Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Surpisingly Fun

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

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Favorite Christmas Tradition

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




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

Monday, December 7, 2009

I'm home!

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

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

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

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Seattle day 2 in reverse again

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

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

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

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

Saturday, December 5, 2009

Washington Day 1.. in reverse

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

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

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

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


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


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


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

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

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

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

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Someone Told Me...

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


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

Saturday, November 28, 2009

My pants aren't ready for the holidays

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

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

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





HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Who doesn't like the word free

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

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

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

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Misc.

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

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

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Happy Halloween!


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

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

First time in long time

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

Why I love...

Living in

Utah


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

Why I love
Science.



Saturday, October 24, 2009

NEWTS

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

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

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

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Why people think I'm cuckoo

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

Webelos

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

Monday, October 12, 2009

I survived

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

Thursday, October 8, 2009

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

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

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

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


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

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Now that is sqeaky

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

Monday, October 5, 2009

My Schedule:

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

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

Thursday, October 1, 2009

No One to Tell

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

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

There, now you all know.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Childhood Flash Backs

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

THE TALE OF CUSTARD THE DRAGON

By Ogden Nash

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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


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

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Kind of random..

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


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

Monday, August 24, 2009

I wish...

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

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

I had big plans

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monday, August 3, 2009

SCHOOL OUT FOR SUMMER!

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

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

Thursday, July 16, 2009

It better get better than this.

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

Thursday, July 2, 2009

Just when you get used to something....

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


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

Saturday, June 27, 2009

Trips

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

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

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

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

I'm coming

Maybe I'm not coming.. this is hard. Making this face helps though..
GROAAAAAN with exertion... or concentration. I'm sure glad I'm making this face so the camera knows how hard this is... I have an awesome helmet on.
I guess I better smile because 9 years from now I'm gonna wish my gluteus maximus still looked like this. And am I having a gothic day today or something?
I might have taken some liberties with what I was thinking. But I really do wish my butt still looked like that. This was from a climb I did with my mom and brothers in 2002. The climb was Baxter's Pinnacle in the Teton mountain range.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

What I regret most from high school.

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

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

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

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

Friday, June 12, 2009

Random

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

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

--
In other news:
  • it's friday (that's not actually news its a common known fact). Which makes me very happy.
  • there is a rodeo this weekend we're going to go to.
  • it's been a rainy summer. And I love the rain. I really like carrying and wearing my rain coat.
  • I'm almost done with my project at work
Well.... that is about done as far as news I can come up with. I hope your week has been more interesting.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Weeding

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

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

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Softball game 1

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

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

Thursday, May 14, 2009

3 days

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

Thursday, May 7, 2009

I have a tough life...

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

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

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

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

or here's another example.

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

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

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

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

ready set...

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

Monday, May 4, 2009

It was a bacon weekend.

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

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Filled with....

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

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Filled with discontent

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

Thursday, April 9, 2009

The Empathy that comes through experience

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

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

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

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

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

Sunday, April 5, 2009

You gotta love conference weekend.

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Remember two weeks ago?

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

Heidi said...

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

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

And the rest of you should be jealous just because!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Colorado weekend numer dose! (A little late)

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

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

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


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

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



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

(you gotta love how ineffective and scary looking the red eye tool is)
Well that kind of summed up the trip. There were lot's of funny stories that would make this post even longer but most of them were you kind of have to be there or at least know the people they are about. But here are a few more pictures.

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