Scruffleupagus

Yeah, it's a lame rip off of the famous Sesame Street character with a similar name.

I don't know how unusual it is for BYU students to wonder what they would look like without the clean-shaven requirements. All I know is that I had often wondered what I would look like if I let my facial hair grow out a bit. The only problem is that the in-between stage of growing facial hair looks awful!

Anyway, a few weeks back I accidentally got my chance to find out. Through a small series of events, my razor got left at Christy's family's house. No big deal right? Just go buy another razor. It is that simple, but my desire to save $7.00 won out. I almost gave in so many times (in fact I almost used Christy's razor to shave), but I held out for a whole week until I was able to get my razor back.

What do you think? (Ignoring my lopsided eyes, of course)


And here's a good point of reference:


I'm really curious. Bring back the scruff or nix it forever?

Our wonderful sunday experience :)

Driving home Sunday evening, we had an unforgettable experience. We had noticed earlier that the car was unbalanced which caused the steering wheel to shake. We were a little worried and decided we should probably have it looked at this week.
So, we had just passed one of the Lehi exits, when suddenly we hear a pop bang, and realized that our tire blew out!! A super scary experience when driving over 70 on the freeway with tonz of other cars. We happened to be in the carpool lane so Brandon, with his quick video game reflexes, pulled the car over into the tiny bit of road on the left side of the lanes. Scary!!!!! And it all happened so fast!! Sitting there we realized we couldn't do much until we got to the other side of all the lanes, where there was actually room to open a car door, with out asking for trouble. After a quick prayer and some tears on my part, a clearing opened and we got the car over.
Now what? We hopped out of the car, and got to work, oh and I of course had to take some pictures to document this lovely experience.

The Flat!

Good thing Brandon knew how to change a tire.
I didn't even know that we had a spare tire or tools to change it!

"Come on, come off already!!"

Yep, I did help. Surprised?

Yeah and not exactly the best apparel for such a job :)

The 'lovely' spare all ready to go half an hour later!

Oh, don't you worry, this was not even the end!! After we got going again we realized that the spare tire had low pressure- a little flat, and we were almost out of gas!! And so, with another 15 minute delay we finally were headed home again!
I am so grateful that we were able to make it home safely.

Legal Misgivings

So I'm getting used to the question: "Are you excited for law school?" And the answer is that I am. I truly am. I had my first day of orientation today and as part of it, we had a sample class where we dissected a case involving a refrigerator salesman in the 60's. And it was fascinating. The discussion, the teaching method, the differing opinions on such a simple matter...it was all so intellectually stimulating. I loved it.

But what about the other side of the legal world? I don't relish the thought of being in a profession that is full of crooks. A profession that is the brunt end of countless jokes about its corruption.
Or even in the "honest" part of the legal world: what about the 50-70 hour work weeks (and it sounds like 50 could be a lucky week)? Or the vast amount of writing involved? That I could definitely live without. And what's so unique about the legal profession? I always thought it would be neat to do something where I was virtually irreplaceable. Well unless I go into water rights law, that won't be the case. And from my economics background, I can't help but realize that an efficient society wouldn't even need lawyers!

The post-graduate stuff makes law school seem easy. I mean, I'm only supposed to be so busy that I can't handle a part-time job. In fact, let's just throw out money altogether since I'm supposed to do an unpaid externship after my first year. Oh, and I only have to compete with my fellow classmates for everything. No biggie.

So when you ask me if I'm excited about law school and I tell you "yes", now you have the rest of the story. I'm glad I feel like this is where I'm supposed to be because otherwise, the left side of my brain would be screaming at me to get out while I still can. As it is, I'll see you again in 3 years!

Back to School

Well here we are with school right around the corner. Brandon started law school orientation today. And his classes start next Monday. Thankfully, I have an extra week before my classes starts. I can't believe how quickly the summer has gone. Good Luck Brandon!

One year!!

First off I must say, isn't Brandon so cute to have paid tribute to me each day this week!! He is so sweet, especially because I don't completely agree with every thing he has said, he makes me sound like a perfect angel :) (soo not true!) This goes to show that I am the lucky one to be married to him!!!!!

Anyway I thought that it would be fun to highlight some things about our first year together!

* We got married at 10 am August 14, 2009 in the Salt Lake Temple
* For our honeymoon we flew down to Florida, went to Disney world, and then went on a cruise to the Bahamas
* We moved into our first apartment
* We got called as an extraction couple in our ward and I was also the assist. RS secretary- whatever that means :) jk
* We started another year of school
* We got a Wii with extra wedding money
* I got accepted to the BYU Elementary Education program
* We both started new jobs. I work at the Marriott Center ticket office as a student clerk, and Brandon was a research assistant for one of his statistics professors.
* Brandon took the LSAT and did excellent (and with only a few hours of studying)
* We spent our first Thanksgiving together and with all our family and then did early morning black friday shopping
* We recreated our first date
* We finished fall semester. Brandon with a 4.0 and me with a better gpa than when we were dating :)
* We spent our first Christmas together with both our families
* We started another semester- Brandon's last as an undergrad and my first semester in the Eled program- i had art, dance, drama, and music classes
* We celebrated our 6 month anniversary on Valentines day :)
* Brandon turned the big 23!
* After a long couple of months we finished the semster. I got the highest gpa ever in my college years and Brandon got his first B :( but who cares because he also graduated in Actuarial Science Magna Cum Laude !!!
* Brandon also got accepted to the BYU Law school with a full-tuition scholarship!!! and will be starting in a week!
* After some stress and worry he found a job in South Jordan as a Data Analyst
* I took spring classes- dumb idea
* Brandon got a new calling as the Sunday School President.
* We went on three trips during the summer :camping at Cherry Hills with Brandon's extended fam;
we went on a roadtrip to California and went to a taping of The Price i$ Right; and then a week up in Park City with my family.
* I turned 21 and became legal- finally
* We recently signed on a new apartment and will be moving shortly

* and now Here we are, 1 year later!!

Of course, through out the year we went on our weekly dates, spent alot of time with our family, locked ourself our of the apartment, had to jumpstart our car a few times, and experience some new things. We've laughed, cried, stressed, played, worked, etc. We experienced snow, rain, thunderstorms, sunsets, sledding, swimming, and much more. It's been a great year!

Happy anniversary!! Love You!

Tribute to Christy (Part V)

Happy Anniversary to Christy and me! And it will be happy indeed. As my final tribute, I saved the best for last. These are the two qualities that I brainstormed that would be at the top of my list (although I'm sure I left some important qualities out of my brainstorm). Ready for this?

Anyone who really knows Christy knows how easy-going she is. She has ideas and opinions, but is always quick to compromise and/or to change plans entirely. It's so easy to live with her because she can just go with the flow of life and enjoy it. As a running joke in our family of two, Christy will often ask me, "What's the plan, Bran?" And while I may get irritated occasionally because I'm terrible at planning, the truth is that I like that she is so willing to roll with the punches and be spontaneous.

Related to that, I love Christy's attitude towards life. Life is fun with her around. She is quick to laugh and to just enjoy life. Even when stress is all around her, I can still make her laugh. It's in her nature and it lifts the spirits of those around her - especially me. Not a day goes by that we don't share a laugh or ten. I inherited my dad's sense of humor (meaning that I often tell jokes that I find funnier than anyone else does) and yet Christy always brings a smile to my face by laughing with me (or at least at me) when I tell a lame joke.

It's been a great year and I couldn't be happier to have the opportunity to spend so many more with the sweetest girl I've ever met. I love you Christy! Happy first anniversary.

Tribute to Christy (Part IV)

So I made a list earlier this week of things about Christy that I really love and needless to say, I have far more things on the list than I have days left to write about them (at least as part of this 5 day tribute). So, I'm going to quickly cover two things today (quickly because work is a bit busier today than usual).

The first is a bit silly and is not one of those qualities that everyone looks for in a spouse (you know the ones), but I love that Christy likes to play games: card games, board games, stupid internet games, etc. We've had a lot of fun playing games over the last year with friends and family - but mostly just between us. We both enjoy finding new (good) games, so if you know of any be sure to pass them on!

The second thing is something that you would find on the "ideal spouse" list. Christy is level-headed and very slow to anger. I had always thought of myself as being pretty calm and level-headed, but Christy has me beat by a landslide. I can't think of a single time that Christy has gotten truly angry (and if it has happened, it obviously wasn't very memorable). That's quite a feat when you are living with someone as quirky as I can be. And level-headed doesn't just apply to being angry. I love that even in crazy stressful situations, Christy can be reasonable and handle whatever comes her way. She truly is remarkable!