Mike and Jess

NYC Baby!

2011-11-09T18:27:00.000-08:00

Here's a picture overload of our 3 day trip to New York in October.

This was a surprise trip for me- on our way home from work on Wednesday Mike said I needed to pack because we were going somewhere right after work the next day. I didn't know where we were going and thought maybe we were headed to Park City because I always like me some Park City.

Well we left work early and were on a schedule and Mike convinced me we weren't going to the airport until we were pretty much getting off the exit. Still didn't know where we were going until we printed our boarding passes. It was AWESOME and I can't believe Mike kept it a secret for 2 weeks!

Mike and T-Rex at the Natural History Museum

First day we went learned the subway, lunch in Central Park, Museum, and dinner at Katz Deli.

It was pretty crazy to see so many dinosaur bones- there were rooms and rooms of them.

With the reptiles

The little herd of elephants were super cool. The Museum was Mike's favorite part- so many crazy taxidermy animals!

Mike getting a dinosaur shoulder rub.

First night at Time Square. Our flight got in at 11pm, took an expensive cab ride to our hotel, dropped our stuff of and headed out for the night. We got back in at like 3am but weren't even that tired because there were always so many people out. It's a pretty nice change from Provo, UT!

We had to stop at a few tourist food places. Here's our dinner from Katz Delicatessen. Pastrami anyone? We also went to Grimaldi's in Brooklyn

Here's Mike checking out some items in China Town. It was really fun to walk the blocks with everyone trying to get you to buy their stuff: "Rolex Rolex Rolex, Gucci, Dior" I bargained for a Rolex but didn't end up getting it, should have got a few other things too. At least we left with a scarf and two pairs of sunglasses!

Our last day we hit breakfast in the park, Empire State Building, NY Public Library, Grand Central Terminal and the subway all the way back to JFK airport.

I thought I was pointing to the Empire State Building... Mike got a kick out of it.

It's really small but I'm pointing to it for reals this time!

Empire State Building. It was super windy- thus my crazy hair in all these pics. Can you see Central Park right above my head?!

Don't I look so studious in the New York Public Library? This place is so grand, we just wished that there weren't any computers in it...

View from the Brooklyn Bridge.One day we went to lower Manhattan to hit a bunch of places. Ground Zero, Battery Park, Brooklyn Bridge, Grimaldi's, China Town, and the Shake Shack.

Brooklyn Bride. -I almost got ran over by that guy on the bike :)

Central Park was my favorite place! And this is the only picture that someone else took for us...

A little bit of Central Park! We ate our lunch here and walked around for a bit but didn't spend too much time here. Next time we'll take a bike tour or spend the day at the Park, it's that cool!

Subway yes. 42nd street was are hub. It took us a day to finally get the hang of it. We walked and took the subway everywhere we went.

Not a great pic at all but that's the Statue of Liberty between us. We were just hanging out at Battery Park.

Hello new friend

2011-02-26T20:11:00.000-08:00

This is the new edition to our family. Mike was planning on getting one in Spring but in January he found this pretty for a great price that he couldn't pass up. We sold his car a few weeks later and are now a one car and motorcycle family!

Off to school.

We took a little ride to the lake and couldn't resist walking on the frozenness.

Can you tell it's supposed to be a heart? We tried... We LOVE taking motorcycle rides together.

Grateful

2011-02-21T11:13:00.000-08:00

Today I've decided to be more grateful. There are amazing things all around me and now I will acknowledge them! I'm hoping this blog business will keep me looking for things that inspire me... and it can double as a journal.

summer/fall update

2010-10-17T21:10:00.000-07:00

Home sweet home.

Enjoying some Mexican wrestling at the Latino Fest. We also had our first pupusas, they were so good we went to another stand and got more!

We went to the Lion King at the Capitol Theatre in Salt Lake. The first day tickets went on sale. Mike and I waited in line at like 5am. It was all worth it because that show is AMAZING. It is so cool to see how the do the animals. The monkey was our favorite character and she was an amazing singer.

We got to go to the BYU football game against San Diego State. It was Mike's first one and I'm glad they won!

Mike sure does love his softball. He usually plays pitcher and likes it because he gets to be involved in all the action. This is his fall team.

We worked and worked all summer and decided that we deserved a vacation. The week before school started we took a trip up to Park City and went mountain biking at the Canyons. I had never been before and it was a lot of fun. We planned to go for most of the day but turns out mountain biking is really tiring and after we took a lunch break we decided we were done. We stayed the night up there, got some pizza, swam in the pool, and relaxed. It was a super fun trip!

Mike on his bike. We rented them from a place up there and they were pretty sweet. He had tons of fun and was so great to stop every little while to let me catch up and make sure I was still alive!

Us at the hospital after Steph and Jam had their baby boy. Yeah, I am wearing a tank top. Funny story:

I was watching their 2 year old, Melody, that day. That night we ate at a restaurant and as we walked outside I picked her up and well... she had a blowout all over my shirt, foot, and the ground. I couldn't believe it and just froze. Good thing the next two people out of the restaurant were my mom and brother. We got everything cleaned up but my shirt was still a mess. Turns out my mom was wearing that tank top over a white shirt and so luckily I had something to change into.

These are gigantic zucchinis that my family decided to carve and set out for Halloween. It was a lot of fun and a great use of useless zucchinis!

Pics update

2010-04-29T13:44:00.000-07:00

Sadly, this is the only picture we have of Mike's spring league softball. He pitched every game but one and turns out he's a pretty good pitcher!

Our first camping outing this year. Mike's practicing his whittling with the tools he got from a nice man whose house he sprayed.

We went on a nice hike behind our camp. The boys made it to the very top of the mountain as Ashlee and I decided we didn't want to risk it.

Eating our delicious canned soup dinner as Scott and Ashlee have gourmet tinfoil dinners!

Carmel apples... YUMMMM

This is what happened when I fell asleep with wet hair! On side was fine but this one was crazy!

long overdue

2010-03-02T19:44:00.001-08:00

Pics of a few things that we have done the past 6 months!! Ha If anyone sees these I hope you enjoy. Sadly this is about all the pictures we have taken... not to great at deciding to pull the camera out.

Halloween. Terrible picture but doesn't Mike look sweet!!!

Lights at Temple Square. Notice Kyle and Cassandra's attire compared to ours... I guess we didn't realize that it is freezing in the winter!

Same night but the temple looked so cool amidst all the fog. Great photo by Mike.

Christmas morning in Arizona with the whole fam. It was tons of fun to hang out with everyone and relax for the week. Not to mention getting to enjoy some nice 50 degree weather in December! Favorite surprise gift: Mike got me a heart rate monitor!! Mike's favorite surprise gift: none. It's nearly impossible to keep a surprise from this guy, he know everything!

Classic eggnog sipping party pictures:2007. We were dating here.

missed it one year

2009. And yes Mike does have a nice mullet here.

school anyone?

2009-09-30T13:21:00.000-07:00

School's back in session! (Yes, I know this post is not very current!) We knew that everything was starting up again when there all the people came flooding Provo again. We really enjoyed having good parking spots and not having a billion people crossing the streets without caring about cars. But alas we moved so we don't have to worry about that anymore.
School is going well, we are both enjoying it enough. Mike has a lot of homework this semester, thanks to a lot of busy-work for his Spanish class, but he never complains. I really like my classes this semester, all health and exercise ones!, so hopefully this will keep me motivated throughout the semester.
Mike's on a softball team in Provo and has had a ton of fun with that. Our friend Rooi got a random group of guys together and Mike and my brothers are on the team. I love watching the games but realized that I'm one of those crazy fans that gets really into the game and I can't help but get nervous! They have gotten pretty good, the first games weren't anything to talk about :) and now they are in the playoffs. It would be sweet if they won! We'll see.
That's really all that's new right now. Here's some of what happened recently.

I climbed a tree! It was fun and hurt my hands way more than I remember when I was a kid. My mom and sister did it too!

Park City marathon... I only got to mile 13.1- running maybe 10 times to train doesn't cut it- and could hardly move. Mike met me a few times on the trail to cheer me on and give me tylonol (it didn't work) and ran the last few miles with me. It was a lot of fun but next summer I will make sure I train.

Laticia and Jade visited for Cassandra's wedding. It was really fun to have them hear and see how big Jade is now! -poor pic but the rest were really blurry.

Waiting outside the Manti temple, perfect photo op! Mike's dad got to stay with us a few days!

Joshua got cold during pics. He's super funny.

Bro and sis! Isn't Mike so cute!!

Cute fam minus Dan who was in the middle of finals week.

The happy couple. They are so cute and we had a fun day celebrating with them!

California

2009-07-07T19:26:00.000-07:00

Well I realized that I am terrible at blogging this summer, that's what not sitting in front of a computer 8 hrs a day does to you! Right now I'm at the library typing on old school keyboards that make really cool sounds as you type so I decided I needed to type... blog.

We recently made a trip to California with my brother Jameson and his wife Stephanie. It was nice to get away for the week and just relax. We "named our own price" on Priceline and got SWEET deals on hotels... but ends up that really nice hotels don't have continental breakfast, my very favorite part of a hotel :(... (that looks like drool!) We got to visit Mike's dad's side of the family, grandma, aunt, uncle... He hadn't seen them since right after the mission and I've never met them so it was great! They are great people and so nice!
We got to go to Disneyland and California Adventure for free! Thanks to some family that work for Disney and it being the day of my birthday. Super fun b-day! One main attraction we missed out on was Six Flags... and that's a story for later/never.

in front of California Adventure. Notice the little feet behind Mike. This boy kept running up and spanking peoples bums and then running off.... odd.

In line for... Honey I Shrunk the Kids!

Disneyland!

This place is famous but I forget what it is... Fun pier but too cold for California.

Cousins at Mike's grandma's house. We had a party this day, they are really cute kids. Don't mind the blinking/lobster pic!

Grandma Armida and Aunt Darlene with little Savanah. This is the day we went to the beach without sunscreen, thinking it wasn't hot enough to get burned... we were WAY off!

Costa Rica

2009-05-19T08:34:00.000-07:00

So I guess it's about time to post some pictures of our AMAZING trip to Costa Rica. We spent 9 days to fly and play and had tons of fun.

Behind the temple. A couple that Mike taught ended up being there so we got to go through together, pretty cool.

Hiking in all of our gear to the platforms for our canopy tour.

It was tons of fun! The longest line we went on was almost a kilometer long!

We went over stuff like this! So pretty!

He's good with horses. As a part of our tour.

Indigenous tribe.

Driving through Mike's favorite place, up in the clouds.

A nice sign at the zoo

Active volcano, Arenal. We didn't see the very top because it was too rainy that day.

A beach in Manuel Antonio (a national park). We were super sunburned after this day.

One of the many one way bridges... driving is CRAZY. I'm glad Mike was up for the challenge!

So I guess it's about time to post some pictures of our AMAZING trip to Costa Rica. We spent 9 days to fly and play and had tons of fun.

C to the R

2009-05-05T16:15:00.000-07:00

We're in Costa Rica!!!
Mike is outside calling a hotel so he told me to write. We made it. The flights were good but I decided I'm a pansy when it comes to flying. We got to see lightning in the clouds as we flew past.
It rained today and the forecast calls for rain this whole trip! But it hasn't been bad because it just rains hard for a bit then clears up and starts over again. Fun time driving and playing at the beach. No pics for now because we left our camera cable...
Love you all!

:)

2009-03-13T09:28:00.000-07:00

I HAVE THE BEST HUSBAND IN THE WORLD!!

Feliz Navidad

2009-01-03T18:54:00.000-08:00

Christmas breaks are so much fun but too short! We just realized that school starts in 2 days!! Wow. We had a ton of fun this Christmas, here are some things we did:

-Spent a few days in Arizona with Mike's dad and Mary. His dad had no idea we were coming so that made a great surprise!

-Christmas Eve and morning we were with Mike's mom and the boys. It was so much fun to be with them and see how excited they were! They got us up at 7am which was really early after going to sleep at 2am but we were grateful for his mom for letting us sleep in, the boys got up at 5:30! In the afternoon we headed to my families house and spent the day and night (got snowed in). Great day being with our families!

- Jen headed a great family reunion with my dad's side of the family. It was a lot of fun and really nice to see all the family that I haven't seen for so long.

-Rang in the new year with the Webster's and Butler's.

-Mike went ice fishing yesterday with the boys from my side. They decided that they need to do things to become more manly and ice fishing was on the list. They woke up at 4:30 and headed out to the freezing cold but had a great time. Now they are men.

zzzzz

2008-10-08T10:37:00.000-07:00

I think people are extra sleepy today. Right now I'm sitting in the back of the library and Mr. Snores is just laying taking a nice little nap. I came from the RB were a kid sat by me and fell asleep, snored a little but all the while was listening to techno and I could hear it. I tried to disregard it and focus on studying but it got to me and I had to leave. TECHNO IS NOT MUSIC PEOPLE, IT'S JUST ANNOYING!

Happy trails and good luck in school.

Niece #2, Melody Kate, came last night! She is so stinking cute and soft!!

play

2008-10-07T10:27:00.000-07:00

Jessie this is for you...

Mike and I play. Last weekend was the first weekend we were home for.
Past weekend events:

Camping with Mike's side. It was tons of fun but got so so cold in the night. We rented a canoe from BYU and played on it for a day.

Camping the next weekend with guys from the summer. Mike and I were the first ones to go up and were the lucky ones to start the fire, we I mean mostly Mike. It was less cold and a ton of fun. Mike and Colton went on a midnight canoe ride as I took a nap in the back of the car. Turns out that we weren't supposed to be in that campground and the lady was really mad at us in the morning and yelled at us. Oops.

Weekend after that, we went to one of Mike's mission companion's, David, cabin by Cedar city. It was so much fun playing ping pong, wii, riding quads, and shooting each other with paint ball guns! Yeah We still have battle wounds! It was so much fun up there and we decided that one day we WILL have a cabin!

So that's some of the play. Our tent we bought in Texas has been of great use! I find it funny that I should be studying for a test right now but got a little distracted and now look!

school, work, play

2008-09-26T09:39:00.000-07:00

update:
We moved into a sweet apartment just barely south of campus in Provo. We love it and almost have everything set up like we like it!
Mike works at Buffo's Pest Control spraying and killing things that people don't want in their homes anymore. It keeps him really busy but he likes it.
I go to school and get to walk because we live so close. The job situation for me is still not figured out. My goal is being employed by next week...

That's about all I will write for now.

we hop

2008-08-27T13:40:00.000-07:00

So we couldn't figure out how to post that video I wanted to put on here, it's on Mike's phone so yeah. But I guess I will just say that. We buried me in the sand up to my waist, it was fun. Then Mike decides it would be funny to through chips all around me so that all the seagulls would fly around and attack me! Well they didn't really attack me but it felt like it. Needless to say it was funny and a good idea, I probably would have done the same if it were him buried!

This week I have been working all day. I wouldn't mind this I guess but I haven't gotten out of the office... calls for really long and boring days. It's my fault though because I can leave... so today I decided I will go to the apartment gym while I'm working. Now I just have to wait for Mr. UPS so that I can leave. Oh how I hope he comes soon!

Good news on the lodging situation, we are looking into two places that have good potential. We just have to wait until we get back to make our decision.

Here's some pics from our first days in San An:ZOO DAY!

Boat ride on the River Walk

san antonio: the land of stinky sponges

2008-08-20T16:29:00.001-07:00

So we went to the beach a while ago. We spent the whole day there getting burnt and sticky and oceany and eaten by seagulls (this video will come soon)! It was so much fun!!! These are the few pics we have, turns out both of us don't have our camera chargers so both cameras are dead now...

Don't we look like beach?!? Kind of gross. In fact instead of driving the 2+ hours home being sticky and icky we stopped by the nearest hotel and took a nice little rinse off in their pool!

As for resent news:
We leave this fine state on Saturday. Plans are that we will take a day at Sea World on Friday then drive most of the day Saturday to Mike's dad's in Mesa. We'll spend a few days partying there and then drive back to UT on Tuesday! We're SO excited!

We live in a swamp land now. For the past week and a half or so it has rained everyday and then our sprinklers still turn on, ridiculous. There are puddles everywhere! Oh and I love how it rains here... HARD! It comes on so fast and really pours every time. Sadly, I haven't played in it yet...

We are officially addicted to Prison Break. There have been countless really really late nights watching said show. Season 4 starts next Monday, needless to say we will be watching this with Mike's fam!

i guess it's about time

2008-08-16T10:11:00.000-07:00

I promised Kirsten that I would blog sometime this week... so here it goes. And I don't really want to do it again, I guess I got blogged out!

Just so you know, Sprint customer service and their stores don't work together. They have "different policies". LAME

I realized that I really don't know how to shop for food for two people. It is really hard. For some reason I now think that I have to make extravigant meals, like how I cooked for myself isn't good enough... Do married people really have to make meal meals? I need answers people!

I still love the olympics! Oh how I wish I was could be in the olympics... or at least there watching them

Here's a picture of Eric I dug up. Makes me laugh every time.

HI YA'LL

2008-07-30T14:21:00.000-07:00

We're in Texas.
So I haven't blogged for a really long time... oops. Well now what shall we say today?
Today we finally made it to the temple! I could list excuses of why we haven't taken the time to go but that's dumb. It was great to go. We took a picture, tis not very good but Mike says that we have no pictures on the thing called blog so... Hopefully it will be up soon.
We just got back from the most amazing trip! It was so much fun to be back in Utah and visit everyone! Thanks everyone for taking time to play with us! We love you all! Oh and Matt and Jamie got married! Weddings are fun and I much enjoy them when I didn't do all the planning and jazz like that! They looked great and everything was just great! I cut my hair while we were there... still thinking it was a mistake. Next time make sure I have someone with me so I don't screw up okay readers! :) Don't fly United, they like to mess up flights. On our way to Utah we had a big ol' mess up with everything, slept in the Denver airport and got to Utah 9 hours later than we were supposed to. BUT we slept in an airport and had that experience.
I just stole someones ice cream from the freezer... they just got mad because a bunch of people at most of it... Thanks for the ice cream! Yum
Here's a shout out to our friends Kirsten Clark and Matt Butler on their birthday! Hope it is a great day for you!
We want to live in Berg Mortuary on center in Provo. They are looking for a couple to stay there and answer the phones on the off hours. We would get free rent and get payed some to answer the phones! Sweet deal huh!!! Oh how I want it! Keep your fingers crossed people!
Also, agree with Kdig about Jon Troast. Cool and unique music!
Life is fantastic! Be happy!

PS if you find any places that are for rent and a good deal let us know! We don't want to live in a box! but that would be an experience...

huh

2008-07-11T15:29:00.000-07:00

So some updates, though it's been what less than a week? But are lives are so interesting that so much happens!!! not really:
I broke my toe. Well I'm 99% sure that I did. We didn't go to the doctor or anything, they can't/don't really do anything for toes and we don't have insurance so we decided to skip that expense. Now I walk a little funny so that it doesn't make my toe feel funny. Yesterday I went to the gym and was determined to run. Well I did for a little while but then it just wasn't going to work so I had to do other things... Mike made me pinky swear that I would only bike for a while so I guess I have to "take it easy" LAME! We'll see how that works out.
I'm on a broken toe diet for a while so we'll see how that works out.
We can't wait to come back to UT to visit! We haven't told our manager that we are leaving yet... I guess we are hoping that we can sneak away without anyone really noticing... so we'll see how that works out! jk But Mike just told me that he wishes I would just tell the guy. I guess I can and I will, some day some time that we catch him in a great mood and he won't even mind the news!
It rained here everyday for a week, finally we are seeing clear skies. Not that Mike is grateful for that, he was enjoying being allowed breaks in the day. They have to hide out or go places while it's raining so they don't get soaked... umbrella? never heard of it!
that's all for now. I want to read some good stuff from everyone else... get blogging people I'm bored!! :)

America

2008-07-05T11:57:00.000-07:00

I just thought I would tell everyone that America is cool! I'm glad I live here and have the chance to become whatever my heart desires! Thanks to all who allowed it to be like this! Oh and fireworks are about the coolest things, I love them! People have the job to make those things and come up with new ones... how would that be to have a job like that???

Here's some music that I think is awesome... John Mayer's song Say is about the best song that I can think of right now, man it is amazing! Also Jason Mraz I'm Yours is a sweet song. One of my new favorites as of this summer is Mims This is Why I'm Hot. Seriously this song rocks! The chorus is:
is why I'm hot
This is why
This is why I'm hot
This is why I'm hot
This is why
This is why I'm hot
I'm hot cause I'm fly
You ain't cause you're not
This is why
This is why I'm hot
Who would have thought of that???? If you haven't heard it, listen to it. I'm not sure if it has bad words and stuff, I hear it on the radio so...
Other artists that I like right now (in no specific order): Regina Spektor, the Format, Kalai, Damien Rice, Matisyahu. I really like the song Lollipop by Lil Wayne. If you hear it don't think I'm sick if it's a dirty song, I don't pay attention to the lyrics, it just has a cool sounds.

Oh and see Kungfoo Panda when you have the chance!

here's a story for you

2008-07-03T15:08:00.001-07:00

Today started as a good day. I was going to wake up and go to the gym before Mike got up so I wouldn't miss any fun but I was called back to bed by it's warm comfiness. I should have just gone but I thought it would be nice to sleep just a little bit more. Then when it was finally time that I was actually heading to the gym, Mike was on his way to work. It's been stormy here this whole week and it looked like it was going to be the same today. I headed out ready to work. The roads were pretty busy, it was lunchtime so there were about a billion cars. Then it started to rain. I jumped on the frontage road which was going really slow or almost not at all, I was in first gear. Then all of a sudden I slammed on my brakes... nothing happened and I slammed into the car in front of me. Oops.

We took a trip through the parking lot and stopped to exchange information. I was really nervous because this has never happened to me. Correction, I have never been the cause of a wreck. (When I wrote that I thought of Lion King - "Correction, I am your father!" haha good movie!) So I jump out and start talking to the lady. Nothing looks damaged on her car, just paint marks on the bumper and our car looked just fine. She said it wasn't my fault, rather the person that pulled right in front of her causing her to slam on the brakes and then me too. Well, that made me feel better and so we parted. I texted Mike just to let him know and then thought that I was half way to the gym so I might as well just go.

As I was stopped waiting to get back on the frontage road I heard this funny sound and then BAM! Looking in the rear view mirror, seriously!!! Yep a suburban just rammed me! At this I just had to laugh, what are the odds! So I pull around and head back the the same spot that I had just exchanged info with the first lady and did the same with this one. Turns out a suburban does more damage then a car, there was a hole in the bumper which also got scrunched up. I decided that it was better if I didn't drive anymore... so I didn't. Mike came to the rescue! He also called the insurance and took care of that, what a stud huh!

That was our adventure for this morning. I never did make it to the gym.

ah- Jess' list

2008-06-30T12:43:00.000-07:00

10 years ago:
Ten years ago I was 11. I was probably just playing around with my friends, JoAnn and Melanie. Lots of sleepovers and going to the gas station! This may still have been the time that Mel and I were obsessed with Eeyore, we bought the same stuff from the Disney store at the mall.

5 years ago:
I turned 16 and love to drive our blue mercury that always sounded like it was going to explode when you drove on the freeway! We would go super fast over this railroad tracks on our way to work and would get some air! I tried that once with the new car but didn't dare do it again because it wasn't broken already. Junior year of high school... going to dances, playing with all the sophomore boys and Mel O. all the time, and listening to Yellowcard!

5 months ago:
February was a great month! Playing with the roommates and walking through the snow to school. I wore my trendy boots my mom made me buy, they were fun but they still got my feet wet. Dating Michael... for Valentine's Day Nat and I heart attacked Mike and Landon's cars. That was tons of fun! But that morning we woke up and there was like a foot of new snow, driving was crazy! That night me and Mike went to the Thai Kitchen for dinner, he gave me earrings that I love and then after dinner we went back to my apt. We were listening to an awesome song from the CD I made him and that's when he said he was going to marry me! It was a good day and month!

5 things on the to-do-list:
change my name officially at the social security office
after the above is done, get a new license since mine is expired now... oops!
get the thank you cards done
finish Ender's Game
get fit again before the Utah trip

5 snacks:
snackpacks in the fridge
pretzels
frozen cookie dough balls
juice boxes - Mike's, he LOVES these right now!
ICE CREAM!

5 billionaire things:
Take a humanitarian trip to somewhere sweet and build a school or something needed like that.
Friends and family that want to come will have their trip payed for.
Pay for all our families schooling and other bills for parents.
Buy a Mercedes and BMW.
Buy a sweet house and have an interior designer deck it out all sweet and stuff!

5 places I've lived:
Payson
Salem
Provo- Raintree, Sparks II, Jake and Sinikka's apt, Regency, Sparks II. That's a lot of moving so it's a lot of places I've lived right?
San Antonio

5 things you might not know:
I used to play with dolls ALL the time! I really liked them.
I still play with dolls all the time... psych!!
I can solve a Rubik's cube!
I can't stand it when my feet are dry, it wakes me up at night and grosses me out. I have to put lotion on them before I can go back to sleep.
I had a little crush on Mike in high school, when he and Jen were liking each other...

5 to tag:
no one! Kirsten took them! :)

the end and back

2008-06-19T13:27:00.000-07:00

Today I am very very bored. It seems like I have a shorter attention span than ever... and that is really bad because I really never had a good one! I have a computer in front of me for 6 hours a day, the past month this friend has kept me satisfied but no longer. After being on if for so long there is just nothing I want to do with it... I have started to hate computers. Mike's dad asked if I made it to the end of the internet... he was joking... it's true though!

I went to the gym yesterday. It felt great and now my legs are sore. I love it. Oh a week or so ago I bought some resistance bands so I could workout at work, they work great! People make fun of me and sometimes I get self conscious and don't want to use them. Then I realize that it doesn't matter so I use them anyways.

There is this guy that has a taco stand that he parks by our apartments. He sets up in the evening and we assume he stays there all night or close to it. Well he makes authentic Mexican tacos that are delicious! We decided to get them one night and Mike LOVED them and I enjoyed them as well. Well this guy hasn't been around for a long time and we were sad, thinking maybe it was time for him to move to a different area... very disappointed. Well last night as I drove to the gym I saw the familiar stand back and got really excited. We at those tacos and frijoles and boy did we enjoy them!

Al's last blog made me think of shaving. I looked down at my own legs, they look pretty good except the knees. I don't like shaving my knees and I often miss a bunch. I don't like shaving my knees.

Goodness

2008-06-18T16:21:00.000-07:00

So I don't have anything deep to say today... haha... but I just wanted to jot down a few things that were floating in my brain.

Music is about the best thing made on this world! I can't say exactly how I feel about it but I feel that it is a part of me. There is this mood that I get in that makes me really antsy if I don't get a certain kind of music that I need, rarely do I know what it is until I hear it. Today that mood crept up on me. I was skimming through Jessie's play list and all of a sudden I knew what I needed to hear - Say by John Mayer. Guess what the next song was... Yep the exact song!!! It saved me and I must say I really really like that song! Oh and Kalai is about a SAWEET musician!

The other night Mike and I needed to use the internet but the office was locked up. See, we don't want to pay for our own so we use the office's, it works out nicely. Since the doors were locked we just sat in the stairwell and did our business. As we were enjoying ourselves on a nice evening we heard some yelling from the apartment right above us. This lady was screaming at her kid, something about money... I took it that the kid wanted something but had already spent their money... The kid is crying and the lady gets louder and meaner, then we hear the SLAP! I hope it was just a few paddles on the bum though I don't necessarily agree with spanking... it would just be better than something else. It bummed me out and I wanted to give the lady a piece of my mind but since it wasn't my place I didn't. Some technicians were saying that parents don't act any different when they are around - one guy was yelling and swearing up a storm at his six year old kid. I understand why church leaders are giving more talks on abuse, not just physical but mental and emotional. Sure people and kids can be boogers sometimes but please let's have more decency and treat them with some respect. (I was just going to say like human beings but realised that other things don't deserve to be treated like poo.)

I finished Lord of the Flies the other day. It's an OK book, not my favorite, but an interesting view on how humanity acts, or could act, in certain situations. Now I'm taking on Ender's Game, it's keeping me entertained so far! If you have a great book that doesn't swear and that doesn't have people beating each other up let me know!

To end on a happy note:
Another best thing in the world is the Ensign! Since being out here in TX I haven't gotten my hands on one, so I was hungry for it, especially the Conference edition. To my delight, two days ago our June one made it to our mailbox I was so excited! Then the next day the package we were expecting from my parents came and there again was the conference one!! HOORAY! Also included was a recipe book, I'll have to try it out, and what I have been anxious for... my gym pass!!! Now I can go to the gym and run on a quality treadmill, it makes my heart happy! Thanks Mom!

the cherry on top

2008-06-11T13:45:00.000-07:00

I love ice cream, more than the average person i think. Within the past year I think I have eaten more of it then I ever have... it's DELICIOUS I just can't help myself! The word is that bluebell ice cream is the best ever made... at least that's what they think here in Texas. What is the Bluebell brand you ask? Well they only make it here in this big state. Everyone thinks that Texans are more proud of their state then anyone else... you've seen the bumper stickers and all. Of course Bluebell is the best, only Texas has it so it has to be the best. Don't get me wrong, it's good and expensive too. But the regular brands taste just great too!

Those fake cherries that you put on sundaes and such are vile! I don't see how they became so popular. My opinion is that they are the worst. I saw how they were made too and yeah ...
Oh, I just ate a bowl of ice cream and that's what brought on those thoughts.

I just realized that right now I'm not the health fanatic that I want to be known as. Okay, so fanatic maybe that goes to far but I like to imagine myself as a healthy person that also has a lot of knowledge on the subject. It's a bit disappointing when you realize this image that you have tried to exude is just a front. One day I will make it into this group. one day

sleepy mcsleeper

2008-06-06T13:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I slept at work. Don't worry I didn't miss anything... Yeah sometimes my job is really slow and boring. Today is about the same.

Mike wanted me to paint my nails the other day so I said heck yes! I cut them real short and painted them red! Oh they looked great! Now I am to the funnest part of it, scraping all of it off! I don't know why I like it so much, but it is a ton of fun.

We were walking across the lawn to work and Mike pointed to the ground and said, "Watch out for that when you walk in the dark!" People here decide that they don't care to clean up their dogs messes... it's great, and it seems like everyone has a dog. Just watch the ground everytime you walk... and don't walk on the grass and sometimes the sidewalk in the dark.

That's all that I want to say today.

mild please!

2008-06-02T15:28:00.000-07:00

One month ago today Mike and I got married. What the?!? Yep, a month has gone by already! That's so crazy but so fun! I'm excited! We have decided that the days are extremely long but the weeks are fast. I don't really know how that can be... but it is! This month has been one of the craziest, happiest and hardest month so far! We love our lives right now! I will have to say that I can't be happier, this guy named Mike is about the coolest guy that I know of! :)

Yesterday we had people over... first time since we have been here... call us hermits or what you may! Anyways, our manager Matt and his wife Margaret came over for lunch/dinner and to play some games. We do this almost every Sunday and it is a nice treat. We had some delicious tacos with homemade guacamole thanks to Mike! They brought cake and pudding for frosting rather than frosting for frosting. YUMMY! I advise all to do this, it was so delicious! Frosting is awful. Great idea eh. Then we played speed scrabble... I won! Yes!! After I whooped their trash, we played Yahtzee. I lost horribly. Games are fun!

I love Sundays, they are just a fantastic day! I realized how truly blessed I am, with everything! I am healthy, love my best friend, have the best family ever and the best new family, live in a great place called America so I am free, have the true gospel and all of the blessings of it, and have the best friends a girl could ask for! I re-realized how much God loves me and each of us! We have SO much to be happy and excited for, we need to remember that and stop being grumpy or sad! HOORAY for blessings!

Buying the wrong kind of cheese is always a little disappointing... You get all excited to eat this tasty cheese and then you taste it, medium instead of mild ACK! Well, only half a block left until we can get the good stuff, mild!

"it's already Wednesday!!"

2008-05-28T13:54:00.000-07:00

That's what Mike said this morning when he woke up... at 11! The closer the weekends come, and by weekend we mean saturday night, the better for him! Saturday night is really our only weekend night. He gets home at 10ish and then we play for as long as we can stay up, church is at 12 so we sleep in. Why don't we do that Friday night as well, or instead?? Well, we have to be to work at 9 every Saturday... that's the opposite of what Saturdays are supposed to be!

We got ourselves a laptop on Monday, taking advantage of the Memorial Day sales! Mike was so nice, and eager, to pick it up when he was out in his area - nice break from selling! It's super nice and we like it a ton! Mike likes to play chess and he is pretty good at it, I lose every time I play so instead I play majhong tiles. Last night my brother put Skype on it, so I talked to my mom and then to Eric! It was so much fun to talk and see them at the same time, picture phones (well computers) are a reality... it seemed like they were just a crazy idea not long ago! Eric was picking his noses and earwax and wipping it on the camera... he is disgusting!!! :)

I decided I should go shopping today to get some needed food supplies. I texted Mike to see if he could think of more stuff we needed.
my list: bananas, cereal, salsa, french bread, oatmeal, ajax, nail polish, corn syrup.
Mike's list: cereal, sunday dinner makings, cheettos - fire/lime, carrots, juice - big and little, snackpacks, chipsahoy - the hard ones to dip in milk.
Um... Yeah I had to laugh at the differences, you can tell he is a boy!

So yesterday I was writing in my journal about going through the temple and getting married and the like. I have to take day breaks because there is so much information! Well I was writing about the wedding day and had a desire to watch the wedding video Eric made for us... for the like 8th or more time... I like it a whole awful lot! But every time I watch it, I cry a tiny bit, sometimes more than that. It's not that I am sad, I just liked that day a lot and I get to see pics of everyone that got to come! Oh and there is a pic of Mike when he is little that is the cutest picture I have ever seen, I LOVE it!! The music on the movie is good too. Hey Eric, what are the songs? Anyways, I decided that being alone and bored for the whole day makes me too sentimental. But thanks so much Eric for making it! You are great!

Belated news: Mike got me a plant for Mother's Day, it was really nice! Well... It was dead a week and a half later... I think it was a little sick in the first place. But turns out I don't know how to keep a plant alive, especially here in Texas. Oops!

p.s. I see that everyone is getting booklists for the summer. What should I read?
Also, yeah, I added some pics on this blog thing... it looks like crap. I need someone to teach me how to make it look cool, like al's and Jessie's!

window watching

2008-05-24T13:06:00.000-07:00

I just decided that I blog all too often! But I have the time so I will keep doing it probably.

Yesterday I started to read How to Win Friends & Influence People in efforts to prevent my mind from going to mush this summer. I haven't been to the library here yet, so I scrounged it up from one of the guys that actually had a book. Turns out it is a good read so far, check it:

"Instead of condeming people, let's try to understand them. Let's try to figure out why they do what they do. That's a lot more profitable and intriguing than critisism; and it breeds sympathy, tolerance and kindess. 'To know all is to forgive all.' ... 'God Himself does not propose to judge man until the end of his days.' Why should you and I?"

Needing a little break, I took a peak out the window. There is this guy that walks his dog passed our window at about the same time everyday. Today I realized that it is exactly like Pongo and Roger from 101 Dalmations. I imagine the man to be the dog's pet, the dog urging his owner to go for a walk at that specific time. Get this, the man also reads as he walks! (Okay, I know that it is Anita that reads, not Roger... but it's so close!) Maybe they will spot their matches someday soon and I can see it all happen, from my window.

diary of a mad black woman

2008-05-22T13:33:00.000-07:00

I was thinking:

1. Utah Community Credit Union (UCCU) is about the coolest place to bank, ever! I don't like these big banks - Bank of America especially - they think they are all mighty and they do things in a dumb way! I say if you aren't at UCCU then you aren't anywhere!

2. I almost lost the last post, and was freaking out!!! No, not really but I didn't want to have to write it again and now I don't!

3. My dad had back surgery today to repair a ruptured disk (lumbar region, if you were wondering). I feel bad for him, having to go through with another back surgery. Hopefully I never have to, I hear it's the pits. Well Jen decided that she needed to text me and say that things went bad in the surgery, they mistook him for an amputee patient and took off his foot... I thought for sure that was a joke, doesn't it sound like one? Well she told me it wasn't and that I needed to call my mom, so I did. Well she sounded down and told me to keep my spirits up so that my dad wouldn't be so bummed. Then, because she loves me, she told the truth. It was all a lie... darn you Jen!!! Funny joke eh?! Well it is when you know it's a joke!

4. Last night Mike didn't get home until 11:30. I was more bored then ever so I popped in the wedding video Eric put together for us. Every time I watch it I kind of cry... it's a good movie! I saw how smiley and happy we looked and loved it! I got thinking how that week was like the best week of my life! That day was also the best day ever! It was also one of the most stressful days, almost everything went wrong.
Let me explain... I didn't have a skirt to go to the temple in, good thing Steph had an extra one! Yet again I made a funny looking outfit work! For some reason we didn't think of having a bouquet for when I got out of the temple, smart I know. Well my mom is a genius and picked the tulips from our yard, so we used those and rapped them right before I came out! Next I had a hair disaster, even after the valiant efforts of Al getting my hair just perfect. It just decided it didn't want to stay curly and in that day. Thanks to Jen's quick hands we pulled it off. As Mike and I were driving back to Salem, like half way there, we realized that we didn't have the bat for the pinata. His dad had it special ordered from Mexico and had our names engraved, it was SWEET! But yeah, we left it in Manti and were freaking out. Mike's mom came to the rescue and went back and got it for us! Then I show up at the church thinking maybe some things will be ready and decorated... nope! Half of our tablecloths didn't show up so we scrambled to figure out a way to make it look good with the things we had. The cake didn't look like it was supposed too, the reference for the lady probably wasn't good enough... Some of the flowers didn't turn out... And the thing to top everything off - the address to the church was wrong on all of the announcements, MY fault!! Needless to say, things somehow came together and it was such a fun night!! Thank you to all that helped with so much, you are all great!

5. Lastly, about the wedding day again, I loved that day so much because it was all about love and friendship and happiness! Love of two people, God, family, and friends! Geez it was just fantastic! Sorry about all the sentimentality, just felt a little sentimental!

p.s. Diary of a mad black woman is a pretty funny movie. If you haven't seen it, watch the first part of it, it's hysterical! The rest is just okay.

my bum is tired

2008-05-21T16:16:00.000-07:00

So I was just checking out every one's blogs and they are so much cooler than mine! All the designs and formatting and... I'm boring myself with those words. That's probably why mine is the generic still, we all know that I have plenty of time to try to figure out some cool looking blog but... yeah.

I have this "friend" who shares the office with me. His name is Antonio and I hate him! Of course he isn't a person, he is an iguana! Yuck! A kid here caught a wild lizard and decided to make it the mascot for our office. Well, turns out that the lizard didn't like it in a cage so they bought a domesticated one. But as I typed that I decided that he isn't domesticated, he HATES his cage and tries to dig out of it which is impossible but he still tries. He is a weird little guy too, I will explain. He likes to jump onto the roof of his cage and walk around it upside down. COOL! you might think. No, it's just annoying. I hear him hit into the glass a few times, missing the roof, and then I hear tick tick tack as he is hanging by his tiny claws. The other day I decided to look at him as he was doing it and he was right side up, so hanging right side up... Sorry, I don't know how else to describe it, but alas it was weird. Right now he might be molting... whatever that means. All I know is that he looks even uglier than before and I almost threw up in my mouth when I saw him today!

My job is to give other people work. I don't know if I am very good at it, seeing how there are 6 people waiting to get a job... I'm still figuring out how to do it I guess. Hopefully they won't get mad at me...

Oh, great news! Jam and Steph are having a baby girl! Not a baby monster! jk, lame joke. But I'm super excited for them and can't wait to see what this child looks like! I'm thinking starting off with a girl is a good way for them, a boy would probably be too much to handle because it would turn out exactly like Jam! Well, that wouldn't be too bad, he's a great guy!

san antonio = no driving please

2008-05-20T13:29:00.000-07:00

To start out I would just like to say that I wasn't going to ever blog again... but I am now

Last night Mike and I went to our new favorite movie theater to see Iron Man - pretty good show by the way. This theater is awesome, it's an older place and not very many people go to it. Get this, it was only $10 for me and mike for an evening movie, what a steal right!! If I worked there I would be terrified, it's kind of creepy and maybe a little bit like a theatre that would be in a scary movie. It looks a little run-down and abandoned... (must be an old pic, the H and some of the points are out!)

But we love it because it's open late and always has tickets for us... last night there was one other couple in the movie with us and that's it and it's only a few minutes from our house!

The only problem is trying to find our way back home afterwards! For some reason half of San Antonio roads are under construction, but they only come out at night so you forget that it's happening. Well this place is truly the most confusing place to drive in. There are all these on's and off's and then on's again lanes, and these things they call turnarounds. I had never heard of them before and thought it was kind of funny because they have them at about every other exitish thing... (Ok this isn't really making sense because they have feeder roads to get on the freeways and it's on them... Don't worry about it... it's just confusing!) Well I don't laugh at the turnarounds anymore, we use them often! But about last night... the on ramp we needed to get on was closed (we found this out the other night after seeing Prince Caspian!) so we decided to try the next one instead of taking a huge detour... well we did anyway, and an even bigger one! Turns out we drove 20 mins. being lost until we found the right highway/freeway we needed to be on... Remember GPS if you ever come here!

On a different note... our across the way neighbors have two dogs that are about the most annoying things ever. They always keep them on their balcony so whenever anyone goes outside or walks somewhat by the place, they bark like crazy. I find it obnoxious. Mike likes to taunt them. Every time he goes outside he starts to whistle for them... over and over and over... Yeah, and they bark even more. Thanks mike!

not so smart

2008-05-13T12:59:00.000-07:00

So... I decided I'm not very smart with all the technology stuff. I just tried to get some pictures off my camera to post... and well there won't be any pics for a while! But I was just looking through some of the pictures from Mike's of the wedding day and I decided I am living a dream. I don't remember exactly how all of this came to be. That entire day I felt like I was watching someone and all their festivities. I don't know how to explain it.

I think I have a condition, I feel the groove of where I sleep and it drives me crazy. I have taken some precautions to delay the onset of the groove, Mike and I switch sides every night and I make the bed all nice and tight thinking maybe just maybe it will work.... The other night I felt it. I told Mike that the next time I wash sheets he would have to helps me flip the mattress. He laughed and said we aren't going to flip it every two weeks... the mattress is brand new. I can still feel the groove.

we got married... and moved to texas...

2008-05-10T12:58:00.000-07:00

Okay, I never thought I would start a blog. Someone, possible Eric, suggested Mike and I start one just because we are away from everyone. I read some of Al and Kirsten's and thought they sounded nice. But the clincher is that I am bored... and have access to the internet for 6 hours a day! So let's see if this thing called a blog is gonna work out.

Well we got married! It was a super fun, amazing, crazy, crazy stressful, you-name-it day! That was May 2 btw. Now we live in San Antonio Texas. It is fun and sunny here in the big state of Texas but to be honest I don't think we really knew what we were getting ourselves into! Maybe other things like thinking we can play all the day long got in the way of reality! Okay well now I'm making it sound like it is horrible and we hate it here. Not true! But it is hard and HOT! Mike walks around outside ALL day long. I sit in the freezing cold office for half the day and have time to blog while I work. Yeah, I should have a harder job seeing how Mike has one...

We are having fun though! We got the go to the San Antonio zoo - huge and super nice place! and we went to the River Walk downtown. The river was diverted and buildings moved so that there would be this whole big place along the river. It's really cool and I say that it's worth it to take the boat ride around! We sat couple from India, they were cute!

On a different note, I decided that big cities, stick-shifts and me don't mix! The other night I decided that we needed a spice rack. Well the only way to get one would be to drive somewhere... and those that know me will say that I don't really drive manuals... and you are right! I guess I forgot this until I was waiting forever to get out of our parking lot and freaking out the whole time thinking "Jess you are an idiot! You can't drive this when so many cars are around, someone is going to ram you!!!" Well that didn't happen thankfully! I made it out just fine, squeeling tires means nothing right, pulled into Walmart's parking lot and killed it... on the little hill. Yeah I freaked out again but after more squeeling parked it and felt dumb! The ride home wasn't as eventful! Oh and I like to use the ... if you haven't already noticed and don't mind that it isn't used "correctly". Grammar shmammar!