Deliver Us From Savage Garden (and Other Post-Christmas Stories)

I am not very good at putting in these pictures yet... I meant for them to go at the end of the post. Oh well! Here they are:

1. Building our candy houses

2. Displaying our candy houses

3. Eating Christmas Eve dinner (mmmm... chicken and sukiyaki)

4. Zak playing the Lightning Shock game (look at that bicep!)

5. Christmas morning at the parents'

Now, for the rant that originally started this post: You know, I don't have anything against Savage Garden as a general rule. But when you're made to listen to their entire (lame) cd due to forced proximity, it's really not cool. Quite distressing, actually. "I would fly you to the moon and back if you'll be, if you'll be, if you'll be my baby"?!? Come ON.

Coming back to work after a weeks' vacation is hard enough, right? Whatever happened to a little peace and quiet? Or a little U2? Some Beatles? Maybe even some Elvis or John Denver? Can we get some cool music in here, please? Come on, people!

Zak and I had a great Christmas. We took a trip to Lava Hot Springs in Idaho last Wednesday. We enjoyed the outdoor hot springs only slightly more than the jetted tub in our hotel room (it was 14 degrees outside...brrr), and ate at the only two open restaurants in town. There are probably about ten restaurants total in Lava, but only two are open in the winter. Typical, right? We took some pictures in Lava, but they were taken on our camera phones since our camera wasn't working. I haven't gotten around to downloading the pictures to a computer yet. Look for those in an upcoming post.

We took a short trip to Provo as well and had a chance to play the Wii (thank you Carolyn and Jacob!). It was very fun to play, and many of you know that's saying a lot for me. I don't usually enjoy video games much, but I stayed up until 3 am playing Wii Sports... that should give you an idea of how fun the Wii is. Zak wants to save some money so that we can buy one... We'll see!

We got back to Logan in time for Festivus on the 23rd. We got together at Burke and Ben's place and the guys played Halo or Far Cry (who knows?! aren't they practically the same game?) while the girls sat around and chatted and watched Law and Order. We went for hot chocolate at Village Inn, which was fun. I think there were supposed to be some feats of strength and airing of grievances, but that never materialized. I guess the video games were too much fun.
Christmas Eve and Christmas day were spent at Zak's parents' house. We had a good time just hanging out with family. I got a new flat iron and a facial at Serendipity Salon, and Zak got a Keane cd and some framed Van Gogh prints. We also received a few gift cards -- my favorite, guilt-free shopping!

We learned from my mom on Christmas Day that my uncle, David Thompson, was in a bad car accident on the 23rd. He was life-flighted to LDS Hospital in Salt Lake from St. George and has had an operation to re-fuse base of the skull and the top of the spine. From all reports, he is doing well, and can move all his limbs, so we are hoping for a full recovery for him. Please keep him in your prayers!

And finally, the countdown until 24 premieres is down to 17 days! Can't wait to see Jack Bauer back in action. Come on, January 14th!

And on that very happy note, happy new year, everybody!

Glory Part II

Here's that other picture. I couldn't get it where I wanted it on the other post... Two posts in one day!! That is unprecedented in the history of this blog.

In All Our Glory

Well, here we are. Mom and Dad asked for a picture for Christmas and this is it! I was mostly just excited that I finally have something to post on the blog so that it's not so... textual. Is that a word?

Don't worry, Mom and Dad, I will be sending a printed copy to you. There's another picture that we took that turned out pretty well (thanks to Rhett and his magic editing skills) that I'll include at the end of this post. After watching Rhett and Burke work, I now understand why models in magazines look so good--it's got to be fake. They can make anyone look good, no matter what the original picture looks like. Not that they messed too much with our pictures. They didn't, just kind of helped it look less... old. We had some wrinkles taken out, if you can believe that. Wrinkles!

I managed to make it all the way through November without one single post. Yikes. It's a little scary how fast time passes. I have settled in nicely in the Lending Center, and now have my own cubicle in which to sit. I am feeling more and more comfortable with the job, which is nice, and it's wonderful to get off work at 5 pm and be home by 5:05 pm. Love it!

So here's the recap for the last month and a half: Thanksgiving was good. We spent the day in Millville with Zak's family. We had a fun day and ate lots of food. We also had a chance to visit with some of my family the Sunday following Thanksgiving. Zak and I went to Lehi, to Scott and Analee's new house (beautiful!) and had dinner with Scott, Analee, Karen, David, and Nicole. Also present were all the kids, who are getting so big, and are all very cute, and Nicole's boyfriend, Greg. It was a fun night, and so good to see everyone who was there.

December has been quite busy so far, what with Christmas parties and church functions. I think I just have two more gifts to buy and a few more to finish (i.e. above picture project). Other than that, we are ready!

For those of you who aren't familiar with Zak's penchant for finding, unwrapping, and rewrapping gifts before Christmas, we have started a little holiday tradition in order to compromise. I really don't like it when Zak unwraps his gift or gifts before Christmas, hello, it spoils the surprise! He loves to hunt for and unwrap gifts before the big day. He and his brothers once took a piece of drywall down in order to get at the goods when they were younger. I think the compromise that evolved for us is good. It's worked well for us so far! I have hidden (cleverly, in my opinion) Zak's hide-and-seek gifts throughout our house (usually just little items from a dollar store or someplace like that). Unfortunately, I'm not as clever as I thought, since he has already found four of the nine. But there are some that I feel confident he won't find... I hope that will be the case. I don't have many good hiding places in our house.

Starting next week I will be off work for a week, and Zak and I are thinking about taking a little road trip. We still don't know where we'll go or what we'll do, but we'll figure it out, I'm sure. Probably as we are backing out of the driveway.

That is pretty much it! No other big news to tell. We're excited for the holiday season, and hope that all of you have a great Christmas and a happy new year!

Revisions to Plans

You know how you always think you have life figured out, and then something throws you for a bit of a loop? It's not a big deal, really. I decided not to go forward with the online medical transcription course I planned to start at the end of this month. It's too big of a time commitment for me right now, what with trying to fulfill my church calling and learn my new job and so forth. Plus, it no longer seems like the solution I once thought it could be. So anyway, not that big of a change, but big enough.
I am settling in at the Lending Center. I still don't have a permanent place to sit, so I'm kind of bouncing around between cubicles for the time being. Once I'm fully trained, I'll get a permanent place and will be able to get settled. I am doing okay with learning the decisioning process. I think that I know the loan policy pretty well, now I just need lots of practice.
Anyway, things are going well. Zak is doing well in school. We have been listening to books on CD and have really been enjoying them. We are working on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, and Inkspell (sequel to Inkheart) right now. It's pretty fun!
Well...sorry that this is a boring post. That's all I have to write at the moment!

e.g. scooters, vacation, fall

I wonder why it says "Labels for this post: e.g. scooters, vacation, fall" at the bottom of my posting page. Maybe it's because I am awful at picking titles for my posts and the friendly folks at Blogger.com decided to give me a hand. In any case, I don't have anything to post that deals with scooters, vacation, or fall, other than the fact that it is fall, I no longer ride my scooter because it is way too cold, and I could use a vacation. But, come to that, we could probably all use a vacation.
The news that I wanted to post is that I have received an offer for a new job within the credit union in the lending department. I will be starting tomorrow as a loan officer! I'll be decisioning loans now instead of merely taking applications and closing loans. I am pretty excited about this change for several reasons. First, the branch I will be working at is 7 blocks from our house. I will be able to walk or ride my bike when the weather is nice, and when it's not, I won't have to go so far. Less mileage means less gas! Second, I am no longer working with the public. It's not that I don't like people, I really do. Usually. I just don't always have quite the knack of dealing with peoples' quirks. (Translated: psychoses.) Third, I get a pay raise, which is always super nice. (By the way, these are not necessarily listed in order of importance. Or any order at all.) Fourth, I am expanding my skills and learning how to decision loans. Fifth, I will be able to go home for lunch every day. Sixth, I will be off by 5 pm most nights from here on out, which means a lot to me, since I've been working until or beyond 6 pm for the last two years. The list goes on...I am sure there are more benefits that I haven't thought of yet.
So Zak and I are both pretty excited about this new opportunity. I will be sad to leave Smithfield (or at least the new break room--uhhh, just kidding...) but it will be great to jump into a new job. The other thing that I will miss about Smithfield is our awesome Muzak. We have U2's "Electrical Storm" playing right now. You may think I'm kidding about "awesome" Muzak, but any station that plays U2 is okay with me. :) Now it's playing some 90's club tune that you would expect to find on A Night at the Roxbury. In fact, I think it was on Night at the Roxbury. Ah, blessed Muzak. I will miss you.
Aside from that news, the only other news that Knutti family members are probably not aware of is that Taylor broke his femur in his football game last Tuesday. He was at Primary Children's Medical Center in Salt Lake from Tuesday night to Friday afternoon. He had a rod put in to his femur and is recovering nicely amidst flurries of female visitors. (There have been a few male visitors, but the bulk have been female. Or at least the most persistent, right Tay?) So, we all wish a speedy recovery to Tay!

Best Birthday Present

Zak passed his writing test to get into the teaching certification program! We found out yesterday afternoon. We are both very excited! This gives us a much better idea of when Zak will be done with school. We are hoping that he will graduate in May 2008. It seems far away, but the time will fly by. It's only three semesters more!
And yes, today is my birthday... I am off work, which is another great birthday present! I spent the morning being lazy and reading, and in the next little while, Zak and I will go to Layton for the afternoon. It should be fun!

This Old House

As many of you know, Zak and I live in a rather old house (circa 1930s, at least in my opinion, which isn't worth very much when it comes to putting a date on a structure since I don't know that much about architecture). We like our old, split-down-the-middle house, mainly because the rent is extremely low and our landlord pays for the gas bill due to us having to share a heating system with Donna (our neighbor...obviously). We have control of the thermostat, so we decide whether Donna freezes or bakes. Donna is a swell gal. She's a very quiet retired teacher, and occasionally brings us extra chocolate zucchini cake or corn or strawberries. We like Donna lots. She is pretty much an ideal neighbor. The only fault that she has is that we think she watches Meet Me in St. Louis almost every night. I can only have myself a merry little Christmas so many times... The sound carries right through the vents.
We all froze last week. Our landlord had come to replace shingles on the roof and in the process of doing this he somehow knocked out the power in the front of our house. We had no power in the front room, our bedroom, or the yucky-icky basement that I don't like to go in if it's not light outside. There are mice down there. One of them is petrified. Zak put it in a jar and put a baseball on top (to make me feel like it couldn't get out, even though I know it can't because it is dead and petrified). He says he leaves it down there as a warning for the other mice. I say it is gross and unsanitary.
Coming back from that tangent, what all of that means is that the furnace wasn't running last week. Now, ordinarily, this wouldn't be a problem in late September. But we live in Logan where it's in the low 40's at this time of year. Brrrrr.
After 48 hours of heat deprivation, our power finally came back on. We don't know what our landlord did to accomplish this, and as lesser mortals, would do better not to ask.
Through the power outage in the front part of the house, we did have power in the bathroom and kitchen, arguably two of the most important rooms in the house in which to have power. So I really ought to stop my grousing and be grateful for what we did have... Now that a week has passed, I can find it a little funny and laugh at it.
Zak and I enjoyed conference this weekend--many, many good messages. We also celebrated Taylor's birthday on Sunday. I feel that October birthdays are great. No reason in particular... other than mine is in October. =)
Tay is 15! That means it's time to start driving. I feel his pain, at least the pain he will feel before and during the road test. (And possibly after, if he's anything like me and has to take it three times to pass. Now that's embarrassing!) The memory of my own motorcycle road test is still quite fresh in my mind. Whew! Glad that's over. At least that one I passed on the first try.
Speaking of the scooter, I am still riding it. It's darn cold, and I probably look like the abominable snow-woman all bundled up, but it's hard to give up that good gas mileage for paltry things like warmth, comfort, non-frozen hands, and the radio on the ride to work. Sigh.
Zak took his test to get into the teaching certification program on Friday. We will find out in a couple of weeks if he passed it or not. Keep your fingers crossed for us!
School is going great for Zak. He is really enjoying his psychology classes, especially anything to do with behavioral psychology. Work is very quiet right now. I'm hoping that it starts picking up again very soon!
I have been listening to Harry Potter on tape over the last little while. That J.K. Rowling is a rich woman, but she deserves it. I must have read those books five or six times each, and I still love reading them. I am not often a repeat-reader. Another series that I started reading recently is the Inheritance series by Christopher Paolini. It's about dragons and their riders. He wrote the first book when he was 15 years old! It's completely impressive for a 15-year-old author. I really enjoyed it. Larry bought the second book (that's where I got the first book, too--thanks, Larry! and sorry about the peach juice that got smashed into the book...) and I will read that one as soon as he is done. I think that Paolini is working on the third book of the trilogy right now.
The peach juice got onto the book because I was trying to squeeze too much into the seat of the scooter. Barb and Larry have an apple tree, a pear tree, and a peach tree that all produced fruit this fall. The peaches are just about too old for eating, and I had put a peach in my little lunch bag with the book mentioned above. I pushed down really hard, congratulated myself at having made everything fit, and drove to work. When I got to work and opened the seat, I had one of those "Oh, shoot" moments as I pulled out the now-dripping lunch bag. The peach had not held up under the pressure and was smashed in half. Who knew I was so strong? We have definitely enjoyed the peaches and apples. I don't like pears, which is why I have not enjoyed those. I haven't been eating them.
Well... now that the boring details of my life have been enumerated here, I will get back to work... not that there's anything to do...

It's Official!

I am a licensed motorcyclist as of this past Thursday morning at about 11:30am. (Insert favorite celebratory phrase here)!!! The driving portion of the motorcycle test was a little bit hard, and you are allowed to miss 10 points, which is the number that I missed. Anyway, I made it, and now I'm official. Let's all celebrate!
Thursday afternoon the heavens opened and began to dump rain on us. It hasn't stopped since, and I was quite sad this morning to notice snow (gasp) on the mountains! It's only September, and we've got snow in the mountains! Ah, Logan.
There's not too much else to report. I am still pretty excited about the motorcycle license thing. I finished my medical terminology class on Tuesday with an A! I was pretty excited about that, too. My teacher was really lenient on the tests and let us correct our answers on everything for half credit (except the final). I really think that's why I did so well. So thanks, Randy!
I start the medical transcription program online on October 2nd and I am pretty excited about that, too. It's very interesting to learn about the body systems and how they work. Diseases and disorders are less fun to learn about, but they are a part of life, too, so it's good to know about them. In any case, I'll let everyone know how that is going once I get started.
Happy Saturday, everyone!

For Shame!

I am going to be better about blogging. I have recently had friends and family members start blogging (or I've found their blogs which were started long ago) --you know who you are-- and it is really fun to see what everyone is up to! So, although my life is far from interesting, I will make a more concerted effort to keep my blog updated and to add pictures as well, so that it is more interesting to look at!
Fall is here in Cache Valley and it's a pretty nice change from the heat of the summer. I get cold at night again, and get to have a comforter on the bed again. Hooray!
Work has been busy, then quiet. Busy, then quiet. Busy, then quiet. You get the idea. Not too much else to mention, except at this point of the quarter, I am still almost half a million short on my consumer loan goal. Yikes! I do the best I can, and that's pretty much all I can do, right?
Zak started school again at the end of August and is taking two psychology classes. They are more demanding than he expected, but I know that he's doing just fine.
I have a new calling at church. I am the education counselor in the Relief Society. That has been a challenge to adjust to Sunday meetings and seemingly endless phone calls throughout the week! But it is fun, too, to have an excuse to get to know more of the sisters in our ward, and I am really enjoying working with the other sisters in the presidency.
In other unrelated news, I am getting really excited for Christmas! I have already got a family exchange list going and have begun to hunt down addresses for the Christmas letter that we will actually get around to writing and sending this year! I wish that Zak and I were going to be able to go to St. Louis for Christmas, but it probably isn't going to happen. Plane tickets are just too expensive!
Speaking of trips, Zak and I had a rather fun trip to Las Vegas in August. I took a week off work and we drove down, stopping to visit friends and family along the way. We saw my grandma in Salt Lake, who showed us a scrapbook of family photos, including a lot of pictures of my dad as a child that I hadn't seen before. We also saw a friend of Zak's from his mission and a friend of mine from college. Carolyn and Jacob were more than generous in opening their home to us for the night once we got to Provo. We played some Super Smash Brothers (or Smashmouth Brothers, as Zak likes to call it...ahh, same difference!) and then headed for bed. We got up early the next morning and finished our drive to Vegas. We stayed at the Sahara Hotel for a couple of days, and did a LOT of walking up and down the Strip. Holy Cow, did we walk!
Incidentally, we got the trip by listening to one of those "buy these vacation credits for $20,000" things, and it was all free. Otherwise, we probably wouldn't have gone, so lucky us!
Two major highlights of the trip: we were able to attend the Las Vegas temple, which was beautiful (it's very pink inside, not what you'd expect), and we got a very cool "insider" tour of the Hoover Dam. Brent took us all through the dam and we got to see some crazy things! It was so interesting to learn about how the dam was built and how it operates. The power that water can create is astounding!
The trip ended with a whimper. My whimper, to be exact. Let me caution everyone: don't ever eat at the Circus Circus buffet, which is what we did Friday night before we left Vegas. I was so, so sick after we ate there... and we drove home anyway (Sprite in hand)! Luckily, there were no incidents along the road as we drove back to Logan. It was a fun getaway!

Me again

Well... no excuses. Or maybe just one: It's been a busy couple of months. So here's the rundown on what's happening in Cache Valley....
Summer heat started getting really disgusting about July 1st. It's been fairly warm, at least in the high 90s all month. Last Saturday it was 106 degrees! We have been sleeping with the windows open and the fans going. It's not too bad at night. At least there's no humidity!
On July 1st, Zak and I went to Bear Lake. We had a fun afternoon and got fried. I thought that applying sunscreen once would be enough. Sadly, it was not. The backs of my knees are still not quite the same. On the way home, we were both pretty drowsy, so we played the "I'm going on a trip and I'm taking a _____ " game, from A to Z. It was kind of a funny game.
Anyway, our second wedding anniversary was on July 9th. Two years! Hurray! We celebrated by going to the demolition derby the night of the 8th at the fairgrounds. Just as the first heat started, a car got flipped onto its side. Pretty cool stuff, huh? Zak was excited to have seen it and has been telling everyone about it. So yeah, we've been married two years now. It's been a wild ride so far, and promises to get wilder!
In the last week, I have received a new calling. I'm the Education counselor in the Relief Society presidency now. We had our first presidency meeting which was supposed to have lasted one hour... try two and a half! We sure do get along! I think it's going to be a challenging but fun calling to have.
Zak finished his classes on July 7th, and was pretty happy about that. He has been enjoying his summer off and working for his dad still.
I started my first night class on July 11th. It's medical terminology and I have really been enjoying it. I'm learning all kinds of fun word parts and learning how to create words from those word parts. For instance, do you know what a podogram is? How about a dactylogram? A podogram is a footprint and a dactylogram is a fingerprint. Kind of cool, huh? I will be in class until September 14th, and then the online medical transcription program will start on October 2nd. I have one year to complete the program, but I am going to try to get it done in six months. So that's what I've been up to lately. It's challenging to work full time and to be back in school, even if it is only one class, but I am enjoying myself. Sure keeps me busy!
I hope that all is well with the family. One last thing: has anyone heard of a game called Killer Bunnies? Zak and I got it last week, and it has become a nightly thing for him to play it with his family. I play sometimes, too, and it is really fun!
Um...I think that is all for now! Keep me posted on what's going on with all of you!

I have a tendecy to lapse...

I am terrible at writing very frequently. Geez. Well, the last few months have been quiet, I guess that's one reason that I haven't been writing. Not much to tell!
In April, Zak was very busy with finals and final papers and the like. He finished with his classes at the beginning of May. He was so happy! And then his online class started for the summer, and on Monday, he starts his two summer classes. It seems never-ending, but we only have about two years left! (Hopefully less if we are lucky.)
Work has been very busy. We had one teller quit, one teller had a baby, and the rest of us are all working like mad to make up for the deficiency. In any case, work is usually busy in the summer. Something about the warm weather makes everyone want to buy new cars/ATVs/travel trailers... the list goes on.
I got a very fun bike in April that I ride lots and lots. I tell Zak it is one of my joys in life.
We also got a new scooter in May. It's lots of fun to ride--and here's the really shocker--I ride it to work all the time! I don't have my motorcycle restriction on my license yet, but I am working on it! I have my learner's permit. It's so good on gas mileage, and it is pretty fun to ride.
Anyway, that's about all that is going on with us for now. I hope you are all doing well! E-mail me!

In Like a Lion

March is starting in a very blustery and windy way! We have had some snow, but most of it has melted off, though it stays bitterly cold (to me--to Dad, it would be "refreshingly brisk"). Today our little CU branch is being rocked by crazy-fast wind. Hopefully the electricity stays on!
Well, let's see. I'm right on schedule for my once-a-month post. I talked to Dad the other night, and he mentioned that it had been a while since my last post... sorry about that! Well, here's the update on Zak and Sarah for all of you who have been dying to know...
Zak continues to do well in school. This week is spring break, and he is spending lots of time reading and researching for one of his big semester projects. He continues to work with his dad doing construction. Work is going about the same for me as it was at the time of my last post. Quiet, but that's to be expected at this time of the year. Other than that, life is going on as it usually does.
We just got a new couch. The neighbors across from Zak's parents are moving and are cleaning out things that they do not want to take with them. So we got a green couch that has a hide-a-bed. It's pretty comfy to sit on. Zak watched a movie while laying on the hide-a-bed the other night after I went to sleep (so I haven't tried it out), and he says that the bed is pretty comfy too. We are excited about it. That means that we have a place for visitors to sleep... you are all welcome anytime!
In other unrelated news, Zak wants to get a new scooter. I can't say that I'm opposed to that idea. He wants to get a TN'G Milano, which is different from our current Metro in the following ways: 1-It's actually made for two people to ride, so there is a place for me to put my feet, 2-It's 150cc (Metro is 49cc). I think that's all. It is a cool-looking scooter, and would give us a more cost-effective way to get around in the summer when it is warm. It only holds 1 gallon, and goes for about 100 miles on one gallon! I would definitely rather spend $2.50 at the gas station than $35-40. We haven't decided anything yet, but I think it would be cool.
If any of you remember my reference to "24" in the last post, you will be saddened to know that Edgar Stiles is no more. He died in the last episode from being exposed to toxic nerve gas. We will all miss him. Let's have a moment of silence. Thank you.
There is a new show on TV that Zak and I checked out last week. It's called "The Unit" and features Dennis Haysbert. Any 24 fan will know that he plays President Palmer from 24. It's pretty interesting for any of you who have an interest in covert sections of the military and what they do.
I don't know if any of you have heard about a new show that HBO is airing soon called "Big Love." I read a little blurb about it online yesterday, and apparently it's a show about polygamy. Not sure that it's one I'd want to watch no matter what my religion is, but it's even more distateful to me considering that I'm LDS. It's amazing what the media is doing. And I don't mean amazing in a good way, y'know?
Um, what else, what else? Zak and I have a trip to Vegas planned in August. We got it for free, just for listening to a high-pressure presentation about buying vacation credits from a company that sells them. The highlight of that night was when the lady who was assigned to pressure us asked Zak, with almost a tear in her eye and all the appropriate dramatic pauses (she was very good), "What could be more important to you than your family?" Zak, being the jokester he is, replied, "Uh...myself?" At that, the lady looked like she was going to fall out of her chair. I think she realized we weren't buying anything at that point. It was a funny experience, especially because I know Zak was just kidding.
In other trip news - we are also planning to go to St. Louis for Christmas. I hope some of you other siblings are also planning to come! It would be great to see you.
I hope you are all well. Please email, call, post comments on my blog. I would love to heard from you!

Happy V-Day!

I guess once a month isn't too bad... right? Let's see if I can remember everything that has happened in the last month. January was a quiet month. I spent a lot of the month being sick. I got a terrible flu bug that I am still trying to get over. I missed three days of work (which is a lot for me) and spent a lot of time sleeping. I even bought a humidifier. Crazy, huh? Luckily, I am feeling much, much better now and just have the sniffles. Soon those will go away, too, and I will be a new woman!
Zak has, of course, been doing well in school. His four English classes are good - he doesn't care much for the way one of them is taught, but other than that, he likes them. I think. He reads a lot, and has more papers than I remember him having in prior semesters. He is a trooper, though, and does very well. Is it trooper or trouper? I don't think those words mean the same thing. Huh.
Work is going well for me, although it is definitely the slow season. I have spent time cleaning the microwave, doing dishes in the break room, and other various and sundries. I even occasionally get to help a member! I was blessed to get another raise last month. Raises are always welcome!
Other than the aforementioned, there isn't a lot going on for Zak and me. Zak has been riding Metro (our scooter) to work and freezing in the process, but he's learned how to REALLY bundle up. There isn't any skin showing anywhere by the time he's done. He said that he has never experienced frozen eyeballs before he began these winter rides. Yikes. I think he has worked out a solution for that, thank heavens.
Our plans for Valentine's day consist of Zak going to school all day, and me working all day. I am going to get some yummy breadsticks at Pizza Plus after work and go hang out with Zak and his parents in Millville.
Beck and Kaiya are at the folks' house right now while Nik and Corey enjoy a Seattle getaway, and so we will get to play with them a little before they go to bed. It is so fun to have them here! I love listening to them. Beck explained to me last night why he doesn't like clocks, and Kaiya is just sweet. She is really talking a lot, and is so girly and cute. What fun Zak and I have to look forward to!
Um, the only other thing of note is that 24 started on January 15th, and it is the coolest show ever. We all enjoy watching it very much, and Rhett, Burke, and Ben even met the guy who plays Edgar Stiles while they were in Park City for the Sundance Film Festival. Jack Bauer is without a doubt the best action hero ever. (At least, according to Zak, Rhett, Burke, and Ben.) They think that he should go head-to-head with Jason Bourne. Or maybe James Bond. He is pretty cool. And now it's time to invoke Rule #4 on myself again... The people on TV are not real, so stop talking about them like they are.
We just enjoy the show. Is that so wrong?
I hope that all of you are doing well and that you have a great Valentine's Day!

Happy New Year!

I know I'm very overdue for another blog, as usual. It's just a matter of making the time.
Our Christmas and New Years seasons were very nice. Not very much snow, but don't you fret, Mother Nature is making up for it in the blustery month of January. Yesterday we got several inches - all coming in the late afternoon hours. This, of course, made driving home after work somewhat of a scary proposition... We had people on Main Street still going 50 or 60 miles per hour - um, not such a great idea when the roads are slushy and slippery. Just in case any of those drivers out there need clarification as to driving safety, I can give it to you. Please ask. No really.
School has started once again for Zak. He is taking four English classes this semester, which he alternately feels as though he will enjoy, then feels as though the classes (and his professors) will eat him alive! I know that he will do very well, as he always does. Incidentally, for anyone who is in college or loves books--half.com is the place to buy. I love that place! We ended up spending about $125 for books that would otherwise have cost us much more. (When I was in college, I think I regularly spent between $300 and $400 on books.) That $125 is including shipping and handling, so these books are very inexpensive!! Also, I have recently started selling on half.com and have found it to be very, very easy. Not like e-bay. Selling on e-bay scares me a little, for some reason. (I guess the same reason that corn mazes scare me - no reason at all.)
Work is plugging along for me. We have some very optimistic goals for the year, so that will keep life interesting and challenging. Notice how I never say much about work? I don't really know why that is. Probably due to confidentiality issues. If anyone wants to know more, just ask me. I still won't tell... ha ha ha. :)
Ah! One other item of interest - Zak has decided to buy his brother Rhett's scooter. We are (he is) sort of (very) excited about this! It should be fun to ride when the weather is a little warmer, though Zak thinks the conditions NOW are pretty good...that crazy kid!
Um... can't think of anything else earth-shattering at the moment, although I do have a bit of a testimonial to give. Every once in a while I will think of a movie that I thought was pretty cool as a kid, and suggest to Zak that we hunt it down and watch it. His advice, nine times out of ten, is to leave the movie in the past. If we watch it again, he says, we will just be disappointed, and wonder what in the world was wrong with us when we were kids to make us think that it was that great. I am saddened to say that he is correct. We checked out "In Like Flint" from our local library the other night and watched it. While I think it still has great merit as a spy-spoof, and parts of it were pretty funny, it was somehow not as great as I remembered. (Sorry Dad! But hey, our library does have "Forbidden Planet" so maybe I'll get crazy one day and check that one out!)
So, boys and girls, the lesson is--Zak is right. Think of those movies with happy and fond memories, but don't watch them again!
And with that, I leave you for the time being. I will do my very best to be a more frequent blogger in 2006!

Irregardless vs. Regardless

Did you know that these two words mean virtually the same thing - except that you are considered to be an uneducated boor if you use "irregardless?" Yep, it's true. Thought you might like to know. (Mostly because I used the word "irregardless" on Monday and was corrected. Don't want that happening to you.)
In other unrelated news: Life is going along just fine. Zak was in a car accident yesterday (but not in our car--wouldn't that be rich now that we've almost had it for one month?) and is fine. He was with his brother Rhett and our friend Ben. Luckily, everyone is fine, no serious injuries. It wasn't the best call I've ever gotten at work, though, that's for sure. "Hi Sarah. Don't freak out, but I was just in a car accident and now I'm at the hospital. Everyone's okay, but I have to go."
Well. We're all just glad that Zaky is okay. (And that Rhetty and Benny are okay, too.)
In somewhat related news: Our Toyota gave us some trouble over the weekend and we discovered Monday that the reason for the trouble was that our battery was dead. We bought a new battery and are now back in business. For a little bit there, we were wondering what sort of luck this presages for us with automobiles. We haven't had the darn thing a month yet!
This past weekend was very fun. Zak and I went to Salt Lake with his mom and dad and brother Taylor. We spent Saturday afternoon shopping, and then went to a performance of The Messiah that evening at the University of Utah. It was performed by a group called The Oratorios (I think) that our brother-in-law Kurt is in. They did a great job! I always love to hear The Messiah at Christmas time.
We slept over at the Travelodge and went to Music and the Spoken Word on Sunday morning, which was great! The Brett Family Singers from Branson, MO, were the guest singers, and did a wonderful job. All in all, a fun weekend. We were able to enjoy the First Presidency Christmas devotional in Preston, ID, on Sunday evening. I think Zak is the only one who noticed that something was a little funny about the lady screaming "It's a lie! It's all tricks!" right as the program began. Luckily, security took care of her quickly and as discreetly as possible. I guess she (thinks she) is a descendant of Joseph Smith and had some important documents to share. Poor lady.
This week has been action-packed, thus far. We made candy houses Monday night, which is always a treat. It's fun to see what new and crazy designs the Lewis family (and Foster family this year) comes up with. My favorite was Burke's behemoth well-like tower. He made it out of candy, and filled it to the top with candy. Then he sealed it off with frosting that hardens just about like cement, and put more candy on top. It was truly an accomplishment.
Tuesday night was a pick-up-the-laundry (thank you, Barb) and go-to-tithing settlement night. Tonight is a clean-the-house and go-grocery-shopping kind of night. And Alias is on at 9pm. Tomorrow night is our work Christmas party - I am excited for this. Should be fun. That's about all I have for the moment. I hope everyone else is having a good week!

Fewer and further between

That's how my blogs seem to be shaping up. I have not had much time to write lately. I will do better in the future. Well, here's the recap on the month of November for Sarah and Zak in Cache Valley:
We sold our Mazda on the first of the month, thinking we would just drive Zak's 1990 Volvo with 230,000 miles. (That is the correct amount of zeroes behind the "23" in case you were curious.) We thought we were being good and getting out of debt, plus the Volvo has heated seats. Pretty killin', as Zak would say, except for the part where the Volvo broke down the same night we sold the Mazda. We got it fixed a few days later, and it ran like a champ -- for four days. At that point, we went shopping for another car.
We are now the owners of a 2000 Toyota Camry. It's a pretty nice car except for its squeaky brakes, which of course did not squeak during any of the test drives we took. Well, it's functioning fine and getting us from point A to point B, and that is really what matters. Luckily, we owe much less on our new car than we did on the Mazda. To sum up: what a huge learning experience! I miss my Mazda, but I think that we are going to be just fine. Also, I think that Zak will be getting his much longed-for scooter come spring, so we can save money on gas once the weather is a little warmer than it is now!
I think the next big point is Thanksgiving, which took place last week as you all know. Carolyn, Jake, and Nicole came up to Logan from Provo for the big day. We had a great meal, played a pretty fun game of soccer (post-meal... what were we thinking?), and enjoyed seeing Harry Potter 4: The Goblet of Fire. I rather liked the movie. We had a good time visiting and eating crackers and cheese. It was really fun to have them here.
We had our first snow of the season over the weekend. It was pretty light and had mostly melted off by Sunday afternoon, but we got a few inches of snow again yesterday. I fear the cycle will just continue for several months now. Sigh. That's Logan!
On Monday night, I finished my Christmas shopping and shipped off all Christmas presents to out-of-state destinations. I also learned that FedEx does not deliver to P.O. Boxes (DUH) because only the US post office has access to those. What can I say? I just didn't think it through.
In any case, Zak and I are happy and healthy, and couldn't ask for more as we continue through the holiday season. Work has been going well lately, and every semester that goes by is one closer to graduation. Zak and I are both very excited for that day to come!
Well, readers and loved ones, hopefully you are all well, too, and are enjoying your holiday season. I love you guys!

Shamefully overdue

It's been a few weeks since I last blogged and I have no excuse. Just lazy, I guess. Things are going great in Logan. Zak is finishing up the fall semester (well, kind of - there are five and a half weeks left) and is doing well in all of his classes. I am still enjoying work. Nothing too exciting to report.
I guess maybe that's why I haven't written - I have nothing exciting to say. I am looking forward to Christmas and almost have all my shopping done. My plan is always to be done by the last day of November, just so I can enjoy the Christmas season without having to shop during the month of December. I think I am well on my way to achieving that goal this year.
It has been quiet for the last week or so. Rhett, Candyce, Burke, Britt, and Kurt have been in Taiwan. They return late Friday night and Zak is excited to have his best friends back. (We have been enjoying hanging out with Spack, however, during the absence of the other best friends.)
I guess that's about all I have for right now. I'll try to have a more exciting life so that I can write more often.
Wait a minute - I forgot all about Halloween! Here's a little bit about our Halloween 2005: Zak and I carved a pumpkin (the first I can remember doing - Mom, maybe you can correct my faulty memory - did we ever carve pumpkins when I was a kid?) on Saturday night. I have secretly named him Arthur and am very proud of how he turned out. (Zak gave him some wicked cool eyebrows.) He is still sitting on our front porch, despite Zak's penchant for smashing pumpkins on Halloween night. Thank goodness. Halloween night was a fun night - we went to Zak's parents' house and then went to a neighbor's to get donuts. Yum! After that, we brought my bookcase back to our house! It is beautiful, and looks fabulous in our front room. (Thank you Larry and Barb!) I am so excited that I have been able to unpack my books and use my lovely bookends (thank you Zaky)!
As we were getting ready for bed Monday night, we remembered that Zak had signed up to close up the church that night, so we drove over to the church building (and because it was Monday, it was already all locked and we just had to check the doors - my clever husband was counting on that). We had a race to see who could check more doors. It was pretty fun. Hopefully that wasn't bad to run and be a little rowdy on church grounds. Well, actually, if they let young women play basketball inside the church, there's no reason we can't run around outside the church. There. My conscience is soothed. It was fun. Whew! Am I ever glad I remembered that story! I do have things to say. What a fun surprise.
You guys take care.

The Big 2-7, and still a scaredy cat

It has been a few days since I wrote anything in my blog. I had my birthday last week on Thursday, and it was a good day. Friday night there was a small surprise party for Burke (whose birthday was Oct. 15th) and for me, which was really nice. I was totally not expecting anything like that, so it was fun. We went to a haunted corn maze that night and I did NOT enjoy that. In fact, I was feeling a little sick, so Zak and I took the emergency exit and waited in a nearby building for the others to emerge. Yikes. I didn't like being chased by guys in masks who had chainsaws. Call me crazy...
Anyway, the weekend was nice. It was calm and quiet. This week at work has been busy and it's now beginning to slow down a little. I don't have too much else to report. No more falls or anything like that, which is good.
Hope you are all doing well and that you are happy.

The Weekend

Friday night Zak and I went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and enjoyed it. There were some noisy kids in the row in front of us and I shushed them, as I am wont to do when someone is annoying in a public place such as a movie theater. Only after I shushed them did I realize that I closed a loan with the parents a couple of weeks ago while the kids ran around my desk screaming and shoved crayons down the vent by my desk. Weird. I guess you just never know, do you?
Saturday morning (well, okay, it was actually afternoon by the time we got up and got ready, but it's Saturday, right?) we went to the temple, which was nice. The afternoon was laundry time, which went surprisingly fast this time for some reason, and Zak played Halo with his brothers until about 10:30pm. I read my book until it was time to go. I was rather impressed at the time--usually when Halo is involved, it's the wee hours before I get to go home. They have a projector in the basement and use one of the basement walls for the screen. It covers the whole wall! Crazy. But fun for them.
Sunday I had a little adventure I like to call "falling down." I was trying to shave my legs (eww, gross, I know) and was bracing one leg against the wall. My other leg slipped in the tub and in trying to catch myself, I fell backwards out of the tub, bringing down the shower curtain and spraying shaving cream everywhere. It was a pretty loud thump, but Zak was asleep and so didn't think anything of it...I managed to get myself up off the floor and finish shaving and so on. It was actually kind of funny, now that there's a little time that's passed. I only have one small bruise on my shoulder and am otherwise unharmed. I was in a lot of pain on Sunday, though. Youch!
Yesterday was Columbus Day (celebrated on Wednesday the 12th) and so I had the day off. Hooray!! I slept in a little, got a few errands done, went to a movie by myself, and went shopping. The movie was great! I saw Just Like Heaven with Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. It was a DPS, which in girl-language means it was super-fabulous.
I did a little birthday shopping with some bonus money from work and got a few things for work. My first pant-suit! You know, I had a little mini-epiphany the other day as I drove home from work: I am getting old. I listen to Q92.9 soft rock and I like it. And now I have a pant-suit. Woe is me.
My shopping finds also included one pair of sandals...I know they aren't for work, but they were on clearance for $14.99 (down from $44.99, as if that makes any difference - I sure wouldn't have purchased them at that price!). I have been looking for more dressy brown sandals (they are HARD to find, too--everything is black!) and so I was excited when I found these. It was lovely. Zak and I spent the evening hanging out. I also re-organized the closet and cleaned out some DI items. That's always somewhat liberating, I find.
So that's basically the weekend. I am at work today and feeling good. Not really busy, but that's okay. Tonight is Gilmore Girls and probably early to bed. I am feeling pretty contented with life at the moment. Hopefully you are all feeling the same.

Life

It's Thursday again! Work is quiet, as ever. Tonight is Alias night, which is always an exciting time. I watched the season premiere last week and couldn't believe that Vaughn died! There has to be a way for him to "come back." All the men in Sidney's life always die. How sad. Well...good thing it's not real life, huh? I'll have to invoke rule #4 on myself (which for those who don't know is this: The people on tv shows are not real, so stop talking about them like they are).
I got up this morning and made peach cobbler with some peaches from Larry and Barb's backyard. I didn't have a chance to sample it yet (no vanilla ice cream) but I will when I get home tonight. I also did a LOT of dishes. It's amazing how quickly they pile up and I am also amazed at how often I find myself saying, "I'll do the dishes tomorrow." Then tomorrow never comes (to borrow from Les Miserables). I kept meaning to make the cobbler, too, and it never got done when I got home from work this week or last--the peaches were just barely hanging on, they were SO ripe. I have decided that each day of sitting around doing nothing (or very little) saps all my strenth and motivation. What a sad story.
Anyway, had a little break there to take care of some things, and now I'm back. I don't actually have much more to say. My birthday is one week from today. That's fun! And Monday is a holiday, so I have the day off work. I am going to go see a movie, I think. It's been a while since I went and enjoyed a movie all by myself. If there are any suggestions, please add a comment and let me know!
Hopefully all is well with all of you. Love to hear from all of you....