Gimme a D....V....R!

We were introduced to the magic that is DVR over a year ago when we got our HD television. Once we had the possibility of watching things in HD of course Ronnie HAD to have the HD channels.

Ronnie lives for sports in HD.

I don’t even know how to find the HD channels.

When we went into Comcast to add the HD channels I found out that we could get a DVR for just $5 more and had to have it.

It has changed my life.

I no longer deal with appointment television and can watch an hour program in forty minutes. Although this is all marvelous, it also means that I watch more shows—since they each take less time. I thought I would share the shows that I enjoy.

“24” Jack Bauer is the bomb—I don’t think I need to say anything else.

“Prison Break” I have to admit that I was leery about this one at first, but the characters grow on you and it has made me really think about our government on several occasions.

“The Unit” Now that I look at this list I think Ronnie has influenced me a bit. This is a great show about families in the army, plus it has David Palmer in it.

“Heroes” As out there as this show may appear—IT. IS. AWESOME. I love how one minute I am on the edge of my seat and the next I am laughing out loud.

“America’s Next Top Model” This is my guilty pleasure. I actually hate watching the entire episode but love the photo shoots and ending pictures.

"Amazing Race" This is a recent addition but one that I love. It is entertaining and surprisingly family friendly (except this year I have seen men kiss three times so far.)

“HGTV” Any time I do want to watch live television, this is what is on. I know I am a typical girl, but I love it.

*****Edited to Add*****

"LOST" Thanks, Bethany for the reminder! I can't believe I forgot our Wednesday night show! This is a great show, but I believe its one downfall is that you could never join in at the beginning of a new season, you have to watch it from the start. This season has been a bit of a drag, but I hear that this weeks episode is amazing (we'll watch it soon.)

Any recommendations for shows we are missing?*

*Before anyone kills us—we know “The Office” is awesome, but haven’t watched it from the beginning. We are in the process of catching up through the DVDs and will add it to our regular line-up soon.

Happy Birthday Grandad and Grandma!

Both of my maternal grandparents have birthdays in March and they both happen to fall on the weekend, so while I technically missed Grandad’s birthday, I’m going to catch them both before Grandma’s. (No one should be allowed to have their birthday on the weekend; I have a much harder time remembering those.)

I have been blessed with the most wonderful grandparents ever! They are quick to show their love and supportive of everything I do. I have wonderful memories of spending one week each summer at their house (surprisingly those memories consist of the chores I had to do and dinner—nothing else.) They also took Erica, Adam and I to Nauvoo and the surrounding areas and it was amazing! Each room in their house has a specific memory and now that I live there, I relive my childhood daily.

I had the pleasure of living with them for a summer when I was single and grew to know them more personally. Grandma is a wonderful listener and Grandpa has profound advice (practically every time he speaks.) They are currently serving their third LDS mission on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona and learning about a whole new culture.

We love them and miss them! Happy Birthday!

Returns

The weather has been beautiful here and last night after dinner, Ronnie and I decided that we needed to get out of the house. We weighed our options….a walk, a drive, the park and made our choice. Where did we end up, you ask?

Costco.

I don’t know how “enjoying the weather” led us to a large, concrete warehouse, but we were there nonetheless. We are in desperate need of a printer and after some online research, decided that we needed to peruse Costco before we made any decisions.

I’m sure our decision to shop at Costco is the same as most—the return policy.

There is nothing simpler than returning ANYTHING,

for ANY reason,

at ANY time.

It even makes a slightly higher price worth it—especially when you are buying electronic (and prone to break) items.

So we wander through the electronics section at Costco and I am noticing stickers on most of the merchandise. I stop to read one and notice that it explains a 90-day return policy.

WHAT!?!?! Why am I here?

In my rage, I stopped one of their helpful associates and stammered through my questions. I just wanted to let all of you know that all televisions, cameras, camcoders, ipods and MP3 players at Costco now have a 90-day return policy. (Lucky for us this did not include our printer.)

The change went into effect on March 12th. Anything purchased before that time has the old (and much preferable) return policy, but from the 12th on Costco is the same as EVERY. OTHER. STORE.

After catching my breath, and trying not to kill the Costco associate with the laser beams shooting from my eyes, we purchased our printer and went on our way.

I may have to rethink my Costco membership the next time it comes up for renewal and that saddens me immensely.

Law School--An Update

Due to the number of questions we have received regarding law school and where we are on a decision, I have decided to post a list. Those of you who know me, know the first thing I did when we were applying was create an excel document with information for each school, so this list is taken from there. Note: Blogger is dumb and won't let me create a table of any kind so I apologize that this list is a pain to read. I've bolded the schools we HAVE heard from.

School (Ranking) Accepted (Scholarship)
Akron (3rd Tier) Yes (15000/yr)
ASU (53) No
BYU (34)
Campbell (4th Tier)
Cardozo (53)
Connecticut (50) Waitlist
George Mason (37) No
Houston (70)
Indiana (37)
Marquette (3rd Tier) Yes (15000/yr)
Mississippi (97)
Pacific (97) Yes (10000/yr )
Santa Clara (87)
Temple (58)
Texas Tech (3rd Tier)
UNLV (3rd Tier)
Utah (57)
Washington & Lee (22)
Whittier (4th Tier)
Wyoming (4th Tier) Yes

Now you can all feel “in the know” in regard to our pending decision.

If any of you would like to sway our decision, we are accepting outside scholarships. This can be in the form of trips, free food, money, etc. Just so you know what you are up against, my dad has offered Ronnie a Cowboy Scholarship (read: one pair of cowboy boots and a cowboy hat) if Wyoming is our final decision.

Rascal Flatts

Ronnie and I were married very close to Valentine’s Day and as a result, we struggle celebrating both V-day and our Anniversary. This year, we decided that instead of spending money on presents for each other, we would buy tickets to the Rascal Flatts concert in Salt Lake. It turned out to be an excellent idea.

I loved it! Our seats were dead center, in the second row of the balcony. The best part was when they lifted up the front part of the stage and brought it to the back, right below us!

The view right over the balcony. I know the quality is bad, but that's what you get with a camera phone.

Ronnie and I loving our country music!

50 things about KaLee

I know most people do 100 things, but I was feeling lucky to get 50, so here we go...

1. I HATE the sound of Styrofoam on Styrofoam. I had to leave the room when Ronnie was unpacking some of our Christmas decorations this year.
2. I scored a 35 on the Reading section of the ACT. (I’ll never understand why this wasn’t a 36, since it reported I got 18/18 correct.)
3. For me, texture is the most important part of foods. For this reason I hate watermelon. I know I’m un-American.
4. I took ballet for over 10 years and danced on Pointe for two. (I then realized that short of anorexia, I would never have the body to go much further.)
5. I taught clogging for one summer and LOVED it. Someday I want to have a studio in my house so I can teach again.
6. Breast-stroke is my favorite swimming stroke, mainly because I am really good at it. My swimming instructors always asked me to demonstrate it for the rest of the class.
7. I have never been snow-skiing.
8. When I walk alone I chant jump-roping rhymes in my head (Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack).
9. I have never gotten a speeding ticket.
10. I always get compliments on my eyes when I wear green, but have never received one when I am wearing any other color.
11. I never had braces or a retainer.
12. When I am heavily medicated I cry uncontrollably and for no reason.
13. At the age of 16 I heard a commercial on osteoporosis and was so affected I single-handedly drank a gallon of milk every 3-4 days for the next three years.
14. I now have to force myself to drink milk because I know I should.
15. I have had my ears pierced since I was 15, but have not worn earrings in two years.
16. My ears are so sensitive I can only wear platinum or 18-karat gold earrings.
17. I sleep with my tongue folded backwards on itself. (I also catch myself doing this when I am concentrating.)
18. I only eat Peeps when they are stale—delicious!
19. My favorite time of day is the afternoon; I hate getting up, and hate staying up late.
20. I shot an antelope at the age of 14.
21. My recurring dream is falling through the leafless branches of a silver-plated maple tree.
22. I bite my fingernails.
23. I sang in Carnegie Hall with my high school choir. (I didn’t fully understand how cool that was at the time, but do now.)
24. I stubbed my toe on a security door when I was five, and it grows with a crack straight down the middle to this day.
25. Tulips are my favorite flower.
26. Anytime I read a book or watch a movie, my brain truly believes that it is real. While this is cool when I am reading fantasies, it is horrific when I am watching scary movies.
27. I could shop online and in catalogs all day long, but can only be at the mall for two hours or less.
28. I was born close to Christmas and came home from the hospital in a giant red stocking.
29. All of my height is in my legs. Due to this, I have an extremely hard time finding pants that are long enough.
30. I have permed my hair three different times in my life and have loved it every time. The growing out of the perm is not so fun.
31. I have worn socks with my sandals. (It was junior high and I’m trying to move past it.)
32. The first CD I ever purchased was Garth Brooks: The Hits.
33. I lived in Mississippi for two years and obtained a true southern accent. It only lasted for a few weeks once we moved to Wyoming.
34. I don’t know all the words to Ice, Ice, Baby or the theme song from Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, but do know the words to Ain’t Going Down til the Sun Comes Up.
35. I was co-captain of my high school cheerleading squad.
36. One of my college classes (of about 250) was stopped so the teacher could lecture me about talking during class. (I sat in a completely different location the rest of the semester.)
37. I don’t have a passport.
38. I had a summer job giving surveys over the phone, and as a result ALWAYS take surveys.
39. I broke out with shingles the fall of my senior year due to stress. (Yes, that old man disease.) They are HORRIBLE!
40. The doctor threatened me with the return of shingles if I get too stressed, so I now I get stressed about getting shingles again every time I am stressed.
41. I love eating sea creatures, but hate the thought of them swimming below me when I’m in the ocean.
42. I regularly talk in my sleep. All of my roommates and Ronnie can attest.
43. I have an uncanny ability for remembering numbers. Anything from the exact total of my last trip to Wal-Mart to the phone number of a store I called four days ago.
44. I play the violin. I haven’t picked it up since I left for college, so I am extremely rusty.
45. Sweeping is my most-detested household chore.
46. I was nanny for a family of millionaires at their ranch in Colorado for a summer. They are so rich they flew out Michael Bolton for a private concert at the ranch.
47. My fingers are tiny. My ring size is a 4 1/2.
48. The only bone I have broken is my pinky finger. I was blocking a volleyball from hitting my face.
49. I’m the oldest of five kids and have most of the cliché “oldest child” traits.
50. I hate melted cheese.

Sacramento!

We have returned from the land of sunshine! I loved the weather—but who doesn’t love it? Friday was spent at McGeorge Law School. We were impressed with the classes, atmosphere and the fact we got to hear from the Attorney General, but were unimpressed by the fact that their school is ridiculously expensive.

My Aunt Nat and Uncle Jeremy showed us around the sights of Sacramento and I loved the feel of the city. It is surprisingly “country” feeling—it’s actually hard to describe. We got to eat in Old Sacramento and stopped for delicious salt water taffy.

Saturday morning we went to the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairview and met my other two aunts in the area, Jill & Dan and Denise & Robert (with their two kids). I was amazed at what they had for sale in the shop and the process that goes into one little jelly bean.

Ronnie, me, Jill, Dan, Nat at the Jelly Belly Factory.

Ronnie and I sporting our sweet tour hats.

We even made it down to San Francisco (my first ever visit to the city) and did all the usual things, Lombard Street, Fisherman’s Wharf, etc.

The view of Lombard Street after our death-defying drive down.

Me and the Seals...there weren't a ton out, but they are still awesome.

Ronnie and I petting a shark. (I didn't actually touch it, but the picture sure looks like it huh?)

After all of our adventures, our decision is….

…we still don’t know. We have decided to pay the first deposit for Wyoming, due mainly to the fact that they need to know insanely soon, and then we will continue to try to narrow down our choices. We did get some excellent advice from a professor at McGeorge. She told us that if they had flown us out, they want us to be there and we should ASK for more money. I’ll continue to keep you updated.

Happy Birthday Katie!

Katie is turning the big 1-9 today (this is a very cute young Katie) and is a great sister-in-law. She is going to chef school (culinary school? what is the politically correct name?) and is loving it. I especially love her parmesan chicken—delish! She always has magnificent hugs ready for me when I visit and I love when we can get her laughing--it’s contagious.

Have a great day Katie! We love you!

I'd give my right hand for some Kleenex with lotion

I apologize for my absence lately, but the winter bug of 2007 has gotten its dirty little paws on me. I have not had the flu but instead an aching body, sinus headache, lung-shattering hacking, and running faucet (that is my nose). Things seem to be looking up, so I hope that I can at least loose my man-like voice before this weekend.

Why the deadline?

Cuz we are going to Sacramento! A last-minute trip out to University of the Pacific for an orientation, etc and the best part is they are paying for Ronnie—I’m just tagging along to visit my ultra-cool California aunts! When we booked the trip, we were hoping that it would up our chances for scholarships if we flew out and met them in person. That very same evening we received a letter in the mail letting us know we would get $10,000 a year (with some stipulations). Now, we are hoping that after meeting us they will realize that their school can’t function without the likes of our little family and give us everything we could ever hope for (read: a full-ride scholarship).

In other good news we learned that we were accepted to the University of Wyoming in my hometown of Laramie. We are excited! The only snag is that they want us to decide by March 16th. A mere two weeks from now. I know the person who would be the most excited about this news is my 10-year-old brother, Jord-man (who has literally been praying nightly for us to come to school in Laramie), but after consulting with my mom, we have decided not to tell him until we make a final decision of where we are going. We just can’t bear to break the little kid’s heart!

Randomness

Just wanted to let everyone know that we heard from University of the Pacific. We are in! It is a private school in Sacramento that is prrrrrrrricey, so I don’t know if we will end up there. Hopefully this is a sign that we will start hearing from lots more schools soon. (otherwise I may not be able to take it).

This picture is one of us taken while we were snowmobiling at the ranch.

And here is a little something that was kind of entertaining:
YOUR REAL NAME:
KaLee

YOUR GANGSTA NAME (1st 4 letters plus izzle):
KaLizzle (the e didn’t make any sense)

YOUR DETECTIVE NAME (fave color + fave animal):
Green Giraffe

YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name + childhood street):
L. Thomes

YOUR STAR WARS NAME (last 3 letters of your last name + first 2 letters of your first name + first 3 letters of Mom's maiden name):
Lopkanic

YOUR SUPER HERO NAME (2nd fave color + fave drink):
Pink Lemonade

YOUR IRAQI NAME (2nd letter of your first name + 3rd letter of your last name + any letter of your middle name + 2nd letter of your Mom's maiden name + 3rd letter of your Dad's middle name + 1st letter of a sibling's first name + last letter of your Mom's middle name):
Aplieal

YOUR WITNESS PROTECTION PROGRAM NAME (Grandma/Grandpa's first name + Jones):
Darylene Jones

YOUR GOTH NAME (Black + name of one of your pets):
Black Little One

If you've seen one rock...

We had a great time in the Moab area this last weekend. We traveled down on Saturday and drove straight into Arches National Park. It was late afternoon, so we only spent about two hours, but were able to see the Visitor’s Center, and Balanced Rock.

Ronnie at Balanced RockOur Remodeled Motel Room!

We then drove into Moab and checked into the Best Western. Lucky us! The rooms had just been remodeled and for once I felt like I could walk with no socks or shoes on. Unfortunately, even the remodel was not enough to convince Ronnie to sit on a Motel bedspread, but I’m hoping to trick him into it one day. The flat panel TV seemed to keep him pretty happy though.

Ronnie with the TV

The next day we got to the park around 10 a.m. and went straight to the Delicate Arch to do the big hike. I’m just glad we weren’t there in the dead of summer—cuz it was PLENTY hot for me. The greatest part of the hike is that the whole time you can’t see the arch, you feel as if you are hiking aimlessly and then you turn one corner and… BAM!!! There she is.

The Beautiful Arch

Great big arch---little-bitty KaLee!

Ronnie was able to test his brand new (to us) camera and took many beautiful pictures. If any of you are interested, I could put together a 20 minute slideshow.

No takers?

Okay then.

We hiked to lots of other stuff, like Sand Dune Arch, and the North and South Windows and then decided to venture on over to Dead Horse State Park—a place as fun as it’s name suggests. No actually, the views were spectacular, and history of the park is cool.

Ronnie and Sand Dune Arch

The view of the Colorado River from Dead Horse Point

Ronnie at Dead Horse Point

Stupid Roads

So, we were supposed to go to Laramie for the long weekend, but the heavens are working against us (literally). There are insane gusts of wind across Wyoming —capable of blowing over cars, and so the roads are closed. We are now going to fulfill our long weekend desires by trapsing down to Moab and Arches. (I guess after living in Utah for almost six years it’s about time we check them out).

I’ve been meaning to get this picture up forever!

Back row: Matt, Laura, Ronnie, KaLee, Gnickie, and Josh

Front row: Clay, Jessica and Madison

In Memory of Deseret Towers

I just received the following email:

As a service of the BYU Alumni Association, we are offering a piece of your BYU history. Our records indicate you are a former resident of Deseret Towers. As you may know, several of the towers have been torn down, and we have salvaged a limited number of the buildings' bricks.

If you are interested in obtaining one of them-at no charge-you may get one by coming to the reception desk at the Knight Mangum Building, the temporary home of the Alumni Association.

Regardless of whether you come by for a brick, we hope you have fond memories of your stay at Deseret Towers.

While I met three of my very best friends during my stay at Deseret Towers, the absolute LAST thing I desire is one of the bricks laying around my house. What would you use one for? A doorstop? A paperweight? A grinding stone for your wheat? A decorative piece on your mantel?

Wait.

I just figured out the only logical use for these bricks of remembrance.

I would go pick one up if I could throw it through the window of my previous room in T tower. (In hopes that it will convince the administration to hurry up already and tear down the rest of the buildings).

Happy Valentine's Day!

No, this isn't our child...but can you think of a better way to say Happy Valentine's Day?!?

P.S. This is the adorable Madison Shorter.

Happy Birthday Alisa!

Today we celebrate the day that Alisa entered the world! I’m sure Ronnie loved her to death as a baby, even if he did beat her up as they aged. Alisa is very considerate and is studying to be an expert librarian. She graduates this year! Yea for being done with school! In thinking about my dream jobs as a child, librarian was always at the TOP of the list. You get to stamp cards, and scan barcodes and read ALL. DAY. LONG. I’m sure that my dreams are not very realistic, but that is what I imagine.

Alisa is engaged and getting married in July and will be a beautiful bride. She is so great with kids and always has a book to read to them. She even lets me run all her errands with her! Hope you have a great day! Love you!

Snowmobile--no more

As the oldest child, I naturally compare my childhood to that of my younger brothers and sisters. As expected, they have and have done things that we would have not been able to do when I was that age.

This is not to say that I didn’t enjoy my childhood—I loved it! My greatest treats were Barnum Animal Crackers for being good in the store or Handi-Snacks as the ultimate reward. I loved dressing up, and would play house, school, library or ballerina all day long. We watched old Disney movies like The Gnome-mobile and Family Band, and sang along to the bands my parents listened to (Kenny Rogers, Chicago, Carpenters and America).

As time passed, my family’s situation changed. We were not rich by any means, but had some money for the “extras” in life. This meant that I could have Lunchables for my lunch occasionally. Such was the situation when I left for college. I’m not trying to get pity. In fact; my mom is quite honestly the captain of the fair police and is constantly trying to make everyone feel “equal.”
After I left the house, (at least it seemed that way) my family began getting things I would have loved to have: snowmobiles, 4-wheelers, flying turtles, a ranch, etc. I have had to appease myself by using these toys when I am home for brief amounts of time. Surprisingly, I have learned that I am deathly afraid of snowmobiles. Every time I ride one, I feel completely out of control—as if I will die at any moment. For example: at Christmas time the family went riding and I screamed like a little girl for the entirety of my 20-minute ride. Conversely, my ten year old brother was dragged by a rope behind the snowmobile for a considerable while and had a grand-old-time.

I recently found out that I have no need to fear the snowmobile anymore. My brother, Adam, and his friend (let’s call him JJ) were enjoying an afternoon ride when JJ unfortunately met with a tree.

JJ survived.

The snowmobile didn’t.

Since it’s not too safe to snowmobile with just one machine, our family snowmobiling trips are at a minimum until we can get a replacement. Naturally most of the family mourns—I am just a little relieved. Now I can spend more time 4-wheeling, flying on the flying turtle and shooting guns on the ranch—activities I absolutely love!

Solemn Oaths

Overheard: I made a solemn oath to myself today—that I would not buy ANYTHING out of the vending machine.
Co-worker: I made a solemn oath to myself today—that I would not eat all of the Crazy Bread I bought for lunch…I failed.
KaLee: I made a solemn oath to myself last night—that I would get up right when the alarm went off this morning…I also failed.

The casual comment of a student at my work caused me to ponder solemn oaths. I make anywhere from 5-10 of these daily. Strong statements in my head that are never said out loud. Little goals to get me through the next day.
I will do all of the dishes when I get home from work.
I will unpack my jewelry so I can accessorize again.
I will go to bed earlier.
I will finish the book I am reading.
I will get my valentines made.
I will plan next week’s menu.

Does anyone else find themselves doing this? Am I alone, or part of the norm?

Superbowl Party

We were able to gather with many of our close friends for the Superbowl yesterday. Go Colts! It was fun to have everyone come—we really need to get together again soon. Now that we have the space (Thanks Grandma & Grandad) we can host anytime.

Stephanie, Chip, Gnickie, Josh, Scott, Emily and Cheryl.

Clay and Madison, Ronnie, Matt, Laura and Barbara.

As you can see-it was a time for extreme relaxation!

Ronnie and I with the always adorable Maddie! We love this little one!

Happy Birthday Alex!

I am a day late on this post, but we are living a little more frugally and don't have the internet at home anymore so when I forgot to post at work, today was the best I could do.

Alex is my soon-to-be brother-in-law (man, that was a lot of hyphens). I consider him the genius of the family. He is getting his degree from Caltech and although he has told me what he is studying, it has escaped me at the moment. I do know that he wants to save the world--one step at a time and work to improve the environment somehow.

We are excited to welcome him into the Cali clan and as a fellow "outsider" I know how welcome he will be. Have a great day Alex (yesterday)!

Roommates and Sugar

I come from a long line of dessert lovers. Lovers of chocolate, sugar, coconut, pecans, and sprinkles. When my mother or grandmother is invited to a party, they are always asked to bring one of their delicious dessert recipes. When I was growing up, we had a dessert after dinner five or six times a week, and it was the motivation of the sweets that enticed me to eat some of my most detested meals.

At college, my habits did not change. In the dorms, my cravings were easily satisfied by the cafeteria, and in apartments I would bake cookies or cakes for all to have. I even have two roommates that blame me solely for their need for dessert now. In the words of Cher, “You have ruined me! A meal isn’t complete without dessert!” My old roommates and I got together last night for dinner at Bajios and I’m proud to announce that we all resisted the urge for dessert! We had an awesome time and I'm so glad that we have remained close friends through the years (with or without treats).

The First One

Early this morning, Ronnie was awakened by a phone call. We are happy to announce that he is accepted to University of Akron Law School! I don’t think we will end up going there, unless we get a wicked-sweet scholarship, but it’s nice to know that we have at least one option.

Happy Birthday Ray!

I know it is incredibly late, but I needed to get this posted before the day was over. Happy Birthday to my wonderful father-in-law! Whenever I see Ray he always has a humongous hug ready to engulf me! I love that! He is very thoughtful and always makes sure I have a cold Dr. Pepper when I am in the house. He is very generous and I love to see him tease Ronnie. I hope you had a wonderful day! Enjoy a night filled with EnemyMine!

Happy Birthday Grammy!

Tomorrow is my wonderful Grammy’s birthday! I won’t have the internet and wanted to get this up ahead of time. The picture is one I stole from my cousin’s blog so you also get to see Amber!

Grammy is the sweetest grandma anyone could ask for and is a true friend. A fanatic Jazz fan, she has been known to cancel other plans to stay home with “her” Jazz. I love going to her house to watch the games, mainly so I can hear her swear at the television! Grammy always has a million projects going on; she does porcelain work, crochets and knits, dips chocolates and makes delicious cookies! She also creates beautiful dolls—especially my wedding doll (if I do say so myself) which I will always cherish. She may have a small frame, but she is a ball of fire.

I love you Grammy! Have a wonderful day!

I'm Anne of Green Gables

You're Anne of Green Gables!

by L.M. Montgomery

Bright, chipper, vivid, but with the emotional fortitude of cottage
cheese, you make quite an impression on everyone you meet. You're impulsive, rash,
honest, and probably don't have a great relationship with your parents. People hurt
your feelings constantly, but your brazen honestly doesn't exactly treat others with
kid gloves. Ultimately, though, you win the hearts and minds of everyone that matters.
You spell your name with an E and you want everyone to know about it.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

Who Paints the Floor?

Warning: this post contains LDS-specific words and references—if you don’t understand, I apologize.

Seminary. It all starts with Seminary. Most LDS youth attend an early-morning class during their high school years where they learn more about the scriptures (except those lucky dogs in Utah who do it during school). I loved seminary. Except for the 30 minutes right after my alarm went off. I also loved the catchy slogans and pictures that would be hung up to remind us to CTR (Choose the Right). In my day they were called MormonAds. They are now called New Era Posters.

There is a comedy group at BYU called Divine Comedy. They do shows several times a semester and most of their material is based off of LDS and BYU-specific situations. On their website they have redone quite a few of the old MormonAds and I find them HILARIOUS. I have included a few of them below, but encourage you to check out their website (there does seem to be some errors, so you can’t make the pictures bigger). Enjoy!

In my spare time...

Since I have graduated from college, I have found that I am a little antsy. I am not running around trying to get everything done, and as such my down time is not as treasured as it once was. I have several activities that I like to do to release some of my energy.

Sewing. This one is not done as often as I would like, but with my new machine and new space, I believe I will be able to get a little more done. Here you can see my efforts at making a Halloween costume for Cheryl.

Crocheting. Another that may seem a surprise to some. I am not hard core, in that I can make you a sweater, but I like crocheting around the edge of baby blankets for friends. This is actually a great hobby for people traveling, etc since you can take the blanket, yarn and hook anywhere (a sewing machine is significantly harder to tote).

Stamping. Most of this hobby is evidenced in cards. I have a hard time creating an entire scrapbook page, but a small 4”x5” card is easy for me to handle. I post most of my cards in a gallery at Splitcoast Stampers, which you can view here. I’ll put a shameless plug here—I do sell my cards for $1.50 to $2 each depending on the level of work involved. Email me if you ever need anything.

Ronnie also enjoys these crafts. (I wish I could say it is because he joins in because that would be a pretty entertaining post in and of itself.) But, it is actually mostly due to the fact that they allow him to watch whatever his heart desires, since I do not do as much watching and we don’t have to negotiate.

Wherein he WILL become a lawyer

Ronnie finished the LSAT in December and since that time we have been working on applications. As with most things, the actual application is relatively easy, fill out personal information over and over and hit submit, but the additional essays that you have to write are another story.

Ronnie worked on five completely different essays before he finally came up with one that he was satisfied with. Then we sent that out to seven people to proofread and edit. When all was said and done, we had written ten drafts over a period of four weeks to finally come to THE “personal statement.”

Now that all of that is out of the way, we have finally completed applications. Many people have asked where we are applying, so I will provide a list.

Places we originally planned on applying to: (in no particular order)

• BYU
• Utah
• UNLV
• Whittier (CA)
• Wyoming
• Texas Tech.
• Buffalo
• George Mason (VA)
• Tennessee
• ASU
• Ol’ Miss

Places that we have now applied to because we received fee waivers and figured what the heck?

• University of Akron (OH)
• Campbell University (NC)
• Yeshiva University (NY)
• University of Houston (TX)
• Marquette University (WI)
• University of the Pacific (CA)
• Santa Clara (CA)
• Temple University (PA)
• Washington and Lee (VA)
• University of Connecticut (CT)

As you can see, we really could be headed anywhere. A scary thought, but I’m starting to get more used to it. There are so many pros and cons to each school that I try not to think about it (at least until we start getting in places.) We will probably start receiving letters the end of February through the end of March, so stay tuned!

Michelle's Adventures

Some of you will remember, or know my friend Michelle. Earlier this month, she and her husband, Matthew, set out on an eight month (or possibly longer) adventure. They start with Hawaii for a month or so and then fly to Mexico. They will then spend the next six months backpacking across Central America. You can follow their journey here, although I hope that they do some more updates soon.

I admire them for starting out on this journey. I would love to not work for almost a year, but my “planner” nature doesn’t lend itself to this kind of travel.

Good luck Michelle and Matthew! I hope you have a great time!

Blind Dates

I am going to assume that most of us have been on a blind date. I’m even going to assume that some of those blind dates have worked out for the best. (i.e. my aunt and uncle). While I was not blessed with good blind date experiences, I also haven’t had the worst.

As I have mentioned before, I grew up in Wyoming. I really enjoyed living there, and would even like to go back—someday—for a predetermined amount of time. Both of my parents grew up in Pleasant Grove and came from largish families. Most of their siblings (read: all of my dad’s and half of my mom’s) have stayed in the vicinity.

Naturally when I decided to come to BYU for school, they all began to scope out boys that would be “acceptable” for me to date. I’m still not convinced that there wasn’t a contest between my mom’s sisters on who could get me married the fastest. This resulted in a blind date every weekend for the first two months of my freshman year.

Most of them were run of the mill, not too horrible, but definitely not people I would care to spend any more time with. There is one that exceeded my every expectation, and not in a good way.

Blind date #1 (BD1): This particular aunt was extra excited and set this date up before school had even started. My mom was in town to help me move all my stuff in, but we couldn’t get into the dorms until the next morning. He picked me up at my Grammy’s house and when I opened the door I was nearly floored by the strength of his cologne. I’m pretty sure my head even did that backwards-movement-with-a-slight-eyes-closing thing. We said our pleasantries and were on our way.

He opened the car door for me (point BD1) and made his way around the car. I took this opportunity to take a look at my surroundings. I was in a lime-green Honda Civic with leather seats, lime metal interior accents, manual transmission and what I could only assume were speakers taking up the entire back seat. BD1 got in the car and turned on the radio, causing me to jump from the sheer force of the sound.

We drove to a restaurant, ate, and then he decided that the best thing we could possibly do to get to know each other would be to drag State Street. Every red light was a race, and every race resulted in my head slamming into the leather seat. After an hour or so of this, he answered the tenth call that had come through on his cell phone to talk to his mother. We met the whole fam-damily for shakes and awkwardly talked about me. The night ended with a drive back to my Grammy’s that consisted of talking about his recent ex-girlfriend and music too loud to even think. I finally got out of the car and feebly waved as my head and ears continued to pound. He gave me a peace-sign (no—really!) and drove off in a cloud of music-filled smoke.

I invite you all to share an experience that may have helped you to love/hate blind dates. I’m sure mine pales in comparison with some.

Our New Ward (Church congregation)

Ronnie and I attended church with my grandparents yesterday. This is our first experience with a family ward. (We have been spoiled and going to BYU Student Wards for our entire marriage, so everyone was our age and in basically the same situation.) I thought church went really well, I met a lot of new people, and now have to remember all of those people’s names. AHHHH!

Two things happened of note:

1. An elderly woman told me I was beautiful. I LOVE when they do that. Especially when this is the first time they have met you and you have a larger-than-normal zit on your face.

2. Ronnie was told that he has an accent.

Not just any accent, but a Southern UTAH accent.

I laughed for several minutes when he told me the story. I thought that his family might enjoy that, since they have claimed that he has a Utah accent for over six months and he always denies it. Proof girls! You have proof!

Moving....and Sharing

Ronnie and I are officially moved into the basement of my Grandparent’s house. I learned a lot of things…things that can only be learned when you move.

Things like:
1. The sound of packing tape can be grating to the ears after several hours.
2. No matter how organized you pack in the beginning, you will always have boxes at the end that can’t be categorized simply (I have one with a list of 8 different things on the side).
3. Everyone should move every two years in order to clean out all of the crap you accumulate.
4. The very last thing that should be carried out the door as you are doing your final lock-up is a bottle of lotion. My hands were so dry that Ronnie would not touch them, and I was in serious pain as we quickly drove to their rescue.

Now that we are “settled,” we are also learning a few things about living in the same house as someone else for longer than a vacation.

1. We are constantly whispering to each other, not about important things, but for some reason it just feels appropriate.
2. I find myself literally tip-toeing around, something I am pretty sure I haven’t done since I was about seven.
3. Each morning I dig for instead of select clothes appropriate for work.
4. Food is hard to share, especially when you have double the condiments available.

The hardest thing about all of this is not that we have to share a space, because my grandparents are pretty much the coolest people ever and have bent over backwards to ensure that we feel at home, but that I can’t truly unpack anything since we are moving into a different bed, bedroom, closet, and even floor of the house once they leave on their mission and I don’t have the energy to organize everything twice. If anyone has any quick-fix suggestions for me to keep my sanity, let me know.

What I have learned from living with a MAN

It is sometimes necessary to drive in complete silence so that you can listen to each and every creak, bump and rattle the car might be making.

Complete happiness = warm food and clean laundry.

People playing sports on the television really can hear your cheers. (If you believe hard enough).

Anytime is a good time to talk about guns.

The estimated time of completion on any car project should be multiplied by 2.5 for accuracy.

SportsCenter is on 10-11 times DAILY and needs to be watched at least twice.

Silence is golden.

Making the bed has no purpose….in 16 hours you will just be getting in it again. (This is the argument I hear, most of the time my upbringing wins and the bed does get made).

Paper cups and plates should be used as often as possible.

Pepsi is a food group.

Happy Birthday Erica!

My lovely sister turns 22 today! Erica and I have had the pleasure (or curse, take your pick) of looking similar throughout all of our growing up years. Even now, we have to say hi to people in public that think we are the other person (so as not to offend). Erica has even had five minute conversations with people that then emailed me and said that it was nice to chat. We are pretty good at letting each other know when this happens, so we don’t look like idiots in the future, but I have gotten completely off track.

Erica is studying to be an elementary teacher and it is the perfect profession for her. She is great with little kids and cares enough to put in extra time coloring and making things look exciting for her student teaching. She has a wonderful singing voice, and is constantly making me laugh. She is always up for any impromptu skit, and she probably should have done some acting, she really is talented. She is the basis for the M&M post that has been so popular (we love those “blonde” moments in our family).

I hope you have a great day! Love you!

Christmas Traditions

We just returned from a wonderful weekend away in sunny, California and are now about to embark on an adventure to the snowy tundra of Laramie, Wyoming. I have to admit I’m very excited to go home for Christmas this year and in anticipation of the events that will happen, I thought I would share a few of the Wyo family traditions.

Love Ornaments. When we decorate our tree (with white lights of course) we put all of the ornaments on except a tin with 20 heart-shaped ones. These are placed next to the tree and are our love ornaments. When you see someone do something kind for someone else such as making their bed, doing the dishes, cleaning up a mess that isn’t yours, etc, you take an ornament from the tin and place it on the tree. The goal is to get all of them up before Christmas.

Gifts to Jesus. Each year we write our gift to Jesus on a piece of paper and place it in a family box which is wrapped under the tree for Jesus. To be honest I can’t remember if we open this box at some point on Christmas or if we wait until the next year. I guess I will find out this week.

The Nativity Scene. On Christmas Eve we reenact the Christmas story. We have very specific costumes for each character. When I was younger, my sister and I would fight over who has Joseph and who was Mary, because Joseph had to wear a paper beard, which was embarrassing. Then there was the year that by brother Adam only wanted to be a dog, so we added one to the scene. As we have grown, we have not acted as willingly, but for the little ones, we trudge on.

Dinner like Jesus. This is a newer tradition, but one that I actually like. On Christmas Eve we eat as Jesus ate, with only candles for light, torn pieces of french bread, cheese slices, nuts, dates, grape juice and fish. When I was younger the “fish” was fish sticks, but now we have Halibut-delicious!

We have many others, but these are some of my favorites!

Happy Birthday Kari!

And again, another birthday! Kari is the youngest of the Cali clan and is just the sweetest thing. She is a wicked-sweet soccer player and loves to sit and watch chick flicks with me, which I appreciate (since Ronnie has to be tricked into that sort of thing.) Kari is very generous with her time and energy, always willing to help when needed.

Have a great day, we love you!

Happy Birthday Maggie!

Today is the special day for Maggie, Ronnie’s cousin who currently lives with his family. She doesn’t say a whole lot, but when you listen carefully, what she does say is usually really funny. Ronnie loves to spend time trying to get her to crack a smile.

Have a great day Maggie, we love you!

Happy Birthday Dan!

December is full of birthdays (6 of them) and I managed to get this one done on the actual day. Yea for me!

Dan was welcomed into the Wyo family two years ago and we sure do love him. He is always looking for an excuse to laugh and has even made up nicknames for the two youngest kids that I get a kick out of (J-dawg and S-kitty) His new love is the 1946 Willy’s Jeep that my dad is restoring and I think more time is spent talking about what they could do to the Jeep than actually doing anything. We hope you have a wonderful day (you old man)!

What did you just say?

Every family has some inside jokes, at least I assume so. My family has many but telling them to you here would be less than entertaining as most of them are of the youhadtobethere sort. Nevertheless, these experiences have caused us to evolve the English language a bit.

1. Yember. This word came about when my youngest brother was…well…young. He loved to talk about things we had done earlier in the year or even earlier that week. Instead of starting every sentence with “Do you remember…?” he shortened it to “Yember?” We laughed about it at first, but then realized the genius of it all. We always say it to each other, and occasionally I catch myself using it when talking to a friend. (I usually just move on quickly with the story, hoping they won’t realize I just used a made-up word.)

2. Snoofers. This is courtesy of my mother. She refuses to say “snot” or “booger” and as such combined the two to create a secret word that she could use in public and not be too embarrassed.

3. Fast as a pig. My other brother was about five at the time and my father asked him to do something quickly, he looked up, wide-eyed and asked “fast as a pig?” My dad tried to stifle a laugh and said “yes, please.” Ever since that time, if we want something done fast, we use this phrase.

4. Fair. This one actually came from my cousin Cole. When he was younger he didn’t understand the difference between fair and unfair, so when he felt he was being slighted he would yell, “THAT’S SO FAIR!” Ronnie and I would look at him and answer, “Why, yes it is!” Since that time, it is a constant battle to figure out whether something I make Ronnie do (as if I can make him do anything) is fair or unfair.

Happy Birthday Aubrey!

I always seem to be a day late and a dollar short on these, I really need to get better! Yesterday was the actual event.

Aubrey is the oldest of Ronnie's side. She is great to talk to and one of my favorite things about her is her ability to listen (no matter how long I go on). She is an extremely hard worker and has always made me feel a part of the family. I love her infectious laugh! The other day we were on the phone, and I scolded Ronnie in the background and called him 'Ronald!' She loved it! (Probably because Ronnie was getting scolded, but it was funny none the less.)

I hope she had a wonderful day and look forward to seeing her soon!

Free Stuff!

I thought that title might get your attention. As we are in the process of moving, we have come across a few things that we no longer need. The biggest of those being a desk with a hutch. Before you get too excited, I feel it necessary to tell you that Ronnie purchased it at DI several years ago. It is still very functional, but may not be the "looker" you desire. I have not taken a picture of said desk, and after searching on the internet have discovered that no one has a desk similar to it, so you will see my artistic rendition below. Let me know if you are interested.

Rockin' Out

Me: Hey! Do you want to go to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert on Saturday? I can get us free tickets.

Ronnie: Uh, I don’t go to anything with the word “orchestra” in the title.

Silent Pause

Me: Hey! Do you want to go to the Trans-Siberian ROCK concert on Saturday? I can get us free tickets.

Ronnie: Yeah, that should be fun.

Ahhh, the single life

I have recently had the pleasure of helping cover a night shift that was started at work to expand our customer service. We have hired four students; two girls and two boys. They are all single.

You can imagine the conversations.

As I supervised last night, I was able to sit back and just listen for a while. We were on our break and I pretended to be engrossed in my computer. Seeing as how everyone had just officially met for the first time, we are not experiencing full-out flirting, just subtle-feel-it-out flirting, but flirting none the less.

Watching this human mating process has caused me to reflect upon how I may have acted when I was single and working in a very similar office environment.

I have just one thing to say to all those who may have had to work around me, or listen to the conversations I know I had.

I’m sorry.

I hope you have been able to completely block out those memories and if you have, please let me know how so I can do the same.

Moving!

We didn’t think we would be doing this for another 8 months or so, but we are moving. My grandparents are heading off on their third mission to Phoenix, Arizona and we will be taking care of their house and whatnot in PG.

As much as I’ve thought that I just want to get OUT of Provo, I am sad to be leaving. I love our ward and little apartment, but look forward to two bathrooms and saving money!

If you are in the area (and yes, Provo is considered in the area) please stop by, we will still need our friends!