Beans and Balloons

We have some funny friends. I don't know how they come up with the things they do, but they do and we laugh.

On Sunday evening I received a call from a friend who lives just around the corner from us. (Well, I didn't receive it, but she tried calling my phone and it was still on silent, so she called Lish.) Anyway, Lish hands me the phone and I think it's Jen, but it's Trevor. He says, "Just keep talking to me like you're talking to Jen. In about 5 minutes we'll be knocking on your door. Make sure Lish answers it. And make sure he's not in the kitchen when we knock. We have a surprise for him."

Five or so minutes later, we get a knock on our door. Lish goes to answer it and I follow close behind. There are napkins on the ground leading up to our door with jelly beans on them (or as Lish and Trevor like to call them, 'candy beans', or as I like to call them, 'jelly goods'). Naturally, Lish follows them outside because he loves himself some jelly goods. Out of nowhere, water balloons start flying. We hear Jen laughing from above and Trevor saying, "Abort! Abort!" from behind some bushes. Then they proceed to run down the street and back to their apartment, leaving me laughing hysterically and Lish wet from balloons. Sadly, the jelly goods got wet in the process and had to be disposed of.

You've got it comin Trevor! Watch your back! Trevor also posted this story on his blog with the following diagram. I thought it painted a pretty good picture. For those of you wondering, Trevor made his post about how to trap a Jew, or "Jew-bait."

I just loved how they wanted to throw water balloons at him and lured him outside with jelly goods. Still makes me laugh!

Happy Happy Birthday Alisia Dear!

Happy days will come to you all year!

Today is my stepmom's birthday. I won't say how old she's turning, mostly because I can't remember, but I can confirm that she's one year older and wiser too today. For anyone who has met Alisia, you know how great she is. She is such a goof and so fun to tease because she just throws it right back. She has an incredible sense of humor. She is also one of the most caring people I know. She is always making sure her children and step-children are doing well. She is an amazing cook. She has a beautiful home. She's a great hostess as well, considering I have had many occasions on which we would head up to their house and just hang out.

When I think of the type of person Alisia is, my mind always goes back to the same memory. It was my sophomore year of college and I had just found out some updated news about my friend Brooke. Needless to say, I wasn't in a very good mood that night. She came to my apartment right after she got off work, unannounced, came and found me in my room crying, and just sat on my bed with me and hugged me. Another more fun memory I have of her is the time when I wanted to go shopping and called her up. She came down to Provo to meet me and we just spent the day shopping together. It was fun!

I am very lucky to have a stepmother like Alisia. She is so fun to be around and so loving. She is all around amazing and I love her! I'm so glad we're family!

Exams and Stuff

Remember when I mentioned Lish's big comp exams? They have come and gone. Want to hear what happened? Lish passed them both! He didn't get a score for them. It was just a pass/fail thing, but he passed them both and we just found out within the past couple of days! Lish was relieved, but had to immediately start working on homework again, considering he got so behind studying for those exams.

Anyway, we are both very excited! This means that after this semester, Lish has no more classes and can focus all his time and energy on his dissertation. He'll be on the job market this Fall and be done completely in a year! We're looking forward to knowing that his schooling will be behind us soon. I'm so proud of him and all the hard work he does. He's one of the hardest workers I know. He's also one of the smartest people I know and I'm not surprised at all that he passed. We are happy people! This has been a good week!

Eternal Family

Within these past couple of weeks I have had a couple of friends and one family member lose a member of their family. It's gotten me thinking a lot about family and what happens when they pass on. It was interesting to me to see how each of these different people were coping with their losses. My friends who lost somebody do not have the same beliefs that I have. They are of a different faith and I'm not sure exactly what they believe in terms of an afterlife. My brother-in-law however is a member of the same faith.

The blessings we have as members of the LDS church are incredible. Knowing that we will be with our families again someday is such a comforting thought. I know my brother-in-law has been blessed to know he will see his father again someday, and I know my friends will see their family members again some day. I wish that they had that knowledge. Eternal family is an amazing thing and I am so blessed to get to be with mine forever.

Family Reunion

My family means a lot to me. You understand. Your family means a lot to you too. However, I live 2000 miles away from most of mine. Now, this may not seem like such a bad thing for some of you. For me though, it's rough sometimes. I never lived more than an hour away from my mom and 45 minutes from my dad up until I moved to Florida. Now that I have married and expanded my family, I have even more family that I live far away from.

You can imagine, then, my intense pleasure when I found out about an upcoming family visit! Lish's mom and stepdad and sister and her husband are all coming out in May. The 6 of us have only been together one other time, and that was at the wedding. We are excited to be having this little "family reunion" and to be hosting it in Tallahassee! I'm excited to see some family! This is my longest bout without seeing any of them. And this can remind all the rest of you to buy some tickets and come visit!

Three Luckies!

I saw this on my friend's blog, and I was one of her first three. I was too excited about being one of the first three that I didn't think about having to do it myself. I don't know who started this and why, but three lucky people out there better not be picky!

The first three people to comment on this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. (Though if you live outside of Tallahassee or Utah, we will have to discuss how/when you receive this gift, and it probably won't be very big.) This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
What I create will be just for you.
It'll be done this year (hopefully sooner than later.)
You will have no clue what it is going to be.
I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch: You have to re-post this on your blog and leave me a comment saying you have done so, then you will get a fabulous surprise - a crafty, homemade surprise at that!

It's Raining, It's Pouring

So much for being in a drought. At least right now. We are getting rained on like crazy around here lately, which is great! I love seeing everything go green. It's so pretty! Utah's green doesn't last very long and it's not the same type of green.

Anyway, most of you know that Lish and I only have one car. This is our other mode of transportationexcept not as cool looking and ours is black. Lish drives this little baby around to and from school. Neither of us likes it when it rains and Lish has to drive the scooter to school. It always freaks me out and he doesn't like being wet all day. These past couple of days I have been very grateful to some friends who have lent Lish their car and who have given him rides. So thank you friends for keeping my husband safe and dry!

As for now, I just want to be sitting at home in my comfy pants and slippers reading and watching movies. Instead, I'm stuck at work, and obviously very busy.