Out Our Window

This is the view from our hotel room window at night. I thought it was pretty cool, since I'd only seen Time Square on TV.

Live From New York

My Dad asked for a trip to New York for his 50th birthday, so we are spending the Thanksgiving break in the Big Apple. This is my first trip to New York, and it has been a lot of fun. Our hotel is right on Times Square, so we were able to eat breakfast in our room while we watched the parade. Here is a picture of the Snoopy balloon as he went by. I think this one might be Katherine's favorite.

We ran down to the street for a minute, but we couldn't really see much, due to the crowd. We did however manage to snap a photo as the Beethoven float went by.


Then we went shopping at a Christmas market on Bryant Park (some park not too far from Times Square). They had this cool little shop that had all kinds of figurines made out of metal scraps. Star Wars fans such as myself would enjoy it at least.


I will let Katherine talk about the rest of the day, if I can get her to write now. We are pretty tired. We did a lot of walking.

Done!

I took the GRE early Saturday, and I am glad it is over. One less thing to worry about. I think I did well enough that I won't have to retake it... I don't think I could get a much better score than I did, it was higher than I did on all the practice tests I took. Lucky.


For anyone who hasn't taken it, and cares, the GRE is what they call a "computer adaptive" test. This means that as you answer questions the computer decides which questions to give you next based on whether you get the question right or not. Supposedly, if you get a question right, the next one will be harder. If you miss the question the next one will be easier. In addition to this, they tell you before you take the test that you may get a section of questions that will not be graded, but instead is being used to try out new questions. You will not know which sections are the real, graded sections, and which are the trial sections. These two facts combine to really mess with your head.

For my test I ended up getting two Quantitative sections. The first one I had seemed incredibly difficult, and I was sure I had bombed it. The second one seemed really easy for the most part. I'm still not sure which one was the real section, and I spent the whole test going, "Oh man, this question seems too easy. I must not be doing very well." It wasn't that much fun. Anyone out there who still has to take it... I feel your pain.

Fashion Show, Fashion Show, Fashion Show at Lunch

After the Body Worlds exhibit Katherine and I went to the mall to do some Christmas shopping. We are way ahead of the game this year. Anyways, it turned out to be a great trip for her... she got some fancy new duds. So here is a little fashion show/photo shoot of her new stuff.















First, here she is in her new winter coat. We are headed to New York for Thanksgiving with my family, and she needed a good coat for the trip. Luckily the Gap was having a sweet sale (30% of the coat!).

When asked what she calls this particular pose, the subject responded "Waiting..."

And that isn't the only thing this lucky girl got at the mall the other night. She also got a new cardigan that she plans on wearing for the family photo shoot in Boise over Christmas break. She found this nice little number at Shade.

Another classic pose.

Her last purchase of the night was also another item from shade. The "Scoop Neck Half Sleeve" was a killer bargain at only $5.00. She just couldn't say no. I have to agree with the description on the website. This shirt truly is "butter soft."















Anyways, she had a good time and got some sweet new clothes. That's why she loves me today. And here are a few other great shots from her fashion show.

Body Worlds 3

For date night on Friday, Landon surprised me by taking me up to Salt Lake City to see the Body Worlds 3 exhibit! The title of the exhibition is "The Story of the Heart." I thought it was really neat. But then again, I really enjoyed my anatomy lab here at BYU. Let me tell you, if we would have had these plastinated cadavers in our lab, I would have learned everything much easier. It was really cool to see the clean dissections without the mess due to hundreds of students poking around with their probes.
I thought the figures doing different activities were pretty sweet, as well as the narrative about the heart. Some of the activities included a hurdler, an archer, a male gymnast balancing on three wooden balls, a female gymnast on the beam, "lovers" (not inappropriate, I just can't think of a better way to describe it), a woman kneeling, ice skaters, a ski jumper, a javelin thrower, and others. I also thought the sagittal slice of the severely obese person was interesting. In most dissections, the fat is removed. I will never forget the time in lab when my TA showed us a cadaver they were working on that still had the fat in it... I can see something like that being a useful health promotion tool.
The story of the heart was very educational, informing of the dangers of smoking, why we should exercise, and why having a positive attitude helps foster a healthy heart.
It was a great experience for me... Landon on the other hand had a harder time with it. But he knew I wanted to go and loves me enough to have taken me.

6 Months

Our 6 month anniversary was actually yesterday, but oh well. I love you, Boo.

Hocus Pocus

I put Katherine in charge of the title for this post.

On Saturday (yesterday) Katherine took me to a place in West Jordan called Gardner Village. It is a pretty neat little outdoor shopping center with a lot of craft and home decor type shops. What is cool about it though, is that around Halloween they have some more festive events. Friday and Saturday were their "Witches night out" days, when they invite all the ladies 18 and up to come out dressed as witches. Katherine was unaware of this fact, and needless to say I felt a little out of place. I wasn't the only male there, but we were definitely outnumbered.


Katherine's favorite place was a little knitting shop she found, with all kinds of fancy yarns and other knitting paraphernalia. I got a little sick of the woman standing outside with a microphone inviting all the passersby to "Cackle for a Coupon." It was really annoying.

On the way home we had a little trouble finding the interstate. Katherine was navigating, and had hoped to leave early enough to make it over to Tai Pan Trading. Somehow after wandering around somewhere in West Jordan we randomly showed up at the doorstep of... Tai Pan Trading. It was Katherine's Christmas Miracle. A little early this year.

Anyways, it was fun. We saw a lot of nice stuff that we couldn't afford, and got to look at a bunch of crazy women dressed up in various witches costumes. If you live in the area and get bored one night you can go check it out.

Sunday Afternoon Drive

I'm am writing this blog to prove to Landon that I have not lost interest in our togetherness blog.

Today Landon and I drove up Provo Canyon to look at all the pretty fall colors. It was beautiful. I was driving because Landon's gas was too low. Most cars were passing me all over the place because I was going slow enough to embrace the fall foliage. We drove up the road to Sundance as well. Our favorite part was when the sun would break through the clouds and in between the mountains. It made the bushes and trees look like they were on fire. It was very cool. Good Sunday activity. These pictures do not do it justice, but here they are in any event.

Katherine's New Blog

Katherine started a new blog this week. We will see if she pays any attention to this blog now.

katherinecreates.blogspot.com

My CD Mix Tape

Here is my version of significant songs for each year of my life. It was hard to pick just one for each year! The years '86 to '88 are obviously a stretch because I don't remember anything, but I have vivid memories of each song for all the rest of the years. I really tried to pick songs I liked at the time and admit I did not always have the best taste (ie Mmm bop). But hey, that is what makes this fun, right? Enjoy!

• 1986 Huey Lewis & the News- The Heart of Rock & Roll
• 1987 Tiffany- I Think We're Alone Now
• 1988 U2- Angel of Harlem
• 1989 Madonna- Like a Prayer
• 1990 MC Hammer- Can't Touch This
• 1991 Amy Grant- Baby Baby
  
• 1992 Eric Clapton- Layla (Unplugged slow version)
• 1993 The Proclaimers- I'm Gonna Be
• 1994 Cranberries- Dreams
• 1995 Mariah Carey- Always be My Baby
• 1996 The Wallflowers - One Headlight
• 1997 Hanson- Mmm bop
• 1998 Sarah McLauchlan- Angel
• 1999 Pearl Jam - Last Kiss
• 2000 U2 - Beautiful Day
• 2001 Lifehouse - Hanging by a Moment
• 2002 Norah Jones - Don't Know Why
• 2003 Ben Harper- When She Believes
• 2004 Evanescence - My Immortal
• 2005 Death Cab for Cutie- Marching Bands of Manhattan
• 2006 The Format- Time Bomb
• 2007 White Stripes - Icky Thump
• 2008 Feist- 1234

Mixes

One thing that I often enjoy doing is making random mixes. Sometimes I will get an idea for a mix, and can't really think about anything else until I have made it. The other day I came up with a cool new mix, and I want to share it with all.

The general idea for the mix is pretty simple: you pick one song for each year of your life. I decided that I would try and pick only from songs of which either the album or single was released that same year. Most importantly, though, the songs had to have at least some relevance to me personally. I had to bump some great songs from the list because, even though I really like them now, I was pretty sure I would not have listened to them in the year they were released (i.e. Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana).

Anyways, here are my results.

• 1982 - "I Ran" by A Flock of Seagulls
• 1983 - "Sweet Dreams" by Eurythmics
• 1984 - "If This Is It" by Huey Lewis and The News
• 1985 - "Shout" by Tears For Fears
• 1986 - "Danger Zone" by Kenny Loggins
• 1987 - "Where the Streets Have No Name" by U2
• 1988 - "Kokomo" by the Beach Boys
• 1989 - "We Didn't Start the Fire" by Billy Joel
• 1990 - "Personal Jesus" by Depeche Mode
• 1991 - "Losing My Religion" by R.E.M.
• 1992 - "I Can't Dance" by Genesis
• 1993 - "River of Dreams" by Billy Joel
• 1994 - "Self Esteem" by The Offspring
• 1995 - "Say It Ain't So" by Weezer
• 1996 - "Spiderwebs" by No Doubt
• 1997 - "The Beginning Is The End Is The Beginning" by The Smashing Pumpkins
• 1998 - "Sometimes It Hurts" by Stabbing Westward
• 1999 - "We're In This Together" by The Nine Inch Nails
• 2000 - "Last Resort" by Papa Roach
• 2001 - "In The End" by Linkin Park
• 2002 - "A Dios Le Pido" by Juanes
• 2003 - "Haunted" by Evanescence
• 2004 - "Sic Transit Gloria" by Brand New
• 2005 - "Returning the Smile You Had From the Start" by Emery
• 2006 - "What Sarah Said" by Death Cab for Cutie
• 2007 - "What I Want" by She Wants Revenge
• 2008 - "The Geeks Were Right" by The Faint

Phew. Long list. I'm sure many will not agree with some of my choices. Don't hate. Just make your own. Katherine is working on her list and will hopefully share it when she is done.

If you need a little help getting started, here are some good resources.

• Wikipedia has a "year in music" page for pretty much every year, which includes the hit singles.
• iTunes Music Store has an iTunes ESSENTIALS playlist for most years.
  

Grad School

I signed up for the GRE the other day, an important step in my pursuit of a Masters degree in Computer Science. I have to say, I am feeling a little overwhelmed with all of the things I need to get done over the next few months.... job and internship interviews, apply for graduation, apply for grad school... All of that of course, in addition to keeping up in my classes and work.

The computer science department lists the following on their graduate studies web page:

Selection to the MS program is based upon consideration of:

• preparation in Computer Science,

• GPA (recommended average of 3.25 where A is a 4.0. GPA is calculated on the last 60 hours).

• general GRE exam (Recommended scores: Verbal:530, Quantitative: 700, Analytical: 4.5. Scores must be received before the application deadline for the applied semester),

• letters of recommendation: Where possible, one or more of the letters of recommendation should be from faculty members with whom you have worked in a research capacity, or who have personal knowledge of your research and writing potential.

• content of the letter of intent

Katherine found a web page somewhere that listed the averages of students accepted in previous years... I feel like the GRE scores on that page were closer to 560 on the verbal and 740 on the quantitative... so I have my work cut out for me.

Anyone have any suggestions on what I can do to get ready for the GRE? What are your experiences with the exam?

Photo Fun Part I

There are so many websites these days where you upload a picture of yourself and crazy stuff happens. Here are examples of some of our favorites.

This is what Landon would look like in the year 1988

And this is him in 1962
Here I am! In 1990.And this is 1962

I will follow up with another post about some more of our funny pictures. I am getting tired, so time for bed.

Mascot Challenge

Okay, this year we are actually kind of good at football, so I thought I would put in a plug for our mascot, Cosmo. Currently, Cosmo is participating in the Mascot Challenge, where he goes head to head with the mascots from other schools. Let's give him a shot at victory. Sign up and vote for cosmo!

Blog Updates

We have made a few updates to the blog. We added a music playlist (that was inspired by the blog of Katherine's friend Diedre). We also changed the layout some. There is a poll on the sidebar where you can give us a little feedback about the new changes. And of course, you can always comment on this post.

P.S. I made Katherine put some of the music I like on here, even though she didn't want to. So it's my fault if you don't like something.

Health Promotion

This semester is my first semester as a graduate student at BYU. I am working on a Master of Science degree in Health Promotion. When I tell people this, they usually ask what it is or what I want to do with it. I feel like I don't do a good job at answering either. So here is a definition of Health Promotion that I really like.

"Health Promotion is the science and art of helping people change their lifestyle to move toward a state of optimal health. Optimal health is a balance of physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and intellectual health. Lifestyle change can be facilitated through a combination of efforts to enhance awareness, change behavior, and create environments that support good health practices."

Here is a list of sites where I could work.

• Home as Mom
• public schools
• church (probably not as an occupation, but in callings maybe)
• corporations
• hospitals and clinics
• fitness clubs
• public health agencies- state and county health departments
• volunteer agencies- Red Cross, American Heart Association, etc.
• government agencies- police and fire depts
• retirement centers and nursing homes
• resorts

Hopefully that gives everyone more of an idea of what I'm doing. I'm loving it so far and am always trying to think of thesis possibilities.

I Love Netflix

I don't know why it took me so long to jump on the Netflix train, but I finally made it. Let me tell you, it is pretty sweet. For someone who rents movies pretty frequently it is much more cost effective than hopping on over to Blockbuster every time you want one. There are a few cons of course... it takes a bit for your movies to get to you and you don't have full control over what gets sent to you, but overall it is a winner.

If anyone out there wants to be my Netflix friend, just click the link.

I've also started to enjoy the ability to create "Top 10" lists. You pick a theme and then can add your favorite movies to the list. I don't know what the draw is exactly, but it can be addicting.

My Flavor

I'm actually quite pleased with the results of this quiz. Vanilla is my favorite. It will never let me down. It's way better than black raspberry.

Our House (Part I)

For those of you that have not seen our place, here are a few pictures of the front room. We are working on a wall arrangement with some wedding photos above the couch, but have not yet finished.

We purchased the watercolor above the entertainment center on our honeymoon to Whidbey Island. We got it in a gallery in a small town about 10 miles away called Coupeville. We wanted something nice that would remind us of our honeymoon and we thought this painting was representative of the area. The name of the painting is "Low Tide."


We also really like the nativity below the painting. We picked it out when I went to Florida at Christmas time.

The giraffes were my Grandma Doman's and she gave them to me as a shower gift. I have always liked them, so they are very special to me and a good way for me to remember her.

Batman without Robin

I've had some version of the Sidekick telephone for the last 4 years. The first one was a birthday present from my parents... my Dad took me to T-mobile to pick out a new phone, and to my amazement he suggested the fanciest one they had in the store. Internet, email, text messaging, pictures... it seemed to have everything. A couple of years later, when the new version was released, the Sidekick 3, I had to have it. It was smaller, sleeker, faster, and had a built in mp3 player. Katherine even suggested today that the Sidekick had become part of my persona. People associated me with my Sidekick.

Today, all of that ended. I could no longer afford the luxury of the $20/month data service that the Sidekick required. I was forced to downgrade my phone plan, and kiss my faithful companion goodbye. Luckily, I was qualified for one of those phone upgrades, and with a little of my leftover birthday cash, I think I obtained a decent replacement.

Meet the Nokia 5310 ExpressMusic. I had to get an mp3 phone, and I think I got a good one. It doesn't do all the fancy internet stuff, but it has good sound quality to boot. It also weighs less than half of what the Sidekick did, and Katherine says she likes the way it looks better. I will keep you posted on how I adjust to the new phone.

P.S. If anyone is on the market for a Sidekick 3... I know where they can get one pretty cheap...

In A Pickle

Tonight we had Mandy over for Sunday dinner. Katherine made us something similar to a gyro: pita + lettuce + tomato + chicken + tzatziki sauce. It was, of course, very good. After dinner we decided to play "In A Pickle", a game that Mandy had given me for my birthday.

For those who aren't familiar with this game, it has fairly simple rules. Each person has a hand of 5 cards, each with a noun on it. There are also four of these cards in the center of the table. The players take turns playing their cards on the cards in the center of the table in the following manner: If the noun on their card would fit inside the noun on one of the cards on the table the put their card behind it. If the noun on one of the cards on the table would fit inside the noun on
their card, they put their card on top. Fairly simple rules, but you end up inadvertently making up some pretty wacky stories.

The best combination of cards during our game this evening is depicted in the following photo.


These cards would translate to the phrase reading something like this: "There was fear in the turtle in the pocket of the diaper in the poison in the aquarium." The whole story unfolded one card at a time, until we were all laughing pretty hard. It was a lot of fun. Mandy provided this drawing as her rendition of the crazy turtle story.


And that's all I have to say about that.

Our Amazing Wedding Day

I am finally going to do a post about our wedding day. Landon and I were sealed in the Boise temple on May 2, 2008 at 11:00 am. Our sealing was wonderful, especially because so many members of our families were able to be there. It was really special for my family because all of my siblings and their spouses were able to be in the sealing room.
The days prior to our wedding, it was quite windy and a bit chilly. I was really worried that we wouldn't be able to have our reception outside. But when we woke up on our day, we found that it was absolutely perfect weather. No wind, and perfect temperature. It was a beautiful spring wedding.
After being sealed at the temple we had a wedding luncheon at the Cottonwood Grille with family and close friends. The food was great and I think everyone enjoyed it.
At 6:30, the reception started. My mom pretty much did the entire menu, which included: fruit kabobs, chicken salad sandwiches on daisy-shaped-homemade-bread, cilantro lime potato salad, sundried tomato and mozzarella bowtie pasta salad, a broccoli salad with thai peanut sauce, lemon and lime curds, an ice cream bar (as in you put your own toppings on), and citric acid to drink. Thanks, Mom.
The line was pretty much non-stop for over an hour and a half. It was so great to see many of my friends, ward members, etc.
I tossed my bouquet, and it literally landed right into Hayley's hands. It was hilarious. Landon shot my garter out to a pretty small audience. And Audrey ended up catching it, beating out all the boys! Way to go, Audrey.
It was a perfect day for Landon and me.
We were finally able to meet with Jeff today and get our pictures. He took tons, and there are a lot of great ones. We are pleased with them and are excited to see the ones taken in Florida. Keep in mind that all of these have not been edited, so they will look even better once we pick the ones we want Jeff to do. Hope you enjoy.

Themed Movie Nights

Before Landon and I started dating, we liked to come up with movie themes where we would each pick a movie to go along with the theme, and then we would watch them together. The first one we did was "Foreign Film Day." For date night the other day (Friday is date night), we went mattress shopping... very thrilling. But for Saturday night, we decided to do a themed movie night. The theme was "Food in the Movie Title" (my brilliant idea). We thought we would have a lot to choose from, but it ended up being tough. The ones we went with were... Beetlejuice and Ratatouille. Beetlejuice was hilarious. Crazy Tim Burton. And Ratatouille was pretty fun, even Landon enjoyed the Disney film. Let us know if you have any theme ideas.

I am a College Graduate... Almost!

Since we decided to get married right after winter semester, I chose to take a lighter load for the semester... therefore, extending my graduation date. I am taking my last class during summer term and will technically graduate in August. But, I walked early and went to the temple the same day, so most of my family was able to be there for both occasions.

The Stunning Graduate

Landon and Me

The Supportive Parents

Katherine's Bridals

Katherine had some bridal photos taken March 15th. Just thought maybe you would like to see a few of my favorites.

Big Haircut

After 6 years with long hair and only minor adjustments, I decided it was time to cut it off. I wanted long hair for my wedding, but now that all of our wedding festivities are over, I went under the scissors. Here are before and after pictures. I am happy with it. I hope everyone likes it.

Before...

After!

Internet Woes

We moved into our new apartment May 11th... almost 3 weeks ago. We discovered that all the utilities had been shut off, and we had no internet (it was supposed to be connected already). Three weeks later someone finally came out to fix our internet. It took him about 5 seconds to do so, and was something I could have done easily, if I had only known where the internet equipment was located. Turns out it was hidden in a box in our closet, behind Katherine's clothes.

Anyways... hopefully we will be able to catch up on our blog now. We have a lot to write about... the wedding, honeymoon, open house in Florida, our new apartment.... etc. Stay tuned.

My Last Shower

Today I had my last of three bridal showers. I have been so spoiled. My sister Annie threw me one in Boise with a lot of ladies from my home ward who have known me most of my life. Landon's Family (grandmas, aunts, cousins, sisters) threw me one as well. And today, Marcie Ward threw me my "friend" shower. It was a lot of fun. We had cheese fondue and a chocolate fondue fountain (thanks Mike and Emily). Here are some pictures from today.

Marcie with the Amazing food.

Rachel and Bekah

Zippi and Ashley

Jenny and Me

My High School Friends.
Marcie, Terri Anne, Mallory, Annie and Me

Me!!!