"Suck Up"

Today in my soils class I learned a rather valuable lesson. Plants don't "suck up" water. Bro. Willis demonstrated this with a simple hose, a pond, and gravity. See, in the Benson building (the building I practically live in on campus) there is an indoor pond right by the stairs leading from the first to the second floor. It's an open area, and you can look down into the pond from the second floor. Standing on the top level, we took the tube and draped it over the walkway railing into the pond. Then Bro. Willis challenged the class to suck the water from the pond, up to the railing--about 12-13 feet. He was offering 20 extra credit points to anyone that could do it. Greg, a classmate of mine volunteered first, and with determination he achieved the feat--with puckered lips to prove. I wanted in on the action too. Not only for the points, but to say I did it . . . this is what I got:



My lips swelled up from the vacuum created in the tube.



It was like I got botox injections. I can't believe people pay to look like this! I couldn't even get my tongue to touch the top of my upper lip!



This is the best picture I could get of another classmate trying the feat. Only Greg and I prevailed though. At least you get the concept of what is going on, right? Sorry it kind of sucks (no pun intended) these are all taken on my phones camera.



Yep. My lips were uber swollen. I had a lisp when I talked, and couldn't whistle.



Here is a picture two hours later. At least the swelling is going down. As I'm writing this, it's been eight hours. My lips are still swollen, and the upper lip has what Jessie and I affectionately call a lipickie. Basically it's like a hickie on your lip. Or what others might call a blood blister. Rob refuses to kiss me because my lips feel weird. He's also asked me to never get botox injections. He says my lips are "perfectly kissable just the way they are." :) So now I have not only some very interesting bragging rights--but I'm also the ultimate "suck up".

The weekend . . .

This weekend was a blast. Here's a quick rundown:

Friday night--Rented 27 Dresses, ate popcorn (MMmmmm . . .) fell asleep on the LoveSac . . .
Saturday--Slept in, had AMAZING French Toast for breakfast, lazied around the house, napped, tried to go shooting, but our "spot" had campers there. :( Watched (and napped through) Bladerunner.
Sunday--Great hair day. Church, napped, took two hours to cook up a batch of Chicken Chili (my FAV--it's WELL worth it!), welcomed my Mom, Dad, and lil' sis Teri visiting from Utah, looked at Rob's and my wedding pictures, helped Teri set up a blog, etc . . .
Monday--Slept in, the most hilarious dream of my Mom's, more AMAZING French Toast, actual shooting with the homies, napped, watched Super Size Me and ate popcorn . . .

Please notice, this weekend included no homework whatsoever. That's right. It was filled with popcorn, shooting guns, chillin with the fam, movies and napping. It was a good weekend. I do want to expound in more detail a couple of the highlights . . .

The Movies:

27 Dresses was okay. I'm glad we Redbox'ed it. Rob has wanted to see it for awhile . . . I think he liked it more than me. Bladerunner is a classic Sci-Fi that we started watching on TV earlier last week, but didn't finish, so we actually rented it. It was interesting. I'm glad we didn't buy it out of theWalMart $5 bin a couple months back when we were feeling spendy . And Super Size Me--well, I love this movie. When I had my "all you can rent" setup at Blockbuster, Johnny and I must have rented and watched it about 5 times. Rob had never seen it. He liked it, and it reminded me of why we don't eat out too often.

My Mom's dream:

When I woke up Monday morning I went out to see how my Mom and Dad slept--they opt'ed to sleep on the LoveSac, instead of the blow-up mattress we offered and expected them to sleep on; so I was hoping the night went well since we didn't hear the air-mattress pump in the middle of the night.

"So how did you sleep Mom?"

"Really well, except the rattlesnakes . . . "

"Um, excuse me? Rattlesnakes? Did the sprinklers keep you up? Or were our neighbors being noisy outside?"

"No . . . it wasn't the sprinklers or neighbors" It was then that the wind started blowing through my cracked living-room window, shaking the venetian blinds so quickly that it sounded like a rattler.

"Ahhhhh." Apparently that sound kept my Mother terrified for the better part of the night about there being rattlesnakes in my living-room. She dreamt about snakes all night until it started to get light enough outside that she could see where the noise was coming from. We laughed.

Shooting:

Basically, I've decided that we need to get a .22 pistol. One of our friends brought one, and I killed with it. I also kicked some butt with another friend's .22 rifle--through the iron-sites. His scope was off, and was mounted too high for me to see through anyway. I also shot a .45 pistol, which didn't kick as much as I expected, and Rob shot a .308 high powered rifle. It was a fun day. Best part was when five of us all lined up and tried to take out the same target. Another friend was behind us shaking up cans of soda, and then chucking them into the air at our shooting range. We then would all release as many bullets as possible until the can gloriously exploded! I took out four or five of the cans--out of the dozen that were thrown, so I'm feeling pretty awesome about that as well. That's right, I'm awesome with a gun. ;)

Daisy Daisy . . .

Just another fine display of my awesome school schedule.



I'm so cute!

My .22 Experience

One of the last times Rob and I were at my parents house we asked if we could borrow my Dad's bolt .22 rifle with a scope. He figured that would be cool, and this morning we took it out for a hundred rounds or so. Rob shot the caps off some water bottles, and here is my target page.



I'm feeling pretty hot rockin awesome about it. The first shot I got off was directly through the upper-right target center, so having not shot a .22 for probably about 20 years, I'm feelin' pretty cool. I've never seen Rob so proud. Well, okay, I have, but he is pleased as punch to have married such a great marks-woman. ;)

Happy Birthday Boys!

My youngest nephews turned one today, here are the cute birthday boys!



Derek and Riley, eating yummy home made oreo cookies!



Derek loves those sweets!



Here is Riley. Aren't they adorable!

Pacific Ethanol Inc.

Today I went on a field trip with my soils class to the ribbon cutting ceremony at Pacific Ethanol, Inc. in Burley, ID. I ended up sitting on the front row in front of the stage, so I was lucky enough to snap a few shots with my camera phone. Honestly, it was a very interesting experience. Something interesting I learned was that the making of Ethanol isn't actually diminishing the food supply. Apparently the corn used to make Ethanol at this particular plant would regularly be used as cattle feed. In the production of Ethanol the process only extracts the starch in the corn; then everything else including nutrients and proteins are made into a pulp that the Ethanol company will sell as cattle feed. The advantage to this pulp is that it's actually a more nutritious for the cows than straight corn. COOL!



Here is Idaho's Governor, Butch Otter welcoming the plant to Magic Valley. He seemed like a pretty decent guy!



The Ribbon Cutting ceremony . . .



And it's official!



Here's a view from the top. Crazy thing about it is that the entire plant can be run by four people at a time. There are only 36 people on the payroll, and this plant will produce 60 million gallons of Ethanol a year. It's was an awesome field trip--the only downside? It stank like rotting corn and alcohol. Imagine that!

My "Science" Major . . .

For those who might not have caught on yet, I am really enjoying my classes. Here are a few examples of my delights: First off, in my floral design class we've been doing corsages.



Here is the first corsage I did in class. I have of course worked with flowers before, so I tried to work in some element of design, for those who might know what the Hogarth curve is, do you see the S?



Here is the second corsage I did. We were working with color tool, so I "painted" these carnations purple and green--they were originally white. Also, I went for a C-curve in this one. It may not be the most attractive grouping of flowers in the world, but it's one of those things where it's so bad, it's awesome. :)



In my landscaping design class we started out with using pencils to draw trees for designs. This was not originally my favorite task. It's funny. In my horticulture class in high school, drawing up the landscape plans were my least favorite part . . . in all honesty, I was kinda dreading this class--taking it in my first semester so that I could get it out of the way.



And then we started using markers. The markers ARE AWESOME. It's so much more interesting to put the color down on page than the pencil.



How exciting! I'm not perfect at the markers by any means, but I'm loving using the color. It's so interesting to see how these designs can come to life with just a bit of color. Next week in class we'll actually be planting out in the schools gardens, which I can't wait for. Man, school is awesome!

Bow Rodeo!

Today in my floral design class we had our bow rodeo! In class we have been practicing making bows the last couple of weeks, and today we put our skills to the test and timed ourselves a few times. My classmate Tara however took the creativity to the next level. She decided to make an arrangement out of another classmate, Brooke. This is the beauty that developed:



It started as an innocent headdress--Brooke is quite the head model--no? Then about half the class donated their bows . . . and Tara became even more confident in her designing skills.



I think it has a beautiful shape Tara! And look at those bows! Great job class!



Tara and her creation. It looks fabulous ladies!



Here are all the bows that came off Brooke's head. It was so hilarious! Who thought getting an education would be so freakin fantastic! I'm surprised it took this long for another human being to be displayed as a piece of artistic expression on my blog!

Things to look forward to!

This week in my floral design class I found out that in upcoming classes for my major I'm going to be able to create ART! Check this out!



These are created on CARDBOARD with GLUE and SPRAY PAINT--err, um, flower tool . . .



I totally love it!



Mine probably won't be this amazing, but it's something to aim at, right?



SO AWESOME!

No More Markers

Welcome to storytime boys and girls. I've come to tell you all about how funny my husband is.

Rob is a very attractive man. I swoon when I'm near him, and think he's uber-sexy. He, like many men grows hair on his chest. Thats normal. What I find a little un-normal however is that he has one single hair growing out of the area where his throat meets his chest--right below his Adams apple. A few times in the past I've asked him, and then plucked out this solitary hair. Tonight when I asked him if I could pluck it, he clutched his throat, and ran into the bathroom trying to get away from me so I couldn't get to him again.

"It wouldn't bother me so much if it had friends! Maybe someday you'll grow more hairs there and I won't want to pluck it anymore!" I cried!

So this is what he did:



That's right. He drew more on. With permanent marker. We laughed. I can't believe him sometimes!

Garage Sale Saturday

This is our living room.



Here are our sweet two chairs that used to be in our living room.



This is our awesomely reto new couch.



My cute husband Rob on our new couch.



Any questions?

This Weeks Highlights

Well really, the highlight was last weekend when my Snow grrrls and I got together with our families for our Annual Hoo-Hah. I linked to Jessie's blog, because she already posted about it and it's easier. :)

We came home Sunday afternoon, and took the Preston route, vs the Tremonton route from Logan. I never realized how much faster it really is! Crazy thing is that Google maps tells me it's 13 minutes quicker to go through Tremonton, but we shaved basically an hour off our drive through Preston. Anyway, it was a BEAUTIFUL day, so we stopped at a rest area just south of Idaho Falls for a nice picnic, and "hike" around some lava fields. Very cool.

Once returning home, as tradition continues I got sick. Again. Last time we spent time in Logan I came home with a stomach bug, and poor Rob puked his guts out for the better part of a morning. This time I have a horrible sore throat--so much that I even went to the doctor today. It's been absolutely terrible. Dr. said that it's not strep--yet, but they'll keep my culture growing over the next few days to see if anything develops. In the mean time I can alternate Tylenol and Ibuprofen every three hours for the pain, and to continue with my salt-water gargles--which I started on Tuesday. BTW--if you have TOO MUCH salt in the water it makes you gag, and basically want to throw up. I found this out the hard way and thought I was going to yak this morning in the shower. ICK! Good thing I hadn't eaten or drunk anything yet. :)

So I'm sick, Rob has THANKFULLY (knock on wood) avoided the ickness. I've come home every day from school and taken about a 3 hour nap, and haven't done homework in three days. Lucky for me I can get away with this because I'm totally ahead in all my classes. With just a little reading this weekend, and by writing up a lab I'll be totally back in the game. Best part about it is that I have ONE class tomorrow; I'm out of school by 8:45 AM! Huzzah!

One last thing--we bought our car last summer knowing that the air conditioning didn't work. We've meant to get it fixed, but never have. So a couple of weeks ago I got an email from the automotive dept on campus looking for cars needing repair, I jumped on it and volunteered willingly. Basically, it is now blowing clean, cool, refreshing air for the low bargain price of $38.50. Nothing like getting students to fix your car, while charging no labor! We are ecstatic!

Why buy expensive toys?

In reference to Britt's post about Preston talking, I was reminded of this adorable baby. Not adorable as Preston though, just because I get to have his cute, chubby, little fingers all over my face this weekend . . .


Rob and I laugh our bellies off every time we watch it. It's even better at 2 AM when you're exhausted and need sleep.

New Post

So apparently I'm getting complaints about not having blogged in a whole week and a half. Sorry Sarah, but I've had stuff going on dude! AKA--I started school last week! I'm doing well thus far to keep up on reading and such, so I'm feeling good about it all. I even have a whopping 16 out of 15 points for my floral arranging class, giving me 106%. Yeah!

And in reference to Johnny's blog--here is a song that gets stuck in my head, but I like it. It's the kind of song that stirs emotions within me. So nurturing . . . So pretty . . .




YAY! SO there Sarah.

Commentary by Jessie:

Jessie: "So I ran into this really funny kid the other day Kristin, and I gotta say I think he is the perfect man for you. Just look at him. This is the face of a dude who will make his woman happy for the rest of eternity. Interested?"

Me: "Heck yes I'm interested! Sign me up!"

Tagged by Sarah

4 Jobs I have had:
Soccer Referee
Kuh-nanny
Smoothie Blender
Janitor

4 TV Shows I watch:
Two and a Half Men
The Office
Project Runway
Rock of Love--Seasons one and two--I was an Ambre fan ALL ALONG and can't wait for the reunion show on Sunday!

4 Places I have been:
Guatemala
Punxsutawney, PA
Toronto
Hannibal, MO

4 People that email me:
Rob's Dab
LeMira
Laurie
My hopeful IRA guy Bill


4 of my favorite foods:
Macaroni and Cheese--homemade AND boxed!
English Muffins
Tillamook Mudslide
FUGI Apples

4 Friends I Tag:
Britt
Lisa
Susie
Alan

4 things I am looking forward to in 2008:
Going back to school
Working part-time
Going camping
Meeting people in Rexburg

Why?

Just one of the reasons I think Obama is great.

here

Makes you actually believe you can trust the guy, eh?

Rob and I got married! 04-07-07

So Britt asked me today if you could add slide shows to your blog . . .



Well, I guess you can, but I totally cheated by just inserting the html codes from my slide show on my MySpace. :)

Wow! News!

Well I'm proud to say I have a few announcements.

First, I've quit my job. I know it doesn't sound like the best decision, but I'm going to start a full load of classes in five days and I needed a few days to relax before school begins. Huzzah! (Good thing too, because I woke up OOBER sick this morning) I've never been actually excited to be unemployed--for the moment of course, I'm seeking a part-time job as we speak.

Secondly, Rob and I went and bought our books today for our upcoming classes. I thought it was pretty exciting until I went to pick up my art kit for my Landscape Design class. It was over $100 and came in a bag big enough to fit a child in. Here is a picture of it with my sandals for size comparison.



I get to carry this thing all over campus twice a week. Yippee. Don't get me wrong, it's a cool bag, just a bit bulky and I'm sure I won't be able to sell it back. It came with a T-Square though, Rob's pretty psyched about that. :)

Third, I got a SWEET couple of bags last weekend. One is a cute, super-girly pink backpack to replace the brown one I gave to Rob last semester, and the second is this awesome lapop sleeve:



Black with multi-colored stars?!?! For sure!

Fourth, "Laptop sleeve??" You ask? "Why does she need a laptop sleeve??" Well, I am a blessed girl and now own a laptop. And a dang cute one at that!



That's right! It's PINK! AND I got a matching mouse to go with it!



I feel so incredibly spoiled. I'm going to be the most pimped out chicka on campus.

So now with the laptop we have gotten ourselves Skype accounts and look forward to speaking to friends and family over the web. We also have a webcam, so we could even give you a tour of our apartment. I'm excited!

Teaching Lesson

SO tonight my friend Jessie and I are chillin at our friend Britt's house. Jessie is a bit new to the blogging world, so I'm showing her how to add pictures and links to her blog.



Sa-weet!

Back to School

Let me take you back in time:



December 1, 2001 - That day I agreed to: withdraw from college, move to New York and become a nanny for six boys, all under the age of 12. "What in the world?!" You might think, but it all made sense to me. I was an uninspired student. I was attending a school that didn't offer the program I was interested in. I had realized mid-way through my third semester that being a General Studies student with an emphasis in Botany was NOT the same, or even a substitution for Horticulture. The upcoming semester of school I had registered to take an English and Biology class, and then bowling, backpacking, cross-country skiing, water-aerobics, and country swing. I'd come to the realization that I was spending thousands of dollars on electives. It didn't make sense.

June 15, 2005 - This day I announced to the world that I was going to once again move across the country and become once again a nanny. My good friend Laurie has expecting a baby and begged me to come help out. Again, to the general onlooker I was making a crazy mistake. I had a great job - which provided me with a disposable income. I lived in a super CUTE house with cheap rent and a great landlord, and I had the MOST AMAZING ROOMMATES. But I needed adventure. So, I packed all the belongings up once again, the Iowa Idols threw me an amazing going away party, and I headed East.

Because of these seemingly rash decisions my life has changed forever. Because I initially moved to New York I met Laurie and the boys. A few years later she asked me to join in on her adventures again, but this time in Virginia. There I found the man I wanted to spend my life with. I fell in love. We got married and moved to Idaho so he could go to school.

February 3, 2008 - We were talking to Rob's Dad. He was telling us about the classes he's taking right now for his Master's Degree how hard it is to juggle everything. Something he said really struck me - something to the effect of "It's so hard trying to work full-time, be a father and husband, and go to school on the side." He talked about President Hinckley's recent talk about getting all the education you can, and how school is important. He wasn't trying to convince me to go back to school--it just happened that way.

I'd always figured that eventually I'd go back to school. Some time after we are more settled, and we've had a couple of kids--or even when the kids are older. But again I realized, I want to be a Mom to my children. The kind of Mom I have. Not a stressed out college student that has to make a decision between tucking her babies in at night and a late night cram session with schoolmates. I realized then and there that NOW is the time for me to finish my education. I live in a college town with relatively inexpensive tuition. The University here actually OFFERS the program I want, and we aren't planning on having babies until after Rob graduates anyway. THERE IS NO BETTER TIME!

So, I applied. I got accepted, and I'm starting school April 21st. It's five months earlier than I expected to start, but we've got things figured out. I'm so pumped to be starting school again and the classes I'm enrolled for actually excite me! I'm finally getting to take the classes that I want, AND they count toward my major. How cool is that!

Most hilarious thing I've ever seen!!

WOW! Richard Simmons is SOMETHING ELSE!!

It's March Already?

Wow! I can't believe it's already March! I guess I spent most of January sick, and February blows by so quickly because it's so short . . . but March? And now we're halfway though no less. Goodness.

I realized this evening that I haven't blogged constantly for some time. Between spending 10 hour days at work, and trying to nuggle my cute husband at night I've gotten lost in enjoying my friends and families blogs, but totally bypassed my own. Now, with Rob off on a field trip to the Grand Canyon I figured I've got some time to jot a few things down.



First off, the world lost a great man on February 25th at 6:17 pm. Reid Nibley married my Aunt Nona just short of seven years ago, and although I didn't know him that well I looked up to him tremendously. He was an inspiring, sweet, kind man that made Nona light up. I've always looked to her for advice and she's always encouraged me to go on my next great adventure. I'm so happy she had him as a part of her life, even if it was for such a short time. He will be missed by me, his family, and the hundreds he taught over the years. Farewell Reid.



On a lighter note, my hair is getting really long! This is the longest it's been in about five years, and I'm actually still tolerating it. Rob told me the other day that it'd be cool if I wanted to get it cut short again like it was while we were dating, and I didn't feel compelled to go out RIGHT THEN and chop it off. It was a weird feeling.



Next, I can't make pancakes worth crap. Maybe I added too much water to the mix, or I'm cursed; maybe both. I've always had trouble getting pancakes to come out nice and fluffy like you would imagine them. Any suggestions?



Rob and I have been married for almost a year now. Our 11th monthaversary was last weekend, and we are so happy and absolutely loving being married. It's hard to imagine that one year ago I was picking up our wedding invitations and buying envelopes to send them out in. It was such a nice, sunny day. He makes me so happy. With him being away on a school field trip tonight will be our first night away from each other since being married. He's in Capitol Reef tonight, and will be at the Grand Canyon tomorrow. I've kept upbeat music on all day to try and keep my spirits up. I only wish he had cell phone reception out there so I could tell him goodnight and that I love him. I miss him so much!

Anyway. I better go get my bummies in bed. Goodnight.

Our Christmas Letter

Family and Friends!

Tis the season, right? We figured sending out a Holiday email/blog is going to be our method of wishing you all happiness and joy this season.




So this year has been wonderful for us. We started the year out packing Rob up in his newly purchased 1986 Toyota pickup and sending him off to Rexburg for his first semester of school at BYU-I. He had three suitcases in the back and as many warm blankets as I could find in my parents house. Rob worked very hard and earned himself a 4.0 that first semester. Pretty good for an engaged man!

I returned to Virginia for another month and a half to work and finish my nanny job with Laurie and the boys. Mid-February I packed up all the earthly possessions I could fit into my (and part of a friends) car and started my third cross country drive--second time solo. I left Virginia Sunday afternoon about 1PM, and eventually got to my parents house in Sandy, UT around 10 PM Tuesday night, and Rob was only a half hour away himself. We hadn't seen each other in a month and a half, and we'd both driven several hours and miles (just 35 hours driving, 2,225 miles for me) to be in the same place again. The reunion was sweet.



So fast forward a couple more months and we finally get to the best reason for us to celebrate all year. We got married!



We were sealed on April 7, 2007 in the Jordan River Temple at noon by Rob's Grandpa Wheelwright. It was a beautiful day, great warm weather, and sunny skies. We had a simple luncheon and reception that afternoon and evening in Sandy.



Getting married the day before Easter has it's advantages, and we took that to heart. Our table decorations were rounds of home-grown wheat grass, and easter eggs. It was fun. Just as I'd always wanted.

We spent our honeymoon in Salt Lake, close to downtown and the city life we love. We went hiking, rifled through used book stores, had a picnic at Liberty Park by the "lake" and wandered around the Salt Lake City Library. A few days later we resurfaced and left for Rexburg together. YAY!

We moved into our apartment on April 11th, and it seems like time since then has completely flown by. Rob started his second semester the week after we were married, and worked part-time. Once he got out of school he found a job in Idaho Falls, working at Boise Building Materials Distribution Center, driving a forklift and loving it. Oh, and bytheway, he got ANOTHER 4.0. I married such a smartie. :) I've been working in Idaho Falls since April at a call center doing customer service for student loan processing. At Church we've been serving in the Nursery. Me as the Nursery Leader, and Rob as a Nursery Worker. We've got almost 40 toddlers in there, and are looking forward to the new year when the 3 year olds move into Sunbeams. ;)

The next few months are more or less a blur. It's so nice to just be together. In addition to adding Rob to my family in May my sister Susie and her husband Bryant welcomed into the world twin boys.



Derek and Riley, such cuties.

Rob's sister Susan and her husband Tim also brought us another beautiful niece in July.



Evangeline--she's definitely got the most hair I've EVER seen on a baby!

We had our share of car swapping this summer. We sold my 2006 Corolla and bought our 1997 Honda Civic. In August we went to my family reunion in West Yellowstone and got in some camping. In September we did more camping at a lake not far from Rexburg, which was GREAT!



Thanksgiving weekend we spent with my family, and got family pictures with my whole side of the family. It was basically CRAZINESS, but we got some decent shots in.

Now it's December. It's cold. I know, that sounds as such a shock as we live in Rexburg, but it's REALLY COLD. I've reveled in Virginia winters the last two years, and it's ruined me. I thought deep down I was hardy because of those northern New York winters. Not quite. I've become a softie, for sure.

Rob is getting ready to go back to school in January, and we are stocking up to keep food in our bellies while he's in school and possibly not working. We want to keep those 4.0's coming, since we've had great luck with them thus far. Rob will be getting a full tuition scholarship this upcoming school year, and we couldn't be happier!

We wish you the best this Holiday season, and hope happy adventures cross your path this next year. Merry Christmas!

Rob and Kristin

My hair is in a ponytail.

I know, it doesn't sound like THAT miraculous of an experience, but I haven't had my hair in a ponytail since basically 2003. That means we're going on five years of super short hair. It actually reaches my shoulders now. Compare that with my June 2005 pictures on my blog. Weird.