Lesssons in Marriage, pt. 1

Somebody once wrote a book called something like, "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus". Other people say that men and women just don't speak the "same language". My theory is based on my Oral Communications class with Ms. Houska from 10th grade: communication is all about the common field of experience. For instance, I could see a guy with a Bulls hat or a Michigan shirt on and immediately be able to talk to him for hours and hours about sports, because we have that shared field of experience. Whereas Andrea could have an entire conversation with Lynne about the latest shoes at Nordstrom from across a crowded room using only her eyes and head nods, again because of the field of experience.

So naturally, I was absolutely clueless when we were running late for church this morning and Andrea asked me to "get her purse ready". Don't they come pre-sewn? What assembly is required here? She always likes looking at $250 Coach bags or whatever (I say whatever there to pass it off like I don't know thus making me more manly, but sadly I know quite a few of these brands), do they give you a kit and you build it youself? I figure for a couple hundred bucks the purse should come "pre-readied". But I guess "get my purse ready" means I have to get only the useful stuff out of the purse she used yesterday, and put it in today's purse.

Now I know, and knowing is half the battle....(GI Joe)

Primary

So today I was called to be the 1st Counselor in the Primary Presidency. However, in a young married ward, this really means I'm a babysitter in the nursery!! Haha. There are about 10 kids in our ward that come to nursery/primary and they range from about 18 months to 3 years. Today was my first day and because I still don't know a ton of people in the ward, I knew none of the childrens' names but I soon learned them from the other girls in there. Today it pretty much consisted of play time, singing (I really need to study up on those primary song words again...), Sunbeams (where anyone 3 years old gets to go learn a lesson (there are two of them), back to the whole group for snack time, and then play time again. It is funny trying to teach a lesson to the girls in Sunbeam because if you ask them a question they always resopond with "Jesus Loves Me!!" Well, at least they are learning something. I look forward to hanging out with the little kids for the next couple of months!!

It Happened

Both our cars have Utah plates.

Ryan has a "dad" job in Utah

I haven't lived in California for 4 years. Ryan hasn't lived in Illinois for 8 years.

I now have a license in Utah.

Lately

Reading Harry Potter for the first time (starting from book number 1 of course) It really keeps me going at the gym so I think it will be a big success

Taking finals (I've never waited until the last day to take my finals, but hey, there is a first time for everything)

Watching WAY too much Gilmore Girls (not only do I have it on DVD but I now know that it is on tv at 12 pm and 6 pm which makes for fabulous entertainment!)

Got a calling (can't actually post what it is yet, but there will be another post devoted to it when I actually get sustained)

Made Cheesecake. Ate Cheesecake with Steph and Michael (yes, Ryan too)

First time ever making Sunday meatloaf. Who knew it was so easy! Totally making that more often because 1.) it is delish! 2.) It reminds me of home and that is what I LOVE!

Every time I call anyone in my family and ask what they are doing there are three potential responses: 1) We are going to see the baby 2) We are seeing the baby or 3) We just got done seeing the baby. At least bring a picture of me when you go so she knows who I am. Please?

Watching my two best friends graduate (Congrats to Steph and Becca)

And SO much more...

Happy Easter!

Yes, I realize that Easter was 2 whole days ago, but alas I cannot help but still being excited about it! On Easter, I got up in the middle of the night and hid Easter eggs filled with candy around our tiny little apartment (let's just say I got really creative!). Haha. Anyway, so in the morning, I made Ryan go around looking for Easter eggs like he was a 5 year old little boy (and he totally loved it just like a 5 year old little boy!). It was a great time. We had a great Easter, even though we missed our family a lot!

This is Ryan looking for his egg in the vanity area! He was very good at finding eggs!
And in the kitchen...
Yes, he found them all!! (with a little prodding by me--I couldn't help it!)

All in all we had a BLAST hiding eggs and searching!

Cadence Raine

So this past week Ryan had to go to Alabama for work so I decided to take a little trip to California. I was really hoping my little niece would come while I was home. After Kelli had her appointment, it didn't look like she would come until after I left. I was pretty bummed but as Kelli walked out the door on Thursday night, I told Cadence she had to come see me before she left. So on Friday morning I got a call from my mom saying that Kelli went into labor that night. What a good little niece I have! She wanted to come see her Aunt before I left for Utah! I was so excited to see her and love her so much! She looks exactly like Brian, it is comical! (see pictures below!) I can't wait to come back and visit her! I love being an Aunt!

This is Aunt Andrea holding Cadence!!! She loved me holding her!! Frowny face! She is adorable!! We love her so much!Sleepy baby. She is adorable! Love her!

A Fab Weekend!

This weekend, as you all know was General Conference. Now this used to mean, "Yes, we get to sit at home in our pajamas and watch church on TV!!" (you know, when you were little and still in those footsies...) Anyway, I think in a way, this is still some people's reaction, but for us (that would be Ryan and Andrea, here in Utah all alone while our families are spread throughout the United States) Conference also means FAMILY!! It was so fun this weekend to hang out with everyone. Ryan's Dad came for about one day but we got to have dinner with him and breakfast so that was really fun! My family (the parentals, J-dog, and Lynners) came up as well. We had a blast being with them, as always! My parents rented a hotel in SLC so we went and stayed with them all weekend long. Here are some highlights of the weekend: walking around temple square (always fabulous), eating at The Melting Pot after Priesthood session (that was so much fun, plus really delicious! Thanks Dad!), playing Guestures with the fam, shopping at the Park City Outlets (man, how great were our deals!!), and listening to the Prophet and Apostles speak (NOT in that order, might I add). It was a great weekend!
Here are some pics to give you a visual of the greatness we had!

OVER

Today was our very last day of clinical! I have to admit, it was quite a stressful semester, with all that happened during it: namely marriage! hehe! But somehow I have pulled through and actually made it through the semester. Today we got out at about 2 and then we went BOWLING!! It was so much fun. It was 6 students with our clinical instructor. It was fun. Obviously, our instructor won by a long shot (he was the only one who threw a ball heavier than 10 pounds. haha!!). It was a grand time!

Cafe Rio?

So, we finally did what every person in Utah does at least once... we tried to make our own home made Cafe Rio.... Did it work you ask?
NO. Haha. I will have to admit that my sweet pork tasted NOTHING like Cafe Rio's sweet pork. But it was not all to waste because it was still absolutely delicious and we had a fun time pretending we were going out on a Sunday night!
We even tried to make the burritos enchilada style which was the part that actually looked and tasted FABULOUS!! (pictures below of how fabulous they looked). All in all, we failed at replicating Cafe Rio, but succeeded at having a fabulous Sunday dinner!!

Family Home Evening

On Sunday Ryan came home and informed me that someone at church had invited us to FHE at their house for Monday night. I was pretty excited because honestly, I have not really loved jumping into a new ward, not knowing anyone. It has been hard for me. Anyway, so last night we went to a couples apartment and had FHE. It was so much fun. There were four couples there. We sang, had a lesson, and then chatted and played scategories. We had pizookies for desserts, which really shows that these people are quality, right! The couple had a little 4 month old boy, who was so much fun to hold and play with. Plus, Ryan and I tied for first at scategories!! It was a very fun night and we are very grateful for the hospitality of these people in our ward. I'm hoping it will be better now that I know a couple of people in the ward. I think we will start doing this group FHE more often!

Andrea has Dysentery

So the other day Andrea posted the husband quiz after seeing it on my little brother's blog. My sister-in-law Brooke said on the quiz that Nathan could play video games all day (which is true). Andrea says she's glad I'm not into gaming much. But I used to love my old school nintendo and computer games so I started telling her about all the ones I love, and how my old roomate Brian showed me a website where you can play old school games which is awesome. So I started talking about Oregon Trail, which we played in the computer lab when I was in 2nd grade. Then I started thinking, there's probably a place I can find the game online....

...and yes, there is. I found a website with an Apple IIe emulator and an Oregon Trail download (with both disks, so you can actually finish it unlike a few sites where you play it online). So far I've beaten it twice and it's absolutely as awesome as it used to be....setting the pace to strenuous, only hunting for food, refusing to pay to ford the river, reducing rations. It's beautiful.

I know you're thinking is this really what his first post is about? Is he really that big of a dork?

Yes, yes I am. But I think that's what she likes about me. Also the fact that I clearly rock at Oregon Trail.

CAPSTONE

After a full 2 years of nursing school, it is now time to choose my capstone. Capstone is my last semester of nursing school. Every student is put in an area of the hospital and are expected to complete 220 hours of clinical throughout the semester. I will be following a nurse and pretty much working the same schedule she does. It is like free labor, basically... But anyway, it has come time for me to put in my requests as to where I should go and what area of the hospital I should go to. Ryan and I will probably be living in South Jordan, or somewhere closer to where he will be working, so I will probably want to do a hospital in the Salt Lake area. So far there are two areas in the hospital that I would like to work

Labor and Delivery
or
Emergency Room

I need your input and fast because the forms are due this coming Tuesday!! Help me decide. (please provide rational to aid my decision) Thanks!

Testing for Michael

Husband Quiz

Copy and paste these questions in your own post and see how much you REALLY know!
1. He's sitting in front of the TV - what is on the screen?
Basketball or ESPN (however, lately, i might say Gilmore Girls...) :D
2. You're out to eat - what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?
Salad? Who eats salad? that is for turtles!!! But if he did, which he wouldn't, it would be Caesar for sure.
3. What's one food he doesn't like?
Anything that is not steak... haha. jk. he doesn't like vegetables very much, but i make him eat those... he isn't the most picky person in the world... Oh, he doesn't like pickles, he thinks my family is weird for eating those as appetizers... haha
4. You go out to eat and have a drink, what does he get?
He loves to get Rootbeer but sometimes he will mix it up and get Dr. Pepper or something like that. He likes to get fancy drinks too...
5. Where did he go to high school?
uh... O'Fallon High School? haha. I don't know the actual name of his High School.
6. What size shoe does he wear?
10 or 10.5 depending on the shoe
7. If he could go to any one sporting event what would it be?
Any Michigan football game. But it would be good if they kicked the trash out of who they were playing.
8. What is his favorite type of sandwich?
Favorite type of Sandwich, huh? Well, he eats mostly PB&J with chunky PB but that might be out of pure convenience... He likes to eat breakfast sandwiches too, so those might win.
9. What would he eat every day if he could?
Steak, hands down.
10. What is his favorite cereal?
I'm not sure he really has one, he will just eat whatever we have.
11. What would he never wear?
Pink
12. What is his favorite sports team?
That would be Michigan Football. (I think anyone who has ever met Ryan would know this one. that was too easy!)
13. Who did he vote for?
Well, if he did vote (which he may have forgotten to...) It was probably for McCain. I just know NOT Obama.
14. Who is his best friend?
That would be ME by far. Yes, I know we are cheesy.
15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do?
Make him get up on Saturday mornings to do "chores"
16. What is his heritage?
Well, I'd have to say that we haven't really got into doing family history quite yet, so I'm not really sure. But I do know that we have Gardners in our family line (Workmans) and his Garnders are NOT from those Gardners... We did that much family history! haha. I would say English or something?
17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind?
Well I made him a cake for his last birthday and that was the Oreo Ice Cream Cake-like thing. But I could also do cheesecake, which is delicious! (I think his family loved the Oreo Ice Cream Cake more than he did though... but hey, whatever goes!)
18. Did he play sports in high school?
Yes he did. Wrestling. But I believe he also played football.
19. What could he spend hours doing?
Looking on espn.com or watching sports. But I would say he could do this for DAYS, not just hours. Oh, and the second cheesey answer would be- talk to me! :D
20. What is one unique talent?
He is just really good at computer stuff. I don't know how he gets all that, but he does. And he is a very good people person, which I think will take him far in life.

Ok, Ry. How many did I get right?

Spring=Baseball!

The first thing you think of when you hear SPRING is what? That is right: BASEBALL!!
Ryan and I went to a BYU Baseball game last night. We played University of Utah so the place was packed, which totally adds to the whole feeling of fabulousness that baseball brings!! Even though it was freezing cold (we left after the 4th inning...), the lines for hot dogs were too long (not to mention the hot dogs were too expensive), and we ended up losing, it was still one of the funnest nights!! I love going to baseball games!!