I Love to See The Temple... Lights!

Friday night Greg and I grabbed some dinner and then drove to SLC to see one of my favorite things.  Lights on the Temple grounds.  Unfortunately I wasn't going to my favorite lights, The Washington DC Temple lights.  These worked for now until I go home :)  We met up with Diana and Katie as well and walked around until my toes felt like they were going to fall off from the cold! Here are some pictures of the lights :)

Me, Diana, and Katie

Sign Language for Ma-g and Me - Joy

Spanish for Greg - Amor

FOR MORE PICTURES

Home Cookin' Weekend

This past weekend I wanted to make this yummy dish that I got from Kim Harrison's mom who actually got it from her mom.  I got it at a recipe exchange and I have loved it ever since!  Well so I decided to make it for Greg and me.  It has still lasted to this day it is so much food!  since I am a poor college student this works for me because it was about 15 bucks for about 5 days worth of dinners including other eating too.  Then I think on friday Greg and I went to target and he bought.... a turkey... a WHOLE 20 LB TURKEY. Why you ask... he wants real turkey sandwiches!  Haha oh goodness.  The turkey took forever to thaw and took just as long to cook.  Greg was probably up until 1 am cooking and pulling appart the bird. Well needless to say we had a weekend of good cooked food and have enjoyed it throughout the week :)

Me the Domestic Goddess... I get it from my mommy ;)

    

THE TURKEY

                                     

Pecan Pie

For Thanksgiving break I was lucky enough to go home and see all of my mom's side of the family but before that Maggie and I had spend about 8 hours in the SLC airport.  Here's the story... so Maggie and I got to the airport early so I hopefully didn't have to drive in the storm.  Driving to the airport there were clear skies so we were both wondering if there was going to even be a storm.   OH THERE WAS!  After we tried to change our flight to an earlier one... there wasn't one... we sat there with about an hour delay which wasn't bad but the plane that came in was broken.  The flaps on the plane were damaged from the high winds so we had to wait for another plane to come in which was going to be now a 9:30 pm departure... GREAT!  The people coming off the broken plane looked horrified from the flight and one lady said that it was so bumpy it wasn't fun it was just scary.... EVEN BETTER since I am afraid of turbulence!  Well since we had a long wait for the next plane of course what do I do... SLEEP :)  only for a little though then I watched as the snow piled up and the wind was blowing it parallel to the ground.  The wind was so strong that the food things couldn't be raised up on the risers because they would blow over... that signaled me to get dinner! After I had bought my food Delta gave us a voucher for food so that means I went and got a Cinnabon :) YUM! needless to say I was very full on airport food at that time.  Well eventually we got on the plane and I feel asleep off and on while Maggie did some work and was on the internet... yes the plane had WiFi which was pretty cool and it was free because of the holiday.  We finaly reached our house at 5:30 am EST... I slept until 2:30 that afternoon :)

Well, that night I got to see some Whitman friends which was great and always something I look forward to.  Then the next day, THANKSGIVING :) we got up to the smells of my mom cooking turkey.  We had a early dinner so we went over to Tootsie and Pop's house where the house was filled with the smell of food :) always makes me happy. One thing about my family is when we are together we never stop eating. So we had artichoke dip and shrimp (because the crab was bad... so no crab dip which made me sad) as appetizers and since we were cooking all day we all just pick at everything!  I stand right by the turkeys and eat little pieces here and there.  Debbie, Todd, Geoffrey, and I skinned the cooked turkeys pretty well :) we love the skin especially on the fried turkey!!  Then when it comes to dinner time I am usually almost full...haha... but I still managed to eat a full dinner :)  Then of course the pies come out!  Maggie and I take a large slice of pecan pie... oh it was sooooooooooo good :)  By this point I am in a food coma and I go home and pass out while Maggie the Christmas elf decorates the house.  I wake up and the whole house is put together and it looks great as always... I love when a house is decorated for Christmas it makes me so happy.  I love the glow of Christmas lights in a house.  Well since I took a long nap I couldn't fall asleep until about 3 in the morning so I just looked at old photos which some Maggie has put up on Facebook.

Ma-g and me :) 

the older cousins

One of the tables

everyone together! minus Tootsie because she is taking the picture :)

On Saturday Keva's Parents hosted a surprise birthday party for her which was tons of fun.  It was good to see friends from high school and to have a yummy but spicy dinner! hahah :)  It was so funny when the did the skit about Keva and my favorite part is when they did her laugh! I about died laughing! (pictures possibly coming later....)

The next morning was Sunday so I went to church and my grandparents were talking and Pop put me on the spot.  I sent him and email about one of the conference talks about names and how I was happy to be named after him and he used it for his talk.  I am glad that came in handy for him and also made and impression.  Here is the talk if you would like to read it.  Then Maggie and I flew back to Utah with another 1 hour delay because of snow and driving back to Provo from SLC was not fun either it made me want to be back in Maryland really bad :(  Thank goodness I will be back in about 3 weeks! Can't wait just have to get through these things called finals... ew....

Swim, Bike, Run

Throughout my life I haven't been the most athletic person other than skiing but I love to exercise (getting to the gym is the hardest part though once you are past that it is a great feeling!) hence why my major is exercise science (also for other reason too such as my fascination with the human body).  Anyways Maggie told me, back in the summer, about this sprint triathlon in St. George, UT that she learned about at the biggest loser ranch (my sister and mom went there for spring break... DEF not my mom's idea haha!)  So this past weekend (Nov. 12 - 14) Maggie, Greg, and I drove down to St. George and thanks to Jared's family we had a place to stay.  The house was amazing and perfectly labeled (Jared- I think your mom would pick you over your label-maker :) The bed was like a cloud! so Maggie and I slept great and went to bed really really early the night before the race (like 9:30 pm early!)


Race day was really cold that morning but once you got into the swimming area it was warmer but running from the transition area to the pool was FREEZING!  We thought we got there early also but we were one of the last people to go so we waited for an hour and half to even get into the pool and start!  Once I got close to the start line I got really nervous but getting into the pool and starting was a great feeling!

After the swim was done, which was harder than I thought but I did pretty well I think since I did swim team for about an hour then quit haha.  Getting out of the water wasn't that bad and since it was later in the day going to the transition area wasn't as cold as the morning.  And I must say wearing the swim cap kept my hair dry for the bike ride which was a little windy, so even though I looked like a chemo patient it was beneficial in the end.

Oh the bike... probably the worst part of the whole tri.  First of all I was dumb and didn't train on many hills so when I realized that I had multiple hills I just about died!  I have never breathed so hard in my life!  Maggie seemed to be doing ok so I said she could go ahead while I tried to finish.  By the end of the bike I realized that my tires didn't look like they were full of air.  I had pushed on them to see if they were full and they seemed full but I guess the cold weather and me sitting on the bike changes that so flat tires didn't help either.

When I finally finished the bike and got off my legs were like jello and it was hard to run to the transition station.  I should have practice the transitions more but oh well... next time!  So I thought the run was going to be hard because since I waved Maggie to go ahead I though she would have started the run but being the nice sister she is she waited for me :)  So I was relieved to have someone to run with. The run was not bad at all we did our best and keep each other entertained so the run went by pretty fast.  Then we came up the the finish line together which was a great feeling that we had finally finished!  I am so happy that I did this it was a great accomplishment especially for someone like me.

I thank my sister for pushing me to do this and helping me out through the training process.  I also thank my grandparents for flying out to see Maggie and me race and for Greg to tag along on the drive and to come support me as well.

After the race we got a huge lunch of Cafe Rio (YUM) probably not the most healthy thing to eat after but I was craving a big meal!  We then headed to the St. George Temple because Tootsie wanted to see it since we had time to spare.  It is a different looking temple than the ones I am use to so it was interesting to see it.  Then we went back to Jared's house to relax and hang out with everyone.  Then the next morning we slept in and headed back to Provo.

MORE PICTURES OF THE TURKEY TRI

East Coast Girl Goes West Coast

Since I have never been to the California, Greg and I decided to visit his hometown near Sacramento two weekends ago (Nov 4th to 7th).  It is about a 10 hour drive and we left provo around 5:30pm and didn't get  there until about 2:30am.  So in the spirit of road trips I feel asleep as always, there is just something about cars and planes that just rock me right to sleep!  But, Greg woke me up towards the end because he was getting bored haha :)

Day 1
That morning we woke up and went to the gym where the guy was a jerk about letting me in because I didn't belong to that particular 24 Hour Fitness but eventually with Greg's persuasion skills we got in.  After a good workout we went to Chipotle with his Mom, kind of counter productive but hey I like both so it is ok in my book!  Chipotle was wonderful as always.  After we were full of yummy food Greg and I drove around and he showed me where he went to school, seminary building (which was SO FAR I am glad my ward rented a room at Whitman),  and the Temple where his dad works.  It is a very pretty temple as most of them are and Tootsie would have loved the flowers but... I will still always love the DC Temple the best :) Of course there was an outlet mall right near the temple so we HAD to stop and get some clothes :) I think Greg got a little annoyed with how long we were in Banana Republic...oops! but they didn't have a JCrew! ahhh!  Well that was a long day so we went home and relaxed a little and talked with his parents and then he took me out to BJ's Restaurant which I went to in TX but only got the Pazookie, this time I got a really yummy pizza AND a Pazzokie :) (Pazzokie = big cookie topped with Ice cream = very yummy!)

There were Turkeys running around the Temple grounds!

Day 2

We met up with his older brother (Brian) and his wife (Amy) for a picnic lunch at this really pretty park.  The sandwiches we had were huge and sooo good!  When we were done we tossed the football around which was fun but Greg's family is pretty athletic and Amy isn't the greatest at throwing things but she is a good sport about participating and confident in herself even if she was was giving everyone a good laugh :) I hopefully was up to par with their standards! haha oh well if not...

Then we went home and his mom made a delicious meal of stake and potatoes... in my book this is a perfect meal :) For dessert we went to this little store that had amazing cake.  Greg and I got the pumpkin with cream cheese frosting... YUMM! Then movie night! we watched The Pursuit of Happiness... one of my favorite movies.

The next day we went to church for sacrament meeting and then headed back to good ol' provo... we really didn't want to leave even if it was raining that day.  The other days were beautiful and warm... such a good break from cold utah!

FOR MORE PICTURES OF SACRAMENTO

I'm Popeye The Sailor Man

So, for Halloween Greg and I were Popeye and Olive Oyl.  This was probably the most fitting costumes for us together because he has big arms (not really forearms but it still worked haha) and I am long and lanky.  The funny thing was that I came up with this costume just by googling "couples costumes".  Scrolling through the pictures I landed on the picture of Popeye and Olive and started laughing because it was a perfect costume idea.  Also, it was SO easy to put it together because we had a lot of the clothes we just needed to add a few pieces so it was cheep also, which made Greg and I happy :)  Anyways, here are some pictures :)

Now that I look at the pictures I remember that I had to spray my hair completely black and taking a shower was interesting.  Every time I would squeeze the water out of my hair the entire tub would turn black.  I had to wash my hair probably a good 3 or 4 times for it to come out and even then I still had black on my scalp the next day.  Also, it got all over everything if my hair would touch it, I laid down in my bed not thinking and my pillows were black when I got up to shower...oops!

How To Save A Life

I have been taking CPR and First Aid classes for I don't know how long and I had wondered if I would ever need to know this stuff.  The other day at Costco I just about needed it.

I was walking out after I had paid for my items and not happy about how much I had spent, as usual, and I hear people saying someone call 911.  Of course being interested in anything medical I tried to look and see what happend.  A man had collapse on the ground in the middle of the parking lot and was having a seizure.  I saw people were trying to do compressions and breathing on the man after his body gave out because of the seizure.  I ran over there knowing that compressions after a while can wear a person out and asked a Costco employee if the people needed help with compressions and that I know CPR and First Aid.  Luckily as I was asking them the rescue squad pulled up and they took over and I walked out of there way but continued to watch. For the next 10 to 15 min the EMT's were doing compressions, using the defibrillator, and giving oxygen to the man.

I will never know if this man lived or died but because of people having been trained in CPR and First Aid a life can be possibly saved.  I hope anyone who reads this will understand the importance of just knowing the basics on how to help someone in a emergency situation and will go out and receive training.  I know I will for the rest of my life renew my certification as often as necessary.

Change of Plans

So there has been a slight change of plans in my life.  I am going to be taking a year off before grad school.  This decision was made because of my stupidity and it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  Let me explain... So I was planning on taking the GRE in december after Thanksgiving, giving me enough time to study and be ready for the test.  Me being the not so common sense smart person that I am didn't make the connection that I needed to take the test BEFORE I was suppose to apply to the schools (First due date for schools I was applying to is November 1st). SO..... having not studied for the GRE enough and now realizing that I would have to take it the first day available made me realize this is probably not the way I should be doing things.  After many phone calls to my mom... who probably was thinking "make a decision already!!"... we came to the conclusion that I should just work, study, and apply next fall to be admitted (hopefully) for fall of 2012.


This is all really hard for me to come to terms with because I just want to keep going with my life and progress all the time.  Also, as most people know I don't do well with change at all, my mom can attest to that.  Well I am really not as stupid as this mistake portrays so I hope no one thinks less of me! haha.

Well being my senior year at BYU I am finally realizing I have a small, small place in my heart for provo but I am so ready to get out of here! haha.  I am truly ready to start building up my own place and moving on with my life.  I am thinking about moving to North Carolina when I finish school and to try and gain residency there so I have a better chance of getting into UNC and having cheeper tuition :)  Also, I have always really like it down there so I think it would be a great experience.  Not that I don't want to live at home and have most of the food and all of the rent and utilities paid for... but I just think that I need to be on my own and establish myself somewhere.


Well I know I don't write on a blog a lot and I am trying to decide which one to use... too many options and indecisive amanda = not a good thing.  So I probably will use this one because I feel like I have more options that I like so I will keep everyone posted :)  Also, I will add posts from my other blogs to keep it all in one place.  So once I start to figure out how to use this I will update it more often :)

Provo Weekend

So, I went to Provo this past weekend and needless to say I am excited for this up coming year. Who would have thought! My past 2 years have not been what I hoped they would be. My sophomore year was the worst of all of them and I almost transferred to Maryland. It was depressing because I had made many great guy friends and they all went on missions after freshman year and I realized I didn’t make that many good girl friends (other than katie who is a life saver). We did the best we could to have fun which made us closer in the end. Anyways, I am so excited for this year because one, I am going to have an amazing apartment and roommates, two, my sister Maggie is going to be there :) and, three, all my guy friends are coming back off their missions!


When I was out there this past weekend I got to see Diana which was nice because she confirmed it was going to be a good year. She is so enthusiastic about things and that helped me a lot! We had a great time together. Also, she helped me move my stuff out of my old apartment with her friend Brock and my friend Isaac (THANK YOU all it was huge help!). It was actually sad to move out of that apartment officially, there are so many memories in there. If I think about it now it makes me tear up. I am glad to make new memories this coming year but those will always be close to my heart.


I met some great people that weekend that were friends of Diana’s and it shows that the complex has a great group of people. Well, I go back out in a little over a week and I can’t wait. Even though I love my family and being close to them I am getting kinda bored at home and I am ready to go back to school and start a new year. :)

Summer Back Home

So, I have been home in Maryland since April 21st and I have started an internship at Schrier Physical Therapy.  I have learned a lot since I have started working there.  I have learned how to read the charts and know what exercises the therapist want the patients to do.  That is the most important and useful thing I have learned thus far because I need to know what to teach the patients and make sure they are doing the correct activity.  I also learned how to set up the e-stim which is not too hard I just need to know where they muscles are (I still need to re-study all of them!).  I love the people I work with they are great and easy to get along with.  This place is very different from the first place I worked at though.  The first place was more therapist-patient oriented where this place sometimes I am with the patient, sometimes they already know their stretches, or the therapist takes them for one on one time.

I tried to get a job at the Naval Hospital in Bethesda and that was an interesting experience for me.  First of all I have never really had a formal interview so I tried to prepare as best as I knew how.  This was obviously not how everyone else prepared.  Lets just say that I looked like I was in the scene from Legally Blonde where Elle Woods went into her first class with her cute little outfit, notebook, and fuzzy pen.  I waited with everyone else in my khaki pants, floral blazer, striped notebook, and forgot my resume which I had to print there on regular printer paper.  Everyone was there in their nice suits and portfolios.  At that point I was hoping it was my to my advantage that I stood out like a sore thumb!  Well we went into the interview process and it was group interviews in four different “stations” and they asked questions to the group and you had to speak up and answer.  In the end two people from different departments came up to talk to me after the interview and put me on their list.  Unfortunately I didn’t get the job because they needed full time positions and I already had established the internship.  So right now I am not employed which I am not a fan of but I am willing to babysit or do almost anything at this point (yes please call me to put your garbage cans out when you are out of town!)

Well since I have all this free time on my hands I am down at the beach with my family for my grandfather’s 70th birthday and my aunt Juliane’s birthday as well.  It has been fun and a good time because I haven’t seen Geoff, Juliane and the girls in a while and don’t get to see them as much as other family. It hasn’t been the best weather down her but today was very nice and being on the beach was great.  Tomorrow is the last day down here for the weekend and I am hoping it is a good day again because I don’t know they next time I will be down.

Well for the rest of my life during the summer I have online classes, studying for the GRE, and applying to graduate school.  Sounds like a whole lot of fun! haha :)