Excuses

So as I stall for my last set of finals (possibly forever) I have found that I still enjoy blogging. Especially since some of my best blogs have come while procrastinating study (and my grades have relatively low relevance to my grades in most of my classes). (And at this point it doesn't really matter what I get anyways because I am finishing!) But I have this dilemma. I really love Christmas (well I am starting to love it more anyways), but I am horrible at picking out presents. I made a list of all the people I want to get gifts for, and realized I have no idea what to get anyone! I think that I have gained this trait mostly because of my father. Because with Dad, it doesn't matter what you get him... he probably won't use it anyways. And this has never hurt my feelings. In fact it kind of gives me a weird sense of freedom because I can just amble through a store, pick out something kind of manly... and wala!... present for Paps. Some years I hit the nose, some I miss by a mile. Plus my dad has this awesome poker face on Xmas day. After he goes through the story of why Santa Claus may not have made it this year ( and some have even had evidence to back it up) we all rush down. Because he is smiling at all us, the face just kind of sticks. He has almost the exact same tone of thanks for a dollar store gift as he does for a multi-hundred technological gift. Perhaps this is not the norm, but I never feel that my father has been let down by one of my gifts. I think that maybe sometimes I should be more like this, but then I find I really just wish everyone else would respond this well to the lame gifts I get! (Ok, not all are lame; just usually predictable.) Sean is constantly suprising me (this year #2, I got my present in June), which makes me think I should try... but what if I go wrong? And I guess I feel more justified because we are super poor, which means Christmas is actually a time to get the things we need but wouldn't otherwise buy, stuff like frying pans, winter boots, and an alarm clocks. So, hopefully this lets me off the hook. If you know me and get a lame gift 1.) feel lucky, funds are scarce this year! and 2.) now you know my many justifications of why it probably isn't the greatest thing you have ever recieved!!!

marketing

So I have decided to get a business minor (perhaps I can do something useful one day) and hence am in BusM 340, a marketing class. Most of the time we spend just watching commercials and apparently learning a lot about how other companies market. Most are about cars because our Prof. is into Nascar (he says it is becoming one of the world's greatest sports and isn't as white trash as we all thought... whatever). But he did show us a fabulous Ikea commercial that won the Cannes and other prestigious awards. The sound quality isn't that great on youtube, but just imagine sitting in a rather dull class expecting to see a world famous life changing commercial and then you see this! Anywho I thought it was really funny and worth your time to see at least once. I also have found some entertaining logo's. Pepsi spent millions coming up with this new one, and people of course have already desecrated it. And of course I love jeep. This was a great campagn, but I wasn't a huge fan of the flag bandana they tagged on as an afterthought. Anywho, insights to Rachel's stalling her marketing homework must eventually come to an end.

The sink...

Okay I know that I have spent my fair share of griping about the basement apartment... but we hit a new low. The sink is ... well... ill equipped to handle a pair of college kids. We have changed the strainers in our sink like twice, (they are heavy duty) and it still continues to clog. There is no food disposal, and we don't have a dishwasher so anything we want sanitary has to pass through the sink. Last time we waited a couple days, and then Grandma called a plumber (yes, we know we are spoiled). This time Sean and I agreed it was time to take matters into our own hands. Unfortunately "we" choose a week where Sean was packed with exams. (I don't do plumbing so, no.. this isn't some superwoman story.) By Friday we already had about 4 days of dishes backlogged from not being able to quickly drain the sink. Sean decided that the problem was just in the little dip part under the sink so he took it apart. Sounded logical at the time. By Sunday we were making covert missions to "borrow" a frozen pizza from Dr. Ludlow's residence because there was no possible way to cook anything else. The problem was somewhere further back and completely unreachable (although "we" had a plan so we just left the sink unfunctioning for a while). We had already used our "eating out" allocation for the month and were getting slightly desperate. By Tuesday we had nothing. I mean not a single bowl (possibly a mug) to eat cereal out of, not a plate to eat or cut anything on, not a clean knife within usable range, NOTHING. I began to feel really bad for all those college boys who don't know how to cook; we were living a lot like them. Luckily, the Ace hardware ( a smidgen of a building in Spanish Fork that mysteriously closed before 2p on Saturday --- anger---) was open, we bought a plumbers snake, and Sean worked his magic. I really wanted to take a picture today of the load of dishes (my camera is currently out of batteries!). But I can honestly say I spent 2 HOURS in front of the sink. Now I get giddy every time I walk into our pristine kitchen (Sean isn't home yet). The first couple times I couldn't help but sing Halleluya in my mind! You probably don't even think about this, like ever, but wow... running water (continously running and not stalling) is seriously a miracle. I may hate the basement sometimes, but I really am lucky to be alive, functioning, and in a mostly clean environment. I guess spending all that time really made me take stock... we are lucky kids, all of us.

the basement

Okay so living in the basement is really starting to get to me. Don't get me wrong, I love having the free rent and the family around isn't so bad; but man, it is kind of depressing. We only live in the front part of the house, which would be wonderful but most of our windows are blocked by bushes, rose bushes, or more bushes. I think Sean and I may be very close to hitting the brink. Sean has started to look for a job ranging from anywhere out of Utah Valley to outside the US and I couldn't be more supportive. He will graduate in April and then we will see what happens for the next year. I feel a little weary because I graduate in December; hence, I need to get a real job before he graduates. Who knows what I am really supposed to do, but I wouldn't mind ditching some job if it meant we could live above ground. I'm really not sure how some people in our ward have lived in the same basement for like 8 years. Oh wait, yes I do. They have bright walls (not dark wooded paneling), deep set windows that don't constantly allow dirt in if they are opened, and beautiful decorations instead of 70 year old couches. I suppose this is all part of being poor and married, and maybe we will look back with longing to our days in the basement... but I would take 3 kids and a mortgage in exchange to living in my own personal black hole anyday. I took some pics on my phone, but they aren't worth uploading... and all the online pictures of black holes are suprisingly bright colored. I really do enjoy my life, but keep thinking a change of housing could bring some drastic improvements to my mood.

the games

Sean and I finally made it to a game! It was the Lobos v. BYU and we womped them. I didn't call Kenz to gloat because the Lobos 1. actually scored (!!!) and 2. kept us back pretty well. Although the ending was great for BYU. Sean was being camera shy and making fun of me for getting ready (makeup) and taking pictures. But it was way fun. We had a good time yelling our hearts out. (Sean was trying to loose his voice as a more legit reason for showing a movie to teach sunday school. He is the only teacher right now, and even I am starting to feel bad for him when saturday rolls around.) The game was freezing, it snowed on us the next day (luckily nothing like in IF!) and i'm upset because I don't want to go running in such cold weather!



Right now I am trying to work on ideas to get the YW girls excited for personal progress. Any ideas? We have the young women in excellence night coming up soon, and they haven't done anything all year. So I am not sure what I am supposed to have them showcase... but it will be rockin' I'm sure.

School

BYU has started again. I am still a little more than miffed that I have to go to school this semester when I should be done and working full time. I don't even want to think of the opportunity cost in monetary funds that we lost by me going for another semester. Hopefully the joy of the Cougar's shutouts on the football field will balance a little bit the frustration I feel about still having to study my little patoosh off to finish school. I am stoked to be getting my business minor though, hopefully it will open a lot more doors for me (at least I can verifiably say that I am interested in business). Sorry I don't have any great pics of the family, with only two of us there isn't much to photo and we really haven't even been doing anything exciting.

I recently got put in the Young Women's in our ward. I am really excited to work with the girls but didn't realize how rusty I am at the personal progress system. I am the coordinator so I guess it's time to refresh and get going. (By the way the YW leader said they were all so excited about me coming so I can psych the girls into doing their projects. Apparently going crazy at girl's camp is supposed to cross over into every day life... who would have guessed?) I really like the leaders that I work with so hopefully I can finally make some friends in my ward that are over the age of 13. I am still looking for a part time job. It doesn't really help that most of the good jobs in Spanish Fork that would be walk-able/bike-ride-able are banks, of which none are hiring. Who knows, maybe we can make it through without the job, but if I could find a place that would take me full time after Dec, that would be the optimal situation. Anywho, figured I should at least blog once a month and this month has been laden with school frustrations!!!

August

Woot.

Although we do relatively little throughout the days, they seem to be flying. July was pretty uneventful besides Redfish and trying to recoop from the time lapse etc. August has been a bit more exciting. Sean is getting his applications done for medical school, and I no longer have to worry about girls camp!!! I had a really great time, but found multiple flaws with the way our stake worked "the system." This could have been because I was the leader and just had more to do than I thought I should have... but it was a really good "learning experience." I took pics but few of them actually have me in them so I will spare you all.


I have been going in the mornings with Yoko/Okasaan to some AMAZING cooking classes given by probably the best chef in Utah Valley, Chef Anderson of the Chef's Table. I can now (or at least have the recipe's and basic knowledge) about cooking Roux, Bellute, and about 15 or 20 other amazing dishes/sauces. We only went for four days but I felt like I came out with a ton of knowledge. If you have never eaten here while living in Provo, don't be surprised. Most plates are $30+.


Sean and I have been going upstairs to watch the Olympics with Grandma and Grandpa. We're not super avid, but holy cow Michael Phelps is amazing!!! It is wild to watch just one man take so many gold medals. We have also enjoyed watching the Chinese woop our bootay in diving and gymnastics. You got to give it to them, stealing children at a young age produces some fabulous althetes.

So in reality we started out our travels in Sendai for a day or two, headed out to Hakkodate. Next was Sapporo, took the sleeper train to Hiroshima, dropped in Kyoto for a little while then back to Sendai. Made a little stop at the end in Tokyo to visit Colin and hit some of the last few major tourist sights I may have missed. So when people ask where in Japan I went, I say the whole puppy! Here are some highlight pics from my camera!The both of us out side Hiroshima Castle. Sorry the pictures are not in a really great order. Oh well, it's our trip.
Hiroshima Peace Park. Such an eye opener.
Heehe. In Sapporo we did a lot of walking. Sean decided one evening after a long bout to find some rather out of the way churches/establishments that we ought to take a break and visit the massage chairs. And Japanese massage chairs are miles ahead of anything I have ever tried before. Your feet, legs, arms, hands, bum, back, and neck all receive very special treatment.
Also in Sapporo we saw festive dancers. We missed all the serious competition but saw some youth with awesome outfits that changed 3x in one song!
The Sapporo Tower. (Better than the Eiffel right?)
Golden Temple. This was really cool to see but hard to enjoy with all the school children.

PAGOTAS!!!!

I think this place is called Meijima -- could be really wrong.

He is so cute I just couldn't help but put a good picture where he was looking and smiling up!

Sunset at Hiroshima Castle. Such a beautiful day and the festival that night was so much fun.
The Romans had nothing on the Japanese. This pic is taken under a massive aqueduct near a shrine in Kyoto. We were too cheap and too pressed for time to go in the shrine. But I felt justly rewarded.

Sean just loves to pose for the camera!

The tallest wooden building in all of Japan. Inside is the biggest Buddah you have ever seen, but my camera had a hard time with it. Sean has immensely better pics of all this by the way.
I loved the Torii's. It was SO neat to be walking under 1000 lined up torii's all with that beautiful and unique orange. We didn't make it through them all (it was a little hot and I wanted to make it out to Nara to see the big Buddah!)
While I was going camera happy, Sean took a moment to really enjoy the rock garden. These gardens are unique little buggers. Beyond the fact that you can never see all 15 stones (unless you are 5.3 meters and stand in a certain place revealed on the internet), if you take the time to look at them they really do grow in beauty.

In order for all the pictures to be in the right order... I'm going to skip to the back and post pictures that way... sorry!

Sean laying with the homeless men in the Tokyo Imperial Palace Park. And Me standing by double layer bridge at the Palace

Sean at the big stilty shrine... no I really don't know the name but most of you probably do.

The Tokyo LDS Temple!!! the only true house of God


Beautiful scenery of our water trip in Sendai. Only my 2nd time ever on a boat on the ocean!!!

Our first little tourist spot, called Hakkodate for those who know Japan. It was funny how one of the first things Sean and I went to see was Christian churches and English style buildings!
Sean doesn't like to turn, and this is my pathetic attempts at a candid shot. He is looking out over the Sendai landscape. I am sorry to anyone who I told Sendai was a little town. It is where Sean's Obaachan lives. It is not small.
Hakkodate building...
Sean steering the wheel at the Hakkodate Bay.
OUR FIRST HOTEL. The bathroom fits me... and nothing else. The shower hooks right up to the sink so it is a one or the other type deal. Amazingly enough, though the walking space is tiny in these places, the amenities are great! Internet, blowdryer, free toothbrush and razor!

Hey all...
I figured that since we are just starting (sort of) our own little family we should start posting up what we are doing. We just recently got back from Japan and it was so much fun! I don't think Sean has fully recovered from coming back... but he is still just as cute as ever. Meeting Obaachan was a blast, and I've realized how badly I need to work on my Japanese. We had a tonne of fun sight seeing and going out with the family there. Colin even humored us and led us to the Tokyo temple! Sean had a wonderful time teaching CPR in Mongolia (hopefully I can get him to write more about it... I still haven't heard much, apparently pictures are requisite first.) I missed him a lot, but loved touring around with him in Japan. He was a good translator and we rarely got lost! Well I will put up lots of fun pictures. I have lots also from The Wedding but those are a little big and need to be converted down to a decent size before I can even think of putting any of them up.