Valentine's Day

Hello everyone, this is Mitch. Lacey wanted me to blog about our Valentine's day since it was her turn to plan it. Well, I woke up a little earlier than Lacey (which is typical for any given day) and I made her breakfast. I made heart-shaped pancakes. I used some of Lacey's cookie cutters with a little cooking spray on them to get the heart shape. I had to be a little careful about how long they were on the hot pan because they can melt. I only melted one though (and just a little bit), so I consider it a good success. After that I went to the Elder's quorum thrash-ball (really rough b-ball if you don't know what thrash ball is) game. We got rocked by a team that was easily 6" taller than us, but I got a good workout, which is the reason I go. Lacey stayed home and ran on our skinny treadmill of death (seriously, it is about 2' wide and I almost killed myself because I stepped onto the side of it once). After that we got all cleaned up and ready. Lacey really likes my hair short and spikey, so for V-day I decided to do it that way. I actually really like it, and may be changing my hair-do. After getting ready we put our living room back together. I took Friday off from work and spent the whole day painting. It looks really nice. We'll post pictures once the paint dries and we hang everything back up. I made Lacey lunch too. Leftover homemade pizza with sparkling apple juice (how romantic!). We ran some errands and such, and then Lacey took me on a mystery date for Valentine's day. First we ate at Tuscano's in the Gateway. It is a Brazilian steakhouse like Rodizio Grill. It was awesome. They had a salad bar with every kind of salad/side dish you can think of, and they have waiters roaming around with all different kinds of meat on big skewers. I had a chicken heart, which tasted just like chicken. The best thing they had by far was turkey wrapped in bacon. It was way good. Lacey did a great job surprizing me with a great restaurant. At the end of the meal she gave me a Valentine's poem that said our activity for the night was Monster Jam. I laughed so loud. I couldn't beleive my cute little wife got us tickets to a monster truck show! I hadn't been to one since I was 10 or so. It was a lot of fun. The highlights of the show was the motocross freestyle riders. I got a great picture of one of them. You may have to zoom in to see that he is doing a head stand on his bike. I wanted to get a perspective of how high he was so it is zoomed out pretty far.
The winner of the monster truck show was in a truck called "Extreme Destruction". The driver is from Willard, Utah, and he won all the events. His freestyle performance was hilarious. See the video to see it. He went off the big motocross jump, which only 2 other trucks even dared to do. I thought that he ran into the trucks parked on the other side of the stadium, but he managed to stop with about 2 feet to spare. The end is the best part since he rolls his truck over. I got it all on video to see.



Well, all in all it was a really good Valentine's day. I had a really good time. I felt a little bit like a redneck for going to a monster truck show, but I had fun. Lacey said is was the most fun Valentine's day she ever had. She loved seeing the overweight monster truck drivers jump out of their trucks and do a "RAISE THE ROOF" because they were so excited. It was pretty darn funny.
It was a great time. I want to thank my adorable and sweet wifey for putting it together and taking me on a date. It was a lot of fun! I love you, Lacey!!!

My Valentine

Mitch sent these beautiful flowers to my work for Valentine's Day. They came on the perfect day, even if they are a few days early. I was missing Mitch today since he's in Cali for work. Okay, okay, he left this morning and he'll be home in a few hours. I know I'm pathetic for missing him so much when he's only gone for one day. It's pretty much the same as if he stayed late at work. Ha,ha. I can't help it though, I just love him so much and I hate when he is away. So, I was so happy that these flowers came today. What a sweetie my husband is. He always makes me feel like a princess. He tells me I'm beautiful, all the time, even when I just wake up. He believes in me. He lets me ramble on about my day when he gets home from work. He makes me laugh. He encourages me. He opens the car door for me. He supports me. He listens to me when I just need to vent. He is so handsome. He is incredibly smart. He is so sweet and thoughtful. He is perfect for me. I am so glad he waited around while I figured out that we were meant to be together. Thanks, Hubby! I love you!!

Didn't Your Mother Teach You?

I woke up with a little cold this morning. Nothing too major, so I came to work. I went to the bathroom (don't worry, this will not be TMI) and one of the stalls was occupied, so I used a different one. I heard the lady who was there before me flush the toilet and exit the stall. She walked over to the sink, turned the water on for less than 5 seconds (no lie), then left the bathroom. What?!? Didn't her mother teach her to wash her hands properly? (Especially during flu and cold season!) What's the point of washing your hands without soap for only 4.3 seconds? What good does water do without soap?It's practically pointless, and to be frank, it totally grosses me out. I had to touch the sink and door handle after No-Soap Lady did. Gross. I realize that a lot of people have this horrible habit. And I know I'm a little OCD, but I wash my hands (properly) a lot. Just like I brush my teeth a lot. It's all my mom's fault. She taught me to be that way. Now I can't stand dirty teeth, stinky breath, or the thought of germs on my hands. In the MTC they told us to sing the ABCs while we washed our hands. I still do that quite often. It's a good rule of thumb. It's certainly better than running your hands under water, without soap, for 4.3 seconds. I'm still gagging about that. Sick.

The Economy

So far, Mitch and I have been lucky during this whole economic crisis. We both have good, stable jobs, which I thank my Heavenly Father for every day. Sadly, my little bro just got laid off. My dad and other bro might be temporarily out of work in a week or so. Our country is in a scary situation. I just read on the news that the senate passed the 838 billion dollar stimulus bill. I don't understand it well enough to say whether or not I agree with it. But I will say this: if it gets passed, I hope it makes a difference as quickly as possible. Hopefully the senate, congress, and Obama can make a positive, effective change to our situation.

Speaking of Obama, I'm still hearing people say he's a terrorist. I don't understand their logic. Sure, his middle name is Hussein, but why does that make him a terrorist? Perhaps the name Hussein denotes Saddam Hussein, and thus, terrorism. I found an article that said this about Obama's middle name: "Americans may think of Saddam Hussein when they hear the name, but that is like thinking of Stalin when you hear the name Joseph."

Barack Hussein Obama. It's just a name people! A person's name does not mean they will grow up to be a certain way. So, before you start assuming that Hussein = terrorist, show me some proof of an act of terrorism that Obama has committed. Then, and only then, will I agree with you.

I found this interesting article about Obama's name, which I referenced earlier. Check it out here. I especially liked this part:

Now let us take the name "Hussein." It is from the Semitic word hasan, meaning "good" or "handsome." Husayn is the diminutive, affectionate form.
Barack Obama's middle name is in honor of his grandfather, Hussein, a secular resident of Nairobi, Kenya. Americans may think of Saddam Hussein when they hear the name, but that is like thinking of Stalin when you hear the name Joseph. There have been lots of Husseins in history, from the grandson of the prophet Mohammed, a hero who touched the historian Gibbon, to King Hussein of Jordan, one of America's most steadfast allies in the 20th century. The author of the beloved American novel "The Kite Runner" is Khaled Hosseini. But in Obama's case, it is just a reference to his grandfather.

So, I don't want to hear any more crazy talk about Obama being a terrorist, just because his middle name is Hussein.

Most of all, I want this whole economic stimulus thing to do its job and get my bro his job back!

Baby, it's Cold Outside!

I just got the following picture in an e-mail. This is Agnese, my friend from Latvija. She is currently on a mission in Yekaterinburg, Russia. She e-mailed me and said it's negative 25 to negative 35 degrees. Fahrenheit, not Celsius. I do not envy her at all. The coldest it got while I was in Latvija was -25 F with 100% humidity. And trust me, humidity makes the cold even colder. It seeps into your bones. I remember spitting once and it froze before it hit the ground. I remember my eyelashes freezing, like Agnese's in this picture. I remember being so cold I honestly believed my toes would break off when I pulled my boots off at the end of the day. There was an elder I served with who went one day without wearing his earmuffs (he forgot them for some reason). When he got in a warm shower at the end of the day, he felt his ear "crack." The thing is, it literally cracked. I saw it with my own eyes. For a couple of weeks after that he had a crack from the top of his ear about 1 1/2 inch down. It eventually went away, but he said it was very painful. Once the wind was so strong, I held onto a pole, lifted my legs up, and the wind used my long coat to make me fly in the air. It was awesome. When I saw this picture, I just smiled. I do not miss that kind of cold.

Graduation = Boredom

When I was in school I always thought about how great it would be when I graduated. I thought about all the spare time I would have to do whatever I wanted. Now that I'm done with school, I am incredibly bored!! Sure, our house is pretty clean. (I even cleaned the baseboards and doors.) I like watching my favorite t.v. shows, but I feel like a lazy bum when I watch t.v.. I go to the gym, but you can only exercise so much. I cook dinner a lot more now and that's good. But I still feel lazy. I have stuff to do, but nothing that makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something great. I'm going stir crazy!! I'm totally restless. Maybe it's just the winter. If it was warm outside I could think of plenty of things to do. I need a new hobby. I suggested a bowling league to Mitch. I don't think he took me seriously, he just laughed when I suggested it. I guess I'll have to find another way to ease into this new phase of life ...

Superbowl Weekend

This weekend was great. Mitch and I watched the end of the superbowl. It was a good game. The only reason why I watched it was to make sure I also saw the hour long episode of "The Office." I was so excited cuz I heard that Jack Black and Jessica Alba were going to be guest stars. What a disappointment! Pam and Jim were watching a movie, on a laptop, and Jack Black and Jessica Alba were in the movie they were watching on the laptop. Boo. That was lame. The episode was pretty funny though.
We went to dinner and went bowling with some friends. I'm a horrible bowler, but I broke 80! I was happy with myself. At first we couldn't figure out what was going on because some of us would get strikes even when we only knocked down 7 of the pins. Apparently the game was set up so 7 pins or more counted as a strike. Ha,ha. (We did eventually fix the problem.)
This weekend I also went to a Zumba class with some friends. It's basically an aerobic class that consists of doing various Brazilian dances. Now I'm not a very coordinated dancer, and I'm okay with that. But I consider myself to be in pretty good shape; I can run a few miles without any problems. However, I quickly learned that I cannot do Zumba for very long without feeling like my legs are going to keel over. I guess the muscles I use to run are not the same muscles I use to do Zumba. They had a contest going -the person who squatted the lowest during one dance would win 10 free tans. You better believe I gave it my all. Unfortunately, my all wasn't enough. Now it's two days later and my legs and back are still SO sore! I walk with a limp and have a hard time getting up out of a chair. Mitch has been laughing at my pain all weekend. I don't blame him, I know I look pretty funny. So, the moral of the story is this: just because you're in good aerobic shape, doesn't mean you can bust Zumba moves without feeling it the next day. Maybe I should have streched first ...
We went to baby Oakley's baby blessing. It was very nice and left us feeling spiritually uplifted. Oakley was so beautiful in her white dress. There were a million people at Kevin and Nicole's. I don't know how we all fit. It was nice though and I'm glad we could go.
I finished Wuthering Heights. I loved it. The ending was quite different than I expected, but it was still good. I'd say it's one of my favorites. It's set back in the late 1800s, so if you like books by Jane Austen, Charlotte Bronte, etc., you'll probably like this one. I need to rent the movie. Now I'm reading The Brothers Karamazov, by Fyodor Dostoevsky (author of Crime and Punishment). It will probably be a bit depressing, but I love reading about the Russian culture. It's actually quite beautiful once you understand it. This book might take me a while to read though, it's pretty thick.