Days go by...

Okay. You know I'm a fan of the list-posts. So here goes.

• I started working at the Jr. High library again, this time for PAY. I'm the Substitute Librarian while Linda is in Ethiopia for the next two months. Her daughter and son-in-law are living there, helping to start ranches, etc. They recently decided to adopt 5 of the Ethiopian kids from an orphanage. Linda is going to help her daughter and her husband is going to help with the agriculture stuff. This is her daughter Alyssa with the Ethiopian people.

• When she left she gave me the keys and said, "This is your baby. Have fun with it!" I work from 10-2. I've been having fun with the kids. One kid, and eighth grader has told on several different occasions that he's going to be a ghost hunter (we found him several 'nonfiction' books on ghosts), criminal investigator (he has his own website already), and creator of an "extreme reality video game" (the only problem there is he has to figure our how to simulate the feeling of death). Needless to say, it's a blast.
  
• I've also been working part-time at Melaleuca. I enjoy it, even though I go home exhausted. I work from 4-9. I just got my 2nd pay check this weekend, and BOY was that nice.


• I ordered my wedding dress, and it's all finished! They should be shipping it to me sometime this week. Here's a sneak peek:

• Zach and I got our engagement pictures back, and we were very happy with them! Here are two of the better ones:

I designed our announcements and we ordered them last night. Hopefully they're coming soon!

• I've been acting like this guy:

• Only not so creepy. Lol. I've been reading up a storm during slow hours at Melaleuca. I can highly recommend The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Roar by Emma Clayton, and The Dragon Rider by Cornelia Funke. To name a few.

• It's finally Friday!! Tomorrow is the 6 month mark for Zachary and me. We're going to have a special date night. But shhhhhh! That's a surprise.

Ups and Downs

It's way too fast for me. We're in the last days of January already! Let me sum up the biggest news so far:

• I had a pretty successful job interview with Melaleuca on Wednesday, and I'm just waiting to hear back.
  
• I tried to teach a bread class for some extra income. Unfortunately, the girls who signed up ALL forgot about it, or decided not to come. On the plus side, I now have a 25lb bag of flour to cook with, cause they didn't need any of it. lol. I left the offer to teach classes online, in case someone decides they want it again. It's at www.baking101.weebly.com
  
• I found a posting on the bulletin board for a 2 bedroom mobile home for only $350 a month! Washer and dryer included, only utilities not covered are gas and lighting. I've called, e-mailed, and called again! I'm hoping soon they'll get back to me because that would be PERFECT for us. =]
  
• Tuesday's devotional was AWESOME, Russell M. Nelson spoke! And tonight there is a university fireside (?what's that about?) and Elder M. Russell Ballard is speaking! I got a ticket for the front center section. Sweeeeeet.

So, keep your fingers crossed for us! We've got lots of good opportunities we're trying to grab by the horns!

In the meantime, I have been enjoying these books:


Fairest, by Gail Carson Levine
It was pretty cute, except I kept imagining that Aza looked like the poor chubby girl from The Tale of Despereaux. That kind of ruined any good imagery Gail tried to use.


The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Prisoner's Dilemma, by Trenton Lee Stewart
I'm still in the middle of this one. It's the third in series. They're so fun! (Thanks to my sister Sarah, who got it for me!!!) I highly recommend them.


Sunshine, by Robin McKinley
I normally love Robin McKinley books, and my roommate recommended this one. It's about vampires. Actually, it's about a girl who lives in an altered America where things like vampires, demons, goblins, etc. are real. I have to say, it's MUCH better than Twilight because it has a believable fantasy to it. For example, the vampire look like aliens instead of Abercrombie models, and they don't go to high school. *gasp!* I know. However, the character's good, honest voice told me things I didn't want to know about her boyfriend, etc. So I put it down. But I do love Robin's writing style. I recommend her books Rose Daughter and The Hero and the Crown. So good!

Anyway. Happy Saturday to you all!

In a whirl

Hey everyone!

It's been an embarassingly long time since I've updated. My head is still spinning from this past school semester, which I barely survived (academically speaking).

Here's a list of big highlights you may have missed:

1. I never mentioned it here (shame on me) but on November 7th I got engaged! If you're curious, here's a link to our wedding website. It has the story of how we met and how he proposed, etc.

2. Zach and his parents came down to Arizona for Thanksgiving, because he has grandparents just a few hours north of Mesa. It was a crazy and hectic week, but we really enjoyed it.

3. Zach was diagnosed with a thyroid disorder called Graves Disease. We're still sorting out all his symptoms and new prescriptions, but are relieved to finally have some answers. He hasn't been quite himself the past few weeks, but things have taken a turn for the better.

4. Zach's best friend started asking my roommate/second cousin out on a few dates. They are now talking non-stop, and we all hope it goes somewhere! Zach and I feel like two little matchmakers.

5. I spent the few days before Christmas with Zach's family in California! The weather felt like a miracle after Rexburg's ice and snow. We had fun at the beach with a few of our friends, and I got to help decorate the Emmons family tree. It was his mom's birthday on the 22nd, so I helped celebrate there too.

6. Also on the 22nd, I got a new niece! Chloe Lynne Olave was born and gave us all quite a scare. She was in the NICU for about three days with liquid in her lungs. Happily, she made a good recovery and came home on Christmas Day. My parents and younger sisters are here in town with us, and it's been lots of fun.

7. I finished my internship well, and was promised a job as the substitute librarian when Linda goes to Ethiopia (probably end of February). Exciting? Absolutely!

So now I'm just chilling in my apartment, which would be empty except that my younger sisters are staying with me. Hallelujah for that! I really need a job, so I'm applying online for a job at Pizza Hut.

I'm also compiling a large list of books I want to read now that school is over. I plan on reading most of the "hot item" books from the junior high. =]

Anticipating the holidays!

Okay, so I promised my roommates I wouldn't put up my Christmas tree until mid-November. But it's going to be hard to keep that promise!!!! It's cold and wintery and I just want it to be Christmas.

On the other hand, it's still pretty exciting seeing all the Halloween and Fall stuff everywhere! We found a jack-o-lantern tablecloth in our closet, and we freaked out. Hooray for being festive! The only real problem is... I don't know what will I be for Halloween! =]

Last night Zach and I went to the Spirit Week rodeo. Sooo fun. We brought apple cider in a thermos, and ate homemade fried burritos on the way there. Delish. We both agreed we were jealous of the riders' skills, especially the five year old in the barrel racing competition. =] It was kind of funny though, they didn't play country music in the background! It was Black Eyed Peas, Jimmy Eat World, etc. lol. College town.

I decided I love kids books a lot. I've been reading a bunch of young adult books from the Jr. High library as part of my internship hours (I know, awesome, right???), and they are so much fun. I was rolling my eyes a lot at first, but... come on. Who can resist slipping back to the hope and innocence of being 13?

Armageddon Summer, by Jane Yolen & Bruce Coville

"Did we do wrong in believing, Marina?" Mom asked suddenly.

"Never in believing, Mom," I said. "Just in what we believed."

Half Moon Investigations, by Eoin Colfer

"All eyes were on me again, and not in a nice Oh, look at that handsome young man in the shiny shoes, I wonder if he's single kind of way. It was more of a nasty If he doesn't come up with the goods in ten seconds, let's lynch him kind of way."

Once Upon a Marigold, by Jean Ferris

"Whose idea is this?" she demanded. "In the first place, I don't care if Christian is royalty; I'd marry him if he were a goatherd. And in the second place, he hasn't asked me. And in the third place, I'll not have him railroaded into something he doesn't want to do. Where's Mother? I'll tell her myself that there's going to be no wedding today."

"But I want one," Christian said, trying to get out from under the pile of dogs. "The only thing I want in all the world is for you to be my wife. We can sort out the rest of the stuff later."

"Oh," Marigold said.

Her sisters grabbed her and dragged her off to get dressed.

Summer Summary

My break ends this weekend! I've been too lazy to go online much, so here's another list-blog.

This summer I read:

1. The Mysterious Benedict Society and the Perilous Journey
2. FableHaven: Secrets of the Dragon Sanctuary
3. The Lightning Thief (#1 in a series called Percy Jackson & the Olympians- Thank you Kristen!!!)
   
4. The Sea of Monsters(#2)
5. The Titan's Curse(#3)
6. The Battle of the Labyrinth(#4)
7. The Last Olympian(#5)
8. A Day with Wilbur Robinson (The picture book Meet the Robinsons is based off of. I bought it for $3!)
   
9. 
10. Anastasia's Album. Found it for $1 at Half Price Books. It has old photographs of the Romanovs, a biography for children, etc. My best find of the summer!
    
11. Currently in the middle of Brisingr (#3 in the Eragon series) and Rules

I sewed:

1. A baby sleeper, which has an unfinished neckline because I ran out of ribbing
   
2. A toddler dress. Turns out it's extra long... my bad!
   
3. A fully lined jacket... Cute, but bigger is not always better, even with kids' clothing!
   
4. A nursing cover for my aunt Peggy, and a matching wet wipes case.
   
5. A little girl's nightgown
   
6. Another Margaret Sling Bag in super cute paisley fabric, with matching wet wipes case.
7. Tomorrow I will be making another lined jacket and another nightgown. Let's hope I can get the sizing right this time. =]

I saw:

1. Terminator #The New One. I hadn't see any of the other ones, but it was pretty good.
   
2. Imagine That-- loved it!!
3. Harry Potter #6 - liked it a lot!
   
4. Race to Witch Mountain (ended up getting a $10 fee from Redbox because I forgot about it...oops)
   
5. A Diamondbacks vs. Dodgers game! I'm the Diamondbacks' most ignorant fan! I don't know anything about baseball, I just like to yell. We each picked a random player to be our favorite. I lucked out and picked Ojeda, who happens to be one of their better ones. We also discovered that I am good luck-- the Diamondbacks won!
6. "The Magic Flute," broadcasted from the Met. Awesome.
7. Knowing, with Nicholas Cage. Prettttty creepy, but interesting
   
8. Hannah Montana the Movie. Ohhhh yeah. I'm half adult, half kid. I've got the best of both worlds.
   
9. Wizards of Waverly Place the Movie, in conjunction with a wizards party with my girlies (see photo below).

AND, best of all, I wrote:

1. The first bits of my newest story! I'm going to put up a super rough draft of the opening on my writing blog. It's historical fiction with a bit of a time travel twist.

So pretty much, I've been having a blast.

The end.

No place like home

I'm right there with you, Dorothy. But there's also no place like Rexburg. I really miss my friends, the way of life, my friends, my new bike, my friends, everything within walking distances, my friends.... did I mention my friends? Shout out to all of them, who are moving onto bigger and more exciting things.

Someone asked me today what I'm doing with all my time now that I'm home. I had to think pretty hard before figuring it out. lol. Most of the time the day is over before I realize that I haven't done anything. Pretty much, I've just been acting like a kid on summer break. Filling my days with a whole lot of relaxing nothingness.

1. Playing with my nieces/nephews/sisters
2. Running errands and hanging out with my mom
3. Goofing off with Steph (see picture above)
   
4. Earning frequent flyer miles with Redbox. (Do you think they do that???)
   
5. Doing odd jobs for my grandma
6. Reading books (Just finished the 4th Fablehaven and the sequel to The Mysterious Benedict Society. I love young adult fiction!)
7. Jogging in the mornings with my friend Corinne from Institute. It's only the second day, and I'm sore.
8. I got to meet two Ukrainian kids! They came with a foster children's group a week ago and are staying with a family in my ward. They called my dad and asked him to help translate, so I went with him. It was pretty exciting, but Alyona was really hard to understand.
   

Even though I have been productive in some ways, I know I need to earn money for next semester. Luckily, I found an opportunity! My aunt (who lives about three hours away) is having her baby next week and needs someone to drive her around, so my Grandma hired me. I'm leaving for Snowflake in a few hours to hang with her and my four cousins for a week. We'll also try and crank out the birth announcement.

Wish me luck!

P.S. The Critical Language Scholarship (that sends students to RUSSIA to learn RUSSIAN for FREE) is opening up applications for next summer's program soon!! Eeeeep! Since I'm already planning on going, I can't wait to apply. lol.