Natural Sceptre

Tis the very last day of the month. Wowza. We finally found a girl to be an admin at work today. We had three appointments scheduled, the girls who made the “final three,” and one of them didn’t even show up. I got up at 6 to get to work by 7am WITH MUFFINS and she didn’t even show. Amazing. The other two did well (8 and 9am), but the one we hired was the one I really liked. So I’m pretty happy about that. Plus, she graduates in December, too. So it’ll be fun having someone around who’s kind of doing the same thing as I am. So today I finished up office stuff. We got the month end finances all done, the desk clutter all cleared up and filed, and it just feels like a new start soon. School will be Tuesday, and when I come back to work I won’t be inhabiting the front desk anymore…I’ll go hide in another room and just write. Focus will be good.

In other news, it looks like someone put a cigarette out between my eyes. Last night I got the amazing idea to do a stir-fry type dish for dinner. Let’s just say a very hot wok and very oily sesame oil aren’t a very good combination. I don’t know what I EXPECTED to happen, but when I put the oil in the pan it all splattered up into my face, burning my lip and the spot right between my eyes. (Brilliant) I got the burning area around my mouth into some cold water right away (my Mom would probably tell me that was NOT the thing to do with oil) but it made it better. The only evidence is a circular blister right between my two eyebrows. So, I did what any other girl would do. Made sure my eyebrows were neat and orderly (you know, for the extra attention they’ll get) and told everyone at work what happened. The redness is already disappearing though, so I won’t be a unicorn anymore soon.

Yes, my friends, it’s almost the weekend. It’s a long one! Which makes me happy. It’ll be nice to rest up before school starts. Not too many plans- we’re cleaning the chapel tomorrow morning, probably the normal amount of housework, maybe some school clothes shopping (aren’t we cute) and some last minute book shopping as well. As for next week, I have to get my Utah license and registration, which will be fun and expensive, yay. So yes. I’m hoping to update pictures on the website this weekend. John is bringing his hub home, so we’ll have a better connection to the internet until we get another one. As for more updates, I guess we’ll see. Only if it doesn’t interfere with the enormous amount of chilling I have planned.

Another evening at home with John. I look forward to this part of my day ALL day. I’m going to run to the grocery store and see if I can’t conjure up something to eat tonight, in addition to some milk and other necessary items for our fridge. We may run out tonight and get a hub to hook the new computer up to the internet less precariously. I guess we’ll just have to see how tired we get. John will probably go on a walk. I might go with him. It really all just depends on my level of exhaustion this evening. After getting home and trying to get somewhere with the laundry and cleaning up (John says I clean frantically from 5-6 every night, not true. I usually don’t get home from work until about 5:20) I’m usually just hungry enough to make dinner (or watch John, as we’ve been taking turns with that more) and cleaning up the dishes (we’ve been taking turns with that more, too) I’m usually ready to hit the hay and read a bit before I fall asleep. Oh busy busy life.

Funny thing, yesterday I wrote a note to my Scranton girls saying, “Happy Thursday!” You see, Thursdays used to really, really mean something. First of all, it was FRIENDS. And what self-respecting 20-something in college wouldn’t love a good Friends party? I still remember the last episode. We were all getting ready to leave school, and I was leaving permanently to go on my mission. Watching the very last episode of Friends just put us over the edge. I can still remember someone, Jess? Emily? Christine? I’m not sure who started with the tears first, but she said, “I hope you don’t seriously think I’m crying about Friends.” That was such a good year. We seemed to have two parties a week, Friends, and then ALIAS. We’d gather all the chips we’d saved (pilfered) from our lunches all week (we always had a pile of bags of chips from the caf, Baked Lays, always Baked Lays) and popcorn and soda, and all lounge around and watch Friends together. Thursday also marked the last day Jess was there for the week (she went home on the weekends) AND the last day of our running routine. We ran daily, Monday-Thursday, and then rested the weekend. It was a nice little routine we had going on. I miss those girls- and thus, I said, “Happy Thursday, Thursday girls!” Except for the fact that yesterday was WEDNESDAY, it was a great thought. I am, apparently, on crack.

So, today, for the record, Happy Thursday.

It’s been a good couple of nights.  I haven’t felt too well for some reason or another, upset tummy mostly, so we’ve just kind of been laying low.  I finally finished the thank you cards- so if you haven’t gotten one, it’s on the way!  We are really so grateful to everyone who expressed their love and well-wishes for us when we got married.  So, thanks!

Last night we went for a walk up and down the “new road,” and aside from some stomach pain (annoying)  it was a lovely walk.  The incline is perfect, severe enough to get you going, but not enough to make you feel like you rather just wait at the bottom for someone to rescue you.   AND, we figured out, it would probably only take us abot 15 minutes to get down the hill to the Riverwoods.  Borders, restaurants, all within walking distance now.  It’s kind of exciting.  I hope it gets chilly soon and we can wear our coats down and get some hot chocolate.  John’s been walking every day, and I went with him on Sunday up the Canyon, and then yesterday, but I think I’ve got to actually get my butt to the gym when school starts again.  It’ll be something to fill my evenings once John starts to work until 11.  I’m actually a little nervous about how I’ll react to that.  Ever since we’ve been together, I’ve figured out that I don’t do APART well.  It had to come sooner or later, and really, it’ll be good to start planning some of our time independently of each other.  John will probably write more.  I’ll find more time for seeing friends and STUDYING.  I just can’t get enough of being around him.  Is it so wrong?

Anyho.  Time to get some things done.  Oh yes, just as an announcement, it was 67 degrees when I left my house this morning!  I was SO excited.  Coolness is almost here.   I can’t wait for Halloween

I finally finished Harry Potter. I decided to go for it the other night, and John came into the bedroom to find me glued to the book. I probably had about a third of it left, and he said, “Are you going to finish that tonight?” I said, “Oh, I don’t know.” He said, “I TOTALLY think you should.” And so I did. It was very, very good. I know lately people get drawn to modern, alternative, or “artistic” type ending movies and books and story lines, but I’m not going to lie. I love a good wound up ending, where everything (or at least mostly everything) turns out exactly the way you want it to be, Happily Ever After. I don’t want to say to much, because I don’t really want to a) get into a hardcore review or b) ruin it for anyone else. Although, I’m pretty sure I’m the last person on the planet to read it. Anyone who hasn’t read it by now it probably just waiting for the movies.

As I read it, there were so many major themes that I could find in so many of my favorite books, especially the Chronicles of Narnia. It sometimes makes me wonder if we’re all just trying to write the same story in a different way. Stories about love, self-sacrifice, true wisdom, good kicking evil’s butt. I won’t go into all the religious overtones and undertones, but it made the story attractive to me in a very deep way. It doesn’t hurt that we’ve spent years with these characters, and that Rowling really let them grow up in front of us. Ron with his dirty mouth, Hermione who becomes more and more feminine as time goes on, and Harry, who finally gets all of his answers and lets go of the anger and darkness that has surrounded him for a couple of books now. I’m no expert on this series. I love reading them, but don’t take the time to remember the details as many of the die hard fans do. I tell myself that it’s a good choice for my future, because I could probably read the books in a couple of years and still be surprised by things (I get this trait, by the way, from my Mother, who can never remember if she’s seen a movie or not, even as we are watching it). Just as a point of interest, as I got done reading the book, I took out the scrap of paper I’ve been using as a bookmark. I couldn’t remember where it had come from, other than the fact that John handed it to me on the airplane to mark my place when I had to get up and go to the bathroom. I opened the scrap of paper, and there was a quote on it. This is what it said.

“Resurrection. The book of Job poses the universal question, “If a man die, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14). The question of resurrection from the dead is a central subject of scripture, ancient and modern. The resurrection is a pillar of our faith It adds meaning to our doctrine, motivation to our behavior, and hope for our future. The assurance of immortality also helps us bear the mortal separations involved in the death of our loved ones. Every one of us has wept at a death, grieved through a funeral, or stood in pain at a graveside. I am surely one who has. We should all praise God for the assured resurrection that makes our mortal separations temporary and gives us the hope and strength to carry on.” Dallin H. Oaks.

Ok. So I AM NOT saying that God spoke to me through my bookmark, or that He reads Harry Potter, and I’m usually not one to bring gospel understanding into things that I so thoroughly enjoy for what they are, regardless of their religious slant or theme or application. For me, this bookmark just made me think, all of a sudden, about how TRUE it is. People have wondered forever. Is there life after death? Will we live again? Can we conquer death? These are not new questions. Years ago, they looked for magical fountains. Now, we invest in Botox, and for the seriously obsessed, cryogenics. All I’ve got to say is that sometimes a story is so good because it reinforces what we WANT to believe. We want to believe the people we love are still there, and that we can be with them, and that there will be some separation between all that is good and all that is bad, so that the good can have peace in the end. I actually don’t just believe these things, I claim to KNOW because of the way they resonate with my soul. Truth is truth is truth. And I’m not surprised that millions of people bought a book, and have followed a series all leading up to one final statement about life: It IS about love. It’s not about death, there is so much more to life than death, before AND after. And all we’ve got to do is our best, and with a little help from our friends, we’ll get somewhere good.

La La La La Life goes on.  That’s for sure.  Back to work, almost back to school, and it just seems like more and more to do all the time!  Hope it all keeps me young, at least!  So yes, we had a lovely weekend.  Sunday was one of those rare, just good Sundays that come along every once in awhile.  Sunday is usually a good day, filled with rest and church and other good things, but it’s actually pretty rare that I leave church on a Sunday feeling as refreshed as I like to feel.  I taught in Relief Society, which necessitated a bit of preparation on my part.  That’s probably a lot to do with it.  If I take time to get myself in the mood for Sunday, I usually get a lot more out of it.  We also got our “married now” speaking assignment, we’re going to talk in Sacrament meeting on September 30.  I’m not sure how I feel about that.  When I was a missionary, speaking in public rarely scared me (unless I was speaking in Spanish.)  Now, it’s not that it SCARES me, it’s just that I feel more comfortable just doing my thing on a smaller scale.  I have plenty of time to prepare and feel comfortable though, so we’ll see how it goes.  John’s excited, and rumor has it, LIKES to speak in church.  So maybe I’ll make mine short and sweet and let him enjoy the podium for awhile.

In other news, I have officially begun the search for a grad school program.  I figure, if John has to hang around a bit longer, I might as well use the time to keep going.  I’m planning to take the GRE in November some time, to give me ample time to apply to a few programs at BYU.  I know that most BYU programs are highly competitive, but I’m hoping that I can make up for my ONE academic mishap of last semester this semester by being highly attentive to my classes.  I took a logic class last semester that, long story short, I let drop.  I had a bunch of classes, an almost full-time job, and a new boyfriend/fiance, and I had to let something slip.  I didn’t want it to be school in general, so instead, I combined all of my rebelliousness and lack of motivation and let it go in this one class. I barely passed.  Mistake!  But what can you do? I beat myself up about it for a little while (as this has never,  ever happened to me or more justly put, I have never let it happen to me before).  I was happier when I told myself that it was time to just move on. So yes, I will graduate in December.  I’m taking two philosophy classes, William James and the Philosophy of Art, two science classes, Bio and Physical Science, and then Book of Mormon Part II.  I’m hoping science doesn’t kill me, the bio one actually looked interesting, to some degree.  But who knows.  John is taking it with me, so at least we’ll suffer together.  With our opposing work schedules (I’ll work in between classes during the day, and he’ll work 5-11 at night) it may be the only time we actually see each other this next semester.

As a Harry Potter update, I think I’ll be done in a couple of days.  I’ve taken to reading a bit more at night, just trying to get this monster of a book done.  With all the wedding stuff and all the coming home stuff to do, I was too distracted to really get into it.  The past week, though, I’ve gained some ground and now I find myself wondering what’s next.  I read until about midnight last night, which resulted in some very odd dreams.  I don’t really remember what they were, but most of them involved giving a small puppy (that could talk) a bath in a kitchen sink, running from impending doom, and going back to school in Scranton will the old gang AND A husband.  I’ll tell ya, weird stuff.

So that’s the update.  John asked me if I was excited to start school again.  I told him yes, but it a way, I’m kind of dreading it, too.  With everything else there is to do, I kind of feel like I’m about to jump on a treadmill, going from a dead stop to speed 10.  Maybe I even wrote that in here somewhere already…but it feels like the best description of what next Tuesday (day schools starts) is going to be like.  Bring it on, I’m ready.

So.  I come out of the office and into the living room, and find John sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table on his computer, with one of my hair clips I left on the table perched atop his head.  He’s barely got enough hair to hold it, but there it is.  I say:

“You are so my father.”  (meaning, of course, that I’d find my father having done this same thing many a time).

He replies, “No!  He has a chair, and I do not.”

Haha.  Poor man.  Needs a man chair.  It’ll come with time.

So, the weekend.  The week back at work has been good. Just trying to get back into the swing of things.  I spent Thursday at the UVSC job fair, and aside from one or two unique people still needing to be interviewed further, it may have been a waste of time.  Most people who approached my table and heard my speal about SEO, design, programming and editing looked at me and said, “Whoa, I’m not smart enough for that.”  The table to my left however, a sales job with some door to door milk/produce company promising 12.50 an hour, starting wage, got quite a lot of attention.  The most disturbing thing I heard at that table was a repeated conversation that went like this.

“Do you have door to door sales experience?”

“Well, I’ve been on a mission.”

“There ya go!  That’s exactly it.  Except our product is a lot easier to sell than the Book of Mormon!”

I pretty much lost all repsect for the sales guy, who then went on to describe the wonderful nature of their product.  He tried to make conversation with me, and asked if I’d ever been in sales.  I said, “Yes.”  He said, “Did you like it?”  I said, “It takes a certain kind of person to be in sales.  You either need to be good at finding people who want your product, or good at making people think they want it.  I don’t mind the first kind of saleperson.  The second kind of irks me.  Either way, it doesn’t interest me.”  I didn’t think my comment was offensive, but he didn’t seem to want to talk to me after that.  It was kind of weird.  I mean he ASKED me what I thought.  I didn’t mean a sales person is a BAD kind of person, just a certain kind.   But yeah, I had a lot of kids turn up their nose at some pretty good opportunities that day.  UVSC is a pretty interesting place.  I did run into a couple people from England and the girl that lives upstairs.  It was kind of fun to see people again.  I wish I had more time to get in touch with people from my mission, but alas…

Today John and I kind of just hung around- cleaned the house up, watched movies.  Tonight we drove up to Park City.  I love going to Park City.  It’s a good drive up the Canyon, and then a good walk up and down Main Street, kind of a hilly main street.   There are tons of touristy shops, which for some reason, I love.  Tonight we found some treasure: cookie cutters!  We got a pumpkin shape, a  leaf, and a MOOSE.  It was like buying a little piece of Fall to hold on to until it actually gets here.  Maybe next weekend John and I will make some cookies and fudge and SHAPE them.  Tomorrow I teach Relief Society, which I usually enjoy.  Women are generally easy to get talking.  So we’ll see how it goes.

Also: I updated some pictures in the gallery.  We’re still waiting on all the professional ones in CD form, but I’ll put more up gradually, probably just adding them to the folders already delineated for the wedding.  Hope you enjoy them

We’ve got all the dates!  With the help of John’s blog, our combined memories, and some bank statements from last year (lame, I know) we’ve pieced together the early progression of our relationship!  I’m excited to have it all pinned down, so many months later.  Good thing one of us was writing stuff down!  I’ll have to go home and check my handwritten journal for stuff, since pre-John and Erin was also pre-blog.  It’s funny how some things don’t seem to matter, and others do.  I’m not sure why, all of a sudden, I had an urgent need to remember our important dates.  In a lot of ways, it still feels like last week.  When I picture how John and I used to walk around campus, me in my gold coat, him in his black jacket, just getting used to holding hands, it seems like it just happened.  Then there were all our dates, a very bad movie, a trip to DI, a religion  symposium, hikes up Rock Canyon and Sundance and trips to Borders…we really made stuff up as we went along.  I remember one night we got some Zupas and went up to some mountain overlook, I still can never remember the name…then when we got back I was talking to my friend Becca and she asked what we had done.  I told her where we went, Squaw Peak maybe?  And she said, “Oh Erin!  You are so naive!”  Haha.  It was funny.   What was REALLY funny was that we really just ate some salads up there.  Sure we laughed at the people in the cars next to us, but I could spend hours just driving and talking with John.  Squaw Peak or no Squaw Peak.  So, now, we are married.  And I hope we never ever get sick of driving and talking and going to Borders (went there last night).  So anyway!  Just had to share the news that we NOW have ALL of the important dates on hand

SO.  Jonathan and the famous Kari Lindsay are hanging out at our house.  I have no idea if the spelling is correct.  I will have to try to figure out how to actually spell her name.  I’m glad that Jonathan finds this house a “cool” comfortable place to bring girls.  At least, comfortable, anyway.

I’ve started a new quest.  John and I were REALLY bad at keeping track of dates and things as our relationship progressed.  Through some extensive blog hunting and some details John remembered, we figured when we had our first date.  Turns out: October 6th, 2007. I’m still trying to remember when we became “together” officially.  I wish I had a text message archive, because I remember a specific text from my friend Becca on that  night.  We were engaged on January 12th, the second time.  The FIRST time it was December 30th.  It was a few days for it “take.”

So yes.  If I can figure out the “commitment” date, I’ll be a happy girl.  I know we had a “talk” about “where we were going” the night of the Sperry Symposium.  That was October 27th.  We went to see Brother Judd speak at 7:30.  John bought me the book.

Ahhh romantic.  The search continues.

I daresay it’s almost fall.  Driving to work this morning I almost ran over a small child running willy-nilly across the street with a green backpack flapping up and down on his back.  Where was he running to, you might ask?  To school!  I can’t believe it’s already started!  That’s crazy!  Don’t people know that children need summer vacation to last as long as possible?  Ask me yesterday, and I would have had a different opinion.  I ran to WalMart yesterday for some things for work, and I swear, 13 different children came up and touched me.  Just touched me.  How odd.  One had a car from Cars, and ran up, thrust it into my face and yelled, “KAPOW KAPOW!” I looked slowly down at him, not really reacting, and squinted a little, as if to say, “Are you really shoving your car in my face at WalMart, small child that I do not know?”  He turned and ran away and tried it on another woman who said, “OOoooh, how scary!”  Great.  Let’s help children learn that scaring strangers is fun.  The one thing that strikes me about Utah is how HAPPY everyone is.  It doesn’t matter if a woman is pushing a cart with two infants, trailing 3 toddlers and a couple of older children…she’s got this happy look on her face as if she’s just found the aisle where you can sign up to receive free diapers for a year.  And if her five year old comes over and leans up against me and pulls at my pant leg, she just gives me a look as if to say, “Oh!  Cute!” Oftentimes, they even travel in packs, so you’ve got 3 mothers and about 4,352 children.  Hmmmm.  Maybe I just need to be more tolerant of small strangers touching me for no reason.  I don’t really get why it unnerves me.  I love playing with kids…mostly kids that I know.  Who knows.

So yes.  While I was driving to work this morning, I had a series of very vivid memories run through my head.  First, I remembered my first few days in Scranton, PA.  When you go to the U of Scranton as a freshman, you get the ROYAL treatment.  You can pull your car right up the cobblestone commons to the front of your dorm room, and student volunteers dressed in purple bring all of your belongings to your room for you.  After that, they show you were to go, where to sign in, where to eat, and provide activities for a couple of days.  The smell in the air this morning reminded me of standing on the curb, watching people shuffle my stuff into a big building, and watching my Mom, Dad, brother, aunt and cousins (yeah…I apparently brought quite a few people that day) helping and getting ready to say goodbye.  Then, almost immediately after that, I remembered going to a little shop in London, across from the house I was living in on a Tankerville street.  I needed to buy my bus pass for the next couple of weeks.   I remembered what London was like this time of year.   The seasons sometimes confused me in England- because the kids go to school year round.  There are no small boys in backpacks to announce that September is almost here.  “Autumn” was a little more wet and chilly that I’ve experienced here in Utah.

I  can’t believe I’ve been here a year!  I’m pretty sure by this time last year I was either here, or driving across the county with my Mom.  I was moving into a house with Becca and Shelly, wondering if I’d ever fit in around here.  If I’d be happy.  If anything big would change.  I should say so!  A lot can happen in a year, apparently.  Now it’s almost my FAVORITE time of year.  Time for pumpkins and turkeys, spicy perfumes and candles.  Almost time for the heating to kick on and for me to go buy some socks and throw out the summer’s flip flops that I’ve worn every day for months.  Ok, maybe we’ve got a few weeks yet.  But I’m excited.  I LOVE fall.

So.  Do you know what the MOST romantic thing is?  After work, when your husband (of about 3 weeks) says he’s running to Harmons, and you’re cooking stuff (ok, reheating stuff your Mom cooked and froze while she was here) and can’t go, and so he asks you if you would like anything.

“Plums.”  You say.

“Plums?”  He asks.

“Yes please.”  And then you go back to stirring dinner.

About 20 minutes passes, and you hear him come home.  When you enter the kitchen you find NOT ONLY plums, which you LOVE today, but also a black cuddly bear that made you sad to leave last time you were in the store, and also some sea-spray for your dry nose condition.  See, you had explained to your husband that your nose felt dry inside, and horrible and itchy.  And he fixed it.

And that’s what being a family is all about.