If These Walls Could Speak

New Blog Address!

2012-02-01T22:29:00.002-07:00

you should know that i changed my blog address.

months ago, apparently. i just somehow forgot about it all this time. so if you care to still follow our blog please visit us here:

thomasandmarciwallace.blogspot.com

thanks!

Design for Shabby Apple

2011-08-08T17:03:00.000-06:00

So this really cute online boutique, shabbyapple.com, is doing a fun "Dare to Design" contest. And...I'm entering - with a shabby chic dress! So I have to post my design on my personal blog - this is my first design attempt so be nice!

As you can see from the picture description the dress would be made of chiffon with a lace overlay on the skirt. A brown (braided?) leather belt cinches at the waist which gathers the upper part of the dress before it falls into the lace skirt. Color ideas for this spring dress are "white," "antique white," "cream," or "antique pink." My inspiration for this piece was, of course, my love for all things vintage & shabby chic! Wish me luck!

See the real Shabby Apple Dresses - they're gorgeous!...and modest!

Manado, part II

2011-05-29T22:52:00.000-06:00

After my blogging on Saturday night, T & I got some martabak again and then back to the hotel room where we watched soccer and slept. Sunday morning we went to church at the Manado branch. There were only 48 chairs set up and at that time I thought "what a small branch!" When all was said and done, there were only 30 people in Sacrament Meeting and 4 of those were missionaries, 2 of them were Tom & I, and 5 were children. It's so weird to go to such a small branch! The members must be giving a talk every few weeks! Sacrament Meeting was only like 45 minutes, Sunday School was about half an hour and then RS/Priesthood was about 40 minutes so church was over in 2 hours. I guess that since they are such a small branch the mission president has told them to only hold church for 2 hours instead of 3. It seemed super short! One hour less makes a huge difference. After church we were invited to have lunch with the branch president and his family. We had barbecued fish - delicious! After lunch the branch president was so nice to drive us to the airport where our flight was late...again. We flew to Makassar where we had to get off the plane and go through security check again just to get right back on the same plane. How annoying! They made us do it since some people were getting off in Makassar while some of us were continuing to Jakarta. Anyway, it was a total waste of 20 minutes. Then we flew to Jakarta and had to wait FOREVER for a taxi. We wanted to take a BlueBird taxi since they are the most dependable in Indonesia but we were #23 in line and they were only on #9. Gahhh. So we waited like half an hour until it was our turn to get a taxi (and we had already waited like half an hour for our luggage) and then it was like a 45 minute drive to our hotel where we unloaded then headed out for dinner. We ate chicken satay at a nearby food stand (so good!) then back to the hotel where we crashed for the night. Our sunburns are getting better...hoorah!...and haven't been too horribly painful which is a relief.

This morning we went to Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast as this hotel doesn't have complimentary breakfast (lame) and then walked to the Indonesia National Monument where we were going to go to the very top to see over the city but apparently it's closed the last week of every month. Sooo we walked to the internet cafe where Tom is looking up how to get to our next destination - Taman Mini. It's a place where they have little areas that each represent an area of Indonesia. There are like imitation houses, etc so you can see what the culture is like in several areas of Indonesia without having to travel the whole country! I'm really excited to see it. Anyway, it's burning hot today and we're sweating bullets but we're trying to enjoy every minute of our last two days here in Indonesia. Here's to hoping for lots of shade at Taman Mini...

Manado

2011-05-28T06:14:00.000-06:00

We flew first to Surabaya from Jogja as we could not get a direct flight to Manado. Our flight was delayed by two hours (ugh) so we arrived in Surabaya late at night. We checked into our hotel which, unfortunately, was like an hour from the airport with traffic and went straight to bed. Our flight to Manado left at 7:50am Friday morning so we ate an early breakfast and headed to the airport. Let me tell you, it is a pain to go through security a million times in two weeks and check your baggage a million times. Blah. We arrived in Manado at about noon but didn't really have any plans. Tom tried to call a family from his mission that he wanted to visit but we couldn't get a hold of them so we picked up some lunch and then caught up on some much-needed rest. We slept pretty much the whole day...and watched some TV and read a little. But mostly slept. Around 9pm, Tom headed out to pick up some Martabak which I've been begging for since we got here! It's a dessert - a pancake type thing with chocolate and cheese inside! It sounds weird but it is so delicious! When Tom first described it to me I thought it sounded so gross but over the years I've become so anxious to try it. I finally got to for the first time last night and I was not disappointed! So delicious!! I wasn't very hungry though so I couldn't eat a lot so we plan to get another tonight. Yum!

This morning (Saturday) we ate breakfast then walked out to the boat port to go snorkeling!! We hired a boat (and driver) to take us out to the island where there is coral reef. We rented some snorkeling equipment then went at it! It was way fun! There were so many different fish! Mainly smaller size but we did see a few quite large ones. There were fish of so many colors! - bright purple, bright blue, stripes, camoflauge, purple/blue/green all in one, etc. T & I both agree that we hate salt water. Ugh. Tom had to stop after about an hour because he felt so sick to his stomach from salt water. I took a little break then hopped back in for 15 more minutes and then we headed back to the little island to return our snorkeling gear and get some lunch. We took the boat back (about a 40 minute ride - super fun though because the boat was just a tiny little thing and it rocked all over the place when it hit the waves - I thought it was a little bit like a roller coaster ride at times!) and then walked home in the rain. This is the second time we've been caught in peltering rain and rain storms in Indonesia really stink because their drainage system is horrible so the streets flood in a matter of seconds! And it is so dirty here that the trash just flows along in the streets with the flooded water. Yuck!

We took a little break after snorkeling to shower and lather up with Aloe Vera. We were SO careful with sunscreen and sprayed our SPF 110 all over ourselves and STILL we got so burned!! How does that happen? I guess we didn't spray enough even though we loaded it on! Both of our backs and shoulders are beet red. Ugh. Hopefully the aloe vera will work some magic...hopefully, hopefully.

Tonight we met up with a member of the Manado branch and went to dinner (delicious fried chicken - it's my favorite) and here we are! But I have to stop typing since I've been using this computer for an hour and thirteen minutes and we're at an internet cafe place where you are charged to use the computer :] Plus Tom and Nita have been waiting for me.

So! I'm caught up! Until next time!

Love from Indonesia,
Marci

Jogja

2011-05-28T06:03:00.000-06:00

Tuesday night we arrived in Jogja. Our flight from Bogor was delayed an hour or so and we arrived in Jogja late Tuesday night. On Wednesday morning we headed out at 8am to visit the Borobudur Temple (Buddhist temple) which is hundreds of years old. It is SO cool looking! It is made in a circle shape and is several stores high! There are intricate carvings throughout the whole temple. Each of the carvings tells a story. We took a TON of pictures so those will be posted to FB when we get home. I seriously just could not get over how cool the temple was. We had to be the foreigner fee of $15 per person to get in (blah) and wore sarongs. We were CELEBRITIES there. All the Indonesians stared at us and would whisper (or scream) to each other as we passed "bule, bule!" The brave ones asked us for pictures of us or with us. Some would just take pictures of us "secretly" which was more awkward because you weren't sure if you should smile or pretend you didn't notice. Some even took videos of us. We must have taken pictures with at least a hundred people. It was hard to go a few steps without being bombarded. Apparantly it is very cool to see a white person. I thought it was pretty comical at first but after awhile we tried to walk fast past people so we could get through the temple in a decent amount of time! We took pictures with adults, children, whole classes, etc. Sometimes people would follow us (mostly kids) and giggle and whisper to each other. They were so excited! Girls would scream when we said it was okay for us to take a picture with them and they would jump up and down in such excitement! They always at the end would say "thank you Mr, thank you Mrs. Good to meet you." Or sometimes "It has been a pleasure to meet you" (very formal and obviously a phrase taught in school! :]) We had some people take pictures with our camera too so we have proof of our short-lived celebrity status. After leaving the Borobudur temple we bought a carving of the temple. It's very cool!

After Borobudur we stopped for lunch then headed to the Prambanan Temple (Hindu temple), which is also hundreds of years old. This one is several different buildings that look like towers. There have been a few earthquakes in Jogja, one big one in 2006, that knocked down a lot of the temples. We have a picture of a lot of the ruins. The main temple still is not open to go in because stones are still falling. We were famous at the Pramabanan temple too although we only took pictures with probably 75 people instead of hundreds since it was later in the afternoon and there weren't as many field-trippers.

That was a looong day for us! Lots of walking and it was VERY hot in the afternoon. So much humidity!

On Thursday in Jogja we went to an old Dutch Fort (which was OK but not nearly as cool as the temples) and the Sultan's Palace which is still in use today. The palace was cool and our tour guide spoke very good English and gave us a lot of cool information. After the Palace we headed to the Batik Art Gallery (both our tour guides at the Dutch Fort & at the Sultan's Palace recommended we go there). On Wednesdays & Thursdays only (lucky us!) the gallery is open to the public. A teacher of batik showed us his students working on some batik pieces and explained the process to us. Some pieces can take months to make! Afterward we browsed the gallery and bought two pieces to take home. They're fabric but usually you frame them so we'll have them custom framed one day and then hang them in our house. They are SO cool and I can't wait to show them to everybody when we get home!

Thursday afternoon our flight to Surabaya took off.

Bogor

2011-05-26T05:31:00.061-06:00

It has been awhile since we've had access to the internet since the last hotel we were at only had wi-fi but no computers available for guest use. I'm only supposed to use this hotel's computer for 15 minutes so I'll cram in as many posts as I can...or maybe I will use the computer longer than 15 minutes if nobody is waiting...

So to close up about Lombok...we LOVED it there! We spent Saturday morning before our flight just hanging out on the beach. It was luxurious! We wish we could have stayed longer and we think next time we will do Lombok for 3 days and Bali for only 1 instead of the other way around. And by next time, I mean who-knows-when. Bali was great but it is just so crowded and loud and crazy. Lombok was quiet, peaceful and relaxing. We weren't hounded quite as often to buy this or that or take this taxi or that taxi...it was nice.

Our plane to Jakarta ended up leaving about an hour late (ugh) and we arrived in Jakarta around 7pm. We were picked up in Jakarta by Virli and Lani (sister and cousin of the woman whose family we were staying with). We arrived in Bogor around 9pm and were SO tired. We went straight to bed that night since we had to leave at 7am the next morning for the district conference in Jakarta.

Sunday morning we were up by 5:45 readying to leave for Jakarta at 7am. I met Anita & Thomas Sirigar (whose house we were staying at) and their children, Moses (10) and Abigail (5). We had a pastry breakfast and then left for Jakarta. The conference didn't start until 10am but Virli and Lani were participating in the Single Adult choir and had to be there early. While waiting for the conference to start, we said hello to many of the members who Tom knows from his mission. We were sitting in the English branch section since there were headphones for English translation so I could understand. We were able to meet and talk to a few of the English branch members who live in Jakarta for business purposes. The conference started at 10am and I will try to summarize some of the happenings.

This district conference was for the purpose of organizing the first LDS stake of Indonesia, the Jakarta Indonesia Stake. Elder Bednar presided at the meeting and Elder Pratt (of the seventy) was also in attendance. Elder Bednar was the first speaker (and he actually gave the closing talk as well and I don't remember what he talked about in which talk so I will summarize both talks). He spoke on the purposes of a Stake and the blessings of becoming a Stake. He stressed that becoming a Stake instead of a district is not simply a change in name. He focused on the three differences between a Stake and a District. If I remember correctly, they are as follows:

1. There are more opportunities for blessings when a district is organized into a stake.
2. All the keys of the Priesthood are available when a district is organized into a stake.
3. ...Yikes, it has been too long since Sunday. Neither Tom nor I can remember the #3...I'll keep thinking on it.

He stated that the members will now have a Stake Patriarch to whom they can go for Patriarchal blessings. I hadn't even realized that they never had a Patriarch! I bet he will be busy the next few months! He talked about the members' responsibility to "Rise and Shine Forth" and share the gospel with others so that there might be more stakes organized in Indonesia. Several times he stated that this experience would happen "again and again and again in Indonesia." He said that one day the Indonesians will have the blessing of a temple. In his closing talk he said that he would not say farewell but "until we meet again" as he plans to one day, in the future, visit Indonesia yet again. He talked about how, 60 years ago, the Philippines had their first stake organized and today they have hundreds of stakes and a temple, with another under construction. He mentioned that this was due to the fact that the members of the Philippines "Arose and Shined Forth." He talked about how in the early days of the Church the Saints were encouraged to leave their native countries and come to Utah. He said that today the Saints are encouraged to stay in their native countries and build the church there. He said "The Saints in California are to stay in California, the Saints in Bolivia are to stay in Bolivia and the Saints in Indonesia are to stay in Indonesia." He talked about how many members of the church might wonder what it might have been like to be pioneers. He said to the Indonesian people "You are pioneers. You are pioneers in this land." Elder Bednar talked about what it takes to organize a stake. He said that he and Elder Pratt arrived in Indonesia on Thursday and took Friday & Saturday morning interviewing men of the stake to find the stake president and spent Saturday afternoon interviewing men to find the new high priests and by Sunday at 10am the stake had been organized. He compared this to the organization of other companies or groups. He said how it can take millions of dollars and months on end to create a functioning group of leaders over such a large number of people. He said the reason it is so quick and so smooth when organizing a stake is because it is the Lord's work. He said without the Lord it would not be possible. He also made a point that they did not come here to choose a stake president but to find him. That the Lord had already chosen him and it was Elder Bednar and Elder Pratt's responsibility to only find the man the Lord had chosen. He talked about how the wards need to be united and the stake needs to be united. He said that if anybody wanted to find fault with the members of the new stake presidency they certainly could. They did not call them because they were perfect. He said nobody should focus on the imperfections. He said that a lack of unity is what destroys wards, stakes, and the church.

Elder Pratt did the reading of the new stake presidency, bishops, and high councilmen. Because the church is still fairly new in this country some members are still confused when it comes to sustainings and such. When sustaining the new bishops, Elder Pratt had the members of that ward stand and had to repeat several times "only the members of the such-and-such ward should raise their hands...only the members standing." They understood after the first couple times :] I'm having a hard time remembering what Elder Pratt talked about. If I remember, I'll come back to it.

The new stake president (President Subiantoro) and the 1st and 2nd counselors of the new stake presidency shared their testimonies. I just remember a few jokes from President Subiantoro's talk - they were pretty funny. He said that he was present during the meeting that Elder Bednar had with the missionaries and that Elder Bednar had opened it up for a question and answer period. One of the missionaries said to him, "Elder Bednar, you are one of the youngest men to be called to the quorum of the 12 apostles. Do you think that you will one day be the President of the Church?" Elder Bednar replied, "I hope not!" President Subiantoro said "If somebody had asked me if I thought I would one day be the first stake president of the first stake in Indonesia, I would have answered the same: 'I hope not!'" Another missionary asked Elder Pratt "How did you feel when you were first called to the seventy?" Elder Pratt replied, "I turned to my wife and said 'this is all your fault.'" President Subiantoro: "I say the same thing now to my own wife: 'this is all your fault.'" He then talked about how his wife had introduced him to the church before they were married and he shared his testimony of the gospel.

The spirit was so strong during the meeting and I felt so happy for the Indonesian people to be able to have a stake and to be able to see the fruits of their labors in sharing the gospel with their friends and family and bringing so many into the Church.

Being in Indonesia has opened my eyes to the blessings I have in my own life, in America. I feel so blessed that I've never known what it's like to not have a stake patriarch, to not have the keys of the priesthood in full effect because I was part of a district instead of a stake. At the same time I feel a little envy knowing that the members of Indonesia fully understand and appreciate what it means to have these things while I have taken them for granted for 22 years.

After the conference was over Tom and I visited with some more people while we waited for Virli & Lani who we would be riding home with. The single adults had a meeting with Elder Bednar from 2-4pm (the conference was over at noon) so T & I had to wait for that to end. We spent time walking around the building, sitting some, and visiting with a little 3-year-old girl named Olivia. She was so cute! After the single adult meeting was over T & I were waiting outside of the meeting room. Elder Bednar, Sister Bednar, Elder Pratt & Sister Pratt passed by us on their way out and we were able to shake their hands. Sister Bednar stopped to talk to me for a second (since I'm white so I obviously speak English) and she asked if Tom & I were moving to Indonesia. We talked for a few seconds and then they were hurried out by the body guard. Two apostles down, 10 to go! We need to plan more vacations as that's where we always meet them!

That night we went back to the Sirigar's and spent the night with them.

Monday morning we went to Taman Safari. I've been wanting to go here for sooo long! This has been on the top of my "things to do in Indonesia" list ever since Tom and I were married. We first took a ride on a tour bus through the safari where there are elephants, zebras, tigers, lions, bears, etc roaming free. If you are in your own car you can buy carrots on the way in and feed them to the animals. Well the elephants and zebras and such. I don't think anybody dares to feed them to the lions and tigers and bears (oh my). Since we were in the tour bus we didn't get to do that and the bus actually went through pretty fast while the personal cars took their time and stopped so the animals would walk right up to their car. I wish we could have gone in a car but still it was cool. After the safari we walked around inside the park and went through the aviary (where there were bats and owls...creepy!) and saw the birds of prey and watched a dolphin show (where one of the dolpins was named Justin after Justin Beiber and those Indonesian kids went crazy!).

After the show we got to take pictures with so many cool animals! Tom & I both took pictures with the orang-utan and the baby tigers and I also took pictures with the baby lion and the jaguar. The monkey was so fun and just sat right on your lap and hugged you. He was so cute (and not scary at all). There were two baby tigers and they were pretty rambunctious little things. They were playing with each other and jumping all over you and wriggling free while we were trying to take pictures. The guy put one of them away while I took the picture but they were both out while Tom was taking his picture and the tiger he wasn't holding kept nibbling at his leg and trying to crawl up. They were so cute! The baby lion was fast asleep while I took my picture with him and I had to hold his head up so that it didn't droop. His eyes are totally closed in the picture. He slept right through the whole thing! I was so nervous to take the picture with the jaguar because he just looked so creepy and was pacing in the cage. I decided to anyway though because he was huge and pretty cool looking. When I went in he was growling (which made me nervous) and then the keeper hit him on the nose to make him stop. I thought that was going to make him more mad and make him take it out on me! The handler set him up for the picture laying on my lap but he got right back up so the handler did it again so we could get a good picture and then the jaguar BIT ME! A big chunk of my back! Not hard (like not breaking the skin or anything) but still it scared the heck out of me! The handler said "it's okay, it's okay" and set him back on my lap for the picture. My back hurt for a few minutes after (more just like a tingling type feeling than really hurting) but I was a little shaky! A guy that Tom served with who lives in Malaysia was also in town came with us to Taman Safari and made a good point - he told me "you can tell people you survived being bit by a jaguar." I think I'll just tell that story and leave the whole tamed-jaguar-bit-me-softly part out. Tom and I got to ride an elephant right before leaving the park. It was even more fun than I'd imagined! You sit like right on the elephant's backbone so you are wiggling all over the place with every step! What an experience!

After Taman Safari we went to a member's house who Tom taught and baptized. Their names are Lenny (mom) & Cecilya (17) Tjoe. Lenny made a HUGE dinner for us and the missionaries (4 of them who came also for dinner). I was so impressed - there was fried chicken, rice, noodles, 2 other Indonesian dishes and a fruit dessert type thing. It must have taken her all day! The food was good (especially the chicken - yum!). After dinner we did FHE which the missionaries led (all in Indonesian) and I sat quietly and listened...for like an hour and a half. After about 20 minutes of everyone speaking Indonesian my brain feels like it's about to explode. I take deep breaths and think things in English so I don't go crazy. Try sitting with a group of people who all are speaking a language you don't understand for 20 minutes. You'll go crazy too. Especially when you try to read their faces and hand expressions and try to catch a word or two to see if you can understand what is going on. That makes you more crazy. I've had the experience a few times now since there was quite a bit of Indonesian-speaking at the conference and at the Sirigar's!

On Tuesday we went to the Botannical gardens in Bogor (beautiful!) and the Bogor market. Bargaining in Bogor was a much more pleasant experience than bargaining in Bali! The prices were reasonable to start and when we offered a lower price they almost always said "ok" or only asked for a little bit more than what we suggested. I loved shopping at that market and I got some great souvenirs!

We left Tuesday afternoon for the airport where we flew into Jogja.

I am so grateful for the Sirigar's who took us into their house and provided us with a nice guest room with our own private bathroom and who were such gracious hosts! They were so kind and fed us and let us use their driver to go so many places (and sent him to pick us up from the airport). They took us to dinner and let us use their computer and had a TV for us in our bedroom and an air conditioner. They had their maids iron our Sunday clothes for us late Saturday night and also had the maids do our laundry and fold it for us. I can't even express how kind they are! Anita (mom) asked us to stay with them again the next time we come to Indonesia (she said to bring our children too :]). Thomas (dad) was one of the men called to be a high priest in the new stake. Moses (10) is so smart and speaks English very well as he goes to an International school. Tom had a good time playing Who Wants to Be a Millionaire with him on Moses' iPad. Abigal (5), aka Gaby, is my new best friend. Her English is amazing. She speaks it as well as I do and she can write it and spell hard words too! We played Barbies together and played a LOT on her iPad. She would make different foods on a game on her iPad then split it in half and have me "eat" half while she "ate" the other half. She was so sweet and very cute (and super smart).

Oh and I had my very first motorcycle ride in Bogor! We hired two guys to take us back to the Sirigar's late one night. It was so fun!

Bogor was fantastic! We would love to visit again the next time we come to Indonesia.

Ubud/Lombok

2011-05-20T07:51:00.000-06:00

Be prepared...this post is going to be long! We've been busy, busy, busy!

Yesterday we arrived in Ubud around 10:30am. We checked into our hotel, Taman Harum (see my FB album of Indonesia to see a picture of it - or google it because it is way cool looking) then hopped on the complimentary hotel shuttle to the center of Ubud. We hit the famous Ubud market first thing and I left with some great souvenirs although I think I paid too much for a couple things. Bargaining takes some getting used to. After the market we walked up and down the main street like a million times looking for something cheap to eat. The problem with being in these touristy cities is that all the tourists want a nice restaraunt to sit and eat while we want the food stalls on the side of the road where a meal is like $1. So sometimes we have a hard time. We settled for a restaraunt that charged like $3 a meal which still is way cheap compared to America but still more than we budgeted for! We shared banana juice (which is like thicker than juice but not quite as thick as a smoothie). It was delish! Tom had pork sate and I had chicken sate. I wasn't a huge fan of the chicken sate they served me - the chicken sate Tom had in Kuta was much better. Anyway, after lunch we wanted to go to Goa Gajah (Elephant Cave) but we weren't sure how we wanted to get there. Tom didn't want to pay for a taxi (they wanted to charge us like $9 to take us there and back and it was only a few miles away) and we couldn't find a bemo (mini bus thing) which would have been cheaper. So we started walking. Tom had mapped it and it was supposed to take 50 minutes walking but he only knew the general direction. I didn't really like the idea of walking there but we didn't have much to fill our day anyway so we set out. As we were walking we came across a procession - we weren't sure at first what the procession was for but then after like a million people passed us it was a mini parade! So we stopped to watch it - it was totally random and was just two huge float type things being carried by a bunch of men and then a ton of people walking in front, behind, and alongside. Traffic was totally jammed up behind the parade and as we were walking by all of it there was a bemo! The man called out to us to give us a ride and was only going to charge us $5 so we hopped in...thank goodness. We had only walked about 20 minutes and it was SO hot.

The elephant cave was so beautiful! It's another place where you have to wear a sarong out of respect to the Hindu religion. There are a lot of really old statues and then of course the actual cave which is an elephant on the outside and then...a cave. With some offerings for their gods. There is also a fountain of "holy water" with these gods that water shoots out of. The whole thing is hundreds of years old and so cool. We somehow got stuck with a self-appointed tour guide when we walked into the elephant cave area. He came and asked us where we were from (and people are fascinated when we say we are from America) and then he just started telling us all about the fountain of holy water then told us to go down so he could take our picture and then he made us wash our faces and hands with the holy water. After that I thought he would be done showing us around but he took us to all the statues and the cave and was telling us tons of information...which could have been cool if we could have understood half of what he was saying. We think he might have made up a lot of the information he was giving us (he's just another one of those guys who wants you to give him money) but we just went along nodding our heads and laughing when it seemed appropriate. There is this really beautiful jungle at the elephant cave with waterfalls and a small rice terrace and so many beautiful trees and plants. He walked us through and then up to an altar type thing where this old man wanted us to bow at his statue god. It's pretty rude to tell people no so we just do it to go along and be polite. After the journey through the elephant forest the old man told us we were done (meaning "give me my money now") so Tom was going to give him 2,000 rp which is equivalent to about 25 cents and the man just looked at it in his hand then looked back up at Tom seeming confused. Both of us thought he was refusing the money but then he said "that is less than one American dollar." Tom is thinking "uh yeah that's why I'm giving it to you" but instead he said "you want a dollar? I can give you a dollar." And then the man said "Do you have $5?" and Tom said "no, this is all I have" handing him 10,000 rp which is a little over a dollar. The man again just looked at it and said "that is all? that is not enough." Tom gave him that anyway and we left. What an ungrateful man! We didn't ask for his tour of made-up knowledge and we didn't have to give him a dime! We were both so shocked that he would tell us we weren't giving him enough money. He wanted us to pay him as much as we were paying the guy who drove us to the elephant cave and back and more than we paid to get into the cave! We were both pretty mad at him but we didn't give him what he wanted so oh well.

After the elephant cave our driver took us back to the market where we walked through once more. There were a few more things I wanted that I had now decided what price I wanted to pay for them. So I bought a few more things and then we called our complimentary shuttle who took us back to our hotel. We arrived back at Taman Harum around 5:00 and we took a dip in their gorgeous swimming pool. It was so quiet outside and the pool was so incredibly blue and the water was the perfect temperature!

This post is going to be so totally random because I have so much to say but I'm not sure how to order it all. So bear with me. I guess now is as good a time as any to tell you about our hotel in Ubud. Taman Harum is like a mini jungle. There are trees, flowers, & plants everywhere! They have lots of mini waterfalls and there are birds chirping through the whole area! This is a motel-type place where all the doors to the rooms are outdoors. There are a few cottages where people have their own whole little house with a balcony but we just had a regular room (if you can call it regular). The doors were these intricately carved pieces of wood and they had these metal ring doorhandles. You locked the doorhandles together with a padlock - who has even seen such a thing on a hotel!? It was so different! I have a picture that I will post here when I get home so you can see. Anyway obviously you can't lock the padlock on the outside when you are inside the room so they just have a piece of wood that slides between the handles on the inside to secure the doors. The room was really cool looking with the walls all made of different material (stone, brick, etc). The service at Taman Harum was fantastic but our complaints would be that the bed was as hard as a rock (Tom didn't sleep after 4am and I've had a huge knot in my shoulder all day...ugh), there were a few mosquitos in the room (malaria!!) and the breakfast was not that great. At our first hotel the breakfast was buffet-style and delicious. At this hotel you placed your order from three options and it wasn't a whole lot of food and it wasn't all that great tasting...

Anyway - after swimming we went back to the room where we fell asleep for awhile (at like 6pm - go us) but then Tom woke me up around 8 because he wanted dinner. We walked down to a warung where he had fried chicken and rice (and I had nothing - I'm not so in love with Indonesian food yet...I don't like meat or spicy things and they have a lot of both!) I was also still full from lunch. Anyway after that we went back to the hotel and slept. Hahah - at 9pm. Walking around all day exhausts you!

This morning we were up about 630am, packed up, had that not-so-delicious breakfast and caught a taxi to the airport for our 11:40am flight to Lombok. We arrived at the airport around 9:30am and hung out for awhile. it was so interesting because the Bali airport is so small and almost everyone boards their plane through the same gate. While we were waiting to board our flight we must have seen people board for like 5 or 6 different flights through the same gate we were going to board through! When it was our turn we went through the gate but then outside and then took a bus to the airplane where we just walked straight up the steps into the plane. I thought it was pretty cool because I've never gotten on a plane before without walking through those connectors at the terminal. It was pretty cool to just walk right up onto the plane. It reminded me of "It Takes Two" where one of the twins walks right off the plane, down the plane steps.

Anyway, the flight to Lombok was about the scariest (and also the shortest, thank goodness) flight I have ever taken in my life. It is only a 25 minute flight (yes, so short!) and there was turbulence the whole way! Usually I don't mind turbulence (and in fact I kind of like it - it makes the plane ride more fun and more interesting) but 25 straight minutes of turbulence just was not my cup of tea. Especially on such a little, tiny plane. I was so afraid we were going down. I tried to read the whole way to keep my mind off of it but when you are constantly dipping and swaying it's hard to keep your mind on anything else!

Once in Lombok we caught a taxi to our hotel, Sheraton Senggigi. One word: BEAUTIFUL. The hotel is luxurious and the grounds are lovely!! The ocean is even closer to this hotel than our hotel in Nusa Dua. You can see it SO clearly from our balcony and it is so beautiful! It's about thirty steps from the outside of the building to the edge of the ocean. Amazing. As soon as we arrived we donned our swimsuits and headed right to the ocean where we enjoyed the warm, tropical weather and the gorgeous view of the ocean. For lunch we walked down the road until we found another warung where we had fried chicken, tofu, and rice with sauce. Tom liked it (he likes all Indonesian food, pretty much) but I thought the fried chicken smelled like the pig ears we feed our dogs which made it difficult to eat. I didn't like the tofu and the sauce on the rice was too spicy for me. But I have a small stomach and just a few bites filled me. After lunch we hit some shops on the way back to the hotel and I found some lovely souvenirs (yay!). Again I think I ended up paying too much for something but what's done is done. You know you've offered too much when they accept it after a little bit of thinking. It's when you really have to work them to get them to accept your price that you know you've done a good job of haggling. Once they accept your named price though you are pretty much under obligation to buy it. Darn. Still a good price but not as good as I could have gotten, maybe. After shopping we headed back to the hotel where we hopped in the pool for a swim. The pool is like 8 feet away from the ocean (literally) and it's really cool because it is full all the way to overflowing and when you are far back it looks like the pool just runs into the ocean. This pool at Senggigi is HUGE. And I mean really huge! Like you can't even imagine. It's not any certain shape just this super large area of water (most of it is about 3.5 feet deep) and there are random islands in the middle with trees growing from them. It's about the coolest thing I've ever seen in my life. Plus there is a slide that is made from stone that is shaped like a giant face. The slide comes out through the open mouth and the actual slide is the "tongue." Again, I will post pictures later. After swimming we lounged on beach chairs right by the ocean for awhile then watched the beautiful sunset. Back to our hotel room we showered and relaxed for a few minutes then headed out to find another warung for dinner. We found one that was SO PACKED which probably means such good food! Tom had...I forgot..some chicken omelette and rice thing and I had fried noodles which we DELICIOUS. Yay! An Indonesian food I found that I like! I asked for it with no meat (well Tom asked for it for me...in Indonesian) but somehow I still got meat in it. It would have been even better without the meat but still it was very good! We also shared avacado juice which Tom has been raving about for years. It was good but I think it's an acquired taste. I couldn't really decide how much I liked it. It's another one of those juice/shake things and they mix in some chocolate syrup with the avacado. I think it sounds weirder than it tastes but it is a totally different taste.

Anyway now we are back at the hotel and are going to watch a movie together before retiring for the night. This hotel has American channels so we'll see if we can find something even though it's 8 in the morning in California.

Okay so there are a lot of random things I want to post about but they don't fit in anywhere really so I'm just going to type them randomly with bullet points. I've been typing for awhile already and Tom is waiting for me to watch the movie so I might save some for tomorrow's post:

Stray dogs - they are EVERYWHERE and it makes me so sad. They are just these skinny little things who all look so sad and wander the streets with their tails between their legs. They are so used to the crazy busy life of Bali that they just will walk right in between all the tourists and will just stroll across the street with the crazy traffic. People also let their domesticated dogs just roam the streets but you can tell the difference because a) the owned dogs have like bandanas tied around their necks to show ownership and b) the owned dogs are fatter and usually are trotting along with tails wagging. So to give you an idea of how many strays there are, I counted one day while driving somewhere. I counted for about 45 minutes and counted 15 strays. This does not include any of the dogs who were roaming with the bandanas tied around their necks. And this is only looking on one side of the road. So sad! I wish I could take them all home. Today I wanted to take a picture of one so I could post it later so after we walked by one I turned around and snapped a picture but it saw me and apparently it thought that meant it should follow me so he started trotting alongside us. You never know who has rabies so I shoo'd him and then I felt so horrible because he left with his head down and tail between his legs. I didn't know he would think he should follow me! I felt so bad! Poor dog. He was an especially cute one, too.
Everybody wants our money! Seriously everywhere you go in these tourist towns people beg you to buy their stuff, take their taxi, etc. This is what it always sounds like "Hello! Hello, transportation? Hello! Where are you going?!" "Yes, lady, just looking. Just looking. What you want to buy? You want this dress?" - it's funny that they always say "just looking." I don't think they know what it means. I think a lot of people tell them "I'm just looking" and so they just repeat that. They tell you to just look. Hahahha. And they always suggest what you should buy. Sometimes they follow you begging you to buy something or take their taxi or book snorkeling through them, etc. It gets annoying after awhile because they ignore the word "no." They only stop when you have walked too far from their stand that they have to go back to man it.
Everybody loves Obama because he went to school here. Almost every time we tell someone we are from America they say "Obama!" Hahahha - and we just nod and say "yes." We're counting how many say it and I think we are up to 5 in three days. It's the first thing they think of. Today we talked to some guys and we saw them a few times afterward on the street or on the beach (Lombok is small) and everytime we passed they would say "Hello! America! Barack Obama! Hello, America!" I'm not sure why they call us America. But it's comical.

Okay there are more things but I've been typing too long. More tomorrow. This is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime journey. We are loving our "holiday" as everyone here calls it!

Tomorrow we catch a flight back to Bali, wait in the airport for 5 hours (that's a story for tomorrow), and then hop on a flight to Jakarta where we will get a ride to Bogor where we will stay with a family from Tom's mission. I'm tired just thinking about it...

Bali, Indonesia

2011-05-18T05:57:00.000-06:00

Wow, I'm finally back to the blogging world. Probably only for the next two weeks though. Don't get used to it :] I haven't updated in...what?...seven months or so? Mostly because I feel like I never really have anything to say. But being in Bali has given me LOTS to say. Also I don't want to forget anything about this trip and my journal just does not have enough lines to fit everything. So enjoy the next two weeks of blogs about Indonesia!

Our flight from San Francisco to Hong Kong departed at 1am Monday morning. We waited in the airport for awhile with mostly Asian people and one large group of students studying abroad in HK. The flight was fabulous . I thought a 14 hour flight would seem much longer than it did. I slept about 7 hours, waking up at 3am HK time (1pm California time). I never did sleep after that...probably a mistake but I just wasn't tired. There were SO many movie and TV options on the plane. Of course with all the stuff to choose from I settled on Friends, season 6. I watched that pretty much the whole time with one 48 hours mystery and half of Tangled mixed in. You'd think with all the options I'd watch something I don't watch every other second of my life but it was just too tempting! The food was OK (nothing to rave about but not disgusting either). T & I played some word games (with a word puzzle workbook I bought before the trip) and also watched some soccer. T only slept about 4 or 5 hours and watched movies/TV the rest of the time.

We arrived in HK at 6am. It is HUMID there. At 6am it was 80 degrees and very hot! The airport was very empty when we arrived so we hopped on the free computers (which had cool chinese symbols on the keyboards) and checked emails and FB. Of course. Then we played Sorry! card game and did some word puzzles. At 10:20am our flight left HK and headed to Bali. Almost everybody on the plane was from Hong Kong. Very few were from our last flight and I think there were only a handful of white people. Bali is a popular place to vacation (or take a holiday, as they say) for people who live in HK.

Our flight arrived in Bali at 3pm Tuesday, Bali time (1am Tuesday, California time). We bought our 30-day visas and went through customs then went for our baggage. Before either of us knew what was happening, two porters grabbed our luggage and started walking us to the exit. Tom said they just wanted money (I would soon come to learn just about everybody in Indonesia wants your money). They waited while we exchanged our USD for rupiah and wanted T to give them $10 each! Yeah right! He gave them $2 each. That's better but still too much for them rolling our luggage about 100 feet! Next time we will not be caught off guard and will say no. Our driver that we hired through Bali Car Rentals was supposed to be waiting for us at the airport. After searching all the signs people were holding (looking for our name) - twice! - we could not find our driver. We went to the information desk and called Bali Car Rentals and gave them our confirmation number and they said they would send someone in 30 min! Yeah right! - we had already been in the airport for at least 45 minutes getting our visas and going through customs. And they were supposed to have been waiting for us when we landed! Tom said OK for them to come but then another man approached us wanting to be our driver. At first he wanted about $60 (I'm just going to do everything in USD so I don't have to constantly write what the USD equivalent is after writing rupiah) but after some hard bargaining Tom got him down to $35 for the rest of the night. We were going to pay Bali Car Rentals $40 - way to go, T!

Our driver took us to a temple at Ulu Watu. It was beautiful! We had to rent some sarongs to wear while looking around. It's a great place to see the sunset and well-known so it was veryyy crowded. Apparently the wild monkeys also love to see the sunset from there because they were EVERYWHERE. At first I thought they were so cute. And then about two seconds later one of them grabbed a fistful of my hair and started tugging. I screamed and the first thing that went through my head was "I didn't get a rabies shot!" Tom made him let go (thanks, love!). After that I put my hair up in a pony to avoid being latched onto by any other crazy wild monkeys. I did not think they were so cute after that. We walked all around the temple area and got great views of the ocean (and saw a dolphin!) and the sunset. We saw quite a few itty bitty baby monkeys (some with hardly any hair yet!). Those ones were still cute. I was attacked by an adult monkey, after all. We bought tickets to see a Balinese dance at the temple. It was super crowded and a little bit longer than I would have liked but still interesting. It was the story that Sara tells on A Little Princess with Ramah and the white monkey. I would not have understood the story at all had they not given us a sheet with each Act's summary. It's not that they were speaking Indonesian - they don't talk at all - just that it looked more like a whole bunch of random dancing than a story! The costumes they wore were very intricate and really beautiful.

After leaving the temple our driver took us to a warung (food stall) where we had nasi goreng (fried rice). My first authentic bowl of fried rice. Delicious. Much better than the kind I make with the IndoFood seasoning packet. Oh and the best part is it was like $1 each. Awesome.

We were SO tired by the end of the night (by now it was 8pm Bali time and 6am California time - remember, I hadn't slept since 1pm California time the day before). Talk about being exhausted! Our driver took us to our hotel which is BEAUTIFUL. When booking, we upgraded to a romantic suite and it's lovely! There is a queen bed with a really cool drape that goes around it (I think to keep mosquitos out but it looks pretty too!) and a really cute couch and nice table. Neither of which I doubt we'll use but still they're cute. We have a door leading out to a balcony that overlooks the back of the hotel with the pool and water features. The ocean is just a stone's throw away and you can hear it with the balcony doors open. I just love being beach front! Even though we were exhausted we took showers then a walk along the beach. It was totally empty (I guess most of the people who come to Bali are probably young adults who party at the night clubs and old, retired people who are in bed at dark). It was nice to have the beach to ourselves. We walked out on a dock and sat and watched the ocean for awhile and the weather was perfect. Very warm with an ocean breeze to keep us from being overly warm. Perfect and romantic. I was in love with Bali right there. Finally we went to bed - I think we were both asleep within seconds.

This morning we woke up at 8am, got ready, and headed down to our free hotel breakfast. It's in the hotel but the hotel is totally open to the outside so you are practically eating outside too. It's actually a really weird concept. The whole hotel has like places where walls just don't exist so it just leads to right outside to the beach. But it isn't at all like a motel. It's definitely a hotel with a few missing walls. I love it! The place who was supposed to pick us up from the airport yesterday was also supposed to drive us around today but we were not about to call them to have them drive us after they stood us up yesterday. And after we stood them up after they stood us up. We think they're probably mad about that. But we don't care because we were pretty mad that they stood us up first. Anyway, Tom hired a guy who is a chauffer through the hotel. Or supposedly through the hotel. You're supposed to book him through the hotel but he agreed to let us book him at a lower price (I guess under the table or whatever you would call it). We ended up paying him $50 for the day (it was supposed to be 10 hours but we used him only for 8) which is $5 more than we were going to spend to pay the Bali Car Rentals guy but we paid $5 less last night so it works.

Bagi (the driver) spoke very good English and told me he learned it just from the customers he drove around. I was very impressed. He took us to Katu first because I wanted to do some shopping. He told us that a lot of the crafts were imitations or things bought in Ubud (who has high-quality crafts) and then sold in Kuta at a higher price. He said to do a lot of bargaining since several of the crafts would be low-quality and far over-priced. Tom was great and did a lot of hard bargaining and got me some fantastic deals! I've picked up a few souvenirs but am waiting mostly to shop until tomorrow when we'll be in Ubud because I expect to find better things. The Indonesian shop owners are VERY persistent! They'll follow you down the street begging you to buy something. Lots of times they send their little kids to follow you to try to get you to buy something. At one point a little 3 or 4 year old girl was following us trying to get us to buy pencils. They train them young! Tom got some chicken satay at a warung which I had like 2 pieces of. It was just so hot outside that it was hard to eat hot food! After shopping, Bagi took us to see a famous temple called Tanah Lot. It's also right on the ocean and just gorgeous! We walked down to the ocean and walked along the beach for awhile and looked at all the shops on the grounds. We bought some ice cream which was overpriced just because we're white. After Tanah Lot, Tom asked Bagi to take us somewhere cheap to eat. He asked to go to a warung and Bagi said he knew one close to the hotel. When we got there the restaurant was called "warung" but it was not really a warung. It was a restaurant instead of a stall. Tom didn't want to tell him to take us somewhere else after he had already parked (since that would be kind of rude) so we just ate there even though everything was overpriced. We ended up spending $12 which is 6 times as much as we budgeted to spend on any meal. Good thing we brought extra money!

After eating Bagi took us back to our hotel - it was only 5:45pm but I was totally exhausted! I sat on the balcony for awhile to warm up (I was actually cold here in Bali after being in the air conditioned car for an hour) and then showered and readied for bed. I decided I should try to stay up at least a little later so I didn't wake up at 3am. Jet lag. Ugh. Anyway, Bali has been wonderful so far and we are looking forward to Ubud tomorrow!

I've finally updated my blog!

2011-01-29T19:18:00.001-07:00

Ha, fooled you - I didn't update this blog...yet. But I did update my business/giveaway/craft blog! And I spent pretty much all day doing it. It seems like a waste of time now that I look back but still I'm so excited about all I learned and accomplished! I created a button for people to add to their blogs that links to my blog, I created a signature for the end of my blog posts, and got a new background, updated my font, yadda yadda yadda. But don't let me bore you with the details - click over to my freshly updated blog using my brand-spanking-new button to the right of this post!

And PS I do promise I will update this blog too. That's next.

[if this was my other blog my signature would appear here!]...coming soon for this blog!

Etsy Love

2010-11-11T23:04:00.000-07:00

So...I spend a lot of time on Etsy (etsy.com). Way more than I should. Way more than any person should. And almost none of the time is spent updating my own site...maybe if I spent more time there than on other people's I would have more sales :] But I just love looking at all the craftiness of others! Some days, like today, I feel my Etsy surf time was totally worth it...because of great finds. Today I stumbled across Jane Joss - the cutest Etsy site! Look at the amazing things she makes!

How cute, right?

You can visit her at janejoss.etsy.com.

I definitely want some of these cute decorations for my house when I have one!

Sometimes after looking through Etsy I feel down on myself for not being quite so crafty. Most of the time I do nothing about it. Tonight I decided to brighten my spirits by being crafty myself. And I came up with this:

I feel a little less down on myself. Maybe not quite so creative as Jane Joss but I love it nonetheless! The best part? $4 necklace find at a second-hand store + 2 handmade flowers = about $6. What a deal!

My Secret Pleasures

2010-11-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

I like to look at the bright side of things. While I really miss Thomas I have been able to come up with a few things that I'm loving about being home alone. Then I realized that most (or all) of them have a downside. But the bright side is what keeps me happy until he returns. And so I give you...

My Secret Pleasures (while Thomas is away)

Not shaving my legs.

Downside: It did bother me today when my leg hair was sticking out of my nylons. SICK!

Eating In N Out while watching Friends.

Downside: My burger was cold by the time I got home and started the DVD.

A whole weekend of "girl time" with my sister.

Downside: Sleeping on a couch and helping to clean up Emma's vomit.

Not having to pick up Thomas from class late at night.

Downside: This means he never comes home...which, in turn, means I'm lonely.

Wearing ragged, old pajamas to bed (so NOT cute but SO comfy!)

Downside: When I look in the mirror, I think my self-esteem drops about 10 bars.

Not being told to clean up my messes.

Downside: The house is a DISASTER. And I will still have to clean it all up...it will just be all at once and will take me a couple hours instead of a few minutes each night. Go me.

Not having sports on 24/7.

Downside: I don't know if there is one...

Making SUPER easy dinners. Salad, Cereal, Pasta, In N Out. I have not made anything else in 5 days.

Downside: again...there may not be one for this. i LOVE it!

No video games.

Downside: that means there is nobody here to play them.

With that said...I think I could do without the video games, sports, and fancy (if you can call it that) dinners but I would rather have Thomas here and have to shave my legs, clean up my messes, wear cute pajamas, eat In N Out @ In N Out, pick Thomas up late from class, and have a "husband" (instead of girls) weekend than be without him for a week.

It's a...

2010-11-01T21:02:00.000-06:00

...PACKAGE! (i wish i was saying boy or girl but tom says no...blame him if you are disappointed!)

when this appeared on my doorstep i was sooooo excited. because i've been waiting for like 6 days for it to come!...and i've been waiting even longer to buy this.

my very first sewing machine!!! yes, it's tiny. yes, it was cheap. yes, it works. just like a real one. it's the singer pixie plus and it's so cute and i LOVE it. i've never used a sewing machine before in my LIFE and am so confused looking at all the thread and little buttons but i think there are directions included...(hopefully)

my hair accessories are going to take so much less time when i don't have to hand-sew every little stitch! and i have so many projects saved in my favorites on google chrome that i've just been dying to make when i finally got a sewing machine. it is going to be one fun crafting week without thomas here! perfect time for my new toy to arrive :]

Recently :]

2010-10-31T21:48:00.001-06:00

...and by recently i mean like the last 5 months...or since the last time i blogged. usually i try to go back and blog by date but that always really overwhelms me and i end up not blogging at all. proof: look at the last date i blogged. so i decided to finally just sit down and do everything at once. it might (probably will) be all out of order but here it is.

most importantly, thomas has been offered 3 second interviews for internships with three of the big 4! EY in sacramento, PwC in sacramento, and KPMG in san francisco. we are so excited and i'm so proud of him! all the hard work is paying off. he flies to sacramento on tuesday (november 2) for all his interviews. and i'm so jealous because he gets to stay for a whole week! we should find out shortly after who offers him an internship. and then (if he is offered more than one) we'll choose where to go. BIG DECISION. but very exciting!

T also had a birthday -- 25! Pictures at end. This was the day he found out about the second interviews so it was a very happy birthday! my family was in town because my brother got home from his mission the day before and they came to utah so the girls here could see him! we took family pictures then went to dinner at cafe rio and then had cake and ice cream. i gave T a jacket, an xbox football game and a sweater. i'm pretty sure the football game was his favorite. i have to say that was my least favorite. :]

as said...my brother came home from his mission in Chicago!...and he already has a GIRLFRIEND. i don't know if it's a secret or anything but he doesn't read this so he'll never know i blogged it. in fact, they went on a date the night he came to utah (the DAY AFTER he got home). yes, they met on the mission. her name is rachel and we like her :] ryan spent a week with us in utah (no pictures for proof...except for family pictures below). we had fun and are looking forward to our family vacation to disneyland in early december.

oh. i got a job. oh wait. first of all...i don't nanny anymore. first grader started school. i did not want to be their maid during the day as was their idea of my new responsibilities so i found a new job. oh but not before i told them i was going to look for other opportunities and then they let me go with only 24-hours notice. and so i applied for unemployment insurance and qualified. and was on that for 2 weeks before i found a new job. oh and then they appealed that decision and i had to do a phone-appeal hearing and the judge determined i deserved the unemployment insurance. because DUH i did! you can't just let an employee go for no reason just because they say they are going to start looking for a new job. and then not even pay them for at least 2 weeks. i think people with a lot of money forget that some people need their weekly paycheck to survive. anyway it's finally ALL over and i don't have to pay back the unemployment insurance and i have a job. the only sad part of it all is the parents hate me now and have cut off all connection i had with their kids. they even took their daughter off my soccer team. it's sad.

anyway my new job is as a secretary at a christmas light installation company. it's...well, boring. but it pays the bills. it's temporary through february 2011 and then i have to find something else. not looking forward to job-hunting again. i hate starting new jobs.

halloween! we didn't do much. went to the woodland's to pass out candy while they took emma trick-or-treating. watched max for a little bit. hung out for a little bit. went to our ward party.

oh kelli and i went to idaho to see our cousin, jenna, who goes to BYU-i! we had so much fun! we went to the byu-i gardens, the temple, bear world (where you see bears up close and personal--cool!), sammys (a cute little diner!), craigos (delicious pizza buffet). oh and we stayed up all night talking. it was a really great girls' weekend. we can't wait until jenna transfers to BYU!!

oh i also reupholstered a rocking chair. proof below. looks good, don't you think? i tried to sell it (we don't have room) but i couldn't get what it was worth. probably because it isn't worth what it's worth to me. i invested too much money and time to get enough from it. so i think i'll keep it. for a nursery...one day!

okay if i think of more i will add in a later blog post...PICTURES (you will have to guess what is from what):

Temple Square

2010-07-31T23:06:00.000-06:00

My mom and dad are in town this week for EFY session directing in Logan. They flew into Salt Lake today and we all (Thomas & I, Laurin-Mark-Emma-Max, and Kelli) met them for lunch at Cafe Rio then we all went to the Museum of Church History and Art. After that, the Woodlands headed home and the rest of us went to temple square to see this cool to-scale model of the Salt Lake Temple (it shows how the inside looks). We also searched out Ali Teerlink who just barely started her mission on Temple Square and we also found Nellie Mackey who just barely started her mission too! It was fun to see them and talk to them for a little bit. After temple square we went to Cold Stone and enjoyed yummy ice cream!

At the museum they had some gold plates that were the same estimated weight as the ones Joseph had to carry while he ran from the thieves/attackers. You could (try to) lift them and they were SO heavy! I could barely hold them up and definitely can not imagine having to run with them!

the ship bunks. Thomas can hardly fit!

California!

2010-07-26T10:04:00.000-06:00

Because the family I nanny for was taking a vacation I decided I should take one too! So I invited Laurin, Emma, and Max to come along with me to California. The drive was miserable--13.5 hours each way (regularly it's only a 10ish hour drive) but the vacationing was fun!...and relaxing! We drove to California on Saturday the 17th and drove home Sunday the 25th. Thomas had a meet and greet with Ernst&Young the following Tuesday so he flew to Sacramento early to join us on Thursday. Our trip consisted of:

Spending time with family
Swimming
Breakfast @ Grandma & Grandpa's
Going to the park
Taking the dogs for walks
Playing Frisbee golf on Wii Sports Resort (x29839048234)
Eating out
Spending one full work day with Mom (8am-6pm)
Shopping

And just pretty much hanging out--and enjoying the time off work :]

our first stop on the 13.5 hour drive

we got to see our cousin, jordan, for the first time since he got home from his mission in Japan

Farmers Market

2010-07-10T22:10:00.000-06:00

Thomas came home today!!! It was a long and lonely week without him. So excited for him to finally be home!...now one more week and I leave him behind when it's my turn to go to California. Excited to go to California but not so excited to be apart again!!...especially since I'll miss our 2nd anniversary!

Also...went to Farmers Market today and did pretty well! I don't know if I would do it again though just because of the heat and all the work it takes to bring everything there, set up, take down, and all the time of sitting there all morning & afternoon.

Rosette magnets & push pins

Rosette headbands and shoe clips

Fabric flower bobby pins

Rosette bangles & other accessories

KPMG

2010-07-09T10:11:00.000-06:00

This week Thomas is in California for a summer leadership program with KPMG. He flew to Sacramento to spend the 4th with his family and then drove to San Francisco for his program and stayed there for two nights and then went back to Sacramento to spend a little more time with his family. He comes home tomorrow--woohoo!!! Kelli has been staying the night with me but still it is so lonely without him!!--even though the silence has been nice--practically no TV for a week...for that part, I'm in heaven. For every other part--time to come home!!! Thomas said his leadership program was really fun and he got to know a lot of people in the San Francisco office. He has another meet and greet type thing in two weeks with Ernst&Young. We're hoping these meetings will open doors for internships and jobs! :]

Happy 2nd Birthday, Emma!!

2010-07-05T22:27:00.000-06:00

Emma Boo turned 2 today!!! We celebrated her birthday yesterday with cake&ice cream and lots and lots of presents! Most of my family (Mom&Dad, Thomas & I, Kelli, Jamie, Chris, Grandma Masters) chipped in on a "Big Piano" for Emma. It's a piano mat made by FAO Schwarz that you walk across to play. You can record songs you make and change the keys to make different sounds (piano, trumpet, horn, violin, etc). Emma wasn't really sure what to do at first but I think she likes it! She also got finger puppets, a movie, books, puzzles, and more! Lucky girl :]

Happy Birthday, Emma!

4th of July 2010

2010-07-03T22:19:00.000-06:00

Even though I was sad to not celebrate the 4th with Thomas I still had a great time with my sisters! Kelli and I went to a BBQ Laurin and Mark set up for their friends in the ward and then watched the kids do fireworks in the street. Pictures are worth 1000 words so I will save you the boring stuff and you can judge for yourself all the fun we had by looking at the pictures! (oh...except PS...so as not to confuse you for tomorrow's post this was really on the 3rd of July...we're weird...we are celebrating the 4th on the 3rd and the 5th on the 4th...you'll see)

this weird cat came up to us after the BBQ and just wanted to sit on our laps and be cuddled. what random cat does that?

emma didn't really like the fireworks...

Real Salt Lake game

2010-07-02T22:49:00.000-06:00

Tonight part of my team went to a Real Salt Lake professional soccer game. It was so fun! Real won 5-0! Four girls were able to attend: Brooke, Lindsay, Maddy, and Hunter. Since it was almost the 4th of July they let everyone onto the field at the end of the game and did fireworks. So fun!

Brooke, Maddy, Lindsay, Hunter, Coach :]

Holmes Family Reunion

2010-06-13T21:49:00.001-06:00

This weekend we had a family reunion for my maternal grandmother's family. Lots of my aunts, uncles and first cousins who we haven't seen in awhile were able to come and that was so fun! We also met lots of other family--second cousins, cousins once removed--who even knows how we're all related?

Anyway...we spent some time at a campground up Hobble Creek canyon in Springville. Nobody camped as some had planned because it was rainy all weekend. But we still had lots of fun hanging out together by the fire under the pavilion (why does it seem weird that this is JUNE?!) and we got out to the field to play soccer, tag, etc with all the cousins when the sun showed itself every now and then.

Pictures? Of course!...

all wet from playing soccer in the downpour!

(great) grandma masters with max, grandma davis (mom) with emma

We spent all day Sunday in Spanish Fork at the Woodland's house with my aunts, uncles and first cousins.

Left to right: Aunt Michelle, Uncle Paul, Grandma Masters, Mom, Uncle Mark

My beautiful cousin, AnnMarie

George and AnnMarie with Emma (cousin once removed?)

oh, and i did emma's hair really cute for church :]

Chris!

2010-06-12T10:52:00.000-06:00

Chris came to visit this week just for fun! We had a good time even though I don't have many pictures to prove it. Most days he came with me to work and played with the kids. We played a lot of soccer and went to some fun places. At home, Thomas enjoyed having someone to play Halo (and other video games) with. Thanks for coming to visit, Chris!

Max's Baby Blessing

2010-06-05T22:29:00.001-06:00

Mr. Max was blessed today :] It was so fun to be together with everyone. Max is getting so big and is so adorable!

After the baby blessing we (me kelli jess jamie thomas mark chris) played soccer at a field near Laurin and Mark's house. It was really warm out so we ran through the sprinklers at the end (proof: last picture).

Temple #2: Mount Timpanogos

2010-05-25T10:56:00.001-06:00

Max David Woodland

2010-05-01T22:41:00.000-06:00

Baby boy Woodland has arrived!! Welcome to the world, Max David Woodland! Max arrived April 30, 2010 sometime in the early morning...I've forgotten his stats! Hahahh :] He is so precious!
Pictures to prove it:

Mr. Max

Happy Family of 4

Emma thought the moving bed was hilarious

Soccer Coach!

2010-03-27T16:24:00.000-06:00

I am now a SOCCER COACH! I'm so excited! For Spring, I am an assistant coach for a U10 Girls recreational team which is fun but not as fun as next fall will be!--I will have my own U13 competitive team! And my 12-year-old nanny girl, Lindsay is on the team! I am SO excited to have my own comp team! It will be so fun to coach them!

Wedding Ring Mess

2010-03-27T16:22:00.000-06:00

This story is actually comical now. It was not comical when it was happening. Here is my story.

I noticed right before Christmas break that one of my diamonds was CRACKED! What?! I thought diamonds could only be broken by other diamonds...and I have not been bashing rings with anybody. So I was a little bit frustrated and worried that Kay Jewelers ripped me off. Well, after Christmas I took it in and they said it's really rare for a diamond to crack but it does happen sometimes. So they told me it could take up to 8 weeks to fix. *8 weeks was a MAXIMUM.* She said it usually takes much less time than that but we have to say 8 weeks so people don't get mad when it takes a long time. So I was fine to wait eight weeks so long as they were replacing the diamond for free--they were since I have a lifetime warranty.
Eight weeks and one day later...I had heard nothing from Kay. I thought it would be nice of them to at least call me if it was going to come in late since she told me eight weeks maximum. So I called them to find out where my ring was. They said it would be back in two more weeks. Annoying.
Two weeks later, I go to pick up my ring and...A DIAMOND IS CROOKED. What!? I was so mad! I didn't notice until I got home and was inspecting it so I had to go back the next day and tell them I wanted it fixed. The first guy I talked to kept saying things like "oh, that's not a big deal," "nobody will even notice," "i would hate to send it back for ten more weeks just to have the diamond straightened." I kept saying things like "well, it's a big deal to me," "i notice," "i don't care if it takes ten more weeks...I paid good money for this ring and I want it right." I finally asked to talk to someone different who put it under the microscope and said "yeah, that diamond is really crooked! let's send it back in and i will try to rush it." me: "yeah, thank you...at least somebody here isn't blind."
The ring came back really fast!--one week! I was so excited and went to pick it up. I walked out of there with no ring on my finger. They soldered on an EXTRA DIAMOND BAND! What!? How does that even happen? They're lucky I'm honest and told them one of those bands didn't belong to me! So...back it went into the shop.
One week later, my ring is ready to be picked up. Guess what? They unsoldered the wrong band. This is what I said (out loud): "You have GOT to be kidding me!" The lady said "what? what's wrong?" I told her they unsoldered my band and left the one on that did not belong to me. Let me tell you-I am very honest. My band had less diamonds and I could have walked out with this one with more diamonds and nobody would have been the wiser." I was so angry that they had messed up so many times that I was almost tempted to--almost. The lady told me they would probably just let me keep this one with more diamonds if I just called tomorrow and talked to "Jessica" and said Debbie said I should be able to keep it. She basically made it sound like it was a done deal and I would definitely get to keep the one with more diamonds. This made me very happy since I was planning to upgrade sometime anyway!
I called the next day and Jessica was quite rude and said that would not be possible and there is nothing they can do for me. I threw a fit and told her I was going to go to corporate unless something was done for restitution. She said she would see what she would do and would call me back. This was at 9:30 in the morning. By 1:30 I had still not heard anything from anybody. Finally, "Mark" called me and said my ring was ready to be picked up now and they had my original band back. He didn't even address the situation of doing something to make up for all their mistakes and I KNOW he knew about the situation because Jessica told me she had talked to Mark. So I said "well what are you doing for me to make up for all the mistakes you guys have made?" he said he couldn't just give me the band with extra diamonds but I fought hard until we came to an agreement. I would upgrade my band to the one with more diamonds and I would buy a second band (which I was planning to buy sometime anyway--just like in five more years) and he would give me a steal of a deal on both. It would have cost me $400 to upgrade my original band plus $800 for the other band. He let me have both for $550! YEAH! And he gave us 12 months no interest AND I only had to pay for the warranty on one band but they covered both! Woohoo! I'm still a little mad that they made so many mistakes but I am happy to now have two bands for a great price! Thank you, Kay.

Goodbye, Perkes!

2010-03-12T16:35:00.001-07:00

This week our good friends in the ward, Tyson and Kendyl Perkes (and daughter, Aubrey) moved to Louisiana since Tyson finished his grad work. We were super sad to see them go but wish them the best of luck in the "real world"! :] We miss you already!

Little Miss Lindon 2010

2010-03-06T16:37:00.000-07:00

Tonight was the Little Miss Lindon Pageant in which one of my nanny girls (Lindsay, 12) competed. She participated last year also and won the Talent Award. This year, she did a clogging dance to a Hairspray song and did really well in her interview, on-stage poise and presence, on-stage question, and her dance. All her hard work paid off because she WON! Kelli and Laurin came with me and we were all so happy for her that we were in tears! Congratulations, Lindsay, Little Miss Lindon 2010! She now has lots of responsibilities like being present at parades all around Utah County and being present for many community events. She is already such a busy little girl but she'll be a great representation for her city!

Here is Lindsay doing her clogging dance.

Little Miss Lindon 2010 and her Royalty

Me and Linds

Little Miss Lindon 2010

Hoorah for Bright Ideas

2010-03-01T16:44:00.000-07:00

For a Relief Society activity one month we did an interior design night where we visiting several apartments of sisters in the ward and they showed us things in their apartment that they thought they had decorated well, etc. One sister had this such bright idea where she hung up window curtains by using 3M wall hooks and hung the curtain rod on those! I was so excited to learn this because I had always wanted to hang up my window coverings that came with my bedspread but we aren't allowed to put holes in our walls so I never knew how to hang them! I finally got around to buying the hooks and the rod and I think our room looks so much more homey now! :]

Shark

2010-02-27T16:34:00.000-07:00

I got a new Shark vacuum and I LOVE it! It sucks up just about everything! We got it from woot.com...if you haven't been there, visit it...every day because there is a new deal every day! I kept waiting and waiting for a good vacuum deal because ours pretty much just pushed stuff around the carpet and finally a good deal came! So I bought it and I love love love it!

Giveaway Blog!

2010-02-24T16:13:00.000-07:00

I have a new blog! And it's a GIVEAWAY blog! And you should visit it!

missmarcidesigns.blogspot.com

there is a giveaway going on right now so if you visit soon you can enter!!

San Francisco-here Tom comes!

2010-02-24T16:06:00.000-07:00

Don't worry--not to live. Well, to live for two days. :] He was accepted for a student leadership summer program with KPMG. Yay! It's a good opportunity to get to know some people in the office (although I hope he doesn't end up in that office) and to learn the ropes a little. It will (hopefully) be a really good experience for him. And maybe I'll have a few nights out on the town! Hahah--just kidding, I'll probably sit in my apartment the whole time watching Friends. :]

Anyway, good job, Tom!

Temple #1: Logan

2010-02-24T15:49:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, Thomas and I went with Tom's parents to Logan, UT for a wedding (Tom's mom's cousin's son's wedding...!) Thomas and I just were proxies for sealings while Tom's parents attended the live sealing. We want to go to every temple in Utah and do some sort of work there before we move away. SO this is going to officially count as #1!...even though we've been to both Draper and Provo. But we weren't starting yet. So...here goes nothing! Two years. One down. 14 to go. That really is us in front of the temple even though you can't see...we didn't just steal a random picture from the internet!

Jamie!

2010-02-21T22:17:00.000-07:00

This week my little sister, Jamie, came to visit us in Utah for her birthday! She turned fifteen on February 16th and celebrated with us all week! We had so much fun!

Jamie flew in on Saturday and Kelli and I picked her up from the airport. It was quite an experience...we parked the car then went into the airport and waited at the bottom of the escalator. At one point, I was looking around the baggage claim area and said to Kelli "Why are all of these for Delta? There's no Southwest at all." I don't know if she heard me or not but we continued to wait for what seemed like FOREVER. Then Jai calls us and asks where we are. So we said "at the bottom, waiting for you..." And she said "Well i'm at the baggage claim." So Kelli and I are so confused at how we missed her and we're looking around for her then we realize DUH we're in the wrong part of the airport!! So we ran (myself in heels!) to the opposite end of the airport where Jamie was waiting at the SOUTHWEST baggage claim. Oops :]

Saturday night, Laurin and Mark went out for their Valentine's dinner so Kelli, Jai, and I watched Emma...mostly we watched her stand by the front door waiting for "mama" to come home.

On Sunday, we all had dinner together at the Woodland's and watched the season premiere of the AMAZING RACE!!! :] Love it!!

On Monday, we did the official birthday celebration (even though her birthday was on Tuesday). We all had work off on Monday due to President's Day so Mark, Laurin, Emma, and Kelli came to our apartment and we played games and had cake and ice cream.

On Tuesday (Jai's and Mom's birthday!) we went to Macaroni Grill for dinner :] mmmm. But PS don't ever get the quattro formaggio pizza...yuck. Jamie got a free birthday cake and of course they sang to her in Italian :] Then Jai and Kelli saw Dear John (no, thank you...the book was bad enough!)

Here's Jamie and Mackenzie at Macaroni Grill:

On Wednesday night, Kelli, Jai and I watched Pearl Harbor. Jamie had a rough time after the movie:

On Thursday, we went to In N Out for dinner and Tom's parents came to town! :]

On Friday, we went to a jewelry party hosted by Katie Weston who runs yellowbucket.etsy.com. Such cute stuff! I left with three pairs of earrings and the cutest necklace ever! I've had it for three days and have worn it three times :] After the jewelry party, Laurin, Kelli, Jai, and I went to Chilis for dinner. Too bad they took 40 minutes to bring us our appetizer. It came out AFTER our meal. At least it was free :]

On Saturday, Jai went home :[ Hopefully she can convince our parents to bring her back in April when they come for EFY session director training! We miss her already!

KINGS GAME!!

2010-01-29T23:00:00.010-07:00

we went to a kings/jazz game tonight!!
GO KINGS.
except they lost :[
but it was still a lot of fun!
& a good date night! :]

Rosette Headbands

2010-01-25T21:16:00.001-07:00

Etsy
Buy Handmade
marciwallace

Macaroni Grill Bread

2010-01-19T21:29:00.002-07:00

Tonight I made Macaroni Grill Bread! It was so easy and so delish! It tastes exactly the same as the real kind!

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients
-1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
-1 cup warm water
-3 tbs olive oil
-1/4 tsp sugar
-2 1/2 cups flour
-1 1/2 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp Italian seasoning
-1/4 tsp black pepper
-1 tbs rosemary

Instructions

1. In a medium/large bowl, mix yeast with warm water. Wait five minutes.
2. Add the sugar, flour, salt and oil. Knead, knead, knead!
3. Add the herbs and pepper. Knead into dough until blended.
4. Place dough in an oiled bowl to rise for about an hour. After one hour, punch dough down and let rise for another 30 minutes or so.
5. Bake at 370 for about 25-35 minutes or until top is golden.

Ta-da! My lovely and very yummy macaroni grill bread!

Don't forget the olive oil and balsamic vinegar to dip it in!

Christmas in California

2009-12-31T21:59:00.000-07:00

We were lucky to get to go home for Christmas this year...and not just for a few days...for two weeks! It was such a fun, relaxing, and MUCH-NEEDED vacation for both of us! We did so much and had so much fun! To make things simple, I'll post about the whole vacation here in one post. Be prepared for lots of words and LOTS of pictures!

Here is a list of all the things we did/experienced.

*Road Trip! I think I have made this round trip 9 times now and Thomas about 6 times. I hope we only have to do it a few more times! There was SO much fog that we could hardly see ten feet in front of us! And it was so cold outside that the fog actually froze to our car. The Evidence:

*Reunion with the dogs (Strider and Rosie). I think all three of us were pretty happy to be reunited.

*Sunday night dinner at Kristen's house. So much fun to be with everyone! I can't wait until we move back to California and get to do this on a more regular basis!
*Hair accessories party! I hosted one at my parents' house the Monday before Christmas and it went amazingly well! I think I can safely say all my start-up costs have finally been covered! :] Thanks to everyone who came and everyone who bought things!
*Fun with the sisters

*CHRISTMAS!

My favorite gift: a t-shirt blanket custom-made for me with all my high school/soccer team/efy/etc t-shirts. I LOVE IT!!!!

Thomas's favorite present: GPS :] (or at least this is what I'd like to believe since it's the one I got him!)

This is the cute present I made for my niece, Emma. Tutu and matching hairbow! She's so adorable!

Chris got a motorized scooter and we all had a lot of fun riding it!

*Temple!...to seal my great-grandmother to her husband :]

*STREP THROAT! Yes, I started have symptoms Christmas night and called my doctor a few days later to ask for antibiotics. They kicked in enough by my birthday to have an enjoyable day/night but the strep sure did stink for those few AWFUL days!

*KINGS GAME!!!!! Kings vs Denver Nuggets...KINGS WON!!! Yeah!!! Go Kings!!! The strep was pretty bad this night so I, unfortunately, didn't get to scream and cheer but I did CLAP a lot!!!

*Interview with Grandma. I'm going to write a historical fiction/biography of sorts about her so I asked her all sorts of questions about her childhood and learned a lot! I also learned I'll need to spend another good five hours with her to get enough information! :]
*BIRTHDAY!
We saw The Blind Side (where I lost my cell phone and where I also luckily found it 10 hours later) and went to dinner at On the Border (yummy)! Later we went to Lisa's house and partied with the Wallace's for NEW YEARS! :]

My mom & dad and Kelli, Jamie, and Chris all chipped in some money for me to get a swedish massage!!! YEAHHH. So excited!!

My gorgeous new Steve Madden boots from my wonderful husband (he picked them out all by himself)!

hahah our shoes!

*Lots of love from Emma-boo. She suddenly became really attached to me in California (maybe due to all the new people and I was someone familiar)! So cute...she followed me whenever I left the room and would ask for me constantly "marci? marci?" i hope she never grows out of it!
*LOTS of shopping!
*Golfing for Thomas!
*"Friends" & cookie dough with my sisters
*Dinner at Cory and Alyson's! mmm :]
*Leatherby's!....something we dearly miss here in Utah
*Sherlock Holmes and Avatar for Thomas
*In N Out (even though we have it here it's still exciting to go at home!)

We had such a fun vacation spending time with family and friends! We can't wait to be home for good (hopefully!) and have the chance to spend lots more time with everyone!

17,639

2009-12-31T21:46:00.000-07:00

This is how many pages I read in the year 2009. No, I did not complete my goal of 65 books but I feel okay about that. I decided I didn't want to waste my two-week vacation in California buried in books so I decided I was okay with only reading 61. :] And I must say, I'm pretty proud of my page total. About 40 pages per day! YEAH! I thought I'd share my book list (sorry the page numbers are still there because I didn't want to go through and erase them all) in case anyone is looking for books to read!

2009 Book List
1. The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau-288 pages
2. The People of Sparks by Jeanne DuPrau-352 pages
3. Young Pioneers by Rose Wilder Lane-192 pages
4. The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright-288 pages
5. I Sailed to Zion by Susan Arrington Madsen-192 pages
6. Beyond the Western Sea: The Escape From Home by AVI-336 pages
7. Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink-288 pages
8. Journey to America by Sonia Levitin-160 pages
9. The Touch of the Master’s Hand by Larry Barkdul-109 pages
10. Silver Days by Sonia Levitin-192 pages
11. Annie’s Promise by Sonia Levitin-192 pages
12. Beyond the Western Sea: Lord Kirkle’s Money by AVI-415 pages
13. Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury-192 pages
14. Accepting Joy by Todd F. Cope-173 pages
15. Among the Hidden by Margaret Peterson Haddix-160 pages
16. Weaver’s Daughter by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley-166 pages
17. The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashares-352 pages
18. Marley and Me by John Grogan-320 pages
19. Keeping the moon by Sarah Dessen-240 pages
20. Land of Promise by Joan Lowery Nixon-169 pages
21. Whirlwind by Cathy Marie Hake-368 pages
22. Hazardous Duty by Betsy Brannon Green-304 pages
23. Dear John by Nicholas Sparks-288 pages
24. The Second Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares-448 pages
25. Girls in Pants: The Third Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares-368 pages
26. Forever in Blue: The Fourth Summer of the Sisterhood by Ann Brashares-416 pages
27. At First Sight by Nicholas Sparks-352 pages
28. American Diaries #19: Zellie Blake-144 pages
29. Saddle Shoe Blues by Carroll Hofeling Morris-167 pages
30. Saving Kristen by Jack Weyland-199 pages
31. The Work and the Glory, vol. 1 by Gerald Lund-437 pages
32. Horse Stone House by Harold K. Moon-195 pages
33. Skipping Christmas by John Grisham-240 pages
34. The Work and the Glory, vol 2 by Gerald Lund-515 pages
35. Midway to Heaven by Dean Hughes-225 pages
36. The Work and the Glory, vol 3 by Gerald Lund-541 pages
37. The Cinderella Pact-352 pages
38. The Work and the Glory, vol 4-605 pages
39. The Work and the Glory, vol 5-600 pages
40. Previously Engaged by Elodia Strain-292 pages
41. Yearbook by Allyson Braithwaite Condie-231 pages
42. Jen and Ashley by Jack Weyland-287 pages
43. The Secret Journal of Brett Colton by Kay Lynn Mangum-352 pages
44. Chasing Yesterday by Rachel Ann Nunes-272 pages
45. Bright Blue Miracle by Becca Wilhite-173 pages
46. Secret Santa by Anne Osborn Pollman-153 pages
47. First Day by Allyson Braithwaite Condie-304 pages
48. The Undaunted by Gerald Lund-802 pages
49. The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom-196 pages
50. For One More Day by Mitch Albom-197 pages
51. Reunion by Allyson Braithwaite Condie-217 pages
52. Timepiece by Richard Paul Evans-236 pages
53. Christmas Rose by Robyn Buttars-115 pages
54. Pirates by Celia Rees-379 pages
55. Uglies by Scott Westerfeld-425 pages
56. Pretties by Scott Westerfeld-370 pages
57. Specials by Scott Westerfeld-372 pages
58. Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright-122 pages
59. Across the Rolling River by Celia Wilkins-254 pages
60. The War Within by Carol Matas-151 pages
61. Tuesdays with Morrie-199 pages

My best recommendations:
All three books by Mitch Albom: The five people you meet in Heaven, For One More Day, and Tuesdays with Morrie. If you only get to one, choose the last. It's amazing.
Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
The City of Ember
Marley and Me (my second time reading it and I loved it just as much the second time around!)
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series

And if I can warn you against some others...
Farenheit 451...I will never read that book again.
Undaunted by Gerald Lund. 800 pages of boring.
Dear John by Nicholas Sparks. BLAHHHHH.

The rest, minus the three directly above, are all recommendable! :]

Impossible Feat?

2009-12-10T21:38:00.003-07:00

I have 9.5 books left to read to complete my goal of reading 65 books by December 31. Think I can do it? I have faith...and also a little pride that makes me want to be able to complete my goal! 21 days and nine books means three books a week. I think I can do it! Wish me luck!

I LOVE...

2009-12-10T21:31:00.002-07:00

...MY CALLING! I'm the Relief Society Activties Leader (or what used to be known as Enrichment Leader) and it is so fun--albeit STRESSFUL! Our activity tonight was such a success! It was called "Cultural Christmas" and we had a spiritual meeting first where our Bishop's wife spoke about Christ and the role he plays in our lives. Then we sang "Silent Night" in lots of different languages (the great thing about a student ward is there are so many sisters from other countries or sisters who served missions in other countries so there are so many different languages spoken!) The languages that we had tonight were Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Russian, French, and English. It sounded SO pretty! Then we had a musical number by two sisters in the ward who speak Spanish and they sang "Hark the Harold Angels Sing" in Spanish which was so pretty! After our spiritual part of the program, we moved to another room and had booths where some sisters shared Christmas traditions from other countries. We had Brazil/Argentina (they did a booth together because the traditions are very similar), Spain, Sweden, and Japan. Then lots of sisters brought food from their homelands or ancestor's homelands and there were so many yummy treats (Norwegian cookies, Russian cookies, German coffee cake...and lots more)! Everyone had so much fun and learned a lot. Such a great activity! This calling is so fun!--it's almost like being a party planner...with a little bit of gospel thrown in there!

YEAH MEGHAN AND CHEYNE!

2009-12-06T20:06:00.002-07:00

SO EXCITED BECAUSE MEGHAN AND CHEYNE WON THE AMAZING RACE!!! YEAHHHHH!!!

Salt Lake Lights & The Forgotten Carols

2009-12-05T23:50:00.001-07:00

Tonight, the father of the kids I nanny for had three extra tickets to Michael McClean's The Forgotten Carols and so he invited Tom, my little sister Kelli, and me to attend. It was really fun! I must admit, it was a little strange but I love Michael McClean and his music so that made it great! Before we went to the play, we went to Salt Lake to see all the Christmas lights. We were really pressed for time so we didn't get to see a lot but from what we did see, it was SO PRETTY!

They had a bunch of luminaries set up that were really detailed and lots of them said things in different languages. This says "Hope" in Indonesian!

Ward Christmas Party

2009-12-04T22:00:00.000-07:00

Ward Christmas Party: a night full of fun, friends, great food, and COLD weather!

Hair Accessories Party!

2009-12-03T23:00:00.001-07:00

I had a hair accessories party tonight at my sister, Kelli's, apartment in Provo...and it was SO SUCCESSFUL! I was so excited to sell so many items! Since it was soooo successful I'm having one on Monday, December 21, in Sacramento at my parent's house! YEAHHH. So come one, come all! And invite your friends! Invitations via Facebook will go out next week! Get ready for your's!

Weekend of Emma!

2009-11-29T21:52:00.007-07:00

This weekend we watched our niece, Emma, for my sister Laurin and her husband, Mark, while they had a date-weekend. They stayed in town but did lots of fun stuff (out to dinner, to the temple, BYU basketball game, BYU football game, sleeping in, etc.!) Oh, and we offered to do this. Or should I say I offered to do this. I told Laurin I wished she and Mark would go out of town some weekend and leave Emma with us because I thought it would be SO fun and she was like "I don't have to go out of town for that! You can have her for a weekend!" So we planned it and it was so much fun! Emma came over Friday night just before bedtime and stayed through Sunday night when we brought her back home. We had so much fun with her!--church was fun with a baby because if class is so super boring, hey!, a reason to leave for a minute or two! (baby needs to stretch her legs, right?!) I'd say Emma's favorite thing about the weekend was playing with our dancing Snowman. Both mornings as soon as she woke up and was out of the crib she'd run to the living room, bring the "nono" in and ask me to press his foot so he would light up, sing, and dance. Then she'd say "dance!" and would dance along with him. We probably won't push that foot the rest of the season because I'd say we saw him dance at least 100 times this weekend. Emma also LOVED all the Christmas lights on the tree and outside (and the "balls" on the tree). She was soooo happy to see Mama again after a weekend away but we had so much fun together! Thanks Mark and Laurin for sharing your pretty girl with us for a weekend!!!

Emma was brushing her teeth (for like 20 minutes--she loves it!) and she kept running back to the bathroom and tapping her toothbrush on the sink then would continue brushing. It was so funny! I don't know if she did it because she has just seen other people tap their toothbrushes on the sink or if she wanted water??

Ready for Christmas!

2009-11-27T22:15:00.000-07:00

We decorated our house today and are all set for Christmas! Well, minus Christmas wrapping, some shopping, driving home, etc, etc. But our apartment is ready! I think decorating for Christmas is one of my very favorite things to do. Our apartment looks so cute and I'm going to be so sad when we have to take down all these cute decorations!!!

BLACK FRIDAY--yeahhh!!

2009-11-27T21:36:00.000-07:00

I think I'm going to do black friday shopping every year. I never went as a teenager (despite my LOVE for shopping) because we always went to get our Christmas tree early Friday morning. Obviously, we didn't go at like 5am when the stores open but if I would have done Black Friday I would have been so grumpy during Christmas tree hunting! So last year was my first year and I LOVED it. Even though the crowds are ridiculous and you have to get up SO early, it's totally worth it! All the excitement of SHOPPING and getting great deals and not feeling guilty about getting tons of stuff because hey!, they're all presents! So Kelli and I got up at 4am (oh, should I mention we went to bed at 1am after doing her job Thanksgiving night at the dorms?) and we hit Sears first. I bought a Christmas tree for Tom and me. It's soooo nice! 7.5 feet, so FULL, and it was half off! Woohoo! We got a real tree last year but since a. it's against the apartment policy to have real trees and b. we will be gone for two weeks and the tree will be dead and nasty and c. our vacuum sucks and picking up all those needles by hand last year was a PAIN IN THE YOU-KNOW-WHERE, we decided to go for fake this year and for the years to come in the apartment. After that when a. it won't be against our house policy to have a real tree, b. we will be home for the holidays, and c. we'll have a nicer vacuum (hopefully) we'll go back to real trees and use the fake one in another room. Or maybe use the fake one as our main one and let the kids pick out the real tree and let them hang their handmade ornaments on that one! ANYWAY back to Sears...a great deal but HOLY HECK was it a nightmare for Kelli and I to drag that tree down the escalater and smush it into the car. It took us like half an hour to figure out how to make it fit in that little toyota. We finally did it then headed off to Target! Kelli wanted to buy the Proposal SOOO bad (it was $9!) but even though we got there right at opening, everyone else beat her to it and there were none left! I was able to pick up some great toys for nanny kids and such for great deals and I also bought Annie (the movie) for $4! I love that movie! After Target, we went to Old Navy (where we bought a few things HALF OFF), Walmart (where I bought a card table and four chairs for $24!!! YAHHH!--the last one!!) and Kelli got the proposal (for 15 but still a deal!), then to the mall where we bought a few more things. The car was PACKED with stuff when we were done (so much that I couldn't see out the back window and Kelli had to lead me out of parking spots from outside the car). I would say SUCCESS for this year's Black Friday! Can't wait to do it again next year!! I LOVE SHOPPING!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T22:04:00.000-07:00

This year for Thanksgiving, Tom and I had dinner with Laurin, Mark, Emma, and Kelli and Laurin and Mark's house. I was in charge of rolls, sweet potato casserole, two pies, and two martinellis. If you ask me, I had the easy stuff! We went to Mark and Laurin's about noon, ate at 4ish, then stayed until past ten. We played scattergories (so fun even though I never win when I play with Mark or Thomas!) and zilch and just had fun being together! I love that we have family here in Utah so it isn't lonely at all if we can't make it home for holidays! Here's some pictures from the day.

First in line at In N Out!

2009-11-20T17:02:00.001-07:00

As soon as Kelli and I heard about the opening of the In N Out's in Orem and Draper, we were determined to be first in line on opening day! We planned for months and months and finally the day came! I wrote the details of the stay in a letter to my brother who is serving a mission so I will copy and paste it here so I don't have to type it all up again!

Dear brother:

This is our In N Out story!!

First of all, Kelli got SICKKKK the day before the opening! AHHH like so sick! She was vomiting and passing out and had a fever blah blah blah. Tom and Mark gave her a blessing but we were pretty sure we weren't going to be able to go because she was seriously so sick! But by Thursday she was feeling better and so WE WENT. So we thought that if we went around 12, it would be plentyyy early so we packed up everything and got to the Orem in n out around 1230...BUT THERE WERE PEOPLE THERE. Like five people in line and then a car in the drive lane (he got there at 4am!!!) we were soooo mad and really sad. i was seriously about to cry because we had been looking forward to and planning this for soooo long! and we were all hyped up and then LET DOWN. anyway we sat in the car for like ten minutes debating what to do. i just couldn't drive away. it was too sad. then we saw that kelli's friend, anthon, was in LINE! so we started talking to him and then we got in line behind these people just to wait to see if we could talk to a manager to see if we would be able to get on BTV...because let's face it...that's all we cared about. Anyway we waited for like an hour and finally talked to someone named Stacie (who apparently you know). WE HATE HERRRR. She thought she was soooo cool and we were asking her questions and she wasn't even listening and like answering them wrong and acting like we were stupid. example: kelli asked when they were going to start building the in n out's in tx and stacie was like "we don't have any in n outs in tx, hun." (duh!!!) kelli: yeah but you own land lots there. stacie: we have lots everywhere, hun. JUST ANSWER OUR DUMB QUESTION YOU IDIOT. then kelli said something about how in n out originally was planning to move to tx then decided utah first for the whole chadders issue and she totally misunderstood what we were saying and goes "this isn't our first in n out in utah, hun (she says that a lot). we opened one a year ago in washington city. us: WE KNOWWWW OKAY!? WE KNOW EVERYTHING ABOUT IN N OUT. except we don't know when they are moving to tx but apparently neither do you. we hate her. we think you probably hate her too.

okay so anyway we're just so mad because of people being in line in front of us and because of dumb stacie then the guy who was first in line suggested we drive to draper (where the in n out was also opening on thursday) and see if there is a line there and if there is he would save our spot in line at orem but if not we could stay there. great IDEA. we went. and YAHHHH WE WERE FIRST. we were soooo excited. we were like jumping up and down and screaming. the associates were all so shocked that we were there so early (orem is just a college town and lots of college students wanted to stay the night...). anyway we got so much freaking attention. everyone was talking to us and wanted to take pictures with us. everyone pampered us like crazy! this guy named joel (we don't really know where he ranks in in n out) gave us a bunch of free stuff. well, two things. cool keychains that have burgers, fries, and drinks on them and then a black and red lanyard that says in n out on it. we met like all the managers and all stars and everyone important basically.

SO WE STARTED THE WAIT. oh this was at like 1pm by the way. i think i must have timing wrong somewhere...there is no way we got to orem at 1230 waited for one hour, drove half an hour to draper and were there by 1. hmmmm. :/ ANYWAY we played friends trivia, searched an i spy book, chatted about how FREAKING EXCITED we were, talked to all stars, talked about how annoying stacie was/is, talked about BTV, all that stuff. PS Stan was all-starring! cool huh!? kelli wants me to say he looks like a toad.

okay so then they had the VIP party at like six and we were waiting outside in the cold (27 degrees) and someone inside was so nice and thought of us and sent an associate out to ask us what we wanted to eat! YAHHH free food TWICE. this was my first burger in six months and kelli's in 2 months. aww poor you. you haven't had one for over a year. bummer. anyway, we got one. and it was YUM-MY.

around 730 some man came to campout and he could not stop talking about how he came at 10 that morning and thought about setting up his tent and then leaving because he had to go to a meeting in salt lake then decided that wouldn't be fair (yeah would not have been!--you set up your tent then are gone all day?! that is SO cheating!!) anyway he seriously wouldn't shut up about how he could have been first. then he would ask us questions about in n out then start talking to people in line at the VIP party like he knew what he was talking about. really all the information had just come from us 2 seconds earlier. like he told people about burger coins (which he had no idea existed until we said so) and "superstars"...idiot they're ALL STARS. oh and THEN after the VIP party WE SAW MARK FREAKING TAYLOR. bahhhhh! so we were so excited so we ran over to him after grabbing the camera and were like "mr taylor mr taylor! can we have a picture with you?! we LOVE you!" he let us. we took the picture. CLICK. then the annoying guy runs over with us and after our picture asks mark if he can have a picture too so of course mark says yes and during the picture AG (annoying guy) like wraps his arms totally around mark's waist for a pose (what a freak)! kelli and i went back and were laughing at how dumb he was then he comes over and goes "so who was that guy?" HAHHAHAHHAH. you idiot! why the heck did you want a picture with him if you don't even know who he IS?! so we told him then he calls his friend who is joining him later and tells him all about how excited he was because he got a picture with the president of in n out. "hey ag, you're gay." that's what we wanted to say. we didn't. at least not to him.

so then after the vip party two different groups of associates brought us hot chocolate!!! mmmm. they all loved us so much! (only me and kelli really though...everyone wanted pictures with us and could care less about the other people) just the way we like it! :] then we got into our warrrrm sleeping bags and basically talked about how much cooler we were than the rest of the people in line (especially AG). He kept saying how cold it was going to be and how we should use one of his extra tents (he said he had like 25 extras...what the heck?) and we kept saying it was only going to be 27 which is cold but no wind so really a tent makes little difference. he kept saying how it was supposed to be 20 not 27 and we were like "we actually just called someone a little while ago to check the weather. it says 27." then he just kept saying how that was wrong then his friend comes and says "did you know it's going to be 27 tonight, man?" and then AG goes "yeah." hahahhahhaha NO you did NOT KNOW THAT. then he goes on to say how we should still use the tent because it gets the coldest when the sun rises and he explains why...but we didn't really listen. oh. and then this guy was mormon and drank COFFEE. hahahha. dummy. and he swore all the time too. typical utah mormon.

so then we slept. 5 hours approximately. then the news stations came at 515 to record us. there were three stations and we went live on all three and then did interviews and some of those were aired later in the night. i wonder if you can follow this link?? http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=8730168 here we are! AG is in this video too. he's the one who talks about converting to in n out. oh and he made that joke like 50 million times.
OH YEAH. wednesday night we got a btv interview and gave a shoutout to 122! we cant wait to see if they kept it in! okay we have to hurry kelli has to go home...so then we were interviewed again by BTV in the morning (just me and kel) and we got to say "WELCOME TO BTV!" we were so freaking excited! we did it perfectly! it sounded just like it should. the cameraman loved us because we loved him..A LOT. hahha and he knew we were obsessed with being on BTV. Then they let us go inside around seven so we didn't have to be out in the cold anymore. carl vanburen (the vp) who was like our best friend gave us each a burger coin and said "i know they'll be giving you guys all some later but i wanted you two to have these." then he had to go to orem in n out. YEAHHH BURGER COINS. then we got the big interview with BTV with everyone. well not really an interview we just stood there while the store manager said some stuff then we all said welcome to btv. except everyone else put the emphasis in the wrong places. dummies. then we got free tshirts! they're SO COOL! oh and we got beanies. then we each got a burger coin again from the store manager (YEAHHH) and THEN we were the first customers and got our yummmmmyyy food! oh and the news stations followed us while we ordered and ate. we were like the main story since we were there so long and to everyone were like two little girls who stayed the night alone. hahahha. it was soooo much FUN. you should definitely do it sometime. hahaha. everyone was so nice to us!...we were so popular! oh! and they're going to give us a copy of the BTV clip! yahhh! oh and we met kau (it's pronounced cow...remember him??) he said he knew you. okay we are attaching pictures.

THATS ALL. WE LOVE IN N OUT. YAHHH.

note to regular people who are not obsessed with in n out:

BTV stands for Burger Television and is an inside network that is shown to associates during In N Out store meetings. It talks about the latest things going on with In N Out (like store openings) and always has things that associates need to be aware of (like changes in policy, etc.) or reminders (like remember the tomato needs to cover the whole bottom bun). Stuff like that. Anyway, it's like amazingly cool if you get to be on BTV so that was really the main reason Kelli and I wanted to go. We have accomplished at least one life goal: be on BTV. Yay us!
All Stars are In N Out associates who come from stores all over the west coast to help out at store openings. Some of them are permanent all-stars and they travel from one store opening to the other, always living in hotels. Most are regular associates who go to one or two store openings for a few months. Our brother, Ryan, did this once for a store opening in AZ. It's a pretty cool gig because you work about a million hours and get more than your regular hourly wage plus you get paid for LOTS of overtime.

Pictures!

These are the all-stars who brought us hot chocolate at like 1am

this is the BTV camera man. we loved him! :]

this is carl. he is somehow high up in the In N Out world.

this is casey, the crazy newscaster

this is us. that is in n out.

this is an all-star. she wanted a picture with us.

this is MARK TAYLOR. VP of in n out. we were SO excited to meet him!

getting ready to go to bed!

Enjoying the free meal!

Our order from the associate party...kelli got a cheeseburger with spread and lettuce only, i got a cheeseburger with extra spread, raw onions, and grilled onions only. mmmm. and we shared a french fry...with spread of course! :]

I did a radio interview for K-Jazz or something like that

Burger Coin!!!

In the morning, Kelli got a cheeseburger animal style, no pickles, light lettuce and extra spread. I got a cheeseburger animal style no lettuce no pickles add ketchup and mustard extra grilled onions and extra cheese. we shared a fry...with spread...and k got a chocolate shake. mmmm mmmm.

we've enjoyed our stay!

Rachel's Baptism

2009-11-07T23:58:00.002-07:00

Today one of my nanny girls, Rachel, was baptized. Thomas and I were priveleged to attend this important event in her life. The Savage's were so kind and even invited Thomas to stand in Rachel's confirmation circle. After the baptism, the Savage's hosted a lunch at their home catered by Olive Garden. We had a good time and I'm so proud of Rachey!

Congratulations, Rach!

New Accessories!

2009-11-07T23:45:00.010-07:00

Here's what I've been up to lately with my bow "business." I have yet to make my website popular but I'm hoping with my promotion going on and some websites featuring it, site visits will increase. Also, I'll be having a party at my sister's apartment where I'll sell bows and one at my other sister's house (if she'll let me...I haven't asked yet) and then one of my good friends, Amanda Moore, offered to let me host one at her house when I am home for the holidays! So for those of you living in Utah...check for Facebook invites soon and posts here for the parties and those of you in Sacramento area...be prepared for a bow party in December! Anyway, lately, I've been loving making headbands! They are so fun and I love wearing them myself! Here's some of the things I've been making lately:

You can find these and more at my website: marciwallace.etsy.com. And don't forget about my promotion! For any item you purchase now through December 15, your name will be entered into a drawing for a giveaway of a basket of bows/headbands/etc. This means that for every set of bows you purchase, your name will be entered for each item in that set! Good luck and happy shopping! Spread the word!

EXAMS AGAIN!?

2009-11-07T22:59:00.002-07:00

It seems like I just BARELY posted about Tom's exams! And here they are again!! He actually just finished his last one on Friday and now no more until finals!...which is coming up really quickly, actually. I never posted how he did on his last ones (because I feel like I didn't even have a chance before these next ones came!) but he did well and was above the average on every exam! Above average is exactly what he needs to be accepted into the Master's program in the fall. We don't know all the scores on his exams from this week yet but he has seen his multiple choice scores and he did great!...so hopefully his written answers were great too! Hard work definitely pays off :]

Oh, the joys of nannying!

2009-11-07T22:00:00.000-07:00

Everyone is sick! Or has been in the last few weeks. First Joshua (6) got some bug and I picked him up from school early because he threw up in his kindergarten class. A few days later, Tyler (14) and Ashley's husband, Chad were sick and throwing up. Two days later, I picked up Rachel (8) from school early because she felt sick and she threw up three times. The same day, Dray (dad) caught the bug. The next day, Ashley caught it and was sick for awhile. Yesterday, Lindsay felt sick before I left and informed me today that she threw up EIGHT times last night! YIKES. Being the hypochondriac that I am, I've felt sick each time I learned that someone else was sick. Of course, it has all been in my head and I have yet to catch the bug (hopefully I never will!) I feel like I'm probably doomed after taking care of so many sick children but we'll see! Oh, the joys of nannying! ("Or Mothering!", I'm sure some of you are thinking!)

Smashing Pumpkins

2009-10-31T22:54:00.001-06:00

Tom asked me tonight if I thought he should throw his decaying pumpkin over the balcony. I said yes if I could take a picture and he agreed so...

Don't worry...we cleaned up the mess afterward :]

Fall Fun!

2009-10-25T15:00:00.000-06:00

This weekend Thomas and I went to a cornmaze with my good friend, Sabrina, and her husband, Brenton. We went to Thanksgiving Point in Lehi and had a really good time despite the rain! There were all kinds of things to do...corn maze, hay ride, pumpkin dodge ball, duck races, pig races (those little guys are FAST!), a blowup dinosaur haunted thing, 3-D Haunted House, pumpkin patch, a firepit where a magician doing tricks, a seek-and-find 3-D village, FOOD!
Here's the fun little duck race...Brenton and Tom are racing:

We took a ride on the short bus!

This rocking chair was HUGE!

A little difference in height? :]

Hay Ride! My very first one!

In the cornmaze:

We made it to the end of the cornmaze!

After all the fun at the corn maze we went back to Sabrina and Brenton's apartment and Sabrina and I made dinner together while the men watched the BYU football game. After dinner, Sabrina and I made BYU mint brownies for dessert...what an experience! As Sabrina was pouring the mint extract in (carefully, I might add) it suddenly all came POURING out and while there was supposed to be like 1/2 tsp of mint there ended up being like 2 TABLESPOONS! Hahah...I'm sure you can imagine how minty it was! That container should have a stopper! The mint mixture tasted a little like toothpaste by itself but once it was mixed with all that chocolate it was okay! :] Also...as I was opening this cocoa can...

...it EXPLODED. Cocoa was EVERYWHERE. See below for confirmation :]

YIKES. I wasn't kidding when I said it was an EXPLOSION. I was a mess!
Thanks for a fun night, Sabrina and Brenton!

CONGRATULATIONS, SIS!

2009-10-24T11:00:00.000-06:00

My sister, Laurin, announced her pregnancy today! We are so excited! My sister-in-law, Marissa, is expecting a boy in November and Laurin is expecting on May 1 so I'm so excited for new nieces/nephews! Laurin doesn't know yet what she is having but I'm crossing my fingers for another girl for her!

Pictures in the Canyon

2009-10-17T17:15:00.004-06:00

Today my sister, Kelli, was so kind and accompanied Thomas and me to the canyon and took pictures of us. We haven't taken any really cute pictures together since our wedding so I wanted some updated ones. Here are some of the really cute ones (or a lot...I just love pictures)!

TEST WEEK IS OVER

2009-10-02T21:31:00.002-06:00

Thomas has COMPLETED his first set of exams! YAHHHH. Maybe now he will be home more than 8 out of 24 hours each day! :] or probably not. Two more weeks until we find out how he did on all the exams!--TORTURE. Keep your fingers crossed!

Birthday Party!

2009-10-02T17:00:00.005-06:00

We had a birthday party tonight for Thomas and it was so fun! The guests were: my mom and dad; Jamie; Chris; Kelli; Laurin, Mark, and Emma; and Tom's good friend, Jesse. We started out the party by playing a game of kickball which was really fun but it got pretty competitive! After kickball, we had pizza, then presents, and CAKE BALLS. I totally messed up the cake I was making for the party and was so distraught but then I discovered cake balls which saved my messed up cake and they were a HIT. Everyone LOVED them! Here are lots of pictures of the night! Happy birthday, Thomas!

Let the games begin!

Chris was explaining some drawings he made on Tom's birthday card.

I got Thomas an electronic home-putting system...he seems to like it but we really have no room in our apartment for it so we'll have to use it mostly in the summer when it can be outside and then we can use it all the time whenever we get a house!

Trying out his new toy :]

Yummy cake balls!

Here's Tom blowing out the candles on his cake balls :]

Happy Birthday, Thomas!

2009-10-01T21:54:00.001-06:00

Happy 24th birthday, Thomas! We celebrated tonight by going out to dinner at Chilis with my family who is in town for general conference. Thomas opened his small gifts from me (we are saving the big one for tomorrow's PARTAY) and one from kelli. From me, Thomas got a golf scope thing...really I don't even know what I got him but it's some thing that reads how far the hole is or the green (or something!) from where you are so you can determine what club to use. And then I gave him a golf weight ring that goes on your club while you practice and then you hit harder when you play for real and the weight isn't on there. And then I was at Seagull Book yesterday and randomly saw mission keychains (it has the mission place and then the flag and then angel moroni blowing the trumpet). I saw one for Illinois and picked it up for my brother serving in Chicago and then decided to search through the 30 or so keychains to see if they had Indonesia. I was really doubting it since mostly they were states and Indonesia is not a very popular mission but WHAT DO YOU KNOW!? They had one! So I snatched it and made it another birthday present! :] Kelli was so funny and had a clever idea for a gift...she borrowed one of our Monopoly community chest cards that says "It's your birthday! Collect $10 from every player." And then she included a ten dollar bill. Kelli, Thomas, and I played Monopoly like 15 times in two weeks once and so it made it even more funny since we were so in love with the game. We had a good time at Chili's and are excited for tomorrow's party when Thomas's exams will be FINISHED and he can relaxxx.

53 Hours

2009-09-27T13:16:00.003-06:00

EXAMS for Thomas are this week! One on Monday, one on Wednesday, and one on Friday. What an exciting birthday week for him! He planned out how many hours he needed to study for each exam and the grand total...53 hours. !!!! Yikes. He has it all planned out by day...example: yesterday 10 hours (he really did that), Monday 7 hours, Tuesday 9 hours, etc, etc. I can't even believe he can study so much. Thankfully, classes are cancelled for the whole week and he is taking two days off work to be able to have time to study and take tests. We're really hoping he does well on all his exams because he needs to stay above the class average to have a chance to get into the MAC program. :] Keep your fingers crossed for us! Tom's reward for all his studying and hard work will be (well hopefully one reward will be good test grades BUT the other): A BIRTHDAY PARTY. On Friday :] So we're excited for that! I hope this hectic week passes by QUICKLY.

Congratulations, Chad and Ashley!

2009-09-26T13:23:00.000-06:00

Tonight, Thomas and I went to the reception of the daughter of the people I nanny for. She was married in the Mt Timpanogas temple and their reception was gorgeous! And they had the best little cheesecakes and mini cakes from "The Sweet Tooth Fairy" bakery. Yummm! Best wishes, Chad and Ashley!

The Savage's lives have been pretty hectic (which makes my life hectic) due to all the wedding planning so now that the wedding is over, hopefully life will settle a little bit! Here's to looking forward to a more relaxed week than past weeks! :]

Here's me with Josh and Lindsay (brother and sister of the bride-two of my nanny kids)

The PROPOSAL

2009-09-20T13:20:00.000-06:00

My sister, Kelli, and I have been wanting to see the Proposal for SO long now. Before we got a chance to see it at the regular theaters, it stopped showing...but then it didn't make it to the dollar theaters until like four weeks after that! FINALLY it came to dollar theaters on Friday so we saw it Saturday night and it was GREAT...minus one totally unnecessary, inappropriate part. :/ But it was so funny and so cute!

Who am I kidding?

2009-09-16T20:59:00.002-06:00

I posted those last two posts today. Not on the dates they say. But most of you have probably figured that out. Instead of trying to figure out all the days I missed I might as well just write it all today to catch up. School has been in session for about three weeks now. Tom is so so so busy! He gets up at 6:45am to get ready for work then gets home at about 7:30pm (at the earliest) most nights and then studies until about midnight. Except the other day I found out he studied until 4am (4AM!) and then got up at 6:45am. Crazy? I think so. I've been really pushing for him to quit his job and I think he was considering it until...a RAISE. Oh, no, not just a 25 cent raise...$1.25! What!? For a student!? So now he is making way more than most students ever dream of. Now I'm not convincing him so much to quit (great wife, right? it's a lot of money!) and he's really not wanting to leave now. Hopefully he'll be able to handle it all okay but if not, he really will have to quit. We've decided (Tom decided) we will have to quit our weekend houseparenting job which is a total bummer since it's good money and we were saving all the money we made there for a trip to Indonesia next summer. I'm thinking maybe we'll see if we can be substitutes or something so that we can maybe do it some weekends that they can't fill.

Despite all the craziness, Thomas is really liking the junior core. He likes the stuff he learns and so that's good! We got to go to one of his professor's house for a meet&greet which was really fun. The students had an opportunity to ask their professor and a guest professor a lot of questions in a more casual setting. They learned a lot about what rumors that go around the students in the junior core are true and which are not. And...FREE FOOD! :] Then a few days later, we went to a "Meet the Interns" dinner (free food again!) where the students got a chance to talk to other students who just returned from doing internships this summer. We sat with a guy who interned in the Bay area with Earnst&Young. We aren't interested in the Bay area (more like Sacramento) but we still got some good advice and information from him. Tom also gets to meet lots of recruiters who always give out free stuff! He already got a free PriceWaterHouseCoopers sweatshirt and a really nice Earnst&Young backpack (which he says he isn't going to use for school since probably everybody else will-hahah). I want free stuff too!

Well, my bow business is going okay. I haven't been very good so far at advertising but that's because I want to get more on my website before I send lots of people there to look at it! I've been so bogged down with nannying and MAKING bows that I haven't had a whole lot of time to list them...so I need to get on that. A little girl, Mackenzie, who I watch on Tuesday nights while her mom has a class in SLC modeled some of my bows for me and the pictures turned out so cute! Check out my Facebook to see pictures of her. Kelli and her friend, Kaytlyn also modeled some bows for me on Labor day and those pictures came out really good too (thanks, girls!) However...there was an incident. Kaytlyn asked if she could carry something for me so I let her carry my purse because I was carrying Emma and Emma's diaper bag and then Kaytlyn stepped in some mud and so took off her flip flop and bent over to clean it off in the pond and my purse tipped (and it was unzipped) and out fell the camera PLOP! right into the pond! Ahhh! So...it is broken. Yes, my new camera that I begged and begged for and finally got in May with the understanding that it was my Christmas and Birthday present. Goodbye, camera. :[ Except Kaytlyn is actually getting us a new one so I will someday have one again. I feel really bad for her because she totally didn't mean to do it and the camera was ex-pennn-sive. Poor girl.

Well, I feel like I've updated about as much as I need to (thank goodness!) and I'll try to be better at updating more regularly! This is for you, Jai. :]

And so it begins.

2009-08-31T20:55:00.000-06:00

School has STARTED. Thomas went to an accounting orientation today but no classes! We already knew it was going to be a pretty grueling program but they said definitely do not work more than 10 hours a week if at all. Too bad he's working 20 a week now...we'll see how it goes, I guess. I'm looking forward to this school year since Thomas is FINALLY in the program and this means we're closer to being done!...but I'm not looking forward to it because I know I have, as of this day, lost my husband to numbers. Goodbye for a school year, husband!

Work Party!

2009-08-27T20:49:00.002-06:00

Tonight, we went to my work party! It was so much fun! It was at Jordanelle Reservoir...we had steak for dinner (yum) and they rented four jet skis. It was my first time on a jet ski and it was so much fun! Tom and I both took the jet skis out several times (together and with kids). It was fun to get to see everyone outside of work even though I mostly just did what I do AT work...played with the Savage's :] Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of me and Tom, but here is one of me, Rachel (7) and Rachel's cousin, Grace.

Color Me Mine!

2009-08-19T23:19:00.004-06:00

I LOVE Color Me Mine. If you haven't been there before, you should definitely go...for date night or for family night! Go to colormemine.com for deals (such as mommy and me days and date nights where there are discounts on studio fees). Okay so if you haven't been there before, this is how it works. You go to the studio, pay a studio fee (to cover the paints and stickers and whatever you use) then you buy a piece of pottery from them. They have so many things!--figurines, dishes (super nice ones too!), broken pieces you can use for magnets or whatever, jewelry boxes...really anything. So then you get to paint your piece however you want. And they have so, so, so many tools you can use to paint cool things (stickers, books with ideas, designing tools, etc) It is so fun to paint your own piece of pottery! When you're done painting, they take your piece and fire it in the kiln and then you get to pick it up in a few days and WAH-LAH! Your own marvelous piece of artwork! I've been twice with the Savage's now and they just LOVE doing this. And I love it too! It is so fun to have your own unique pieces. I just got the pieces I did a few days ago and they turned out so cute...I love them! I bought broken pieces and painted them all different colors and did all the letters in "wallace" and then one that says thomas and one that says marci. And then I glued magnets on the backs and I just LOVE them. Here they are:

And then here is the piece I did the time before (it's a super cute bowl and we use it to put our keys and stuff)

SO if you live in the Provo area, there's a Color Me Mine in the Riverwoods in Provo and for those of you back home in Sacramento, there's one in Folsom and also one in Elk Grove. Go check it out!--you'll love it!

WEBSITE! :]

2009-08-17T23:36:00.005-06:00

I've finally set up a website for my hairbows!--well, an etsy site. Go to marciwallace.etsy.com (or click on the title to this blog entry) to check it out! And PLEASE tell everyone! There are only about five bows up right now but tomorrow afternoon/night, I plan to add about 20 more...or more! So check back regularly for new bows!

THANKS.

:]

Cake and a Hairdo

2009-08-09T22:26:00.003-06:00

So Kelli and I attempted to make a cake that I found the recipe for on my sister-in-law, Alyson's, recipe blog (check it out: wozniakgoodeats.blogspot.com...tons of good recipes!) We, unfortunately, failed. It was supposed to be lots of layers but our cake kept falling apart so we just dumped all the fillings all over the cake and made it only two layers. It was still yummy so that's all that matters, right!?

After our failed cake attempt, I really wanted to try a hairstyle on Kelli that I saw on a doll. It looked so cool!...so not CUTE but it was really amazing-looking!

Thanks for letting me play with your hair, Kel!

Farmer's Market

2009-08-01T22:24:00.000-06:00

So this whole season I've been doing the Provo Farmer's Market (every Saturday from 9am-2pm for those of you who live nearby!) and I finally got around to taking pictures of my booth!

Latest and Greatest

2009-07-31T22:22:00.000-06:00

Here are my latest bows (and they're oh-so-cute if I do say so myself

Hannah and Emily!

2009-07-28T22:13:00.000-06:00

Hannah and Emily Child were in Utah this week so we got to spend some time with them. WE LOVE HANNAH AND EMILY :] We went miniature golfing...which, by the way, I love now and I really want Thomas to teach me real golf (but I want pink clubs and a pink glove!) :] Thomas beat all of us at miniature golf (of course) but I got SECOND. Woohoo! 3 under par! UNDER PAR!?...it never happens for me. This is why I should get to learn real golf now. I've mastered miniature golf :]

Anniversary Getaway

2009-07-24T22:06:00.001-06:00

For our anniversary, Thomas booked a hotel in Park City for us. We had such a good time! (unfortunately we got pretty much no pictures...lame!) We drove down Thursday night and came home today. On Thursday, we walked from our hotel to Main Street and window shopped and ate dinner at a cute little cafe. On Friday, Thomas took me to the Tanger Outlets (so fun!) I bought two dresses and Tom got sooo many clothes!--lots of golf polos/shirts and some dress shirts. I LOVE shopping. It was so much fun! Then that was pretty much the end of our trip and we drove home--super short but so nice to have a change from the everyday! :]

Oh...here's the ONE picture we got. This is at the Nike Outlet...we found a pair of size 20 shoes!

FLAT TIRE! :[

2009-07-21T22:17:00.001-06:00

So today Thomas, Jamie, and I went to Spanish Fork to hang out with Mark, Laurin, and Emma. After we got there, Jai and I left their house to go to Little Caeser's to pick up a pizza and on the way back we all of a sudden heard a really LOUD noise and then lots of air. Gahhhh. So we pulled over and, sure enough, a super flat tire. We really don't even have any idea what happened. It's not a nail...it's a GASH. And there was nothing in the road. And the hubcap fell off and flew across the road. We're wondering if the hubcap fell off then gashed the tire...can that even happen? I don't know but something happened. So we called Tom and Mark and they came and replaced the tire with the spare. Thanks, guys! :]

Happy Anniversary to us!

2009-07-19T21:24:00.006-06:00

Today is our one year wedding anniversary! :] We celebrated by going to church and then a ward potluck to greet our new bishop. Hahah. Next weekend we are really celebrating...we are going on a little getaway to Park City. Tom got us a really nice hotel with a fireplace and wood floors! We are going Thursday night and just staying the one night (Friday is a holiday in Utah--Pioneer Day). So before I blogged, I wrote in a diary. I thought I might transfer some things from the diary about Tom and I dating/engagement/wedding to this blog since we will more likely look back on the blog than all my random diaries in future years. Don't laugh too much--I'm pretty back and forth with wanting to marry and not wanting to marry. It's kind of humorous. This really is our whole dating story/engagement story..and I just finished typing it all and it's really very long. If you want to read the good stuff, just skip to the bottom where the engagement story is. The rest is really for my own records...although do I really want to remember all that!? hahah.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

(Just to give you an idea of timing this entry begins with "I just moved into my dorm room yesterday")

"I was kind of dating Tom Wallace before I left for BYU. He wants to marry me but I want to date and see what's out there. I'm not ready to get married yet. I just want to have fun first."
(as if being married means you can never have fun again)

Wednesday, October 10, 2007 (I only write about once a month...get over it.)

"Thomas came last weekend and it was amazingly fun. I really miss him. I'm pretty much positive I'll marry him. He's absolutely perfect. Pretty much I just need a ring to make it official. But that won't be coming until sometime next year. :] I'm exciting to marry him!"

November 10, 2007

"I often wonder if Thomas is the guy I should marry. I really do love him. But something just doesn't feel right...it seems like I'm always questioning the relationship and I really don't think that's how it's supposed to be. I pray a lot about the situation but I can't seem to get an answer. I have brought a couple ideas before the Lord to continue dating Thomas or to end the relationship. Both have brought me confusion. I hope that, in time, an answer will come to me. Poor Thomas is having such a rough time. He is so sure that it's right and I keep questioning."

November 12, 2007

"I HATE being away from Thomas. It just makes me so mad. And so grumpy. UGHHH. I would never, ever recommend a long-distance relationship EVER. It's the worst!...and on Saturday I can finally GO HOME and see Thomas. And not be so MAD. That's all."

January 7, 2008

"I'm really struggling right now. Thomas is in Utah with me and it's great...except that I'm still so confused. I'm not sure what to do. Should it be this confusing? I don't know what to do."

January 13, 2008

"Thomas and I had a ton of fun tonight. :] I love him."
(seriously, really back and forth)

January 14, 2008

"Thomas and I went to the mall today for a few minutes so I could exchange some things then we studied and then went to Coldstone. He's great. I love him :] I'm grateful for all the blessings in my life."

January 15, 2008

"Tom and I hung out from 6-midnight. I love him! We studied and went to Carl's Jr. and made chocolate chip cookies. I love spending time with him. And I hate saying goodnight :["

January 16, 2008

"Back and forth, back and forth. I just don't know about Thomas. I mean, is it reall supposed to be this confusing? Everything just doesn't feel the way I always imagined it would feel. I just don't know. :["

January 16, 2008 (later, I guess)

"Thomas and I are on a little break. I've decided the only way I can know if he's right for me is by dating other guys. I need sometime to compare him to. I prayed about it and I feel ok so I just hope I can figure things out soon. If Thomas is right for me...I don't want to wait anymore. I want to get engaged. And if he's not right, I want to start searching for my future husband."

January 19, 2008

No other dates yet. I hung out with Tom today and yesterday. I will go on other dates...just as soon as I'm asked. I have fun with Thomas but I'm honestly just not sure."

January 21, 2008

"Thomas and I went to D.I. so I could get some books then we met up wtih Laurin at Cafe Rio for lunch. Then we went with Laurin to Bath and Body Works...Thomas had to bring me home tonight at like 10:40 because I had a bad stomach ache. I'm really scared of breaking Thomas's heart. We've become such good friends and I hope I really never have to do that. But I do want to marry the guy that's right for me so I guess we'll see."

January 27, 2008

"I went on a date Saturday night. The date was really so fun. Now about Thomas. It's so hard. I care about him so much but I'm still just not sure."

January 28, 2008

"Thomas and I had a heart-to-heart today. I think everything is pretty much out in the open. I explained how I'm looking at all the traits I like in guys and I'm deciding which traits are most important to me, etc. I told him how much I cared about him but how I wasn't guaranteeing we'd end up together. I feel really good about our talk. :]"

January 31, 2008

"So tonight I went out with Jake again. We went to Seven Peaks and played broom hockey on the ice. It was pretty fun. Then we went to eat at this rice and pudding place--it was...interesting. Then Jake took me home and I called Thomas. Haha and Thomas picked me up and we went bowling. It was fun :] I don't think Jake is my type but he's a cool friend. I missed Thomas on my date but I think I need to date more still."

February 18, 2008

"Thomas and I went home this weekend! It was so fun! We went out to a really fancy dinner on Thursday for Valentine's Day in Salt Lake. Thomas gave me Tommy Girl perfume and a diamond necklace. (okay so i guess i don't mention what I gave to him and it makes me seem a little like a brat...i gave him a book of 75 reasons why i loved him and also a message in a bottle...a love note. this was a good week!) After dinner, we started our drive to California. We left Salt Lake at 11pm and drovfe all night. Well, we stopped for one hour to sleep. We got to Rancho at 8:30am. Then we surprised everyone. It was fun. We had a really great weekend. I'm pretty much set on marrying Thomas. I don't know how it happened but while I was at home it suddenly felt so right. I am so in love with him. I want to sleep by him every night. :] I'm going to wait until I feel good about this for about a month before I tell him he can start preparing for a proposal :] I'm very excited."

February 22, 2008

"Okay so yesterday I was starting to feel nervous again about Thomas and I was so mad! How could it feel so right and then so confusing? But I still feeel like we can be very happy together. We can make a great family together. I know Thomas will take such great care of me. I want to marry him. I prayed about it tonight and I feel at peace when I pray. I think Heavenly Father is really saying I have to make my decision. I think he knows Thomas will take great care of me but he also knows there are other people who could too. I don't believe in soulmates. I think Heavenly Father knows I have to decide for myself and be sure. Thomas is the one I want. I love him. I'm not interested in anyone else. I want to spend my life with Tom. I want to raise kids with him. I want to go through life's trials with him by my side. I am so in love with him :] He makes me happy. We went ring shopping tonight. There are so many pretty ones! I found a super pretty one at this place called Samuel's. Then we went to a movie...August Rush. It was decent."

February 23, 2008

"I have got to be the most frustrating girlfriend on the planet! I am so back and forth. I was feeling really uneasy today again and so I talked with Thomas about it. He's really angry--who could blame him? I keep tugging at his feelings--good and bad. How confusing for him! I MUST figure things out."

February 24, 2008

"I want to be with Thomas. I can't imagine my life without him. Thinking that he could marry someone else is devastating. I want to raise my children with him. I want to support him and I want him to support me. I want this to work out for us. I want to marry Tom. Now I'm going to fast every day this week. Next Sunday will be my last day of fasting. And at that point, I will pray about it again. If I feel good about it, we move forward with an engagement. If I still feel uneasy...we call it quits. No more playing with his heart. I want Thomas to be happy. If I can't make him happy I need to let him go so that someone else can. Please let it be right..."

February 25, 2008

"Wow, a lot happened in one night. I thought Thomas and I were going to break up for good last night. I was feeling really uneasy and he was really getting sick of hte back and forth. There was a lot of crying and I honestly thought I was going to call my dad that night and tell him I was flying home or something needed to pick me up. I was seriously considering discontinuing from BYU, quitting my job, and getting out of here ASAP. Then I started thinking how I'd hold up without Thomas and then leaving didn't sound like such a great idea anymore. Tom suggested we take a one week break...no taking, nothing. (note: this was kind of an ultimatum. he gave me one week. after that, decide. if i was still indecisive, no more.) I agreed and came into my dorm and did homework for about an hour and then lost it completely. A week without Thomas!? Ridiculous. So I texted him and told him I couldn't do it. He came over about an hour later. We watched the 3 stooges in my dorm then walked to the temple. My mom called me and said "You love him, huh?" Yes of course! Then she told me how sometimes she got scared when she and Dad were engaged. She asked me lots of questions. 1) Would Tom be a good provider? Yes. 2) Would he be a good father? Yes. 3)Would he honor his Priesthood? Yes. 4)Do you like him? Yes. 5) Do you love him deeply? Yes. and then she was like "Okay, then you need to just trust your feelings. If he is everything you've been looking for in a husband, trust yourself. So i'm working on that. Then she talked to Tom and explained she knew I loved him but was just uneasy because I have no support from anyone here in Utah. I think Tom and I will wait until we get back to CA before we get engaged. He and I went running today...kinda. We ran like 20% of the time. We went up to the temple and back. It started raining once we got to the temple. My hands/arms were SO cold when we got back."

February 28, 2008

"I feel like mine and Thomas's relationship isn't as close as it used to be. Hahah--did that make sense gramatically? Anyway--I just don't know how I feel. I do know I'm confused. He's trying so hard. I feel so bad for being so indecisive. I want to be able to tell him I for sure want to marry him and then move forward with it. The problem is I don't know if that's what I actually want. WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?"

March 30, 2008

"Thomas and I are doing okay. I still feel up and down and that really confuses me. :/ It would be so terrible if things didn't work out with me and Thomas. He would be devastated and I would feel like such...a punk."

April 2, 2008:

"I love Thomas! We actually got in a fight on Tuesday (so last night) but we talked through it so everything is great."

April 5, 2008

"Conference weekend! Woohoo! I'm waiting for Thomas to pick me up. We'll watch the Saturday morning session at his apartment then we'll go to Mark and Laurin's this afternoon. Tomorrow morning we are going to the conference center to watch it then tomorrow afternoon we'll probably be back at Tom's."

April 6, 2008

"Today is a good day. Conference was great. Tom and I went to Salt Lake for the morning session then watched the afternoon session at his house. I can't wait for the conference ensign to come out :] Tom had a mission reunion tonight so we went to that. It was fun. His mission President and wife are really sweet. Tom, Jesse (tom's roommate), and I played Phase 10. I won :] We played last night and I lost terribley. I still don't think I'm 100% sure about marriage. Some days I feel really great about marrying Tom and other days it makes me feel really uneasy. Only time with tell..."

April 7, 2008

"Tom and I watched the March Madness championship tonight. Memphis lost. Bummer. We both guessed they'd win."

April 8, 2008

"Thomas and I played Phase 10 dice tonight and did a crossword." (my journal entries aren't this short...i'm just leaving all the stuff that isn't about thomas out.)

April 9, 2008

Tonight I began preparing for a talk for our ward devotional on Thursday. Erin is in charge of putting them together and she asked me to speak on "loving yourself as Jesus loves you." I really did not want to speak and desperately searched for a reason to get out of it. However, all attempts failed and I unhappily accepted the invitation. So tonight I went to lds.org and searched for "loving yourself." The first article listed was called "Breaking Up Without Breaking into Pieces." I was interested so I opened it to read it. It spoke about couples who seriously date and then one or both decide the relationship should not end in marriage. It stated that if this is the case, breaking up is often the kindest solution. It made many interesting points such as one person may feel they have received an answer from Heavenly Father confirming the relationship was right and ripe for marriage. It said you can receive this answer as an okay to continue dating but it is not a promise that marriage will actually occur or is even the best choice. The article said people change and sometimes your answer can then turn to a 'no.' As I read and pondered the article, I wondered if it was speaking to me. I considered that perhaps it was the Lord's way of communicating with me regarding my relationship with Thomas. I think I've said before that I still struggle with feeling like I receive a constant answer to my situation of marriage...or no marriage. Troubled, I knelt before the Lord and prayed earnestly about the article and my relationship. Perhaps surprisingly, I did not feel I should end my relationship with my dear Thomas (sigh of relief). Even though I still often feel confused, I love Thomas. I enjoy spending time with him. I respect him. I feel a bond between us. I was so terribly for our relationship to work but at the same time I know if it is not the Lord's will I should not marry him. I hope my answer comes soon."

April 11, 2008

"Thomas and I went ring shopping tonight. We've done that before but it wasn't as successful as this time! We found the ring. I decided I wanted a sqaure ring with four diamonds in the center rather than like just one diamond in the middle. So we looked at some at Samuels...nothing. And then we looked at Zales...some were really pretty but then we went to Kay Jewelers and there it was! So perfect and so pretty! It's on sale too! Well...until April 20th so haha I guess he has to buy it before then. But I think that's okay :] It's so pretty! I'M SO IN LOVE WITH IT. Yayyy.

Pretty engagement ring!

Yay!

Marci is so excited!

So very excited!

Pretty ringssss

that mean pretty thingsss

i <3>

and pretty sqaure

engagement rings

& boyfriends

& fiances.

I LOVE MY LIFE!!!!

April 14, 2008

"A lot to say! I got VERY sick last night :[ Erin, Sabrina, Thomas, and I ate in the Cannon Center Cafeteria. It was great and I went to Tom's house afterward. We did a crossword and I attempted to take naps. After being there about 2 hours, I started to feel really sick...like really nauseus. I asked Tomto take me home because I really wasn't feeling well. I tried to sleep in my dorm but I was so queasy. Hayley came home and I was crying because I was afraid I was going ot throw up...my worst fear. Someone went to get our RA, Lacey. She came in and got me a cold washcloth. Erin got me a sprite and Hayley and Danielle found ice for me to chew. I asked Lacey to call Tom so he could come give me a blessing. He brought Jesse with him adn they blessed me to have a quick recovery. Erin stayed and watched Maid in Manhatten with me. I threw up mid-movie. Ew. So much for my 7 year record. I was pretty restless last night. The longest I slept in one period was 26 minutes. Thomas just called me! I'll write the rest tomorrow..."

Okay so I never did "write the rest tomorrow" but I know what happened. After this experience, I was suddenly so sure that I should marry Thomas. It suddenly was so very clear to me that it was the right decision. The whole story is long but basically being given that blessing from Thomas confirmed for me the answer I had been seeking...it directly related to a paragraph in my patriarchal blessing that had been troubling me regarding marriage and it suddenly all made sense. So this is when I really was sure. Really. (Promise!)

April 17, 2008

"Have I mentioned yet that Thomas bough a ring? No--THE ring? We are DEFINITELY getting married about I'm very excited! Everything is just the way I imagined it would be...I'm so crazy in love. Thomas is truly amazing. He always makes me so happy! I cannot wait to be sealed to him! We're going to make a great couple."

April 19, 2008

"I bought my wedding dress today! YAYYY. It is seriously so gorgeous! It's so sparkly and pretty. Ahh, how I love it! I also bought a veil and a slip. So my dress was like $670 or something and the veil was 90 but I got it for FREE because if you bought a dress this month at Allyse's bridal and paid for the whole thing by the end of the month you got $100 off a veil. And the slip was like $60. Mom and Dad paid for my dress. I'm so so so so excited to be married! I think my colors are going to be yellow and white with some orange ribbon. I'm very thrilled. Thomas and I are so perfect for each other. We are going to make the greatest couple." (holy cow, can i say that enough?)

April 21, 2008

"Thomas and I looked at the stars tonight. It was really fun. :] and so sweet and cute."

April 29, 2008

"Well, I'm in the dark and can't really see so I apologize for any bad handwriting...So...I'm ENGAGED! Thomas proposed tonight! I am so thrilled beyond words. By the way, we're home and loving every minute of it. I've been so anxious for this proposal! Here's my story: Tom came over after work. He insisted we watch a movie. About halfway through he said he needed to use the bathroom. Pause. I'm going to finish this tomorrow when I can see..."

April 30, 2008

"Okay so Thomas came over after work yesterday and asked if I wanted to start a movie. I had told him earlier in the day that I wanted to watch a movie but I didn't feel like it anymore when he came so I said not really. He was like "No, we have to" and so I was like "okay..." So we did. We started Firewall. Then I was kinda sitting on Tom's lap and he told me I couldn't sit there. I was like "why not?" and he was like "Because what if I have to go to the bathroom?" So i was like okay that's kinda a weird reason but whatever so I sat next to him. Then I had my hand on his leg and I FELT the ring box! hahah so I was like "Oooo, what's this?" and he was like "my keys." So i was like (note: holy cow did I say like enough in my diary?) hahaha okay and I knew it was the ring box but I let it go. Then halfway through the movie Tom was like "Okay I need to go to the bathroom really fast." I was like "hmmm, okay" but I was pretty sure that wasn't where he was going. It was like right during a really scary part of the movie so I was like "well can i go upstairs?" (this is where more people were so I wouldn't be scared) and he said "no" so I was like "how come?" and he said "Because I'll be right back." So I was like "oookay." then my mom goes (from the top of the stairs) "Hey, Marci, can you come up here for a minute." Me "uh-huh..." (pretty suspicious at this point). So i go up the stairs and there were hershey kisses blazing a little trail up the stairs to my bedroom. When I got to my bedroom, my desk chair was in the middle and a card that said "Marci" was propped against the backboard. I read the card and it was really sweet. Then in the card Tom asked me to go out by the pool. So he was in the backyard and the pool fountains were going...or waterfalls or whatever. And he said some really nice things to me (but I honestly don't remember what was said) then he kissed me and got down on one knee and said "will you marry me?" and OF COURSE I said YES! I am so so so so so so so excited. I cannot wait to marry Thomas. He's the greatest. We'll be married in the Sacramento, CA temple on July 19, 2008 at 10am. The reception will take place that night :] I'm very excited to begin planning and to be married to such an amazing man. I'm so lucky. :] Everyone loves my ring. It's gorgeous <3

June 28, 2008

"I'm at efy to be a counselor! I already miss my Thomas like crazyyy! I think EFY will be really fun but I seriously miss Thomas :[

Oh PS 3 weeks until WEDDING DAY! YAY!"

July 2, 2008

"I miss my Thomas a lot. :[ two weeks and two days until we can be sealed to each other for eternity. I love him so much. We are going to have an amazing life together. I know we'll have rough patches throughout married life but I also know we'll always work through them :]"

July 4, 2008

"I miss Thomas more everyday. Two weeks, one day until we're married! :] We can't wait! That will be the happiest day of my life. I can't wait to be sealed to Thomas for time and all eternity. We are going to have such a happy life together :]"

July 6, 2008

"I'm getting married in one week and six days! :] 13 days! I'm so excited. :] I am so in love with Thomas. I can't wait to be Mrs. Wallace. I love him so much! <3>

July 7, 2008

"Sooo I seriously miss my Thomas. :[ only one more week! 5 days actually! :] Hoorah! I can't wait to go home to him. I love being an EFY counselor...it's just really hard to be away from Thomas."

and finally...

June 20, 2008

"Thomas and I were married yesterday! Yay! The sealing was beautiful. We were sealed at 10am in the Sacramento California temple. Afterward, we took pictures in front of the temple for a couple hours. IT was so hot. Ugh. Then we went to the luncheon that Tom's mom put together. The food was great :] We got a small break after that...maybe half an hour. Thomas played x-box with Ryan and Chris and I played mancala with Kelli. Then we headed to our reception at the stake center on Wissemann. We took lots of picctures there before the guests arrived. Not as many people came as I expected but it was still pretty well attended. We left the reception about 15 minutes before it ended and people were blowing bubbles as we left. It was really cute. The groomsmen decorated our car for us :] Last night, Tom and I stayed at a hotel called Le Rivage. John Chandler owns it and let us stay there as a gift. He is so sweet! He also left us a note and some sparkling cider. The hotel was SO nice. It's the only five star hotel in Sacramento. I love being married...especially to Thomas. He's amazing. The whole wedding day was perfect. I love my life.

PS sorry this is so sloppy. we are driving to Magic Mountain."

And that's our story. :] (can you believe Thomas stuck with me through all that!? Thanks, love!)

Diving

2009-07-18T22:54:00.006-06:00

So Rachel (7) is in a diving class and we almost always watch her dive and hear the instructions her dive teacher gives them. Lindsay, Jamie, and I wanted to learn the dives so we started practicing them at the Savage's house on their diving board. Lindsay has got her back dive down and just learned her tuck dive yesterday. Jamie is still working on the basic diving part (keep up, Jai!) and I've got my tuck, back, and inward dives...still trying to learn the twist dive. I actually have a huge bruise on one of my thighs from slapping the water so many times during mistakes...I make lots of them. Like this one:

And then here are the actual good dives:

Tuck Dive

Back Dive (still working on this one)

Inward Dive (my favorite!)

I've discovered I really like to dive!!

Record Holder

2009-07-18T22:39:00.002-06:00

So I've officially deemed myself the record holder for longest work shifts EVER! Get this...in the last 72 hours, I've spent 49 of them working. That's 68% of my life for the last three days. Here's how it goes...on Thursday, Brooke Savage (18) had an orientation for college at SUU (southern Utah). SUU is about 3 hours away and the orientation was from 8am-5pm. Brooke got one college credit for attending the orientation so she had to stay all day in order to get the credit. Both of her parents wanted to go with her so they needed someone to be with the kids. Here's how the day went:

425 am: I leave the comfort of my bed.
4:35 am: Leave my apt for the Savage's house
5 am: Arrive at the Savage's
5am-630am: Attempt to fall back asleep on Savage's couch
6:30am-8:22am: Sleep peacefully on Savage's family room floor
8:22am-9:30am: Breakfast, get everyone ready for the day, drop off Lindsay at gymnastics
9:30am-10:00am: Take Rachel and Josh to "the yellow park"
10:00am-12:30pm: Swim in Savage's pool
12:30-Pick up Lindsay from gymnastics
12:30-1:00-Eat lunch; get Josh and Rachel ready for swim lessons
1:00: Drop off Josh and Rachel at swim lessons
1:00-2:00-swim in Savage's pool with Lindsay, Tyler, and Jamie
2:00-pick up Josh from swim lessons
2:00-3:00-swim again
3:00-go to Rachel's diving class; watch her dive for 15 minutes then bring her home
3:20-4:30: get everyone showered after swimming and ready to go to Jumpin Jacks (a bounce house place)
4:30-6:00: Jumpin Jacks
6:00-Stop at grocery store for food for dinner
6:15-6:30: Prepare dinner
6:30: Lindsay and I go to Hollywood video to rent Little Rascals while others stay home to finish dinner
7:00: Eat dinner (yummy burritos with avacado and chicken marinated in bbq sauce)
7:30: Start Little Rascals
8:40: Play "the soccer game" and a real soccer game in the Savage's gym
9:00: Jump on the trampoline and play "stuck in the mud" outside
9:15: Savage's come home
9:30: Head back home
9:55: Arrive home.

I know that was probably too much information but I just wanted you to get a peek at my 16.5 hour day nannying. The mothers are probably reading this thinking "get used to it...without pay."

Okay so then I get home from nannying, pretty much go straight to bed, then get up Friday morning at seven to go to work again (wasn't I just there?). I work until 4:40 then come home, pack real quick, and head off to our 24 hour shift at the Family Support and Treatment Center. I'm telling you...this is exhausting!

Our shift at the center went pretty well except that we had one boy brought by DCFS who cried almost the entire time. Thank goodness he slept through the night and took two naps. Whenever he was awake, he was screaming. We had him our entire shift along with his older sister (who was the opposite of him and was an angel!) So no free time at all during this shift but we did have a volunteer which helped a lot!

Tonight Thomas and I went to Outback Steakhouse as an early anniversary dinner since we won't be able to go out tomorrow. I've never been there before and it was pretty good. Thanks, Thomas! :]

Photo Shoot!

2009-07-12T17:17:00.004-06:00

Kelli and I did a mini photo shoot during the boring parts of one of Tom's softball games. I think the pictures turned out pretty cute!

Jump On It

2009-07-10T16:55:00.007-06:00

Today we went to Jump On It! It's this huge trampoline place that is REALLY fun. The Savage kids LOVE it. Jamie got to come with us and she thought it was really fun too. My camera battery was dying so I didn't get very many pictures but I did get a few videos. This one is of Jai jumping up onto the platform:

Josh and Rachel were doing this really cool trick off the platform where they jumped onto the trampoline and went straight into a flip. They were really good at it and at first I was scared to try but then I thought "if a 5 and 7 year old can do it, so can I!" so I tried. The first few times I did it perfectly and then I wanted Jai to get a video...and it wasn't so perfect. I flipped one and a half times and landed right on my face. You can watch:

Okay so even though I'm not so good at THAT, I am pretty good at THIS:

Discovery Children's Museum

2009-07-09T17:10:00.000-06:00

Today, the Savage kids and I went to the Children's Discovery Museum in Salt Lake City. It was pretty good...the kids thought it was a lot of fun. I thought that they had some really good ideas but they really needed to do some upkeep. Lots of the electronic things they had to do were broken and lots of the other stuff needed repairs/replacements too. But the kids didn't seem to notice so they still had a good time.

Josh and Lindsay broadcasting the news. They had a teleprompter and multiple screens to watch the newscasters from different angles (some of the screens were broken but this one wasn't!)

Josh being the pilot of the Life Flight helicopter. Rachel was the paramedic and is sitting in the paramedic's seat until her patient arrives onboard.

There was a farming section with different vegetables (not really sure what you were supposed to do with them) and then they had this big horse that you could climb onto. L-R is Lindsay, Rachel and Josh.

Rock Climbing

2009-07-07T22:12:00.005-06:00

Nannying is so fun! Today we went rock climbing. My little sister and brother, Jamie and Chris, are in town so they came with us. I was shocked when we arrived to find out I was going to be the belayer! I thought sure they had the people who worked there do it. They taught me how to tie the knot and make everything safe for the climber and how to belay and then had me sign a paper and left me to it! Good thing everyone left all in one piece. I didn't drop anyone! :] It actually wasn't very difficult once I got the hang of it but it sure was exhausting! My arms are so sore and my fingertips feel like they might fall off. :] The only really lame thing about this was that I didn't get to climb!!! The kids were all too young to be the belayer for me. So I thought that was pretty dumb (especially since they made me pay for myself just to be the belayer!) A little ridiculous but it was still very fun to watch all the kids climb! And I actually did get to climb these little walls where you didn't need to be harnessed because they were so short. Here are some (lots of) pictures:

Here's the tall wall that they climbed. It's even taller than it looks because part of the bottom is cut off. This is Lindsay climbing.

Lindsay (11)

Rachel (7)

Joshua (5)

Jamie (14)

Lindsay and Chris

Chris (12)

All the kids. L-R: Joshua, Rachel, Chris, Lindsay, & Jamie (and Tyler standing in the back)

Here's me!

My job is AMAZING. :]

Great Play!

2009-07-07T16:24:00.000-06:00

Here's a quick clip of one of Tom's softball games.

Happy 1st Birthday, Emma!

2009-07-05T22:09:00.000-06:00

Our niece, Emma, had her first birthday today! There was a little party for her at Laurin and Mark's house. We had a yummy dinner and cake and ice cream. Emma opened presents and was really pretty good at it! Here are a few shots of the cute birthday girl:

Happy Birthday, Emma Boo! We hope it's a happy year for you! :] Love you!

4th of July

2009-07-04T22:00:00.002-06:00

We had a fun 4th of July--although it was totally different than what we usually do. When I was growing up, we always did the whole pancake breakfast/parade/swimming/bbq charade--which I loved! But living in Provo in an apartment forces you to do things a little differently. My family was in town so we definitely had a much more exciting time than we would have alone! In the late morning, we hiked the Y...I'm still confused why I've done this hike four times now. It is SO hard! I thought I wasn't going to make it this time. But I did. Here's me and the sisters at the top:

We're in order of oldest to youngest. L-R: Laurin, Marci, Kelli, Jamie

After the exhausting hike, we went out to eat at Chadder's (an imitation In N Out). Although I hate to frequent those copy-cat places, I really like burgers that taste similar to In N Out's and there's no real thing here for me to eat (yet!). After Chadder's everyone took a nap for a couple hours (really, that hike was tough!).

In the late afternoon we went miniature golfing. It was so fun! Thomas won (he was like 10 under par) and I came in second place at even par!! I'm so proud...I've never done that well! After miniature golf most of the family went out to eat for dinner and Jai and I went to the grocery store to buy ice cream and toppings for banana splits. YUM. We went to watch the fireworks late at night and they actually were pretty lame. Not as good as Rancho Cordova fireworks. Oh...and it started to rain. Of course. It rains almost every day here. IT'S JULY. Utah is no good.

Happy 4th of July!!!

Softball!

2009-07-01T22:32:00.004-06:00

Tonight, Kelli and I went to watch Tom play softball in a BYU co-ed league. The rules are all really different than the real thing so we were pretty confused but we were both pleasantly surprised at what a STAR Thomas is. We didn't know he was so good! I took lots of pictures of him playing but none of them are really good action shots. Here are a few anyway.

They won the game! YAY.

Kelli and I went to Bon Lossee today...Kelli re-did her hi-lights (more blonde this time--it's so cute) and I...FINALLY CUT MY HAIR! It's probaby like 2-3 inches shorter than what I requested but I had a feeling that would happen (even though I told him the most important thing was for it to be the same length as the picture--or longer!) But that always happens to me so I wasn't too disappointed. I go back and forth between liking it and missing my long hair. I think I will always have days that I miss my long hair but I do like the new cut. It's fun. :]

Oh and I think this is funny...when Thomas and I dropped Kelli off at her dorm tonight after going out to dinner I could not find my flip-flop. I was so confused where it could be! I KNEW I wore it into the car! Tom found it for me. Here it was (in the door of the car):

Also exciting...as an early anniversary present Thomas got me a new cell phone--the new EnV Touch! It is so fun! I'm really in love with it and usually I don't care very much about having up-to-date electronics. But I really, really love my touch phone!

My family is coming this weekend (again!) so we are looking forward to a fun, family-filled 4th of July! :]

PS My 4th of July korker bows are oh-so-cute and really inexpensive at only $2 per bow. Let me know if you want some for your sweet girls! (except if I had to ship them they probably would not arrive on time...)

FHE

2009-06-16T22:12:00.005-06:00

For our Family Home Evening activity tonight, Thomas and I went on a hike through Rock Canyon. I wasn't really in the mood for hiking so I didn't really go thinking it would be fun but we had a really good time! [and it really was more of a walk than a hike.]

Here's some (a lot of) pictures!

We saw this little hole from down on the paved path and thought it looked like a cave and wanted to check it out--so we did!

And it was a cave! [it's much bigger than it looks in the picture]

We found another little cave and I could totally stand under it without bending my head (even though i'm bending my head in this picture--don't know what i did that...it totally defeats the whole reason for the picture). And Thomas did not fit under it :]

He was making me nervous going so far up there! But no matter how much I pleaded with him to come down he would not. He swore it was safer up there than down where I was. Don't know about that but he did finally come down once I was near tears (except I think he was just ready to come down).

Katie's Wedding

2009-06-07T16:34:00.006-06:00

Yesterday, one of my friends, Katie Shepherd, got married! :] Tom and I went to the reception of the new Mr. and Mrs. Mikey Harmon in Highland yesterday. Their colors were really pretty-white and tangerine-ish. And they had delish food too-chicken salad sandwiches, fruit kabobs and cheesecake (our favorite dessert)!

Oh, and does everyone know when you buy a gift from Bed, Bath, and Beyond when someone has registered there, the gift wrapping is free? So nice! :]

Today, Tom and I had the yummiest dinner! Italian chicken, salad (made with spinach leaves, of course!), sliced strawberries with whipped cream, and strawberry-banana smoothies! YUM. I was planning to make apple pie tonight for dinner but I think we might be full for a long time!

The one bummer thing about having a really delicious dinner is that usually there are a lot of dishes to do. Rice cooker, plates, multiple bowls, blender, crockpot, plates, etc. So we hate doing dishes (especially since we have no dishwasher) and so I was saying I wished there were elves that came to do your chores for you if you didn't finish them before you went to bed just like the Elves and the Shoemaker. Tom had no idea what I was talking about and I was like "you've never heard of that story?" and he said no so I told it to him and he's really never heard of it before! Isn't that weird? I think it's weird.

PS If anyone knows of good places to rent in the Provo area, let us know! We're thinking we should try to move before August since our new ward meeting time will be from 2pm-5pm. How awful!! Plus...we want 2 bedrooms.