Jo and Jo

We're like the Wonder Pets...only not as lame

2012-02-03T20:52:00.000-08:00

This evening, when I was driving home I noticed a bird sitting in the middle of the street. One hundred percent of the time, a bird like away as my car approaches it, but this little pigeon was not going anywhere. As I came closer, I noticed it was rapidly flapping one wing and trying to hop. It was SO SAD! I didn't know what to do, so I just stopped my car and put on my emergency blinkers. I stumbled across the passenger seat and ran up to the poor bird, picked it up (ewww), and then set it on the sidewalk. I hopped back in my car (which was in front of about 30 backed up cars. Why didn't anyone go around me?) and started to drive off....but then I started to think, Ok, the bird won't get ran over, but it can't move. It can't eat and it can barely hop. The bird will either get eaten by something, eventually fall back on the road and get ran over, or starve to death. None of those seemed like good options, so I moved into action.

Unfortunately, bird saving is not a hobby of mine so I had no idea who to call or what to do. On top of that, my phone was already blinking red and continually reminding me that I am about to lose battery power. I knew that if there was a rabid wolf in my house, it would be appropriate to call 911, but what about a pigeon? I didn't have any other options and my phone was blinking, so I made the following calls:

To 911
Police: "911, is this medical or emergency?"
Me: "I'm so sorry! This is not an emergency! Sorry! I just don't know who to call. There is a hurt pigeon. I'm so sorry!" (And yes, I did feel like a moron).
Police: "Call 411, they can help."

To 411 (my phone definitely about to die)
411 person: "411, How may I assist you?"
Me: "HeyIfoundahurtpigeonandIsaveditfromdyingtbutIdon'tknowwheretotakeitorwhattodo!"
411: "Uh...I guess an animal hospital? I'll transfer you to one."

To Animal Hospital
Vet person: "Hi, Such-and-Such Vet hospital"
Me (even faster this time): "Hey411saidIshouldcallyou.IfoundahurtpigeonandIsaveditfromdyingbutIdon'tknowwheretotakeitorwhattodo!"
Vet: "Well, we don't care for wildlife animals, but there is a wildlife hospital in Tulsa. Here's the number."

To Wildlife Place
Person who answered the phone: "Wildlife Place! How can I help you?"
Me:*a slur of words so fast because of my phone, but I'm pretty sure I mentioned a pigeon*
Person: "Yeah, you can bring it here, but we close in 30 minutes."

Last call! To Jordan:
Jordan: "Hello?"
Me: "This is an emergency! I saved a pigeon and we have to take it to a hospital! Come quick and meet me! And bring gloves and a box! Hurry, we only have 30 minutes!!!!"
Jordan:.......(sigh)

Jordan did a great job of hiding his excitement as he came and met me to rescue the bird. We scooped it up and drove it 8 miles to an animal hospital and handed him off to the workers there.

It was quite a hassle and the whole process ate up over an hour, but I'm glad we did it. I can sleep better knowing that the pigeon is at least in a safe place for now, instead of worrying about whether or not it was something's dinner tonight. It also reminded me how important life is for all creatures. Really, we all want to survive. (Almost) all animals feel worry and fear. I think it is good to be conscious of each other's feelings...even dirty pigeons. I also believe in Karma, which means if I ran over the poor thing I would probably have a bird poo avalanche on my car tomorrow. Nice save!

P.s. I named it Jimmy.

In case you didn't believe me when I said January sucks....

2012-01-31T07:01:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I called my doctor's nurse (she should be on my speed dial by now) and explained that my UTI symptoms were still present and seemed to be getting worse. It is most likely a kidney infection so she had me come in during my lunch break and do a "urine culture" test. She also gave me a different antibiotic.

This morning I came into work and 15 minutes into my morning I threw up. My supervisors don't like to turn a blind eye to employees puking their guts out in the bathroom and told me they would be much more comfortable with me going home. I am completely drained of all my PTO and in debt 5 days, so today gets to be an Unpaid Leave Day. I called my nurse again and she said to not take any more antibiotics until tomorrow, which means more horribly painful pee for me. Yay.

February could not come slower. I promise I will be less whiny next month. For now, I am going to take a 15 hour nap. G'night.

January 2012: Good Riddance

2012-01-29T09:10:00.000-08:00

Is it just us, or.....

HAS THIS BEEN THE WORST MONTH IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE?!

Ok, maybe that's a little extreme....worst month of the history of the planet? That's better.

I am truly starting to believe that those crazy Mayans were onto something with their calendar, because so far 2012 has been less than bueno.

It all started with the first weekend of the month/year. Jordan had been complaining about fatigue and never feeling as though he was getting enough rest. He felt pretty nasty and thought that maybe he had walking pneumonia. After a pretty lousy Friday night and Saturday morning we decided to go to the Urgent Care center.....four hours, one x-ray, and several blood tests later we left the clinic with Jordan's diagnosis of mono. D'oh! The timing was less than perfect because Jordan just began his ER rotation which had several night shifts. Jordan continuously apologized for "wasting [my] Saturday" at the clinic with him. I told him I'm sure there will a time when he'll have to spend hours in a hospital with me... when I said this, I was thinking in about a few years when we have a baby; not the following weekend.

Fast forward to the following Monday after the Urgent Care visit. I had a follow up appointment with my Urologist to see how my lithotripsy went in December (In October I was diagnosed with a huge kidney stone and had a pretty easy procedure done in December to shatter it. Since then, I experienced very little pain and was considering myself lucky. Ok, back to the story.) My doctor told me the reason that I had no pain was because nothing happened with kidney stone. It was in the exact same place and did not look any different. Double D'oh! He explained that in order to get it out he would need to get all up in my bid'ness, send a tiny laser up to my kidney and zap the stone. He said that it wouldn't be a big deal and I believed him. I scheduled the procedure for the following Friday (which was Friday the 13th...I should have known).

I was pretty nervous going through the whole laser thingy. Jordan fulfilled my prophecy by staying in the hospital with me all afternoon for it. Before I was knocked out, my doctor talked to me a little and explained that the laser surgery would be easy and only about an hour. Then I fell asleep. I woke up in the recovery room with really sharp pain in my back and lower stomach. The nurses kept politely asking me to stay still. I guess I was being pretty wiggly as I moaned. I also fell back asleep after they shot morphine into my iv. Next I woke up in a different room with Jordan. Jordan explained that the reason I was in unexpected pain is because when my doctor got up to my kidney he realized that I had Infundibular Stenosis, which is a fancy way of saying that my kidney tube that goes from my kidney to my ureter was abnormally small. It was preventing my kidney stone (and other calculus) from passing, so he had to use the lasor to essentially carve out the tubing and make it bigger. Hence, the pain. Not to sound dramatic, but the following weekend I experienced the worst pain I had ever felt in my life. I am officially terrified of childbirth.

The next week I had to miss three days of work, which drained me of vacation days. Boo. Jordan was able to stay home with me for several of those days. Once Friday (one week after the surgery) came, I was feeling a little better and actually left my apartment.

The following week I started to have an increase in pain in my back and in my bladder area. It also stung super bad to pee....which lead to a diagnosis of a urinary tract infection. Boo. So now I am on more pills for that. Also, I had a stent placed in me that had to stay in there for two weeks. When I called my doctor's nurse to ask if I could pull it out (which was the plan), she said yes and warned me that I would need more pain killers to curb the inevitable bladder spasms I would experienced. Yay.

So yeah...January has not been so fun. But despite the crappiness of it all, there were some positives.

My boss was super understanding and sympathetic toward me. She eased my anxiety about missing work.

My mother in law was an amazing help. She brought us dinner several times, helped me with errands, brought me tons of candy, did our grocery shopping, and bought me my new best friend (my heating pad).

Jordan was a HUGE help and never complained once. He slept on the couch next to me (it hurt too bad to sleep in our bed) and would set his alarm for every 3 hours to give me my medicine- even in the middle of the night. He gave a ton of back rubs and would help me go to the bathroom over and over. I really relied on him for the first 3 days for just about everything.

Lastly, I am so grateful for my doctor's nurse. I called her several times (usually in tears) asking about symptoms and help. She was very patient with me and always called me back right away. I'm sure she never wants to see me again after this.

Our good friends had their very first baby and we got to see the new little family. That was a fun reminder that there are some cool things about the hospital too.

So that was our month. There are only three days left of it. Bring on February!!

2011 recap

2011-12-31T17:01:00.000-08:00

This year....

I turned 25
We celebrated our 2nd anniversary by going on a cruise (as well as New Orleans)
We got to travel to Seattle and Tuscon to visit family
I got to go to Utah for a weekend to visit family and attend my good friend's wedding
My sister came to visit Tulsa
My cousin got married and I got to go (back to Seattle!)
I "celebrated" my one year anniversary at my job
Jordan began his medical rotations AND his second year of PA school
I got to go to the ER for the first time since I was a a baby (I think)
Had my first ambulance ride (and with those puppies costing $1100 for a one mile ride, I hope it is my last!)
Jordan turned 28 (which I neglected to blog about because our computer was broken)
We got to go Seattle for a wonderful Christmas

aaaaaand I got rid of Pokey (my kidney stone)

We are so excited to begin 2012 because we already know about some of the fun things it will bring (trip to Disneyland, Boise Thanksgiving, and...... Jordan's graduation!!)

Happy New Year's Eve!

Let's just wrap this up.

2011-11-24T20:54:00.000-08:00

Yeah, the 30 days of Thanks did NOT work out for me. I didn't have it in me to post everyday, and I figured people didn't want a new post from me to pop up in their Google Reader feed everyday. Instead, let's just knock of the rest of the month out in one entry. Ill pick up from where I left off.

This Thanksgiving, I am thankful for....

6. hot water
7. stores that actually carry size 5 shoes (yes, that size of foot exist, almost every store in America)
8. the internet. I'm such an online addict...and I'm cool with that.
9. air conditioning
10. Dollar Tree (my guilty pleasure)
11. inside jokes with family members
12. my family, in general (you guys are aiiiight)
13. my glue gun
14. soldiers. Seriously, thank you.
15. dogs. They make the world happier.
16. the privilege I had to have such a wonderful, non-screwed up childhood
17. medical insurance
18. my education, and
18b. the easy access I had to getting an education
19. the Gospel. Not only it is amazing to understand and know that their is a Savior, but it's also great to be a member of the Church. We Mormons stick together and live in such as tiny Mormon world. There are tons of connections and help. Jordan compares it to being a member of AAA. You need someone to help with X,Y or Z- BAM! Here's three names you can call.
20. vacations. They are so necessary in life.
21. Bubblegum. He is a stuffed dog that I got for Christmas when I was 3 or younger. He accompanied me to many different adventures, sleep overs, and vacations. He even survived being chewed up by my cousin's dog (thanks for reconstructing him, Aunt Lori!). I still have him,
22. MONEY! Does that sound awful? I don't care.
23. my braces and retainer. I think these babies really saved my dating life!
24. hot tubs
25. airplanes. They can be such. a. pain. But they are also fantastic. I dig traveling over 1000 miles in under 6 six hours.
26. patience. This is something I really struggle with holding onto, but I appreciate it so much when other people use it on me.
27. Mascara and eyelash curlers. If I could only wear one type of make up for the rest of my life, it would definitely be mascara.
28. my health. I have several annoying diagnoses but they are NOTHING compared to what others may have. I am so grateful for the freedom that comes with a healthy body.
29. to be an American. There are several flaws in our country, but overall it is still a wonderful country. I read about the horrors that many women face in other countries. It's overwhelming to think how liberated I am compared to them.
30. I'm grateful for Christmastime, which officially starts tomorrow.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Grateful for Home Depot Boys

2011-11-08T17:51:00.000-08:00

Yeah, so....I missed a few days? Are we surprised? No. Do we really care? No. So let's just keep going.

Today I am grateful for the helpful people at Home Depot. I went there this evening and it was same ol' thang...

Take today for example. I walked into Home Depot completely confused and overwhelmed. I knew I needed this tube foam thing but I had no clue where to even begin looking for it. Thankfully a saint dressed in an orange apron could sense my panic and asked if he could help me. I asked the guy,,
" Do you have like, foam tube things?"
"Oh, you mean plumbing insulation?"
"....Uh.... they're like round tubes??"
Turns out it WAS plumbing insulation, which I found out as the employee walked me directly to them.

And of course once I get there, I realize that they are completely out of my reach (like approximately 75% of the merchandise in hardware stores) so I had to ask a friendly stranger t grab the thingy for me. Once I had my foam- I mean pluming insulation- I remembered that I needed another thing. It was decorative aluminum sheet stuff....or at least that is what I was calling it tonight. I thought, maybe I can find it myself. HA!!! After pacing the store for about 10 minutes I was approached by another orange aproned friend.
"You ok, ma'am?"
"Uh, no. I'm lost. *nervous chuckle* I'm looking for um, decorative aluminum sheet....stuff?"
"Oooookay....I think I know what you're talking about. Let's go look."
Sure enough, the guy was speaking my lingo because he took me right to it!

So you would think I would have learned my lesson by now, but noooOOOOooOOoo. I remembered that I wanted to find this one outlet do-hickey that you can screw into your porch light. Surely it is just in the Christmas stuff. I totally got this......I never got it. Feeling defeated, I timidly asked another guy if he had any clue where one could find "the thing that you screw into your balcony light to plug Christmas lights in". He took me to a completely different isle that I was in that I didn't even know existed.

So, thank you, kind Home Depot guys. You made my gratitude list.

Day 5, and earthquakes

2011-11-05T20:56:00.000-07:00

For the fifth day of thanksgiving month, I am grateful for the earthquake drills I had to repeatedly due in grade school. They have come in handy over the past 24 hours. There have been TWO earthquakes in Tulsa today- one at around 2 am and one just about 3 minutes ago. Luckily, neither one was destructive at all but there was definite shaking. Thanks to my many drills from Cascade elementary, I instinctively ran to a doorway. So thank you, earthquake drills!

Day 4

2011-11-04T18:59:00.000-07:00

I am so grateful for tastebuds. Food is such a huge part of my life. It is a source of comfort, a form of entertainment...and it does something for my body too. How sad it would be to not be able to taste it, or to have everything taste like cardboard. Thank you tastebuds.

Day 3

2011-11-03T18:27:00.001-07:00

I am so grateful for humor. I often wonder when humor began historically. Like, who was the first person to think that telling something that wasn't true would result in pleasant feelings? I would have loved to have heard the first attemp at a joke. I wonder if humor came naturally or if it was something that had to be explained.

My brain just exploded.

Well, however humor ended up on the earth, I am beyond thankful for it. It makes life so much more delightful and makes crappy things so much more tolerable. I am such a sucker for funny. When I was single, the most important thing to me is if the guy could make me laugh. Comedy is by far my favorite movie genre. And laughing is definitely my favorite ( and at this point my only) form of exercise.

Yay for humor!

gratitiude 2

2011-11-02T18:41:00.000-07:00

I am grateful for something very special. My roadtrip companion, my love and best friend....

Grateful 'n stuff

2011-11-01T19:39:00.001-07:00

There is a craze going all around facebook and blogs where people are making November a month of gratitude (must have something to do with those pesky pilgrims). I doubt I'll make it every day this month, but I will try!

Today I am grateful for Steve Carrell movies. Not all of them, of course (let's all pretend Dinner For Schmucks never happened), but I like most of them. I have seen Dan in Real Life about 1,000,000 times. Anchorman is a ridiculously guilty pleasure for me. Date Night was pretty dumb but cute. I actually thought Get Smart was funny. And Jordan and I just got back from Crazy Stupid Love. It was bizarre but entertaining none the less.

So here's to you, Mr. Carrell. Thanks.

Happy Halloween, Matey.

2011-10-31T05:43:00.001-07:00

With some last minute runs to the dollar store and Hobby Lobby, we were able to have costumes this year. It was a Halloween miracle!

Best part of our ward Halloween party was when a very concerned looking 8-9 year old girl asked Jordan, "Is that hook real??" To which Jordan replied, "Absolutely."

Happy Halloween!

Remember when Halloween was fun?

2011-10-26T21:28:00.000-07:00

Am I the only one that's noticed weird stuff about Halloween this year?? What happened to this holiday?!

Weird Thing #1: People being UNSURE what day to go trick-or-treating. A few weeks ago I was talking to one of our youths about our up-coming ward Halloween party and how there would not be any "trunk-or-treat" but games instead. "But WHY?," they asked. "Well, all kids do with trunk-or-treat is go around and get candy, and they do that anyway on Halloween." One of the youth replied, "Well, probably not because Halloween is on a Monday. That's a school night." Whaaaaat? "Um, so? Everyone still goes trick-or-treating that day." She scoffed and said, "Nope, bet most people won't go." Whatever, I thought.....until TODAY! One of the nurses at work asked us, "Hey, do you when they are doing trick-or-treating this year?" I replied, "Uh, on HALLOWEEN!" She looked at me like I was stupid and said, "Well, not always. That's a school night." WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE WORLD???? (or Tulsa)

Weird Thing #2: This weird craze where children hand out thank you cards with their candy when they trick-or-treat. Read about it here. It is basically sucking all fun out of trick-or-treating and turning it more into a chore....and ends up with tons of litter.

Weird Thing #3: My apartment is hardly decorated. I began pulling out all the crap I used from last Halloween, but decided not to put it up until my parents came so my mom could see what my apartment looked like without all our ghostly junk. Now my parents are gone and my apartment just looks like....September.

Weird Thing #4: WE DON'T HAVE OUR COSTUMES YET!!!! I usually plan our costumes at least by September and begin assembling them as soon as October hits. (I know what you are thinking- you plan them that far in advance? Why do they look like you made them in 20 minutes?) But between parents visiting, ER visiting, and being busy in general, we are currently costume-less and it is driving me crazy. Any last minute suggestions?

Here's the deal

2011-10-25T20:10:00.000-07:00

It's amazing how things that I used to really love BEFORE I began working full time have turned into SUCH A CHORE ever since I began working full time. For example...

COOKING: Before work, this was so much fun to try new meals. Since work, this sucks, I come home and the last thing I want to do is be on my feet in the kitchen making a mess.

SHOWERING: Before work, I looooved to shower. It was relaxing "me time". Since work, it is one more thing that I have to squeeze into my night. I can't do it in the day time because that would require me to wake up early enough to shower and blow dry my hair. Um, no way.

PUTTING ON MAKE UP: Before work, this was fun! I liked being able to out my face on while I listened to music. Since work...Ok, I'll admit I still have fun with this one on the weekends, but any weekday I tend to cut corners, skip steps, and leave feeling less than pretty. Usually I feel like I am racing the clock to get back in bed for a few minutes. "Hmmm, if I choose not to put on eye shadow, I can get done faster..."

And lastly,

BLOGGING: Before work, it was fun! I liked thinking of different blog posts that I wanted to write, whether they were funny or serious. I liked creating birthday posts for my family. Since work, it feels like a cloud that is hanging over my head. Anytime I read someone else's blog I automatically think of all the posts I am behind on. Melissa's wedding/my trip to Utah that was months ago, my trip to Seattle, my cousin's wedding, my parent's visit.... It is beginning to feel more like another job. Then I get overwhelmed and decide to "start fresh". Oye. Plus, I average about 1 comment per post which makes me a little less motivated.

I'm not declaring an end to my blog or trying to get sympathy. I still like blogging and I enjoy reading past posts (and cringing at the typos that I refused to proofread earlier). I guess I am just coming to terms that this little blog is not going to be a journal of my life and more a place I can share little anecdotes. That will make me feel a little less crazy and maybe like blogging a little more. That is all.

I should get sick more often...

2011-09-23T20:11:00.000-07:00

Jordan woke up with a horrible fever and shakes this morning. It was less than perfect timing too, as he had to take his comprehensive exam for his entire OB/GYN rotation. The good news is the test is over and his fever is gone.

The bad news is Jordan is apparently untouchable when he is sick. Within the last hour, I've heard the following:

*While I jokingly do my hoochie dance right in front of the TV while it is showing some sort of football hoo-ha* "You can't do that to me; I'm sick!"

"You have to be nice to me; I'm sick!"

"You can't make fun of me because I'm sick."

Hmmmm.....this sickness seems to be some sort of pass for any mistreatment. Jordan, hurry up and heal so I can be mean to you again.

Travelin' fools: Tuscon Edition

2011-09-11T17:07:00.001-07:00

Poor neglected blog.

Over the past month, Jordan and I have been traveling. We went on a vacation to Tucson in early August to visit my brother and his family. It was sad how refreshing the Arizona weather felt to us. (Tulsa is always in the summer, but THIS summer it was record breakingly dreadful.)

It was a short trip. We flew in on a Friday night and left on the following Tuesday. During that time, we were able to cram a lot in. Such as...

Getting in touch with our Southwestern roots.

Getting arrested.

"I didn't do it!"

Snuggling.

Boating/ Wakeboarding. (This was Jordan's first time wakeboarding since a one-time attempt when he was a teenager. He did AWESOME. He was able to cut through the wake and even tried to jump. Mucho impressive!)

(this picture was proof that Nancee was there. This is the only picture we have of her and we have none of Troy. Whoops!)

Cactus-sight seeing.

"It's the CIIIIRRRRCLE OF LIIIIIFE!"

Practicing yoga (this move is the mootooshu, which is Yoga for "Holy crap, how can you do that?")

We also swam a ton, played ponies, watched movies, and ate delicious food. We had a great time and I promised we hung out with Troy and Nancee...they just didn't seem to make it into any of our pictures! Sorry!

We love our adorable nieces!

Stay tuned for pictures of Seattle! I may post them in the next year or so...

You know you're a muggle when...

2011-07-31T15:30:00.000-07:00

every time you read a facebook status that states how jazzed someone is about HP and/or HP7, you think they are referring to some sort of computer update.

OOOHHHH, We're halfway there...

2011-07-28T11:23:00.000-07:00

And yes, we are living on a prayer.

Today is Jordan's LAST day of didactics (aks classes). He takes his last finals today, has a week of training and then begin his clinical rotations. Clinical rotations happen at the 15 month mark of P.A. school meaning....Jordan is halfway done! How exciting. His next 15 months will be dang busy but pretty cool. Jordan will be rotating and observing different doctors in the various medical fields. His first stop: OB-GYN. Lucky duck.

At this time I am also *approximately* halfway done with my supervision and clinical hours that I need before obtaining my LCSW. This month marks my one year mark as a therapist for my company. Pretty crazy. It certainly has NOT gone by fast, but I am grateful to be here. I am not too far behind on my path toward my LCSW. I estimate that I will be done with my hours around September or October 2012 (of course now I just jinxed, I am sure of it).

Sister, Sister: Oklahoma edition

2011-07-05T16:26:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, my sister Molly and her 6 month old daughter Saige came to Tulsa for a week. We. had. a. BLAST!!! I was so excited because we hardly ever get visitors (subtle hint to family members) and Molly was my first sibling to come to visit since we moved here (much less subtle hint). We had so much fun and the week went by insanely fast.

We managed to eat Josh's sno-cones (I picked peach cobbler. mmm), eat at Steak n' Shake, eat all you can eat ribs at the Rib Crib, and all you can eat ice cream at the Taste of Summer festival (Yes, it's true. Eating is the best part of Oklahoma.) Saige got to taste her first bite of ice cream and popsicle.

MMMM.....high fructose corn syrup....

We did more than just consume calories. We went to a Drillers game (our minor league baseball team) and watched them get creamed.

"In this heat it is important to stay hydrated" ~Dr. Baby

"Higher, Uncle Jordan. I still can't see the outfield!"

We visited the Philbrook Art museum and walked around the beautiful grounds

We went swimming in our apartment pool

We also went to the dog park, human park, and Hobby Lobby. Molly and I knocked out a bunch of crafts to the tune of 30 Rock episodes.

Saige seemed to love Oklahoma so much, she could hardly contain her excitement. Oh, did I type excitement. I meant PUKE! She was able to throw up on at least 4 different pairs of my pants. sigh.

Saige was a trooper, despite her bulimia flare ups. She soaked in the culture so much that by the end of the week, she was able to line dance better than ever! I tried to up load the video of it on here, but of course there was an error. I successfully uploaded it to facebook if you want to see it.

It was so much fun. We can't wait until the rest of the family decides they love us enough to come to.(just kidding..kinda)

"Yeeha! I love Tulsa!"

Ok, now it's just getting ridiculous

2011-06-26T14:14:00.000-07:00

On Friday, we went to the art museum for the day. While purchasing tickets, the patron stated, "Ok, so you're under 18, right?"

Someday I'll be big.

Cruisin'

2011-06-13T20:32:00.000-07:00

Hey! Remember how we went on a cruise…A MONTH AGO??? Ah, geez.

Jordan and I LOVED our vacation siiiiigh. It was wonderful and very much needed! Here it is in a nutshell:

We drove to New Orleans on Friday, May 13^th and stayed the night at our friend’s house in Little Rock (thanks, Bob!!). In the morning, we headed the rest of the way to Louisiana. We had to drive through Mississippi for a while, so there’s ANOTHER state I can check off (been to 26 states now).

On our way to New Orleans, we stopped in Madisonville and visited my good friend Brittany and her cute little son! Brittany was one of my co-workers and close friends at college. She and I would sit at the front desk at work and talk about food a lot. She was also nice enough to listen to all the boy drama from my single days. It was so fun to catch up and see her.

Here’s her cute little boy. She is expecting another boy this summer and looks great!

After we left Madisonville we headed to Harvey, LA where we stayed at the ever so luxirous Travelodge. You know it’s a fancy motel when the door doesn’t close all the way. Yikes!

Luckily, the door locked so we headed out to the Big Easy. And I LOVED IT!!!! As soon as we parked our car, we saw an informal parade. It looked anyone could join, so marched along them on the sidewalk and took some pictures. This guy was enjoying himself…

I LOVED the architecture of French Quarters. It was so adorable. I felt as though I was walking in a city of dollhouses. I kept walking around saying, “Awww!” and “How CUTE!” New Orleans is definitely unique. There seems to be very very little chains and tons of one-of-a-kind stores. Also, there would be random houses in between stores in the city. So cool.

There were tons of street performers too. This guy behind me was holding that pose without blinking!

Several people suggested we hit up Café Dumont for their beignets. We were not sorry we listened to them. Droooool. One funny thing about New Orleans dining is you don’t wait to be seated- you seat yourself! We didn’t know this so we stood around like a bunch of buffoons while servers walked around us as though we didn’t exist. We saw other people sit down at a table so we copied them and sure enough, we got a waiter. It was same thing at dinner. (Is this normal, Brittany?)

There were tons of Psychics and Tarrot card readers….don’t you think with all these gifted citizens, someone would have seen Katrina coming? (too soon?)

The next day was Cruise day! We went to a branch in Harvey for church and headed to our port. It was so exciting to know that we were minutes away from our cruise that we booked six months ago! The moment we got on our boat we chucked our carry-ons in our rooms and headed to the buffet…and we never left.

The next day was our two year anniversary (augh!). We spent it relaxing at the pool and getting all dolled up for dinner. The waiters sang for us and gave us an anniversary cake. Very nice. (And you can’t tell, but we are seated with a view of the ocean. Very cool!)

The next day was Costa Maya day. We hopped off the boat and headed toward the exit of the port. One of the port workers/ travel “experts” asked us where we were going. We explained that we were going to Placer to see our friends. He warned us that it would cost us $50 to get there by taxi. Jordan explained that our friends who live in Placer told us the cab fare is $20 to Placer. The worker just said, “Well, maybe…make sure you act what you are doing or else it will cost more.” Ugh!! So frustrating. Luckily, Jordan could remember enough of his 10^th grade Spanish to ask the nearest cab to go there in Spanish. Throughout the whole cab ride (which was about 20 minutes) neither one of us spoke in fear that we would look vulnerable. At the end- $20 for the ride! Aha! Us-1, Shady Mexican-0.

We were so lucky to go to Mayan Beach Gardens, which is owned and run by family friends from our home ward. Marcia took us on a snorkeling tour where we were able to see schools of fish, a ray, and a barracuda. Yikes!

After the snorkel trip, Marcia let us relax on her private beach. We were the only one out there, and it was magical! Her staff also gave us a tasty lunch that we ate right on the beach. I could get used to this.

Thank you, Bales! We loved it and we WILL come back!

The next day was our Roatan day. This day was much LESS magical. We thought we would be at a different port on the island that was close to a beach, so when we got to the port we were totally lost. The locals were pretty aggressive in trying to get you to use their businesses. We thought we could find the beach by walking so we walked by a populated street and passed lots of houses. They were cool but I was too terrified to take out my camera. We finally gave up and let a taxi driver rip us off and drive us to the beach. (Fun fact: In Honduras, taxi drivers have a method of getting business: 1. Honk, 2. Slow down to a crawling speed and follow pedestrians, continually telling them they need a ride 3. PULL ONTO THE SIDEWALK, blocking the pedestrians, get out the cab and stop the pedestrians…)

We ended up at a very populated beach where we were constantly asked if we wanted to have our hair braided. But the water was beautiful there, so that was nice.

After the beach, we headed back to the city and looked at some local shops. We bought some bracelets and a Fanta and said goodbye to Roatan.

Next day was Belize. Belize was simply beautiful. I would LOVE to return. We were told that Belize City is pretty dangerous so we decided to splurge and purchase an excursion. We went snorkeling (again!) and our tour boat took us to Banister Island. It was an amazing, peaceful private island. The water was warm and the island had a bunch of floaties for use to play on. The island also had free kayaks. I kept saying over and over, “I can’t believe we’re kayaking in BELIZE!” It was so much fun.

Another fun thing about Belize was the plentiful supply of cheap Coach bag knock offs. I treated myself to one…and it already broke. Oh, well. When you buy something that is 90% cheaper than the real deal, you can’t complain!

Our last port was in Cozumel, Mexico. We bought tickets to a national park called Chankanaab. We were able to snorkel (no, we weren't sick of it yet!), watch a sea lion show, and play on their beach. It was a great place because we felt safe and didn't have to travel far. I wold love to go there again!

Our last day of the cruise we spent eating, relaxing, and watching shows….then we ate..and ate. Sigh. I miss that food.

It was such as wonderful vacation and it was so hard to come back home and start work again. We definitely plan on cruising again. In fact, we have made a goal to go on a cruise at least once every five years. Anyone want to join us?

Yup, still look young...

2011-05-24T11:27:00.000-07:00

In the last two days, I have had two parents that I work with at my therapy office refer to me as "sweetheart". I don't take offense to it, but I do think it's funny. Not to get all "puffed up", but I am a professional that they are seeking therapy services from; not a preteen who is trying to sell them girls scout cookies. Oh, well. Someday I'll be old.

Remember that time when I used to write in thisthing??

2011-05-09T21:15:00.000-07:00

GAH! I HATE having my blog go stale. I have been trying to update it more, really! I even had an elaborate post for mother's day....except I started writing about my grandmas and then bawled like a baby. So I gave up on it. Waaa.

I also wanted to write ALL about my 25 birthday!....but our camera was dead and the only pictures we got were on Jordan's phone and we have yet to figure out a good way of getting them onto our computer. Waaa waaa.

So I will post about this....our trip is THIS WEEK!!!! We leave for New Orleans on Friday and we are thrilled. I think out of all the things that either one of us talk about, the cruise takes up about 70%. For me, the other 30% are Ke$ha songs (I've been on a very shameful Ke$ha kick lately. I permit you to judge me).

During our General Conference weekend last month, I created a paper chain to count down the days until our cruise. At the time, there were over 4o rings. Now we are down to threeeeee! Jordan is especially looking forward to this trip because this week is finals week for him. Today he did not have any school. When I left for work this morning, he was in the living room. When I returned from work, there was a note from our office on our door talking about the electricity poeple coming to the complex. I came inside to Jordan studying in the living room and asked him if he knew anything about the note, to which he replied, "No, I haven't left this spot since you went to work."

Here is another random update. I still look twelve, apparently. I am in Young Womens now. I like SO much more than nursery. Sigh. This past weekend I came to supervise our youth's dance festival practice. One teacher (14-15 year old boy) politely asked if I needed a partner to practice with, and another leader asked why I wasn't out there with the other youth dancing. Of all the days to forget my wedding ring.

Speaking of wedding ring, Jordo and I are almost to our 2 year anniversary! Time has flown by so quickly! We will celebrate our anniversary on our cruise. (DID I MENTION WE ARE GOING ON A CRUISE?????)

That's it for now. My next post will most likely be about our cruise......mmmmmmWE'RE GOING ON A CRUISE THIS WEEK!

ok, I'm done.

CRUISE!

now. done.

24 no more

2011-03-31T19:48:00.000-07:00

Another year, GONE! Waaaa.

I can’t believe I am going to be 25. There’s no more claiming “early 20’s”. I will be shoved into official "mid-20's" tomorrow. Plus, I think I am expected to kick my maturity level up a notch. Twenty-five is the age where you have to act mature and stuff. Ew.

Honestly, I don’t really mind becoming one year older. I do understand that 25 REALLY isn’t THAT old. I get that. What bothers me the most about birthday is the finality of it all. Once I turn 25, there is no going back to 24. Was I emotionally attached to age 24? Not really. But I hate HATE hate finality. I like having one foot in the door. I’m this was with practically everything. That is why I am usually the last to order at restaurants, we had to investigate our couch and love seat at least 4 times before I actually could agree to buy it, and that is why I don’t like birthdays that much anymore.

But I do like the cake. And the cards. And the attention. So I guess it all equals out in the end.

Well, before 24 year old me joins the Hammer pants and the catchphrase “Waaaazzzzup?” in history, I wanted to send her off with a goodbye.

In remembrance of 24 year old me:

This is 24 year old me all bright eyed and ready to enter the world...

I walked a barefoot mile with Hanson (that's the oldest one. I forget his name but I know he isn't Taylor because Taylor is the middle one.)

I graduated with my Masters and ended student life FOREVER!!

I finally, FINALLY got to be in the same building as Conan Obrien

We went on a church history trip/St. Louis trip with my parents

I went Seattle for a week in the Spring

I visited Tuscon for a week in June

I bought my first sewing machine and slooooowly began to sew

I started my career (how fancy)

I went to Kansas City for the first time

I went on my first vacation with the in-laws to Branson

I had the time of my life in Boise for Thanksgiving

I spent my first Christmas away from home…and it actually was not nearly as traumatic as I thought it was going to be

Annnnd I went back to Seattle in March. (This was the age that I spent the least amount of time in the Northwest. How sad).

*picture unavailable*

It was fun to go through those pictures and watch my hair grow. So long, 24 year old me. It was fun.

I FEEL SO ALIIIIIIVE!!!!

2011-02-24T20:40:00.000-08:00

I am not a very assertive person. ESPECIALLY with strangers. When I see something that I think is rude or wrong, I tend to murmur to myself and then complain about it to Jordan. But actually confronting someone? No way. That's too scary. My mom is really good at it but not me. I always picture confrontations where I appear strong and in control and not terrified, but I never act on them.

One of my absolute biggest pet peeves is when smokers carelessly toss their cigarette butts onto the street, sidewalk, ground etc. Every time I see it, I want to scream. Do they really think that the butt just magically disappears? It is totally lazy not to mention DANGEROUS! And it happens all the time in Tulsa. Ugh! Whenever I see someone do it, I always have the urge to say something about it. But I never do....

until today!

This evening when I was walking out of Wal-Mart I saw a guy walking toward the entry smoking a cig (such a sexy sight- oh, wait. No, it's nasty). Right as he approached to the automatic doors, he flicked his nastiness onto the ground. My insides yelled, "THAAAAAAT'S IIIIIT!"

So I turned to the guy and said, "Excuse me?" He turned around. I took a deep breath, pointed to his grody butt and assertively said, "This is NOT an ash tray. People do not want to see your cigarettes on the ground!" He looked pretty flushed and said, "Ok. Sorry" and quickly turned around. I walked swiftly to the car hoping that my knees didn't buckle.

Jordan was in the car waiting for me. I soon as I got inside I proudly told him what I did and he gave me my props. I had such a strong adrenalin rush from it that my legs would not stop shaking. I laughed about how pathetic I was for having such a strong physiological reaction to it, but I'm glad I did it!

So watch out, you lazy Tulsa smokers! I just might call you out on it! (unless you look mean and scary. Then I will proceed to murmur about you to my husband),

self diagnosed

2011-01-26T21:15:00.000-08:00

You know those moments when you think it is Tuesday but it is really Wednesday? And then you get that warm fuzzy feeling as if you just received a prize? Isn't it wonderful?

You know moments when you think it is Thursday but it really only Wednesday? Or you think it is Tuesday but then realize you are still trapped in Monday? Isn't that horrible? You feel scammed or punished.

I suffer from Wrongdayitis all the time. It's the disease when you CONSTANTLY think it is the next day. Tuesday feels like Wednesday, and Wednesday feels like Thursday. I'm always a day behind what I think it is. It is very stressful. And annoying. Just once, ONCE, I would like to have one of those moments where I am like, "whoa, is today really already Wednesday?" instead of "Well, hello Wednesday. You're late. I was expecting you one day ago." Sigh.

No coming back from this.

2011-01-15T22:30:00.000-08:00

Since 1:00 pm, today has been a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Note: This is not a story for the squeamish. If you have a heightened gag reflex, I invite you to promptly close this tab. Thanks.

The day started off fine and everything was "juuuuuust PEACHY!!" (Points for those who know what that is from. Melissa D., I'm looking in your direction.)

12:00 Went to Jordan's parents' house to wish his mom a happy birthday and give her flowers. Happily accepted an invitation to go out to eat lunch with them.

12:30 Went to Mr. Mambo's Catina. Stuff my face with guacamole and queso (sp?). When our fajitas came out, crammed one down my throat then immediately started to feel too full. Wasn't too concerned, as over-eating is my forte.

1:30 Drove home. Noticed my stomach was very unsettled and not happy. Tried to ignore it by watching Dracula: Dead and Loving It (I want those 90 minutes of my life BACK please, Leslie Nielsen). Had to run to the bathroom multiple times. Yuck. Had a few false alarm pukes which just turned out to be the lovely dry-heaves.

2:00 Decided that a good way to settle my stomach and warm up (at this point I had the chills big time) would be to run a bath.

2:10 Immersed myself in the bath. Started to have more severe stomach pains. Could tell that ralphing was soon going to commence, and was also fully aware that I was soaking wet in a bath tub.

2:10:05: Sat up and threw up. Like, alot. In my bath water. While I was in there. Ugh. And of course, being in the condition of health that I was I could not very well "spring up" out of the water. The only thing I could do was pull the plug and let it slowly disappear.

"My life is trash." (Anyone know what THAT is from?)

The rest of the day consisted of me literally crawling around the apartment (standing made me too light headed), Laying on the ground, puking some more (that time I made it to the toilet, hurray), and complaining about how cold I was.

Aside from my traumatic bathing experience, there were some nice moments in the evening. For example, Jordan babied me by stroking his fingers through my hair (my favorite), and watching Return to Me with me. He also went out and purchase swallowable pepto pills because I was too scared of puking again if I tried the liquid stuff.

So that was MY day....how was your own?

More Fun with Sleeping Jordan

2011-01-03T22:03:00.000-08:00

Tonight, Jordan and I were sitting on our couch together. Kinda. I was staring at laptop as I cruised from blog to blog to blog, and Jordan was passed out sleeping. He had a pillow covering his chest a form of comfort, I'm assuming. ANYway....

All of a sudden, Jordan starts to whimper, "Help...help me. I need help." Then his whimper turns into a little frantic exclamations. "HELP! Get it! Get it!" I was completely confused and started to panic. I didn't know if he had trouble breathing, if he had a charlie horse, etc. So I kept nervously asking, "What? What is it?!," as I ripped the pillow away from him. In my moment of panic, I somehow saw the cotton filled pillow as a threat. Finally Jordan said,

"I....thought...I thought I had a....um....um....I thought I was holding a glass in my hand."
uh....whaaaat? "A glass?"
"Yeah, like a glass of water...or something..."
"Why did you sound so distressed?"
"Well, it isn't a glass...I can't think of the word."
Then he moved to our love seat and fell asleep again.

What just happened?

So there you have it. Jordan is 6'2'' and muscly, but if you give him a glass of water to hold he will cry like a baby. I would love, LOVE to get a sneak peak into his dreams. If the scariest thing in them is a threatening glass of water, I would feel pretty safe.

p.s. while I am on the subject of Jordan half-awake-half-dreaming speeches, here is a little stroll down memory lane from when we were very newly weds

2010 in review

2011-01-01T08:09:00.000-08:00

Goodbye, 201o! Thank you for

1) two more sweet nieces
2) my MSW graduation
3) visits to our family and various road trips
4) two months of NO SCHOOL AND NO WORK for me
5) a salaried paid (right term?) job
6) Jordan's PA school acceptance
7) all the fun in general

It was a fantastic year! I was a little sad to see it go...partially because I think 2011 or "twenty-eleven" sounds stupid. I don't really like the number 11. I know I'm weird. Deal with it.

My new years resolutions are to continue reading scriptures on a daily basis (we were able to do that in 2010! Woohoo!), to put more effort into my appearance (I usually sleep in until 20 minutes before I need to leave for work, and then I feel frumpy all day), and to try to be more social. I've been in Tulsa for a year and a half and I have a lot less friends than I thought I would have at this point. Time to actually do something about it! I also want to put more effort into talking to my friends from back home and college, so watch out- you'll hear from me!

I was going to make proof reading my blog entries before I publish them a resolution but that was one last year and I obviously did not accomplish it. I don't know why, but I hate hate hate going back and reading through my posts. So I have decided just to embrace the typos. Blah.

Happy New Year!!

These are our confessions.

2010-12-27T07:29:00.000-08:00

So we were running pretty low on TP on Christmas Eve (Friday), but we were so busy getting ready that we never got around to going to the store to restock. Then Christmas came (Saturday) and we spent the majority of the day at Jordan's parent's house and his grandparent's house, so there was no chance of buying some then. Then came Sunday. Completely out of TP, the roll was scraped clean. We had to go for the back up paper towel method (shudder).

Then at church while we were leaving to go home, Jordan went into the bathroom to give his hands their routine post-nursery scrub down. When he came out and starting walking toward the exit, he quiety said to me:

"I got us some TP".

"What?? From the bathroom?"

"yeah."

"You stole a roll?"

"No, just lots."

Jordan had filled his pockets with long strands of TP from church. It saved us yesterday. Judge all you want, but desperate times call for desperate measures. And having said that, I am now off to buy TP so this never has to happen again!

"...and these shoes are just her siiiize..."

2010-12-26T09:35:00.000-08:00

What was one of the presents Jordan got me for Christmas?

CHRISTMAS SHOES!
How ironically appropriate.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-25T07:04:00.001-08:00

From our cheesy wardrobe to your own.

Tulsa Christmas

2010-12-22T20:33:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our Christmas apartment!

Our kitchen:
Our Dining Room:

Our single bathroom decoration: (Thanks, Charity!)

"You'll shoot your eye out, kid."

And now our living room:

Like the totally visible scotch tape? Nice touch Our bookshelf:

Our wall shelves

Our baby tree (and out loot!)

Our tree is very random, just the way I like it. I've never been a fan of themed, matchy matchy tree ornaments. I find them impersonal and they remind me of department stores. I prefer mine to have Elvis decorations, an ugly bear ornament from 20+ years ago, homemade popsicle stick ornaments from my nephew, etc.

Santa must be a Sooner fan! (Thanks, Alice)

It's really weird not to be in Washington for Christmas this year. I miss Seattle at Christmas time. Tulsa does not seem to try to decorate much. :(

Ugh.

2010-12-21T22:13:00.000-08:00

I don't have one ounce of care about the following things:

Justin Bieber
Any of the "Real Desperate Housewives" of any city
The new movie TRON
Kate Whats-her-face, the future princess (does America realize that she is not going to be our princess?? I'm not so sure)

Woohoo!!

2010-12-14T16:51:00.000-08:00

Though the weather outside is frightful...

The Jo's are feeling sooooOOOOooOOOooOOOoo delightful

(I'm a dork)

because....

WE BOOKED A CRUISE!!!!

We wanted to go on vacation sometime this spring, and I really wanted to go to New Orleans, so we found a 7 night cruise leaving out of New Orleans in May! Perfecto.

It leaves from N'Awlins:

Then goes to Costa Maya, Mexico:
Then to Roatan, Honduras:

Then to Belize City, Belize:
Then hits up Cozumel, Mexico on the way back:
Sigh, I can feel the warm water already. Jordan and I will be celebrating our second anniversary/hooray for being done with Jordan's first year of PA school. We can't wait!!

So...wanna come?

27 years young

2010-12-13T07:14:00.001-08:00

Happy Birthday to my very own….

Back scratcher

Masseuse

Food Critic

Hair Stylist (true story, Jordan dyed my hair this most recent color.)

Super Model

Comedian

(Future) Sugar Daddy

Travel Partner

Musician

Teddy Bear

Hero

High-things reach/Giant

Chauffeur

Hamster

Body Guard

Magician???

Human blanket

Jock

Scholarship provider

Alarm Clock

Future Baby Daddy (VERY future- not announcing anything!)

and Best Friend

Thanks for being everything to me :)

Thank you for saying "yes", Pam

2010-12-12T21:43:00.001-08:00

As I sit in my apartment in Oklahoma typing and internet surfing (or surfing the net, as the kids say), Jordan is sprawled out on the couch sleeping. He looks so cute, like a baby in a man's body....only not strange and creepy.

Looking at my sleeping beauty has made me think back to the spring of 2006. I remember there was a YSA dance that I wanted to go to, but I had a date that night with a guy. I remember thinking, Oh well, the dance would have been lame anyway. Well, that date was sort of lame. I forget what we did. Probably ate dinner and awkwardly talked about what I "like to do for fun" and what music I like to listen to (my two most loathed questions in the world). Anywho, the date ended at about 10:30. I called my friend Pam to tell her about it and just to talk. I mentioned to her that there was a YSA dance tonight that we missed that ended at 12:00 (or something. I don't remember the exact times so don't call the fact police. I just remember it was gonna end in like an hour, oook). I talked about how I would have rather have gone to the dance that night instead of my date. Pam said she had her pajamas on already. I figured at that point she would not be interested in getting all dolled up and going to a dance for the last 45 minutes of it but I asked anyway. It was more one of those "y'wanna" questions rather than a plea. Instead of saying she was too tired or feeling frumpy, she just said "Yeah!" and headed straight to my house. She was wearing sweats but she still looked cute. I was wearing my Napoleon Dynamite shirt that I thought was really cool at the time but now I look and think really?! Anyway....

When we got to the dance, we. had. a. BLAST! There were tons of people back from school and a bunch of sales guys there for the summer. On the last slow song, a charming stranger asked me to dance who introduced himself and said he was a salesman from OKLAHOMA. I immediately started cracking lame jokes that I thought were clever about him having to drive a cow there or something. For the record, he was making them as well. I remember thinking Oklahoma seemed as though he was talking about another country. I knew it was somewhere in the middle, but that was it. When he mentioned he was from Tulsa, I explained I had never heard of that city in my life and sarcastically mentioned that it sounded happenin'. (Oh, Karma, you cruel devil). Despite my stupid jokes I must have been somewhat charming because at the end of the dance he asked for my number and we started dating.

A few months later he introduced me to his best friend/roommate Jordan.

And then two years later I fell in love with said best friend/roommate.

And then two years later I sat in my apartment in Tulsa and typed about how I met my first Okie four years ago while my man-baby slept on our couch that we bought together as husband and wife.

So Pam, thank you for saying you would go to the dance with me. Little did either of us know it would cause a chain of events that would lead to me living in that mysterious land of Oklahoma (which is just north of Texas, by the way. I figured that out!) and married to my sweetheart.

Happy Girl Mission Anniversary

2010-11-16T16:33:00.000-08:00

We have officially been married for a whole girl mission. 18 months and counting, baby! It's gone by so fast...

On a totally different topic- today an 8(ish) year old boy looked at me and asked, "Are you a grown-up?" Siiiiigh. I laughed and said, "Yes, but I don't look like one," to which he replied, "NUH-UH." Double siiiiiigh.

Happy Halloween!

2010-10-31T07:41:00.000-07:00

From Wolverine...

and the Tooth Fairy....

Happy Haunting!

Costumes

2010-10-30T18:53:00.000-07:00

I love love love dressing up for Halloween! I can remember every Halloween costume since I was three years old. This list is definitely a "just for me" thing, so I won't be offended if people get bored and stop reading.

Age 3: Pumpkin (the costume was later handed down to our dog, Tawny)
Age 4: Butterfly (I remember luh-huh-huving the wings for my costume and was convinced that if I tried hard, they could make me fly)
Age 5: Pirate
Age 6: Mouse
Age 7: Dragon
Age 8: Pippi Longstocking (one of favorite costumes ever. I was amazed at how my mom could make my pigtail defy gravity with wire. I thought it was the coolest thing ever).
Age 9: Pirate again. (I recall being upset that I had to do a costume repeat. Weird fact- it was the exact same costume I wore when I was five. Apparently I had not hit a much needed growth spurt yet).
Age 10: Belly dancer
Age 11: Hippi
Age 12: Cleopatra
Age 13: Dead cheerleader
Age 14: Baby (just like every other girl my age)
Age 15: Nerd (this was the first of several times I dressed up as this)
Age 16: Spartan Cheerleaders (my friend Deanna and I made our costumes, learned a bunch of Spartan cheers and performed them when we went trick-or-treating. This was another one of my all time favorite costumes!)
Age 17: Grandma! (This was the last year I ever went trick-or-treating. I know it seems old, but my theory is if you dress up and are in school, you can still go and get free candy)

Age 18: Princess. I just wore my prom dress and a dollar store tiara. This was my most boring Halloween ever. My friends all were attending crazy college parties and I was too scared to go YSA. The only thing I dressed up for was the primary activity that I had to help out at.
Age 19: I did the nerd again for one party, and then for the YSA party I was a tourist.
Age 20: I was a rocker chick? I guess that would be the best name for it. I had those fake tattoos and wore black stuff, so I was one of those.
Age 21: This was the triple costume Halloween. For our ward party I was a nerd again...
... and then on Halloween I had to take a midterm. BOO! I didn't have anything planned so I didn't bother thinking of a costume. I got home from school around 8:00 when these two nerdy boys in our ward rang our doorbell. They were both dressed up and trick-or-treating. I excitedly asked if I could join them . They gave me a look like "Uh...a girl is talking to us...not sure what to do..." but then agreed to let me tag along. I ran into my room, wrapped a towel on my head and threw on my bathrobe. So I was a...shower lady? Whatevs. I trick-or-treated and got some cereal, top ramen, and canned food. (So I guess THIS was my last year I trick-or-treated! Ha!) After that, I went home and took off my pathetic excuse for a costume when my friend Lindsay called and asked if I wanted to go to a party on campus. I threw on sweat pants, sunglasses, and rubber gold teeth and became a gangster-ish person? Anyway, we had fun and I enjoyed a night that went from having no plans and no costume to spending the whole night doing Halloween stuff with two random costumes!
Age 22: Princess Peach and Mario! Loved these costumes!

Age 23: Flapper

and Age 24.....

This is Halloween, This Halloween

2010-10-28T18:32:00.001-07:00

I had a really fun time decorating for Halloween this year. Between living a mile away from Dollar Tree and my hoarding habits, I was able to make quite of few decorations for cheap! Here is a tour of our spooky home (warning boy readers, this is more of a girly post...or more like a post that only a mom wants to read):

Our pumpkin patch

My first Halloween decoration ever! I got it at BYU when I was a lowly student.

Our apothecary jars ( empty pickle/spaghetti sauce jars and plastic champagne glasses) filled with severed lady fingers, mini skulls, and spiders.

I know what you are thinking....

"Never more"

Our cute pumpkins. I got these on super sale a year ago and was so excited to put them out!

Our bookshelf

Complete with severed foot

Melted candles. These were CRAAAAZY easy to make. I bought flameless tealights for a buck and hot glued them to a TP roll. I always seem to have like 3 rolls somewhere in my house. Aw, sweet hoarding...

Moving onto our kitchen.

Our centerpiece for our table was Captain Hook's hand. I totally ripped this off of this one guy's blog. His looked 10X cooler. Oh wellzz.

The sign reads "The hand of the infamous pirate Captain James Hook found in the belly of a crocodile". Unfortunately, my burning the edge of paper skills are lacking so I burned off parts of the sign. Jordan was convinced that I was going to burn our apartment down so I didn't try to make another one.

My kitchen decorations were all recycled goods.

These:

became these:

My potions! I named them after the potions in The Nightmare Before Christmas. I have Deadly Nightshade, Worm's Wart, and Frog's Breath.

"Nothing's more suspicious than Frog's Breath."

Have I mentioned that I'm a hoarder?? Cause I AM! I am incapable of throwing out any jar with a lid. Luckily, that comes in handy when making specimen jars.

It has been fun spookying up the place. This week I have been busy creating our costumes. Those are to be revealed later. (Don't get too excited. They definitely look homemade!)

Zombies!

2010-10-27T21:57:00.001-07:00

I love Halloween!! Anyone who says it is a wicked holiday can go fly a kite.

The decorations that I particularly liked this year were my scary pictures. On picnik.com, I created these two pictures:

Zombie Bride

Ghost Jordan

I printed them out and put them in spider web picture frames on our bookshelf.

Then I got bored and made some dumb ones...

AKA Friendliest looking zombie ever.

I decorated the rest of our apartment with homemade decorations too that I plan on posting but who knows if I ever will!

She works hard for the money.

2010-10-09T22:13:00.000-07:00

Good news! I was recently offered and just accepted a very part time job with LDS Family Services! I'll be working with them 5 hours a week- most likely 2 hours during the week and 3 hours on Saturdays. "Five hours a week? Don't quit your day job," you may be sarcastically thinking. Well, I'm not. I will still be working my usual 40 hours as a child therapist during the week, so those extra five are gonna keep me busy. I know there are lots of people who work 45+ hours without any problems, but when you are naturally lazy like me it gets challenging. I am excited, though. It will be so encouraging to work with a population who generally holds the same values and beliefs as I do. I will also be working with adults, which I really really miss. Trying to trick a 14 year old into talking to me for a whole hour gets exhausting at times.

I start work for them in about a week. Wish me luck!

It's just a thing.

2010-09-29T17:03:00.000-07:00

Jordan: Oh Honey, you have a one-of-a-kind personality.

Me: Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

Jordan: ....It's just a thing.

Thanks?

Next cover of Vogue

2010-09-18T09:52:00.000-07:00

"The Jo's...They're so hot right now."

My friend DeAnn is a photographer who is building up her portfolio. You can check out her work here. I happily volunteered us to be models for her, and she graciously accepted. Last weekend we got up bright and early and headed to downtown Tulsa for our photo shoot. She posted some of the pics on her blog last night and in a moment of vanity I posted my favorites one here.

"Why so serious?"

Ok, I don't mean to be one of those wives who are like, "My husband is sooOOooOOo foine!"...but isn't my husband sooOOoOOo foine?

This one looks like an engagement ring ad.

This one looks like a shoe ad
Guess which legs are mine...

Hair detangler, please...

Thank you, DeAnn. I had so much fun! Jordan didn't complain too much either.