Oh, and hey, I got a job!

It's true! After six months of being unemployed (my longest break from a job since I was 13), I got a job this last week! Before I tell you what it is, let me tell you how it happened . . .

First off, I've been trying to get a job in the hydroponics greenhouse for about four months. Bro. Willis, a teacher of mine last semester, is in charge of the greenhouse, and he's been looking for someone since June, but because he's in the Agriculture dept on campus, he's been searching for an Ag student. No one has jumped on the opportunity yet, and I've been asking him about hiring me every couple of weeks because I am actually interested--but the Ag Dept can't hire me because I'm a Horticulture major. Bro. Willis keeps telling me to change my major--which is NOT going to happen, obviously.

So, Wednesday morning I started my second block class, Interiorscaping, and Bro. Willis' TA, Scott (who is also a Horticulture major--go figure?), is in the class. I again, asked if they were ready to hire me yet, and Scott mentioned that they might just be about ready to give in . . . cool!

So later that afternoon, I was on my way to the computer lab, when I ran into my teacher of the Interiorscaping class, Sis. Bass. She apparently had overheard my conversation with Scott that morning, and asked if I was specifically interested in working in the hydroponics greenhouse, or having a job in general. Well, I replied, of course the hydroponics greenhouse would be cool--but I'm open for suggestions . . . Why?

"Well, the Horticulture department has position we are looking to fill, and we want you," she said. Um, excuse me? What?

Turns out that Sis. Bass was asked to suggest a few students to fill a PR position for the Horticulture dept. Apparently, she knew who she wanted immediately, she just needed to get me to say yes. :)

OF COURSE I SAID YES! So, this is definitely the easiest time I've ever had getting a job! I asked if I needed to interview, or turn in a resume--turns out, nope, I sure didn't! My personal credentials were good enough for this one. ALRIGHT!!!!

So, I'm in charge of PR for the Horticulture dept! I'll be making up posters and advertisements for the bulletin boards around campus, help in updating the departments websites, and maintaining a department blog, which can be found at: www.byuihorticulture.blogspot.com. Cool huh! I'm totally psyched!

Civil Defense Caves

This afternoon Rob and I needed an adventure. We were originally going to go to Craters of the Moon, but the daylight was short in comparison to time it would take to get out there, so I found out how to get to the Civil Defense Caves from a neighbor, and we drove the 30 minutes north of town to the caves.

This is the opening of the cave. Really, it's huge in comparison to most of the caves I've been to. The cave is a lava tube, which is formed when molten lava flows through a confined channel for an extended period of time. I'm really glad that we brought our headlamps, because the floor was crazy bumpy--also not something I'm used to.

Here's Rob--notice the outcrop of rock right behind his head? I banged my head hard on it as I climbed over the floor into a larger opening. Definitely one of those times that I wished I had a hardhat on.

Here I am making my way through the tightest squeeze, which, from my experience, was also much larger than I'm used to. There is no way someone could get stuck for four hours in the cave . . . not that that's ever happened to me before . . . Riiight.

Here we are right after I smashed my skull into the ceiling, and Rob kissed it better. :) Having your wounds kissed better never gets old!

And this is us as we were leaving the cave. We actually walked through the cave with a couple and their three kids, and they took our picture, how nice! I tried to photo-shop it out, but in the picture you can see some white mist, right? That is steam coming off of our bodies, because the cave was pretty cold. It was an awesome little adventure for us, and the couple we met told us about some more sweet places to check out--hopefully you'll be hearing more about them soon!

15 Years Back . . .

Here are some more pictures from the past, only more concentrating on me. I'm in the (horrendously ugly) black t-shirt, on the right in both. For those that know (or are) my sisters, don't you think they all look adorable? Stephanie, with her lovely crimped hair (AND happy birthday today!!), Susie, looking adorable as ever, and Teri, our cute little red-head.

I figure I'm about 11 in these, because: 1, my hair is in a pony tail on the top of my head--I went through a phase with my soccer team that year of doing my hair as punked out as possible, without using hair spray (something I was SO AGAINST because of the CFC's); 2, notice the black stretch pants, yes they had stirrups, tucked into my white slouchy socks; 3, my black and neon pink and purple shoes; 4, I had begun wearing oversized t-shirts because I was going through puberty and "growing out" much more quickly than any of the other girls my age. Yes, I know the shirt didn't help de-emphasize my assets. I was quite the fashionista, right?

Our maternal grandparents picked us up that day and took us up the canyon to look at the beautiful changing fall leaves. Oh, my hair is just so lovely.

And this last one, I had to include for a few reasons. It was at the bridal shower for my cousin, Kari, who is twelve years older than me. I was born on her birthday, so we've always been "birthday buddies", and I wanted to sit up close to see all the cool presents she was getting. Well, when she pulled out this little number, I think everyone in the room was surprised!

Not only is the look on Kari's face classic, but my grandmother, sitting next to her, and Aunt Laura's, next to grandma, are also fantastic! Then there is the look on my face--I'm absolutely horrified! I think this picture is also a prime example of my bad clothes. I absolutely loved denim shirts, and notice my multi-colored shoes again? By golly, I'm glad that I eventually started watching What Not To Wear and got a clue!

Ahhh, a Glorious Weekend!

While studying in the Geology Lab, a few weeks ago, I saw that there was an upcoming hike to Cave Falls in Yellowstone with the Geology Society for last Saturday, the 18th. So I, always looking for a reason to get out of Rexburg, suggested to Rob that we go. Never mind the fact that I wanted to get out of town for a few hours, I figured it would be fun for Rob to see some of his friends from school, since he's been off track since July. Let's just say that it was incredibly beautiful, an utterly perfect day, and completely disorganized!

Here is a shot of the falls from the parking lot. Cave Falls is only 20 feet high but reaches 250 feet across the Falls River in the southwest corner of Yellowstone National Park. It was about an hours drive from Rexburg. We especially enjoyed the trip because we took school vehicles, and didn't have to drive!!

Here is what looks like a pregnant tree! It even had a belly button, and what looked like two separate legs.

Here we are in front of Bechler Falls, about 1.5 miles up-river from Cave Falls.

Aren't we so cute and nuggly?!?!

I think this would be a great place to take engagement pictures. I was almost too afraid of falling into the water to jump out to the rock--it was about a 2.5 foot gap--but with some help from a log, I made it. I only wish Rob's eyes were open in this picture. It's so cute!

Anytime anyone would like to come visit us, we would love to have an excuse to go back. In fact, from this trail, it's only 31.8 walking miles to Old Faithful--Rob and I were thinking we'd like to hike it next summer--anyone want to join us? OR even be willing to drop us off here, and then meet up with us the next day at Old Faithful?

Like Mother, Like Daughter

A few weeks ago, I was sitting my my parents living room going through a box of old photos that my dad had recently found. Because I have no pictures of myself as a child, I brought a stack home with me, so that I could scan them, and then give them back to my parents. I expect that a good portion of my blog posts in the near future will be of pictures of me as a youngin. :)

One of the best finds though, is this picture of my mom and dad at their reception. They are cutting the cake, preparing for what I always affectionately called, "the shoving contest". My favorite part, though, is the look on my mother's face (not to mention my dad's ruffly tuxedo shirt *snicker snicker*) :

It kinda reminds me of the look on my face at my wedding . . .

Oh wait, not that one . . . here it is:

. . . not to mention this look:

"Holy canolli! That's a lotta cake!" Well, it actually wasn't cake, Rob and I aren't too fond of cake, so we had a "rice crispie" cake. The bottom layer was made out of fruity-pebbles, the middle out of rice crispies, and the top coco-crispies. It was fantastic!

Yum! And if you keep paying attention, you'll see the rice-crispie thing come up again in the pictures . . . they are my FAVORITE, afterall. :)

A months work . . .

I accomplished a typical months work today, in about a half hour, as witnessed in this email:

*****************************************

Dear Kristin,

I would like to inform you that we have received your fast graduation application in the admissions office and it has been approved. You may register for your Winter semester classes when your credit level allows.

Thank you,

Stephani

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Happiness Prevails!

EDIT: What this means is that I can 1, register for winter semester--which I need to attend at least twice as a Horticulture major (I was accepted as a summer/fall track student--which means I would not typically be able to attend winter semesters), and 2, continuously attend school until I graduate, therefore signifigantly decreasing the amount of time Rob and I will need to live in Rexburg--by a year and a half.

What it really comes down to though, is that Rob and I should be able to graduate in the same semester. So once we are both done here, we can immediately move on to wherever Rob chooses to go to Grad school. THAT is happiness!

More Projects!

As of late, I haven't been updating the blog as often as I would like. There are many reasons for this, but what it really comes down to is that I spend way too much time doing homework. For example, I spent 9 hours on this design for my Flower ID class. The plot is a part of the school's demonstration gardens that will be planted, I assume, sometime next spring.

Yeah. Nine hours of my life--displayed on that piece of paper. I know, it's sad. What a waste of an entire Saturday afternoon and evening.

This, on the other hand, is a work of art that I assembled in Flower Center last Thursday. We were to create a centerpiece--so I did an oblong design with pink larkspur, daisy mums, and salal. I think it turned out great, and am now displaying it proudly on my bar.

It only took half an hour, at most, and was much more exciting, fun, and rewarding. Not to mention I get to look at pretty flowers all week. :)

I do have some pretty awesome things that I still want to post, but I've got to scan some pictures first . . . and I haven't gotten that far yet. So, hopefully I'll find some time to breathe this week, and all you faithful blog-readers of mine will have some great entertainment soon. Until then . . .

Oh, and someone mistook me for an eighteen-year-old's mother today. Sadly enough, it's not the first time this has happened. It's the third. Do I really look like I'm 40? Sad day.

Holy Crap! I'm SO Funny!

Ok, I know, it's a pompous title, but hopefully you'll come to appreciate why I'm laughing so hard at myself right now.

The story starts out this morning. I had gotten out my gloves, because I was going to take a bike ride, and it's been quite chilly in the mornings here; I didn't want to freeze my fingertips off during my ride. Thankfully though, it had warmed up this morning, and since I prefer to ride without them I left the gloves behind. For my bike ride, I started off going to the dry cleaners. Rob's zipper on his favorite coat broke last spring, and rather than getting a whole new coat, I figured we could jsut get a new zipper installed.

So I got to the dry cleaners, where they do alterations too, and asked for a new zipper to be put in. The employee told me that all I actually needed was a new zipper pull, and she could have the coat fixed in about five minutes. COOL!

As I was waiting, I saw that the cleaners also had collar stays for sale, and since I didn't take out Rob's collar stays the first time I washed a shirt with them, (how am I supposed to know they needed to come out) and they broke, I've been needing to buy him some. I love buying him stupid little gifts like this, and was delighted with the thought of presenting him with them.

So, the coat got fixed. I continued my bike ride for another 40 minutes, and eventually came home. Now, since I have class this afternoon from 3:00-6:00 and Rob is going to beat me home, I wanted to set out his coat as a surprise. Originally I was jsut going to lay it out on the couch, and then I noticed the pillow laying there . . . so I zipped up the coat around the pillow and stood it up. It looked good . . . but it wasn't perfect, yet. I then took a smaller pillow and stuffed it in the hood, making it stand up. The "head" was tilted a bit, which gave it a little sass . . . and then I saw my gloves. I stuffed the gloves in the arm holes, and made a peace sign out of the fingers. In the pocket of the coat I put the wrapped collar stays.

So when Rob gets home, this is what he'll see:

New zipper pull? Four dollars.
New collar stays? Two dollars.
Me dressing up pilliows in the fixed coat, throwing a peace sign? Priceless.

I am one crazy girl.