lucky ducky

Today I had an epiphany about how incredibly lucky I have been in my graduate studies thus far . . .
Since starting graduate school, I have been under the tutelage (in my humble opinion) some of the greatest and most cutting-edge minds in speech pathology. I get to listen to their thoughts about some really interesting topics in both lecture style & conversational settings. I am pretty sure I would have been thrilled if only one person I came in contact with was like this -- but it's not one person or even two! It seems like it's everybody :) How great is that!
I am also starting to realize the uniqueness of a degree from BYU that emphasizes aspects of communication that are so personalized, specialized, and gospel-oriented. I have heard from several people to utilize the spirit when working with others . . . and I know that there have been days when I have used all of the inspiration imparted to me (and wished that there was more coming). I feel like I am learning to make a difference in somebody's life, not just theories and treatements and IEPs and flouroscopies.
And to make things even better, I just discovered that Cody has an uncanny talent of making delish bean dip! (Honestly, did you really think that this post was going to be entirely serious?)

movies

I have watched more late night movies this week than I have in the rest of my entire life COMBINED! I don't know what is going on, but here are my reviews:

Akeelah and the Bee

I loved this movie not only because I knew the winning word in the National Spelling Bee, but also because it addressed a serious subject (refusing to excel because you are afraid to be different) in a lighthearted way. I learned a few sweet words along the way and marveled the gaps in serveral actors' front teeth. Best line: "Akeelah, kick that guy's butt, b-u-t-t, butt!"

Indiana Jones

This movie was better than I expected . . . I kinda liked it actually. I didn't feel stupid that all of the references to the first 3 movies went over my head and all the alien talk wasn't as weird as I expected. There were some pretty hilarious scenes -- Harrison Ford has still got the Indiana Jones thing going on. Best line: "Why isn't he in school?"

27 Dresses

In all honesty, I was a little nervous about this movie. But, what bad can happen watching a chick flick late at night eating chocolate covered gummy bears and popcorn and being wrapped up in your favorite blanket? Not much. I might acutally watch this one again . . . even though it was totally predictable. Best line: "Benny and the jets . . ."

Okay, I don't really know if that is the best line, because I don't remember any other ones :) It was late!

last weekend

So, I know that this post is WAY overdue -- but its been a crazy week, to say the least. Last weekend, Cody & I took a phenomenal trip to Idaho for my mom's birthday/Camille's dance recital. We had an awesome party for my mom on Friday night while we watched the Jazz get demolished by the Lakers -- it included all of the junk food imaginable and a delish ice cream cake. It was really fun to see Dave & Jessie too . . . I wish that they were closer so we could hang out more.
On Saturday, I went to a baby shower with my mom and saw a ton of my favorite people from my parent's ward. We played the infamous 'what-candy-bar-is-melted-in-this-diaper' game and I decided that was really gross. The idea has merit, but the follow-through is another story. After the shower, we snagged Dave & Cody to get lunch and a sunburn :) It was the first time in history that Cody has been to Idaho Falls without the weather being terrible. He didn't believe me that sometimes the weather is normal! That night we hit up Camille's dance recital. I always forget what an amazing dancer she is until I see her doing all these leaps and twirls and shakes - wow! Plus she looks about 10 years older with all of her makeup :) After the recital, we had a MarioKart Wii party at our house. For the record, I beat Robert and Tanner -- it was probably the first time in my LIFE I beat either of those two in any type of video game. I might have smoked Rob at Oregon Trail once or twice . . . We even got my mom and dad to play. They were pretty good -- I think they are secretly addicted.
We came back to Utah on Sunday, but not before a fun visit with Grandma. She just cracks me up! She showed us this old picture of her dad when he was a boy and the original settlement of Ririe, ID. (Yes, that is a real town and I like it there.) It was really cool to check it out, which is probably the history buff in me. All in all, the weekend passed way too fast -- but we had a really great time! And will be going back ASAP :)

more jazz game fun

Cody & I had this conversation at the Jazz game.

Me: There are so many famous people here. I bet President Monson came.
Cody: No way -- he wouldn't come to the Jazz game.
Me: Whatever. He is totally here.
Cody: I don't think so.

Fast foward to this afternoon's conversation.

Cody: Guess what I just heard on the radio.
Me: What?
Cody: That David Archuleta was watching the Jazz game and some messenger told him that somebody wanted to talk to him.
Me: Who was it?
Cody: President Monson.

It is so great to be right sometimes :)

Dear Camille

Dear Camille:

I REALLY REALLY REALLY missed you last night. I am going to tell you all about it, because you are the only person I know who loves David Archuleta enough to appreciate the experience :) Cody & I went to dinner at the Gateway, so we had to walk back to the stadium to get there on time . . . all of the sudden there were all these sirens, but no police cars. It was really weird. We were trying to figure out what in the world was going on and then we saw this GIANT limo. It was totally David!!!!! It was so exciting.

Then we found our seats - every single seat there had a t-shirt on it. The shirts were incredibly huge -- they probably would have come down to your ankles, since mine went down almost to my knee :)

We waited and waited and waited for David to come out. It seriously seemed like forever. Randomly, some people at the bottom started cheering like crazy. There he was . . . THE David Archuleta -- plus like 50 other people.

David is that small gray person at the very bottom middle of the picture, right above the word 'the.'

Everybody there cheered for like five or ten minutes straight until he started singing. He sounded even better than he does on t.v. Cody recorded the very end on his phone, so you can listen to it when we come this weekend! It was SO cool!

This is him on the JumboTron -- can't you tell?

Then, the Jazz totally dominated the Lakers . . . and I saw the cast from High School Musical. The only thing that would have made it better was if you could have come too.

I can't wait to see you next weekend and check out your dance recital. How was the ballet one with the funky costume? Cody is super excited too -- I don't think he realizes how long it is going to be :) I hope you have a fun day! Love,

Larkin

P.S. I just put this magnet board up in our laundry room. Guess which cousin is on it the most?
That's right -- YOU :) Love you!

cody, let's do somethings spontaneous

His absolutely fun response:

super stars

Cody & I went on a date last night to the mall. It wasn't really planned that way -- he took me to dinner at the Spaghetti Factory and I conned him in to going shopping before the Jazz game started.
We were at Macy's, just minding our own business, when this sales associate stopped us and said, "Hey! Aren't you guys on The Place?"
[Just for the record, The Place is a t.v. show mimicking The Office that one of our good friends made for the two years before we got married. He posted most of the stuff on YouTube -- but I didn't think anybody actually watched it. You can check it out here or look at this this post of mine to see a short video all about me :)]
So Cody says yes and asks her if she knows any of our friends that are on it. She told us that she didn't know anyone, but she had just found it online and liked it enough to watch all the episodes! Talk about a superstar moment!!!
We also did some good while we were avoiding the paparazzi:








The sunglasses are for Corgan and the shirt is for me -- it is supercute!

Then, the Jazz dommed the Rockets and the Hawks beat up on the Celtics . . . what a fun night :)