Flashback Friday: The Sunday Edition

So I know what most of you are thinking... It's Sunday so why am I doing a flashback Friday post? Well there are 2 reasons. Reason 1: I didn't post on Friday. Reason 2: Today is a special day so it made sense to wait till today to post this story.

Exactly one year ago from today, August 31st, Brad and I got engaged. When we got engaged people encouraged me to write the story down so that people could read it and I wouldn't have to tell the story every time people asked how it happened. I wrote it down, but not somewhere that people could read it so now I will retell the story so you can all smile at how cute my husband is and shake your heads at how dim I am.

Brad and I had decided to get married and had picked out a ring that I loved. Brad decided to check around for prices to make sure that we were getting a good deal. At that time Brad was still living in South Jordan at his parents house and I was up in Logan. School started and Brad told me the very first day that he had purchased the ring. I was kind of confused that he told me he had purchased it and I figured that maybe he wasn't planning a surprise since we had already discussed getting married. He told me that the jeweler was going to take 3 weeks to get the ring sized and ready. I was a little bummed that there would be no romantic surprise but was excited to know that he had purchased the ring. I knew that even if he was planning a surprise that now that I knew it was going to be 3 weeks that I would be so suspicious of everything he wanted to do just in case he was going to give me the ring.

Fast forward to that following Friday. Brad had a job that required him to work on the weekends. We were going home that weekend so he worked late Friday night to finish the job so we could leave Saturday morning. I sat at home Friday while Brad worked and watched TV and ate bonbons. Brad got home and called me at about 10:30 and told me that he had an assignment that he'd forgotten about that he needed to complete before we left town the next morning. He needed to go up to campus and he asked if I wanted to go with him. Even though I was feeling blah from just sitting around I thought it would be nice to get out of the house and be with him so I agreed to go up to campus while he did his homework. He was taking a study skills class and he told me the assignment was for that class. The assignment was to go to a USU landmark and write down all of the things that made that landmark important. It was to be like he was listening to a lecture and taking notes on the important parts. Brad had chosen the Amphitheater on campus as his landmark. I thought this was a silly choice and thought he should write about something like Old Main or the 'A' because those are more well known landmarks but it was his assignment so whatever. We went to the amphitheater and found a plaque that had the date it was built and who donated the money. Brad said he was going to write that down but he wanted to wander around first and "glean" as much important information as he could. The fresh air was finally waking me up and so we went to the stage and we searched in the dark for "important" things for Brad to write in his paper. As we walked around I began to notice how beautiful the amphitheater is. It overlooks the whole valley and it has a great view of the stars. I began to think, "in 2 weeks when my ring is done, Brad should bring me here to propose."

After we sat and talked and looked at the stars we finally went back to the plaque so Brad could write down what it said. He got out a piece of paper and pencil from his backpack. As he was writing he asked me to get a paper with the instructions for the assignment out of his backpack. I unzipped the pocket he told me, and there was no paper inside. There was however, a large wooden box. I was opening the box and saying "What the heck is this?" Before it finally hit me. It was my ring box. I looked at Brad and he just looked at me and laughed. He had made up the whole assignment. He squatted on one knee and asked me to marry him. I pushed him over and began to cry and laugh while I said yes.

In hindsight I realize that of course rings don't take 3 weeks to size and why else would he choose to take me to such a beautiful location. But I'm glad I didn't figure it out because it made the night so much more fun without me stressing out about what was going to happen.

Couples Tag

Traci tagged me and I'm bored so even though it's the second post of the day I'm going to do it.


What is his name: Muffin
What is her name: Amy
How long have you been together: 1 year 5 months
How long did you date: 9 months
How old is he: 23
Who eats more: Depends on what we're eating. I eat more snacks that's for sure.
Who said I love you first: I asked him if I was to say that I loved him if that would be ok.
Who is taller: This is not even a contest when I'm in the mix.
Who sings better: Brad would say me, but I think he sings just fine.
Who is smarter: In what subject?
Who does the laundry: Brad does if I sort it and put it away.
Who pays the bills: He makes the money these days but I am the only one with checks.
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed: Depends on the bed.
Who mows the lawn: The staff of the apartment complex.
Who cooks the dinner: Cook? What's that? We both stand in the kitchen while we heat up frozen food.
Who drives: Usually Brad
Who is more stubborn: About what? Neither of us really.... I don't know.
Who kissed who first: He kissed me on April fools day, but it wasn't a joke.
Who proposed: He did.
Who has more friends: Brad has millions of friends that he can access online at any time of the day or night......... I probably know more people face to face....
Who is more sensitive: Amy
Who has more siblings: We both have 3 siblings but he has one brother-in-law already so we'll say he does.

I'm not going to tag anyone because I'm not actually sure if anyone reads my blog...

Catching up (end of summer parties part 2)

Wow almost a whole week without a blog from me!? I must have actually been doing stuff. First off I would like to share some pictures from the activity I attended last Saturday.
That's right we attended Oktoberfest. Brad loves Bratwursts so the drive up to Snowbird was worth it for him and his dad. I had a good time eating my potato pancakes (read: hashbrowns) while we listened to some German music. Afterwards, we looked around at the booths selling handmade jewelry and clothing and watched a yo-yo champion.


When we were done wandering Brads family decided they wanted to go down the zipline. If any of my blog readers happened to be at 5th grade camp with me back in the day they might remember me sitting in a tree for a half an hour crying before someone finally pushed me out of the tree down the zipline. Another experience that my family member blog buddies may remember is a family reunion at Brighton Girls Camp where again I cried for a good amount of time before I finally went down the zipline. Well I decided I would go with the zipliners and face my fear. I clung to the handrail all the way up the tower but once I got to the top the ride workers told me they would give me 3 seconds to cry or wet myself. As they pushed me out the door the operator told me to aim for the grass if I fell. I didn't fall and I didn't cry or wet myself so all in all I'd say it was a good day.


So that was Saturday's activities. Sunday we went to our ward for the first time. It was strangely difficult to figure out where we were supposed to go to church, but we finally got it figured out. After that I drove to Logan and stayed with my aunt and uncle for a couple nights while I had orientation for student teaching. It was so weird seeing people that I wont be seeing all semester. I felt like everyone should be WAY super excited to see me because I don't even live there. The problem was that nobody knew I didn't live there. Since it was the first day of school many people were back from the summer and they weren't surprised to see another friend so I made sure to tell everyone how lucky they were to see me in Logan.

The orientation was pretty boring and I didn't feel I learned anything more than I'd already been told. The only thing that was any different was that they changed the teacher I'd be working with for student teaching. I was a little upset at first but now that I've met the new teacher I think I'll be just fine. When I got back from the orientation I went to the school and got things kind of figured out there. I don't just take the class over right away so I probably wont have any teaching stories real soon but I'm sure I'll post them as they come.

End of summer parties part 1

Since school is fast approaching Brad and I have been looking for things to do. We had seen a very large school bus in the parking lot of one of the stores at Jordan Landing for the past couple weeks so we were really excited to find out that our nephew J.R. would be in town on Thursday. Secretly I think Brad wanted to go but felt like he needed the 3 year old to justify riding on a monster school bus. So on Thursday right after work we took J.R. to ride the monster bus and then to play on the playground. I worried the whole time that J.R. wasn't having fun because he wasn't smiling but he kept saying he was having fun so I guess he just hasn't figured out how to show joy on his face. He also doesn't like pictures, I think it has something to do with how often his mom gets out her camera. Am I right Shauntel?
J.R. in the tire of the monster bus.

This is the face J.R. had the entire time, he just stared straight ahead. This was right before his seatbelt broke and right before I got flung into the wall of the bus. It was a wild ride on the monster bus.






























After the monster truck we went back to our apartment to play on the playground. J.R. had a blast playing with Brad on the shaky bridge.


While playing on the playground Brad told J.R. that he was a troll that ate kids that tried to go through the tunnel to the slide. J.R. laughed and giggled as he tried to get past the troll. Once he succeeded, he hurried down the slide and came running into my arms. Once he got there he cried, "Don't eat me Brad! You don't eat kids you eat food!" Oh man, it was so great. We had some great times on Saturday but I have to wait for pictures so part 2 will come as soon as they come.

Flashback Friday: The First day of school

This is a picture from the first day of Kindergarten. I don't remember being scared or anxious about this day, but I'm sure I was just a little uncertain of what laid ahead for me. I feel the same way right now. I'm not sure if I'm scared or anxious, but I do know that I'm uncertain of what the next school year holds for me. The good news is that Kindergarten worked out well and I graduated with flying colors so I'm hoping that I still have some of those smarts and I will be able to figure out how to share my knowledge with the kids in my classes!

My last week

So this is my last week of being just a student on summer vacation. Starting next week I will be doing my student teaching and then I will graduate. I've been getting stir crazy lately as I try to figure out what to do with the last boxes of my junk and just sitting at home waiting for Brad to get home from work. One thing is for certain..... I would struggle as a stay at home wife. I have been searching for a hobby to keep myself busy. I'm hesitant to really start anything because I know once school starts I'm likely to abandon any project or hobby that I have started. I decided to buy a quart of paint and to paint a bookshelf that we inherited from my aunt and uncle. I'll probably post pictures of it when it's done if it turns out well. I made a bunch of designs out of painters tape and I'm hoping that everything will turn out alright when I am done painting. We've been waiting for our internet to officially be set up (it's not stealing if the neighbors don't secure their network...) So today I think I'm stuck at home waiting for the the Qwest guy to get here. He was supposed to come yesterday but apparently the guy who put in our order messed up a code or something and didn't actually put in our request, instead there was a note made in our file saying that our home alarm was messing up our internet........ huh? Because we have a home alarm..... Whatever. Hopefully it gets taken care of soon cause I'd really rather use a secure network, plus I have a feeling I"m getting charged for internet that doesn't work. So for the next few days I plan on getting up early and painting a few more coats on the bookshelf while the weather is still cool and then I'll watch the Olympics until Brad gets home. I know I'll miss this boredom someday, but for now I'm just ready for something to do.

When my husband got kidnapped: dedicated to Traci and Celeste

Ok fine Traci and Celeste I'll post about the time you tried to be creepy but failed.

So before Brad and I left Logan we went to a movie with Ryan and Mel. When we got home there was a lovely note on my door typed in the newspaper clipping style font that said that if I ever wanted to see my husband again I would have to go to a park and do a headstand and then leave 10 different colored skittles on a bench. It was signed BARB. That's right Barb, someone (or 2 someones) is doing evil things and blaming you. Well my husband was standing right next to me so I knew the threats were idle. I said to him, "Do you want me to go do this so that I can see you again?" And he replied,"No those demands are unreasonable, you would have to buy several different bags of skittles to get 10 different flavors." And so I didn't.

I Declare.......

I declare that standing in line for 3.5 hours is an awful long time to stand in line. Especially when there is nothing to look at while you are in line. I mean sure I've stood in line for that long while wandering through a castle, or moving from painting to painting behind lines of Asian school-children at a museum. But all along those lines are new and beautiful things to look upon. Sure the Utah State Capitol is a beautiful building but standing in a line that just goes around the same room for over 3 hours is a long time. BUT at the end of that long line stood a copy of the Declaration of Independence. So I stood in that line today with Brad and his parents and at the end of the line we had our picture taken with a piece of paper that changed the way that we all live today.


So thanks Scott and Jackie for enduring that line with us so that I could say I have seen one of the 25 original copies of the Declaration.

Flashback Friday: My olympic dreams

When I was a little girl I loved gymnastics, and actually I'm still little and I still love gymnastics. I have been staying up late all week watching the gymnastics finals for both men and women. When I was younger I did gymnastics at 2 different gyms. I can remember watching the Olympics back in the day and telling people the name of every skill that the gymnasts were doing. I thought I was so good at gymnastics. I won a gold medal for my age group back when I was in 2nd or 3rd grade. If there was even a small open space in a room I could be found doing head stands and handstands or cartwheels. I often got up from the dinner table to go do headstands in the entry way of my parents house. I'm pretty sure that doing headstands on the kitchen floor is part of the reason the top of my head is so flat.... My next door neighbor once accused me of trying to make her mad by always doing cartwheels in the front yard when I knew she couldn't do a cartwheel. Turns out I wasn't that great at gymnastics. I'm kind of a wuss and so I was always scared to do any skill without a coach there to spot me. It was like pulling teeth trying to get me to advance and try new things. So I eventually gave up the dream of being the best gymnast in the world, but it sure was fun while it lasted. I still enjoy doing the occasional roundoff in the park, and I love watching people who are good gymnasts preform.

All moved in!

What a day! We've spent the last 2 days packing everything we could. There were times that I felt like we had EVERYTHING packed that we could pack, but of course when we started loading the truck there were all these random things that didn't get into boxes. Friday we were packing and discussing the fact that we would be paying more than expected for the 2 bedroom when my phone rang. It was the apartment complex. Their phones DO call out! That was the first call that we actually received from them, every other time we've had to call in. The lady in the office said they ran our numbers again, not sure why since they had already told us where we would be living.... but she said they ran the numbers again and we ARE poor enough to qualify for the one bedroom apartment. So we get to pay a lower rent and we can save some money. We were SO happy! My parents came up to help us pack but instead we just went out to dinner. After dinner my old roommate Staci came up to Logan and she came to our apartment and we watched a movie together. I hadn't really seen her since my reception so it was nice to have her visit. She was the first, last, and only person to stay with us in our apartment in Logan. People just never want to stay with newly-weds I guess. Saturday morning we got up early and my parents came and we began packing things up. We filled up my parents van and then we began taking stuff out to the curb so it could just be loaded in the truck. So many people drove past and started to stop because they wanted to buy our stuff. It was because of our nice couches I'm sure. But we managed to keep the people away and we eventually got everything on the truck and the apartment all cleaned up. I'll miss Logan for sure but it's so fun being here now.

After an hour of signing papers saying that we wont smoke on the property we finally got our keys. We were getting antsy worrying about our movers being out in the heat. Brads uncle and cousins had come to help move and so the adults were trying to keep the kids entertained so they told them to go up to the apartment and knock and tell the people we were ready to move in. They did and no one was surprised when they came back and said nobody answered. They were surprised however when the kids were playing up by the apartment and came back a few minutes later to tell the adults that the new apartment smelled like paint. It was sitting unlocked and they had just been waiting around meanwhile the kids had just been playing inside the empty apartment. So by the time we were done signing papers all our stuff was moved in. We've unpacked a lot but we still have a bunch to go. As soon as we're done I'll take pictures to post on here so everyone can see our great new apartment.

Thanks to everyone that helped and to everyone who asked if they could help even though we didn't use them! We have great friends and we look forward to making more great friends!

Home Sweet Home

So we found out where we will be living. FINALLY! Less than 48 hours before we needed to be out of our current apartment we were finally told that we could move into the apartment complex in West Jordan. We are apparently too rich for the one bedroom apartment however and so we will be moving into a 2 bedroom. This means we will be paying a higher rent but in all actuality it is the same rent we'd be paying for a non-subsidized one bedroom and we're getting 2. While it will be nice to have that second bedroom it isn't necessary so we are a little bummed. We'd really hoped that we'd be able to save money with this apartment, but saving money is what got is into this trouble in the first place. Apparently when it come to government housing if you are good at saving money you get punished, those commercials about savers anonymous are starting to make sense now. So starting Saturday our new home will be West Jordan. We will be living right across the street from Jordan Landing and we will have a spare bedroom and a spare bathroom too so if anybody wants to come visit us we have the space!


Oh and if you can figure out who DOES qualify for this housing I'd love to know because I don't see how newly-wed college students can be too rich but apparently I'm wrong.

A day full of bird related comparisons

If I wasn't grossed out by the idea of a chicken running around with it's head cut off I might try to find a video of it on the internet to post on here to show you all how I feel today.

This story is where bird reference number 2 comes in: The Wild Goose Chase. The day started early (cause the early bird gets the worms!) with a meeting with my academic adviser. I needed him to sign my graduation packet and he hasn't been on campus for a week so I had to wait until this morning to meet with him. I have to make sure that I see him today because if I wait until tomorrow I have to pay a $40 late fee on my packet.
Quick background story: I wouldn't have waited this long but you see, someone at the registrars office told me that I couldn't change my name after I had my packet and so I had to wait until after we went to Florida to change my name on my drivers license which means I couldn't even apply for my packet till I got home. When I finally get my name changed they tell me I have to talk to my minor department before I can apply for my application... well long runaround made short... when I finally get all this crap done the guy tells me "you know you could have taken care of all of that AFTER you had your packet."
SO I get to campus and my adviser signs everything and tells me I'm good to go! YAHOO! So I run over to the history department to get a signature from someone over there for my minor. There is one random teacher in her office so she just takes my word that I have the classes I need and signs my sheet. Wonderful! All before 9:30! So I'm thinking today is going to be fabulous. Well I go to turn in the packet and the girl is like "oops you need the Dean of your college to sign this." Like the Dean knows who I am and if I should be able to graduate. So I call the secretary and she tells me who I need to contact to get this signature. I go BACK to the education building and the secretary knows that packets are due tomorrow so she's got a big stack of them to get signed and she tells me that I can come back after noon to pick it up. I mention to her that I think my adviser has left a spot blank on the form. She looks at it and looks at me all confused. She says,"....... is this your second bachelors?" "No...." "Then your major isn't secondary education." WHAT THE CRAP! So apparently my adviser was going to let me graduate with a degree I couldn't have possibly earned........ So she fills out a change of major form and makes me go get it signed by my adviser (who by the way just nodded when I asked if this was right...... rrrrrrr) and she then staples it to my packet and says I'm good to go. Turns out I'm graduating with just a degree in Social Studies. This is the way I see it: I could have graduated a year ago and then taken all my education courses separate from everything and graduated with a second degree in Secondary Ed. I could be wrong but that's what it's looking like. Don't worry I made sure to ask if I can still teach. She laughed at me. It makes sense though because everyone else is a History major or an English major with an emphasis on secondary ed. But everything I've ever filled out has said my major was secondary ed. So I'm going to graduate but I have gone 4 years without knowing what my major is. So at about 1 I went and picked up my signed packet, filled out another sheet that nobody gave me before this, picked up another packet that nobody mentioned I needed, and then went to turn it in. Wouldn't you know it, I didn't have my check book and they don't take cards. Luckily they can post it to my account so I paid it online when I got home this afternoon, this was convenient actually because I had to pay tuition as well. (Killed 2 birds with one stone)

During my "downtime" while I waited to get my signed packet I decided to go get gas. I get to the pump and realize that Brad has my debit card in his wallet. I can't wait until this weekend when he gets his own debit card so we can stop switching my card around between the two of us! So I go back home and decide to call the apartment complex to see why they haven't gotten back to us yet. Last Monday when I called to check on things, they told me that everything was looking good, that they wouldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't looking like we would qualify, and that they should be finalizing our work that afternoon at 4:30 and would be letting us know if they had any questions and we could possibly move in earlier than the 9th! That was a week ago and we hadn't heard anything from them since. After a 5 minute wait she tells me "We came across some problems with your application and it looks like with your job and with Brad working full time you will make too much money so you are overqualified." (If you don't know we're moving into government subsidized housing so we have to be poor enough to live there.) My first question was "With my job?!" I wont have a job when we get there. In fact my last day was friday. It says so on the form. The form my boss faxed them said so too. In fact everything we've ever told them is "I WILL NOT HAVE A JOB." My next question was doesn't this qualify as something they should have let us know? They said they would call if they had any questions. So if they "came across some problems" doesn't that mean they should have called us to clarify or at least tell us they thought we didn't qualify. I point out to her that I can't work in Logan when I live in West Jordan and she says "oh you're right it does say that your last day is August 1st." Then she asks if I filled out the unemployment affidavit. Of course not, nobody told me about something like that even though I've been telling them all along I wont have a job. So she makes me fill out something and fax it to her saying that I wont have a job. I decided to just spell out our life plan for them in an attached memo. I even broke down our calculations for our expected income so that they could stop guessing and just know what is going on. Brad and I are getting really frustrated with the whole process. We've both decided that if we don't get into this housing that we'll survive and life will go on but we just want to know! We're packing up and leaving Logan on Saturday no matter where we end up staying but it's looking more and more like we'll be crashing at Brad's parents house for at least a little while until this all gets straightened out.

So my last frustrating story is that I tried to get my prescription refilled on Saturday but they couldn't fill it because they couldn't call USU's pharmacy to transfer the prescription. The USU pharmacy is only open from 11 till 1 during the summer so I had to rush in today between everything and it turns out they don't have any of my pills. So the guy transfered my information down to walmart so I could get it there.

So we still don't know where we're going to live, but at least I'll be medicated and on my way to graduation when we get there.

Flashback Friday: My job

So since it's Friday and I'm still in Logan (shock!) I can do a Flashback Friday post. Today I'd like to remember my most favorite job I've ever been paid for. It's a job that I remember fondly, and I remember it really well. Mostly because I just had my last day today so it's still pretty fresh on the brain. Today was my last day in the labs. The last day that I will be paid to watch tv or do my homework or chat with my friends in the library. It was the last day of the most relaxed job I will ever own. I really can't think of another job that I could ever have that would be as laid back as this job. Even though sometimes it could get tedious and a little mind numbing (read: summer.....) I loved this job. So I will now leave you with a collective list of some of our favorite and not so favorite things to hear while we worked in the labs. Here's to all my friends and coworkers that I will miss a lot, SLS Super Consultants for life!

"Do you have a stapler?"
"What if I don't have my card?"
"But I thought I had free copies."
"Will you proof-read my paper?"
"I can't find my email." (only applies to summer shifts) ;)
"If I printed something where would it go?"
"There will be breakfast!"
"Is there a waiting list?"
"But I didn't mean to print 3 blank pages at the end of it...."


If you know some that I didn't include feel free to comment with any extras that I've forgotten.