major life announcement

No, it's not the new blog design.
No, we aren't having any babies.
No, Cody didn't get a promotion.
No, we haven't found a new apartment.

But . . . .

I have my thesis defense scheduled!!!

{This really should say I almost have my thesis defense scheduled -- I just need a few signatures :)}

Thesis Subjects

This is so fitting for my 100th post :) I need subjects for my thesis. To be volunteer they must:

• Be female
• Be 18-40 years old
• Have lived in Utah since they were 18 months old
• Not lived outside of Utah for longer than 6 months (consecutively)
• Have no history of speech/language/hearing problems
  

Anybody who volunteers will come to the Taylor Building at BYU for about 30 minutes in the next few weeks. They will:

• Fill out a questionnaire & consent form
• Participate in a FREE hearing screening
• Read a list of 140 sentences
• Read a short passage
• Have a short conversation with me

Leave a comment, email me, text me, write on my Facebook wall, call Cody, do anything to get a hold of me if YOU or ANY OF YOUR FRIENDS meet the criteria & would be willing to participate. Thanks a million!

i am my father's daughter

shopaholic

On Friday, Cody took me to see Confessions of a Shopaholic IN 3D!!! Okay, so maybe it wasn't in 3D, but 2 dimensions of Gucci, Prada, & Louboutin were enough for me!

Needless to say, I thought it was fantastic. Cody thought it was okay (but at least he didn't abhor it).

Then, for President's Day, I met up with Ashley and Sammi at one of the greatest sales ever. Shade was having a $5 sale at Provo High where everything was only...you guessed it...$5! I was able to get away with a few choice items, but the most entertaining part of the experience was seeing other women do battle over clothing. It was even more intense than the crowds at the Smashing Pumpkins concert that Cody took me to.

Luckily for us, most of the women herded towards the swimsuits when they were brought out, leaving us just enough time to pick up what we want and run like the wind! It was my very own shopaholic experience & will be treasured forever (or at least until next year's event :) ).

valentine's day

I made these bags for Cody's presents -- they were much cuter in real life :)
About 30 seconds after this picture was taken, I spilled pizza roll filling all over my white shirt & sweats. It took 3 times through the laundry to get the stain out. Sick!

things i've learned from my thesis #1

I am thinking that this list will get pretty long over the next few months, but here is the first major thing I have learned from writing a thesis.

I need to grow some thick skin -- quick!

I hate getting drafts back with tons of comments and corrections. I think this stems from the fact that I am borderline OCD perfectionist . . . I just want to do things right the first time and not worry about it ever again. So learning to handle criticism is definitely on the list of things to do ASAP.

I am getting better at dealing with revisions (as long as there is at least one page that doesn't have any problems) and starting to actually realize that my committee isn't trying to be mean, they are really just trying to help!!

In happier news, I have finally defended my prospectus (basically my research plan). The next step is to get approval from the IRB -- their job is to make sure that I won't be treating my human participants unfairly. Then I can start collecting data!! Woot woot!

strong

Yes, Cody helped make dinner last night. Yes, that is a heart-shaped hole in the bottom of my favorite Williams-Sonoma yellow mixing bowl. Yes, I asked Cody to be careful while he separated the frozen spinach (after the bowl was broken). Yes, my husband has big muscles.

On a more insightful note, I was pretty peeved when Cody showed me the irreparable hole. Then I remembered a short experience I read about in The Mormon Way of Doing Business. One man got a call at work from his teenage daughter, who had forgotten to open the garage door before backing out. He, like myself, was pretty outraged at first . . . but then decided not to get upset with problems that money can fix. I decided that is how I want to be. It's harder than I thought -- but maybe my next mixing bowls will be pink! Or green! Or paisley!