Quickie

Alright....so a bit of an update.

• We are graduated- YAY!
• I am now working at the same accounting firm I did both my internships at. I have my own office, and am as busy as ever!
• Clay got a job at Wells Fargo Financial. It is a great job! We are way excited. He starts on August 17th. (BTW- he wont be working at a BANK- it's like a financial services office...he'll be meeting with clients and stuff)
  
• We are house sitting for a councilor in the bishopric in our ward. For 12 days. They have a dog, who we are tending to.
• We are probably going to move this week. Clay showed our house to a bunch of people today, a lot of them wanted it...
• We are going to move into Clay's parents house. Why?
• We are house shopping! We are going to look at a ton of houses until we have seen them all, and then hopefully find a great one, and move in!
• We both work in Idaho Falls (20-30 minutes away), and so it's kinda smart to move in with Clay's parents, who live in Idaho Falls- and save some extra money until we find a house...which hopefully won't be too long- because we are planning on getting it by November...so that we can get the 8000 tax credit!

THAT in a nutshell, is what we've been up to. I've felt a bit lost lately...knowing I'm done with school. It's been such a huge part of my life for so long...I kinda feel like I have no purpose now.

My mom and dad got me a wheat grinder for graduation- and wheat- I am SOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED! Clay's parents gave us money- we are looking for tires for our cars. That's the nice thing about living in Idaho- you CONSTANTLY have to be buying tires for winter and such. They're expensive- so it'll be a huge relief to not have to pay for them.

love you all!

Look ------------------------------------------------------------------------->

We are graduating today.





YES!

I have a problem

I need to get stressed.

That sounds wrong...right? Right. Well, the thing is- it's the end of the semester and I'm not stressed. Most people would think I'm blessed. Here's where the problem comes in. I SHOULD be stressed. I have a ton to do. However, I'm just not worried about it. Why do I want to be stressed? Because I have NO MOTIVATION to get anything done! Oh well. Thus, I continue with my regular..."I'm in the lab and will write a post" blog.

We graduate in 6 days. 6 DAYS! Marvelous.

We got asked to house sit for a counselor in our ward. They have a hot tub. I'm pretty excited about that. I think Clay's most excited to watch the dog =) WHICH reminds me.

Our friends got a cat. Can you see where this is going?

The story goes like this:

Our friends buy a townhouse. We are all excited...go over there and SURPRISE! They have a cat! How exciting. Clay pretty much immediately got attached. "Hun, do you see this? She's so cool! Do you see how friendly she is?" With a ginormous smile on his face. I say, "Yeah- I'm allergic...but thanks" Of course...his response would naturally be, "Come and hold it"

"No thanks"

This conversation pretty much happened the whole night. He keeps saying, "But hun, people are allergic to different breeds. I'm sure you are not allergic to some sort of cat..."

As I sneeze, and feel my throat itch, I say..."Well hun, up until this point- I have yet to be around a cat that I'm not allergic to- sorry". What does he say? Well of course, "Well, you haven't been around ALL kinds of cats hun..."

....

So anyway. We go to our OTHER friends house, who has kittens. I admit, the kitty's are dang cute. Yet, again...I sneeze. Not just once. A lot. Of course, Clay says, "You were probably just allergic to the grey one"

I'm not even joking about this conversation. Clay wants a cat. I told him that it will be a long time until we can get one...so we'll talk about it later. That seems to be the best response in times like these when he reveals he wants another animal. These conversations have happened when he talks about wanting a bird. Except that I tell him no.

We are seeing Harry Potter tonight and I couldn't be happier. I kept forgetting all week that we were going (you see, we bought advanced tickets) until today...I keep thinking about it, and I'm super pumped. Not to mention all the sweet previews we'll see. I LOVE previews. They get me all excited and gitty. Even though I never see the movies until like...a year later on dvd. I will be sure to give you a detailed review of what I thought...

Summer is so wonderful. I kinda dread winter. I really need to get some more cute boots. Otherwise I just might not be able to get up in the morning.

We are reading Catcher in the Rye right now. I am totally loving it. It reminds me of SO MANY PEOPLE from high school. Not in a bad way or anything. I just get taken back to those times...I have a specific person in mind who I think of as Holden Caulfield. I wont say who though. And I've only read 1/3 of the book- so don't go giving away the ending now.

I haven't really done our dishes FULLY for like a month. That sounds HORRIBLE. Which it is. Trust me. But the truth is, it's not AS horrible as it sounds. Firstly, we use a lot of paper plates, and we eat at Clay's parents a lot lately. Secondly, the key word is fully. See, I have time here and there to do dishes...but never enough time to do them ALL. So I do a few "loads", also known as the amount that can fit on our drying rack, and then I run out of time or get tired and so leave the rest for "tomorrow"...which turns out to be next week...so really, the dishes on my counter aren't a month old...but I really feel like I haven't had a fully clean kitchen for a month. I'm a nasty unsuccessful homemaker...I know. Our bathroom desperately needs cleaning as well. Yikes. Maybe I should take a week before I start working and just clean clean clean.

One last story. Today I have a laptop and three books in my bag. It is HEAVY. I go to class, my teacher returns my knit dress I made to me, and I of course, try stuffing it in my already stuffed backpack. What happens? BAM! Zipper breaks. So...what do I do all day? Walk around carrying my backpack like a newborn baby. I'm not even joking. My friend in my class laughed her head off at me when she saw me. And because of that, I started laughing my head off...even after she wasn't walking with me anymore. That's right, I was walking on the sidewalk with TONS of strangers, holding my fat backpack like a baby, laughing...but trying not to laugh, so probably making really funny looking faces, ALL BY MYSELF! I'm pretty much awesome. I know.

Alright. I guess that's all for now.

LOTS to talk about.

Lets start with the item of business that is so OBVIOUSLY most important and pressing:

The Bachelorette.

We'll just go in order of the episode.

1. Kypton, Kyp, Kyppi...I really REALLY went back to liking you this episode. Last episode, I was kinda so so...you know, but no one can deny the chemistry you and Jillian have. Seriously. You two just fit together like puzzle pieces. I love watching you guys. But WHY OH WHY can't you commit? I don't get it. The only think I don't like about you is....you just don't seem quite as interested. You still pulled the "I can see myself falling inlove with you". Don't you realize that's coming up in like a week? You kinda need to figure that one out. I hope you do.

2. Reid. First, can I give you a word of advice? Your hair is pretty much all wrong. It kept feeling a little poofy...a little awkward...a little bit...cartoonish even? Just do something else, or cut it. This episode you just really..........yeah. Looked akward. Next, you annoyed me A LOT. You annoyed Clay too. You stumble around words and please just don't pretend you REALLY cared THAT much about going home. You were never sure if you even really like Jillian it seemed. Yeah, you were attracted to her...but that's like...it. (I tried for like 20 minutes to look for a pic of reids goofy hair but couldn't find it)

3. Ed...or should I say Richi? Let us start with your awesome wardrobe picks. First, the short shorts. Clay really just couldn't stop cringing about these. I personally thought they were pretty awesome. Next, your suit at the rose ceremony was not very cool. It was like a baby blue blazer with white pants or something? Either way, I was NOT diggin it. I don't really know what went down in the little fantasy suite, I choose not to go there, but I am VERY impressed with you this episode because ONE-you flew your parents out and TWO- you told Jillian you loved her. Straight up. Old school style, as in... "I love you"...not all this junk of , "I think I'm falling in love with you" or even just the phrase "I am falling in love with you"...that is so weak sauce. Ed, thank you for being a man and saying it straight up: I LOVE YOU. We'll see if you stay or go.

4. Wes, you're an idiot. What? You left? I know. You just made THAT much of an impression on me...I couldn't resist. I heard people are cancelling the bookings you had to do shows becuase they said NO ONE WOULD COME because they don't LIKE YOU. HA! It's true! I don't care if they did slant the cameras towards your bad side...you just aren't cool. AND, your band stinks.

Alright. Now that we have that covered. Lets talk about the fact that I have 9 DAYS UNTIL I GRADUATE! I don't think I've said the phrase "It's freakin awesome" so many times in my life as I have these last two weeks.

Next, we already have tickets for friday for Harry Potter! YAY! I know, I know...I'm not a true fan. NOT- I just don't have time to go until then. Ughhhhhhhhhhhhh. I'll have to stuff my ears with cotton balls until then.

Now I should go do my homework. I've successfully wasted like...2 hours of my time since I've been home from school. Senioritis definitely exists. In me.

Good bye.

A request from Amy

Don't shave your head.

Amy is going to, but she doesn't want anyone else to. My mom informed me today that she really really doesn't want anyone to shave their head on behalf of her. I'm sure she really appreciates the thought and sacrifice some of you are willing to do, and it's completely understandable your MOTIVE in it, but right now, she really just doesn't want that.

That being said, I haven't talked to Amy yet today. But my mom told me that she will either start Chemo tomorrow or Thursday. This was a big shocker to all of us since we figured she'd be waiting until she was recovered from surgery. However, the doctor feels it's important to hop on right away! I'm incredibly sad and scared for Amy and all the pain she's going to go through these next few months, but I'm also happy that she has doctors who are looking out for her, and trying to get her health back as soon as possible!

Things my mom has requested is that if you do talk to Amy or visit her (for you lucky ducks in Oregon), talk to her about anything but the cancer. Not too surprising of a request considering that's all they probably talk about while in the hospital! Things Amy loves to talk about: Bachelorette, Celebrities, sewing, you know...really anything fun.

Also, as Amy's sister- I just really want to thank ALL of you for all the sweet comments you leave on her blog. I'm sure it makes her so happy. Our entire family really appreciates the love and support we are getting from everyone.

On a completely different note, I just have to say....THANK GOODNESS WES IS GONE! HOLY SMOKES! He is so STUPID! At least he went out strong...you know...saying retarded things like, "If I'm not here tomorrow, just know I'll be having lots of sex". Nice.

Anyway. Love to you all.

So....yeah.

Playing hard on the weekends really kicks my bum when it comes time to go back to school. I totally did NOT think about school more than once this entire break (we had thurs and fri off for the 4th----4 day weekend!). Which means I am up right now........on the computer......thinking- what am I going to do for this report? When will I find time for my quiz that's due by 12:30 tomorrow? When will I finish the spreadsheets? Where is the time? I figured all these questions could be solved by writing a blog. Okay. Not solved...but avoided.....

HELLO!? I totally had a bazillion minutes of time. However, I spent the weekend having a BLAST! Seriously? I don't regret it a bit. I think I would regret it if I did homework all weekend...because I would've missed out on all the fun! We went to Rigby Lake, we had a BBQ at Jed and Jills, we had a BBQ at Patty and Pauls, and we had a BBQ at Rebecca and Darins! Seriously- who could complain from having 3 BBQ'S IN ONE WEEKEND?!?! Oh, how I love a good BBQ. I only took pictures of Rigby Lake though. I will post those another time...

It has been SO FUN hanging out with Rebecca, Lizzie, and the kids. They are all soooooo cute. Aliese is growing up so fast and is SO PRETTY! I couldn't stop looking at her because she is just turning into a young woman who is so pretty. It has been GREAT because Kate has really warmed up to me this trip. Usually she prefers Clay or Paul, but she was sitting on my lap, Paul even OFFERED to hold her (that punk) and she said no! I think it's cause I played Dora with her, and jumped on the tramp with her. She is sooooooooo cute. Very demanding, but very cute. And SO busy. They are all so adorable. Gracie was SO cute at the lake. She kept running up to us, and saying "Momma! You shoulda seen it! You shoulda seen it! Watch me!" and then she would just go run to the water, and come back and say something cute again. All the kids are adorable. They all are obsessed with Clay, as usual. He is just one of those awesome uncles I guess. Watching him with them makes me soooooo excited to see him as a dad. I think he will be great. He loves teaching them things and helping them with things.

I have confirmed a job with the accounting firm I've worked for the past 2 tax seasons. So that is good. I am also going to be receiving an Accounting Department Award of Recognition...and have been invited to breakfast with the Accounting faculty on thursday mornin! 7am though. What were they thinking? I don't know. Either way, I'm super excited! I guess the faculty choose students...I don't know how special it really is...like if everyone gets one, or if it's just a select few...or what. But I aim to ask them on Thursday morning what it's all about and why I got one. Clay has definitely whined about the time. (they said I coudl bring a guest:)

Clay has been looking and applying to some jobs. I am hoping that he gets one. That's really all there is to say about that!

I'm starting to get VERY excited to be done with school. I still need a few more credits to be a licenced CPA...but those can be taken online and slowly, or at night or whatever. They can be in anything. So I don't really count those. I guess what I'm really getting at....is that I am SO excited to be going to work, coming home, and not doing homework. I suppose I will sorta be doing homework when I get home...as in...studying for the CPA exam. That will be a blast. I'm just warning you guys right now- people fail this test ALL THE TIME. So just....don't think I'm a stupid-head if I fail. Cause I might! (I'm sure gonna try NOT to though:) Anyway...it'll be nice to add to our bank account rather than constantly be lowering it.

I think Summer is FINALLY here. It's July...I know...it should've been here ages ago. But I think it is actually here now. Thank GOODness.

This weekend WAS a bit stressful mentally just because we found out that Amy was getting her surgery on FRIDAY....and I was just so stressed. If you watch shows like Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice you get a little freaked by surgery. At least I do. Either way...I was constantly thinking of her...calling my mom....asking the status...and it all turned out great! They still think it's Lymphoma...but won't have that confirmed for about another week. But the surgery was successful, she is just going to have some MAJOR recovery- the spleen was as big as a football, and so I'm sure you can imagine how big the cut was. Once she's done recovering from the surgery, she will probably have to have a round of Chemo for about 3 months... just typing this makes me exausted. I feel so bad for her. I hate that I can't be there right now just to hang out with her and distract her. Anyway- things are going well so far...so we hare happy for that! My mom is there helping Mike take care of her.

Welllllllllllllllllll I guess I should take a stab at that report now. Clay and I are so happy to be citizens of the U.S.A.! We love our country and had a GREAT holiday. Hope you guys did too. Cya!