Quest....

Today I went to a job interview -- I'm not quitting my current job, but if you will recall I do contract work for the agency I'm currently at which I wanted to continue to do, but also wanted to pick up additional contract work in the evenings. However, the deal they were offering at my job interview today was ummm not up to my expectations. I got all dolled up (even put on make up today!!) for nothing!!!!! They offered me the job on the spot, but I told them i had to think about it even though I knew that I wasn't going to take it......I wanted to seem polite. I'll tell them no tomorrow!!

Yesterday Justin and I took two of our final exams, tomorrow we take another, and then next wednesday have another, and thursday we have another!!! We are pretty ready to pull our hair out, however the end is in sight (well hopefully -- fingers crossed!). Any one who knows how to calculate determination of rate law can contact me ASAP :)

1 more day until 1 full year!!!!

So a walk down memory lane continues today and culminates

with our big anniversary tomorrow!!
The extravaganza of all extravaganzas it shall be!

THE GREATEST DAY EVER!!!!!!!

Where it all went down:

The preparation

The shoes

The Rings

The Flowers

The Dresses

The Tux

The Ringbearer

The Girls!!!

The Guys!!!

Love

The Food!!!

The cake

The End

Walk down memory lane continues

Today was another relatively average day -- watched a few movies here at home, went for a run, ran some errands and watched a little of the Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus Best of Both Worlds Tour. Yes, I watch Hannah montana--I'm fascinated by how there are all these little girls screaming their heads off for her. So of course I watch for purely research reasons. I know no words to her song (You get the best of both worlds....mix it all together and you know you've got the best of both worlds...). So here we are at the end of the day watching a little saturday night live and working on some work for Monday.

So without further ado here are the pics for today (from our engagement session)

Moldy bread......

So...this is my second blog today, but I had to vent. Tonight Justin made hamburgers on the grill which I was super stoked for. We sat down to eat and he put a hamburger bun on my plate, so I trustingly (is that a word?) put my mustard on and my patty. I took a HUGE bite and in the process looked down and realized it had

MOLD ALL OVER THE BOTTOM OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did the natural thing one would do after such an experience and spit it out....so Justin looked up and just started LAUGHING!!! I ran to the sink to wash out my mouth and he was about to fall of the chair laughing, and I was laughing/crying as well. Then he just kept saying (in between laughs) "what did it taste like??" I was so mad at him.....then he got mad at me because I didn't want to take the patty out and put it on a new bun.....Hello!?!? Oh well, I had to share.....I'm now off to go floss the mold out of my teeth -- AWESOME!!!

Memory Lane Part Deux...

After we go on our run today we will have completed our first week of "training" as I mentioned in a previous blog!! Woo Hoo!! I'm honestly surprised we lasted this long! Today was a pretty average day -- went to work and had some sticky kids crawling all up on my business. Gotta love kids!!

Here are 3 more "walk down memory lane pics"


Just TWO CRAZY KIDS in LOVE


A partial view of our WEDDING FAVORS

A cool view of our DELICIOUS CAKE!!!

A walk down memory lane...

Let's see.....yesterday was a VERY exciting day. Justin and I had to go to the doctor for our annual physicals. We decided on a new PCP, Dr. Reagan, and he was relatively nice. We were in and out in no time flat. I always get very anxious going to the doctor - what if he tells me I have only a few months to live? What if when he's checking my eyes he sees that I forgot to pluck my eybrows? Or when he sticks that instrument in my ear he sees a build up of all build ups??? What if I have bad breath?? AHHHHHHHHHH!! The insanity that runs through this pretty little head of mine. We had one interesting exchange:

Dr. Reagan: Do you ever think you might want to have children?
Me: Ummm Sure - someday! (inside wondering if this is a dig on my age--is he saying my biological clock is almost out of "ticks").
Dr. Reagan: Well you should start taking follic acid then.
Me: Ok
Dr. Reagan: This prevents a certain type of birf (yes birF) defect. 1 mg a day.
Me: Ok (immaturely laughing to myself over his slight speech issue)
Dr. Reagan: Would you like me to write that down for you so you don't forget?

Me: No, I think I got it. (wondering to myself if this is again a dig on my age -- is he saying I'm showing signs of Alzheimers?).

END OF AWKWARD EXCHANGE

But all in all it was a positive experience, and I think we found ourselves a new PCP!!

Anyhoo..........Mine and Justin's 1 year anniversary is coming up on July 28th. So...in homage of that milestone I will be posting pictures from our wedding/engagement pics to remind all of you of that time!!! (And you thought you were done seeing those pics 9 months after the wedding - HA!).... So here are 2 of my favs -- and 1 funny one.... Enjoy!!!

(Pics taken by Ashley Bartoletti)

This is our ALL time favorite picture - I'm pretty sure we
Weren't supposed to be taking it!! Rebels!

Don't mind the photographer in the background....He's in all
Of our wedding pics!!

This was the first time I'd ever curled my eyelashes.....
Thanks Jamie!!

The beginning.....

Today was a typical Sunday -- went to church, had lunch, took a nap (It's been raining here daily so the gloominess finally got a hold of us!), played the Wii (Yes, I'm obsessed) and began our training program.

TRAINING PROGRAM?!?!

Yup, we are "training" to run a 5K in a few months. We have really gotten away from exercising and we figured this will be the perfect way to get back on track. It is a set program and most of all -- there is a GOAL! I can tell that I'm going to be waaaaaaaay sore tomorrow, but it will be worth it in the end (I think??). We'll keep you posted on what transpires of our lastest adventure. Hey, Summer school is almost over and then what will I have??

This will NOT be me!!

Yummy in my tummy...

Last night and today Justin and I have been "re-organizing" the house. We found out that we have an inordinate amount of:

1) Rubber Bands
2) Paper Clips
3) Batteries
4) File Folders
5) Back packs

6) Pens

So last night while we were busy bees I made some oatmeal and oatmeal/chocolate chip cookies, and here are a few shots of those!!

As promised.....sort of

I tried to get justin to break out our "good cameras" and take some pictures of YOURS TRULY playing the Wii, but he REFUSED!! Then he made some rude comments (I didn't quite hear them but I'm almost sure they were rude - why would he have muttered?!?!) under his breath. So alas all you get today is a picture of my Wii, the Wii wheel, our Carnival Game and our Mario Kart Game AND our 2nd Wii-mote (!). I will figure out how to get pictures of me playing it (like in the advertisements ya know), but until then...this will have to do!!



AND

I called the psychiatric hospital I use to work at in Las Cruces and talked to some of the old staff there that I use to know. They told me how much they missed me, what a great therapist (actually that I was the BESTEST therapist EVER) I am, and they asked me questions about how I was doing and I asked them questions. It was sooo refreshing. I loved working there sooo much and really miss it!! I talked to the psychiatrist that I worked with, which made me all sentimental because we had good times. Some day I will have to pose the apology picture he drew for me one day when he had clearly pushed my buttons. (It was this girl--who bore a striking resemblance to me--with a bow in her hair --which i did not have--with "I'm sorry - dont worry be happy" written on it....now I know you are thinking "What's the big deal" But coming from the PSYCHIATRIST this huge/monumental/gigantic/impressive). Ahhh memories!!

Now....For the rest of the story..........

Ok...This Blog is about Law School....I'm not sure if everyone knows yet or not but I have decided not to return to my 2nd year of law school. I passed all of my classes (I can show you my transcripts if you'd like!!) I swear! However I have several reasons for not returning which I am going to share with the world now (hmmummhmm--sound of throat clearing):

1) I dont DRINK -- I quickly found out that this separated me from most of my classmates and instructors. There were lots of school parties and gatherings (including instructors) that were held which were boozefests.....A large part of the 'legal world' is networking, which I discovered (in my naivete) equals alcohol. Soooo.....

GETTING AHEAD IN LAW SCHOOL + SOCIALIZING = DRINKING

DRINKING + ME = NOT GONNA HAPPEN

2) I'm LAZY -- I would much rather be hanging out with JUSTIN, taking PICTURES, playing with the CATS, playing with my Wii, and LIVING LIFE!! Law school consumes your life - I couldn't go anywhere or do anything, and I was a real WITCH (Not pretty!!). We had to turn down time with friends and time with each other so I could read some BORING book or paper. I figured life's too short.

3) No PROFITability -- in one of our classes we learned that the average salary for attorneys in NM ranged from $29,000 to $44,000 -- now I have THAT kind of earning potential now...sooo...tack on student loans (Because when you go to law school you aren't allowed to work more than 10 hours a week UMMM OK!) for tuition/living expenses/books/fees -- it was not worth it.

4) No HAPPY-ness -- in the same class as above we learned that lawyers have high rates: low job satisfaction, alcoholism, depression. Ummm NO thanks!!

AND

5) I just DIDN'T WANT TO GO BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some people will speculate what they will of why I'm really not going back, but you heard it here first!! I'm excited where life will take me now...you NEVER know!

The Worth of a Soul

This past weekend flew by. We had Jennifer's mom in town for the weekend. There wasn't really a lot going on, so we just hung out. We took her out to Rudy's - our new favorite restaurant - then spent the afternoon shopping. We spent tons of time playing the Wii (by the way, I am the proud owner of Mario Kart - I am not proud of how I obtained it - I didn't steal it.) Jennifer and her mom tried diligently to beat me at Tennis, but no one was successful. We went to dinner at the Olive Garden and ate way too much - its just so good. Then we had a debate about whether or not the Tiramisu has cafeine - I ultimately decided that it was so good that I didn't care. We spent the rest of the night watching TV, working on homework, and finishing up our talks for church.

On Sunday Jennifer and I both gave talks during Sacrament Meeting. This month's theme is "The Worth of a Soul." Our talks went really well. Jennifer was of course, much more creative with her talk and related the theme to the man who recently "sold his life on E-Bay" and was ultimatley disappointed with what others determined the value of his life to be. This was an excellent analogy with regard to how we try estimate the value of someone. My talk was of course more factual - I hope it wasn't too boring. We heard a lot of positive feedback from people. Jennifer came home and was telling me about how her talk had come up during Relief Society and someone mentioned how it made her think differently about missionary work. This lady spoke about how she finds herself not sharing the gospel with others because "they aren't ready" or some other excuse. She said that in her mind this translated into her judging the other person's soul - essentially saying that their soul didn't have enough worth, or wasn't worthy enough, to hear about the gospel. Jennifer and I talked about how this really made sense. It is a lot easier to find those excuses to not engage in simple missionary work. We should all strive to recognize that everyone's soul has infinite worth, irrespective of their worthiness. We aren't here to judge their worthiness - we are here to recognize their worth and validate this by sharing with them the most valuable information that we have on earth.

This week we have been pretty swamped with school stuff. There are a couple of weeks left in the summer session and the work is stacking up. The end of the summer session also means that we have completed all of the classes that we need to apply for admission to......I am going to leave you all hanging on this one. When the good news roles in...you will hear about it (check in with us around November). These classes have been a serious challenge for both of us, but we are confident that it will open up some exciting doors. Work has been slower which has translated into being able to spend more time together, which is always good. We are planning to take Elder Plunkett and his companion out to lunch on Thursday. We haven't seen him since he was transferred out of our area - so it will be fun to catch up with him. I think I am going to try to talk Jennifer into going to Las Cruces this weekend. I really want to go for the following reasons:

1.) La Posta (http://www.laposta-de-mesilla.com/) THE BEST RESTAURANT IN THE WORLD, SERIOUSLY!
2.) La Cocina (a tiny restaraunt in Truth or Consequences, second best in the world)
3.) Caliche's Frozen Custard (http://www.caliches.com/)
4.) a massage from Divina - best massage ever.

Those are about the only good things in Las Cruces though. If we don't go to Las Cruces this weekend - we could also consider our monthly temple trip.

And.....our 1 year anniversary is just around the corner....July 28....who's excited? I am! Married life has been excellent, I couldn't have asked for a more amazing wife! Now, what should I get her?

WE finally got our Wii and WE are happy with it!!

Yes folks it is true....we have given into the beast that is the Nintendo Wii. We looked (LITERALLY) all over Albuquerque for it, and when we'd walk in somewhere we'd naively say, "Do you have any Wii consoles in stock?" to which we'd hear "hahhahahahaha" yes the sound of laughter!! We looked online -- Sold out. So we went to Clovis to look for one -- every where -- Sold out. Portales -- BINGO!! We made our big purchase in Portales. So pretty much daily I play a little Mario Kart, Carnival games or Wii sports on it -- now I must have the Wii Fit, which of course is -- Sold out!

Stay tuned (for the fit and for pictures of my Wii)!!