insomniacish

Yeah, I'm being a bit nocturnal... not the best thing for me right now since I'm trying to get over a cold and classes start on Monday...

So, I just thought I'd post since I don't have anything better to do... well, no that's a lie, I do have something better to do, I just know I'm going to procrastinate it until the last possible minute. Like cleaning the house... I find that when I'm in school, I usually do a better job of cleaning the house because I'm procrastinating reading my homework. But then when it gets really busy, I end up doing my homework and then the house goes to pot... where did that expression come from, anyway?

I'm going over to Meryl & Yoshi's tomorrow. They bought a new couch yesterday and they have offered us their old one. So, Frik & I are going to go measure it and see if it'll fit in our little apartment. Then I'm gonna hang out over there for a while. Maybe play some star wars legos... I love that game. :o)

Yesterday, My mother in law took all the birthday people in the family out to dinner. It's kindof lucky for her that all of the people who have married into her family have birthdays really close to eachother. (Meryl: Dec 28, Rick: I think Jan 7th, and me: Jan 9th). Well, I don't know if you wanna call it lucky or unlucky. See, she has a tradition (I don't know how long running it is) that she takes her kids to lunch on their birthdays. So, since all of us "kids-in-law" have birthdays right after christmas, she decided to take us out together. the unlucky part is that it costs more (esp since it's right after christmas). The lucky part is that it gets all of the married ones together with her to have lunch. It was really fun. We went to this place... Cabo grill. It's similar to Bajio or Cafe Rio (kindof like Baja Fresh, for those of you in CO)

Then, after lunch, Frik & I went to her house and I got this crazy idea to rearrange furniture. So Lorna & I took apart a desk and we are still in the process of trying to turn the office (aka Eryn's old room) into a family room. We're gonna bring up the TV from the basement, and since Melissa & Scott are letting us have their couch, we're giving the one we currenly have to Lorna. We'll put it in the office along with a love sac that Frik & I decided we didn't want/have space for and maybe a chair... we're gonna see what we can fit in there.

Then the Front room will be... a front room! Wow... it's amazing, isn't it?

You know... I was just thinking... Lorna's got her work computer down in the office... and really, it'd create a lot more space for the family room if it wasn't there, but she doesn't want it down in the Basement (and I can't blame her. It's cold down there)... I wonder if it would be wise/ possible to combine her work computer with the family computer... and then have the landing become the office, which it is a little, but more of a home office. Hmm...

Of course, what I'd really like to do is buy her a new computer (hah, if I had money...) and then set up windows 95 (it sucks... but its they only version of windows that her digitizing software works with) as an alternative OS... Oh, I just talked to Frik about it... and we came up with another idea. A friend of ours offered him a Keyboard Video Mouse switch... which is I guess what you'd use to hook two computers up to the same keyboard, monitor, and mouse. So this is the new plan: set up both of Lorna's computers in the landing and then use the office just for the family room. Maybe move the pictures and paper down there in some little drawers or on the shelves that she's got there.

I am liking this idea. See what good ideas I come up with when I dont' sleep??

And then... for an amazing mothers day or birthday present, maybe we could chip in and get her the parts for a much needed upgrade to her "home" computer (since both of them are technically home). How much would that be? $250ish... or $300. Just a basic computer that's not from 1998...

well, I've been talking to frik about this, and I'm getting way too excited for 2:30 in the morning. Maybe it's time to go to bed. :o)

scary things

We saw a really bad accident today... actually, Frik saw it and I heard it. we were going to this store next to albertsons. we got out of the car and were walking in and suddenly i heard this crash. I turned around and saw this SUV flipped over right at the entrance to the parking lot. So Frik took out his cell phone and called 911. We started going towards it, and I could hear people screaming and crying. and little kids. It was really scary. When we got there, one lady was holding 2 little kids, and it seemed like there was still someone stuck in the car, but it was just the mom on the other side, looking for her kids. The kids had been taken out of the drivers side, and the mom was looking on the passenger side and couldn't find them. It turns out that the lady who was holding the kids was their grandma (who was driving a few cars behind her daughter and saw the whole thing happen). The lady who was driving the car was an EMT (and about 8 1/2 months pregnant) and the car that hit the SUV was a little black Honda. It was so weird that a Honda could flip an SUV, but I guess that it was going so fast, and since the SUV was turning and its center of gravity was all thrown to the outside, the Honda just had to hit it in the right spot to flip it.

So while the mom and grandma were calling people and running all over the place, I took the little boy (who I don't even know his name... I asked him and he held up 3 fingers...I guess he was 3 years old) and I wrapped him up in my jacket and held him. He kept pointing at the car and saying something I couldn't hear or understand very well.... Something about his car. So I kept telling him that it was ok and that all of the police cars and fire trucks were there to help, and telling him that his mom was ok, and his sister was ok... He was really cute, and you could tell that he was shocked. He was cuddling up to me and ... it was just really scary.

I didn't see the driver of the Honda until the EMT's were there. All I saw was that they had her strapped down to a board and they were taking her to the ambulance. So I don't know how she is, but all the others were ok.

I am a little worried about the pregnant lady's baby... she was on her way to the hospital b/c she had been having back pains, and I guess she's due to deliver in a few days, so... I hope she's ok.

When we started driving away, I was all nervous that we were going to get hit, and that Frik had to be more careful. Accidents are just scary.

On a lighter note: Erik and I went to Costco yesterday and signed up for a membership. They told us that we could sign up for an American Express card that had no fees, no annual fee as long as we keep the Costco membership, so since we are closing my bank accound some time soon, and along with it, my credit card, we decided to apply and we were approved. So now we have a Costco membership and another credit card (which is kindof scary to me...I really hate credit cards) But we took a look at our accounts today and we're putting some money from this last paycheck onto my current credit card, and then we'll finish paying it off with the next paycheck, and then close the accound and be done with the retarded bank... really, retarded...

Oh, and we went to Frik's bank today and added me to his account and ordered checks. I also made him change his address, since his bank statements are still going to his mom's house...

Tomorrow I'm going to campus to change my name (I was going to today, but it was almost 5 by the time we got home from the accident). I'm finally getting all the married stuff taken care of. It's only been 4 months. :o)

New Year

I've been thinking about whether or not I should write any new year resolutions... It seems like when people hear "new year resolution" they roll their eyes because really, who ever actually keeps theirs? Saying, "I want to loose 20 lbs" or "I want to get straight A's" or... "I want to keep the house clean".... well, it all sounds good until you try putting them in action. Isn't there a statistic that most new year resolutions are broken within 2 weeks or something? Well, I don't know, but I was putting together the Relief Society calendar for church next week (It's my calling... basically, I put all the girls birthdays on and what the lesson will be each week, then add any announcements I can find and then i look for a nice quote to put at the top) So I was thinking about what quote to put on the top and I did a search on lds.org for "new year resolution". I came back with some articles from the ensign. I picked from one called, "Resolutions" by Joe J. Christensen. They printed it a few years later in the New Era, too. It said:

"Only one verse of scripture in the entire King James Version of the New Testament suggests what the Savior did to develop himself from age twelve until he began his formal ministry at age thirty: “Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man” (Luke 2:52; see JST, Matt. 3:24–26). In other words, the Savior developed in the [following areas]: intellectually (in wisdom and knowledge), physically (in stature), socially (in favor with man), and spiritually (in favor with God). I am convinced that if we make and keep resolutions in those four areas, we will have a happier and more successful new year this coming year and every year for the rest of our lives."

So, that's what made me decide to write some resolutions.... but since it seems like "new year resolutions" are made to be broken, I'm just gonna call them goals. And since an unwritten goal is pretty much just a wish, I'm going to write them here. :)

My Goals for the coming year:

-Learn more in my classes by doing my readings and homework

-Intentionally exercise (not just walking to and from class) at least once a week (baby steps, baby steps...)

-Make my apartment a place that people will feel comfortable... Maybe it's just me, but I'm usually uncomfortable in dirt and smell... I want a place that people will want to come to, and not feel like they're walking into a pig pen full of last weeks food encrusted dishes.

-Go to church every week, whether or not I can wake Erik up... :o) and Pray together at night.

There are, of course, other things that I want to work on, but I don't want to overwhelm myself. Maybe that's why people don't succeed at their new years resolutions. Maybe they just make too long of a list and they don't know where to start, and so they try to do all of them, but... honestly, you can't change your entire life at one time.

well, I'm going to go shopping. yippee!!! (not really... groceries...) :o)

Christmas and stuff

i guess I'm just not so good at the whole updating thing.

right now I'm still in Colorado with the family. Erik went home on Wednesday (for work) and I stayed here to visit with them for a few more days. Christmas was really fun. The nephews are funny little guys. They both got so excited. It's really cute. They got a couple of dumb games, but they're fun to play with. I've been playing Mario Kart and "whac a mole". It was funny, too, that a few days after Christmas, Andrea was making guacamole, and one of the boys said, "mom, it's called whack a mole". They're funny little guys.

Other than that, it's been good to see the rest of my family. I don't think I've ever spent so much time with Andrea. (Especially since back when they got married I was only... hmm... how old was i? 13?) And way back then i thought she was pretty cool... but I didn't really know anything about her. And now that I'm a bit older, I've decided I like her. :o) Good Job, Jason. heh...

I also went up to Berkley and said hi to all the old co-workers. I brought my wedding album, too, and showed off the pictures. it was fun. Not everyone was there, though, since it was the day after the day after christmas, which is technically (in the working world) the day after christmas since everyone got the day after Christmas off... ramble ramble ramble...

Oh, and yesterday, Michael's car broke down... mom was incredibly worried. See, he was supposed to get off work at 2:30 (and usually gets off a long time before that) but it was about 10:30 and he still had not come home. So David, Dad, and I all went out in seperate cars looking for him. We ended up calling his boss, who is a friend of the family, and found out that he was last seen at the westminster mall, so from there we found his car across the street at Barnes and Noble.... anyway, it turns out he decided not to tell anyone that his car had broken down, but instead to walk home (about 10 miles) and not only that, but not to leave Barnes and Noble until 10:30 at night. So Jason decided it'd be a good idea to call the cops and have them help us look for him. I think he really just wanted to get his name in somehow with the police department... hehe... anyway, we found him and then we all made fun of him and told him he's a dummy for not calling.

And I've spent a little time with the Olstens and the Akinas. It's been fun. But now I've got another Holiday to think about. I'll be flying back to UT on New years eve, and then Frik is gonna... well I don't know, but he better have some good plans for us.

And then the next "holiday" is my birthday! woo hoo! ... not that it really means anything, except that I can legally go to a bar (if I ever had any reason to... and since there are so many bars in Provo...) But it will hopefully be fun. Maybe some wonderful husband of mine will take me out or something???

Anyway, I've got the eternal cold. not sure if I caught it in UT or from my sister when I got here, but I have it, so I'm trying to sleep as much as possible. hopefully I'll be able to kill it. so... I guess that's it for now. :)

Geez...

People keep badgering me to post again, so I guess that maybe I will... :o)

Well... friday is the "Smithmas" party. Erik and I are in charge of the appetizers portion of the progressive dinner. We made cheeze balls and we're gonna make apple cider and little smokies. hehe...

Oh, so I applied for a job a while back that looked really good. Then I went for my interview and I wasn't so sure... it seemed a little weird. They had a group interview where we all played some dumb games then they took us out one at a time and asked us 2 questions: Why were we more qualified for the job than any one else, and besides us, if two other people in that room were to get the job, who should it be?.... I was kindof wondering if that's how they were doing their hiring. Playing Survivor so they wouldn't have to pick anyone. Well, there were 10 or so people in my little group and they were having 3 more interview sessions... hiring 5 people. My chances were not too great, but after that interview, I was kindof disheartened anyway... the people that were doing the hiring were really fake. It seemed like they were trying to be all cool and that they'd be the most awesome people to work for, but they were not very nice. Plus, the job seemed a lot more involved than I wanted to do. It was 40+ hours during the summertime, and most of that would be running around making sure the summer campers had popsicles. Anyway, I got an email a little while back and I wasn't chosen to continue in the interview process... but I really wasn't all that dissappointed (or shocked).

So I'm still on the great job hunt... I found one online (the BYU student employment website) that was for a transcriptionist (is that a word?) for the history department. I guess the job is to transcribe oral interviews. They want someone who can type 70 WPM. I took the office skills test today and I'm at 72 with 98% accuracy (and I looked at all my errors... they're the ones that Microsoft word corrects automatically. Thinks like "an dthen" instead of "and then") So I think I might have a pretty good chance.

There are others too. I'm mostly looking at clerical/secretary stuff... Where I've got the most experience, and probably one of the easier jobs. answer phones... type... whatever.

On Saturday, Frik and I are leaving for CO. We're going to get out of here as early in the morning as we can. We've been checking the weather and it should be ok. I-80 is supposed to be clear, anyway.

Well, is that enough of an update for all of you guys??? geez... :o)