pyromaniacs

Monte and I went camping together for the first time EVER a couple of weeks ago. I know, it seems weird that we just barely got around to going, especially considering that Monte and I both loved camping before we ever starting dating. Last summer we tried to go a few times but then ended up being too lazy. Also, it's annoying to have to borrow all of the equipment every single time. Thus, we decided to bite the bullet and buy all of the essentials: tent, tarp, cooler, hatchet, camp chairs, and a sandwich roaster, as a few examples.

Holy cow, we had fun. Here are some pictures of our adventures. Don't mind my greasy hair. And crazy face.

SURPRISE!

Let me just start out by showing some long overdue pictures of Monte's Cinco de Mayo mustache. It's pretty incredible:
Out to lunch at Los Carporales:I think it's funny that there are some of Monte's fellow kinsmen behind us...and they have mustaches all year round.

Now, for the grand surprise you've all been waiting for. I have been doing the BYU aerobics classes (SO fun) and have been getting headaches because my hair is so heavy and long. Thus, I decided to make a hair appointment with my favorite hair stylist, Amy. She really is awesome (in all aspects of life).

I thought I was just going to cut off about 5 inches to get rid of some of the weight (and split ends, of course). I came out looking like this:
(me a bit crazy-eyed, Amy with a fake smile)


So, what do you think? Oh, I was also able to barely donate 10 inches of hair. Who knew my hair was that long? I certainly didn't.

weepy

I have this bad habit of crying during almost every TV show or movie. Seriously. If there's just one tiny ounce of deep emotion portrayed on film I can't help but tearing up (side note: it drives me crazy that there are words that are spelled the same but that can be pronounced differently to mean totally different things, i.e. tearing, read, etc).

Tonight I watched the most recent episode of Glee (delightful use of my time) and totally almost starting bawling at the end when Rachel was singing "One" with that quadriplegic guy (sorry for sounding so insensitive, I just really can't remember his name). It could have been either because I felt so sorry for the paralyzed guy or because I already have an emotional connection with that song (especially the Mary J Blige version). Either way, I felt like an idiot.

Kind of like that time that my coworker was driving in her car and heard Miley's song "The Climb" and started crying. She was pretty embarrassed. And we still make fun of her.

Anyway, I am a wuss pants and cry about everything, whether happy or sad. Perhaps this is a good thing because it makes me feel like I still have a soul. Maybe I'm not as desensitized as I thought.

Girls Camp, here we come!

I have a new calling: Mia Maid advisor!
This means I will be attending Girls' Camp at MIA SHALOM! That's where I went to girls' camp growing up. Remember when I jumped in the lake? And got banned? And had to clean canoes? Totally worth it.
Here's a picture I found on Google Images of one of the A-frame cabins:
I'm not really sure who that cut-out man is--maybe their bishop? Kind of creepy.
But, yes, we really do decorate our cabins according to the year's theme. I don't know what our theme is for this year, but I'm super excited.

Unfortunately, I'll only be able to go for part of the week because I don't have any vacation hours yet at my job. Poopy, but at least I still get to go for a bit.

I'll have to find my old pictures from camp and post some, yes?

I am now the sole occupant of a spacious office with two giant windows

It's true. I got the Office Manager job at Chrysalis. It is a dream come true. I get to work with my good friends, I get a huge office to myself, I get a pretty large raise (SO happy), I'll get full benefits for me and Monte in a few months, and they'll work with me in finishing up my classes for graduation. I just love working in that office. It's so great that I can joke around with my boss and be friends with everyone, no matter if they're "above" me or not.

Hopefully I'll look this professional some day, with lots of practice:
However, I will NEVER part my hair in the middle. Eww.

Valentine's Day

Exactly one month ago it was Valentine's Day. I am just now going to post about it. I hope that's okay with you, because I'm not going to stop this post just because of petty complaints.

I made cinnamon rolls from scratch for the first time ever. Here are some pictures of the messy occasion:
Just some of the dishes that needed to be washed

The little buns rising in the warm oven

The icing I made (I didn't have cream cheese so I added sour cream instead--pretty good!). Pretend it's dripping down instead of to the left.

And this is why I made them. So I could cheesily ask Monte to go to a Valentine's dance with me. Just like in high school. I can't really draw dump trucks this well--I traced it. Pretend the buns are inside of the dump truck.
Maybe sometime this week I'll have time to post a picture of how Monte responded to me. Hopefully all of you will aspire to be as cool as me and Monte from now on.

Important Information

In case anyone was dying to know, Monte has to work this Saturday (MY BIRTHDAY) from 9-5. So. It is the obligation of all of my friends to entertain me during that time. Let your imaginations run wild. Who knows what kind of havoc we could wreak (sp?).Side Note: I love them.

BIG decision

I have about 15 minutes until my bus comes so I thought I'd let all (3) of my readers know what's going on right now. As many of you already know, Monte wants to go to med school. I totally support him in that desire because he really does love the medical field. When he thought he was going to be a clinical psychologist for the rest of his life he just wasn't excited about life. Now that he's back on the medical track he is so excited about EVERYthing. It's great.

Anyways, medical school is pretty darn expensive. Like, I've heard it's typical to come out of residency with like $250,000 worth of debt. That's the cost of a house, my friends. And we'll probably already have a house payment by then. Pretty stressful, but I know people get out of it, especially since doctors tend to make a lot of money.

To avoid huge amounts of debt Monte has been looking into joining the Air Force. They pay for school, help you choose medical schools, and are basically awesome about you getting an education. The downside is that Monte would have to go to Officer's Training next summer back east for a WHOLE MONTH. Now, as you people probably know, I have a hard time even if Monte has to work til midnight. Going to sleep without him is the worst thing ever. SO, if he were to join the military and have to be gone for huge amounts of time like that I've decided that I would just take a long trip (not the whole month, of course) with my family/friends to distract myself from the fact that he's gone. Hopefully....that would help missing him.

Another downside is that Monte would have to work for the Air Force for 4-6 years after residency. That's a long time. BUT at least he would have a secure job and gain lots of experience. During that time the Air Force could send us to live pretty much anywhere (as far as I know). Shaylee and Shawn were stationed in the craphole of New Mexico (Alamogordo) when they were in the Air Force. But then, we could be sent to Europe. I've heard of a lot of people who are stationed in Germany and Italy.

While it's kind of downside that we'd have to live where they told us to, it would be a GREAT opportunity to share the gospel. Which is scary. Because I am not the best at it. But I think that I would be fine and have a good time with all of the other wives on base.

So. What do you guys think? Is it worth it? We're not sure. We've been praying about it and we're going to the temple tonight. Hopefully we are receptive to the spirit, but we'd love advice from all of you, as well.

Angus, Thongs, and PERFECT Snogging

It has arrived, ladies. The movie about some of our favorite books on the planet. Yeah, they changed the name a bit, but not a TON else. Here are my pros and cons after watching it:

CONS:
- it's not a book, it's a movie
- they combined the first two books into this first movie and skipped a lot of my favorite parts (like the part when Georgia's grandpa farts in public)
- Georgia (or any of the characters, for that matter) didn't act like I imagined she would
- it was even sadder to actually SEE Dave the Laugh's heart get broken
- when doing the "pencil test" on screen, they put the pencil vertically between the basoomas. That is clearly not how it was performed in the book (should have been horizontal, underneath)
- The movie focused on the big things that happened in the book (like when Georgia's actually doing something) instead of her hilarious ramblings when she's just sitting in her room, cutting out some of the most hilarious material they could have worked with.
- Libby wasn't really funny at all in the movie

PROS:
- it was set in England, with English actors/actresses
- they got a pretty decent cat to play Angus
- Dave the Laugh was a cutie
- in fact, I thought he was cuter than The Sex God (Robbie)
- it was a good laugh

Anyways, I know not all of you have read these hilarious books, but you should give them a try if you have some extra time and would like to laugh at the insane ramblings of a 14 year old.

If any of you fellow fans of the books see the movie, let me know what you think of it. I'd even be willing to watch it again if it meant watching it with you. It's in the Redbox.

I know you want to know what I got for Christmas

So I'll tell you.

- a pearl necklace (from monte)
- a new swimsuit, pink (from monte)
- two necklaces (from my mom)
- a homemade denim quilt (from my mom)
- a frilly shirt (from monte)
- an argyle sweater (from monte)
- a down comforter, queen size (from my in-laws)
- some monies (from my in-laws)
- a cheesy Jack Weyland novel (from micquel)
... and I can't think of anything else. I think that's it. I was completely satisfied. I got more than I could ever want. It was fun to give gifts to Monte and Maecy & Kenneth. It's been pretty crazy with the whole Mena family down here sleeping at my and Chris's apartments. What a doozy. But it's been fun, too. They're going home tomorrow sometime.

I guess I should mention how awesome our anniversary vacation was. Here's a brief description of our adventures:
Saturday: flew into San Diego airport at 10:30pm. Took the shuttle to the rental car place; got ripped off by rental car place. Drove away with a 2010 red Toyota Corolla. Monte proceeded to be paranoid the entire trip that something would happen to it. We went to bed at about 1:30am after finally locating our hotel.
Sunday: Slept in, watched some TV, went to a singles ward (it's the only one we could find), walked around on the beach/pier. Had a good time.
Monday: Went to the ZOO! We decided that was what we really wanted to do. The highlight was when a jaguar shoved her paw through the fenced and swatted an asian girl. Twice, about 5 minutes apart. Yeah, don't ask me where the girl's parents were. We left the zoo for lunch and to wander around Balboa Park. We went back to the zoo at nighttime so we could ride the sky tram and see all the Christmas lights. They weren't that cool, though, and it was getting a bit chilly, so we left right after that.
Tuesday: We went and did a session at the San Diego temple. It was so beautiful. The Celestial Room is insane. I've never seen anything like it. Multi-level and multi-rooms. You feel like you're in a perfect palace. After that we went and met Monte's friend Stephanie and her boyfriend and had lunch. We also had to purchase some flip-flops for Monte because he left his at the hotel and was wearing black shoes and socks with shorts and a t-shirt at this point. Thank goodness for Old Navy. We just relaxed the rest of the night at our hotel and went to the hot tub. We would have stayed in the hot tub for longer, but there were two unattended children under the age of 8 who would not stop talking to us. Good thing we weren't pedophiles or kidnappers.
Wednesday: Woke up at 5 am to make sure we had time to fill up the car with gas, drop it off, take the shuttle to the airport, and make our flight. We barely made it. It's so hard to find a gas station in downtown San Diego.

All in all we had a fantastic vacation and got to spend some quality time together. Happy anniversary, Monte. I love you and can't wait for our next year together.

missed the bus

so I'm sitting in the Open Access computer lab appeasing the 2-3 readers of my blog. I hope you two are happy.

I took my third final today. I only got an 87 (I should have gotten at least 90 because it's an easy religion class) because the test was very poorly written. Even Monte, who usually never gets below like a 92 on any test (it's disturbing, really) only got an 89 on it. I think we're going to email the teacher to complain about a few questions that made NO sense.

On the bright side, work went by super fast today. I worked from 1-5 at Women's Services. I looked up at the clock at 3 and was amazed because it felt like I'd only been there for a half hour! It was amazing. That's what happens when 4 girls get together to brainstorm ideas.

I'm so excited to go to San Diego on Saturday! I'm also really excited for Debbie and Jared to get married. I can't believe I've been married for a year. So bizarre. It seems like it's only been a couple of months since we tied the knot and now we're gallivanting off on our first anniversary. Who'd have thought that I would get married as a wee 21 year old. I sure didn't. But it's been great, besides the fact that I hardly ever see any of my friends anymore. I'm just too busy with working 28+ hours per week and going to school full time. Oh well. I graduate in a year!

Tye (and her 2 adorable girls) are flying in from Florida tomorrow. That should be fun. Kyle will be here in about week, I think. Also, SHAWN and Shaylee (with Ian) are flying in on Christmas Eve from South Carolina. Shawn hasn't visited us since they got married, I think, so this is quite a big deal. Hopefully we won't scare/annoy him too much. All in all, this holiday season is looking like it will be fantastic.

Another piece of good news: my books for next semester only cost $138. That's a lot better than $300 last semester. I was really excited.

Bigfoot Caught on Tape! Amazing Footage!

the beginning of awesomeness

So, I finished Chuck season 2 the other night. It was fantastic. If any of you are ever looking for an entertaining show to watch in your spare time the first two seasons are on hulu.com. I believe season 3 will begin in February.

In other news, it's Thanksgiving Break! I've been waiting for this week for 2.5 months. It is upon us. And, boy, am I going to take advantage of it. Here are some of the things I'll be doing that I haven't been able to do for awhile because of school/work/no time:

- shooting (guns, that is)
- shopping (Christmas is coming soon)
- sleeping in (only a little bit)
- baking and cooking for Thanksgiving (I'm in charge of the rolls and the cranberry salad)
- relaxing and reading good books (currently, Three Cups of Tea)
- seeing "expensive" movies in the "real" theaters (I have gift certificates--any movie suggestions?)
- attending my cousins' baby showers on Saturday
- watching the rest of Glee online--I'm getting more caught up!
- writing a 3 page religion paper (bleh, but not horrible)
- and other cool stuff, like spending a lot of time with my family

Are you guys as excited about the break as I am? I guess for those of you who aren't in school it's probably not very exciting. But be happy for me, I guess.

Debbie is cool.

Here are some of my favorite things about Debbie. It's her birthday today.

1. She is adorable. She can't help it. Even though she makes the rest of us seem non-cute, we still love her.
2. She is nice to everyone. I can barely think of a single time that I've heard her say something bad about someone else.
3. She bought the same glasses frames as me. Those were good times. We looked hot.
4. She has the best laugh. And it's quite contagious, especially for Haybot.
5. She will watch awesome TV shows with me (Outback Jack, Instant Star, Laguna Beach, etc).
6. She is always snuggly and warm. I know this because I slept right next to her (we pushed our twin beds together) for 4 months. She wouldn't get mad when I'd accidentally hold her hand in my sleep.
7. She is always up for a shopping trip to the outlets in Park City. And sometimes we actually take the right exit instead of heading towards Cheyenne.
8. She is engaged to Jared VanH. She'll have his last name in less than 2 months. Well done, ole chap. Good catch.
9. She is the only person on this planet who can flat iron my hair into perfectly straight submission. She's talented.
10. She tries to be a good friend. Always.

embarrassing, but hilarious

Want to see me in a a bright teal jumpsuit, plus witch hat and boots? Go here. Thank you very much.

We had to work for candy when I was a kid.

What's up with Trunk or Treats? Is the world getting too scary, enough that we need to have trick-or-treating in our church parking lots? Sad news, guys. I remember when there would be hoards of kids on the streets on Halloween--sometimes we had to wait in line at doors to get the candy! We spent hours working for our pillow cases to get about 1/3 of the way full. I loved it. I got to roam the neighborhood and ask everyone for candy. It was my dream come true.

Monte and I decided to be supportive and go to our ward's trunk-or-treat, held in our church parking lot. Gift certificates were given to the three people with the spookiest trunks (or really, just best decorated). One person even created a mini spook alley in their back seat that the children had to crawl through. Monte and I weren't cool enough to even clean out our trunk so we just stood next to our closed trunk with a huge bowl of candy (which we abundantly gave out--we didn't want to take any home). Man, those children had it good. The ward provided donuts and hot chocolate for everyone and some people in the ward brought bakes goods to give away.

Here are some pictures of the event/evening for your viewing pleasure.I'd like you to notice the boots. The went to above my knees. The heels are about4.5 inches tall. Tallest heels I've ever worn. My feet were KILLing me after about 20 minutes, but it was totally worth it. Oh, they were only $7 at Charlotte Russe last Christmas.Monte was really just a doctor, but after he put my hat on he became a witch doctor.The backseat spook alley

alone on a saturday

So, today I worked from 8:30-9:30 putting up signs and manning the registration table for the Women's Self Defense event. Pretty boring and way too early for a Saturday.

After that I came home, did the dishes, picked up the used tissues in our apartment and generally just clean up a bit. Nothing too in depth because I'm too lazy.

At 10:30 I went to the church for our primary program practice. The program's tomorrow and we just had to do a little run through to see how long it would take and make sure everyone knew what they were supposed to do. I think it will be a success tomorrow. Morgan and her counselors are awesome and have planned it to the "T".

After that I made Monte the most random lunch you've ever heard of (a hamburger, a slice of pizza, a lunch meat sandwich, and some potato chips--yes, he'll really eat it all). I ate a pb&j for myself. Now I'm writing this. I think I'll try to go give plasma so I can have some extra monies this week. Possible to use on going to see this gem of a movie.

Why I haven't been posting lately

So, I know you're all mad at me for never posting on here anymore (perhaps most of you don't care and I'm just being optimistic?) so I guess I write a little something. Which is asking a LOT considering I just frantically typed out a 5 page paper in about an hour and a half. For those of you who have seen me write papers in my ADD manner, you will understand what an accomplishment this was.
My day has been non stop! Here's how it went:
7-7:45 Get ready for school and eat delicious Life cereal that was so cheap this week
7:45-8 Ride bus to campus
8-11 Work at WSR
11-12 Finish GIS assignment that I really should have spent 2 hours on
12-12:45 Ride bus to other job in Orem (yes, it really takes that long)
12:45-5 Work at Chrysalis (the office smelled SO bad--those clients need to take showers more)
5-5:45 Walk to bus stop and ride to plasma center
5:45-6 Wait for plasma appointment
6-7:15 Be screened and give plasma
7:15-7:30 Walk home
7:30-9 Write 5 page paper in record time
9-9:30 Write 1/2 page paper for awesome etiquette class
9:30-now Read/comment on blogs, check Facebook, be lazy

I am super tired. And you're probably super tired about hearing about my day. But the schedule above is why I can never blog, people. I just don't have TIME. But I still love you all and will try to post more often when I have a few spare minutes (even now I should be writing my journal for my religion class and doing that reading, as well). No spare time, people.

Plug for that one blog that you're all sick of...

Since I'm back working at Women's Services at BYU I post to their blog once a week now! So, if you're complaining about how I never blog anymore, it's not true! I just don't post on THIS blog. So, pretty much, if you want to hear from me in blog form you'll just have to head on over to the Women's Services blog. My latest post was on Tuesday and I rambled on about my college career. If you wanted to know. You should comment. A lot.

kapow

We finally found a spot to go shooting! Granted, it's about 25-30 minutes away, but we're just glad that we have a sure place. We just drove around Utah Lake going through Springville and SF instead of all the way to Lehi/Eagle Mt. It was grand. I finally got to shoot the pistol outdoors. I'm the worst shot ever with that thing. However, despite how silly I look with the .22 rifle below, I'm quite the excellent marksman with THAT weapon.
Quinn just bought a handgun yesterday. It's pretty much the same as ours, but it's army green. He LOVES it. Wouldn't stop exclaiming how fun it was to go shooting. Enjoy the pictures of our adventures.

P.S. Monte just found out about 30 minutes ago that he also got a grant for the school year. That's right--we don't have to pay for school this year...at all. We're so happy. We'll probably just spend all of our saved monies on a trip to Florida/South Carolina to visit my sistahs. Who knows when, though.