Things That Are Awesome

The following are things that Ryan currently thinks are awesome. They are not necessarily, however, listed in order of awesomeness.

#1: My Skull Sweater

I was at the mall with Schuyler earlier this month and I was in the middle of telling her that I was tired of skulls on every shirt. I mean, skulls were maybe cool in 2007, but not any more. We then happened to enter Aeropostale and stumbled across a skull sweater all alone on a rack full of pants. A check of the price tag revealed that the skull sweater was marked down from $79.50 to $9.99. I couldn't stop laughing about the sweater and I pretty much had to buy it, despite Schuyler's protests. Blurry picture warning (it's the price tag):

#2: Hand Held Yahtzee

I've always loved Yahtzee. My sister Patrice and I used to play Yahtzee all the time. We even kept our old scorecards and would occasionally examine them to see who had the all-time highest score and such. Well, just this last month, I found that Schuyler has been holding out on me and actually OWNS an electronic hand-held Yahtzee. I've been in heaven ever since.

#3: The Biggest Loser

Schuyler and I have a DVR and we record a lot of shows. Of all the reality shows we watch, the Biggest Loser is my favorite. This particular season has been fun so far -- two teams of Mormons?! I'm hooked.

Happy New Year

We'd like to explain our last post. The pictures were of a "saint" and a "george" implying that we're moving to St. George this May for Ryan's externship. We are so excited to get back to Utah, be closer to family and still have warm weather. Sorry if those pictures frightened anyone. Boy George was especially scary, that's why we chose him.


In other news, we had a wonderful Christmas. We wish we could have been with family, but we had a blast with just the two of us. We enjoyed a nice Arby's dinner for Christmas Eve. We were going to cook a roast, but got too lazy that night, so Arby's was our solution. I promise I'm not that bad of a wife usually. Christmas day we slept in, opened presents and saw the movie Doubt.We really liked the movie and even got free movie passes from it because of technical difficulties during the film. For Christmas dinner we grilled steak and shrimp (that's become our Christmas tradition). Hopefully in the next few years we'll be able to host Christmas at our house.

And the winner is...

December Update

We wanted to show you what we've been up to so far in December.

Ryan's mom came down for a quick one-day visit. It was so fun to spend time with her and Doug.

We spent most of the day at the Desert Museum. It's like a zoo, but it has the animals in their natural habitat. So you're pretty much just walking through the desert.

We watched a free-fly bird show- meaning there were wild hawks flying above us and swooping at us. If you look closely at this picture of Ryan, you can see the bird in the background. This was not my favorite part of the day. As you can see, Ryan was ecstatic. He loves the zoo.

Behind us is the cutest fox in the world. I fell in love with him. He was just so cute.

We've also been enjoying the Christmas season. We went to my work Christmas party on the 11th. It turned out well, even though it took place in our backroom. I got spoiled by the associates with gift cards and a winning lottery ticket ($5)!

Ryan also braved the drug wars going on in Nogales, Mexico to provide audiological services. Basically he volunteered to help get hearing aids to needy Mexicans.

This is the group Ryan went down with. Thankfully, none of them got shot. (There have been over 100 murders in Nogales this year and multiple shoot-outs in the streets.)

We're excited for the second half of the month and hope everyone is enjoying their holiday season as much as we are!

It's just that I'm bored...

I've been tagged a few times this last month, so as not to disappoint the fans... Or just so I have something to post, I'll do a couple of them. Feel free to skip through. It's not that exciting!

Tag #1
This first one was a tag by one of my favorite friends Katie Glaz (that's what we call you Kate, no ier). Here you go...

Joys: I love coming home from work. There's nothing better than being home after being gone all day. I love running. I love the way I feel after I run. It makes me so content. I love being with my husband. I'm totally happy with anything as long as my husband is there with me

Fears: I'm terrified of being home alone all night long. I can't handle it. I "sleep" with the TV on and it does not work well. I'm scared that I will never want to have kids. I fear that I'll just have them to have them, but not find the joy in it.

Obsessions: I didn't think I had any obsessions, until I asked Ryan. Here's what he came up with... I'm obsessed with reality TV-I'll put TV in general. I definitely have our shows for the week lined up and ready to go on the DVR. I'm also obsessed with sweets. I love sugar. I can't get enough of it. I'm trying to be better.

Collections: I used to have a ton of collections, earrings, Zack Morris and Jonathan Taylor Thomas pics, NSYNC stuff, even DVDs. That has all died down. I don't really collect much of anything anymore.

Surprising Facts: I recently just got obsessed with playing Tetris again. It's a little handheld Tetris. It lays around the house whenever I get a free moment, I love to play it. Ryan just got the high score that I don't think I will ever beat. Also, I try to get as many people into The Office as possible. I loaned our DVD seasons to some co-workers and they are hooked. I love it. I figure that most people that read this already know me pretty well- I don't think I can surprise you with much.

Tag #2
This next tag was from a long lost friend, and an amazing former roommate- Alison Warner. Thanks for thinking of me Ali-

Seven Things

Seven Things I can Do:
1. I can make a mean Orange Julius and a mean Chocolate Chip Cookie.
2. I have a pretty fast ten key. Too much register time.
3. I can memorize songs pretty quickly.
4. Ryan wanted me to write that I can run an entire Wal-Mart by myself, but that's not true. I couldn't run it without my associates. I can definitely take charge of an entire Wal-Mart all by myself.
5. I can keep a consistent journal. I love writing in my journal and reading through my old ones.
6. I can interact with anyone at anytime while I'm at work. It's like I have a different persona while I'm there.
7. I can watch the movie Center Stage over and over again without getting bored.

Seven Things I Cannot Do:
1. I cannot blog. I know that I am blogging now, but I have the hardest time doing it. It always puts me in a bad mood and I just don't like to do it. I can't blog.
2. I can't sit still when I'm at work. If I'm there, I have to be doing something. Sitting in the office drives me insane.
3. I can't tell the Gosselin sextuplet girls apart- from the show John & Kate Plus 8 -no matter how hard I try.
4. I can't read a book without feeling guilty that I should be reading my Scriptures instead.
5. I can't be super outgoing when I first meet someone. It takes me awhile to come out of my shell. If I am more talkative at first, I'm forcing it.
6. I can't retell a story or explain a conversation I had. It's always jumbled and I always forget what was said by the other person. I know in my head what happened, but I can't put it into words.
7. I can't discipline someone at work without feeling guilty or second guessing my decision (unless it's over attendance.)

Seven Things that attracted me to my husband:
1. He's one of the funniest people I have ever met. He has made me laugh since the day I met him.
2. He has an amazing testimony of the Gospel. His knowledge and faith is so inspiring.
3. He laughs at me. This is a big deal. I have a hard time with people if they don't find me funny. I love it when Ryan legitimately thinks I said something funny.
4. He is unbelievably motivated. He will do anything and everything to be the best he can be.
5. How well we get along. We have never fought and we just understand and love being around each other
6. How well he can explain and teach me anything. I'm so impressed by his knowledge and how well he retains it. I can ask him about anything and he will explain it in a way that I can understand.
7. He is so sweet. He always wants me to be happy. He's such an amazing guy, I need more than seven things to describe him.

Seven Things I most often Say:
1. "Whatever"- I say this after anyone makes any sort of sarcastic comment. I didn't even realize I said it so much until my Store Manager started doing it to make fun of me.
2. "Thanks for Playing"- This is my favorite saying ever. It's usually said after someone does something they shouldn't do or shouldn't have done. It's hilarious, it gets laughs every time.
3. "Totally"- I throw this in the middle of sentences way too often
4. "Ew"- used in the same context as whatever
5. "Och"- long story, but it means OK.
6. "I hate my job"- I say this way too often-it makes me feel a little guilty, but then something happens to justify it.
7.It's not really a saying, but Ryan and I shorten any word and add an "s" on the end, example- dins (dinner), breaks (breakfast), etc.

Seven celebrity admirations:
*As a side note, this one was my least favorite. I don't think I admire any of these celebrities. I could only think of people that I would be interested to watch if they were on a talk show.
1. Justin Timberlake- I don't admire him and I don't really love him, but he'll always have a special spot in my heart
2. Barack Obama- I'm excited for his presidency and for what it means for our country
3. Julianne Hough- I will always vote for her on Dancing with the Stars
4. Bob Harper- He is so sweet on The Biggest Loser, I always love Bob's team, except this year. I want them all to go home
5. Any star on The Office, except Meredith
6. I think that #5 makes up for #6
7. My mom- she's an author and other people have put authors. She may not be as famous, but I think she is in her own right. Besides, this celebrity section is lame.

Seven favorite foods:
1. Cafe Rio Salads
2. Candy Necklaces (not a food, but it can be)
3. Cereal (Lucky Charms)
4. Cheese
5. Pizza
6. Plain old salad with ranch, or caesar
7. Ryan's Guacamole

Seven friends I tag:
1. Tiff
2. Diane
3. Rachel
4. Megan
5. Katie
6. Swa
7. Amy

The Big 2-8!

Yesterday was Ryan's birthday!! We enjoyed a fun night at the Melting Pot and enjoyed some apple crisp at home with his brother Richie. I hope you had a good birthday Ryan! I love you so much and can't wait to spend more birthdays together!

Yes We Can!

My faith in America has been restored. I have never been a bleeding-heart liberal. I have never even considered myself a democrat. I am a registered independent and consider myself capable of making a decision in an election regardless of political party. That having been said, I felt that America was in desparate need of change. Illegally imprisoning political prisoners, torturing captives in Guantanamo, spying on the citizens of America, an economic crisis, and two poorly-planned wars had me fed up. Never in my lifetime have the people of America been so pessimistic about the state of the country.

Enter Barack Obama. I first heard of Obama during the presidential election in 2004. Newsweek magazine reported that the unexpected highlight of the democratic convention was a speech by a young black political newcomer with a funny name. Newsweek listed him as someone to watch as a long-shot presidential candidate in 2008. My interest was piqued.

Over the next few years I paid attention every time I saw his name in print. I was impressed that there was never anything negative to report about him. Everyone that ever worked with him in any capacity had only glowing reports. Here was a man that transcended race: he has a Kenyan father and an American mother. Here was a man that transcended culture: he was born in Hawaii but spent his childhood in Indonesia and had a middle-eastern middle name. Here was a man that even transcended religion: his father was a Muslim-turned-atheist but Barack was raised by his Christian grandparents.

I became even more impressed with him as I watched him build the most successful grass-roots campaign in American history. He took on the Clinton machine and beat it. He gave the most eloquent, awe-inspiring speeches I have ever heard. He spoke of healing America, working together, and moving forward. He was accused of being too inexperienced but yet he out-planned, out-organized, and out-worked his "experienced" opponents. He faced endless attacks and smears, yet he consistently took the high road and refused to fight back.

On November 4, I wasn't sure that the American people would be able to see through the lies and the fear-mongering. Obama is a socialist! Barack is a Muslim! Barack Obama kills babies! Give me a break. People can see through these desparate lies, can't they? I wasn't so sure.

Yesterday my faith in this country was restored. For the first time in my life I felt a great sense of pride in my President. I can't describe how inspired I was by his acceptance speech. I loved his line about dispelling the myth of this generation's apathy. I was moved by his call for help from the American people. I was happy to hear him say that he will always listen to the American people, especially, he said, when we disagree.

I can't help but feel that something truly momentous happened yesterday. I had a professor today say that this election would likely be the greatest historic event in our lives. I feel that we showed the world that our brand of democracy works. I feel that we showed the world that America is still the land of opportunity. I feel that a new day has dawned on America. Never before in my lifetime have I been so optimistic about the prospects of our future.