Idaho!

Last weekend, Ronnie and I had the privilege of attending Jared and Kara’s wedding. Jared is Ronnie’s second cousin; only the families are a lot closer than the relation makes them sound. Here you can see Jared and Kara outside the Idaho Falls Temple.

Ronnie’s parents, as well as his sister Alisa and her fiancé Alex made the long journey north. Ray was the photographer, so he had good reason to be there!

It was so fun to spend the weekend with them and play a few intense games with the fam!

We love you!

That's Good News! No, That's Bad News!

Okay, not really. We JUST received an email letting us know we are on the waiting list for BYU.

While it is nice that it is not a solid NO, it just means we can’t do anything until we know for sure. We immediately replied and let them know of our interest and now we just wait.

For how long?

They didn’t say. Of course.

Are we ever going to talk about anything other than law school?

Probably not.

That being said, I thought it was about time for another update. (I finally figured out blogger--a little bit.)



And now I will walk you through a few of our thoughts. We just heard from Utah last night and are disappointed. Ronnie is convinced that this means we are definitely not getting into BYU, but I refuse to give up hope. You may notice a full-ride scholarship to Whittier on the list now. It was flattering to receive, but we have since learned that they are on probation with the ABA and may lose their accreditation. This would be a bad thing.

We are waiting to hear back from a few more schools (namely: BYU, Houston, Mississippi, and Texas Tech) before we begin weeding things down and hope to get those letters in the next two weeks. (Ideally before next Monday so I can save on deposits that are due.)

Check your Mail...

…but not because you will see anything from me.

I currently own no less than five different designs of postage stamps.

Why the variety you ask?

I enjoy matching the stamp to the type of mail or person I am corresponding with.

My categories go something like this:



Happy Birthday Stamps. These are used for the obvious—birthdays. It’s a nice way to brighten up the outside of the envelope and ensure that the recipient is aware of the contents.


Elegant Stamps. These are used for wedding cards, thank you cards, sympathy cards and the like.






Wonders of America Stamps. I like to use these when sending information or if I feel the person would enjoy learning what the largest rodent in America is (American Beaver.)






DC Comics Stamps. I use these for the young and old alike. I enjoy picking out the most applicable hero (Flash for Adam, or Supergirl for Sarah) and sending that message along with my card.





Regular, Old American Flag Stamps. These are reserved for my bills. Nothing as insignificant as the electric company will receive a stamp that took some thought.




My love of the upper right corner of an envelope was inherited from my mother. When I was planning my wedding she took great care to select stamps that would correspond with the wedding colors (and succeeded.) Everyone who was perceptive enough arrived at my wedding already expecting black and white with a splash of blue.

So the next time you receive a piece of mail from me, check to see how it was classified. (Unless I’m out of everything but the American flag stamps and just had to get it out.)

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!