And the winner is . . .

Something between #1 and #2! I wasn't quite brave enough for #2. Maybe someday. It's not the best picture because a) I took it of myself, and b) I was in a hurry. But you get the idea. Anyways, I absolutely love it (and so does Tom) and I am happy with my decision! Thanks to all of you who gave your input! 

Merry Christmas!!

far, far away

Well, it's official: For those of you who haven't heard, Tom has accepted a Medical Assisting externship for the winter . . . in Oregon . . . and I will be staying here (due to my job). It was a very difficult decision for us to make, but I think that it will be the best opportunity for him. He will have the chance to work in lots of different areas of medicine like pediatrics and urology. And perhaps the best part is that he will get to shadow as many surgeries as he wants!

So, I will be husbandless for two months. Thank goodness it's not any longer than that. I'm afraid it's going to be harder than I anticipate. We will not be able to ring in the new year together, or celebrate Valentine's Day (not that I like all that mushy stuff anyway, but still). I know he'll be in good hands staying with his brother's family. And in the meantime, we are enjoying the time we have together.

It's almost Christmas, can you believe it? It doesn't feel like it. Maybe it's because there is no snow outside. Maybe it's because I have hardly any of my Christmas shopping done. Maybe it's because we aren't putting up a Christmas tree this year. Whatever the reason, I hope the Christmas spirit gets here soon! The season is going to pass by far too quickly.

Last night I pretended to be the home-making type and baked Christmas sugar cookies. I felt especially artistic for some reason as I dripped the different colors of frosting onto the cookies. Then I proceeded to knit in bed underneath my electric blanket while Tom finished up his homework for the night (curse you, week before finals week).

Married friends, we can still hang out even though I will be missing my other half, right?

I'm sure going to miss him. It's a good thing that we have eternity to spend together, because anything less wouldn't be long enough.

I don't mean for this post to be a downer, I am really happy for Tom and we are doing great!
I will be posting about our Thanksgiving trip, sometime.

Happy Holidays to you all!

a trivial dilemma

Remember when I cut my hair shortly after Tom and I got married? I kept it shorter for a few months but then missed my long hair and was jealous of every girl with long and beautiful curls, so I decided to start growing my hair out again. As you women know, this can be a long and painful process. Ok, that's an exaggeration. But really, it takes a lot of patience. Now that my hair is finally getting longer, I am considering cutting it again. All that hard work and time would be for nothing! But every time I see an older picture of myself with my shorter hair, I can't help but think that it's cute and suits me better. So, I am asking my blogging audience their opinion to help me make up my mind!

I am putting everyone who reads this post under obligation to vote because a) I wants lots of opinions and b) I am curious to know how many readers I have out there.

1. Go back to the length I had before.

2. Get really bold and go even shorter! I have never had my hair this short. (Amber and I were experimenting and our hair was in a ponytail on top our heads). So picture this without the funky hat and expression on my face.

3. Keep growing it out.

 Here is a not-very-good-but-the-best-that-I-could-find picture of my current hair style and length.

 

Of course, it looks really nice long when I curl it, but let's be honest, I don't usually spend that much time on my hair; only for special occasions.

Add a comment to vote #1, #2. or #3!

(Tom has voted for #1)

Halloween 2011

No, it's not a typo . . . it took us a whole year to get our 2011 Halloween photos from our friends! So I am posting them now. Tom's family has had this cow suit as long as he can remember (aka: it's old, and maybe it's just me, but it even smells like a dairy farm), so I suggested we put it to good use. Tom was the cow and I was the farmer. I even made Tom cute little ears (which put my sewing abilities to the test), but he refused to wear them. The stinker. I think the costume would have looked better with them, but oh well.

Tune in next year to see our 2012 costumes! They were good!

Haha, just kidding. I really hope that it doesn't take us that long to get our photos, but they are on Bobby's phone and he is currently on his honeymoon. So yeah, we'll see. Maybe I should start taking photos with my own camera, no?

Californ-i-a: Day the Last

This post documents our last full day in California. Can you believe that it took me less than two months to post everything?! I tried to stay on top of things while I still had momentum. I just had to take a little break and post another Article of Faith because 1) it had been so long since my last one, and 2) General Conference was so uplifting and inspiring! So here we go, last day. . .

The day started off with church, which was very enjoyable. Stacie was so nice to drive us. Everyone there was so friendly. I especially enjoyed getting to go to Sunday School and Relief Society and have adult discussions since at home we are always in the nursery.

After church, we took our billionth trip into Capitola to see the Begonia floats my dad's cousin, Nicole, and her family. I think it had probably been about ten years since I last saw them! The kids are all so grown up! I also got to see my Aunt Lorraine, who is really my grandmother's cousin, and also my dad's Godmother. The whole time all she could say to me was, "You look just like your dad! You look just like your grandmother!" I took it as a compliment. :)

We watched as the floats slowly (and I mean very slowly) came through town under the bridge. The floats were entirely covered with Begonias and each had their own theme. It was a long process, but kind of fun. Mostly it was just nice to spend time with family.

Later that day we went for a hike with Erik and Renee. It was so beautiful there with all the greenery, ferns and more redwoods! Why can't Idaho be as green? :(

Movies that came to mind during our hike:

Lord of the Rings, Jurassic Park, and The Hunger Games.

 Our first banana slug sighting.

 We hiked along the trail to the lime kilns and illegally hopped this fence to get a closer look.

 I got tired at the end, so Tom had to drag me the rest of the way. Just kidding.
We had such a good time. It was my idea of the perfect hike.

Before I close the California saga, I have to tell you the story about the poop. After purchasing the fake poo in San Francisco, it sat in our suitcase for the remainder of our trip until we decided to play a little trick on Stacie. As previously mentioned, Stacie has two cats who live in her house, so Tom thought it would be clever to leave the poop next to the cat scratcher in the corner of the living room.

A while later, Stacie noticed the unusually large cat poo in her living room and would have freaked out, except she was on the phone at the time. After getting off the phone, she pointed it out to me. I tried to act surprised/disgusted. (I'm not a very good actor/liar.) Stacie proceeded to go grab cleaning supplies, a huge wad of paper towels, and the garbage. She picked it up with the paper towels and, surprised that it was already hard and that it had no smell whatsoever, threw it in the trash. Tom, meanwhile, was back in the bedroom resting. I ran in there and told him that she had thrown our poop away! When I came back into the living room, Stacie was spraying the floor with cleaner. I thought that it was probably time to tell her that the poop was fake. I thought for sure she would have realized it when she picked it up with the paper towels!

Long story short, we retrieved the poop from the garbage can and then surprised my sister with it when we got home. We got her pretty good too. She came home one night at 2 a.m. and thought that someone had let the dog into her room. Haha! We've had lots of fun with this and somehow it keeps turning up. . . Thank you Amber for hiding the poo in our car today. It gave us a good laugh.

 

Pretty convincing eh?

Article of Faith:3

#3: We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.

No matter how hard we try, we will always fall short of perfection. God knew that we would come to Earth and make mistakes, so from the foundation of the world, He created a plan that would make it possible for us to return to His presence again, because He loves us. We refer to this plan as "the plan of salvation" or "the plan of happiness." At the heart of this plan is the Atonement.
The Bible Dictionary states: "The word [Atonement] describes the setting "at one" of those who have been estranged, and denotes the reconciliation of man to God."


We believe that we are ultimately saved by grace. As imperfect humans, we could never return to the presence of God without the intercession of Christ's Atonement.

I think this verse from The Book of Mormon best describes what we believe:
"For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do." 2 Nephi 25:23 (emphasis added)

The key for us, is contained in the last few words of the verse: after all we can do. We cannot simply declare that we believe in Jesus Christ and then be saved. It takes effort and action on our part. Faith is action. He asks that we keep his commandments, be his disciples, and try to live a life that he would. A life of love and service to all mankind. This is what we as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints strive to do. We are not perfect, but we are putting forth our best efforts.

The Bible Dictionary continues: "The atonement is conditional, however, so far as each person's individual sins are concerned, and touches every one to the degree that he has faith in Jesus Christ, repents of his sins, and obeys the gospel."

Some favorite scriptures about the Atonement:
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." St. John 3:16

"For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit--and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink--Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men." Doctrine and Covenants 19:16-19

"And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities." Alma 7:11-12

* to learn more, visit www.lds.org or www.mormon.org

Day 9: Down at the Boardwalk

For some reason, Saturday was not a big picture day. It was a pretty chill day too, so I will just sum up what we did, and also talk about how cool Don and Stacie are.

Saturday morning, we took trip #2 (or was it #3?) down to Capitola to take part in some of the Begonia Festival festivities. We almost entered the sand sculpting competition (remind me sometime to post a picture of the sea turtle Tom and I created at Rigby Lake a couple months ago), but decided just to observe instead. There were some pretty impressive sculptures of castles, people, and sea creatures.

#69 reason why Don and Stacie are cool: They are beekeepers! Here are some pictures of the hives they have in their backyard. They can tell you all about bee colonies and their queens. 

They are really fascinating little insects! 

#70 reason why Don and Stacie are cool: They sent us home with a big bottle of fresh honey which we are quickly devouring!

#87 reason why Don and Stacie are cool: They have two adorable kitties: Shalamar and Honshu. They are so sweet and lovable, and just happen to love the bed that Tom and I slept in. It wasn't uncommon to come back to the house to find them like this . . .

 These cats definitely have their own unique personalities too. Honshu is a thief in the night and will come home bearing gifts for my aunt and uncle which he stole from the neighbors. These gifts include rags, gloves, and water shoes!

Shalamar is in love with the men. We started referring to Tom as her boyfriend because she loved sitting in his lap. When Tom was around, she wouldn't give me the time of day!

During the day, Tom and I took yet another trip to the beach in search of nice seashells to bring home as souvenirs.  We walked along the shore for a long time, and made it back to Stacie's house just in time to get ready for . . . you guessed it, the Boardwalk! 

The Boardwalk is an absolute must for any visit to Santa Cruz. I love it there. Partly for sentimental reasons, and partly because it just plain rocks! My first roller coaster ride was on the Giant Dipper at the Boardwalk. I was probably about 10-years-old and terrified. But after only one time around, I was hooked. The Giant Dipper is to this day one of my top two favorite roller coasters. Tom seemed skeptical when I told him it was an old wooden coaster, but he was immediately in love as well. We discovered that it is best to ride in the very back car because it goes the fastest! 

We decided to put on our most terrified looks we could muster for the camera . . .

 As is tradition, we also went on the carousel and indulged in corn dogs and chocolate-dipped ice cream cones. They were delicious even though it was freezing cold out. 

It was such a fun way to end the day!

Day 8: Take me out to the ball game!

After a delicious breakfast (I just love going out to breakfast) which included french toast with a special caramel/banana topping (I'm salivating just thinking about it) we went back to the beach for more fun! It was a little more chilly than we would have liked (as you can probably tell from the fact that I'm wearing a jacket) but we still enjoyed ourselves.

No comments on my white legs allowed.
Let's just say it's a touchy subject.

Tom and I managed to stay warm by sprinting along the shore and trying not to get "caught" by the waves. That may seem like a childish game, but we thoroughly enjoyed it! 

Don brought his binoculars and we were able to spot some sea lions basking out on a rock. Tom wanted to get a better look so he scaled a hillside of large boulders to get there.

Yep, that's my man!

Sea Lions











That night, we headed to the baseball game: the Oakland Athletics vs. the Boston Red Sox. I had been looking forward to this game so much, and it sure did not disappoint! Have I ever mentioned how much I love baseball?? This was by far the most energizing and exciting baseball game I had ever been to! We whipped, creamed, annihilated, trashed, and smashed the Red Sox: 20-2! We were yelling, jumping up and down, and dancing throughout the game. And few things rarely get me that excited. It became almost ridiculous as the A's hit home run after home run and scored
9 runs alone in the bottom of the 7th inning!

Round Table Pizza has this deal that when the A's hit a grand slam during a home game, the whole stadium gets a FREE personal sized pizza. Cool right? So when I found this out, I didn't really think anything of it, because I doubted there would be a grand slam that night at the game. Well, I was wrong! Thank you Mr. Reddick for hitting a grand slam, and thank you Round Table for the free pizza! We were only allowed one topping so I chose green bell-peppers. Is that weird? Everyone seemed to think so but me.

At the coliseum, we were actually surrounded by quite a few Red Sox fans. Not entirely surprising since they are such a big team, and usually a favorite. Throughout the game, the fans become more and more depressed, and hence became more and more obnoxious. It's ok Red Sox fans, I probably would have been a sore loser in your situation as well. Sorry you lost. (Ok, that's a lie. I'm not really sorry we stomped* you.)

*Stomper the Elephant is the A's mascot



As you can clearly see, I had a hard time containing my excitement. It was a very, very good night.

#53 reason why Stacie and Don are cool: They took us to the best A's game ever!

Day 7: Monterey Bay Aquarium

 We traveled down to Monterey the next day to visit the aquarium. This is by far the nicest aquarium I have ever been to. I think Tom was quite impressed with it. My family used to go once in awhile when I was younger, but I think it had been about 10 years since I had last visited.
We really enjoyed our time there.

The cute sea otters were our first stop. We got to watch them eat lunch.

Who knew that sand dollars were naturally all fuzzy furry like that?

Touching the bat rays has always been one of my favorite things.

My favorite part of this visit to the aquarium was getting to watch through a window as the fish in a giant two-story tank were fed. The sardines were so fascinating, the way the whole school moves together and can instantly change directions in unison. We got to watch as the tuna were fed. Did you know that tuna are like, huge? You could probably get 50 cans out of just one fish. Ok, that's a really rough estimate. But these guys were big. I had no idea. We also watched them feed the sea turtle and the sun fish, which is really ugly. No offense, Mr. Sun Fish.

 I took this picture and I am quite proud of it.

Just a floating piece of seaweed you might think? Look again, it's a sea dragon!

 

My second favorite part was this interactive place where you could create your own jellyfish and then watch them float/swim on the screen in front of you. I could have seriously stayed at this station all day long drawing jellies. It was so fun!

This was Tom's jelly. I think it was supposed to look like me??

Later that day we took trip #1 to Capitola to buy tons of salt water taffy and visit Mr. Toots (a cute little coffee shop) where we enjoyed live music performed by a guy at the piano.

We also went to the movies and saw The Bourne Legacy, which was so intense I think it shaved off 2.37 years of my life. I was literally shaking during the whole movie. Ask Tom. Maybe I should lay off of the intense action movies for the time being.

#3 reason why Don and Stacie are cool: They have a hot tub which we got to relax in that night. To create the perfect ambiance, they even had twinkle lights and soothing music playing.