The Hodgson Homebodies

Back to the Crazy

2011-09-29T15:22:00.000-07:00

Well, what can I say? Life it NUTZ! haha, I've come to the conclusion that it always will be. School is in full swing with lots o' tests, papers, reading, and presentations. This week was especially crazy. 426 pages of reading, 1 quiz, 1 fatty test, 2 medium papers, 1 fatty paper, 1 fatty lesson plan, and 2 presentations....I'm so glad this week is almost over. :)

I also am back at PioneerBook...are you shocked? lol. It has been nice making a little money and being around cool people. It also is slightly overwhelming because the store is changing a lot, and there is so much to do. We have a sweet-awesome staff, so I know we will get it done.

I am also the loving being the laurels advisor in my ward. It takes a lot more time than I thought it would, but I think it is worth it. We meet every Wednesday for mutual, having Sunday meetings once a month, and I teach on the 2nd and 3rd Sunday of every month. It also takes me about three times as long to prepare my lesson than it did when I was in primary. My girls actually listen...presure!! lol. I am actually amazed at them. They are all taking college classes and are so responsible. I was definately not like that in high school. lol. Anyway, long and the short, it's been great. We have also been making a lot of friends in our ward. We have been having BBQs, playing ultimate frisby, and just chilling with peps a lot lately.

I also have started training for the triatholon next summer. It has been really fun. Anyway, life is good even though some days it feels like I am running around every where until 11 at night. Greg and I are loving when we actually get the chance to play some Gears 3. We finally beat the game last weekend. We have a date planned for tomorrow night. We are going to get food, and get our yard ready for winter. So romantic, right? haha, I actually am excited. I love it when we are working on stuff together. Happy Halloween so very soon!!

Mini Vaca 2011

2011-08-23T15:35:00.000-07:00

This year for our 5 year anniversary, we had a mini-vaca. :) Since we have very little money, we decided to stay local. We left at about 11:00am on Monday and say a hilarious play called "Noises off" at the Shakespeare festival in Cedar City. It was by far the funniest play that we have ever seen. We also got our own private box to see the play in. That made such a huge difference in our experience. Greg is usually swashed, but we both had plenty of room. And of course..I forgot to take pics even though I made sure to have the camera right in my purse before we left. Oh well, it was still super awesome!

After the play, we drove to Springdale to our hotel which had an awesome view.

When we got there, we had an awesome surprise. There was a giant bathtub in the corner, right in front of the TV! Sweet! We picked up pizza and some drinks and just sat in the tub while we ate and watched TV. It was awesome.

We woke up at about 6:30am the next morning so that we could eat, and catch the shuttle to Zions National Park. We headed up the Angel's Landing trail very first, and it was a beautiful view.

We got up to the very top and then there was only 0.5 of a mile to go. That is where the trail started to get scary with chains to hold onto and a sign saying to be careful because 6 people have died on this part blah blah...so I didn't go on that part. lol. Greg, being the fearless man that he is, ventured on. lol. I waited with a group of other people at the summit until Greg came back. He offered to go again if I wanted to try, but I couldn't do it. We are planning on going back next year, and I'm going to finish it! We have also already decided that we are going to hike the Narrows trail next year too. Part of the train is the actual Virgin River, and there are parts where you are up to your chest in water. Sweet! You do have to have some special equipment though, which is why we didn't go on it this year.

Anyway, after Angel's Landing we stopped to eat our lunch and then went on a shorter trail called "The River Walk". It was really beautiful, but there were also people EVERYWHERE. I've never been on a hike that was more crowded. Here we are at the end of the trail.

Our last hike was through the lower, middle, and upper Emerald pools. I think this was my favorite. It was so beautiful and there were much fewer people the further you went up. You also get to walk under this water fall at the lower pool, which felt really nice because it was hot!

I don't think that I took any pictures of the middle pool, but it was more like a puddle anyway. We found out that this is not the best time of the year to come because everything is so dry. Here is Greg on his way to the upper pool.

And then we were at the top...where we discovered no waterfall. Haha, yeah it was a little bit disappointing, but still beautiful.

We stopped at the lodge for an icecream cone and then hopped back on the shuttle. We wished that we could have done more, but there's always next year. :) We got back to our hotel and finished our pizza while watching "Dinner for Smucks" in our little hot tub.

PART II

I wanted to post this in two blogs so it wasn't super long, but it won't let me remove the pics from here to put in a different post so this is part 2 if you are tired of reading. lol.

We headed back home on Wednesday morning. We spent a few hours at home and then I packed up my stuff (including a box of red hair dye) and went over to my parents house. Greg had this amazing idea a couple of months ago to celebrate our weight loss with a little prom date. Haha, so I stayed at my parent's house on Wednesday my sweet mom went into work late on Thursday so that she could help me get ready for my prom. :) (Did I ever tell you that my husband is the best, because he is!)

So Greg showed up at about 10:00am on Thursday with a coursage and bouteneir (however you spell them. lol.) My dad took pics (which are coming soon) and we headed out. Greg and kept everything a surprise so I had no idea where we were going. When I got in the car, Greg started his mp3 player and it had a bunch of our songs on there. Ahh, he is so sweet! The first stop was Peteetneet museum. It had a lot of really cool stuff, including an entire room filled with things from the wars.

Next he took me to Kneader's for lunch. Yumm!! Turkey, bacon and Avacado, on foccacia bread my favorite!!

Then we went to the $ theater to watch Green Lanter 3D. I really liked the whole theme of that one. The power of will!! Awesome. Then we came home and played video games for a while. We had dinner and then danced at our prom! Greg plugged in his mp3 player into the kitchen and we had our own little prom by candlelight. It was amazing.

I still can't believe that we have been married for 5 years already. Wow. I also can't believe how lucky I am to have someone so wonderful as my partner. I love you Greg, forever and ever.

4th of July

2011-07-20T13:36:00.000-07:00

This years 4th of July was awesome! Greg and I ran in the 10k freedom run. We both beat our previous 10k times and we agreed that this is our favorite run to date. Provo is always a crazy place around the 4th. People camp out on the street the night before so that they can get ready for the parade. We ran along the parade route, a few hours before the parade started. There were SO many people cheering us on. It seemed like every couple of feet there were more kids holding their hands out so that we could give them five. There was even a guy standing in the road wearing a shirt that said, "Free hugs Ladies". The crowd was chanting "hug him, hug him!" Many runners did...but I didn't. lol.

Greg and I were pretty obsessed with the show, "The Biggest Loser" for a while. We started with the most recent season and watched the seasons backwards from their. As I was running, I saw a man in front of me and I thought, "hmm, that guy looks kind of like Rick from season 10" He then turned to talk to his wife and I realized...It is Rick from season 10!! Greg and I both really liked him, and we were so mad when he got voted off. So anyway, I passed them, to afraid to say anything and kept on with my run.

The end of the race was the best part. There was this couple who had passed me a little ways before I could see the finish line and I thought, "you can pass me now, but I'll be passing you later". I slowly started speeding up my pace and then went into an all out sprint. I totally passed them! See ya suckas! There was Greg beaming at the finish line. We got our medals and then I told him about seeing Rick. We went over to grab some orange slices when I hear Greg say, "Are you Rick from Biggest Loser?" I turned around and there he was!!! Ahh! We talked for a little bit and he shook both of our hands. It was so cool!

Greg and I then walked down to watch the parade and grab a burger. We headed home and just relaxed for the rest of the day. I'm so glad that we started running. It has been such a blessing in my life. I've realized that running has become my therapy. I also can't believe how far we have come. I remember when I tried going for two miles back in January, and it about killed me. We have signed up for a half marathon on Sept 10. That is going to be our last race of the year, but we plan to keep running and hopefully get ready for a triathalon next year. (we will see about that though. We need a pool... haha anyway)

Here are some pics from my phone after the run. I'm not wearing make up, and I just ran 6 miles, so I look awful...oh well, don't care!

Greg and I are also no longer primary workers. I have been called to the young women, and so far it has been a blast. Happy summer!

Half Marathon and 5K

2011-06-13T09:26:00.000-07:00

Saturday was Greg's first official half-marathon. Greg's company was sponsering the event, and they were able to get Greg into the race. I was planning on doing it with him, but the race was sold out when I tried to register. So I signed up for the 5k instead. Greg did very well, and finished the 13.1 miles in 2 hours and 35 minutes! He got this medal for finishing in under three hours.

Haha, he is so hot! I wished so much that I would have brought my camera on the race day. Grr, oh well. He put the medal back on after church so that I could take a pic.

I decided that since I was only doing the tiny 5k, then I was going to try to push it really hard. I finished in 35 min and 45 seconds. That is a whole 5 minutes faster than my previous time! I was very happy with that. They also had a huge finish line with people lined up and screaming at you as you come in. It felt awesome. I noticed that the girl in front of me started going faster, and I thought, I'm going to beat her! She I started going faster, and then she started going faster, and then I passed her! Haha, take that! Afterwards, Greg and I ate popscicles, and cheered on other racers. It was such a fun day. We both left feeling like a million bucks.

We were talking about how different things are from last year. When we were getting ready for our first 5k, I was a bit freaked out because it was a whole 3 miles. This year a 5k is the kiddy race. lol. I was also really inspired by some of the runners that we watched afterward. There were many full-marathon runners who were probably in their 60s and 70s. I hope that is me in 40 years.

This weekend was also my family camping trip. We went up Springville canyon this year, and it was a beautiful campsite. We ate good food, played games, and talked a lot. It was a great little weekend. Well, I'm off to run 14 miles, and wash the campfire smell out of my clothes. Later!

Kitty Adoption Days

2011-05-30T08:00:00.000-07:00

It has been one year since this...

and this.

Now we have this,
And this,

And this.

We love our little cat-babies!!! Happy adoption days!

My Birthday

2011-05-23T11:44:00.000-07:00

My celebration started on Friday. We still had the SUV until 3, so I drove to my favorite restaurant for lunch, Cracker Barrell!! We had our usual, and it was wonderful. Greg asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday, and I said absolutely nothing! Those last few weeks of school, and being sick burnt me right out. So we dropped of the rental, went home, and did exactly that...nothing. :) We watched movies and ate food, and just chilled. It was wonderful. On Saturday morning Greg started making breakfast and said that he had forgotten some frenchtoast sticks in the freezer, and asked if I would grab them. As I pulled them out I saw a golden sticky note attached to the box. It said "Yummy breakfasts make me want to go swimin' by the new pool. Come to think of it, weren't those extremely huge books your Dad found way cool!" Haha, he made a treasure hunt for me! It was so much fun. He got me a floaty for our new pool, a camel back backpack that I wanted, Big Bang Theory Season 3, and Tangled. Whoot whoot! The very last note said this, "I hope you're happy. You mean everything to me in my heart. All these great things are only the start. I love you and I couldn't deprive you of the great time you gave me. Now face me and let me cement all of this together." He grabbed me and gave me long hug and a kiss. Don't I have the best hubby ever!? haha, I'm so lucky to be married to my best friend. :)

Thanks to everyone of our friends and family. We love you all so much, and we are so grateful to have such wonderful people in our lives!

Greg's Birthday!

2011-05-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

We have had a whole lot to celebrate over here. I'm going to start with Greg's birthday! His birthday was on April 24. We went to yummy Olive Garden on Saturday. Then on Sunday morning, I put up the decorations and made German Pancakes for breakfast. I then gave him is first present with a note inside that said...

"I figured I would use this gift that you know to go ahead and start the show. You see, there are a lot of presents that are not easy to wrap, but simply placing them in front of you would be crap. You must follow the clues both high and low. Each new gift of yours will be bright with a bow. (it's a treasure hunt :) " So he was off in search of his presents.

Kahlan even helped. He found them all, we went to church, and then came home and had lasagna and birthday dessert.

I made Greg a mint pudding pie that he loves, and my parents brought over a birthday cake as a surprise.

We all gathered around to sing happy birthday and blow out candles. (We thought this was so funny that Moira and Kahlan came over too. They did it completely on their own. It made for a fun family shot.lol.) I took a ton of pictures of Greg all weekend long, and how did he feel about that?....

More birthday posts to come!!

Arizona!

2011-05-12T05:24:00.000-07:00

Greg and I got the chance to visit Arizona last week. It has been way too long since we have seen friends and family, and it was a great trip. When we were passing St. George I realized that the camera was sitting at home on the desk...great. I tried to at least getting a picture of our hotel off of google, but it loaded like this...

Super tiny! lol. Anyway,here is a recap of our vaca week:

Monday: Doctor, Rent-a-car place where they were out of the cheap cars that we had reserved so they upgraded us to an SUV for free! It was pretty sweet. We left for AZ at 11:00 our time, drove a lot, and arrived at our hotel at 8:30 AZ time. We hadn't eaten since noon, so we ordered Dominos and the movie "Green Lantern" from out hotel room.

Tuesay: We visited some of the Perkins family, went to lunch with AJ Perkins (my AZ sister), and then met at a yummy mexican restaurant called Pedro's to have a big family dinner. It was super delicious, and super fun to see everyone! We both were very spoiled, and were given birthday gifts. We hung out there for a while, and then headed to chill with more Perkins family. We got back to the hotel around midnight and crashed.

Wednesday: We hung out with Aaron and Janesse for a while, visited with mamma Kathy and Aunt Jean, and then went out to dinner with more family. We went to Logan's Steakhouse where you eat peanuts, and then drop the shells on the floor. It seemed so weird to me so I just piled them on a little plate. My father-in-law took my plate and dumped the shells on the floor. lol. It was pretty funny. We hung out a little bit more, and then headed back to the hotel.

Thursday: We packed up, ate, and started the drive home. We did stop in Beaver on the way home to pick up some very squeeky cheese, and fresh ice cream. Poor Greg was dying and this point. He had caught whatever sickness I had had. We got home in the evening and gave big hugs to our cat-babies.

It was a great trip that I hope we will be able to do again soon. We love getting to see everyone. The only bad part of the trip was taking the SUV back to the rental place. I did not want my junky car back. lol. I was then spoiled all weekend by my sweet hubby, but that is for a different post...

BOOK BOX!

2011-04-22T11:34:00.000-07:00

A book box is a box that has games and activities based around a book. This is my final for my Literacy I class, and I just finally finished it all!!!!! I figured it out and I have spent a total of 52 hours working on this project. I am so happy with my box that I have to show you! :) The requirements are:

Book box station is housed in an attractive, portable, durable container.

Includes Book.

Audiotape (or Cd) and related activity card

Concrete object representing character/theme/topic of book and accompanying activity card

6-8 additional activity cards related to reading/writing/listening/ speaking skills

Game based on ideas/themes of the book

This is the one the I am the most proud of, and probably took the most time on. I thought it would be super awesome to have a pop-up board game, and I totally figured out how to do it!! It's kind of hard to tell from this picture though.

There is Hector Zeroni at the very top. :)

Summary sheet of book box station

Ahh... One down, 5 to go. lol.

We made it!

2011-04-04T05:52:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago we decided that we were going to try to jog from our house to my parents house in Santaquin (about 6.25 miles). It was super freezing, and the wind was blowing super hard against us. We only ended up running about half a mile total, and walking for much too much of the time. The wind would die down a bit, and then we would say, "ok we are going to run now". Then, of course, the wind would start blowing hard again. We made it about four miles, and then called my dad to come pick us up. It was a fun experience, and the scenery was beautiful, but we were a little bummed that we didn't make it. Two days ago, we decided to try it again, and we made it!! This time we actually jogged for almost the whole thing (except the last half mile, because I'm a wuss. lol). The weather was perfect. It was a little bit chilly, and we felt absolutely no wind until we were in Santaquin...perfect! My dad was getting ready to give us a ride home when Greg suggested that we just run home. Uh, no way! I know that he is going to have no trouble with the half-marathon, and it made me feel great that I can now do half of a half marathon. :) Also, I have been in a 1st grade classroom for the last two weeks for my field experience. This is my last week and I already have that happy/sad feeling. I'm happy to be one step closer to graduation, but I'm bummed to be leaving such an awesome class. First-graders are the best! Now comes all of the 60 page assignments that are going to be due too. Ah well, I can't wait to be a teacher! I also can't believe that I'm going to be a senior this fall. It's taken long enough :) but I still can't believe it. Anyway, life is good. General conference was wonderfully refreshing and enjoyable, as always, and we are definately keeping super busy.

An Awesome Weekend

2011-03-16T08:55:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was action-packed for me and Greg. We ran in the Rex Lee 5k and Saturday, and we both did pretty good. Greg ran it in just over 30 minutes and I made it in 40:24. I am a bit disappointed with my time, but it's a whole 4 1/2 minutes better than our first 5k last year, so it's all good. (p.s. One of my college professors was there. She is 63, and I only beat her by 10 seconds... :( haha ) We also found out that we have not been running three miles everyday like we thought. We both agreed that the 5k felt a lot longer than what we were used to. One our way home we drove the trail and set the odometer to see what we were really doing. It turns out we were doing 2.25 miles. haha, not quite 3. ....whatever a 5k is. This means we are way off schedule for the half-marathon. Oh well though, we are going to have to bump it up a bit.

After the run we went to Cracker Barrel to eat breakfast. Have I told you how much I love Cracker Barrel?! It is my very favorite! Anyway, there was this one tiny table in the corner were Greg and I ate when he came to Utah in July (Almost 5 years ago! yikes!). For the first time since then, we were sat at that table. We talked about memories as we shared some delicious blueberry pancakes. It was a great day.

On Sunday we got to go to Abby's baby blessing. (Matt and Brit's baby) It was such a sweet day. Then we got to go eat pulled-pork sandwiches (another of my favs!), and cookies. Greg and I have been trying to lay-off the sugar, but did very poorly this weekend. It was lots of fun!

Then we went to our neighbor's house for "Game Night". haha, it turned into talking about politics, history, and documentaries night instead, which was even better! We had tons of fun just chatting it up, and then had fresh brownies covered in ice cream, chocolate/carmel, and nuts. oh man, delicious! (like I said, we didn't do so hot resisting the sugar this weekend.)

We are so glad to have such good friends. Other than that, Greg is doing great in his class, and work is going ok right now. We both can't wait to get him out of that job, but we are grateful that he has it. I start field in a 1st grade classroom in provo on Monday. I also just signed up for the service-learning program, which means a whole lot of volunteering, and I have to come up with a major service project. I will be needing help with that sometime in the next year...remember how much you all love me. :) Haha, anyway, I am going to be spending most of my volunteer time with project read, and working with Utah Foster Care, so it will probably be something along those lines. I am also trying to get into BYU for the summer. UVU doesn't offer the classes that you need to get a minor in ESL, but BYU does. I didn't know that you had to have a bishop and a stake president's interview in order to be accepted. It was so funny, I went and talked to my bishop about it yesterday and he said, "Why do they have to make it so difficult. I hate BYU!" haha, I don't know why, but it was super funny to me. Anyway, this is a super long post...oopsie. Peace, I'm out!

Abraham Lincoln

2011-03-09T05:00:00.000-08:00

I have to read a lot of different articles for my multicultural class. I know that I'm weird, but it drives me nuts when people talk about Abraham Lincoln as if he was determined from the beginning to end slavery. In the article that I had to read it says this.

"...where Abraham Lincoln signaled his intention to run for president on an anti-slavery platfrom in 1860."

Uh...no. I'm extremely glad that slavery was ended, but we cannot learn from history if we twist it into how we wanted it to be. "America, a concise history" by Henretta says this.

"The national Republican convention chose Lincoln as its presidential candidate because his position on slavery was more moderate than that of the best-known Republicans, Senator William H. Seward of New York and Slamon P. Chase of Ohio, who demanded its abolition."

and

"Lincoln had long felt that human bondage was unjust but did not believe that the federal government had the consistutional authority ot tamper with slavery in the south."

Anyway, I just have a hard time with the fact that I have to read this article that is full of fallacies. It also stated that civil rights issues are more of an issue now days than they were in the 60s. Right, that's why we hear about groups like the Weather Underground and the Black Panthers on the news all the time....oh wait, we don't! Blah, anyway, this was kind of a whiner post. lol. Lincoln has become my favorite president ever since I found this in "The Presidents: Tidbits and Trivia" by Frank and Melick

"Dear Madam,
I have been shown in the files of the War Department a statement of the Adjutant General of Massachusetts, that you are the mother of five sons who have died gloriously on the field of battle. I feel how weak and fruitless must be any word of mine which should attempt to beguile you from the grief of a loss so overwhelming. But I cannot refrain from tendering to you the consolation that may be found in the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our Heavenly Father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement, and leave you only the cherished memory of the loved and lost, and the solemn pride that must be yours, to have laid so costly a sacrifice upon the altar of Freedom. Yours, very sincerely and respectfully, A. Lincoln"

Anyway, all in all, does it matter? No, I just had to get that off my chest. :)

Pray for me :)

2011-03-04T05:18:00.000-08:00

Today is the day of my second interview. I'm not nearly as nervous, but there is only a 1 in 8 chance of getting this one. I will be fine either way, but I found out that this school is a french immersion school which makes me want it that much more. I would actually get to use my french. I'm trying not to think about that now. I just want to focus on the interview, and not the results after. Anyway, any and all prayers for me stay calm are welcome and requested. lol. Thanks, love you all! Happy Friday!

Second time Around

2011-03-02T05:03:00.000-08:00

First I would just like to say that I am so glad that last week is over. lol. I don't think that I have ever been so stressed in my life. I had a ton of homework, a literacy test, a group project, the intern interview, and Greg and I were asked to speak in church on Sunday. Ahh, sigh of relief that it is over. I think that most people know that I did not get the internship. There were a couple of questions that I really flubbed up. lol. But it was a really good learning experience. They are doing round two interviews this Friday for those districts that didn't fill all of the positions. I am going to try again for Provo school District. There is only one spot left, and when I went to sign up for an interview there were already four other people signed up, but I figured I had to give it one more try. What happens, happens.

I also gave my running shoes the boot, and switched them for a different pair. My joints all felt great, but my feet were hurting sooo bad. It felt like running on a knife in my arch, and my feet would go numb. Anyway, these are my new shoes.

I love these shoes. I still get some blisters, because they need to be broken in, but it doesn't feel like my feet are getting cut to shreds, thank goodness. That's about all that is new. Greg and I are doing the Rex Lee run for cancer research on March 12, and we are excited.

Best Valentine's Weekend ever

2011-02-14T13:41:00.000-08:00

Our Valentine's weekend started on Friday. Greg got home from work around 5 and we went four our run. Then we came home, showered, and got all fancied up. Greg got down on one knee, took my hand, and asked it I would accompany him to the Valentine's dance. It still makes my heart melt when I think about it. I can't believe how sweet my husband is. :) (oh p.s. The church was having a stake adult Valentine's dance.) We were about half an hour late, but we got to learn the tail-end of the fox-trot. Then, the instructors left and the lights were turned down. They had the gym decorated so fancy! Icicle lights were drooping down from the ceiling, it was very romantic. At first, we tried to do the fox-trot, then we said bag it. We danced our own little dance. The only bad thing is they kept playing slow, mushy songs. Normally, this would be fine, but since we had both just had a long day, and then went for a run, we were exhausted. We enjoyed dancing for a while, and then we decided to rest for a while. Then the song "Footloose" came on. Finally! An upbeat song! We had a blast dancing to that one. Greg spun me around so many times! There were a few more songs and then we decided that we needed some food. We left the dance at about 8:30 and ordered some subs from Papa Kelsey's. We picked them up and devoured them while we watched "The Office".

On Saturday we woke up, did our run, showered, and got ready for Cracker Barrell!! This is my favorite! We both ordered our own food and then got some blueberry pancakes to share. Mmm, so yummy! Then we went home and pretty much vegged the rest of the day. It was great.

Other than that we are doing really well. Greg is kicking put in his class. He took two quizes yesterday and got 17/18 on one and 18/18 on the other. I'm doing well in school, and my internship interview is scheduled for February 25 at 1:15. I hope I get it! Greg and I have been getting ready for the half-marathon in June we are up to 3 or 4.5 miles almost every day. Greg has lost 10 pounds and I have lost 4. We are both very happy for all that we have right now.

Oh, and I almost forgot! Look what I got today!

These are my new running shoes. I have been running on cheap wal-mart shoes and my knees have really been hurting. I'm hoping having good shoes will make a big difference.

Here's another pic just for fun. lol.

Internship

2011-01-25T05:42:00.000-08:00

So UVU offers 2nd term Juniors the chance to apply for an internship for senior year. I have been debating about doing this. You have to take night/weekend classes ontop of teaching your own elementary class. You do also have to take classes during the summer, but I kind of like that part. It gives me something to do outside of the house.lol. (p.s. I don't know how I got so lucky). I love the idea of being in my own classroom in August! I also don't feel completely confident with what to do. lol. They do assign you a mentor teacher who helps you with everything though. Anyway, I think I finally decided that I'm going to apply. There is an orientation meeting on Friday, and I'm going for it. Yea, I'm so excited! It is going to be a ton of hard work, but I think it will be a great oppurtunity.

Merry Christmas!

2011-01-12T12:54:00.001-08:00

Christmas this year was good. We were glad that Greg could get some time off, but we were bummed that we would not get to see family in Arizona. We miss you guys! We did our traditional Christmas-eve campout by the tree. I love doing that! We also watched the TSO Christmas DVD while we played "Would you Rather" with my parents on Christmas Eve. I didn't get a lot of pics, but here are a few.

Do you notice our new ornament?

Kahlan loved to climb the Christmas tree.

Moira just liked taking off the bows and eating them.
Greg opening one of his Christmas presents.

Not too exciting, but we loved it. :)

The Snow Came Down

2010-12-30T09:46:00.001-08:00

Greg was lucky enough to get work off the week of Christmas. I'm so glad that he did because we woke up one morning to this.

I continued to snow for two days straight. We could not believe it. We had to break out the shovels if we wanted to go anywhere. Luckily, our awesome neighbor came over with a snow-blower to help us with the other half of the driveway.

This railing is about four feet tall! yikes.

After we were done with our driveway, we started to make a snowman, but we decided to make a snow cat instead! And yes, we are obsessed with our cats. :) We were both pretty beat after the 3 hours in the cold.

Finished snowcat as tall as Greg! We even made a tail in the back, but I forgot to take a picture of it.

Greg even made tunnel-mania at the bottom so that the cats could go through the tunnels.

It was a great little vacation, and I'm so glad that Greg did not have to go out and work in this.

Time to move on

2010-12-03T21:10:00.000-08:00

Well, I am done. I normally do not do blogs like this because I feel exposed, but I just feel like I need to get it out there somewhere. It has been a little over four years since Greg and I have been married. We really wanted a honey-moon baby, and have been trying to get pregnant ever since then. As you can see, we've had no luck. This year has been so hard. I just started going back to the doctor again in October. This is the second time that I have been to a doctor, and he is a million times better than my first doctor. However, it now feels real. The pills are a daily reminder of the fact that we do not have any children. It is everywhere I look. My sister, sister-in-law, my two best friends, two other friends, and three of Greg's friends are either pregnant or just had a baby. The thing is that I am happy for them. It makes me happy that they don't have to feel this way. The hard part is that it reminds me that we won't have babies of our own. It also makes me feel forgotten, and the hole in my heart feels even more empty. I have grown increasingly more bitter and mad at the world everyday. I have just wanted everyone to leave me alone, and let me fade into the distance.

Anyway, I am done. I heard someone say "Heavenly Father wants us to be strong" in testimony meeting one week. It is so true. I think about that everyday. It is time to move on with my life, accept things as they are, and be grateful for them. I have the most amazing husband in the world. He calls me everyday and tells me how much he loves me. We have a house that we love, kitties to cuddle, cars to drive, school, a job, an amazing family, and great friends. What more do I need? I have made a list of things that I want to do for me or my family (aka Greg and I). So anyway, I have changed my visions of the future from making cookies with my kids to dreams of Greg and I traveling and growing old together. It's time to stop the whining! haha, anyway, there it is...
p.s. I do not want to hear anything about adoption unless anyone has $16,000 that they would be willing to give us. I always thought that adoption would be a great choice down the road, but after attending an adoption conference, I'm not sure if I could handle certain aspects of adoption. Right now I'm just focusing on learning to be happy here and now. Thanks and I love you all!!

I don't care

2010-11-23T15:26:00.000-08:00

Life is hard.....

Finally...the continuation of of D.C.

2010-10-27T05:43:00.000-07:00

Wow, things have just been so crazy that I have completely neglected our little blog. I am hoping that I can remember everything from the rest of our trip to D.C., but we will see. lol.

So we had not slept in like 40 hours and we just zonked out at about 3:30 at our hotel. We woke up at midnight from an aching in our tummies. We were both so hungry! Greg was my hero and went down to the front desk to find out where we could get food from in the middle of the night. We ordered some subs and the new Robin Hood movie off of the TV. We talked and laughed while we ate in bed to our movie. Then we both rolled over and went back to sleep.

The next moring we decided to order room service for breakfast...dumb! We will never do this again. It cost about $55 for a regular sized waffle with berries on top for Greg, and hashbrowns and eggs for me. That was nutz! Anyway, we headed our for a much more rested day of adventure.

We hopped onto the metro and rode to the National Mall. As soon as we got to the service we saw the Washington Monument. So excited! We had to wait a little while to go to the top. So we went to the WWII memorial first.

Below is a picture of part of the memorial. There is a star to represent each soldier that died. I don't know if you can see, but the sign says, "Here we Mark The Price of Freedom". I couldn't even fit all of them in my shot.

Then we headed back to the Washington Monument.

This is me at the top of the Washington Monument. I think that this was my favorite part. The smell was very familiar to me, as it reminded me of really old books. On the way down in the elevator, the parts of the elvator become see-through. The guide told us about the different stones that states donated to make the bulding. It was so cool!

This is a shot of the Washington Monument from the other side (by the Lincoln Memorial). And don't be fooled! The reflection pond does not look that long, but it had to have been at least a mile or two long!
Then we walked in front of the White House. :)

Then we headed to the Smithsonian of American History. We did find out that there is not just one Smithsonian Museum. There are several. Each one has it's own thing like Space and aeronautics, natural history, etc.

This case was George Washingtons!

This was explaining why people did not want to give women the right to vote. This really cracked me up. Apparently, I am too delicate to be able to vote. lol. This was the "awe" of the whole trip. I literally could not pull my eyes off. This is the actual Star-Spangled-Banner from the way of 1812. One of the signs said that it was given to a general (I think). Thier family would cut off small pieces and give them to people for as a keepsake.

The best thing to eat in D.C.! There was a food cart right outside the entrance of the museum. I think it was the only food that we had in D.C. that didn't cost an arm and a leg.

Next we headed to the Capitol Building, and the rains came down.

This is Greg in the rain. Super hottie!!

We just walked around the Capitol Building. We had tickets for a tour, but we missed it. We did also get to see the Library of Congress buildling and the Supreme Court building. Then we headed back down to the National Mall area. First we passed the Korean War Memorial.

Then we came to the Lincoln memorial.

Then we went on to the Vietnam Memorial.

After this we decided to walk across the Potomac on the Arlington Memorial Bridge. We were heading to the Metro station. By this time we had been walking for about eight hours straight. We were tired. The bridge was a lot like the reflection pool; it didn't look too far, but yes it was. The best part was when we had been walking for a while and Greg started saying, "Bye-bye Lincol...(turned head around) What!? We've walked farther than that!" Haha, it was so funny! Below is me on the bridge with both the Lincoln memorial and Washington Monument in the background.

Back at the Metro station.

We grabbed some McDonalds and went back to our hotel. We ordered Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and enjoyed our last meal in D.C. We woke up early, took the shuttle to the airport, and made our way to Kansas City with a code Orange for terrorists...or whatever they officially call it. It was pretty freaky hearing them announce it in the airport. Flying over Missouri was beautiful. It was so green. We then flew to Colorado, and then to Utah. Yea! As we were landing there was a suddon change in the wind, so we had to go back around and try again. Yes, I was super freaked out, but we made it. This really was the most amazing trip. I'm so blessed to have my sweet husband, and best friend.

Day 1&2 of Washington D.c.

2010-08-23T05:52:00.000-07:00

The first day of our trip was technically Monday. We got the airport around 6:30, got something to eat, and boarded our plane at about 7:30. We were supposed to take-off at 7:50, but ended up sitting there for almost an hour before we finally left. We had a quick lay-over in Phoenix, and then a four hour flight to Boston. We arrived in Boston at 3:30am (our time, not Boston's) We boarded our flight to Washington D.c. about half an hour later. I noticed something different as soon as we got on the plane. Everyone around me was talking a little bit different.
Hey! How ah yah?
Good, but I'm a liddle tiard
Her? Look at me, I'm travelin wit foah 19 yeh olds and I'm already losin my mind.
Haha, it was actually pretty cool listening to the Bostonians. The othere funny part was those 19 years olds hitting on the flight attendant. I believe their exact words were, "you should tell yewr son that he has a beautiful motha." Haha, this would have been funny, even if I had gotten some sleep.
Anyway, we got an amazing view of the Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, and the Capitol from the air as we came gliding into D.c. at 5:30am our time (7:30am D.c. time). I realized right away that I had not thought about two things when planning this trip. 1: It had not occured to me that plane seats are supremely uncomfortable, and sleeping on the plane would be next to impossible, and 2: check-in for the hotel was not until 3:00pm...and we had no-where to put our bags. :P Oops, oh well. We went on to the metro station and bought our passes. Greg said that we should get off at Pentagon City (name of the town), but I wanted to see the Pentagon itself...that was dumb. We got off at the Pentagon and were immediately caught in the river of people who were going to work or whatever it was that they did in the pentagon. I felt like I was going to be stampeded! I am so not used to being around so many people in that big of a rush. We finally got above ground and I saw this:

I got out my camera and took a picture. An military officer then came up to us and explained that you could not take pictures pointing at the Pentagon, and if a police officer saw, then they would take my camera away. So I found out very quickly that the Pentagon is not so much of a touristy-type of place. :S Oops again. hehe. The lesson to be learned: when it doubt, listen to Greg. hehe. By now I had a very bad first impression of D.c., but we hopped back onto the Metro and took a quick ride to Arlington National Cemetary. As we were approaching I really wanted to take a picture, but at this point I was not sure if I was allowed to. I took a chance..

In this little arch we found the Women of war display. It was air-conditioned and there were drinking fountains! We stayed here for a very long time, and even came back during the middle of the day to buy water-bottles. It was a cool display too. :) We spent the rest of the day exploring the cemetary. There really aren't any words for what we saw...

These rows went on for what seemed like miles and miles every where you looked. Each had their own name and dates, telling their own stories.

This was the very first grave in Arlington.

The Arlington house at the top of the hill. Robert E. Lee lived here before the Civil War.

The inside of the house. I was still a little unsure if I was allowed to take pictures. So I just snuck a few at the end of the tour.

This is one of the tombs of the unknown soldiers. (we were a little confused about this. There were two different ones with the same name) In case you can't read it, this is where they buried the bones of 2,111 soldiers that were not identified.

JFK and Jackie's burial site.

This was the other Tomb of the unknown Soldiers. They have soldiers honoring those who died all day, every day. This was really amazing.

People gathered around to watch.

Me, just outside of the tomb.

Ahhh, and finally 3:00 came around and we got to see this, our hotel room. It was like seeing heaven in the form of white fluffy pillows and soft sheets. We both showered, and then dove into sleep head-first.

TO BE CONTINUED.... lol.

The Battle for #1

2010-08-09T06:11:00.000-07:00

So my teacher gave out progress reports for my math class about two weeks ago. I noticed at the top, shining next to my final grade, that it said, "Rank: 2". Yea! This made me so happy. I decided that I was going to work my butt off to try and beat the number 1 guy/gal. I have been studying for my tests like a mad-person, and working really hard on my assignments. Then, the unthinkable happened. Moira got sick, and I had to miss school to take her to the vet. I thought that I was definatly beaten. We took a test, and another progress-report followed a few days later. The top read, "Rank: 1". Haha, sucker!!!!! I don't know who you are, but you have just been squashed!! It has actually made that class 10x more fun to make it into a contest. I do have one more test tomorrow, and then my final is on Thursday night. I have already completed the last of my assignments, and I am going to be studying furiously these last few days so that I can keep my rank....you are going down! tee hee

Cat Attack!!

2010-07-28T08:53:00.000-07:00

Ok, I have posted a ton of pics of our kitties. (and a couple of videos too :) We love them so much, and we are so glad that they have come to live with us. :)

Update

2010-07-01T10:47:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been so long, I figured I would just do an update on what is going on with us. Thankfully, the Robins have been gone now for a few weeks. Our kitties seem to be getting bigger by the day, and we both love them so much. They really are our little babies.

We have also had some issues with the house. A few weeks ago water started pooling out from the bottom of the dishwasher. The water was getting under the floor boards and we could hear squish-squash every time we took a step. Luckily, it was pretty easy to fix, and the water dried up within a few days. Where the boards meet has some warping now in a few places, but overall it's not that bad. Also, our swap cooler broke down about two weeks ago. I didn't think it was that big of a deal because we also have an AC unit. However, just our luck, I think that the AC may have broken last night. :S We both woke up during the night sweating, and it doesn't seem like it has been cooling down very much this morning. Blah, oh well, it could be much worse.

I have started my summer class, and it is boring. Hehe, but it is my last math class and I will get my associates degree after the class is over. We took our first quiz yesterday, and I think that I did pretty good. Greg is working a ton, and poor guy is not happy about it. His company has gone a bit down hill and I hope things get better for him.

That's about it, we are hoping for a bit more luck this month of July. Happy summer to everyone!

Killer Robin!

2010-05-30T18:34:00.000-07:00

So, this little bird was living very peacefully on our front porch until about a week ago. It attacked my brother and niece while they were coming up to the front door. It then tried going after Greg. He went out and showed it who's boss, and it seemed to be little bit better. Then, it went after our kitties...big mistake. (p.s. Greg named the birds Barrack and Michelle, tee hee) Greg protected me from the birds with a big chunk of wood while I moved the nest to a tree in our front yard. We saw three little tiny birds in the nest. It was kind of cool. We hope that no other people (except those annoying solicitors) will be attacked when coming to our house, but you are now all warned!!

Also, we would like to formally introduce you to Kahlan Amnell, our newest kitty. She loves to hid in cute places, and she has the softest me-ow. She is a little bit people-shy, and you must stay away from her right paw or she may confess you. (hehe, we named her after the mother confessor from "Legend of the Seeker"/"Wizard's first Rule". )

Moira and Kahlan had a little trouble at first, but they were already BFF on the first day. I think that Moira looks like she thinks Kahlan is her new Teddy Bear in the picture. lol.

House!!

2010-05-17T17:15:00.000-07:00

These are pictures of our house. Sorry some are turned side-ways, I can't figure out how to fix them. :)

The Gym

A Bedroom

Another bedroom

Master bath

balcony

Master bedroom

Library

More library

Laundry

stair ways

kitchen

dining room

living room

more living room.

downstairs bathroom

"Soap" Mactavish

2010-05-11T10:25:00.000-07:00

One of our kitties, Mactavish, died this morning at about 6:30. He got very sick, and we took him to the vet yesterday. They gave us some medicine and told us what to do, but when we found him this morning at about 5:00, he would barely move.

Mactavish loved to curl up under my chin and cuddle with me. He would also follow me around where-ever I went. I have cried all day, but I just wanted to post one last thing about my sweet kitty. We love you Mac, and we will all miss you!

Kitties!!!!

2010-05-06T20:20:00.000-07:00

We got kitties! Here are some pictures of our house before we painted or moved anything. We also got two beautiful cats that we named Moira and Mactavish. We already love them so much. We will be posting more pictures once we get everything finished in a week or so.

A big sigh, and apple pie

2010-04-12T12:41:00.000-07:00

First: Thanks to all for their prayers about my mom. She is doing great. They think that they did get all of the cancer out, and I got to see a pretty crazy picture of it. It was bigger than the guys hand!! Anyway, they checked her lymph nodes, and it doesn't look like it spread. I'm so glad, I don't know what I would do without my sweet mother.

Well, the end of the term is nearly here. I took my last test for math (except the final), and just about everything else is done for the semester. We are just getting ready for wonderful finals now. Things have been so crazy this semester. It feels good to have the end in sight. (Oh, and I am having a rather tastey piece of apple pie right now!) I applied to the Elementary Education Program, and I recieved my letter last week that I had made it in. I start in the fall, and I can't wait!

We will also be either closing on our house today, or dropping the whole thing all together. If anybody had told us a few months ago that buying a house was going to be this big of a pain, we may have re-considered. Anyway, we are hoping for the best, and we will be sending many pictures if we do close today.

*Nerd alert* (the following is nerdy, but I love it)
The highlight of my week was going to the Orem library last Thursday. I got a library card, and devoured childrens fiction section. I had to find some fiction on the underground railroad for my children's Literature class. I went to check out and they have these amazing machines!! You put in your library card, pin number, and just set the stack of books onto the counter. The computer then can read the titles...just from you putting them on the counter!! I didn't even have to do them one and a time. It was amazing!! All the way to my car I was thinking how amazing the world is that we live in today.

My Mom has Cancer

2010-03-13T06:09:00.000-08:00

I just found out yesterday that my mom has cancer on her kidney. The doctors told her that they are usually in a capsule, so they should just be able to remove it, and she will not have to do chemo or anything. They don't know for sure though. They have to remove her whole kidney.

I bawled like a baby, but Greg cuddled me and made me feel ok. Now he is at work and I am trying to write a paper for my class. All I can think is, my mom has cancer, my mom has cancer. It's like a broken record in my head. I usually don't like to share this kind of stuff, but I just had to get it out there...somewhere. I'm sure everything will be fine, but I'm just so sad that it might not be.

Life just never slows down

2010-02-01T05:52:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been so long since I posted, I figured it was time to catch-up a little bit.
Greg and I have been doing pretty well. School and work have been crazy, but that is the way that life goes. I no longer work at the bookstore, and it kind of feels weird to not be working on Saturdays. However, the day is mostly filled with homework.

I have to get a certain amount of observation hours for a few of my classes. I am almost done in my special needs class, and will soon start on my 4th and 2nd grade classes. It is crazy though! I am taking 14 credits and also doing my TA job at Windsor. The good news is that I really love it! My Children's Literature class is my absolute favorite. We discuss what makes a good book, and read read read. When we finish a book, we sit around and discuss what we liked or didn't like about it. In one week from Wednesday we are having a Poetry Party. We are going to bring food and just sit and discuss children's poetry. The only bad part is that it is from 5 to 8 o'clock at night. Oh well, it's worth it.

Greg is staying pretty busy with his job and his video games. He will be back on his green waste route in about a month. We found the best Pizza place called, Wise guyz pizza. They make these amazing garlic knots that are 3 for a dollar. We did also start looking at houses. It is more complicated than I thought, and we are going to talk to the bank before we do anything else.

Also, both my sister and my sister-in-law are pregnant! Yea, I love having more nieces and nephews to play with.

Well, that's about all. Our computer hasn't really been working lately. Because of that, and the craziness of life, there might not be another post until the semester is over at the end of April. lol. Love you all!!

What a weekend!

2009-12-14T05:56:00.000-08:00

One of my co-workers at the bookstore asked me if I had any hours that I wanted to give-up. Since finals are this week, I thought that I could take Saturday off and study. This is the first Saturday that I have not had to work at all in a very long time. It felt so good!! I started working at the bookstore in 2004, and I have worked Saturdays for all, but about 5 months that were not consecutive. I was so excited!

Greg and I are both very busy, and we really only get to see each other for a few hours each night. So Greg went all out!!

We went to Olive Garden after we both got off of work on Friday. Yumm, we got these little lasagna appetizers that we love. I love Olive Garden's salad and breadsticks. I got some mushroom ravioli covered in a cream sauce, and Greg (surprise, surprise) got lasagna. Mmm it was so tasety!! We then went home and played a little bit of Borderlands, and finished our disc of Madmen.

Saturday, we slept in!!! We both cuddled in bed and watched the latest episode of "The Seeker" in bed. Greg got up and made breakfast, and we ate breakfast in bed! I felt so spoiled. We played some more Borderlands, and finally got ready for the day. We made our menu for the week and went grocery shopping. We just kind of relaxed for the rest of the day.

For Sunday dinner I made lasagna, foccocia bread, and some salad. We were just finishing up dinner when we decided to start a game of scrabble on our DSes...DSi(whichever :) ). We were listening to Transiberian Orchestra in the background. One of our favorite songs came on when Greg put down is DS, and took my hand. He asked me to dance. He pulled me over closer to the music, and we danced, and laughed and hugged. It was the sweetest thing ever.

We finished our game of scrabble and I started heading into the bathroom to get ready for bed. I heard the song change to one of my favorites. Then Greg appeared, one hand on the middle of his chest and the other out-stretched to me. We danced to another song, and to the one after that. Greg held me close and sang to me while we danced. Most days I really cannot believe how lucky I am to have such an amazing man at my side, who loves me no matter what.

We finished off the night watching an episode of Jericho while Greg put the hood up on his hoodie and did the "Alien dance", as we have come to call it.

What a great hubby, what a great weekend!!

Dear Bella

2009-11-23T05:37:00.000-08:00

Dear Bella,

I have read your whole life story and I only have one thing to say to you...you drive me crazy! I think you are an insecure, spoiled, stupid, selfish girl. You manipulate the different men around you to take what you want, when you need it from them and then go on your merry way. The fact that you had a choice between a moody, obsessive vampire, and a fun-loving, good man werewolf, and chose the moody vampire, proves just how stupid you are.

The thing that I find most annoying is that I actually care. Why do I care so much? I loved the first book, and was continually let down as each book got more and more difficult to read. I had to read them though. I had to see what happened. Why?!

When the New Moon movie came out I was going to wait for a week or so to see it. When I saw people commenting on facebook about it, I had to go see it. I was so excited when I saw there was a 6:00am showing and the cinemark by our house. We got up at 5 just to go see it, and then found out that was only for Friday morning. So I went to work and thought about it nearly the entire time. After I got off of work, we went down to a little theatre in Spanish Fork to see if we could get into the 9:15 showing. We did, and the show began. I was so excited. As the movie went on, I kept wondering if it was over yet. It seemed to drag and drag, and I was getting a bit frustrated.

I just have to tell you something...Get some self-respect!!! People get dumped, move on. In reading the books you are always saying, "I don't know what he sees in me." "What am I compared to him" blah blah blah. How about a little bit of self-esteem woman?!

Anyway, I just had to get that off of my chest. Honesty, I'm sure the same thing will happen when the next movie comes out, because I just can't break this twilight hold on me. I just had to let it out.
Thank you for your time,
Kathy

P.s. I have to give a shout out to my Greggy. There are not many men who would get up at 5 am to go with their wife to watch a girly movie. Then, he made the morning even more special when we found out there was not show, by picking up some breakfast and we watched Kit Kitterage together before I had to go to work. What a sweet guy!

I am so Spoiled!!!

2009-11-09T08:50:00.000-08:00

I love my Hubby!!!

This is my Christmas president this year. It is one of those things that you kind of have to discuss, so it could not be a surprise. So we decided to set it up early this year. Now, we can sing Christmas songs at Christmas family home evenings. I love it so much. It even has a metronome built in, touch sensitive keys, a detachable petal, and 500 different settings for sounds. I played it for a few hours yesterday. It was like saying hello to an old friend. (cheesy, yes, but I don't care. hehe)

I love pianos. They are the best listeners. If you are having a problem, you just play away and tell them with you fingers, and they echo back to you to let you know they understand. It doesn't matter if you are happy, confused, excited...anything!! I am so excited!!

After it was all set up, Greg brought up is amp and base guitar and we played some things together. We made up some of our own, and some sounded really great. What a great man I married. I know I completely don't deserve him, or my piano, but I'm so glad to have them.

Greg putting the digital piano together.

I look awful because I just rolled out of bed, but I don't care!! I have a piano!!

A Murder most Awesome!!

2009-11-03T09:18:00.000-08:00

For Halloween this year, we went to some friends house to have a Clue murder mystery party. All of the Clue characters had been taken, so Greg and I got to make up our own. I was a Scottish constible (I can't spell) named Pheona (inspired by "Burn Notice" hehe) and Greg was an english MI6 agent. They made a seven course dinner!! First we had a delicious spinach salad, then spinach balls, cream of broccoli soup, chicken parmessan with rolls, sorbet, and a parfait for dessert. We also had three different kinds of sparkling cider. It was absolutely delicious. It was so much fun being in character and making small talk with all of the fancy dressed people. Then we went to the different rooms, and heard a scream! Mr. Body had been hung. (Mr. Body was played by a stuffed dog). We then went to the Lounge and had to interigate different people. I won with Mrs. Peacock in the study with the rope!!! Haha, it was so so much fun to pretend to be someone else while everyone else was getting into it too. It reminded me of why being a kid was so much fun.

We did also go to Spaghetti Factory on Friday night. It felt so nice to go out on a fancy date. We even got the romantic little spot in the corner of the restaurant. We have been trying to save money, so I think that was the first time we went out in three(ish) months.

My teacher's aid thing is going pretty well. It is definately different then I thought it would be, but I feel like I learn a little bit more every week.

We took our yearly girly trip to Gardener village. It was great!! We ate at the mill as usual, and walked around to all of the shops. I got the most gorgeous music box. It is clear with a flower cameo on it, and it plays "Blue Danube". There are few things that I love more than music boxes. There was one that was $275 that I really loved. It played the nutcracker ballet songs, but the stage would change just like you were watching a little miniature show. Amazing, but way to rich for my blood. I also got another fancy hankerchief for my collection, and a cocunt almond cup the size of my fist. Greg and I shared it when I got home. :)

October treated us very well!! Happy Halloween to everyone!!

It's Mrs. H to you

2009-10-14T15:35:00.000-07:00

So I did get the job. Today was my third day there and my 2nd day actually working with the kids. I love it!! I work with the fourth grade students who need a little bit extra help with things. Right now we are going over addition. The teacher's want them to be able to do it without using their fingers. So we have been playing Math games these last few days.

As I come to pick up the different students at the different times, each teacher says my name a different way.
"Here is Mrs. Hodgkins, go with her"
"Here is Mrs. Hodgeson"
"Who's going with Mrs....uh, her today?"

Haha, I have decided that I will be Mrs. H probably from now until forever. It's much easier for the kids...and the teacher's. lol. So far it has been good and I'm super excited for the whole awkwardness of a new job to be gone.

Other than that, things have been super crazy busy!! What else is new though. I have been studying for my PRAXIS exam coming up in January, along with my other school work. Working now two jobs, and dreaming about Harry Potter the whole time. Every time I sit down to study, I am very tempted just to read a chapter...or two. lol. I am an official Pot Head now. I'm on the third book, and I can't get enough!!

The house is decorated very spookyly, and I'm extra excited to make Halloween Sugar cookies!! Yea, tomorrow and Friday are fall break for UVU, and it is UEA for Windsor. I'm very excited to get caught up on a few things. We are going to Brit and Matt's Friday, and I'm so excited. I freakin' love you guys! Annual Gardener village with all my sista's, sista-in-law, and mom is also this month, and Greg's work Halloween party. Horra! I'm already feeling a bit tired. :P Later,

~Mrs. H

Interview!!

2009-10-08T05:48:00.000-07:00

Hooray!!

I applied at an elementary school for a teacher's aid position, and I have an interview today!! I am so excited..and a little bit nervous (It has been a very long time since my last interview). But Mostly excited!

Any, and all prayers would be appreciated. lol. Later!

The Eye-opener

2009-10-05T06:09:00.000-07:00

One of the classes that I am taking right now is Health Education for Elementary Teachers. I have taken fitness and nutrition classes before so I didn't really think that there would be too many new things to be learned...I was so wrong. I have been thinking about our class discussion for nearly a week. First she had taken empty bottles of different kinds of drinks and filled them with the amount of sugar that they have in them. I was very upset to see that a little tiny juice, that I have enjoyed before, was more than half way full of sugar! Then she took out some tubes and showed us how much fat there is in different things.

Then we watched a short movie about a 760lb man... it was awful. He was saying that he was just cooking in the kitchen one day and his knees just went out from under him. He had been in a bed ever since. They moved him to a rest home and it took 10 people to move him so that they could weigh him.

The big kicker was taking a paper home to see what I ate. I've written what I have eaten down before just to make sure I am getting enough veggies a day, but I didn't really keep track of calories. I was having some lunch and got some whole wheat pasta out of the cupboard and started heating up the veggies. I had a yummy little lunch and then pulled out my paper to start adding up calories. It said 180 calories per serving. Not bad, I thought. Then I realized that one serving is 2 ounces. That is 1/4 of a cup!! By the time I added up the cup of noodles, the sauce, veggies, and pinch of cheese, I had eaten over 800 calories! I thought I was being healthy with my whole wheat noodles. :( I am just baffled. I then spent about half an hour googling our favorite restaurants nutrition information. ~That is pretty crazy by-the-way. If you like costa vida, don't look up how many calories are in one tortilla.

Anyway, maybe it's just new information to me, but what a wake-up call.

Can't take it anymore

2009-09-29T06:15:00.000-07:00

I just got back from the gym where I got on the treadmill for the last 15 minutes. I flipped through the channels until I got to the news. They were talking about the facebook poll that asked if president Obama should be killed. The man on the television was talking about how racism has a long history, and how we cannot undo in 25 years what has been done in the last 400. I am sick to death of the whole racism issue. Just because someone does not like president Obama, doesn't mean that they are a racist. I agree 100% that the poll was out of line, but I think they know it was just someone trying to be funny or have a bit of (stupid, yes) fun. The bottom line is that if this person was really dangerous, then chances are, they would not be posting something for the world to see.

And our nation isn't even officially 400 years old. So I think that if they are going to blame anyone, then they should blame the english for starting the whole thing. And if you going to do that, then there are many other parts of the world that you could blame for the same thing for hundreds of years for all of our ancestors. Does it really do anybody any good?

Greg was telling me the other day about how he heard on the radio that they were saying the white babies were even showing signs of racism at six months old. ~Give me a break. I would really like to know how they are testing that.

Anyway, I just think it is a cheap argument and I'm sick to death of hearing it. I'm tired of hearing people whine about this great nation, including our president. We should be proud of this nation; all that we have done and how far we have come. We are not perfect for sure, but I don't think whining gets anybody any where. And it's not supposed to be easy, that is what makes it meaningful.

I just can't take anymore bashing on the way we live, the way we think. We do all need to get along and obey laws and treat people with respect, but on that same token, we should be able to disagree with policies all we want and not be called racist because we do so. How about some of that same respect back. We are a free people, and a lot of people have sacrificed greatly for it, so show a little gratitude! Blah, anyway. God bless America!

Loveseat

2009-09-17T05:47:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of summer, I decided to re-cover our loveseat and couch. We bought these both from DI in the winter of 2006, shortly after we were married. So I went to wal mart and picked out some fabric and the loveseat is finally done!! The yellow material is some my mom gave us that was left over from out wedding reception. I thought it would be kind of fun to make them into some throw pillows. They are not quite done, but all they need is some stuffing and to finish the sewing.

I hand sewed everything on the loveseat. (which is why it took so long). Before I start on the couch, I am for sure going to go buy one of those staple gun things to make it much faster. It was really fun to figure out exactly how I would do it, and I'm glad it turned out so well.

Dream House

2009-09-08T05:57:00.001-07:00

Greg and I have been thinking about buying a house for a little over a year now. I like to look online every so often to see how the prices are doing and to dream about the future. Well, this morning I ran across the perfect little house. It is only about a thousand square feet, but it is so cute! It also has central air and a home security system. The only bad part is that it is in Payson. I think Payson is one of the most beautiful places in Utah county, but it is kind of a drive to school and work.

Anyway, we are in our lease here for another year, so I know that we will more than likely not be getting this one, but it is just so perfect I had to post it. I will just keep dreaming I suppose...sigh. lol.

A Major change and more Anniversary

2009-09-02T05:50:00.000-07:00

Well, I think that most people know now that I have changed my major. The Nursing program at UVU has around 240-280 people apply each semester and they only take forty. The average gpa of the people who apply is 3.93(ish). So to make things more competitive they changed some things in the program which basically killed my chances. The changes did not apply until Fall of 2010, so I thought I would be ok as long as I got in this semester.

Anyway, Wednesday was the first day of school and I went and got my application immediatly after my phsiology class. I was filling it out when I noticed that everything had to be in by October. Anyway, long story, but I found out that I was not going to get into the program.

So I freaked out and was trying to hurry and change my schedule before all classes were full (In fact I was extra freaking out because I usually register months ahead of time because I hate not knowing what I will be doing.). I just kept thinking about elementary education. It is what I was going for when I first started college, and I had thought about it a few times through out the years. Long story short - I got in touch with the councilor, and it just made me feel so excited!!! It was so wonderful to have some assurance that I won't just be trying to get into a program for my whole life. Plus, I already am thinking about how I will have my class room. She said that my grades look great, and that I have about two semesters and I can get my associates!! Yeah, I will actually have a degree this time next year. Then, two more years in the program to get my bachelors.

I am so excited!! I really do think that things happen for a reason (thanks Brit!!). It's amazing how happy I feel. (Thanks Emily for letting me vent at you!!) Thanks to my sweet, patient husband too. I think every day how lucky I am to have the best man in the world who is so supportive, understanding, and makes every day the best day. Thank you forever Greg!

Which brings me to our Anniversary!! We decided we were going to have more of a staycation than a vacation. We see so little of each other that we thought it would be nice to just kind of stay in the area..plus we wouldn't have to pay for a hotel. Anyway, we had a blast!!! We saw night at the museum 2, Had a romantic, candle-lit dinner at home (with homemade foccaca bread and oil and vinegar to dip it in mmm...thanks to Lacey for the recipe!!), a nice walk/hike up the canyon, a day of mall-ratting and shopping, (Greg was amazing!! he took me to a bunch of stores and just let me look around. I was trying to hurry, but he just told me to take my time. He even suggested a bunch of shoe stores for me too look in. He knows how much I love shoes!!) , we tried a new little italian restaurant, BBQ and campout in the back yard (with smores and everything. I woke up scared to death at some noise and it turned out to be the sprinklers hitting our tent at 6:00 in the morning. We just talked while we waited for about 15 minutes for them to turn off, then we ran inside).

We also were planning an seeing a new movie. It was down to G.I. Joe or Time Travelers' wife. We decided to play for it. One-on-one gears 2. If I won, then we saw Time Travelers' wife. If Greg won, then we saw G.I. Joe...we went to Time Travelers' wife. Yea!! I won!! (I had a six-point advantage, but still!!! We did also do a lot of what we love best; staying up late playing video games. It was great to not have to worry about getting up early the next day.

So all and all, we had a great time. I love having time to spend with my best friend ever!! Now, it is back to the busy life.

Happpy Anniversary!!

2009-08-19T05:37:00.000-07:00

Hey! It is our Anniversay today! We were married three years ago at the Provo, LDS temple. I love being married to Greg, and I can't believe just how lucky I am to have him each day.

We are celebrating this weekend when we take our vacation. I'm very excited and we will get back with all the details. Hooray for August 19th!!

Happy 4th!!!

2009-07-20T06:09:00.000-07:00

Yea! We love the fourth of July around here. Unfortunately, I had to close that day and did not make it home until 8:00. (People came in just as I was closing at 7:00 saying that they had come all the way from Orem and could they please look really fast. Orem? I seriously wanted to shut the door right then and say you live like 10 minutes away!! Anyway...) We still had some time to have a little bbq and play scrabble on the ds's together. Greg won by quite a bit. I like his thinking face. lol.

Then we did some fire works, and watched 1776 the musical. We also had some homemade apple pie (which I have been dying to make ever since we started watching pushing daisies.) It was a great day.

Olive loved the pie maker who loved the girl named chuck... lol.

Happy Independence day!!

A Much needed Update

2009-07-03T06:16:00.000-07:00

Well, it has been forever since I have posted, so here is the update for June:

First off, we moved! We are now living in Orem and I have no idea why we have not done this sooner. My job is only 3 and a half miles away and UVU is only two and a half. I've really liked walking to work, and I have attempted biking there a few times. However, my bike didn't really like the idea. It was fine to work every time, but on the way home it broke down every time. So I returned it, and I'm going to be looking at a new one today.

Best of all, we have the best trash service around!! That's right, Greg is our green waste man. It is really nice that I get to see him for a few minutes every Friday. I've posted some pics of our new place at the bottom.

2nd: We went to AZ! It was great getting to see family again. It was a quick trip, and of course, I forgot the camera again. :S It was great, and not too hot at all! Greg's friend, Aaron was married and we got to go to the wedding and the reception.

3rd: Was the annual McClain family campout. Greg and I both had to work, so we didn't get to be there for a lot of it. I have Fridays off, so I went up and spent Friday in the rain playing games. I had lots of fun with Chelsey, Rylee, Olivia, and Nathan playing horse shoes, frisbee and such, until we had to move it into the tent because the rain was starting to really come down. We started playing this train board game, and I had my lucky charm, Rylee, helping me. About half way through the game she decided to help my mom instead and you guessed it, my mom won by over 50 points.

I went back up on Sunday morning to celebrate my mom and Jason's birthdays. We had cake and then Olivia gave me one of her Strawberry lemonades. It was really cute! And again, I forgot the camera.

As for life around here, things are going fairly well. Greg has been working like an animal, as usual. He has started playing basketball with some buddies from work 2 or 3 times a week, and has been enjoying it. I have been getting with my bud (yo, brit!) a couple days a week and going walking and we went rock climbing this past week!! Yeah! The last walk we went on we got drenched with rain. It was pretty fun I thought. :)

Anyway, that's the update. Later gators.
(p.s. we are super excited for the 4th of July!!)

Summer Time

2009-05-21T05:48:00.000-07:00

Summer time isn't easy(sing songy)

Truth be told, it is kind of easy. hehe. Much better this year then the past three years. We only have a few things new to report.

We had a bbq with Matt and Brit, and had so much fun!! It was super fun to see their new townhome, and we had the best dinner ever!! (thanks for the recipe again, I can't wait to try it out) Mostly, it was just great hanging out with them again.

We are getting ready to move here in about a week. I'm so excited, and it seems like it is kind of taking forever to get here. It will be good to have a change. I'm most excited to be able to ride my bike to work and school. (when school starts) Yes!!

I have been playing my scrabble game for the Ds, and my all time high score was 37 points for the word flax. (Yes I am a nerd, but I'm a happy one, so it is ok. :) )

I have watched Mamma mia about 20 times, and I am a little more than half way through Breaking Dawn. On a little side note, I really hate Bella ever since New Moon, and I'm not sure why I'm so compelled to keep reading these books. The first half was just sucky, and I'm glad that now it is finally starting to get interesting.

The pics below are of Greg with his bib (hehe), and of the homemade devils food cake that I made that ended up look like Pac man. This made me very happy! The only thing that could have made it better would have been a bow, so that it could be Mrs. Pac man.

Mmmm, very tasety irony. :)

The Best Birthday Weekend!

2009-05-12T05:28:00.000-07:00

Oh, man, sometimes it really hits me just how lucky I am. This weekend was definately one of those times. I so don't deserve it, but it made me so happy!!

~doing backflip, cause I'm so excited!

Thursday:
I made some ratatouille for dinner. (It didn't look like in the movie at all, but it was still pretty tastey!) Then Greg took me out on a shopping spree! It was super fun! I knew that he was getting kind of bored, so I was trying to be fast. I ended up with some cute new shorts and new sandals. He also got me Bolt, Mamma Mia, and a scrabble game for the DS. Sweet!

Friday:
We went to yummy Fat Jacks in Payson, and then to see the Wolverine movie. Then, we went and "camped" at my parents house. We were going to actually set up our tent and camp in their front yard, but it was late by the time we got there, so we just slept on our air mattress in the guest bedroom. It was awesome!

Saturday:
We woke up and got ready to go to Scofeld for some craw-dad fishing!! We did fairly well, and had so much fun. One little guy would not let go of the net and actually ripped a whole in it. We think that he was trying to save the rest of his fellow crayfish friends. Good thing that Greg is a genius! He took some string and sewed up the net so that it would still work. Ha ha little guy!! By the way, he did end up losing his claw. Oops!

Then, I got to go to Stewart and Amanda's wedding reception!! Congrats!! I also, got to chat with some old friends. It was great! Then, it was back to my parents house.

Sunday:
We had bbq hotdogs and polish dogs for breakfast! haha, it was fun. We talked with my parents for a bit, and then headed home to clean up. Later that night we went to my bro's house and had a birthday/mother's day party, and had carrot cake (mmm, my fav!!) and ice cream, after a turkey dinner. We went down to the park to play some b-ball after, and guess who was the only person to not score any points in the game 21...me! Lame! I probably should not tell you that even my sister Lacey, in a skirt and flip-flops, did way good. Haha, but she rocks so it's ok. It was also really fun to watch Greg in action! And Kilee had her baby! It really is the best weekend ever!!

Anyway, we are glad things are starting to winde down, and I really want to thank everyone we love for the cards, the comments, the movies of my niece saying happy b-day(hehe),and for making this year so wonderful. Love you all!!!

Oh, P.s. we just signed a lease yesterday to rent a house in Orem. We are moving the end of May! yea!

A B- for my B- day!!!!!

2009-05-07T05:47:00.000-07:00

Hooray! I can really honestly say that I have never worked so hard on a class as Anatomy in my life. I was up late at open lab, spent hours in the library, and I was feeling like it was all for nothing. I was terribly angry with the professor, and upset about not being able to spend as much time on my Chemistry.

I opened up the website to check final grades today, and I got a B-!!!!!!! I was wondering if I would even pass, and then to see a B-. I can't stop crying because I am so happy!! I can't believe that I did it.

I'm not going to say too much about Chemistry ;). Let's just say that I needed and A, and didn't get one. I will however be starting in June with studying everything Chemistry on my own to get a head start for the fall when I am going to show this class just as much detication as my Anatomy.

Thanks to everyone (especially my hubby :) ) for putting up with my whining this semester!!!
I love you all!! Happy National Prayer day!

Greg's Birthday!!

2009-05-01T06:26:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, the 24th, was Greg's birthday! He got the day off, and it was the first time since December that we actually got to spent an entire day together. It was wonderful!! On Thursday night I was up late studying for finals and decorated the living room. I felt so sneaky!!

Then we woke up and Greg opened his presents. Greg said that he didn't really want as many video games this year, so I had try get a little bit more creative.

We went to Brick Oven for lunch, then we went to see the new Fast and the Furious movie and the new Cinemark in Orem. After that, we went to shoot some hoops at the park. The ending score was 10 (me) to 11(Greg). To be quite honest, he was really taking it easy on me. :P

We then came home and had spicey lasagna rollars and chocolate mint pie.

It was a great day! Happy Birthday! I love you!

Last time!!

2009-04-17T10:05:00.000-07:00

Ha ha (supposed to be triumphant, not laughter, hehe)
Well last night was the absolute very last time that I have to go into the open lab for Anatomy at school. I got home at 11:30, went to sleep at 12, and woke up with my hottie hubby at 5:30. Now I am trying to study for my very last lab quiz at 1:00 and I keep falling asleep. :) Oh, man! So I figured I would write something really fast to help me wake up.

I do have a question about the commenting on blog thing. If you write a comment on my blog, do I write a comment back on my blog, or on your blog? Haha Anyway, just curious.

Would you like to know some interesting anatomy facts?

We have four different sets of paranasal sinuses that are different shapes and they help give us each our different sounding voices. (basically)

When you get wrinkles on you face, they are at a ninety degree angle to the muscle that has been used.

After studying kadavors (I don't know how to spell it), I have a very hard time eating meat...especially roast beef. (sorry if that is tmi) hehe.

You know what else is interesting. When I first started studying anatomy, it really increased my faith that there is a caring heavenly father. There are just too many things that are inter-connected, and have to work just so, or else everything would shut down. Also, the human body has its own back up systems (which most won't really work for long periods of time, but still amazing!) God really is an artist and a great engineer.

Anyway, I know I have been complaining a whole lot about this class because it is super hard, but there are some good things about it.
(by-the-way, when I'm tired I kind of ramble) ha ha happy freakin' awesome 0 friday!!!!!!

Can't Wait!

2009-04-10T05:27:00.000-07:00

Oh, man, I cannot wait until this summer. I am going to be working more, but this is the first time in a long time that I will not be taking classes. Yahoo!! Here is a list of all the things that I/we are going to do this summer! :)

1. Read "Breaking Dawn"
2. hiking/biking
3. I decided for my birthday I want to go spend the day craw-dad fishing in Scofield!!! Yeah!
4. Rock climbing
5. Maybe move to a new place.
6. hug Greg to death
7. take a million bubble-baths
8. Buy fabric and make some covers for our ugly couch/loveseat
9. Aah, relax

2 more weeks of classes; 3 more weeks until finals are over, and 4 more weeks until TEAS test is done!!! The count down is on!
Peace, I'm out

Freaking Out!

2009-04-02T05:45:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'm afraid I just need to vent a little bit this morning.
I'm really, really having the hardest time with this semester of school. I have never put in so many hours, and still had such problems in any class ever! I know that I was warned before taking Anatomy that it was really hard, but I had no idea that it was so impossible.

The way that the Nursing Program works at UVU is that they look at you GPA and you TEAS test score (which I will be taking one week from today) and they assign you a number corilating with the number of points that you have earned according to these two items. In order to be competitive you need a 3.85 (at least) GPA, and recieve an 80 or higher on you TEAS score. I'm finally to the point that I can apply for fall semester, and now I'm so worried that I'm not going to get in all because of this stupid class. And worse, If I don't get a least a C in all my classes, then I am no-longer able to get financial aid.

The last two quizes in lecture had an average of 6% and 8%. My teacher then procceded to tell us that he expects more out of us, and that we are not trying hard enough. I really very nearly started crying right there and then. Bottomline, Anatomy quiz questions should test your knowledge of Anatomy. Not stupid trick questions.

Thank goodness for Greg right now. I completely broke down on Monday, and really appreciate all the support he has been giving me. He gave me some great advice yesterday; don't make it personal or emotional. Just do your best, and what happens, happens.

So anyway, this next month is going to be insane! I'm giving Anatomy the bird, and I'm going to kick it where the sun doesn't shine....really hard. Haha. Anyway, that's my drama, and thankfully it will all be over in a month.
Peace, I'm out.

Ode to a Great Big Bicep

2009-03-26T05:37:00.000-07:00

You may thing this is a lame thing to write about,
but my Greggy's muscles are the best with no doubt.

From finger tip to tip my fingers strain,
to reach around the diameter with not pain.

On my mind through each daily activity;
In-class daydreams make a guiltless festivity.

He can lift me up with a single heave,
while nearly ripping the seam of his sleeve.

He is, for certain, the best man around,
and whenever I'm with him, my heart begins to pound.

There are countless things about my Greg that bring a smile to my face,
and there is no-one in the world who can take his place.
~I love you Greg, and not just for you biceps. :)

A Visit From the Toothfairy

2009-03-16T05:45:00.000-07:00

So, last Tuesday I had just walked in the door when Greg asked me a very weird question. He asked, "Did the toothfairy come visit last night." ... Needless to say, I was super confused.

"What?"
"Did the toothfairy come to visit you last night?"
"Um, no, did she come visit you at work?"
"No, come here."

So I followed him to the bedroom more confused than ever.

Greg: "Don't you notice anything?"

I looked up and down the sheets of our un-made bed wondering what the heck he was talking about. I noticed that there was a bobby-pin on my side that I must have left in my hair the night before.

"This?" I asked.
Greg: "No, look."

He then lifted up my pillow and underneath it was our tax refund check. Apparently, the government is now in charge of tooth-fairy responsibilies. Ha ha, anyway, it was super cute and I just felt like sharing.
Peace, I'm out!

P.s. When it comes to computers I'm a wee bit stupid. How do I put a picture at the top that will always stay at the top? Does that make sense? And how do I make it cute? Any help would be great. Thanks!

We have a Blog!

2009-03-09T06:01:00.000-07:00

Hey! We have a blog! I thought this would be easier than outwebsite, which I never update. lol
Things are going pretty well for us right now. I am going to school and working part time at the bookstore. If everything goes according to planned (cross you fingers that it does) then I will be able to apply for the Nursing program at UVU in about a month. I should find out in June or July if I made it in for the fall. Yeah! I'm so excited...and a bit nervous, but oh well.

Greg has been working very hard at his job at Waste Management. He is training someone and just started the green waste route today. Greg actually started his own blog yesterday, which is really what lead to this blog being started.

Together, we have been doing pretty normal/cool things. We have been trying to save up for a house, so we have been doing things like renting a movie or a game and splurging for some frozen yogurt or popcorn. It has actually been really fun. We have also been thinking lately about saving up to move to Boston instead. We will see though.

The only other thing really going on is a contest to see who can loose the most bodyfat percentage in 3 and a half months. It has been about 3 weeks and I've lost 7 lbs!!! Hooray, I'm so freakishly excited.

Happy Monday!!!
P.s. I hate the time change.

HI

2009-03-08T19:39:00.001-07:00