Light-Black And Decker

Today we got 4 pairs of jeans, a blouse and a sweater for 55 bucks! Woot woot. All thanks to oldnavyweekly.com!

Hope everyone had a great Christmas. Here are some of the things we did. We played Guitar Hero with our new Guitar. We played Mouse Trap! Jarom got this for me, a game I've been longing for for awhile. You know, that nostalgic memory of setting up the complicated trap to trap the mice! Yesterday my dreams were fulfilled. Also, he got me a onesy sleepy thing! You know those things that babies wear to bed? And we drank for crazy straws! Lee's (Jarom's brother ) is a star, Jarom's is a palm tree, and mine is just crazy swirly all over the place goodness. And we built gingerbread houses! This is my apartment complex. Unfortunately it has been infested with bugs. This is Jarom's Star Destroyer. It started out being a stucko triangle house, but upon collapse, he quickly changed it to something better. Sorry I forgot to rotate this picture, but this is his jedi with his lightsaber trying to infiltrate the ship. And this is Lee's fortress of solitude.

I just wanted to announce that I have officially beaten one song (Nothing Else Matters by Metallica) on Guitar Hero with both the Drum and Guitar on Expert AND Expert+ ! That is right. I am amazing.

Here's a recipe for a "mug cake" that I got from my mother-in-law. It's kind of fun, and gives a nice little batch instead of making a huge cake, and is super fast. I like it with a scoop of ice cream on top. Here is our attempt at them. The right one is the regular cake, the left one is the lava cake. Chocolate Mug Cake 4 tablespoons cake flour (I would just use regular flour) 4 tablespoons sugar 2 tablespoons cocoa powder 1 egg 3 tablespoons milk 3 tablespoons oil drop of vanilla extract 3 tablespoons chocolate chips (opt) 1. In a microwavable mug, add dry ingredients, mix well with a fork. 2. Add egg, mix thoroughly. 3. Pour in milk, oil, and vanilla, mix well. 4 Add chips, if using. 5. Put mug in microwave, and cook for three minutes. 6. Cake will rise over top of mug -- do not be alarmed! ( that's what they wrote on the recipe) Allow to cool a little and eat it warm. I'm sure you can also make a quick frosting, if you want. Chocolate Lava Mug Cake 4 table

This will be mostly pictures, because they're much more fun to look at than reading words! Here are some things we did this past week, with both sides of the family out here for the holiday. Set up the Christmas Tree. We went to Temple Square: And we got some family pictures.. In the shade: And...In the Sun. Directly in the Sun. Sometimes we were better at keeping our eyes open than others..

(Hint: If we ever get internet at home, where we can access the music portion of the blog, we will be adding a song that matches this post later on. The title of this song is the important part.) (Sorry all. The song that we would have liked to play "Give It Back" by Hoobastank was unavailable. It's like no one except Gina listens to them... If you have their first/self-titled album, give it a shot. Should give you a laugh.)

This Christmas will be the first year that Jarom and I will be staying here at our cozy home since we've been married. We also won't be in the middle of moving like we were last year, so we decided to purchase our first Christmas tree. I just picked it up yesterday from Walmart! As you may guess, along with purchasing a tree, also comes purchasing decorations for that tree. I've been thinking about this for a long time, because it's starting from the beginning and I wanted to pick the colors out just right so that I would be able to enjoy it for years to come. So the whole point of this post is to tell you what colors we picked, but there's a story first. A few weeks ago we were talking about it and throwing around ideas of what colors would be good to get. I was thinking red and gold, I think they look good together and I have a wreath that matches that. Jarom said black. I said "Uh, I don't think anyone would ever make black ornaments, because that's

A few days ago we purchased our very first shower caddy. I know this is lame and simple, but I love it! It makes me feel like we have a whole new shower! Everything has it's place and is all neat and tidy. It's just great. But... We have also discovered that it is either an enchanted, magical caddy, or it's haunted by a shower ghost. We're still doing research on the matter. We have a long-handled back scratcher. It has a hole on the end so we can hang it over the hook on our caddy. We can use it as a pendulum with this shower caddy. It's weird. If you bump it, to get it moving back and forth, just like a pendulum...it doesn't stop. It keeps on swinging back and forth, back and forth.... Jarom told me about it and that he stared at it for many minutes waiting for it to stop. It never did. The next day I bumped it and stared at it for many more minutes. It doesn't stop!!! Not until after we get out of the shower! Thus, haunted or enchanted. Take your pick.

Here is our second attempt at fondant covered, decorated cake. We're still working on getting things smoother looking and stuff. It's a chocolate cake with caramel filling. Unfortunately the caramel didn't turn out quite like it was supposed to. It turned into basically sugar. It's probably because I was lazy and used margarine instead of butter. But it's still sweet and that's what's important right?

Last night Jarom and I babysat our niece and nephew while their parents went to the football game. For the vast majority of the night, both of them were really good and just had fun playing and running/rolling around. But there was just one thing that I just can't ignore. It will probably haunt my dreams for awhile. Right when we got there, said niece was screaming. I took her and tried calming her down. Eventually I tried giving her a bottle, and that made her stop crying instantly. I had her on my lap while she was drinking. Soon, I noticed she wasn't really drinking anymore, just holding the bottle in her mouth. A couple seconds after that....the bottle came out, as well as everything in her stomach. Curdled milk and all. If you ask if this was a spit-up, I will tell you no. It was a full-blown adult-sized throw up. All over me. And a little on her brother. And a little on the couch. But, most of it, definitely on me. So she started crying again, I picked her up and hauled h

Last night I confronted the BYU Rugby team in a confrontational way. But let's start at the beginning. Last night we went to the BYU vs Utah women's volleyball game. It was going to be a good rivalry game, and fun to watch. We showed up and were told that there was a free party down the hall we could go get some food at! Nice. So we meander down and get some Krispie Cream donuts and chocolate milk. Good good. Then we take our usual seats, on the north side, right on the floor behind the servers. We settle in. Then, these guys show up. They all eventually go right up top, directly over us. And they are all wearing horribly short shorts and wife beaters. That is all. Gross. And, the have painted their bodies blue and white. Their arms, faces, everything. Weird, but whatever. And even though they are grossly dressed, at least they're up above so we don't have to see them. Oh, and, they are the BYU Rugby team. And they seem to not know anything about volleyball. They were p

When I woke up this morning, I didn't think anything unusual would happen. I just thought it would be a normal day off. (At junior high, we get Fall break! If only I had that when I was in middle school!) Oh how the turn tables. I guess it all started two days ago. Or really, it started 4 months ago, the day after my last day of work at I.S., when our car decided it had fulfilled its duty and would chug along no more. Since then, we have been working on getting it fixed. Months of aggravating slow-ups when the only thing standing between you and getting that dang part off was a rusted out, stripped bolt in a horrible place you could barely reach. And when almost ALL of your bolts you had to get off fit that description, it makes the process slow. Very slow. There were many times I wondered if we would ever even get to the head gaskets, seriously doubting that we would. Well, we eventually DID make it to the gaskets! We had to take some shortcuts when there were some bolts that real

There's a zombie on your lawn.

I can officially say I am alive now, and on record as being alive. I guess have been reborn. After a week of arguing back and forth with the unhelpful state lady about whether or not I should get a new birth certificate for FREE because it was clearly not my fault, I finally got to to talk to her manager who was VERY helpful. After proving to her the error did in fact exist, on the original, from 22 years ago, she sent me a brand new one at no charge. And it is so Pretty! My old one was just green. Ugly green, and it had been copied crooked. My new one is multiple colors on paper you can tell they tried to make hard to forge, with raised edges and shiny parts. Much better! And today I get to experience something new. I don't have to be with any students during 4th period today. And there are many teachers gone sick or on vacation today. There are not enough ladies to sub for them all. So I will be using my free period to substitute for my FIRST time. And, it's a CHINESE Class..

Today in class, the kids were working on a project on the computers where they were making a slideshow. My student got to the point where he was ready to add music to his presentation. He started browsing through the different choices, and then came upon this . To my surprise, every kid in the class got all excited and started singing along quite well... ...I just sat there with my mouth hung dumbly open and my eyebrows raised. Wow. On a side note. I thought I was past this phase in my work life, but apparently not. I went to get "school/work" pictures today. They made an announcement that staff could cut to the front of the line of students. So I walk up there along with a few others behind me. Then the lady behind the table looks past me and says "Anyone who's staff can come right up front here, you guys, you can come up here." I look straight at her and say "I'm staff." She then looks at me startled, like she didn't see me the first time, a

Here are some conversations at work/school I have observed recently. 1.Teacher: "Teach me." Students' reply: "To walk in the light! Ha" 2. Teacher: "Did anyone do anything exciting over the weekend?" Student: "I got my Temple Recommend!!!" 3. Teacher: "What are the first three words of the US Constitution?!" Student: "Um... We believe in?" Me: "...." Man there are waayyy too many Mormons around here.

Today I looked at my birth certificate for the first time. I mean, really looked at it. And I found out that I am supposed to be dead. Apparently I died on March 6, 1987. Because that's the day that my birth certificate was signed, and my birth certificate says I'm dead. Seriously. I am not going to scan it to show you because who knows what creepy things could be done if that were online. But at the top of the paper, it says "Certificate of Live Birth" just like it is supposed to. Then it has a bunch of information about me and where I was born and my parents and where they're from, and all that typical stuff. Underneath all that it says: "This certifies that the foregoing is a correct and complete transcript of a record of death on file with the Klamath County Department of Health Services." (italics and bold added) Under this statement is a very clear stamp and seal of approval and signature by the Deputy Registrar. Uh.... What does one do with tha

This is how my morning went today: I walked outside on my way to work when I dropped my lunch on the ground. The lid flew off, my lunch ended up sprayed across the ground, no longer in its tupperware to be kept safe until it went into my belly. Then I got to work and went to my first class. Upon sitting down, I started squirming. My thoughts: "Ouch, something is wrong. Something is hurting. What is going on? Ow. Squirm, augh. Must get to bathroom to investigate." I get to the bathroom, and find a lovely thumbtack stuck into my pants. Upon removal, everything goes back to normal. Lucky for me, no permanent damage has been caused. I have a friend who thinks she had a bad day at work because a girl came up and gave her a piece of paper, then quickly walked away. Upon reading this paper, it was found to have only two words on it: "You Suck." I think my physical pain exceeds her emotional pain.

Seeing as how I spend my whole work days at a junior high school in junior high classes now, (Oak Canyon Junior High, for those who are curious) I spend a lot of time "relearning" things that I learned back in my middle school days. For instance, I relearned how to add 9+ (-13), tricky I know, and I relearned how to write a 5 paragraph essay. Some may call this "digressing" instead of relearning, but to each his own. I also get the lucky treat to experience new learning with some things. For instance, I sit through a Utah State History class every other day. Since I grew up in Washington, I took Washington State History and not Utah State History. So here is an opening for possible new learning to happen. Granted, I have more of a head start with Utah than I would with any other state due to the fact that lots of Utah History coincides with Church History, but nonetheless, I feel confident I can learn SOMETHING. That's because I already have! While browsing thro

Ok, my first week of work is officially done. It consisted of two whole days! Yeah...school started on Thursday, so I started on Thursday. But I think it was good to ease into a new job a little at a time. Anyway. When I was growing up, mostly through middle school and high school, it was very common for people to think I was older than I was. In fact, most conversations about this went as follows: Them (This could be a new friend, an adult, or a boy who thinks he's going to hit on me): "So....how old are ya anyway?" Me: "15" Them: "Augh. What?!?!? You're so YOUNG!!! I can't believe I'm talking to you! I thought you were a lot older! Are you sure you're still in high school?" Me: "...yes." Well it appears that now that I am done with not only middle school and high school, but also college, my younger-looking years are starting to appear now instead of when they should have..back then. I work at a junior high school. That mean

KITCHEN: Remember Optimus Prime? Remember how this was my first attempt at cake decorating? Well last night Jarom and I decided to try fondant for the first time. We wanted a smooth cake, just like what the professionals use! Here it is. When we made this we weren't trying to make anything in particular, just a normal cake covered in fondant. When it was done, it was just so white and blank, and the top two edges just happened to be rounded, so it reminded me of a tomb stone. So I used the extra fondant to decorate a bit. Then Jarom pulled out some food coloring and painted away. Ha. But, we now know how to make fondant, so maybe we can try something more crazy soon! And oh man is it SWEET. Lots of sugar. Also, over the weekend I learned a very valuable lesson. I learned the exact time in the microwave you need to reach the explosion point of margarine. 29 seconds. Not 30. 29. Because I put it in for 30. And it exploded with 1 second left. It was the loudest boom I've ever hear

Today is going to be one of those random blog days because I just have too many things to say that aren't at all related to each other. #1. This one is most important. I GOT A JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Finally, after 8 months of searching, pouring through website after website, applying, writing, interviewing and getting turned down, I finally got one! Most of that 8 months I spent applying for office jobs, like with secretarial duties, or customer service jobs, or customer service management jobs. All of which I felt qualified for, but so did everyone else and their dog who applied to all the same jobs I did. And I was never #1. Finally, I started thinking about looking into becoming a substitute teacher. I was searching and searching, trying to find the requirements, or a place to apply, or anything. So I went to all three school district sites that are in Utah County and created a profile for myself, thinking that I could then look at the job board and apply for a sub job. But then

Probably. But not according to our group! Did anyone see that huge storm that decided to grace our presence last night in Provo? You know, the one that DUMPED and DUMPED rain and had lightening everywhere right on top of us? Well, last night was a Thursday night. And Thursday nights are volleyball nights. So what were we doing last night? Of course! Playing volleyball...outside...in the dumping buckets of rain. To our credit, when we started, it was only cloudy. And I watched the weather channel before we left the house and it didn't say anything about rain. So right when we were nearing our end of the day, we started our last game, and BAM! Water gushes from the heavens. Do we stop? Nope! Then...BAM! HUGE lightening bolt with extra loud thunder crashes down upon us. Instantly the old man who plays with us drops to the ground. Everyone stands stunned for a minute, and then bursts into laughter because he really did just drop for cover. From the lightening. And he was the only one.

Yesterday I saw a momma quail run by with her little baby quails following closely behind. This is a pretty common occurrence around here, but this is the smallest I have EVER seen them. They were TINY and itty bitty. They must have only been one or two days old. Of course I had to get some pictures. There are three in this picture. Can you spot them all? There are also 3 in this picture. SO SMALL!

Exactly this time last year, I announced we had gotten a new car. Well, why not make this a yearly tradition! Because, we have a NEW CAR!!!! Thanks to Jarom's generous parents who decided they didn't need it anymore with the purchase of a new car themselves, we are proud new owners of a Toyota Prius. Which, officially gets 5 times better gas mileage than the 4Runner. Which we have yet to fix. But now we have wheels, so life is easier. Thanks so much guys! And of course, some pictures. It's actually really fun to drive, and weird at the same time. For those of you who have never been in a hybrid car before, it's quite the experience. Your gas engine shuts off a lot. Like, basically whenever you stop pushing the gas petal. Or when you come to a stop at a light or something, your car shuts off and the electric engine takes charge. The music still plays and the AC still blows, but it's completely silent outside. You might worry that it died. But it didn't. As soon a

This last week we had a Decker family reunion to celebrate Pioneer Day. This is the first time we have all been together...since before we've been married. It was lots of fun, here are some pictures of our adventures. First we were in Rexburg Idaho. And it doesn't get any more cliche than this. Then we saw some steamy stuff. And a Bacteria Mat. I thought this was a cool shot with the sun coming through the steamies. We went to some waterfalls and took pictures. And...some excited Chinese tourists took pictures of us. This is Jarom's sister and her daughter. They apparently really liked the baby. I think they have a thing for pinching baby fat. And yes, I am taking a picture of them taking pictures of her. But they can't speak English, so it's all good. And of course we saw some animals. The end.

At our new favorite grocery store, the Buy Low, we found a little Pop Rock stand that had many new and create ways to use Pop Rocks. We bought one of each. Here are some pictures of them. You can see there are little containers of Pop Rocks that you can stick that rolling candy thing into it and lick them off, there is a milk chocolate candy bar with pop rocks IN it (my personal favorite), and there is a chemistry set with pop rocks. This we have demonstrated for you on video. And here we have demonstrated the taste...wonderfullness. I don't know if I recommend eating this one or not...It's pretty powerful. And didn't explode as much as I hoped for. But the rest of the Pop Rock packages are pretty fun, and did I mention how much I like the chocolate with Pop Rocks? I recommend that one for everyone. Remember: BUY LOW. It could change your life.

A few days ago we just had a couple of odd happenings happen at our door. While Jarom was still asleep, there was a knock at the door. And then the doorbell rang. And then it rang again. This person is obviously intent on talking to someone. So I answer the door. Our conversation goes as follows: Spanish-Speaking Mexican Man: "Hola!" Non-Spanish Speaking Me: "Hello." Mexican Man: "Como Estau?" (Is that spelled right? Who knows.) Me: "....Good?..." Mexican Man: "Blah blah blah blah ramble ramble rambling, stuff I have no idea what he is saying because guess what? It's SPANISH!" (He then stares at me expectantly waiting for an answer) Me: "....." (Have I done ANYTHING to suggest the fact that I may possibly know Spanish and understand you?) "Um...I don't speak Spanish." Mexican Man: "Oh! Lalalalalal tralla la boomtiay (sounding kind of apologetic in his tone, but still going on in Spanish) Lalalla 23 alal

Well it has been quite awhile since I have had access to the internet, which would explain my lack of blogging for the past month. And now I have to make up for the lost time and fill everyone in on our lives over the last month. This may turn out to be a very long post…be warned. As you should know, by reading my last post, I am now out of work. My last day was nice, I got some cake and lots of cookies, and didn’t do many work related things. A good way to end I think. Now I have to back-track for a minute before coming back up to present day. We bought our most recent car, the 4Runner, almost one year ago. When we bought it, we had told the guy we were buying it from that it was okay that it was ugly looking and that it didn’t have to be the fastest best car out there, because it’s main purpose was going to be to take me to work and back and everyday, which was approximately 1-2 miles away. Just far enough that it would still be walk-able, but was really annoying to walk and would be

Tomorrow is going to be my last day of work at good old Independent Study. It's kind of sad, but also kind of exciting and scary all at the same time. It's sad because I've been here for so long. This is the longest I've ever had one job, and I have made a lot of really good friends here. It's exciting because I will get to have a lot of time off to do whatever I want during the day! And it's scary because I don't have another job lined up yet. After 6 months of applying and interviewing, I'm still none the better for it. I was lucky enough to have one co-worker who cared enough about me and my departure to give me a going-away present. I don't really know why I'm sharing it with you, but here it is: This is the picture he used as a reference to update mine with: Any resemblance? It took him two days to create this picture. He said I was wise enough to become a General Authority. I told him I would have to be a man for that. So he decided to mak