Just Scratching The Surface

Who's Your Valentine?

2012-02-13T16:23:00.002-07:00

Me: Adam, who's your valentine this year?

Adam: Tom Brady

Me: (staring at him)

Adam: You?

Me: (staring at him)

Adam: what?! he needs a pick-me-up this year!

Me: yes, Adam and you think you're just the man for the job...

LOL...my goofy husband.........

A Really Big Test

2011-12-14T09:29:00.001-07:00

First, something funny Adam said...(I really need to keep better track of these gems)

Adam came home from work and said, "I almost forgot what year it was. I kept writing 2011 on things."...I said, "It is 2011." He looked at me completely surprised, "It is?...Whoops...I kept writing 2012 on things."............................haha............so silly............

I've figured that I've waited the proper amount of time in between posts and it's finally time to give my 3 followers an update. As luck would have it, those people have already been updated on life since they're my dad, brother, and sister.....haha...but I still like writing for all those anonymous followers...I'm sure I have many! =)...lol...

For the last 6 months Adam has been studying for the Law School Admission Test. (The cool kids call it the LSAT)...it's a test like no other. It's not fact based like the DAT (dental) or MCAT (medical) it's skills based. It's a test that can be learned. But don't misunderstand, it's not easy by any means. For Adam to study as much as he did is not unheard of at all...in fact it's encouraged and recommended--any less studying would almost certainly result in an undesired score. This semester he completed an internship at Congressman Jason Chaffetz's office. He did it for college credit and he went to it monday, wednesday, and friday. During down time while he was at the internship (which by the way he loved--the internship, not the down time) he studied. And on tuesdays and thursdays while I was gone he was home, studying. 8 hours a day for months and months.

Here's a sample question from the Games section: Three couples--John and Kate, Lewis and Marie, and Nat and Olive have dinner in a restaurant together. Kate, Marie, and Olive are women; the other three are men. Each person orders one and only one of the following kinds was able to study. In addition, every tuesday and thursday while I was teaching he was home studying all day. Literally 8 hours straight he'd studied. He was dedicated and the more he worked problems the more he was able to see what tricks and skills he needed to attack each problem.

of entrees: pork chops, roast beef, swordfish, tilefish, veal cutlet. The six people order in a manner consistent with the following conditions:

The two people in each couple do not order the same kind of entree as the other.

None of the men orders the same kind of entree as any of the other women.

Marie orders swordfish.

Neither John nor Nat orders a fish entree.

Olive orders roast beef.

Ok...that's the setup or something...there's a certain term for it. But then you have 7 questions to answer that go along with that setup. Here's the thing...the test is about 100 or 101 questions. There's 5 sections. (One is experimental and not counted, but you don't know which one it is until after you get your score) And it's timed. Each section you have a certain amount of time so when you do the math, you have approximately 1 minute to answer each question. If your mind wonders for even 60 seconds, you're behind. It's intense.

Needless to say, a lot is riding on Adam doing well on this test. So a couple weeks ago, we got up early (he couldn't sleep and neither could I) and got everything he needed for the test and I drove him down to UVU...he didn't want to take it at the U, although it would have been closer. Since we couldn't sleep, we woke up really early and got there really early. I've been meaning to take more pictures of us and the things we do, but haven't done a good job at it...but here is a before picture...

Adam is wearing his "lucky" Bruins t-shirt. It's not really lucky per se...

although he was wearing it when they won the Stanley Cup, but he wanted to wear it today and he said it was going to bring him luck! And you can't see it, but I'm wearing a Tulsa Hurricanes t-shirt, which represents the law school that he would like to go to. We got to UVU super early and went up to the Loft to try to relax for a minute...I turned on Sportscenter on the big TV for him to watch and try to take his mind of what he was about to do...we just sat and watched for about 15 minutes...as the time got closer for him to go I got really emotional (I get emotional now just thinking about it)...he worked really hard, he's a smart guy, and it's such a big deal...I just want him to do well. I'm very proud of him. Plus, he's so handsome. =) Anyway, I told him I loved him and Good Luck and he went on his way with his pencils, ID, bottled water, and a snack---it's a 4 hour test that was all he could take...oh and a analog watch...and I just waited.

After the test he came walking up, exhausted. He felt/feels good about the job he did on the test. It's out of a possible 180. He gets his score sometime in January (longer than usual because of the holidays). It takes so long to get the score because they have to do what I think is called "exacting" or something like that. Essentially, they create a curve for the test. If everyone scores unusually high then they know the test was a little on the easier side so they curve it so not everyone scored a 170...or the same on the opposite side, if everyone scored 150 then they know the test was too hard so they'll "curve" it appropriately so there's a broad range or scores. But if you're wondering what we've been doing for the past 6 months...that's what...studying for the LSAT...well, me? I just took naps and ate while Adam studied. =)

1 Year Anniversary

2011-05-01T12:22:00.001-06:00

This post is a little late...we were married on April 17th, 2010...so for our 1 year anniversary we celebrated on the 16th, which was a Saturday. I wanted to do something a little special to make it stand out from all the other days. We were planning to go to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. It is hands down our favorite restaurant, but it's a bit pricey...(everything is pricey when you're first married). So I had this Groupon for this place in Salt Lake that looked okay online...plus the coupon for it helped, so we decided to go there. Oh, and we were going to see a play at the University of Utah after so it just worked out to go to this place in Salt Lake. Well, we drove out there and after walking around Trolley Square looking for the place we found it...we walked in and it was a seedy bar! And the bar part wasn't even the worst part (they had TVs showing the NBA playoffs) but it was that the guy behind the counter was rude and so was the server. Luckily Adam forgot his wallet in the car with his ID (this was a bar, after all). So we decided to go somewhere else. But we were running short on time before the play so we decided to go eat after, and we stopped at Smith's to grab some snacks...mostly candy. After walking all over the University of Utah (in heels) looking for the Babcock Theater we finally found it and luckily we bought our tickets beforehand because the show was apparently sold out and people were waiting to take the seats of people that didn't show up! (Who know "MacBeth" was so popular?) The play was okay. The acting was okay. It's Shakespeare and so it makes it a little harder for people to understand the language, so the line delievery was crucial and sometimes I felt like the lines could have been delievered better. But overall it was good. It was late when the play was finished and Adam was full of candy so he longer wanted to go to the Cheesecake Factory....so we went to the next best place (that was open after 10pm)...Denny's! We both hadn't been there in YEARS! It was cheap; not too many people were there. Needless to say it was a fun night of entertainment and greasy, cheap food. Adam wants to make a tradition out of it! =)

Utah in the Summer

2011-03-21T21:11:00.000-06:00

It's been a while since I've posted anything, and the last thing I posted was my favorite movies. Probably not the most interesting topic, but still informative. And I'm still waiting on my new camera, which isn't the worst thing because I'm not quite picture/photo-ready. But I'd like to get a new camera as soon as possible. Anyway, so we have been planning to go to Massachusetts for almost a year now. Adam has been so excited, and so have I. But plans change. As Adam nears graduation, and plans for the future, we realized that he needs to have more work experience, more internships that he can put on his Law School application. Sooooo...we'll be staying in Utah for the summer. I'll work full time and he'll take some summer classes, study for the LSAT, and hopefully get an internship. Money will be SUPER tight, but it's a sacrifice. We're giving up something that could have been really great (going to Mass) for something that will be even greater and will last forever...furthering our Education. Now, I'll be completely done in December, but unfortunately, I doubt I'll be able to find a teaching job...let alone a teaching job in the middle of the school year...but I'll find something to do. It's funny how life changes so quickly. I'm sure things will work out just fine, but in the meantime we have a tough road ahead.

Favorite Movies

2011-01-15T18:59:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of my favorite movies:

We saw this movie at the Dollar Theater...because it was $1...we didn't really know what it was about or anything...but I LOVED LOVED LOVED it. And I really feel like it may appeal more to adults than kids. So if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry.
We rented this next movie along with another movie...we watched them over Christmas break last year when all my roommates were gone still because of the holiday. We had the whole apartment to ourselves, which was nice. I lounged on one couch and Adam on the other. I remember we put this movie on when it was already kind of late. I stayed up to watch the whole thing and loved it! Adam fell asleep 20 minutes into it. (I don't think he's seen it all the way through still.) But after he left I watched it again! I thought Jim Carrey and Steve Carell were perfect as those characters. Now, the latest movie I've added to the list is one that I just saw yesterday. You know I really don't care for Steve Carell in "The Office" because he acts too stupid sometimes. But I loved him in this. Again, I didn't really know what this movie was about before I watched it. But like my other two favorite movies, this one will make you laugh and cry. In a world that seems to just keep getting worse and worse (apparently there's a movie coming out where the guy pretends he's married to pick up on women!) these movies are a refreshing getaway from reality.

Quotes

2011-01-14T17:32:00.001-07:00

Walking into the room, Adam says in all seriousness, "where are my glasses?...(touching his face) oh, they're on my face!"

What a silly boy!

Oklahoma

2011-01-12T12:58:00.000-07:00

For Christmas break we went down to Adam's family's house in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It's an 18 hour drive and it was better for me than it was for Adam. He did 90% of the driving and I slept for a good portion of it! The drive back we got caught in a snow storm in WY and had to stay the night in a hotel, then I got sick so it was no fun!

But we had a ton of fun while we were out there! We did so many fun things! We were always going somewhere or visiting someone! So fun! One day we went to the Tulsa Zoo and it was way cold! It didn't snow, but it was really cold the whole time we were there. The zoo was nice because it felt like it was our zoo! We were nearly the only ones there! Unfortunately, because it was so cold some of the animals wanted to be warm too, so we didn't get a chance to see them! But we did get to see some pretty cool things!

I think by far the highlight of our time at the zoo was when we went to see the snow leopards! They were adorable! I just wanted to take one home with me! It was the mom and her two babies! And they were soooo playful with each other! We stood and watched them play for a long time! I thought it was so cute that their paws were so fluffy! And they had really long tails! We also saw some rhinos! They were huge! AND one came so close we could touch him! (Although we didn't) It was so neat to see him so close up like that!

UTA

2010-12-09T13:35:00.000-07:00

Unlike all the other blogs I love reading, I won't be talking about our new baby that just learned to sit up on his/her own, but I will be talking about our exciting life! (insert sarcasm here). When you don't have jobs (or money) it's hard to do really awesome things. (That's probably not true, but currently that's our excuse!) But we're both in school, taking tons of classes, so mostly we just study and do homework on the weekend. Oh, and I just thought of my other, more important excuse on why we don't do awesome things: I don't have a camera to document them! What's the point of going skydiving if I can't document it with a picture? Ok, ok, we have no plans of going skydiving anytime soon, but you get the idea.

So last weekend we went to the U of U (Adam's school) all day Friday and Saturday. In an effort to save money on parking Adam takes the Trax into the University each day. So on Friday I took the Trax with him. We woke up around our usual time so we could get out of the house by 7:30am to get to the Trax stop on time. We drove to the 7200 exit and parked the car, then waited in the cold for the train to show up. (Adam hada sweatshirt and jacket on, and he gave me his sweatshirt so I'd be warm.) The train finally came and it was a 45min ride to the Univeristy. By the time we got to school I felt like we had already had a full day! Adam does this everyday and never complains about it! He's awesome! And I love him! Oh, and one more thing...this is Adam on the train...and he's also awesome because he hates taking pictures, but will let me take his picture anytime I want to! =)

Vegas

2010-11-06T13:22:00.000-06:00

This weekend we went to Las Vegas to "work". Adam has never been to Vegas really. We've driven through it every time we visit my parents in California and we've stayed a night or two in Vegas on some of those trips but we never really had the Vegas "experience". Well, we had enough of it to know that Vegas is not for us. But since we're here working and we have nothing else to do, we hung out in a casino...we didn't gamble, but it sort of looked fun. Although we saw people losing their money soooo quickly it was crazy! And people are allowed to smoke in the casinos so the smell sometimes kills me. We had to go outside and get some fresh air. Plus the weather was super nice.

Adam is listening intently on how to play Roulette. Just kidding. We watched these two guys play. One did really well, the other not so much. It's an interesting game based purely on luck! Risky! But if you win, you could win big! I guess that's the idea that keeps people playing!

The Heat

2010-10-27T13:51:00.000-06:00

This morning, right after we woke up, we're laying in bed and Adam turns to me and says, "I feel bad....for Dwyane Wade." What? "Well, Lebron is just gonna take the ball and try to score as many points as he can, blah, blah, blah."

You think about weird stuff first thing in the morning.

Road Trip

2010-10-18T20:48:00.000-06:00

Recently we went on a little trip up to a small town in Idaho to visit my Grandma. We had a good time driving around with my grandma as she pointed out sentimental places in that small little town. It's the town my mom grew up in and I can see why she left. If you like small towns, then you'd love it there, but if not...well, get out when you can.

My uncle (my mom's only brother) still lives there too. He's an incredible guy. He's very handy and willing to help anybody! Adam's car needed some work so after breakfast on Saturday we went over to Uncle B

rett's house and he totally fixed Adam's car. Brett has every tool imaginable! Seriously! And he lives by a junk yard so he can go and get any car parts he needs--he has all the tools and equipment to take it off the junk car and put it on the car he's working on. It was actually pretty impressive!

While Adam and Brett worked on the car I played with Uncle Brett's grandson. He's five and doesn't get to play with a lot of kids his age that often. He has a lot of energy--as much young boys do. H

e really liked Adam! He didn't want me to push him on the swing he wanted Adam...it was cute...then the little boy came up with a brilliant idea (all on his own). He took this rope and tied it around himself and pretended that he was my dog. He even went so far as to tie himself to a cement slab. That was towards the end of the day and I was getting tired of playing...so having him tied up was perfect! lol

The kid also made this contraption and trapped Adam on it. If he moved it would fall over.

Eclairs

2010-09-26T13:01:00.000-06:00

I love baking and cooking! Although I'm not very good at either...yet. But I guess it just takes practice and trial and error. So, yesterday I found a recipe for mini eclairs on Allrecipes.com and since we had all but one of the ingreidents I decided to make it.

They came out good, I guess. Adam ate them.

(But like a good husband, he eats everything I make...I know he really likes something if he asks me to make it again!) Actually, I liked them too. I got the sugar free vanilla pudding (the filling) on accident, but they still came out pretty good. I thought they tasted like eclairs and that's all that counts! When I first put the dough together it was really sticky, and consequently hard to handle, but they cooked just fine. Anyway, I'll probably try to make them again.

Blueberries!

2010-09-20T18:06:00.000-06:00

So as it turns out Adam loves, loves, loves blueberries! (This was one of the first things he told me when we met..."Hi, I'm Adam, I love blueberries." j/k) But he does love blueberries and until I met him I only liked blueberries. But since he loves them and I love him I've come to love blueberries too! (Not to mention they're one of those super-foods, so they're supposed to be extra good for you!)...Well, while we were in North Carolina there was alot of places that had pick-your-own-fruit...unfortunately we didn't go until close to the end of the season...so we onlygot to pick blueberries, which was fine with Adam, but I would have liked to also pick blackberries (which were the two fruits they had there.) Since our work schedule was super crazy most of the time we had to look around for a place that would be open at a time and day we'd be able to go. We found Dr. Young's Pond Berry Farm and woke up early in the morning to drive out there...it should have been about a 30 minute drive, but we got lost and it took almost an hour! But we had a good time picking blueberries!

And apparently for his birthday his mom usually makes him a blueberry pie! He was still in Utah during his birthday this year and I was in North Carolina; but I got a great recipe for blueberry pie and went to the store to get all the ingredients and I planned on making it for him as soon as he got to NC...well two months later I still hadn't made the pie! So I few weeks before we were supposed to go back to Utah we started clearing out our cupboards and refrigerator and we found two cans of blueberry pie filling. (Which I don't remember buying but the pie I was going to make called for fresh blueberries) I still had the pre-made pie crust so I made a blueberry pie with that and the blueberry pie filling. I added a sweet crumb topping to try to mix it up a bit. The result was super sugary and good pie. I wouldn't make the blueberry like that again, I'd use fresh blueberries, but Adam ate the whole thing!

My New Camera

2010-09-11T14:26:00.000-06:00

I would hope this post would be all about my new camera...but I don't actually have a new camera to gush about...You see, no matter how financially stable you were before you got married, after you have no extra money to spend. haha...or at least that's how I think it works.

I bought a Cannon 4MP camera 5 years ago that has served me well. It was cutting-edge when I bought it, but now, 4MP seems so out dated. But truthfully I would keep the camera and use it but recently the flash stopped working. (It's probably something that's easily fixable.) So I figure my only recourse is to buy a new one. So I'm doing what any normal person that's strapped for cash would do...buy it off of ebay! I've been checking ebay for the past week for a good deal on a nice camera...and by nice I mean 6MP...haha...well, we'll see what happens. I'm sure I'll get one eventually...then I'll post tons of awesome pictures on here! =)

Timpanogos Storytelling Festival

2010-09-09T21:43:00.000-06:00

This past weekend Adam and I volunteered at the 21st Annual Timpanogos Storytelling Festival. We did it last year and it was completely boring! It was an all day thing and we really didn't know what to exact and we didn't really like the story tellers we heard. But this year was different. Adam was a Tent Manager and I was a Tent Host...we had official duties this time. We were in charge of the Cottonwood Tent and Saturday Morning the first storyteller in our tent was a first-timer to the Timp Storytelling Festival. His name is Antonio Sacre, he's a national storyteller. It was his first time to Utah and first time he had been immersed in the LDS culture. He was by far my favorite storyteller. His story was about a little Cuban girl visiting her grandma in Miami. It's called, La Noche Buena: A Christmas Story. The story is actually published as a book and will be available for sale on November 1st. In fact, they were selling a few copies at the festival, but when I went to the tent to buy one, they were all gone. But he was an excellent storyteller and I really enjoyed his story.

All of the other storytellers were pretty good too. We worked all day in the Cottonwood Tent and had the opportunity listen to quite a few story tellers. Another story teller I liked was a woman who's name started with a D, who told a story about child birth. Alot of the people in the audience could relate to what she was saying because they were older women who presumably all had given birth at least once.

One thing I noticed about the storytellers was that people liked them more when they could identify with their stories. (It sounds obvious--and it is). But what I noticed is that here, in Utah County, there is a very unique culture that you won't find anywhere else in the county. People are more conservative and their values and way of life are a little different then anywhere else. So when Antonio got up and told his story about a little Cuban girl people loved the story--probably because it was heartwarming and genuine and told superbly, but the next story teller was a guy named Bil (yes, just 1 L) Lepp...I think that was his last name. He is a Utah native (non-LDS) and a farmer...his story was not that great, but everyone LOVED him...and I thought it could be in part because more people could identify with his story about being in boy scouts and farming and things like that. Anyway, it seems obvious that people would like stories they can relate to just like people think comedians that poke fun of stuff they are familiar with are the funniest.

Overall, the weather was nice and our 9 hours of volunteering went by rather quickly. And sadly, this is the only picture I have from that day.

Random Stuff

2010-07-30T19:36:00.000-06:00

I'm still trying to figure out this blog stuff...I look at everyone else's blog and they're so cute and creative (and I'm sure they are designs that they downloaded somewhere) but I can't figure out how to make mine super cute. Oh well, I like mine anyway.

So, we think someone close to us has an eating disorder. She's stick thin and rarely eats. (I guess that would explain the thin part). As I told Adam about her, he interrupts me and tells me how happy he is that he'll never have to worry about that with me...because I like eating to much, he says. haha. it's true. I could never have an eating disorder...I like food. So with that in mind, when work is slow we have nothing else to do, but cook stuff...when we're just hanging out at the apartment, waiting for jobs, every hour or so I turn to him and ask him what he wants to eat now...we're always eating it seems. (Luckily we workout everyday--else we'd probably weigh 300lbs!).

And a few weeks ago we were working in Wilmington, NC. It's right on the beach! It's 2 hours from where we live so we stayed in a hotel the time we worked there. We went to the beach frequently and it was awesome! I love California and the beaches there, but the water and the beach in Wilmington were soooo nice! Plus, it helped that it was 100 degrees outside, so the water was extra refreshing! Anyway, Wilmington also has an aquarium. One friday we woke up early (before the reps went out) and drove to the aquarium. It was cool looking at all the fish and sea life and white aligator! However, the aquarium in NC doesn't even compare to the one in Long Beach or Boston! But we had fun all the same!

Carolina Tiger Rescue

2010-07-15T19:49:00.003-06:00

First, look how handsome this guy is! ; )

Carolina Tiger Rescue is a non-profit wildlife sanctuary in NC. Our office went on a private tour there. We heard about it because Adam installed a system for a guy that works there. He was super cool and told use all about it. So one sunday we all drove out th

ere. North Carolina is suprisingly hot and this particular sunday was especially hot. As we walked around I'm pretty sure we had heat stroke or heat exhaustion--similar to our time at the Houston zoo. (I can't really remember anything about that zoo except that it was ridiculously hot). But at this Tiger Rescue there were many tigers and different kinds of "cats". They were really close to us, although we weren't allowed to touch them--which I thought was lame. Most of the Tigers and other animals there was rescused from people (mostly oil tycoons in Texas) that thought it would be cool to have a Tiger as a pet...they learned quickly that a Tiger should not be a house pet. Overall, it was pretty cool to see tigers so close...and one of them even ate baby food out of a baby jar!

What I did for my summer vacation...

2010-07-15T19:20:00.001-06:00

This summer, the summer following my wedding we went to North Carolina to install security systems. (Not quite the honeymoon I'd envisioned, but that will come). It seems appropriate because installing is how Adam and I met and how we eventually fell in love. We met in Greenville, South Carolina...which I loved...the city was beautiful, the weather was perfect, and the people were hospitible.

Anyway, here we are now, in North Carolina--coinceidentally wo

rking in Greenville, NC--but not nearly as cool though. In fact, I don't really care for NC at all. Except for our ward at church. Everyone is so friendly, and the bishop made an effort to learn our names, which was nice.

We're working with a new company, which turns out wasn't the greatest decision. But it looks like we'll each hit our revised goals. Most of our time is spent waiting for jobs. Unfortunately our office isn't as busy as we would have hoped so more often than not we do more waiting around then actually working.

But we have plans...we only want to be here 4 more weeks and hope that will come true. Then we'll take a mini road trip to Oklahoma, Utah, and California...then back to Utah for school. We'll see what happens.

2010-06-13T10:53:00.000-06:00

The Big Day!

Well, it's probably about time that I confirmed, in writing, that yes, I got married! =) It was a beautiful California day in Los Angeles and we had tons of family and friends come out and celebrate with us. More to come...

WANTED: Nice TV

2010-04-26T17:53:00.001-06:00

So we're moving to North Carolina for the summer. I need to be out of my apartment by Wednesday! (ugh!) Yesterday we went looking for boxes to pack my stuff in. Walmart said to come back late late that night when they're stocking things. Not ones to give up too quickly, we drove around looking at different stores dumpster to see if anyone had discarded usable boxes. Unfortunately we didn't find any boxes, however, we did find a perfectly good TV in one of the dumpsters. It was big and bulky--you know, the kind people used to covet before LCD, plasma, and other flat panel TVs came out.

Well, just like any good bargain shopper, we figured one man's trash, is another man's.....you get the idea. In no time flat we had that monster in the car. We got it home and due to the weight and uncertainty of actually working we decided to use one of the outlets in the hallway, rather then lugging it all the way into the apartment. Sadly, we turned it on and nothing...well, not nothing, the red light flickered on and off, but no picture. Our treasure turned out to be trash after all. But we had a great time, laughing, driving around, and diving for hidden treasures...it was definitely a Sunday afternoon to remember.....if only I had taken pictures. =)

Everybody's Workin' for the Weekend

2010-04-13T22:15:00.000-06:00

While most people are probably working for the weekend, I'm working for it for a much more exciting reason...in approximately 4 (!) days I'll be getting married to the most perfect man for me! We leave to Los Angeles Thursday afternoon and we'll be sealing the deal Saturday morning. All the preparations are pretty much done. Now all we gotta do is make sure we show up on time! But the only problem is getting through the next day and a half! School work and work-work is getting in the way. =) Presentations, projects, and other assignments don't stop for a wedding. So stress is piling up, but excitement is mounting!