Andrew's Birthday List

I am creating Andrew's birthday list. He may say he only wants two things, but it is a lie. He keeps asking me for millions of things.


Andrew wants money to pay his bills. Boring, but true. Being a poor, starving college student isn't all it is cracked up to be (yes, it is true Karen and The Dad). We are willing to have a vacation package during the Christmas vacation for anyone who wants the experience of being a poor, starving college student for 10 days. Unfortunately, there is no school during that time. We'll give you a budget and you get to pay all your bills and live on it your pathetic excuse for a budget. Call me if you are interested.
Andrew also wants hiking boots for his beautiful wife. Really! He keeps telling people that this is what he wants the most!


As usual, Andrew wants Rapalas. Actually, he wants you to give him money and tell him that it is for buying Rapalas so he can get the ones that he wants.
Andrew wants this telescope. It has an 8 inch lens, I think. It is cool cuz you align the telescope and then you can tell it what stars to look at and it will automatically move to point at it.


Andrew wants this truck. It is a Chevy Silverado. He wants a white one cuz it shows the mud better. With his truck he will go through the mud, go up steep hills, and haul any animal he kills.

He also wants a gun so he can go duck hunting. Not the Nintendo game, but real duck hunting.

Andrew also wants a red headed daughter, such as our neighbor. Actually, we have two red headed little girls in our ward and Andrew has a huge crush on them.

Finally, Andrew wants a trip to Hong Kong. We would spend very little time in downtown Hong Kong, as featured in this picture, but it gets the message across.

OK, so in summary, Andrew wants a lot of things. If you get him anything, you should get him hiking boots for his beautiful wife, or Rapalas, or money. Or you can get him something else if you really want to.

I Love It

My mother in law said I couldn't live without it. My Dad uses it all the time. Andrew didn't think we needed to keep this wedding gift. And now, I love it.

It is a Cuisinart Smart Stick!My Dad uses it to make personal milkshakes, which idea Andrew thinks sounds awesome, now that I mentioned it.

I used it last night to make Butternut Squash Bisque. It was delicious. The recipe told me to put the veggie chunks in a blender, but I remembered this thing. VVVVVVVVVRRRRRMMMMMMMMMMZZZZZZZZZZZ and again and again and everything was pureed to perfection. That soup was delicious. And I love my Smart Stick.

Happy Stuff

I was really happy today. I am in a Family History class at the Institute and I was frustrated that my family lines seem to go back as far as possible to ever find the records. My teacher asked me what the matter was, and I told him. He suggested that I make sure that all of my ancestors' siblings and their spouses and their children's Temple work is done. WOW! I got about 30 people who need some portion of their work done and printed them off. There is one fellow who's work was done in 1940, except being sealed to his parents.

Today was great. My parents and siblings came up to Logan to do baptisms and confirmations for the dead. I was really happy to see the people that I found getting those blessings. Now we get to do a lot of other Temple work! I am really excited and grateful that my teacher suggested searching out the siblings of my ancestors. After, they want to be sealed as families as much as I do.

This is a beautiful picture of the Logan Temple. That is where my family and I went today.
This is the Bountiful Temple and my favorite one! And I love it even more cuz that's where Andrew and I were married.

This is the Hong Kong Temple, where Andrew served his mission. Someday, we will go to Hong Kong and it will be awesome. We have a jar that we put our loose change in and we call it our Hong Kong Jar!

I love Temples. You should go. The end.

A Party, Cops Included

Andrew and I went to become True Aggies. YAY! In my senior year at Utah State, I finally stayed up till midnight and kissed someone on the A. And I kissed my husband. Here are some of the highlights:

Me in the foreground, and those two guys in the white behind me ARE COPS! I have officially gone to a wild college party, because as Scott says, it isn't a real college party unless the cops show up. I think it counts.

Andrew and I after we kissed each other on the 'A'. We were both in our PJs.

Friends Michelle and Jeff kissing on the 'A'. They stood in a massive line with us. We waited in line for 45 minutes just to kiss our own spouses.

And that is my exciting story of True Aggie Night, in which the cops were in attendance, therefore making me a party animal.

Park Family Reunion

Last weekend was our Park family reunion. Grandma paid for the gas, so we went. The main activity was rocket launching.

Melanie and Andrew working on their rockets.

Leslie and her rocket.

Matt and his rocket.

Me and my rocket.
Matt sitting with Grandma. Matt is also holding the hyperactive puppy, Robeir.
Mom and Barbara getting the treats all ready.
Dad.
Me launching my rocket.
Random children that I don't know getting candy that was shot from the rocket launcher. It's better than a pinata!
Andrew's final attempt to make a rocket that works. I think that he thought WAY too hard about making a rocket. Three year olds were launching far superior rockets than he was.
Andrew's "two stage". Whatever. It exploded on the launcher. Sometimes I worry about this aerospace engineer.

Matt sticking his head in the ice.

Happy bingo players, except Andrew has a funny and weird face.

Andrew won the first bingo of the game which is awesome cuz we got the prize we really wanted to get! Season 2 of The Office! It is missing disk 3, but we know enough people to get it in a perfectly legal way, of course.

Daniel won a clock that gives bird calls on the hour. It used to be Grandma and Grandpa Pitt's, but it must have driven them crazy. The prizes for bingo were better than white elephants but worse than going to the store.

My parents were intently playing bingo. Practicing for when they are really old and that is all they do all evening with other really old people. ;)

Dad's bingo prize - a baby play mat. He gave it to Andrew and I, since we need it so desperately.
Melanie's gross prize. "FOR MINE AND ROSS'S APARTMENT!" Gag me.

Pretty mountains up Provo Canyon. That is where the Reunion was.

We had a really fun time making rockets and meeting people that we don't really know. I'm glad that we could spend more time with our families because we actually do like them.

I Shouldn't Be Blogging...

I really shouldn't be blogging, but I want to, and I don't want to do my homework. I have to write a paper about this book:It is about labor in California, detailing the Mission period, the Rancho period, and the Americano period (cession-era).

And I have to revise/make awesome a paper about this book:
It is about white photographers and how they photographed Chinatown in the late 19th and early 20th century. It also talks a little bit about how the Chinatownspeople portrayed themselves through art.This painting is by a Chinatown artist named Yun Gee. I like his art, so I thought I'd share it with you. The book had a few color pictures and Gee's were featured there.

The book also talked about the Forbidden City, a nightclub in San Francisco.

What the book talks about is how the expectation that whites held for the Chinese gave Chinese performers opportunities to play up their race, or pretend to be white entertainers (Frank Sinatra, Fred Estaire, etc). So you have this exotic Oriental nightclub that makes for an exciting chapter in a book.

The worst part about the paper is that it is a book review. For some reason, that sounds harder than a plain old paper. Now that I have blogged about it, my critical juices are almost flowing, so now I shall work on my papers.

Why do I want to graduate school? That means a ton of reading and a whole lot of writing. I am just a nerd and I actually really do like doing this sort of stuff.

Apparently, I'm having a baby...

And it is all thanks to my wonderful brother-in-law, Wesley. Well, I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure. (Oh! That sounds so NAUGHTY!!) I got a few emails today. One of them said:

Hello bredsarah, I'd like to personally welcome you to BabyCenter! We're delighted you've decided to become a part of our active and ever-growing community of millions of moms and moms-to-be. (And dads, too!) You can start your BabyCenter journey immediately by downloading your Weekly Planner. To create or update your password and personalize the site for you, click here. As a BabyCenter member, you now have full access to everything our site has to offer, including thousands of informative articles. Plus you can connect with other parents in our Community, and get great deals from our family-friendly partners. Here are a few suggestions for great things to check out at BabyCenter: on our site Track your pregnancy with our interactive calendar. Search for the perfect baby name with our Baby Name Finder. Enjoy free weekly e-mail newsletters that detail your baby's development. in our community Connect with other parents to swap parenting advice. Create your own journal to share your parenting stories. Post and share your favorite photos. Thanks so much for joining BabyCenter. We're so glad you're here! Sincerely, Tina Sharkey Chairman, BabyCenter, LLC

And another one said:

Welcome!

Thank you for registering with Diapers.com. You're all set to enjoy fast, free shipping on all your baby essentials. We've got the best deal on everything, from maternity and car seats to baby food and, of course, diapers!

And the next one gave me a link: http://www.thebabycorner.com/?iid=2472

And the email that I opened up first was this one:

Your pregnancy: 16 weeks

See the big picture

How your baby's growing:

Get ready for a growth spurt. In the next few weeks, your baby will double his weight and add inches to his length. Right now, he's about the size of an avocado: 4 1/2 inches long (head to rump) and 3 1/2 ounces. His legs are much more developed, his head is more erect than it has been, and his eyes have moved closer to the front of his head. His ears are close to their final position, too. The patterning of his scalp has begun, though his locks aren't recognizable yet. He's even started growing toenails. And there's a lot happening inside as well. For example, his heart is now pumping about 25 quarts of blood each day, and this amount will continue to increase as your baby continues to develop.

See what your baby looks like this week. (Or see what fraternal twins look like in the womb this week.)

Note: Every baby develops a little differently — even in the womb. Our information is designed to give you a general idea of your baby's development.

How your life's changing:

The top of your uterus is about halfway between your pubic bone and your navel, and the round ligaments that support it are thickening and stretching as it grows. You're probably feeling a whole lot better as you settle into pregnancy, too. Less nausea, fewer mood swings, and "glowing" skin contribute to an overall sense of well-being.

Soon you'll experience one of the most wonderful moments of pregnancy — feeling your baby move. While some women notice "quickening" as early as 16 weeks, many don't feel their baby move until about 18 weeks or more. (And if this is your first baby, don't be too impatient — you may not be aware of your baby's movements until 20 weeks or so.) The earliest movements may feel like little flutters, gas bubbles, or even like popcorn popping. Over the following weeks they'll grow stronger and you'll be able to feel them much more frequently.
Ha ha Wesley. You are a very funny man. I'm glad that your professors are keeping you so busy that you have the time to sign me up for all sorts of baby websites. Actually, I laughed pretty hard about this joke.

Now why is Wesley playing this joke on me? I started it. He asked me to order his textbooks for him. So I did. And I had them shipped to Wesleigh Norma, as if he were a lovely young lady. :D And I also sent a steamy romance novel, The Guardian's Secret Mistress, to him/her.

All right, so maybe it isn't Wesley, and it is really my mom-in-law in league with my mom cuz they want grandkids.

GET ON IT WES!