Success and Failure

I've always been the one to enjoy success more than failure- call me crazy, I know! (It's because other people like to tell me that I'm learning a lesson through stumbling. I'd like for them to learn their own lessons....) This last week or so we've experienced both. (We'll start with the failures so by the end of my post I'll feel good about myself):

• Scott got his grades.
• The above comment was a joke:) He actually did pretty good in some classes considering the amount of time he wasn't diligently studying. I was surprisingly proud of his B in chemistry. (Thanks Dave!)
• After months of applyings, I still haven't found a job to pay over minimum wage with insurance benefits.

It was a short list, no? Here are a few successes:

• We made gingerbread houses with our friends the Feldmann's. I got a recipe from the ward cookie exchange party- delicious and super soft gingerbread. I didn't have a pattern for the house, so it was all guess work. AND guess work in baking at that! I think they turned out really swell....

This was our house. I left to Visit Teach just after the pieces came out of the oven and when I came home Scott had it assembled. All I had to do was decorate it!

To the right is Chris and Adrienne's house. Somewhat of a sucess, until the weight of icing and candies collapsed the roof. Their house was a million times cuter that mine, so I'm kinda glad it fell over! gingerbread house envy-it's nasty this time of year.

• We FINALLY received callings. Scott was called as the Webelos den leader- hehe. We are excited for his calling and he's excited now has a reason to go on camp-outs. I'm on the Enrichment committee- which really just means I'm serving the in Relief Society. Did anyone else hear Sister Beck's talk about RS this last conference??
• The trip Scott won from APX this summer had the option to cash out- SWEET. So even though our experience was terrible, we got a nice "Christmas" bonus. (really it just means we can pay our taxes next year!)
• Scott found his church shoes after driving off with them on top of the car. Albeit, the search was cold, early morning, and one was run over- but you can't see the tire mark if you don't look at it. We even found both dress socks!

We are sure looking forward to the new year. We are certain 2010 has more successes in store- 2009 was a rough year.

Enlightenment (sorta...just go with it)

My dad raised me on old country classics and soft rock. He LOVES the Eagles. Me? Not my first choice, but I'll listen to them if nothing I prefer is on the radio at the time.

Tonight as I was cleaning the apartment and setting up our meager Christmas decorations, I came to a new plateau of understanding. Our apartment is on the third floor, but I'm convinced heat does not rise in Loveland, OH. I believe the temperature was around 50 degrees- INSIDE. (I couldn't see the thermometer clearly- I had too many layers wrapped around my face to keep my teeth from the wretched chatter) As I donned another pair of socks, feeling like was about to die of frostbite, I remembered these simple lyrics: Love will keep us alive. It was then I wished Scott was not at work but in close proximity to me- not for love's sake, although I do love being with him, but purely for his body heat. I now know why love keeps you alive- because it keeps you warm.

(And if you're wondering why we don't just turn on the heater... why don't you come over here and show me how to work this 1950's model thermostat THANKS)

Sleeping in is fun to do

As it gets cooler, I find that I require more sleep than in the summer. Anyone else discover this truth in their life? Maybe the amount of daylight plays a part in my need, but nevertheless, it's a need to be reconciled. Working early is hard for me, but I prefer it to working late because I must be on a normal schedule to feel emotionally and physically stable. Over the last few weeks, I have NOT been a good girl about going to bed at a decent time (for my 6am job). Within the last week I have felt the stress of sleep deprivation and decided it was time to change. So... I went to bed early (okay... I fell asleep although I wasn't trying to...) around 8:30, 9:15, etc this week. Today was my day off work, and class was cancelled because of the ASHA convention in New Orleans, so I slept a whopping 12 hours last night. And it felt so good. Every second.

This is what happens when you don't listen to your husband-

I misplaced my debit card about a week ago and have been hoping I would find it miraculously. I remember using it to pay for my gym membership and then it was gone. I just thought I was careless and left it in the car or put it in a different purse... you know... typical Ally things to do. Well, today I checked my account and there was a strange charge on it from Maryland. Darn! I even cleaned my apt in an attempt to uncover its hiding place. Scott warned me that I should just cancel it and get another one, but I didn't listen. Now I have to wait for the charge to clear (whoever stole is awfully dumb because they only charged $20.... IF I were to steal a credit card, I'd max it out...hello??) and file a fraud dispute. Not to mention that it took 25 min on the phone explaining my situation. And a fraud dispute takes up to 90days to process and you might maybe may get your dinero returned. At least I could possibly have my 20 bucks back in time for Valentine's Day (because I'm excited to celebrate that??).

Dear Heavenly Father

Hi, it's me again! Just have a question for you... how serious are you when you say, "Love thy neighbor"????

Because I would really like it if Caleb Hallesman was not included in this commandment to me. You know, that Kentucky hillbilly at work with a missing right central incisor? The one that thinks he's my boss, but was hired after me? I'm sure you know him... he's that guy that keeps making up RIDICULOUS hunting stories about catching coyotes. The one that takes 2673 cigarette breaks in an 8hr shift and makes me smell bad just by standing next to him. That co-worker that conveniently leaves the deli when we have customers. And he swears. A LOT. Yeah, him.

Please do not include him in the list of my neighbors when I am judged.

Yours,

Ally

P.S.- I tried to come up with some solutions: Perhaps you could make it so that we aren't work "neighbors" anymore, because I find myself hating work and life in general when he's around.(I even tried the hum and then sing aloud your favorite hymn today- and he has a strong evil power.) Or maybe you could help me get that job at Cinci Children's hospital so I could really work full time and get benefits. Just to name a few...

Sometimes....

you leave your house keys in your husband's car.
Sometimes he's playing basketball.
That means you're stuck outside your apt with baskets of clean laundry.
Luckily you have the laptop.
What to do?

Pile all the clean clothes on you (since it's freezing outside) and watch tv via the internet for 2 hours because your gas tank is low and your debit card is in your purse which is in your husband's car. Life's funny.... sometimes.

Talent Show

I've been trying to think real hard about a "talent" I could share in the upcoming RS Enrichment program, but I'm at a loss. Maybe this is because I have no obvious talents, like playing piano or singing (I feel these talents are completely overrated). But how do you cook a meal without a recipe on a stage? And it would be completely boring for the senior citizens we are entertaining to watch me memorize definitions and scriptures. The only things I could come up with were a reverse strip-tease (thanks Stratford 303 boys!) or a synchronized swimming routine. Does anyone else have any ideas? (I'm trying to get my mother-in-law in on the action too) Let's have your ideas!

Clinical Processes: A Death Sentence for ComD Majors

If you can make it through this class as UC, I'm convinced you could conquer anything in your path. Not that it's hard, it's just that BORING. You get to listen to all sorts of unexciting and old topics like:

• Evidence-based practice (Dr. Fujiki beat this dead horse 4 semesters ago)
• The ASHA Code of Ethics (No I would not like to spend another 80 mins. in class reviewing/navigating the ASHA website, I CAN DO THIS AT HOME FOR FREE)
• Phonemic awareness (I know that letters represent sounds- this is kindergarten material)
• Civility and being an ethical professional (Don't parent's teach this???)
• Counseling and acquiring listening skills (see above parenthetical comment)
• Grad school application tips (I'd rather dig holes than to listen to another person tell me how to fill out an application and review the importance of the GRE- I am not disordered...maybe they forget this seemingly insignificant fact)
• APA referencing (Seriously? We need to review this? Isn't that the purpose of English 101?)
• Cultural diversity (Oh... you mean there are people different than me? I HADN'T NOTICED)

Yeah, I paid a lot of money to sit in class and realize that my BYU professors were actually teaching me things (and even more impressed that I remembered them through the hardest months of my life!). This, coupled with the gratitude for what little patience I have acquired, keeps my interest focused on ComD.

Salvation is found in Meijer

Last week I went to the store for some routine things.... eggs, flour, toothpaste, etc. While I was contemplating which toothpaste to buy (because I'm still indecisive and they were on sale), a man came down the aisle. I was bent over comparing boxes when he spoke, "Is that Brigham Young University?" I was confused, and then looked at my hoodie- it gave me away (although I don't know how he read it because it just says Cougars down the arm- not BYU). I replied in the affirmative and we exchanged some pleasantries about school, majors, Utah, Ohio- ya know, regular small talk. This was around 3:00pm. Then he "went for the jugular" as my mission President would have said- "Do you practice the Mormon faith?" I knew right then and there I was not getting out of that store unless an angel came down and spoke with the voice of thunder saying, "let my Ally go".

This man was so sincere! I really did not feel attacked or threatened in any way as he explain how he felt about our faith and about the truths found in the New Testament. He was sure OUR Christ is different from the Christ in the NT, that we believe in a godhead not taught in holy writ and that my salvation was in peril because of my religious affiliation. Most of his understanding and insight about the LDS faith came from the book Mormon Doctrine by Bruce R. McConkie. I tried my best to testify that the doctrine we proclaim comes from the scriptures we profess to be the word of God, not from personal opinions (even if they are apostolic opinions). I was touched that he was so earnest in his efforts to help me see the truth. As we talked, my mind raced through conference talk after conference talk of truths taught by living apostles and I was more grateful than ever for what Elder Holland testified of just the weekend before: " The Savior warned that in the last days, those of the covenant, the very elect, could be deceived by the enemy of truth." Elder Holland testified that the Book of Mormon, a book which this man disregarded and considered to be of naught, was in fact the keystone, the spiritual anchor in a sea of uncertainty, the truth of God for our troubled and deceitful times. I'm so grateful for this man to have strengthened my testimony, unknowingly on his part, of living apostles and living scripture. It was exactly as Elder Holland stated- that one would have to crawl around, under or over the Book of Mormon to deny its validity- and that was exactly what this man had done. Salvation at Meijer? It's a good thing.

P.S.-by the time I left it was 4:45.

Because it matters

As I was driving today, I noticed that most cars are operated by people who have no idea how to merge. SLAMMING on your breaks is NOT merging. I would like to teach the rising generations how to drive correctly:

1. When entering a highway system, you accelerate on the on-ramp. This enables you to merge at a decent speed and does not hinder the flow of traffic.

2. If you are driving in a lane that is merging with another, switch lanes. I know you think you'll get farther by speeding up, but experience has proven that you'll just end up causing more disharmony. Plus, you give the merging cars a opportunity to practice #1 above.

3.When exiting a highway system, you decelerate to the exit. Do Not EVER speed up to get off. There are 2 reasons for this rule: a) speeding up is just stupid and b) SLAMMING on you breaks is NOT exiting.

4.When in traffic on the interstate, maintain proper distance from the cars ahead of you.

5. DO NOT EVER BREAK while driving on the interstate unless it is absolute necessity (you're about to run into the back of the car in front of you- this is the definition of necessity). #4 takes care of the getting to close to other vehicles. And if you need to slow down, DO NOT BREAK. Let your foot off the gas. This helps keep gas mileage up and traffic down.

Oh, there are more, yes, more than the above rules listed. I'll let you digest and practice these for now.

Moo-ving (fyi it's long...)

Although there were no cows involved in our cross country trip, "Moving" was too mundane a title. (and I want Scott to feel like he contributes to the blog since he suggested the heading) We were not so stressed/packed to the max on our trip from Oklahoma City to Memphis because we had 2 vehicles. It made my life much easier- there was no emotional breakdown at the time of departure and we didn't have to leave anything behind because it wouldn't fit, for such was the case in Provo.

We followed each other to Memphis- it was about 8 hours drive time. We stayed with my dad in the middle of nowhere during our visit. My mother wanted me to take everything I had from highschool and "sift" through it. Her idea of sifting specifically means to take all the boxes of stuff home and go through it there. Not my idea... so I left it. I did manage to convince her to allow me to take some baby pictures with me to Ohio. Of course there were a few stipulations: 1. I must return all the pictures I took 2. I must swear an oath to return all the pictures I took 3. If a picture was missing, I owe my mother a kidney and my spleen. Basically- I've got to give them back... or else. (Although they only sit in boxes at home anyway....)

We also acquired a gun. Scott was extremely excited about this- we even got an extra 150 rounds with it because my dad doesn't own another 32 handgun.He spent 2 days (of our 3 there) shooting the thing. This handgun is not just your new-age handgun. It's got a story behind it. This is an old 1930's german luger that my great uncle Jim stole(won) from a Nazi in Normandy. The Nazi shot him in the hand- Jim had the better shot and took the gun from the German officer. Complete with the original leather casing and clip- we've got ourselves a real family heirloom. These are the types of things my family passes from generation to generation.

Upon arrival to Cincinnati, I thought it best for Scott to check out some couches- since most unfurnished apartments need those- while I took care of the rent/keys ordeal. Another blessing of double car ownership. The quick and easy rent/key ordeal was surely an ordeal and I came home empty handed and lease unsigned. Sufficeth to say the manager was uncooperative with my plans. (Doesn't everyone realize the world would move much more efficiently if it just followed my time table and train of thought? arrgg...) Scott was unlucky with his couch pursuit- smokers. Tsk tsk!

The following morning we gathered our moo-ving crew and headed to the apt and the storage unit. It took ONE trip- 2 vans and 2 cars to get all our things unloaded to our new home. I wasn't so sure I wanted to moo-ve in, since the complex smelled like an ashtray. I was happily surprised that our place was recently renovated and there was new carpet/tile/paint installed/laid/painted. Scott mentioned that he would like to keep our possessions to a minimum, thus promoting the 2 car moo-ve. I told him to dream on. I mean, we didn't even have couches!

We got a couch/loveseat combo off of craigslist, complete with a coffee table and 2 matching end tables in dark wood- just my style. It was a great deal, so much so that we felt bad for not paying the guy more. He had lost his job and needed the money to square up here so he could move back to PA. Yay for us though... we love bargains. We also went to a few carport/garage sales to look for much needed storage items and other "treasures". (While in Seattle my aunt reminded me of the joy I felt when really bargaining at yard sales) And a few more items were added to the list of "possessions that take more time to move"- oh well.

School starts tomorrow and I went to Cincinnati State today to inquire about their interpreting degree. It's an associate program that would allow me to interpret for the deaf in school districts, hospitals, church (although I did that for 15 months and you don't need a license to do it), etc. I'm not sure if I'll do it, not because it's 2 more yrs of school, but because it's 2 more yrs of school unrelated to the 4 yrs I just spent at BYU in a major that I love. We'll see what happens.

We also got a new pet- a betta fish named Ace. If you want to know the story behind that one- call Scott. It deals with homestarrunner.

Other than that, we are jobless and happy. We took a walk tonight until I couldn't stand the mosquitos any longer and the humidity was making me cry. Thank goodness for air conditioning!

A break in the chaos

I haven't written in a month? Maybe that's because life here is a more hectic than I would like it to be.... I'll give you a quick recap of our happenings over the last little while:

• I work for the biggest jerks on the planet. (if you'd like to hear me complain more, call... or continue reading)
• Scott continues to sell all day to hit his goal. He's just not as unethical as the other guys here, so he doesn't get as many as them each day. (not complaining about this)
• Our hard-drive failed in our computer.... and I lost ALL my school work and journal entries again. Luckily this time Best Buy took care of it.
• Best Buy didn't do such a great job... we have weird clicks in our computer and the keys/touchpad don't/doesn't work right. AWESOME.
• Our manager left for London so I basically got the job he straight up deserted. MORE AWESOME (except I don't get the $250,000 he makes for me doing HIS job)
• Scott has to stay in Lawton (100 miles away) to work until Saturday night. I would have no problem with this except now I have to pack EVERYTHING by myself AGAIN. still more AWESOMENESS.
• Our new addition (honda) has created a monster problem with licensing, registering, titling, inspecting, overnighting and all other sorts of -ings that come with buying a car in a different state than you live. (Note to self- DO.NOT.DO.THIS EVER.AGAIN- it is not awesome)

For the said happenings, I feel I deserve a break from our chaotic lives. SO I bought a ticket to visit my aunt and cousin in Seattle for a week immediately when we get back to Cincinnati. Maybe Scott will experience the awesomeness of UNpacking a house alone. And maybe I don't feel too bad about that. Maybe.....

the guinea pig

Basically I've turned Scott into me when I was younger. And what's stranger, I've become a 45yr old man!

I hated sitting at the table in anticipation when I was younger- wanting to know if we were having "normal" food, or my dad's latest experiment. I always felt like we were his test subjects in the kitchen lab. I wanted the everyday spaghetti or chicken and rice dinners that my friends seemed to get- or more- fast food! That was a rarity in our house.

Now, I seem to have become "the scientist". I quite like trying new things. I've yet to make something non-edible, but still I can't get over the fact that no matter how hard I try... I just can't follow a recipe.

I also don't like the fact that this saying is true- "The apple never falls far from the tree". I always pictured my family tree on a vast hill where I could tumble as far away as necessary. I'm not saying that I think it's a bad thing my dad concocted every dinner we ever ate, but now I've got the bad habit of mixing what I think tastes good together, and I never writing it down. I don't feel like Scott gets mad a lot, but I think he's frustrated when I can never duplicate a meal. Oh well.....

Tonight we're having homemade tortillas (because I forgot to buy them at the store) and chicken enchiladas. I already can't remember how I made the Spanish rice.... oh me!

54 days...

Until we're back in Ohio and moving into a new apartment! I have been looking online and calling every apt complex in the Montgomery area for the last month to find a place when we return. Today I finally got a steal for a 925 sq ft apt. AND... it's in the Montgomery ward, AND a mile away from Grandpa and Grandma Martin! We will live in Loveland (I must be like you Deet, even if it's 6 states away).... yay! It's a little bit of an older complex, but they did some recent renovations and it'll be so nice to be close to family that we don't really care how it looks. (Anything would be better than the teensy basement apt we had in Provo!) We're only in a 3 month lease so we're still crossing our fingers for the Schlensker's house in December!

In other news, Scott has been doing AMAZING in sales these last few weeks. He's on his way to 50 sales- his goal for the summer being 75. It's completely reachable (esp. now that the reps have 3 days they sell for 12 hours! yikes- his poor feet!) in the 6 weeks we have left here. I get more hours in the office too, which works out to our advantage as well. And I learned that the other girl working in the office will be leaving in August, so I'll be working 70hrs/week for the last few weeks we're in Oklahoma. Everything seems to be coming together.

Growing

We have some exciting news- our family is getting bigger!

No, we're not expecting..... Scott and I finally purchased another car! After what seems like months of looking and bargaining, we are thrilled with our find!

We decided to get another car for fall when we move back to Cinci- it'd be impossible for us to both have jobs and go to 2 separate campus locations with one vehicle. I can already feel a headche coming on as I type about the situation....

It's a silver '01 Honda Accord with 103,000 miles. I think we made the dealer a little peeved when we told him the price we were willing to pay. I did some homework on kbb.com and read some reviews so we could go in with some idea of what was a fair price. We offered about $1800 less than the sticker price and the dealer basically laughed and told us he wouldn't go less than $800 from said sticker. We asked to see another car and when we came back he was willing to go down another $200. We told him that wasn't in our budget and he dropped the price again- $1200 off. We looked at each other- the kind of look you give when you know you're so close to getting what you want it's all you can do to control your drool- but we said no. (I think somewhere in my family line is the same "I want a bargain" gene that consumes Scott's buying power...) He said, "What's the most you are willing to pay for the car???" We told him, and his face was in pure amazement in the fact that we would still offer so low since he'd come down quite a bit. He counter offered $100 more than our desired price, and what happened next was priceless. Scott looked at him, sat up in the chair and said, "We'll take a card and think about it". The dealer put his elbows on his desk, dropped in head in his hands and said, "ok". And that was all it took. He gave it to us for what we were willing to spend- about $400 more than the KBB private party value. AWESOME.

So 2 things I've learned today (before 11am!):
A. Never give up until you find what you're looking for.
2. Scott's doing more than getting a ridiculously good farmer's tan this summer- he's learning a lot about sales tactics and consumerism. Is that a word?

Consider it cultivated!

So I might not be able to make bread.... who cares when you can bake an apple pie like this? We all know desserts are better than bread! (Unless you make a dessert bread, then that's just an unfair advantage)

Productivity...well, kinda

In order to prohibit myself from aimlessly facebooking hours on end each day while waiting for phone calls that last under 45 secs, I decided to get a library card. It took me 20 min to find a piece of mail with our address on it, and I was off! Since "borrowing" the June Ensign and reading it multiple times, I've been a little more than impressed at the caliber of articles in it. Maybe it's just because I'm getting older, maybe I'm coming to understand the necessity of living apostles and prophets, or maybe I'm feel a little guilty- whatever the reason may be, the magazine seems to hit me hard whenever I read it. One article from this last month's issue has really stuck to me and I've heard the call to repentance- Elder Callister's "Our Refined Heavenly Home". WOW! (Kinda wish I could keep him in my pocket and ask him the mysteries of the kingdom....) His ideas on language really made me stop and think about how I express myself and what I can do to improve. I felt like he was looking into my life and seeing all the areas that could use a good spring cleaning. I didn't need any more motivation for going to the library.

It smelled bad. The Library that is. Like wet, mossy, mildewy stone. Yuck. But there is free entertainment, so I continued. I picked up a few books that were recommend by friends (mainly my bookworm cohort in San Diego- an 11 yr old girl! sad.. I know.) and had to get out of there because I was getting a headache from the stench. 6 books later, I find myself attached to the computer again just to blog about my trip. Geesh, better get to reading.

Testing...1.2.3...

Over the past few months, Scott and I have had many difficult challenges and dilemmas. (Who hasn't though....) We've learned a lot and, most importantly, grown a lot. Yesterday after dinner, we were having a serious conversation (we've had a lot of those too!) about our spiritual growth and decided that we should give more to the Lord to test His promises. FHE has been something we've struggled with, so we decided it was time to actually do it and set some family goals. I've been wanting to lose weight since Sarah passed, Scott's been wanting more help selling, and we've both sought more from personal and family scripture study. We agreed to listen to Elder Christofferson's talk from the last General Conference about covenants and establish goals to help us keep ours more faithfully. Scott is a wonderful priesthood leader and I appreciate his willingness to accept the responsibility to lead our little family in whatever we pursue, and to follow the Spirit. We committed to consecrate more of our time, talents, and means to the Lord by sacrifice, as Elder Christofferson so rightfully suggests. These are just a few goals we set to help us increase our commitment to discipleship and test the promises of the Lord:

1. Wake up at a decent hour. We've fallen in to the bad habit of staying up late and sleeping in- I guess it comes with the job, but something doesn't feel right when we can't wake up by 11am.

2. Exercise together. This is mostly for my benefit because it's just so hard to get motivated when you're doing it by yourself. The apartments we live in have a great work out area to use for FREE (bonus) and a pool. You'd be surprised how exhausting swimming can be after a few dozen laps.

3. Companionship Study. I pretty much experience some type of "mission-sickness" everyday, and I've been home 15 months now. I just can't get over how much I learned and how good it felt to devote everything to the Lord- everyday. I know that's not what's expected of me at this stage in life, but sometimes, I wish it were. That being said, we are now having comp study together, along with family scripture time, and I rejoice! Hurrah for Israel!

4. Cultivate our talents. Again, this one is more for me because I have little contact with other people and lots of down time these days.

Each year my dad plants a huge garden in his acre lot and grows more vegetables than he can eat. I always hear this comment at least once during the summer- "I've got *fill in your crop of choice* coming out of my ears!". I want food to come out of my ears! Okay, that's a little extreme, but partly true. Ever since I was young, someone in my family has planted a garden and we've enjoyed the spoils of it. I have fond memories of running through my grandparents' corn fields as my brothers hunted me with their bbguns, or picking beans and peas along side some 4th cousin 4 times removed.(still haven't figured out how they are related....) My grandfather, to this day, plants a garden in my Aunt Nancy's flower beds (and boy is that irksome for her...) and he's 89 years old. A few years ago he was in the MS newspapers for growing the largest turnips in the county- bigger than his head! In fact, I'm pretty sure our family has farmed since the days of Adam. So by gardening, I'm accepting my heritage! (and cutting down on how many tomatoes we buy because Scott eats them like candy...) I also decided to try my hand at baking. I take pride in the fact that I was raised in a home where most of the food was made from scratch and I developed a love for cooking. I did not, however, develop skills for baking. Thanks to my Nana and dad, I can cook just about anything. When it comes to baking, I'm just good at the burning part. (I'm not sure what side that came from.) I made Scott some cinnamon rolls and to avoid the burning talent I've aquired, I took them out too early and they were a bit mushy. Same with the bread I was going to give to the neighbors. Can I get an A for effort??

This is our little tomato plant we've named "Tomayo" in honor of Jacob Rogers and his love for Cars. (and his inability to pronouce words correctly... it's just so darn cute!)

My lousy attempt at bread making. The one on the right is store bought, the mini piece to the left is part of my humble loaf. It still tasted alright at least.

3 Most Common Culprits of Shoulder Pain:

3. Bad Posture
2. Rock hard matresses in furnished apartments
1. No mixer to aid in the mixing of bread dough

When we get home- I'm getting a Bosch. It's gonna put years back into my right shoulder.

The gift of choice

One of our favorite families from the Montgomery ward, the Kisors, kindly offered us an 11x14 print as a wedding gift. Almost year later, we've finally decided to take them up on their offer. Now we just have to choose which photo we want.... Ahh, choices...

Anyone who knows me knows I'm pretty indecisive. (and anyone that knows Scott could say the same about him...) It's not that I don't appreciate agency, I just don't like having so many options available. I consider any menu my nemesis- filled with choice after choice- it's almost not worth the 45 min internal debate to figure out how I want my chicken cooked. With that being said, I've decided (shocking I know) to let you decide! HA HA! So let me know which picture you'd choose to have printed up and framed. I'll let you know what the outcome is in a later post, but for now, vote! (number the pictures in the order you see them from left-right...)

it's funny when...

you and your husband have the same outlook. Example: I was surfing online today when I saw the news about Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. I contemplated texting Scott, but then decided against it. Not 2 minutes later, Scott and I had this converstion via text messaging:

Scott: Michael Jackson just died.

Me: I know, I was about to tell you and then I thought "I don't care... why would he?"

pause...

Me: Farrah Fawcett died too.

Scott: I was going to tell you that, but then I thought "she won't care, and neither do I."

I guess we're both still in mission mode when it comes to worldly things. That's okay by me, and, apparently, Scott too!

Full Time Life

Next week should be a grand adventure.... Our friends have decided to pack up and head back home to Utah. Due to this, I will inherit the babysitting job Ashley would've had for the next 3 weeks- 2 kids. One of the other reps gets his kids for a few weeks in the summer and asked me if I would watch them while he's out selling. He started, "Ally- Do you like kids??" and I knew what he wanted. "Okay, I'll watch them..." .To add more stress to my life- the other girl that works in the office is going home to visit for Fourth of July (apparently it's a week-long holiday) which means I have office duty AND toddler duty. How will I balance all my responsibilities? With a lot of patience (and chocolate).

And I keep telling myself-atleast this isn't as bad as the time I was a house cleaner for a woman in Pleasant Grove- She wanted me to babysit for her 6 kids under 12yrs old for an entire 2 week period. (Luckily they took the newborn with them, I'm not sure I could've done 7 kids...) Oh my goodness... did I ever learn more than I wanted to that time!!!! Her youngest, Levi, broke his leg jumping on their trampoline the day before the parents left on their trip. It was in the middle of fall semester- so I still had classes (and exams), and all of the sudden I had a 2 yr old to carry around because he couldn't walk on his leg. What's more is, overnight, I got 6 extra mouths to feed, shower, take to karate, gymnastics and a optometry visit. It was their family's turn for the carpool (of course) so I had 8 kids to carpool in a 12 passenger van (can you imagine ME driving that monster??? yeah, it was hilarious) to and from a charter school. Plus this family had a very strict routine of scriptures, naps, prayers, homework, bedtime, etc. that my life was planned out almost to the very second. Looking back I don't remember how I survived those 2 weeks. Nicole most likely helped me maintain my sanity......

3 weeks by the pool with kids that can already swim and love vegetables? Piece of cake! mmm.. cake

Kitchen lesson #1678457

Untidy kitchen+tired wife+hunger pangs+ sticky mess= divine satisfaction. How? Let me tell you:

This last Sunday was rather revealing. We decided to have pizza for dinner... so I got all the ingredients out and realized there wasn't enough room to breathe in the kitchen. Could it be the fact that I was cooking 6 things at once to put on our pizzas and feed an hungry Scott immediately after we returned from church? Most definitely so. After throwing a tantrum to get Scott to wash the dishes(even though we have a dishwasher here, he still prefers to wash them by hand) and help clean up a bit, I started "creating" my meal. President Utchdorf said last RS broadcast that "the desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul." I agree, and add to it that this desire also comes from hungry tummies... especially since I convinced myself and Scott that this was fast Sunday, so we fasted. It was a shock to me in Sacrament mtg when the Maize ward had a program organized... and I thought for a minute, perhaps the ward pushed back testimony mtg because they are moving to another building next week?? Then I thought, perhaps May has 31 days...

Anyway, I got to creating after my fit of fury and just after rolling out the dough to the perfect pan width, it stuck to my pastry cloth. (Is that normal Mary?) I was so upset! 1. because I despise doughy hands, and unsticking the pizza dough necessitated hands on help and 2. because I was STARVING from false fasting. Argg... anyway, I took my frustrations out on the poor dough and pounded it for a solid 3 mintues. I was sure this was the end of my pizza making. I finally got everything together for the first pizza- chickien alfredo- threw it in the oven and hoped it would burn so I could swear off cooking for the next week. I prepared the next pizza (1/2 pepperoni and olive, 1/2 left-over sweet pork), apologized to Scott for my bad behavior, and it was time for the disaster to come out of the oven.

Well, much to our amazement, it was a masterpiece! It looked so tasty the next problem was that it looked too good to eat. The dough was perfect- fluffy and golden brown... maybe I'll continue releasing my suppressed feelings on my baking more often. Scott even ate the olives.

My Life At APX

I thought I'd give you a little insight to my boring world:
Open computer, log-in, wait. Wait, wait, answer phone, ask questions, write on sticky note, type on computer. Text rep, text technician, type on computer. Answer phone, text again, wait wait wait. Answer phone....
This is my life 6 days a week. Sometimes I get some family history work in between the texting and the answering, but that's about it. I think I need a good book. Any suggestions?

Google is my new best friend!

I forgot to tell my miracle!

For the last 3 months or so, I've really gotten into the whole family history scene. My class really launched me into a fixation on finding my relatives, so that's mostly what I do when I'm bored at the office (which is everday). Yesterday, I was so bored that I googled my name. It came up with a blog that had my birthdate and parents and 2 brothers on it, so I was really intrigued as to how someone else had all this info on their personal website. Come to find out, this lady paid a genealogist to research her family line for a family reunion back in 2005. I was shocked! How had I not done this before....I totally would have earned an A in my FH class last semester! Golly! She has found so much information on my maternal grandfather's side. (of course I need to verify it...) My great grandma Mabel's line is all the way back to Norway in the 17oo's and her husband's line is just as far back there- complete with pictures too! The picture attached is Bessie Torkelsen, my great grandma Mabel's mother. I know it's weird to say, but I felt inspired to goof around on the computer yesterday and search my name. Thus, google is now my new best friend.

PS- I googled your name Melissa to see what I could find for your family history. All I got was that you went to Apollo High and were in the choir! Maybe you'd be a little more familiar with the names, so I'd suggest doing it. It's like a box of chocolates.......

Riverfest

So apparently Wichita has life afterall! There's a festival for 9 days that everyone goes crazy over called riverfest. Yesterday Ashley and I went to see what all the hullabaloo was about. You buy a groovy tye-dyed button for 5 bucks and it gets you into all the fun you could ever want...or so they say. Good thing we only live about half a mile away, that means I can walk there and get more exercise in!!! (just what I wanted!) They have a funnel cake eating contest that I will be attending... and if I had started my competition a week later, would be entering because I heart funnel cakes. (why are fried foods so tasty??) They also have the band Kansas coming, a parade with floats, fireworks, bull-riding, got milk? pictures (FREE! YES!), car giveaways, art shows, free museum admissions, etc. You get the picture. I'm so excited to actually get out and do something!
Also, our office met the sales goal for last week so we win a prize! FREE dinner and a movie on APX... I'm liking this place more and more!

The Heat is ON!

My friends and I created a little competition called the biggest loser-winner to see who can lose the biggest % body fat by the end of summer. (Original name I know... I just wanted to sound more motivating, so we added "winner") We have a point system for drinking water, taking a daily vitamin, getting enough sleep, and not eating past 7:30.You would think my current weight would be enough motivation to get me into a regular exercise program, but no, it's the competitor in me that feeds my determination to get fit and slim down. I've been extremely competitive most of my life, and coming into the Rollins family has only boosted my rival instincts. For example: I won't quit playing Skip-bo with Scott until I know I've smeared his self-esteem into the dreary depths of the earth's inner core. It sounds rough, I'll admit, but that's just me. SO.. I say to Shari and Melissa- The heat is on! Bring what you can.

a passion

I love to write letters! I wrote a thank-you note today and realized how much I miss having a whole preparation day to sit and write family and friends. Although blogging is enjoyable, it's just not the same; not as personal. There's no handwriting indicative of feeling or tone, no envelope to seal, no stamp, no anticipating the delivery... I must say, though, the one drawback to snail-mail is no return letter. Oh where can I find a pen pal that will correspond?

Mmm, Mmm good.

Why is chicken noodle soup so delicious? Why does it make all the feelings of wintry weather melt away into warm coziness? It's just so inviting and familiar. If anyone knows the answers to these burning questions, please share... I've wondered for years.

Cereal and Killers

This morning, I reminisced over my delicious breakfast.

I just want to let Deet know 2 things:
A- OH's cereal is amazing and reminds me of that summer I lived with her in Cambridge and we skipped class, took guitar and golf together, tubed the Provo river almost everyday and developed our passion for El Azteca, ice cream and watermelon. And we shot Esmeralda, and that was fun. Then Emily cried and we had to sit in a "roommate inventory" session for 3 hours. Those were the days.
2-Band-aids don't stick to the roof of your mouth very well. You must still use caution when eating your OH's so that your mouth doesn't bleed.

Other than my fond memories of summers past, I must tell you what happened last night. This is mostly for Melissa Folks, who shares the same strange fascination of serial killers as I do. Last night the sales reps came in and were talking about how their days went and what sort of objections they got... blah, blah, blah. One of them said,"I was trying to pitch this lady and she freaked out, called me the BKE killer and slammed the door in my face. I went to her neighbor's house and they opened the door and were on the phone to that other lady and she was yelling at them ,'don't give them my information!!'." Anyway- my ears perked up when I heard "BKE" (I actually thought, it's BTK goofball). The serial killer, BTK, terrorized Wichita from the 1970's until he was caught in 2004.

So I guess the point is, APX has good reason to be here. And more importantly, Wichitans need APX. the end.

Tornado Ally

OK, I'm back. Sunday was another adventure as well. We found a ward, although I'm sure we went to the wrong one. I just can't take another 4 weeks of 8am church! The members were super nice- they fought over who could invite us over for dinner that night! The Barnard's won. She's the RS president and he's the provident living specialist. (a newly created calling in their stake-reminded me of being in Provo again) We left our apt around 4:40 and got to their house around 5:00 or so. The menu: homemade pizza!! Yum. They have 4 kids, 3 girls and a boy. Matthew is about 5 yrs old (kindergarten) and I was sitting by him at the table. He looked over at me and said," you've got big eyes! you should look in the mirror". At first I had flash backs to being teased in elementary school, and then I realized, this kid has an underdeveloped "Theory of Mind". HA! His dad was quick to come back and said," you look in the mirror, snaggle-tooth".

After dinner we went into the family room and talked for a little while. It had been sprinkling all day, but off and on. Then, the sirens. 4 of them. Bro. Barnard got his radios out and we listened to the storm chasers find 4 confirmed touch-down tornadoes.... one of which was less than 3 miles away, but headed north away from us. The sky turned super dark and we were all excited to see a funnel cloud, but the only thing we saw was our hair in our faces. The wind was blowing and we got pelted with razor rain. At least it felt like a razor. OUCH! Back inside for some red jello and a talent show by the kids... stupid-human tricks. I put my tongue on my nose. They thought that was funny. Scott showed them a magic trick with some coins and then put pennies on his elbow and flipped them into his hand. Their oldest, Emisha (hungarian for Emily), was getting pretty good at it.

We left and it was raining SUPER hard. We couldn't drive in the right lane on the road because it was flooded. When we got to the interstate it started to rain so hard I thought the windshield was going to break! We were soaked through and our walk from the car to the door of our apt is maybe 100ft. Scott's socks were black from his dress shoes and his wool pants smelled like a dirty animal. gross...

Scott went to his APX mtg this morning and Danny, the guy from our married student ward at BYU he recruited, said that there were 4 more tornadoes sited while we were sleeping. We didn't hear a thing.

To-To, we made it to Kansas

Well I've just got a few minutes before my life is officially turned over to the APX office, so I thought I'd give you a little update on our trip to Kansas.

The drive was relatively uneventful, if you don't count getting on the road about 6 hrs late. We had so much junk in our car you couldn't see out the rear view mirror. (is that illegal?) I've got a picture to prove it... I almost had a mental breakdown trying to cram all our stuff into our tiny Geo. We hit another road bump on the way to Denver. It's actually called a mountain.... in Vail. The car transformed into the little engine that could up the huge pass, and our little engine did. (at about 5 miles an hour!) We arrived to Aunt Jayne's around midnight. We didn't make it on our double date with Megan, but she was still happy we came and used the excuse that she "had to let us in" to get off her date early. Smart girl...

We got to KS around 11:10 on Saturday night and we decided to unpack everything from the car and then find a grocery store. (we gave all our food away before we left Provo because there were no more holes to cram it in) So, off on our little adventure to the nearest grocer. That trip only took 2 hours. There was only one grocery store that was open after midnight.. and it was about 20 miles away. We stopped at a red light to ask a lady where the store was and she responded, "you go down to 21st and AR- kansas." (say it like /r/- for those of you who are not IPA savy- it's just the letter r) Well, I thanked her and had no idea what she said to me. We circled around another 40 minutes or so before we found a store. We went to the door and a little Mexican man stopped us and said "no open". WHAT??? He also tried to explain to me where the store was, but I couldn't understand him- there was too much wind to make out his speech. I wish I had a high-pass environmental filter so I could've understood him. We found the store. It's Kroger with the code name of Dillon's. We didn't have a card there to get the discount on the milk, so we used my mother-in-law's phone number to qualify. Thanks Mary! You'll be getting all our savings this summer :)

411

I also thought as I was venturing to pack that I should inform my "viewers" on our plans for the next little while. (plus it helps me procrastinate packing.)

We are moving to Kansas for the next month with APX. Then it's on to the even-more-secluded-state of Oklahoma. Scott decided to sell this summer sort of last minute, which has thrown our lives into a semi-scheduled mess. I find the new adventure together exciting, and even more so now that school is out and I don't have a million projects and presentations to occupy every waking hour. We are crossing our fingers for an early Thursday departure, but it's not looking too realistic. Maybe I should be loading luggage and not blogging....

Nah.

First we stop in Denver to see Scott's aunt Jayne and her family. We planned a double date with his cousin, Megan, on Friday night. She's going on the date with her home teacher.. haha. So really we planned to save her, although it seems a lot of girls do date and marry their home teachers. (Scott was mine while we were engaged.)

Next stop- Wichita, KS. There was this one time about a million years ago that my cousin, Keri, and I were driving through KS. Her jeep overheated and blew the head gasket. I don't have very fond memories of that trip, nor of the state. We slept in the mechanic's shop... dirty, dirty place that was. So you can imagine why I can't wait until we get to OK...(now how many times will you hear that in your life???)

Mr. Snuffleupagus

Do you remember that Sesame Street character that looked like a mammoth? What was he anyway? Well, my husband looks amazingly similar to it these days...yes, Scott has a cold. This is rather unfortunate, seeing that the weather is so lovely today. In fact, we've had some awesome weather the past few days, which has been extremely unfortunate for me because it's finals week.

Ahh yes, finals. Finally over. It seems like this last week has lasted a century with all the studying and, well, not studying I accomplished. I discovered that I'm much better at finding remote things to do, watch, and/or talk about while I attempt to study.

In fact- right now, as you can tell, I'm attempting to pack what's left of our belongings to move to Kansas tomorrow and I'm accomplishing so much!!

Mawage is wot bwings us togevah tooday

(I didn't know that a blog page would be so smart as to publish your posts as to the time it first saves them. Thus, it was my first post, but I finished it last.)
This should have been the first blog.... but anyone that knows me shouldn't suspect anything different than my typical ways: jump in with both feet (maybe even before looking). Anyway, back to the basics....
Although I do not conform to the typical LDS population in regards to The Princess Bride, I do find the blogs title quote to be quite hysterical. Maybe it's because I want to offer speech therapy to the Impressive Clergyman... he DEFINITELY has some phonological disorders.

If you couldn't guess, I'm majoring in Communication Disorders at BYU. Scott has decided on... (drum roll)...Dentistry. He's attending UC in the fall. We were married in the San Diego temple in August of 2008. So far, our first months of marriage have not been ideal, but they have made us better friends and closer in every aspect of life. So maybe that is ideal...