a post for america

This week I did 2 things to celebrate our country -- voted & ate at the Hamburg Inn No. 2.

Voting in Iowa is an adrenaline rush!  It's a little different to live in a place where the two-party system is, to put it delicately, thriving.  I registered on at the polls on Election Day and I thought the lady who helpd me was going to kill over because of my age & my political leanings.  Apparently, I am the anomaly here in Iowa City :) 

   

Last night, Cody & I went to dinner at the Hamburg Inn No. 2 -- a very small, dirty, greasy resturant downtown.  They served me phenomenal crinkle fries. (I ate them so fast that I didn't have time to take a picture!).  I know you are wondering 'What does the Hamburg Inn have to do with America?'.  So I will tell you : absolutely nothing.

Just kidding.  A few politicians stop by during the Iowa Caucuses -- just people like Mitt, Barak, John (McCain), Ronald (Reagan), Bill (Clinton), among others . . . no big deal. 

Well, we thought it was a big deal because we ate there :)  Maybe some presidential greatness will rub off on us!   

Cody showing off the jelly -- I don't know why.
 It wasn't that special. 
Those crinkle fries were special though.

halloween week

Victor, IA
population 900
about 60 miles from our house
taken 10/28/2010
NO SNOW!!! YAY!!!

We have had an eventful week -- a few highlights were:

- Driving 100+ miles 2 days this week. This makes me grumpy.

-Seeing our friends Elise & Joel at stake conference. They met in the same ward Cody & I did. Joel & I worked together at BYU and Cody & Elise grew up in the same ward.

-Seeing my old Young Women's President, Jeanna, and her ADORABLE girls (and husband too!), also at stake conference. Jeanna was like a second mother to me, just like so many of my other Young Women leaders.

-Watching the Sound of Music cast reunion on Oprah. I bawled twice. Once when a Vietnam vet talked about how the movie was his refuge while he was deployed AND during this clip (start about 50 seconds in with a box of tissues nearby).

-Watching the Giants dominate in the World Series -- especially their cute rookie catcher.

-Having our first real trick-or-treaters! The only problem is that nobody says 'trick or treat'. They just stand at the door and expect candy. Seriously?

the best intentions

the sunrise on my way to work a few days ago

yes, i drive to work while the sun is rising

I stink at blogging. It's kind of ironic, because I LOVE reading other people's blogs -- but then I think that nobody could LOVE reading ours :) I know that is far far far from the truth, so I am going to try really hard to jump back on the blogging train. I don't really think that I am going to try to recap everything that has happened since I last blogged, but I will leave you with a few of today's thoughts.

I love Iowa.

I love living on the edge of town and I love not living in the megametropolis that is the Salt Lake & Utah Valleys.

I love driving by corn & bean fields on my way to work. I do not love driving 2000 miles in 2 months of work.

I do not love Iowa's weather when it wakes me up in the middle of the night sounding like a herd of softballs with wings banging into my window. (It really was just an awful rainstorm with super turbo wind.)

I do not love when my kids cough in my face & get me sick. (But, I am not getting as sick as last year.)

I love blogging. And I will blog again, soon :)

a is for apple

On Labor Day, our sweet neighbors/friends invited us to go apple picking with them at a local orchard. We had a great time & ended up with a lot of apples. Like, WAY more apples than I ever would have purchased at once. I am planning on making them into some kind of treat, but I have had meetings at unearthly hours this week (7:15; 8:15; 7:30 -- keep in mind I have to drive at least 30 minutes before I get there) and have worked late, which doesn't leave much free time :(
So, keep the comments coming & let me know what I can turn my apples into!
P.S. That cute baby belongs to our next door through the wall neighbors & we love him a lot!

out of the mouths of babes

I feel kind of guilty for blackmailing people to get comments . . . but probably not guilty enough to never do it again :)

Does anybody besides me remember that old church movie 'Out of the Mouths of Babes'?



Well, I am thinking about carrying around a concealed video camera (is that even legal?) to create my own 'Out of the Mouths of Babes'. Or maybe it will just become a recurring series on this blog. Anyway, here is the latest installment -- short & sweet:

I went to a fourth-grade classroom to meet some of my new kiddos. Within about 2 seconds, I heard a little whisper from the back, "Who is that lady? She is pretty!".

And for the record, I did NOT look that nice yesterday. Or maybe I did. Is it ever a good thing if a 9 year old thinks you look nice? I just can't decide.

it's been a while

So, I haven't blogged in a long time -- maybe because I don't get enough positive feedback when I blog or maybe because I have been having so much fun or maybe because I am just lazy :)
Here are some quick updates:

JOB: My job is great! I drive between 1 - 3 hours each day, so my car and I are becoming one. The poor Bonneville would have never made it out here :) I have met most of my speech babies and I miss the ones I had last year. My favorite seech story from the past week {written as it was spoken}: "My gwampa gave me a calf this summa. It is bwack and white, but its mom is aw (all) wed (red). He stiw (still) eats fwom its mom."

SCHOOL: Cody reads a lot. One article compared organizational theory to shoes -- who says marrying me didn't aid in his education? He also starts teaching a section of 50-60 students tomorrow :) He is the only first year student in recent history to ever be assigned to do that!

HOUSE: Love love love it! There is no more to say.

FRIENDS: Love love love them! There are quite a few couples in our ward that we plan on being super good friends with.

IOWA: Fab. It feels like home {to me}. I haven't gotten my fill of corn fields, flash flooding, or humidity yet. I hope I never will. Football season starts Saturday -- apparently it is quite the event -- there will be a future post on that!

The end.

Leave comments & I might post more :)