Fun with Finals

So it's that time of year where I get to watch my students take their last exam and leave my class forever. I just finished grading all my calculus exams and now that I'm done, I thought I'd share with you my favorite quotes from finals...

• "Are you really making us stop taking the test on time?"
• "Screw you calculus....I love the grader :)"
• "Let me explain to you why I failed this semester..."
• "Have mercy!"
• "The answer is Carbon squared"
• Picture drawn of a pirate ship sinking into shark infested waters

And now to top it off with a little story. I received an email last week from another professor concerning a student we both had this past semester. She forwarded an email to me that this student sent to her. The letter explained how the student had really enjoyed the class but that he didn't do as well this semester because of his recent engagement to a girl in Salt Lake. He then proceeded to say how he knew that the professor would understand that marriage was much more important than school or work and that he needed good grades for graduate school. Is there any way he could get marriage extra credit in the class? The professor then asked me if I had received a similar email and in fact, I received the exact email with wedding announcement attached. Hmmm....I don't think he was planning on us teachers talking.

I have too much time on my hands

So, I've found some pretty depressing Christmas songs. I thought I'd share a few with you.

Happy Hanukkah!

This Friday at sundown marks the beginning of Hanukkah. Normally I don't pay too much attention to Jewish holidays but since beginning my work at SLC I have come into contact with a few Jews. So Happy Hanukkah!

The other reason for this post is because the senior senator from Utah just released a Hanukkah song that is a bit catchy. It is kind of a rip off of Adam Sandler's song, but it is catchy.

Eight Days of Hanukkah from Tablet Magazine on Vimeo.

For you, dad.

My dad is starting to mention the lack of new information on our blog. I have put Kerri in charge of the next post. However, since my dad mentioned the fact that we haven't updated the blog in a while each time I talked to him this week, this post is for him.

Hopefully you will hear about what happened in our lives this past month soon. Like I said, Kerri is in charge.

Celebrations of October

Okay, so I got the message. Everyone wants me to update the blog. As you can see, Chase is much better at this than I am. So here's what you missed in October. The beginning of October brought my 26th birthday and it was the best birthday that I ever had. It all started with Chase surprising me with two dozen roses the night before my birthday. And that was one of his many surprises. He also gave me a scarf which I have been wearing ever since. Thanks to mom and dad, I started off my birthday with a manicure and pedicure (thanks for getting me hooked on that one, Jonnelle!). I then drove up to Salt Lake and spent the rest of the day with Chase. He surprised me with lunch at this restaurant that felt like it belonged in DC. And they gave you fresh fruit and ice cream with every entree. Later, Chase surprised me with a birthday party at his office complete with gourmet cupcakes (thanks Mary!) and lemonade. We spent the rest of the evening shopping courtesy of Mom, Dad, Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Vaughn and we topped off the evening by going to dinner at my favorite Italian restaurant, Biaggi's. It was a perfect day and I loved that I got to spend it all with Chase. Very romantic.


Moving on... not a lot happened in the middle of the month. Chase is still working at this internship. He was busy at the beginning of the month setting up all the meetings for his alcohol project. He still loves it up there and is not getting paid for his slave labor which we are pretty excited about. He got back his GRE scores at the beginning of October and has been working on graduate school applications ever since. That has pretty much taken up his evenings after work and we'll be glad when they're all submitted.

The other big event for us was halloween. If you know us, we had our decorations up the day after my brithday. This year we added to our collection with a fake bat hanging from our ceiling and a fake pumpkin that we carved ourselves. The most excited part of the holiday was the amazing pumpkins we carved this year. We had to put pictures up just to brag. It took all night for us to carve them. We celebrated halloween with donuts and pizza and by watching "The Birds" at his parents house while we handed out candy. We didn't take pictures but Chase also decorated his mom's yard for Halloween by hanging skulls from tree branches. It definitely got a few screams that night.




Those were the highlights of October. So I will end with my favorite student story of the month. My students had a test towards the end of September. About two weeks after the test, I get an email from one of my students asking when the first test was. I emailed him back and let him know that the test was two weeks earlier and he would have to take a zero. He emails me back and says, "Do I have to come to class to know when the test is?" Does that sound wrong to anyone else?

My first day

I just got home from in internship and Kerri is still teaching so I thought I'd blog about my day.

I hate the commute. The free UTA pass and the job make up for the 1 hour commute to and from SLC. The express bus is really nice (except for the annoyed man whose laptop I accidentally bumped while exiting the bus).

Other than the commute I love what I will be doing. Today I felt a bit like a fish out of water. Not because I was the new guy but because I am seeing a whole new side of city government. Let me explain. Most of my working/interning life has been on the legislative side. Even my internship with the Senator was not that different since I had been doing the same thing as a Legislative Assistant. I am not a legislative assistant anymore. Which is good. I plan on getting an MPA which is used for city administration anyway so I am really glad to finally have a chance to see the "other side."

I spent the day in meetings. I met the division heads in my department. Learned about what everyone else is working on and then went to a briefing with the Mayor's office. I met the Mayor and a few others. I have to say the Mayor is shorter than I thought he was, but he knows how to dress well. In fact, I'd rank him alongside the Senator when it comes to dress.

After the briefing I went to lunch, and then went to another meeting, then I had to go across town for drug testing. But, since I don't have a car, and interns can't drive city vehicles someone had to drive me. The nurses messed up my paperwork so the drug test took longer than it should have but that's life. I then returned to the office for more meetings and came home.

So that is my day. Tomorrow I should have a computer and will be able to dig into the projects that are lined up.

A couple of observations:

I am clearly working in Ute territory. No big deal, It always surprises me how big the rivalry really is.

The smell of coffee permeates the building in the mornings. A lot of employees drink coffee. I'm not judging their choices one way or another, it is just something that is different.

Salt Lake City operates differently than Provo. I know this is a no brainer but for someone who is as used to the way Provo operates it was interesting to see the differences. It almost felt like working for the Senator. Everything is bigger and done at a faster pace.

I think that sums it up. I'm sure I'll have stories to tell later on. This internship feels more like a job to me than an internship and I'm really glad I took it.

No longer part of the 9.7% of Americans that are unemployed

That's right. I'm no longer unemployed. Just when I was about to withdraw from the labor force, I was offered an opportunity. I was offered an unpaid internship with Salt Lake City. The only thing better would to be getting paid, but that's ok. I start on Tuesday and am looking forward to working on some really interesting projects. And, its going to look good on my resume.

Of course now that I am interning and am spending 2 hours of my day commuting I have to cut back on my volunteer hours at the campaign. The campaign was a great experience, but it is time to move on. It also looks like I have at least one paid job prospect on the horizon, but who knows when that will ever materialize.

I'm ready to put my skills back to work and stretch my capabilities. Sometimes things just fall in your lap, and I feel like this one kind of did.

Anyways, that is my good news for the day.

Remember the movie "Evolution" from about 10 years ago? below is one of the best parts. It doesn't make sense if you don't remember how the alien is killed, but if you do, you'll chuckle.

Group Projects

Remember when you were in school and you had to work on group projects? You either loved them because it meant you didn't have to do as much, or you hated them because you knew you would be picking up the slack. Well, right now I'm working on a group project of sorts. Thankfully everyone is pulling their weight, but there have been a lot of times that I have thought to myself "Are you kidding! If I were in charge we would do it this way, and my way is better." I know that that statement isn't entirely true, but I think it anyway. I am glad I am not in charge of this group project, but sometimes I wish I was. The people in charge have a different mindset and it causes problems.

That's all I have to say.

The long overdue update

I know I haven't posted anything of any importance on here in a long time. Therefore, I don't expect many people to be looking at this, but I feel its time for an update.

Summer is over. It has been the longest, hardest summer of my existence. Even the summer I spent in the rolling hills of Kentucky without a car in 90% humidity while wearing dark pants and a tie, getting so parched my vocal cords no longer vibrated was easier than this summer. Of course we all know the reasons why this summer has been particularly difficult so I won't go into details.

Kerri has started teaching again, while the normal semester doesn't start until next week, this week she is enjoying her days listening to BYU professors and others speak at Education Week, and she is busy teaching a refresher course at night at UVU. Next week she begins teaching 3 classes at UVU (1 shy from full time, dang it!) and the week after she will teach 1 class at BYU. While it is quite the pay cut we finally get A lot stickers for BYU which make us feel special.

I have spent the summer figuring out what I want to be when I grow up. But to do that I have to spend a couple more years in school so I am studying for the GRE. I started at the beginning of the month and have been getting 5-10 hours of studying in a week. The test is at the end of of September and I figure 40 hours of studying should get me the desired outcome. In addition to studying for the GRE, applying for jobs, getting out right rejected by companies, and failing to make it past the first interview because I am overqualified, I have decided that if I can't get paid doing what I love I'll do it for free. So I have started volunteering, partly because I like the cause, but also because it would look good on my resume when I apply for graduate school.

I bet most of you are thinking volunteering is a great way to get a job offer. I'm not holding my breath, but hopefully it will open some doors. I don't want to get into details about what I am volunteering for at this point, but it's pretty safe to say it won't lead to anything in the immediate future.

So I study for about 10 hours a week, volunteer about 10 hours a week, and try to job hunt 10 hours a week, but I basically waste a lot of time.

Like I said, not much is happening. We might be moving in the near future, we might not be. Who knows anymore. I have come to learn that just getting out of bed earns you a gold star some days. I have gotten out of bed everyday for the past 2 weeks, so 14 gold stars for me.

BYU Police Beat

So I found this gem in The Daily Universe's Police Beat:

Animal problem

July 4: An owl was found in the former president’s Home. An officer communicated with the owl and it left.
July 6: An injured bird was reported on campus. An officer helped the bird into a pine tree.

What I want to know is how did an owl get into the president's home in the first place, and how do you speak owl? I give props to the officer, I am glad that BYU police have decided that owl is an important language for the officers to be fluent in.

My theory is that the hurt bird was actually the owl the officer communicated with.

Easy listening from the 1980s

I'm sure many of you are familiar with Toto, and you've probably seen the video posted below. It starts of soft, quiet, and rather mundane, but wait for the thunder.

Enjoy "Africa"

Bastille Day

So I thought I should add a little addendum to Chase's post for Bastille Day on Tuesday. To celebrate, we decided to eat French food all day long. It was so tasty! For lunch, Chase made crepes and we ate them with fresh fruit and whipped cream. It was nice on a hot day. Then for dinner, Chase made a steak recipe that was simply divine. Let me just say that involved garlic, shallots, butter and cream. Need I say more? We just had green beans to go with the steak which was my contribution to the meal. Then to top it all off, Chase had made cream puffs. Tuesday was such a delicious day. Can we move to France?

Joyeux Quatorze Juillet

In honor of Bastille Day, I thought I would post the words to the french national anthem in both French and English. Some call it violent and xenophobic, but I enjoy it. The English isn't perfect, but lets me honest, the song was written in the 18th century, and 18th century french can be hard to translate.

La Marseillaise

Thoughts from Henry David Thoreau

"I learned this, at least, by my experiment; that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours."

“In the long run men hit only what they aim at. Therefore, though they should fail immediately, they had better aim at something high.”

“Men are born to succeed, not fail.”

Happy Independence Day!

Today I went to the Freedom Festival here in Provo. It's just this fair they put on with carnival food, a few rides and tons of local vendors. It's not amazing but I just love going for some strange reason. The festival also has a stage where local artists perform so I sat down to listen to the concert. And of course, one of the songs the guy sang was "God Bless The USA". Most of you will remember that song because it was constantly played after 9-11.

Anyway, I was thinking about when Chase and I were in DC last summer for the 4th of July. I don't think there is a more amazing place to be than our nation's capital. We were even fortunate enough to go to the concert on the Capital lawn and to see the fireworks over the Washington Monument. There was just something incredible about celebrating independence day so close to many of the monuments that are dedicated to the people who protected our freedom.

And I have to mention that we also visited Valley Forge and Philadelphia last year which was even more representative of the people that fought for our independence from Britain. I know I'm a little overly patriotic but I am grateful that I live in America and that I have the freedoms that I do. Plus I love having a reason to shoot off fireworks every year and to have a big parade and listen to Sousa marches and dress in nothing but red white and blue. I just love it all! Here are some pictures from last year's festivities:



This is Independence Hall in Philadelphia where the Declaration of Independence was signed. I thought I should include it too.





This was my favorite float in the parade. It's a replica of raising the flag at Iwo Jima.

An update

Just checking in with everyone. Life keeps moving on. Our 6 weeks of summer vacation end today because Kerri starts teaching again this week. We just got back from a vacation to Bear Lake thanks to my parents. I'm still looking for a job and We'll probably start packing all our stuff into boxes soon for the 3rd move of our marriage.

There you have it.

Police Beat

I saw this in the Daily Universe's Police Beat. It made me smile.

Family problem

May 31: A 13-year-old male living in Wymount Terrace called police from his cell phone to report that his mother was being abusive. The male was in the bathroom for a 30 minute time-out session and told police that he felt that punishment was too harsh.

I guess it was worth a shot. And, if he was in time out, why did he have his phone?

Another worthless post

Those of you who read this regularly know that one of the things that makes me smile no matter how depressed I am is ABBA. Wow, that's weird. My anti-depressant is ABBA. I don't know what to think of that. Anyway, I'm kind of blue today so I present random, useless, ABBA facts.

ABBA stands for the four members of the group: Agnetha, Bjorn, Benny, and Anni-Frid
"Waterloo" won the 1974 Eurovision competition
"Dancing Queen" Spent 6 weeks at #1 in the UK
"Fernando" spent 14 weeks at #1 in Australia
"Dancing Queen" was ABBA's only #1 single in the USA
My freshman year I had a roommate named Fernando and to bug him we would sing "Fernando" to him
Agnetha played Mary Magdaline in "Jesus Christ Superstar"
"Name of the Game" is the song played during Ashley's dream sequence in "Abba-The Move"
Yes, there is really Abba-The Movie
Agnetha and Bjorn were married in 1971
Agnetha and Bjorn's marriage was named the event of the year in Sweden
Agnetha and Bjorn divorced in 1979
"I do, I do, I do, I do, I do" was ABBA's least successful single, peaking at #38
At the height of Abba frenzy in the late seventies, sales in communist eastern Europe were so high the group had to accept payments in oil because countries such as Poland were running out of foreign exchange.
ABBA released 18 albums
ABBA sold over 300 million albums
82 different artists have done covers of ABBA songs

I think that is enough for now, but below is ABBA's 1974 Eurovision performance of "Waterloo"



And to be fair, I have posted the winner of Eurovision 2009. NORWAY!



PS- One day Kerri and I will be in the audience of a future Eurovision competition. And, Kerri will be a Balkan Girl.

Marseilles Dress SHABBY APPLE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

I'm doing this for my wife. Hopefully she'll get a free dress out of it.

Marseilles Dress SHABBY APPLE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Sunday Night Ballet

I hope y'all enjoy this as much as I did.

Celebrations

So we have done some celebrating recently in our lives as you all know. First of all, Chase graduated at the end of April! I got to be the proud wife as he walked across the stage and received his diploma. For those of you who don't know, graduation is covered in two days at BYU. The first day is the university commencement and the second day is the college convocation. Chase and I decided to get to commencement early and just take some pictures of him all over campus. We got the traditional pictures as well as a picture of him in his favorite cubicle in the library. Nothing particularly exciting happened at commencement except that we actually spotted Chase walking in among the 6000 graduates. I totally screamed when I saw him because we never expected to recognize him in a sea of blue. Ironically, it was much harder to find him after the ceremony.

Thursday night was not nearly as fun as Friday morning though. I think the Kennedy Center has the best graduation. So not only was the entire ceremony finished in an hour and twenty minutes but the musical numbers were performed by a Venezuelan band. It was way better than those wimpy piano solos that someone performed at mine. There was one sketchy moment of the ceremony however. The student speaker started out talking about rape and domestic violence numbers. Talk about a depressing beginning! He ended up somehow turning the talk around into protecting the family. Of course, the most exciting moment was when Chase walked across the stage. I have never seen a smile so big! I was so proud of him. Afterward, we went to a reception put on by the Kennedy Center and they served Argentinian food. We topped off the afternoon by going with his family to Carrabba's for lunch. It was a fun two days.

Now for our other celebration, we had our two year anniversary this past Monday. It's hard to believe. We didn't go out of town this year but we did have a fun evening together. We went to the Bean Museum in the afternoon simply because I've never been there. It was very romantic to see all the Dik-dik's. :) Then we went out to dinner at Ottavio's which is this wonderful Italian restaurant down the street from our house. It was where Chase and I went for our first Valentine's Day together. We topped off the evening by going to get gelato which was so rich. We decided they were better than the gelato we ate at the Italian Embassy but don't tell them that. So that's our celebrating and now we're set to relax for a few weeks for what we affectionately call "summer break."

Now I'm confused

My friend over at Square One informed me of another place to check to see if I do indeed have swine flu. http://doihaveswineflu.org/

In school I was taught that .org websites were generally more reliable than .com website so I guess I do have pig flu. I think I'll take the common sense approach and say I don't. After all today is to good of a day to sit inside.

Allergies or Swine Flu?

The WHO increased the threat level of the H1N1 virus to 5 meaning "Pandemic Imminent". But they also told me to continue to live life normally. So I did, but I am suffering from a case of rhinorrhea. Being the conscientious person I am, I decided to determine if this rhinorrhea was from my seasonal allergies or something worse. I mean, if I am going to die because of pigs I think I should know about it. I found this link extremely helpful. I hope you do too.

http://www.doihavepigflu.com/

Things that make me smile

I'm having a blah day so I thought I would post about things that make me smile.

1. The Cranberries
2. ABBA (I think that if everyone listened to 30 minutes of ABBA everyday, the world would be a happier place)
3. Washington DC
4. Mamma Mia (not to be confused with ABBA, although that is the main reason I like it. The stage version is much better than the movie)
5. Food
6. Vacations
7. Jobs
8. Politics
9. Graduation
10. Cell phones
11. Aqua (I laugh every time I hear the song "Bumble Bee")
12. The Beatles
13. My car
14. The Food Network
15. "The West Wing"

That's it for now

Cap and Gown

Its official. I am walking this Thursday and Friday. I picked up my cap and gown this morning. Its a good thing I lied about my weight when I bought the gown (that's right, I said bought. Renting was not an option for undergrads) because I am swimming in the one I have. I think it gapes a bit too much at the bottom but who are we kidding, if they wanted graduates to be fashionable, they wouldn't make us wear the cap and gown.The tassel has to be forced under the button on the mortar board to stay in place, but at least mine is white, not brown or pink (no offense for those of you with a BFA or who graduated in General Studies. Pink is not the most masculine color). And I got my free t-shirt that says Alum 2009. It will be great to wear when I am working outside or at the gym.

That's all for now.

Britains got talent

This week it seems like everyone is talking about Susan Boyle, the new singing sensation from Britains got talent. Not that I have a problem with this. From her appearance, and background you don't expect much (honestly who expects a 40-something unemployed, frumpy looking, aspiring professional singer to be any good). However, she is actually really talented and there are reports that she is already in contract talks with Sony BMG even though the competition isn't even over.

What people don't realize is that another woman, Fabia Cerra, also impressed the judges with her dance routine. She to is older but won't reveal her age because if she is a good dancer, age doesn't matter. She wore high heals, red fishnets, and a black something to dance in. And she danced, or at least tried to. The problem is that a strategically placed tassel fell off during the routine. So the TV station had to put strategically placed Union Jacks on her body. According the The Daily Telegraph (a London newspaper) the TV stations is also being investigated on charges that they broke decency laws. I can't embed the video, but the URL is posted below. It is fairly benign, but watch till the end, because it is disgusting, and yet funny at the same time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFQS9Fci4SY

Apostate

Since when was the word "Apostate" a bad word. As many of you know, the Daily Universe (a paper featured on this blog regularly) printed a picture of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in Monday's edition. However, due to human error, the caption read "Quorum of the Twelve Apostates" I couldn't help but laugh when I saw this. Not only because it was a major mistake for the paper of a church owned university to make, but because these types of mistakes have been made for years. I guess the DU's policy of "overworking" their copy editors over the years finally caught up to them.

Now, I think the way the DU handled the mistake was good. They replaced the papers, reprinted the story, and explained how it happened to other news outlet. Given this openness I was surprised that the editorial board's apology printed recently did not even include the word apostate. Instead they wrote:

"As many of you are now aware, The Daily Universe ran a photo caption Monday that misspelled the word “apostle” as another word that has a very different and opposite meaning."

For being so open about the mistake, why didn't they identify the word as "apostate"? For all we know, they could have used any of the following words: renegade, fugitive, or absconder. According to the apology we have no idea what they are apologizing for.

Is this a big deal? no. But if the DU was committed to being completely transparent, they should have used the word. Last I checked, "Apostate" was not a four letter word.

OK, I'm done now.

Pictures

Here are pictures from Bear Lake and the Golden Spike National Historical Site.


The view from our condo.


The view from the rest stop in Logan Canyon

Another view of the Lake

Where the Golden Spike used to be

Kerri next to the railroad

Some monument outside the visitor's center

Chinese Arch

Middle of nowhere Utah

Spring Break 2009 and stuff

This past week Kerri and I were able to get out of Provo for a few days and visit Bear Lake. Bear Lake is one of my favorite places in Utah. However, before peak season, there is absolutely nothing to do. We knew that would be the case so we planned accordingly. We brought plenty of movies, games and the wii to entertain us. We also decided to explore the historical markers between Garden City UT and Montpelier ID. And most importantly, I got to visit USU (which to me will always be infinitely better than BYU, and has the funnest memories of my college years) and get a gallon of Aggie Ice Cream. On a side note, apparently last year the Salt Lake Tribune did a taste test to see if Aggie ice cream really was better than Cougar ice cream, and it was an overwhelming yes. Of course those of us that have tasted the superior ice cream could have told you than anyway.

Any way, I'm digressing. After a short stay at Bear Lake, we decided to go to the Golden Spike Historical site. It was actually kind of interesting. Promontory Point is way out in the middle of nowhere but that is where the the Transcontinental Railroad met. They have a nice visitors center with exhibits, and movies, and a marker where the golden spike was (it has since been removed). There is also a driving tour where you can see various places of importance.

So that was spring break. I am going to start ranting now, so if you want to stop reading go ahead. Since I am graduating in April and not going to graduate school immediately, I am applying for jobs. So far not so good. I applied for a job the beginning of last week and the night before we left on vacation I got an email from the employer asking me to submit answers to 5 questions. Well I wanted to put thought into my answers, so instead of writing them at 1 in the morning, I decided to think about the questions and write back after I got home from Bear Lake. When I got home I found an email from the employer that said "We now have a sufficient amount of applicants that we will no longer be pursuing yours." I was so mad. This cam after I was told by another employer that I was not the right fit for their organization even though we had never met face to face.

So I am still job hunting. Any leads would be appreciated.

Another Daily Universe Letter

So there are a few things about BYU students that bug me. One is letter to the editors. The following letter is about NCMO. The problem I have is that NCMO big 8 years ago when I was a junior in High School?? You remember don't you? There was a website, there were warnings on the local news and the then the creators of the website sold it to UVU students. You remember don't you? It was the same time that Provo Fight Club was big too. Second, I can't tell if this guy is serious, or being sarcastic. Lets just say some BYU students (not all) are a bit self righteious. For a funnier post, see the video below.

No more NCMO

"What is the highest degree of happiness that can be reached? Surely we can expect among the highest of these to be found in the bonds of marriage. A part of this joyous union comes from the intimacy that is shared. Such intimacy can only come from commitment and loyalty. NCMO (non-committal make out) destroys this commitment and loyalty that we are striving for. It is a childish habit that must stop.

'Not only NCMO but lust in a relationship is just as bad. Even though there is that commitment to one another, it is not love, which love is commanded of us to give to one another. John 13:34, “Love one another; as I have loved you.” NCMO/lust go against this commandment. For NCMO is lust, or a fear, a fear of commitment, which fear and love can not exist in the same place. 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear.”

'For those who have been in these situations, there is forgiveness, repentance, and change. For those who find themselves faced with the difficult question of whether or not to allow this boy/girl to kiss me or make out with me think of this; Alma 38:12, “Bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love.” By bridling our passions, we are filled with love, which is commanded of God, which then casteth out fear and makes room for that intimate relationship to blossom and grow into marriage.

'Now is the time to prepare, for what you do in relationships now will only be multiplied in marriage. There is room for change and the best time for that is before you get married. Practice now to be the husband or wife you would like to be, so that when the time comes, your most excellent qualities become multiplied."

William Taylor

Provo

Have a good laugh today

There are a number of things wrong with the video posted below. Let me just say, I'm glad this isn't my mom.

Pi Day!

As any math person would know, yesterday was Pi Day and being the math nerd that I am, we just had to celebrate. For those of you who don't remember math, pi is a number that has infintely many decimals and is most commonly used to calculate the circumference and radius of a circle. So to honor this lovely number, Chase and I ate nothing but circular food yesterday. For breakfast, we ate waffles and sausage patties. For dinner, we made pizza which Chase did an excellent job of making one of them perfectly round by tossing the pizza dough in the air. And of course, no Pi Day celebration would be complete without eating pie for dessert. I feel we made pi very proud yesterday.

Spring Break

Normally BYU students don't get a spring break, and this year is no exception. But this year I'm having one! I took my last final today, and unless I got lower than 24/40 (which I am 99.9% sure I didn't) I have completed all academic requirements to graduate from BYU. I find out next week what my score is.

So, to celebrate, I am going on spring break with Kerri. This is where I want to go:

If we went here we could enjoy 75 degree weather, spend hundreds of dollars on airfare and hotels (all worth it) and risk our lives being shot by a drug cartel (probably wouldn't happen but Mexico isn't all that safe right now). So instead of Cancun we are going here:

Bear Lake. Where there will be snow on the mountains, temperatures will be lucky to hit 55, and since it isn't the summer, no one will be around, there is hardly any cell phone service,and we will save hundreds of dollars. But most importantly it means taking a break from life and just spending uninterrupted time with my wife.

It will be fun.

Gas Leak

So last night I was walking down the stairs to get the mail and I smelled natural gas in the stairway. I thought that was an odd place to smell gas so I called the gas company to report it. They told me it would take an hour to get someone out to check it. When I heard this, I thought are you joking? theoretically a lot of gas could collect in an hour and something could blow up. Unlikely? yes, but still possible. Anyway an hour later the gasman shows up and I show him where I smelled it and he informed me that his little Geiger counter for natural gas wasn't picking anything up. So I told him well, I smelled it and so did my wife. An apartment near by was drying clothes and we could smell the Bounce drier sheet and the gasman asked "are you sure you didn't smell the dryer that is on?"

ARE YOU STUPID! I think in 26 years of life I have learned the difference between the rotten smell of natural gas and the nice spring scent of Bounce. I politely informed Mr. Gasman that I was positive I didn't smell the dryer and left the scene so he could figure it out.

A couple hours later when Kerri and I were leaving we noticed Mr. Gasman still checking things out. Well this morning at 10 AM our entire complex was evacuated, as well as the rest of the block, because someone else smelled natural gas (not to be mistaken for Bounce) and called the company and they found a huge leak outside the apartment. We were evacuated for about 4 hours while the police and fire department let the gas company into each apartment to check for leaks (thankfully there weren't any inside) and they dug to find where it was. It turns out it was on the main line out by the street. However, because of the massive leak, no one was able to go into the underground parking to get in their car because the ignition could ignite any gas that was there. I appreciate the protocol that was followed and understand why people were not allowed to get their car, but I felt bad when I heard that. It was also unfortunate that contractor that came to fix the elevator couldn't do his work either (the elevator hasn't worked for 2 months) but that's OK cause the stairs haven't broken yet.

I know that this incident cannot be blamed on the developer or construction company that built the complex (and it shouldn't be blamed on them), but it just feels like this place as a lot of problems. No drainage system was installed, and the property wasn't graded properly so when it rains/snows pools of water collect everywhere, and stuff drips onto cars and stains them in the garage if you park in the wrong place. It took a week for our refrigerator to arrive when we first moved in, the carpet tacks poke through the carpet, the cabinetry had gouges in it, the counter tops weren't installed as well as they should have been, windows aren't sealed tight, the tub has a crack in it (thankfully it hasn't started leaking), Our landlord fell behind on his payments so the bank assumed collection of the rents in October, the property was foreclosed on in December, our new landlord is the bank. I think that is it but I don't remember.

Now, having said that. with all the problems, our apartment is still really nice, we rent it for a great price, and I am happy (most days) that we have it. I just hope we don't have anymore problems for awhile.

Don't worry a happier post is forthcoming.

Valentine's Day

So I just had to take two seconds to brag about my adorable husband. As you know, Saturday was Valentine's day and I am such a sucker for holidays so I am big in to celebrating everything. And I had been anticipating this day for a while because Chase had decided to make dinner for me. He made me a three course meal complete with two cocktails (virgin, of course). He made homemade tomato soup, spinach salad and shrimp pasta which you can see is really healthy food. I attempted at making a red velvet cake for dessert but it actually turned out hot pink and I didn't cook it long enough so it was gross. We figured it was good not to have all the extra calories. Now my favorites surprise was that Chase bought me a dozen red roses and had them delivered to the house. He told me earlier in the week that he wasn't getting me flowers so I was really happy. It was just a wonderfully romantic evening at home and I loved every minute of it! How'd I get so lucky to have such a cute husband?

Is the stimulus a good thing?

WARNING: This post is political in nature, if you don't care, don't read it.

So the House just passed the economic stimulus bill. The 787 billion billion dollar bill passed 246-183. It was surprising. Of course all but 1 democrat voted in favor of it, and no republican voted for it. But it should have failed. We just spent the last 8 years under a republican administration that did nothing but expand government spending, and now, the first thing President Obama does (not counting signing the Lilly Ledbetter Act) is pass more spending after spending 700 billion to try and save banks. The House of Representatives stuck it to the American people for at least 3 generations.

I'm torn about the package because I believe that something is needed for the economy. I believe that increasing government spending in times of recession will help pull the economy out of it. But my problem is that only 11% of the money will be spent in 2009. and 53% won't get spent until 2011. Most financial gurus are saying we will be out of the recession by 2011.

I also have a hard time with the package because Obama says it is free of pork. Yeah right. One example of pork is 30 million dollars going to a California conservancy group who are working to save an endangered species of rodent in San Fransisco (that has Pelosi's hands all over it don't you think?) Now tell me, how does saving a rodent create jobs?

The third problem that I have is that there is not a consensus among economists on whether or not this will work. I'm not expecting 100% agreement, but I won't hope their would more of a consensus among experts before the government spends money it has to print. Also, who says the money will actually get out of the federal bureaucracy.

The final problem that I have with the bill is that it does nothing to change expectations. One of the first things I learned in econ 110 is that people's expectations determine economic outcomes. If the people expect things to change, they will change. Most Americans don't want this bill! The 700 billion given to Wall Street didn't work. Why would we believe this 700 billion will work?

Another sign of problems with the bill is that over 100 employers of Caterpillar who were laid off last month contacted their congressman and urged him to vote no. This was after the President said that this stimulus package would give Caterpillar the money to rehire some of those laid off. Ouch.

I think that a better stimulus bill is one that spends more than 11% this year (that's about 85 billion of 787 that will first be spent). It also needs to be one that cuts out pet projects and focuses on infrastructure.

The bill will pass the Senate tonight. It will be tough since reports say that Sen. Kennedy will not be present. So even if all democrats and the 3 republicans vote in favor that only gives exactly 60 votes. Granted 60 is all that is needed to pass it. It won't be a landslide victory.

I hope this stimulus works. But I think our government made a mistake.

For you veiwing pleasure

So I was job hunting and came across these video's (don't ask how it happened). The first one is the BYU's French Idol a couple of years ago. I was there it was funny. The second one is funny, especially at the end and you have probably seen the third one but I think it is really cool.

Letters to the editor

While reading the only part of the Daily Universe that is worth reading I found a couple of opinions funny. There appears to be a debate on campus about two things: gay fashion, and low cut blouses worn by women that work in the testing center that distract men. Here is a sample of what newsnet.byu.edu posted today.

Look away

To the author of the Jan. 23 letter, "Mind the gap," it is hard to read your last letter and know whether to take you seriously or not. It is something of an insult to our intelligence to read your rant on perceived immodesty, especially when it adopts the position of "it's the woman's fault I can't take my eyes off of her cleavage." One hopes for your sake that your letter was a case of poorly written satire done in bad taste.

Here is a novel idea that those of us with the good sense to use it apply when approached by a sight we perceive as offensive: Don't look! Last time I checked, there isn't a single incident of girls at BYU thrusting their bosoms into your countenance (much to the chagrin of single men everywhere, I'm sure). This is a far more productive use of your time and agency than public attempts at appearing pious. It is not the woman's fault you can't stop staring at her chest, but that of your own incontinence. Did it ever occur to you that one of the reasons women dress that way (if indeed they do) is because most men won't look away when they do? Whatever happened to "hum your favorite hymn" or some such? In the meantime I would be careful that you don't get caught ogling at any more "vicious v-necks." Last time I checked, that's grounds for a sexual harassment suit.

MICHAEL TONKS
Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.

Dangerous cleavage

I sympathize with the cleavage-sensitive student (Jan. 23, "Mind the gap") who spoke of a Testing Center worker "branding a particularly vicious v-neck," and of being so distracted that he lost the ability to read a sign. Recently, I was exiting Japanese class when I was attacked by a fiercely low-cut blouse. It leapt from its wearer's bosom, mercilessly assaulting me like a wicked stream of bullets that each have a gun that shoots additional, smaller bullets. Dazed, I managed to stumble only a few yards towards the exit when I collapsed, inadvertently pulling the fire alarm in the process. An Honor Code rescue squad had to be summoned to perform Chastity Pulmonary Resuscitation on me, and for the rest of the week, I was prone to fainting spells when near the opposite sex.

Take it from me, ladies: cleavage isn't just dishonorable, it's dangerous.

NEIL SELF
Santa Clara, Calif.

Fashion propaganda

I am usually not one to write to the editor; I just sit back and read. But today, something stirred within regarding a viewpoint the DU highlighted about gay fashion.

In the Jan. 23 viewpoint, "Diversity and sexism," the author made it sound like it is mutually exclusive for men to dress fashionable and "gay." She wrote, "If we want to disprove society's accusation against LDS culture-that we alienate gays-we must reject their generalization of fashionable men as gay men." That is propaganda, they are not mutually exclusive.

Yes, there are some trends that are considered both fashionable and "gay." However, there is a huge difference between being fashionable and dressing "gay." My husband, for one, dresses very fashionably ... even more so than me. However, his wardrobe is far from "gay" fashion. I am astonished she would promote "gay" fashion. I understand everyone has their freedom of choice with dress. However, there are some things that should not be allowed on this campus.

As a private university, I whole-heartedly believe they can censor male dress and appearance just as they do women's. Girls are not allowed to prance around campus wearing a mini-skirt and halter top. We have the honor code for good reason. There are just some styles of clothing those of the male gender should not wear; "gay" fashion is one of those. If you still want to be fashionable, find a new fashion.

ASHLEE MANWARING
Springville

My personal Favorite is the second one. I hope this made you laugh.

Wow

My sister shared this video with me and I thought it was cool. Make sure your speakers are on otherwise you'll be bored.

I hope we can

Today is a historic day (there I said it. but I am not saying it again). I started watching inauguration coverage at 3 am. I am going on close to 14 hours now. I know I am a political dork, but the reason I started watching so early is that I couldn't sleep last night, and I was watching TV. At 3 AM CNN started American Morning, and I haven't stopped watching. The ceremony was amazing. I love the tradition (even though most of the traditions we have today started in 1980 or later) I love watching a smooth transition of power, and I love seeing the sites that I saw everyday for 4 months. But for that reason it was also bittersweet. I miss DC. I miss the atmosphere, the energy, and the monuments. I can't wait to return. If all goes well Kerri and I will be there by the end of the summer.

Although overall I have loved today, I have to say I did not like the inaugural address. I felt it lacked a clear message, it wasn't as inspiring as I hoped, it was sort of mediocre in my opinion. Obama did do a very good job at defining his foreign policy, but it lacked something that his election day speech had. My favorite part of the inauguration was the poem written and read by Elizabeth Alexander. I thought that was powerful.

I am excited to see how Obama responds to the Middle East. I hope that Clinton gets confirmed quickly. I think Sen. Cornyn is being stupid by objecting to a voice vote, which is delaying Clinton's certain confirmation. I find it interesting that Hatch is supporting Geithner for treasury secretary even though he failed to pay taxes for a couple of years. I find it more surprising that the republicans are so injured and crippled that they aren't raising a stink about it. And I hope that Senator Kennedy makes a quick recovery.

I am excited to see what happens. Change is good.

My New Addiction

Ok, I am so enthralled with my lunch right now that I just had to tell someone about it. As you saw a few blog posts ago, Chase and I are being super healthy right now and one of the things sitting in our fridge in Greek style yogurt and I am in love with it! Right now, I am eating Greek style yogurt with ground flaxseed and strawberries with a touch of Splenda and I feel like I am eating strawberry cheesecake. It's divine! If I were you, I would go out and buy some right now. Mmmmm...

Housekeeping problem

The developer that built our apartment decided to save money and install cheap things. One of those cheap things is the carpet. If you run your fingers across it you can actually roll a ball of carpet fibers. When we vacuum, we put the vacuum on the bare floor setting and still suck up enough carpet fibers to clog the vacuum. Well, I was vacuuming today and I noticed a problem, due to regular wear and tear (meaning putting our feet on the floor when we sit on the couch) we have a rather deep traffic pattern in front of the couch that won't come up from vacuuming (it is also the one place that you can't collect carpet fibers any more). I don't want to loose any of our deposit, or be charged for this regular wear and tear. Any suggestions on how to make it look normal?

Routines

The first week of each new semester is difficult for me because I have a difficult time getting into a routine. My life is better with a routine. I am more productive, I am happier, and hopefully I am more balanced.

My entire life I have had a routine, mainly because I have been in school which automatically gives it structure, or I have worked. Even when I took 2 years off for a mission I had a routine, and those two years were definitely the most structured two years of my life. So after 25 years of having a routine, I have suddenly found myself without a routine.

Thanks to independent study, I don't have a class schedule, I also don't have a job yet, so I find myself sleeping in way too long, not getting ready for the day quickly, and turning on the TV for the majority of the day. Basically I have become a couch potato. So, this weekend I resolve to create a tine so that I can have a balanced life that includes yoga, spiritual stuff, school stuff, exercise, and fun stuff. Is there anything else I need to be balanced?

Hello New Semester

Well, tomorrow marks the beginning of the new semester for both of us. I guess technically the semester began on Friday for Kerri because she is teaching a refresher course before normal classes begin tomorrow, and technically BYU started yesterday but I am taking an independent study class and my textbook didn't arrive until today. So tomorrow life returns to normal. Kerri teaches at 9am and I'll wake up and start my course.

We had a great semester break. Although we were unable to go to Baltimore like we hoped, we had a nice holiday with my side of the family. We enjoyed Christmas morning all to ourselves in our apartment, and Christmas dinner at my parents home. The day after Christmas we drove to San Diego to visit Kerri's friend. We spent 3 days enjoying great weather walking on the beach and enjoying a break from life. For Christmas we bought a Wii along with the Wii fit and have embarked on our last attempt to loose weight. I say our last because this time we will not fail. Thanks to the Wii fit and our gym memberships we are going win this time.

I digress. The remainder of the break has been spent enjoying the Wii, sleeping in without hearing our next door neighbors, and trying not to slip on the 8" of ice outside our apartment door. Today we went to SLC to the Bodyworlds exhibit at The Leonardo. It was so cool. I was a little bit disgusted when I saw the cross section of a 300 pound man and how much fat 300 pounds actually is. We were in the middle of a bunch of school groups which was a bit frustrating because they didn't remember that everything we saw was real. The plastinates are real people. There is a reason I wasn't allowed to go to the cadaver lab until I was 16. People at the exhibit didn't show proper respect for the bodies that were donated. Even though 12 year olds are obnoxious, I found the exhibit to be great. It is open until Jan 11 and I recommend it to everyone.

Well, I've run out of things to say so I'm signing off. I think I might do some yoga.