ENGINEER BY TRAINING, MOM BY CHOICE

I'd blog more if..

2011-12-11T21:06:00.001-08:00

I could tear myself away from pinterest...

Lacking Will power

2011-11-18T08:36:00.000-08:00

At about 3 or 4 months old Vera would go to sleep on her own. Once she showed signs of tiredness put her in her crib and she'd play quietly and go to sleep. Now as I listen to her cry in the other room I miss those days. ... shhhh I think she's given up and is going to sleep now.

These days were so much easier when it came to naps.

Where in the world is Margaret?

2011-10-25T13:55:00.000-07:00

All Pictures (it was hard but NO commentary)

2011-10-19T17:35:00.000-07:00

Where's Sarah (and Waldo)

No Patience for Pictures

2011-10-10T16:21:00.000-07:00

Words about Vera aren't as cute as pictures but my internet is soooooo slow that if I try to add pictures I will give up entirely. Vera is six months and five days old. She has sat independently for a while now. She can now crawl but her coordination still needs some improvement and over the last few days she has learned how to sit up on her own. She loves everything we give her to eat. Today at her appointment she was 17 lbs and 27 inches. The Dr. also told me I can give her biter biscuits and vanilla wafers and crackers to eat. Before I was nervous about chocking and only gave her food that dissolves easily. He informed me that she can learn to chew now and probably choke a little in the process or she can learn to chew later and probably choke a little then too; just be sure to watch her and know what to do if she does choke. I thought that made a lot of sense. So this afternoon Vera ate vanilla wafers and did very well with them.

In non-baby news
    Work and school are going well. I went to Edinburgh Scotland three weeks ago and presented some of my work. It went well and I really enjoyed Edinburgh. In two weeks I'll be in Paris presenting some more of my work to a working group (VERY VERY nervous for that).
    I inherited a beautiful black Baldwin upright piano that is getting moved in tomorrow and I'm very excited (thanks to those who gave me the piano and my dear daddy for going and getting it from Florida for me!)
   I've been asked to play to organ for a musical number in church. Bleh! (at least I have a new piano to practice.)
   While I was in scotland Brett started redoing our bathroom as a gift to me. He painted out tub. It was an ugly yellow and now it is pure white. It looks like a brand new tub!
   Very is no longer the youngest Marshall. She has a sweet new cousin named Gwen. We are hoping to go and see her and her family at the end of the month.

On blogging and babies

2011-08-16T22:21:00.000-07:00

Less adorable topic first… blogging. So I work for the International Criticality Safety Benchmark Evaluation Project or IC$BEP (you will find out why I used a $ and not the S in the acronym). I sort of have two bosses John who helps me with my benchmarks the most and Blair who is the actual boss who actually controls the funds that pay me (making him the ‘real boss’, sorry John). The other week I was talking to John in his cube when Blair comes by saying I both need you to come to my office when you can. Now normally I would have immediately been nervous but he seemed too happy and had an extra spring in his step. When we got to his office he explained that he wanted to see how many Google hits IC$BEP got (he had reasons for doing so that really aren’t relevant here). He got about 6,000 hits but wanted to see if most of them for scholarly hits so he scanned through the pages. He then turns to his computer as he says on the very last page I found this… At this point I know he had found my blog. I cover my face with my hands, turn bright red, and say “you found my blog didn’t you!” I was even more embarrassed when I read the sentence “my boss is like way up there in IC$BEP”. How I wish I had left out the like in the sentence! It makes me sound so illiterate (which normally doesn’t bother me when I’m just blogging but when my boss reads it…). Blair was rather entertained at finding my blog but couldn’t believe his luck at being able to so thoroughly embarrass me at the same time. (Now you know why I messed up the acronym... so it doesn’t mean more hits from Google!) I’m still contemplating going private but am leaning towards not. However, I am interested to see that I have 11 followers. I’m not sure what that means but I am curious how they found me and why they follow me. (in other words I’m asking anyone who reads this blog (and who I don’t know personally outside of blogging) to just leave a quick comment and how you found me)

In more adorable news… Ah Vera. She just melts my heart. She is just over 4 months now and I love her more each day. Cliché I know but any parent understands. She has now started ‘solid foods’. (As a scientist I must point out the rice cereal is most certainly not a solid at room temperature.) She has an adorable laugh that took me a while to realize was a laugh. She still wakes up at least once in the night to eat but it doesn’t really bother me since she eats quickly and goes right back to sleep after. She now goes to sleep by being read to. This means no more hours of pacing the house trying to get her to fall asleep.

Brett taught Vera how to make his triple decker pp&j sandwich .

She was not happy she did not get to eat the outcome of the lesson.

Always the little princess.

Generally she is happy but sometimes she gets really angry.

Until she finds her thumb to suck on. Yes I let my child suck on her thumb... it seems to be out of fashion to have a child suck their thumb but she can put herself to sleep and I never have to stick the pacifier back in.

She is stunned at the thought that anyone would try to stop her from sucking her thumb.

Now that she rolls and puts herself to sleep occasionally she sometimes ends up in the cutest positions.

And she loves to suck on her toes especially when she has socks on.

She absolutely LOVED the Marshall family camp out. The only time she really fussed was during the hike... when I would stop hiking she would fuss.

Day or night she's adorable! (You gotta love the messy closet in the background)

Here are two videos. I'm hesitant to add videos since they are rather long, I appear or can be heard in them, and I doubt other people watch the videos of someone else's child EXCEPT... I'm fairly certain grandma and grandpa watch then so I'll add them. Here is a tickle fest (which melted into tears) and her first feeding of 'solids'.

two new tricks

2011-07-13T10:28:00.000-07:00

Around July 4th Vera discovered her tongue. She stopped talking as much (like you saw in the last post's video) and started doing this instead...

within a week she had moved on from just playing with her tongue to making nice wet razzes. She will sit happily and do this for minutes on end.

She is now also rolling over... only one direction though meaning she rolls to her tummy and then gets angry.
She loves to sleep on her side.
She is just barely beginning to laugh. Only I hear it but I swear it is the start of joyous happy laughter.
She loves to chew on her hands, anyone's fingers (she'll gag herself with my finger sometimes) and burp clothes... oh yeah and shirts sleeves.
She is her mommy's good little eater. She's still a milk only baby but she intently watches and grabs for our food during meals.
She LOVEs standing and probably wishes she could do it without our help.
Bottom line.. I'm completely smitten with my daughter and can't imagine a more perfect baby for me.

Here are a few pictures from her 2month-three month birthdays

Vera LOVES bathtime

One morning I was making breakfast and Vera was playing. Brett came over and whispered "I think she feel asleep" This is the only time she has fallen asleep on her own (not counting the ca rseat). It was also cute because she has her hand over her eyes which is supposedly how her grandma marshall naps. (I know it is blurry)

That pillow made tummy time bearable and has really sped her development. Before I gave up on tummy time before she really got to work her neck muscles. Now she likes tummy time (even without the pillow) and is pushes off with her legs. Sometimes she'll push herself over the pillow and get stuck with it under her legs and her head in the ground.

We wanted a warm hat for the fireworks just in case. This one was a bit big still but oh so cute.

sorry it is rotated but Vera (and Brett) LOVED the fireworks

We put Vera to sleep on her back like 'they' say we should but sometimes she ends up on her tummy.

11 weeks last night

2011-06-22T12:08:00.000-07:00

Miss Vera turned 11 weeks old last night. To celebrate my parents took her for the night and I slept ALL night long (We were already at my parents since Brett's gone). Vera is of course the apple of my eye. There isn't a thing the the world that I love more than her and her daddy. She is an excellent baby and I count my blessings. What is most crazy to me is if I had taken a full 12 weeks of maternity leave that some moms do I would just be going back to work :o!! I used to think I would hate working while having a baby at home but the time away allows me to use my brain, talk like an adult, talk about more than poop and naps and feedings, and I cherish her so much more the time I spend with her. To each their own but I have discovered that working 20 hours a week makes me a better mom than if I were with her all day. And really since she sleeps almost the entire time I'm gone.. I'm really not missing much but a few diaper changes.

Vera is a talker already. She likes talking back to me and even sings a long with music. This video was from when I was working from home the other week

Thumb sucking

2011-05-18T11:05:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday after watching a young girl suck her thumb and pick her nose at the same time with the same hand I decided I would be more willing to use the pacifier in hopes of Vera not being a thumb sucker. I know stopping a child from sucking their thumb is harder than taking away a pacifier. Yesterday for the first time Vera actually got her thumb in her mouth and sucked her thumb rather than her entire hand. Today when she did it again I put the pacifier in instead. She was fine with the pacifier but when I looked back down at her she had her thumb inserted into the pacifier (the pacifier is one of the ones hospitals give out that where you can stick your finger into the nipple). I tried getting picture but wasn't able to. Now I know it was probably chance she got her thumb into the hole in the pacifier but I'm still beginning to think she will such her thumb like her dad and I'll be fine with it and deal with giving up thumb sucking when the time comes. After all she is so cute and has Brett and I wrapped so tightly around her little finger she will probably always do whatever she wants and we won't stop her.

One Month

2011-05-05T09:36:00.000-07:00

Our dear Miss Vera is one month old today. I can't believe it's already been a month and at the same time I can't believe I've only had my baby girl for a month. We've done all sorts of things in the last month

We've enjoyed meeting cousins

We've worked out in our cute onesies and tennis shoe socks

We've loved our grandma and grandpa marshall

And our grandpa and grandma fitch

We've slept like an angel on our daddy's chest

And put up with mommy taking a gazillion pictures of us.

We've practiced our tummy time

And of course slept a lot

We've learned that good food comes from mommy and a bottle

and we watch TV with daddy.

We cook with mommy

and melt everyone's heart

(not sure why I used the pronoun we and us when really I mean Vera but I just went with it.)
The last month has been an adventure but we are settling into a routine. I've started working again this work and luckily Vera has been an sweety for grandpa and grandma every time they have babysat. Happy one month birthday my darling Vera.

Introducing...

2011-04-08T14:52:00.000-07:00

Vera Ann Marshall

Born Tuesday April 5, 2011 and 11:09 PM.

Just after my water broke Monday (4/4/11) at 7:00 AM.

Monday Morning. Contractions were pretty mild all Monday.

Tuesday afternoon. At this point I was finally getting close to fully dilated and had an epidural.

After four hours of pushing... Bless that arm in the back ground giving me a shot of pain medicine since they had turned the epidural off and it had long ago worn off.

She is daddy's little girl to the max!

On our way home!

First night at home

First morning at home

Life Changing Addition to our Home

2011-04-02T11:45:00.000-07:00

After three years, three months, and a few days of marriage Brett and I are proud to announce the addition to our home of a dishwasher. It is such a proud moment for both of us and we welcome it into our home with love and joy.

Oh... did you think I was announcing I'd had the baby... yeah no news on that front she is still happy as can be in my belly.

Waiting and waiting and ...

2011-03-30T16:35:00.000-07:00

My due date is now past and still no baby. I did however end up cutting off my hair, evidently it is all the rage these days since I'm not the only one who has recently.

40 weeks +1 day

I keep taking pictures hoping it will be the "this is mommy the day you were born" picture. I'm still hopeful when I go to sleep that I'll wake up in labor instead of just having to use the bathroom.

Second Thoughts

2011-03-25T12:23:00.000-07:00

It's only natural to have second thoughts about bit life changes right? Well, having second thoughts and all is fine but it doesn't change the fact that I'm having a baby within the next few days. And I am excited but this morning, while procrastinating homework of course, I was looking through old pictures on my computer and had some of the following thoughts.

High School- Fall 05

Will I ever be that skinny again? Sometimes I think I'm going to have pregnancy belly the rest of my life. I can't fathom that in a few weeks it will no longer filled with a baby.And a few months after that I'm going to have to start working out again :0! But the truth is I will probably never be as skinny as I was in the above picture; it was taken when I was working out like 3 hours a day and on a super strict diet and frankly I'm not going to do that again.

Will I ever have my hair like that again. I know this sounds silly and doesn't seem to have anything to do with pregnancy but it does. For most of my teen and adult life my hair has varied between the lengths in the two pictures above. The last year or so I've been growing it out and it is now very long for me. I've been wanting to cut it short but haven't wanted to before the baby comes because I want to have the easy ponytail option for the first few months of her life. But if I cut it short after she is born I'm getting 'the mom' hair cut. I know my thinking like this is ridiculous but it is how my brain works.

Now these first two worries shouldn't really be worries at all. Even after I have a kid I still have full control over my body and my hair. (Come to think of it I don't have much control over my body during birth but I get it back after right?) But a more realistic thought I was having as looking through old pictures was 'will I ever be that free again'. Brett and I have been together for going on four years now and we've always been able to pick up and go when we felt like it. We've been on some pretty fun trips together...

Zion National Park- May09

Marshall Reunion- July 08

Pink Coral Sand Dunes State Park - May 09

4-wheeler trip with Mark and Maddie -July 09

Mt. Borah- Sept. 09

Table Mountain Hike with Sarah, Mark, and Sean- July 07

Arizona- May 10

Grand Canyon-May 10

I guess the short of long of it is my life is about to change. And I know that while I treasure all the memories of the last 4 years with Brett, we're about to start making more memories. Now if only labor would start so I could get on with it...

Besides being pregnant...

2011-03-07T20:31:00.000-08:00

I realize that by looking at my blog the last while you would think the only thing I do is be pregnant. We'll actually being pregnant only gets to occupy a little bit of my time. This semester so far has been busy but not nearly as busy as last semester. I'm taking two classes, Nuclear Criticality Safety 1 and Masters Research and Thesis Credit. I just finished my midterm for Crit. Safety 1 and set it in. Now I can start stressing about the final presentation. Work has been very busy though. My benchmark is being presented at a meeting in May in Paris (I won't be going this year) and so I'm in a bit of a time crunch to get it done. The benchmarks go out for distribution by the 24th so I have to have it done and reviewed before then. I should be able to do it but I'll be working some long hours the next few days (well longer than my normal 5-6 hours a day). Today my boss asked me when I was due. I told him the 28th and he asked me what month. He was a bit shocked when I told him this month. In other exciting news... I'm on the internet. Well, duh I'm on the internet! I have a blog and a facebook afterall. But professionally I am on the net. If you google my name and osti the first result is my benchmark from last year. I'm published.. how about that. (I think this has actually been on the internet for a while but I just realized it the other day.) Okay I know talking about pregnancy is a lot more fun and universal so I'll probably go back to that for future posts.

35 and 36 weeks

2011-03-01T17:25:00.000-08:00

35 weeks

37 weeks

5 more weeks

2011-02-21T07:30:00.000-08:00

I have five more weeks till my due date! I very specifically say due date because I plan on having the baby in five weeks and five days on April 1st. Actually I don't care too much just so long as she doesn't come in four and a half weeks because Brett will be out of town.

In other news we finally moved into our house. We still need to do a little work... okay a lot of work. But It is habitable and the only time you notice there is no trim is when you mop the floor. We moved in two weeks ago and we LOVE it. My kitchen is amazing, thank you Brett!

I have a prego picture from last week to post... but the cables to connect the camera to the computer are MIA. I'm sure they are in a box somewhere. I also have a picture of Brett with an empathy belly on from baby class... but my scanner is not hooked up. Really the good parts of this post (pictures) aren't available but I wanted to let you know they are coming soon.:)

1 way the iPad is inferior

2011-01-28T08:45:00.000-08:00

31 weeks

2011-01-25T08:24:00.000-08:00

Here is me 31 weeks prego. Not the best picture ever, gotta love the red eye.

Ten Weeks to Go

2011-01-20T16:06:00.000-08:00

I have just under ten weeks till my due date. I still feel pretty good but my back, hips, and feet get tired more easily lately. I'm really showing now too. Someone did a triple take at work the other day then asked if I was expecting. I'll post a picture soon (maybe). I am starting to get very anxious about what I'm going to do ~10 weeks from now when this little girl can do more than just kick me when she is unhappy. I keep thinking about all the things I need to buy and all the things I don't realize I need to buy. For example, something I read the other day said something about baby fingernail clippers. I immediately thought, I don't have those... I didn't even realize I would need those. Now my mind keeps coming back to "I need to shop for the baby, I NEED to get baby finger nail clippers, what else do I not even realize I need yet??" How does anyone become a mom for the first time and survive the anxiety!?!?

Winning at gambling

2011-01-12T21:41:00.000-08:00

I'm not a horrible person but I did gamble this evening. My gambling career so far consists of this. A 25 cent scratch ticket in the Malad gas station. Stopping at the nickel slots last may when Brett and I were in Vegas, realizing they didn't actually take coins and leaving, and now this evening. And this evening we won $20. Mind you we gambled $25 but the $25 was free. Okay that doesn't really make sense... my mom and dad had gotten a $25 gambling voucher for the venetian. So tonight they redeemed it. We played the nickel slots first. I think I won a $1.25 but spent $5. I gambled away that $1.25 and didn't regret it one bit. We then went on to the $5 slots (big money players in the house!) where we spent the rest of the $25 voucher. Dad won $15 and I won $5. If mom hadn't been there I don't think dad or I wouldn't have cashed out and would have played away our winnings too. But really... slot machines are pretty boring... there isn't even the clink of coins when you win. Even pulling the lever is optional since they have a button now. So we got cash for our winning tickets, bought gelato that was expensive but not as expensive as the gelato in Paris, and enjoyed Phantom of the Opera. Pretty good night all in all.

Traveling Alone

2011-01-09T17:37:00.000-08:00

I just set out on a trip to Vegas today. The worst part of traveling alone... having to share the tiny airport bathroom stall with my luggage. ( okay maybe that isn't the worst but it is up there) I did make it to my hotel with minimal mishap... somehow the GPS took me back to the airport from the car rental place. But I did make it eventually. Now I think I need to scavenge some dinner.

oops

2010-12-29T11:06:00.000-08:00

Both Brett and I kind of completely spaced that today is our wedding anniversary. I did remember last night before bed but today we only remembered when my dad wished us happy anniversary. It's been three years! The best three years of my life too!

Picture from May during our Yuma/Moab trip.

Shock

2010-12-11T20:20:00.000-08:00

When I first heard this performance I was flabbergasted at the talent. I mean of course he is good he plays the organ for the mormon tabernacle choir! But this performance was amazing and the best of the christmas concert that year!

By the weeks

2010-12-06T21:14:00.000-08:00

I figured I'd show a few pictures of me through pregnancy so far. Most of the pictures are random ones that are still in the camera but 2 are actually posed 'look at my belly' pictures.


Back in June - Not Pregnant Thus you don't need to see my belly. Yes Brett regularly looks that angry for pictures. It's nothing against you.

July- About 4 weeks pregnant. This was pre-'puke for an entire weekend straight' so I actually got a bit skinnier after this. Thankfully that only lasted one weekend and I feel very blessed at the fact.

My birthday-13 weeks- I think I actually look pretty prego in this picture but it is really just the shirt and poor posture. I bought the shirt rather early in pregnancy thinking it will fit for months. Well it still fits but it's too cold to wear it now. Oh well, it was on sale. I do have a picture from a few seconds later that much better represents my size at the time but I like this one. My face says "Brett you spelled my name wrong on my birthday no-bake-oreo-bars, we've been married 2.5 years now!" and his says "I know how to spell your name I just ran our of room so I left out a few letters. Don't be so sensitive."

November- 22 weeks- This was before Thanksgiving

December-24 weeks- This is after Thanksgiving. Again there is a better picture a few seconds later where I don't look so scary white but JD looks best in this picture. (P.S. look Mom I'm wearing the maternity pants you keep asking me when I'm going to start wearing. My belly is almost big enough to hold them up now!)

The last few days I feel like I can almost see my belly growing, although I still have a ways to go I know. I am pretty sure Thanksgiving helped me look the part of being pregnant. Our little girl is still kicking away but thankfully not keeping me from anything like sleep. Brett's felt her kick a few times. And she really doesn't seem to like to sound of one of my professor's voices because she kicks and wiggles all through one of my classes but not so much the other one.

Things are kicking in.

2010-11-15T20:25:00.000-08:00

So my official due date is 19 weeks from today (meaning I'm not having a baby 19 weeks from today right?). And the pregnancy is coming a long. Over the last month or so I've thought I might have, maybe, could have felt a kick but never anything for sure or consistent. But yesterday during sacrament there were two girls unhappy with the waist band on my skirt. But I wasn't kicking anyone over it. I've felt plenty of 'that was for sure a kick' ever since, normally when something is pushing on my belly. I would agree with the 'it feels like popcorn popping' statement. And although I wouldn't really say 'I'm showing' much this little girl is starting to take up enough space that a full bladder or stomach has no place to go but out. I'm sure soon enough she'll start moving in the outward direction too.

New Blog Name At Last

2010-11-10T15:54:00.000-08:00

I've finally gotten around to putting up my new blog name. The majority of people who read my blog will not be surprised but for those of you who don't talk to me as often... Yes I'm pregnant. I'm 20 weeks along, I'm due March 28, it is a girl, I feel great... I think those are the typically questions I get asked. There is one think I'm surprised about with pregnancy. I used to see ultrasounds or widgets of 'what your baby looks like now' and get pretty freaked out. They just looked like aliens to me. Now they look cute and adorable to me(in a 'I hope they grow out of that slightly E.T. look' sort of way of course)! I still won't but one of those widgets on my blog but I may post an ultrasound picture or two.
But alas, I've devoted enough time towards the 'mother' part of my self descriptive blog title and now I must get back to the engineer part and do some homework.

P.S. Please make grammar/spelling comments on the blog title and blog description so I can fix them. That means you Sarah!

I might be an adult but..

2010-10-12T14:14:00.000-07:00

Last week a new dog came into our possession. We were never sure if we were going to keep the dog. It has a ton of energy and isn't of good of a listener as JD (our old new dog) is. But he LOVES to fetch and Brett thought he was a trained bird dog and really wants a bird dog. We'll there were a few issues. My sister really didn't like the new dog and we are still living at her house. And the new dog over powers JD and so I was in a constant state of turmoil wanting to be fair to both dogs. Well for these reasons and many more we decided the dog had to go. So yesterday Brett was going to take the dog in. But we failed and placed an add in the paper instead. Then last night JD started favoring one of his legs which I blamed on 'the other dog' (which is the only name we ever gave him) so I decided he goes now. Today Brett came home at lunch to help me take him in. I started crying at the thought that no one would claim him and he would be put down. Brett said we could wait a few more days but I decided I had to be an adult and go through with the decision. So we got the shelter and the lady took some pictures of 'other dog' and asked us a few questions about what he could do. As we were talking my phone rang and it was someone calling about the ad in the paper. The lady thought it was her dog so we waited at the shelter. It turns out it was her dog and everything turned out happy. She didn't even have to pay the shelter fees since he wasn't processed yet. And she even paid my mom for the damages the dog did to her chickens. So although I went to the shelter ready to be an adult and watch sad things happen, I got to leave with a happy ending.

~Now if only my homework would have a happy ending and finish itself.

Name for this phobia

2010-10-07T08:12:00.000-07:00

So I've developed this phobia and I want to know the name of it. I am scared of the remote possibility that while driving down the street with my windows down a passing car will flip of a rock, it will fly in the window, hit me in the temple or eye, and cause me to black out, or lose an eye, or even die. This fear strikes me often while driving but I've always suppressed it and have never rolled up my window as a result. But I can see how fears of stuff like that can be debilitating.

Also, I've decided on a new blog title. It's coming soon and it's a good one.

Big changes

2010-09-30T07:50:00.000-07:00

September is ending. September means the start of a new school year for kids, the start of a new degree for me, the start of a new job for Brett, and both of our birthdays. For some reason I was dreading this birthday. I officially feel old and I think it is because Brett was this age when I met him and he was old.

This year is set to be a big one, lots of changes that reinforce 'I'm old'. For example, today we are buying a house (we are suppose to close today at noon) and there are more big changes to come this year.

In less big news, today is apple pie day for me. Last Tuesday I picked 2 1/2 bushels of apples with my mom and today we are making the filling for apple pie that we can freeze and use all winter. I also promise to post my sister's apple cake recipe that you asked for Joannie! But if you want some really good apples it is a U-Pick place on York Road between Park and Jameston road. They have 4 kinds of apples but the honeycrisp and sweet 16 are the best for eating. A mix of all 4 make an out of this world pie. (I believe it was $10 a bushel)

Windows 7 was not my idea.

2010-08-26T15:46:00.000-07:00

So about a month ago I put windows 7 on our desktop. Come to find out our wireless internet adapter didn't work with windows 7. Thus our nice new(ish) desktop was pretty useless. Well with school starting I finally cracked down and got the desktop working. No more postage stamp sized laptop screen for me. Does that mean I'll blog more... probably not.

But as an update:

This summer we've camped with family and friends, enjoyed the outdoors, got a dog, worked, worked, worked, and even starting looking at houses. I've now started my master's work here in town and work 20 hrs. a week at the INL. Brett is working construction and LOVES the fact that he is done with school.

Now that you are updated wait another 2 months for my next post (no promises).

Nationals

2010-06-24T20:47:00.000-07:00

Since Sunday my husband has been in Kansas City for Skills USA national championships. He is the framer/carpenter on a four man team. They finished their 'laundry room' structure today and tear it down tomorrow (bit of a waste I know). Here are some pictures he texted me.

UPDATE: Brett's team took ...? I'm not going to tell.

The danger of incidental personal use.

2010-06-11T14:24:00.000-07:00

The danger of incidental personal use on work computers is I can check my email but not blogs so I don't check 'em nearly as much (okay at all really). But I got off work early today and FINALLY hooked our desktop up to the internet.
So here are some of the pictures from Europe but.. Brett lost our camera mountain biking so I lost pictures from Paris, Yuma, Grand Canyon, and Moab...

My last post in Europe was THE DAY! the entire reason I was there, to have my paper reviewed. I survived and I'm actually almost done with all the actions. That night we went to Sokol's restaurant. We saw the place in a brochure and decided between John and me that we wanted to go. So we invited the other intern who of course came and then also invited my boss. Now my boss is like up there in ICSBEP and he ended up inviting a bunch of other people along. SO we had quite a few people but I don't have pictures of the whole group. This was my dinner. There is boar, deer, and pork along with Rools, something else, and something else. I thought I'd never remember but I have already.
This here is heaven on a plate. They call it creme (cream? can't remember how it's spelled) cake.
THE LAST DAY (of work). This is the last benchmark we went through the stack in the background are the ones we already finished!

This was they day I found the rockin' jewelry store I talked about a few posts ago. We also found the dragon bridge. Evidently a dragon protects Ljubljana.

That night for dinner all I wanted was a Crepe but the place we got them before was out so they sent us to Cafe Romeo which was actually more of an upscale bar. But the food was great. I ordered a Tuna something or other. Everywhere they had tuna this and that on menus so I decided I had to try it.
IT WAS AMAZING! Totally ruined tuna fish from a can for me. The glass in the back was fresh squeezed lemonade, amazing. I forgot to take a picture of the heavenly crepe. It was filled with nutella and coconut and had a strawberry sauce on top.

The final day in Slovenia was a tour of their TRIGA reactor. This is the reactor building. Evidently it is a Slovenian architectural landmark so if they ever decommission the reactor... they are going to have problems. The architect also used a mushroom cloud as his inspiration... I'm not sure that helps public opinion of nuclear energy.
After the tour, which was rather eventful but I won't share that here, it was back to the city. John and I rode the funicular to the castle, here are views from the castle tower.

We also wandered through other cool old buildings that day. And I spend A LOT, A LOT of money of chocolate, honey, and jewelry.
Finally my last day in Slovenia arrived. And I headed of the Paris (and graduated although I wasn't there for that.)

So since Brett lost the camera this is where it ends... except the day after he lost his camera we went on a five mile hike (THANKS SO MUCH TO OUR DEAR, DEAR FRIENDS WHO CAME WITH US) and found the camera. So... Paris..
Here is the hotel at the airport (the airport is HUGE, I NEVER want to go there alone)
Once we dropped off our luggage we jumped on the RER and then METRO and ended up at Notre Dame
The place was packed and the pigeons were suicide bombers.
Then we wandered along the Seine and ended up at the Louvre. We didn't go into that either.

(This is my taking a picture into the glass pyramid)

Another Metro ride and we were at and wandered down Avenue des Champs-Élysées. Ending in the Arc de Triomphe

Finally we made it to the Eiffle Tower.

Two of our group went to the top but I did not. I went and got gelato with my boss and his wife. These two scoops were 9 EUR which was like 11-12 dollars! But it was so, so good.

Finally the long awaited expensive french dinner. I have pictures that my boss took of all the food but they're on my work computer so I can't share them yet. Breif overview.. I used over 25 pieces of silverware during that meal.
Dinner was by the sacre coeur basilica so we wandered around there after dinner, spend more money on souvenirs and headed back to the hotel.
The next morning we headed to the airport for our 11:00 flight. We got on the 11:00 fight and then sat there for 2.5 hours waiting for our take off slot. The Iceland volcano didn't interfere too much with our route but since a lot of other flight were taking our route to avoid the ash it pushed back our take off time. About 13.5 hours later I landed in Salt Lake and gave my husband a bit fat kiss.

Now that same husband is annoyed because we are suppose to be backing the car to go to the cabin and I'm blogging. I guess Yuma/Grand Canyon/Moab will have to wait... Oh and I'm skipping on proof reading and spell check. Hope you make it through this.

I apologize.

2010-05-29T09:34:00.000-07:00

I am in the process of coming up with a new blog name. But in the mean time I apologize to any of you (i.e. my sister) who was bothered by the apostrophe in the previous blog name "THE UTAH MARSHALL'S". I'm not sure why I put there and I am terribly sorry if it bothered the grammar monster inside of any of you.

Home

2010-05-24T20:41:00.000-07:00

I did make it home from Europe... and then made it to Yuma... and then made it to the Grand Canyon... and then made it to Moab... and then made it home... and I'm now working on packing up the apartment to move to Idaho (our REAL home). When that happens I'll have to come up with a new blog name. And hopefully you'll get to see some more Slovenia/Paris/Arizona/California/Moab pictures.

Slovenia, Last morning

2010-05-07T19:12:00.000-07:00

So I missed blogging yesterday and now it's 4:00 AM and I'm busily packing to catch the shuttle to the airport. Thus.. not time to blog about yesterday.

Back home it is 8:00 pm and I'd be in graduation right now if I were home... I wore my Utah shirt to bed last night to celebrate.

Slovenia Day 6

2010-05-06T12:13:00.000-07:00

Today was our last working day. We finished all our work and tomorrow we are going to be touring a reactor facility here in slovenia. This evening I finished all my shopping needs and requirements. I finally found something for Brett and I am very, very, very excited to give it to him because I think he will really like it a lot. I also found the most fun jewelry shop. I think it might be even better than the jewelry shop my sister found last month back east that she is still raving about. All the jewelry was handmade and about as funky and fun as can be. There were lots of glass, wire, and stone designs that I LOVED LOVED LOVED. I bought some earrings and a glass ring but the ring already broker. I am going to go back tomorrow to see if I can exchange it. However, being made of glass I'm sure the next one will break too and I rather continue wearing the broken one than get a perfect one and live in fear of it breaking. We'll see what I decide to do.

We went out to dinner at a cocktail bar but the food was amazing. I have some pictures but I'm too tired and will post them tomorrow with the pictures of the tour.

Slovenia Day 5/ The Big Day

2010-05-05T08:41:00.000-07:00

~6:00 (first and not the important, if you are unsure I use the '~' sign to signify approximately. during this meeting there was some russian gentlemen who were confused by the use of this symbol because to this it means of the same magnitude not approximately. approximately would be the double '~' or the wavey equals sign as I call it.)

Today was the day that my evaluate was under review. I am still alive. There were a lot of comments and it took nearly two hours to make it through but someone said it was good for a first time evaluator so hopefully not all hope is lost for me. At least my mentors haven't told me I'm not allowed to come and work for them anymore (...yet). I didn't cry during any of the comments, I had after all threatened to be the first person to cry, but my core body temperature did rise a little bit (not enough to be noticeable by others though). In summary, it was not an enjoyable experience and I have threatened to not come back next year BUT I think time will lesson the pain and I will come back next year if they let me.

This evening we are going out to a authentic slovene restaurant so there should be pictures of that later..

(also not important... I tried doing spell check for the first time in a long time on my blog.. it highlighted almost everyword I THINK because it is spell checking for slovene words and not english words.)

Slovenia Day 4/Work & Working Dinner

2010-05-04T14:39:00.000-07:00

Today was work all day again but this evening we had a 'working' dinner in Bled. It was so beautiful up there.
Bled has the only island in slovenia and it has a church on it.

There is this castle on the cliff on the lake shore.

The surrounding area was so lush and green. It was rainy still so we couldn't see the alps in the background but it was still gorgeous. I was sure to touch the water in honor of my sister who has to touch every major body of water she ever comes within 100 miles of (even if it means sleeping in the car at the new hampshire airport just to touch to ocean).

We ate at Vila Bled which was the Vila of former Yugoslavic President Tito. I didn't get many good pictures of the Vila.

In the room where we ate there was a large mural of WWII for Yugoslavia. Some parts were a little bit more graphic and didn't set quite the right ambiance but they were proud of it.

The food was quite good. These were the appetizers. The seafood cocktail (bottom) was not to my liking. Once I tried the tentacle I was done with that one. The moxarella balls were to die for though.

The dinner and dessert were delicious but we never got to the buffet table at the right time and they were always out. The desserts the completely ran out of so what you see above is not what was on the menu.

In other food news. At Brett's requrest I tried Doner Kebaps twice.
This is the man shaving the meat.

These are the two doner kebaps. They were both quite tasty. I couldn't however find the Ula Dag which is the drink Brett asked me to bring back for him and his brother. I have grown very fond of the Shwepps Bitter lemonade. It's delicious.

Last night we went out for dinner.
I had risotto and apple strudel. Both were very good
Tomorrow it is more work.

Slovenia Day 3/Work

2010-05-03T22:11:00.000-07:00

The next few days will be all work. Not very exciting and so I don't really have any pictures.

Slovenia Day 2/Tour Day

2010-05-02T12:28:00.000-07:00

Today we went on a tour of the southwest part of the country. We went to a cave in Postojna, a castle in Stanjel (there is suppose to be a thiny on top of the S), and the shore in Piran. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.

The Driving was gorgeous. Of course it was har

Our first stop was this cave. The bottom picture is John and me by the sign for the cave. There is also a picture of all the people I know at the meeting on the train that goes through the cave and then some pictures of the cave

This is the castle we visited. We had some tastings there. The stair case is for my mom's interests

This is really creepy looking but really good chocolate given to us by a man from Russia here at the meeting.

This is a picture from the bus. Churches with tall towers like this were all over the place.

Sorry about the pictures not being rotated. These are all from around the castle. The views were breathtaking!

This is the town square at Piran.

A beautiful tree in Piran

This is me with my feet in the rather codldadriatic sea.

Again, sorry about the not being rotated. I liked the sail boat in the picture. The land in the back ground is croatia.

Because it was cloudy you could barely see Italy. In the horizon you can barely make out the coastline that is slightly darker than the sky. That is Italy. The peninsula is Slovenia on the side you can see and Italy on the other.

That was my day. After getting back we went out for a quick dinner of pizza and then came back to the hotel for the night. I talked to brett on Skype for a while and loved every minute of it.

Slovenia day 1/Travel

2010-05-01T07:41:00.000-07:00

~5:00:
I made it to slovenia. I left salt lake at 5:00 pm on Friday the 30th and arrived in Slovenia Saturday the first at 5:00 pm. The flight from SLC to Paris was good but long. I slept okay on the flight and got a little work done. I got to see bits of england, the english channel, and france through the clouds. The french countryside is beautful. It lookes like a patch work of greens, browns, and yellow. After a short stay in the Paris airport it was off to slovenia. I'm suppose to meet some people in a few minutes but I wanted to share some pictures with you real quick.

Paris from the air.

Policemen on actual horses in front of our hotel and my hotel room.

It took me a while to figure out how to turn on the lights. I freak me out a little that none of the switches did anything. Turns out the box by the door that I didn't notice... You have to put your room key into it and all the lights will turn on. Pretty neat eh? Well I'm off to find food.

~9:00
Well I'm back from buying food. Brett was logged on to his gmail account and I'm very happy to be chatting with him through gmail as we speak. Instant messaging/online chatting does make me feel like I'm in Jr. High again though and I don't like it. We are working on getting it so we can talk over Skype. Here is what we did this evening...

This is the view from my hotel (not part of what we did this evening but still cool)

Outside the Hotel

The hotel from down the street

The center of the touristy downtown.

Dinner: Gyro Pita and a Banana Nutella Crepe

After dinner we wandered around down town. There are a ton of beautiful buildings that are in stark contrast of the buildings from the communist era.

The castle overlooking the city is in the background atop the hill.

This statue was rare because... he is fully dressed. Or at least more dressed than most the other statues.

Okay this guy was/is fully dressed and awesome!

The park was so green and beautiful there were tons of flowers I've enver seen before and some I have. The amusing part is that the flowers are so well kept but the grass not so much. The grass is longer and has dandelions in it. Not a bad thing but different from parks back home.

Today is the day

2010-04-29T08:40:00.000-07:00

Today I have to finish the last of the coursework I will ever complete at the University of Utah. I graduate next week. It seems that not that long ago I was graduating from high school. I have said goodbye to most of my friends and will probably never see most of them again since I won't be in the country to walk at graduation. I'm going to take this space in the cyberworld to toot my own horn for a moment.
-I began at the University of Utah summer 2006 with a full tuition scholarship. The scholarship required the maintaining of a 3.7 gpa or higher and only lasted 4 academic years. I have managed to keep my scholarship and finish in just 4 years.
-I'm graduating near top of my class in chemical engineering, not a cake walk major.
-I am graduating with deans honors (top 10% of the college of engineering) and magna cume laude.
-I think the greatest achievement I have to share about myself is that last week my peers voted me the chemical engineering outstanding senior for 2010. This one I'm proudest of because it means that not only did I complete my course work and complete it well but I made friends and gained the respect of my peers.

I was hoping to hurry and set out some graduation announcements to family and close friends this evening but it is snowing outside right now so I don't think I'm going to get the graduation picture I wanted taken taken and I have to pack for my trip tomorrow. So consider this my graduation announcement to the world.

And I'll leave you with the silly song that has been running through my head since one of my young woman brought Vitamin C (the singer) up last week. This song came out when I was graduating from elementary school.

My gold medalist husband...

2010-03-27T20:55:00.000-07:00

Brett participated in the state SkillsUSA competition this past Thursday and Friday. He was part of the team works competition. The jist of it is 4 people (a framer (brett), electrician, plumber, and mason) build a small structure. They took gold this year and get to go to Nationals in Kansas City in June. Here is the structure.
Here is the team and two of Brett's teachers before the awards ceremony.
Getting their gold medals.
Congrats on gold Bretters, love you!

Spring Break

2010-03-19T15:27:00.000-07:00

My last spring break as an undergraduate. (hopefully, I made some really stupid mistakes on a fairly easy test today!)

Always trust your sister...

2010-03-12T12:51:00.000-08:00

My sister recently told me I have to watch North and South (a BBC adaptation of Elizabeth Gaskell's novel). She told me it was Pride and Prejudice but not. Well I finally watched it and loved it. It had elements of Pride and Prejudice and I also saw some similarities to Charles Dickens' Little Dorrit. I enjoyed it immensely and would suggest it to anyone who likes Pride and Prejudice. I plan on reading the book and will let you know what I think when I do.

The Decision is Made

2010-03-02T16:20:00.000-08:00

We'll I've made up my mind. I'm not done with school... I'm going on to get a master's in nuclear engineering from the University of Idaho. While doing this I'll be working with the ICSBEP (don't' worry about what that means) at the Idaho National Laboratory. Look out grad school here I come. I can't believe I've decided to keep going to school. I used to always say my sister had enough degrees for both of us... I guess I was wrong.

The Last Two Months

2010-02-19T15:08:00.000-08:00

It's been just over two months since I blogged last. The first month we were home for Christmas and I let the blog slide then this past month.. we'll I'd figured no one checked in anymore so I could let it slide a bit more. But... some pretty exciting things are happening in our lives and I guess I should chronicle them.
As I already posted, I went to Bremerton, Washington early in December to interview with Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Shortly after my return they offered me a job working as a shift test engineer. I would be working with the group in charge of the reactor on the submarine or aircraft carrier while in the yard. I turned down the offer a few weeks into the new year.

As with every December, the semester came to an end. That meant a lot of projects and papers due. I finished up my Culinary Chemistry class. I had a blast making my recipe book for that final project. Here is one of the pages from that book.
Along with the end of the year came a new calling for me. Previously we were the Webelos leaders. We really enjoyed the time we got to spend with them.
Growing up we had a picture of a group of cup scouts that my mom was den mother to in a Popsicle stick frame. One of our last activities was putting the above picture in a Popsicle stick frame. I am now in young womens and it is quite the experience. We only have a few young women but they are all amazing in their own special way.

We spent the holiday at Brett's parent's house. They think I'm very lazy now I'm sure of it. I spent three entire weeks reading. The Marshall family party was fantastic as usual. Everyone was there except Brett's favorite twin brother, Sean. Brett had to make do with chilling with Sean's little guy Jack.
I don't remember who but somebody got a 55-gallon drum for Christmas. Now I know these are meant for food storage but growing up we used to play on these out in the yard. With a little encouragement from an older generation (i.e. Brett) the next generation is begining to see the fun in them as well.

Christmas with the Fitch's was a quieter affair. (I only have pictures from the Marshall family get together.) It was just my parents, my sister, Brett and myself. Everyone else was out of town with in-laws. Someone very, very generous surprised Brett with a new Wii. He LOVES it. Someone else enjoyed it as well.

Brett also got to get some quality bird killing, I mean hunting, time.
Right after this picture Brett started gutting them. You should have seen the stray cats that live around there sneaking up on him, planning their attack.

I spent the last two days of break on another interview trip. This time in Washington D.C.
With the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The trip was super short. I got into D.C. about 4:00. I should have taken my luggage and gone straight down town to see the sights but I went to my hotel to check in. Just as I got into my hotel room the sun was setting.

(That is a cell phone in my back pocket!)

I called home to say I had made it and the first thing dad told me was 'don't get mugged'. Between that and it being dark and my being alone all I did was power walked around the Whitehouse and then went back to my hotel.

My sophomore year I took a fellowship from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Part of the deal was I'd work for them for a year after graduation or I'd pay the money back. They offered me a job a few weeks ago. I would be working in research reactor licensing there. I just turned them down earlier this week so... Brett and Margaret are about to be as poor as dirt... maybe poorer than dirt.

Well it was back to school come January. I started my last semester of school. I graduate in May, for reals!. I'm in a couple of generals this semester which take me outside of the engineering building. I was in the library the other day, watching other people, and it hit me, 'Oh my, I'm in college. Oh My! I'm almost done with college.' Then I had a slight panic attack that I'd missed out on too many experiences because I'd tried to hurry through college in 4 years. Then I got over it.

Late in January I had two more interviews. One over the phone and one was a trip. It was a great sacrifice to go on the trip we had to go... wait for it.. home! And you can't imagine who I had to eat lunch with during the interview day... my brothers and sister!. I interviewed at NRF where my sister and brother's work. It was quite the experience and that is all I'll say about that. If you want to hear more about it you'll just have to ask. I really enjoyed eating lunch with my brothers and sister though. Just last week I got an official offer from them. I would be working with ECF recapitalization group. I really want to take that job.

Two days ago I got an email saying I had been accepted to graduate school. I only applied to one school, University of Idaho. I never really planned on graduate school but there is a pretty good nuclear engineering program at U of I and my bosses from last summer said that I could continue working there part time. It is actually a pretty good deal. I'd be able to go to school and work 20 hours a week at a pretty good rate for a part time job. I'd also get to keep doing what I've already been doing and enjoy doing.

So I have two really good options in front of me... I just have to decide from here.

Last weekend we went up to Idaho with another couple we're pretty good friends with. We spent the weekend at my family's cabin snowmobiling. No one remembered a point-and-shoot camera so these are the only pictures we have.

The sun was super bright and it was hard to keep our eyes open for the pictures.

In other news, Brett's twin graduated from boarder patrol training. We are excited for him but I'm also a little disappointed... I was hoping it wouldn't happen and they'd stay in Idaho forever. But we're hoping to take a road trip to visit them in May before we start work so that will have to do for us.

Next weekend Brett's parents are coming down to visit for the first time. (I'm not counting when they came down for Brett's surgery, we were all sick or in surgery that day and it wasn't a barrel of laughs by any means.) So hopefully we'll have a post about that soon.

Surpisingly Fun

2009-12-16T07:49:00.000-08:00

On Monday night we had a small group of friends over. Brett bought catch phrase at my request so we would have a group game to play. We didn't get a chance to play it Monday and I was a little mad at myself for making him buy it because it wasn't cheap. Last night I pulled it out and we started playing it, just Brett and me. It was sooo much fun. I didn't think it would be with just two people. I think it was mostly because of Brett because he comes up with some really out there clues and usually I get them, I figured it's because we've been married so long now. So try it... play catch phrase just you and your hubby, you'll learn a lot about each other.

Favorite Christmas Tradition

2009-12-10T17:16:00.000-08:00

One Christmas long ago(ish) my family was in Salt Lake City to see the lights on temple square. We wandered into the still fairly new conference center to find a concert going on. Gladys Night was preforming with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Ever since we've all packed up and gone to Utah the second weekend in December to see the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas concert. I think we've only missed one maybe two of the concerts since that year. This is my favorite tradition. It's changed a bit over the years. That first year we walked in and found many open seats. Now it requires careful planning on the part of my father and a little luck to get tickets. This weekend is the concert and I'm totally psyched. This year Natalie and David McCullough are the special guest. Below is a video of one of my favorite stories told during the concert. I tear up a little bit every time I hear it.

~~
On another note, I got a job offer from Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. My first real job offer!

I'm home!

2009-12-07T21:30:00.000-08:00

I made it home. I have no picture from today since I coulnd't take pictures. This was our basic, basic schedule today. First we drove around the base a bit and got our badges. Then we toured the decommissioned USS constellation. I also saw a few other carriers but didn't get to tour them of course.

We went to lunch at a restaurant on the water and even saw a whale. The afternoon was talking about benefits and what the job is. Turns out it wasn't so much an interview but a wine and dine type thing. I went out shopping and was worried about my outfit and then really never took my coat off because it was FREEZINGish (not actually compared to utah though).

Then I hurried back to the airport. Only to find out my flight was delaying causing me to miss my connection at LAX so they rebooked me on a direct flight home on a different airline. I got home three hours earlier than my original flight was. That was nice.

Seattle day 2 in reverse again

2009-12-06T20:20:00.000-08:00

Today was fun. I like that this company flys out into the area a whole extra day so you can get to know the area.

So first we went to church. The ward was one of the nicest wards I've ever been to. To get to church we had to cross an awesome bridge.

The mountains in the area, although a little farther away than they are in SLC, are amazing. It think those are the Olympic Mts.
After church we headed over to Seattle via the ferry. BEAUTIFUL

As soon as we got into downtown we went to Ivars. I got one oyster shooter. (I was sure to check and make sure shooter didn't imply alcohol)
It was weird and would have been nasty if it weren't for the coctail sauce in the bottom.
We then wandered through the Ye Olde Curiousity Shop. Some of the stuff made me gag a little.
We then went through the underground city. That is pretty awesome
And finally we went to pike place market but sadly.. we were pretty late and everything was closed. But it was also quiet and peaceful. There was a seahawks game today so downtown was full of crazy fans.
After that we headed back to get a good night sleep and prepare for our interviews tomorrow. Sadly you won't get to participate since I can't take any camera in.

Washington Day 1.. in reverse

2009-12-05T22:10:00.000-08:00

So I'm going to start this post with a question for you. How do you create your posts? I just use blogger and I hate putting pictures in because they are always inserted at the very top and the opposite order as what I want. How do you easily overcome that problem?

So since I don't know how to get the pictures to go where I want in the order I want you get seattle day 1 in reverse (and pictures are not rotated like they should be for my convenience)

For background... I am in seattle (more precisely bremerton) to interview with Puget sound naval ship yard. I'm pretty excited about the interview and the tour. I actually really enjoyed my first interview with them while they were at the U. the job I'm interview for also sounds very enjoyable and fulfilling. But don't take this as a 'we're moving to Washington'. we taking every opportunity to open every option so we can made a informed decision as to what we are going to do come may.

That is my room. Mine, all to myself. I'm not sure which bed to sleep in... maybe i'll sleep in one tonight and the other tomorrow.
That is the pier right out the back of the hotel. Seattle is across the way.
So another girl from my major is interview with puget sound monday as well. We went out to New Delhi for dinner. we were both a bit nervous... the place was nearly empty (but it seems like nearly all of bremerton is nearly empty) We both got mulligatawny soup, roti, and we split a mango lassi ( a mango yogurt drink that is divine). We were surprised how good and filling the meal was.
Here is the Seattle temple after the session I went to.
This is the seattle temple when I finallly arrived. I was in a bit of a hurry to get inside so I didnt' get to look around much.

That is down town seattle. I got this picture the address I found for the seattle temple is actually the U of W institute building. Thus I got to drive a lot farther than I would have otherwise in nearly dead stop traffic. this is downtown.. where I will be tomorrow. Actually trying to get to the temple was quite interested. Sarah got really jealous when she found out I was at her old campus.

I'm not actually old enough to rent a car but since i'm on 'official government business' they let me. This is my rental. I love it. I now want one of my own. I was also really really nervous about driving. I hate driving in Salt Lake, I thought seattle area would be horrid. its amazing, from my few hours of driving here, I've found that around here the slow lane means slow and the fast lane means fast. Utahan's should take note. I've also fallen in love with the GPS my dad loaned me.. he might never see it again.
I love looking down on the world from a plane. I'm pretty sure I saw lake tahoe and mt hood from the plane today. (instead of a direct flight I had a layover in San Fransisco.. that is how I think I saw lake tahoe) if i'm wrong don't enlighted me.
This picture is sideway... sorry. I've never been on a plane they de-iced before. That is what this picture of. That blur in the background is a man de-icing our plane.
This is about 6:00 AM on a saturday in the SLC air port. Not only am I tired but I'm also rather scared.

So in summary, it's been quite the day and I'm too lazy and tired to make this post look good. I miss my husband dearly and it feels odd traveling with out my dad around. At the same time it feels to to prove to myself that I'm brave and tough and can do hard things.

I've always felt all new levels of anxiety. It seems when I get super nervous my stomach starts out in knots and then robbs my hands of all their blood (i.e. my hands are freezing cold while my stomach feels like ther is a furnace in there).

I've also discovered I do two things too much: blogg and watch scrubs. I have a constant monologue in my head thinking about how I would blog about that moments... about how clouds really do look like cream cheese, how maybe its fate to live in seattle since the first radio station I found was country, but mostly about how anxious I am and how it manifests itself.

So i"m going to sign off.. its my bed time. i have to be ready to take on day two.

Someone Told Me...

2009-12-01T19:08:00.000-08:00

Today someone told me that once you become a mother you'll no longer procrastinate.... If being a mother requires being on top of things and not putting them off to the last minute... I think I need to keep procrastinating motherhood.

On another note... I'm going on a trip all alone this weekend. I have to not only find all the gates in the airport by myself but also rent a car and navigate my way around a new city all alone... My dad lent me his laptop so hopefully (don't hold your breath) I will post about each day so you can come too and I won't be so alone.

My pants aren't ready for the holidays

2009-11-28T15:29:00.000-08:00

I consider Thanksgiving the kick off of the holidays BESIDES the first snow. (that way losers in warm places get the holidays too!) I haven't posted in a while because.... I tried out word's blog editor only to realize after a lot of work that I can't upload posts that have pictures and there is no way I'm uploading a post just to go back in and add pictures. I read about a few alternative methods but by that point I was sick of my Nashvilles pictures and bored of the computer.

I really don't have much to say... I'm happy the holidays are here. I can;t believe I have two weeks of classes and one week of finals till break. I'm scared because of all the things I still have to do.

Last... why so many things to go on turkey?? Gravy, stuffing, and cranberry sauce! I can't eat enough bird to get enough of all three. SO I eat gravy with potatoes, stuffing and the turkey, and cranberry sauce poured over vanilla ice cream (My mom made out of this world cranberry sauce with fresh cranberries and orange zest {and probably a lot of sugar} I'm sure the canned stuff wouldn't be worth it but this stuff was divine...) I think I'll go have a bowl right now!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Who doesn't like the word free

2009-11-14T23:02:00.000-08:00

Much to my fathers shame I love goat roper music. I know, I know. It because of Brett. As my old roommate said soon after I met Brett that 'I'd been colonized' Meaning he likes country... i started to like country.. But who cares! It makes car rides easier, not to mention my recent trip to Nashville that much more fun. (More on that soon, hopefully.)

So the real purpose... Here is a free music download from Amazon. The directions are here. The catch, you can only down load song from a list. The list comes from nominees at the recent Country Music Awards. (I was so sad I left Nashville two days before the CMAs came to town!) This expires on Nov. 22

And if you missed the CMA's this performance was amazing! (Oh and this song is an option to get for free!)

Misc.

2009-11-05T17:08:00.000-08:00

I love watching my feet while I walk, at least this time of year, since I get to see these beautiful colors.
Last night my apartment looked like this:
Why? because I'm too cheap to pay $2 to dry two loads of laundry and well... shoving all my clothes into one dryer doesn't quite cut it.

And why am I doing laundry mid week when that is what the weekends are for... Because this time tomorrow I'll be in:

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-31T22:05:00.000-07:00

Tonight I was a lumberjack's wife rather than rosie the riveter. I also learned my skin doesn't react well to miracle whip...

First time in long time

2009-10-28T20:14:00.000-07:00

For the first time in a very long time I've come up with and plan on wearing a costume for Halloween. I'm worried noone will realize who I am.

Why I love...

2009-10-28T16:47:00.000-07:00

Living in

Utah

(Okay I won't say I love living in Utah but I do love it in the fall and winter.)

Why I love

Science.

NEWTS

2009-10-24T16:59:00.000-07:00

Some people think engineering is like some crazy magic (I think so too sometimes). That is why I like to think of what most people call the Fundamentals of Engineering Exam. NEWTS for engineers. For you non Harry Potter Fans NEWTS is Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Exam.

So I took my NEWTS today. They were exhausting. I'll know in twelve weeks if I have to try again next spring. If we're taking bets I'm betting I'll take it again next spring. But at least then I'll know what to study. And I now have en extensive list of all the things I've learned and forgotten. OH and I got something else:

Its a $140 pencil. You aren't allowed to use your own pencil so they give you one. See how it glows. It must be touched by a higher power (or photoshoped).

Why people think I'm cuckoo

2009-10-21T20:34:00.001-07:00

I love math. I absolutely love it. Doing pure math reminds me why I'm in engineering. I just finished a problem with gave us an ordinary differential equation and wanted us to prove it's integral is another given equation. Within a few steps I thought for sure it wasn't going to work. But I just kept going, following the basic rules of math, and it worked. I love it when nasty equations simplify down.

Webelos

2009-10-21T20:01:00.000-07:00

Tonight was our annual fundraiser. It was a jungle safari. Our activity was blow darts. Okay actually it was shooting marshmallows from a marshmallow gun at pictures on animals. Most the kids enjoyed it.

I survived

2009-10-12T21:04:00.000-07:00

I survived my paper last week. I"m planning a relaxing week... Hopefully.

2009-10-08T23:47:00.000-07:00

Time: 12:47 AM
Crisis: My paper is due in 15 hours and 13 minutes. I still have a lot more to finish.
Status: I just cracked open my second pepsi of the evening. My night owl husband just went to bed.

The conversation we just had:
Brett-I just put another pepsi in the fridge for you incase you get desperate.
Me- You mean in addition to the one I just opened?
Brett - Yeah, just in case. Good night *Brett goes to take a sip of pepsi*
Me_ WHAT ARE YOU DOING? Didn't you just brush your teeth
Brett- *with an incredulous look* Baby, Pepsi goes with anything, even toothpaste.

Now I just have to say, besides I can't get the italics to turn off, I love my husband. I love his quarkes and his charms, his gluons and bosons. (Bad news people I just slipped in quantum mechanics references.)

By the time you all read this my report will probably be handed in and I will go back and read this post and realize... I need to stop procrastinating.

(I still can't get the italics to turn off..)

Now that is sqeaky

2009-10-06T20:01:00.000-07:00

We made cheese in class tonight. Mozzarella and ricotta cheese to be precise. The Mozzarella was good but a little of the chewy side and sometimes... it even squeaks when you chew it. I think I'll have to try making it again when I have a bit more free time. See if I can perfect it.

My Schedule:

2009-10-05T18:15:00.000-07:00

Here is the most boring list you'll ever read but the most stressful list I've read all month. Wednesday: Process Design homework due.
Thursday: Green Engineering homework due. AIChE Lunch which I am suppose to order the food for, they want soup for 20+ people within our budget. That afternoon I'm suppose to go on a plant tour.
Friday: Our first lab formal report is due. I've barely started writing and we are still analyzing data. And if you haven't notices from here writing isn't my forte or my favorite. This day I'm also suppose to be in charge of the Process Control Homework help session.
Saturday: Ski Patrol and family stuff (that isn't stressful but it's still on my to do list)
Monday-Friday: Study for the FE exam. This is technically my week off. But I have to study for the Fundmentals of Engineering Exam. It is supposedly the culmination of everything I have learned in engineering. Its an eight hour test.
Wednesday: I have a process design test. I've learned nothing in that class.
Saturday the 24th: I take the FE exam..... I'm quivering in my socks at the thought.

Boring for you, stressful for me. Is it too late to quit?

No One to Tell

2009-10-01T19:00:00.001-07:00

Ever have something your really excited about and you want to tell people about it and talk about it but no one is around. Well I'm having one of those moments so I'll tell anyone who reads this blog.

I had an interview today. I think it went really well and I'm really excited about it. I can't wait to hear back from them, see if I get a second interview.

There, now you all know.

Childhood Flash Backs

2009-09-10T20:37:00.000-07:00

As a child I was often read poems by my older sister. We had a collection of poems that I loved her to read to me from. So in high school when were had to memorize and present a poem I dig deep into my childhood and chose to memorize my favorite poem from that collection. I could recite the following by heart, word for word at one point in my life.

THE TALE OF CUSTARD THE DRAGON

By Ogden Nash

Belinda lived in a little white house,
With a little black kitten and a little gray mouse,
And a little yellow dog and a little red wagon,
And a realio, trulio, little pet dragon.

Now the name of the little black kitten was Ink,
And the little gray mouse, she called her Blink,
And the little yellow dog was sharp as Mustard,
But the dragon was a coward, and she called him Custard.

Custard the dragon had big sharp teeth,
And spikes on top of him and scales underneath,
Mouth like a fireplace, chimney for a nose,
And realio, trulio, daggers on his toes.

Belinda was as brave as a barrel full of bears,
And Ink and Blink chased lions down the stairs,
Mustard was as brave as a tiger in a rage,
But Custard cried for a nice safe cage.

Belinda tickled him, she tickled him unmerciful,
Ink, Blink and Mustard, they rudely called him Percival,
They all sat laughing in the little red wagon
At the realio, trulio, cowardly dragon.

Belinda giggled till she shook the house,
And Blink said Week!, which is giggling for a mouse,
Ink and Mustard rudely asked his age,
When Custard cried for a nice safe cage.

Suddenly, suddenly they heard a nasty sound,
And Mustard growled, and they all looked around.
Meowch! cried Ink, and Ooh! cried Belinda,
For there was a pirate, climbing in the winda.

Pistol in his left hand, pistol in his right,
And he held in his teeth a cutlass bright,
His beard was black, one leg was wood;
It was clear that the pirate meant no good.

Belinda paled, and she cried, Help! Help!
But Mustard fled with a terrified yelp,
Ink trickled down to the bottom of the household,
And little mouse Blink strategically mouseholed.

But up jumped Custard, snorting like an engine,
Clashed his tail like irons in a dungeon,
With a clatter and a clank and a jangling squirm
He went at the pirate like a robin at a worm.

The pirate gaped at Belinda's dragon,
And gulped some grog from his pocket flagon,
He fired two bullets but they didn't hit,
And Custard gobbled him, every bit.

Belinda embraced him, Mustard licked him,
No one mourned for his pirate victim
Ink and Blink in glee did gyrate
Around the dragon that ate the pyrate.

Belinda still lives in her little white house,
With her little black kitten and her little gray mouse,
And her little yellow dog and her little red wagon,
And her realio, trulio, little pet dragon.

Belinda is as brave as a barrel full of bears,
And Ink and Blink chase lions down the stairs,
Mustard is as brave as a tiger in a rage,
But Custard keeps crying for a nice safe cage.

I remembered this poem this evening because my friend ran into the daughter of my high school english teacher the other day and told me about it. Although I did recite it in class and a few other places my most vivid memory of this poem was at relief society enrichment night. My mom was in the presidency at the time and asked me to demonstrate something at that month's enrichment. During a moment while I was waiting for something to boil I looked around to find every eye fixed and me and nothing to say. So I blurted out 'do you want to hear a poem?' And I recited the above poem. I also recited a passage from Shakespear's Julius Ceasar. The fact that I did this still slightly embarrasses me and I hope none of the ladies remember.

(p.s. this is my 100th post)

Kind of random..

2009-09-03T19:19:00.001-07:00

At the end of my internship the company had a poster fair for all the inters. A lady interviewed me there for a clip they wanted to put on their facebook page. I just found it. It you wanted see me pretending to be serious here's the link. http://www.facebook.com/IdahoNationalLaboratory. Go to the careers tab and click watch the video 'see what some of our interns have to say'.

***To get the link to work copy and paste it into your internet browser, that worked for me***

I wish...

2009-08-24T14:53:00.000-07:00

I wished I lived in a perfect world where no one does stuff like steal your husbands bike. Yes someone stole my husbands bike from out back parking lot. They cut the lock... judging by the pile of cut bike locks we weren't the only victims.

I had big plans

2009-08-12T20:04:00.000-07:00

So I had big plans this summer to learn how to sew adorable aprons. I'm about to sew my 4th apron of the summer and this is my goal.. follow the directions the entire time. This is a summary of my aprons. If you are lucky someday you'll get pictures.

#1: This one actually turned out pretty well. I like it. I didn't think I was going to make it through this apron. It is only a half apron (i.e. only the waist down) but they were using words like basting (and I didn't have a turkey to baste) and binding ... all sorts of words out of context. So I gave up on the direction and winged it. I'd wear this apron in front of other people.

#2: This one I made for my sister. My mom has a ton of really long ~5" wide strips of fabric. I pieced white and blue strips together and made a very simple half apron. This one was pretty easy except I wished the surger had already been set up. It would have made it a lot faster and easier and neater.

#3: My mom decided she wanted an apron too... I started to do the same as aprong #2 but with the surger. I screwed it up again and again and finally gave up... I then bough some really cute thick dark green and blue fabric and made my first full apron. I used a pattern but didn't follow the directions in the least. This one is by far the worst as to date (I still have to finish apron #4). It was bad enough I added pencil pockets and told my mom to go ahead and wear it in her wood working shop.

#4: Well this apron is totally cute and very bright colors. I still not sure they match but its a bit late now. I just cut out all the pieces. I'm about to go downstairs and sew it and follow the directions the entire time. I'll tell ya how it goes.

I had big plans to sew aprons for christmas gifts... not going to happen this year... probably not even this decade.

P.S. It was my last day of work for the semester. I'm actually sad about that. I guess heels will go back to being just for Sundays.

SCHOOL OUT FOR SUMMER!

2009-08-03T19:53:00.000-07:00

Hey guess what! Schools out for summer. Only problem is it starts up again in two weeks. I just finished up the last test for the three classes I've been taking this summer. I took Human Geography, World Geography, and Leisurely Behavior and Human Diversity. The first two classes are just what you expect. And the third well... a class with leisurely behavior doesn't automatically mean it will be a cake class. But it really wasn't too bad. I'm just happy I'm done with them. Now I think I'll go buy books for next semester.... talk about a drop in my bank account!

OH But in awesome news.. My husband got a tuition waiver (plus he's on the deans list for excellent grades)! That means he and I both have tuition waivers now. We're awesome like that.

It better get better than this.

2009-07-16T19:50:00.000-07:00

I'd start this post with a joke about how my husband hit me so hard I couldn't move my arm last night and still can't lift it above shoulder level but spouse abuse is a serious thing and not something to joke about. So I'll just tell it like it is. Brett and I were practicing batting with our new softball bat last night. He wanted to try it out so I was pitching to him. Well one unfortunately aimed shot made direct contact with my shoulder (not so much shoulder as upper arm just below the shoulder). I cried (cuz thats what I do best) the water works lasted for a while. I looked like I had a really nice delt muscle from all the swelling.... Now I'm just sitting here projecting my shoulder hoping the bruise is pretty gnarly looking cuz if it doesn't I'm going to feel pretty cheated. Thus.... it better get better than this... referring to the bruise. (I plan on taking pictures of the progression of my bruise so you'll probably hear about this again.)

Just when you get used to something....

2009-07-02T19:42:00.000-07:00

You know how when you drive past a car wreck and you can't help but looking. Especially when its a bad one. And even if your cursing the mile long line of cars backed up for a wreck on the opposite side of the interstate you still try to get a good look when you finally drive past. Well I have the same reaction to the anti-meth billboards around Idaho Falls. They are do gross looking but yet I always look. I drive past one on my way to work and was finally over looking at it. Then this morning (or maybe yesterday) they put a new one up. Just as disgusting but new. Which means I now look at it every morning and gross myself out. I'm very disturbed by these ads, they give me the heebee-geebees (not to be confused with the bee gees... although they have the same effect on me).

And or those of you who haven't seen a good car wreck lately.
That's me pretending I'm the conquering hero. I'm not... the FedEx truck for sure won this fight.
(don't worry the pictures from 2 years ago... don't think this is recent.. don't have a freak out.. maybe I should have put this before you scroll down and see the picture... I suppose I could change it now but.. I suffer through anti-meth billboards... I'll let you suffer a bit too)

Trips

2009-06-27T17:23:00.000-07:00

I wanted our desktop computer brought home with us for the summer so I would have photoshop. I figured I'd finally have time now that I'm not in school. So not true. I used photoshop for the first time this summer the other night. Here are the fruits of my labor as well as pictures from trips Brett and I have gone on. (Please note... I was having fun with photoshop and I realize some of the pictures look 'photoshoped' but I wasn't trying for a natural look.)

First we have our trip to southern Utah during finals week. Less than smart me told the INL my start day was the Monday after school ended. This left no time for a camping trip. When I realized I have a final on Friday and not another until Wednesday we decided to go during finals. (Maybe not the best idea but I did well in all my classes so it worked out.) We went down to zion national park again. We hiked Angel's Landing. Very fun hike but maybe not for the kiddies. Below is a picture from the top. Left is the original. I was disappointed at how washed out all the pictures were. The right is photoshoped. Still not perfect but or the single touch of a button its better.

Last weekend Brett and I decided to celebrate our 2 year since our first date/1.5 years of marriage. Thursday night we went to Guys and Dolls at the Playmill Theater in West Yellowstone. Friday morning we got up early, went to eat the the Running Bear in West Yellowstone and then drove through Yellowstone National Park, down through Teton National Park and then stopped in Alpine for some fireworks. It was a very fast trip but lots of fun.

And while getting the above pictures off the desktop onto a jump drive to get on this computer I found these little gems. (I added what I'm probably thinking in the pictures)

I'm coming

Maybe I'm not coming.. this is hard. Making this face helps though..
GROAAAAAN with exertion... or concentration. I'm sure glad I'm making this face so the camera knows how hard this is... I have an awesome helmet on.
I guess I better smile because 9 years from now I'm gonna wish my gluteus maximus still looked like this. And am I having a gothic day today or something?

I might have taken some liberties with what I was thinking. But I really do wish my butt still looked like that. This was from a climb I did with my mom and brothers in 2002. The climb was Baxter's Pinnacle in the Teton mountain range.

What I regret most from high school.

2009-06-13T13:53:00.001-07:00

In reply to Amber's comment on my last post of 'if that is the worst thing you did in high school you were a saint' No,the way I handled that boy wasn't the worst thing I did in high school but here is my biggest regret from high school.....

I did my fair share of mistake making in high school but I don't regret the mistakes so much because of the lessons learned. My number one regret was being mean to someone and never making the wrong right. My first year in high school was marked by a transition in friends and a new ability to leave campus for lunch. By the end of sophomore year our lunch group consisted of my best friends Brittani and Katrina, a few boys and another girl, I'll refer to her as Jane although that isn't her name. Brit, kat and I were pretty well inseparable but lunch was about the only time we'd hang out with the boys and Jane. Jane was really about the sweetest girl and we would invite her to do stuff outside of school but she always declined. Maybe we could have tried harder. Well the boys decided Jane was a bit weird and so on the last day of school, when we had an extra long lunch and were planning on going to go to my house, convinced me to ditch her for lunch. So we made plans to meet at a different location inorder to avoid her coming along. Well we went to lunch, I had one more class that afternoon and then summer started. I didn't see Jane again and so never had to see if she realized we had ditched her or thought it was just an accident that she was left behind. Actually I know she had other friends so I don't even know if she was planning on going to lunch with us that day. Summer passed and since we never hung out with her outside of school I didn't see her. School started again and I never really talked to her and never really thought about it... until the following spring break when I came home from vacation to learn she had been killed. Apparently she had snuck out of her house with a boy, I seem to remember the newspaper article saying he had been drinking, and when they missed a curve in the road they flew off the rode, were ejected from the car and both died. The fact that I never apologized or even spoke to her again and now won't have the chance to is what I regret most from high school. I know that Jane had other friends and I don't think what we did that day was the end of the world for ther but I still did something that was less than kind to her and never fixed my mistake.

So I ask you, is there someone you wrong and you haven't made it right yet? Don't loose the chance to make it right and remeber what garth brooks says:

... I've lost loved ones in my life
Who never knew how much I loved them
Now I live with the regret
That my true feelings for them never were revealed
So I made a promise to myself
To say each day how much she means to me
And avoid that circumstance
Where there's no second chance to tell her how I feel

Random

2009-06-12T15:14:00.000-07:00

You ever have someone do something that bugs you and you just want to yell out and tell everyone how much it bothers you but you don't because you know your being silly and you don't like confrontation. Plus you can't blog about it because your blog isn't private and you don't want it to come back and bite you years down the road when the person in question happens upon your blog and calls you out upon it. Having one of those afternoons.

That makes me think of a random story to tell:
Just after I turned sixteen my interest was sparked for the boy who sat across the room from me in English class. I couldn't believe it when he singled me out for attention. (He was actually the boy who took me on my first official date.) Well as with most girls once they get attention from the boy they move on... and I had moved on but was still getting attention. Well one night I was expressing my dislike of the attention to my friend in the girls bathroom at church. Little did I know another girl was in the bathroom and was good friends with the boy in question (I think she may have even liked him but the details are a bit fuzzy). So suddenly the attention stopped which I was fine with. And I forgot about it. Until almost a whole trimester later when upon opening my locker I found a note from him calling me out on what happened. I'm pretty sure I apologized.... it may have even been in a return note (how high school is that) and we both moved on. He actually dated my neighbor down the street for a while. Well boy in question.... if you ever stumble upon this blog and realize it's you i'm talking about I'm really sorry. Thanks for teaching me my lesson.

In other news:

it's friday (that's not actually news its a common known fact). Which makes me very happy.
there is a rodeo this weekend we're going to go to.
it's been a rainy summer. And I love the rain. I really like carrying and wearing my rain coat.
I'm almost done with my project at work

Well.... that is about done as far as news I can come up with. I hope your week has been more interesting.

Weeding

2009-06-04T19:57:00.000-07:00

Its kind of weird but sometimes when I'm doing boring things I put blog commentary to my boring activity. Like tonight, while weeding the strawberry patch, I mentally created a very long blog post... It included dark clouds and a giant birds and poor strawberry plants that accidentally got pulled up. Your pretty lucky that's all of the post your getting. It was kind of long and not too exciting.

on other notes..... okay there isn't much. I work a lot, work out now and again, I don't see Brett as much as I want..... sorry life is so boring... you can keep looking over this blog..

Softball game 1

2009-05-19T21:11:00.000-07:00

Tonight was game 1 of our softball season. And softball game 1 of my life. The last time I hit a ball with a bat it was in my parents pasture and cow pies were the bases. Brett played softball the summer we met and was so sad last summer when almost his whole family played on a team together. So this year, as soon as I accepted my internship at the INL we were planning on playing softball. Now here comes a little insight into me. I don't like being bad at things. Obviously no one want to be bad at anything but I really hate being bad at anything especially in front of other people. I tend to stick with what I'm good at... basically school and a few other things. So because inevitably i'm horrible at something I've never done i was almost having anxiety attacks leading up to tonight. I was praying for rain but for once (it seems like) the weather was good. Well tonight has now come and gone and I'm done for the season. Why? because I hit the ball and made it to first base. That was my goal for the season I'm done.

Okay just kidding. But I am happy the bat touched the ball and that I even made it to first. (Oh yeah I struck out the next two times I was at bat but you can't have everything)

3 days

2009-05-14T18:29:00.001-07:00

I'm worked three days now..... wait no 4!!! oh boy its been a long week!

I have a tough life...

2009-05-07T09:36:00.000-07:00

Lately I've taken up the habit of replying "You have a tough life *dripping with sarcasm*" whenever Brett complains about something small and insignificant. For example.

Brett: I don't know which shoes to wear today. Its so frustrating

Me: Ah, You have a tough life *dripping sarcasm*.

(Please note: this has never happened. Brett doesn't own enough shoes to have options.)

or here's another example.

Me: I'm so frustrated because I made silly stupid mistakes on my final. It was a cake final! I should have gotten a perfect score! And its not like I was short on time. I had like an extra half an hour. But no I just failed to read the test carefully enough and made silly mistakes like switching x and y and evaluating at the center of the churro instead of half way between the center and the surface ( you have to read on of this professors tests to understand). I could bomb a test and not care because I had no clue how to do the problems. In this case I knew how to do every problem and will still probably do okay but I'm ticked at myself for my stupid mistakes. I should have done better. I'm so angry

in reply to myself... "I have a tough life *dripping sarcasm*"

(Please note: This is a true story.. and I am really frustrated with myself.)

ready set...

2009-05-06T13:29:00.000-07:00

Ready set... SUMMER! Okay I still have a final left... which I should be studying for.. but who needs mass transfer anyway! I'm dying with anticipation for summer. We're moving to Idaho for the summer. I even made a new blog header for the event. I enjoyed making the blog header and not trying for any symmetry. Really I was going for the just thrown together look. I was going to make a cute scrapbook page and blog about or recent Zions camping trip but somebody (aka my husband) took the computer/camera cord with him to school. So instead you get this post.... expressing my intense excitement for summer. (If only I didn't start work on Monday.)

It was a bacon weekend.

2009-05-04T22:45:00.000-07:00

Not a day went by this weekend that i didn't eat bacon... when my sandwich at dinner this evening came with bacon i almost took it off and didn't eat it. Needless to day i do get tired of bacon. I'll fill you in on the rest of the weekend tomorrow because one thing that I didn't get everyday this weekend was a shower... so i'm going to go remediate that problem.

Filled with....

2009-04-30T13:34:00.000-07:00

I've developed a head cold in the last day. It's not much fun and I've made friends with Tylenol (although I take this sparingly). Stress always seems to wear down my body... for some reason this cold hit before the stress actually ended.. convenient. So I have a report and a journal due Monday, a test tomorrow, wednesday and thursday. Really I'm not that stressed but my body decided to weaken anyway. I wish my body kept going as long and my brain. I'd get tons more done. Anyway my tactic of combating head colds is vitamin C and fluid. I think I'm at about %1000 percent of my vitamen C daily value and well.. I have to go to the bathroom about every 20 minutes because of how much liquid i'm drinking. This fits in perfect with my procrastination of writing my report. This is what happens. I'll sit at my computer, do random things like check email or read an article, decided to start my paper. I'll open my paper and then decide I need to go to the bathroom cuz my bladder is full. I'll finish up with the personal stuff then sit at my computer again. Then I'll remember an email I need to send or this and that. By the time I've gotten to my paper again I need to go to the bathroom again. This leads to my paper being barely started and me sick of the smell of my bathroom hand soap. But now I better go. I'll work on my paper for a few minutes, probably have to go to the bathroom again and then dilly dally some more. (but in better news my sore throat is almost gone and now I've only got a pluggy nose.)

Filled with discontent

2009-04-26T15:31:00.000-07:00

I know why I'm not suppose to do homework on sunday.. because I get so angry at my teacher for not teaching how I think he should (this is my way of trying to nicely say i think he's teaching crappy). It makes me so angry I'm thinking not very nice thoughts and thats not very christ-like is it. And homework frustration make me eat... a lot.. and then I feel bad about myself because I justa at a lot of candy that really I didn't want to eat. Thats why i'm giving up on homework and going to read my book.

The Empathy that comes through experience

2009-04-09T22:29:00.001-07:00

Usually I try to keep posts light and fluffly but sometimes life gets serious.

As most of you know my wonderful husband was diagnosed, went into surgery for, had radiation for, and became free of cancer between October and December of last year. It was an amazing growing experience. Is that a requirement? That the first years of marriage aren't enough of a growing experience but you have to be tested even more? I think that Brett and I took it in stride. We managed to maintain optimism (which was easier considering it more easily treated type of cancer) and laugh through the hole thing. From crying in front of my boss, studying for a P.Chem test through CAT scans, nausea in a hospital waiting room, to ringing a bell of triumph at the final radiation treatment every moment was a moment of growth and learning. While one of the most valuable things was growing close with Brett something more was attained that I never realized the value of. Empathy. I'm a cry baby. I actually got it from my dad. And while I managed to not cry much during the 'ordeal' I find myself easily moved to tears during little things like an episode of everybody loves Raymond or extreme makeover home edition where people, real or fictional, are touched by cancer or illness. To know the feeling of worry that can so easily take over, to know the fret 'of what more can I do I feel for these people'. I barely kept the tears from brimming over when, as a cub scout pack, we visited primary children hospital. I still can barely fathom the pain of seeing your child in pain and suffering. Mow, I try to not express my religious beliefs here because they are sacred to me, however I cannot touch on this without realizing that this is why our Savior and Older Brother had to suffer and feel the pains of all man kind, so that he can empathize and therefor succor each of us.

I'm sure Brett would prefer to have a part of his body back, I however find the gains of the experience invaluable (okay maybe they have a set value... they are called medical bills).

(I also guess this would be a good time to let everyone know what Brett just had his 3 month check up and everything looks good.)

Just because I can't have an entire serious post.... Can I just say I love the show "The Joy of Painting'. I'm pretty sure that's the name of it. It's the guy with the Afro that paints happy trees and serious trees and all sorts of personified trees. I find his show very relaxing. (Oh yeah and I don't paint)

You gotta love conference weekend.

2009-04-05T12:29:00.000-07:00

Most people love conference weekend for the relaxing PJ filled weekend that it is for most. For my family it usually involved a trip to salt lake and at least 1 session in the conference center. (Since living in salt lake I don't have to take a trip to salt lake of course... i'm already here silly!)
This conference was no exception. It has been a fantastic weekend.

Friday night was a mission reunion for Brett. I did not want to go. I had gone to one with him while we were dating but I didn't complain, went, and had a pretty fun time. After we stopped at the hotel my family was at and chatted with my brother, sister-in-laws and my dad.

Saturday was an early morning. We went to the morning session. It was awesome all the talks were fantastic. After the session Brett went to see one of his friends. My dad took me to lunch and then we went to fashion place mall to put the invisible shield on his new phone. After dropping my dad off I stopped at the store for the third time in 24 hours. Why did I stop at the store so much? Because I invited all my family over for refreshments after priesthood session. This means that starting at the end of the second session of conference I started cooking and cooked for 4 hours till people arrived at 8:45. This is in addition to the hour or so of preparation the night before. Here's what we had:
Spinich Dip
Seven Layer dip
Buffalo Wings
Sticky Fingers
Bacon Wrapped halapenos
vegetables
ranch and blue cheese dressing
and chocolate cake.
None of which was very healthy but all of which (luckily) turned out tastee. I made all of it from scratch besides seasoning packets... those technically aren't from scratch but close enough. I was pretty proud of myself that I got it all done and my kitchen was still presentable when I was done.

Following gorging ourselves on food we started talking about the comedians on the worship channel. We youtubed some of them for my family to watch. And at that moments the fates aligned and this video played on our computer:

Brett and I had heard Tim Hawkins before on the worship channel but never heard that songs. And when I saw the video played on our computer I mean it did on its own accord. You know how with youtube once one video ends you have to click on another for it it play. This one played on its own.. we were meant to hear it I guess.

I must say. I love the worship channel for bringing so many laughs into my life. Thank you congress for forcing DTV upon us and how giving my the worship channel.

Anyways, the weekend has been great. Just thought I'd share that with you.

Remember two weeks ago?

2009-03-28T13:53:00.000-07:00

First of I hope you all remember that I am an entity in the blogging world. I know I've been gone for two weeks. Evidently a week off from school also means a week of from blogging. But anyway. So at the end of my last post I talked about my 'chemical engineers do it in packed beds' shirt (which coincidentally i'm wearing right now). I told you I'd give the first person tell me what it means would get a prize. Well only one person guessed and they are close enough so they get the prize. This is what my aunt-in-law Heidi guessed (Heidi does it feel weird to realized your technically Brett's aunt?)

Heidi said...: Ok I am nowhere near being as smart and educated in the chemical engineering department as you are, so this is as far as I could understand that term: a packed bed is a hollow tube of some sort designed to hold packing material (or structured packing, depending on who is doing it, right?) to improve contact between two phases (commonly known as matter, I believe). Yeah, I feel smarter already. Of course, like I said before, nowhere even close to you, but I did learn something new today. Thank you for expanding my horizons! :)

So she got the gist of it. A packed bed is short for back bed reactor (at least where I spent all my time that is what it means!) And usually (at least in all my homework problems) the packing is a catalyst. So what chemical engineers do in packed beds is chemical reactions. So true to my word Heidi gets a prize. So what is a good prize? I don't know. So I decided on something I made myself and something I use all the time. A wooden spoon & spatula set. Sound random? It is. (My mom actually makes the wooden kitchen utensils but these ones, with her help, I made myself. They work great in nonstick pans, stirring cookies and I imagine for spanking children as well.) I'd hoped to make all the rest of you jealous of heidi by telling you what her prize was but alas most of you who read this are members of my family who either have a wooden spoon/spatula from my mom or I gave you one for christmas already. So Heidi, do you want your wooden spoon and spatula? if so email me at fitch.margaret@gmail.com with an address so I can ship them to you.

And the rest of you should be jealous just because!

Colorado weekend numer dose! (A little late)

2009-03-14T07:56:00.000-07:00

I told ya a few posts ago I was going to document my second weekend in Colorado (this time in Ft. Collins at Colorado State University).

It started early friday morning when 10 Chemical engineers and two professors piled into two white dodge caravans.Then this happened. That's the transmission fluid on the side of I-80 east a few miles past rock springs. That was from the other van. After a few hours spent in Rock Springs Wyoming a suburban was rented and we were on our way. The suburban was a BIG upgrade from the as-little-extra-features-as-possible government vans. Most people slept the rest of the drive.I also discovered Wyoming isn't nearly as long when you aren't stuck back-seat-middle-feet-on-the-hump in a truck (like the weekend before). Which gave me more time to enjoy the countryside.Everyone on the trip (well at least in my car) discovered how great my dad is. I have the dependent habit of calling my dad whenever I need to know something (he's usually pretty close to the internet). The rest of the car is convinced 1800-freeinfo goes directly to my dad's phone.

Well we were late but me made it to CSU. In time for dinner and a hypnotist show... which I volunteered for. It was a hard choice which pictures/videos to post. I took a derivative to optimize funniness while minimizing embarrassment. (just kidding by the way). Do I post flexing my butt for an audience, ballet dancing, disco dancing, doing CPR when I heard blood not mud...

Now if your wondering if I was really hypnotized... I think so. I do remember most everything but I also remember being willing to do perfectly embarrassing things (see video above). However I could choose to not do things... like I didn't look at the nudist volleyball tournament and I did gamble.

The next morning was bright and early. We listened to some papers presented and then was the Chem E car competition. The Chem E car competitions is between various AIChE Student Chapter through out the region (glossary of terms: Chem E=Chemical Engineering AIChE=American Institute of Chemical Engineering) The car has to go a certain distance carry a certain weight (announced just before the competition). The car has to run off of a chemical reactions. This years car was a Sodium Bicarbonate and Glacial Acetic Acid reaction. (I wasn't on the team so I'm not sure of specifics but I'm pretty sure what goes down is the reactions happens within a pressure vessel and then the pressure is released and that runs the car. Courtney is that right?) Here is the car running.. You might turn your volume down I'm yelling through most the video.

Following the days activities there was a banquet.
This is everyone dressed up. Afterward we all went out for drinks. I've been 21 for just under six months and I figured it was time to get IDed. This was my conversation with out waiter. He hadn't IDed anyone else at the table who had ordered alcoholic drinks and I had to be sure to be IDed so:
'If I order a Margarita will you please ID me?' 'Um. Okay' 'Good. Can I have a Margarita' 'Can I see some ID' 'Course I have it right here.'*pose for picture* 'Okay good.' 'Thanks, now can I make mine a virgin please.'

(you gotta love how ineffective and scary looking the red eye tool is)

Well that kind of summed up the trip. There were lot's of funny stories that would make this post even longer but most of them were you kind of have to be there or at least know the people they are about. But here are a few more pictures.

See these two people. That is Dr. Whitty and Steve. Dr. Whitty is wearing Steve's hippy-old-man sweater and aviators. That is the straightest I've ever seen steve stand the the most slouchy I've ever seen Dr. Whitty. We decided the sweater just make you look like your slouching.
Thats me (and Dr T and Brandon) waiting for the Car competition to start. They held it in the stock judging pavilion... can you guess what the room smelled like.. Some people were trying to decided if the extra methane gas in the air would effect their reaction.
Again Dr. Whitty. He admitted to us that he and his wife religiously watch desperate housewives. Well when we saw this at a gas station for only $4 and it was even his birthday... we had to get it to go with his paper plate birthday car we'd made him.
And finally the girls that made the trip fun. These girls are two of the coolest girls in the major (2 out of not very many but still.)

You see our shirts. Can you read them. They say 'chemical engineers do it in packed beds' the first person that can tell me what the shirts means gets a prize. (Courtney I'm not sure you can compete in this competition)

Ever have one of those days

2009-03-12T20:53:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have one of those days where it just feels like nothing is connecting up right. There are no disasters but nothing still seems to work out quite right. Like when your a penny shy of exact change or you just missed the bus.... I'm having one of those weeks. I think its punishment for looking forward to spring break (1 more day!)

Fun Idea: Pay it Forward

2009-03-04T11:50:00.000-08:00

I commented on my sister-in-laws blog for this post before I read the rules. Because of lazyness i'mm going to use the same limitations as her.

The first five people to leave a comment on this blog will receive something made by me. However there are some limitations.

1. I make no guarantee that you will like what I make.
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It will be done this year.
4. You have no clue what it is going to be, poetry, clothes, paper goods, or a little invention of my own. I may bake something and mail it you . Who knows? Not you that's for sure!
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

Here's the catch, if you choose to do this. You must post this on your blog and be ready to make something for five people too. This will be fun! When you receive the fabulous item I make you, you must post a picture of it on your blog.

Who raised me??

2009-03-02T20:39:00.000-08:00

Everyone:
I'm pushy and loud but I get things done.... and today I'm not going to apologize for it. Okay I'll apologize, sorry, but I still think I'm right. Who instilled these strong willed characteristics in me???? Mom... I'm looking at you.
When Brett asked for my hand in marriage my dad warned him I'm just like her (my mom) and he was right. (Now I can always tell Brett he was warned.)

(On it's way. Colorado Weekend numero dose... just wait for pictures of me breaking out of my shell, hot women, me getting IDed and a car running off of glacial acetic acid and sodium bicarbonate.)

I love being married but...

2009-02-24T14:36:00.000-08:00

So marriage is great and I'm getting used to my new name however sometimes I miss my old one. And here is why. Under my old name my animal power was ring tailed lemur now it's vampire bat (I went from cute and furry to scary and dark loving.) Now my 'Numerology' number is 5. which means 'that you are adventurous, mercurial, and sensual. You seek growth through adventure and different life experiences. Although you are a critical thinker, you can sometimes over-ponder an issue.' before my 'Numerology' number was 3 which means that 'you are enthusiastic, creative, optimistic, and fun-loving. You seek self-expression through words or the arts, and enjoy learning through life experiences.' I'm not sure which I prefer in description but I much prefer the number three... The multiples of 5 are so predictable. Also previously there were estimated only about another 177 people in the US with my name now there are nearly 1700! Either way though I'm well envoweled.

I'm sure your curious how I have come up with all this stuff about me. Well I was googling myself and came up with the site: http://www.isthisyour.name/. And it was them that told me all about myself. Now i'm going to go let go of my inner ring-tailed lemur and connect with my inner vampire bat. I decided I needed some pictures to illustrate the change in me...

Here I am as a ring-tailed lemu and 3....
Now here I am as a vampire bat...(okay I'm techinally dressed in a tiger dress(story in an of itself) but it's all the same scary right.)
Now here I'm a five... you can guess which trait I'm illustrating (I'll give you a hint... it's not adventurous and I don't know what mercurial means. This picture was spring break of freshman year.. I had just dyed my hair dark for the first time and was clearly obsessed with looking at my new look so I took A LOT of pictures of myself...)

(This was gonna be a really short quick post and I was going to get back to studying.... With getting pictures off an old computer and photoshoping the big old zit off my face in the middle picture it's taken atleast an hour..... oops!)

Colorado Weekend Numero Uno

2009-02-23T14:50:00.000-08:00

This weekend was my brother's engagement party in Colorado. Friday afternoon my parents and sister picked us up and we drove to Rawlins Wyoming. Now I drove through Wyoming once before in my life but I'd forgotten. Wyoming goes on for EVER! Saturday we got to Colorado. Saturday night was their engagement party. It was fun considering I knew no one there. I took my camera, okay well Brett's, with the highest intention of taking a lot of picture but only took two and neither were actually in Colorado. So since we just got our invite to the party I decided to use it to illustrate what I did this weekend. (Of course I couldn't just post it I had to digi-scarp it cuz it wastes way more time. The paper and embellishments were from shabby princess. I was using a different paper at first but photoshop closed on me before I had saved it and then while looking for embellishments I found this paper. I figured it would be perfect because Maddie got an adorable paisley serving bowl at the party. Also I don't know about all screens but I know on my screen the color on the announcement is off... maybe I need a new scanner. Oh and I whited out all their personal info (since it's not my info to share) and that is why there are large white gaps on the announcement.)

Anyway, the party was mostly fun because parties are inherently fun and because of my sister-in-law Kim and her fancy camera. My brother and she have a Nikon D40x which she let me play with. I was determine to master Boken (which I had read about from pioneer woman) using the shot gun shell christmas lights used as decoration. Well the for us the boken was broken and never really worked out. But trying was fun. Although I looked like an idiot standing on the couch with my head against the wall or laying on the floor taking pictures of lights.

Sunday was a long drive back from Colorado and then frantic studying for my two tests today.. that is right two! And on friday I get to do it all over again, the drive that is, for an AIChE conference.

Life is a learning process.

2009-02-15T17:43:00.000-08:00

Well I've made my own header for the first time. As you can see I'm a bit excited for spring.... it was a lot more fitting before I realized it was snowing outside. I also made a new background to match by following the directions here. But the background didn't stretch to fit the screen like they said it would and the solid part that the text goes over (they said use 7.5 in.) wasn't wide enough. So i'm sticking with white till I can figure out how to fix it. Any one have a different method for creating your own background??

The day of love.

2009-02-14T21:33:00.000-08:00

I've never made a big deal over valentines day. I never felt lonely when I was single and since I haven't been single I haven't made that big of a deal over it. But I figure it's a good excuse to do something nice for my honey.

For valentines day I bought Brett a new computer monitor for our desktop. Before we had a huge monitor from like 9 yrs ago. I never realized how big it was till we got the new flat screen hooked up. I had the best intentions of saying the monitor and giving him it today but it showed up on Wednesday and he was so excited to see what was in the box I let him open it (in exchange for opening it early he is in charge of webelo's for the next two months). Now to be completely honest... I really really really wanted the new monitor too so it's as much for me as him.

Last night he came home with a dozen roses and began looking through recipes. I asked him what he was looking for and he replied that he wanted a lasagna recipe because he knew it's one of my favorites. We ended up making it together and it turned out absolutely fantastic... My mom's lasagna recipe is the best ever... I'll post it on my recipe blog one of these days. Following lasagna we went grocery shopping and then rented a movie of my choice. (I chose sisterhood of the traveling pants 2.)

Today I was suppose to/really needed to go up to campus and get homework done but instead I spent the day with brett doing a lot of nothing. This afternoon I was spending some time learning all sorts of new fun stuff on photoshop when I realized Brett had disappeared. I called out to him and he replied from the bathroom. I didn't think much of it cuz well.. guys are guys. So I started making bread for dinner. I saw Brett doing something in the closet and didn't think anything when he replied 'looking at the board games'. Then he came into the kitchen with a pen behind his ear. I thought to myself 'he took a pen in the bathroom with him? weird.' but when he said he had found it in the couch I let it go.

Finally I went to watch TV and saw a yellow sticky on the TV screen wishing me happy valentines and telling me to go get a pepsi to put in the fridge. In the pepsi was yet another note telling me to look where I would go if I was board. After retrieving a chair to stand on I found a note in the board games saying chili was a great V-day dinner. From the chili in the cupboard I was sent to 'search high and low in the throughn room'. I spent a while searching the bedroom before brett told me he meant throne room. Under the bathroom mat was a reminder I need to clean the bathroom floor (the dirty floor was reminding me, not another note from brett) and a note telling me to put my shoes on and check the mail. I spent a while running around the apartment looking in all my shoes. And when I say all over I mean all over... my shoes are highly susceptible to entropy. Well I decided to skip the shoes and run to the mail box. That is where I found out I was actually suppose to put shoes on because I was next sent to his truck. Disregarding the new snow on the ground I ran out and found August Rush in his truck. (If you missed it Brett was in the bathroom planning the scavenger's hunt, no I don't blog about bathroom use!)

I thought it was really sweet of him. Dinner was interesting to make. I decided to try to make broiled shrimp (brett's favorite at sizzler). Well they turned out decent but the pan I used will buckle in the heat making a horrible popping noise. Just after putting the shrimp in the oven There was the horrible popping noise and a spark of light. I think the light was caused by butter popping and hitting the broiling element. It was a stressful few minutes of hoping I don't break the stove or burn the apartment down.

All in all it was a good, layed back day. And valentines day was the excuse to do nothing. How bout ya'll? Do anything fun?

BioLOGy

2009-02-12T13:49:00.000-08:00

So my blog should be called my homework distraction... today from my bioprocessing (thus the post title) studying. But I just had to direct you all to the left side of the screen. Below the about me and above my playlist. See how I switched from listing you all under a simple list but now it's a blog list... thus it includes the title of your latest blog and it even orders you by when you updated last. Mostly I did this because it was be faster than clicking on every blog to see if you've updated. I know this doesn't make sense because this is where I waste time not save it....

But now I have a challenge for you! Be at the top of the list as often as possible. And the prize... I'll visit your blog the most because it means you've updated most recently. (Joannie you are exempt for the competition since your blog is pritave it stays where it is. But it means I will manually be checking your blog constantly so you better update ;))

In honor of a short post.

2009-02-11T21:46:00.000-08:00

I promise to keep this short.

Brett and I just spent the last hours searching for cruises and flights for next fall break just for fun. $1200 would covers flights and the cruise for both of us. Sounds tempting... we just have to remember that doesn't include tips, excursions, and the many many souvenirs we'd surely buy. Plus of course the new clothes we (okay actually just me) would need. So although $1200 sounds do able I resisted. We'll just have to keep dreaming.
But in honor of the evening here are some pictures from the cruise I went on with my family in high school. (none of these pictures are the most flattering but they are the only ones I had on my computer.)How cool is my dad who got us a limo to

pick us up from the airport?!?!

We only look exhausted from hiking up Mexican Ruins all day.
It really was an awesome day!

Gotta love the fresh sunburns.

Oh yeah... and the food was AMAZING!

Can someone clear something up for me.

2009-02-10T16:00:00.000-08:00

So I judged a science fair for 6th, 7th, and 8th graders today. And let me tell you it was a riot. For the most part I was really impressed by how much the kids new. Although now that it's over I'm still wondering about what one kid told me. Is cloning illegal??? Have we clones a human??? Do they know enough about cloning humans to know that it causes lung cancer, heart disease, and lot's of other problems with our body and that is why it's illegal. Now I don't watch the news much and I'm not really into anything biological so maybe I missed the cloning thing but last I heard we'd only clones sheep. Another boy told me he wanted to make solar powered muscle cars. That sounded a bit like an oxymoron to me but more power to ya kid. I was completely blown away by some of the kids. One boy tested to see if there was bacteria living in freshly fallen and day old white snow. He found that yes there was and a lot of it. I asked him in the end if he'd still eat snow and he told me yes just not a big bowl of it. I think I was cured of ever eating snow, white or yellow. All in all I thought the kids all did fantastic jobs... accept for the boy who wouldn't tell me about his project, he just sat in the corner and read... I felt a bit bad for him.

Since being enlightened at the science fair I shut down my human cloning machine since now I know it's illegal, stopping internet shopping for solar powered muscle cars because the boy who is going to invent them is still in 6th grade, and decided to not eat the fresh snow outside for lunch. Instead I took part in my new found hobby. Digital scrap booking. I'm really proud of this page because I branched out into embellishments and discovered what .rar files are and how to use them.
This time I found everything from http://digiscrapdepot.com/freebies/. But of course the photo shop actions were still courtesy of thepioneerwoman.com.

And don't worry. These scrapbook pages won't go on much longer. I'm beginning to run out of page ideas and decent pictures on my hardrive.