When sleeping doesn't work, try blogging.

I don't have anything particular to say... I just wanted to mention:

First, my green chair is gone!! The phantom roommate who lived upstairs finally moved out, and wanted her chair back before she left. I offered to purchase it but she wasn't interested. It was a vital part of my room and a sad loss. That green velvet beauty will be hard to replace, but it gives me an excuse to spend hours on craigslist again (because I don't have enough to do right?)



Today my 3pm snack didn't happen until 5pm because things just got complicated. I ate a huge Gala apple while driving up to SLC. The weird thing, I swear I was eating a Sprite flavored apple. The texture even made it feel a little bit like a Slurpee in my mouth. Have you ever wanted something so badly that you actually convinced yourself you were eating it? You better believe I'll have my eyes peeled while I'm in CA for Thanksgiving.


The other day, Ken was searching for a lost pen in his chair cushion. After only 5 seconds digging around in the abyss, he found $0.62 and almost a complete set of Lincoln Logs. Part of me is so grossed out (he says there's way more stuff in there too), but at least they're the couch treasures of some little Mormon family in Orem that craigslist helped us find, right? Ew...



Something about the holidays puts me into list-making-overdrive! I have post-its coming out of my ears! (Why aren't my cute post-its ever around when the stroke of list genius strikes? Note to self, buy as many cute post-it pads as green chapstick, which is always right where I need it when it's time to chap up...) Lists upon lists of things to be done, presents to buy, treats to deliver, thank you cards to write, dry cleaning to drop off, packages to mail, papers to write, meals to make, etc.













The parents have spoken and CZ and I will be heading again to Europe for Christmas. Too bad London was last year, when the dollar-pound was about $2.54. This year the rate hovers around $1.51 per pound. Seriously?! This year we'll stay in Germany, because it would be a shame if 4 years with parents in Frankfurt passed without me going to Berlin.

(Photo: Christmas 2005 - Rothenberg)

Annie says:

You're never fully dressed without a smile!

I searched, Tivo found, and now I'm singing along.

It's not that I ever forget, but oh how I love musical theater! (even when adapted to film) This one in particular.

Shirley Temple will follow shortly.

P.S. Annie always makes me think of YOU AnneE.
Thank you for my lovely new apron! It's PERFECT.

Junie Love

I just can't get enough of this girl.

She's sweet and sassy.

She's silly and serious.

She knows what she wants and my goodness she'll make sure you understand how to get it for her.

And best of all, she finally knows me.
She can point me out in pictures, and she smiles with recognition when she sees me.

Following photo taken October 31, 2007. This is not a very good picture of either of us, but I'll put it up to note what one year of life can do for a little girl. (And a big girl for that matter..) She's really grown into her thighs, don't you think?

For this I am grateful

**UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM**

Amid the chaos and anxiety surrounding the current state of the economy, I have found some silver linings.


Oil is trading for less than $60/barrel. Thus, gas is under $2/gallon. Which means I can fill up my tank for less than $40! This is significantly better than the few times I had to fill my car for approx $80. Ew. Nowadays, instead of resisting to fill my tank in an effort to stretch my budget, I avoid filling my tank because I know next week gas will be even cheaper!!

Flights are cheaper than ever. There are more sales on one-way fares than I've seen since the 90s when you could fly roundtrip SLC-LAX for $99. Remember those days. Ahh...

Everything at Nordstrom is 40% off. I know the half-yearly sale isn't really new, but the quality of the items on sale is better than ever!

Banana Republic's 30% Friends and Family sale. Ends on Sunday at midnight. Need I say more?



On a different note, do you know what I love about windy fall afternoons? That moment when you step outside and your skirt catches in the wind. (Not enough to be obscene, just a tiny lift. Although some recommend matching your undies to your outfit just in case, hah!) Few other things make you feel as feminine and pretty and put a little pep into your step.









*****EDIT Monday 11/17/08************
Check out this CRAZY deal on Southwest!! My allegiances have been pretty much switched over to Delta, but I can not resist this sale. Where should I go between Dec 3rd and Feb 11??


UM WOW. Southwest is offering 50% off all flights from SLC to anywhere they fly starting today until the 18th! Go check out the DEEPLY discounted tickets HERE.

"You're going to change the world aren't ya?"

A few weeks ago the new addition to the Tanner Building was dedicated. They really decked out the place for the event. One highlight was the large, 4-story tall banners they put up listing each of the donors' names. As I was walking out to my car one day after class, I looked up and saw STEPHEN ALMA ZACKRISON right along the bottom of the banner. What?!

I texted Steve immediately (because who doesn't want to know when their name is on a giant banner!) He says he only donated about $50. If I had known I would get my name I a banner, I totally would've donated. Is that the wrong mentality?










We received emails about the dedication ceremony all month long, inviting us students to attend. They never told us who exactly would be in attendance.

They definitely never mentioned that President Monson and the entire A-Team would be there to welcome in Tanner 2.0.














I met up with my friend Heidi (from our trip to Asia) for the dedication. (She leaves for the Tokyo Japan mission next week!) Unfortunately, KHill couldn't make the trip out to Utah for the event. ;-) She was missed. After the meeting was over Heidi and I got front row seats to see the apostles depart.

It was so surreal to see them all in person! It was especially fun to see their wives. I didn't get a picture, but Elder Wirthlin was wheeled out of the building as well. He is looking SO TINY all hunched over in his little chair. His mind is clearly outliving his frail body.

At one point Elder Nelson pulled out his cell phone and called his grandson who was watching from the 4th floor. It was cute. Then Elder Nelson walked right up to Heidi and me and said "You're the ones who are going to change the world aren't you?" and shook our hands. His eyes are quite piercing.















Talk about pressure!! I'd better go figure out exactly how I'm going to accomplish such a thing...

I am so grateful to have had this experience. It's such a small percentage of church members that get the chance to see our leaders in person. And I didn't even have to leave my building to do it!

Quick photo catch up...

I'm so behind in my blogging. Really there's no reason for this because I have plenty of time on my hands. But I have a few things I've wanted to post about for a month now which has been holding me back from posting about more current things. So I'm just going to post some photos of a few different things to get them done with so I can move on to more pressing matters. Like Thanksgiving. And Christmas. And the lack of school. And wreath making. Etc.

So here they are...

Sundance Full Moon Ride, Oct 15 -- It was fun to finally catch this event on its last day before closing for the season. The moon provides a shocking amount of light and the mountain has a very different feel at night. If you don't believe me, you can ask any of the other 600 Provo couples that were also there. Awesome.

Run for Nie -- Sarah and I participated in the charity run for NieNie. It was a delightful event. I always love the chance to run a new course with new people. Around mile 1 I saw a kid ride past me on my bike and realized it was Brenden! He had lost track of Sarah and was a bit distressed. I love that finding me gave him enough comfort to calm down. Family is a special thing.


















Sunday dinners -- We've had some lovely Sunday family dinners hosted by the Wileys. Recently they have included some daredevil showing off by the kids on the bike jumps. Watching little Oliver on a little bike on a very big jump is almost more than I can bear (almost as bad as watching kids on a trampoline on top of a cement slab). Unexpectedly, watching big Ken on a little bike and a big jump is just as frightening.













































JCrew Warehouse Sale -- CZ and I scored some sweet finds at the JCrew warehouse sale at Thanksgiving Point. Family -- watch your mailbox for some delightful surprises!





















Beautiful Birthday Flowers -- People are so good to me. Look at all these lovely flowers I was surrounded with for my birthday. The pink ranunculus arrangement came from Kirstin from TriFec Ta, an awesome flower shop in Salt Lake owned by her mom's friends. They have such unique designs, they win all my business in SL County.
More to come shortly...

You know it's been a while when...

So this treat fast has been good to me. This morning I found myself pulling out some old jeans that I haven't worn in a long time, not since living in Boston, Summer 2007.

When I unfolded the lovely, barely worn Citizens of Humanity jeans I noticed a white thready circular patch on the leg. Upon closer inspection I realized it was a SPIDER NEST! Neatly wrapped inside the little cocoon of a web was a spider!

I was hoping it was dead but pretty soon it started twitching in response to the movement of the jeans. I should've taken a picture but at that moment my only thought was KILL! Which I did.
I couldn't bring myself to wear the jeans to the football game afterall and promptly threw them into the washing machine. Who knows what else could be on there! But it's a little depressing to think some of my clothes go unworn for so long that they become spider homes. I mean seriously, that's a problem.



P.S. Just a tip, do not search google images for "small spider nest". You will not like what you find.

People's Republic of America.

Say hello to socialism people! It's around the corner.


The only two silver linings:

• Outspoken liberals can stop whining about the condition of the country and stop blaming Bush for all the woes of life. (Although democrats will probably use/run against Bush in their campaigns until 2048...)
  
  
• Lots of new work for tax accountants with the changes in the tax code.

And now, I pledge my support to the new President-elect of the United States. It's a position that deserves dignity and allegiance regardless of your beliefs. It really bothers me how we no longer hold our presidents in high esteem. We may not always agree with them, but they are our leaders and deserve our respect rather than relentless criticism and ridicule.

Our Happening Halloween

This was one of the most exciting Halloween's I've had in years. It really helped that the holiday fell on a Friday with plenty of friends and parties to choose from. I think the last 2 years I have been in the testing center on Halloween taking a test until 10pm. Which is just sad.

First, because Christine doesn't blog anymore, I'll share with you how cute and Halloween-y her house is decorated.

It took me a couple weeks to decide what to do for a costume. I had plenty of goodies (read: belly dancer outfits) purchased in the Middle East to choose from, but none of them seemed quite right. In addition, Ken invited me to accompany him to our friend Severin's Halloween party which meant we needed a more couple-y costume.


After much contemplation, we settled on Ken & Barbie. It's an idea that has been considered each of the last three years, but it never quite seemed right. (Mostly because I'm all too aware of how un-Barbie I am...) But this year I found some great costumes that made being Ken & Barbie pretty easy so we went with it. It turned out to be really cute and fun.

Ken, Barbie & Egyptian Belly Dancer (Kirstin)

Our first stop for the evening was Megan and Reed Olsen's spooky halloween photo hunt. They had a really fun game where each group got a list of things they needed to find and photograph around town. Whoever found the most items on the list within the time frame won. The list included things like pitchfork, fake mullet, real mullet, political candidate mask, fake boobs, someone drunk, more than 6 jack-o-lanterns on a porch, someone drunk, vampire costume, inappropriate use of spandex, creepy moustache, someone shirtless... who needs one, guy-liner, fishnets, most disturbing costume, etc.

It was so fun collecting these photos! We stopped first at the line outside of Muse Music. There were so many that could've won the "most disturbing" award but this guy's hand decoration takes the cake. I still don't understand how it works but it's gross...

Ew.

On to the 15th Stake Halloween party at the Smith Fieldhouse where we struck gold. There were some very impressive costumes at that party. We were able to find almost every single item on the list! All while collecting some great stares for our non-dress-code-abiding costumes. I didn't really plan to be on campus that night, sorry.

Kirst and I with some vampires

These guys get Inappropriate Use of Spandex and Fake Boobs

We definitely found the most pumpkins!
The Olsen's party ended in the Maeser Building on campus so Kirst and I had to do a little pose with Brigham.

From the Olsen's party we headed over to Severin and Lissa's Halloween haunt. They had lots of things going on including one of the Clue movies (love those!!) and the Ghost Chase board game that I haven't seen since my childhood. I was too shy to participate in the donut eating contest but I've thought alot about the strategy needed to win such a game. Ken excellently implemented the strategy and won the game!!

Ken & Severin
Severin was in the MAcc-Tax program with me but decided to do the JD/MAcc so this year he's in law school. Ken and Severin have become good friends.
Last one... Ken didn't want to wear his plastic yellow hair but it really completed the outfit

Overall the night was a success. I had one fun-sized Kit Kat which was all I really felt like having anyway. Who knew all my sugar consumption of yesteryear was mostly habit rather than actual desire. All those wasted calories...