Thursday, October 8, 2009

Operation: Fix Lappy

Well, I would say that I haven't blogged for a while because law school has kept me around-the-clock busy. But that's not true. In fact, I don't know that I've ever enjoyed the first month and a half of school so much. And it's not the classes either. It's the free time (which basically means that when I do actually get around to preparing for finals I'm going to be in a heap of trouble, but I'll cross that bridge when I get around to it).

Anyway, I decided I really needed something to do with all this time. Christy, of course, proposed that I get a job (or more specifically, get my old job back). Besides being only a short term option, that would ruin all my fun! So I decided to take up some hobbies instead. And here's what resulted:


Christy's laptop (hereafter referred to as "Lappy"), had been having some issues. Lappy had a hard time realizing he was plugged in - and his condition was deteriorating into full blown dementia. So like any good doctor, I thought I'd have a look inside.

Unfortunately, I haven't been to medical school, so Lappy was taking quite a risk asking for my services. My assistant, Christy, helped me dismantle Lappy and we found the part that was likely the problem. But was it really?

Poor Lappy didn't realize that my surgical record wasn't exactly top-notch. In fact, the last laptop that I worked on ended up with severe sound issues (although the display issue was fixed!). However, after the double bypass surgery, Lappy booted up and much to my surprise he was completely whole (and somehow his sound quality actually improved). Mission accomplished.


And you'd never guess it, but this stupid little part cost $50 to replace. However, it was well worth bringing Lappy back to life.

And I'd love to do it again, so if anyone has a laptop that needs repair, let me know. But make sure that it is terrible enough first that if there were... complications during surgery, it wouldn't be any worse off than it already was. Catch my drift?

Friday, September 25, 2009

What's new...

So, I guess it's time to update.
With school and everything I have been pretty busy, and when I am not busy, blogging is pretty far down on the list of things I want to do. However, I do have a little motivation and some free time at work, so here goes.

It's fall!! The leaves are turning pretty colors. I love this time of year with the sometimes nice weather, and all the big holidays coming up.

We have been pretty busy with school. I really like my classes, and I feel like they are really valuable, at least most of the time. I am really getting excited to go into a classroom and put all this knowlege to use. My pracitcum (where I am assigned to a classroom to help out and experience some of the things that I am being taught to teach) starts at the end of October.

Brandon is liking law school, and so far he has been able to stay on top of things and not get too stressed out. I fear the day that that happens. Sometimes I think he spends less time and energy on his school work then I do, he probably disagrees though :)

We like our new, well not so new anymore, apartment. It has a lot more room, which is really nice. Our ward is nice, we've only gone a couple of Sundays because of vacations, etc. I think we will like it once we meet more people and receive callings.

A couple of weekends ago we went on a quick trip to Mesquite, Nevada for the Crowther family reunion. It was fast, simple, and lots of fun. We didn't really get any pictures because we didn't know where our camera was.

Also, within the last month we decided to try out the tv show, "The Office", and we found that we actually really like it, in fact I am pretty much addicted to watching it. We are almost caught up to the current episodes, yay! I strongly recommend it.

Just for the fun of it I thought I would throw this in here as a special treat. Ok but seriously, it's a project I had to do for my using technology in the classroom class. Yes, it is kind of stupid, so beware.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

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?

Monday, August 31, 2009

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.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

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!

Friday, August 14, 2009

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!