home renovation

Today at work I got a jolly rancher. As I was fingering it's plastic wrapper I had this memory of my Grandparents, and my Grandpa in particular. My Grandpa has always been the candy man at church. All the kids know to check his pockets and they're sure to find a tootsie roll or jolly rancher. Even when I was older, I'd spot my Grandpa in the hallway after church. He'd be there with his white hair,wearing a suit (but you could spot his staple suspenders underneath-he's a farmer, he can't go ANYWHERE without wearing suspenders). He'd give me a smile and say, "Here you go, Katie" and hand me some sort of treat.

At my Grandparents' house there was an old candy jar in the kitchen full of jolly ranchers. Just walking into that kitchen is like a blast from the past. There's no dishwasher because they always refused to get one, they keep a bin by the sink to collect food scraps for compost because there's no disposal, and the colors are dated...I LOVE THAT KITCHEN. I remember canning there with my Grandma the summer before she died (I found out more stake gossip than I ever knew existed that summer), I remember making cookies there with my cousins, and I remember a bizillion sweltering, summer Sundays (they don't believe in air-conditioning either) when we ate roast that was made in that oven. But today, I remembered the candy jar...and how I used to dig through it to pick out only the watermelon candies. Today, when I chose my jolly rancher, it was watermelon...Isn't it strange how a little candy in a wrapper can remind you of so much?

I find it impossible to understand how two newly-married people can have so much STUFF. Chad and I started moving to our new apartment last night. My Dad and brother came down to help us move the big things like coffee table, microwave, couches, shelves, etc. We are no where CLOSE to being finished. We are currently between two apartments. This drives the OCD part of my personality completely insane. Today, I had to go to the old apartment to brush my teeth before I left for school, we forgot to bring the toothbrushes with us last night. It is ridiculous. Anyway, luckily for me Chad is there to calm me down. I had a nervous breakdown last night when the computer monitor wouldn't fit on the desk. I started bawling and said "I don't want to live here...." But Chad is helping me start to see it will be ok. I am just depressed because the carpet is ugly and we don't have two-toned walls anymore. BUT on an upside we have a bookshelf over our desk now. SO you can see all of the titles instead of having to dig through piles to find Austen or Poe. It's quite exciting! AND I think our bedroom is bigger, I really do!!! That is a plus too, more room to pile laundry on the floor =-) And, I really have no reason to complain, because our rent was only $60 for the month...including utilities. It's definitely worth it, just a bit frustrating.

So Scully said she wanted to hear mine...here they are. It's hard to think of these kinds of things on the spot:

7 Things I Want to Do Before I Die
1. Live in London again
2. Serve a mission (preferably foreign) with my hubby
3. Write and publish a novel
4. Have adorable children
5. Travel the world
6. Swim with dolphins
7. Decorate my dream house


7 Things I Cannot Do
1. Not sing along with the radio in a car
2. Leave a thrift store without buying anything
3. Not Sweat...I'm a sweater, it can be 20 degrees outside and my body will still feel the need to sweat.
4. Kill a spider without having a mini-breakdown
5. Not use at least a "tone" when I'm angry or frustrated or stop myself from whining when I'm sick.
6. Say no to dessert, even if I'm stuffed
7. Dim the blue in my personality (even if it's not my fault I'm always feeling guilty about something).


7 Things that Attracted me to My Spouse
1. He's adorable
2. He's sarcastic too
3. He was sweet to his sister, and I later found out to his entire family
4. He could make me laugh and still does all the time
5. He is patient and mellow, and I am unbelievably inpatient so we balance each other
6. He's musically talented and I always knew I'd marry a guitar player
7. He likes ethnic food, art, and other random things that a lot of boys hate

7 Things I Often Say
1. Bless your/his/her heart
2. Dang it all to heck!
3. Hi! My name is Katie and I am a student calling on behalf of Brigham Young University... (insert beg for money here)
4. Swamp hag- as in "You're such a swamp hag!"
5. I love you
6. Crap
7. You know what I mean?

7 Books I Love
1. The Catcher in the Rye
2. Ella Enchanted (I just read this one for Adolescent Lit and I LOVE it!)
3. Crossing to Safety
4. Middlemarch
5. A Yellow Raft in Blue Water
6. The Fountainhead
7. Quest for a Maid (another adolescent one... I read this over and over when I was younger)

7 Movies I Could Watch Over and Over
1. Breakfast at Tiffany's
2. Steel Magnolias
3. Ocean's Eleven and Twelve
4. Pride and Prejudice
5. The Indiana Jones Trilogy (esp The Last Crusade)
6. Walt Disney's Sleeping Beauty
7. Molly Ringwald 80's hits on TV (The Breakfast Club, 16 Candles, etc. when they have those marathons I go nuts!)

7 People I Would Like to Hear From-
Whoever wants to do this =-)

And no, I'm not talking about a fish...I'm talking about a toddler. On Sunday he bit two children in the nursery. TWO. Not just one, but TWO! And they are both the sweetest little girls too. He bit the first one in order to win a battle over a toy, but the second one he bit for the pure enjoyment of it. She was just standing there being adorable and all of a sudden she was crying and Chad was screaming, "HE JUST BIT HER!" I couldn't believe it. We tried to show him what he did and make him say sorry but he wouldn't. I felt so bad for the two little girls. I remember once during Dracula what was supposed to be a stage bite ended up being a real bite once. I didn't have to act like I was screaming, I was really screaming. It seriously hurt SO bad. After the scene I told the kid "NEVER bite me again, if you do I swear you will regret it!" I seriously had a bruise on my wrist for days. Anyway, back to the nursery, I'm telling you...it is a struggle to like this child. He is also a screamer. Not because he is sad, but because he just likes to scream. I think he likes to watch all of the children cover their ears in agony. Or maybe he likes to hear us say "We do NOT scream." It's a toss up. Anyway, the mom of this kid didn't even seem fazed by it. I mean, if my child was biting people I would be a bit concerned. As much as it's completely awful, it was kind of funny. This one little girl (the one who tried to put the fire out with an elephant-subject of an earlier post) started following him around reminding him of what all the leaders were saying "We do NOT bite! WE DO NOT BITE!" It was just funny watching her follow him around in dress up heels reminding him of how bad he'd been, lol. And the first little girl who got bit kept saying, "My mom's gonna slap him!" It really was quite humorous. I'm just worried some of the kids will start being afraid to come to nursery now. On a brighter note, we helped the kids make macaroni necklaces for their moms for Mother's Day. They LOVED it! I've never seen them get so into an activity before. Only a couple had the actual motor skills to do it on their own, but we helped them out and they were so excited to give them to their moms. It was adorable.

Ok, so here's just a friendly piece of advice. A little lesson in etiquette if you will. If someone agrees to give you a ride home, and you live WAY out of her way, she is already cranky from 4 hours of telemarketing, she is hobbling along like an old woman because she just worked out for the first time in a year and is now feeling the aftermath-LACTIC ACID, and all she wants to do is eat a Bojangles biscuit, the first thing you say to her when you get into the car should not be "Why would you drive a SUV?" Your tone should not be rude. You should also not proceed to lecture her extensively on what she already knows- that SUVs guzzle gas. You should not talk about the impracticality of an SUV and how she should just get a station wagon because it has just as much room. This is just reminding her that a) she's wasting gas by taking you home, you are not friends and she was only doing this out of the goodness of her heart b) she never wants to give you a ride again and c) you are socially inept! Some more appropriate options would be to say THANK YOU. Keep any comments about high gas prices to yourself. Go buy YOURSELF a dang station wagon. Remind yourself that an SUV would certainly be better than your current vehicle- BECAUSE YOU DON'T HAVE ONE! Some people are so rude! I just don't get how you can be THAT socially retarded. Did their parents teach them nothing??? GOSH!

And not just because we registered there for our wedding and are still reaping the benefits of amazing gifts...but because today I spent some time in the shoe department. Feast your eyes on my find please. These little babies cost me $26:


I could have purchased these at the mall for over $80 :





Look like practically the same shoe?!??? I thought so as well, and it makes me quite happy in my little heart. They are even more darling in person and on my own little footsies. I love them. And I owe it all to Target! Even though I am poor I can still make Stacey and Clinton proud =-) Gosh I'm stylish, even if I do say so myself!

It snowed today. I was wearing flip-flops. I was freezing. I had to wait for the bus.

Yesterday was Easter. We played with the nursery kids in the grass. Outside. In short sleeves. I was hot. Dad barbecued. It was tasty.

It snowed today. I hate Utah.