I haven't written in a while

W and I went out to CA in June to help my parents move and I have finally moved completely out of their house! Now our small one bedroom is packed with stuff and it's kind of frustrating. On Independence Day W and I enjoyed in the many festivities that are to be had here and I got to participate in Colonial Days and answer peoples questions about Appalachian basket weaving. Currently I am looking for a job. I would like to try being a waitress somewhere, I've always wanted to try that. But we'll see what I can find. Well, that's pretty much what's up right now.

Vita-Mix!

On Monday W and I went to Costco and stood for several minutes watching a Vita-Mix demonstration. We were both really impressed with the power and versatility of the Vita-Mix blender. We went home and verified whether we had deposited our economic stimulus check yet and we hadn't! So yesterday we went back to Costco and got one!!! They are expensive, but they are the same blenders that places like Jamba Juice or Orange Julius use and so we thought if this is what the commercial professionals in smoothie making are using then it'd certainly a blender worth owning. And it comes with a 7 year warranty. The Vita-Mix blenders not only make smoothies, but ice cream, sorbet, soup, salsa, dip, salad dressing, jelly, and even peanut butter! And if you get the extra dry container you can also grind wheat, coffee, any other foods you might want to grind, and knead dough! I am so excited to start up our smoothie making this summer! In fact I'm going to head out to the store pretty soon here to get more fruits and veggies! Last night we made some strawberry frozen yogurt and it was wonderful! I can't wait to make more things with our newest addition to our appliances!!!

Lately

Sorry it's been a while, not much has been happening lately. Right now W and I are staying up late so that he can work on the final draft of his thesis and so that I can bake him cookies. I'm baking chocolate chip cookies and I baked some chocolate chip brownies just before that. I think cookies and brownies can be quite helpful for keeping people awake, W thinks so too, he asked me to bake them. I will admit that I don't really enjoy baking cookies, but brownies are a different story! I love brownies!

I'm planning on taking our car to the mechanic tomorrow morning, the fuel pump isn't working. Hopefully our car will be repaired within a week. Sometime next week W and I plan on taking a trip out to California to pick up my remaining stuff from my parents. The things that I am most looking forward to picking up are a freezer, mechanical type writer, and my unicorn collection. Yes, I have a unicorn collection, I'll be the first to admit that it's kind of corny, but I can't help liking them, their cool. It will be fun to see my parents and sister and her family. I'm also hoping that W and I will get to visit with some of my aunts and uncles that live out there. We might even be able to go out camping, just the two of us, for a day or two. I'm looking forward to it and hope that everything goes well.

I've run out of stuff to write.

I graduated!

It's been a long time coming, but I finally did it! I graduated from college!!! My parents and sister and her family came up for it and W and I had a great time visiting with them. One of the best moments was when all the potential graduates stood up and our respective degrees were conferred upon us!

I now have a bachelor's degree in anthropology and it doesn't feel very different, but I have gotten more recognition from people already. I don't know what it is about a silly degree that would cause people to respect you better, but they do. I think that reflects an interesting set of moral priorities in our culture, but I don't think I want to talk about that all right now.

I just thought I would type in an update. W and I are doing well and trying to adjust to my new found freedom. I hope everyone is doing well and has a good day!

Special Day!

Today is, of course, a special day in our family! Those of you who know us know why. And, this is the last year when this day will fall during finals week, so this is the last time we'll spend it finishing term papers, studying for final exams, taking final exams, and crashing from the effort of finishing up a semester. At the moment, S is napping after doing most of the other activities I've just discussed, while I (W) take some long-missed time blogging.

We wish all who honor this day an enjoyable day and a memorable time commemorating the cherished occasion this day represents.

My First Snowman: A Promise is a Promise

I remember nearly five years ago when I knew that I was going to be coming out here to go to school, my sister made me promise that I would make a snowman for her and take a picture of it. On Sunday we received what might be the last snow of the season, and thinking back on this promise I made, I decided that this would be the snow that I would use to make my first snowman and keep that promise to B. On Sunday I didn't, then Monday I didn't, so here we are Tuesday and I thought "This is probably going to be the last time that I will be able to make a snowman here while I'm a student" so I did it! Apparently old snow and late snow in the season is not very conducive to easy snowman making, but I was determined! And after my efforts I was able to make a snowman that stands somewhere between 2' and 3' high. I haven't forgotten the promise I made to my sister, so here are a few pictures of that snowman. Here you go B!

Future Plans?

So yesterday I went VTeaching and we all talked about what our plans are, since most of the people in the ward are graduating this April. One family is going to grad school in Ohio, another is taking a job offer in Washington, and what are we doing? We have general plans, but no particulars as of yet. We've thought about staying here, or moving to Idaho, Western Montana, or Alaska. We hope to eventually experience living in Alaska, but we might not be able to do it right away since Alaska is pretty expensive.

After we went to that lecture by Barry Cunliffe W said to me "After hearing about how Dr. Cunliffe has been known to stand at the top of a metal platform to get a picture during a lightening storm, remained digging down in a burrow in pouring rain because it was the last day of the dig, and the other crazy things he's done I thought why wouldn't S want to go on and study in this field?" Then he went on to say that if I wanted to go to grad school he would fully support me in it. I told him that I don't want to go on to grad school right away because I have been in school since preschool and need a break. I was also concerned about our family plans and how grad school might affect our having children and W said that plenty of people have kids while they're in grad school - he didn't know how they did it - but he was sure that we could figure it out if grad school is something that I really want to do.

It was so wonderful to hear these things, I have felt so supported and free. I don't have to try to fit myself into a pre-made mold where I have to be a mom and my kids have to be the most important thing in my life. Don't get me wrong, I love kids, and want them someday, but I don't want them to be "my whole life" that title has already been given to W and he's the person that deserves to bear it. I certainly want kids to be a big and an important part of my life but I don't want to feel like I'm defined by them and by my role as a mother. I want myself to be defined by me and what I choose for myself. And I think that I would really enjoy going on in my field, to do that I need to learn a whole lot more Norwegian and German since those are the main languages that are used in the field I hope to go into. Because of this, the idea of staying somewhere here in the area is looking much more appealing. The Norwegian Instructor here would be happy to let me sit in on Norwegian 201 and 202 next year, and the library here has plenty of archaeology books in German and Norwegian, it also has a really good inter-library loan system. So as I consider what I want to accomplish in my future and what W and I want to accomplish in ours I think that staying in the area might just be the best option for the coming year.

I look forward to the time when he and I have definite plans, and I look forward to continuing my life with him after graduation, he's my best friend and I can't wait to spend more time with him!