Figured it Out

So while I was trying to print out some color photo figures and my paper I was getting really frustrated! There was a line down the center that was not printing! What is the point of writing a paper where every line you hope that it didn't have the word "to" right in the middle because it would be gone! So I opened up the printer and moved the ink thingy around in hopes that it would work. NOPE! So I fed in another piece of paper and decided to look as it printed. There was a twist tie in it!! I know that Dexter is the one at fault for this. I have to tell you that it has been printing bad for almost a month. Ugh! I wish that I just looked at it sooner. So now my paper is done. I have it printed out properly and I am really hoping that I get a C. It has been a really frustrating project. But, at least it frustrated me enough to figure out what was wrong with the printer.

Lotsa Luck

Endrit and I have been able to have a lot of luck here lately. Actually it probably isn't luck, just coincidence, but it has been nice. We were able to find our bikes for really cheap, I ordered some bath and body works stuff and I got an email today saying that they shipped some alternate fragrances because the ones I ordered were out of stock. BUT, since they were out of stock, they shipped the original fragrances that I ordered. So, I got free stuff! That doesn't happen every day. It made me happy to hear that.
Also, Endrit looked online and the Circuit City sale was now at 60% off for the Blu Ray discs. So we went to the store to see what they had and we ended up getting 3 discs for just over the price of 1. It was awesome! It is interesting because we have had so much fun getting all of these things for not so much money. I am happy about it, I am a little brain fried from my paper, so I am taking the time to write this down and count my blessings before I have to dig into the paper again. So far 7 pages. I just hope that I don't do too poorly on it.

Bikes

Endrit decided that he had gone long enough without a bike to get to and from school/work (same difference). It had been a good 2 years so I don't blame him for wanting one now. So we decided it was time to buy a bike and went to the not so local Layton DI. Endrit got a really nice bike. It didn't need too much work done on it. Then, me being the procrastinator and sick and tired when we went into the DI in the first place said that I wanted one too. Endrit being the sweetheart that he is, went back to said Layton DI because he had seen one there that would be perfect for me.

He fixed it all up (it needed a new break) and I rode it to and from my class today. I can definitely tell that I will be losing a few lbs with these bike rides. We are determined to at least ride around the block on the weekends as well. We have both gotten...fluffy...since our wedding. Mine was medical while his was "sympathy weight" for me. Funny person. So now I am home, procrastinating the finishing of my paper and telling you about my bike. It was an interesting uphill battle. I thought that I was going to die, and even walked the bike a bit because I was starting to have a little bit of asthma. Sad times. On the way downhill, I almost crashed, but I didn't and I am proud of myself. It has really good shocks on the front so if I just stand up a bit over bumps I don't even feel it. It was the first bike ride I have had in years. I feel like a kid again with a backpack. He he. I really do love it.

On the road to surgery

So as I just got over my cold, I am getting a sinus infection. I have been fighting off nasal problems for years. In high school my parents took me to specialists and everything and it helped, but it is starting to get worse again. So I went to the doctor today to get my prescription of antibiotics and told them how sick of this cycle I am. So now I am on a regimen of nasal spray to see if it does anything. If it hasn't in 6 months, I go to the specialist. It may be that next summer I will get my sinus surgery. I have been wanting this for years. After years of at least 3 sinus infections a year it isn't fun.

It is nice that I can finally have a little bit of hope that I might be able to get something done to stop these sinus infections. I would like to have the surgery sooner rather than later, but I have to do the non-invasive things first. So that is that.

I'm really not complaining

I have procrastinated my big project 1 in my Field Methods class. It is all my fault and I take full responsibility for this. I am finding that some of the things are not so enjoyable to do. They look really good once they are done, but doing them is tedious. I feel like I am in a higher level elementary class because I am sitting there with my colored pencils and coloring in the different sedimentation layers for the different geologic times. I am taking a break right now because WOW, I have been working on it for the last 4 hours. It is insane! I am learning lots. I am treading water a bit because I don't have the prerequisites for this class.

I can't believe that my spring break is in 2 weeks!! I figured that out yesterday. Overall it has been a good semester. Now that I am in the grind of school it is pretty fun. I really like that this will most likely be my last really hard semester. Then again, I don't know how student teaching is going to be. I know that I will enjoy this summer.

I need to go and finalize my stratigraphic columns. I have to hand in 2. Fun times for me. I also need to start writing my paper. Again, I tell you I procrastinate. Luckily, I don't have ANY classes tomorrow.

YouTube Video

Another assignment for my Educational applications of technology made me make a YouTube video. It was not hard, but the format of the movie and finding and recording the song made it not so enjoyable. I thought that I would share it with you all.

I love my kitty

So Dexter really missed me when I was gone this weekend for my sister's wedding.  He has been my little lap kitty all day.  I love it when he does things like that.  He is just a sweetie!  I had to take a picture of him and I today.  He is a HUGE cat but I love him anyways.  

My sister's wedding was nice.  It was beautiful and her husband is a wonderful man.  I wish all the best for them!

When we got back, we had mail and we got a letter from USCIS; United States Citizenship and Imigration Services.  We sent in Endrit's citizenship paperwork on the 10th.  Well, they accepted the application and now it is processing.  The next letter we get from them will be the information that we need to get fingerprinting, and an INTERVIEW!!!  It is starting to get that much closer to citizenship.  We are quite hopeful that it will be by this summer.  Ahh. I feel the pressure lifting off of my shoulders.

Endrit's Seminar

So about a month ago Endrit had to give a seminar and pass it in order to continue in the graduate program.  It has been so long that I actually forgot about it!  How sad is that?  So I am sitting online, like I do for the majority of the day it seems like these days, and I hear a little beep that informs me that someone is trying to chat with me on Facebook. It was Endrit.  He has chatted with me the last couple of days.  It is nice to have that little contact during the day, but that is far from the point.

So his first line was "I passed my seminar"!!!!  YAY!!!  I always knew that he did well because of some of the comments I heard.  I asked him after his seminar what he thought he was going to get as a grade.  He was hoping for a B, B+.  B is the lowest grade that you can get and still continue on in the program.  Well, he actually got an A-.  I knew that he was going to do well.  I am so proud of him. He gets really stressed out about school sometimes, but this shows that the little stress is totally worth the outcome!  

I just wanted to tell the world how amazing my husband is.  I couldn't have asked for a smarter or sweeter person in the entire world.  Congratulations honey!

202

So, this is the 202nd post that I have made on this blog. I think that is pretty awesome, but sad because it shows I have absolutely no life outside the internet. I say that there is nothing wrong with that.

I am back to school after a long weekend and I definitely could have used another day off. I am so stuffy and I don't have access to my Pseudofed. *sad face* I don't take it that often, but I am sure since I will not be home until past 8:00 tonight it will turn into a sinus infection and I will need to go to the doctor for some antibiotics...just kidding when I typed this out I remembered I have my bag with all of my pills in it and lo and behold, there was Pseudofed! Whoot Whoot! It still doesn't make me happy until a few minutes from now though. Anyways, I hope that I get rid of these sniffles before the wedding. I don't want to be the stuffed up maid of honor in my pretty dress and new shoes (which Endrit really likes too). I have faith. Endrit gave me a blessing that said it would clear up in a couple of days.

Endrit and I are doing well in school. He is back on his boss' good side *knock on wood and wear a horseshoe* (it changes all the time). He seems to be enjoying his research. I am just going to class all the time and hoping that one day I will be done with all of my exams. I am looking foreward to March when I can register for my summer semester. I can't even begin to explain how excited I am to take those classes this summer. Call me a professional student, but I think it will really be a semester that I enjoy! It has been a long time since I have been able to say that!

So all in all Endrit and I are happy.

Shoes

With our finances, I do have to have a reason to buy new shoes. Luckily, I had a reason to buy some new shoes. I needed to buy some closed toe white shoes for my sister's wedding...on Saturday. I know, I know, I procrastinated, but I have reasons! President's day = sales. These are usually $60 shoes that I got for much less than half. It was awesome! They aren't white, but they will work with most of the outfits that I bought it for. So, now I have new shoes. I also bought some inserts for my other new shoes because they were just the slightest too big. I also am getting a new dress. I tried it on on Sunday, it wasn't done, it had to be fitted, but I am sure the it will be beautiful. Fun times.

The Sickies

Endrit and I have been sick most of the week this week. It made it really convenient when my morning class on Thursday was canceled and the outcrop that we were supposed to visit was snowed out so we just had an in class exercise. It was really nice because I never would have been able to hike up the mountain to get to the outcrop. We also had some really good advice on our first project. Fun times.

I am also glad that it is a 3 day weekend. Not that my Mondays are busy, but I am just glad that I get 1 more day to catch up on my homework and study for my next quiz in my ecology class. He is so random that it is really hard to study for the quizzes.

Endrit was the one who got sick first. That never happens. I feel bad for him because he was sick enough to take off Wednesday after lunch and Thursday. If know anything about Endrit, he never takes a day off work.

So here we are on St. Valentine's day happy that we don't actually consider it a holiday, but rather a commercial day. We are playing games on our laptops watching Monk. Fun times.

I couldn't sleep last night...

So I went on my message board and there was something that really interested me. I am a pretty open person so I will tell you what interested me. If any of you readers don't know, I have had horrible reactions to all forms of hormonal birth control that I have been on. The worst being Depo. Anyway, over a year ago Endrit and I looked into the Sympto-Thermal natural family planning. We have used it successfully for avoiding for 19 cycles now. I have never felt better in my life. It is awesome! Anyway, the message board I am on is for NFP support. There was a case study that a university is doing to research the use of a fertility monitor for pregnancy avoidance. Endrit and I signed up for it! It will be approximately a year of trying to avoid based on this method of natural family planning. I wanted to write this here because I just wanted to tell people about this in case anyone else wanted to join in on the study. Here is the link to the site to sign up. It is for pregnancy avoidance. I know that natural family planning isn't right for everyone, but it has been amazing for Endrit and I. It would be nice to have other people in real life to talk to about it if anyone is interested. If you are in the monitor group, you get a free $200 monitor and an initial supply of test strips, then you buy them for ~$1 each where you use 10 per cycle. Cheaper than any other BCP that I have used. I am doing this because I really want to be a part of a group that can show that NFP really does work when people are committed to it. If you are interested in any part of fertility I would have you read Toni Weschler's "Taking Charge of Your Fertility". It has been the most freeing book I have ever read.

Trip down memory lane

Best Show Ever!

Big Bang Theory. This was just a taste. Seriously, you should find out when it is playing where you live.

Video

I saw this and I had to post it. Not only is it funny, but he is very talented as well!

Summer Semester 2009

The summer class schedule came online this week. I got to look at it during my first class. I knew that I needed to take 1 specific class and then 2 classes for my generals. I needed an international class and a fine arts class. After my bad experience with my drawing class in high school with Finch, I don't want to go through another drawing class. So I looked further down the list and I found the class that I really want! Digital Photography! I am really excited to take this class.

The other general that I picked was for International Children's Literature. It is an upper division class that is for the elementary ed majors, but it is also an international general. It won't be too bad. I get to read a whole bunch of kids books. I think that it will be fun.

The other class that I have to take is Content Literacy. One class I am not too excited about, but it has to be taken.

The BEST part about this semester is that only my photography class takes the entire summer semester! Like with my physics classes last summer that were half semester classes, the other 2 of my classes will be half semester as well. So I will have 3 classes from May 18- June 24. The rest of the summer I will just be in my photography class!!!

With all of these things, I am quite excited because I get a good break between this semester and when I start my cohort year. I have an Adolesent Psychology class that I have to take Fall 2009 to finish off all of my regular non-student teaching classes and then I am pretty much done. Time flies when you can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

FINALLY!!!

All I have to do for Endrit's final paperwork filing for citizenship is lick the envelope and put it in the mail. I have waited for this day for 3 years. It is just something that you don't really count on when you are a little girl thinking about who you are going to marry. Luckily Endrit makes up for it in personality. I am just really happy that the day has finally come! Granted we still have at least 3 more months where he has to go in for an interview, test and oath. He has a bit more to do, but if I am thinking correctly, this is the last fee that we have to pay for him to get citizenship. Finally!

on TV...kinda

I was watching studio 5 on Friday. It is a local news thing so it is a little more interactive with the public. So they were doing a poll that was what do you want for valentines...Flowers, or Chocolate. Since I am allergic to chocolate I wrote off an email to them. It was kind of like...I have to say flowers because I am allergic to chocolate. I like chocolate, but the benadryl that I have to take with it makes it less enjoyable. It was the first email read. I thought that it was really funny. I thought that it was going to be unique enough to get on. I was happy. I don't know why.

Field Trip pictures

Today we went up dry creek. It was really interesting. It has some pretty cool rocks. Here is a view out across the valley where we were. The hospital is on the left.

This is a load cast. If you see those little bulbs, when this sediment layer was deposited, it sunk into the sediments below it creating these bulbs. It was really cool to see because they aren't that common.
This shows a spot where there is 1.5 million years of sedimentation missing. The yellowish rock on the left is the Park City formation that was what we were looking at last week. The redish rock on the right is the woodside shale formation. If you see the lady in pink with a green bag, there is a fault to the left of her but before the guy in lime green. At that fault, there is the missing sediment. I think that is facinating.

This shows microfaulting in the park city formation talked about in the previous picture.

If you look at the bigger picture, I put in lines on the same layer that has been faulted. there are 3 faults that you can see in this picture. It is really cool.
This is a close up of a sample that I picked up. An amazing specimen of ripple marks.


At the tip of the pencil, you can see pretty good ripple marks in the rock. It was really cool!!
I hope that you enjoy the pictures that I take from my weekly field trips.

Slightly Disapointed but Not Surprised

I went to financial aid today and since I am in my 5th year, I no longer qualify for the SMART grant. That is unfortunate for me because I was really hoping for that money, but it is nothing that I need right now. I guess that Endrit and I will need to save a little bit more each month to pay off the rest of my semesters. It happens. I am not too surprised with this. It is an oh well. I have been overly blessed with financial help from grants and scholarships this last academic year so I have nothing to complain about.

projects

If anyone really wants to see some of the projects that I am working on with my technology class you can go to my Google site and under the projects link you can download all of the things that I have been working on the first few of weeks of school. The website itself was a project that I had to do for a grade...I got 100% on it if you were wondering. To open up to PowerPoint and the Newsletter, you will have to have Microsoft 2007. Sorry for you 2003 people. I have been having fun in my class. Technology has always been fun for me. I will be making a still picture movie as well later on that I will tell you all about. I just thought that I would share this with you.

.pptx

So I had to make a PowerPoint in my technology class on anything educational that I wanted. Not too bad. I have probably made upwards of 100 PowerPoints in my lifetime. Quite possibly more. I made on on Physical properties of matter. I would have to say that I did a really good job. Some of the specs on the assignment wouldn't be the way I would structure things, and that is why I have 2 of them saved. One the way my teacher wants it handed in, and one the way that I could quite possibly teach it to a class. It was fun. Endrit thinks that I did a good job. I don't think that I can actually put it on here, but I am proud of myself, and therefore I post.

Endrit's boss has stolen him away from me for lunch today, dinner last night and tonight. I can't even call Endrit today because of him being in meetings. There are people from Ohio that I are here collaborating so Endrit even had to go and pick up people from the airport. It has been an interesting start to the week for him.

I have my first quiz in my Environmental Studies class today. I was way too stressed last week to go to class, so I have a few more things that I need to study. I think I have an advantage to the subject area not being new to me. It may just be the quiz that I drop. I am not too conserned about it, though I probably should be. So, I have to wait for my middle class to start. Fun times of a university student.

Groundhog day

I just wanted to say happy groundhog day! What a surprise, he didn't see his shadow and there is 6 more weeks of winter. Yeah...it is WINTER! Duh! I don't understand this holiday, but it is kind of fun.

I just spent the last couple of hours doing homework for my technology class. I made a powerpoint and I wrote a post in my other blog about the benefits of technology use in the classroom. It has been a productive night. It is what happens when Endrit is eating out with his lab and some of the people that came in from Ohio. I like the alone time to do my homework. I am so productive.

26

It is Endrit's 26th birthday today. I am glad that it is on a Sunday so that he can just relax on his birthday. He deserves it. Things are going pretty well here.

I just learned that my host brother in law eloped last week and I couldn't be happier for him and his new wife! What a wonderful thing finding the one you will love for eternity is. I hope to be able to meet her sometime.

There really isn't much else to say. It is sunday and of course we had a blast with the kids. One of our older kids from last year even spent the later part of sacrament meeting with us. It is nice that 5-7 year olds like us.