Itsa Me!

Christmas

2009-01-04T05:43:17Z

I know I am terrible at updating, but I do have a smattering of fun pics from Christmas. Christmas was good...but hard. Just...so weird not having mom there, and sad. But much of my family was together, and we were there for over a week! It was so nice having a good chunk of time "back home" and being together.

...And because I am super lazy, please check out the pics which have been uploaded to my facebook - just easier than doing the whole thing again here (:

www.facebook.com/album.php

Hope you enjoy (:

RRoD

2008-11-15T18:56:15Z

For those not familiar with nerd speak, "RRoD" means "Red Ring of Death."

Which means our XBOX 360 had an epic fail. And we have to send it away to get it fixed, which will probably take about 2 weeks.

Which totally. sucks.

Halloween Pictures

2008-11-01T04:38:02Z

I am terrible at updating, so rather than taking time to reupload a bunch of pictures, check out our Halloween pictures on my facebook!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=35591&l=986a0&id=525909732

Things are going well. My dad's surgery on his stomach went smoothly, and he's gearing up to start radiation for his colon cancer in a few weeks. My mom is on her new treatment plan - she's having some difficulties with her lungs/shortness of breath, but hopefully they will pinpoint what's going on soon and get her feeling better. Life just keeps plugging along (:

Rollercoaster

2008-09-14T20:43:46Z

Labor Day Weekend: Went home to Colorado from 8/29 - 9/3 since Mark was going over there for work anyways. Super awesome. I always love going "home." Thumbs up!

Sunday, Sept. 7: Mark comes home after being in Denver for 10 days (I saw him once while I was out there). Thumbs up!

Monday, Sept. 8: Mom has a biopsy done on a lump in her neck that's been bothering her, despite great results from her PET scan just recently. Biopsy comes back positive...which, contrary to the nature of the word, is bad news. Positive means malignant. This means they will have to figure out a new treatment plan (she's been on chemotherapy as a "preventive" measure the past 1 1/2 years or so). Major Thumbs down.

Tuesday, Sept. 9: My Birthday. excellent day, with lots of thoughtful well wishes/gifts from family and friends alike. Actually got to spend my birthday with Mark. Melting Pot for dinner. Huge improvement over Monday. Thumbs up!

Wednesday, Sept. 10: Mark leaves for Australia until the 21st. Super jealous. Kinda in the middle (sad/lonely when he's gone so long, but also excited for him to experience it all)

Dad finds out his prostate cancer is a more "aggressive" form, and radiation seeding won't be sufficient. Treatment plan established to be hormone therapy in conjunction with 8 weeks of daily external radiation. Prostate cancer = Major Thumbs down.

Thursday, Sept. 11: 9/11 a sad/downer day in general. Thumbs down.

Start crying at work. Thumbs down.

Mom comes to Utah for a visit through Sunday. Thumbs up!

Friday, Sept. 12: Lunch with mom, Mel, Liz, Mike, Dee and Sandy at Joe Bandito's. Thumbs up!

Cheesecake Factory for dinner with good friends. Thumbs up!

Fiona is born. Thumbs up!

Saturday, Sept. 13: Baptism for 3 girls in our ward. Thumbs up!

Spending the day with mom and the family. Thumbs up!

Today: Mom headed back home. By myself again (at my house, at least - mom stayed with me since Mark is gone). Thumbs down.

Just had to get this craziness written down somehow!

Steamboat Springs

2008-06-19T01:45:53Z

One of my most favorite places in the world.

We were up there over Memorial Day weekend, and since then I've been meaning to post a few pictures from up there, but just haven't taken the time to do so. It was so nice being up there. My parents were there the first night, My sister Mary was there for a night and most of the next day, and "Chrissay" was up there the whole weekend with us. It was seriously the perfect getaway, and I wish we went there more often (we hadn't been there in 2 years!) Just a few quick memories I want to remind myself of...

- Our issues with the new hot tub. They recently remodeled the exterior of the building where my parent's condo is, and put in a new hot tub. New hot tub does NOT equal better hot tub. New hot tub is smaller - fitting 3 people in there almost overflowed the thing. The temperature controls make zero sense...literally. It was a stroke of mad luck that I figured out how to, you know, make the hot tub start getting hot again (rather than it's kind of chilly 92 degrees at the time). Thankfully, the "clubhouse" has a nice big hot tub, but it's only open til 8. Not good for those 9:30 needs.
- Talking with Mary. It had been a while since I had just sat and talked with her, and I know she has a lot going on in her life right now. So it was so nice to just sit there in the hot tub (we got in a lot) and talk. I miss being around her more.
-Locking ourselves out of the condo. Just me, Mark, and Chrissay. Funny thing is...we literally had 3 keys to choose from. 3! And none of us grabbed one. Stupid. Totally had plans to go get a fun dinner, and ended up settling for Taco Bell so we could wait for the maintenance guys to let us in. (Ironically enough, in the 10 minutes we were gone to Taco Bell, they showed up the first time. We were told they would call. They did not. So we sat around another hour.)
- The electrical substation explosion. Holy. Crap. Weird, and freaky. All because of a curious raccoon...poor buggah'.

Ok, on to a few pics!

The view from my family's condo - isn't it pretty? (Well, with me and Mark spoiling it...and the "in progress of grooming gross brown ski hill" ;))

Oops! How did that get in here...?

View of Fish Creek Falls from the Overlook point (Make sure you click on the picture, can't figure out how to make it not all "stretchy"...). Seriously, one of my favorite places to visit, and it's only 4 miles outside of town.

View from the bridge below

Mark, Me, Mary, and Chrissay - what a strange crew we make ;)

That was weird.

2008-04-18T04:21:31Z

So, I stopped over by Lou and Diana's tonight, planning to watch the office. However, Diana ended up getting called in to work a game last minute, but I ended up staying a while and talking with Lou about video games, and then Diana got back so we were all just chatting for a while. The topic of "blacking out" came up, and I mentioned my issue I've had the last few times of getting stomach flu/severe nausea of blacking out.

No joke, like...20 minutes after this conversation, I'm getting ready to head out, and I am suddenly hit with this overwhelming dizziness/feeling like I'm going to pass out. No nausea before or anything, just out of no where. Cold sweat and all. So I sit and chat with Diana while having a glass of juice, until I am feeling back to normal after about 10 minutes. It was just...bizarro.

Who knew that just talking about it could elicit such a strong physical response? ;) Seriously though...no idea why it happened.

That was weird.

So...apologies to Diana (and Lou) for my weird little "sode" there before I left, and thanks for the juice! It actually really helped, so thanks to Lou for the tip!

Truly a Great Man

2008-01-28T05:53:16Z

The leader of my church (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), President Gordon B. Hinckley, passed away this evening at approx. 7 PM.

He has been president of the LDS church since I was about 12 years old...so he has been a comforting presence to me for many of my formative years. I have always had such tremendous love and respect for him, which I think can be said for virtually all members of the LDS church.

I'll miss you, President Hinckley.

Church Statement on his passing

Typing test thingy

2008-01-10T17:45:49Z

Just took a quick little random typing test thingy. I type faster than I thought!

140 words

Touchtyping

New 'Do

2007-12-14T07:07:11Z

So...for those of you who have known me for a while, my hair has always been some shade of blonde, pretty much. Sure, I started highlighting a couple years ago to brighten my fading natural blonde, but yeah...really don't get too adventurous with my hair. Well, I got it cut today for the first time in like, 6 months (yikes..), and thought, why not - let's go dark. And reddish. And because our camera is in a semi-broken state, I had to go with Photobooth on the mac. So don't mind the crappy lighting and such. Anyways, here's a few pictures to show!

Please ignore the dumb look on my face - this one gives a good idea of my hair color and length previously.

Oooh, look! I can hold my hairs!

Blond and shaggy - it was seriously starting to get ridiculous (for me - my hair has rarely been longer than this in my life. It starts to irritate me, and look all stringy if I let it get too long)

Whoa! What happened?

Seriously though, I'm diggin' this new look (:

Took this one just now - please don't mind the big fuzzy robe (tis chilly in here), lack of any sort of makeup (not that I wear much, but still - oi, the acne), messy hair-ness, and glasses (trying to wear my contacts more...I miss them. If only they didn't make my eyes feel like they are on fire. Which luckily, hasn't been the case the past few days, so fingers crossed(!) that I can keep wearing them. /ramble.)

So yeah...thanks for humoring me. :D

Rock Band

2007-11-20T16:37:57Z

So Mark and I went to Wal-Mart late last night, in hopes that we would be able to get this game (without having pre-ordered it). Surprisingly, when we got there, we were one of the first people there, and thus able to get on the list right away. So just after midnight, we were walking back to our car, ginormous box in hand, and ready to rock. Well, at least try it out before bed.

For those of you unfamiliar with this game, I'm guessing at least most of you have heard of Guitar Hero. Guitar Hero is a music game you play using a controller that's actually shaped like a guitar, and it's a lot of fun. Rock Band takes that idea to a whole new level. The bundle came with a guitar, a drum kit (picture below), a microphone, and the game. You can also use another guitar controller to do bass, thus creating 4 playable "instruments." You play with your band, either together in the same living room, or you can do online quickplay with anyone else who has Rock Band. Most of the songs are pretty well known, or by well known bands, with a few obscure ones thrown in. Anyways, long story short - this presents you an opportunity to pretend like you are in a band, and rock out hard in your own living room. It's ridiculously fun, even though it may sound silly. Trust me - it's addicting.

So yeah...Mark and I had to try it out last night, and thus...I am very tired this morning. But I can't wait to play more!! Hooray for joint Christmas presents. :D

Quick Post

2007-11-19T17:28:03Z

These past couple of weeks have been pretty busy, and I've been feeling kind of a general "burn out" as it is. So yeah.

Anyways, looking forward to Thanksgiving this week! Mark's mom is coming out on Wednesday, so it will be good to have her visit. Last time she was out here was for my Graduation in April 2006. We're actually breaking dinner tradition a bit, and having a roast instead of Turkey. Either way it should be tasty.

This past weekend was a busy, but fun one. Friday night we went out for sushi with our friends Kent and Cynthia (and baby Kent). It was so much fun! We play D&D with them every other weekend, but really hadn't done anything together outside of that, so it was fun to go enjoy a meal and conversation with them. (: And the sushi was delicious - I hadn't had it in over a year. Saturday, the morning was spent cleaning, and then we had our D&D group that afternoon and evening. It's a really fun group (2 other guys in addition to Kent and Cynthia), and we've been playing for hmm...I think just about 2 years now. Yesterday was church, and just kinda kicking back.

Mark and I ACTUALLY made it to the gym this morning. It actually felt great - I was up earlier, didn't feel rushed, felt like I was doing something good for me, and it was fun to spend some time with Mark before work. I hope we can be consistent with it. We are going over to Kent and Cynthia's a few times a day until Wednesday to take care of the their 2 (awesome!) Dobermans while they are off to California for the week. So the need to get up early to make sure the puppies are doing good will help us get up earlier this week - we just need to stick with it after that ;)

Other than that, nothing too much that I can think of to talk about. My life is either boring, or consisting of things most people who read this would find boring. Like getting an XBOX 360. And going to get Rock Band for it this week (yes!!). But hey, really - I need to be better about recording the little details like that, for me. My memory is pretty abysmal - so keeping track of even the every day goings on would do me well.

Also, sorry for the lack of pictures. Still no camera.

Hope everyone is having a great day so far!

Child's Play Charity

2007-11-05T20:02:03Z

If anyone is looking for a simple way to do some good this holiday season, check out Child's Play. It's put on by the Penny Arcade guys, and they currently have 45 partner hospitals around the globe they are working with to bring some happiness to sick kids during the holidays (with more hospitals likely adding over the next few weeks). A lot of the hospitals have "wishlists" you can shop directly from through Amazon, or you can send money directly to them. They have items ranging from less to $10 to over $100, so if you have a little extra money, this is definitely a charity I support this time of year. (: Last year, over 1 million dollars worth was raised.

Anyways, just thought I would put this out there for anyone who might be interested!

It's frickin' freezing, Mr. Bigglesworth.

2007-10-22T20:15:07Z

Soooo....I've continued to be a lame blogger. I can't promise that things will be better (though I always have hopes it will be). I think it comes down to laziness, work being consistently busy (taking a quick break now to update), and not a whole lot of computer time at home. And nothing really exciting going on in my life. So here's a few random thoughts for those of you still coming around this dusty little corner.

-Our heater at work isn't working at the moment. The thermostat is currently below 60 degrees. I hope my fingers stay attached to my body. Maybe I should get some of those fingertipless gloves...but then again, those always kinda exude creepiness to me.

-My parents and sister are coming into town tomorrow, and Mark is leaving town on Wednesday. At least I will have family here to keep me company for those few days!!

-Our camera is pretty much broken, and we'll probably need to get a new one. It sucks, but hey - new and shiny could be nice. It's just a matter of the money. Stupid money.

-Is anyone else loving the change in seasons? I love fall/winter/spring time. Notice the exclusion of summer. Once the temp gets about 85, it's not fun anymore. Except for swimming.

-I'm playing a video game right now where the characters are SPACE PIRATES. How cool is that?

-....I should probably get back to work now.

Uhhhh....

2007-09-01T09:31:08Z

Some exorbitantly drunk guy just broke into Mark's car.....and sat there. And has now been arrested in our driveway.

At 3 AM.

I'm glad Mark woke up and knew well enough to call 911 O___o

.....This sucks

2007-08-31T15:22:57Z

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/31/technology/31NBC.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

I really, really hope this doesn't happen. D:

PAX 07

2007-08-31T02:21:33Z

So Mark and I spent the last weekend in Seattle for the 2007 Penny Arcade Expo.

I don't think the word awesome is strong enough to describe just how much fun it was.

We flew out there Thursday afternoon, and met up with 4 friends Mark knew from his working at Gamestop days - Jason, Matt, John, and Brandon. And even though I had never met 3 of the 4, I felt so comfortable, and had so much fun hanging out with these guys. I didn't feel out of place at all, even though I was the only girl in the group. Needless to say, it was so fun getting to hang out with them, and of course Mark, during PAX. (:

PAX was basically the epicenter of all nerddom. And wow, what a broad spectrum of nerdliness exists. Seriously...I mean, I am pretty nerdy. But I can't hold a candle to some of the people I saw out there. And oh, some of the odors that assaulted the senses at times. Like Foot Man. I think you can gather what that means.

Anyways, we had the chance to see a lot of new games coming out, test some of them out, sit in on some fun panels/demos, go to a nerdy music concert (The One Ups and Freezepop!), eat some delicious food, share some HILARIOUS moments (watch out for Guy #3), and overall, just have one amazing time. I really, really hope we are able to do it next year. Just...need to not spend money.

I shamelessly stole a few pictures from Matt's MySpace, since he got a lot of good ones. Unfortunately, our camera battery was dead the first day (we discovered this after leaving the hotel), and it's been having some issues anyways, so we didn't get a whole lot. But I thought you guys might like to see a few. So without further adieu...

Here we are waiting in line Friday morning (well Mark, myself, and Jason). We actually got there several hours early, and managed to snag an early spot. It eventually got to be pretty insanely long. Good thing we had our Nintendo DS's to help pass the time!

Here's a pic of Matt, Me, Mark, and John playing Rock Band. I cannot tell you how geeked out I am about this game. If you have ever heard of Guitar Hero, this is basically that times awesome. You have a microphone, a guitar, a bass, and a drum set. And you have your own virtual band to rock out with. Seriously...so awesome.

And here's just a pic of Mark and I enjoying ourselves in the Exhibition Hall. Notice my sweet PAX shirt? ;)

Hope you guys enjoyed the all out nerd post! Here's hoping for PAX '08!

Going crazy

2007-08-20T03:44:13Z

So...life has been extremely busy this month. I've been wanting to make some updates, but really have not had any time to do it. I just had to make a little written reminder for myself to update later. About all sorts of fun stuff. I just flew back this afternoon from San Francisco, and Mark and I are heading out this Thursday for Seattle (hooray for PAX!), so hopefully after that I will be able to make a proper update!

The End.

2007-07-23T02:49:55Z

I just finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Well done, J.K. Rowling.

Bunny Post

2007-07-14T05:48:35Z

So, Mark and I had to give away 4 of the 6 baby bunnies July 3rd. Needless to say, it was really hard to do. I had grown really attached to all of them, but I knew that there was no way we could keep 7 bunnies at our house. Luckily, we were able to keep 2, along with Toffee. So that's a lot of fun. (:

Anyways, I just thought I would post a couple of updated pictures, since you guys haven't seen pictures since they were like this!

Here's some updated ones, taken just before we gave most of them away:

Ah, food time. They never could quite figure out that we provided TWO bowls...

Hanging out during cage cleaning time (We ended up giving them hay to keep them occupied, as they were still small enough to be escape artists)

This is Bandit, taking over Mom. He's one of the "keepers" - we've always been attached to him, as he was always the "runt" of the crowd.

A back view of Crackers (aptly named by Jessie's daughter Bella), our other "keeper." The thing that really endeared him to us is his ear that just stopped standing up one day. What's funny, is its actually gotten even worse, and sometimes affects both sides. I think he wants to try and be a lop eared bunny or something.

Anyways, just thought you guys might want to see that they really do get to be cute, once they pass the "pink rat" stage!

P.S. One last cute picture of Mark holding Toffee - can you tell she is our baby for right now? ;)

Autobots, Rooooooooll Out!

2007-07-06T15:55:53Z

Transformers is awesome. Go see it.

Anniversary weekend

2007-06-28T04:29:30Z

So I need to do an update on Mark and I's little "getaway" last weekend, because it was so much fun. And I need to write it down for my poor memory's sake.

We celebrated our 3 year anniversary this year by doing an overnighter in Salt Lake. So last Saturday (the 23rd), we headed up I-15 to have our FIRST official lunch at Chipotle in Utah. And man, was it amazing. It had been since last Christmas, so both of us just relished it. We also discovered that Paradise Bakery and Cafe (another Colorado treat not previously seen over here) is in the same complex! So...sometime on a free Saturday again, we will need to head up there. After our lunch, we headed down into the city to check in to the Hotel Monaco. It was very nice, though the room was a bit small. But still - down comforter and pillows in a hotel are always good in my book. After we checked in, we walked over to Temple Square to see the new Joseph Smith movie at the memorial building. It was really nice, I'm glad we had the chance to do that. We also perused around Temple Square for a bit, but it didn't last long, as it's been ridiculously hot out here (with no end in sight *sigh*).

We headed down to the Gateway mall for a little bit too, to buy me a copy of Elite Beat Agents for my shiny new PINK Nintendo DS. It's so cute! I even made some vinyl stickers for it at work, so it has little flowers on it. We figured I needed to get my own DS, as we are going out to PAX (an incredibly awesome gaming event in Seattle) in August, and...2 people sharing 1 DS just wouldn't work. We both want to play! So we bought it through RC Willey with 90 day no interest, which comes out to like, 40 bucks a month. I can handle that. Anyways...enough geek talk for now ;)

After the gateway, we headed back to the hotel, and...played Elite Beat Agents with each other on our respective DSs (I was lying on the geek talk being over, but what can I say. That's what we are.). For dinner, we went to the Melting Pot - oh my, do I love that place. For those of you who have never been, it's an all fondue restaurant. So you start with cheese fondue, then have a small salad, then have a main course, where you cook your meat in the fondue pot, then of course...chocolate fondue for dessert. It's seriously, one of my favorite places to go. Unfortunately, it's also very pricey...so it's definitely for special occasions. Dinner there always takes a while, so that pretty much wrapped up our night.

The next morning, after checking out, we went and had breakfast at the Original Pancake House. Once again, with the culinary delights. They have the best breakfast, hands down. I'm SO glad they opened one in Utah. I got an omelette with sourdough pancakes. Mmmm....

We then decided to check out the new IKEA store on our way home. Wow, is that place enormous. And amazing. The whole upper floor is a "showroom" where they have rooms all furnished and set up with their stuff. Mark and I are planning on getting some new bookshelves soonish from there.

And...that pretty much wraps it up. Once again, I was pretty lame about getting pictures. But I just needed to write this down so I don't forget!

Oh, one other discovery on our trip. Mark and I stumbled across a Scottish imports store that actually carries IRN BRU, which Mark has been searching for for FOREVER. It's a soda that somewhat resembles cream soda, and seriously - he has not been able to find it anywhere before now, where you don't have to pay ridiculous amounts of shipping dollars. So...needless to say it just about made his day.

The end.

BIG FOOD NEWS

2007-05-23T20:19:32Z

I totally forgot to include this in my ramblings the other night, but I've got big news.

CHIPOTLE HAS OFFICIALLY LANDED IN UTAH.

You don't know much joy this stirs in my little heart. It's in Bountiful, which is a good 45 minute drive from here...but still, 45 min > 5 hours minimum.

Mark and I may have to make a trip up there soon.

Once Utahns have been infected with the sweet, sweet love of Chipotle burritos...hopefully they will build one closer to Provo. Or even IN Provo.

Ramblings

2007-05-22T04:57:54Z

Mark took off for Toronto this morning - he gets back Saturday late afternoon/early evening-ish. I tell you what, though I am very grateful for Mark's job, and the many comforts it brings to our family (and for how much he enjoys doing it), these week-long trips he is taking every month is kinda tough. Hopefully it won't be too much longer...I just miss having him at home.

But at least this week, I have my parents in town. My mom has been here for several days already, and my dad gets here on Wednesday. They both go home on the 30th. I love when they come to visit!

The baby bunnies are doing famously. They are definitely getting to that "ridiculously cute" stage. I'll have to post some updated pictures soon. A few of them are slightly dehydrated, so we have to give them Pedialyte - apparently it's the universal hydrator.

The twins Collin and Connor are also, ridiculously cute. They are both just over 5 lbs. now - so teeny! I am so glad that the boys and mom (my sister Liz) are doing really well (:

Mark and I have bought plane tickets, made hotel reservations, and bought our passes to attend the ultimate weekend of geekage - PAX, or Penny Arcade Expo. I am seriously so excited to go, it's like waiting for my Birthday.

Alrighty...I think that's about it for my stream of thoughts right now (: Just felt like making a quick post.

Twin Boys!!!!

2007-05-12T06:16:17Z

Just a quick note to say that my sister Liz had her baby boys tonight! Woohoo!! Mark and I just got back from the hospital. She had a C-section, I would say shortly after 10 PM. One was 5 lbs, 2 oz and 18 in. long; the other 5 lbs, 4 oz. and 19 in. long. Mom and babies are doing really well so far. (:

They are pretty decided on the names Colin Brewer and Connor Eliot, just not sure which is which yet (and I'm not too sure on the spelling either...) ;)

So anyways, it's been a very exciting night. (:

6 new additions to the family

2007-05-07T04:51:19Z

I know I have been a lame poster as of late, for which I apologize. Work seems to be sucking the life out of me or something, and when I get home, I usually don't want to hop back on a computer - rather, just veg out and play a game, or play with Toffee or something.

But anyways, I figured Toffee having 6 babies was definitely needing to be posted (Mark even posted about it!) It happened this morning, and needless to say, Mark and I are both quite the concerned "Grandparents." Mark has been especially good/fun to watch in his care and concern of both Toffee and the babies. Right now they are just little and pink, but I'm pretty excited to see how fast they grow (:

We are pretty definitely that we will be keeping one - and if anyone around here would like one, comment to let me know! We will be keeping them all until they are 7-8 weeks, and then either give them to friends/family, and any that aren't taken we will be giving back to Mark's coworker (who gave us Toffee).

And now a picture.