Andrewism #26

"I guess we're gonna have to bite the buck and buy it."
Translation: Bite the Bullet
Best Part: He had to put his money where his mouth is to make his purchase.

Andrewism #25

"Did that just happen or was that just a fragment of my imagination?"
Translation: Figment of my imagination
Best Part: I can just imagine a small, chipped piece of Andrew's imagination floating around in his mind wreaking havoc on his poor thought process, causing all of these Andrewisms.

Election Day Graphs

I voted! Only took 1.5 hours of my morning. 

Family Reunion #1

Catch up time.

We headed to Tennessee in June for a family reunion.

We all stayed in cabins in the Smokies, and it was the best time.

I love my family, and I am so grateful everyone could make it! We relaxed, played games, went tubing, checked out the National Park and Cade's Cove, ate at the Apple Barn (twice!), go-karted, bungee-jumped (well, some of us did), Andrew golfed, and we left full to the brim with memories and bonding moments.

I love this picture of my siblings and my parents.

Look at this little muffin teaching us how to say "Macaroni."

Here's Chrissy bungee-jumping. Her leg kicks are killin' me.

We had the best time and we can't wait till the next reunion!

Thoughts on Faith

When we were in Tennessee (the week after I lost my job), my dad said, "I have a feeling that something really great is going to happen. This is gonna be a good thing."

My mind thinks back on that now, and all the times I thought about what he said during the job hunt. Man, I wanted to believe him, but there were times when I just had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. And it made me wonder how anything good COULD happen for me if I didn't even know WHAT would be good for me. 

And now I have an awesome job. And it pays me just the right amount. And I only work 30 hours each week. And I have a part time job on the side working for a charity organization. I'm really happy with my job, which honestly, I never have been before! (Now that I know what it feels like to love your job.)

So NOW I believe my dad. He was right. I wish I could tell my doubtful self 2 and 3 months ago that he was right. 

Our Heavenly Father knows this about each of our lives. He knows that great things are in store. He knows that things will work out. He wants us to have faith in Him, to trust in Him. How easy it is to have faith after we know the end of the story. The challenge is to strengthen our faith when we are in the midst of a trial, no matter how large or how small. So 2 and 3 months ago, when I didn't know what would happen for me, for us, I needed to strengthen my faith. Trust in the Lord. Because that's how we grow closer to our Father in Heaven--we look to him for guidance and comfort when we aren't sure where to turn. Then, when the skies brighten and the sun comes out again, we walk hand in hand with the Lord and thank Him for helping us through.

I'm recording this to remind me what to do the next time I'm faced with a challenge I don't think I can handle: trust in the Lord, maintain my perspective on life, and remember that something really great is going to happen.

Crafternoon #3: Scrappy Baby Blanket

For Ann's (Harry's) baby shower, I made a baby blanket following a tutorial from Brittany's aunt. Brittany and I made a blanket together about a year or two ago, and I love it. It's simple to put together and to quilt, which is good since I still don't know how to machine quilt very well.

These pictures were taken before I washed it; the edges of the squares fray after washing, making it scrappy and awesome.

I used fabrics from all sorts of places. The cute embroidered animal squares were from a skirt I got at a church swap meet. The dusty blue is from a skirt all my sisters and I got matching for Matt and Chrissy's wedding. The green is leftover flannel from my t-shirt quilt that my mom and I made during a hurricane several years ago. The plaid squares are from a shirt I got in Portland (?) at the outlet mall for $2. And the dots, zebra, and leaves are leftover from a project for Asia's nephew.

The background is a natural muslin, and the backing and binding are green stripes and polka dots respectively. I love these blankets. I need to wash them all a bit more because they tend to be a little bit stiff. No one wants to cuddle a stiff.

We're Halfway There

To finals week. Not exciting.

Seriously, Andrew feels panicked anytime we get there in the morning and there's already someone there. It happens at night when I pick him up, too. ("But I can't go home, people are still in there STUDYING!")

I am so proud of him! Also, I miss him.

Andrewism #24

"Look at that guy running! He looks like a gazette!"

Translation: Gazelle

Best Part: Probably the guy who named the gazelle just forgot to cross his i's and dot his t's. 

Making a Comeback (I hope not sporadically!)*

*Name that movie

So right after my last post, I lost my job. In fact, the whole company went under. It was a medium shock--I kind of knew it could happen, but I didn't think it WOULD happen. It was rough, but we've handled it OK I think.

In fact, we got to have summer break together one last time!

• We went to Tennessee, Idaho, and Arches National Park before Andrew started law school. 
• We had shave ice once a week. 
• We watched all 5 seasons of Friday Night Lights.
• We got frozen yogurt a bunch.
• We went to the Demolition Derby in Fairview.
• My parents and sister came to visit.
• His mom came to visit.
• Avery came to visit (and her parents, of course).
• We refinished our cabinets.
• We re-carpeted our deck.

It turned out to be a great time. But when you're looking for work, you always have a nagging feeling at the back of your mind, reminding you that if you don't put in the work today, you're DEFINITELY not gonna get the job you need tomorrow. And on the other hand, when you're having so much fun, you worry you WILL get the job you need tomorrow, and the fun will end, just like that. 

Well, as it turned out, Andrew started school on the 15th of August, and I started my new job on the 23rd, just a week later. Pretty perfect timing. I'm now the Print and Magazine Supervisor at BYU Broadcasting. I love it. I'm so happy to be working with print publications again. I enjoy the web, but there's something so great about holding your work in your hands when you've finished it.

No graph this time. Some coming soon. And another Andrewism. Stay tuned! (That's the kind of lingo you use in the TV industry, if you didn't know.)

A Graph about Yawns

A Grammar Graph

Yesterday I was grumpy because I had an idea that got shot down and I didn't know why. I said, "I just hate getting edited out of things for no legitimate reason."

My dear, clever husband replied, "Now you know how the Oxford comma feels."

I love him so much.

Andrewism #23

[I'm laying across his legs on the couch.]
"What are you doing? Boarding?"
Translation: Planking.
Best Part: I wasn't.

The Avengers

Saw The Avengers. Loved it. I am never disappointed with superhero movies. Even the cheesy stuff melts my heart.

Check out my blog post on Power.ME today: you'll see what I mean about loving superhero movies.

Which Avenger Are You?

Report on Graduation

We actually held Andrew's graduation party before finals, since most friends would be leaving right after graduation. We had a great party with grand friends, and 7 graduates were there!

Andrew, Seth, and Michael: Junior year roommates!
Thanks, Natalie for the necklaces.

We used the awesome Hawaiian-themed decorations Sarah sent us, drank Italian Sodas, and made some Pinterest cupcakes. Have you seen this image? Thought I'd replicate it with my personal experience:

And that counts as my "graph" for the week. 

The rest of graduation was wonderful. Andrew did very well on his finals. John, Jill, and Sammi came to visit us and attend graduation. Thanks, guys! We loved having them here. We got to go to a graduation dinner at the Hinckley Center catered by Brick Oven. Heaven. We took more pictures, but I'm not really sure where they are (that would be a job for MyCabinet! I'll get right on that...). 

Congrats again, Andrew! Can't wait for Law School!

San Francisco Trip: Car Ride

I've never "blogged this" before, but I saw Natalie's post about our trip to San Francisco and I couldn't help but click the orange B icon at the bottom. We'll see what happens when I publish this.

the beans: Snapshots (4/23/12): On our lovely ride home, we each got asked a series of questions. It was kind of fun to see if we could guess each other's answers. We expec...

To clarify, I thought "free time" was time NOT spent with Andrew...

The Graduate

Hooray, he did it!

Natalie had the genius idea to take pictures ahead of time, so we took pictures in sunny weather with no one else around trying to get all up in our pictures. And thanks to the Other Beans' new camera, we got these great shots. Yes, there on the left the boys are pointing at the stadium, wherein lies their next life goal: obtaining Cougar Club seats. 

Now we're off to the ceremony! I even ironed Andrew's robe for him (since no one did it for me when I graduated. I'm not mad, I just want you to pity me). 

(Images added through Natalie via MyCabinet. Go get it.)

Andrewism #22

"You really need to bite that in the butt."
Translation: Nip it in the bud.
Best Part: Andrew gives really good, succinct advice: you really better stop that now, or it will come back to bite you!

End of an Era

Today is Andrew's last day of school. Wow. He will be a college graduate so soon! Technically, he could stop here and get a job like me if he wanted.

But, we chose to continue his education, and he only really has 4 months off until LAW SCHOOL starts.

Here are some iPhone pics I took this year. The first one is his first day of senior year, the second is his last day of senior year, and incidentally, his last day of undergraduate studies. I'm so proud.

New iPad / iPhone file management app!

My company, AppTime, LLC, just released a new app called MyCabinet. It's a really great app, I use it all the time! Download it for free today, tell your friends about it, help me out.

What is MyCabinet?
It's an innovative file organization app that allows me to graphically arrange documents, photos, and more. I can take it with me wherever I go. It stores the important documents I need with me so I can access them quickly and easily on the go. MyCabinet is currently available for the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch devices.

And it's FREE.

With hundreds of thousands of apps available, what makes MyCabinet so unique?

Official Announcement #2

Drum roll, please!

It's official. Next year, Andrew will be attending BYU Law School.

Image via Law2.byu.edu

That means so many wonderful things for us. We will be staying here in Provo for three more years, and we will be cheering on our Cougars in both football and basketball without having to fly across the country to do it (phew).

FYI, close runners-up were George Mason in DC (we would have loved being close to Emily&Jon and Matt&Chrissy!), University of Georgia, and Florida State. (At least, those were my runners-up.)

So proud of Andrew for all of his hard work and focus this year, and we're both really excited for our future! Thanks for all of your love and support as we made this crucial decision. We feel really blessed for all of the opportunities in our lives right now!

Crafternoon #2: Pinwheels

Yesterday I finally finished making all of the pinwheel blocks for my next quilt project. I love them so much, but they take me a while.

Andrewism #21

"You can only beat a horse so many times before it stops learning new tricks."
Translation: Beating a dead horse. You can't teach an old dog new tricks.
Best Part: Another combo. These ones are great.

True Story

I think I was only stuck for about 10 minutes, but it sure felt like longer. Andrew had to come rescue me!

New Year's Eve Movie

You've Got Mail Elevator Scene (I can't seem to embed this video, but it's my favorite, so watch it)

Grey's Anatomy Elevator Scene

Giraffe Graph

Seriously, this is my first post about giraffes?

This is exaggeratedly true data.

Crafternoon: Mini Quilt

New section on the blog: Crafternoon. My roommates and I used to have crafternoon every week back in the day. One time we just put on a lot of temporary tattoos. Usually, though, our crafts involved paper and glitter and adding things to our walls. It was a lot of fun.

Crafternoon isn't as regular or well-attended these days, but sometimes Ric still comes over and Asia used to, before she moved. Anyway, I've switched to sewing and I really enjoy it. At this point in my life, I am more of a learn-as-you-go sew-er (not sewer! ew!), so it either takes me forever to make something or it is a little haphazard.

When Mae Nontakorn was here the last two weeks, I wanted to make her something to remember her trip to America. And I needed to thank her in a way she could understand for being such a great lady and taking care of Andrew on his mission, us while we were in Thailand, and even us in our apartment here in America! So, I made up a mini quilt based off of this tutorial from the Purl Bee (they have a great mini quilt series!).

My other blogs . . .

. . . have more words than this one. Most blogs do, I think.

But this blog is funnier. To me.

(I wanted to be fancy and add links in the actual graph--more subtle--but I'm too proud to ask the programmers I work with to help me.)
FamilyHistorynotebook
BillionGraves
Power.ME

Can you be sick of this song?

So I'm an avid Pandora listener now, and I rotate through channels all day long while I write posts for other blogs. Of course, most Pandora channels get a little stale after an hour, but MAN did they have this song on every single Disney album in the whole collection. I could not escape it.

It lead me to wonder, are you even allowed to get sick of this song? Regardless of the happy images of toys getting along that it inspires, the message is just too nice to get annoyed at. Yeah, I got a friend! And even though my friend isn't as smart as some other folks, he sure loves me a lot. There isn't anything he wouldn't do.

I'm still giving myself a few days before I switch to that channel again, though.




Image via Pixar

Great News

We have been so fortunate this year. Andrew has gotten into his first and second choices for law school next year! (and his LAST choice, too!) He worked so hard, and both the schools and I know he will keep working hard next year. But now we may be faced with a dilemma.

Thanks, Chrissy, for the inspiration.

We'll keep you posted about any further acceptances and our decision concerning next year.

Andrewism #20

This one isn't the traditional Andrewism, but it left me in stitches (and I haven't posted in a while).

Me: "Why did you throw those napkins on the floor?"
Andrew: "Because they got munched."
Translation: Bunched.
Best Part: Through my tears, I asked who munched them, then tried to explain what munched meant, and he kept insisting that MUNCHED is EXACTLY what he meant.