Choices

I got onto our blog to write about my awesome wife and just read her entry. She's quite the woman! And she outdoes Martha Stewart like it's nobody's business. I asked her to stay home today to help me study for my musculoskeletal final. Nothing could have prepared me better than to have BYU's greatest anatomy TA privately tutor me in the ways of muscle, arteries, and nerves. She also made me lunch and dinner, rubbed my back, brought me candy, and cleaned up my dirty dishes. I guess this was no day off for her since she does that, and more, twelve hours a day at St. Joseph's hospital. This blog entry, besides aimed to brag about my wife, is also aimed to begin a discussion of urinals at home. This discussion began over Christmas with the Markhams and needs some fuel again. Fight for the right to put urinals in your home and your bathrooms will be cleaner, nicer smelling, and much more fun to visit! Don't you agree Anna? What better way for a man who has a hard time to make decisions than to walk into a bathroom and say, "Yes, I choose the urinal!"

LIVING

So one of my guilty pleasures for the last few years has been stealing a peak at the Martha Stewart Living magazines at grocery stores and friends' houses. And cute Spencer got me a subscription for Christmas, which I was ecstatic about. But it's funny because I'm really not much of a cook, a gardener, an interior designer, or a seamstress. So why do I like it so much? Looking through my last edition, I figured it out. It's just like on "You've Got Mail", when they talk about choosing what to order at Starbuck's: it's full of easy decisions. Decision-making is for sure my lot in life. It takes the length of a movie just to choose what to watch, it took months to decide if Spencer and I were actually going to date or not, and I'm going on six months of deciding where to get my nursing degree! But, when I open up Martha Stewart, I can look at the pictures and say then and there whether or not I like it: I don't like deep-fried-mushroom dumplings, I do like triple chocolate cake. I don't like the idea of rusting all the medal in my house for an antique look, I do like the look of baby's breath bouquets to brighten up a room. And while I'm not really in the position to grow a Greek-style garden, it is helpful to learn the best way to sew on a button. Thus, by the end, I've made myself (and sometimes even Spencer) think I'm capable of making a plethora of decisions! ...at least until I try to decide what I should do next after reading the magazine...

While We Were Gone...

We've been pretty much absent from the blogging world the last few weeks, except for our quick Tale of Two Blinkers. I thought I'd do a quick catch up on what we've been up to...
We left Tucson with our heads still spinning from finals, long work hours, fun Christmas parties, shopping, etc. for Christmas Break in Utah.
This first picture is of our gourmet "cottage chocolate" we served at a party with some friends from medical school. Actually, it was chocolate fondue that just went horrendously wrong. It was a few chocolate curds in oil...but we still had a great time and got many laughs out of it.

Our time in Utah flew as we scrammed to do all that we could in the short amount of time we had. It was so great to be back and doing so many things we'd missed: sledding, snowball fights,

staying up late talking to siblings, playing board games, seeing temple square, playing with niece/nephews, eating Mom's cooking, running in snow, depleting Granny's endless store of mint M&M's, driving in blizzards, setting up awesome lego kits with nephews, of course doing the exciting traditional Christmas morning, sleeping by the fire, hiking into the cabin, etc. etc. But more than any of that, it was so wonderful to be with so much family and so many friends!
A few days after Christmas, we went from Salt Lake down to St. George to enjoy the Utah version of warm weather. We brought in the New Year by jumping on a huge roll of bubble wrap, then doing the Angel's Landing hike in Zions--resplendent with beautiful views and vertigo.


We finished the fantastic break off with a stop in Thatcher to play board games, go for walks, eat good food, and laugh with the Hansens. Then we ended it all off with a U of A basketball game.
Since the break, we've definitely gotten back into the grind. Spencer has already taken a midterm and has a final approaching. So today, we took our little break and had a beautiful dinner out on our patio. Call us spoiled--we ate outside in short sleeves, overlooking a very green yard, and planning our hike for tomorrow.

So, long story short...we've been very VERY blessed the last few weeks--if we aren't with our family, then we're in beautiful weather doing all the stuff we love. What a life!

A Tale of Two Blinkers

Just when we thought it was the worst of times...it got worse. About two months ago our electricity to the car blinkers shorted out. We have been driving blinker-less. Things get sticky on the road without blinkers. After two months of thinking it couldn't get worse, it did on the way home last night when the right blinker started flashing solo, on it's own! There we were a young-newly wed in the clouds, and waiting to turn in the left-hand turning lane and our right blinker winking away to the world.

Get Smart Teaser Trailer

Mrs. Smart

On Friday night Anna and I went out to see "Enchanted." I've been singing on her voicemail ever since. (It's no wonder she won't answer the phone anymore when I call :) Nothing like some good Disney to head into the weekend. Things are cold now in Tucson. We can drink hot chocolate without sweating. I love my wife and everything about her. The previews of "Enchanted" showed a certain movie that caused Anna to say, "the story of my life." I saw evidence of that again last night when we invited the missionaries over for dinner. By the way, it's easy for me to invite the missionaries over for dinner when I study all day because Anna cleans the whole house and makes the whole meal. She rocks!! But after the meal I went to check out a book on the couch and Anna was still sitting with the Elders at the table. Our computer was on the ground, playing music, and Anna was about four feet away from it. As deftly as Anna could, she tried to reach over to hit the mute button while at the same time staying in her seat. The laws of physics demanded justice and Anna slipped under the table. Now see if she can't co-star with Steve Carell :)

Ch-ch-ch-Changes...

I woke up yesterday and, for the first time since moving to Arizona, i was cold!!! It was a cold, blustery day in Tucson, the likes of which I had never seen...I knew immmediately it would be a big day, and it was! The day continued to be full of more changes for me:
-I had milk in my hot chocolate instead of just water and it really did taste better!
-I got my first pay-check in over a year! Hallelujah!
-I played Christmas music even though it isn't December yet, and was ok with it!
-We put up a tree (which we ourselves had cut down in the mountains!). That, in and of itself, was full of changes since it was with a husband, rather than my huge family. We used white lights instead of colored, the ornaments all match, and there aren't any paper-mache or play dough ornaments made by a first grader. It looks fabulous, if I may say so myself...Our apartment looks so happy now. I love Christmas season!

-I put mustard in my dinner and actually liked it...
-I made a trip to Bed, Bath and Beyond without buying anything.
-I had an entire phone conversation without ever saying "What?" "What?"...maybe my hearing is improving!
-I didn't burn dinner (yes, that is definitely a first in our marriage!)
-And finally, I cut off a foot of my hair to donate to Locks of Love! I feel like a little school girl again, but it's so much less maintenance and fun to have a change.

Anyway, it was a pretty adventurous day...We'll see what tomorrow brings! (And forgive the Bob-Dylan title, but it fits!).