9/11/2011

Today is the 10 year anniversary of 2011. To help me remember how I felt that day, I thought I would pull out my journal from 8th grade. Here are the words of the 13 year old Becky Todd on 9/11/2001... exactly how it was written.

Today is 9/11/01

Today is the most tragic day of my life. 2 of our lands traid-marks have just been distroyed. The world trader center or the twin towers have just calapsed today.

Today I got up like any old 13 year old 8th grader would get up, would be half awake half not. I got up, took a shower got dressed did my hair soon and so forth. I got on the bus like nothing was wrong. Just talking to my friends and stuff.

I get to school I was just about to first perios when a boy names Cameron Vickilion came up to me and Meghan and said "Did you hear what just happened about an hour and a half ago!!?" Both of us said "No". "The world trade centers just got hit by a plane" me and Meghan both just kind of ignoring him. Then when I got in first period, the principle came on the intercom and said that one of the world trade centers just fell down. I didn't really know what the twin towers were so I was confused. Then in 2nd period my teacher started to cry and Meghans mom checked her our of school. All the rest of the day was horrible. Every1 was crying and scared. I got home and watched the news and for once I saw what happened. It was so scary and sad. That was the day I will never forget.

(4/20/2002)

A lot has happened since then but that is something that will always be with me. I just watched another documentary on 9/11 and it is so sad. I remember getting off the bus when I got home that day and seeing Meghan come running down the hill to come talk to me. We talked 4 hours about what happened since she was home all day she had seen what happened. But me I was at school with all my confused classmates and my sobbing teachers.

I remember walking into my house and seeing my brother on the couch watching what was my first glimpse of reality. What I saw on that T.V. screen was something I wouldn't have thought possible. Smoke and flames on these buildings. Planes crashing into them. It was the most horrible thing I have ever saw in my life. I called my mom at work and trying really hard not to cry she didn't really sound worried which kind of scared me. But she thought there wasn't a very likely chance that anything would happen to her. For the next week or to, all that was on the t.v. was either 9/11 or if they have found any more servivors. I think for about a month, our country was so united and whole and it was so nice. You would walk around town and people would say hi to you or say god bless you or something. And the saddest thing was seeing all the flags like this:

It was so sad I started to cry. This day will alwats live in my forever and I will never forget it.

A Penny worth a million

I don't know if I am alone in this but I just totally suck at finishing blogs. That's right. I don't suck at writing them or starting them but...FINISHING them. I have about 20 unfinished blogs that are just waiting to be read by the world!!

This is one of them.

Back at the end of January, I was going through a rough time. We got our house but I felt like something was missing. Since George is working from home now, I felt bad that he was just home alone all day without a whole lot of interaction. So the first thing I thought to do was get a cat.
So one Saturday, I meandered into Petco to look at the kitty cats. Somehow my eyes diverted to these cute little puppies. There was one inparticular that caught my eye. It was a white border collie/blue healer with little brown spots. It was the calmest puppy of the bunch and my heart just melted!! So, I ran home and told George we had to go look at this puppy. He is thinking to himself "oh great, how am I going to say no this time..."
Well we get to Petco...and my puppy is being sold!! I was so sad!! But then we look down in the cage and there she is. A little brownish white puppy....Her face is half brown and half white with brown feckles. Just about the cutest thing I ever saw. I picked her up...she was just calm and cuddly! I knew I had to have her. But, it wasn't my decision. I knew if we got a puppy, it would be George's not mine...since he will spend most of the day with it.
After walking around Petco for about 30 minutes...we finally decided she was the newest addition to the Ortiz Family. Penny Ortiz or Penners or Penny blossom or Penny Rosa or Sean Penn or Penn State or Penny Loafer...just to name a few of her nicknames she's gotten from us.
So far our time with Penny has been great. She is the best dog in the world!! That of course was until March 21st. One day we began noticing Penny was really... calm. Which she isn't really hyper but she was abnormally calm. Then she started to get this nasty cough. The next day, George took her to the vet and the vet diagnosed her with Kennel Cough. Which scared me a little bit because I guess its more serious in puppies. That night, George and I went t visit some friends. When we came home, Penny was in the bathroom with blood all around her. She was coughing up blood. A lot of it at that. This wasn't normal. I was really worried. So we decided it would be best to take her to the animal hospital...Just to be safe!
When we got to the hospital, we were met by a very high strung receptionist who immediately started yelling at us telling us to get our puppy from the car immediately. As soon as we brought Penny in, she took her straight to the back and told us we had to give them $400 down before they'd start treating Penny. Apparently, she was in need of a blood transfusion, oxygen and plasma to keep her alive. They gave us a final estimate of $1,300 we needed to pay. Up front.

We had to make the toughest puppy parent decision. Is Penny worth $1,300? Of course being me, I became so hysterical I couldn't even talk. George was the level headed one.

We decided to just have them do everything they could to keep our puppy alive. Even though they couldn't even guarantee that. The doctor came in and told us she has 1 or 2 things. Either she had rat poisoning or she was a Hymophiliac. AHHH!! Well, I can't think of a time she would have gotten into rat poison so we were afraid it was Hymophilia. The doctor said he'd do what he can tonight and we would just have to come back in the morning. So we left and headed home.

I did not sleep well.

That next morning, we got up at 7 and headed back down to the hospital to pick Penny up. The doctor told us Penny had been doing well all night after the blood transfusion until about 6am. She had a reaction to the blood and was having more problems. We ended up taking her to the vet and the vet was dumbstruck on how bad Penny was. I think he felt horrible just saying she had kennel cough. They didn't know what they could do with her besides just keep her stable by putting her on oxygen. They recommended to keep her at the vet until the animal hospital opened again and to take her back.

Well by the time we paid for the hospital visit at the morning at the vet, we were pretty much out of money. So all we could do was just take her home and hope for the best....

She was in pretty bad shape. She was so weak she could hardly stand. We had to get her to take her medicine which meant she had to eat something which was a whole other issue. By the end of the night though she was getting a little stronger and we got her to eat some bread.

The next morning, we woke up to a puppy that actually looked like...our puppy. For the first time in day her ears were up and she was standing and moving around!

Here is what she looked like Sunday morning.

Sad huh? Our poor little puppy. But from then on, she just got better and better. Now she is our perfect little not so puppy anymore! Healthy and so stinkin cute!

Here is a picture of her that her daycare (Yes, I said daycare...we take our puppy to daycare) took of her.

So what happened?

Well, I'll tell ya. A week before she got sick, George and I went to go see a movie. When we came home, our basement was flooded. And guess who did it? Yup. Our cute little puppy!
OUR PUPPY FLOODED OUR BASEMENT!
I bet not many people can say that!

So that night we spent about 5 hours trying to dry our carpet with a shop-vac. Well, to get our basement to dry a little faster, we opened the door to our crawlspace...and guess what was in our crawl space?
Rat poison.

How'd I get so white n' nerdy?

Recently I have been discovering my inner being. The Nerd. You know, all through high school I thought I was SOOO cool knowing all the songs to all the newest broadway shows. Rollin' into school with my van, bright red hair and I made sure everyone knew I was in the choir and musicals.

Well... I think in the past few years, I have had this transformation from one nerd to another. I'm not the nerdy choir kid anymore but a real life... Nerd. Like the ones who play magic and talk about Spock like he is a real person and such. Wow.

So, if you do any of these then CONGRADULATIONS!!!! You are as nerdy as me.

1. If you have seen the youtube video that has puppets of Harry Potter characters. Snape, Snape, Severus Snape.

2. If you play Paper, Rock Scissors, Lizard, Spock to resolve conflicts in your marriage.

3. If you know what Munchkins is.

4. If when you hear the song Miss American Pie, you start singing "A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far away, Naboo was under an attack...."

5. If you have ever played Talisman

6. If you own more than 3 mac products

7. If The Big Bang Theory is more than just the theory.

8. If you considered buying an ergonomic keyboard for your husband

9. If you watched Watson on Jepardy and tried to figure out what algorithms they could possibly have used.

10. If you know the reference in which the title of this blog came from.

2010 in a nutshell!

Wow. I literally seems like yesterday that I was writing my blog about "2009 in a nutshell". I know I probably say this every year but WOW. This year went by really fast. So many BIG things happened in my life that i'm wondering if I even payed attention to the little things in life...It's sad to admit but although a lot of wonderful things happened this year, I don't think I lived up to my full potential in life. I think this is the first year(and probably not the last) that I wish I could kind of turn back the clock and re-do some things.

But I want to be a positive blog so I am going to tell you the Top 5 things that happened to the Ortiz' in 2010!


1. Of course, we bought a house! This was a BIG step for us! But it was probably one of the best things we could have done! I love it!





2. I graduated with my bachelors degree at the University of Utah! Woot!

3. We went on our wonderful trip to Seattle to meet George's Grandma and Grandpa!

4. A big this that happened early in 2010 was that my dad was told he most likely had Liver Cancer. All year we were preparing ourselves for the worst news...because it took them about 6 months to find out. Well, in the beginning of November, I got the best news that my dad did NOT have cancer but just a banine sist on his liver. So, my dad can continue to be the wonderful dad he is!! Praise God.

5. In early June I started my new job trainer at my work! This was a big thing since I was graduating...I didn't really know what I would do, when suddenly this opportunity came at the perfect time... Praise God again.

Here are some other things that happened as well...

• We celebrated our first anniversary
• we went to see Lion King live
• George's business really took off
• we went to Lava Hot Springs
• George spoke at Lakeside for the first time
• I am getting WAAY better at guitar...someday going to be able to lead worship by myself!
• I learned how to make ceramic pots
• I got addicted to McDonalds Sweet Tea
• We gave blood for the first time
• I got to really see my cousins Lindsey and Kim for the first time since I was a little girl
• George went to the Zoo for the first time
• I bought an ipad
• We went to the Rodeo for the first time
• We layed down tile in our house
• We made so many new friends! Some new friends were really old friends that became good friends again!
• We made Candy Apples for the first time ever!
• My cousin GraciAnna got married!
• My sister moved to Virgina!

That's all I can think of that happened....but i'm sure a million other things happened too...

Anyways, I'm glad 2010 is over....and I am SOOO excited for 2011!

The 4th!

George and I woke up to an epiphany today! This is our 4th Thanksgiving together! I know that doesn't seem like anything spectacular...but WOW! We have been together for over 4 years now.

This is an extra special Thanksgiving because its our first thanksgiving being home owners!

After a miserable two weeks of being unsure when we are getting our home(which has caused me such stress, i have a rib that popped out of place from my spine! yikes!), we FINALLY got our keys yesterday. Once we got them, we went there and the first thing we did is.... Change all the light and outlet covers! I know weird.

But we are home owners!

Here are a few pictures of our lovely home!

This is our little tint kitchen!

This is our front room. I LOVE the little loft on the top floor...

This is the one we choose!

I needs some fixin' it is great!

I'm not that uninteresting....PART II(tangent)

So I left off with me finally making it to George's house late at night. Before I can continue this story I think I need to explain how George and I met...Because I have never blogged about it so I think this is a good time for a little curve ball in this story.

June 2006:

I had just got my first real job outside of high school. It was the Layton Barnes and Noble. Back then, I knew nothing about books...so don't ask me why I even applied at Barnes and Noble, but there I was. By the end of the summer, I had been promoted to the cash lead and I felt on top of the world. One day I was working at the info desk and come to find out I am working with my arch nemesis that day. George. The pretentious, mysterious weirdo. George and I had never really talked before but I knew for some reason I didn't like him. Or maybe it was that I got the vibe from him that he didn't like me...I don't know. Either way, we didn't like each other. We were sitting at the info desk and for the first time EVER he spoke to me. This is what he said:

George: "You know, sometimes when I am here at work, I pretend everyone here are Star Wars characters"

Ha. Ok. So not only is he pretentious and mysterious but a COMPLETE nerd. I just laughed and looked at him weird. (To this day I make fun of him about this)

From that moment on, this George person intrigued me. He was so... interesting. After working with him a little longer, I learned he was engaged to a girl I grew up with(which was kind of weird). We had very few interactions because I still got the vibe that he didn't like me. I remember specifically during Christmastime, I was singing at this church in Ogden for the Weber State Choir and I saw George there. The first thing that came out of my mouth was, "What are YOU doing here?" He replied "Brooke wanted to come". For a moment, I remember feeling a little disappointed because I thought maybe...he came to see me. But then I remembered he didn't like me and he was engaged so that couldn't have possibly been the case.

After Christmas, I moved to Salt Lake so George and I no longer worked together. But because all of my good friends still worked at the Barnes and Noble in Layton, I would still get together with them regularly. Well, one night around the beginning of February, all of us were going to go to Denny's. When I got to Denny's... George was there. And again, the first thing that came to my mind was... you guessed it... "What are YOU doing here?" George never hung out with the Barnes crowd because he was always with Brooke. He didn't really explain what happened but I got the impression that they broke up. And for the first time, I really felt for the kid. That night, our co-worker Dan, invited us all to go to his church the following day. I had never really been to a christian church so I thought, what the heck. And went.

The only other person who ended up going was... you guessed it again. George. It's like I couldn't get rid of him! hehe. That day, for the first time, I got to know the real George. Not the Star Wars character dreamer George. Or the "I love Brooke" George. Or the "I didn't have time to dry my hair so I stuck my head out of my car window" George. But this kind, inspiring, and sadly heartbroken man. He told me about what happened between him and Brooke. She cheated on George with my ex-boyfriends best friend. So, I knew the guy...well. For some reason, this weird and unfortunate connection between us really brought us together. We found comfort in one another.

From that day on, we were inseparable. We spoke just about everyday, He came up to Salt Lake and visited me. We even went on an epic trip to Zion(For another blog). In 2 short months, he had become my dear friend. I never thought of George much more than a friend only because both of us were pre-occupied with our own love lives. I was chasing dreamily after a guy and George didn't know if he could ever love or trust anyone again from what he had been through. But we were there for each other, and I think above all, that was what we needed.

Until one day in early April, I hear that George was in the hospital. He broke both of his feet.

From then on, I didn't get to speak to him much. I didn't know why, but he wouldn't answer my calls or texts... It's like...he fell off the face of the Earth. Then I find out, he's moving home to Vegas. He needs surgery and he is going to live with his mom. I was truly heartbroken. I felt as though in a few short months, I had gained a best friend and lost one. One moment he was there, and the next, gone. Without even saying goodbye.

Eventually he began to write me emails from Vegas. We wrote back and forth to each other for a few months. Pouring our troubles and trials of life to each other. One day, we concluded that I was going to drive down to Vegas to visit him. I needed my dear friend George.

So, I decided to drive to Vegas....and brought a friend.

And that is the end of Part II(tangent)

Buying a home.

Ugh.

George and I are in the process of buying a home.

This is going to be my testimony right here right now that it is a pain in the TOOCHIE!!!

But we have 3 we love. All three homes we love some things about them and some things we don't love so much.

Home #1 : Clinton

Built in 2002. BEAUTIFUL neighborhood. Smallest house in the neighborhood. LOVE the outside. Beautiful good sized lawn and backyard. Weird layout of the house. Needs all new paint and carpet. Kind of cramped(Seriously considering knocking a wall out and putting a window). All one level. BUT it has....don don don! A walk in closet!! My dream! Large kitchen.

HOME #2: Clearfield

Built 1984. No Garage. Not so nice neighborhood(But not bad), Cute exterior. LARGE backyard. Completely remodeled inside...it's AMAZING! comes with BRAND-NEW stainless steel appliances. This is a ready to move in-er. We probably would have a hard time re-selling it because of the neighborhood though...

HOME #3: Layton

Built 1986. Pretty nice neighborhood. Ok exterior. New carpet, new paint. LOVE the layout of the house! Love the backyard! SMALL kitchen... comes with appliances(not stainless steel though). Needs new light fixtures.

Oh my goodness. I have no idea what to do. I would be happy with any of them.

How will I decide?!

I guess i'm not that un-interesting...PART 1

A little while ago, we began our monthly staff meeting having to tell something interesting about ourselves. I couldn't really think of anything. The first to go was my Co-worker Linda(you know who you are) who had a crazy story of her lying about her age to date someone 7 years older then her. It was pretty intense. Then Steve,my other co-worker went and told about how he was possibly abducted when he was little. Then others went on to tell about their adventures dating the guitarist from Incubus and getting to cook for George Bush...my life seemed so...LAME!

I had nothing. The coolest thing I had to show was that I can make a three-leaf clover out of my tongue.

Since than I have really been wondering why in my past 22 years of life, I haven't had anything crazy happen in my life. Have I lived my life in some odd bubble? Have I not been adventurous?

I came up with a conclusion. Maybe I haven't dated a rock star or gotten abducted. But my life has certainly been an adventure! The year of 2007 in particular stands out to me. And now that I look back, I don't know why I didn't share these stories...because these events shaped my life.

REWIND!

In the early summer of 2007, I was working at The Buckle in the Gateway. One day, a co-worker and I were eating lunch outside when this guy in his early 20's came up to us. The first thing I noticed was that he was dressed kind of strange...but as soon as he opened his mouth, I understood. He said, "Excuse me, I have 2 tickets to the Jazz playoff games tonight...and I was wondering if either of you would like to go with me" in an elequent British(or so I thought) voice. At this point, we just stared at him. We look at each other. My co-worker thinking this is a huge joke. Me on the other hand, found it intriguing! My co-worker says without too much hesitation; "Sorry, I can't, I have to work tonight." But being the naive 18 year old I was, I was determained to go with this guy.

Somehow I convinced my boss to let me go to the Jazz game with some complete stranger. To this day, I don't know who was more retarded. But I went. It was awesome! I had never been to a Jazz game before(Believe it or not) and I had never done anything so stupid and gutsy in my life. But Scott(who is Australian) was a very nice guy. He was 21 and was touring America following the NBA playoffs. We had a lot of fun getting to know each other. I mostly remember making fun of him and his accent when he said "Go Jahzz!". We had so much fun he asked if I would go to the next game with him. Of course I said yes! (How often do you get to go to Jazz Playoffs for free!? And besides, I wasn't dating anyone at the time...so I didn't feel too bad). So we went to the following Jazz game.

It doesn't end there.

After the game, I was supposed to go to a party at my friends house. So I asked Scott if he would like to go and meet some of my friends. He came with me and we spent the night laughing about ridiculous things both Americans and Australians say! Sometime during that night he was telling us his next stop was Vegas and that he was going to fly there in the next few days.

This is one of those moments when you look back and think... "Could I have possibly been any stupider?!"

I said to Scott, "Hey! I am actually driving down to Vegas this weekend to visit my friend(George)! Why don't you just come with me and save some money!"

Scott was a little reluctant but thought "Hey, she looks pretty harmless" and took the offer. While the rest of my friends had their mouth open thinking I have completely lost my marbles.

So that weekend, I picked Scott up from his hotel and we headed down to Vegas. Because I knew my mom would NOT have been ok with this, I decided not to tell her and she thought I was driving by myself(Which was still not her ideal situation. But in my mind it was better for her to think I was driving alone than with a complete stranger from half way around the world.)

But of course my friends were pretty worried about me and told me to text them every hour to make sure he didn't rape or kill me. So I did.......Until....I accidently left my phone at a gas station in Cedar City. Thats when all hell broke loose.

My mom was frantic, my friends thought I was dead on the side of the road. I had no way of getting a hold of anyone(including George because I didn't know where he was in Vegas) THAN as if nothing else could have gone wrong, I ran into one of those orange cones and knocked off my side view mirror on my car.

By this time, I think Scott was thinking it would have been easier to just fly. But we had some fun going down. We stopped in Zion so he could see the beautiful park! And he also went the most famous thing in America.... Wal-Mart!! haha!

Finally somehow we made it to Vegas. I got Scott to his room in the Balagio where I somehow contacted George I think through MySpace and found out where he lived. I said good-bye to my friend Scott who I got to know pretty well in a week. And we decided this was an awesome story that shouldn't end somehow! But that was about all we decided! Than I left.

That night around 1 I finally found George's house and...George. : )

And that is the end of Part 1! Hehe!

OK, this is like the worst picture of me...I was wearing a 2XL shirt... ew.

A Kuna Matata!

Oh man I haven't blogged much lately because not a whole lot has happened(Seriously)! I did just celebrate my birthday! Which was fun!

George and I went to see Lion King then stayed in the Swiss Family Robinson room at the Anniversary Inn. It was one AMAZING night!

Tee Hee! We signed our nicknames underneath the bed. (we are so bad!) hehe So if you ever go into the Swiss Family Robinson room on 500 S. look for our sigs!!

George being a nerdy-mc-nerdyton!

Our awesome room!! Which we quickly made messy some how!

Both of us look slightly miserable...but for just cause! I was upset because George had a migraine and was miserable and I was mad he was not going to enjoy our awesome night we had planned! I also locked my keys in my car(AGAIN) which was kind of upsetting. Luckily I have the best Step-Dad ever who drove all the way down to Salt Lake to bring my spare key to me! But other than that, our evening out was awesome! I would HIGHLY recommend seeing Lion King if you can spare the dough! (We obviously did not buy the tickets...)

Other than that, it's been about the same old for George and Becky Jo. We might be buying a home soon!! But other than that, we are kind of going through the motions!

I guess the only thing really different in my life now is the lack of school. After 16 full years of school, I am finally done. This is the first fall I have not gone back to school since I was 6. I never thought i'd say this but I really miss it. Especially with this being the first day of school, I feel weird not signing up for classes and walking around campus and buying books(I know...weird). I'm just at a new stage of life...I need to embrace it!! I guess.

These mashed potatoes are so creamy!

Today George and I watched one of the best movies ever!

A few months ago, I went into my bosses office and set something down on his desk and left. I heard him laugh and he said "TOAD"(which is what he called me) and I came marching back to his office with a face of "You called me?" and he just laughed. He always said I reminded him of someone and at that moment, he remembered who it was. He thinks I am just like Sandra Bullock in this movie. And that moment I had with my boss was just like the moment Sandra Bollock had with her boss when she set her wedding invitation on his desk.

Now that I have watched it again, I couldn't help but laugh! I am also kind of offended he thinks so. She's almost socially awkward in this movie!

Me? Socially awkward? Never.....

Giving Blood

Today George and I gave blood!

It was my first time...Honestly, I didn't think i'd be able to give blood because last time I checked...I was anemic. But when they tested me today, I actually had a TON of iron.

Crazy.

Anyways...it was cool I guess. I probably wont ever do it again because it really hurt and it's making me queazy even writing about it.

So i'm done writing about it now.

But now I can say I did it!

yay!

Our first year

I know this is like 2 weeks late. But I thought i'd share a few pictures from our

FIRST ANNIVERSARY!

May 16th, 2010!

I love you George!

Cutting our year old cake! It was actually quite delicious!

The view from our balcony! This picture does NOT give it justice!

Our room!

Our room again!

Best morning breakfast on the balcony!!

Yes. I am eating yogurt with a fork. That's all they gave us!!

Here is a video that shows all our adventures in our first year of marriage! I just hope every year will be as great as this one was.

Enjoy!

An update of recent events!

SOOO much has happened in the past few weeks and for some reason, I haven't been compelled to really write about it. But I should...just because all the cool cats do it right? So here it goes!

1. On May 7th, I graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelors degree in Speech Communication and cultural studies! Wooh! It was SUCH AN AWESOME experience. But to be honest, it made me kind of sad. It made me realize that I have spent the past 4 years investing my life in this education and didn't bother to make any really close friends while I was at it. I had a ton of acquaintances I graduated with but not a single person I'd call my friend! It's just so weird how different college is from high school... In high school I can't really think of anything significant I learned but I gained life long friendships. In college, (hopefully) I learned something...yet not a single friend was gained. Sigh.

2. I GOT A NEW JOB!! Starting in a few weeks, I will officially be a Corporate Trainer here at America First!! I am so excited to have the opportunity to do something new and something I think I'll actually enjoy rather than...well you know. So yes! No more HR intern! Wooh!!

3. This last weekend, George and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary!! It was amazing! We stayed at the Anniversary Inn on 5th South in Salt Lake in the Palace room. It was awesome! The only problem was, when we got back to our room after spending the afternoon seeing Robin Hood and eating amazing food at Benihana, our room was 95 degrees! So, we spent most of the night outside on the balcony while our A/C was blasting! We still had a great time though and it was just nice to just get away!

4. So on Monday, George and I had the day off so we went up to the U to buy a psychology book for a class i'm taking and we decided to buy an iPad! I'm not going to lie, it's pretty cool! Although, George really wanted it for business reasons but he hasn't really used it yet! But I still love our new toy! I just hope it's worth the money we spent on it!

Ok, so before I continue with this list, I just have to say, these past few weeks have been so great that I have been wondering if there will ever come another point in my life when so many good things happen at once! I hope so, but you never really know do you?

5. So now comes the things I am fearing most in my life right now. My dad. A few weeks ago, they found a growth on his liver. The doctors have been doing tests on it trying to determine what it is...and well, all the doctors seem really concerned. They aren't sure if it's cancerous but they do think it's something serious.... We wont know for a few more days but I am so worried because Liver Cancer is awful and painful and very hard to treat... So I am just hoping and praying for the best... But I think my dad is taking it all really well. He is actually feeling pretty good so it's hard to imagine he might have cancer in him. But I think if he did get diagnosed with cancer, he wouldn't regret a thing... He's been a pretty amazing person, giver, friend and dad. And I know if he gets the privilege to stay on this Earth even longer, he will continue being the amazing person he is...and that's what brings me peace.


6. I don't really know if I have anything else to update in my life. Maybe just that George and I aren't sure what to do about our living situation. We've been back and forth on buying a house...but I think we are both just really uneasy about that big of an investment... But at the same time, I don't know if we can stomach paying just as much as a mortgage would be on renting a place! So, I don't know what the right thing is to do... but hopefully we'll figure it out soon.


Well there you go. All caught up.

Eye patches.

Yesterday, George and I went to lunch. As we were eating lunch, a man came in and sat at the table right next to us. Pretty normal right? Well, no. Because this man, had an eye patch! To most everyone else, that's not completly unusual or in our case funny. But it was funny. We looked over and started giggling as quietly and descretly as we could. Before you think of us as completely descrimatory people, let me explain....

In November of 2007, it was a usual day. Mid day George called me to tell me he had a HORRIBLE stomach ache is going home sick. (Which is weird for him since he NEVER takes sick days). When I got out of school, I came home and he was rolling on our bathroom floor in complete and utter misery. So, what do I do? I go to the gym. I'm such a sweet girlfriend(at the time). But on my way to the gym George calls me and says, "Will you come get me and take me to the doctor?" So I did. I took him to the insta-care in Layton. As soon as George explained his pain to the doctor, she said, "you need to get out of here and go as quickly as you can to the emergency room!" The pain was being caused by his appendix and the doctor feared that any moment, his appendix would burst. Not a pleasant thing to hear especially after thinking he just had a nasty case of the stomach flu. So of course, at the sound of this, I became hysterical. We rushed George to the hospital and had to wait like...30 minutes to get onto a bed. Once he was in a bed, we waited about 2 hours for a cat scan to make sure it was his appendix and than another hour until they finally wheeled him into surgery.

Ok. So by now you're probably wondering, what the heck does this story have to do with an eye patch right? Oh just you wait...i'm getting there.

So, I think it was about 1:00 am when George had his surgery. My mom and I just stayed half awake in the waiting room. Finally at around 3:00, the doctor came out and told us it was a boy. Just kidding. but that would have been funny right? No, but the doctor did say that everything was fine, they got it out just in time before it would have burst but that his appendix had created tissue to protect it which made it extremely difficult to get the appendix out without completely damaging the tissue. Because of that, George would be in a lot more pain and sensative than usual.

At around 3:30, I got to go into his room and finally see him after the surgery! He was completely out of it. But he was going in and out of conciousness... So, while the nurse was checking on him, George wakes up and looks at her. She looks down at him and asks if he's feeling alright.

Immediately, George responds with, "Can I ask you a question?" the nurse concernedly says "Of course, what's up?" and honest to heaven George said this in the most SERIOUS tone... he said...

"Could you see a man on the street wearing an eye patch and not think he's a pirate?"

The nurse was dumbfounded! You could tell she was replaying his question in her mind trying to make sense of it and wondering how that could have ANYTHING to do with him feeling alright.

After giving my mom and I a quizzicle look while we are literally laughing our heads off, she concluded that we were all nutty and left.

The best part of it all is, the next morning, George had no recollection of saying such a thing! But he did. And it was awesome!

And now you know why when we saw the person with an eye patch and laughed.

Arrr Matey!!

Standing Ovation

So today was the last day of class on the University of Utah campus. Which means...I still have 2 more classes in bountiful I have to attend but this morning was the last time I walked on campus to go to a class. Weird. As if it wasn't weird and almost emotional enough, something crazy happened!

The one class I actually had on campus this semester was a class called Power Basics. It was taught by a highly esteemed Business professor by the name of Alan Saudamir. Awesome guy. I took a class from him my sohomore year called foundations of business. I learned so much in that class! So when I heard he was teaching a class called Power Basics, I knew I'd have to take it at some point! Finally, I got around to it and I don't regret it one bit! Although, I wish I would have been more attentive during class, all in all, I learned quit a bit about the business world according to a consultant perspective.

But anyways, so today I went to class. He tried to sum up the entire class which he did oh so elequently and finished by saying "You can act superior or you can be superior. Remember that this summer and throughout your journey in the business world."

Suddenly everyone started standing up. I was thinking to myself "How rude, he just finished and you're in a hurry to leave?" but then...everyone started clapping. This has never happened before! A roaring sound of gratitude and acknowledgement! It was amazing! I stood up with them and gave him his recognition.

This is weird to say but I was almost moved to tears. But I can't help but feel so blessed to have such an awesome and definitely unforgettable last day of class!

Thanks Professor Saudamir.

Graduation!!! One giant step to uncertainty.

So, 3 weeks until my GRADUATION!


I have been waiting for this day to come for 4 years! I can't believe I am done. I should be so excited! But i'm not. I'm not excited...because I am afraid of what is going to happen next...or rather what ISN'T going to happen next. Is this how it should be? Have I worked so hard for this? Have I just wasted 4 years of sleep, time and MONEY to not find a job and end up being an intern for the rest of my life? I know i'm exagerating but I just feel so lost. I really want to be hopeful. I want to know something will come up but right now I just feel so unsure!

None the less. I am really proud of myself for sticking through it. I am not going to lie. EVERY semester it seemed I was second guessing if going to school was even worth it. EVERY semester I had that annoying professor that made me do ridiculous assignments. EVERY semester I lost sleep and time from things I cared about. But it's over now.

No more response papers
No more group projects
No more 15 page essays about something I couldn't care less about
No more chartwells meals(YAY!)
No more early morning relaxing train rides
No more people watching on the 220
No more FREE public transportation!
No more applications for student loans!
No more calling the student services and getting the WORST service possible!
No more doing homework on the grass
No more layed back campus life
No more comparing with students who schedule is crazier
No more intelectual conversations about third wave feminism with random people in the library
No more all night study groups filled with pizza and bad ideas
No more 25cent blue books I always somehow forgot to buy before tests

It's over! It's my time to shine!! It's time to grow up. It's time to move on.

Ready? Yes.

Set? No.

Resurrection Day

What does Easter mean to you?

For me,

Jesus died on the cross in payment for my sins...

For that, I am forgiven.

Today, Jesus rose and conquered death...

For that, I am saved.

And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in 
you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal 
bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
Romans 8:11

Seattle!

At last! I found time to post pictures of our epic trip to Washington/Oregon!!

It really was a wonderful trip...and here are the highlights...

The Space Needle!

Meeting up with the great Roos Family!

Pikes Place Market(Not my favorite...too fishy)

First Starbucks!! Mmmmm Coffee...

The Underground Tour!

The Fremont Troll!!

Getting to meet George's grandparents for the first time. great people. : )

No. I'm not a PC Microsoft.

Making our own album cover at the Music Museum in Seattle

The beautiful sunset ferry ride to the peninsula after finding out I didn't make a reservation anywhere for this night. But not even the cold misty water could dampen our spirits.

Walking through the Olympic National Park rain forests.

Most beautiful beaches I have ever seen

Forks!!! Minus the hot werewolves, vampires and all around coolness.

Great food!!

Especially Chipotle burritos, local mexican food and especially

Henry's 12th St. Tavern in Portland!!! (Seriously, best place ever)

And of course. Great coffee. Really great coffee.

I also got to meet up with my cousin whom I hadn't seen since I was 16, got to go to an authentic japanese garden, went to the first spaghetti factory, watched a lot of the Food Network and "Say Yes to the Dress".

2,500 miles later

and a handful a memories...

Best trip ever.

Fool me once, Shame on you. Fool me twice, Shame on me.

I have heard this saying about 20 times in the past 3 days.

Why?

Because I have successfully been robbed from 3 times.


Robbery #1: Summer of 06'

It was a hot summer day! So I decided to stop at a gas station in Kaysville to get a Frazil. If you don't know what a Frazil is, they are amazingly wonderful slurpee drinks. But anyways, I went into the gas station carrying my keys and wallet and started serving myself a frazil. Well, a man came up next to me and also started serving himself a Frazil. He said "hi"very kindly and asked how my day was. I said "good" and continued to focus on my Frazil. Well when I went up to the counter I realized I didn't have my wallet! I was like, Oh, I must have left it in my car. But while walking out to my car, I realized "NO! I didn't leave it in my car, I had it with me when I was getting my drink" Just as I realized that, I see the man and about 2 other guys drive off in a white truck.

Crappy huh? It actually turned out ok. I guess the guy who seemed very nice and gentlemenly just was looking for cash. Once he grabbed my wallet and saw there was no cash in it, he shoved it in a random mailbox and drove away. A few days later someone called me and told me they sent my wallet to the police and I could pick it up there.

All turned out ok.


But shame on him!




Robbery #2: Thanksgiving 2007

Me, George and our friend Mike decided to drive down to Vegas and have Thanksgiving with George's mom. When we arrived in Vegas the night before Thanksgiving, it was really late so I left a few things in my car(my mistake). On Thanksgiving day, I think around the afternoon, I finally went out to my car to grab my stuff. Well, you guessed it. My stuff was gone. My friend Mike left the backdoor unlocked so my stuff(ipod and accessories, a watch, and worst of all, my laptop) was easily taken.

ARRRG!!! I was hysterical. I went to the police and since it's Vegas, I am sure a stolen laptop is the least of their worries! But I was so upset. Mostly because it wasn't just a laptop, it was the device that stored ALL of my essays and homework that were due.

But even through all of this, I knew it could have been worse. How could it have been worse? Well, I had a spare key sitting on the passengers seat of my car. So, the person who robbed me wasn't that smart because they actually could have just taken my whole car.

But the story gets better. The next day while we were driving home from Vegas, my car got a crack in the header and died.


Shame on me.



Robbery #3: March 15th, 2010

This one is the most vague. Mostly because I don't know when or where it happened... But this is what I do know.

Monday evening: I take my friend Anna out for dinner and ice cream. After we went to get ice cream(I paid with my card), I dropped her off and went to the church. On our way to the church in Syracuse, I put lotion on(important I promise). My car stays at the church for about 2 hours until George takes it to our friends house in West Point. We stay in West Point until about 11 than drive home.

Tuesday morning: I leave the house at around 9 to go to the gym. On my way to the gym I was going to put lotion on but looked down and couldn't find my lotion. "That's weird" I thought to myself. Before I get out of my car to go to the gym, I make sure my doors are all locked because there was a guy in the car next to me.

When I get out of the gym, I get in my car and get ready to go to the store. I look down and notice my cigerette burner is open. "That's weird, I think to myself." "Thats never opened"

Than I realize in a panick! "IT'S NEVER OPENED BECAUSE MY IPOD CHARGER IS ALWAYS PLUGGED INTO IT!" Thats when it hit me. My ipod, ipod charger and aux chord are gone. I freak out and call George, he said to call the police and everything should be ok. I was ok. Not too big of deal. Well I get to the store and go to grab my purse and realize. No purse.


By this time, I'm just exasperated.


Anyways, I am not going to go into detail but I concluded it happened at my church because there I know my doors were unlocked. I also concluded that the person who stole my stuff was just some kid who wasn't going to really try to use my cards.

I was wrong.

So through this whole ordeal I lost; An iPod, iPod charged, Aux chord, purse, $75 worth of eye contacts, work badge, $99 coupon for a facial, my wallet, drivers licence, debit and credit card, and social security card.

I am sure there were some other things that I'll realize and regret having in my purse later but for now. I'm mad.

What makes matters worse, The person who took my card used my card at 2 places. One at a gas station and spent $74.52. The other, I guess we'll find out in a few days.

I know eventually everything will work out but...jeez. I'm not going to lie. This just totally sucks.

I think it's time to get a car with automatic locks. And it's time for me to stop leaving valuable things in my car.

Shame on me.

A thought from Jessica

I just read this post from my friend Jessica that was begging the question,"What if you could go back and re-make decisions you had made previously", or "What if you could see where you would go if you made a decision?"

Oh man. Wouldn't that be great?

But it's not that way. Most of the time, we are all just shootin in the dark. But are we? Personally, I don't think so. The reason? Because I believe that God has a plan for my life.

If you are reading this and scoffing at the thought of pre-determaination well read my personal story and see if you still feel the same way after.

4 years ago I graduated High School. My life so I thought was going to be on a fast track to success. For my last semester of High School, I did an internship at America First in the Marketing Dept. The plan was, once my internship was done, they'd send me out to a branch where I can work as a teller. Life would be peachy.

Well it didn't happen that way. On the contrary, after I graduated and finished my internship, and America First wouldn't hire me as a teller. I interviewed with 4 different managers and they all were un-willing to take me as much as the HR recruiter Dan recommended it.


Life sucked.


I was graduated with no job. I felt rejected and lost. I spent a whole semester trying to shine so that I would be able to get a job(Because I had NO other job experience, I didn't think it'd be able to get a job anywhere else).

So, I ended up being a movie extra for about 2 months. I made good money but I knew I couldn't an extra for the rest of my life. So I started putting out applications anywhere that was hiring. One of the places was Barnes and Noble. Obviously, I was a little resentful about the whole situation because I really didn't see myself working anywhere retail. I had my heart set at working at America First.

Much to my disbelief and reluctancy though, I actually got the job at Barnes and Noble.

You're probably now asking yourself, why are you telling me this story?

Well... it turns out. This job CHANGED my life.

At Barnes and Noble, I met a someone who brought Christ into my life and changed my life forever. But that isn't it. If I would have done what I wanted to do and gotten the job at America First, I never would have met my husband, George.

I guess what I am saying is, 3 and a half years ago, I would have given anything to go back and try and change things so that I would have gotten the job at America First then.



Now, not a chance.