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External Hard Drive-Part 2

So if you recall, last week I wrote about how I lost my external hard drive.  I’m finally over it and my dad was sending me a new one with all of my family photos and videos from the wedding.

It came today.

When I arrived at home, there was a Post Office basket on my front step with a sign saying something like, “Package Destroyed.”

Turns out my package went for a long and thorough dip in the ocean or the mail man must have thought it was funny to put it in the sewer before he delivered it.  I don’t know what happened, but that sign that said “Package Destroyed,” apparently meant that something awful occurred in the journey from Kentucky to Utah that made it incredibly wet and we aren’t going to apologize or take any blame.

So, covering my USPS standard rate package, was a white garbage bag.  Inside the bag I found my package and it was clearly soaked.  I didn’t even have to get a knife to open it up.  It was so soggy it just fell open.

There I am sitting in the entry way, getting ready to cry, preparing for another destroyed hard-drive, preparing another speech for my Dad.  I then pulled a nasty wet t-shirt that my parents sent me.  Awesome.

Next was my hard drive package.  The outer coating was soggy.  Bad news bears.  I knew my dad had already opened up my hard drive so he could put files on it.  So question was, did he wrap the hard drive back up carefully?  Or am I going to be in a depression for another week?

Thanks to my brainy Father, he wrapped up the external hard drive perfectly.  Not a drop of water to be found.

And thus ends the story of the external hard drive.  Part 2.

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I wish I had a Teletransporter.

At my internship today, my boss shared the following link with me:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJaKwD2gyME&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

From an advertising student’s point of view, I think this idea is so clever.  Not only did they incorporate guerrilla marketing through the use of a humorous, unconventional, and interactive concept; but also, part of their strategy, and what made it so popular, was using social media marketing to spread their videos.

And although I do not fully condone the idea of the teletransporter, I have to admit it would be pretty cool to have one or use one in certain situations.

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Mini Ice Cream Sandwiches and Giant Pizza Slabs

Two Random Things:

1. Last week I brought in some Famous Amos mini cookies for me and my coworkers.  My boss Wendy remembered we had leftover ice cream from Goodwood (which happens to be the best vanilla bean ice cream ever).  So we combined the two things and made mini ice cream sandwiches.  Fun and delish.

2.Today I went to The Slab.  It’s a great little pizza place underneath Campus Plaza.  Tasty pizza for a reasonable price.  Oh and I love their graphics and design, not to mention they’re actually using social media to promote their business.  Check it out.


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1 month down, Infinity to go

Well, today we have been married for one month.  That obviously makes me an expert on marriage.  So here are some things I have learned:

  1. I will not allow my children to play video games with guns.  Explanation: T.J.’s cousin has her PS2 and games at our house still and so T.J. is currently trying to beat one of the games.  He enjoys it, so I don’t mind having him play, plus we made a deal that if he plays those games he can’t complain or make fun of me reading Twilight.  But I have realized from this experience I do not want my children playing video games all day long, especially any games with guns because I hate the sound and there are so many other productive activities.
  2. I really enjoy cooking.  I took a class back in high school that taught me the basics, but I haven’t really used those skills until now.  It may seem weird, but I just feel accomplished when I make a good and well-balanced meal for T.J. and I.  Plus it’s fun to try new recipes and eat new foods.
  3. Life goes fast and will always be busy.  We have been married for a month, but it feels just like a few days.  We have done a lot this past month–traveled, moved, cleaned, worked–but it has been in this time that I have realized it will always be hectic, unexpected events will always come up.  So it’s important to make priorities and stick to your plans, especially the priority of courting and visiting the temple.
  4. Patience is a virtue, one that I need to work on.
  5. Living with a husband is a lot different than living with roommates.  It’s 100 times better, but sometimes is twice as hard (does that even make sense?).  Let me try to explain.  It’s the best time I have ever had, but I think my emotions sometimes make T.J. wonder if I’m clinically insane.  On the other hand, a roommate would just know in a week, I’ll be back to normal.  But he’ll get there 😉
  6. I don’t actually know too much about marriage.
  7. I also have no idea how people get married and don’t include prayer or scripture study into their lives.  It is my lifeline.

So there it is.  Oh and I’m just kidding about the blog post title.  I am extremely grateful to be married to T.J.  It has been a great month and I am very excited for the the many months to come.

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Glee is NOT High School Musical.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=055pyHT_XNM&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

One of my favorite shows is Glee.  I bought the last two soundtracks this weekend and have listened to it nonstop.  So I have got to share this video with you because all three songs are incredible!  Enjoy!

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Good Grief!

A few weeks ago I lost my external hard drive en route from SDF to SLC.  It put me in a depression for a couple of days.  Let me list just some of the things that were on the 100 GBs:

1.  All of my photos from 7th grade-junior year of college

2. All of my school work since Freshman year of high school

3. All of my tv shows, homemade music videos, and movies

4. Half of my music that is not on my computer iTunes

5. My entire advertising portfolio.

All of this, lost.

After grieving, I decided I shouldn’t mope around anymore because there’s nothing else I could do.  And although crying made me feel better, it was getting on T.J.’s nerves.  So I am coming to peace with my loss and trying to gather as much stuff as possible from old emails, old files and documents, and printed photos.

Turns out, I found a lot of my ads that I had made, so all is not lost!  And to celebrate, I am going to share a few of my ads that I created in my Communications 330 design class.


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Our Beatboxing Car

So T.J. and I have a car, well a piece of metal that makes a lot of strange sounds and sometimes manages to get over 55 mph.  It’s a little green escort from the 90s that keeps fighting for life.  We honestly don’t know how it keeps going.  Sometimes when we go up a big hill, I don’t think it’s going to make it, so I pat the dashboard and encourage him (his name is D.J. Zoomba) with words like, “Come on D.J. you can make it… you’re almost there!!”

We have had a lot of fun times with D.J. Zoomba.  For example, the first time I ever drove him by myself, he played a little joke on me.  I was driving up a big hill and all of a sudden, the keys fell out of the ignition.  Like they literally fell out.  Onto the ground.  By themselves.  I obviously started crying, having no idea what to do.  The car kept driving, which was kind of scary.  I pulled over and put on my emergency signals… oh wait, the car doesn’t have any of those, so I just pulled over.  I realized the only way to get car to turn off was with the keys, so I put them back in and everything was fine.  After a few moments of tears, I started laughing at the crazy event.

D.J. Zoomba also likes to beatbox.  I think it’s his way of making up for blowing the radio and ipod fuse, leaving us in silence when we drive.  It clicks, buzzes, squeals, ticks, and vibrates.  Sometimes we even try to sing along.

He also thinks it’s funny to not tell us how fast we are going once we get past 50 mph.  So if an officer pulled us over and said, “Do you know how fast you were going?” I would have to give him an estimation of anywhere between 50 and 80 mph.  The speedometer goes back and forth, and where it stops, nobody knows.

Finally, one of my favorite things about D.J. Zoomba is that he is always so thirsty.  He mysteriously goes through oil every other week, so a few times a month we have to fill up the oil tank (I don’t exactly know where the oil goes).

Well T.J. and I keep battling about buying a new (to us) car.  But neither of us fight for the same side continually.  Sometimes D.J. Zoomba seems like he’s doing well and will live a few months longer so I tell T.J. that we should hold off on buying a new car.  Other times I’m ready to trade him in for next to nothing.

But what put me over the edge and made me 100% want to buy a new car is that I got a bad sunburn driving back from SLC yesterday.  We have to have the windows down because the air doesn’t work, and the hot sun just toasted my thighs.  So that was it.  Sorry, D.J. but you’re just not makin’ the cut.

T.J.’s family and I convinced him that we need to start seriously shopping for a new car!  We’re going this week, so let me hear your suggestions and recommendations!

Farewell, D.J. Zoomba.  We will miss you, but if you’re lucky, no one will take you as a trade and we will keep you forever!

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I’m so glad when Daddy comes home

When I was a little girl, my dad loved it when I sang him this song:

“I’m so glad when Daddy comes home, glad as I can be,

Clap my hands and jump for joy, and climb upon his knee,

Put my arms around his neck, hug him tight like this,

Pat his cheeks and give him what? A great big kiss!”

Because today was Father’s day, I thought I should write a post on my dad and how special he is to me.

My dad is incredible.  He is unique, and most of all, he is passionate.  I think that is what I most admire about him.  He always finds new hobbies and interests, learns all he can about them, and shares his passion with others.  Whether it is politics, biking, politics, gardening, politics, or the gospel, you can tell he believes in what he preaches.

My dad also has the greatest sense of humor.  A lot of people, when they first meet him, don’t always understand that he joking because his humor is so dry.  But once you get to know him, he always has a joke up and a witty remark up his sleeve.

Anyway, that’s just one of the many funny stories that I share with my Dad.  I love his ability to create peace in our home, his talent and adoration for music, his canniness for technology, and also his gift of guiding and advising his children, friends, and the ward.

I wish I could have been at home to sing that song to you, Dad!  Happy Father’s Day.  Love you!

P.S. Dad- you may think that Claire and the other new grandbaby on the way are your little girls, but I will always be your little girl!  No grandchild, no matter how cute they are, can replace me!!!

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From Roommate to Housewife

Before I was married, I rarely cooked.  It wasn’t that I don’t know how, it was just because I didn’t have time and my apartment’s kitchen was too small for six girls.  But now that I have the space and a little more time, plus we need to save money, I’ve started making three new recipes for dinner each week!

My sister gave me these Everyday Food magazines (by Martha Stewart :)) and so I rip out three recipes at the beginning of each week, put them on our fridge and get all the ingredients on Monday.  I’ve never shopped for my meals before, usually I just shop for food and make meals from what I have, and that would consist of pop tarts, goldfish, and diet coke.

Anyway, here are some of the recipes we’ve tried!  You should try them out because they’re way easy, delicious, and always make enough for leftovers.

1. Whole-wheat spaghetti with vegetables and peanut sauce

T.J. had never had peanut sauce before, but I swear I’ve never seen anyone consume so many noodles in such a short amount of time like he did.

2. Chicken with coconut sauce: I couldn’t find the recipe for this one online, but all you do is grill 4 boneless chicken breasts on your George Foreman grill.  At the same time, simmer a can of coconut milk for 20 minutes.  When finished, add 1 tbs of fresh lime juice and 2 jalepeno chilis.  Finish by putting the chicken and sauce over a plate of rice with a lime garnish.

3. Grilled Pork Chops with mini cornbread puddings

This cornbread pudding recipe is a lot different that a cornbread muffin recipe, but they’re delicious and the leftovers have made a great breakfast snack.

4. Buttermilk baked chicken with spinach salad

I loved this recipe, especially because the chicken had a great marinade and the spinach salad’s dressing was homemade.

5. Pork quesadillas

This, by far, has been my favorite dinner so far.  The recipe includes a lot of random ingredients, like pickles (which I don’t even like usually), ham, grilled pork, and spicy mustard.  But the combination was delicious.  (Btw, the picture on the link is not right, they look just like a normal quesadilla.)

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Mom knows best

Today while T.J. and I were at lunch, my mom called to say hi and then talked to T.J. about his birthday.  She gave him words of advice saying, number each day and be grateful for everything you have.

I don’t know why, but lately I’ve been quite a pessimist.  I think it’s just because change is hard, even if it’s good change.  I don’t always look at what I have, but instead I think about everything that is going wrong.  But my mom is right.  I need to appreciate each day and everything in it.

So after they got off the phone, I was laying on the hammock and T.J. proceeded to tell me all the blessings in my life.  Some of them were so presh and a little funny, so here are a few he mentioned and a few others:

Of course after he said a huge long list of the blessings in my life, I said, “I wish we had a puppy.”

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