Ok . . . I finally buckled.

I have actually been "tagged" a couple of times in the past, so I'm finally getting around to it.

1. My first job in college I was a model for the art department. (If you haven't figured out this is Erin writing, you can put your fears to rest). Once a boy left crying, and the only time I got embarrassed was when I found out that Ammon's roommate had been in one of the classes.



2. One of the few things that Ammon and I have in common is that we love to work outside. Mowing. Edging. Weeding. Mulching. We are definitely the weird couple who are obsessed with having the greenest grass on the street. Every Mother's Day, we've made a tradition of buying flowers to plant for the summer. I want to be able to grow things like my mom can.



3. I want to go back to school and get a master's degree. I'm not sure in what yet - maybe English, maybe counseling, maybe education. I want to attend classes at an established university rather than taking internet classes because I love being a student.



4. I lived in Roswell, New Mexico for three months when I was 13 years old. My family (2 parents, 8 kids, and 1 dog) lived in a small one bedroom/one bathroom apartment. Yet I can honestly say that was the best summer of my life. We went to the bottomless lakes 3 times a week, used the laundromat for the first time in my life, went on trek in the desert, bought alien t-shirts and alien paraphernalia, slept on sleeping bags every night, and Bryce and I got our patriarchal blessings from my grandpa that summer. My dad worked with the missionaries in our ward, and I felt so cool because my dad had the missionary hook-ups.



5. I used to hate dancing. I went to my first dance (a church dance for mutual) when I was 12. I cried and cried and begged my parents to stay home because I couldn't dance. Only my parents would force their children to humiliate themselves in front of everybody. I didn't go to another dance until I was 15 1/2, which was at EFY. After that, I was hooked and attended as many high school and church dances as I could. So - Mom and Dad, you were right and thank you!



6. I've gone sledding on a loveseat attached to skis. Exhilarating.



7. My all-time favorite books are The Grapes of Wrath, Things Fall Apart, and Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World. I'm not very good at writing poetry, but I love to read it.

Now I tag Ammon, Hannah, Jeremy, Ashley, Shumways, and the Hawes. Write 7 things about yourself!

Loud Sheets? And Shooting Stars?

This Tuesday will mark the fourth anniversary of Erin and me getting married. Sort of related to that, we got new sheets for our bed. After four years they have become fairly worn. UMMM? Well anyway, we got new sheets. I went to the store and got what looked like good sheets. The main thing I learned is that the higher the number the better the sheets. So I thought 800 was a nice number for sheets -- thread count that is. What I didn't know, and I have subsequently come to understand, is that the higher the number also means the louder the sheets are. I've never been awakened in the middle of the night before by the sound of fabric. I know -- you are probably wondering what a sheet could sound like that could be that loud. Really, there is no other way for me to properly convey the sound that kept waking Erin and me up all night. It is an altogether new sound. Krinkly, rustly, crumply, and flappilty are words that I'm not sure are actually real, but they are something like the sound that I'm talking about. The first night was the loudest, and each night either the sheets are simmering down or we are getting used to it. You can't argue against the comfort, but the noise was something else.

Tonight we went to see a meteor shower. It's called Perseids or something like that. Anyway, we were certainly underwhelmed. We went up onto the mountain and stayed for about an hour. I saw three. Erin saw one (India was distracting her). Jeremy saw the most -- 5. In a word, the meteor shower was really not all that very fantastic. (I like to say "in a word" and then not give the one word -- it's a little trick I know.)

The plans for celebrating our anniversary include staying in Park City for the night and waking up to go mountain biking. I'm so excited. Erin's excitement does not nearly match mine, but is growing. It's going to be awesome. We will ride the lifts with our bikes and ride the trails back down. So we get all of the fun of mountain biking without nearly as much work. It's the American Dream. Wait. Is that the American Dream? All fun and no work? Well, I'm not going to comment too much on that. In fact I don't care, at this point, if our vacation plans align with my or anyone else's conception of what it means to be American. All I know is that it's going to be freakin' sweet, and that's all I'm worried about.

I realized that today is my last Sunday night before a monday that I have to work. Now for the rest of the year, I'm going to go to sleep on Sunday night with the certain doom of waking up to go to work. And you may say "lot's of people go to work on Monday," but it's hard for me, so BACK OFF. That's all to say that I have to go back to teaching after a wonderful summer. I knew it had to end eventually.

Big Gulps Huh? Well, See you later.