HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

I had a great birthday thanks to my wonderful family and friends.

I was so spoiled to wake up to breakfast in bed and a pile of presents from my cute hubby. He took me on a shopping trip sponsored by Pam and Randy (Thank you!!!) before I had to go to work.

Zak spent the whole day cleaning and baking me a cake which he lit with his mini blowtorch. After work, my family took us out to dinner and came over to eat cake.

I got to wear my new and awesome "Pocket Shirt" (thanks Heidi!). The band across the front creates a perfect pocket to store all of my goods. I can put my lip gloss in there, my keys, my cell phone.... I always wanted to be able to store stuff there, and now thanks to my great shirt, I totally can!

On Saturday, We had a joint party with my cousins for my Dad and me. It was lots of fun. (And the pictures turned out much better.)

The coolest thing that I got was my awesome Nativity from my parents. Now we are set to celebrate Christmas!

The Greatest Testing Center Experience Yet

Last night I had to take a yucky stats test in the testing center. I was really worried about it. I didn't know what, or how to study for it so I just went in to take it. I had a real fear of missing every single question. I prayed that I would get at least one right so I wouldn't look like a total fool. I got in there and sat down. It took me a half an hour to do the first 10 questions (out of 67). I was very discouraged and planned to spend the rest of my existence sitting at that stupid desk. Then I came to one that I thought I understood and I heaved a sigh of relief. At least I got that one right. That was the only time I felt like I understood something the whole time.

When I was about half way through the test Zak called me and my phone started to ring. I think they can kick you out of BYU if that happens, especially if your ring tone is "Sexy Back" by Justin Timberlake.

When I finally got to the essay question at the end, I was thoroughly confused and I wanted to go home. I didn't understand the question at all, so instead of "calculating the answer and showing my work" I drew a picture and stuck some numbers in it and totally guessed an answer and made up a reason why it should be true. It was as good as saying "Here, Take these 14 points. I don't need them."

Then I ran home as fast as my legs would carry me.

The End.

Happy Birthday Dad!

We celebrated my dad's Birthday by going up to Park City for the weekend. We went to my FAVORITE favorite Mexican restaurant and ate the YUMMIEST chicken Flautas you can imagine.

We carved pumpkins while we were up there. sorry that the pictures are so lame (blogger is being dumb.) But Zak carved an awesome one with our last name going around it all fancy.

Leaves

Yesterday, I was walking down the long stairs by the Richard's building to go to work. At the bottom of the stairs there is a huge, HUGE tree with big yellow leaves on it. When I was walking down the stairs the wind started to blow and a whole bunch of leaves started blowing off the tree. It was so crazy! It looked like it was snowing. I just kept walking and staring at the leaves ahead of me, so I didn't realize that I was in the middle of the leaf storm. The leaves started smacking me in the head and face, really hard and I felt dumb. It was really funny though.

the end

(Yeah, there's not a lot going on with me at the moment. Stay tuned for more exciting episodes.)

School

I love my major, but it has poisoned me. I am in a social and personality development class that has ruined the way I look at people. I can't watch little kids play without analyzing what TYPE of play it is. I can't talk to an adolescent without wondering if they play to an "imaginary audience" or whether they are acting out their own "personal fable." You can usually tell by the way they act, which one it is. I love watching movies like Stepmom, Mean Girls, and Antwone Fisher because they deal with the things that I am learning about in all of my classes.

I love my classes and I am almost finished. I could graduate in August (yippie!) But lately, I have had this great idea that I should take on a double major. What do you think? I would pick up a major in Home and Family Living (the cooking, sewing, interior design major), and I could probably graduate by December 2008. Am I crazy or should I go for it while I still can?

My new favorite TV Show

Zak and I have started watching a show called Kid Nation. I LOVE IT. They took 40 kids to an abandoned mining town in New Mexico and let them organize themselves. they are given challenges to complete to earn money and social status. I love watching them figure things out and how they work together, and how they deal with problems that arise. Last night's challenge was how they would handle religion in their city. Some of the kids were surprisingly religious and brought up a lot of good points when they were trying to organize a religious meeting that would please everyone.

some child psychologists argue that this isn't good for the kids and that it breaks child labor laws because the kids have to do work, like clean the toilets and cook their own food, to keep the town running. I think it is super interesting to watch though. Sorry, this isn't the best pictue, but it is of Bonanza City, where the kids live. Its on CBS on Wednesdays at 7.

It sounds pretty accurate to me...

You Are An INFJ

The Protector You live your life with integrity, originality, vision, and creativity.Independent and stubborn, you rarely stray from your vision - no matter what it is.You are an excellent listener, with almost infinite patience.You have complex, deep feelings, and you take great care to express them. In love, you truly see relationships as an opportunity to connect and grow.You enjoy relationships as long as they are improving and changing. You can't stand stagnation. At work, you stay motivated and happy... as long as you are working toward a dream you support.You would make a great photographer, alternative medicine guru, or teacher. How you see yourself: Hardworking, ethical, and helpful When other people don't get you, they see you as: Manipulative, weak, and unstable

What's" Your Personality Type?

Red Hair

I heard on the radio that redheads currently make up 2% of the earth's population and that in 100 years redheads will be extinct because of what they are calling "global mating." I AM CONCERNED. I have nothing against "global mating," but I was just put on the endangered species list!

Everyone do your duty today, and love a redhead. If you are really dedicated to the cause maybe you could give birth to one. Maybe we should organize a colony of redheads that live in Scotland. That might help...

you were right

Alright Zak, you were right. I should have gotten a new curling iron when you told me to. i'm sorry.

i love my curling iron, it has served me well since high school, or at least freshman year of college. the other day i noticed that the cord was starting to break and little frayed wires were hanging out. Zak told me about all of the peril involved in this situation, but I just shrugged and said yeah, whatever. Yesterday, while I was doing my hair it was like the 4th of July in my bathroom. Huge fireworks. I burned my arm and my t-shirt, and singed my arm hairs, but other than that I am ok. the plug is fine, but I had to flip the breaker in my apartment. Zak was at work so no one was there to laugh and say "I told you so." Scary.

Tiffanie The Gourmet Chef and Zak the Starving Man

Zak likes to eat yummy food, so I have made it my mission to create yummy food for us to consume. I was so motivated in the beginning. I went through all my cook books and called my mom for recipes. Then I made a shopping list and bought actual ingredients- not microwavables (strange). The first night that I tried a new recipe I tried a Broccoli casserole that sounded easy. I thought I would get creative and add some chicken. I soon realized that my frozen broccoli wasn't the right cut for this particular dish, but I shrugged and pressed on. as I was putting it in the pan I realized (surprise surprise) that I had forgotten one of the main ingredients. So of course I just tossed a little sour cream into the pan. I couldn't put it all back in the bowl to mix it in like a normal person, no I just smeared it around on top. Zak walked by and asked what I was doing and why I was laughing. I told him that is was because dinner looked like Fear Factor. We insisted on calling if Fear Factor for the rest of the week.

I have also been trying to find the Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I have tried 3 different times now and all of them have failed. Some were to hard. Some were to salty, some tasted like cardboard. Let me know if you have any advice.

Sometimes I get these weird ideas in my head and I just have to try them out. For example, this weekend I went out and bought a 30 pound watermelon, some cantaloupe and grapes, carried it all up to my third floor apartment and cut it up with cookie cutters. I was just curious to see if it would work and it totally did. Zak and I had fun making little fruit flowers and making a HUGE sticky mess of our whole entire house. It was great fun. We now have about 29.75 pounds of watermelon in our refrigerator for just the two of us.

For more episodes of Tiffanie the Kitchen Disaster, go here.

Jib Jab

Star in Your Own JibJab! It's Free!I wanted to do one too.

Bear Lake

We had tons of fun with my family at Bear Lake. My Aunt Susie and Uncle Scott brought their boys and their boat. The weather was stormy most of the time we were there, so we didn't get to do to much wakeboarding or skiing, But I got up on a wakeboard for the first time ever. When I got up I got so excited that I totally forgot what I was doing and let go of the rope to celebrate. I couldn't get up again because a fresh thunderstorm was moving in and we had to take the boat out of the water.

The storms made for some choppy water and some wild tube rides. My uncle has a HUGE tube that is super stable and we had "Zak versus Scott." Scott would drive crazy and try to make Zak fall off the tube. He only succeeded twice. Zak is tough. I think it scared the younger kids away from riding the tube for a while. We also had "Water Weenie Elimination." I am proud to announce that I, Tiffanie, out lasted both Susie and Zak on the Wild Water Weenie Extravaganza. This event also scared the little boys away from water activities for a while.

It is always fun to watch Zak with my cousins. The oldest, Trevor, is 11 and Zak treats him like the little brother he never had. Which of course means that Zak took it upon himself to swim out to the boat Trevor was on and chuck him in the lake. Ryan, 8, is the extreme sports king of the family. He alone would get on the Tube with Zak for Ultimate Splash Challenge. So fun! McKay (5) and Hayden (2) like to play in the water too and are so fun to play with.

We also went golfing. (HAhahahahaha yeah right. I mean my dad and Zak went golfing and Heather and I drove the carts.) I am an awesome cart driver... and cart golfer. I think we should all start a great game of Golf Cart Polo. That is my secret talent- golfing from the cart. Sorry to all of you golfers- I am that person on the course that is running all over the place like wild and not getting much golfing in.

Yes, I know, very professional. (This is my sister Heather with an orange in her mouth. We were very busy "golfing.")

Oh Glenwood, How I Love Thee So

(Chelsea, Me, Amanda, and Kathryn)

Its time for another episode of "My Crappy Apartment, the College Edition." Just kidding the whole apartment wasn't that bad. It was just crappy because the place was older than I am, and it still had the original mattresses. After the "remodel job" it was advertised as "Park City style lodging." This had me rolling on the floor laughing. The comment was made that the next thing we knew, they were going to put sand around the pool at the Riviera and call it a beach house.

It seems fitting that I do a post in honor of the place Zak and I met. We have lots of good memories of or time there, like the time Zak threw me in the pool, and the time the floor of the lounge collapsed. We spent so much time sitting on broken couches, cooking with crumbling stoves, and sitting in the hot tub of boiling chlorine that we practically own the place. We figured out that between the two of us, with Zak's three years and my two and a half years living there that we paid about $10,000 in rent. That is so gross.

I had 12 roommates during my time in Lodge 70. Chelsea, Amanda, Erica, Katheryn, Liz, Jessie, Blanca, Jen, Jessica, Brittany. Louise, and JoAnna. When you look at it like that, it seems like I chased them all away with my bad breath or something. (Or maybe my alarm clock in the mornings.)

Here are some good things/knowledge that came from my Glenwood roommates: I got out of a $70 library fine (Blanca). I realized that I will naturally never fit into a D (Jessie). I know Yoga better than most people (Amanda). The trunk of my car can fit 3 adults comfortably (Me, Jen, and Amanda). Harry Potter is awesome (Jen). Its ok to change your major 16 times per semester (Chelsea). The Office is possibly one of the greatest television programs of our day (Brittany). Some people are not morning people, and morning doesn't start until 4pm (Brittany). Its ok to work out to Christmas music in September (Jessica). Laughing is better than talking (Kathryn).

Ode to My Roommates

(Left to right: Kelsey, Jen, Sarah, Amanda, Nancy and me.)

Do we look like college freshmen living in the dorms? Yeah, we sure do. This post is dedicated to Kelsey, Jen, Sarah, Amanda, and Nancy of Robison Hall, apartment 128, 2004-2005. We were all so different from each other, it is amazing that we, not only didn't kill each other, but became good friends.

Nancy and I shared a bedroom, and we were polar opposites. For example: (If you know me at all, you will understand!) She was from Arkansas and grew up on a hog farm. Her family didn't eat chocolate- she never really explained to me why, other than it was just a family thing that they did. I had my side of the room plastered in black and white photos, but she said that she liked plain white walls. She went to bed at 10:00pm on the dot every night. (I was lucky to be in bed by 1am back then. There were some nights that I went out at 1am.). She went grocery shopping once in September and once in October and not again until March or April. She kept 5 giant bags of flour under her bed as food storage. Once she hid a barrel of dirt and carrots from her brother's garden in her closet hoping that I wouldn't see them and freak out.

We used to stay up late and read the graffiti under our bookshelves to each other. Nancy always gave really good advice. I am glad that we were friends, even though compared to her, I was a skanky, lazy, party girl with an attitude.

I am still good friends with all of these girls. Jen got married 4 days before me and we planned similar pink and green weddings, both in the Bountiful Temple. Amanda is on a mission in Porto Rico. Sarah and Kelsey lived in Europe this last spring. Its so cool that we are all growing up and doing the things that we had been talking about and planning back when we lived together.

Jane Austen Quiz

I took Jeni's Jane Austen quiz too. I love Jane Austen so I couldn't pass it up. I ended up being most like my favorite character- Elizabeth Bennett! I don't know how accurate it is, but its fun anyway.

"You are Elizabeth Bennet of Pride & Prejudice! You are intelligent, witty, and tremendously attractive. You have a good head on your shoulders, and oftentimes find yourself the lone beacon of reason in a sea of silliness. You take great pleasure in many things. You are proficient in nearly all of them, though you will never own it. Lest you seem too perfect, you have a tendency toward prejudgement that serves you very ill indeed."

Take the Quiz here!

MSG-ed

Ok, So Zak and I have this thing where we talk about going to all of the hole-in-the-wall places in Provo. On Tuesday we decided to try out the "sketchy chinese restaurant" down the street from us. It is sandwiched between the world's oldest cheap motel and a tire shop. They had hung a big sign that said "Best Chinese Food in Provo," so of course Zak had to try it.

I had a huge headache that day and smells were bugging me. (I think I have brain cancer.) When we walked into the crumbling building I was almost knocked over by the aroma of molding walls and an old mysterious leak which I found to be running down the wall right next to our table. I felt like I was in the Dark Canyon Cabin again.

When our food came it smelled really good. There was a ton of it, and for really cheap too. We both got orange chicken, fried rice, and an egg roll. I don't usually like egg rolls, but this one was pretty good. The chicken was ok, but the more I ate the more of a stomach ache I got. It just looked and tasted really greasy to me.

If we ever eat there again we are getting take out. I don't know if its worth it though, really. I like Panda- its sanitary, its safe, and its Americanized.

Zak and I are both doing a blog on the experience and we are going to compare, so be sure to check his blog too.

New Information

Item 1:
Yesterday morning I found a note on my car. It said: "Park straighter in the stall, Thanks." Alright sir. They have obviously never tried to park a 1994 Crown Victoria. I am happy when I can park without hitting anyone or anything. They have probably never done a 15 point turn in their little Honda Accord. Bite me Honda! And The best part is, the spot that they were parked in isn't even theirs, its my neighbor's who is gone for the summer. OkOkok maybe I should just drive better, but I sure feel better after taking that one public.

Item 2: (ATTN Jaime, Jed, Mandi, and Paul)
The Freshman Basketball players have started signing in to Study Hall. This means that I make contact with humans for about 2 hours every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Its all very exciting. Yesterday, One of the players was doing a goofy dance to tease on of the other guys, then he turned to me and said, "Lamont was in a movie and he had to do that." I asked what movie it was and you will never never guess what he said... STOMP THE YARD. No joke. Now I MUST see it because he said that he was "one of the guys that did the stuff."

Not Funny

I have a gift. It is called: the gift of saying the wrong thing at exactly the wrong time. For example: (one of the many examples I am accumulating...)

One Sunday evening at my In-Laws' house, we started talking about pets. Heidi was saying how she got paid $20 to take their childhood dog to be put to sleep. She was saying how she didn't think it would be hard, but ended up crying because it was so sad to see Woody go. I can totally understand, I love my pets too. It would be so crappy to have to send them to their death. BUT instead of saying this, I open my big fat trap and say "Gee didn't Kent have a job one time when he was the guy that euthanized the animals? Yeah he said they just shoved em all in a chamber and gassed em."

Great Tiffanie. I am so cold hearted. Sometimes my mouth gets going down the highway before my brain can even back out of the garage. I am so sorry!

Home Sweet Home- Work in Progess

Here are some pictures of our apartment. We are still working on it, but when we put up our curtains I just got so darn excited that I wanted to share my joy. The really fun part, however, was to see Zak get excited about the curtains.

Nieces and Nephews