Fluoride

Fluoride was the very worst part of elementary school. Followed by peas at the lunchroom. And basically any food at the lunchroom. 

My mom always made me do it and when they would bring the little packages if fluoride to the room my throat would close up and I would start to feel my gag impulse kick in. 

Guess what? 

Not much changes when you are the teacher. 

When the girl brought in the fluoride I felt my throat close up and was holding back a gag. The kids were right there with me. Except for I just want to pause and comment on how many of my students parents checked the box next to  "no, my child does not have to do fluoride ". This is sickening to me.  You are supposed to make your kid do fluoride to torture them. And also because its a rite of passage in elementary school. And also because it builds character. And also because I absolutely loathed any kid that sat there smiling while me and the rest of the class were swishing away. Don't the parents of today understand these concepts?! 

Anyway. 

So the class was moaning and groaning and altogether having a major panic attack when I told them it was time for fluoride. To show them that it was not that bad I told them I would do it with them. 

Bad idea. 

About 30 seconds in I was gagging and didn't know how I was going to last 30 MORE seconds. But we all did it. And the sickest part of all...I'm shuddering even writing this....was having everyone spit their fluoride back into their cups and then gathering them up in a little Baggie. I started this job and then decided I would give it to one of my super helpful students after I was uncontrollably shuddering    And just altogether  grossed out. 

We had a repeat of the same incident in the afternoon and yes, I did it again. Just nominate me for teacher of the year already! But this time one kid started giggling and ended up swallowing probably half of the fluoride. I had to just close my eyes and not think or I would have had fluoride coming out of my nose too. 

The best part was I told the kids they weren't allowed to complain to me because I had done it twice that day. 

Can't wait for next week. 

Reflections on Baling

First crop hay this year was a real wing dinger. 

We got off to a great start with one of the top 5 worst baling sessions of my life. We started at 10 that night and finished up at noon the next day. I hadn't had a nap the day before because I'm not real bright so I was craaanky and tired and falling asleep in the tractor. I honestly would wake up and be half off the row or all the way off the row and it was just really, really bad. I was definitely happy to come home and sleep the rest of the afternoon after we were finally done. 

After that night the rest of it went pretty well. I always made sure to take a couple hours nap in the afternoon and was able to mostly stay awake through the rest of it. 

I also somehow got roped into helping Hansen's with their hay. First crop was kinda nutso for them. Sandra was gone to girls camp and Kirt to scout camp and Kolton was the big man in charge. Bear came out to bale until he broke his foot so one night their Grandpa Taylor had to come out. When we finished for the night Kolton asked me if I could switch out his Grandpa. I thought I was coming to the rescue but instead I broke down 4 times in one hour. Tylee was with me and we really didn't accomplish much. I thought it was a one time deal, but that night as we were getting into bed Kolton mentioned how "WE" were going to have to go out the next morning and get some more stuff done. So somehow I ended up trying to help both parties and somehow we got it done even though I'm definitely not the most dependable or most capable employee. 

And since we're on the subject of baling...

A strange tradition was started by Tylee many years ago when during one baling session she got over the radio and announced that she had made up a song for our listening entertainment. She then proceeded to sing "Under the Sea" from the Little Mermaid with all new lyrics all about baling. It was one of the funniest dang things of my life and really got me thinking. 

The next year, my friend Andra and I made up SEVERAL baling songs recorded them on our phones and sent them to each other all summer long.  My favorite thing became seeing my little phone beginning to load a new text/song in the middle of the night or waking up the next morning to a baling song Andra had sent. 

At the end of the summer we compiled all of our songs and made ourselves a CD. Yeah, we're pretty neat.

This further started the ball rolling and now on any given night of baling I can count on my sisters or one of my cousins to send me a little ditty they have made up. Really, the musical talent on this farm just astounds me. 

Once I was lucky enough to get a little ditty from Kolton and that pretty much made my life. SO funny! It is now his ringtone on my phone and I die laughing every time it goes off...especially when I'm in public. 

But I digress...

So through many baling songs we were able to make it through first crop. 

Near the end of every crop I start feeling worn down and hating life. One of the last nights baling I was thinking how tired I was of this and really just not wanting to do it anymore. A storm was moving in and we were going a hundred miles an hour trying to get everything done before it hit.

Then I looked over and saw my sister in the next tractor and I just got a really big goofy smile on my face because I realized how much I really do love the misery and especially love doing it with my family. 

Every night when we are done baling we all load up together in the pickup with Memo and just laugh and laugh all the way home. (Lots of things seem a lot funnier at 3 in the morning) I get dropped off  at my house and we all call to each other as is our custom..."See you tomorrow, 6 am!"

Another favorite line is, "Sorry bout dat. Es no my problem."

Anyway.

None of this really makes a whole lot of sense but basically I just really love farming and especially doing it with my family. We don't always get along the greatest but at the end of the day we are all working toward the same goal and something about that just brings us closer together I think.

And it just doesn't get much better than that.

It's a Good Thing I Love Him

So since I started Student Teaching I have been a bit busy and super unmotivated to cook dinner. I had a hunch that this was going to happen and therefore spent a couple days during Christmas Break making up some freezer meals to stick in the crockpot or oven after a long day at school.

 

When Kolton saw me making these meals he made the comment that maybe I shouldn't stockpile so many because we didn't know for sure if we'd actually like it and he wanted to avoid a freezer full of unwanted meals. I didn't listen to closely to him because I figured having a meal that we had to choke down might at least be marginally better than Cheerios for dinner.

 

In truth, we have liked many of the meals that I made and they have been super nice to have around. However, (of course) one night I had stuck some honey, soy sauce, can't even remember the rest of the weird ingredients, chicken in the crockpot. It smelled okay when I got home and I wasn't as worried about it as I had been when I had prepped it that morning.

 

Kolton didn't so much like it, however. He informed me that the chicken looked too much like the formaldehyde soaked body parts he had dealt with in his cadaver lab at school to be edible.

 

Honestly, the chicken wasn't my favorite but it was fine. He wouldn't eat more than two bites.

I was tempted to be a little hurt or offended until I remembered (or was reminded) that he eats everything and never complains about the taste. If he wasn't eating this meal, it must really bring back unpleasant memories.

So I let it slide.

And I have no idea what I'm going to do with the other bag of frozen honey/soy sauce chicken sitting in our freezer. 

it's harvest time

The last couple weeks have been completely crazy.

Luckily we have slowed down quite a bit for the time being, but life got a bit busy.

Once I got out of school we had a few more parties (more on that later), one last hurrah and then farming started.

I didn't get to help much (read: not at all minus one all-nighter baling sesh) during first crop and I kind of felt bad about it. One night early in June I was climbing into bed not wanting to go to school the next day and I looked out the window and saw all the balers heading out. I felt so bad, like I was missing out! I eventually got over that, but I did have to fill in for Tylee one night. It was the all nighter mentioned above and I started thinking maybe I didn't miss out on so much after all. (Brevan actually came with me that night and stayed awake the entire time. I couldn't believe it. He was so excited to see the sun come up and then completely drooled-all-over-his-coat-he-was-using-as-a-pillow zonked. Laughing at him was the only way I was able to stay awake.)

But then second crop came around and I was definitely involved-more than I was hoping for. Kolton and I didn't see much of each other during those couple weeks. About the only time we saw each other was in between naps and when we'd fall into bed the next morning. We would start baling around midnight-ish and usually went til about 5-ish (we had a few all-nighters this time around too). Then I'd come home, crash for a couple hours (sometimes Kolton would be home, sometimes not) and head back out to do it all again. I was getting quite sick of it and was definitely needing a break, (but mostly needing at least eight hours of uninterrupted sleep) when grain harvest started.

Kolton sat in a combine all day every day (they fell a little behind and would sometimes go til two or three in the morning) and I baled straw and disced and did whatever other odd jobs I needed to all day long. We were so lucky to have our families taking care of us. Our moms each brought us out a lunch and cooked us dinner every night too. We had zero food in our house. Not even milk or eggs, so I couldn't have really cooked anything even if I'd had a spare minute. When I was finally able to get away and get to town my grocery cart was full to the brim. Actually, above the brim. I seriously considered grabbing two carts before I realized that one of me probably couldn't push two carts at the same time. As I was walking out of the store, one arm was loaded down with bags that wouldn't fit on top of the pile in the cart and the other arm was holding down the few items I had managed to haphazardly stack. I'm sure I was quite the sight to see hobbling across the parking lot, but I was just so glad to finally have some groceries!

August was quite the month for us, but we had the best harvest I can ever remember. No rained on hay and beautiful weather for combining. The day after we finished baling straw it poured rain. We were definitely blessed this year.

We still have third crop to go, so we're crossing our fingers and hoping for the best. Most of all we're just glad the craziness of August is behind us.

I got in trouble.

The other day.

Because for the first time ever in his entire life, Kolton clicked onto my blog.

I don't know what inspired him to do it, I've had this baby for over a year, people occasionally comment on it-in person, I mean, and some special friends of ours even like to quote me when we get together (Yes Zach, I mean you.)

But dear Kolton had never really shown an interest until the other night. We were sitting around doing our own thing on our own internets when I glanced over and saw a familiar little screen.

And then I got kind of embarrassed. I've been able to share some stories because I know that they can be my own and no one will be able to correct me when I skew a few details (not that I ever do that...) and I can write (and exaggerate) pretty much whatever I want.

But I got over my embarrassment, there's no room for embarrassment in a marriage.

And I snuggled up to Kolton and together we read some of the "little journal of our life together".

And you know what?

I got a few chuckles, and even a couple hearty laughs from him. But then I may have gotten in a little bit of trouble for sharing "Our story" he said that it was too embarrassing to share, but I said that's tough luck partner because my favorite kind of stories to share are the embarrassing ones.

My proudest moment of the entire conversation was when Kolton acknowledged that maybe my blogging wasn't a complete waste of time. That maybe it was a good thing to keep track of where we've been and where we're headed.

So I guess I'll keep at it!

thanksgiving 1

I know that Thanksgiving was a week ago, but it is a holiday that really should ever end?

I think not.

Well, maybe the stuffing yourself needs to come to an end, but I would definitely be ungrateful if I didn't take this time to quickly count my many, many, many blessings.

-Kolton. (obviously) even though we are complete (and I mean complete) opposites, life has never been better. Sure we argue and disagree and sometimes need alone time, but I honestly can't imagine my life without him. Goll, I love that man.

-My families. I am definitely blessed (on both sides) to have amazing family. I love nothing better than sitting around a table and laughing till I cry with my family.

-My healthy, happy body. I've been thinking a lot lately about how lucky I am to be healthy. It seems so simple, and it's something that I take for granted every day but I am so grateful to have two arms and legs, ten fingers and toes, eyes, a nose, and ears to hear (this is starting to sound like a nursery rhyme.) a mouth for tasting and kissing, my hair (even when I want to either chop it all off or just pull it all out) and all those internal-ly organs that keep me going. it's so neat that everything works together so perfectly, and i'm so grateful that it does.

-And on a less serious note:

Things that smell good-especially when it's my house.

cookies

cake

candy

ice cream

my cozy bed

a home

blow-dryers, straighteners, curling irons

leave-in-conditioner

a hot shower

a car

my phone

inside jokes

surprises

to-do lists

And the list goes on.

I'm thankful for Thanksgiving too. Even if it's one holiday that I usually just skip over in anticipation for Christmas. I'm going to improve on that and remember the reason for this season.

This year for Thanksgiving we went down to St. George with the Newmans. We had a nice time stuffing ourselves by day and playing tennis and basketball by night. You can't beat that combination! 

you know what i hate?

When I spend money on a book that I'm really excited about and then I start reading...and I'm not so excited anymore.

But to back up a little bit...I forgot to tell an exciting story.

When I was about thirteen years old, my room was a mess. like, all the time. Occasionally I would pay it some attention, and when I did, I was always rewarded for my efforts. Without fail, every time I would clean my room I would find loose change on the floor, on the dresser, on the desk, on my nightstand...pretty much everywhere.

It would just be a nickel or a dime, so nothing big, but then I had a vision.

And I walked into the storage room and grabbed a big ole mason jar, set it on my desk, and dropped that nickel in the jar.

For the next seven years (years!) every time I found any spare change I would toss it in my jar. Occasionally I even cleaned out my wallet (this was even more seldom than cleaning my room)  and would toss all the change in the jar, just so I could see some progress.

I determined early on that this money would go toward a "book fund" and that when I filled the jar all the way up to the tippy top, I could go shopping.

Fast forward seven years.

I'm married now, still don't clean my room, and have still contributed to my little jar. It's quite heavy now and kind of a pain to lug around.

So one day I'm sitting in our kitchen doing homework when Kolton lugs this jar out to the table and is just beginning the process of dumping the jar of coins onto the table when he notices the horrified expression on my face.

"What. are you doing. with my jar." I calmly asked him.

"Well, I thought we could the quarters for our laundry..." he says as he gives me a funny look.

At this point I start shaking my head.

"No. NO honey. That money is not for laundry." I then tell him the whole long boring story I just shared with you about how that money jar came to be. And of course I emphasize that whole seven years thing. "Seven years, honey. I've been saving that money for seven years."

He just shakes his head at me and returns the "book fund" to it's rightful place on our dresser and tells me that he'll cash it in tomorrow. I give him the go ahead and he ends our conversation by saying something along the lines of "...It's most nickels and dimes. iIll bet it only has twenty bucks in it, and that's probably not going to get you far."

I just waved him off and breathed a sigh of relief.

And the next day I was shocked to see how this:

turned into this:

BAM!

$103. 47 to be exact.

Then I got the brilliant idea to shop at the secondhand bookstore where the books are cheap and therefore extensively add to my collection.

It was a beautiful day.

So I went to the bookstore and that place seriously

stresses.

me.

out

There are just millions and millions of books and I just didn't know where to begin. It's the kind of place that you'd have to spend hours in, just to browse.

But I did finally end up with a hefty stack of books.

And that's where my original story begins...

So while in the bookstore browsing the millions of books, I found a copy of the book Wicked. I bought it without giving it a second thought because first of all- I think it was six dollars, and second of all-I went to the play in NYC and fell in love with it.

But alas, I started reading it the other day and I kind of secretly hate it.

a lot.

But I just keep reading it because I just keep thinking It'll come back and redeem itself.

And plus, I spent six whole dollars that took seven years to save on it. I just can't abandon it, so I keep reading through my disappointment.

And I'll probably finish the dang thing too which is such a waste of valuable reading time.

ah well...

a story

once upon a time, boy was working hard.

like really hard.

like so hard that he didn't have time to come home for lunch and his clothes were filthy dirty and shmelly by the time he got home at night.

(girl didn't love doing that laundry so much)

so girl decided to do something nice for  boy and make his most favorite dinner of all time. she spent the whole afternoon preparing and even made a pie.

(girl didn't even know that she could make a pie)

boy told her about the time he would make it home from work and girl carefully planned around the schedule and had everything to go right on time.

(that was a miracle in itself.)

 the chicken was bubbling in the oven,

the rolls were perfectly browned, piping hot, and just waiting to be slathered with butter.

the potatoes were mashed up and fluffy (also slathered in butter)

but boy was nowhere to be found.

so girl covered everything up and tried to keep it warm because she just knew boy would be home any minute.

two hours later, boy walked in the door.

girl was a little frustrated because she'd spent all the time preparing the meal so it would be ready right on time, and now the gravy had congealed.

and girl hates it when the gravy congeals.

so girl tried to mask her frustration because she knew that she really shouldn't be frustrated.

boy had been working hard.

she could tell.

he was certainly dirty, and his clothes had to be thrown straight in the washer because they were so shmelly.

but still.

the gravy had congealed!

but girl swallowed her frustration and just looked at boy.

boy looked at the kitchen spread with his favorite meal that was now cold.

then he looked at girl.

straight in the eye.

he got a serious look on his face and then he said.

"I'm sorry."

and then girl looked back at him.

straight in the eye.

got a serious look on her face and then said.

"It's okay."

because it really was okay.

and because girl really loves sincere apologies.

(and she kinda likes boy too.)

so girl made up two plates, stuck them in the microwave, and guess what?

they were good as new. (or as they had been two hours previous)

even the congealed gravy.

after dinner, girl dished up pie.

boy took one bite and his whole face lit up.

(he didn't know girl could make pie either!)

and they lived happily ever after.

things i love lately

1.  Two words for you.

Soft Scrub.

This stuff worked a major miracle on my kitchen sink.

Ever since we moved into this house I have been disgusted with the state of my kitchen sink. It's white porcelain and every little stain would show up. And plus, there was a bunch of nasty crusted on junk that no matter how hard I scrubbed would NOT come off.

So I invested in a little Soft Scrub, laid it on thick, and let it work it's magic. I'll tell ya, I became a believer. After just a tiny bit of scrubbing, the junk I for sure thought was permanent lifted right off. I should have taken before and after pictures. And I should have also invested in rubber gloves because the plastic sacks I had covering my hands didn't really do the trick. My hands were burning, but my sink was finally sparkling.

It was a fair trade.

2. Biore Pore Strips.

I always watched those makeover movies where they put those fancy little beauty strips on your nose, but I didn't know that they actually made them...or better yet, that they actually worked. These things work some magic. Seriously.

If I was Oprah and had my own talk show and could give away free gifts to everyone in the audience.

I would give them these. Just so you know.

3. Cardigans

Why, oh why has it taken me twenty years to discover cardigans? I have a wish list of cardi's I would buy including this little beauty...

h&m baby. I just discovered this little treasure of a store.

4. on a less materialistic note...

the new additions to our the Hansen side of the family.

Tyson the missionary got home last week and Calvin Barrett Godfrey joined us just yesterday. I went to visit the sweet bebe and his parents in the hospital today and he was just darling.

I already love that little guy.

But do I have pictures of any of these big events....of course not. That would require that I actually grow a brain and function like a normal person.

Sometimes I can really connect with the plight of the scarecrow....

If I only had a brain...



Bully!

I just had to quickly share this story because I got such a kick out of it.

Last night we both got home a little late and zonked out. Pretty soon I'm awakened from my sleep from something being pulled out from under me. I look over and Kolton is sitting up in bed and has a hold on my pillow. He gives it a big yank out from under me, sets it on his side of the bed, turns over and is out.

I start feeling bad because I thought I had stolen his pillow and he was stealing it back.

No.

I look over on my side of the bed and don't see anything. So I lean over to his side of the bed and sure enough, his pillow is on the floor near the foot of the bed.

So I lean over him to grab his pillow and he wakes up and is all sorts of confused.

"Here is YOUR pillow, now give me back MINE" I say and he hands it over.

We're both snoozing away seconds later.

This morning we talked about it and got quite a good laugh about it. He didn't remember anything except for when I woke him up and handed him his pillow.

So funny. 

we are officially......

Plugged In!!

And it's a wonderful feeling.

for those of you that don't know what "plugged in" means {which is understandable, i think i made up that phrase just now} it is code for....

WE HAVE THE INTERNET!!

Maybe I should have said, we are officially "online". But that may be misleading. For now I'll stay with "plugged in," because in actuality all it took for the nice internet man that just stopped by to hook us up was to plug in a fancy little cord into my computer.

Which, by the way, I don't actually like fix-it men all that much. Don't get me wrong-they're nice and definitely helpful but I just get nervous when a strange man is standing on my doorstep and I'm home alone. Granted, his pickup said "Rocky Mountain Power" on it, but you just never know these days...And then there's the awkward to "make small talk or not to make small talk" question. I never know how engrossed they are in their work and if they just want me to go away and sweep my floor or something or if he actually wants me nearby to give him some company, or more likely, share some important information pertaining to the device he just installed. again....you just never know these days....

Talking about this has reminded me of a leetle story.

One day shortly after moving in to our house I had been working, working, working all day since practically sunrise and was just pooped. {that may or may not be an exaggeration} all this working had just plum tuckered me out so I lay down on the couch to take a little rest.....

okay....maybe I was being a titch lazy....

Nonetheless...I was quickly a-snoozin there on the couch when I heard a scritch-scratching sound. I immediately froze because I just knew it was a mouse {yes, I'm paranoid and have a phobia. I'm trying to seek help}

Then I thought I heard muffled voices. One can never be sure after just waking up, but they sure sounded like voices. And I knew it wasn't Kolton.

Basically I was a little groggy, not quite functioning, and had no idea what exactly was going on.

So I get up and follow my ears to our cracked window above the kitchen sink. I look out the window and lo and behold! Two strange men are in deep discussion outside my window.

I may have jumped a little bit, because I was NOT expecting that.

I took a couple deep breaths, gathered my courage {that didn't take long, on account of there wasn't much to gather} and headed outside to confront the strange men.

They were a little surprised to see me, but quickly introduced themselves and explained that they were here to fix our broken window.

Whew! 

So I went back inside to finish up my nap. No, just kidding, but I'm sure I did something super important. 

And that's all I have to say about that.  



it has come to my attention...

That I never gave an update on poor Kolton's condition. a.k.a. when he got surgery he had about two weeks ago. Remember?

So. For the update.

After two weeks he only cries about four times a day. That's a big improvement.

{Not really. I've only ever seen Kolton cry once. And that was when he realized he was stuck with me

for.ev.er.}

But he got over that pretty quick. I made a couple batches of cookies, and he was good. I think he even kinda likes having me around now. He's taking me on a date tonight. {hooray!}

Oh...back to the arm.

No, he's doin pretty good. He's been bending it and stretching it and trying to make it heal faster-but that's just what he does. They took the stitches out about a week ago and it's looking much better.

I always beg him to just keep the wrap on it, but he just looks at me like I'm crazy.

Other than that, things are pretty good here.

We're just wrapping up school and preparing to be exiled to Monteview, so we're seeking all the social interaction that we can.

The last couple weeks have been busy, busy and it'll be nice to be done.

Then it's home sweet home in Monteview.

sometimes we argue...

about...

1. Who gets to do the dishes.

This usually results in Kolton boxing me out so I can't reach the sink.

2. Which brand of toothpaste is better.

 I say Colgate because it has a flip lid.

He's a Crest man.

3. Along with that, the quintessential squeeze-from-the-bottom argument.

Kolton is a little crazy about this. He insists that our toothpaste be squeezed paper thin before we even think about throwing it away.

Toothpaste is not something that I lose sleep over at night.

4. Whether or not I'm a good driver.

My opinion on this matter varies from day to day. When he comments on my awful driving skills I look at him in astonishment and indignation. However, when we are going somewhere and he hints that I should drive, I insist that it's too dangerous for me to do so.

5. Who should eat the leftovers. 

I have a deep and abiding aversion to leftovers. Kolton says that I just haven't ever gone hungry. (which is true) I just can't stand the smell of the food the next day or the condensation on the lid.  

The last time we had this conversation we made a deal that we each had to eat half of the leftover Hamburger Helper (which wasn't actually that appetizing when it was fresh) and then could make whatever else we wanted. Sure enough, when I made it home for lunch the contents of the container were split right down the middle.

6. Whether or not pepperoni pizza is delicious or disgusting.

Kolton has an aversion to pepperoni pizza. He says it's too greasy or something like that. I myself, have never had a problem with it.

and... 

7.Why in the heck I would buy shoes I can't walk in.

I don't actually know the answer to that one.

As you can see...

Life is pretty good.

yesterday: part 1 of 2

Yesterday was a good day. So good that it deserves a two part post. Just so you know.

So the very first Sunday we attended our married ward, we waltzed into Sunday School and the first thing I noticed was that a couple was team teaching the lesson.

From that moment on I just knew that Kolton and I were going to have that job.

Call it revelation or what you will- but sure enough, we spent last week preparing our own Sunday School lesson.

And I was nervous as all get-out.

But we talked about it and prepared and shared together so I felt like it was going to be okay.So we show up to church and when Sunday School rolls around we're busy getting the room ready and everyone is filing in.

So we start the lesson, Kolton was in charge of giving the first part, but I introduced us.

"Hey, we're the Hansen's. we've been married since December. We're from Monteview. And we live in apartment #1702."

Not quite sure where that last bit came from, but it was the only thing I could think of! Kolton snickered a little bit beside me, so I wrapped up the rest of the intro real quick.

So Kolton starts the lesson, and I sit reverently and quietly behind him.

Pretty soon I realize that the room is getting a titch warm. So my palms start getting sweaty-or should I say sweaty-er than they already were-and before long the front of my skirt is about soaked from my palms attempting to dry themselves.

Then it's my turn.

I get up there and pretty soon my knees and toes are fidgety and my hands are shaky, but I tried to keep my voice intact, and avoided picking up the manual for fear that it would be fluttering uncontrollably.

And it gets worse.

By then, the room is nearing sauna-like temperatures, and the faucets turn on.

I'm referring, of course, to the faucets located underneath my arms.

I'm so nervous that I don't dare ask someone to crack a window, so I continue talking as if nothing out of the ordinary is occuring in my body.

While, in fact, very un-ordinary things are occuring in my body. I was just telling Kolton the other day how i never sweat. I had to gobble up those words.

so I glue my arms to the sides and thank the heavens and all my guardian angels that I wore a dark, patterned blouse to church that day. (a blouse that is soon going to be shipped to the dry cleaners). I'm also semi-grateful that I chose to wear nylons, because even though they are horribly uncomfortable and sticky, at least I don't have sweat running down my legs (which is a very uncomfortable feeling, as anyone else that has ever experienced that will tell you)

But amid all these troubles, I somehow was able to muddle through the rest of the lesson. After it was over, I collapsed in my chair to give my shaky legs a break.

Then I scurried to the ladies room to assess the damage.

It wasn't noticeably too terribly bad. But I was pretty excited to get home. Especially to remove the hot, sticky nylons.

Ive got two weeks to recover before I have to do that again.
Oh dear.

tidbits.

-I finally conquered an "online" recipe! Yeah, it was an exciting day. And very delicious. Baked Potato Soup was it's name. (we're potato people)

-I grated my finger. again. In almost the same spot as last time. Kolton is now the official cheese grater of our household. 

-Kolton got a new toy for his truck and he made me get in the pickup and rev the engine so he could "listen to it". Our neighbors love us.

-Wednesdays are my favorite (after Fridays) because my family always comes in to visit with us and Cousin Austy gets to sleep on our couch.

-I just finished reading....no wait, devouring this book.

Holy cow, it was SO good. I don't know if it's just the time period that was so interesting, or that Kolton could pronounce some of the Russian words I didn't know, but it was probably one of the best books I've read in a while.

-We are so ready for some warm weather. like, more ready than we usually are. I have been asking Kolton if we could PLEASE escape from this place and go somewhere where the sun shines and it is actually warming. I'm sick of this sunny day/-20 degree weather. Seriously.

-On a whim, I took a trip to the DI. And bought three movies. For six dollars. Video cassettes to boot. Talk about a great purchase! (I don't know what it is, but for me there is just something so charming about watching a movie on the VCR. I much prefer that to a DVD.)

-I mentioned to my dear friend Andra that I desperately need to start working out. The next day she sent me a workout routine list. We had our first "session" yesterday morning and this morning I thought I was gonna die as I got out of bed. Talk about being sore!

And that's about all I've got for ya for now!

Oh and it's Wednesday, which means it's ALMOST the weekend! Wonderful!

walking in a slushy wonderland...

That is the epitome of Rexburg, Idaho at the moment. Holy cow! The first few days of school the sidewalks were covered in snow (and were very slickery) and the roads were covered (seriously, completely caked) in this nasty, brown, wet, slushy junk. (which was also pretty slickery, by the way) 

nas.ty.

This problem was especially made worse by the fact that I was wandering around in the nasty slush-land not knowing where I was going and getting lost at every turn. Seriously...this campus was/is beyond confusing for me. I still get lost a lot, much to Kolton's dismay (He must not have known that he married a girl with absolutely no sense of direction and an even less affinity for reading a map, poor guy).

No, he's actually been very patient with me calling him up every five seconds asking where this building is, or what that street is. He even drew me a map! (which actually wasn't that nifty considering the above mentioned problem of mine)

However, I do have one little thing to be grateful for amid all the slush. (well, actually I guess it's technically two things...) and those are.....

These babies.

(they literally rock my socks)

They have saved my life (and my socks) as I've wandered around campus these last few weeks. I just lace em up nice and tight and I'm good to go! I can walk a.n.y.w.h.e.r.e.- especially on slushy, snowy, wet roads and sidewalks and neither my socks nor the bottom of my pant legs get soggy and wet.

I think everybody needs a pair of these.

i'm a married woman

and couldn't be happier, even though these last couple weeks have been mucho crazy.

to do a little catch-up

-i finished all my finals (and passed) all my classes before i bid goodbye to BYU

-(this deserves it's own bullet point) my very last final was marriage prep and i was freaking out just a bit about it because i hadn't studied nearly as much as i should have but as i walked out of the testing center and looked at that little screen i gasped to myself and maybe might have laughed a little bit out loud because i got a 98% that is the highest i have ever gotten on any college test! i had to call kolton and tell him not to worry-we can get married because i passed my marriage prep test.

-i packed up all my junk, said goodbye to my sweet roommates who helped me pack up all my junk and made the 4.5 hour drive for the last time.

-i was busy busy the rest of that week making sure all the loose ends were tied up

-then on Saturday the 18th i went through the temple. it was such a sweet experience, if not a little overwhelming.

-that night my sweet friends threw me a bridal shower and we had so much fun catching up

-on tuesday, the 21st, the day i got married (holy cow!)  i was up before the sun getting my hair done. then kolton picked me up and off to the temple we went! a couple hours later i walked out of the temple with a handsome husband on my arm.

-after some pictures, and a luncheon, we were off to the reception 

-i had so much fun standing in line and  chatting with all of the people who came to see us.! as i was standing there i realized that all of these people were there for us!  really i do feel so blessed for all of the support so many people have shown us.

-we spent a few days in island park before we came home for christmas.

-after christmas we were off to vegas! where we spent a few days seeing all we could see. vegas is a funny, funny place we decided.

-however, before we left for vegas. literallly-like an hour before our flight left, we ran into idaho falls and bought some furniture. so exciting! we bought a beautiful bed, mattress, and a kitchen table! we kind of felt silly buying the first things we saw but we liked 'em and the price was good so we figured, why not!?

-when we got home from vegas we moved into our apartment and spent a few days organizing and re-organizing everything in our new home.

-then we started our winter semester here in freezy rexy. the first day was a little stressful but it's been uphill from there (meaning it's got better and better. maybe uphill is not the right expression)

whew! talk about a crazy couple of weeks!

but things are starting to settle down and we are just putting our noses back to the grindstone. it seems crazy that we have been married only two weeks. i feel like i can't even remember a time when we weren't  married. is that weird or what?

p.s. i apologize for the lack of pictures or details or anything else that might have made this post interesting. stay tuned for that kind of stuff. okay? okay.

holy mackerel

This is gonna be a crazy week. I went home (again) this weekend which was just lovely, by the way. but when Sunday night came around and it was time to come home to p-town, I just couldn't do it. All afternoon I kept watching the clock and dreading coming home so......

I didn't.

And I don't even feel bad about it. (it's not necessarily that i dread coming back...it's just that I love Monteview and I love Provo-the four and a half hour (I timed it and it's exactly that) drive is what kills me!

Anyway.....so Monday morning I had to get up and drive clear down here. Then I ran off to class and barely made it on time. But I still made it. Then I was busy doing a bunch of little things all day (mainly grocery shopping. I was OUT of food!) that weren't really that big of a deal.

However.....today was not so lucky. I went running first thing this morning. got lapped by my roommate who is speedy quick and tough. But I also lapped somebody! so that was exciting. I think she was about.....sixty? and was walking the track. I'll take what i can get. After that super fun workout. (not really. running always makes my legs feel jello-y)  I dashed back to my apartment (on jello legs) and cleaned the yucky bathroom for cleaning checks. Not fun. But after THAT, I ran off to class and discovered I had a test this week.

Did not know that.
I don't know how I got so messed up, but I swear the test was next week. I don't have my head screwed on quite straight lately, I guess. So I ran home after my next class and have been busily studying (i.e. filling out a bajillion flashcards. the study guide is 17 pages long! Seventeen!) and then just finishing up some other random assignments due this week. 

I've barely started scaling the iceberg, so hopefully I can continue steadfastly and finish all I have to do this week. Wish me luck!

p.s. I say iceberg not because most of it's mass is underwater but because I'm hoping I don't lose my footing and slide all the way down the slippery slope. Just so ya know.

and the ugly...

(I just couldn't help but finishing that cliche/movie title.)

I woke up to a huge gigantic NASTY cold sore!Yucky! But I've been gobbing medicine on it all day so hopefully it disappears soonly.

I was right-I was just as sore as I predicted I would be today.

So with the combination of a huge, swollen upper lip and hobbling around campus today, I was a sore sight for all eyes.

BUT-there was some good that happened today as well. It was actually waaay more than just good, it might have been almost the best thing to happen to me all semester!

I attended my physical science 110 lab today and the TA informed me that because I already took physical science 100 last year and we will basically be covering the same stuff (same book, same tests, the whole enchilada) that I could drop that class and instead take physical science 111 which is just basically going to labs and doing lab writeups. so now, not only am I ahead of the game....

I'm not even in on the game! (and no, not because I'm a bench sitter) basically-to continue with the "game" analogy-I got moved from the lowly c-team to VARSITY.

I think I deserve a letterman jacket.

the bad news

I get woken up every morning at exactly 7:00 on the dot.

(which isn't necessarily a bad thing, it's just a little strange.)

But I have done some investigating and discovered that I believe the reason for this is because my bed is right next to the window which is right next to a very busy street where early morning drivers have no qualms about using their horns.

even at seven in the morning.

oh, utah drivers....

After I woke up at exactly 7:00 on the dot, I decided to drag my roommate Kelsee out of bed to go running with me.

Seriously, with exercising, (and most other things) the buddy system is the way to go.

I didn't want to leave my nice, warm, soft bed to go run around in circles on a dumb track,

she didn't want to leave her nice, warm, soft bed to go run around circles on a dumb track,

but because we had both promised each other that we would go,

we did.

The running wasn't necessarily a bad thing either (once we got up and going)

But feeling like I was going to collapse in a heap on the way home from campus was not real fun.

My poor little legs were just plum worn out!

(and the clompy shoes i was wearing probably didn't help the situation)

(also-just a sidenote, the one teensy little mile that I ran took me sixteen minutes. SIXTEEN!

there's definitely room for improvement in that area of my life)

 I have a bad feeling i'm going to be "feeling the burn" tomorrow morning.

After collapsing on the couch after my long day of school I managed to make myself a grilled cheese sandwich(which happens to be my favorite lunch item at this moment in time)

and I also managed to burn it to a crisp.

It wasn't quite this dramatic, mainly because i was using a griddle instead of a toaster, but still.....it was pretty darn close

But being the tough woman I am (more accurately, the poor college student I am)

I ate it anyway.

and that's all.

(none of that was necessarily "bad news" just kinda funny stuff that resulted in a kinda funny little day.)

p.s.

I forget to mention (and to end on a "good news" note)

Yesterday I finished two physical science assignments thinking they were both due today.

But when I showed up to class,

only ONE was due today

meaning....

I'm actually ahead of the game!

(We'll see how long this lasts)

but for now, I'm feeling pretty dang good.