stinky, stinky trash

okay...im curious to know what popped into your head as to the topic of this post. dirty roommates? subpar trash collecting system in provo? the boyfriend's apartment? no, actually, the answer is d. none of the above. i would like to quickly vent about the quality of the movie rental world.

brad and i have been ridiculously busy lately. it is a rare occasion that we both have an evening to be able to do something without working on homework, and tonight happened to be one of those rare nights. unfortunately, i managed to pop my shoulder right after work (it is randomly and for no reason extremely sensitive) and it was really hurting. on top of that, we were both pretty tired. so after an hour of us sitting on his couch, trying to think of something new to do, we opted for the classic order-in food and rent a movie date. we were both very okay with this, so we headed out to (insert movie rental store here) to rent a movie with the free coupon brad had.

of course, every potentially scary movie was taken, since we live in a college town and it's the weekend before halloween. brad's coupon was for a non-new release, so we set out for the middle aisles and began perusing our supposedly wide selection. beef #1: movie stores nowadays keep all movies that have been out for the past 5 years in the 'new release' section. boo! that narrowed down any newer movies (or any that have come out since we came to college, for that matter).

something you will now learn about brad and me: we HATE making decisions. im not even kidding...even if it was a very simple decision to be made, we would both try to make the other person do it, so we have many times spent over an hour just choosing a movie. by the time we actually pick one out, i fall asleep within the first 20 minutes. this isnt just with renting movies though, this is with everything. where to eat, what to do, what to watch, where to sit, etc etc.

so we spent the next hour at the movie store trying to find some kind of decent movie. and let me tell you....i am DISGUSTED by what is called 'entertainment' now. on every single shelf, there was at least one movie case with a semi-nude woman on the cover. what...did they think they were being original with that idea? and since when should i be forced to see semi-porn every time i want to find a movie to watch that i don't own? since when does slapping an airbrushed picture of a girl in a bikini with the word 'unrated' mean that it is fit for anyone? personally, i don't think they should be allowed to have a movie publicly released unless it has been reviewed and has a rating on it. on top of this, the movie store we went to (it is one of the biggest chains in america) is especially liberal, so there were tons of movies that were homosexual in nature. and no wonder people think poorly about homosexuality....the media views homosexuality as a choice people make and those people are just sex-driven crazies. i was really grossed out. and they were all over the place! again, not original in any way.

finally, we found countless idiotic looking horror films. sure. go ahead and spend tens of thousands of dollars to make a movie that is JUST LIKE EVERY OTHER ONE AROUND IT. sheesh. what happened to creativity in the entertainment industry?

by the end of the experience, brad and i were both frustrated and starving. at every shelf i was gasping, covering brad's eyes, or he was doing the same to me. and so i just started turning all of the movies around so i didnt have to look at them. take that, movie industry! i finally gave brad an ultimatum: he had to chose between employee of the month (a stupid, stupid movie) or encino man (equally as stupid, but a classic nonetheless). as he looked at me in despair, i noticed behind him the movie unbreakable by m. night shyamalan. i mentioned it, and brad said he had never seen it. thank goodness it wasn't rated r. we were out of there a fast as we could go. man...the world has really gone to pot.

i am in love with fall break.

holy cow. i think i had the most productive day that ive ever had in my entire life, and i owe it all to the lovely vacation that is fall break. thanks to all of the hunters in utah, the second week in october has become a state holiday (or least that is what i was told fall break originated from). i was up late last night making a to-do list, since i have now excepted my ocd behavior and my incessant need to make check marks to feel accomplished, and i got to check LOTS of things today! here is my list as of 6:45 tonight:

-balanced checkbook
-got smog and emissions check on my car
-took driver's license written test and got a UT license
-changed title and registration of car over to my name
-got UT car tags
-registered to vote in ut
-set up utilities for the apt
-signed up and paid for car insurance for the next 6 months!
-opened a new checking acct for fun money (so i don't overdraft or take imp money on accident)
-made an excel spreadsheet to budget my different accts
-set up auto bill pay for my student loans and savings accts
-transfered money for loans
-cleaned out car
-surface cleaned bedroom

yeah. maybe you arent impressed, but i was very proud of myself. i was so efficient, in fact, that i had time to eat lunch and watch a few episodes of the office with brad during his break! anyway....now i only have about 67 more things on my to do list. if the nest few days are as productive as today has been, it's totally possible to get it all done. gold star for me!

what happened to fall?

so let me first assure you all that i am not too good for blogging. i just dont have much time for it. so when i found out that i had a meeting with the bishopric at 8:45 this morning and my church doesn't start until 10:20, i knew i should take the opportunity to catch everyone up a bit (and when i say everyone, i really mean the 3 people who still read this).

so first and most importantly, brad and i had our 1 year anniversary on the 3rd of october! it was a super busy weekend with general conference (not to mention brad had 5 tests that week/weekend!), but we managed to squeeze in dinner at red lobster and some time to just sit and be able to be together on account of the rain that poured all weekend long. i cannot imagine my life without him, and i am happy to claim him as my own! and for all of you who are wondering (i know you are!) there is no bling on my finger. as of yet. we're slowly working towards it, but it wont be any time soon. one day, one day...

so now we get to this weekend. you have to understand that i have been so ridiculously busy that i havent talked to most of my friends in a LONG time. you know how it happens when youre in a relationship...that plus being so busy with teaching means that i just dont have enough hours in the day to do fun things. as many of you may remember, my roommate from freshman year and one of my all-time best friends, sarah christiansen, went on a mission to toulouse (i dont know how to spell that), france. well, she got back in july and we have been trying really hard to do things together. much to brad's chagrin, we usually end up getting together (the three of us) and we talk while brad falls asleep. poor guy. sadly, we havent really had the chance to do anything really exciting, but sarah was nice enough to call me earlier this week to invite me to do something friday night. long story short, we went on a big group date. the plan was to take a picnic, eat, and then drive the alpine loop together. our plans kind of changed when it started snowing and got dark really early. we ended up driving close to the loop, stopping, finding a random bench behind the lodge where we parked, and eating in the dark. sounds horrible, but it was actually really fun.

yesterday morning i woke up and did some chores, fully intending to be as lazy as possible. brad came over and we both fell asleep, but i woke up to a call from sarah. she had 2 extra tickets to the homecoming game from her friend's uncle, and wanted to know if we wanted to go. i havent been to a game since the beginning of last year and ive never been with brad. he seemed pretty excited, so we layered up (it was threatening to snow again and was about 40 degrees outside) and headed to the game. it was actually pretty intense, but we won 21-3 in the end with several close calls. i'm kind of glad it wasn't another shut-out...it made it more exciting. here are a few pictures of us from the game:
this is a new favorite of brad and me! :)
sarah and i couldn't take pictures without being silly. it's just what we do.


anyway, after the game we walked back to sarah's house and ended up going on a double date with her and a guy from her mission. and the fun ensued...sarah and matt speak french and brad and i speak spanish, so we made up silly games during dinner and just had a fun time. we went to gandolfo's and found out they had no lettuce, hero rolls, or avocados left, but we ate there anyway. it was still yummy in my opinion. then we went over to a haunted house just north of the provo mall called the scream asylum. there were some pretty scary parts and it just creeps me out when people just follow you (like the dead people in the house), so we had a fun time. about halfway through the house something sprayed me with water. then sarah got sprayed. then we all just started to get soaked! apparently there was a guy up in the rafters just spraying people with water...they sprayed sarah and me right in the face and my hair was pretty wet when we got out, which was kind of annoying. the worst part of all was the very end when we came out. there was no marked exit and these 2 chainsaw guys started chasing us around all of these corners and turns...we ended up running into this tiny little corner (all 4 of us) screaming as the guys came at us with the chainsaws. finally we got out, wet hair and all. at least we got to keep the 3d glasses as a souvenir!


by the time we got out it was FREEZING outside so we headed over to sarah's house again and watched secret window (and when i say 'watched', i mean 'slept through' because i was so exhausted). it was a really fun night and it was good to be able to be with sarah. i missed her a lot. brad and i decided that we should go on many more double dates with her and her boy(s).

now i just have to stay alive long enough to make it to fall break. i get thursday-friday off this week and i am SO EXCITED to finally get some things done! next thing i know it will be halloween, and then the thanksgiving/christmas countdowns will begin! yay! :)

my own place

it's been a very long weekend. while i relish the time i have to veg and stare blankly at the 200th+ episode of scrubs in a row (one of my all time favorite shows, and im finally on the 6th season and almost caught up to the new episodes!), brad and i were both pretty sick. he has a major sinus infection and has managed to cover my coffee table in snotty tissues and cranberry juice. i, on the other hand, have had major stomach issues lately and can eat barely anything before i get terrible stomach cramps and cannot move for long periods of time. needless to say, he came over after work and we both passed out. being with him calms me down and makes me feel better, but boy did i look frumpy today. anyway...the point is that we havent felt good.

so we camped out in the living room. i attempted to do lesson plans while intermittently running to the bathroom, while he sniffled his way through one math textbook chapter after another. we watched byu thrash wyoming (yay for shut outs!), and we even got to just relax for a bit. i started to feel better around 5:30 and brad went home to do homework while i ran some very necessary errands. as soon as i was done, he came back over. as we continued to work, we both started to not feel well again, so he fell asleep on the couch while i passed out on the floor.

and here is my problem. over the years, i have managed to have my share of roommates. not just any roommates, but BAD roommates. psycho ones, ones that got kicked out of school, dirty ones, awkward ones, you name it, i had it as a roommate. so as i looked for a new place to live this year, i was very determined to find a place where i might have normal roommates whom i could (heaven forbid) be friends with. and so far, so good. mostly. both of my roommates are very nice, but im just with brad and doing work so often that ive never really talked to them. my only complaint here is the fact that one of my roommates is CONSTANTLY rearranging everything in my kitchen. doesnt seem too odd, except that when i run into the kitchen to pack my lunch (and i usually have aout 20 seconds to do so), 90% of the time i cannot find my stupid lunchbox or tupperware because she moves them EVERY SINGLE DAY. i also have noticed that i will run out to my car and come back, and the food i had been eating was put away, dishes stacked and the table cleared off. a bit OCD, im learning.

so tonight i was extra irritable. i just wanted to cuddle with brad, but the stinking couch isnt even wide enough for one person, let alone 2. plus, when i get sick, im always freezing cold. when brad gets sick, he's always burning up, so cuddling isnt his first choice. i was admittedly sad about that. brad finally fell asleep and i was getting sleepy and turned off the tv when my one roommate came into the kitchen. if you dont know, my kitchen and living room are open into each other, so this means that she turned on all the kitchen lights. this woke both brad and me up. mind you, it was after 11PM. i figured she would put away some dishes and be done, but no. she continued to start cooking something very stinky (she isnt American, and she really makes stinky food and it bothers me) for the next hour! she just kept chopping and chopping....i was so mad!

i think what it comes down to is that im tired of having roommates that i dont want. nothing against them, but i want my own place where i can sleep on the couch if i darn well want to, and i dont want to have to worry about if they need to cook late at night. URGH! brad thought i was being ridiculous. really, i just want to choose my own roommate and not have to worry about anyone else reorganizing my kitchen in the middle of the night.

ketchup...or catch up

oops.

you know how you have all of these fun and awesome things you want to do during the summer and then one day.....summer is over? yeah. kinda happened to me this time, and it was a pretty big surprise. i spent the month of july (and the beginning of august) playing all over the country--utah, idaho, wyoming, montana, california, georgia, alabama, and texas to be exact--and then school started. and let me tell you, it's been trial by fire. two days after i got back from my last vacation, i started teaching in my very own classroom. my question is....why didnt i learn any of the stuff i've had to figure out in the past 3 weeks when i was in college for 4 years??

i suddenly have a much more enormous amount of appreciation for mom and dad (who have been teachers for as long as i can remember), because TEACHING IS HARD. all that stuff about teaching being the easy out in college.....yeah right! but, i love it. truly, this is the job for me. well, at least im still okay with it, and no children have been ruined or injured in the process. so far.

just so everyone knows, i am the teacher to the (arguably) best fourth graders in Utah. They are polite, they follow directions, and they are starting to pick up on some cool stuff. not to toot my own horn or anything, but they think im pretty hilarious, too, so we all work pretty well together. i only have 16 kids in my class, and we're all learning to make it work together. i havent taken pictures of my room yet, but i will try to post some soon.

highlight of the year:
i had a girl in my class who (long story short) was struggling and was feeling left out. in response, we did a character building activity--you know, read a story about a tiny dog who became a superhero, shared unique things about ourselves, same ol same ol. at the end of the activity, we taped a paper on everyone's back and the assignment was to write a compliment on everyone's paper without admitting who said what. the kids talked me into having one. after walking around, signing students' papers and having my paper signed, we started talking about how being complimented made them feel. i then told them that they could have one minute to read their papers and i began to read mine. there were a few 'you are my favorite teacher' and 'you teach well' comments, and then i saw it. right in the middle, bold and black, one student wrote:

'i like your shit'

i read it, stopped, and read it again. really? did some 8 year old just write that on my paper? and then i realized.....i had on a new, bright yellow shirt on. they meant i like your shirt! of course! i almost burst into laughter, but i controlled myself. of course, no one pointed it out or made any comments about my paper, so i just turned it over and placed it on my desk. i promptly showed all the other teachers during lunch. i will DEFINITELY be laminating that one and saving it for years to come.

anyway, i have lots to do. no matter how much i get done, i still find things i need to work on. blah. such is the life of an adult. i still say im not ready for it. i dont mind the paychecks, though...