scott & ashley (but mostly ashley)

Miami

2012-01-08T12:29:00.000-05:00

I spent the first week of November in Miami with two coworkers. Our flight got in around noon so we headed out of the city to go to a gator farm for an airboat ride and other gator goodness. It was great.

I can't believe I actually paid to do this...

The next few days were busy with classes but we managed to find some time to stroll along the beach and enjoy the night activities.

October

2012-01-08T11:58:00.001-05:00

These past few months have been crazy! Scott has been flying all over for residency interviews and I have been busy with work. After a few busy months I haven't wanted to do anything but sit on the couch and be lazy so the blog has been neglected, but I figure there's no better time than now to try to catch up.

Scott turned 28...awethome job! (side note: please watch this video clip. One of the funniest things ever on Reno 911). He got some fun presents...golfing shoes, silly books, and another Utah jersey, among other things.

After 4 tests and 3 years of way too much work for my liking, I received my CPA license. Not only can I choose to put letters after my name but I was finally able to add something to our trophy mantle among Scott's plethora of awards that seem to multiply at an alarming rate.

We had our annual pumpkin carving fete with the Woods. Halloween next year won't be the same without them.

And we had a massive snow storm that seemed to come out of nowhere (maybe because I never check the weather or listen to the news). It was lightly snowing when I left to run a few errands, an hour later there was a little bit of snow, and a few hours later there was a lot a bit of snow. Our power was out for 6 hours so we spent the afternoon/evening sleeping, reading, and using our grill to cook some delicious chili.

Pittsburgh

2011-10-16T17:53:00.000-04:00

Even though we've lived in central Pennsylvania for three years I still hadn't been to Pittsburgh. Mainly because I haven't had a reason to go, but also because the H at the end of Pittsburgh makes me a little unsettled. I digress.

I was able to check Pittsburgh off my list of places-to-see-before-possibly-moving this weekend. We picked Mark up from the airport Friday evening and drove there to see the University of Utah play Pitt. Scott's cousin, Brian, was also able to drive up from Virginia. Before the game, we wanted to take the Duquesne incline but we weren't able to find the parking lot. We did get a nice driving tour of Pittsburgh, though.

The game was good, but it was really windy and cold. Afterwards we stopped at Primanti Brothers to get some sandwiches. Sauerkraut and french fries - that's how Pittsburgh does it.

the men

we don't know who this is

heinz stadium

stadium, again

sauerkraut and french fries on my turkey sandwich. fo reelz

The Flood

2011-09-18T11:33:00.001-04:00

The past month has been very interesting in central PA. We felt the earthquake that centered in Virginia, Hurricane Irene passed through, and Tropical Storm Lee dumped tons of water causing the tiniest of creeks to flood.

Luckily we live on top of a hill, and on the second floor, so we didn't get any damage but Hershey was hit really hard. The Swatara Creek crested 20 feet over its flood stage causing roads that we use everyday to be under feet of water. It was difficult to get out of Hershey so I worked from home on Thursday and Friday. Scott is doing his neurology rotation at Harrisburg Hospital, right next to the Susquehanna river, and they told him not to come in. We decided to take a work/study break and walked down to the stream/pond that is at the entrance to our neighborhood.

walking trail path

entrance to our neighborhood

trees down from Hurricane Irene that came through the week before

the bridge collapsed

scott being adventurous

the runoff pond in front of the hospital was completely full

flooded cornfields

I didn't take any of these next pictures, but they are just so crazy.

7-11 in Hummelstown

Stores at Hershey Park

Hershey Park

Baseball

2011-09-09T10:17:00.000-04:00

Scott and his dad are big baseball fans and decided to take one week to go to a bunch of games.

They went to the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown and went to games in Pittsburgh, D.C., Philly, and Boston.

Pittsburgh

Philly

When they got back from Philly we stopped by our favorite Italian restaurant, Fenicci's, where they were both able to finish the lasagna and got certificates.

We drove up to Boston on Friday and got there just in time for the game. We also went to the game on Saturday. It had two rain delays and eventually we had to leave so we could get home before Hurricane Irene came through the area.

It was raining so hard. Water was rushing down the steps!

I know Scott had a great time and I was glad they let me tag along to Boston. Thanks for coming to visit, Mark!

End of Summer

2011-09-04T11:37:00.001-04:00

This summer went by so fast. It's crazy to think that this could be our last summer in Hershey.

I gave Scott a charcoal grill for Future Father's Day. I definitely think I got the better end of the deal since he cooked more.

Making S'mores.

Mmm.

We spent a lot of time on our balcony, just relaxing and hanging out.

Scott has an impressive green thumb.

We went to Utah for Brad's farewell. We weren't able to stay very long but we were very glad we got to see Mr. B before he left.

E wanted in on the picture action.

I also went to Houston for two weeks. It was sooooo hot and humid - over 100 degrees every day. As soon as I got to my hotel I called Scott to tell him to take every place in Texas of his Residency list. I don't think I could ever live there. Over the weekend my coworker and I went to San Antonio to see the Alamo and the Riverwalk.

El Alamo.

El Riverwalk.

I also turned 25! Scott gave me tickets to Taylor Swift's concert in Philly. I had a great time and I think Scott had more fun than he likes to admit.

The Netherlands

2011-07-02T09:45:00.000-04:00

After Keaton's farewell I went to the Netherlands for a few weeks. I stayed in Helmond, about two hours south of Amsterdam, where my work has an office. It is a charming, little, European town. The hotel was right next to a canal and the main square.

It also has a castle and quite a few of the cube houses. They are so weird.

It was difficult to find places to eat. It seemed like the places around the office didn't open until after lunch time and the places close to the hotel closed before dinner. Luckily, the Dutch love their frites. I don't think it's a secret that potatoes are one of my favorite foods so I was more than happy to eat french fries with every meal. I guess I should say fries with mayo, which is actually pretty good.

Over the weekend I went to Amsterdam. I think my favorite things about Amsterdam are the architecture and the canals. I was surprised at how small the city actually is. I was a total tourist - think double decker bus, canal tour, stopping to take pictures every second. It was great.

Overall, I had a great trip. Practically everyone spoke English and people were very helpful in getting me on the right trains and suggesting places to eat and visit.

Farewell

2011-06-17T16:55:00.000-04:00

I spent a few days in Salt Lake before my brother left for his mission. It was wonderful - I stayed with my Nan & Pop, saw my friends, and hung out with Whit and my brothers.

We were so happy on Wednesday because Keaton received his visa and would be able to go straight to the MTC in Sao Paolo. He was in a car wreck that night and even though the car was totalled he walked away with just a few bruises.

His talk on Sunday was so great. I am going to miss talking to him and seeing him when I go home. I guess at least my letter writing skillz will improve.

Sadly, I forgot to take any pictures but my dad took a few on Sunday.

The boys & me

Love him

See you in two years, Elder Adams.

Niagara Falls

2011-05-15T09:41:00.002-04:00

Last weekend we decided to check out Niagara Falls. We went to the Canadian side, since it has a better view of the falls.

We waited about 45 minutes to cross the border even though it was around midnight. I hate crossing borders - the way the agents ask questions always makes me nervous and feel like I'm lying even though I'm not.

Hello, Canada!

The next day we went on the Maid of the Mist. It was very misty.

We then walked around the falls.

We heard that they light the falls up around 9, so we took another long walk that night.

One thing we liked about the city is that everything is close and within walking distance. We did not like how cheesy everything is. There are multiple haunted houses, arcades, wax museums, etc.

I think my favorite was Frankenstein eating a whopper.

On the way home we stopped by Cooperstown so Scott could see the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Outside the Baseball Hall of Fame

Go Phillies!

Scott with statues of Babe Ruth and some other person.

The World Series Trophy

It was a fun & relaxing trip. If you are thinking of going, two days is the perfect amount of time. There really isn't much to do, besides looking at the falls.

Happy FMD to me!

2011-05-15T09:39:00.000-04:00

Scott got me some sweet presents for Future Mother's Day:

If you like Tina Fey, you should read this book. There are many hilarious one-liners. I also liked the short blurbs about all of the 30 Rock writers.

Perfection

2011-04-29T18:31:00.000-04:00

I'm a sucker for anything romantic and couldn't wait for the royal wedding today. I spent most of the night watching wedding specials and then got up at 5 to watch the entire ceremony & procession. My favorite part: the dress.

Sometimes it's nice to be unproductive

2011-04-18T17:13:00.001-04:00

I managed to catch a head cold this weekend and woke up today with a migraine. I decided that this combination warranted a day in bed. I have done absolutely nothing besides drink cherry coke zero and watch movies:

This movie was ok. I don't think I will watch it again , though.

I love Bette Midler.

Why hadn't I seen this before? Loved it!

Scott will be coming home soon and I feel like I should do something semi-productive. I think I'll make brownies (instead of put away the three loads of laundry piled up in our room).

Easter Dress

2011-04-16T11:45:00.000-04:00

Every year my Papa buys all of the ladies in the family a new Easter dress. I just ordered mine and can't wait for it to come!

If you haven't ever looked at Shabby Apple's dresses, you should. I wish I could order every one.

d.c.

2011-03-12T12:27:00.000-05:00

scott finished up his surgery rotation last week, so we decided to take a quick trip to d.c. before his next rotation.

i think we stopped by every touristy place:

the white house

capitol

the smithsonian castle

we went to the natural history museum, the air and space museum, and the art museums.

this elephant is life-size

cool bones

turtle bones

the hope diamond. yes, please!

lobby of the art gallery

in between our museum visits we grabbed a quick lunch at one of the cafeterias. i had the most disgusting pizza that tasted like cardboard, cost about $8, and was super small.

next we checked out the monuments/memorials:

washington monument

jefferson memorial

jefferson memorial, again

inside the jefferson memorial

scott & mr. jefferson

while walking to the lincoln memorial, we happened upon the fdr memorial. at first we weren't sure what to make of it - it has four separate outside rooms, one for each of his terms, but the more we walked around the more we liked it.

fdr memorial

lincoln memorial

scott & mr.lincoln

wwii memorial

go utah!

we also met up with our friend mike who is doing an internship. we went to a delicious mexican restaurant called oyamel that's only a few blocks away from the national mall. the chips and salsa were excellent and they had awesome guacamole (and i don't really care for guacamole). we also tried french fries that had mole poblano sauce, chilis, and chocolate. they tasted interesting to me, but scott loved them.

mike & scott - rekindling the man love

before we headed back to hershey, we made a quick stop to see brian, brooklin, and their cute kids. even though they only live a few hours away, this was the first time we had seen them in a few years. hopefully we can make it down again soon!

It's been awhile

2011-01-23T17:47:00.000-05:00

hello there. we have had quite the crazy past two months.

we drove to ohio to celebrate thanksgiving with the christensens. i'm pretty sure melinda made the best thanksgiving dinner ever - turkey, potatoes, gravy, stuffing, to die for candied yams, green been casserole, apple pie, and banana cream pie. i forgot to take pictures so i stole some from nin's blog.

our delicious feast

me and miss sammi

we also ate at city bbq & had ice cream at jenny's. both were delish. ben and scott went to the ohio state v. michigan game and had a good time.

scott with a heisman trophy that they had on display

we flew to salt lake the next weekend for my aunt laurie's wedding. we were so happy we were able to go! the ceremony was lovely and after there was a luncheon at the joseph smith memorial building.

la with all of the nieces and nephews aka the laurie campers

my bros

the view of the temple from the luncheon

gorgeous tree in the lobby

that weekend was also scott's parents' birthday. we went in on gifts with ben and melinda. we gave mark a ute chair and sheila a fascinating book (At Home - read it.)

two weeks later we flew back to salt lake for christmas. we had a great time seeing friends and family and not working/studying. once again, i forgot to take pictures. scott went to the utah game with his dad and brother, i went to temple square and hatch family chocolates with my family - they have the best hot chocolate! it is very rich but quite delightful. we saw a few movies, ate good food, and relaxed.

christmas day dinner at nan's & pop's house

scott & i joined sammi for tummy time

december was such a great month; it was hard to get back to reality. scott is currently on his surgery rotation so he is working a ton and i am super busy at work. i'm pretty sure we both have been working close to 100 hours a week. we've seen each other only on sundays and end most of our phone calls with "well, maybe i'll see you tomorrow." i can't wait until fourth year when scott has a little more free time. this may be the last year we are living on the east coast and there are lots of things i want to see in 2011 (boston, maine, disneyworld, north carolina). Any suggestions?

2011-01-05T20:13:00.000-05:00

My brother got his mission call today! He will be serving The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Brazil Rio de Janeiro mission.

He's very excited and I am too, though I am going to miss him. Keat is the coolest and kindest person I know and he'll be a great missionary!

Keaton with Nana and Papa at Christmas

South Bend

2010-11-17T15:52:00.000-05:00

Last weekend we took a road trip to South Bend for the Utah/Notre Dame football game.

The campus was really neat. We made sure to get there early so we would have plenty of time to walk around, look at the buildings, and sample the food. Notre Dame fans were so nice. Everywhere we went they welcomed us and wished us a good time. It was awesome to see the traditions they have - the fans line up as the players come out of Mass to cheer them on and they have a huge, cool band (as opposed to the U's small, lame band) that has actually been around longer than the football team.

The main building:

The Basilica:

The grotto:

Touchdown Jesus:

The leprechaun. Don't let the picture fool you; he is little.

The Guard. They don't mess around.

The stadium.

I got to see Mal. Her boyfriend had just proposed to her!

After the game, we drove to Indianapolis. On Sunday we went to the Colts game. Their stadium is awesome.

Even though the Utes lost and it was cold and wet we had an excellent trip!

Fall and Other Stuff

2010-11-06T09:32:00.000-04:00

One of the many things we like about living here is Fall. There are so many trees and the colors are changing for at least a month. We took a nice little walk on a trail close to our neighborhood last weekend. The foliage was gorgeous.

Our street.

Part of the trail.

The duck pond.

There is a house in our neighborhood that I L-O-V-E! I'll just keep dreaming for about 10ish more years.

Our friends were watching a few boys from our ward who are very energetic. They thought it would be fun to give them a good scare, so they asked Scott to be the headless horse(less)man. When they were coming up the street Scott ran out and scared them. I was laughing so hard! I wasn't able to take pictures of him scaring them but here he is going to hide.

The boys were scared at first, but afterward thought it was really funny.

The month of October flew by and, unfortunately, we did not carve our pumpkins. So, we decided to carve Thanksgiving pumpkins instead.

Scott hard at work.

Our pumpkins - mine is a Ute and Scott's is a pilgrim. Don't judge my pumpkin. It's really hard to carve a feather headdress.

In other news, we are PUMPED for the game today. The Utes can win, but it all depends on how they play. We're also going to the game next week at Notre Dame. It will be a fun road trip, with a stop in Ohio to pick up our brother-in-law Ben and see the rest of the Christensens before we head to the game in South Bend.

GO UTES!

Happy Birthday Scott!

2010-10-30T09:46:00.000-04:00

Scott turned 27 on October 17th! We attempted to go to one of our favorite restaurants, Fenicci's, but it was too busy, so we went to Chocolate Avenue Grill instead.

On his actual birthday, Scott requested a birthday feast of schezwan ribs, cornbread, and apple crisp with home-made ice cream instead of cake.

You know, like, what Native Americans did.

2010-10-21T19:00:00.001-04:00

As you can see from my last post I love fall. I also love cookies. Especially fall cookies, like pumpkin chocolate chip. I made a delicious batch this weekend and brought a few to work for my lunch. Only one person at work had ever had pumpkin cookies (with no chocolate. lame.); everyone else thought I was crazy. One of my co-workers asked me where the idea for pumpkin chocolate chip cookies came from; like I know. I'm pretty sure I said something awesome and along the lines of not wanting to waste anything, like what Native Americans did with animals (and pumpkins, too, I'm sure).

Being the nice person that I am {sometimes}, I made a fresh batch and brought them to work on Tuesday. Don't worry, everyone loved them. The only downside to all of this cookie-making is that my cookie-baby seems to be permanent (don't get yourself all worked up; I'm not pregnant. I've just had too many cookies).

Now that I've got you craving cookies, here is the delicious recipe:

1 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon milk
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well. Add vanilla and chocolate chips. Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

Reason # 22375929864 I Love Fall

2010-10-09T21:49:00.000-04:00

Time to break out the mocassins!

Baltimore

2010-10-04T20:26:00.000-04:00

Scott is on his Family Medicine rotation in Lancaster, so we only see each other on the weekends. Last weekend we decided to take a little trip down to Baltimore. We fly out of the Baltimore airport all the time, but we hadn't been to the city.

We went to Inner Harbor and ate at Noodles & Co. Oh, how I've missed it. We went to the National Aquarium.

We saw lots of things mating - seahorses, frogs. Well, maybe that's not a lot but it was too much.

I don't know what kind of shark this is - it looks like a cross between a shark and swordfish (with a meaner-looking sword).

I really liked the Jelly Fish exhibit.

For some reason we decided to go to the Dolphin show. I think it's because I have a memory of the Shamu show in Sea World that I went to when I was 5. I remember that it was fun; this dolphin show was not. We even sat on the front row of the splash zone and did not get splashed. Lame. The only thing that makes it worse is we'll have to sit through it again someday when we have ninos.

Poor Scott. Always the victim of the sleeping photo.

We also went to the 27th floor of the World Trade Center.

There are a lot of boats docked - like this one. See how cool it is?

Naturally, Scott and I had to take a few pictures of the hawbuh. We like being so close to the coast so we can say hawbuh often (see this post).

After walking around the hawbuh, we nourished ourselves at Chipotle. Then we took a rest and watched a street performer. He was crazy; he juggled a bowling ball, sword, and torch while standing on a few skateboards & cups. Insane.

Scott made me go shopping. Seriously. He did. He said, "It's good to have a controlled release every once in a while." I'm writing that down so I'll remember to use it next time he tries to control my release a little too tightly. I got a lot of cute clothes, but my favorite is a shirt from Forever 21 that has a design made of pearls. Love it!

Then we headed to the Oriole's game. Since the team isn't that great we were able to buy really cheap seats on the 4th row. I actually had fun - it didn't rain, unlike the previous two MLB games I've been to, and the crowd was awesome. They were more into who won the mascot race, the ketchup or the relish, and which Maryland crab was hiding the baseball at the end of the scramble. Also, the game only lasted 2 hours (hallelujah).

This is the "O-man" or something like that. He is spelling Orioles. It's quite hard to do the first time; you have to remember how to spell O-R-I-O-L-E-S, which isn't a word I spell that often, while thinking how to mold your body into the letters. Seriously. Try it. See, it's not that easy, is it?

Visitors

2010-09-18T19:42:00.000-04:00

Last week Sham and Ryan came out to visit. I'm pretty sure that they visited every major city within a 2-hour radius of Hershey. I was able to take a few days off of work and hang out with them.

We went to Hershey Park...

...Chocolate World...

...and Washington D.C.

(In case you are wondering why the flags are at half mast, we went on September 11th.)

National Archives

The White House

While we were walking to the White House police started to block off a road. About 5 minutes later there were a ton of sirens, followed by this Limo.

There were also a lot of protesters.

We went to the top of the Washington Monument. It was really cool inside. One thing I didn't know before I went is that stones were donated from every state and different countries. You can get a glimpse of these on the elevator ride down.

Ryan took this shot. He has mad skillz.

We saw the World War II memorial. It was really neat because there were a lot of veterans on a tour. They had pictures around their neck of what they looked like when they served in the war.

There is a star for every person that was killed. The description said "Here We Mark the Price of Freedom." Very sobering.

We went to the Vietnam War Memorial.

We stopped by the Lincoln Memorial.

We also went to the Holocaust Memorial Museum. It literally made me sick. I can't believe that human beings would do that to each other.

We went to the Smithsonian Institute. They have a ton of museums; unfortunately, we were only to visit the National Museum of American History.

A head from the ruins in Tenochtitlan. One of the Spanish classes I took in college was devoted to ancient mesoamerican cultures, so it was cool to see something I had studied about.

And my favorite: The First Ladies Exhibit.

Mary Lincoln's Dress (look how skinny she was).

Grace Coolidge.

Mamie Eisenhower

Jackie Kennedy

Nancy Reagan

Hilary Clinton

Michelle Obama

And finally, we checked out the Capitol building.

I had so much fun and am so happy they were able to come visit! Now, if only this could happen more often!

One Year Older

2010-09-04T09:26:00.000-04:00

I knew I was going to have a great day when I left for work and found this on my front door:

Our awesome (and funny) friends decorated the door. My favorite parts are the lemon drops and Monchichis. Here's a close up:

When I got to work, my friends had decorated my cube and and made me cupcakes.

They also took me to my favorite restaurant for lunch - Dockside Willies (I am constantly craving their bbq pork sandwiches and fries. I can't even eat bbq pork anywhere else now). We also stopped at The Meadows, our favorite custard place. I LOVE their orange cream gelati.

After work, I drove down to York to meet Scott for dinner (Scott is doing an away rotation in York, so he lives there during the week and comes home on weekends). We ate at a delicious Italian restuarant recommended by one of my coworkers. I had my favorite dish, gnocchi, and Scott enjoyed the pesto. I ordered orange sorbetto that was served in a frozen orange. It was pretty cool.

I also received a ton of awesome gifts from my family and friends. Thanks everyone for making my birthday great!

Katrina

2010-08-31T20:05:00.000-04:00

As the 5 year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina has just passed and every news outlet has been reporting about what went wrong and what, if anything, we've learned from Katrina, I can't help thinking about how I was affected by this tragedy.

Thinking back to 2005, I couldn't even comprehend what had happened (I guess growing up in a desert will do that to you). I didn't understand why people didn't leave and how there could still be flooding days after the hurricane. It just didn't make sense to me. Months after, it seemed like nothing had really improved - the city was still a disaster. One of my friends had been doing some research on relief work and found that a lot of organizations were looking for college students to help clean up over spring break. So we decided to go.

I think we were all nervous to go. The majority of the city still did not have power and there was not a lot of clean water. The organization we went with housed volunteers in an elementary school where people had waited on the upper floors to be rescued. It was surreal to be walking around and see what we had seen on tv and realize that it still looked that way after seven months.

We gutted houses and it was seriously the hardest thing I have ever physically done. Even though it was March, it was in the 70s with 100% humidity, which I think equals 1000 degrees. We worked from sun up to sun down with one meal, usually pasta-like, brought to us around lunch time that was delivered in plastic storage bins (we did eat breakfast and dinner too. Just before and after the gutting). The people who owned the houses were so nice and thankful for what we were doing. It was fascinating to hear their stories and the hope that they still had for their city.

I think the best thing I took away from this was empathy. I didn't, and don't think I ever will, experience anything like what the people of New Orleans had to go through, but I now have some sense of what they have had to do to get back to their homes and lives.

At the Salt Lake Airport.

Mardi Gras floats, as seen from the freeway.

The headquarters for the relief organization we volunteered with.

The cute little grandson of the woman who's house we were gutting. He wanted to help.

Me and Heather.

Lookin' good.

Heather, me, Kendra, and Erin

FEMA trailors being shipped in by rail.

Red Cross truck. It would go around once a day and have meals and water for residents.

The rest of these pictures are of the lower 9th ward. It was so badly destroyed that there pretty much wasn't anything left.

Nature

2010-08-23T21:00:00.000-04:00

Scott and I decided that we needed to do something fun before Summer was over. We didn't have enough mullah to spend some quality time at the beach, so we opted for camping. We got a lot of camping stuff for wedding gifts but hadn't had the chance to use it. We stopped by Bass Pro Shop and picked up the few things we needed - a tent and dutch oven. We looked like complete losers in the dutch oven aisle. I had to call my dad because we didn't know what to do. After talking to him for 5 minutes, I was an expert. He even told me I could find a lot of good recipes online. I love it when my dad encourages me to use the internet :)

We went to Gifford Pinchot State Park. It is only 30 miles away from our house and really close to where a bunch of my coworkers live. One of them assured me that if I got lost on our hike I could call her and she would come pick me up. We got there Friday evening and set up the tent. Scott also got a sweet fire going, which was impressive considering it had rained for two days straight.

On Saturday we went on a 8.5 mile walk...I mean hike around the lake. It was such a weird trail - on a few parts you had to walk along side the road.

Scott is so nice. He always volunteers to carry the bag filled with drinks and snacks. He tries to hide the pink Nike sign, but I think he forgot to turn it around this time and I may have not pointed it out to him.

Scott found this thick vine thing and, naturally, had to clime up it. He sent me "over there" to take pictures.

We also went canoeing. I hadn't ever been before. At first I was kind of freaked out by how close you are to the water, but it was fun. We canoed until my little (weak) arms couldn't take anymore.

I think my favorite part was eating food cooked in the dutch oven. It was so tasty, especially the peach cobbler (and I don't even like peaches) with homemade ice cream. Mmm!

These Streets Will Make You Feel Brand New. Big Lights Will Inspire You.

2010-08-19T21:14:00.000-04:00

The fam took a little trip to upstate New York and NYC. Miss Whitney flew in early to spend a few days with me in Hershey. We had tons of fun at Hershey Park, Chocolate World, Intercourse, driving around Scranton trying to find the Scranton sign, and just hanging out.

My littlest brother McKade was playing in a baseball tournament in Cooperstown, NY. We hung around the house and the ball park.

We found the sign!

The gorgeous lake.

I want this house!

Lemon Drops. Yessss.

So, ever since we bought my car in February, the rear air conditioning has made a weird noise. I don't use it that often, but we finally got to the bottom of it - a disgusting soda and spit-soaked straw from the previous owners. Whit and I were pros and used two pairs of tweezers to get it out.

One day it started pouring out of nowhere. My cheap umbrella was just not big enough so we kicked Court out.

My brothers.

I drove back home to work for a few days, then met back up with them in New York City. Whit and I saw Wicked. It was awesome. Seriously. Go see it.

The next day we went shopping on Canal Street. We do have priorities. I bought two cute bags, a watch , and sunglasses.

On the Subway.

Little Italy.

After shopping, we went back to the hotel and showered. It was around 100 degrees with 100 percent humidity. I was pretty much soaked in sweat the whole time (didn't you want to know that?). After resting, we ventured to Brooklyn to get some pizza. There was a lot of construction on the Subway so we couldn't take the train we needed to take. When we finally got there, only Court and I got off the train before the doors closed. We had to wait 45 minutes for the family to get back. Lame.

The view of Manhattan from Brooklyn.

We heard we had to go to Grimaldi's. Well, we got there and the line was an hour long. Other people wanted to leave, but the cool peeps demanded that since we came here to eat pizza, we were going to eat pizza. So we did. It was alright.

Waiting in line. Arvil bought us ice cream sandwiches to cool off. Thanks dad!

The next day we walked around times square and went to Central Park. Then I had to go home.

Naked Cowboy.

Strawberry Fields.

Guilty Pleasure: Hilary Duff

2010-08-09T18:30:00.000-04:00

I am not ashamed to admit that I love Hilary Duff. I kind of forgot about her until I needed a good wake-me-up at work and decided to put my ipod on shuffle. Yesss.

Seriously, what's not to love? A Cinderella Story, Raise Your Voice, the Lizzie McGuire movie. All classics (and I firmly believe that Ms. Ungermeyer is one of the greatest villains ever). And my favorite Hilary song - With Love. Play it. Right now.

Home Sweet Home

2010-08-07T07:12:00.000-04:00

Way back in June, I went home to Salt Lake for Keaton's graduation. My awesome cousin Whitney picked me up from the airport and had already picked up Cafe Rio for me. That is my kind of welcome. I saw family, friends, and ate at all of my favorite places. I am so lucky that I have great friends who always make time to hang out with me and drive me around, since I have no car. Does it remind me of high school? Yes, but I still love it.

I was flipping through my pictures and every one is a picture of me eating, so I took some pictures from my dad's facebook.

At Bella Citta. They have the most delicious scones - ciabatta bread, butter, honey, and raspberry sauce.

Keat at his graduation party. I gave him the money lei. Someone else made him the panda cake.

Me with the boys.

I called my mom after I had lunch with a friend to see if she was at my brother's baseball game. No, she was at the hospital because Kade got hit in the face with a baseball. Poor Goosie.

Summer Obsession

2010-07-29T18:13:00.000-04:00

I don't know why, but all summer long I have been craving lemon drops. I have looked in every grocery store in the area, but for some reason they are nearly impossible to find. I hit up every gas station in Cooperstown, NY (pictures to come later) when I was there with the fam and, luckily, I finally found some.

Help! I'm already on my last bag.

Bow Chicka Wow Wow

2010-07-26T18:34:00.001-04:00

I'm a few weeks behind, but Scott started 3rd year on July 5th!

He started with OB/Gyn and is looking forward to Peds in a few weeks, though I'm sure he has enjoyed spending his days elbow-deep in placenta :)

Whew!

2010-07-03T23:46:00.000-04:00

I'm exhausted. We've had a busy month - Scott took part 1 of the boards, work was crazy, and we moved! I just got our wireless internet set up and after two years without it, I can certainly say that it is the best thing ever.

More to come later (you know, since our lives are so exciting).

♥

2010-06-12T08:29:00.000-04:00

There is a delicious gelato place not too far away and, luckily, I was able to persuade Scott to take a quick break from studying (10 more days. And yes, I'm counting). When we were walking out to the car I saw something I love about living here - fireflies. I wish there would have been more around where I grew up. They just seem to make life a little more whimsical and less blah. I can definitely use some more whimsy.

{weheartit}

On the Ipod: Cooler Than Me, Mike Posner

Partie Deux

2010-05-29T07:00:00.000-04:00

My second week in St. Louis was fun. We went to Laclede's Landing, an old part of town where they still have cobblestone streets. We walked around for a while and then grabbed something to eat. The river was flooding, so that was interesting to see. We also went to a Cardinal's game. We had very good seats, but, unfortunately, it was raining and they lost. We finished our work early so the powers that be let me change my flight so I could come home.

Don't worry, Scott is still alive. He's just studying for the boards.

The Arch again. The first week was so dreary, so I was loving the sunshine.

Laclede's Landing. I loved this clock!

Laclede's Landing again.

The flooded river. It is actually covering up a street.

Statues outside of Busch Stadium.

The entire stadium. It looks cool when the picture is big.

It's That Time of Year Again

2010-05-14T22:46:00.000-04:00

Hair + Humidity = No bueno.

Seriously. What do people use on their hair to keep it from going frizzy and wavy? I've tried shine serums, styling creams, and the list goes on. If it does not get better soon, I may have to shave my head. I don't think Scott will appreciate that.

Anyway, it's been a busy week. I was in St. Louis while Scott finished his second year of med school (Hallelujah!!!!!! Only two left!). St. Louis was good. My co-worker from the UK who I am working with is very chill and the people at the site are the nicest people I've ever met (and very patriotic. I'm talking Americana shirts and vinyl pictures on the rear windshield. AWE-SOME). We went downtown and walked around the Arch but it had closed for the day so we couldn't take the ride up. We may or may not have eaten at Ruth's Chris steakhouse; I'm not sure what company policy is on that one. Well, wherever I ate at was delicious. Luckily we missed all of the tornado weather but there were some pretty serious thunderstorms. The hotel also gave me the honeymoon suite, complete with a heart-shaped jacuzzi, as its demand is low during the week.

Downtown

The Arch

The Arch again

The Mississippi River

Heart-shaped jacuzzi

I am home for the weekend but will be flying back to St. Louis on Monday. On the agenda: Cardinals Game, Arch Ride, Steamboat Ride (?).

In other news, we're moving! After a year of badgering Scott he finally gave in...I mean, agreed to move. Our new apartment is about a mileish away from where we are currently living and is in a residential area (see: not right by the hospital helicopter pad and without upstairs neighbors who like to party and sing "Single Ladies" with their flamboyant male friends until the wee hours of the morning). Our official move in date is July 1. The landlords already seem awesome and were very flexible in accommodating when our current lease is up. I can't wait!

List

2010-05-02T16:44:00.001-04:00

I usually go grocery shopping every Saturday. Since I have been eating certain meals with the health plan I am doing, Scott has been left to fend for himself. Each week I ask him to think of what he wants and write it down (because if it's not written down I will completely forget until I'm in the checkout line and it's too late). I almost died laughing when I saw this week's list.

Milk and Craisins and nothing more. Seriously.

Whaaa?

2010-04-28T20:57:00.000-04:00

Snoop Dizzle in the Hizzle!

Seriously, who would have thought that he would be a Jazz fan, or at least wear a Jazz jersey? I guess I have no room to judge. I fully admit to being a casual Jazz fan. My tender heart was too traumatized at a young age (see: Chicago Bulls) to ever get my hopes up again.

Bliss

2010-04-17T19:29:00.000-04:00

You all should be very jealous. Look at what I just found at the store:

Yeah, that's right. Tubes of vanilla Tootsie Rolls. You know, the ones you look forward to getting every Halloween but the ratio of vanilla to non-vanilla is approximately 1:50.

Awesome.

Man vs. Food

2010-04-17T13:36:00.000-04:00

One of our favorite local restaurants is Fenicci's. They have the best lasagna. It is such a large serving that if you finish it you get a certificate. We ate dinner there Friday night and Scott decided he wanted a certificate. I even offered him a bite of my delicious Gnocchi Florentine, but he was determined to finish his lasagna. And he did! Don't worry, he also ate the garlic bread we ordered for an appetizer and the salad that came with his dinner.

We also found out that if you finish 12 lasagnas, you get a free lasagna and your picture on the wall. I think he can do it.

Little Garden

2010-04-04T07:31:00.001-04:00

Isn't Scott's garden beautiful? I emphasize that it's Scott's because I do nothing for it. He tilled the soil, planted everything, weeds, and waters it.

I also found out that I am going on a trip for work to St. Louis in May. I was hoping for a more exotic location but I'll take anything to get my audit hours for my CPA certification. I want, no, need to have that done by the time Scott graduates. I have been to St. Louis before - my aunt Laurie took me and my cousin Trevor on a little trip to trace the Pioneer trail and we flew in to St. Louis and spent a day or two there. She may kill me, but all I remember from St. Louis is that the Mississippi River was really dirty and it was so hot and humid that she hung her Gs on the railing of our room to dry. I'm pretty sure me and Trev were quite embarassed.

Holla Back Girl

2010-04-02T09:52:00.000-04:00

I have spent the better part of my morning browsing my iTunes library to find a suitable workout mix that will motivate me in the wee hours of the morning. So far, it includes:

I'm Really Hot - Missy Elliott
Closer - Ne-Yo
Candy (Wade Robson Mix) - Mandy Moore
Maneater - Nelly Furtado
Move Somethin - LL Cool J
Crazy in Love - Beyonce

and my favorite song to be rediscovered...Holla Back Girl - Gwen Stefani

Any good songs that motivate you? Seriously! I need all the help I can get.

All-American Girl

2010-03-13T06:48:00.000-05:00

I went to the best concert ever on Thursday.

CARRIE UNDERWOOD.

I tried to see her once when she was an opening act for someone at Usana. Due to the fantastic design of the amphitheater, I was sitting in the car entrance line for an hour and a half and missed hearing her. When I saw that she was going on tour this year and was coming to Reading (for you non-PAers, that is pronounced "Reding" not "Reading." You will get dirty looks if it's pronounced incorrectly), which is about an hour away, I knew I had to go.

I finagled to leave work a little early and picked up my concert-buddy Denise, as my original concert-buddy Scott was in Las Vegas. We drove to Reading, discussing the lives of medical student wives and the upcoming woes of medical resident wives (in case you're wondering, I'm not really looking forward to that). My trusty GPS got us right where we needed to be with a little spare time, so we combed the sreets of downtown Reading to find a suitable eating establishment. I won't lie, the place was a little ghetto, so we settled on an Italian pizzaria, where, oddly enough, the owners and operators only spoke Spanish. It was kind of confusing.

We wrapped up dinner, hoping we had missed the opening acts (Sons of Sylvia and Craig Morgan). Don't worry, we didn't. Sons of Sylvia was...interesting. The main guy has a good voice but I think he's trying too hard (when he's singing, it looks like he is having a b.m.). I didn't know who Craig Morgan was but I recognized at least 5 of the songs he sang from the radio.

Finally around 9:15 Carrie came out. Her set list was awesome - it included Cowboy Casanova, Just a Dream, Some Hearts, All-American Girl, So Small, Last Name, I told you so, Someday When I Stop Loving You, Quitter, Mama's Song, Change, Undo It, Temporary Home, What Can I Say, Before He Cheats, Jesus take the Wheel (with How Great Thou Art mixed in), and my favorite song, I Know You Won't.

She sounded amazing the entire night. Obviously, from American Idol, we all know she can sing live, but she still sounded better than I expected. Her outfit changes were awesome. The overall show was just awesome. I highly recommend going to see her. It was worth every cent of my 55 dollars and only getting 4 hours of sleep and working the next day.

Singing at "The Grand Ole Opry" with Randy Travis projected on the screen.

She came out in a blue truck that went around the arena. It was only about 10 feet away from us.

This was my favorite backdrop.

Finally!

2010-02-25T06:33:00.000-05:00

I just found out that I passed my last exam!

I don't even know how to feel right now, but I am very happy I don't ever have to think about studying or most of the stuff I learned for those tests ever again :)

Summer Can't Come Soon Enough

2010-02-20T07:33:00.000-05:00

I am so excited for summer! Last summer, I slaved away studying for the CPA exam so there was no fun to be had. This year, I am going home in June because my brother Keaton is graduating from high school (wow. I feel so old). In July, my family is coming back east so I am going to take some time off of work to hang out with them. What am I looking forward to the most?

That's right. My cousin Whitney and I are going to see Wicked. I've been waiting to see this for years! And now I am.

P.S. I still have not heard about my last CPA Exam. Hopefully I'll hear next week. Otherwise, I may die if I have to wait even longer (7 weeks is already too long to wait).

V-day

2010-02-17T11:49:00.000-05:00

This year we had a very low-key Valentine's day. Rather than going out to dinner, we decided to have a home cooked meal; well, a home cooked meal based off of a restaurant. There is a restaurant in Logan that we love (Hamilton's). They have a delicious chicken cordon bleu with a raspberry sauce that is served with garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus. So, that is what we had.
I also made apple crisp with home made ice cream for dessert.

I'm pretty sure it was the best Valentine's day dinner ever!

Our First Pennsylvania-Dutch Dish

2010-02-15T20:11:00.000-05:00

After living in Pennsylvania for a year and half, we finally had a home cooked Pennsylvania-Dutch specialty...Dried Beef!

It is dried beef gravy that is served over toast. I was a little leery when I heard the name but everyone I talked to said it was their favorite homemade dish that their mom made. Our lovely friend Amber is from Pennsylvania and offered to make it for us.

It was delicious! We are now definitely fans of Dried Beef!

Aaaahhhhhhh!

2010-02-12T20:06:00.001-05:00

That, my friends, is a content sigh escaping my lips (not a scream, though I did feel like doing that most of the day).

I just finished our taxes.

Now, most of you know that I graduated with a degree in Accounting and I work as an International Tax Accountant but, I must admit, that I know practically nothing about individual taxes (just enough to pass the CPA exam Ü). I spend my days, and some of my nights, in a 4x8 cube analyzing and trying to minimize my company's tax expense from our foreign operations (which approximates 71.3% of our total operations). I know, I know. You're eyes are already glazing over. To make a long - and boring - story short, individual taxes are nothing like corporate taxes. So, don't ask me for any advice about your taxes unless you really, really want to but, I promise, I will be useless. I'll just refer you to TurboTax where you can file your federal and state return for a cool $50.

Still

2010-02-06T08:55:00.000-05:00

I love snow, as long as I can stay inside the house. Yesterday my boss let me leave work at 12 to work from home the rest of the day so I wouldn't have to battle the snow and crazy PA drivers (who, by the way, don't know how to drive in snow).

Light snow started falling yesterday around 5. This morning it's still going strong. I didn't really want to accomplish anything this weekend, so I'm glad I can use the snow as an excuse.

By my expert measurement, we have approximately 12" of snow outside our door.

The view from our door.

Our Little Porch.

Down with Frosting

2010-02-03T22:33:00.000-05:00

My friend at work and I are very close. We started working the same day so I think that helped us bond. Our cubes are right by each other, though the ever lovely cube wall does not allow us to see each other, and we eat lunch together everyday unless there is no time for lunch.

Saturday is her birthday and she is taking off Friday to celebrate. I thought I would make homemade oreos to bring in tomorrow not only for her birthday, but also to enjoy a delicious moment to break up the work day. It seems I am at my wits end after January. I mean, no one likes working 120 hours of overtime in one month (well, maybe one person I know does, but I certaintly don't).

Anyway, here's how they turned out.

I can never manage to make my frosting thick enough,whether it's for cookies, brownies, or cakes. Sure, it tastes delicious, but the presentation doesn't quite say, "Happy Birthday. Glad we're friends. Thanks for listening to me moan and groan about lame work stuff." Oh well. Maybe I'll have mastered my frosting technique by next year.

I Love Books

2010-01-30T20:18:00.000-05:00

I love reading and have loved it ever since I can remember. Unfortunately, I haven't read a lot in the past year and half with starting my first real job and then taking the CPA exams*. A blog I like to read is starting a book club and I thought I would join. The blog owner posted this quote that I love. I think it perfectly descibes my affinity for reading.

"Some things don't last forever, but some things do.

Like a good song, or a good book,

or a good memory you can take out

and unfold in your darkest times,

pressing down on the corners and peering in close,

hoping you still recognize the person you see there."

-Sarah Desson

Sometimes I feel like I get into a rut with books - like I always read the same type of books by the same type of author. Hopefully this will help me branch out in my reading so I can find books I probably wouldn't have read otherwise. If you would like to participate, here is the link - Being Brazen Books.

*For those of you that are wondering, I am still waiting to find out the score for my last test. It should be here any day now.

Have You Ever Wondered...

2010-01-27T21:50:00.001-05:00

...what an iPod looks like after Red Wine Vinaigrette salad dressing has leaked into it? Well, my friends, wonder no more.

Somehow my empty salad dressing container that had approximately one drop of salad dressing managed to leak in my purse and get on (and in) my iPod. It still plays music but my screen looks a little oily. I was trying to be good and eat healthy and this is what I get. Looks like it's back to Dockside Willie's BBQ Pork sandwiches and fries for me!

The End of the World as I know it

2010-01-23T09:57:00.000-05:00

Today is such a sad day.

I promised the husband that I would clean out our spare room, since it is really the room for all of my junk and it become a disaster while I was studying for the CPA exams. I decided to be brave and go through my purses. Now for most people, this wouldn't be that hard to do. But I LOVE PURSES. I can remember where I bought every one that I still have, things I took it to, and how much everyone loved it :), but I digress.

Today, I got rid of my beloved white Melie Bianco three ring convertible purse. The love of my life. The purse that is no longer made and almost impossible to find.

I no longer feel whole.

New Year, New You!

2010-01-04T13:28:00.001-05:00

I always laugh when I hear this slogan used in advertising campaigns around each new year. You would think that companies would not pay loads of dinero for advertising that they could have thought of themselves (or paid me to come up with). I digress.

I feel very blessed to say that 2009 was not a bad year for us. I have a good job that pays well, Scott is going to school so he can get a good job (eventually), and we have our health and lots of family and friends. I am not really a resolution person, but I thought I would share a few things I would like to be conscious of as the new decade begins.

Eating healthier/exercising. I am sad to say that due to my poor diet and exercising habits I have become a little plump (it's ok. You can judge me). My '10 goal is to eat healthier - don't eat out two meals a day, have something for dinner besides chips and salsa, drink more water and less coke, etc. and exercise three times a week. Wow. Just writing that makes me nervous.
Relax. My job is very stressful around certain times of the year and I get a little too wound up. This year I am going to stay calm and not check my email every five minutes when I am not at work (oops - that's what I've been doing all day today). After all, they aren't paying me for my annual average of 300 hours of overtime (I know, I know. It could be worse).
Be a little more patient. I am not always the most patient person and tend to get annoyed when people take too long to do things or do them differently than I would (which also makes them take too long Ü). I am going to try to be more understanding and work on accepting that my way is not always the right way.

Well, I think that is enough. I mean, I don't want to set myself up for failure. In case you are the resoluting kind, I wish you luck. If you're like me, you'll need it!

Delizioso!

2009-12-31T16:32:00.000-05:00

I must admit that my favorite part of being home is being able to eat at all of our favorite restaurants including, but not limited to: Cafe Rio, Rumbi's, Costa Vida, Training Table, Ruth's Diner, Artic Circle (fry sauce...drool), and Bella Citta Cafe. Most of these are chain restaurants so you've probably heard of them but if you haven't been to Bella Citta you should go. They have delicous Italian scones with a raspberry glaze, tomato basil bisque soup (similar to Isaac's Pepperjack Tomato Soup for you PAers) and a large selection of authentic gelato. My favorite frozen treat there is the Sour Cherry Frozen Yogurt. Mmm! I can't wait until I'm back in Salt Lake to eat here again!

Three Years Ago Today

2009-12-29T12:28:00.000-05:00

Scott and I got married! Luckily it was a beautiful, clear day (unlike the muck in the air today) even though it was only 20 degrees. These past years have gone by so quickly, which I think is a good thing, and our lives have changed so much. I'm so grateful to have a husband who is a good man and loves me. Here's to a few (or more) years!

2009-12-12T21:29:00.001-05:00

What a Perfect Ending Given to a Rainy Day

2009-12-03T18:15:00.000-05:00

I think it's safe to say it has been one crazy week at work. In typical Job fashion, nothing has gone as planned and I just feel frazzled. I was catching up on my daily Ute news and came across these pictures. Seriously, now I remember why I heart Utah State.

These are some of my favs. There are more here.

"Can you smell it?...

2009-11-18T20:45:00.000-05:00

There's a life force in here tonight. Do you feel it? Hmm? I look around this room, and I see potential."

I am finally starting to smell it.

Today I found out I passed the third part of the CPA exam. Soon, very soon, life will be better. Soon there will be no more studying, no more getting fat (seriously, studying is not very conducive to exercising or eating anything that can't be prepared in 5 minutes), and I can have friends again.

Mmm...it's starting to smell good.

Bon Soir

2009-11-10T21:42:00.001-05:00

I am enjoying my first week in Montreal and have learned a lot of French, though I try not to embarass myself by actually trying to speak it.

This trip is much, MUCH better than any of my UK trips. We are staying in a very nice hotel and we can eat wherever we want (no gas station sandwiches for us). I won't bore you with the other details but I will share this:

If you can't tell, I can pick what temperature I want my shower to be. Yes! That's right. No temperature adjustments needed. Coolest shower ever? Yes. The husband has already been informed that at some point in the future I will have a shower like this.

Home is a place where, when you go there, they have to take you in

2009-10-30T19:14:00.000-04:00

Last week I was finally able to go on a vacation...HOME!!! Scott had school and wasn't able to go with me but it was so nice to see my friends and family who I hadn't seen since Christmas. I went to Thriller with my girlfriends, celebrated McKade's birthday (my youngest brother is now 12. I feel so old), saw Paranormal Activity, got my nails and hair did, and spent four hours making panda cupcakes.

I was able to make it to my brother Keaton's last high school football game for Senior Night. He was one of the captains and got the loudest cheer when the seniors were announced (seriously). He has the best sense of humor and is one of the coolest kids I know. They read a blurb from each senior over the loud speaker - his thanks to my parents went a little something like this: "I'd like to thank A.V. from Tennessee and Dana the entertaina for lettin' me do my thang." I guess he also got the Adams family trait of thinking you're black (this is true. Ask Scott).

It was a beautiful night.

Keaton "Big Boy" Adams #62

I was also able to make it to the Utah game! My bff Mal is the MUSS president this year and was able to finagle me a ticket on the front row. It was so great tailgating, singing Utah Man, and having the original front row reunite. They also recognized President Monson, a Ute, during a TV time out. Since the Ravens had a bye week, Paul Kruger came to watch his younger brother play (Paul Kruger now has a mullet). It was a tense game, with the Utes winning in over time. Don't worry, Coach Whit wanted overtime played in front of the MUSS so I was screaming my lungs out. I lost my voice and sounded like a man for two days. Love it.

The original front row

The team singing Utah Man after the game, President Monson, me and Mal

Coach Whit says Good Game, Paul Kruger and Paul Kruger's mullet

The Dawn of Scott's Second Quarter-century

2009-10-25T20:44:00.000-04:00

Last Saturday was Scott's birthday. Sadly, he had a test on Monday so the only fun activity we were able to fit in was going to dinner at Texas Roadhouse (mmm...meat). Later that night some of Scott's friends came over to enjoy cake and homemade ice cream.

Scott's Ute cake...complete with the Wasatch Fault Line.

He received sweet stuff for his birthday including gift cards, money, and a piece of the old turf from Rice-Eccles Stadium (it is the turf that both the '04 and '08 undefeated seasons played on)! I think we might have to move to a bigger place - our Utah memorabilia is beginning to take over our tiny apartment.

Oh, GG! How I've missed you!

2009-10-05T22:12:00.000-04:00

I now know why I have been in a funk lately. I haven't been treating myself to my favorite guilty pleasure. Tonight I realized that it's a lot easier to contemplate the effects of inflation on exchange rates while watching my favorite upper east siders cause all sorts of mischief, though my future test scores might not agree. Don't worry, World (more specifically, Husband), now that I am divulging again, all will be well.

XOXO.

Love it!

2009-10-04T11:13:00.000-04:00

I saw this picture on Deseret News' website and I loved it.

See you in a few weeks, Utah!

Keeps Getting Better

2009-09-21T18:38:00.000-04:00

Not only have I been waiting 3 weeks to get a freakin multiple choice test back but I just found out I have to go to Canada for 2 weeks in November. I have a hard time in Pennsylvania with all of the ice, so I am not looking forward to being even farther north than I already am. I almost need to put my winter coat(s) on just thinking about it. I'm not quite sure why I didn't get to go to China, India, Costa Rica, Italy...le sigh.

Maybe I'll have better luck next time.

Philly

2009-09-05T11:49:00.000-04:00

Scott and I finally made it out to Philadelphia (twice, actually). Our first trip was when the Johnson family came to visit. They did a lot of fun stuff other than Philly that I will defer to Scott to blog about.

After work I left to meet up with everyone and learned that I never want to go somewhere I haven't driven to without a gps. I didn't have mine with me and I realized once I saw "Last exit before New Jersey" that I had missed my exit and Scott had to guide me to the hotel (he did give excellent directions considering he only had a little tourist map).

We had some cheeseteaks (they still kind of freak me out. There is just so much meat on there. ugh.) and saw all of the sites. I think my favorite was a little street that apparently is the oldest street in the U.S. of A.

For our second trip we penciled in a Phillies game. In true Pennsylvania fashion it had been raining all day. It cleared up a little in the evening so they still played but there were two rain delays that we sat through. Luckily the seats we bought were covered by the deck above us so we stayed dry. At least Ryan Howard hit two home runs. Our hotel was really close to the stadium - it was like a three minute walk. So if you ever want to go to a Phillies or Eagles game stay at the Stadium Holiday Inn.

During the rain out they showed another MLB game. During the commercials they played these little cartoon things and I thought they were so funny. Too bad they did not hold their humor the 800th time around.

The next morning we quickly stopped at the U.S. Mint so Scott could take a tour. They don't allow cameras and Scott had stayed out with all of the cameras on our first trip. We then walked to an old flag store and bought a Join or Die flag and the Betsy Ross flag. They are now proudly hanging up in our spare room.

Scott and I have decided we really like Philadelphia. It is a bigger city but it doesn't feel too big. We also like how there is a clear distinction between neighborhoods that is hard to see in other cities.

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2009-09-01T18:32:00.001-04:00

There's been a crisp, cool feeling in the air this week that can only mean one thing - football season is finally upon us. It has been a long 8 months since we were here...

...and Scott and I are so excited for Thursday's game. And this year we don't have to miss any games thanks to this. Best invention ever. Seriously. So, come 9 o'clock eastern time on Thursday, don't bother me. I'm watching football.

GO UTES!

Sometimes I hate myself...

2009-08-18T18:31:00.000-04:00

Seriously. I was trying to spare everyone of my slight (maybe that is not the right word to use) Twilight obsession but I have given in.

I am starting to get so antsy for New Moon to come out. When the Twilight previews first came out I could tell that I wasn't going to really like it (don't worry - I still forced Scott into going with me to see it at midnight) but the few New Moon trailers I have seen have given me hope that the next movie won't suck as much as Twilight and will actually be, dare I say, good.

Photoshop...yes, please!

2009-08-15T08:35:00.000-04:00

I am always so envious of people who have awesome looking pictures. I was talking to my neighbor a few months ago and she mentioned that she Photoshops everything and how it really makes everything look better. Luckily I had the thought to purchase Photoshop before I graduated so it was a lot less than if I had looked at buying it now. Since I am trying to do anything and everything to avoid studying I have been working on my Photoshop skillz.

There is a really nice walking trail that is close to our house and every once in a while Scott can convince me to take a long walk. The view on the trail is great! The trail follows a few hay fields and it is up on a hill so you can get a good view of Hershey. I thought these pictures would be good to start learning on - and I think they turned out good. Real good!

The Fourth in New York

2009-07-11T08:12:00.000-04:00

After Scott had purchased hand sanitizer from the local grocery store, we headed off to catch our bus to New York. It was full of old people who thought any comment made was hysterical and kept pointing out "Swans" (they were really ducks).

Once we got to NYC Ashley wasted no time in getting us on the subway train that only stopped at the stop we wanted in the evening. Not wanting to make the same mistake twice, we enjoyed walking miles to get to Madison Square Park and the Shake Shack for their delicious burgers, cheese fries, and shakes. We were successfully able to ward of the pigeons trying to swoop down and snatch our food, unlike others who kept yelling and swatting and staring down the pigeons. We were waiting for one guy to roll up a newspaper and give the bird a spanking.

After our tummies were full we walked a few blocks to the Highline. It is a new park that just opened up which is built on the elevated platform where the old industrial trains used to run. Trains haven't used it for awhile so it was growing over with weeds and vegetation. They decided to make a little walking park out of it - and it is very nice. There are lots of places to rest and get a good view of the city. You can even catch some rays on a few of the big wooden lounge chairs that are there. After the Highline we made a quick trip to Chinatown and Little Italy where Scott tried to speak with a native Italian and was depressed to find out how much Italian he has forgotten. Ashley, however, was very impressed with his language skills. We then took the Subway up to Times Square and caught up with our bus to take us to the boat.

Where to start with the boat excursion? We boarded the boat at 5:30 and had a four hour wait until fireworks. We took a quick nap on the deck chairs until the DJ arrived and by DJ we mean Douche Jockey. Seriously, he had no idea what he was doing and was the worst DJ ever. I think he was just a friend of the guy who's company was DJing on all of the other boats too. We felt like we were back at a Hillcrest Junior High stomp. Some of our favorite quotes from him include "We're the funnest boat in the hawbuh" and "Show the othuh boats how much fun wea havin." He tried starting conga lines and danceoffs but the only people who bought in were the thirteen-year-olds and a super drunk Alabama guy who kept requesting Thunderstruck. At one point he was simultaneously drinking beer, red bull, and water. The DJ finally obliged to his request only after drunk guy proclaimed "We WERE the funnest boat in the harbor" on our way back to the dock.

The fireworks were good.

Independence

2009-07-03T18:29:00.000-04:00

"I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in providence, for the illumination of the ignorant and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth."
- John Adams

This past week Scott and I have been watching the HBO series John Adams (it just so happened we are watching it around the 4th of July). It has been awesome to see what went into the founding of America and the men and women that sacrificed their entire lives toward fighting for freedom and then ensuring that it would be around for generations (for some reason I didn't really get that out of AP History). I'm so grateful that I was born here and have had the opportunities that I have had and that there are endless possibilities still to come. The 4th of July was always just a day off for going to the parade, having a bbq, swimming, and, of course, fireworks. Tomorrow night we'll be watching fireworks in New York Harbor by the Statue of Liberty and I think I'll have a greater appreciation of what the 4th of July really means.

Here is a pretty fantastic picture I dug up of me and my cousins Trevor and Whitney in front of the Liberty Bell.

Please ignore the triangle hair (I was an awkward teen).

My hobby

2009-06-03T23:21:00.000-04:00

I don't have a lot of free time, but when I do I get feeling ambitious with what I want to accomplish with it. So I have taken up a little bit of gardening. It makes me feel like an old man because it isn't a really exciting hobby like rock climbing or stamp collecting, but whatever. I enjoy it. In the fall I planted a bunch of tulips and daffodils. They came up in the spring and ended up looking very nice. Here Mom, now you can see your grandflowers grow before your eyes. Then in the spring I got feeling more ambitious. We were shopping at Sam's Club and they had this random display of hibiscus trees in the frozen food aisle. So we made an impulse purchase. A few days after we bought it, all the blossoms fell off so now it just looks like a boring green tree. But here's a picture with one of its blossoms still attached.

Then school was finished and so I figured I would take on a few more plants. We bought a couple planters, attached them to our patio railing, and planted some herbs. We decided to grow some basil, lemon basil, rosemary, chives, and cilantro. They are coming along nicely. I am going to use some of the lemon basil and rosemary to make some rotisserie chicken this week and we are going to use some of the cilantro for our Cafe Rio night tomorrow. Exciting, I know.
So that's what has been going on lately. Now that it is summer, I should have more stuff to post since my life will consist of a little bit more than just studying and eating with the occasional bit of sleep. Until next time.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

2009-05-06T21:35:00.000-04:00

I (and Scott, too, I think) am still getting used to the weather in PA. Seriously, it has been POURING for days. In Utah, it will pour for twenty minutes, not days. Ugh...I always liked the rain but now I am just sick of it. Also, I hate rainy days because I know if it's raining when I leave for work I am going to see a sick-looking matted squirrel digging in the dumpster for food. I am scared to death that he is going to attack me and give me rabies. I don't want to be the face of rabies.

We have had a really boring month, in case you couldn't tell by the lack of posts. Scott is done with school on May 15 and has been busy with Kiss Hershey Back and playing a variety of sports for the Hershey Med Center. I think he is excited to have the summer off from school. He still will have to do a research project this summer. His project deals with the brain - trying to see how soon they can tell a child has been abused by the way the fluid moves, I think. I have just been working and studying. It's no bueno.

We did have a fun Cinco de Mayo. We went to one of the few Mexican restaurants around here with our friends The Woods. El Rodeo has delicious burritos de carne asada! Then we came back to our apartment and I made fried ice cream. It was the first time I tried making it and luckily it turned out great. I am now looking to purchase a small fryer just so I can easily fry my ice cream.

Finally, it feels like Spring.

2009-04-04T20:51:00.000-04:00

Today has been a great day!

I returned home from the UK last night. Unfortunately they shifted the flight schedule so I didn't get home until 11! It wouldn't have been so bad but I had been up for almost 24 hours. This trip was a lot better than my last one. I still didn't really get to see anything. I did get a great view of the London Eye and Wembley Stadium (World Cup qualifying matches are going on right now) as we were landing but that's about it. The G20 madness was going on so traffic was a little crazy. Also, I found out that a display of Henry VIII's jousting and battle armor and other things were on display at London Tower. Of course it was the week I was there and, of course, I couldn't go. I really was tempted to make myself vomit in front of my boss so I wouldn't have to go to work and could take a cab to the exhibit.

Today was a great spring day, but a little too windy for my liking. I made Scott go with me to buy an Easter dress and he helped me pick out a great one (or two). Scott is really good at picking out clothes for me and he has more patience then I do. He always finds things that I wouldn't have looked around long enough for.

After the first session of conference we went over to the Ellsworth's. We walked down to the park and had sandwiches and the delicious chocolate (mint and orange kitkats) I brought back from England. We also had a little home run durby. They have a dog named Memphis and he does awesome things, like when you hit the ball he runs after it and brings it back to the pitcher. It was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. Unfortunately, their daughter Annie was not a very happy camper so we went back to their house to watch the last session of conference.

AND...I bought tickets for Rascal Flatts today! I'm making Scott give them to me for my birthday. They are coming to Hershey Stadium on August 29th. I already can't wait!

Scott is very busy with school and Kiss Hershey Back. He's excited for it to be over soon. This next week is close so I'll be working way more than a human should have to.

That is all.

Hmm...

2009-03-04T18:10:00.000-05:00

Today I had to go to my favorite place - the Dentist's office (ugh). I had a cavity filled and came out looking like this.

This is me trying to smile as hard as I can, but the left side of my face just won't work. After seeing this beauty I am praying that I never have a stroke.

A Football Odyssey

2009-02-15T11:00:00.000-05:00

Football season is over and I am having withdrawals. But I know mostly females read this blog, so I don't expect a lot of sympathy. This past season I had three incredible football experiences, so I would like to share them here.
First, I got to go to a Penn State game in October. It was against the Illinois Fighting Illini, with both teams undefeated at the time. There were tailgaters out all day, spread as far as the eye can see.
Penn State declared the game a white-out, so almost everyone in the sell-out crowd of over 110,000 people was wearing white that night. It was amazing to look around. It was also All-University Day, so people from a bunch of different campuses (Penn State has campuses all over the state) including the College of Medicine got to go down on the field at halftime. I was one of those lucky individuals.
Penn State won, and everyone left happy.

The next game I got to attend was part of the best Christmas present ever. My lovely wife Ashley got me a plane ticket home to see the Utah-BYU game! It was awesome! It was so nice to be able to come home for a couple days, see my family, and watch Utah crush BYU to finish the regular season undefeated. There is nothing better than a good field storming.
On to the Sugar Bowl. Needless to say, it was an incredible experience. It is the best New Year's gift I have ever received. The fact that it is the only New Year's gift I have ever received does not dimish its awesomeness. Thanks again Dad! Ashley already posted some pictures from New Orleans, but here are a couple from before and after the game. This is the team being introduced.
And this is the confetti and hugging and general happiness as the Utes are named the 2009 Allstate Sugar Bowl Champions! (Ignore the unenthusiastic looking person at the bottom of the picture. He is not representative of the general mood of those surrouning him.) It was the most amazing sporting event I have been to in my life. Go Utes!
So thanks for humoring me as I recounted my trifecta of great football games I was able to attend this year. That's all I have for now.

February blues

2009-02-14T07:58:00.000-05:00

Scott and I decided that February is one of the worst months. Winter is still dragging on while we are begging for spring. I know it is still winter because my little groundhog friend who lives by the freeway entrance ramp has not been seen since Octoberish.

This past week two people I knew from high school (one kind of and one really well) passed away. It was a sad reminder of how short life can be. It was good to talk to people that I haven't seen for a few years, though.

Scott had a test yesterday so he is feeling great. I have officially decided to take the CPA exam and am not looking forward to all of the studying and hoop-jumping required. I'm pretty sure the entire reason I went to college was so I would not have to ever study again. Oh well.

On a brighter note, I thought I would post some pictures from New Year's. Yes, it's been over a month but whatev.

My awesome mask, Scott and his festive hat, Gross shrimp

There were so many I wanted to post I thought I would do a slideshow instead of posting a thousand photos. We did lots of fun things like go on a ghost tour, go on a city tour, eat lots of good (but gross to me) food, see el Mississippi River, see some street dancers (I love me some bboys), and see one of the best football games ever!

Neglect

2009-02-08T23:08:00.000-05:00

I know, I know, I'm sorry. I have been meaning to post something for a long time now, but I always find something else to be doing. But I PROMISE that I will post something next weekend. I don't know what the consequence will be if I break that promise, but there you have it. Look for my triumphant return to the world of blogging in one week. I PROMISE.

We're Alive! We're Alive...Barely.

2009-01-20T18:50:00.000-05:00

Wow. I just noticed it's been a month since we have posted anything. We are bad bloggers. I'm sure there will be an onslaught of pictures and posts to catch up.

We had a great Christmas in Utah and an even greater New Years in New Orleans...GO UTES! I will be a kind wife and let Scott post about all of that. We have had a hard time adjusting to regular life after two weeks of vacation.

I knew going back to work would be tough, as January is one of our busiest months. I think last week was definitely one of the worst weeks ever. On Monday, my boss informed me that she is going to be leaving. I almost started to cry. She has a lot of health problems and on top of what she has, she was just diagnosed with Lupus. Her position now requires her to work at least 50 hours a week and her doctors don't want her working one second over 40. She is taking a position with the company we use for our tax reporting software, so at least I'll be able to talk to her when I need help. While this will be good for her health, it's super bad for me (selfish, I know). She is the best boss ever and I love her managing style. She gives me plenty of guidance but still a lot of freedom. It will be interesting to see who they hire to take her place. She also is fun and has a great sense of humor and she's interested in me as a person, not just in the work I can provide for the company. She found this t-shirt for me and I just had to order it. It's titled "We were tomatoes" and it came in the mail today!

Last week was also my first "close." We had about four business days to compile all of the 200ish companies information that we own for year-end reporting purposes. Naturally, everything was late so we had about 2. I worked 80 hours last week, including the weekends, and all I have to show for it is some nasty head cold (which did get me out of work today :)) Last week definitely proved to me that I am not down with working that much.

Also, it has been FREEZING here. I'm talking like 2 degrees (with wind chill). Here is a picture of the frozen (yes, frozen) Susquehanna river. The only thing worse than driving over a river twice a day is driving over it when it's frozen. I just pray that I don't get in an accident and flung off the bridge. It's hard to tell in the picture but the river is not frozen solid like an ice skating rink. It's tons of iceberg shapes that are frozen together so it would be nice and jagged if anyone happened to fall in.

A few positive things that happened last week:

I got a little raise. Since I had only been working for a few months, my boss wasn't sure if they would give me the annual raise. Luckily, they did. It's nice to have a job but even nicer to be getting paid more than I was before.

Also, Scott got a job at a lab. It's a sleep study where they draw blood at different stages to see what chemicals are created at each stage. Scott draws the blood. I think he enjoys it. It kind of creeps me out. It's only a few hours a week so it's a perfect thing for him.

Well, I think that is all of the exciting news I have. Scott is busy studying for his first test of the new semester on Thursday. I'm sure you'll here more from us soon.

There's no place like the airport for the Holidays

2008-12-21T20:33:00.000-05:00

This year we earned a companion pass from delta airlines. We were very excited to think that we would only have to pay one full fare plus $99 for the companion pass to come home for Christmas. Naturally, there were restrictions and we could only use the pass on certain flights. Say hello to Baltimore to JFK to Salt Lake City- a tedious journey before throwing in the Holiday traveling season.

Today we received a call around 7:30 from Delta informing us that our flight scheduled to leave at 2:15 was now leaving at 4:30. No problem, we thought. We gave ourselves a 4 hour lay-over at JFK, just to be safe. We then made the lovely hour and a half drive to Baltimore (it really is a great drive - it only seems like 40 minutes). We parked in the nice long-term parking lot, anticipating being gone for 10 days.

We checked in and everything seemed ok. Our flight was still scheduled for 4:30. We waited. And waited. And waited. Then the flight gets delayed to 5:15. That left us with one hour of layover time at JFK- is that enough time to run from terminal two to three? Well, we decided it was. Trying to ensure our little butts would be on our 7:30 flight from New York to Salt Lake, I made Scott inform the lady at the desk that we had this necessary connection that seemed to be more in jeopardy as the day went on. We were nicely told that we were screwed, as the flight had now been delayed to 6 and we would have no chance of getting on any flight (especially standby) out of New York until December 24th.

Instead of worrying, I became angry and proactive. I mean, I have been sitting in this freaking airport with the freaking sun shining in my face (no bad weather) for five freaking hours. I finally called Delta's customer service. The lady looked in to a few flight options with none of them working. Instead of yelling at her I calmly kept asking her about any possible flight options within four hours of us. After 20 minutes of hoping, praying, and disappointment we were scheduled for a DIRECT flight from Baltimore to Salt Lake City for tomorrow (Monday), one day after our original travel date. The worst thing is that we were daring and checked luggage. Hopefully that will be waiting for us in Salt Lake.

We decided to make the drive back to Hershey instead of getting a hotel. Someone Scott knows from school was on the direct flight from Baltimore to Salt Lake today (we tried to get on that flight but were told that not only was it booked solid, it was overbooked, which made me nervous about our direct flight tomorrow). As soon as we walked in the door we went straight to the computer to see if the lady I talked to had emailed us our new itinerary (I forgot to remind her) so we could make sure we had a spot. Much to our happiness there was an email from Delta...YAY! We checked in and printed our boarding passes and noticed an F. F? What is this mysterious F? That would be first class. We're quite excited about that- it definitely eases the pain of today.

What is the point of all of my complaining? Be nice to people when you are in a stressful situation (I will admit that most of the time I am probably not). They may surprise you with something that will be sweet!

Here's to hoping we make it to Salt Lake tomorrow and can find our luggage.

The Big Apple

2008-12-09T19:01:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday we made a trip up to New York City. It was Scott's first time there and I think he liked it. We only went for one day but we still managed to pack a lot in.

The first thing we did was take the subway to Ground Zero and sign up for the walking tours that are provided by survivors, family members of those who died, and others who were directly affected by 9/11. The tour wasn't too much, $15 each, but all proceeds go to families of those that died. Our main tour guide grew up in New York and happened to be jogging when the first plane hit. He immediately went to the building to help the emergency services with what they needed. He ended up running the morgue. The other lady who helped on the tour lost her brother. He was a firefighter who was in the first building that collapsed. It was sobering to see the enormity of the damage and that it has taken this to long to build anything. The new buildings are supposed to be finished in 2012/2013, so we're hoping to see them before we leave the area.
What's left of the centerpiece from the World Trade Centers. It's now in battery park.

We then wandered down to battery park to get a glimpse of Lady Liberty. We didn't have enough time to actually go to the statue but my camera has an awesome zoom.

Statue of Liberty

Next we hit Chinatown. The streets were packed! I was really excited when I went into a purse store and saw that they had a secret door. You know, the ones you hear about but rarely see. Well, Scott and I ventured down through fear of death and mugging but the purses I got are fabulous! Both Prada (sadly, not real. But who cares?) and both for only $70! That's just like buying two regular purses at a regular store. We walked a few blocks up to Little Italy to get dinner. The pizza I had was really good and, per Scott, authentic. The guy who owns the restaurant calls himself the cannoli king so we made sure to get a few.

Scott in Little Italy

Later we headed to Rockefeller Center, home of one of our favorite shows - 30 Rock - and THE Christmas tree. Well, within two blocks in every direction the streets were packed. You didn't really move, you just got pushed along. I snapped a few pictures of the tree in passing but we didn't get a glimpse of the ice rink. Oh well, maybe next time. They also had a lot of cool ornament/light displays. The one below was my favorite.

We quickly walked around times square and then headed back to meet up with our group. On the way home there was an ice storm. I counted at least 12 cars that had spun off the road. Luckily we had an awesome bus driver so we arrived home without incident.
It was a nice little trip before we head home for Christmas, and then to New Orleans for New Year's to watch the Utes play in the Sugar Bowl!

The Best Thing in the World

2008-12-05T20:30:00.000-05:00

I have had a hard time adjusting to the food out here. It's either German or Amish food and also a lot of Sub places. Being the Mexican that I am, I love Mexican food. We tried a place out here that was ok, but there's nothing like the Mexican fast food in Utah - Costa Vida, Cafe Rio, Rubio's...the list goes on. It seems everyone from Utah away from Utah has Cafe Rio night and makes salads. I myself prefer a pork burrito with medium sauce. So I decided to make Cafe Rio burritos. They were pretty good. Well, I should say I thought they were so good until Scott brought me a burrito from his trip back home. I'm completely jealous of everyone who can get Cafe Rio anytime they want. When we go home for Christmas I will eat there at least 3 times a week. Luckily, Scott is going to Utah for a few weeks in March so I won't have to go too long with out some delicious food.

Doesn't that look delish? It almost looks like the real thing.

No Matter How Long the Winter, Spring is Sure to Follow

2008-12-05T19:44:00.000-05:00

The average temperature in good ol' Pennsylvania has not been above 35 for weeks now. Before it got too cold, Scott decided to plant a garden in our little plot of dirt in front of our apartment. It was a lot of hard work - for him. I occasionally brought him water and snapped a few pics.

We had to go to Home Depot and buy chicken coop wire and stakes. It turns out that squirrels love to dig up bulbs. This is supposed to help. We'll let you know how the garden turns out in the spring.

It Might Kill Me but I Want It to be True

2008-11-08T13:20:00.000-05:00

I am finally getting excited for Twilight to come out. Last night I was able to talk Scott into going to the midnight premier with me...SWEET! I also saw this magazine cover with Rob Pattinson, the guy playing Edward, and finally - FINALLY - there is a picture of him where he looks attractive. Here's to hoping the movie doesn't disappoint.

Kath and Kim...in real life

2008-10-30T19:45:00.000-04:00

I don't know if you watch the new show on NBC called Kath and Kim, but I do. And I think it is great. Scott finds it pretty funny too. It's about a mother and daughter who are a little off their rockers but don't know it. They think they are hip and stylish but actually look lame and white-trashy. Here are pictures of us in our "Kath and Kim" moments.

Ok, just me in my Kath and Kim and moment. I just wanted to post a picture of Scott in his duck shirt- it matches a shirt and bib that our nephew Emerson used to wear. Presh.

Halloween

2008-10-30T19:15:00.000-04:00

It's finally Halloween time. We carved some sweet pumpkins with our friends Clint and Katie.

Scott's..........................Ashley's

Sadly, the Hershey Halloween parade was Tuesday and we did not go. It was 35 degrees and the wind was blowing around 30 mph. I decided that it just wasn't worth it to brave that for a parade. Hopefully next year's weather will be better.

They do something weird here for Halloween. In Hershey and surrounding areas Halloween is celebrated on the Thursday before Halloween, so today. We already had all of the kids from our ward that live in our complex come by for trick-or-treating. They all came at once- which is nice because I don't have to keep getting off of the couch but sad because we only had one batch of kids. Health nut Scott is sure excited that we have a lot of candy left over.

Old Man

2008-10-30T19:01:00.000-04:00

Scott turned 25 on the 17th. He really wanted to go to Texas Roadhouse for dinner so that's what we did. Afterward we went to Hershey Gardens because they had jack-o-lanterns set out. Well, we got there and we were the only people who didn't have kids. Seriously. So we nixed that and came home and watched The Village. It's the only semi-scary movie I could talk Scott into watching. I'm sure it was the best birthday ever.

Scott and all 3 (yes 3!) seasons of Arrested Development. And his cool "25" cake.

Panda King

2008-10-25T17:08:00.000-04:00

My brother Keaton has been obsessed with Pandas for years. This year he really wanted a Panda costume, not for Halloween - just for everyday wear. He found this sweet deal on Ebay where some guy in China would custom make a Panda costume for $200. Naturally, we couldn't pass up this opportunity so I ordered it for him. My dad finally sent the pictures of Keaton in his costume and they are so funny- I just had to post them. Sorry they're a little blurry, something was going on with my dad's camera.

Tag

2008-10-11T16:54:00.000-04:00

Here are the Rules:

1. Link to the person that tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6. Let your tagger know when your entry is UP.

1. I do not understand why "boughten" isn't a word. Gotten is (I think), and so is another one that ends in 'ten' that I can't think of. I decide to say it anyway. I mean honestly, does "I would have boughten it but I didn't have any more room in my cart" sound like a such a bad sentence? I don't know why but I prefer it to saying "I would have purchased it but I didn't have any more room in my cart." I guess it just adds style to the sentance. And apparantly, I'm all about the style. In case this is a real word, talk to Scott. He's the one who told me it's not a word and constantly makes fun of me for it.

2. I am the weirdest eater. I prefer any type of fast food or junk food to anything that has nutritional value. And I don't do it on purpose. It's just how my taste buds are. Also, once I find something I like at a particular place I will rarely order anything else. Why try something new and hate it when I know that there is something there that I enjoy? I also put ketchup on my ketchup.

3. I hate unneccessary noices- usually of the bodily type. Scratching, rubbing, mouth noises. Ugh, they all make me gag. I also hate it when people are eating and make noise, although I know that chewing food naturally makes noise. Poor Scott. He really tries to eat quietly, especially when I give him "the look."

4. I am a 22-year-old living in a 90-year-old's body. Everything on me aches and creaks and pops. Bones, tendons, nerves- they all act up. It's just sad. And it frightens people.

5. I LOVE Britney Spears. No, I don't think she has a great voice but her songs are so fun to dance to and they just put you in a good mood. Luckily, I've a few friends who feel this same way. I will proudly admit that I own all of her cds and singles.

I am tagging:
Corissa
Melinda
Brooklin
Mallory
Shambray
Jessica

I would link to your blogs but I don't know how to, and am feeling too lazy to find out how to.

Home

2008-10-11T16:15:00.001-04:00

I'm finally home. I don't think I've ever been so happy to come home from a trip in my life. The super smart Director that I travelled with decided it would be a great idea for me to go over our quarter close (aka Hell Week). So, not only was everyone super busy at headquarters because I wasn't there to do my job so they had to do it, but I had the privilege of working 4 12-hour days (one with complete jet lag). It was great. Sadly, I was unable to see anything. Oh wait, I did see a sign for the exit to a castle that was mentioned in The Six Wives of Henry VIII.

I have mixed feelings about England as a whole- I think that's due to my expectations. You know, I read historical fiction/non-fiction and watch plenty of movies so, obviously, I knew what England was like. The biggest thing that I still can't get over is how horrible the trees look. Really, the trees in desert Utah are way more attractive. All of the trees there look like someone kicked them in the gut and they haven't ever gotten over it. I'm not quite sure why that's unbelievable to me. My boss brought up a good point- London was such a dirty city for hundreds of years. Even though it's cleaned up now it's environment is still trying to get over it.

My coworker in the UK office asked me if we have a lot of rats over here. My only thought was 'Rats, are you kidding me?' She also told me that the rat population there is forever increasing. Disgusting. I don't have a problem with anything I can step on and squish, but rats? I want to stay away from any place that has an abundance of creatures that can carry viruses and diseases that can wipe out the human population. It was also fun to take a stroll around town while getting lunch everyday instead of driving. I do also have a new found appreciation for round-a-bouts. I hate it when I'm sitting at a light and no one is in sight but just in case there's a camera, I mean to follow the law, I would never run it. Problem solved with round-a-bouts.

In case you're wondering, I was able to pack everything into my carry-on bag. It weighed 1000 pounds but at least I didn't have to worry about losing anything.

On a side note, I am watching Sleepy Hollow- not the one with Christina Ricci but one made by PBS or something (with Rachelle LeFerve- two points if you know who she is). I just saw a part that bugged me. So Ichabod Crane is wandering through the woods late at night and sees a man on a horse riding around. Naturally, he starts singing at the top of the lungs. Honestly, real smart. That will get the crazy spooky man to go away.

Finally!

2008-10-01T21:03:00.000-04:00

It's finally October! Since I got home from Salt Lake this weekend I have been counting down til today. Don't worry, I couldn't wait and took out all of my Halloween decorations on Sunday. I don't know why but I love Halloween. I was very excited to find out that Pennsylvania loves Halloween as much as I do- I'm talking parades here. Yes, yes it's true! HALLOWEEN PARADES. That phrase brings tears to my eyes. I also hear that the Maize Maze in Lancaster is fantastic. I'll have to try to talk Scott into that one. Next year I want to take the trip up to Massachusetts and go to all of the Salem witch stuff. That would be sweet. Scott, however, feels differently.

While contemplating all of the awesome Halloween stuff I want to do, I am shoving 3 suits, 5 shirts, and other necessities into a tiny carry-on suitcase. My goal: take only my carry on to London with me. Everything fits due to the fabulous little rolls everything is rolled up into. I'm going to take it all out tomorrow morning and see how wrinkly it is. Hopefully not very, because I would LOVE to not have to wait for luggage, but most importantly not lose my luggage (I have a fashion-forward suitcase- brown with pink circles. I couldn't bear to part with it). I also called Verizon today and will be able to make and receive calls while away. So go ahead and call me all you want next week. I'll bill you my .99/per minute cost :) I'll keep you updated on my packing progress because, you know, it's oh-so-important.

Dum, Dum, Dum Dum

2008-09-22T19:51:00.000-04:00

As I am typing, one of my best friends is getting married in San Diego. Since I can't be there I wanted to just write a little bit about her.

Shambray and I met in an IS class for school and found out that not only did we have the same love of purses (rare for accounting majors), but that her family had known Scott's family for quite a long time. I really don't think I would have made it through my last few years of college without her. We worked really well together, as we both had different strengths- we always said that if we could take a test together we would not miss one point. She picked up my slack on projects if I needed it and always listened to me complain about how exhausted I was from waking up at 5:30 to go to school and getting home at 11 from work. You know she is a true friend because I still call her with my accounting questions and she doesn't tell me to never call her again Ü

I am so happy that she is marrying someone who treats her well and will make her happy. I can't wait to see you on Saturday and hear all about today, Sham!

Here is one of their engagement photos...it's so freaking cute!

XOXO

2008-09-22T19:41:00.000-04:00

Gossip Girl starts in 10 minutes and I can't wait. I have a serious addiction to bad tv, and a bad tv addiction would be nothing without GG. My awesome cousin bought me the first season for my birthday and I LOVE LOVE LOVE to watch it! Scott also loves being kicked off the tv and having to watch Monday Night Football on the little tele in our room Ü I am also a complete disaster, worrying that I'll miss it when I am in Londontown- as in I'm thinking of asking my father-in-law to record it and burn it for me. You know you love it.

Yes, I Am Still Alive

2008-09-12T21:34:00.000-04:00

But just barely. Medical school keeps one fairly busy. And it keeps someone hyper-competitive like me very busy. Many medical schools claim that they don't have grades per se. They claim it is pass/fail. That is only a half-truth. Instead they have Honors, High Pass, Pass, Marginal Pass, and Fail. That corresponds pretty neatly with A, B, C, D and F if you ask me. And the grades aren't based on a set percentage. A certain percentage of students in the class are assigned each designation. So put a bunch of competitive overachievers together in a room, throw lots of information at them helter-skelter, and watch them grind it out all semester long. It must be some form of faculty entertainment. The process of becoming a doctor seems a lot like some sort of hazing into a professional fraternity. We pay exorbitant dues, we do several years of scut work on the wards, and we have bizarre rituals we have to carry out. Take anatomy lab as an example. For hours on end we meticulously probe every inch of stinky dead bodies. This morning I woke up and thought to myself, "I am tired, I am hungry, and I am on my way to go poke around some dead person's crotch for a few hours." I was talking to a retired doctor outside the hospital a few days ago and upon learning I was a first-year student he said,"I wouldn't do those first two years again for two million dollars." Thanks. Good to know I have a lot to look forward to. At the same time, I think it is good to know that when you go see a doctor, you can rest assured they have been through years of rigorous training to have the right treat you.

The End of Summer

2008-09-02T21:00:00.000-04:00

It seems like this summer has gone by so fast. We have already been living in Pennsylvania for a month! I can't believe it. We finally busted out our little grill. Our favorite thing to grill is definitely the local sweet corn (It's literally from a few blocks away). I like to BBQ because then Scott ends up cooking dinner :)

I also celebrated my first birthday away from home. Everyone was so on the ball with sending presents- I really appreciate the effort. I was especially happy that my Aunt Stacie sent me my birthday cake so I could have MY cake (She always makes rainbow chip cake for me on most of my cousin's birthdays, even though it's not their favorite, because I love it and I eat at least half of the cake by myself). Scott had a test the day after my birthday so we celebrated it on the weekend by going to Red Robin and then shopping. Scott had a blast.

Other than that, life is going on as usual. Scott did great on his first test and is continuing to be a study Nazi for his next one. I am staying busy with work. I'm coming home for a day in September to go to Sham's reception (yay!) and I hope to sneak a trip to Cafe Rio in there. I also found out I will be making the first of many busy trips in October. I'm going to England for a week! I have to go every few months so my work decided they'd send me now instead of waiting until I'm used to my job (I think they think I know what I'm doing).

Off-topic note: I just saw the trailer for one of my favorite books- Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella. It's pretty much the story of my life and I love the entire Shopaholic series. Whenever I read these books I feel like I am just listening to myself talk. It's a light, girly read but I completely relate to it. Isla Fisher is acting the main character, Becky Bloomwood, and I CANNOT WAIT to see the movie!

My new favorite thing

2008-09-02T20:11:00.000-04:00

We lucked out and were able to get into student housing. Scott loves being a three minute walk away from school and I LOVE that the helicopter pad is 20 yards away from our apartment (that's only a little bit sarcastic). I didn't enjoy hearing it in the middle of the night for the first few weeks we were here but now I'm used to it.
On Sunday a family in our ward invited us over for dinner. Somehow we got on the subject of the helicopters and they told us that you can call and hear who's coming in. It's a recording and it doesn't give any personal information- it will say a 52-year old male, the accident, and stats. It's neat. The most common accident I've heard involves motorcycles, usually without helmets. The strangest one was a 30-something female who fell of her horse while mowing the lawn (maybe she is a Mennonite?) and she lost a ton of blood (pressure was 60). My medical skills are increasing almost as much as Scott's. While I like calling and hearing what's going on, I know these accidents are serious and every time I hear the helicopter I am so thankful that no one I know has been seriously injured. Sometimes it's depressing to hear it when it comes so often.

Gymnastics

2008-08-21T21:42:00.000-04:00

As many people have noticed, the Olympic Gymnastics have been tainted with scandal during these games. I have had a few people ask me what the big deal is about having underage Chinese gymnasts and about the scoring. I know most of you don't care but it's actually something I know quite a bit about, so I thought I'd share.

First of all, the big deal is IT'S THE RULE. Whether or not their gymnasts are better, a country should not be rewarded for breaking the rules, no matter what sport it's in.

A comment I've frequently heard is "Well, if their 14 year olds can beat our older girls who cares if they're underage? They're obviously better so they deserve to win. The age limit should be lowered." There are a few explanations for this and I'd like to start with why the 16-year-old age limit was set in the first place. Prior to the year 2000 the minimum age to compete in Olympic gymnastics was 14 (I think it was 12 at one point). The age limit was increased for multiple reasons- most of them pertaining to the health of the gymnast. Most gymnasts train 40+ hours a week from the time they are 10, sometimes younger, up until their early 20s. They also don't go through puberty until their late teens, usually 15 or 16, because of the physical demands the sport places on them. Before a gymnast is 16ish, they can be more demanding of their bodies. A 14-year-old body can take more aches, crashes, etc. than a 16 year old can. Their bodies have not physically matured, which makes it easier for them to get in the repetitions they need and they don't quite need the mental toughness an older gymnast does, as younger gymnasts are generally fearless. An older gymnast can definitely tell when her body has had enough, where a younger gymnast may hurt but will do whatever her coach tells her to without truly considering how it will affect her body now and in the future (nobody really wants to marry someone who always aches and pops and complains about it, as Kyle White told me in 10th grade after hearing me pop my back and neck for some pain relief). These are a few of the reasons why a younger gymnast has an advantage over an older one. It's kind of counterintuitive.

This brings me to another reason it's not fair for one country to be using underage gymnasts while all other countries don't. Yes, their 14 year olds are better than our 17 year olds, but they may not be better than our 14 year olds. To accurately decide who is the best in the world the playing field must be even. 17 year olds generally aren't competitive gymnasts compared to 14 year olds. Counterintuitive, but correct.

The next exciting part is scoring. Most people are familiar with the "perfect 10." To try to make scores more accurate a different scoring system was incorporated after a scoring error resulted in a person, who would not have won the gold medal, winning a gold medal at the 2004 Olympics. Two components now make up the score: a difficulty score and an execution score. The difficulty portion has been single handedly killing off gymnasts (not literally). To be competitive now, you HAVE to throw multiple life threatening skills (sometimes in a row) where you used to be able to have one huge skill and could fluff the rest of the routine. Does this make gymnastics more interesting? Yes. More dangerous? HUGE YES (Also, another reason why younger gymnasts are more competitive). The execution score is what people know as the 10. The judges tally every little, little error they see and deduct that number from 10. Add those two components together and you get the 15s and 16s you see today.

So how does a scoring system that was supposed to make scores more accurate allow a gymnast that falls on her knees (If you want to know, that Chinese gymnast technically should have gotten a 0 (zero). She did not complete the vault- didn't land on her feet, therefore its not considered a vault) and has visible errors medal over another gymnast, who to the normal eye, had barely any mistakes. Also, how does one take second place when she has the exact same score as the gymnast who takes first place?

The Vault episode comes down to the code of points. TheChinese gymnast's vault was more difficult. She had more room to lose tenths than Alicia did. Yes, Alicia performed her vaults way better but execution isn't the only thing that matters. Is it fair or right? I don't think so. And it never would have happened using the 10.0 scoring method.

The bars tie fiasco is a whole mess in itself. In 2006 they changed the rules so that there could be no ties. When the 4 judges scores are counted (there are 6 to begin with- the high and low are dropped automatically) and there is a tie, what is the next logical thing to do? I guess its drop another score. Is it logical? Not really. Is it right? NO. A score is a score. Give them both gold medals, they've done it in the past.

I hope these Olympics have some effect on the future scoring of gymnastics. These issues have made the sport unattractive to those who don't have enough knowledge and enthusiasm about it. But most importantly gymnasts were not fairly reward for their routines, when compared to their competitors.

Thanks for reading my long, confusing blob.