Music

Lindzie is usually ahead of me on the music scene, but, I tend to be ahead of some of you, so I wanted to suggest that you guys try listening to my new absolutely favorite song: "Hero/Heroine" by Boys Like Girls. It makes my little romantic, married heart melt :)

Soooo good!

Rexburg

It is colder than heck here! And there is like, a foot (at least) of snow on the ground. Todd should be happy, the bad roads are keeping me from hitting the mall in I.F.

I hope you all are keeping warm! (I miss Boise).

Christmas

Okay, a much cooler Christmas update is pending complete with pictures and everything, but I didn't bring the camera and I got like, THREE hours of sleep last night and I'm a little brain dead. I just wanted to wish everyone a merry Christmas (late I know, but I tried to send most of you cards! Except for Lindzie...I threw away your address thinking I had it, but I didn't...I still have the card if you want to get me your address again!)

Anyway, I just wanted to say it was a wonderful Christmas...Todd and I had our first Christmas alone together, and we really enjoyed our day. It was fun to have our FHE and read the Christmas story, open presents together, and enjoy a Christmas dinner together (we did steak, so simple, the way I like it!) We also took the customary "I just ate a ton of food" nap, which caused my lack of sleep last night...but I won't gripe too much more because I am looking forward to sleeping much better tonight! Anyway, we are going to Rexburg tomorrow to see Todd's parents and brothers who are in town all together, and then we will take off next week for skiing in Logan, and then I will take off again after that for Delaware!

In The Christmas Spirit

Seeing as Christmas is quickly creeping up on us this year, Todd and I took some time this weekend to be festive. First we attended our ward Christmas party on Saturday night and enjoyed gobbling down the sugar cookies. Then Sunday night, on a suggestion from a friend, we drove out to a neighborhood in Boise famous for its Christmas lights. I guess they have a competition every year, and it was really fun to see almost every house decorated for Christmas. It was definitely a Ross tradition to go driving and see the lights, and I'm hoping we'll make it a Thomason tradition as well! Here are some pictures we got from the drive:

Monday night we made sugar cookies for FHE. They turned out wonderfully delicious, thanks to Sandra for the great recipe!

So anyway, hopefully all that got us properly geared up for Christmas. It will be nice to have a few days completely free of school and work.

School is totally over, and so thats pretty exciting. It was a quiet end to the semester, with only one final. I also got to meet my cooperating teacher at Christine Donnell School and she seems really nice, and I'm also excited to be at a school that places a lot of emphasis on the arts during everyday subjects. My teacher is also LDS, so it will be nice to speak the same language :) This school caps K-3 classes at 20 students so the small environment will be great to learn in (although I'll be pretty lucky to EVER have a class that small!).

I knew I probably shouldn't have mentioned this in one of the last few blogs, because it happened...Todd and I both got callings! Todd has just been called as ward clerk, so that will take him away from me a little bit more on Sundays :( but other than that, I think he'll enjoy it. I have been called as the Athletic Coordinator for the Relief Society, this also being a fairly simple calling, but we'll see! I also really liked that Elder Ballard recently encouraged us to use our blogs to educate others about the Church. I am a TERRIBLE missionary (I was FERVENTLY praying that we would NOT get called as ward missionaries), and I know that almost everyone, if not everyone, that reads this blog is LDS. However, I hope that somehow I am setting an example and that I won't be afraid to share the gospel through my blog. We'll see...no promises!

Mail

One of my favorite things in the WHOLE WORLD is getting the mail. Cheesy as it sounds, I love getting to the mailbox first and grabbing everything out of it. One of my biggest disappointments is when the mailbox is empty (which is often because we move so much we hardly even get junk mail!) Even when we were staying with Todd's parents, I became the designated "mail-gettter."

Imagine my happiness yesterday when I got my family's Christmas package. My mom sends one every year, and this year she sent along our presents, along with some cute, crafty Christmas things she made a while back, that i requested she send along because I love them! I also got a card from my Granny, so it was a double good day! So I immediately ripped open the letter and package, and had everything spread all over the floor. Eventually it was organized so that it now looks like this:

There is also a stocking stand en route, and I'm excited to get things as well. It's nice to have a creative mom to stock your home because when you first get married you start with none of that holiday stuff!

In other news, my sister said I could make the announcement on Blogger, so here it is: (drumroll, please)...Jess is pregnant! We are so excited for her, she is due in June, and so it will be a birthday/anniversary baby as well! It is weird to think that I will be an aunt, but I'm excited to have a little McCabe boy or girl to spoil until I get one of my own!Also, I'm excited for our post-Christmas plans as well because Todd and I are going on a ski trip! It's nowhere glamorous, just outside of lovely Logan, UT, but we will be staying in a really nice place and enjoying the slopes for three days...Well, Todd will enjoy them for three days. I usually last about 3 or 4 hours before I feel so cold I start to have seizures. But it will be fun to relax and hang out with Todd and get away from Boise for a while.

I'll be away from Boise even more, because I am visiting Delaware in January. I am taking advantage of our wonderful, ridiculously long Christmas break to visit! I am excited to see my parents and brothers, although the break in between hasn't been quite as long since I flew out last June for Jess' wedding. My brothers are always hilarious to be around, and being in Delaware can be quite relaxing! I'll have to sneak down to Ocean City sometime and grab some of Dolle's yummy caramel popcorn!
So now that I've poured out my whole life, I would like to see an update from a few freshman friends who have been slacking (a-HEM SACHI EM STEPH!)

Random Thoughts

*Cigarette smoke is disgusting. It is a filthy habit, and its unpleasant for those who have to sit next to people who have this habit in the library.

*It is freezing cold. However, it is probably better to be in Boise at this point, than in Tulsa.

*Thursday is my last day of school. Yay! With only one final during finals week, life is looking pretty good. However, I just have to start thinking about how busy next semester will be...and then I feel sad.

*I woke up this morning with a cheesy 80's song in my head, and I don't know how it got there. Wish I could remember what it was...

I guess that's all I can come up with for now. I had all these witty ideas for blog posts...and I've lost them all. Oh well, chalk it up to the 20-degree weather! What are your guys' Christmas plans?

Weird

So I noticed (it's hard to not miss) that my Blogger template somehow managed to change itself to a Santa template from the snowflakes that I had there before. Has anyone else had this happen? I'm too lazy right now to change it.

And while I'm on a blogging trip, and ignoring the fact that my first ICLA is in one hour, here are some overdue pictures:

Todd and I at the BSU/Fresno State game. Boise played better versus these guys than Hawaii. Look at all that blue and orange!

The puzzle. I am such a nerd.
These next few pictures are from our hike to the cave and the cave at Craters of the Moon. We look real tough, right? I especially would like to point out the headlamp I am wearing. It doesn't get more outdoorsy than that!

Old lava spills. It was cool. I'm usually not much for old rocks, but I thought this was neat.

This is a picture of our apartment right after we got the LoveSac and brought a whole bunch of stuff home from my in-laws. It should make you feel better about your domestic skills.

Todd enjoying the LoveSac. Someday it will fit nicely into a bigger apartment. SO comfortable!

Our Christmas-y picture. Slightly cheesy, but thats okay. Notice our tree is about two feet tall. That's all that will fit into our apartment right now. This was also after we were too lazy to make it to 9 o'clock church, so we went to the 1 o'clock instead. We can do that because we DON"T HAVE CALLINGS YET! We have managed to yet again slip through the cracks for several months now (knock on wood).

My New Hero

Maybe this is a little bit too early to call, because I don't really know anything about her "real" life, but Hayley Williams from Paramore is my new hero.

I think there is a little part of me that wants to be a girl rocker with an amazing voice and mostly pink hair.

Rock on, my friends.

Coming Soon...

Reasons I like Boise. Which I will write as soon as my list of things to do is reduced by a million.

Also, can someone please explain to me how I feel I HAVE to blog even when I have finals, standardized tests, work, family drama, etc.?

Whew.

As Good as it gets for now

Until I can coordinate myself to bring the camera AND the cord at the SAME TIME, I will have to settle for putting these horrible cell phone pictures up. Okay, they're not that bad, but we didn't take any at Craters of the Moon, and I just really wanted to show my dad how cool we really are :)
My loot. It was so exciting to have THREE pairs of shoes in the bag. I can't even remember if that has ever happened.My sister helping to put this son of a gun puzzle together. Haha...I never actually say "son of a gun." Just felt like throwing that in there.
Me with the finished product. It was so sad to have to pull it all apart to put it away.

And there you go. I just posted pictures of me doing a puzzle--does that make me boring?

Do You Ever?

Do you ever feel like you are losing your mind?

Do you have things in your hand but somehow they don't make it to their supposed destination?

Do you ever get an adequate amount of sleep but feel exhausted all day? Do you wish that you could feel perky after only 6 hours of sleep? (I can't)

Do you ever wonder if you will ever put up your holiday decorations, or will they just sit on your dining room table looking like a mess?

Do you ever wonder if you will EVER be motivated to do your homework, go to work, make dinner, etc.?

Do you ever wonder if your apartment will cease someday to feel like an igloo, even with the heat on half the day?

Do you ever wonder if you spray Tilex on it a million times, the mildew will stop growing in the bathroom (gross, I know)?


It's been one of those days. I think I officially have the wintertime, cabin fever blues...and winter hasn't even started yet.

Thanksgiving

Hopefully I'll remember to bring my camera to school one day so I can upload some pictures...but until then, the post alone will have to be sufficient :)

Todd and I left on Wednesday for Rexburg, and we really enjoyed our Thanksgiving break. I did everything I could to relax including eating a lot of raspberry pie, staying up late, sleeping in, shopping, and ignoring my homework :) Todd's mom did a great job of cooking...I can't really say I look forward to the day when I am "in charge" of Thanksgiving. Hopefully someday this will be something fun for me, but right now, it's simply not!

I, too, hit the stores on Black Friday in Idaho Falls. I was actually pretty disappointed this year. The shopping is better if you want a camera or plasma TV or something like that, we don't need any of that! I did get some holiday decorations, and Target had The Holiday and Walk The Line on sale for 4 or 5 bucks. I found some cute sweaters at Target as well. I went into Kohl's, and wanted to get this shirt, but the line was 25 minutes long (NO WAY!), and I really couldn't didn't want to stand in that line. I actually ending up going back to Kohl's the next day to get the shirt. I tried it on, and didn't like it as much, but I found some nice shirts for Todd, so it wasn't a complete waste of miles. I also have been wanting some good shoes for when I start student teaching, so I bought two pairs of comfy, cute teaching shoes, and a pair of boots (I have been DYING to get some boots for years!). Those will be my Christmas present from Todd, and I'm excited to wear them!

We also had some time to see my sister and her husband in Rexburg as well, and it was really fun to see her again and be around "my" family as well. It had been a really long time since we did a puzzle together, so Jess and I slaved over a 1000-piece puzzle for three days! I used to be so good at those, but I'm a bit rusty. It was fun to do that, and watch movies, and just hang out and eat.

On the way home, Todd and I stopped by Craters of the Moon. I don't want to describe that trip too much because I have some awesome pictures from the cave we hiked into. Todd said that my dad would be proud of my outdoorsy-ness...I was too! I'll make sure and post those too. If anyone ever gets the chance to go, its lots of fun. It seems like more of a Steph and Sam-type activity (old lava, craters, hiking, caves, etc), but Todd and I really had fun, and we pretty much had the whole park to ourselves since it is getting cold. It was fun to take a route other than the freeway (BORING!), and we had a good time looking at the population signs of some of the towns (76, 220, etc).

So that was our Thanksgiving! I am depressed to be back in school, but such is life. It's getting a lot colder now, and it snowed just a tiny bit this morning, but it was enough to make the roads slick, and cause some crashes. I am SO not ready for this winter weather! Which leads me to our other exciting addition to our house...we bought a LoveSac! We have been wanting one of those since our BYU days, and we got it for 50% off during a Thanksgiving sale. The funny thing is is that it practically takes up our entire living room! It makes me want to laugh everytime I walk in there, because it is just this huge sac taking up all of our floor space, we just don't have the room for it in our apartment! We figured that we would most likely be moving to a larger apartment this summer, and so we only have to put up with tripping over it for another 6 months. Our excitement to have it outweighs the inconvenience of space, and so if you guys are very around, feel free to come and relax in it!

Seven things

Having been tagged, here it goes, as long as the library computer doesn't suddenly shut down on me. Seven things you may or may not know about me:

1. So I don't know if anyone remembers this (Steph was on her mission), but I had this bad accident involving my big toe in Provo before start of my senior year at BYU. We went over to Tai-ling's brother's apartment, and there was this big huge picture frame with a huge metal chain attached to it (to hang it up? I dont' know) sitting on the floor behind the door. Tai-ling made it though the door, but as soon as I stepped past it, it fell over onto my foot. Immense pain followed, and I was pretty sure my toe had fallen off. I looked down, just bleeding a little bit. Fast forward a few hours, and my toe begins gushing. Gross I know, I left bloody footprints on the stairs of my apartment as I ran up to get help. Anyway, I got it to stop bleeding and wrapped it up all night, but the pain worsened through the night. I went to the BYU medical center the next day, where I got x-rayed, holes drilled in my toenail, and bled out. Very fun. To make a long story short, my toenail and toe were never quite the same, and I really can't wear closed toe high heels anymore. Sad day. Someday, I will go to a podiatrist and get it fixed for good, but I can still walk, right?

2. I am addicted to shopping. Not in a bad way, I think. Todd talks about this habit of mine often, but I simply tell him that my shopping for clothes is like his shopping for books. Besides, I don't hit Nordstrom on a regular basis, I am definitely a bargain shopper. I can usually find really good deals at Aeropostale and Old Navy sales ($2 t-shirts? $4 sweaters?), and this definitely costs less than a brand new book at Borders! I never buy anything full price. The way I figure it is that I'm vain enough to like the current trends, but I am still on a college student budget. If I shop for stuff on sale, I can stick with the trends without killing the budget, right? Black Friday, bring it on!

3. Okay, I cry a lot! I used to pride myself on my stellar tough-ness. I wasn't one of "those girls" that cried during chick-flicks or when her hormones levels are up or whatever. Uh uh, no way, not anymore. I don't know what happened, but when I started dating Todd, I started crying over EVERYTHING! I hope this isn't saying anything bad about him, because its not like he did things to make me cry. It's just now I can't watch anything about death on TV, any sad news stories about kids, any sad movies without crying. I'll read articles and cry, I'll tear up during sad testimonies in sacrament meeting, I'll think about something that happened at work...and then afterwards, I'll think "WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?" I dont' know, maybe being married has finally tapped into that sensitive subconscious I always had!

4. I'm really into politics this year. Generally, I don't care. There is a ton of stuff I don't understand about the political system, and I typically just think politicians are full of lies. Not that that has really changed recently or anything, but now that I have some time to watch the debates, I have tried to tune in. I really want to have a good reason for voting for whoever I vote for President, and so I'm trying hard to really pay attention to issues. I don't have the most refined political views, but I also don't feel like I have to be this awesome intellectual to feel strongly about certain issues. I am definitely a conservative, and I definitely lean towards Republican values. I am pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, totally against a Universal Health Care plan. I don't want to live in a Socialist America, and so I probably wont' vote for Hillary or Obama. However, I liked Biden's response about performance-based pay for teachers at the debate the other night, and I really couldn't stand anytime Edwards opened his mouth. I don't like the fact that Giuliana is pro-choice, but I don't think he would be a terrible President either. I have been reading up on Romney, and while he is ahead in my book right now, I would like to learn more about Thompson and Huckabee. I don't know, somehow the fire's been lit, and politics are in my system!

5. I have a hard time keeping secrets. Sometimes I'm not aware that things are secrets, and I tell them by accident. Which is why I didn't say exactly where we were moving, because I wasn't sure if it was supposed to be secret for a little while longer, and I wanted to triple-check with Todd to make sure I didn't tell. He doesn't like me to tell things until we are 100% sure, and me, I don't mind telling things if I am 40% sure. So anyway, don't tell me things that are supposed to be a secret. I tell Todd what his presents are before he opens them, I may pass along things to ONE other person, I don't know, it's just that "natural man" instinct to gossip I guess. I dont' really feel like it's gossip though, because usually it's just a surprise, and I get so excited that I can't wait to tell! Which is probably why, when we have kids, you all won't have to worry about THAT being a secret for a while! And by the way, we are doing pest control another summer (because we love torture, but we love money more). We are 95% sure we will be in Indianapolis, Indiana!

6. I still bite my nails, but I'm doing a ton better. I have a good husband who gets after me when I do it (he can't STAND it), and so I'm slowly being conditioned to give up the habit. I mostly do it when I'm nervous or bored. I do better when I paint them, and so I try to keep them painted at all times. However, that sometimes just leads me to chip away at the paint with my teeth, so I end up looking like my teeth are bleeding (the polish is usually red). Oh well. I'm doing the best I can! I remember one year for my birthday (I think it was my 10th), my grandma bought me polish that tasted really bad, it was supposed to help. It did taste really bad, but it didn't stop me! Sad, huh, that and the fact that I'm now 23, and I've been biting my nails THAT long!

7. I'm running out of things to say. I'll say that I made a major accomplisment the other day. It was successfully making coconut chicken. The one downfall is that I did set off the smoke detectors by burning the coconut, but it was just the coconut that had stuck to the pan, and not the coconut on the chicken. This was such a big accomplishment because one, I'm a terrible cook, and two, I made it from scratch, and I didn't even have an exact recipe for it. And the great thing was was that it was actually G-O-O-D, and Todd requested that we have it again because he liked it so much. It's always nice to hear that :)

So there ya go. I'll tag Sach, Steph, Emily, and Kaylene :)

Yay!

I got my confirmation today...my official placement for student teaching is at Christine Donnell School of the Arts, a K-8 magnet school with an emphasis on the arts. I am SOO excited!

I just have to tell you all quickly that I thought your comments on my last post were totally random...and that is why I love you all :)

Oh, and a confession...I can't tell you exactly where yet because we're only about 95% sure...but it is east of the Mississippi, if that gets you any closer :)

Almost #2...

Destination number 6 for the Thomasons is.......think random, because that's how we roll :)




Curious? Where do you think we are moving (for the summer)?

Almost...

I ALMOST got the school that I'll be interviewing first for my teaching internship, the Donnell School for Performing Arts in the Meridian district...which would be AWESOME because I like to think I'm artsy and its a magnet school....

but then, it was TAKEN AWAY! The coordinator assigned too many student teachers to that school...so I emailed her a plea to let me interview there...which might get ignored, but I thought I would try, right?

Oh, and this is how it works next semester, by the way. It's called our internship, and it's the first half of our professional year. We go there for a full day, two days a week, and do who knows what, and take our methods classes the rest of the week. We get assigned a school to interview at. If we don't get placed there, we interview somewhere else, and keep doing this until we are finally placed. So, hopefully I'll know my placement in the next couple of weeks, and I am SO excited...I really like the schools here!

Interested?

I saw this idea on someone else's blog and I totally want to steal it! What she did was she had people who wanted to participate email her with a wedding picture of theirs, and a short message on what they would change about their wedding day...just as a way to have people participate in her blog. Then she posted them so everyone could read and compare. Let me know if you guys are interested in all, and if you want to, go ahead and email them to me! Here's mine as an example:

Okay, so I really wouldn't change much about my wedding day. Everyone, especially my mom and her friends, worked REALLY hard and made it a day where I didn't have to worry about anything. However, I did have this HUGE hoop slip that I wore under my dress. Maybe I'm weird, but I really wanted my dress to be touching the ground, not up off of it like there was a flood or something. For the most part I was fine, but my hoop slip kept creeping up (if you wore one, you know how that was!), and it would hike up my dress as well. So, in a bunch of my pictures, my dress is way up there (see above), and I think it looks weird! I wish I had remembered to pull it down so it looked more full and princess-like! Also, when we got into the sealing room, I sat down, and my hoop totally spiked up! It was embarassing trying to bat it down, so we could get married already!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, I wouldn't have changed the little men hanging from the temple steeples :)

So, there you go! Can't wait to see if you guys want to participate!



Oh, side note--possiblility I'll be in UT this weekend. Let me know if anyone is available to hang out on Saturday!

Sweet Teeth

So Christine just admitted one of her current obsessions, so I have to counter with one of my all-the-time obsessions. I like shopping, but Todd and I are especially taken with.....after holiday candy sales! To illustrate our complete OCD tendencies, here is our current example:

Last night, I went to Shopko to take advantage of the Halloween candy sales. I love those candy corn pumpkins (if you think it's gross, that's fine, I also like Peeps), and so I grabbed two bags of those. In addition, I also bought a bag of M&M's, a bag of snack-size Whoppers, and another bag of something chocolate that I can't currently remember the name of. Total: $5. Not bad, eh?

Well, we wouldn't stop there. After volunteering today, I stopped by Shopko again (in a different location), called Todd up on the phone, and we preceded to discuss which candy they had available that we wanted. All in all, I came away with a huge bag of Airheads (we both had a middle school moment), a huge bag of Skittles and Starbursts, and bags of peanut m&m's, peanut butter m&m's, KitKat's, Snicker's, and last but not least, a large bag of bite-size Twix. Total cost: $20.

Can you see now why we both went in to get cavities filled this week?

THAT is how I enjoy my Halloween....the day after :)

I'm officially boring...

So, I've come to realize that I haven't been blogging that much because there's not too many exciting things going on around in this part of Boise. School is school, work is work, there are no babies, new school/work things, or moves (yet) to think about. In fact, now that I think about it, it's actually kinda nice! We have spent a lot of time moving and driving and wondering what's next, and even though there is still a lot up in the air, Todd and are settling into a routine and we are happy in our cozy little apartment. It's nice to be able to come home and have someone to talk to, to make dinner with, and to laugh with...I really missed him when he was gone!

We have been trying really hard to start doing FHE, and so far, it's been going really well. I really enjoy the time we have taken to turn off the TV, and talk about all things spiritual and temporal. It's nice to have the house quiet, and it's fun to learn from Todd because he knows so much about the gospel. Now, he's humble, and would say that he doesn't know that much, but he knows way more than I do! After our spiritual thought, we usually try to talk about something temporal too, or do an activity. One week we talked a little about ADHD (I was learning about it in class) and did our pumpkin carving. Other weeks, Todd tells me what he has learned in a book he is reading. The one common thread is that Todd usually tells me to stop spending his money!

We really like Boise, and we are starting to get our bearing finally. There is still a ton of unfamiliar territory, but as long as we can find the library, WinCo, Wal-Mart, and Old Navy (that's just me!), we are good to go. We have enjoyed being near the river trail to take a walk or go jogging (that's mostly Todd!), and it's also a short trip to the tennis courts. I am kind of sad it is getting colder, but I am thankful it is not snowing yet! The weather here is actually similar to that of Delaware, I think the winter will be pretty mild, which is fine with me after spending a winter in Rexburg!

I like my job too, I do a lot of rotating through different schools, and so I get to see a lot of kids while learning how to get around Boise. Last week, I did a morning at their infant location! It was really fun to be around babies again, but it was also one of those "Are you SURE you want one of these?" times. Basically, we changed diapers and got spit up on, but we also got to enjoy lots of easy smiles and tons of play time! This morning, I was at another location and it was so cute seeing the kindergartners (or "kinders" as we call them) dressed up as Disney princesses, or Batman or a pirate. It is really hard getting up so early, driving in the dark (it stays dark SO late in the morning!), and being freezing cold on the way there, but it's fun to be with the kids. I always feel good around them because they automatically love you!

So that's where we're at now. Todd is staying really busy, but at the same time, we get to see a lot of each other. We usually spend winters spending a ton of time together because the summers are so tough...and we may be in for another one (we'll see!) However, we are determined to figure out the good restaurants downtown, go see some theater, and use the dollar theater all we can! Also, I am taking Todd to his first Boise State football game, and hopefully we are in for an exciting one! Emily, if you have any suggestions on cool things to do in Boise, let me know!

I hope you all have a happy Halloween!

Picture Explosion

When did I get so busy?! I miss blogging, and I think I'm behind, but without having internet at home, once a week is about as good as its getting right now. Plus, I think Todd secretly wishes I would blog less. I figure since he doesn't read it, I can blog as much as I want! I've been busy with work, which makes me really tired, which in turn, I think, makes me feel more busy than I actually am. However, I've had several midterms and volunteering, along with the last-minute trip to Utah, that I've had to cram into what seems like a very small amount of time. But I made it into the computer lab today, and I can just bet you all are DYING to hear from me :)

First, pictures from two weekends ago, when Blogger wouldn't let me upload! These are from Haunted World, and I've included some of my sister and her husband Joey. The other one is of Todd and I with our "Halloween faces." We look scarier because of our red eyes, which I will probably fix with Picasa eventually, but I'll keep it for this because its creepy :)

Here are some highlights from our quick trip to Utah for Todd's end of the year Eclipse Banquet. The first picture is of Todd and I right near where the U is on the mountain for the University of Utah. Second picture, same thing. The third picture is Todd getting his six-year award for being with Eclipse for six years and the fourth is of Todd with his other six-year Eclipse buddies.

The Eclipse banquet was actually sorta fun, besides the fact that when you combine a bunch of college students and start throwing money, things get dangerous (I seriously thought this one girl was going to kill me cuz I was in the way of her dollar bill). However, I did walk away with some free stuff from Ogio (for being a spouse and a 2-year employee), and I must say, I look VERY cool with my new purse. It was fun to see Todd get some recognition this year, and to see some faces that were only voices over the phone this summer. The food was good, the company was good, and Todd got his $1500 Tag Heuer watch, so he was pretty stoked about that. Plus, Eclipse put us up in the Little America hotel and fed us an amazing breakfast, and you know when our tummies are happy, we are happy! We even had a few minutes before the banquet to jet over to Ikea and spend some money on cheese slicers, table runners, and candle holders...as well as an equal amount of money on chocolate (I've gotten Todd hooked). The only depressing part was the snow, but when you are on the fifth floor in the towers of Rice-Eccles Stadium looking out over Salt Lake City, it ain't so bad!

These pictures are from our FHE from this week. My pumpkin from my field trip with the kiddies to the pumpkin patch needed some spicing up, so we went with bats this time. It turned out pretty decent for a first time effort with hardly any tools!

So even being SO busy, we do like the Thomasons do, and always make time for fun. I'm grateful to have a hubby that likes to get away from the daily grind, and who is always ready to spoil me!

Stealing

Again, I am stealing this idea from Christine and Sachi :)

What is his name? Todd B. Thomason (he forgoes the middle name a lot, and he is also worried about internet privacy)

How long have you been together? We started dating in February 2005, and were engaged in March 2006 (on St. Patrick's Day, by accident). So a little over 2 and a half years.

How long did you date? It was about a year until we were engaged. However, we still date often :) Just each other though!

Who eats more? Me. He eats a lot at his mom's house though. She's a way better cook then I am! I usually out eat him, I don't know why, I guess I really like food!

Who said I love you first? Todd did first, when I was visiting him in Phoenix. It was adorable!

Who is taller? Todd. I'm 5'7 and three-quarters, and he is 5'11.

Who sings better? I sing better to the radio, Todd sings better in the shower. Neither of us sing well at church :)

Who is smarter? Like Sachi, I pretend I'm smarter and boss Todd around a lot. He is actually way smarter. He knows everything!

Who does the laundry? I usually do it. I have a lot of things I don't dry, and Todd would shrink them if I let him do it. He is pretty good about helping though.

Who does the dishes? Todd usually. I detest the dishes. However, I do have to say I did them this morning, and I was forced to do them while he was gone.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Todd does. I think we switch every so often though, we move around so much, I don't know if he ALWAYS sleeps on the right side.

Who pays the bills? I take certain bills and Todd takes others. We also enjoy the benefits of Autopay on several of our bills, so no worries there!

Who cooks dinner? Umm...there really isn't one of us who does it more than the other. We usually help each other, and everyone once in a while one of us will do a majority of the cooking. We also enjoy the cooking of Cheesecake Factory, Arby's, Baja Fresh, etc.

Who drives when you're together? Todd usually does. He's the guy!

Who is more stubborn? Me, usually.

Who is the first to admit they're wrong? Todd. He does it just to get me to stop being mad at him, and its usually not because he did anything wrong. I'm weird.

Who kissed who first? Todd did. Haha, every time he tried previous to that, I started laughing because I was SO embarassed and I didn't know what to do, and we were in that weird "doorstep scene" stage! So he put it off for a while, and then after our first "official" date, he said, "I'm going to kiss you now." So he did, and then I said, "I wasn't very good, let's do it over again," and we did it over again. It wasn't that he wasn't good, but I thought I did so bad!

Who asked who out? Todd asked me out. We started taking walks together to get to know each other. It's sad, but I really don't remember much more than that. I kind of let Todd take the reins with the dating thing, I had no idea what to do!


Who proposed? Todd. Actually, there were two proposals. The first was with the unofficial ring. Todd was planning on taking me on a hot air balloon and proposing then, but the weather had been really bad. He put it off so long after talking to my dad, that they thought he was backing out and changing his mind. So he went ahead and proposed in "our" park with the unofficial ring in March. After that, we actually had time to look at rings. The weather cleared up as well. We finally went on our balloon ride in April, and he proposed again with the real ring after that!

Who is more sensitive? I am sensitive emotional (I hate that!) and Todd is senstive in general.

Who has more friends? I think I do too. I think girls keep in touch better than boys do.

Who has more siblings? We both have four kids in our families, but his siblings are a lot older than mine. He is the third in his family, I'm the first.

Who wears the pants in the family? Me, definitely me. We joke about it all the time. Todd is fine with it though!

All done!

It feels like forever since I've blogged! It's sad when a week feels like forever. Anyway, here are some pictoral highlights from this weekend. My sister and her husband Joey spent the weekend with us, and we played some tennis, ate a lot, and went to Haunted World in Nampa (SO good!)

These are my flowers Todd got sent to me when he came home. He knows I'm a sucker for flowers...I just wish they didn't die!

Us with Todd's family at Tepanyaki. Some of the best food I have ever had!

We adopted a pumpkin instead of a child. Poor baby needs to be carved though, it is just sitting outside our porch waiting for me to forget its there and trip on it!

Our Halloween fun!

And know Blogger has decided not to let me upload any more pictures for the time being, so this will have to wait!

Things I Learned at Work Today

Joke: What rides a skateboard and has wings?
Answer: Tony Hawk.

Seriously, this 8-year-old kid presented this gem of a joke today. He then proceeded to tell us that "Tony Hawk is the greatest skateboarder in the WHOLE world!" What was even funnier, his 6-year-old sister was sitting next to him, and she chimed in to help her brother out, "He's a LEGEND!" I have to assume that he's got a skateboarding family member at home (plus he came in with a red mohawk, it was the first of two mohawks I saw that morning). I love it! I just loved the sincerity on the little girl's face in declaring, "He's a legend!" Do six-year-olds know what a legend is? Is Tony Hawk the hero of the current elementary school population?

In addition, this two kids were running a storm around the cafeteria when I took the JFK kids to breakfast today. They then sat down and said, "We make a bad couple." Kind of like the brother and sister Bonnie and Clyde I guess. They began play fighting again at the table, and then the sister pointed to her brother, and said, "See, we're a bad couple." It was so cute, said in a way that only an adorable 6-year-old could do. I can't wait til my kids are that age (no, that's still a WAY down the road!).

On another note, Todd and I got our library cards at the Boise Public Library yesterday. We are both book and library junkies, and so I'm surprised it took as 4 days since Todd has been here to make it there. They have a pretty good selection, and I'm armed with two new books to read in the next few weeks.

Oh, and what did we see at the library? This cute couple with a baby was checking out books next to us. They were getting a new card too, and the person checking them out asked for proof of ID. This guy, he couldn't have been older than 29 or 30 reaches in his back pocket, revealing A GUN! Who brings a gun to the library? I didn't notice at first, and Todd pointed it out to me. The lady behind this guy in line almost freaked out (she was older), and mentioned it to the checker when the guy had left. I was just glad he didn't plan on using it on us! He didn't look like a cop or anything either, so I guess he was just exercising his right to bear arms. But seriously, was it necessary? I hope he had a good reason to have it!

And I have to tell you, I was so excited to see not one, but MULTIPLE posts from Sachi! Yay! And yes, I agree it is time for Steph to jump on the bandwagon, can we stay stephandsam.blogspot.com?? How about it??

boooo

That booo is for more school. I'm already sick of it. I think it might have something to do with the fact that Todd is back and I now have somebody fun to play with at home, and school sounds so much more boring! We had a really fun weekend though, and hopefully I'll follow up with some pictures when I remember to bring the camera back on campus.

I started work last Friday and it turned out to be a pretty crazy day! Usually I'll work just in the mornings from 7-9 am (yes, it's like 6 hours a week, but I will probably sub as well), but Friday was a day off from school for the kids, and so they were there all day. So, we went to the Pumpkin Patch. I was pretty excited about that, it had been a long time since I'd been to one, and field trips always make the day go by faster. We went out to Linder Farms in Kuna, and it was SO COLD!! I of course left my coat home, as did most of the kids, and so I spent the entire hayride with a tiny 5-year-old girl huddled next to me because she was shivering...I was shivering too! The kids were crazy, but they were fun, and it was one of the quietest bus rides I've ever been on! I'm really into Halloween (mostly the candy part!) and corn mazes and pumpkins and the fall season, and so I really love this time of year. It was fun to get and see what's outside of Boise as well, it's really beautiful and rural.

I worked again this morning, and two hours three mornings a week is definitely manageable, except for the fact that I am no longer a morning person! I figured it would be good practice, because when I start teaching (I start my internship next semester), I'll have to be up early anyway. It will make those days when I can sleep in feel so good!

I'll give the weekend update later, I have a literacy class with a crazy professor(she sort of acts drunk the entire class time) coming up in a few minutes!

Excuse me...

...if I fall off the face of the earth for a little while.

TODD COMES HOME TOMORROW!!!!

So, I'm sure you all will understand! Plus, Todd's parents will be in town, I start my first day of work tomorrow (an after-school program except they don't have school tomorrow so I'll be there all day!), and it's conference weekend. So things are going to be a little...busy :)

I hope you guys have an awesome weekend, and I have to tell you I am OCD about checking for blog updates...so the prize goes to Christine for updating the most out of any blog I read, and I love it!

Christine, I stole your map idea. I hope that's okay!

Relief Society Broadcast

Well, I went! Which is basically an achievement of itself, considering I can't remember the last time I went to the broadcast. Seeing as Todd wasn't here to distract me, and knowing it was probably the right thing to go, I went. I actually really enjoyed it. This is more for my memory than for you, so bear with me while I recap!

I really enjoyed Sis. Beck's opening talk. Her main points were to stay strong in faith, family, and relief. Emphasized in all of the talks were how the world's definition of a family is changing and how important it is to keep your families close and strong. Sis. Beck talked about this, and it was just a good reiteration of the things we need to be doing to have the strength that we need.

I liked Sis. Matsumora's (sp?) talk. For me, the main message was about visiting teaching. Again, another thing I am terrible at. I haven't been assigned to be a visiting teacher in any of the wards I've been in the past year (that's three wards), but I guess it's mainly my fault for not asking to be assigned to anyone. So it was good for me to hear that lesson again. I know it is important, I've got a testimony of it, but it's definitely a weakness of mine. I think this ward will be on top of things, and hopefully I can be more valiant in my visiting teaching!

I really loved Sis. Thompson's talk. She speaks with a smile on her face the whole time, and I really enjoyed hearing about her experiences. There is a lot more diversity in the Relief Society Presidency than I had thought! Sis Matsumora is from Central America, and Sis. Thompson has never married, and had never had children. I liked her funny remark about being ahead of all the women because she has never made a mistake with her children (since she doesn't have any). I really loved her message about being a part of a family, and working to support and love your family regardless of your family makeup. She is a social worker, and so she has seen a lot of abuse and neglect, but she told us that the families of Relief Society women have the potential to be the most stable and loving. While there are exceptions to this, I believe that I see this in most LDS families. The home is a temple and there are so many good mothers out there (including my mother, grandmothers, and mother-in-law!). I have a lot of great examples to look to.

President Monson's talk made me cry :) His message for women was to study diligently, pray earnestly, and serve willingly. He emphasized getting an education, especially in the case that something happens, and the woman becomes the main financial provider. This was part of the reason that I decided to go back to school. I loved theater, but we weren't sure it could provide for me and my children in case something happened to Todd. Hearing President Monson affirming our decision, made me feel confident in the decision to go back and be a teacher.

He also talked about praying earnestly...this part made me cry. I know there have been times when I have felt the effect of other's prayers for me, and I know that my prayers have helped others. Regular prayer is still something I am working on, but I want to be better so that my children have an example to look to.

The last part of his talk was about serving willingly. This part made me cry. It was mostly because of the story he told about the two men who died in Utah during a snowmobiling accident, both leaving behind pregnant wives. These stories ALWAYS make me cry because I think about what I would do if this happened to Todd. The point of the story, though, was that immediately when the news of the accident was received, the women of the Church rushed to mourn with those women. I am grateful to be part of a Church that emphasizes comforting and serving others.

Anyway, I'm super glad I went. A girl from the ward saw me come in, and immediately came and grabbed me to sit with the rest of the group, and so I have already been served today :)

Megan

Five Things

I got tagged by Christine, so here it is!

Five things I was doing 10 years ag0:

1) Ugh, seventh grade. I was trying to hide for real. I was enjoying being one of three Megan's in my class :)
2) I was learning to play the oboe in band (yes, I was a band nerd. I still love music though).
3) I think that was a year I played soccer on a boys team. I got slammed one day during practice and my glasses broke. I got contacts, and it was the BEST THING EVER!
4) I was mad at my mom for having another baby (hey, I didn't like sharing!). Don't tell Jacob that. I think I got over that fairly quickly though.
5) Me and my friend Meghan would pass notes using our graphing calculators. We thought we were SO COOL!

Five things on my to-do list:
1) Make it through my first math test. Which I did already thankfully.
2) Go workout tonight at the Rec Center. BSU has a super nice rec area, and I go with some girls from the ward. We usually can't walk the next day :)
3) Constantly apply Orajel. I have this tendency to get canker sores A TON, and a nasty one has hit me. I can't eat. My lips are chapped. The Orajel numbs it for, like, 30 minutes. I need a better fix!
4) Take my vitamins. I'm bad at this. But I also get really bad leg cramps if I don't.
5) Talk to Todd. This is self-explanatory :)

5 snacks I enjoy:
1) Wow. I could go a lot longer than five. Peanut butter m&m's.
2) Butter popcorn with extra butter.
3) These All-Bran crackers. Like Wheat Thins, but without the bleached flour and more fiber. And they actually taste yummy!
4)Now that it's Halloween time, I have a bad of those candy corn pumpkins. SO bad for you, SO good!
5) Kool-Aid. Is that a snack? With the amount of sugar I put in there, I think it qualifies.

5 songs I know the lyrics to:
1) Where do I start? I'll shuffle my nano and see what comes up. Right know is "Big Girls Don't Cry" which is also on Christine's list :)
2) Next song. "Soul Meets Body" by Death Cab for Cutie. I REALLY like this music video. It's kind of weird, but I really like weird sometimes.
3)"Wonderwall" by Oasis. One of my all-time favorite songs. I also like the cover by Ryan Adams. Awesome song. My friend Meghan (mentioned above) got me into Oasis in middle school.
4)"Time After Time" by Quietdrive. A cover of the original 80's song. This one is more rock, and it is ridiculously good (Yes, RIDICULOUSLY!).
5) "When the Stars Go Blue" by Tyler Hilton (I think, some girl sings in it too). Again, another cover. Amazing song to begin with. So good!

Five Things I would Do If I was a Millionaire
1) Todd doesn't like horses, but I would love horseback riding lessons.
2) My dream trip, a Mediterranean cruise!
3) Probably turn it over to Todd, he's a better money manager. But I don't think this should count as one, even though i SHOULd do this! I would buy us both new cars. They are old and could die any day (especially mine, it sounds like a train pulling in).
4) Buy a vacation home. We're not settled enough to have a house, but we can alwasy visit a vacation home! Preferably on the beach anywhere but California.
5) Save it. Todd has taught me the power of interest. I am a believer now :)

5 Bad Habits
1) I bite my nails. I am getting better though!
2) I eat too much junk food. I inherited the Ross sugar tooth, which probably means I will get diabetes when I'm old because of it.
3) I'm messy. Cleaning is boring. I don't let it get too out of hand, but there are a million other things I'd rather doo (especially vacuum and dusting, ugh).
4) I talk too loud. I think I'm deaf and I don't realize I'm talking so loud until Todd is like, "Whoa, Megan, I'm right here." I think it's for competing for my parent's attention along with my like of loud music.
5) I pay too much attention to detail. Sometimes this is a good thing, sometimes it's not because I ask people too many questions. I kind of like to know everything and I'll ask until my curiousity is satisfied. It tires Todd, but I think he's gotten more used to it.

5 things I'd never wear again
1) Those pants with the straps that go around your feet. you know what I'm talking about? I can't remember what they're called.
2) Scrunch socks and scrunchies in my hair. Anything scrunchy, I guess.
3) Leggings. Although they're supposedly cool now. I would just look fat in them.
4) Spandex. Again, not flattering.
5) I second the jelly shoes. They made my feet sweaty!

5 favorite toys
1) I went with my current favorite toys. One is my nano. I love this thing.
2) Picasa. It's easier for me, because Adobe Photoshop freaks me out.
3) My blog!
4) My phone. Especially this month that Todd's been gone.
5) Our TV. We haven't had a TV all summer, and it's been nice to zone out in front of it after class.

Ummm, I will tag Emily and Lindzie and Sachi (haha, yea right!).

More Venting, sorry!

I'm not a political expert or anything, but I can tell you that it would be nice to see liberals actually support their arguments with clear, concise evidence. Until they can do that, I am proud to call myself a conservative. And I still won't vote for Hillary Clinton, so don't try to convince me. My open mind is closed to her!

And that story from Ocean City, MD about Christy Freeman. Disgusting. Arrest her.

Can you tell I've been watching the news too much?

Monogamy

I just have to say quickly that I am very grateful that I grew up in the Church and that I have been taught what a marriage truly is. It is a blessing in my life, and when I look around and see other people that are living their definition of marriage, and not God's meaning, I feel sad for them, and for their children as well. I know our marriage won't be perfect, but I can't help but think that we have a huge advantage as members of the Church.

Last night I was watching TLC, and this show came on called "My Husband's Three Wives." I was curious, especially to see if they were FLDS or RLDS. Nope, this is a guy living in Waller, Texas who "doesn't believe in monogamy." Are you kidding me? My first thought was "What a slimy chauvinistic pig." And the sad thing is, he is a psychologist, and it is his personal belief that monogamy is the greatest cause of divorce. What?? He is legally married to one wife, spiritually married to his first and second wife (whatever that means), and is considering adding a third wife to his family. Not that this whole thing wasn't bizarre, but the thing that really struck my heart were the interviews with his children. One child didn't know which woman was actually his birth mother, and she was living in the house, and he'd grown up with her! Two of the children admitted that they would never have more than one wife/husband, because they saw all of the contention it caused in their own family. I just don't understand it. I don't understand how people's views can become so skewed. There was this shot of him visiting the dad's mother in a nursing home, and she said that she had done a lot of things wrong, but she could never condone her son's decisions. I don't know, I just don't know what planet this guy is coming from. And you could see the tension building in the house (living with three grown women would do that). I'm still in shock. I guess it's just so far from what I've been taught, it just doesn't make sense to me.

In addition, one of the first lines in the show was the first wife saying, "A lot of people ask if we're Mormon, but we're not, we just practice plural marriage." Which leads me to still be incredulous that so many people are still so uninformed that they think LDS members practice polygamy. I guess I just wish that people would do their research instead of jumping to conclusions. Polygamy hasn't been practiced in our church for over 100 years! Ugh, I get so sick of people's misconceptions due to the fact that they don't take the time to find out the facts. Take for example that September Dawn movie, which is such a piece of propaganda it also makes me sick...the "first act of religious terrorism in the United States" is what the trailer said. Really?? What about what the Missourians did to the LDS members in New York, Missouri, Illinois in the 1830's, 1840's, 1850's? Not to mention religious persecution to other sects beside the Mormons. Whatever. Can you tell this kind of stuff makes me angry?

Anyway, I'll stop my venting. Has anyone else seen this show and had opinions about it?

Random

I am addicted to this website. This probably means I will change my template a million times, but I like to change it up every once in a while anyway!

Odds and Ends

Well, I am finally starting to get the ball rolling on some of my school obligations, as well as looking for work. I will be spending three hours a week in a kindergarten class for my literacy class, which will be so much fun! It will be more fun considering I don't have to be the teacher, and I know that it will be a fun learning experience. My first day is tomorrow at Valley View Elementary, which is just about 10 or 15 minutes from where we live, so I'm excited to get to work on that!



I've also decided to substitute again here in the Boise District. I wasn't so sure about doing it again, but I think it was just the stress of getting moved in here. Now that most of that stress is gone, and I'm more comfortable getting around BSU and Boise, I am excited to be a bit busier, especially since Todd isn't around right now to fill up my free time. There are a ton of schools to work at, so hopefully I can avoid middle school like the plague, because I think that's where a lot of my apprehensions about subbing come in. At the most, I would only be working two days a week, so this girl can definitely handle that!








I went to the BSU game last week (yes, by myself!) I was actually quite proud of myself for going on my own. I'm one of those people who likes to be one of the crowd, and this tends to be true even if it's not something I'm interested in! For example, the PGA was in town this summer, and I got jealous because it seemed like EVERYONE else was going, even though it was so stinkin' hot outside and golf is SO boring to watch! So, I didn't want to miss out on the Boise game, and it ended up being fun despite my alone-ness. Plus, they won, so that's always a bonus! It was a fun game to watch, and there's really not that many bad seats in the stadium. I do have to say, though, that Cosmo the Cougar is so much cooler than Boise State's mascot, which is a horse that just walks up and down the stairs. Cosmo could crowd-surf! Plus, BYU's wave goes on way longer than BSU's did, but I think the Edwards Stadium is twice the size of Boise's, so that might have something to do with it. And for anyone familiar with Boise State players (which I doubt any of you are, but still), I DID ride the bus with Ian Johnson the other day, who is somewhat of a celebrity here. And a few other large football players, who looked scary!




It was very exciting to see Emily the other day. It's so nice to see a familiar face around here, especially when it seems like it's been SO long since I've seen any of my "Provo" friends. The ward here does seem super nice, and so I have that I can acclimate to it quickly. I'm not the best at being super outgoing and friendly around people I don't know, and it's harder without Todd here, so we'll see how that goes! Hopefully, when Todd gets back and settled, we can take a trip down to Provo to see everyone. We've promised ourselves we MUST go skiing this winter (since we totally missed out last winter), and so Utah seems to be in the future anyway.

I guess that's the update!

Angry milk

CAUTION: Megan whines a bit in this post, please indulge.

Milk does NOT do my body good. Among other not so fortunate things passed down through the family genes (like my terrible eyesight, I still love ya Mom and Dad), I was blessed with a terrible digestive system. Luckily, I'm not allergic to dairy products, but I am lactose-intolerant. Unfortunately, I didn't become this way until my sophomore year at BYU, and so I really know what I'm missing out on (it was probably the gluttony at the ice cream station at the Cannon Center freshman year that did it). Luckily, I can handle some dairy as long as I have small amounts, but there are a few things I can't really ever have: milk and ice cream. This makes me really sad sometimes, as ice cream sundaes used to be a favorite of mine, as well as ice cream cakes and milkshakes. However, now they just make me ill, and since I married a man who LOVES ice cream and was blessed with an amazing digestive system (hence the nickname "garbage disposal"), I am learning the strength of my willpower (read: not very strong). These words of comfort from my mom: "Well, at least you'll never be fat."

I can generally handle small amounts of cheese and sour cream, but pizza tends to be too much. I also have a stomach doesn't really handle high amounts of grease and sugar, including anything with lots of high fructose corn syrup, bleached flour, etc etc. So, I have to be careful about my chocolate intake, eat only whole wheat bread, and try to stay away from the fast food. This is all well and good, and healthier for me, but I REALLY like my Arby's roast beef and Chik-Fil-A chicken sandwich and McD's fries dipped in sweet and sour sauce every once in a while. I REALLY like breadsticks and rolls and peanut butter cups. Who doesn't? Who could resist a Subway sandwich with the oil AND the vinegar AND the mayonaise? My stomach, apparently. It let me know this past week that it will not tolerate milk chocolate, extra butter and sour cream, and pizza. It WILL be angry with me if I don't eat enough broccoli, corn, and fresh fruit.

And the thing is, I haven't had chocolate in three days now, which is saying a WHOLE lot for me. The chocolate has been relegated to the forbidden shelf for Todd to eat. I have been eating lots of fresh corn, salad, fresh strawberries and cantaloupe, and to help my sweet tooth, I have stuck to lactose-free sorbet. And you know what? I do miss it, and it hasn't been that long, and I'm sure there are times when I will cave and get that roast beef or try that chocolate. But, I'm feeling better. My teeth are thanking me, my bones are thanking me (for the calcium I have to take because I don't drink milk), and my stomach especially is thanking me. I'm hoping that I can stay on track, stay healthy, and create a love of all things green, cuz I'm not quite to that "feelin the love" for veggies stage.

And secretly, I'm hoping that maybe, just maybe, what happened to Christine will happen to me. When she got pregnant, the lactose-intolerant thing went away--nice, huh? I would be LOVING that! That might still be awhile though...

When the cat is away, the mice will play...

...Is that how it goes?

Well, anyway, its what Todd always tells me when I shop while he's gone. Now that he's due to be gone about a month (please, please, PLEASE let it be LESS than that!), here is a list of things I do (or don't do) when he's away. Remember, though, that I would gladly trade all of this for him being back home.

1. I watch a lot of TV. Maybe it sounds pathetic, but I have no shame. I can now watch as much TLC and Top Chef and Designstar as I would like, and when Todd comes back, we'll go back to Fox News and watching movies. I have also discovered a lot of crap TV, which I mentioned in my last post (Rock of Love? FOUR Spanish channels? That channel that only plays Comcast commercials all day?). It will make your brain rot, I promise.

2. I get scared of the dark. I'm serious, man. I hate being in here alone at night. Now, I'm not looking for any sympathy, but it is a little unnerving, especially when the water pipes are ridiculously loud, and we're on the first floor, an easy break-in target. Which also leads me to say that I don't watch any CSI or Law and Order type shows when Todd is gone because I go into "psycho killers are always out there" mode. Last night, as I walked home from the BSU game, I actually thought to myself, "It's dark out here. Someone could grab me and throw me in the river and no one would know." Paranoid, no?

3. I still make the bed every day. Maybe this is a given for most people. However, Todd thinks that throwing the sheets and comforter back on in a fairly organized way is making the bed, especially since we just mess it up anyway when we go to bed. I am a bit more OCD about the bed making, everything has to be straight, the pillows in the right way, the comforter and sheets even. So I can now be OCD as much as I like.

4. I got to decorate and organize our apartment the way I want. Todd's idea of organizing, and I love him regardless, is to throw his stuff in a shoebox, close it with duct tape, and stuff it under the bed. He has a hard time with the fact that I like things organized into baskets and onto shelves. I'm not saying I'm the most organized person, but I still want it to look nice, and he's gone so I get to do it without any lip!

5. Todd never uses the dishwasher, and I always use the dishwasher. We are getting our money's worth out of the dishwasher this month!

6. I don't have to shave my legs, haha.

7. I can read the 100 hour board as much as I want without getting made fun of (theboard.byu.edu if you are curious).

Anyway, that's most of the list, I started getting depressed while writing this so I figured I better stop. Pictures of our apartment will be coming soon, I've gotta figure out where I put the camera! And now I'm going to get some hot chocolate, I'm FREEZING FROM CHURCH!!!

High School Musical, anyone?

Is it pathetic that I actually like High School Musical? And am now watching High School Musical 2 on TV, all 23 years of me? And that I almost, ALMOST, considered doing the Dance-A-Long, alone, in my apartment? Am I going crazy?

Mind you, High School Musical is pretty wholesome (except for the newly released Vanessa Hudgens immodesty issue, UGH!). And, on another TV note, Todd and I are NEVER getting dish while we have kids. There is SO much bad TV on. It's ridiculous and unnecessary. And MTV (and VH1 and E! and that show about Paris Hilton) is so stupid. There, I said it. Who cares about rich kids living in Orange County? I hope my kids grow up with a head on their shoulders so that they can see past all that superficial, waste-of-time drivel.

So I guess I'll stick with my HSM2, thank you very much.

One more thing. For those of you reading Stephanie Meyer's Twilight series, I just finished Eclipse. I hate Jacob Black too. Jerk. And Bella for liking, no LOVING, him. Whatever. I'm over it (can you tell I've invested myself a little TOO much in these books?) Anyone else read this book and have thoughts on it?

I love football!

I think it all began with my granny. No, seriously. Being mostly from Pittsburgh, my family are big Steelers fans (even when they stink, which has been a lot), and even though we visited my granny a lot because she lived close, a lot of those times I remember there being a Steelers game on the TV, and it would stay on during dinner. Wow, that was a run-on sentence if I ever saw one. Sorry about that. Anyway, my 87 year old grandmother will still have a football game on occasionally when I come home, and if she can be into football, anyone can!

If you went to Delmar High School, chances are you are probably a football fan too. Maybe it was living in a small town, maybe because the team was pretty decent the last few years of high school, maybe it was because I had friends on the team, or traveled to all the games because I was in band. Whatever it was, I love fall because of football season. (I think that's your bro, Casie, with his back to us, haha).

To top it all off, it seems that most places I have lived since high school have a high sense of pride in their university football teams. Cougar football anyone? I will FOREVER be a BYU football fan (House of Payne? The Darth Vader song?) Sacramento wasn't so much a football town, but Tulsa was filled with SUV's bearing OU or OSU stickers. Now being in Boise, it feels like home again. The blue and orange flags fly from cars (interestingly enough, my high school colors were blue and orange), half the people in Wal-Mart today wore BSU shirts, and you should have seen the pilgramage to the stadium last week.

Yeah, I love football, even when my team is losing (is Washington really THAT good?)! Oh, and good luck, Cougars, tonight!