so witty...

A couple of weeks ago, I was a total wreck, just crying over everything, over every little thing... I bet I was driving Jeff mad... Well anyway, I had just come back from getting the mail, totally out of breath, and I was was looking in the fridge for jam. I couldn't find it and started crying. Then I started crying because I knew I sounded stupid and weak, and just plain prego, which made me only cry harder.
Sweet Jeff, takes me by the hand and leads me to the couch. He sits me down and fixes me some toast with jam on it. After bringing it to me, he sits down next to me. I start crying again because I'm embarrassed but grateful. He grabs my hand and says to me, "if it makes you feel any better, the first thing they'll do to the baby when it comes out is slap it!" and ya know it actually made me feel tons better! :)

Heartbeat...

We went to the Dr today, and I mean actually met him and talked with him. Turns out I'm normal and pregnant! thank goodness, I was so worried because I've been told my whole life that I was weird, well not so!

The Dr. put some liquid stuff on my tummy and moved around a wand, attached to a speaker, over my belly to find the baby's heartbeat. He found it, and I asked, "are you sure it isn't just mine?" he says, "if it were yours you'd be having a heart attack right now because of how fast it is going." so it wasn't my heartbeat, it was definitely the baby's! yeah! we are more officially pregnant than before! :)

No Try Just Am

July 7, Jeff and I went to a OB/GYN Dr here in Fayetteville, AR and was a bit disappointed when we didn't even meet with the Dr. We were there for 2 hrs filling out paperwork, drawing blood, peeing in a cup, and sitting around waiting a lot (not Jeff, just me had to draw blood and pee in a cup). Although, we were given a confirmation date of when the baby will be due, 1/31/11

Our next appointment is July 26, and we're hoping we'll meet with the Dr. this time and be able to hear the baby's heartbeat. Oh it is all so exciting! We're going to be parents! I think we'll be great parents, especially Jeff, he is irresistible, good with kids, and I'm so excited to see if he'll cry when he holds our little one in his arms for the first time.
(I've never seen him cry, so I'm banking on it)

We've told both of our families now, which is why we're now just writing about it, even though we've known since Sunday June 6. We didn't want anyone to feel left out, and we wanted to wait until we went to the Dr. Of course, we technically haven't yet, the fact that I am feeling all the symptoms of pregnancy I am thinking I still am. :)

So my wonderful blogger friends and family I would like to officially tell you that:

I am Pregnant!
11 weeks, still in the first agonizing trimester, I've been sick, nauseated, vomited?, dizzy, weak, and exhausted... oh boy! :) I am hoping that after 12 weeks (by the book) I will feel much much better, almost normal, but we'll see, I've heard the horror stories!

The APX wives and mothers have been so understanding and helpful to me, even though I am unable to have my own mom or sister here with me to give me advice and encouragement, I have had Tara and Cindy by my side encouraging me along the way. And of course, my husband has been a Knight in Shining Armor throughout all of this too... I thought I loved him before, but he has only proven to me that I have lots more to love him for, each and every day he lets me know that he loves me and that I am worth all the washing dishes, cleaning the house, putting up with the vomiting, the complaining, the depression, the nagging, etc... he is the biggest and most deserving sweetheart!

Also, I would like to thank my brother, Travis, I am so glad that he is out here too, it is so nice to have family here to be my support, to cook when I don't want to, to clean up when I don't have any energy, to buy my cravings when everything makes me want to puke... really I cannot do it without these two wonderful men, and without the friends that I have made out here this summer, Thank you!

I want to add, thank you to those of you who have known about my pregnancy and kept it on the down low till Jeff and I wanted to announce it... I know it is hard to keep an amazing and wonderful announcement like this under wraps, but we totally appreciate it. Furthermore, (yeah I feel like I am writing a novel) to those of you who have been genuinely excited for us and express it in your voice, I really do appreciate it, because there have been only a few who have sounded almost disappointed or non excited at all on our behalf and it is really disappointing. So thank you for being excited and supportive!

Fireworks at the Lake...

Jeff, Travis, and I drove out to Lake Weddington to view our fireworks show with the Strong family, once we got there a bunch of families and couples from the office were invited too- love how our office is a one huge party all the time! :) The show was fun because the little ones were either scared or excited; which either makes it more fun for the adults.

It was all fun and games till the techs showed up drunk with their heavy artillery fireworks and grenades! By then we thought it be safe to leave, and it was also getting late, and the mosquitoes were eating us alive even after we sprayed!

I really love fireworks, and after serving in the military for 10yrs, I really appreciate the meaning of the 4th of July- Interdependence Day, Freedom and legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain- occurred on July 2, 1776, but was passed July 4. Interesting enough John Adams had written to his wife:
"This day will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more"

I am so grateful for the men and women who not only have served to save and protect this country, whether in the military or otherwise, but do love and gratefully show their respect to this land and those who gave us the separation and Freedom God wanted for this land.

Love the Furnished Apartments...

So we made the move to Fayetteville, AR on Sunday July 4. I woke up early on Sunday morning, not really being able to sleep anyway, and started packing, hadn't really packed anything on Saturday. I packed up everything into 3 of the 4 boxes I brought out, and was able to stuff all of our clothes into 1 suitcase instead of the two we brought out. I don't think we got rid of stuff while we were here, but maybe I'm just super awesome at packing! While I was packing Jeff was running the stuff out to the moving van, I could have easily fit everything into the car, but Travis was riding with us, and I had nothing to prove, I just wanted to drive comfortably anyway.
By the time we got in the car ready to go, I fell asleep right away- I guess I had really worn myself out. The drive was about 3 hrs north of Little Rock.

Once we arrived we were unsure about what we were to do next, how we were able to obtain a residence... we spotted Gordon Richards on his balcony and waved him down. I guess other couples/families had come to stake out there spot and fight to the battle for it, I could care less, "just get me a place to rest my head" I thought.
We picked the first building on the left right when you drive in the complex, next to the main office, club house, and pool. Third floor, with an elevator, next to Colby Peterson, Brooks Christiansen, and Gordon Richards... not bad, not bad at all. :)

The apartments inside all look the same, same layout, same decor, all furnished! We haven't even unpacked because it is basically all here anyway.

The apartments include: spacious 1 & 2 bedroom floorplans
golf course views available
private balconies (select units)
9 foot or 11 foot vaulted ceilings
full-size washer/dryer
frost-free refrigerator w/icemaker
full-size kitchen appliances
dishwasher
disposal
microwave
central heat & air
energy efficient construction for lower utilities
carpeted bedroom & living areas
ceiling fans

We've unpacked our clothes and our food, but we'll save the rest to unpacking when we need it. Fine by me, less work for when we have to move again- whether to Texarkana or back home to Logan, UT.

The best part about our apartment is the smell! no more cigarette smoke-filled apartment, no more anxiety attack when walking into the apt., no more constant headaches, and no more dizziness! Hoorraaayyy!!! :)

A few bad things about Fayetteville, there isn't much to do here but swim and go to the botanical gardens, and the worst thing so far, is that the boys aren't doing so well in the office, I think yesterday they had a total of 5 sells or something.... partly due to the fact that their area right now is all renters or people who fail the requirements.

Jeff Strong has been talking about the boys moving up to Fort Smith, which is an hour south of here. Hopefully that will be good, because we definitely need the money and Jeff, my husband, needs the motivation.

Our time in Little Rock

Well for those of you who haven't figured it out, Jeff and I moved out to Little Rock, AR for the summer, every year we move to a new state for his job. This year we moved the last day of finals which was Thursday May 6, and drove all through the night until early morning when Jeff couldn't drive anymore and stayed in the nicest Motel 6 I've ever seen. Huge King size bed, Huge flat screen tv, and more spacious than the usual. Got a few hrs sleep and drove on. We arrived Saturday morning in North Little Rock. Was able to sleep a few hrs in our apt before he went off to work. Saturdays are the long days, 9am-9pm. And if the guys are working further away, it just means they get home later.

The last couple of weeks that we've been here, it has been extremely hot, and unfortunately Jeff has to work all day in it... he has mentioned to me a few times that some of the areas that he sells in are actually quite nice and he could see himself or us living here. I don't know about that, the heat and I'm not sure what the winters are like here, but the weather is a big NO for me.

It has definitely been a blessing to have Travis out here with us too. He was doing fairly well at the beginning and then we went to Texarkana and since then he has been disappointed with his sales. I know it will turn around for him, and hopefully soon. His trainer from his mission has come out here to sell with him, Lee Anderson, he's a good kid. I think having him here Travis feels motivated and pressured to do well all at the same time. Last week Travis and Jeff went selling together and got one each, which was good because it is usually hard to sell with another person, it isn't like Missionary Work, where having a companion is a good thing.

This weekend, 4th of July weekend, we (our office) is moving up to Fayetteville, AR- and from what I read it is a very good and gorgeous place to live and or visit. I'm actually very excited!

I hope that our apt up there won't smell like smoke, I think that is probably a good contributing factor to why I've been feeling sick since we got here in AR, the other couple reasons may be the fact that the bed is crap, and the weather is HOT. but that's just my two cents.

There are so many wives out here, many more than last year, I haven't really had the opportunity to get to know all of them yet, but the few that I have I really enjoy their company and their friendship. Tara Strong is one of the women that I feel most comfortable around, she is good natured and easy to be around. I have been babysitting and nannying for her, she's got 4 girls: Jasia 8, Mylee 6, Josie 2, Zoey 9mo? they are really fun to be around and I really do enjoy the experience that Tara is giving me. I feel sometimes more like a playmate than an actual babysitter or authority figure, I just look at it as a way for me to help Tara out, 4 kids and all girls can be very challenging, I know because my sister has 4 girls as well, and she says that at times it can be very difficult and at other times it is very fun!

Some of the adventures that we've done while being here in Little Rock, I've gone to the Wild River Water Park, The Little Rock Zoo, The Little Rock monument, The Big Dam Bridge- world's longest bridge ever, the Peabody Hotel for ducks, and the Texas Roadhouse. I know of the Old Mill- which is the same mill used at the beginning of Gone With the Wind, but I've never seen that movie and it doesn't really sound all that interesting anyways. But I've had fun, and mostly have done all these things with the Strong girls. :)

The Peabody Gardens

The purpose of this Little Rock trip was to go to the Peabody to view the ducks, but that didn't start for another 40min, so we had a lot of spare time on our hands..

The hotel had a statue garden near the river, pretty random stuff... this dog looks like it is taking a dump, not about to sprint like the sign said... :)

How?

I'm not sure...

On the River Front overlooking the Arkansas River and looking out at the Spanish Punk Rock Band across the river. A serene moment....

The Clinton Natural History Museum... Jeff thinks it looks like a double wide on stilts...

Little Rock

Last Sunday, Father's Day, we celebrated by getting out of the house and going for a walk, then calling my dad on top of the world's longest bridge! We took our picture and sent it to him in a text. He appreciated it. He even commented on the heat, you could actually see just how hot it was, our faces looked like they were melting... I don't know why I chose to wear jeans that day.

Here is the three of us on top, halfway across, the world's longest bridge. The bridge crosses over the Arkansas River. It was so bloody hot this day, and so it took us a really long time to walk across even just half of the bridge.

Jeff's Birthday! Friday June 11, 2010

I woke up early that morning and posted on the wall the Happy Birthday sign I made the day before and gathered all his presents on the nightstand next to where he was sleeping. Then I went back to bed. Later that morning he got up, saw the banner and the presents. He definitely wasn't expecting anything so it was nice to see him so surprised and happy. Later that night, when he got home from work I took him out to Texas Roadhouse because we still hadn't used our office meal ticket yet, and I knew he was in the mood for red meat. I asked the waitress if they wouldn't mind embarrassing my husband with a song and dance for his birthday. He was embarrassed, but luckily there were other APX reps there that night and they all came over to congratulate him and to wish him a happy birthday. I think he had a really good birthday, I know I enjoyed myself and enjoyed embarrassing him! :) it isn't very often that I get to do that... it isn't very easy to embarrass him either.

After the waitresses had sung and danced for him. Funny cuz his expression says it all...

Family Reunion in Branson Missouri 2010

We had our first ever family reunion, which will be the first of many! Branson Missouri, isn't exactly a place I'd ever heard of before my mom told me about it and I watched "she's out of my league"

Jeff, Travis, and I moved to North Little Rock, Arkansas for the summer and is only 3 hours south of Branson. We were only able to stay for 4 days, but those four days were a blast!

We arrived Sunday night, while everyone else arrived Sunday morning. My parents have a timeshare out there. Jeff and I had our own while everyone else crowded in every available space to sleep in a 3 bedroom, 5 bed, 2 bath apt/hotel.

I believe it was Sunday night that we gathered around to talk about our Mission Statement or Motto that we were to present, however only Jeff and I were prepared. This was the first reunion that we have had where everyone excluding Jesse was present.

Mom, Dad, Dustin, Travis, Me, Jeff, Andrea, Mikke, Ayden, Norah, Ivy, and Lydia. Next year maybe there will be some more additions to the family, perhaps a sister-in-law or two, or some more kids! :0) the family is growing and it is so exciting, just the way it should be.

While we were there, the highlights consisted of Silver Dollar City Amusement Park and Rides - a two day pass, lip singing and dancing as a family and as groups, swimming, playing games, and talking - which seems to be something the Hook family just doesn't do very often... it is as though everything needs to be scheduled and planned out, and "hanging out" just doesn't get to happen... but in the end, our trip was a success! :)

A long time coming...

Jeff and I just watched Gentelman Bronco another "napolean dynamite" movie, by Jerusha and Jared Hess- FYI I used to be friends with Jerusha, when her family moved to Minden, NV from Oklahoma. My sister used to date her older brother. And I had a crush on her younger bro Micah. After she graduated HS, she went to BYU (I think), I saw her once at a "Big Show" - One of Ryan Stanfield's production shows... she was there with her fiance Jared. So anyway, the movie that we watched had its funny parts, but overall it was a fail. This particular part, Jeff was rolling with laughter... the guardian angel is holding an albino snake around his neck, and when you least expect it the snake poohs... click here to watch the video.

This last weekend I had the opportunity to hang out with my MTC Companion, Sister Angela Parnell, from TX. I hadn't seen her in 5 years, since the first and last time I went to a Mission Reunion. Angela was my only American Companion in 18 months.

I really enjoy those visits you have with people where you don't necessarily "do" anything, you can just talk and enjoy their company. This was one of these visits. We talked about everything we've done, and thoughts about it, in the last 5 years. Tangents are good when you've got an entire day to talk. Tangents bring epiphanies and allow you to truly get to know someone.

She took some pictures of us, so I'll have to bug her to post them.I hope she doesn't hate me for posting this, but she is kind of dating this guy... and when I say kind of, it really is just that... I don't know if he knows if he likes her or if he really doesn't know how to date... you know, show the girl that he likes her. My vibe from him was awkward... stuck in the late 80s early 90s... extra large polo shirt, tapered jeans, white sneakers (and no he didn't, but it wouldn't surprise me if he had a pair of velcro shoes), and he's a computer programmer or something? the total stereotype... Anyway, if she likes him that is great... but the dude seems clueless, even when she is pretty straightforward in her actions, head on shoulder, cuddling, flirting... What I'm saying is that the kid hasn't made a real move yet, and it has been a solid month and a half... if you agree with me and think that a month is too long to not make a move (of any sort) on a girl that you are interested in, or disagree with me and think that it is too soon, (does hanging out to play guitar hero count as a date? and if the kid is finding activities for the two of them to do, does that signify that he is "interested" in her, or just being friendly? ie- rock band, playing chess, reading books, playing card games and including yatzee? please leave me a comment... Is he interested or Isn't he?

_._._._._._._._._._._._._._._._.

Elder Travis Hook, my brother, for the last two years has been serving in the Washington, DC North Mission. He has had a pretty good run, here is a video of him and his companions having a good time... click here ending as one of the Assistants to the President. He loves it, but we can all tell that he is ready to come home. And he'll be home in less than two weeks! Since he's been gone, there's been two new additions to the family! One being, Andrea's baby- Lydia, and the other being, My husband, Jeff. As Travis put it, "Brothers don't shake hands, brothers gotta hug!" so I'm sure Jeff and Him will get along great.

Jeff and I are planning to drive down to Minden, NV where my parents live for Travis' homecoming... apparently he arrives in NV at 10ish pm on Wednesday the 31 March! And we'll get to be there for him. When I came home it was just my parents and Travis at the airport. I cried because I didn't want to be there necessarily, to me it was final - I was no longer in New Zealand and I was no longer a missionary. I do miss it, but I am very grateful to have moved on and progressed... ya know?

It will be really great to see Travis, from his pictures he looks like he's put on some weight, and he refers to himself as a chubby boy! :) I know he is ready to move on, he keeps saying, "I'm almost 26 yrs old, and I have no schooling under my belt, I feel very behind." I think that is just how our family works... both Dustin and I graduated College around the same age... 26/27? And Travis will be no different, a few years later, not a big deal. The good thing about coming home now is that Universities will take just about anybody, as long as they have money! Utah State University just got rid of 90 professors... I had no idea that USU was even that big!?

Travis, when he gets home he'll probably make his rounds to each of the different family members and decide what he'll do for the summer... a few options... work for my dad (that is if he has work), go to school (I don't know how he'll do that, he has NO money!), or he'll come sell with Jeff in Arkansas... and maybe take an online class or two with the money that he does have. But only he can decide that.

At the end of May our family is having ourselves a little get-together/family reunion in Branson, MO; which is about a 4 hrs drive from Little Rock, AR (where we'll be living this summer). We'll be staying in a condo for a week, we haven't figured out exactly what we'll be doing just yet, but it will be the first time in a VERY LONG TIME that the entire family will be together.

Mom
Dad
Dustin
Andrea
Mikke
Ayden
Norah
Ivy
Lydia
Melissa
Jeff
Travis
Jesse will unfortunately not be there, due to medical reasons.

I'm so excited!

.......................

1 Year Anniversary

One year ago from Yesterday, Jeff and I were married in the Logan, UT LDS Temple. What a happy day! A Year later we are still married, still madly in love, and wonderfully enjoying the married life! We still consider ourselves in the "newly-wed" stage of marriage... and it is awesome!

Both Jeff and I had to work this last weekend, Jeff in Denver, Co Pre-sells, and I at the Guard base. We drove Wednesday night down to Jeff's parents' house in Ogden because his flight was at 6am the next morning... I so didn't want to drive from Logan to slc at 3am! After I dropped Jeff off at the airport I drove back to Logan to "set up" the apt for Sunday evening, when we'd both be driving back up to Logan and where Jeff would be surprised!

He was definitely surprised! As he opened the door to the apt, there were red, white, and pink rose petals on the floor leading down the hall into the bedroom.... ooh la la... :) We had a nice romantic dinner by candlelight on a make-shift ironing board table. the candles illuminated the love letter I wrote for him on our front room/hallway whiteboard. The night was perfect, the day was long and tiring, but the evening was "mood" was set for Anniversary Love!

Yeah we made it and we look so forward to the many more years of lovely "newly-wed" marriage! :)

Random Updates...

A random photo I found of Jeff... I don't know where he is or what he's doing or how long ago this was taken, but I just had to laugh and want everyone else to enjoy it as much as I do. :)

My Dad has an iphone and for the first time browsed his photo reel... found some photos I had never seen before of my wedding and decided to post them. :) yeah.

The North Salt Lake Dump; surprisingly clean for what I was expecting, yet the smell was like that of a refrigerator where the refrigeration part stopped working. It was however surprisingly Disgustingly Beautiful! Thousands of birds, mostly seagulls, black birds (small and large), and one ginormous bald eagle!

Cancun Mexico!

Monday Jan 11 - Thursday Jan 14 we spent our time in Cancun Mexico, at the Dreams Hotel and Resort! An all inclusive resort, which I'm not sure what that means, because in order to do all the "cool" things you had to pay an outrageous amount. We were given $200 per person to use towards our vacation, however after all the "do's and don'ts" of the use of this money it wasn't good for anything and all the prices were jacked up anyway. But even without the use of the fake money we still had a superb time, all you can eat food, room service, robes, slippers, and luxury white water, with kayaks, snorkeling, bikes, and lots of shopping... how could you not have a great time! Its Cancun for crying out loud.

Here is a collage of our trip! hope you enjoy... leave a message if you need further explanation. :)

The New Year!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I can't believe it is already 2010 - it sounds so futuristic! Well Jeff and I spent the night at Mindy and Paul Yeates' house for a Harry Potter Movie Marathon with good conversations and junk food. It was by far the best New Year's Party I've ever been too!

We're pretty low key, don't drink, don't socialize much now that we're married, kind of home-boddies if you will, and we've only barely become friends with them, who seem to be similar to us, so it was great. You know how some people you just really mesh well together and others there's just no connection and it takes "work" to be their friends or its just plain awkward? Well not with the Yeates! they are a cool couple!

Of course we started the movie marathon late, and watched the end of the "NY New Years' ball drop" where J-lo looked like she was wearing a see-through onsie! Yikes!

We only got through to the 2nd Harry Potter movie... the three of them had all fallen asleep at one time... but not me, about a month or so ago I finished reading all of the Harry Potter books for the first time ever and was just entranced by the new discoveries of watching the movies again. :)

A night of Midgets, Crab, and Deep Fried Ice Cream!

Tuesday Night, The down low after I got off work around 3pm, only ate a pb&j sandwich at lunch (noon), went to a tanning bed in preparation for our Cancun trip Jan 11-14! Sid's Styling & Tanning Shop - kind of ghetto, but Jeff was excited because the owner, Sid, was a midget, dwarf, little person (I don't know what is more politically correct) Plus... it was our first time there it was free!

My question then is, why ever pay a membership when you could go to a new tanning salon every time for free?

Then we went to dinner, I was so starvin that I told Jeff that I'd even eat at Joe's Crab Shack (we had passed it the day before an he mentioned how badly he wanted to eat there)
So most of you will know by now that I don't like seafood except for sushi occasionally and salmon. The fact that I was actually craving seafood was beyond me!
We ordered a bucket of clams, two different kinds of crab, and a side order of fried shrimp (for me), the bucket came with a husk of corn, two baked red potatoes, and a cup of melted butter. I thoroughly enjoyed it! eating the crab was quite the experience too!

Before we got our bucket our waitress, Carissa, came over and put "crab" bibs on us. The cracking, cutting, and forking out the meat from the shells was like a treasure hunt, I was pretty good at it! Almost every time the meat came apart from the shell in one huge chunk. Yummy!
Basically it looked like this minus the lobster!

I'm not sure if the experience was great because I was so hungry or because of the flavoring! It was in an Alabama Bauyo Seasoning! YUMMY! Oh and the fried shrimp, it was delicious! it was like eating chicken nuggets even though it was shrimp...

And then we finished the night off with Genuine Deep Fried Ice Cream from LaLuna's Mexican Restaurant. Oh My it was 'to die for' goodness!

Of course, On the way home Jeff stops to get a $5 Little Caesar's Pizza and ate like 4 pieces before going to bed... I don't know where it goes!?

Yeah Ashley (and the rest of you that make fun of me for "not liking any good food" can you believe it? I actually like Shrimp (not the naked kind though, it may mostly be the appearance of them that I don't like... but anywho I am a changed woman! and I know Jeff is pleased because Shrimp is one of his favorite foods! Now if he could just get me to like Cheesecake!)

I hate my job because....

Because I never know if when I come into work if it will be my last day, if I will be fired or not! Kind of exciting, kind of nerve-racking too!

So today, Friday Dec 18, 2009 I lost my time card, I swear it was in my purse last night when I got off work, I got to work and it magically disappeared. Without a time card you can't clock in and out. I emailed Brian (the manager/owner/dim-wit) to let him know. A friend of mine at work who works the day shift overheard Brian and his Dad, Dennis (co-owner) arguing about time-cards. Dennis was saying that he's going to start firing all of Brian's employees who don't clock in and clock out! Of course just my luck!

I don't know if loosing the job will be a good thing or a bad thing. Good because I won't have to work there any more, and as Mindy says, "a huge weight will be lifted" which is true, the job is kind of chaotic because Brian doesn't know what he is doing and stresses everyone else out for not being able to read his mind! And bad because then I'll have to start looking for another job, and in the meantime won't have any income!

I guess I better start looking for another job! :(

Funny Story...

So yesterday I brought my laptop to work because a friend of mine, Mindy, needed to use it, and she'd just pick it up while at I was at work (a minute out of my working time - a potty break or something). Brian, my boss (and if you ever get the unfortunate opportunity to meet him you will understand why he is a douche) he asks me, "what's that?" pointing to the laptop. I say, "it's my laptop." He then asks, "why did you bring it to work?"
"A friend of mine is going to come by and pick it up."
"Who is it?"
"Does it matter?"
"Who is it?"
"Mindy, You remember her, she's the one you fired."
"I don't like that, she can't come in the building."
"fine, I'll give it to her out in the parking lot"
He looks all huffy and walks away. I go to my desk and start working, which means I got my computer up and running and I picked a good song to start listening to on my ipod. I can see that Brian is standing behind me (from the reflection in the computer screen) this is normal, so I didn't think anything of it, but in the reflection I see that his lips are moving, I take out my head phones. I turn around in my chair and say, "Pardon?"
"You need to put that laptop in your car."
"No. It will freeze, that is why I brought it inside."
"Why does she need to come here, why can't you give it to her tomorrow?"
"Because she needs it tonight, I didn't know that this was going to be a big deal. Is this company policy or is this because it is her we are talking about?"
"I don't want her to come in this building, she left on bad terms, I don't even want her on my property. You are on my time, you should have done this on your own time."
"this is the only time that it works for the both of us... so you're telling me that if my husband needed to stop by and get something from me you're saying that he'd have to wait till I was done with work or get it from me before I get to work?"
"You should have thought about this before, you need to do this on your own time. She is not to be on this property."
"Well can I at least call her to let her know that she can't come to here? It will only take like a minute, what is the big deal?"
"You need to do this on your own time."
"She lives like 5 min away, can I go drop it off to her?"
"Yes"
I thought for sure that I was going to get fired when I came back from dropping it off, due to keeping relations with people who've gotten fired.
Also, 2 other of my friends were fired two days ago for "talking to each other" blah blah blah... WHAT A JERK!

Early Christmas in Vancouver Washington....

We had a fun time in WA with my sister, Andrea, her husband Mikke, and our 4 nieces: Ayden, Norah, Ivy, and Lydia!
It was soooo cold! Sure Logan's temperature is colder on the thermostat -7 degrees, but for some reason when it is wet and humid it is cold. Gosh, it was so cold that their church's water pipes froze and burst! That was an exciting Ward Christmas Party!
We didn't "do" a whole lot, other than play with the girls and help Andrea out with her party. We did go to Sushi Land, which is a sushi restaurant where the sushi is set on colored plates and are set on a conveyor belt that goes around through the tables. Of course each plate ranges from a buck to $3, the plates add up, still it fed 4 girls, and 4 adults for $75... not bad, still cheaper than others... I bet that chain would do well in Logan, UT.

The girls were well behaved and fun to be with, they were more mature and grown up than I remember. Ayden is 7, Norah 6, Ivy 4, Lydia 1. Ayden is really into sewing, Norah is into singing and acting, Ivy is still quite shy but she likes to read, and Lydia is in your face fun!

Most of these pictures are not from this last trip, it was during the summer at the tulip festival.

the girls haven't changed that much and we didn't take that many photos on our last trip.

The Spirit of Christmas...

This will be our First Christmas together as a married couple! we're so excited! So first thing we've done is gotten ourselves a tree- a microfiber light up one. It is small enough to put on top of our tv and big enough that we can put presents underneath.

This weekend, Thursday - Monday we'll be flying out to see my sister Andrea, her husband Mikke, and their 4 girls, Ayden, Norah, Ivy, and Lydia. Mikke tells me that they're all excited to see us, well, we're just as excited to see them! It's been about a year since We've seen the girls and since Mar or so since We've seen Mikke. I saw all of them a few months ago, during the summer I went to Lagoon with Mom, Dad, Dust, Andrea, Mikke, and the girls. Unfortunately Jeff had to work. :(

So this time it will be fun! We're planning on playing games, eating lots of good food, and spending quality time with one another.

New Moon....

We, Jeff and I, bought our Opening Night New Moon Tickets about 3 weeks ago, we didn't realize that the 19 of Nov was on a Thursday... I got off work at 5pm, Jeff had a business/accounting meeting to go to at 7pm... (not that we were rushed, the movie didn't start until 12:05AM Friday. We still had to drive down to Layton to meet up with my BFF Stacy (Suga) and her husband Nick. (It was middle ground since they live in Bountiful). I have read all the books and after watching Twilight the movie, Jeff was intrigued enough to read all of them as well.

The first movie, I was slightly disappointed with... I felt that the acting was mediocre (like the cast hadn't read the books and didn't know what they were doing but reading lines) the special effects were good which made up for the lack of low budget. Also, as a twilight fan before the movie came out, I was a little disappointed with the choice of cast crew members.

However, the second movie, NEW MOON, totally redeemed itself! perhaps the cast finally got comfortable with one another and they read the series, so they can really acted the part and or character. Plus, this movie seemed to flow better, not as jumpy and spacey as the last one.

The atmosphere of Opening Night... surrounded by teenage immature girls screaming and "goo goo gagaing" at every word Jacob or Edward spoke! VERY ANNOYING! however, it was really fun to go on a double date with 3 of my favorite people!

So for those of you who are unsure if you're going to watch the New Moon movie, if you've read the book and liked it you will like the movie.. just make sure you wait a few days so all the teenie bopper kids go and get out of the theatre before you watch it. It will make the movie that more enjoyable. And for those of you that didn't read the books, it is entertaining with drama love-triangle action! Not at all hard to follow, my friend Suga hadn't read past the first book and loved it!

Once the movie got over I was dead tired! I had to go to work in 4 hours! I slept all the way back home! :) worth it, even though I was barely functioning at work the next day... but so what my boss is a jerk-off!