have been productive, however I chose the road less traveled and watched all 7 seasons of the Gilmore Girls again. After this total immersion, I have a few thoughts regarding ol' Stars Hollow and would love some input from you other GG fans (GG stands for Gilmore Girls, not GG as in Georgia from season 4-7).

Here is the list:

1) I am in constant turmoil about who I like best for Lorelei: Luke, Chris, Jason, or Max. I used to like Chris the best, but after watching everything over again I pick Max. My last pick is Luke for many reasons, he has a serious nose-breathing problem, he is always grouchy, and his hair needs some serious work (it is fluffy and in disarray every time the hat comes off).

2) Is anyone else bothered by Luke's loud nostril/back of the throat breathing? Did I mention he is a loud breather? Deviated septum perhaps???? HELP!

3) I don't like the way Rory's character develops throughout the seasons. For the last two seasons I am totally shocked by the company she keeps. She hangs out with Logan's rich, entitled and annoying friends, people she would have found revolting in previous years.

4) In contrast I LOVE Paris, she gets funnier and funnier as the years roll on.

5) I don't like Logan, I know weird, but I can't help it.

6) When I watch Gilmore Girls I somehow believe that I have the same metabolism as Rory and Lorelei and I too can eat garbage and still remain stick skinny (hah like I am stick skinny in the first place!)

All right discuss...

Casa de Paige

2009-08-27T15:31:00.000-07:00

My other favorite part of my exodus to Arizona this summer was spending a week at the home of my sweet best friend Paige! I still remember the first day that wee Paige came into my life *sigh*. I was visiting my old roommates at the Dew Drop Inn in Provo and in walked next door neighbor Paige, so cute and hilarious I couldn't help but love her! Its been seven years since that day, and in that time Paige has vomited over me, introduced me to my husband, provided thousands of hours of laughter, created hundreds of inside jokes, listened to me through my tears, shopped till we dropped, proved to be an absolute kindred spirit, and so much more. And Sean's not so bad either:)
It was so fun being roomies again! The only downside was my separation anxiety when I had to leave. Oh how I miss my friend!

Paige and Sean on the Ferris Wheel at the Fair

The beautiful couple on their wedding day!

Three roomies and my weirdo hand-it looks like I'm clawing Paige's hair

Thanks Paige and Sean for a fabulous time!

Questions, Thoughts and Rants

2009-08-16T18:54:00.001-07:00

Periodically as I am driving around or going about my somewhat mundane life I have random blog thoughts. These thoughts consist of small ideas I have, questions I would like to pose to the world, or some small annoyance that I just need to let out into blogland but don't warrant an entire blog dedication. I usually forget about them, however today I think I will let you into the clutter that is my brain.

1. Is it possible to retrain yourself to be organized? I have always secretly wanted to be healthily neurotic about organization in my life, but alas I not only have multiple junk drawers, but also a junk room, and a junk storage unit. Granted Adam helps in this endeavor by having thousands of small nondescript hunting items, but still I could at least put them in a box marked Hunting Things That I Step On and Spout Curse Words. I am trying to overcome my lack of organization by trying to rewire my brain. My first step was organizing my closet into colors. I have never found this necessary, nor have I ever been irritated by colors all together, but now I am trying to make it annoying. Update coming forthwith....

2. This leads me to another issue I have. In my opinion there are two types of people in this world: Those who get a lot done in the day, and those that don't. I fall strongly into the latter classification. When I organized my closet into color schemes, it took the entire day, I'm not exaggerating, I woke up inspired, and went to bed when I was done. Some of you may be shocked, this will be the indication that you fall into the first classification. I am endlessly jealous of people who can get out of bed early and get things done, is there some secret? Please let me know!

3. I become instantly angry when people can't hear me and I have to repeat myself. It makes me insane, which is dumb because I tend to mumble.

4. I am so tired of living in apartments in a town filled with people who married at an extremely young age. Case in point, my visiting teacher got married during her senior year of high school, not because she had to, lest you think there were extreme circumstances, but because she wanted to. She has miraculously turned out to be normal and I love her immensely. However the problem I have is I am surrounded by people who basically don't know how to interact with each other in a mature way. I liken it to the freshman year of college mindset when you don't know how to live with anyone besides your family. This mindset leads to many immature fights about dishes, hair in the bathroom, and loud noises etc. By the time you've lived with say 50 or at least 5 roommates or so you start to learn how to be tolerant, flexible, and communicative. Here we are surrounded by people who have not had 50 roommates, more like 2 so they are still learning.

Case in point: Our parking spots are micro-machine size and Adam's truck doesn't fit in one spot so he usually will park on the street, but sometimes he parks in two spots if no one is around. The other day he went out to his car and an anonymous girl in our complex had left a scathing note on it telling him to park in one spot. One particularly poignant line went something like this, "How hard is it to park in one spot you idiot?" Although I fully understand that parking in two spots can be extremely annoying, a proper reaction might not have included childlike insults. Perhaps said person could come to our door and request he always park on the street because they don't ever have a spot, or they could find out why Adam parks in two spots etc. Any option would have been better than having a mini temper tantrum and writing a childish note without signing it. Incidentally Adam and I had a good laugh and chose not to observe her request, we decided that when she asked like a normal adult we would gladly always park on the street. This is just one of many instances of dealing with immature neighbors, all of which are like flashbacks to the dorms.

5. I have a few blogs that I follow where I don't know the author, I think it is referred to as blog stalking. Some of these people are so funny that I wish I knew them in real life. I guess its no different than reading a book and wishing you were friends with the author or even the main character i.e. Georgia Nicholson

6. I miss cable, I have no idea what is going on with SYTYCD and Project Runway is coming up. I thought I would watch less TV without cable, which I have somewhat, however now all I do is watch all my seasons of Gilmore Girls over and over. At least now I do housework while they are on since I have seen them so many times. We are saving quite a bit of money at least...

7. It is already getting cold here, bleh.

8. One thing I like about Idaho is EVERYONE has a garden, and they share. We have received SO much free produce that I am in vegetable heaven!

Ok this is getting too long, and I have so much more to share, but will hold back for the time being:)

GCTT 2009!

2009-07-26T17:44:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about my visit to Arizona was my week long stay with my dear old roommate and best buddy Jill.
Jill and I first became roommates when we both moved to Arizona 6 years ago. We didn't meet until the day we moved into our shared bedroom in the Smoke House on Alma School Road (named thus because of the smoke that came in through the vents from our smoking neighbors). We quickly bonded over our shared depression upon leaving Provo and soon became hilarious pals. Jill and I were room roommates for 4 years and not a day passed that didn't involve some sort of hilarious antic. There is something about Jill that inspires true spazziness in me and our week long reunion was full of spaz in epic proportions...

One of my favorite moments occurred the last night that I was there. Jill's roommate Amanda has within her possession the largest candy collection of all time. She has an entire shelf dedicated to treats, yes we too became fast friends or candy soul mates if you will. She has bins full of candy, fruit snacks, soda, salty treats and much more, it was a candy addict's (i.e. me) dream come true. On the final eve of Jill/Angela Fabfest we were sitting around eating haribo gummi bears and I innocently asked Jill which of the gummi bear flavors was her favorite. Fifteen minutes later, with the help of Amanda and her boyfriend Dave, we had assembled the Great Candy Taste Test 2009. The concept was simple: carefully taste each flavor of candy and then list the order of preference. We tested at least five different candy flavors and the results were astonishing! Flavors that I loved, the others hated and vice versa. I would never have thought that taste buds could vary so much. It really made me rethink the abolishment of yellow starbursts, and the wisdom of eating so much candy. Despite cleansing our palate's with milk between each flavor, we all became very ill and I had to abstain from candy for the next few days...
ok...hours...

Here is the documentation for posterity:)

My score sheet

Dave, Amanda, and Jill displaying the GCTT '09 set up

Thanks Jill and Amanda for a truly fun week!

Essay: On My Summer Vacation I...

2009-07-17T15:37:00.000-07:00

Welcome back to me! I haven't blogged lately because I have been dabbling in the land of Java, otherwise known as taking a 3 week summer course in Southeast Asian Music. I had to finish my last music history class for my doctorate so I took a month off of teaching and ran off to Phoenix. Although I missed Adam dreadfully, I had so much fun in Arizona!
My class was hilarious! The only 3 week course that was offered was Southeast Asian Music. At first I was kind of disappointed because I didn't think I would learn anything of worth, but it turned out to be totally awesome. My class was mostly about the music of Central Java, an island in Indonesia, and specifically the gamelan. Ah the gamelan...
If you are anything like me you have no idea what a gamelan is, well it is ensemble that is made up of gongs, sarons, kepuls, ketuks, bonangs, pekings, genders, and many more crazy named instruments. Basically its kettle drums, various-sized gongs, and xylophones that you hit with beaters.
My typical class day consisted of one hour of lecture and another hour of me banging around on funny instruments and laughing my head off. It was a blast!
I've included some pictures to give you an idea of the fun!

This is after class was over one day, my teacher is in the middle. He has just finished yelling at me because I was playing the gong standing up. Apparently you are not allowed to play the gong standing in Java, even if your knees are bleeding from kneeling on the carpet...

Here is the illustrious gong, and my new haircut!

Tuwanda!

2009-05-24T16:26:00.000-07:00

So Adam and I have taken the big plunge...we have unplugged our cable and DVR box! We decided that we spend WAY too much time watching really stupid shows, so yesterday we took out the cable cord and rearranged out living room furniture so there could be no going back. On tuesday I will call the cable company and cancel everything and we will be a TV free family! Well not totally TV free, we'll still watch movies and the shows we really like on the internet, but our days of laying around watching Frasier are over. So far we've been without cable for 24 hours and its been a little hard, but mostly nice. So far we actually had a conversation while eating dinner, I did almost all of our laundry (miracle of all miracles), and we went to bed at a decent time last night. Its been so nice! I'm sure future days will include feeling isolated from the outside world, and me pulling my hair out for one glimpse of Full House, but for now we are enjoying our major life change!

Question

2009-05-15T20:50:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else get a little embarrassed when you are watching a tender show (i.e. baby story or what not to wear) on television and you realize you are half smiling without knowing it? Perhaps I am alone in the world...

cash issues

2009-05-15T09:26:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been doing that thing where you pay for groceries with cash to try and stay within a budget. Its worked out nicely so far, except I've noticed something. Whenever the checker gives me my change, I feel an enormous amount of pressure to put it away as fast as possible. The second they hand it to me, they are done with our transaction and are moving on to the next person therefore I loose my right to the little purse platform. It stresses me out, my bills get wadded up, and my coins end up in the bottom of my purse in my mad dash to get out of the way. I used to pay with cash all the time and I don't remember feeling this way. My neat little debit card has spoiled me forever I guess.

Are you there blog gods?...Its me Angela...

2009-04-13T21:18:00.000-07:00

Since MTV so nicely commented on my last blog, and Nancy got free Rhodes Rolls for blogging about them, I have now decided that the blog is a very powerful thing. I am going to put this magic power to the test and see what happens...
For many years I have held a little seed of an idea in my head, dreaming of a day when it might come to fruition. I was hoping that those with power would think of it on their own, but they seem to be struggling so I thought I might send out my plea to the blog gods and see what happens. Why does the Starburst corporation, or Mars co., refuse to create a Starburst pack with only pinks in it? Honestly I only know of one person who likes the oranges and yellows, ahem Nancy, everyone else fights over the pinks and reds. If nothing else they should at least get rid of the yellows, honestly they taste like lemon pledge to me and thats not just because my taste buds are still wrecked (tragedy). I've gone so far as to actually just throw them out rather than eat them, and I know I'm not the only one who "randomly" finds the yellow next in line when someone asks for one from my pack. It hurts my heart to waste candy so that is a testament to how much I hate them.
The Starburst people have come close. One summer they had a mystery flavor instead of lemon (it was raspberry if you are wondering) and it was the best summer of my life. Much to my dismay, much like summer love, it ended too soon. The newest creation is the Fave Reds pack, which replaces the oranges and yellows with watermelon and fruit punch. This is close, but we all know that fruit punch is just one notch up from lemon.
So Starburst people and blog gods hear my plea! Make a starburst pack of only delicious pinks! Pinks, reds, and oranges if you must, but I beg of you leave out the yellows!
Sorry Nancy, it must be done...

A List of...

2009-04-07T23:31:00.000-07:00

Things I am currently obsessed with:

1. baked potatoes-perhaps I am finally settling into my Idaho surroundings but not likely. More likely it is the sour cream that is catching my fancy.

2. popcorn made in our whirly pop-mmm delicious, I may never go back to microwave popcorn.

3. checking out books from our tiny local library/reading/goodreads-I find myself reading books as fast as possible because I want to put them on my goodreads lists. I have read 5 books since last thursday (yes I am in between semesters and I live in the most boring town in America, if you are wondering why I have copious amounts of time to read). Any good book suggestions are appreciated.

4. The Hills-who isn't obsessed really...

5. Taking the Stage-modern reality version of Fame on MTV

6. Staying up super late-I hate it, but I can't go to sleep early anymore.

7. Finding healthy recipes to make on the internet

8. Laying on the couch instead of actually making said healthy recipes

9. The sun! It is FINALLY starting to warm up a bit here, however it will probably snow tomorrow because I have now jinxed it.

Surpreeeese

2009-03-19T08:40:00.001-07:00

Today is a special day for many reasons. First of all for the first time in many moons I was able to go to work without wearing my giant down eskimo coat, mittens and ear muffs, secondly it is thursday which means it is almost friday, and thirdly, and most importantly, as I was making my PB&J sandwich this morning I discovered a fingernail baked into a slice of bread. There is nothing like a little throw up in the mouth to start the day off right...

2009-03-15T20:04:00.000-07:00

1 move,

3 new jobs,

countless fights,

and 1 year later...

more inlove than ever-

I can't sleep

2009-03-03T23:22:00.000-08:00

While getting ready for bed tonight, Adam and I began a conversation that started about people with poor hygiene and ended with me recounting memories of a summer I spent at a music camp in Brevard, North Carolina. As Adam drifted off to sleep, I continued to recount memory after memory even though he was no longer listening. My memories were so happy and fun that I couldn't stop myself from telling one after the other despite his waning interest.
When I arrived at Brevard, I distinctly remember turning onto the long paved driveway onto the campus and instantly feeling a sense of belonging, safety, and fun. Rarely do I approach an unknown experience without trepidation, but this is one time where I instantly felt comfortable and at home in unfamiliar surroundings. The following months flew by as I drank gallons of cherry coke in the cafeteria, rehearsed Ravel by the lake, and laughed with my roommate Liz who became my second sister. As I lay in bed tonight remembering the smell of our cabin and the sound of the rain on the roof, I started to think about other times in my life that are so happy I would love to live them all over again. I started to make a mental list of happy times that are so close to my heart I feel like they will burst out if I don't share them with all of you. You will probably fall asleep like Adam, but thats ok. I think this is a post for me I suppose...

1) All Christmases as a child
2) My entire freshman year of college
3) The first semester living in the Arch House
4) The Dew Drop Inn years, yes all 3 of them!
5) Trick-or-Treating
6) Driving in Paige's convertible with the top down, singing "Was it you who spoke the words..."
7) Russia Tour with the BYU Chamber Orchestra
8) The smell of orange blossoms in AZ
9) All the time spent with my grandparents, especially Easters
10) Summers playing in the pioneer house with Cousin Ande
11) Meeting Adam for the first time
12) The New Kids on the Block concert and all John Mayer Concerts
13) My senior recital
14) Brevard
15) Making up games with my siblings, heck most of my childhood
16) Laughing at Jill during our many years as room roommates
17) "Como se dice what?" Era
18) Water Polo Seasons, for the most part...
19) Maple House
20) Adam and I dating

I feel better, perhaps I will be able to sleep now:)

Tonsillectomy

2009-02-26T09:22:00.000-08:00

Yes it is true everyone, I am tonsil free! After almost 3 weeks of recovery I am now ready to report on my tonsillectomy adventure. Here are some highlights:

1) I am very scared of blood, needles, and sharp things poking me in tender spots like the inside of my elbow and my throat, so needless to say I was very nervous for my surgery. I must admit I even shed a few tears, but fortunately Adam was there to help me cope. The last time I went under for surgery (wisdom teeth extraction) I woke up very angry. In fact I think I told my mom I was so mad at her I was going to kick her, this time however I had the totally opposite reaction. When I woke up from the surgery I was overwhelmed with love for my nurses and doctors. I kept trying to grab the nurse's hand to express my love and thanks to her, but she was totally preoccupied with something nursey and didn't notice my feeble attempts.

2) This is gross, but the night of my surgery I accidentally projectile vomited grape juice all over Adam's hunting magazines. He kindly cleaned the whole thing up while I slept.

3) My road to recovery would have been fairly smooth except on day 3 I came down with the flu (Thanks to my irresponsible student who showed up for her lesson with the flu the day before my surgery). This is when I felt as if I had entered the valley of the shadow of death.

4) After I started to get over the flu, I very much enjoyed laying around the house and watching TV. I started to think that perhaps the life of an invalid suits me...knock on wood...

5) By far the worst part of this whole process has been the loss of my taste buds. Apparently the brace they used to hold my mouth open during surgery can mess up your taste buds. So now the back of my tongue tastes like metal every time I eat. The saddest part is sugary foods taste the worst, so candy, cake, cookies, and chocolate (the things that make life worth living) taste like metal to me. You would think that I would just stop eating these things, but no, I keep thinking my taste buds will miraculously heal between chocolates and so I continue to stuff my face. The only things unaffected by the taste buds are McDonalds french fries and Yellow Thai Curry, so I have quickly gained back the pounds that were shed during my days of popsicles and broth.

THE END

Winter is my Foe

2009-02-19T08:46:00.000-08:00

Long Long ago, when I still lived in Arizona, I remember commenting to a friend that I hated Arizona because it only had two seasons: blazing hot and hot. This comment proccupies my mind lately as I am forced to endure sub-zero temperatures, a never ending barrage of snow and ice, and entrapment in our tiny apartment...Oh what I wouldn't give for a good day of 110 degree heat! I scoff at my past self for being so short sighted, what was I thinking????

My Celebrity Twin

2009-01-24T16:32:00.000-08:00

The other night we were watching Psych (one of our absolute favorite TV shows) when Adam said to me, "You know what? You look kind of like Jules." He was referring to actress Maggie Lawson, who plays Detective Juliet O'Hara. At first I thought he was just being nice, but after further study I think he may be a little right...

Wives and Daughters

2009-01-19T21:33:00.000-08:00

Attention all Pride and Prejudice fans, I have now found a new British love story that will let you live it all over again! The mini-series is called Wives and Daughters and I LOVE it! Over Christmas my sister introduced it to me and my mom and we literally became obsessed. The characters are hilarious, lovable and intriguing and the love story is of course adorable. It felt like I was watching Pride and Prejudice all over again, but this time I didn't know the ending:) I highly recommend it to all my fellow romantics!

Adam's Hunt

2008-12-28T19:17:00.000-08:00

Hi folks, this is Adam. I've decided to brag, I mean blog, about my last hunt of the year.
It all started with a long drive to my hunt unit down in Az. I drove most of the afternoon, on into the night finally getting there about 2 am. I was too tired to set up my tent, so I threw down my cot and grabbed a couple hours of sleep under the stars. Opening day was pretty uneventful, except for a slight knee injury. The next day I hunted in the morning with not much success, probably due to the bum knee. I headed back to camp and hung out waiting for my two brothers and good friend to get back from their hunt. We decided to part ways again, due to they were chasing deer and I was after buffalo. Thats right people Tatonka.
I was lucky enough to bring my little niece out with me, and after some sneakin around the woods, we ran into three, huge bull buffalo. After a few well placed shots one bull dropped. SUCCESS!!!!! Madison, my niece, to my surprise was super excited. She wanted to touch his eye and even held the enormous leg while I started to butcher it. The next day I got my deer. We had a lot of fun. I missed my wife though.

Funny Story

2008-12-11T09:05:00.000-08:00

Every morning at 6 am our alarm goes off. Adam needs to leave the house at 6:45 to get to work, and he usually gets three snooze pushes before he get out of bed. Our normal conversation is as follows:

Beep Beep
Me: Its time to get up.
Adam: What time is it?
Me: Six
Adam: Ok...zzzzzz

So on and so forth at ten minute intervals until Adam rolls out of bed.

Today's conversation

Beep Beep
Me: Time to get up
Adam: What time is it?
Me: Six
Adam: ok....zzzz

Beep Beep
Me: Its time to get up
Adam: What time is it?
Me: Bat ten
Adam: What?
Me: Bat ten
Adam: Are you speaking English??

In between snoozes I had been dreaming about Batman and apparently was not fully awake yet....

Its Christmas Charlie Brown!

2008-12-08T18:35:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite things about the Christmas season is all the Christmas specials they have on TV. I'm not talking about the lame movies where Tori Spelling and Jenny McCarthy save Christmas and find true love, I'm referring to all the vintage cartoons specials that they play every year since I was born. I hope they never stop showing them because they bring back a little of that magic feeling you can only truly feel when you are a little kid at Christmas. Thanks to a little magic invention called tivo, I have been obsessively searching and recording all the Christmas specials this year. Here are 5 of my absolute favorites...

1) The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (I always cry in the end when dirty-faced Imogene Herdman cradles Baby Jesus and they sing Silent Night. And how could you not love the movie that inspires my whole family to yell "Its almost Christmas Charlie!" as many times as possible on Christmas Eve?)

2) The Charlie Brown Christmas Special (I'm actually watching this right now and I can't believe how clever it is. I really missed the whole point when I was little-I remember them saying the word commercialism a bunch and not understanding what they meant. It also has the best soundtrack ever!)

3)How the Grinch Stole Christmas (I LOVE this show! The Grinch's dog is hilarious!)

4)Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (Claymation, I don't know how to spell this, at its best. Herbie the Dentist is a stroke of genius and I love the Silver and Gold song)

5)Mickey's Christmas Carol (An absolute classic and another tear-jerker for me)

P.S. The neighbors upstairs are currently putting up their Christmas tree while wearing their moon boots again! I am going to turn Charlie Brown up as loud as possible and sing along as loud as I can to pay them back! I wonder if they are going to hang their moon boots over the fireplace with care...If so I'm asking Santa to steal them as my Christmas present this year...

Our Little Bundle of Joy!

2008-11-30T20:11:00.000-08:00

Adam and I have a wonderful announcement to make! After months and months of waiting we have finally welcomed a new addition to our family. Thats right everyone on November 19th at 11:34 a.m. our newest little one arrived. Little Flutie arrived via UPS overnight shipping and weighed in at approximately 4 pounds 2 ounces and 36 inches in length (when fully assembled). He/She/It is absolutely perfect and we couldn't be happier!

For those of you who don't know, a little over a year ago Adam and I made the trek to the National Flute Convention (a.k.a. Flute Nerd Fest Extravaganza or FNFE for short) to try out new flutes for me. It was an extensive process in which I tried over one million seventy two flutes (well maybe not that many, but it felt like it) to find the magic flute (haha Mozart fans!) meant for me. At the end of it all I fell inlove with a Nagahara 950 silver flute. It was an amazing instrument, but the only problem was the wait list was over a year long. I sadly signed my name on the long list and set about preoccupying my time till the moment when it would arrive. After waiting one year and three months our little baby is finally here.

Oh how I love its little guts!

Our happy little family!

P.S. Nancy, I'm waiting for the name...

Down with Trunk or Treat!

2008-10-31T18:19:00.000-07:00

This is the saddest Halloween of all time. We purchased four huge bags of candy because we assumed we would receive tons of little trick-or-treaters. We live in an apartment complex with a profuse amount of children (we are the only childless couple in all of Idaho after all), our complex is comprised mainly of kids in our ward who we know, and we live in Rexburg, the most wholesome city in the world. And yet here we sit on Halloween night, our trick-or-treater count is at 2, and there are no children to be found... Down with trunk-or-treat! It is like the fast food version of Halloween. It is ruining the beauty of walking from house to house on a chilly Halloween night with the leaves blowing all around you. It has taken away the excitement of waiting for the door to open to yell "Trick-or-Treat" as loud as you can. All children have to do now is walk from car to car and they have all the candy they need within 15 minutes. Where is the fun in that? Trick-or-Treating is becoming a thing of the past and I am mourning its loss tonight...

P.S. Adam just suggested we go drive around and hand out candy from our car. Hey little kid want some candy??? Hmmm....

Adam

2008-10-24T09:11:00.000-07:00

Today is Adam's birthday! In honor of his newly acquired 28 years, I am going to list 28 things about him that you may or may not know...

1. He had his tonsils removed a few years ago
2. He loves Fajitas. He would eat chicken fajitas every day for dinner if he could
3. He is very strong. He can lift me up and throw me around like rag doll
4. He always feels very sad when I get hurt playing rag doll
5. He loves getting presents almost as much as me
6. He doesn't get mad when you accidentally buy yourself a present
7. He is a very hardworker
8. He is the biggest sweetheart ever. For example a few weeks ago he made me a chocolate cake with a chocolate heart in the center.
9. He will rub my back or my feet anytime I want without being grumpy about it
10. He loves eating treats as much as me
11. He is always cheerful. I have only seen him in a bad mood maybe three times
12. When he meets someone for the first time, he really is interested in getting to know them, even if he knows he will never see them again. He will ask questions and he really listens to the answer.
13. He loves my mom and my grandma immensely
14. On Christmas Eve, on his way to propose to me, he stopped and changed a stranded woman's tire on the highway and got my ring box all dirty
15. Wherever we are he has to sleep on the side of the bed closest to the door so if anyone breaks in he can protect me.
16. He loves to sneak up on me. He calls it the cheetah. Most of the time its funny, but sometimes he really scares me to death.
17. He thinks that anything I cook is the most delicious thing on earth
18. He LOVES his neices and nephews and they are crazy about him too
19. Last year for my 30th birthday he threw me a huge surpise party. He was very sneaky about it and made up a huge story about how he got into a fist fight with the neighbor to cover his tracks
20. He loves to hear about my work no matter how boring it is
21. He went to every performance of Blackbeard the musical to hear me play in the pit orchestra. He had the whole play memorized by the end of the run.
22. He went to the National Flute Convention last year and listened to me play about a million flutes and took notes for me. He even hijacked a billion free pens and pencils from the displays so I could have flute inspired writing utensils.
23. His favorite hobby is hunting and he is quite good at it
24. He knows everything about fixing things around the house, especially plumbing of course
25. He thinks I am the bee's knees even though I can be a real brat sometimes
26. He thinks Sarah Jessica Parker and Debra Messing are very gross
27. He is the best husband ever and
28. I love him very much!

Happy Birthday Adam!!!!

TV Show obsessions and misc.

2008-10-16T19:43:00.000-07:00

I am currently in the middle of a TV show DVD marathon/obsession! Periodically I find a new show that I love and then rent all the DVD's of past seasons to catch up. When this happens, it is like waking up on Christmas morning with tons and tons of presents to open. The DVDs hold so many episodes just waiting to be clicked on and enjoyed with no commercial interruptions. Thank you Santa!!!!

The only draw back is the dreaded ending...when the last DVD shows up from Blockbuster Online my heart weeps because the bounty has run out. This is particularly sad if the series has already ended. The most famous example of this is my beloved Gilmore Girls. My roommates and I became obsessed with watching Gilmore Girls reruns on the family channel a couple of years ago. Every day at 6:00 I would sit down with my 2 Otis Spunkmeyer chocolate chip cookies and delve into the world of Stars Hollow. I enjoyed coffee and chili cheese fries at Luke's, I attended friday night dinners at Emily and Richard's, and I even participated in the town meetings at Miss Pattie's dance studio. I laughed at Sookie's kitchen mishaps, grew irritable with Taylor's obsession with town laws, and of course listened to hours of girl talk with Rory and Laurelei. As the seasons wound down, I started to feel a strange sense of anxiety. Soon I would be cut off from my dear friends and their idyllic little town! The thought was too much to bare... When I finally did watch the last episode it was so sad. Lets just say it involved a lot of tears and consoling from Adam. I cannot tell a lie, it was traumatic...

So my new obsession show is Bones on Fox. I L-O-V-E it! It has inspired me to a) quit my job and go back to school to become a forensic anthropologist b) become a genius and c) wear cute necklaces. It is hilarious and it totally kicks CSI's trash (p.s. is anyone else totally irritated by that red head guy on CSI Miami? He is so over the top with his tough guy sunglasses). Anyway I highly recommend it to all!

On a totally unrelated topic, I am so sick of living in an apartment! Right now the baby upstairs is crying (probably because her parents are stomping around in moon boots making a giant racket) and the girl next door is yacking it up with one of her girlfriends at about 60 miles per hour. In addition tomorrow morning at 6 am on the dot, the neighbor who parks outside our bedroom window will start his car to go to work. This would be no problem however he has a loose fan belt and it squeals like wild banshee giving me a heart attack every morning. Oooo I hate that rabbit!

I heart Friday

2008-10-10T19:35:00.000-07:00

The most magical part of my week is friday afternoon. I LOVE friday afternoon! I love packing up my flute after my last lesson, turning off my computer, switching off my light and walking away from work for 2 whole days. Time stretches out before me untainted, unassigned, unlimited: The world is my oyster. I drive home with a smile on my face, I climb into my pajamas with childlike excitement and I lay on the couch with a sigh of sure delight.
Adam and I have a new friday night tradition. I starve myself all day on friday and the minute Adam gets home from work we go out to dinner at Craigo's Italian Restaurant. Craigo's is an old-fashioned pizza, pasta and salad bar buffet restaurant, reminiscent of the Brick Oven in Provo. The food is pretty good, but the real kicker is they have Diet Dr. Pepper and they give you free scones and cream cheese icing! Oh they are pure yumminess! Adam and I sit in our little booth discussing our week and stuffing our piggy faces. It is pure heaven!

Victory!

2008-10-02T18:38:00.000-07:00

As of tuesday I have lost 13.6 pounds on weight watchers! I am now down to my pre-wedding weight and still going! These are a pair of pants I couldn't even get close to buttoning a month ago...

comedy

2008-10-02T18:22:00.000-07:00

Every day I walk past this picture on my way to work and chuckle...

Political Outrage from an Uneducated Person

2008-09-26T20:16:00.000-07:00

I have just finished watching the first presidential debate and I have come to a very strong conclusion. I cannot be involved in politics...EVER. Every once in awhile I feel guilty about not being up to date on politics. I feel bad because I would rather watch an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond than the news. "What is wrong with me?" I wonder to myself, "I am an educated person, I should care enough about our country to learn about the goings on that effect my daily life." But after participating in politics for one hour, I remember why I shy away from politics: I get too emotional, I get frightened for our country's future, and I am exasperated by the stupidity of the people that make up our voting pool.

After the debate was over I was interested to hear what the public response would be so I continued to watch the media coverage. I became more and more irritated as I listened to political analysts and "average" voters comment on the debate. Every analyst has a political agenda already in mind and regardless of what happened, spins the candidates' comments to sway the public in their favor. I don't understand why we should cover up the weaknesses of the candidates? If they have strengths we should talk about them and if they have weaknesses we should talk about them. Why should we pretend that they are something they aren't? Shouldn't we know all the facts and then we can make educated decisions? I would prefer the American people make voting decisions based on facts rather than mind games and political strategies.

I was further agitated when the program jumped to Las Vegas to poll a random sample of "undecided" voters. I was appalled to hear the basis for their new found "decided" vote. Phrases like "He seemed bumbly", "He was too sentimental" and "He touched my heart" were thrown around. Are these people idiots? I understand that they probably have been pulled away from the slot machines or on their way to a Celine Dion concert, but honestly I hardly think some stuttering is going to really effect the dismal economic situation or foreign policy.

I recognize that I don't know much about politics, and after tonight I prefer to stay that way. Regardless of how I vote in November, I'm sure I will still have to pay enormous amounts of taxes, gas will still be expensive, and Celine Dion's heart will still go on.

Oh and Adam's thoughts are, "Leave my guns alone."

Boo Hoo!

2008-09-24T21:18:00.000-07:00

I saw the saddest thing on my way to work this morning. Some unlucky person accidently dumped a huge costco sized box of candy bars right in the middle of the one round-about we have in Rexburg. The box was split open and tons of sad little 100 Grand candy bars were being crushed by all the cars. They were hidden in such a way that you couldn't see them until it was too late to swerve. Oh the sad and cruel irony!

Its cold!

2008-09-22T07:54:00.001-07:00

September 22,2008 Rexburg, Idaho: The Mittens have come out...

Dress Code Blues

2008-09-13T10:37:00.000-07:00

So after my first week of being a professor I would just like to say: I LOVE LOVE LOVE my job! It is so fun to be a professor! I feel like I am playing dress up and just pretending to be a professor. I hand out syllabi, I stand in front of my class and say important things, I stay after class while students ask me questions and all the while I am thinking to myself "Are they really taking me seriously?" And they are! Its awesome! Despite all this gaiety, there is one draw back to working for a church school. The faculty dress code is VERY strict i.e. I have to wear skirts past my knee and nylons at all times. I have never once watched What Not To Wear and heard Stacy and Clinton tell someone that skirts that hit them mid-calf are flattering-oh yeah because they aren't. Hence Exhibit A, the photo of my first day as a professor. I would just like to point out my adherence to BYU-I dress code and how it makes me look like a sister missionary...

Oh yeah, I lost 2 more pounds last week-10 lbs total so far!

Broulims

2008-09-04T18:04:00.000-07:00

There are many things I love about Rexburg. For instance, the fact that the gas tank in my car has been on empty for two weeks, I can bike anywhere in the city, everyone seems to know each other, and it feels like fall for the first time in 5 years. However there is one thing that is perplexing to me: Broulim's Grocery Store. There are few grocery shopping choices here in Rexburg, and since it always smells like doughnuts, I choose to shop at the local Broulim's. I have witnessed a few strange things so far that have disturbed me...Last week I saw a little boy with his mother leaving the store in his underwear. Not a diaper mind you, real honest to goodness underwear. Whatever happened to "No Shirt, No Shoes, No Service"? I'm pretty sure pants are implied there.

Furthermore there is a checker girl there who has the strangest hair I have ever seen, it looks like a box. It is a very artificial color of black with the back teased up and then covered with a thin layer of hair creating a very severe square shape. All the checkers have name tags that say "Ask me about (Fill in the Blank)" to help strike up conversations at the checkout. Of course all this really does is make me mad that I have to wait in line longer while people chit chat about disney movies. Anyway, as I look at this girls name tag (I wanted to see what a person with hair like this is named) it says "Ask me about...my hair"

Hmmmm...Ok I will... "What is wrong with you hair?! What inspired such a geometric hair display? Could a person feasibly rest a house plant on your hair without it falling? Do you like the movie Edward Scissorhands?" I didn't really ask any questions, perhaps I was still in shock, but needless to say the square hair haunts me still.

And finally yesterday, I was again in the check out line being helped by friendly checker Dan, who found it necessary to yell out the numbers for produce to the girl next to him rather than scan my food efficiently. As I was waiting somewhat impatiently for them to debate the number for watermelon, I happen to glance down at Dan's name tag. It says "Ask me about...Fire"

What??? That is your favorite hobby? Lighting fire? Of all the things you would love to discuss, fire is your number one?
Even "Ask me about...produce numbers" seems more appropriate than fire!

Oh well...At least it smells like doughnuts...

W.W. Update

2008-09-03T08:20:00.000-07:00

It is with great sorrow that I inform you of my gainage of .6 lbs...It is true, the losing streak had to be broken at some point. In my defense however I did go on vacation last weekend, where I pigged out like only true little piggies can. Adam went camping with his brother so I went down to pay homage to my peeps in Utah County. Whenever I go to Provo, I have to eat at all my favorite restaurants: Thai Chili Gardens, Bombay House, Cafe Rio, Taco Bell...(jk, Taco Bell is the one restaurant we DO have here in Rexburg). They were delicious and worth every little tenth of a pound. God Bless Yummy Food! Anyway I was at 8.6 pounds lost, but now I am only at 8.0, but I am back on board and heading off to the gym today!

Picture Novelty

2008-08-26T13:36:00.000-07:00

I am just learning how to put pictures into my blogs(I am a bit behind I know). Here is a picture of my cute niece Bryn as she rips my fake eyelashes off at our wedding reception. I have another picture series of her kicking me in the bosom area until she figures out I have beads on my dress, then she starts rubbing my chest with her foot instead of kicking me. What a sweetheart!

Only in Idaho

2008-08-24T16:05:00.000-07:00

Adam and I were introduced by our dear roommates Paige and Sean. Paige and Sean were engaged at the time and soon thereafter married. This was SO nice not only because we eventually got married too, but also because we had an instant best friend couple. It was so fun because Paige and I were super pals and so were Adam and Sean so there was never any worry about the wives getting along but the husbands hating each other and vice versa.

Since moving to Idaho, Adam and I have missed our wonderful friends SO much. We have now started the arduous process of finding couple friends here in Idaho. Adam's work had a company BBQ a few weeks ago and we started chatting with his coworker Dar and his cute pregnant wife Kara (sidenote: everyone in Idaho is either pregnant or has a child, we are the lone childless couple wandering the entire state). It was pretty fun so we decided to go out to dinner with them the following week. As the day approached I started to feel a familiar feeling in the pit of my stomach, I finally figured out that it was the same feeling I used to get before a first date with a boy. I realized at that moment that we are never done dating, we just do it in couples now. I had the same anxiousness and anticipation that accompanied a date with a boy..."Could they be the one? The couple that we could become best pals with? Would our children grow up together and eventually get married? Would we share camping trips and fourth of july celebrations?" All of these thoughts ran through my mind as I got ready for the Big Date...

The evening started off normal enough, we met for dinner and chatted jovially about funny dating stories, families, the olympics etc. Half way through the meal Adam informs me that after dinner we are going out to scout around Dar's hunting area to look for elk. Dar apparently has a tag for an area west of Rexburg (for those of you non-hunters, a tag is a permission slip to kill a certain animal in a certain area. You either buy them over the counter, or you get drawn out of a lottery for one.) I didn't really want to go, but I couldn't be a spoil sport so we headed out to the area. As we were driving around the farmland, all of a sudden we spot a herd of elk walking down a hill. To put this into perspective Adam and I went hunting last October and we hiked for two days in the mountains, bush-wacking through forests and bushes and we only saw a handful of elk through binoculars, until the one he shot, and here they are basically walking up to us to ask for directions to the nearest alfalfa field.

Dar grabs his gun, I didn't even know he had a gun in the car, and after a few tense moments shoots one of the bulls. So our first double date in Idaho ended with me holding up the legs while Adam and Dar gutted the elk and poor 8-months pregnant Kara held the flashlight. Hours later when we finally finished and were driving back home, Dar says to me, "What was your name again?"

Oh how we miss you Paige and Sean and the good old simple days of Grimaldi's!

Me=Balloon

2008-08-22T07:50:00.000-07:00

So something strange happened to me after I got married. All of a sudden my body seemed to be swelling up like a balloon and I feared I may have contracted elephantitus on our honeymoon. My clothes were not fitting anymore and I noticed that I couldn't suck my tummy into a concave shape anymore no matter how hard I tried. Then I realized that I had fallen prey to marriage stereotype numero uno: I got fat. Waaaaaahhhhh!!!!!

I tried to deny it for awhile by using the old excuses-my clothes had shrunk in the dryer, I was bloated from my period, blah blah blah, but the glaring truth came to a head one sad, depressing afternoon...

My dear friend Rose is engaged to a fabulous cello player named Zoran. Zoran lives in Tucson and is very busy so I rarely see him. About a month ago he was up in Phoenix so we all went to lunch to catch up on old times etc. etc. Later that day I was chatting with Rose and I happened to mention how I thought I was gaining weight since the wedding, to which Rose replied these fateful words, "I know! Zoran asked me if you were pregnant!"

shock and awe

It is one thing to privately think you are gaining weight, but it is quite another to have it confirmed out loud for all the world to hear, ok just me, but it was still humiliating.

Later I asked my mom if she had noticed if I had gained weight lately, and she replied, "Yes. You and Adam are like two cows in a pasture. One cow alone won't eat enough, but when there is competition for food, they will both eat as much as they can."

Did my mom just compare me to a cow????

It just kept getting worse and worse, culminating with me finally stepping on the scale and confirming that I was nearly out of my healthy weight range...sniff sniff...i love food...and candy...and cake...

Do not fret dear readers there is a happy ending in sight because here enters the hero of all heros:

WEIGHT WATCHERS(yippee!)

When we moved to Rexburg, I decided it was time for me to make some serious changes so I joined our tiny local branch of weight watchers. I will tell you this, accountability works people. I love and fear the moment when I step on that scale each week and they write down in my little book how much I have lost or gained. That moment keeps me in check all week which is why I am telling you all about my embarrassing weight gain. I figure if I am accountable to not only my WW leader, but to all my friends and family then I am going to be SUPER good (it worked for Kirsti Alley didn't it? hahahaha!). So from here on out I am going to keep you all updated on my weight loss! I know you are all thrilled...

Here is the tally so far to get you all pumped up...

In 3 weeks I have lost 7.8 pounds!

Heck I may even post a before and after picture like on tv (not in my bikini though)! However if I suddenly stop talking about it, you will have to assume that I have fallen off the wagon...into a pile of chocolate cake hopefully... Anyway, thanks for all your support (all 2 of you) and long live Weight Watchers!

New Beginning: New Blog

2008-08-20T18:40:00.000-07:00

Hello Blogging World Old Friend!

Its been so long, so very long...I know what you are thinking, how could I possibly forsake the old cake blog, however with all the newness that has been happening (our new marriage, the move to rural idaho, and giving up soda) I thought it only appropriate to begin a new blog.

I wanted to entitle it Our Life in Rural Idaho: The Angela and Adam Story, but it was too long so it ended up Our Story. Hopefully our wild antics will entertain, enlighten, and yes inspire open weeping, but if it doesn't then at least it will provide a way to put off work a little longer.

So here goes...let the games begin, and don't worry I ate a ginormous piece of chocolate cake tonight for dinner...