I'm throwing down the proverbial gauntlet!

A cry of Challenge is set forth throughout the land this christmas season. (especially to kim). Do you have what it takes to be the best WRAPPER of all time? I dare any to oppose me, and you shall be crushed like little ants under the heavy boot of my perfection. Bwa Ha Ha Ha. Below are images of my genius, see them and tremble! Oh, and Merry Christmas everyone.

Our First Christmas Tree!!!!!!!!

These pictures are worth a thousand words. There's not much more that I can say that these pictures don't already tell. I will just add that WE LOVE CHRISTMAS! We had so much fun picking out our cute little Christmas tree, and it makes our house smell and look beautiful!

TRADITION! TRADITION!

It has been a tradition in my family for as long as I can remember to have a huge platter of homemade ravioli, and a small turkey for Thanksgiving. So each year we make ravioli as a family one week before Thanksgiving. Since James and I are the only ones that live close to my parents it was just us and my parents this year (with a little help from my aunt Carrie, Grandma Penrod, and Brian Gibson). I helped my mom make the noodle dough and James helped my dad mix the meat. Then my dad and James used a noodle maker to flatten out the dough, while my mom and I placed small round balls of meat in between two flat noodles on ravioli trays and then placed the individual ravioli on a tray that would go in the freezer. Once the ravioli freeze for 48 hours they are ready to be boiled and eaten. They are the most amazing ravioli you will ever taste! Here is a pic of James and I in front of the large bowl of raw meat, the ravioli trays, rolling pins, and behind James' left shoulder is the noodle maker (flattener).

My first day as a pharmacy tech

I had my first day as a Pharmacy tech yesterday, and it was actually quite fun. my coworkers are nice, the job is fun. but one weird thing, once you step behind the counter, color leaves your world. it's all black and white, and you have the intense desire to mix things and see if it works. also the odd chants of "It's Alive" suprisingly tie the whole experiance together. i give this job 5 stars out of 5.

meatloaf

Dreams are funny, you know that one, where your stranded in a strange country with a crude spear and clothing that looks like it came out of an old tarzan flick? the one where you're running through the trees hunting for something you know will make the entire tribe happy and ensure your position in the clan hierarchy? then all of a sudden a 700 lb cat with nine inch fangs and a heck of a left hook tries to take your head off with a spinning roundhouse kick and a backhanded swipe of it's oversized claws. you use your spear to block, but its razor sharp claws turn your spear into tinder, and leave a deep wound that feels like fire is trying to come out of the right side of your chest. however, before the beast can finish you off, you take a jackie chan like leap, and with a mid air roll, and semi swan dive you pound the fuzzy monstrosity into the ground. without waiting you deftly pick up the head of your not so reliable spear and continue on the journey. fifty yards further down the trail you start to smell something, something familiar. you're eyes brighten, and the tips of your mouth uncontrollably flex upward in a small grin. you know you're nearing the end, and as you round the last couple of trees you see your quarry. A giant meatloaf? yeah, me neither.

Lasaugna, also a great chip dip!

I decided that I should post something considering that I haven't posted anything in way over a fortnight, whatever amount of days are a fortnight. And therefore Mindy has been the sole contributor to this blog since the first, inaugural post. Anyway, as to add my two bits, I am writing this now. Two bits.

When the sky is dark, and there is no sun, and the clouds taunt with the possibility of snow, but never snow. One finds that they must look deep within themselves, and also scrounge the surroundings for any possible signs of hope. I have done such, as the conditions listed above continued for an almost unbearable five days and nights. I have often thought on the true and inspirational lyrics to "A few of my Favorite things." sung by Julie Andrews in the "Sound of Music." Though I'm rarely bitten by dogs, or stung by bees, I feel comfort in those words and believe they still fit my situation. So I decided to list some hopeful things, and other favorite ideas in a list of ten articles. I hope that whoever reads this may find hope and joy in them also.

first an honorable mention. 80's rocker guy goes to USU.
10. Christmas music is good always. Especially when it's cold and dark. Mindy and I have been faithful listeners since before Halloween.
9. Hot Cocoa, enough said.
8. Lasaugna. Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner. MMMMMM!!!
7. Life is always better when you can tuck your underwear in your socks, A mission reference to this time of year and thermal garments.
6. December 22nd through January 1st. In this time period, i have my anniversary, christmas, my birthday, and new years. and the best part is, No school during any of them.
5. I don't work at western watts anymore. FREEEEEE!!!!!
4. Chips are amazing, they can go with any meal, or food group. Even desert. (fried Ice cream!)
3. Hockey is fun to watch. it's a combination of soccer, ice, and the WWF all rolled into one.
2. Big furry hats, they are incredibly warm, and really fun to look at. :)
1. "Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat." Yipee, i love christmas, it is the best holiday. period.

Don't forget to read your warning lables

No one ever warned us that the sun never shines in Logan! For the past week clouds filled the sky and it was very cold, there was no snow and there was no sun! After living in St. George for quite sometime it seemed like death to go so long with out the sun! Logan needs a warning sign on it when you drive into the valley that says, "Warning: the sun does not shine here for five months of the year, and it gets so cold that your nose may fall off. If you still want to live here, come on in." Ok, so it's not that bad yet, but i've heard stories.
When the sun finally came out today at about 3:00 pm i was so excited that I couldn't help but tell everyone I knew! Yeah for the sun!

Spider of Death!

While James and I were setting up our fake spider webs for Halloween we saw this ferocious spider near our apartment. My heart stopped and I did not know what to do with such a huge thing. We were affraid to squish him just in case there were babies on his back. My idea was for James to get a glass bottle so we could take it far far far far away from our home.

James, my hero, concluded that it must be dead because it was in the middle of no where, and it had not moved in a long time. He grabed a piece of paper and poked it. The spider's leggs moved a little, but thank goodness it was dead!




James placed the spider on the paper and we took it to the street just in case it came back to life.

Last Sunday Evening

The following pictures are of what James and I love to do on Sunday evenings when there is no one to visit, and nothing really to do. James built a horse drawn space ship using every single piece of lego that he currently has. I built a tower out of domioes, and then we both built a domino train. We love our sunday evenings together :)

our cute apartment in Logan!

Picture #1: The front of our apartment. We live downstairs, and there are 3 college girls upstairs.

Picture #2: Our beautiful backyard!

Picture #3: The front/living room, and our 46 inch big screen t.v. that we bought at DI for only $45! It works great! The only down side is that it takes about 5-10 min. to warm up :)

Picture #4: This is our bathroom vanity.

Picture #5: Now on to my favorite part of the apt. The kitchen! It is very big, has a lot of cupboard space, very nice counter tops, and a large pantry that can not be seen from this picture.

Our lives

It's been a long time since we have updated our blog! We just wanted to let you know what we are doing. James recently got a job at western watts. Which he doesn't love, but it helps pay the bills. He is going to school at Bridgerland applied technology college on Tues, wed, and Thurs in the evenings from 6-9pm. He also goes to school at USU on Mon, wed, and Fri mornings. James is a very busy man!
I, on the other hand, do not find myself as busy. I work at Edith Bowen Laboratory Elementary School on campus in a first grade class, and I absolutely love it! I get to work with the children a lot and i have so much fun doing it. Of course it is not all fun and games; those kids can get out of hand easily if the right actions are not taken, and sometimes that takes a lot of energy! I get paid $11 an hour, but i am only allowed to work 15 hours a week. If i work anymore than that I simply do not get paid for those hours. This is both inconvenient for me and the teacher i work for. But i can't complain too much, because I really enjoy every moment that I'm there. As for school, I am taking 14 credits at USU and I'm working my hardest. I got 90% on my most recent midterm! Yeah!
That's us for now.

Yeah! I finally got it to work

It has been a very long time since we could get into our blog becuase we couldn't remember which email address we used. Either way, it's good to be back :)

My Hero

Everyone has someone special in their lives (other than their parents) who has taught them everything they know. For me, that special person is my grandpa Penrod! He taught me how to blow bubbles in my bubble gum, how to tie my shoes the fast way, how to dance, how to laugh, the true meaning of hard work and most importantly, he taught me how to love the Gospel of Jesus Christ! He was one of the most spiritual men I knew, and he lived each day of his life in the fullness of the gospel. Two or three times a week he was a worker in the Ogden temple and he loved it so much! He was even able to officiate the session when my brother was endowed. That was a wonderful experience that I will never forget. Grandpa Penrod loved to serve! Whenever he got a chance he would help anyone that needed an extra hand. He fell out of a tree last Saturday because he was helping someone trim it. Even until the last moments of his life he was working hard and helping others. I remember vividly the advice he gave me over and over again as I was a growing teen. He always said that if i truly wanted to achieve something i would have to work hard to get it, because if i didn't it would slip through my hands. When i decided to throw shot put, he was there supporting me the whole way. Each time he saw me he would ask, "So Mindy, what are you doing to improve?" Those words will stay with me the rest of my life as i ask myself daily, "So Mindy, what are you doing to improve?" He was and will always be an inspiration to me. I hope I can live my life with the same kind of love and dedication that he did his. I love my Grandpa Penrod, and i can not wait to see him again!

Sorry if i made any mistakes in my typing; is seems as though i was unable to see the screen or keyboard as i typed.

Nursery Teachers or Lion Tamers, same diff.

So there we was, in the forest.. er. well the church, walking steadily towards where we though they might be, and we jumped out from behind a bush... well.. i mean.... walked through the door and then we spotted them, four children. "Phew" we was saying, but their zoo keeper was like, "if you could go to Nursery A, that would be good." and so we does. upon arriving there we find out two things. first off, There are no smiles on Sunday Mornings in Nursery. second Children Don't like Strangers, well for at least five minutes. Well there we was in the middle of a clearing surround by snarling youth, knashing their teeth, and crying for mommy. Right Terrifying they was too, but finding large bins loaded with Distraction devices, we tossed brightly colored plastic knick knacks and fluffy recreations of other wild life into their drooling fangs and slobber covered claws. after that, trying to civilize them with a lesson, was almost a cinch, that was until they got hungry. so before they tore us limb from limb we gave them food, and lots of it. then we sang to them until their Mothers rescued them. And that was Mindy and My First Day in the Nursery. (Picture that was provided is a Re-enactment, by an unpaid professional volunteer to our cause seeing as we are not allowed to take pictures of specimens found in Nursery, our thanks to the lovely photograph Modeled by Sam Peterson.)

Of only a few words

In the frigid north land of Logan Utah James and I find that words are necessary to communication, but too many words can make things confusing. This is all just a heads up that our blog will contain more pictures than it does words. A picture by itself says a thousand words anyway.