Then & Now

My old roommate, Julie, was in town visiting her family for Christmas and wanted to see my new place so we decided to do a little roommate reunion with Shanna and her husband. We had so much fun enjoying dinner together, reminiscing old times and laugh-offs with Paul and company and trying to decide if Paul naming his daughter Chloe was for real since that is what we had named our imaginary apartment child and he totally made fun of us for it!

We had to re-enact this old picture from 5 years ago:


And after we did, it was said, "I think I pulled something!" ha ha! What 5 years can do to you. :)


Here are a couple cute pictures with their husbands and kids (Matthew and Bridget, Julie and Whitney, me, Shanna and Spencer).

Christmas!

Merry belated Christmas! Christmas was wonderful... as usual. I went home to Idaho for a few days.

I borrowed my brother-in-law's carpool van to take home to Boise so I could bring back my old daybed for my guest room. And when I picked it up he told me there might be a mouse in it! So me, the mouse-mobile, the mouse and the mouse trap drove to Boise together and then back to Utah with my old daybed and all the bedding I could ever want. This is when I'm grateful and more than cooperative than usual in accepting my mom's off-loading. But thankfully I didn't have any run-ins with the mouse... and unfortunately, neither did the mouse trap.

Christmas Eve was the usual big event of a million appetizers, a ham dinner, a fun white-elephant gift exchange (one where mom got a beloved President Barack Obama commemorative plate - she actually doesn't care for Obama so it was really funny that she got it), a tradition of opening a real gift from mom, and then the family photo that I always insist on taking.

If we didn't get enough eating done on Christmas Eve then we polished it off on Christmas Day at my sister Jill's house: appetizers to munch on all day, soup for dinner, more yummy appetizers, movies, tours of the kids' Christmas loot, and more movies.

I went skiing at my old haunt of a ski hill, Bogus Basin, with my sister Robyn, her husband Doug and my nephew Trevor. It was a classic day of skiing - driving around Boise on a very cloudy day, ascending up the foothills to the resort and climbing out of the muck of clouds into a beautiful sunny day of skiing. It was pretty cold and I was glad Trevor tuned my skis because I needed my edges sharp for the ice I encountered on the slopes! Super fun times as usual!

And now we're on to a new year! And here it comes! 2010!!

My Quilting Work Station!

This weekend I spent my gift card to IKEA from my realtor... on a couple bookcases, a glass table top and some baskets and pails for storage and made myself a quilting work station! I loooove it. Maybe it will motivate me to actually get quilting again. :)

And since pictures are worth a thousand words here are two for you:

The framed metal looking thing is my magnet board that I'll eventually paint and hang above my pails.
And this one is how we got the glass table-top home... inside my car and yes... my good-sport of a friend, Jen, had to sit in the backseat because the table top was extended over the front passenger seat. I can fold down my backseat, but for whatever dorky reason, Honda decided you don't need all that width so the hole from my backseat into the trunk was an inch shy of being wide enough for the table top. Dang! It was a true adventure.

Trouble with Ski Patrol

So a couple friends and I went skiing yesterday ... at Brighton. Their base not very deep at the time, but they had received a bunch of new snow and so it was deceivingly good! Deceptive because it made you wanna go find some freshies but then you'd hit the rocks and that's where it deceived you. But we had a good time until.....

We came across the unreasonable, poor ski patrol... why he ever chose to patrol at Brighton with all the attitudy snow-boarders is beyond me, but it showed in his reaction to us and his absolute refusal to even reason with us. On the run earlier to running into this ski patroler, we found a fabulous, quiet and untouched little hidden gully - not a single rock was found in the beautiful powder back there! So we decided to do it again and that is when we ran into the ski patroler. Come to find out, the run was closed and we had no clue. There was not a single sign, rope or barrier at the entrance we went through. We tried to tell him that but he would not give us the time of day. There were 2 other parties of skiers back there (okay - one of the parties was snowboarders and we think they are the one that gave him lip and set him off) and so you would think logic would tell him that there must be a spot or two that wasn't marked well, but logic was not reaching this ski patroler's thoughts... only red fury... because he was going to cut our passes and we had to get out of his sight or else he was going to call the sheriff!

Seeing a lost cause, we complied and let him cut a corner off our passes and then we got out of dodge. Thinking they could do no worse to us... I suggested we race all the way to the bottom - which we did... and I won! :) But then Jason and Nate wanted to let ski patrol at the base know where we went in so they could mark it better and so that no one else would get in trouble. That's when we found out that we had only been warned! Good grief! So we went skiing some more and we even hung out by our entrance to wait for ski patrol to say this is where it needs to be marked better... but no other ski patrol came by and 9 other skiers/snowboarders went back there in the few minutes that we waited by it. Good gravy.

So that was a first for all three of us... and it must have shown at the bottom with the ski patrol there because we were telling them our passes were cut and they must have thought we were nuts since a corner cut-off only means a warning! Ha ha! I'm sure we gave them a good laugh.

So meet me, Jason and Nate. We are the Brighton Bad Boys! :)

Random New Favorite Things

• Driving down the neighborhood street to my place where all the houses have Christmas lights up! Didn't see that in the single-hood-ville that was my previous neighborhood.

• My baking center. The photo says everything, right? Everything you need to bake with at your finger tips. No more going all over the kitchen to gather ingredients or put them away. The baking center consists of the cupboard and the two drawers below it. Grab what you need from, measure it, put it right back! (Got the idea from Pleasant Home. Thanks Jodi!) Okay. Okay. Yes. It is also hot chocolate central. And yes there are 12 different kinds of hot chocolate in there. :)

• My new slippers. I never thought I'd get slippers, but my place is kind of cold... and so I bought some and I looooove them. Teri - they are just like yours. :)

• Already getting mail from friends at my new place - addressed to my new place. That's one of the perks of moving just before Christmas card season.

• Having a laundry basket for whites and one for colors... and more importantly room to have two baskets in my closet!

• My washing machine. Still. It's probably done 20 loads of washing. And it's going to get me $150 in rebates from my utility companies for being energy star rated. It's the purchase that keeps giving. And! I haven't even washed my sleeping bag, down coats, or quilts in it yet. Wait until I wash those - then you'll see excitement.

• My special dishes cupboard. Some of those have been packed away for years! It was like an early Christmas unpacking them. The blue Wedgwood mugs were purchased on my beloved study-abroad in England. Rice dishes from wonderful memories in San Francisco's Chinatown with my sister(s). A darling hot chocolate pot from friends that know me well. And mugs from all different people and times throughout my life. And a few childhood pieces. Sigh. :)
  

Tour of my Condo

Okay! Here they are!! Photos of my condo that I bought. I've really enjoyed living here so far. It's definitely a little quiet at night, but thankfully I can hear the people above me - they aren't too loud - so that makes me feel like I'm not alone in the big place! I've really loved getting settle and opening all my boxes of storage. It's been like an early Christmas! And I loooooove having a kitchen to myself and a fridge. That has been the funnest part - to organize my kitchen. I still have a lot to do, but I think that is the fun part!

(The descriptions for the associated photo are on top of the photo.)

My buildingThe outside of my condo. I think the tall grass is cool.
And this is my patio. I have a little storage closet off of my patio. There is a picture below of the closet.Looking into my living room.A straight-on photo of my beautiful bookshelves and entertainment center.
See the antique skis?Other view of my living room - with my entry way. There is the cutout into my kitchen.My beautiful couch and pillows from Pier 1! And my star quilt.My wonderful kitchen with tile floors, granite countertops, and stainless steel appliances.
My laundry room! This was the cherry-on-top that convinced me to buy this place.
The guest "Rubber Ducky" bathroom.
The guest bedroom - kind of lacking in a bed right now, but it will get my old day bed soon.My hobby room - a little cluttery right now. It is housing all the random stuff that I haven't found a home for yet. My "Parisian Escape" master bathroom.
Don't you just love the toile shower curtain and Eiffel Tower photo?
I also have a jetted tub.Master bedroom.Master bedroom from another angle.My awesome walk-in closet!! This is only half of it. My storage closet: full of my bikes, skis, snowshoes, and other random stuff!

That's it!! Welcome to my home! :)

Time for the Winter Blog Mast and.....

Photos of my place tomorrow! Be excited! :)

431 for a Stress Score

I was talking to a colleague at work today about the stress I'm under right now... of stuff that has all occurred within the past week and a half!! She mentioned that there is a theory out there that adds up your stress score. So I googled it. It's called the Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale. They say a score above 300 indicates you are prone to illness. Woo hoo! That usually does happen to me when I'm feeling stressed. It usually comes out in TMJ symptoms... I've never been officially diagnosed... I've only experienced the symptoms.

So here is my list of stress causing events that have occurred in the last month with most of them occurring in the last week and a half. Whoa. But you know what is pretty cool... I think I'm doing okay. I think I usually handle stress pretty well.

• Relationship ended (2 times) - enough said
  
• Relationship reconciliation - enough said
  
• Change in financial state - really! Buying this house is really stretching my dollar after I've been living the high life for a while.
  
• Major mortgage - enough said
  
• Change in responsibilities at work - my new job as an instructional designer wannabe
  
• Change in living conditions - new condo, no garage, no roommates - for the first time ever! I've always had someone in my house with me.
  
• Revision of personal habits - my gym routine! Ugh! And my commute is a bit longer.
  
• Change in working hours or conditions - mostly change in the building I work in... away from my closest colleagues
  
• Change in residence - enough said
  
• Change in recreation - I think so cuz I'm further away from all my favorite friends, movie theaters, restaurants, etc.
  
• Change in church activities - new ward, no calling, probably a new calling now
  
• Change in social activities - new friends, new neighbors, no roommates, new ward...
  
• Christmas - I just had to tack that one on there since Christmas is coming up. :)
  

I Am Now a Homeowner

Well, folks. The deed is done. The 20 million signatures have been signed and the ink dried now for 10 hours. I don't have the keys yet... good ole Fannie Mae needs 3 business days to process and record the closing before I can get the keys. But I'll have them by Friday so I can move in on Saturday as hoped for and desired. I CANNOT BELIEVE I AM A HOMEOWNER!!! So wild!

The place is absolutely beautiful.... I studied it in detail this afternoon and evening... during my extremely long and thorough last walk-through (in which I also cleaned as I checked out everything). I was really hoping to get the keys today so I could spread out the cleaning and last of the packing over the next few nights, but since I don't have them yet... I did my cleaning all this afternoon and well into the evening - all under the guise of a last walk-through. :) And then I hid my cleaning supplies so nothing would look suspicious.

Tomorrow they will change the locks on everything. And I'm really glad I exercised self-control and did not buy the remaining big ticket items yet because my money to bring to closing ended up being $600 more than expected. I had a feeling something like that would happen. And most of that extra money had to do with my HOA - the transfer fee, the prorated fee for the rest of this month and the 2 months paid in advance. Good gravy! But it's done. I'm home. And I'm going to bed. (Yes. Yes. Pictures will come... but give me some time to get moved in and unpack... ;))

Random "Lately" Thoughts

We got our first real snowfall yesterday. I usually take a picture out in it... but ... meh. What's wrong with me?! That is a tradition of mine. Guh! We've seen snow fly before but it didn't stick like this one did. Yay for snow! And Yay for my favorite season.


So BYU is still in a hiring freeze... and we just received notice from a woman in my department that she is leaving. The work she is doing happens to be our vice president's pet project... so needless to say it is my big boss's pet project as well and he doesn't want to see it fall by the wayside. So guess who they asked to take over her job? A job I know nothing about!?! Yeah. Me. She is an On-line Training and Development Consultant in our Human Resource Development department. So yeah... nothing to do with my current job. But I guess my big boss discussed it with all the directors in HRS and they all decided that I would be the best one to replace her since I'm a quick-learner, have a really good technical aptitude, good influencing skills and good organization skills - those were all adjectives that they used to describe me apparently. I'm kind of excited about it... but I'm also really nervous. I'm only going to get 6 days of training with her. But I was thinking about it Friday morning, and you know what? I'm getting the best aspects of moving to Seattle ... a new place to live which happens to be my own place and a new job! And none of the scary aspects... the stress of making new friends, the rainy weather (which I don't think I would have really minded), the stress of dealing with a vastly different work environment, etc.


I got my season pass to Sundance in the mail this last week... the picture is horrible! It is orange. Good grief.


I'm set to close on my condo on Tuesday. Yay! Exciting. I'll get the keys then but I won't be able to take possession until Saturday so I'm planning on taking this week to get the carpets cleaned and clean the whole place thoroughly while it is empty. So I went to Wally-world (Wal-mart) yesterday to buy the cleaning supplies I needed... holy cow. It was so fun to pick out the cleaning supplies! I know. I'm a nerd.


I bought a couple books that I've really enjoyed flipping through - Pottery Barn's "Home" which is all about planning living spaces throughout your home and of course it has beautiful pictures and ideas for decorating. And Martha Stewart's "Homekeeping Handbook" which has everything in it that you can imagine - from setting the table for a fancy dinner to maintaining your furnace. Very cool - I stayed up until 3 am looking through all 700 pages of that last one.


And if you are still reading this... then I can tell you an update on my time-occupier, John. We're not together anymore. It wasn't really a quick relationship, even though I just barely mentioned him on my blog. In fact it was a roller-coaster for 7 months... maybe 8 months. I just have a policy of not mentioning boyfriends on my blog until it seems like it might be a long enough or stable enough relationship to broadcast on the internet. :) We dated back in April, broke up, couldn't get over each other all summer, and then we got back together late October... now we've broken up again and hopefully it is for good this time. It's probably for good since he de-friended me on Facebook... which that little action bugs/hurts me more than being broken up. Weird. Don't worry about me... the Lord is carrying me right now and I actually feel pretty good considering the circumstances.


Happy quiet, snowy Sabbath everyone!

Occupying my Time Lately

So life has been pretty busy. It's amazing how much time buying a place can suck up. I'm burning through my vacation time pretty bad - what with taking time to meet with my lender and sign his documents, going to retail stores to pick out my appliances and being there to help get them delivered to my new place. Good gravy!

I'm also burning through my money pretty quick too... earnest money, inspection, appraisal, vacuum, couch, TV, 16 quart stockpot (since I'm going to miss my roommate's too much to not buy one of my own), knives, and now my down payment... yikes!

And yes - I did discover a couch that I love and I bought it! I didn't think I'd get leather, but... eh... I liked it and the more I looked at and sat on it the more I loved it. I've tried to see if I can put a pic of it here on the entry... but I guess you'll have to wait until the tour of my new place.... which won't be too much longer now since we're shooting for a November 17th close date. Woo hoo! It cannot come any faster... I wish it were here today! I'm so excited that I'm going to start packing this weekend. :)

And then, yes, there is another time occupier... John. :)

May I Introduce You to....

My brand-spanking-new appliances that I only paid $250 out of pocket for (the sellers paid the remaining cost!). I am utterly in love with them. And I haven't even used them yet!!

The LG front-loader washer and dryer. Not the biggest ever - in fact they are the smallest LG makes, but hey! I'm only living there by myself and the most important part: I can wash my sleeping bags in them, my down coats, and my quilts that I make. Supposedly I can wash my queen-size comforter in it too. Oh! And the washer is Energy Star - it has its own water heater so my local gas company will give me a rebate!! And the drum moves by way of magnets (or something rather) rather than a belt. :)

And then my refrigerator! It's a GE ... "Stainless Clean" - I think that's what they call it. It's not real stainless steel, but it won't show the fingerprints that stainless steel does and it will hold magnets, and it was $100 cheaper than the stainless steel version. It's an Energy Star too!!
Whoever would have thought I'd be so excited about appliances.... but I think I am because the sellers are paying for them!

Big News on a Fun Day!!

Woo hoo! I haven't had a blog entry like this in a long time!! I have three posts in one to write tonight.

#1
I made an offer on a condo in Springville yesterday... and today they accepted it!! They didn't even counter my offer - and we asked for them to pay my closing costs and give me an appliance allowance. Can you believe that?! I'm so stoked. And it will be perfect timing because we're due to close by November 20th - which is the very day my roommate gets married. And that's in time for the $8,000 credit. It's beautiful. I'll post pictures later - probably in December - when I'm all moved in.

#2
I bought my first ever season pass to a ski resort today... and to all places... Sundance! Can you believe it? I never would have thought. I never liked Sundance in the past because they got so little snow and they have so few runs and lifts. But... when I discovered that the pass also got me access to free mountain biking in the summer and free moon-lit lift rides... I was sold. So I took the dive today!

#3
I played hooky from work with Lindsey today and we went antique shop hopping (in addition to buying our season passes). Since we were up at Sundance and headed to American Fork to the next antique shop we decided to drive around the Alpine Loop and enjoy the fall colors. They were gorgeous!! It was a such a fun day. And I even bought a few pieces for my new place at the antique shop in American Fork - an end table, small dresser, antique hand-crank sewing machine and cool old frame.

I cannot wait to start decorating my house!! And organizing where I will put stuff in the kitchen and laundry room and guest rooms. Oh man. I am so ecstatic!

And Pemberley Goes to Caroline Bingley

Well, my beloved condo at Pemberley has slipped out of my hands. It has gone to the other buyer. :( This is not at all how Jane Austen intended! (And a bitter side note: the buyer was getting a VA loan... for veterans... so the odds are likely that he will not appreciate the ties back to Pride & Prejudice in his new residence.)

I am now back to the drawing board.

Wordless Wednesday - Still Waiting to Hear on my Dream-Condo

Pursuing Some Progression

Well, I think I may have found the avenue of progression that is fitting just right! Buying a place here in Utah.

I know, I know... what happened to Seattle? Well.... the economy happened. And it's not off my radar entirely... if an excellent job crops up then awesome! I'll move up there and I'll sell my place and have a little money to take with me so I can buy another place.

So back to the news: I found myself a real estate agent and we looked at some properties here in Provo... but .... no. They were not for me. And then we went to Pleasant Grove and Springville on this last Thursday. The Springville places were not great either. But Pleasant Grove, oh Pleasant Grove! Actually, I spied a condo WITH A GARAGE in a development in Pleasant Grove on the internet before I ever contacted my agent. I just had a feeling about that place... that'd I love it and that it would be just right! There was another place in Pleasant Grove (PG) that was really nice, but it just seemed so big.... so not "me-sized". Plus, it didn't have a garage - only a car port. But I will say it is my second-choice.

So anyways... my first choice: It's in a development called... and get how appropriate this is: Pemberley!! (The pictures in this post are of Pemberley.) Pemberley is from Pride & Prejudice!! It is Mr. Darcy's mansion!! And guess who owns 3 different versions of Pride & Prejudice (movies)? ME!! And to take it a step further, the floor plans are even named "Bennett", "Wickham", "Collins" and "Meryton" from the book and movies!! Just by the name of development it is soooo appropriate that I live there. :)

The more time passes since I walked through the condo, the more I know this is where I am supposed to be. Everything seems to be falling into my lap and into place... and all in perfect timing! So I called my agent on Friday and said - let's make an offer. And we did. I signed the offer yesterday.

So let me give you a little context and you'll see how this seems to all be falling into place:

• The condo is a short sale which makes it within my price range... and which makes it such that I am walking into a ton of equity right off the bat. Others in the development have sold for a lot more than I will be paying for this one and thus a lot more above my price range.
• It has been on the market since February of this year and has not sold ... I guess because it is a short sale and that really discourages people from pursuing them because they take so long to get approved by the bank(s).
  
• There is actually an offer on it right now - so this guy has gone through all the hoops to get a price (within my range) approved by the banks... but unfortunately, his agent told the listing agent that his loan is probably going to fall through... and that we'd know by tomorrow, Monday, October 5th.
• It is everything I have been dreaming about: garage, 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, no one above me and a nice, safe-feeling neighborhood.
  
• If this poor guy's loan falls through and they accept my offer for their pre-approved price then I could feasibly close by the middle of November which would put me in time for the $8,000 credit from the government for first-time home buyers.
  
• Which the middle of November would be perfect timing because my roommate that owns the house I live in right now just dropped the bomb on me that she is getting married!!! They are shooting for November 20th of this year too.... 4 days after this place could feasibly be mine to move into.
  
• My new roommate, Tracy, that was going to move in with me and Jen, decided not to move in ... and if she had... I would have felt guilty leaving her so soon after she moved in and needed me to help her acclimate to a new ward and neighborhood... but she decided to not move in and thus removing my possible guilt and saving Jen (the roommate getting married) from needing to kick us both out!
• And the most trivial of all things to fall into place, but one that still means a lot to me... is that I can keep my morning work-out routine!!! The Gold's Gym in American Fork is only 4 minutes away from Pemberley and their spin classes start 15 minutes earlier than the ones I go to right now which will help me accommodate my longer commute to work!! (I would only have to be better about getting up a little earlier.)
  
• And then last but not least... I think I've decided to apply for the executive MPA (Master of Public Administration) program at BYU for next fall. That program doesn't require you to take a graduate admission exam and it's only one night a week of classes and I'd have summer term off so I could get some vacation time in then... whereas the eMBA program is 2 nights per week and 2 years nonstop of school with your only break during Christmas - plus I'd have to take the GMAT for it (which the studying for that is going horribly) and it would cost more money out of pocket for me.

So can you believe all of that?! That is way too many coincidences and too many perfect timings for this to be mere coincidence... this is being orchestrated by the Master Orchestrator!! I can feel it... the rightness of it.... the peaceful feeling... I'm scared to say it because I know I am suppose to keep my hopes down since it might not work out, this guy's loan could still go through, or they could counter my offer even though it is for their pre-approved price.... BUT I'M DANG EXCITED AND I THINK IT'S ACTUALLY GOING TO WORK OUT!!!

I've already been internet shopping for my needed stuff - washer, dryer, silverware, knives, couch, TV, bathroom rugs and another shower curtain... etc. Plus I've been dreaming of other stuff too... painting.... how I'm going to decorate and all that fun stuff! I know... bad Jessika. But I can dream!!

And you know what? I'll have my own place... one I can decorate without feeling like I'm overstepping my bounds ... one where I can organize the kitchen the way I want to... one where I can have a guest stay with me and they can have their own bedroom and bathroom ... one where I can get out all of my pretty stuff that I've been collecting over the years and have been too afraid to get it out for fear roommates would ruin it or break it or because there just wasn't room for it. I can start being a homemaker.... instead of just dreaming about doing it some day.

Sigh. (Imagine a smile of contentment on my face.)

Cross your fingers for me! Or pray for me! ... cuz I really dread the idea of needing to get new roommates again and it is now inevitable since Jen is getting married.

The Bane of My Gardening

It must know it is gonna get tossed soon.... of course it would pull out all the stops and actually bloom now that it is the end of September and I'm sick of watering it. Good grief! I swear, I have not gotten 20 blooms from this pot and it decides to bloom with gusto this week.

I've already tossed my pot that was out front. The Fuchsia never grew so it withered and died - I guess the Bacopa choked it out, but did a good job hiding the dead Fuchsia so I never bothered to pull it out of the pot. But Bacopa is a spring plant and likes cooler temperatures so it has hardly bloomed this summer too... so when I forgot to water it this week and it dried up, I did a little "Whoop!" and tossed it.

The Cala Lilly is the only thing that has brought me joy this spring/summer. And it is left over from last year! Last year I just tossed it in the garage and didn't water it all winter and then when it started to warm up I brought it out to the sunshine and forgot to water it for 2 weeks. But you know what? That little Cala Lilly survived! In fact, better than survived - it actually grew! So after that I remembered to water it.

As for my garden? Well, I've enjoyed a few strawberries from it, and a few peas, and some fresh parsley. But the slugs and the pill bugs enjoyed more of the fruits of my labor than I did! I waged a serious genocide on the slugs - even resorting to salt! - but I never bothered to learn how to get rid of the pill bugs. The dill I tried to grow never took root so I yanked it. The peas produced a little considering how late I planted them, but as soon as they were infested with pill bugs and looking bad, I yanked them too. My parsley has been amazing!! That's the only thing that has flourished in my garden. Other than the slugs and pill bugs, of course.

The lack of sunlight and the daily lawn sprinklers that water my garden are apparently the bane of my gardening.... but this year's wet spring and summer is what brought the slugs on.

But I also liked seeing the Praying Mantis. Kinda cool. :)

Wordless Wednesday - The Most Beautiful Mtn Biking Ride EVER!!

A Little Heart to Heart

Okay... more like a heart to a decently-wide audience reading this entry on the internet .... so ... for nearly all to see! No pressure. Two things:

#1
I cried at work today. It was pitiful. And not nearly as dramatic as the first sentence makes it out to be... I just do that for effect. To keep you reading - you know! This week our wellness program at work is conducting what they call triple screenings - they take blood (from those that want to participate) to check the levels of triglycerides, cholesterol and glucose. This is just for our information - they don't use it to fire us or anything... of course! This is BYU after all. But we can submit it to our benefits company and do the wellness program's health challenges and then get a $200 check at the beginning of the new year! Yay! That is the main reason why I do it... other than I'm obsessed with knowing what my cholesterol levels are... since high cholesterol runs in my family... on both sides! Aah! Anyways. I had to fast 12 hours for it and then I went to the big conference room where they were set up. First there was a 25 minute wait. I chatted with the guy just in front of me in line and he said, just conversationally, "Luckily, we haven't seen anyone crying yet." Ha! Well, maybe I doomed myself, but I thought to myself... "Speak for yourself." Because I do not always have good experiences with these screenings. Maybe it all stems from my freshman year when I naively signed up to give blood and nearly fainted doing so after 3 different nurses took turns digging in my arms for a vein. Just about nearly the same thing happens every time I go in for these triple screenings.

So I was debating for the whole 25 minutes whether or not I should tell the nurse ahead of time about my super small veins and freak her out so she's doomed from the beginning ... or let her give it a go in all confidence. Other times, I've told the nurse ahead of time and she/he will try one arm but then call for an expert before sticking me again. So this time, I decided to let her do it in confidence and not tell her. Well, she started with the regular needle. No success with that needle in that arm. Then she went and got a small butterfly needle (whatever that means) and tried my other arm. The longer she kept that butterfly needle in there and the more I could tell it was not going to be successful the more light-headed I got! And then I began to get frustrated... and we all know what happens when I get frustrated. I CRY!!! Which then begins the vicious cycle of making me frustrated because I think I'm a weenie for crying and that only stokes the crying fire. Good grief.

At that point the original nurse says she's going to go look for some one with more experience. That makes me feel better but not by much since they're going to stick me again. But this more experienced person is very calming and VERY good at drawing my blood. She got it on the first try. And she brought me juice. And she told me that next time, I can come directly to the health center for a more private location rather than in this conference room where I had to get myself pulled together before walking past all my colleagues with red, puffy, cry-baby eyes! Ugh.

So there's my first heart to heart story.

#2
I feel like I've plateaued and therefore I am restless for some big change in my life and that has been for two years now. I'm craving some big life change in some fashion. There seem to be three things that have been taking turns being my obsession of the moment....

• Move to Seattle
• Buy a place
• Get my MBA

Seriously! All three have cycled through numerous times being the focus of my attention. There was a fourth there for a short while, but that one has fizzled out. Anyways.

Last fall, I was going nuts thinking I could apply for the MBA program for this fall so I wanted to hurry and enroll myself in a GMAT prep course and get my application in.... but then that seemed far-fetched and fizzled.

Then I visited my friend, Mike, in Seattle at the end of January of this year - with the intent of talking to an HR person at his work, Microsoft. Try some skiing there to see just how different it is from Utah's. Look for some neighborhoods that I could live in. Etc. I got really excited after I talked to the HR person at Microsoft because it seems like their HR Business Partner job is perfectly what I want! But they were in a hiring freeze right then. And I've cold applied to a couple jobs in the Seattle area, but I know cold applying is the worst possible way to find a job. I'd have to go up there for a week or more and actually hit the pavement. But for some reason... I've been dragging my feet to actually do that. And with the economy the way it is right now... I've kind of lost hope for finding a good job up there... one that would be worth leaving BYU for.... So that one has fizzled too.

And now... I'm obsessed with buying a place here in Utah. And especially since the $8,000 credit from the government for first-time home buyers is good through the end of November. $8,000!! I could do that! I've been shopping a little on the internet and I even met with a mortgage officer at my credit union today. And now I have to admit... I'm a little discouraged - discouraged at how little I feel like I can afford. I really, repeat REALLY, want to try living on my own. I'd really like to decorate my place the way I want to, keep it clean the way I want to and organize my kitchen the way I want to! I have been living with roommates for 11 years now. And so... I need to be able to afford the mortgage, taxes, various interests, HOA fees and utilities by myself... and still keep some semblance of my lifestyle. I DO NOT want to be house poor. I might end up getting a roommate... but I don't want to always have to have one just to make my payments. That would be bad news.

I also feel like I need either a garage (which would be my first preference since I've really grown accustomed to my current garage parking privilege) or else an unfinished basement - to store all of my stuff!! I mean - I have 2 bikes, 3 pair of skis, 2 sleeping bags, several backpacks, and various other outdoor equipment.... not to mention all my baby stuff that my mom sent home with me when she moved into a smaller place and didn't have room to store them for me. So.... for now.... I guess I'm pursuing buying a place... and then maybe I'll look at the executive MBA or MPA program that BYU offers ... since after all, being a full-time employee I get a pretty sweet tuition benefit for myself (and any spouse! Wanna free graduate degree? Give me a call.) where I could get my masters for free or else for a deep, deep discounted cost in the case of the eMBA.

So... I guess I'll see how long this latest obsession lasts. It seems like the stars have aligned for it to really work:

• Low interest rates
• Low prices
• I'm ready to quit the singles ward scene and attend a family ward which really opens up the possibility for a bunch of locations
• My desire to have my own place
• And my freedom from all other distractions right now

Am I crazy? I sure think so. And I'm sure my sister, Jill, thinks so... she gets the brunt of my obsessions and tries diligently to talk some sense into me but not dash my hopes and dreams. I just feel like I bend every which way the wind blows and can't make up my mind which I want to actually pursue. And a major problem with all of it... all three options take money... and a hefty chunk of it.... but who can't stop living the high life? Yeah ... me. It just seems so far in the future to save for and I see this nice little collection of savings and then I see some new fan-dangled outdoor equipment I want.... or an awesome airfare to Europe and I'm so EASILY side-tracked. Ugh. Double ugh.

How does one focus? How does one decide what one wants to do? How does one be disciplined?

Okay. I'm done. This post is already so long... and without pictures! Sorry. Wasn't about to take any pics of me crying at work and no pictures for the other one too.

Fall Blog Design

Last night I finished my Fall blog design. I like it! I think Ashlee, my designer friend, had created a new monster out of me... one that wants to change her blog mast every few months! :)

Labor Day Weekend

For Labor Day some friends and I drove down to the Escalante area of Utah - down to Grand Staircase and backpacked into Coyote Gulch. Lindsey had tried to go down there earlier in the summer over Memorial Day weekend, but there had been so much rain the week leading up to the weekend that the river was swollen and completely impassable - and you spend much of your time hiking through the river. Coyote Gulch is the canyon that the Escalante River winds through and this time around the river was practically only a trickle. We hiked in 5 miles to Jacob Hamblin Arch. It literally took us all day to hike in since we kept coming up on really cool stuff - like waterfalls and towering canyon walls and even an outhouse caused us to stop and enjoy it's convenience!

We originally set up camp on a sandy beach just a couple feet above the riverbed. But later than evening a pretty good thunderstorm rolled in and dumped on us. We were kind of under a outcropping so we all jumped back under it so didn't have to get into our tents, but even then that outcropping didn't provide much protection since the water began to run down the wall. After the storm let up, the river started getting louder so I went over there and watched the river rise by about a foot. I started getting really nervous about flooding since Coyote Gulch is known for it's flash floods. But we tried to go to bed anyways. But just as I was getting in my sleeping bag, the river began to get even louder, so Lindsey and I went out and watched the river rise another foot - which brought it within a foot of our sandy beach. Both times the river rose, it only took a couple minutes and on the second time were were seeing debris floating down in the river. So that's when we decided to move camp to higher ground. In the morning we found out that the water stopped rising after that, but you know what....? I slept better because of it and better safe than sorry.

So we hiked out 6 miles, ate a yummy sandwich lunch at the cars and then drove the 40-mile dirt road back out to Escalante. We did have a couple exciting mud-spots in the dirt road though. That storm the night before sent little rivers over the low parts of the road and created some fairly long mud holes to drive through. Thankfully we had 4WD. Oh! And one other side note - as we hiked out we saw a construction cone in the riverbed not a mile or two from our campsite and I swear I saw that cone on the side of the dirt road marking a spot where the road was beginning to wash away! We also took a detour to Devil's Garden along the dirt road - that was pretty cool - it's the last picture in this entry.

Then we headed to Zion National Park to go canyoneering. We had a yummy dutch oven lasagna dinner with salad and dutch oven peach cobbler for dinner that night. We were all starved because there was only 7 of us and we ate both dutch ovens full of food. Tim scored big points when he finished off the lasagna which made for 3 big helpings for him. But that lasagna turned out surprisingly well!

So Monday we headed out to go find Spry Canyon to go canyoneering through it... and we hiked and hiked and scrambled up rocky mountain-sides and scaled down them and .... all to no avail. We could night find the entrance to the canyon. We hiked around for 4 hours or so. It was beautiful country though so no one was too disappointed, but the later it got the less likely we were going to get out of the canyon and on the drive home until late that evening. So I think that was bearing on everyone's mind as well. So, in stead, we hiked back out and went into town to enjoy a meal at a Mexican restaurant and then hit the road, getting home around 10 pm.

It was a fabulous weekend! It's always great to have friends to play with and ones that are so flexible and fun!