(This was a test...and realized we forgot to delete it when we got comments...but it is entertaining, so enjoy!)

20 years

I was tagged by Mary Kate ...this is kind of long, but here it is: the past 20 years of my life.

20 years ago... 1988
1. I turned 3 years old.
2. My sister Jordan was born
3. I went to St. Mark's Pre-school

ummm...Mom? I might need some help to come up with things about me from 20 years ago.

10 years ago... 1998

1. The summer between 7th and 8th grade

2. I didn't really have any friends at school and I was realizing that most of the kids I grew up with were starting to get into stuff that I didn't want to be around--drinking & smoking etc. Doesn't that seem so young? I'm sure it's even worse these days. Ha, that makes me sound old.

3. I started taking piano lessons again for a year or two, after having quit 2 years before. Too bad I didn't keep it up.

4. I painted my bedroom light blue with blue & green plaid and hydrangeas in the corners to match my bedspread. My dad told me I'd regret it some day. I don't think I ever did. He now uses my room for his office.

**Update: I didn't paint my room this year---it was at least 2 years later. Thanks for straightening me out, Anna :)

5. I got my braces off, moved up from glasses to contacts, and got rid of the super thick bangs. My nerd days were over.

5 years ago... 2003

1. May 2003, I graduated Magna Cum Laude from good ole' LaGrange High School...and was so happy to be out of there!

2. My little sister Amy was born. Well, I guess that was really Dec of '02, but close enough. She is one of the funniest people I know.

3. I came out to BYU and met my roommate and other girls on my floor who have become my best friends!

4. I ate corndogs or Subway for lunch every day. How on earth did I eat corndogs so much?! Yuck.

5. I gained the stereotypical Freshman 15 (lbs). Probably all corndog.

3 years ago... 2005
1. April 2005 Jack finally asked me out on our first date

2. We spent that summer talking on the phone every day and I decided that this was really the kind of guy I wanted to marry

3. Jack went on a study abroad to China and our long distance relationship kind of didn't last until he got back.

4. I started working as the student secretary for one of the VP's on campus and worked there until I graduated, and then my sister Jordan took over my job.

5. I won a gold medal for break dancing in the Utah Valley division. Ok, totally made that up.

1 year ago... 2007
1. April: I graduated from BYU with a BS in Home & Family Living, emphasis in Foods

2. May: Married the love of my life in the Bountiful, Utah Temple

3. Started a real grown-up job and have somehow managed to remain employed, though technically through 3 different companies yet in the same office doing mostly the same thing.
4. I lived in three different apartments.

5. We got pregnant with our first baby :)

So far this year... 2008
1. I've been pregnant for all of 2008 thus far.
2. I've learned to love coupon clipping and price matching at Wal Mart
3. Jack & I have had 79 blog posts.
4. I have not gone camping yet.
5. I've gone through at least 3 tooth brushes.

Yesterday... June 26, 2008

1. I had a doctor's appt and everything is still lookin' good with Little Boy.

2. I went to the eye doctor and hopefully I can get some more contacts now. I like being able to see.

3. I went to work for a few hours.

4. I did some much-needed cleaning of our apartment...still need to do much more.

5. Jack and I finished a puzzle that we started on Tuesday night.

Today... June 28, 2008

1. I slept in this morning.
2. I went to work, where I learned that the 6 remaining people in my office won't be there very much longer.
3. I listed a bike on craigstlist and so far have gotten 2 people who are interested. I need to take pictures to send to them.
4. We are going to play with our friends Aaron and Maren tonight and might go swimming.
5. We're going to go to Macey's to get bread, cereal, and mac & cheese.

Tomorrow... June 29, 2008

1. Jack is helping a family in our ward move at 8 AM.
2. I'll probably roll over and say goodbye to him and then keep sleeping for a while.
3. We're going to do some serious cleaning of our apartment.
4. We're going to run some errands including Babies R Us to finish registering, JoAnn's to exchange a garden gnome with a broken finger, and Wilson's Diamonds to get my ring cleaned.
5. We will probably watch a movie or hang out with someone else in the evening.

Next year... 2009
1. Life will be totally different with a baby!
2. We'll probably move from our current apartment.
3. Hopefully Jack will be working somewhere else.
4. I will be so organized and will have a plan for dinner every night and will keep the house spotless (HA!)
5. Maybe we'll take a trip to somewhere we've been wanting to go.

I tag...
Becky, Shannah, Mandy, and anyone else who wants to do it.

I said, NO SOLICITING!

NO SOLICITING.

-Yes, that means you too.

-We don't need your products or services. Yes, I'm sure.

-That means don't come in here trying to sell me something. I promise, we don't want it.

-And we're not hiring, either. How do I know? Because 90% of the company has been laid off in the past 6 months, including me. Twice.

-No endeavoring to help us save money through your company's services, no matter how great the pitch may sound to you.

-And I really do mean it. We don't want any. Go away.

Maybe it is because it's the summer now, and the nature of many summer jobs includes door-to-door sales. Maybe it is the poor economy and people lacking better employment. But in the past few weeks, it is just insane how many people have come into my office trying to sell stuff. I made a sign and put it on the door that says "No Soliciting" but I've been tempted many times to add all the stuff above just to clarify, because people don't seem to get it.

There is a huge glass window that I can see from my desk and so I see all these people come up the stairs, look at the sign on the door, and come in anyway.

One time I was on the phone in kind of a tense conversation trying to convince my employer to pay me (another story) and two guys came up, read the sign, and came in. They just stood there waiting for me---and I just kept on talking on the phone and ignored them, until they finally went away after standing there for at least 5 minutes.

Another time a guy came in trying to sell office supplies (after reading the no soliciting sign)

shortened version of the conversation:
Dude: Can I please speak with your office manager?
me: We don't have one.
Dude: (look of confusion)
me: We just had a bunch of layoffs and she's no longer here
Dude: So who is in charge here?
me: I don't know.
Dude: So, when you need to order more paper, what do you do?
me: I don't know...we haven't needed to order any yet.
Dude: So would you order the supplies?
me: No. I don't really work here. (I work in the office, but not for that company)
Dude: (look of confusion) Well, let me just tell you a little about our company...blah blah blah
me: (for the 32nd time) We're really not interested. We've probably office supplies that will last longer than the company will.
Dude: Oh. Ummm. Well, maybe I'll try coming back in a few weeks.

Today's experience would have been really funny if it wasn't a little creepy. Guy comes walking up the stairs & hallway, holding on to his pants to keep them from falling of his rear end. He looks at the sign on the door and comes in anyway. I've got a Pam desk (from The Office) and people generally stay outside of my area. This guy walks right in, walks around my desk and comes back to my space, and sets down his bottle of magic cure-and-clean-everything-in-the-world citrus cleaner. He starts to give a little spiel about it and wants to spray my computer monitor. Usually I have a little more patience and am a little nicer with these people, but this guy's pants were falling off in my space.

Very shortened version of conversation:

me: We're not interested.

Home Boy: I'm not soliciting anything here.

me: You're not? Do you know what soliciting means?
Home Boy: uhhhhh

me: It means selling stuff.

Home Boy: Oh.

Me: Are you selling stuff?
Home Boy: Naw, man...

Me: So you're giving it away for free?
Home Boy: I'm just trying to tell you what's in my heart
me: I'm going to have to ask you to leave
him: but it's my 5th day in this contest
me: I'm sorry, please leave
Home Boy: can you smell the citrus cleaner? don't it smell good?
me: no, I can't smell it.
Home Boy: is your boss in?
me: he's not interested either
Home Boy: how do you know?
me: please leave. We have a no soliciting policy
Home Boy: you do? now that's deep, man ...but this is from my heart
me: I'm sorry

(he was starting to creep me out getting closer and closer)
Home Boy: I'm not soliciting. I've got ID from the state
me: You're selling things. That is soliciting. Please leave. Now.

Whoa, baby!

Upon looking at the weekly belly picture that we took today, I really was amazed. Where did THAT come from? Sure, it's been creeping up on me for 33 weeks now, but suddenly it's really there! Maybe it's just the way Little Boy was situated at the time, but I think it looks like I've grown A LOT since last week's picture. It really looks like I've got a pillow stuffed under my shirt or something. Nope, just a baby!
No wonder I had at least 7 people at church on Sunday tell me that I'm finally starting to look like I'm actually pregnant. I don't really know why it bothers me so much, but all along I've gotten comments from people---both strangers when they ask if I'm pregnant and how far along I am, and people I know---telling me that I'm still so little and they can't believe I only have x number of weeks left. Why does it bug me? I'm not sure. Maybe because I feel like they're not giving me the credit I deserve for being however far along I am. Maybe because I secretly want a 10 lb baby (ok, that's not it). Maybe I'm just silly. I have gained at least 22 lbs so far though. And it's all going somewhere. Ok, I'm done with that rant for now.

Danger Zone

Anyone who's ever driven up "the diagonal" (aka University Pkwy) realizes that most of Orem is uphill from most of Provo. This makes for a pleasant one-way bike ride from Center St. in Orem, through Provo, to Utah Lake. The other night the Young Men rode 14 miles of mostly even terrain and downhill riding. Pretty easygoing for a guy who hasn't ridden his bike since early January.

The Provo River trail was serene. And the closer you get to the lake, the farther you get from a city feeling. You can just enjoy hay fields, nearly-still waters, and fantastic views of Timpanogos. Except for giant, West Nile Virus carrying, man eating mosquitoes and the expected saddle sores, I have no complaints.

I had no complaints, that is, until we were almost finished riding and I got bombed. If only a second earlier, the package would've landed on Bishop's helmet instead of mine, but no! I wonder if my bike helmet looks like a target from a bird's eye perspective, because this is my second such experience. Only a little bit got through the helmet to my face, splattered my shirt sleeve, and made a nice poka-dot pattern on my right leg.

Testing Testing

This is a test. This is only a test. ...just rambling to fill space & test the new look.

I'm tired of the old blog look so I decided it's time for something new. Jack's gone on a bike ride with the scouts tonight, so I'm home alone and bored.

And our air conditioner must be broken. I tried to turn it on for the first time yesterday and it didn't do anything. At all. Well, it was blowing air, but not cold air. Yesterday was a record high for Utah, getting over 95*...highest temperature on this date in over 20 years. Perfect day to try out the AC. Ha. It was 87* in our apartment.

Does anyone know how to make the text block part of this (that is now brown) wider? I've been playing with the code to get all the other stuff how I want it (well, as much as I can figure out) but so far I haven't succeeded in making the text stuff wider. I got the text wider, but then it runs off the brown block.

Just another update

32 weeks and counting....
Eight more weeks to go! Everything is going very well. Besides what I suppose are normal pregnancy complaints, everything is great. I know I complained about Baby under my ribs last time I updated, but I really mean it now! (and hopefully I won't say that again in 2 weeks!) Apparently it is 'normal' for your xyphoid to poke straight out with baby feet pushing underneath. It sure doesn't feel normal to have a huge, sharp bump between your ribs. And it hurts too!
Little Boy has had the hiccups a couple times in the past few days, too. I felt them for the first time a month or two ago in the middle of the night, but hadn't felt it again until we were in Sunday School this week, and then again last night. That's kind of fun :)
He's moving around a ton, and the movements are so strong sometimes! I've got feet in my right side, a bum under my left rib, and a head at my left hip. Last week the doctor said that I'm out of luck if I was hoping to have a breached baby. Fine with me :) It really is such a cool feeling to feel him moving around inside me! It seems like he's been moving and kicking non-stop for the past few days.
I've been having a harder time sleeping lately too. Probably a combination of having to use the bathroom so much (it is really annoying!), Little Boy moving around like crazy, and just being big and uncomfortable when I lay down. Oh yeah, sometimes I can't really breathe when I lay down---Little Boy is taking up my lung space I guess.
But don't worry, I still have about 8 more pounds to gain before we're through.
We've started to register at Target & Babies R Us...we haven't done very much yet, but it's a start. I've got a list of things to do before he's born.
-figure out where we're going to live. We might stay where we are, and just do some serious rearranging and clear out some stuff that is sitting around.
-Do the rearranging, cleaning, etc to make room ...or move.
-get the car seat & stroller. I've finally decided on one (I think!) but when I went to get it, the car seat had been recalled so I have to wait for the new one to come in. Should be this week or next, they told me. We'll see.
-finish registering for baby stuff and buy stuff we'll need
-finish the crib bedding. I guess this doesn't really have to be done before he's born since he'll be in a bassinet for a while, but I'd like to get it done anyway. I finished the bed skirt today. And I don't have very much left to do on the bumper pads & quilt, either.
-strip & repaint the crib. Probably not necessary, but I kind of want to. Well, let me rephrase. I want it to be done. Jack will do it. I really would, but you know, the whole chemical & paint thing doesn't mix well with pregnancy, or so they say.
-wash baby clothes & bassinet bedding

I'm sure there's more to add to that list.... But I have to go to the bathroom. Again.

West Family Visit

My family just left yesterday, after being in town for almost 2 1/2 weeks. It was so much fun to have them here and to get to see them so much! I think they should just move out here, but something about my dad having a job or something like that keeps them there in Georgia.

All of us kids (minus Bently who couldn't miss work. We missed you!)
At a Memorial Day picnic with the extended West Family This whole baby thing is such a novelty...everyone had to feel for themselves. Amy was a bit shy about it and would only feel if there was nobody else around.
Happy Birthday Mom!