Just Because it Looks Good

Sixth Months!!

It's funny. I used to love to write, and write a lot. But since Anna does such a darn good job at bloggin' and what not, I have felt like all I do now is get in the way of greatness. She really does do it all, and does it all well. Right now she's making Chicken Parmagiani, slaving away while I relax at the desk. We've had a great weekend. We went out and bought a Mountain Bike so now we can ride together again on the great Southwestern trails. Yesterday we hit "Fantasy Island." Anna braved it down "the shaft," but after St. George this was a cake walk! It's heating up here in Tucson slowly. We're enjoying life. Anna's spending her week at St. Joseph's hospital, and I'm at school. We look forward to a great Spring Break, though it will our first week apart :(

TAGGED!

These "fill in the blank" blogs are some of my favorites to read on other people's blogs because I always learn something new about them, even my own sisters'. However, despite my love for reading other people's, I"ve never actually responded to one of the "tags". So, here goes...

Places I've lived:
-Holladay, Ut
-Provo, Ut
-Laie, Hi (two months, does that count?)
-Uganda, Africa (one month, does that count?)
-Currently Tucson, Az


Hobbies:
-Mountain biking, hiking, trying new recipes, waterskiing, reading novels, applying to different nursing schools throughout the western United States :) and music
(this was our most recent hike in the tucson mountains...we caught a beautiful sunrise!)


















Favorite songs right now:
-Anything Regina Spektor
-Antyhing Matt Wertz
-"King Without A Crown" by that Jewish Rabbi Rapper
-On Sundays, the "Persuading Jane" Soundtrack

What I was doing ten years ago:
-Thriving fifth grader: painting my nails blue, wearing glitter on my cheeks, writing notes in class, dancing, harping, reading Anne of Green Gables, listening to Backstreet Boys, and blushing when I made eye contact with boys.

What I was doing one year ago:
-Preparing for my mission-ha. I was also applying for BYU nursing, teaching Anatomy Lab, learning about anime from roomates, diving for doughnuts in the Provo dumpsters, dating a little, and rejoicing the births of three new baby nieces. There was this nice boy who often took me out, and who I always looked forward to being with--the type I might want to date seriously if I weren't going on a mission (hehe, little did I know...
things aren't always as you plan).

A few of my quirks:
-I get really nervous to talk on the phone--it usually takes a pep talk from Spencer for me to spontaneously check in on someone or make plans over the phone.
-I love to eat the powder mixes of hot chocolate, cake, brownie, jello, even Bisquick. In fact, I usually like the powdery beginnings more than the final product.
-I love FLAT root beer and Dr. Pepper.
-I am one of the few girls who rarely shops by choice.
3 things for which I am SO grateful:
-My Savior and all that His atonement means
-Spencer J!
-Good people who make my life as happy as it is...

Anyway...there's a little about me. Now I tag anyone who reads this (who hadn't tagged me first).

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.