Give Thanks

Thanksgiving is tomorrow and it is time for me to reflect upon the many things I am thankful for...and then post them, apparently.

• Adam is first. I won't go into detail here because he seems to be a subject I frequent but I am most grateful for him. (nothing else is in order...just so you know)
• I am grateful to amazing family. They are so supportive and funny and cool. I am also grateful for Adam's family for liking me, being fun, opening my once narrow mind, and for providing me with nieces (and soon a nephew) to play with.
• Next up, friends. I don't see anybody very often, though I'd like to, but that doesn't matter so much...I'm still grateful for ya'll...including you bloggers...so my random thoughts are read and occasionally commented on.
• I am thankful for the opportunity I had to move out and live in Logan with really really cool people. I learned a lot about myself, enjoyed the freedom and independence, and had extreme amounts of fun. Seriously some of the best times of my life.
• Related to the above, I am grateful for Cassidy Weiler Meine for telling me Adam's secrets and for coming up to Logan the weekend she did...look what you did! If it wasn't for her, Adam and I would have eventually found each other, I think/hope, but maybe not for a while.
• I am grateful for my religion and my bishop and my cute little primary kids...who aren't all so cute on account of their awkward age...but they're sweet.
• I am grateful for the things that go horribly wrong in my life and cause me to hyperventilate...if it wasn't for the really bad times, I wouldn't be able to fully appreciate the good.
• I'm grateful for hygiene products...seriously...razor, tampons, toothbrush, deodorant, etc....we'd all be disgusting without them.
• I'm grateful for me...not conceited...hear me out. I've been blessed with a mind and body that are both, for the most part, uncompromised. I'm glad I can do pretty much whatever I want to with few limitations. I'm glad I can think for myself and take care of myself. I'm even glad my joints suck and I have such bad asthma...I wish it weren't so but things could be worse and I'll embrace my flaws...sometimes.
• Lastly, I am grateful my classes were cancelled today!

I am grateful for so many things that I couldn't include them all but I had to at least share the basics...feel free to do the same. I hope we can remember to give thanks and not just gorge on delicious food.

Hot dogs, wedding stuff, and a tag

First, when I'm coming home from school (south on I-15 around 7:40pm), it smells very much like hotdogs around 4000 south...every time. Curious.

Wedding stuff...don't get excited (like anyone would). There really aren't many updates. As of today, it is only 7 months away! I was basking in the ease of the long engagement...it's so stress free...unless you do absolutely nothing until the last minute. I'll start getting more stuff taken care of, apparently...all I have is a date (June 20, 2009) and a reception site reservation (Wheeler Farm...beautiful, outdoorsy, and ancestral). Oh...and my wonderful mother is tinkering with the pattern (yup...not just making the dress...she's drawing the pattern too...poor thing), and I have my flower girl and bridemaid patterns.

Next for this tag.

Favorite person outside of family: Technically, Adam is not yet family. While, to me, he has been for quite a while, he won't officially be family for 7 more months (from today). And now I don't have to choose...he is easily my favorite!

Guilty Pleasure: Stupid movies...seriously love them. Also, sleeping in beyond an acceptable hour but I can't do it too often or I'll hate myself for wasting time.

Quirks about me: I'm fairly quirky person actually. I'm organized to an anal point but my room does NOT show it (to my great embarrassment and shame). I also (Aliese does it too) arrange my closet by color (rainbow), sleeve, and they all face the same direction. Adam doesn't do this...he will in 7 months though ;). I, apparently, talk weird. When someone is taking my picture, if they don't hurry, I start pulling faces.

Favorite charity/cause: I second Aliese on the Primary Children's Medical Center on the grounds that I owe them my siblings (they all would have died other wise). I also support the Tiny Tim Foundation (I've made sooo many things for them) who takes quilts, toys, etc. to impoverished areas in Mexico. In general, I am way into humanitarian work that involves children and poverty...the combination is seriously near and dear.

Favorite Blog recently: I honestly enjoy almost everybody's blogs...friends and family...I don't really bother with strangers due to time and because it seems a little stalkerish. Kelli's usually makes me laugh and because I enjoy laughter, I'll choose her...although I'm not slighting others.

Worst job I ever had: I've been pretty lucky with jobs but they have all come with cons. As a lifeguard, I had to clean truly vile things...unfortunately, this pales in comparison to the intense dislike of a select few people who worked with me. I don't usually dislike jobs...I'm a hard worker and really enjoy money...but politics associated with jobs make me livid (experiencing a little of this these days actually...glory).

Any confessions: When I see cute very small children wandering around alone, I think how easy it would be to take them. It sounds creepy but really, I'm concerned for the kid and wish their parents cared enough about them to stay near them. I sometimes lie on accident...there's no need for it and I have nothing to hide...I just lie sometimes (I'm also overly honest). I've tortured a hamster to death (age 3). I fish without a lisence. I've "skinny dipped" several times...well...chubby dipped...don't worry, nobody saw me nudey although I've never nakey swam alone...but it's so exhilerating. I've done some hilarious/appalling things in my day...I could share countless snippits of mischeif but I'll save it for another time.

If you had to spend $1,000 on yourself, how would you spend it? I don't like spending money on myself. I'd probably buy stuff Adam and I could use together (games, movies, etc.)...or maybe future house stuff or something.

Favorite thing about your house: Current/parent's house: It's comfortable. I like the location of my room (back corner of the basement...A LOT of privacy and alone time). I like our (Adam and Jen's) couch...it's temporarily living here but it is grand. Future house: Adam will live there too!

Least favorite thing about your house? Current: Adam doesn't live here too. Future: I don't know yet...hopefully nothing.

Favorite Bible verse: Psalms 56:3 "What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee." There are a lot of passages with a similar message...trust God...He won't give an obstacle without the means to overcome it....what will be will be. Also...I have to include bits from Aliese' favorite because it mentions a funny thing I once said...

From Aliese's blog:
Luke 6:27-28 "But I say unto you which, hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you." I'm all about the whole, "hate the sin, love the sinner." Pretty sure that's somewhere in there too, but I don't remember the reference. I generally enjoy how people choose to interpret bible verses as well. As my sister [meaning me] so eloquently replied to a person with highly questionable judgement, "Are you without sin? Then quit throwing all these fetching rocks at me!"

Things you're good at: Music, tinkering (I'm probably the handiest gal in the world), planning stuff (accept apparently our wedding which seems to be a little neglected). I'm also good at stuff that may be less admirable...I lie really well, I can make people feel really badly about themselves without saying or doing anything "mean"...I'm good with guilt trips...I'm very outgoing and confrontational (especially with an audience)...I'm a master plotter. I'm thinking I was a master criminal in another life because I seriously have an evil side. I sometimes wish my negative talents were nonexistant (because I really am a good person and really do care about the well being of others) but they've really come in handy in the past so I just tuck them away and use them when appropraite...or necessary.

Something you would change about your circumstances: I'd be married to Adam. I'd be graduated. We'd be financially ok (not wealthy...I don't every want to be wealthy). We'd have a decent house.

Who would you like to meet someday: I suck at these ones...Adam would probably say Lce Armstrong so I'll second that...I already know the people I want to know.

Who is your real life hero: I'm apologizing in advance for the cheese...but...Adam is my hero. He is everything I'm not which I have so much respect for. He cares so much about people and has made me a better person. He's also smart and funny and seriously improves every single day of my life. He rescues me from myself and from so many other things.

What is the hardest part of your job: Getting to know people that you know will die...and then watching their loved ones suffer.

When are you most relaxed? When things are tidy, I'm not going to school, and I'm with Adam.

When are you most stressed? (I have to copy Aliese...who copied Anna)...When all of the aforementioned are...shall we say...NOT! (Me:) School stresses me out SO much...I don't understand all you weirdos (Adam included) who love the educational process...I loathe it. I also hate a mess but I'm so scatter brained and busy my room is always cluttered.

What can you not live without? I really didn't expect this post to be so cheesey...seriously sorry...Adam again though...and my family and friends.

Why do you blog? It's easier to share various happenings with others. It's a good way to keep track of others. Also, I plan to (post nuptials) devote certain posts to scrapbooky type things and do a blurb book every year or two...it's a cheap way to journal.

Do it if you want to...

First Try

This is Adam. I thought I would throw up a post so as to justify the blog being named Adam and Jen. One problem. Jen is a great writer and I cannot compete. She thinks I'm a good writer. I may have been once. Now I can only write insurance reports. Since I am not as creative or witty as Jennifer I will just copy this man tag post, but talk about her instead. Also, I don't know how to work this thing and my keyboard is sticky. My finished product may look like the work of a four year old or if I'm lucky, a chimpanzee.

Five things my [future] wife, Jennifer, loves: She loves a lot.

1. Me.
2. Family.
3. Helping people.
   
4. Books that follow this format: ______ & ______.
   
5. Pets. Even though she doesn't have one. And she's allergic to most of them so probably won't ever have one.
   

Five things on her to-do list: She actually keeps a to-do list on a dry erase board in her room. I do not know what's actually on it.

1. Marry me.
   
2. Graduate school.
   
3. Come over to my house and drink hot cocoa with me. Not here yet though, which is why I'm writing this.
4. Sew up Megan's flower girl dress.
   
5. She wants to go to Africa or some other third world area and get malaria...err... help sick kids. Hopefully she comes over to drink hot cocoa with me first.
   

Five snacks she loves: This could change a lot.

1. Baked Goods (Different ones than me. She likes the triangle shaped doughnut with the cream in the middle.)
2. Fruit by the foot.
   
3. Diet Pepsi Vanilla.
   
4. Hot Chocolate. Where the freak is she? I have five flavors of Stephen's and a Cocoa Motion.
   
5. Pop Rocks.
   

Five things you may not know about her: Well if you've been reading the blog you should be pretty well up to speed, but I will try.

1. She is very ticklish.
   
2. She punches really hard.
   
3. She once took a class where you had to learn all the instruments in the string quartet. You were supposed to spend a month going to class and practicing each one. Then you would get tested on your proficiency. Jen went a total of five times. The first day, and then about ten minutes early on the test days to check out her instrument and practice for the test. She got an "A".
   
4. She gets sick kind of a lot, but not so much since she got her tonsils out. And when she gets sick, she likes to pretend that she's not for as long as possible. Then she throws up on my bushes or behind The Ring of Fire.
   
5. She has a very small Teddy Bear named Pookie.
   

Five places she has lived: Tough one...

1. Kearns
   
2. West Jordan
3. Logan dorms
   
4. Logan crack house
   
5. West Jordan
   

Five quirky things about Jennifer: Just 5? OK

1. She makes the funniest/weirdest faces...especially if she knows somebody is taking a picture of her. It sometimes make her look handicapped but I think it's cute.
   
2. She can function quite well on very little sleep.
   
3. People sometimes think she is from a different country because of the way she talks. She uses unorthodox words and says them just slightly different than you are used to. Just enough to throw you off. I think it is adorable.
   
4. She once tipped a waitress in pesos and we were NOT in Mexico... in fact it wasn't even a mexican restaurant.
   
5. She once drank like fifty dollars worth of coconut orange juice at a mexican restaurant, in Mexico. That's a lot of juice.
   

OK, hope this works!

12 Movies Tag

12 Movies

Ok...this one came with a lot of babble I chose to ignore...if you're feeling some information deprivation go to Kelli's blog. This tag is pretty self navigated. Feel free to do it if you love movies (like I do) or if you're bored.

Cartoon
1. Robin Hood - I love socialist foxes. Adam sings the theme song phenominally well!
2. Polar Express - I watch this movie all the time. I seriously love it. The music makes Adam fall asleep so while we've watched it dozens of times together, he's never seen the whole thing..

I probably should never have seen this…
3. Burn After Reading - First, I think it's rated "R" (FYI: mormom's aught not watch rated R movies and I'm a mormon but I sometimes do watch rated R movies). Second, it sucked.
4. Curse of the Golden Flower - There's a chance it's called something different but I think I'm close on the title. Adam loves Kung Fu movies...I actually like them too...but this one was so long and boring and sucky.

Kids movies that rock
5. Little Rascals - I even quoted it recently on this blog.
6. I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown - ReRun is real cute.

Random Teen Movies
7. Juno - Is this considered a teen movie? Seriously hilarious. When it came out, a friend told me that Juno's odd way of speaking reminded him of me. I was honored. Seriously.
8. 10 Things I Hate About You - Poor Heath.

Be Glad This isn’t your Family
9. Hotel Rwanda - You know, since genocide is frightening.
10. Harry Potter - I couldn't think of anything...but his family would suck.

Foreign Film
11. Life is Beautiful - You'll laugh. You'll cry. It's really good. I'll also give a shoutout to Hero and Seven Samurai. Akira Kirisawa (I didn't bother to look up the spelling) is apparently Adam's personal hero (false statement, said for exaggeration). Also, good Kung Fu is seriously awesome. Adam would probably also want to add the Thai movie with the elephants (I don't know the name) and I'll add the Russian one with the perverted old man and the little boy whose name starts with a K and is also the title of the film but I can't think of it.

Pre emptive this movie will probably be awful but I’ll like it anyways
12. Twilight - I second Kelli's choice. This movie will surely be horrible. It's look overly dramatic and their efforts at being dark just seem comical. It'll suck. I'll force Adam to see it with me. I'll probably love it. He'll definitely hate it.

I love movies...I think I want a more thorough movie tag to come my way to showcase my favs.. Feel free to movie it up!

A distraction

I should be studying right now as I have a test tomorrow. However, I feel the need for a break. I decided to use my study break time to participate in the "Man Tag" (as seen on Aliese's blog) to pay homage to someone far too wonderful for me.


Man Tag


Five things my [future] husband, Adam, loves:

1. Me
2. Family
3. Sporting events (especially boxing)
4. The great outdoors
5. Entertainment (games, movies, etc.)

Five things on his to-do list:

1. Find/buy a dwelling to live in
2. Marry a really cool girl (me)
3. Get a different job
4. Find out why his truck is making that noise
5. Train for the triathlon he wants to do

Five snacks he loves:

1. Baked Goods (Brownie/Blondie Bites, Bagels, Raised Doughnut Holes, Panaderia!)
2. Green Beans
3. Ice Cream
4. Sweet Potatoes
5. Hot Chocolate

Five things you may not know about him:

1. He knows EVERYTHING...seriously...Jeopardy?
2. He is much stronger than he looks (quite a wirey fellow)
3. He's very giving. He would probably let me have whatever I wanted if I asked...I wouldn't, don't worry.
4. He's rarely sick and has never thrown up.
5. He's never wet his pants or the bed post-diapers (his mom told me this and I'm sure he's thrilled I shared it...it is probably a rarity though).

Five places he has lived:

1. Nephi
2. West Jordan
3. Logan
4. Soon Draper or South Jordan (with me!)
5. I know there's more but I don't remember where...somewhere else in Juab county I believe.

Five quirky things about Adam:

1. He likes to have a lot of toothbrushes and different kinds of deordorant at his disposal...apparently he's in to hygeine.
2. He sleeps a lot.
3. He doesn't like needles or snakes.
4. He really likes scary movies...not just scary...horribly scary...apparently he's watched them since childhood and is now desensitized.
5. He can beat anybody at mortal combat or street fighter...probably more stuff too.

Hurrah for Adam! Everyone can be tagged if they'd like to be.

Just My Luck

"And then the clouds parted and God looked down and said, 'Alfalfa, I hate you...'" ~Little Rascals

I sometimes think the same of myself. No preaching please, I don't think I am personally loathed by the almighty, I just get dumped on...perhaps it's years of pent up bad karma. Either way, my bad luck manifested itself today. I broke the zipper on my backpack...really no big deal but leaves me short a backpack.

The real kicker just barely happened...note the time....

It is currently approximately 23 degrees outside...successfully meeting the predicted low. I don't just know this because I checked the weather, which I frequently do, I know because I had the pleasure of chilling (literally) outside for about half an our in the middle of the night.

So, I was at Adam's doing homework while he slept (a fairly common ritual). At midnight I left his house, locking the door behind me. I only wore a jacket (my car's heat is something marvelous) and flip-flops...my favorite form of footwear...oh...and clothes too...those are just the only noteworthy articles of clothing. Anyhow, I was walking towards my car and see it is rather frosty. I don't love to scrape so I was bummed about the need...then I remembered my dad recently bought all of us (those driving and living under his roof) scrapers the very same day. Glory! I won't have to use a plastic card tonight...freedom for my fingers! I have a scraper! Not so bad after all. I gloried too soon.

I attempted to unlock my door but it wasn't doing well. The lock is a little funny but I feel I've mastered it so I continued with the typical wiggle and turn ritual I regularly participate in. Well, either I have incredible hand/forearm strength, crappy stuff, or really bad luck because the key broke leaving a portion in my hand and a portion in the lock.

23 degrees outside...just a reminder.

I kept trying to turn the nub that was stuck in the door but that was a lost cause. I considered breaking into my car...it's pretty easy (don't get any ideas...there is nothing of value) but I couldn't bring myself to do it (it's a whole other story about how part of the top slips open and makes me cold but I finally managed to make it stay closed and I wasn't about to alter that).

Finally, I gave up and called the parents to bring me another key at 12:30 am. Sorry for the untimely wake up call. Then I tried texting Adam so he could let me back in...my fingers were freezing and I badly needed a bathroom...he was fast asleep thought so I remained outside. I held it, danced a little (which was doubly beneficial), then caved and started scraping my car with my student ID. My fingers will never be the same.

My dad later showed up with a spare key, I tried the same door...no luck...the passenger side door unlocked but wouldn't open. Swell. He sprayed some magic stuff (which I intend to somehow obtain) on the door and opened it. I managed to get home and probably should have gone to sleep...not blog about by dumb key. Quite a long post too. Sorry, all. I must ramble even more when I am sleepy.

My broken key...I'm must be rather strong! And now, I sleep the warmest sleep of my life. (I also just realized that I rely heavily on parentheses...curious.)

Halloween Costumes

Adam spent Halloween morning in a Speedo jammer and goggles and even won a price for his Michael Phelps costume. I went to school dressed as Jen-in-sweats and later as catwoman. We spent the evening at Adam's parents house waiting for the neices to come trick-or-treating. They were so cute.

Katelyn was a 49ers cheerleader and had little pom-poms (which she apparently disliked). She also said "Goooo niners!" in her cute little baby voice.

Alyvia was wonder woman or super girl...she says wonder woman but there is clearly an "S" on her chest. She was super cute. Lyv stayed long enough to get some hide-and-seek in. Playing hide-and-seek with a 2 year old is hilarious!

We passed out candy, ate pizza, played with the little girls, watched some scary (and less scary) movies, and enjoyed some homemade pumpkin pie. Not a bad night, I'd say. Adam even got some comments on his Barack-o-lattern.