last days of undergraduate-hood

Well, Ry is in the final semesters of being an undergraduate and yesterday was his last first day of school! Ok, well, I guess January will hold his official last first day of school, but this is his last first day of fall semester, ok?

I got to see Ryan on campus both yesterday and today as I went to the Wilk to print out resume's and do some shopping for Taylor and both times it was hard to leave and say goodbye to Ryan. It's so weird not being a student and also not seeing ANYONE I know on campus (even though I still have friends there, I promise!). I think it's also a little hard for Ry not seeing me or eating lunch with me or anything. It'll definitely take a little getting adjusted to.

But in the mean time, a school picture. Actually, I should have taken a picture yesterday, but I didn't. I'll take one in January, promise. This picture is one of my favorites of Ry though. He's so cute and professional and in April he'll graduate! Also, I just noticed that he's wearing the tie he wore for our wedding pictures. So now I love it even more.

Here's to the the next-to-last last day and to starting grown-up lives!

Kaybear.

It's the loving term we (maybe Brynn started this one) call my sister Kaylea. Actually, it's a term I now call Kaylea, Taylor (Taybear) and Ryan (Rybear). Just add -bear to the ending of a loved-ones name and they're automatically more endearing :) Except it doesn't really work for Brynn. I prefer to call her B, cause I'm cool like that.

You may be wondering what the point of this post is. Well, I guess our family naming situation could be a post all in its own, but I saw these today on my daily web-surfing and I couldn't help but think of my sister. If we had more than $10 for sibling birthdays/christmas presents, I'd totally give these to you, Kaybear. They just scream your name.

You can go here to buy them and other nonsensical items. Seriously, UO, you've outdone yourself this time.

Sunday afternoons.

Today was such a rad day. Seriously. Ryan let me sleep in until 10:30 (and we went to bed at midnight…I think it was one last "sick" day to make sure I'm 100% better, what a sweetie) and then I made pancakes and put a little cinnamon and nutmeg in them and they were so good!

And then we went to church and sat by the Mellors and even said the opening and closing prayers the last hour (it was combined) so people will know our name! Actually, the bishop asked us to give the prayers before the meeting and then right as his counselor announced the opening hymn and that I was giving the prayer he added that I would be leading the music too! What a joker. Anyway, I think I pinch-hit pretty well, if I do say so myself.

Also, we ate dinner with Josh and Miriam and Brett and Whitney tonight and played a mean game of 1930's Monopoly. We seem to be playing a lot of old-school games lately (we played the original Life with Dan and Chelsea a few weeks ago and it was CRAZY!).

Anyway, it was rad and Josh can really cook a mean meal. Healthy too, minus the whole cream sauce thing…ha.

*Totally random photo, but I think my sibs are pretty cute.*

The cutest little boy ever.

Have y'all seen this video? It's an adorable little boy reciting the poem 'Litany' by Billy Collins. The poem is sweet and it makes me want to instill a love of poetry in my future little ones from an early age. Also, I heard Billy Collins speak my freshman/sophomore year with my friend Lauren and she totally knew who he was and was super stoked to see him. I didn't have a clue who he was but I'm glad that I know now!

Go poetry!

Small World

Did you know that my grandma and Amanda's great Aunt are good friends? They both live in a really small town in NM and last night a few nights ago we made the connection! Pretty much, Amanda and I were meant to be friends.

Also, I went to a Savvy Shopper class with her and her sister Aimee and her mom for a Relief Society activity on Thursday night and totally answered the first question and won myself some orange tic tacs! (whew, that was a lot of linkage!)

Also, we ate homemade Good Stuff Eatery burgers and fries with a toasted marshmallow shake for dessert before hopping into Amanda's parent's hot tub.

I want that cookbook. (You read that right, readers in Gilbert…)

And I love summertime.

*on the National Cathedral grounds earlier this summer*

Downtown Louisville: Frazier Museum

On the Monday before we left Indiana for Utah my family minus my sisters went to the Frazier International History Museum. Um, can I first point out that I've never seen that many guns in such a random, tiny museum? Actually, it was a pretty good sized museum and they had some pretty good stuff. I'm still used to the Smithsonian's, but I think I'm slowly getting re-acclimated to tinier and still good museums in other places.

The trip downtown was fun and it was so nice to spend some time with my amazing family. I love being around them.

*they had dress-up costumes!!*

*and pirate stamps!*

*and gallows!*

Maybe I had a little too much fun in the pirate exhibit (someone else had a lot of fun too, ok?!). Like mother, like daughter.

Berry Twist Initiation

Berry Twist, ever heard of it? I don't know HOW you could miss it. It's in the booming town of Floyds Knobs, IN, right by the Jazzercise place. Now it's ringing a bell, right?

Anyway, Ry's been hearing about it for a while now and since we didn't get to go the weekend we were there for our reception (it's only open in the summer) we finally got to go a few weeks ago while visiting.

It's a gem.

Success?

Oh yeah. (They've got the best soft-serve twist dipped cones around!)

J-dawgs

BYU has these sweet Starving Student cards that they sell at the beginning of the school year. They keep getting better and better so last year we bought two. They've got some good deals, but some of the best ones are for the summertime, so this week we're trying to finish them off before they expire and will probably just buy 1 this upcoming school year.

The best part: J-dawgs. They've got a deal where you can get two meals for $6 instead of $8 three times and we still hadn't used up two of our times. So we may or may not have got to J-dawgs twice in two days- once for lunch and once for dinner.

I was feeling pretty crummy from this stupid summer cold that I've got, and even though J-dawgs didn't make my head-stuffiness go away, it sure cheered up my stomach!

I can't sleep

What do you do when you can't sleep? Blog, of course!

Well, I promise that there will be more interesting blogs than this coming up, but I'd though I'd update my dedicated readers of what we've been up to these past two days. In no particular order, and in which more blog posts will be written to give you more detail into our wild and crazy lives, here's a little something-something to keep you tied-over:

tamales
ikea
jdawgs
couponing
sickness
doubt
costco
hot tub
mall cop

I feel bad for Ry, he's going golfing with Zach tomorrow and here I am typing away on the computer. He's been such a stud while I've been in and out of sickness these last few days. I best be feeling better tomorrow (technically today) or else. Also, I'm blaming me being up on the Extra Strength Excederin I took before bed. I've never taken any until today and earlier I just took one but before bed I took two. Lesson learned.

Also, I'm starving right now. I want to eat something so bad, but then I'll have to brush my teeth again, and I don't really feel up to that right now. Also, I think my stomach is shrinking (finally) from all the snacking and eating we've been doing in DC and on vacay in IN, but this stomach-shrinking thing really is a killer. I'm always hungry! Man, my life's so hard.

SUMMERTIME!

Have I ever told you that my husband is just the cutest?

I took this picture while driving back from getting random Asian rice in Louisville (not highly recommended, but don't worry, my eyes were forward and I just guessed where the camera should go so I could get a good picture…looks like I should become a pro!)

Anywho, Ry had a huge portfolio and research paper due yesterday at 5pm and now he's finally free to enjoy a little vacation in Provo. It's a little sad that we may never have another summer in Provo and that it'll be our last year here, so we're definitely trying to live it up as much as possible. If anyone has any "must do's" for us for now or later, don't be shy and let us know!

Today: Seven Peaks!!!

UPDATE: I'm feeling a little down today, thanks Utah for giving me a cold, but I'll keep y'all posted on what we do for our last week of summer here!

Screen on the Green 2010

We'd heard all about Screen on the Green, where they put a huge screen up right in the middle of the National Mall and watch movies, so finally we went on the second-to-last Monday we were in DC. Apparently they had run out of funding and almost didn't do it, but the funders pulled through and we were able to watch "12 Angry Men" with the Capitol in front of us and the Washington Monument in the back. It was so amazing and we even saw 2 shooting starts while watching it!

I can't believe that I haven't posted this before, and I can't lie, it makes me miss DC a whole, whole, whole lot. But I'm excited because they have a mini Screen on the Green in Rock Canyon Park tonight, so Ry and I get to enjoy one last outdoor movie of the summer! 

ps It's a bummer that the Christensen's can't make it tonight--who will be our going-out buddies in Provo? I have a feeling there will be multiple reunions this year :)

our living room is set up for the wii

It's true. In our last living room Ry would always hit the remote on our coat closet handle and freak me out, but now we've got plenty of room to bowl our little hearts out. Also, I did a little Jillian Michael's shredding today and I had plenty of room for that. Go us!

Also, in other news, I miss my family. Is there any way that Indiana and Utah could be a little closer this next year? Who needs the midwest anyhow…

**My mom pretending in the pirate exhibit in Louisville (it's the best part of the Frasier museum, by far…maybe because it's meant for youth under 12…)**

good 'ol wymount

We're back in Provo and to tell you the truth, it sometimes feels like we never left and that DC was just a dream. Ry tells me that now I know a little more about what serving a mission is like--coming back and feeling like it never existed!

Well, it existed, and we've got plenty of pictures to prove it.

Like this:

*At the top of the Newseum--I'm lame and haven't posted anything about that, but will soon, I promise!*

And this:

*My adorable husband on the 4th of July on the Capitol lawn*

family pictures!

We took some family pictures today and in my unbiased opinion they turned out great! Taylor gets married in a matter of weeks so we had some pictures taken before we add another member to the family.

Also, now Ry won't be the only addition, which may take some time getting used to, but I'm excited for Tay to get married and have the Dalby clan's number go to 9!

So I finally got to be on the jumbo-tron!

I've always wanted to be on a jumbo-tron. Seriously. I think because I wanted it, it didn't happen until Saturday night.

But it happened! Right after the 5th inning, as everyone was standing up to sing YMCA…we were on!

It was a double-wave occasion. You know what I'm talking about. Actually, it was a jumping up and down and double-waving combo. It was THAT exciting.

Actually, I was trying to put my purse on the seat since I didn't want to put it on since the ground was all wet and Ry had to grab me when he realized we were on it.

Also, the smile cam was on earlier, and I was smiling my face off. So I think I grabbed someone's attention. :)

Also, we were early enough to get the game giveaway--a sweet Reds lawn gnome. This trip was totally worth it, just for the gnome...

the redskins

While the Washington Redskins may still have the most offensive name in professional sports (and they're from DC…odd) the chant their fans cheer after they score touchdowns is pretty sweet. Also, it's the second oldest fight song for a professional American football team; right after the Green Bay Packers. Sweet, no? (Also, thanks wikipedia!)

My family went to Wick's Pizza, in Louisville, after picking my dad up from the airport Friday night, and we had the best booth in the place and the Redskins/ preseason game was on. Actually, the whole room we were in was all Redskins-ified with a Redskins banner and a Superbowl banner.

And let me just say, there were some pretty devout fans watching.

My dad was saying that growing up in Texas and as a Cowboys fan, he learned to hate that song:

Dallas Cowboys Controversy

When the NFL began considering Texas as the state to host a proposed expansion team, the move was strongly opposed by the Redskins owner, who had enjoyed a monopoly in the South for three decades. Potential owner Clint Murchison, who was trying to bring the NFL to Dallas, bought the rights to "Hail to the Redskins" from a disgruntled Breeskin and threatened to prevent Marshall from playing it at games. Marshall agreed to back Murchison's bid, Murchison gave him back the rights to the song, and the Dallas Cowboys were born.^[1]

Well ladies and gents, in case you didn't know it, here it is, "Hail to the Redskins":

Hail to the Redskins! Hail Victory! Braves on the warpath, Fight for old D.C.!

Run or pass and score. We want a lot more. Beat 'em, swamp 'em, touchdown. Let the points soar. Fight on, fight on, 'Till you have won. Sons of Washington! Rah! Rah! Rah!

Hail to the Redskins! Hail Victory! Braves on the warpath, Fight for old D.C.!

why hello random asian market!

Ry and I went on an adventure yesterday in search of brown sweet rice for my brother Taylor. He's odd and always has weird requests and does weird things, but we love him. And he's getting married in a mater of weeks, so I guess he's not that strange, right? Well, apparently he really wanted this rice, and it's only found at Asian food specialty stores. So after our trip to Borders we placed the address in our trusty GPS and got lost.

i love it, he hates it :)

Well, it wanted us to take an impossible turn due to some construction, so even though we were already across the bridge, on the Kentucky side, we headed ever the bridge to Indiana, just to return back to Louisville. And then Ryan got all flustered that we were going to a random town instead of the street he put in, so he re-checked the GPS, which he had already had trouble with earlier in the day, and when all was well, he gave up.

I realized we were going the same direction as a nice mall in Louisville, so I knew we were fine, but Ry was still confused. He couldn't believe that where we were was still in Louisville. He thought we were way far out. His confusion was adorable.

And I proceeded to sulk since we were so close to a fabulous mall, with no money and no mom. Why couldn't my mom have been with me when I needed her! So close, but so far away…

Well the Asian market was bomb and we came out with some brown sticky rice, some asian candy, and some chinese 5 spice.

SUCCESS!

we finally left the house

So maybe I love coming to Indiana because I hardly ever have to leave the house. Maybe yesterday I didn't leave the house until 7, when Ryan and I went for a walk after dinner. Seriously though, I love neighborhoods and houses and all the trees here, and the rolling hills… 

Anyway, today Ryan and I ventured to Louisville to meet my brother and his gf for lunch. We went to his work, Zirmed, and he showed us around, and then went to lunch. My bro, Adam, didn't have a job for a while and it's so cute not because he's so proud of his cubicle and the room where he does webinars. So cute!

After lunch we ventured to Borders to buy a GRE book for moi. While I was in DC I just rented a few GRE books from the library ((I think I've mentioned before how much I love public libraries like DC. Amazing. Free books! And amazing DVDs, too!)) so I finally bought a Kaplan book and I'm going through it now, starting with page 1. They say 12 weeks is a good amount of time to study, so I'm planning on taking the test in November and turning in applications in December. Man, I just got out of school and now I'm already planning on going back. But like my friend Julie said, if you get your masters now, you can get your phd later, which would be SWEET.

**I can't believe this is all of our stuff from the summer. Well... minus a suitcase and three boxes that we already shipped...**

Reasons why Indiana is amazing

We only got in on Saturday, but it's been so nice to be home I haven't even had time to post or get on the computer daily (I know, I think it's a miracle, sadly).

Back to the reasons:

- We went to the pool today and it was absolutely amazing. I didn't really put sunscreen on my face, which is a bummer, but it was so nice to be lazy in a pool and float on a pool noodle and really, do almost nothing for about 4 hours. Also, due to the chlorine, I'm exhausted. I love the tiredness from being at the pool. Ahh summertime.

- I'm currently watching Sleepless in Seattle. I've also watched When Harry Met Sally. And Date Night (highly recommended for some good laughs thanks to Tina Fey and Steve Carrell).

- We went to a triple A baseball game the night we got here. Go Louisville Bats! Also, now I have a sweet Bats t-shirt. Thank you Adam's work discount of 10%.

- I get to sleep in "the cave" for another week and I love it so much. Yes, I slept for 11 hours last night thanks to sleeping in a room with no windows.

- Ryan and I get to play Wii sports, Wii fit, and Wii resort all the time. We love it, and I dominate at swordfighting and table tennis. Ry's great at wakeboarding and tennis. And we've both gone way down on our bowling skills--something we'll have to re-gain our strength in once going home.

Anyway, we love our little mini-vacation and I'll be sad to go!

I can't believe we're not there anymore...

I can't believe that we're not in DC anymore. It's still a little surreal that Ryan and I aren't going back after visiting my parents here in DC, but we had a great last week and I'm so grateful we were able to be there for three whole months!!

Well, on Friday, the day before we left for Indiana, we met up with Dave and Amanda on the National Mall and decided to take a few pictures of the capitol and wash. monument. It was hot, but there was a nice little breeze and it was fun to be with our friends right before they left the city.

I already miss so much about DC, but cross your fingers and we might be back in  a year!

let the laughing begin

We're in Indiana!!!

Also, my sisters are hilarious. And beautiful. And I'm so excited to hang out with them for the next week and a half.

We're pretty lucky kids.

Also, my mom bought me my FAV ice cream, Bluebell's Pistachio Almond. Seriously, so good.

Good Stuff burgers will NEVER get old.

WE LOVE GOOD STUFF. And we went by ourselves, with Amy, with my parents, with Ryan's mom, with his dad, and with AC/DC. Seriously, it's GOLDEN. And when describing Good Stuff,  there's no such thing as too many all caps words. NEVER.

And, at Amanda's request:

Yes, it may have added to the weight that I've gained this last month, but of all the stuff we ate this summer, and out of all the places we went, we came here the most. Good Stuff is seriously that good and I think I can speak for the 4 of us when we say, it's a MUST when you come/go to Washington. Good thing Amanda's got the cookbook--looks like we'll get to have Good Stuff parties all year long!

**PS I think I'm going to seriously miss having a blogging buddy with pretty much the same posts all the time. Thanks Amanda, for being just as crazy about blogging as me!**

Up the Washington Monument

So I gave in, and bought our tickets to go up the Washington Monument. I had gone up before and I wanted to go up with Ryan before we left. Since I am NOT going to wait in line for tickets at 7:00 AM, I ordered them in line and for 3 bucks, they were shipped right to our address!

We bought the tickets for Monday, at the 7:00 pm time and ended up getting in early, since I got to Federal Triangle by 6:00. I'm glad we got to do one more tourist hurrah before we have to pack up our things and leave for Indiana, and then home to Utah for the next 9 (at the least) months. It was so pretty and you could see so many things! We could see the DC temple, the National Cathedral, and beautiful views of the White House, the Capitol, the Reflection pool and the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson… so much of what has been our summer here, we could see! It was fun to point to things and say, "we've been there!"

DC, we'll miss you!

food truck experience #2

Fojol Bros Curry Truck. With minimal words.

**Background: Last Thursday I didn't have to go into work, so I decided to follow a food truck who tweets their location each day (it changes) and go on an adventure with my camera in tow.**

These amazing statues were at the park the food truck stopped at. I thought of Ry immediately.

It was super good Indian food. I had the buttered chicken and chickpeas and potatoes.

And I passed by the WHO on my way!

And ate this Mango Lassipop. Before I ate the glorious Indian food. Actually, I didn't finish it until I ate all my food. It was a little spicy, so it was nice to cleanse my palate with this amazing creamy-ness that is a lassipop.

So good.

Why must I leave and not get to see amazing, historic statues throughout my day?!

We saw the changing of the guard!

Last Saturday, after working at the conference (and getting SWAG), Ryan and I headed to Arlington National Cemetery for a few hours. It wasn't too hot and the grounds were so beautiful! Actually though, the metro was totally messed up this weekend with each of the 4 lines going under some sort of construction. The waits were super long, much longer than during the week and even longer than the normal weekend times, and I felt bad for DC. All the tourists were being mean to the metro! I wanted to turn around and tell them that it's not normally as bad and if they used it Monday morning it would be working super well (because really, DC only cares about the people who work and have to use it to go to work, and not the tourists, which is a little lame, but oh well. You gotta be nice to the taxpayers, right?). Anyway, I totally felt like I really live here (which I do! but only for a few more days…so sad…).

Ok, back to Arlington. We really enjoyed ourselves and I loved the calmed atmosphere. It's a cemetery, so it is a pretty sad place, but it's so nice to be able to see the graves of the Kennedy family and the memorials to the astronauts and pay our respects and honor them. Apparently there have been some thousands of graves mis-marked in Arlington for several years now, and I hope they can clear that all up and get the names figured out. It's such a beautiful place and I feel bad that it's tainted with mis-management.

Well, enough of my rambling. Pictures, at last.

I really wanted to go by the memorials of the astronauts. Although the Air and Space museum overwhelms me a bit with so much science that I can't comprehend, I have so much respect for those who have gone into space and for the astronauts from the Challenger and Columbia, who didn't make it back on land.

Ryan and I were also able to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. WOW. It's a pretty intense process. Being at the National Cemetery was a great way to spend our Saturday. 

After returning home, we ate dinner (we're almost done with all our food, just some oatmeal, hot dogs and tuna helper to go!), Ryan did some LSAT practice, and then we watched Night at the Museum 2. This, however, deserves its own post. :)

ITCH.

I know, two posts within the hour, what's up with that?

I'll tell you what's up. My chin is itching like crazy. Actually, it's the whole bottom part of my face. I think something bit me this weekend. I got some bug bites on my leg from sitting beside a pool on Friday, and then yesterday my whole bottom part of my face was itching like crazy. It's a weird itch. And it hurts. And it's distracting me from work. And it hurts, did I mention that? It's also really warm. I compared it to the side of my face, and the bottom part is a lot more warm. Is that normal? It hurts, like a bug bite that hurts when you itch it but you still can't stop itching it. I know, I should stop itching, right? Well I can't. It hurts. Hydrocortisone cream, where are you when I need you????

At least I was able to eat two amazingly huge pizza slices for lunch during our work pizza party. Thank goodness for using food to distract me from the turmoil that is my life (I kid, but really, you all should be grateful you don't have a face that is warm and itchy right now, it's totally not cool).

SWAG

[[stuff we all get]]

THIS is why I love going to conferences. Free stuff! Although, I just got this bag full of goodies, along with some re-useable bags. You should have seen other people at the conference! The general public was able to come through and it was like they had never seen pens before in their lives! They had bags FULL of who knows what, it was pretty interesting.

That's right. I had a name tag. With my name on it. Does anyone else think this is the coolest thing ever???

Also, I ate lunch with a girl who works in the Secret Service. Coolest thing ever. She actually works in recruiting now and is due in October with her and her husband's (who is also in the SS!) first baby. I asked her all these questions about the Secret Service and their training and where she's been...I learned a lot!