Finals

Once we got back from the birthday celebration, it was time to finish up with finals and juries. As I have told most of you, I didn't think I was going to have a jury this semester because I got my wisdom teeth taken out on March 13th. Juries would have been less than a month since I got my teeth out, on April 6th. I talked to Brother Holman on March 24th and he decided to have me do a jury anyway. I was planning on taking an incomplete, but if I did, I wouldn't have completed a full 14 credits, and my academic scholarship wouldn't continue until I had. Assuming I had taken 14 credits this summer, that would mean that I wouldn't get another scholarship until the fall. So taking an incomplete would cost me about $1500 in tuition. Boo. So I had a jury. I didn't meet with my accompanist until the night before my jury for about 20 minutes. (I was unaware of the fact that she had to leave so quickly.) She was supposed to have picked up the music the week before (she asked me to leave it in the music office for her to pick it up when she was on campus). She never picked it up. She was sightreading for those 20 minutes of rehearsal time. I was not happy about that. And it might be understandable, but she's a grown woman, not just some student who's too busy with finals to pick up my music. Ugh. Anyways, needless to say, my jury was not spectacular, but I did well nonetheless.

So I finished this semester, and said goodbye to Goldie Haun at my last horse class. Totally worth the 100 bucks.
For all of those inquiring minds out there, here are some pictures of the infamous horse.




This is a video of me barrel racing. It's not terribly exciting to watch, but it's definitely fun to do.

Grades were posted today and I am happy. I was expecting a B+ in my lame online New Testament class, but I did better than that, though I'm not quite sure how. Don't ask questions.

Happy Birthday to US!

Okay, so the weekend after my official birthday, Chad & I went down to Utah to celebrate with the family. The trip also included bowling. I have some pictures of that, but someone will have to post pictures of everything else because I don't have any.





After bowling, we got some pizzas from Papa Murphy's and went home and ate, and then opened presents. Erin made Mollie a German Chocolate cake and she made me an ice cream bomb (I think that's what she called it). A good time was had by all.

I got some music dictionaries from mom and dad. I know, dictionaries for your birthday? But I requested them, and I'm sure they'll prove quite useful to this ignorant music major. They also (with the help of Erin) gave me some money to go clothes shopping, in the form of the money I could have saved by switching to Geico. The problem is I don't want to spend the money cuz it's so cute! And I smile everytime I see it hiding in our little china cabinet of sorts. I got food gift cards from Erin & Bryce (yum! thanks), the DVD of Pixar short films from Kyle, and Mollie was going to take me shopping but we never got around to it. She helped pay for my Vera Bradley bag which will be coming in the mail sometime next week!! YAY!!!

Happy Birthday To ME!

A quick post about the birthday -

I got up and went to class at the usual 7:45. Lame. But when I got home around 9:00, Chad had gone to work, but had decorated the apartment with a "Happy Birthday" banner. He also recorded himself saying "Happy Birthday Megan! I love you!" and put it on repeat on his computer so I would hear it when I came home. (Kinda creepy, but) Aw.

I went back to class from 10:15-11:15 where I got the previously mentioned peer edited paper back.

Chad and I had lunch at home - and I opened my first birthday gift - a magic towel. It was way cooler than the magic towel I bought in Disneyland.

Before:


After:


I watched TV and took a nap until 3:00 when I left for my horse class. We did barrel racing, and it was the most fun ever! I think I'm a natural. And I may have the oldest, most stubborn horse in the class, but we still won our race. We trotted around 3 barrels and then loped back to the middle. And I didn't even have to kick her to get her to go! I was happy.

When I got home, I waited for Chad to get home from work at 5:45. Once he got home, we left for Applebee's because they have their 2 for $20 special going on - an appetizer and 2 entrees for 20 bucks. We did order drinks and an extra appetizer, so it was a little bit more than that.


Yummm....
Trying to eat my riblets. Lovely picture.

I opened all but one of my gifts at dinner.
From Chad:
A t-shirt
A pillowcase
A bow tie (for my very own party clothes)


Top Gun (I mentioned the other day that I wanted to see it)

From Chad's parents:
Season Three of The West Wing! I was VERY excited about that.


After dinner, we came home to change our clothes and then go bowling.
It was league night at the first alley we went to, so we went to the more expensive one.

We bowled a game. Chad won.


After bowling, we went to the arcade and played some ice-ball. I love ice-ball.

We got 106 tickets, and spent them on some cheap toy cars that we will be bringing to Will and Sawyer when we go down this weekend.


When we got home from bowling, Chad put the candles on the cake (er...pie), sang me Happy Birthday, I blew out the candles, and opened my one last gift.


Guess what it was! The drumset for Guitar Hero World Tour!!!

I've had fun playing it even though there is not nearly enough room for it in our currently apartment.

To: Mollie

Ode.

Peer Edit, Shmeer Edit

Hello my dear readers, once again.

I got my peer edited draft back today. Here are my favorite comments:

Mine: ... a theatre famous for its opera comique...
Hers: ... a theater famous for it's opera comique...

Mine: There was, at this time, a licensing law
Hers: There was a licensing law

Mine: The public, however, continued to attend the performances
Hers: However, the public continued to attend the performances.

Mine: ... The typical Bouffes-Parisiens audience would be "[quote]"
Hers: ... The typical Bouffes-Parisiens audience would be [written note: I'm not sure if a colon needs to be there or not]

Comments:
"Pretty good. Some of the sentences are really long. Instead of having one sentence with four comma's [sic] try breaking it up. It will be easier to read."
Of note: There is not a single sentence in my paper that has "4 comma's". There are, however, a couple of sentences with three commas because they are lists.

Guess where this Peer Edited paper is going? In my special file.

In other news - HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME! More to follow later.

D-I-Y

Hello dear readers.

I thought I'd update on the apartment saga. We were told we could live above Porter's but then the plumbing had a lot of problems and it looked like they had given up on it. They got the plumbing all fixed so it didn't leak everywhere, and we were told, again, that we could live over there. So I went over last weekend and cleaned the kitchen. Nobody had lived in the apartment for ... 5 or 6 years. I found Ramen in the cabinet that expired in 2003. Everything had a nice coating of dust and there was some pretty ugly contact paper that I ripped out. I'd rather have painted drawer bottoms than ugly contact paper, but maybe that's just me. I washed everything down with bleach so I knew it was clean. There is a TON of storage over there. I don't know what we're going to do with all the cabinets. As of now ALL of our food fits in one cabinet. We don't buy very much. Maybe with the cheaper rent we'll be able to afford filling our cabinets!

So I cleaned up the kitchen which has two flour bins, as mom calls them. I don't know what we're going to put in them. Anyways, so there's a window above the kitchen sink, which I love, because it reminds me of home and makes doing the dishes a little less boring, even if it only looks out over the Porter's roof. We don't have a refrigerator, and we could take one from any of the other apartments, as long as it works. We will probably do that for a little while, but we're thinking about buying ourselves an inexpensive fridge anyway - since we're not even sure that any of the other fridges work (and most of them are pretty nasty-looking anyway). Other than that, we have a range, which is dirty inside, but works. We've wiped down all of the woodwork to remove 6 years worth of dust - which was actually not as bad as you might think. We are so excited to move - even if we do have to leave our ward and live up there by ourselves. There is so much space and storage and it's so much cheaper that it's completely worth it.

So yesterday Chad had the day off and I only had one class (2 of my classes - ensemble classes - have had their concerts and so are no longer meeting) so we went over there and cleaned some more. He tried to fix the bathroom while I washed things. The bathroom sink was running even though the knob was turned all the way off, the cold water knob was busted off in the shower, the piping under the bathroom sink was leaking and the toilet had brown water stains all over it from not being used. I told him that if we moved over there, he had to clean and fix up the bathroom. So we took about 4 or 5 trips to a local hardware store. I convinced Chad to go to the "local guys" because they were more likely to have guys there who knew what they were talking about, as opposed to the new Ace Hardware by WalMart that hires college kids who don't know anything. He went in there looking for the magnetic stud finders that are like $2 or whatever, and the kid was like "Yeah, I don't even know what that is."

So anyways, we went over to Mickelson's where we met a fairly old Mr. Fix-It who reminded me a lot of Dad. He knew pretty much everything about everything. He was able to look at the parts we brought in and listen to our problems and tell us how to successfully fix them. Chad didn't like being talked to like he didn't know anything, but Mr. Fix-It was right, so he listened. We ended up buying a new faucet because the parts Mr. Fix-It told us we needed to replace to fix the running sink water were nowhere to be found inside the cheap old faucet they had surely bought from walmart for 5 bucks. So we bought a new faucet, a new pipe for underneath the sink, a new toilet seat, a new screen for the kitchen sink, and new knobs for the bathtub. And Chad has successfully installed everything but the cold water knob for the bathtub. It's a long story, but he has to make something to replace the stem that's broken off, and then glue the nob to it so we can turn on the water. It's not the most professional solution, but we don't want to pay to have all of that plumbing replaced, and we can't exactly ask the Porter's to do it since they're kind of doing us a really big favor by letting us live there.

Other than the cold water in the bathtub, and Chad having to fix the linoleum in the bathroom, we are ready to move in! Chad is excited that he won't have to open the bedroom door and stand in the doorway to have enough room to bowl on the Wii. That WILL be an excitement. The extra room also means that we can move out of our storage unit and stop paying for that. Yay! And we got a parking permit to park overnight in the Porter's lot so we don't have to park a block away by the movie theaters. We were excited about that too. And there are at least 8 windows in the new apartment. EIGHT! We only have 2 right now! And we can have people over it we want, and not have to sit elbow to elbow just to fit everyone in the door.

Anyways, we're excited. I wish we had taken some before pictures, but we didn't. We'll post some "after" pictures soon.

My Wisdom Tooth Tale

Hello all!

Well, it has been over a week since I got my wisdom teeth taken out, so I suppose it's about time for a post.

Last Thursday I went and picked up my prescriptions from WalMart - painkillers, sedatives, and anti-nausea pills. I took one sedative before bed so I could sleep, and I slept great! Got up, took six ibuprofen and another sedative at 11:00 (an hour before my appointment) put on some clothes I didn't want to worry about getting anything on, and headed off to the dentist.

When I got there, the dentist wasn't in yet. The assistant asked me if I was feeling woozy. Uhm. Nope - pretty wide-eyed and bushy-tailed. She says "yeah, you're way too alert." The dentist gets there and takes my bottle of sedatives. He crushed up 2 and gave them to me in lukewarm water to drink. (eew) They brought me back and set me up, closed the blinds, turned off the lights and tried to get me to fall asleep. I got pretty close but anytime I felt like I was falling asleep the heart rate monitor would beep because it was going under 50, and it would wake me up. They came in and gave me another half of a pill in water to drink. I asked if I could listen to my iPod if it would help me fall asleep, so they went and got it from Chad in the waiting room. I laid there for a bit and then they came in and put a numbing gel on my gums, then they shot me full of novacaine. I think it was 4 or 6 shots. Then the dentist said something like "Okay, now that we've woken you up, try to relax."

The next thing I remember they were back in the room. They hooked me up to the nitrous oxide which I remember smelled like candy - which the assistant told me was the covering they put on it so it smelled good. Mmmm. The dentist tapped me 3 times on the chin and said "This is just to see how much you remember after the procedure." Then they went to work. I was awake for the whole thing, and lucky for me, I also remember all of it. I closed my eyes a lot, but not because I was asleep, but because I didn't want to see the reflection of my mouth in the light and the dentist's protective glasses. Just as they started, a song on my iPod came on "Dare you to run..." which I laughed at considering the situation. They let me keep my iPod on during the surgery, and I was happy for that. Anytime I could hear the creaking of teeth being pulled out of my face, I just turned it up louder and squeezed my eyes shut tighter. I remember they worked for a while before I realized they had two out. I held up my fingers for two, to which the dentist replied "Yes, we've got two out." I closed my eyes a little longer until they got out the other two. I didn't feel any pain, but just the fact that they were in my mouth pulling my teeth was emotionally exhausting. They got done and put in some stitches (the dissolvable kind) - I remember the fishing-line-like thread tickling my face as he worked with the other end in my mouth. (Gross!) So we got all done, but I never got to rinse my mouth or anything, so I felt gross. I asked to see a mirror and they gave me one, and I had blood crusted on my lips and smeared across my teeth and tongue. It was disgusting. And if I wasn't on so many sedatives, I probably would have passed out. The dentist asked me what he had done before we started, and I tapped my chin three times. Yup, I remembered. I couldn't really talk because of all the novacaine that made my mouth feel like it was swollen to the size of a beach ball, even though it wasn't.

The dentist says to me "Okay, you're ready to go. Try not to look in the next room on the way down the hallway - we have some little kids over there - one of them it's their first time to the dentist and we don't want to scare them." He might as well have said "Okay freakshow, don't scare the kids. Hide your ugly face." So they escort me down the short hallway, and apparently I was leaking blood and drool down my face, but I couldn't feel it because of the novacaine. EEEEEW. Chad walked me out to the car and now I just had to heal. The hard part was over. Yay!

Now, the next 48 hours are pretty hazy in my memory, because the sedatives decided to kick in. In talking to Chad in the last couple of days, I realize that I don't remember anything about the ride home, the walk to the apartment, or really anything else up until about Sunday morning. From what he's told me, I kept leaning my head forward and getting blood on myself, the carseat, and the carpet in the hallway of our apartment building. He kept telling me to sit up/stand up, but I would keep slouching forward. He got me home and settled on the couch, which is where I stayed for the next two days. He left that night to go film a play at the school, but I have no recollection of that. Apparently I sent him a text message asking if the alarm on my phone that was going off was telling me to take more pain meds. I also sent text messages to Erin and Mollie, which I had no recollection of. I slept for most of Saturday. I remember calling mom around noon...? and then sleeping again. As I got better, I remember asking Chad about Friday. He told me that I had been texting Erin and Mollie and I had to go look at the "sent messages" on my phone to see what we had talked about. He told me it was about Bryce's birthday presents, which I didn't remember until I looked at the picture Erin sent me. It is a good thing that nobody came to visit me during that time, because who knows what we would've talked about! and I wouldn't even remember it! ... At least I don't think anyone came to visit me. I guess I don't really know.

Anyways, the first time I was up for a significant amount of time was Sunday morning. We didn't go to church, and I was camped out on the couch. I had to ask Chad what day it was and what had happened in the time that I was asleep. I asked him things that we had had whole conversations about. Let me tell you - it is sooo weird to be told by someone else things that you did or said that you can't remember. I was finally assertive enough to notice that there were blood stains on my pillow and shirt. EEEEW. Chad came over and sat next to me and says "Whoa!" "What?" "You smell!" Why thank you dearest husband. Just what I wanted to hear. But, I'm sure he was justified. I was sleeping on a drool/blood stained pillow, in a drool/blood stained shirt, and hadn't showered or brushed my teeth for two days. He motivated me to get up and take a shower, and I felt 300% better after that. I tried to brush my teeth because my mouth truly did feel disgusting. I could smell my breath and it was bad. My back molars felt sticky and gunky and gross. It took a couple of days to get my mouth feeling back to normal. EEW. I slept in my bed Sunday night, and felt good enough to go to school the next day. I never really felt any pain, and my cheeks hardly swelled up at all. People at school couldn't even tell.

Let me warn you though - if you tell people you got your wisdom teeth out, you might as well be wearing a sign that says "Please! Tell me your wisdom tooth horror stories!" It really IS like that Brian Regan sketch. It is a good thing I got four taken out because at least I can hold my own. If I had only gotten one out, people would've been like "Yeah, so?" Anyways, I don't think I ever got to tell my wisdom tooth tale because it always went like this:

"What's with the rice pack?"
"Oh - I got my wisdom teeth taken out on Friday."
"OHMYGOSH! When I got mine out it was SO gross and I threw up in the car on the way home and I ate pudding for three days straight and I had this huge scar from the IV and my face swelled up to the size of a beach ball and - "
"And your head did too? Oh sorry - you weren't done. Keep going, please!"

Everyone wants to tell you how bad they had it. And honestly, I was thinking - besides remembering the whole surgery, it really wasn't that bad. I guess my teeth were all broken through my gums so the top two came out just like any other extraction. Easy peasy. The bottom were a little more involved. But my mouth didn't really hurt at all as long as I was on my pain medication which was hydrocodone/acetaminophen, which wikipedia tells me is Vicadin. (Not Percoset as we had thought) But I was perfectly functional even on the pain meds and only missed one day of class on Friday when I had them taken out. On Monday, I was down to ibuprofen and eating Mac & Cheese. The worst part of having my teeth taken out was being hungry. My mouth didn't hurt, but I didn't know how careful I had to be about getting food into the holes left by my teeth (EEEEEW!) so I was trying to eat soups and oatmeal and things like that. By Wednesday, I just wanted a cheeseburger! Pudding and yogurt just don't fill ya up. Thursday night we finally gave in and went to McDonald's where I managed half a cheeseburger. Best cheeseburger ever. I called the dentist yesterday, a week after my surgery, and asked how concerned I have to be about getting food in the holes. The assistant said to just keep rinsing out my mouth with warm salt water, and I should be fine. I also asked about playing the clarinet. I haven't been able to play, so I've been going to my daily 2 hour rehearsals and just sitting there following along in my music. That gets old VERY quickly. I had a concert on Thursday night that Brother Holman covered for me. It was Chamber Winds, so I was only in one piece - so it wasn't too bad. So anyways, the dentist assistant said that if my mouth was feeling good, then I could go ahead and try it. I don't think I have ever been more excited to play my clarinet. I could only play in a certain range at a certain volume for a limited amount of time, but I still got to play! Yay!

So, maybe I'm wrong, but I seem to be healing really quickly. I love my immune system. I'm telling you - it's because we ate dirt as babies! It's the kids whose mom's have sheltered them from every dust particle their entire lives who are allergic to everything and constantly sick.
You know I'm right. Thanks, mom, for letting me eat dirt!

Anywho. In answer to Mollie's comment on my last post - I have been telling Chad, I'm going to put my teeth under my pillow and wait for the tooth fairy to bring me $900 to pay off the cost of having to get them removed.

(P.S. - VeggieTales changed their theme song!!! (Saturday morning cartoons, ya know.) SO disappointing.)

So - to sum up in pictures.

Before

























After

(I look gross - Apparently I authorized Chad to take this picture soon after we got home and while under the influence of the sedatives.)

Monday. Don't worry - I didn't gain a whole lot of weight (in fact, I lost weight cuz I couldn't eat anything!) That's the swelling. (I look pretty much back to normal now - maybe I should post a newer picture)






And my teeth! The dentist gave them to me. It's a good thing too, cuz it sounds like they'll come in handy.















And that my friends, is THE END. (I don't know how to get rid of the big space between the last two pictures.)

A Tale of Two Wisdom Teeth

(okay, okay, four)

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

About a week ago, my bottom right wisdom tooth started hurting really bad. All of my wisdom teeth have hurt at little intervals as they broke through my gums, but this didn't go away, and in fact, only got worse. I started taking Ibuprofen Sunday night just so I could sleep, and have been on it ever since. Now - a problem in the mouth causes another problem. Being a music major requires a ridiculous amount of playing the clarinet, which requires the firming of the muscles in the mouth and cheeks. Hence a lot of pain for me since my tooth started hurting. So I haven't really been able to play for the last week - I can play for short passages at short intervals, but not a long time straight. Not really very helpful, but enough to get me through ensemble rehearsals.

So, being desperate, and needing to get fixed so I can play again, I called up some dentists and set up a consultation appointment. That was yesterday morning. They looked at my teeth and said they should be easy extractions because they've all broken through already. The top two are just like regular extractions, and the bottom two will require just a little bit more work. Anywho. So I have to get all of my wisdom teeth taken out. The question was - when? It getting close to the end of the semester, that means it's concert season. I have four concerts and a jury between now and the end of the semester, April 10. So should I wait until the semester ends? As Brother Holman pointed out - well you can't play anyway! So we decided that the sooner I could get it done and get recovered, the better, with hopes that I could still play in the final concert. I will still be able to go to rehearsal between now and then, I just won't be able to play.

So I asked the doctor - when could you get me in if we want to do it "as soon as possible"? He thinks - "Well, I have a seminar tomorrow, but I'll probably be bored anyway, so I can leave early. ... Tomorrow at noon?"

So - in about 15 minutes I will show up at the dentist's office to have all four of my wisdom teeth taken out. Ugh. Signing off for the last time with all 32 of my teeth. Next time you hear from me I will only have 28.

A Horse, of Course!

Hello all my readers.
I have found myself with some free time and a laptop. Unfortunately I am stuck on campus and can't do much of anything. So I decided to update my blog.

As many of you know, I started my horse class last week. The first day they assigned us horses, somewhat of a blind date, you might say. (Not unlike Mollie's upcoming Sister Appreciation Night) I met Oliver - my horse. I liked him, but I'm not so sure that he liked me. The whole time I was brushing him he was scraping his foot against the ground and throwing his head back towards me. I went around the to the other side of him to brush the other side and he swiftly sidestepped to squish me between the fence and his butt. Well, I guess it was the side of his butt. But still. The girl that teaches the class kept telling me to just push him back, but a horse is significantly stronger than I am. Especially when I'm pinned against a fence. I got out of that encounter without anyone noticing, and I was happy for that. Anyways, Oliver was big, and somewhat passive aggressive and our first date didn't go quite as we had planned. The next class I got reassigned to a horse named Goldie Haun. Now, I know it's spelled "Hawn", but apparently the people who labeled her pen don't. Maybe they do. Maybe they didn't want to name her after that famous actress lest people get confused. So anyways. Goldie Haun.

Now, as far as I have determined, Goldie Haun is the horse equivalent of my grandmother. She is old and stubborn and won't do what you tell her to. We have to play a "game" with our horses called "porcupine" which involves poking the horse in different pressure points and applying pressure until they do the desired action. For example, first you gesture what you want them to do - if they don't do it then you touch them, if they still don't do it, you "apply more pressure". Skin, muscle, bone. This "game" feels a whole like pushing the horse around. But apparently this is how they learn. So I'm told.

Goldie Haun requires a lot of pushing. And to get her to step sideways you're supposed to apply pressure to her back hip. So I push - and finally I hear this popping sound and she takes a step. I'm pretty sure her hip cracks when she steps like that. Probably why she doesn't want to do it that well. So, as near as I can tell, I got reassigned from the horse bachelor to the horse geriatric.
And I'm not joking! Yesterday we did a game where we got on our horses bare-back and rode them around while a partner directed them around the arena. The teacher kids look around and say "You can tie Goldie Haun up over there, we're not going to use her for this."

So that is the extent of my horse class. We go, "catch" the horse (bridle them and bring them in from their pens), bring them in, brush them, and clean out their feet. Then we take them to the arena and do different things with them. I think we're supposed to ride (with a saddle) next week. Mostly I accomplish annoying my horse and smelling like horse poop by the time I get home. My shoes never come in the apartment - we leave them in the hall. But it is really fun - and I'm glad I get to do it. Last week I stepped in so much manure that it seeped into my shoes and soaked my socks and stained them a lovely green color. But it's okay because now I can wear them for Saint Patrick's Day. I was so worried I wouldn't have anything green and then someone would have to pinch me.

Well, that's about it. Things in Rexburg aren't going quite as well as we would like. We didn't get the apartment I had previously posted about - there's no hot water. They said they'd call a plumber but we haven't heard anything yet and that was probably a week and a half ago. But we did negotiate a bigger apartment in the building we're in now. We're excited for that. We've found out that our current apartment really is the smallest size in the whole building. No surprise that we were lucky enough to get it.

I am still trying to figure out what to do this summer - try to rack up 14 credits for scholarship, or pay for part time. After reading the next paragraph, you'll probably think that I should definitely go for the scholarship - and you're probably right. It's the finding 14 credits that'll be stressful.

In other (unfortunate) news - Porter's has been hit by the economic downturn, finally. They ordered the same amount of products as they did last year (when the economy was not nearly as bad) and are surprised and angry that they aren't making as much money off it as they did last year. Really? Cuz I'm pretty sure anyone in the country could've told them that ordering just as much and expecting to sell it all in this economy was a pretty dumb idea. So they've started laying people off. Two people have already been laid off and other people's hours are being cut. Chad lost two hours from his regular 40, and one girl went from 40 to 24 hours a week. She threatened to quit and that actually worked! They said they'd tried to get her more hours. So anyways, they (the owners/managers) haven't talked openly about it. They just call people into their offices and tell them they no longer have a job. When rumors went around about the girl who went from 40 to 24 hours a week, they told Chad that she had asked for three days off this week. Which apparently is a lie. Great. So the owner wife has been at the store all day today yelling at people and throwing things (Chad says she really throws things if she doesn't like where or how it's displayed - that's gotta be GREAT for business!) and telling them all how much they suck at their jobs. Chad says they keep telling him they won't lay him off - but isn't that how these things go? "Oh no - it definitely won't be you!" ... "Sorry Chad, we're going to have to let you go." So now we're kind of worried and scared that he'll lose his job, won't be able to find another one, and we'll be in trouble.

And with that lovely thought, I guess I'll be done posting for now. I guess all we do now is pray that he doesn't get "laid off". *sigh*

My beautiful, my beautiful balloon!

Today Chad was walking with me from the library to the music building where I had class. We had to go to the library to print the inserts for the sets of funeral CDs we made for the family. This girl walking towards us says "Do you guys want a balloon?" Now, let us pause for a second.

Who wouldn't want a balloon?! I thought it was a trick. ... okay, what are you selling, cuz I want the balloon but not whatever else you're trying to rope me into. I look her over - she's got no clipboard, just a backpack and a sky blue balloon bobbing over her shoulder as if to say "pick me! pick me!"

"Heck yes!" I say (mocking Napoleon Dynamite, not seriously.) She explains "I'm going to the library and I can't take it with me." Let us pause again here.

Now, is there some kind of rule that you can't bring balloons into the library? Was that a problem at some point? Such a problem that they had to make a rule? How does she even know about this rule, if such a rule exists? Did she have a balloon one day and the library security (who take their jobs a little too seriously) says "I'm sorry, we don't allow balloons" and made her tie it to the bike rack outside to pick it up on her way out? I wonder.

So she hands me the balloon, we say thanks - she continues on her way to the library and I on mine to class. I took my balloon to class with me and let it sit in the corner while we had clarinet sectional. I packed up my clarinet when that was over and took it to my locker with my faithful companion bobbing behind me. As I approached my locker I had the strangest flashback of being in high school and it being my birthday.

I had to go home to get something I had forgotten for my photography class later that night. I wrapped the ribbon of my balloon around my fingers a bunch of times to be sure not to lose it to the cold February Rexburg sky. I trotted to the crosswalk, my balloon blowing in the wind behind me. As the cars came up, I imagined that I was in Mario Kart and I was playing versus and I only had one balloon left and the cars would try to pop my poor solitary balloon. Luckily, I was not in Mario Kart. I got across the street safely, and made the 2 blocks home. I passed a girl who couldn't help but smile as she passed me. She was trying to hold it in, but I saw a smile creep out at the last second.

And I realized as I walked down the sidewalk, that trailing a balloon behind you makes you feel like a little kid again. There's a little bounce in your step, the sun shines just a little bit brighter, and you feel pretty happy. There's nothing like the feeling of having a balloon follow you wherever you go. Always in your face, like a puppy wanting to be held and then insisting on licking your face.

So now my sky blue balloon floats, tied to the kitchen chair, keeping watch over our apartment.

(It does have a flyer taped to its ribbon telling me to volunteer at the hospital, so I wasn't wrong in assuming it was a gimmick of some kind, but nonetheless.)

Happy thought of the day...

The plastic on our microwave had formed a little bubble over the "start" button, and I thought we just got what we paid for from a cheap microwave. Tonight we realized that the protective plastic film was still stuck over the keypad and the window. Peeling it off made my day! It's so shiny now!

It's a Rodeo

Friday night we went to the Rodeo. I didn't realize it was part of BYU-I Spirit Week, but it was. All of the steer riders were students, and none of them stayed on for 8 seconds. And surprisingly, Mutton Bustin' turned out to be the crowd favorite. And if you don't know what Mutton Bustin' is, watch the video. Eh, watch the video anyway.

In other news...

Hello again - as I'm sure you've noticed, I don't usually post this many times in such succession, but I have good news!! Chad talked to the owner of Porter's today and got a go-ahead for us to move in upstairs. Oh, I'm sorry, did you miss that? WE CAN MOVE IN!!! We are SO excited. It's bigger, has 70's orange shag carpet in the main room, and 2 - count 'em - 2!!! bedrooms. We get to clean it up in the next couple of months before we move in - so we get to paint it and clean it and replace the nasty linoleum floor in the bathroom. There are a few details that cannot be listed on public web space as per orders of the owners. So I suppose you should talk to me if you want to know anything else about it. :o) Or message me privately.

WE GET TO MOVE TO A BIGGER APARTMENT! ... maybe you should come visit us...

This week in Dickerson medical anomalies...

Today I went to the orthopedic surgeon - the guy that takes clarinet lessons from Bro. Holman. I was reminded today that apparently I've met the man before - my freshman year, my first semester, when I played in the Rexburg Tabernacle Orchestra. Anyways.

If you'll recall, in October I began having pain in my right hand/wrist. I put up with it for a while and then called Dr. Mills (aforementioned orthopedic surgeon) in a "hey-I'm-a-musician-too-can-you-help-me-out" kind of way. I didn't want it to go that way, but he didn't think I should come in and see him yet. So he told me to take Aleve to help relieve the pain, and if it didn't get better, to call him. So I waited for Christmas to see if not practicing would help. But I still experienced pain all through Christmas break, which was disappointing. So I finally called and made an appointment.

What it basically comes down to is that he doesn't know what the problem is. It could be any number of things. What we did decide was that the x-rays showed that the bones in my wrist are not correctly aligned and so that is probably why I'm more susceptible to hand pain than other musicians. The bad news about this is that it sounds like the pain that I feel in my wrist anytime I push on something with my hand, may not go away. He asked me if I've ever had a bump on my wrist. (HAHAHA MOLLIE!) I said no, but my twin sister did, and she had to have it removed. He told me that a ganglian cyst in it's baby stages may be forming and we just can't see it yet. He gave me a prescription for some topical creme (basically extra strength Aspercreme from what I understand) to apply twice a day. But he said it's expensive, so I'm not really looking forward to finding out just what "expensive" means. Besides the fact that I'm already worried about the cost of the visit - insurance said they'd cover it - up to $250 I think. Hopefully that'll be enough.

Anyways, that's the latest update from Rexburg. Where'd I get these "loosey-goosey" joints anyway?!

Grand Slam!

As most of you may know, there was a commercial for Denny's that ran during the Superbowl offering free Grand Slam breakfasts to everyone 6am - 2pm Tuesday morning. Having missed free Dr. Pepper coupons, free taco day at Taco Bell and free Ben & Jerry's ice cream on election day, I was determined not to miss out on any more free offers. So - after cleaning the temple last night from 9:45-midnight, we got up at 6:45 and made our way to Idaho Falls.



There was a crowd inside the door when we got there, but there was a sign on the door telling the early birds to form a line outside the door until 10 to 6:00 when they'd let them in. We were glad we didn't decide to go wicked early to "beat the rush" or we would've been standing out in the cold waiting for our free breakfast.





We got to IF about 8:00, waited only about 20 minutes before we were seated, and ordered our glorious free food. Here is a picture of Chad anxiously awaiting his pancakes.





We wouldn't have even had a check to prove it except that we ordered hot chocolates - which also came with free refills. So anyways.



I got pretty close to finishing mine... but not quite. And they refilled my hot chocolate right before we were going to leave, so I tried to drink as much as I could, but I didn't want to be one of those people that eats so much at Denny's that they throw up in the lobby on the way out the door. (See entry for May 20th, 2007)

And that, my dear friends, is the story of the Superbowl Slam.

Happy Hands Club goes National

In case you were wondering, apparently the Happy Hands Club (of Napoleon Dynamite fame) is a real club at Preston High School and they were recently asked to submit an audition video for the Fox show America's Got Talent. I looked for the link on the Pocatello news but apparently it hasn't been posted yet. According to one girl "we sign, and we dance, and we... do stuff."

Baby It's Cold Outside!

I normally don't have time to post anything before I head off to school, but this is just ridiculous. The weather people said it was going to get colder as the cold front moved down from the ARCTIC to take Rexburg hostage. As if getting up and going to a 7:45am class every morning is not bad enough, let's add insult to injury. I looked at my atomic clock/thermometer and it said 11 degrees. And I thought - well that's not too bad. And then I noticed the negative preceding that 11... -11 degrees. And the thermometer on Chad's computer says -18! I talked to dad yesterday about the film I just got developed, and he told me to "try to stay warm". ... I'll try, but I think it's a losing fight. :o(

Paparazzi

So - as some of you may know, I am taking a photography class this semester. For my first assignment I took some pictures of Will. (We had to take one subject, natural light only)





For my second assignment, we can take pictures of whatever we want as long as it's in natural light. So on my way over to the school today, I walked around taking some pictures. There was a blue car parked outside the beauty college that is kitty corner to our apartment building. The beauty college has blue window things that matched the color blue of the car, so I thought I'd take a few pictures. Some lady comes out of the beauty college with her overdone make-up and hair (she works there) and accusatorily says:

Makeup lady: "Can you tell me exactly why you're taking pictures of that?"
Me: "Oh - I'm in a photography class."
Makeup lady: blank angry stare.
Me: "Is that okay?"
Makeup lady: "I don't know. It's my husband's car, I guess I'd have to ask him."
Me: "Oh I'm sorry."
Makeup lady: "Well you already took the pictures."
Me: "... do you want me to give you the film?"
Makeup lady: (as she's turned around angrily walking back into her beauty college) "(no answer to my question) It's polite to ask before you start taking pictures."
Me: "I'm sorry."
Makeup lady walks back into the college.

Oooooohkay crazy makeup lady. Is the car stolen? Is that why it's a big concern of yours?

She came outside to yell at me for the sake of yelling at me. I failed to mention the fact that her husband's beloved Witness Protection car was parked on public property on a city street. I had every right to take whatever pictures I wanted of it. Sorry crazy lady but you lose on that one.

I guess I need to invest in a telephoto lens so I can take my pictures from a block away where she'll never see me.

...And mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again

Well hello all. School starts up again tomorrow, and I'm only taking 14 credits (possibly 16 if I take my ensembles for credit) so it should be less busy than last semester. Less concerts, that's for sure.

But before I post about school sometime in the near future, I should finish posting about Christmas. As Mollie wrote, you can get the detailed version from Erin, (click on sidebar link) including wrecked cars, snow, detours, icy roads, rat poison, snow, locked doors, snow, and little children. Oh, and snow. And, let me point out as no one has, that despite the trouble in getting to and from our little cabin in Island Park, Idaho, it was actually very nice. For the first time in a few years the whole family was together for Christmas, and for the last time in what I would assume to be quite a while. And Chad and I were glad we didn't have to spend Christmas in our 300 square foot apartment in Rexburg. There were little children, "their eyes all aglow", excited to see if Santa had come while they "lay a-snooze" in their beds. It was cute.

And - for the occasion, I have completed my own version of "How the Grinch Stole Christmas".

Every Who down in Whoville liked Christmas a lot.

But the weather just north of Whoville did NOT!

The weather hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!

Now, please don’t ask why. No one quite knows the reason.

In Island Park Idaho, the snow never stopped.

Our plans, it would seem, would have to be dropped.

The first group of Who’s arrived safely on time

The following Who's would be partners in crime.

They would leave later that day and make it by night,

Bringing Christmas to Idaho, to children’s delight.

It was quarter past six… the Who’s had been waiting

To hear from the Who’s who were audibly hating

The weather, the ice, the whole Christmas plan,

Of which neither of them was a fan.

The truck had been packed – the presents! The wrappings!

The tags! And the tinsel! The trimmings! The trappings!

Three thousand feet up! Up the side of Mt. Crumpit,

They slid off the road and threatened to dump it!

They thought of the groceries – of the Who’s feast!

They thought of Who-pudding! They thought of roast beast!

But the Who’s were relieved to hear both were okay

And could continue to the cabin with little delay.

The Who’s in the cabin were not done quite yet,

Something happened that had the whole cabin upset.

They turned around fast, and they saw a small Who.

Little Sawyer James Who, who was not more than two.

He had come out of the bathroom, poison in hand,

In a strange turn of events that no one had planned.

His tiny Who mother, had held on the line,

And finally found out that he would be fine.

A different Who Mother and her little Who twins

Went to work making their cabin a Holiday Inn.

The next day, despite snow, a rescue party was sent

To retrieve the stranded Who's after the dramatic event.

In the meantime, a Who husband began his trip up

And made it eventually without a slip up.

And later that day it was a ***** Who daughter,

Who’d just taken a shower of nice warm hot water –

She was locked out of her room without any clothes

Saved by a Who brother from all of her woes.

It was nightfall again before the Who’s all returned,

They unloaded the cars and the day was adjourned.

Then it was Christmas Eve, but the Who’s lacked a tree!

In 3 feet of snow, there was no time to disagree.

It was obvious, without the Who father intervening,

Once it was up, the Who tree was leaning!

They grabbed the tree and they started to shove,

The poor crooked tree would be tied from above.

The presents were set out under the Who Christmas tree

The tiny Who children were so excited they could pee.*

All their windows were dark. Quiet snow filled the air.

All the Who's were all dreaming sweet dreams without care.

Nothing could stop Christmas from coming! IT CAME!

Somehow or other, it came just the same.

Although there were bows, presents and food galore,

This story of Christmas had a little bit more.

It would have come without ribbons. It would have come without tags.

It would have come without packages, boxes, or bags.

Christmas, they found, doesn’t come from a store.

Christmas, they knew, meant a little bit more.

The next morning Christmas had come in its glory

And then comes the very best part of the story.

Although 2 Shanley Court was quite faraway,

All the Whos, every one, were together that day.

*editor's note: (I could have rhymed with “glee”, but come on. How fun would that be?)

A Toast

Well - another year has come and gone. And I'm still in Idaho. With any luck, next year will be the last I welcome in from Idaho.

This has been quite the year for me. I believe it was on New Year's Day 2008 that I jumped on a plane to fly to California to visit my then boyfriend Chad. Everyone at church the Sunday before told me that flying to California to visit my boyfriend was not "no big deal" as I had been assuring them. I guess they were right - eventually. It took almost 4 months, so I claim that I was more right than they were. I spent a few days in California and then drove back to Rexburg with Chad and his little brother Stephen.

Anyways. In March I got engaged. I went on tour with the Symphony Band in April and was married in June. My grandmother passed away in July and I moved to Rexburg in August. I started school in September, voted for the first time in a presidential election and had Thanksgiving with Chad's family in November, and Christmas with mine (in Idaho) in December. And just like that, the year is over. It sure was a year to remember. So many "lasts" and a whole lotta "firsts". Thanks to my family for coming to Idaho not once, but twice in one year on my account.

So here's to you 2008 - it was a pretty good year. (Minus that whole financial crisis thing. )