Breinholt Christmas Concert

So with the oober storm going on outside my office window all day yesterday, I sat there worrying about trying to get to Salt Lake for the Peter Breinholt Christmas Concert. Well, we had the option of leaving a bit early, so we headed out around 4:30. Getting to the freeway was interesting, but to our pleasant surprise, the freeway was quite clear and we realized that Provo got the brunt of the storm. We decided to take Trax for the first time. Now I'm sure those of you that live in bigger places or those that take public transportation everyday will think I'm crazy, but it was really fun to ride the train. And really easy if you want to go downtown without having to find a place to park.

Here's my Trax pass. Pretty exciting huh? So we made it with plenty of time to spare. The concert was really entertaining. Ryan Shupe was there. I think he always is. There were 5 guys on stage, with an occasional appearance by a guest singer who wasn't half bad. Peter sings and plays guitar. Shupe of course plays the violin/fiddle and the mandolin. There was a great pianist, a banjo/mandolin player and a bass/mandolin player. Yes, 3 mandolin players. That's got to be a rare find. By the way, sorry the image of the ticket at right is askew. Apparently I don't know how to line up things on the scanner, hehe. But the highlights would have to include a mandolin trio playing "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town." It was especially great because the showed pictures of screaming and crying children on Santa's knee in the background. It brought a whole new meaning to "you better not cry." ;) But I agree, some of those Santas ARE scary! I also REALLY loved the solo banjo performance of "The Christmas Song" (i.e. Chestnuts Roasting). Now, I know what you're thinking: "Airie HATES that song." Well, you're right, but that was before I'd heard it like this. So it's official, I like it played on the banjo, with no singing. Hazah. Pete did a couple of his old standbys and of course Christmas stuff. Overall, we had a terrific time and really enjoyed getting to see a concert this year, especially right before Christmas. There are few things that do Christmas quite as well as music, right? I'm hoping you all had/will have a chance to take some in this year! :)

Keys to the Kingdom

So it's one of those mornings. Well, really, it all started last night. I received a payment from a client just as the office was closing. The accounting department upstairs (where the nice big safe is) had already left for the day. Hmm...what to do. I knew that my front desk drawer locked, so I threw it in there, locked it up, and then, stupidly, tossed the keys into one of my other drawers. Fast forward to this morning. I come in after a marvelous trek through the snow (yeck!), sit down and remember the check. I reach for the drawer with the keys. LOCKED. I try all the other drawers. LOCKED. Now, you tell me how I could lock a drawer, THEN place the keys in another drawer and THEN have that drawer lock too? I swear the office is cursed. Last week our phones went down for a day, then we had a power outage that threw our server for a whole day, then I almost lit myself (and the office) on fire when I found a cut wire on the Christmas tree I was putting up. And now, the mysterious drawer that locks the 2nd time it closes. *sigh* When working in a profession that has a stigma for having a certain "bimbo" quality, and in trying to disprove that stigma, I'm not doing so hot today. A locksmith is now on his way. Can I take my vacation now please?

Christmas Tree Quest

So we set out last night after work with a mission: bring home a suitable Christmas tree for our ridiculously tiny apartment. “It’ll probably have to be a fake one this year,” we said to one another. Yeah, a fake one. They tend to be more space efficient considering their nice symmetrical cone shape. So we set out.
Stop 1: Robert’s Crafts. Well, I’ll be honest, the tree wasn’t the primary purpose of this stop, but we looked at them none the less. EXPENSIVE.
Stop2: Home Depot. We looked longingly at the real ones first. They had about 4 trees total. It appeared they’d been cleaned out. No dice. We looked at the fake ones. Gosh, they’re so fake looking! And only one or two had colored lights. We decided to move on.
Stop 3: Walmart. They had pink and purple trees at Walmart. Not quite what we were looking for. They had a few but they were either too tall, or just too darn fake! (The ones that don’t look as fake are too pricey!!)
Stop 4: Wendy’s. No trees, but some tasty Jr. Bacon Cheeseburgers.
Stop 5: Target. They had a gold tree at Target. They called it “Fantasy Champagne.” Uh, no thanks. They had a few others, lit and unlit, but they still seemed too fake or too expensive.
Stop 6: (Yes #6) Lowe’s. Generally we don’t really like Lowe’s. They’re not as helpful as Home Depot, but hey, we were on stop 6 and were getting desperate.) They had a large selection of fakies. Unfortunately, the one I wanted cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $200. Yikes. So we moseyed outside to look at their real ones. At last, we found the tree!! They had several to choose from. We ended up with a Noble Fir from Sublimity, Oregon. Hooray! Yes, it’s a bit on the fat side, but it fit nicely in the tiny space we had available. And get this, it was 20 bucks. Yep. And you seriously can’t beat the heavenly smell of a real Christmas tree. HOORAY!!

OH TANNENBAUM! (or tannen-bum if you're Johnny Mathis)

30 Things I'm Grateful For

So I decided to do a little blessing counting this morning in preparation for a day of gratitude tomorrow. I've only listed thirty things. There are so many more! I have discovered how positive one feels after a good assessment of how good life really is. Don't let the opportunity to count your blessings pass you by this Thanksgiving!!

Things I'm Grateful For

1. Life. To live and breathe and think and laugh and love and cry and and and…
2. To wake up each morning with the love of my life by my side
3. Flowers and trees
4. Houseplants that can survive in my apartment
5. Rain
6. Cheese, in all its forms
7. Three great siblings for best friends
8. Parents that love me and gave me immeasurable opportunities
9. crochetpatterncentral.com I owe you so much!
10. A priceless education
11. Great artists and authors and playwrights that have inspired me
12. To live in a nation where I am afforded so much freedom and choice
13. Good looking cars. Sometimes it just feels so good to just stare at one!
14. Cats…an independent man’s best friend ;)
15. The pleasure of hearing, feeling and creating music
16. Being able to speak another language
17. The ability to believe
18. Cute shoes. There’s just no substitute for the feeling of wearing cute shoes!
19. Manual transmissions…I just didn’t know what I was missing before!
20. NPR – it feels so good to be nerdy sometimes!
21. Facebook...I actually keep in touch now!
22. To know there is a God, that He knows and that He loves
23. Modern medicine. I owe you my life
24. A good job with good people
25. Friends that let you crash at their house to watch football and beat them at games ;)
26. A sister living so close!
27. A husband who sacrifices so much to make a better life for me
28. Dreams
29. To know the purpose of my life
30. To have a Savior to lift me up and help me get back home

AHM Hoops

So I'm glad Autumn gave a little preview of what's going on at AHM these days. (AHM = Ascione, Heideman & McKay, our law firm). So the guys here joined the Provo City basketball league. They didn't have any "regular" spots open, so they joined the "6 foot and under" league. Yes, Abram qualified. He claims he's 5' 11 & 3/4". We'll just have to believe him on that. Anyone over 5'5" seems really tall to me. They've been having early morning practices (6am on Saturdays! The psychos!) which I have yet to be involved in. I keep saying that one of these days I'll take them cinnamon rolls or something, but I'm feeling less-than-motivated with the 6am stuff. But Abram goes. Good for him.



We had our first game on Thursday. I won't tell you the final score, but our guys looked good in their new jerseys and made a fair showing. I will add that the other team had plenty of players OVER 6' tall. Oh well. I'm not sure how long the season is, but we're excited to see what will come of it. If nothing else, AHM has the biggest cheering section! Go team!


I like this shot. Everyone seems frozen and vexed by the flying ball. Ah.....

8 Things

So I saw this on a friend's blog and stole it because I haven't blogged in over a month and needed something to write about. :)



8 Things I'm Obsessed With


1. My new Yoville house
2. Getting squeezies
3. Crocheting
4. Fresh cranberries
5. Office Supplies
6. Getting mail
7. Peter Breinholt
8. Warm feet



8 Words or Phrases I Use Daily
1. "Goob"
2. "Ah...trash bags!"
3. "Hi sweetie!"
4. "I know, right?"
5. "Oober" (I know this one is supposed spelled with a "u" and those funny dots, but I think it looks even more oober with two big fat o's)
6. "Rockin' hot!"
7. "No me poques!"
8. "Ascione, Heideman & McKay, this is Airie, how can I help you?"

8 TV Shows I Like to Watch

1. House
2. The Office
3. Countdown with Keith Olbermann
4. Arrested Development
5. Lost
6. Clean House
7. Law & Order (the Briscoe episodes)
8. Those 7 are pretty impressive considering we don't actually have tv!



8 Things I Did Yesterday
1. Wore my new size 3 shoes :)
2. Won Settlers of Catan: Cities and Knights. HAZAH!!
3. Ate a Papa Murphy's Philly Cheese Steak pizza...oh cheesies!
4. Opened precisely 42 pieces of mail NOT addressed to me
5. Watched an entire pro football game for the first time EVER
6. Took 4 Advil for an oober headache
7. Noticed the new awning on our house that had been there at least three days for the first time. HONEST.
8. Enjoyed the heated seats in my Volvo

8 of My Favorite Places to Eat

1. Red Lobster
2. La Dolce Vida
3. Autumn & Leslie's House
4. Zupas
5. Tucanos
6. Great China
7. L & L Hawaiian
8. Kneaders

8 Things I'm Looking Forward To

1. Thanksgiving holiday
2. Having my Christmas crafties done
3. The end of law school and internships
4. Living in Western Oregon
5. Good health insurance
6. A new snazzy phone in May (Yeah, May)
7. A baby (not quite yet, this is not an announcement :) )
8. Seeing all of my family at Christmas and New Years

8 Things on My Wishlist
1. A big, oober comfy couch
2. A full-sized oven
3. A truly, 100% CLEAN house
4. A kitty
5. An herb garden
6. A garage
7. A baby grand
8. Abram in his dream job

Opposition in ALL things…even the other lane of traffic

So I haven’t blogged for a while. Apparently I’ve become a once-a-monther. *sigh* Anyhoo, these last few weeks have held the good and the bad. How about the good news first?

So remember that blog about Abram’s new job? Well, it ended up REALLY paying off for both of us. They had an opening for a receptionist at the firm, and little ol’ me was invited to join the team on October 13th. It’s been super so far. And even though I’m new, I know a lot more of what goes on around the office and have a bigger desk and a phone. Lucky me! Abram basically has a closet and a laptop from about 10 years ago. Oh well. Apparently he gets the grunt work and I get the cushy work. No complaints here!!! But it’s super fun to see him around the office 3 days a week, and all of the people I work with are wonderful. Nice lawyers do exist! “Dry land is not a myth!!” Anyway, it’s great!

So now for the bad news. I can’t believe I’m actually going to share this, but here goes. I hurt the car. The nice car. The good looking car. I am ashamed. (Please say the preceding sentence with the little shrimp guy voice on Finding Nemo) While Abram’s been looking into replacing the window switch cover (yes, the cover is broken, not the actual switch) I go and drive the poor thing into a dump truck! Luckily the damage is all cosmetic and the car is still safe and perfectly drivable. But oh! The pain! I merged into a dump truck. Yep. Luckily it was on a city street and we weren’t going that fast. But you know when you’re driving west and the sun is setting and you’re really short and the visor doesn’t help at all and you think you have enough room, and you think someone will be kind and perhaps slow down just a bit to let you in? Yeah, pretty much. There’s a dent and a big scrape on the driver’s side. *Sniffle* :’( I feel so bad. If there’s any good news here, it’s that I’m okay and wasn’t issued any type of traffic violation. The bad news is that the rust bucket Prelude is now the better looking of our two cars, at least on the driver’s side. I’m so sorry Abram!!!!!!!!

So yeah, the dump truck definitely provided some opposition. But overall, life is truly blessed for the Hardys. Our financial woes have been soothed for the time being and we have great family and friends all around us!!

POWER PLAY!!!

I hope at least some of you remember Briton's infamous call for a Power Play during those great 500 South backyard badminton days. I know I do. I would like to say, though the Power Plays are not as frequent now, that I have taken up once more my childhood obsession with the shuttlecock. Thanks once again to Abram's genius, and some online legal research site called Westlaw that he uses A LOT and gets magical points for doing so, we have acquired an official Wilson® Badminton Tour Kit.


Or in other words, we have a badminton set now, purchased with his hours of doing legal research. (And I thought the fruits of all the current toil were not supposed to pay off for several years to come!!) Anyway, we play at least a few times a week just a block up the street at the elementary school playground. Sometimes it's just the two of us, sometimes doubles with Autumn and Leslie, or our new badminton converts, the Sekaquaptewas. They are all worthy foes. We are also glad to report that we can set up the net north-south instead of east-west, so that no one can claim the sun was in their eyes, haha. It's proven to be quite good exercise and I'm feeling muscles I didn't know I had.

From Shotokan to Law Clerk...Congrats Abram!

So here he is ladies and gentlemen, the man of the hour! Our very own Abram K. Hardy is moving up in the world! No longer a mild-mannered law student, but a true super hero!

We just received word today that Abram was selected to work part time during the school year as a law clerk in a local firm here in Provo: Ascione, Heideman & McKay, LLC. They specialize in business, estate planning, construction and other types of law. Feel free to check them out: www.ahm-law.com.

So I guess you're wondering about the Shotokan, right? I suspect many of you are wondering what Shotokan is! Believe me, I was unaware! Well supposedly, according to Abram, when he was just a lad of 10, and his mother was teaching at BYU, he was a member (though a slightly shorter one) of the Shotokan Club (a Japanese martial art form from Okinawa). As it turns out, a young student by the name of Patrick Ascione was a part of said club. This is the main dude at A, H & M. But don't think this little "in" helped him in! In fact, he never even met with Patrick. It will just be something funny to bring up when he does. Congratulations Abram!!!!!

Extracted Extracts

So don't be fooled by this ever so innocent looking little box of vanilla. I've learned now not to take it's powers for granted. No really, I thought I'd just share a rather ludicrous and quite humorous occurrence at our local Provo Macey's (a grocery store) this past week.

Since I've started making Robin's recipe for granola by the ton (thank you so much Robin and Autumn for passing it along. It has truly changed my life!), I've been using my vanilla extract a little more than usual, and hence was running low and put it on my shopping list. Whilst at Macey's, I found myself scanning the baking aisle for the desired little brown bottle (mine didn't look like the pic, I go for the Western Family crap). Anyway, after going up and down the aisle at least 5 times I threw my hands up and said, "Could they have moved it??" Enter taller, and in this case, more observant Abram who noticed an orange sign on the uppermost shelf. "Hey look! It says that all extracts are now available only at the Service Desk." What? So we continued with our shopping, puzzled as to why they were moved. After we had collected all our desired items from the regular part of the store, I walked to the Service Desk and asked for my vanilla, which was promptly handed over, no explanation given. I wasn't asked for my ID or anything. So I walked to the check out to join Abram who was already in the check-out process. Suddenly, the curiosity got the better of us and I asked the checker, "Why is this behind the Service Desk now??" He smiled slightly and said, "Oh, that? Well, some of them contain just a little bit of alcohol. We were having problems with people taking them off the shelf, drinking them, and putting them back. So we moved them to the desk." Drinking them??? First of all, I cannot think of a more disgusting way to raise one's blood alcohol level by insiginificant amounts. Secondly, all I can say is, only in Provo. So next time you're looking for the powdered sugar, don't fret, it's at the Service Desk!

P.S. I do realize of course the darker, more serious side to this tale, that is, people with serious problems. This light-hearted rendition is in no way designed to make light of that. Thanks for reading!!

Ode to Netflix

So I haven't blogged in at least 2-2.5 million years, so I decided to make up something to blog about. Perhaps it won't make too big of a difference considering no one will likely read this having given up after waiting 1.99 million years to see something new, and finally giving. So I guess I'd like to start by thanking all my hardcore fans for coming back.

So in our new apartment we decided to ditch paying for cable and have invested in a new and dear friend, Netflix. For those still unfamiliar, it is a rocking good way to have the mailman bring you something several times a week! It's like my new version of vendo-mania, for those of you that remember those days. Our most recent faves would include the following:

The Office. The whole world has been talking about this show for a long time now, and we finally just started watching. I confess it to be an addiction of sorts, but of the best kind. For those that work in an office, you'll find someone in this show who reminds you of some nut at your office. I do however find it ironic that I use a spoof on work to unwind from work. (Sigh)


Seven Samurai. This is a must see. I've been apart of many a Kurosawa discussion in my days at BYU, mostly seeing snippets here and there. But finally, for the first time ever, I have seen one of his films. Kurosawa captures a story on film unlike many others can, and the fact that he was making these kinds of films in the 50's when Americans were making sugary musicals and other leave-it-to-beaverish themed entertainment. While set in a more ancient time in Japan, Kurosawa mirrors the hardship of life in Japan in a post World War II world. This film was also the inspiration for the 1960 American classic, The Magnificent Seven.


The Dirty Dozen. Okay, I know there's a number theme going on here, but I'm glad to say that I've finally seen this movie. What started out as dim curiosity stemming from one of the better scenes from Sleepless in Seattle, (and yes, there is certainly room for tears at the end of the film), turned out to be a great experience. I have Abram to thank for this one. He loves old WWII films. It is both humorous and terrifying, not to mention how young and skinny Brian Costello is. (Donald Sutherland for those that don't get that one). I was surprised to find so many moral questions lacing the subtext of the plot. The choosing of the dozen was shady at best, their mission was a questionable one, and how they ultimately carried it out would seem to challenge the glow of the purity of goodness that is so often the portrayal of the American Army. Anyway, I would recommend this to anyone. And it's not a hard old film to watch. In fact, it seems to maintain a very timeless quality, as if it could have been released in my life time.

So there you have it. This has turned out to be more of a copy-cat edition of B&D cinemabon blog (which we all do enjoy), but I haven't much else of excitement in life right now and I think the camera is still packed somewhere. So farewell fearless readers. Good night, and good luck!

The Quintessential Query Queen

Enter your choice, Airie…..

And thus it has begun, finally. It has now been about 4 weeks since the dreaded CONVERSION, and I have finally used DIAD for real, for the first time. Yeah, real thrilling. It’s actually not too bad, but since we’re changing all our processes, people are looking for any excuse to unload responsibility. People in the building I’ve never even met before are now giving me their stuff to do. Apparently, anyone can claim that a problem should be handled by Queries. (I still say Rejections, btw). Anyway, it’s become an interesting study in human nature as I receive more and more things to do. If it can somehow be correlated to the phrase “this needs fixing,” it lands on my desk. Ah, well. We can’t all. We’ve been coming up with some fun acronyms for DIAD. Here’s a few:
Don’t Inquire Again, Dummy
Delicious Inconvenience And Drudgery
Did I Appreciate DOS?
Do Invertebrates Agonize Daily?
I invite you all to submit your own if you wish. It’s kinda fun. ;)

A Most Humble Ode to KSL Classifieds

So in the last 3 days, our lives have changed dramatically. That's right, my friends. No more hand-washing dishes. No more mooching off Autumn for laundry service. This post is an expression of undying love for ksl.com classifieds. Though craigslist is a fine friend, ksl really came through for us this time. For $150 (total) we now have a functioning washer, dryer and portable dishwasher. Oh my yes!! Here's a pic (not ours specifically, but it looks just like it) of our new dishwasher. I used it yesterday, and it was one of the single most thrilling moments of my life when I opened it up to find all my dishes sparkling clean and I didn't lift a finger! Ah, the wonders of modern technologies. My life has changed so much!!!

La Casa Nueva!

Howdy! Just a quick little post to announce that we are moving this week! YEAH!! We found a cute little apartment in a little red brick house just a few blocks from here. (815 W. 300 S. Google it and you can get a great street view.) We're very excited about the new place (not so much about the move, ha ha). We like that we have big wide windows and a huge basement room below us for storage and laundry. Speaking of which, if anyone knows of a cheap washer & dryer available, let us know! We're in the market! We're planning on getting moved in by this Saturday. YEAH!

Trip to Portland!!

So Abram is finally home!!! HAZAH! We spent a delicious four days in beautiful Portland. The weather was nice and cool compared to Utah and we had a great many adventures!

Day 1: We slept in :) and later went to see a movie with Barlow (Abram’s brother). We saw WALL-E. It was FANTASTIC!!!!!!!! A MUST MUST see if I do say so myself. I won’t say anything to spoil it. But go see it!! We then went to go and watch fireworks with the Barkers and their neighbors. Quoth the Talmage: “WOW!” It was good fun.

Day 2: Portland. Abram and I went downtown to Powell’s first (as you can see, we’re keeping our priorities straight.). We picked up the newest Pulitzer for Fiction: The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao, which I’m very exited to read. It’s about a Dominican kid in New Jersey. :) We also picked up Guys and Dolls a series of short stories by Damon Runyon that the musical was based on. They are delightful!

Powell’s was followed by a now traditional trip around the corner to Sushi Land where we enjoyed some good sushi, miso soup and edame (soy beans), which has become, interestingly enough, one of my favorites.

Then we went up to the fabulous Portland Rose Garden. I have a slight addiction to taking flower close-up shots. I won’t tell you how many I took overall, but here are a few of my favorites:

Then it was up the hill to a very peaceful and relaxing visit to the Japanese Garden. I think I liked the koi pond with huge irises and the rock garden the best. Here’s some pics of the Japanese garden:

Day 3: We went to church with Barlow, and then spent the evening with Briton, Robin, Talmage and Sydney. I’m hating myself for forgetting the camera!! But I think Robin took a few. She made a fab-oo roast for dinner and we ate peas from the garden and some amazing rolls. Then we played with bubbles on the back porch and read some fun car (and other topics) books. FUN!!!

Day 4: Gooney-ville!!!! (aka Astoria) We drove up to the tippy top of Oregon to Astoria. I'm not sure if they filmed the movie there. Perhaps the town stuff, because it looked a lot like it, but the beach stuff I think was filmed on Cannon Beach. Anyway, we visited the Maritime Museum, the Column (lighthouse) and went to the shore of the Columbia at a place called Steven's Point. My favorite part (as you will see from the following photos), was the big gun...hehehe.

So we had a fabulous time (and a long drive home yesterday). And even though it’s not so fun to be back at work, it IS great to finally have Abram home again!

The Fruits of My Labors: What happens when DIAD doesn't work.

So, we've been experiencing some major hickups in our new old system. Hooray! Not really. But it's means coming in and having not so much to do. So what have we been up to this morning? Well, we discovered a fun little website that you can check out if you want. Here are some of my creations:

Ta-dah!!! I'll bet you can guess who is being protrayed in each of these little nuggets. You can try it out for yourself if you'd like: http://www.sp-studio.de/. Don't tell the boss (who isn't even here today!) "She's a gem, Banister. She's unbelievable!"

The Adventures of Lonely Girl

So for the last long time, I've been trying to come up with something to blog about. I kept telling myself that nothing particularly stellar has happened since Abram has been in Oregon. And really, I was kinda right. But here we are, almost one week from now I fly up to meet him and I think that I've done "strictly okay" (as Autumn would say) and doing the "alone thing."

So the highlights include a few things. First, playing some serious Settlers of Catan: Cities and Knights with a few very awesome friends. Between the Sekaquaptewas and the Sievers we've had some awesome battles to the finish. It's all about getting to "happy level" on the book commodity and bustin' a move with a good port or two. It loses a little luster when someone (ahem, KORY) steals the golden arches of your metropolis!!! GRRRRRRRR. However, if you happen to remain on top, it seriously feels so good to win that game!!!

Number two: Weekends. I spent the last two weekends up in Farmington moving around bark, enjoying truly amazing (please catch the sarcasm) service at the local Chili's (the food was tasty though), singing in church for Mom and enjoying good company and a nice cool basement all to myself (which is a super nice change from my little hot house in Provo). I also got to swing by Stansbury Park to enjoy some time with Baron, Donette & the kiddiewinks. We had a great time playing frisbee ("far out") and Baron showed me around on his Warcraft account. The tour included the most hallowed grounds where the Sword of A Thousand Truths defeated the most evil of enemies and a cathedral that's looks suspiciously like the San Diego Temple. (Don't worry if you don't get that sword stuff. It just means you watch less tv than I do).


Number 3: Weddings. (Drinks all around!) I enjoyed going to a sealing of two friends in the Mt. Timpanogos temple last Saturday. Besides the beautiful ceremony (which was kind of hard without my sweetie there), my favorite was Ariel's polka dot wedding dress!! I was all white with a netting top on the skirt that had white polka dots in the netting. HOORAY FOR POLKA DOTS!!!

Four: DIAD. Boo DIAD. DIAD is the name of the new software we're implementing at work. It is the cause of me having to work this Saturday and Sunday. It is causing everyone a lot of stress. Some guy from IT told me it was written back in the 70's. So yeah, we're movin' on up! It's by a company called Procomm Plus, I think. Here's a typical screen shot for your viewing pleasure:

So you don't really use the mouse, AT ALL. YEAH! No offense Mom, but I remember how much fun you had learning how to use the mouse. Maybe you'd like this! ;) But anyway, I'm REALLY hoping that things work out with this dinosaur.

So that about does it I guess. Exciting, no? Well, a week from today I fly up to Oregon and my lonely woes shall end. Thanks for all the support and for reading this. :)

What color are their hands now?

So I've been secretly living the life of a criminal for almost two months now. Unbeknownst to me that is. I can say that it's easy when you're ignorant, but when confronted with one's crimes, all becomes frantic checking of the rear view for cops, coming to a full and complete stop at every 4-way, and driving as slow as the old lady in the Lincoln in front of you in the right lane and being grateful for it.

So what am I REALLY getting at? Well, I happened to notice my driver's license on Wednesday night. Guess what the expiration date was? In case you can't make it out on this crappy scan, the expiration date is 04/14/2008. Yeah. What an unpleasant surprise! And thus followed the over-cautious driving (which is how I ALWAYS drive, Dad ;) ). So bright and early on Thursday morning I nonchalantly stroll into the Provo Driver's License Division, filled out the renewal form and tried to act natural. I really thought I'd have to re-take the written driving test or pay some fine or something. Fortunately, the, shall we say, less than exuberant government worker behind the counter required nothing of the sort. I signed some papers, paid my 25 bucks and gave a dorky smile to the camera. And thus was issued freedom, albeit temporary, from my criminal life. It doesn't compete with Mountain Fuel, but it's "pretty tasty." And yes, the new licenses really are pink like that. Oh goody! So the moral of the story is, keep in mind that your postal forwarding when you move only lasts 6months-ish and the government is not going to make any real effort to notify you that you're about to turn illegal. I'm glad it's all over though. So many bad things (namely, a FAT fine) could have happened!!!

The Big Fat Month of June :P

So, as I'm sure you all know, because I whine about it a lot, Abram is in Portland this month and I'm here in Provo. Boo. But things are going okay so far. But then again, this is only day 5 of 34 days apart. So, he's at a firm called Vial Fotheringham (http://vf-law.com/index.html). Right now he's working on some trust stuff. I don't know. It's all greek to me. But he says he's enjoying himself. I'm jealous of course, that he gets to be in beautiful Oregon, eat his mom's amazing food everyday and be sooooo close to Little T & Sydney (whom I still haven't met!).





But hey, I'm still keepin' it real here at good ol' PDC. Ha ha. The rejection specialist lives on. We're gearing up for some BIG changes in the company. We're switching all our software over to something else. From my understanding, the nature of my job will change quite a bit, but no one can really tell me the details. Oh, and the least exciting of all is that they're changing my department name from Rejections to Queries. BLEH! I'm already hearing new jokes about it. I'm going to continue to call it rejections as long as I can. But at least I've got some amazing greenery in my corner of the office. I wish I could upload some pics, but Abram took the camera. Sorry. :( But I have 6 plants in my tiny little cubicle corner, 3 of which are approximately 3 feet high. Woo hoo! "Mom, it's a jungle out there!" The two biggest are rubber plants named Perseus & Andromeda (go Clash of the Titans!) A big palm tree looking thing called Brecht (a gold star to you if you know who he's named for) a very ambitious pathos named Reggie (for rejections), the little leafy thing Mom gave us all in a paper cup named Dot and a new little spider-ish plant named Quintessa (we tried to find a Q name for Queries). I really wish I had some photos. Use your imagination. ;)



So you can tell by the above paragraph that there is A LOT going on for me right now, ha ha. Oh, for all you Brian Regan fans, you can pre-buy tickets for his August 15th show at Thanksgiving Point this Friday. I don't know how much they are. I might not even be going, haha. I've decided that the Nintendo DS is the new re-incarnation of the old NES, and is fantabulous. I don't have one, but a friend let me borrow one. Hooray! I also really like it when my wireless is working at home. Our PC (which never gets any use, but does now that Abram's laptop is gone) struggles a bit with it, but hey, baby steps, huh? So I'm going to put an end to the randomness that has become this post. Feel free to suggest any meaningful activites for one who has suddenly become single again for a month. Thanks for reading!!

Trip to St. George

So we had a wonderful little weekend in St. George (9th - 11th) in celebration of Abram finishing his first year of law school. We had a great time hiking in Snow Canyon State Park and doing a whole lot of nothing. The vacation was short lived as Abram was in the middle of (and still currently) working on becoming a state certified mediator, and preparing for his June externship in Portland, OR. And of course, it was back to work for me. Hope you all enjoy the pictures!!

Hi friends!
So here's my first attempt at blogging. Woohoo! It's late and I need to get to bed. Tomorrow I'll figure out how to upload some photos of our most recent trip to St. George May 9th - 11th. Hooray!