We've Moved

No, not to Lexington. I have become fed up with blogger. I have tried posting multiple times in the last week, which results in nothing but error messages. Hopefully this one will go through.

Here is my new home:

Chef Messy

I (heart) Susan's Branching Out Scarf.

Ah, it is so nice to be done with school. I forgot that life could be so relaxed. Life has been so chill, in fact, that I have had nothing to blog about. Actually, that's not really true, my camera has just been in my brother's car in Idaho, and I wanted to wait until I could show you pictures of what I've been doing!

KNITTING

Here is my latest finished project, Susan's Branching Out scarf from Knitty.

This is my cute mom, who has always looked like Barbie and been mistaken for my sister. The scarf was a Mother's Day gift. (Thanks for letting me post your mug on the internet, Mom!) Anyway, Susan's pattern is super-fun and fairly easy to knit up. I was quite surprised how quickly I was able to finish this. I used the Knit One Crochet Two Douceur et Soie recommended by her pattern on size 8 straights. She also told me at Stitch and Bitch that I might not want to use the whole ball, so I didn't. I think I did 30 repeats. Thanks again for the fun pattern, Susan! Mom loved it!

Currently, I am about 2 feet away from finishing the Fair Isle Jazz scarf from Scarf Style, so be expecting that FO soon. My goal is to finish it by the middle of next week. I'm also working on the Aggie scarf, which has a sad story to go along with it, and a sweater for Matthew, which from the looks of it, he will be able to wear when he's 5.

SCRAPBOOKING

I have also, for the first time since Christmas, had time to scrapbook! I am finding that I am 3 times slower than I used to be, and less patient with the details. This could be due to the fact that Matthew has to "help." So, either he's helping, or I'm doing it at midnight. Hopefully I'll get it back. At least I'm getting it worked on. Here's my latest layout:


LAW SCHOOL

Thanks, everyone, for your input on the law school decision. I wish I could say we had a clue what we're going to do. We are not good with decisions. Here's an example of how decision-making goes at our house: Last night, we decided to go out to eat.

Kimi: Where do you want to go?

Ryan: I don't know, where do you want to go?

Kimi: I don't know, what sounds good?

Ryan: Hmmm....I don't really know. Should we just drive around until we pass something that sounds ok?

Kimi: OK

On the 5th trip from one end of Logan to the other, we MIGHT finally pick a restaurant. But usually it's the 6th! So, you can just imagine how well we're doing trying to decide between BYU and Washington and Lee. Another problem is that Ryan is still on waiting lists at 6 top-ten schools, and he has decided that he is just not content to settle for the places he's already accepted to, so he sees no point in deciding between the two (even though deposit deadlines are coming up) until he knows for sure that he's not going to get accepted somewhere else. So, maybe the week before school we'll decide, or something!

OTHER STUFF

iTune of the week: Anyone who downloads MP3s needs to check out Ryan Adams' cover of Wonderwall. No seriously. Go do it.

Cooking: I slacked off on cookbook of the month, but there is one. I will blog about cooking on Sunday.

2 Things Worth Blogging About

Number 1 Thing:

8 years after graduating from high school, I am FINALLY finished with college! Whoohoo!

The girl next to me in the procession asked me what I plan to do now that I'm finished. Maybe it makes me a complete loser that I have no plans, but I have really enjoyed these last couple of weeks of having nowhere to go and nothing to do. Matthew and I have played at the park, watched movies, visited relatives and friends, and just played. And my house, for the first time in months, is clean. And I'm not even exhausted. And we have not resorted to fast food even once in the last two weeks.

While we were visiting one of my favorite professors the week before graduation, he was trying to convince me that I ought to think about applying for law school, or maybe a master's program. I told him, "You know, I just don't have the desire to write another paper or open another book again for a really long time!" He looked completely crushed, like he had completely failed. I laughed and explained that it was not his fault. I just am not the academic type! I also think it will probably be a full-time job making sure Ryan stays sane during law school. But truthfully, I wonder how long I will be able to stay away. I have never known life without school! Ryan says he's going to laugh when, in six months, I start writing research papers just for fun.

And the other thing: Something worth graduating for:

A graduation gift from Ryan. 20G of fun. Had I known I was going to get an iPod, I would have tried to graduate much sooner!

All you happy people scare me.

I had to check this out after seeing it on Isela's blog. Apparently, I am a Goth sheep.





Which flock do you follow?

this quiz was made by alanna

"You are a -
Goth Sheep!
Black is the new black, don't you know. All you happy people scare me."

Not what I was expecting, though I do love black...

Oh, and Happy Cinco de Mayo, everyone!

10 Reasons to Move to Lexington

Maybe this is evil of me, but after some research on the city of Lexington, VA, I almost HOPE Ryan's other waitlist schools don't call...

1. It's not Provo.
2. Lexington looks like this:

3. We could rent a 2-story house in the woods with wood floors, a loft, and a huge deck for what we are paying for our apartment right now.
4. Bike trails. Lots of bike trails.
5. Movies in the park, free Friday concerts, and a surprisingly great arts scene.
6. As far as one of my relative's previous accusation goes about how I will have to Internet-shop for the entire 3 years of law school, Lexington is approximately:
2 hours from D.C. (Nope, no shopping there)
5 hours from NY (Don't even get me started)
45 minutes from the nearest Target
2 hours from IKEA
7. And Lexington is also only 2 1/2 hours from the beach.
8. Has anyone seen Sommersby (which was filmed in Lexington, and the only change that had to be made was to add dirt to the paved roads)? If you have seen it lately, I probably don't need to say any more.
9. This chocolate store.
10. The obvious reasons: law school ranking, scholarship, all that good stuff...

Academic Apathy

Is it bad that I'm doing the happy dance, even after getting a C- on my VERY LAST FINAL?!?!?! Wahoo!!!

End of Semester Desperation

So yesterday I'm in the line at the grocery store, talking to my mom on the phone, purchasing my NyQuil, a magazine, and a bunch of bananas. And I can't help but noticing the guy in front of me keeps looking back at me, smiling, and pointing at my stuff. I'm thinking he must be annoyed that I haven't put down the little bar that separates his groceries from my groceries. I get nervous, hang up my phone, put the little bar down and I say, in my froggy bronchitis voice (yes, it seems to strike me at finals week every semester)"Sorry, you probably don't really want to pay for my NyQuil."

He responds, "Hey, I'd be happy to buy you some NyQuil...I was just thinking that there are a lot better ways to self-medicate."

Then I notice that he is buying nothing but beer, and, still nervous, I respond, "Yes, that's probably true..." You have to realize I have not flirted, even harmlessly, with a single guy since I started dating my husband back in 2001, so I'm seriously lacking in flirtatious skills.

At this point, you must prepare yourself for one of the worst pick-up lines I have heard in my time on the planet...

He says, "You sound beyond the possibility of being helped by NyQuil. Maybe you just need someone to come over and take care of you for a while..."

My first thought, after the initial disbelief at the lameness of what he has just said, is, "Idiot! Can't you see I'm wearing a...a...crap, I'm not wearing my wedding ring." I mean this guy was cute, but whatever happened to subtle flirting? Feeling stupid for both the guy and myself, (I mean, how could he possibly know that I'm married and buying bananas not for myself but for my toddler's breakfast) I smile and start nervously thumping my fingers on the counter in front of me, relieved that he has to turn his attention to the cashier to pay for his beer. She is apparently his friend, and they get into a conversation about how having a USU card can save you 5% at Smith's Marketplace, and whether or not he would like to come hang out at her end of semester Rocky marathon, which he declines, explaining, after glancing back to see if I'm paying attention to him, that he may have other plans for the night.....

When he starts loitering at the end of the counter while I pay for my groceries, I start to panick. Its not like I can say, "Hey, stop flirting with me, I'm married." Because what if he wasn't flirting, but just being friendly? Or worse, just talking just to be talking?

I start to leave, and he says, "Hey, you're sick, I can carry that for you if you want." What? My 2 pounds of bananas and my Nyquil? Do I look like that feeble? Am I going to die?

I thank him and tell him, "No, that's ok, I think I can fend for myself. . . .Well, See ya...."

The funniest part to me about this story is that I looked like complete crap because I had pulled an all nighter the night before. There I am, with no makeup, in yoga pants and my USU sweatshirt, my hair falling out of a ponytail, red eyes, in all my full finals week glory.

Do you think maybe college guys just get desperate for action at the end of the semester?

Ryan, when I told him this story when I got home, laughed, but seemed oddly proud.

Happy Day

I just finished the last big paper I will ever have to write at USU. You have NO idea how happy I am about this. The best part is that I didn't start it until last night, and I finished it four hours before the deadline. All 20 pages. What can I say, I work well under pressure. I really should become a journalist or something...

In other news, just after I posted the final law school update, Ryan got his first waitlist acceptance. (Wahoo!) So now, we can add Washington and Lee to the to-consider list. Not only did they accept him, they offered him a half-tuition scholarship, which I thought was weird since they didn't initially accept him. They must of got word about how freakin' hot he is...

Anyway, even though it would end up costing quite a bit more than BYU, its also ranked about 19 spots higher. So, what can anyone tell me about Lexington. Of the people we know who know anything about it, there seem to be two camps of thought. One, those who claim it is the best small town in the U.S., and two, those who exclaim, "Uggh, it is out in the BOONIES!" and then ask me how about how I feel about doing all my shopping via internet (This, for me, might be a good thing. I am much more restrained when it comes to internet shopping).

Boonieville or no, I think I would be happy just to get out of Utah. It's not that I don't like Utah, I just am ready for a change, for an adventure. But I'm just not sure how much adventure can really exist in a town of less than 3,000 people. But I hear it has great bike trails! And they have movies in the park! And, FYI, Sommersby was filmed there (the only change they had to make to the town to make it look like the 1800s was to add dirt to the street!). Anyway, I will keep you updated as to what we decide, but if anyone has the inside scoop on Lexington, PLEASE fill me in!