Melinda's Graduation

Don't I look educated?

Benners and I right outside the Spectrum

My proud parents and me

Here I am, shocked at the graduation present I discovered when we went back to the apartment.

My beautiful new digital piano (and the cute little stuffed dog from Steph)

As of Saturday, December 15, 2007, I am a college graduate from Utah State University. It feels good, I'm not gonna lie. It's weird to think that I won't be registering for classes or stressing over student teaching evaluations, or dealing with the Registrar's office...sigh...ok I'm over it. I really have loved my 3 1/2 years here at Utah State. It's a great school, and I feel like I received a good education.
My loving husband Ben was in attendance at graduation, as were the Johnsons, Christensens, and Grandma and Grandpa McMullin. When my name was read to receive my degree, the whole Spectrum was silent. (;) I love you, family!) My dear family was all trying to get a picture of me, and they forgot to cheer. The report was that my mom gave a weak little "yay!" as she was trying to work the camera. It made me laugh, but I bet the other grads and audience members felt bad for me and imagined I had a rough past, and wasn't it great that this poor pregnant girl graduated from college with no support from anyone. Ha ha, just kidding. I'm sure no one really noticed, and I know my family loves me and that they were silently cheering or at least giving a mental fist pump for me.
After graduation, we went to the Coppermill for lunch/dinner...linner?. It was delicious! Props to me for thinking ahead to make reservations. I do think of things ahead of time, now that I'm a college grad...
After lunch, our families came back to our little apartment to see the Christmas decorations, or so I thought. I walked in the door, and there stood a beautiful new piano! I've wanted a piano for a very long time, and preferably a digital one with volume control so I don't drive the neighbors crazy. It was a huge surprise! Ben did tons of research to find out all about it and made all kinds of arrangements like having his parents drive it up in the van and have my mom bring my repertoire notebook (thanks Ann Harrington) up to Logan so I'd have something to play from. The Christensens and McMullins went in on the piano with Ben. I love it! The dear Johnson family gave me a brand-spankin' new video camera (which I've also wanted for a long time) complete with tapes and carrying case. I got absolutely spoiled at graduation! Besides just the wonderful and generous gifts, I really appreciated having so much family support. Thanks everyone!

Lil' Emerson's Stocking

The other night, Ben came home with the cutest little surprise. He brought home a stocking for our little boy! What's weird is, his whole little body could probably fit in it right now... I just about died with love pangs for my sweet hubby. ;) Anyway, it's fun to look at, and it makes us excited for when our little guy is finally here!

The Ultimate in Gingerbread Housing

The front of our gingerbread house...does it look familiar to you, Christensens?

The side, complete with driveway and truck.

My cute Benners. Notice the time the clock on the wall says...past 12:30 a.m.!

So the Sunday after Thanksgiving break, our friends invited us over to make gingerbread houses. We volunteered to bring graham crackers, candy, etc, and they laughed at us! Then they kept asking us if we'd drawn up the plans for our house yet. Um...we were thinking a box with a roof? Graham crackers are quite good at forming boxes (or boxen).
We arrived at their house at 5:30 with our meager decorating supplies and were both shocked and amazed at what they meant by gingerbread houses. They meant houses made of gingerbread! (I know it sounds obvious, but I guess I just didn't think people took the time to use their geometry and trig to draw out house plans, transfer them to wax paper, cut them out of the gingerbread dough, bake them with candy windows and then assemble the whole dang house.) Don't get me wrong, it was a blast, but we felt underqualified to take part in such elaborate holiday festivities. After 7 hours of gingerbread house-making, we traipsed home with our masterpiece. And here we are documenting it with pictures just in case it breaks. :) Good times. My advice: Next time someone invites you to make gingerbread houses, know exactly what you are getting into!

It's a...

Boy

Here's his cute little foot.

Our little boy's scrawny little legs. (I asked about the club-looking foot. It's not really a club foot, it's perfectly normal.)

Here is our little boy's profile. You can see the facial bones and his cute little brain.

His cute little spine and head.

I know he kind of looks like a little alien, but it's awesome that we kind of can tell what he looks like! I think he has a flat little Christensen face.

Here is his cute little nose and luscious lips. I think he got those from me. :)

The view from the top of his head looking down on his little brain. The doctor said it would keep growing...so no worries there.


Well, it's official! We're having a boy! Even though Ben didn't say too much about his preference, he came all out with it once he got the deepest wish of his little heart. He's thrilled to be having a boy, and so am I. I can already tell he's going to be a little menace, though, from the way he was putting up a fight during the ultrasound pictures. I guess that just means he takes after his daddy already. :)

19 Weeks and Counting...

Well, here I am at 19 weeks pregnant with Little Limey. I'm at that awkward stage where people aren't sure if I'm pregnant or just getting thick around the waist. I'm sure those of you that have had the pleasure of experiencing this stage know exactly what I'm talking about.

Update

We're the worst bloggers ever. Gosh, ever since I started my new block of student teaching, I've had pretty much zero time. I'm there before school, and at least one and a half hours after school every day...not even doing stuff to prepare my OWN lessons! I know it doesn't sound that rough, but it's frustrating when the other teachers treat you like crap, you're not allowed to use anything at school, and then you finally get home after stupid professional development, and you still have your own lessons to plan and submit to your teacher before she trusts you to educate the young, distracted minds of first graders! I loved fourth grade so much more. Although I guess I might miss snapping first graders' pants for them and tying their shoes...lol...Only 4 1/2 more weeks until I'm done being a lowly student teacher!

In other news, Ben has been accepted to Eastern Virginia Medical School. We're not sure if we'll be going there for sure, but it's nice to know he's been accepted somewhere. So we'll see how everything else goes.

We get to find out whether Lima is a boy or a girl in 6 days! (translation: Lima= our baby. We call it that because on the first ultrasound it looked like a little Lima bean. The nickname has really caught on! Our unborn child is affectionately known by family and friends as simply Lima.) I just hope that Lima doesn't decide to be overly modest during the ultrasound. This is the one time in Lima's life that we'll allow him or her to be immodest...just so we know if it's a male or female bean.

Yellowstone

Little Benzie on his first trip to Yellowstone

Ben and Nin at the Artist Paint Pots

A picture demonstrating Ashley's wonderful picture-taking abilities (with garbage can and everything! :) Thanks, Ash!)

A nice elk.

Nin about to be rammed by an angry buffalo

Scott, Ashley, Brad, Steph, Ben, and Nin at Mammoth

I took this picture out the car window. The buffalo were so close! We thought they were going to ram the van...which would've been awesome, but probably wouldn't have been good for the van. (I think this is a boy buffalo :))

Ninners and Benners in front of a pretty waterfall.

Ok, this is an awesome picture of a bear's footprint. My dad just decided on a whim to take the upper scenic loop, and we came upon two bears wrestling by a hot pot. We kinda spooked them when we came around the corner in the car, so they ran up the road. We chased them (at a slow speed) for probably 10 minutes until they ran up the hill. We went back a little later to see if we could see any footprints, and lo and behold there they were!

Cute little Benners in front of Old Faithful.

Over conference weekend, the Johnsons were nice enough to take us on a quick trip to Yellowstone. They picked us up late Friday night where we stayed in Pocatello at a fine establishment. (You'll have to ask Scott about his hearty continental breakfast.) Since the breakfast was, well, less than sufficient, we decided to bag it and go to IHOP. (Excellent choice.) Afterward, the boys had to make a stop at Wal-Mart to get some decent boot-shoes to walk around in the snow with. (For some reason, the girls were all prepared...hmm...) Then it was off to Yellowstone for some great adventures.

We were so glad to have Ben with us because he has the best animal-spotting eyes! Before we were even in the park, he spotted two black bears running at each other in a field about to fight. It was AWESOME. He also spotted two coyotes and a wolf. Mom was the one to spot the two Grizzlies wrestling. (Jim: "Question- Which bear is best?" Dwight: "Well that depends, there are two schools of thought..." Jim:"False. Black bear.") There were also tons of buffalo and elk.

The weather was pretty dang cold, but we still had a great time. It was Ben's first time, and he loved it. I'm pretty sure we'll be taking Lima and other kids there on vacation later on in life. :) On the way back, we drove through Jackson Hole (which totally made me think of Eric Davis) and stopped at a quality (not) Wendy's. They refused to give any Frosties with the kids meal! Who does that? Or rather, doesn't do that? Then they gave Scott a smaller-than-kids meal hamburger. (See Scott's blog for visual) Plus, the worker was really crabby. He shall be hereafter known as the Frosty Nazi.

Anyway, lots of great memories. Thanks Mom and Dad for the great trip! It was a blast!

Awards Night

A few weeks ago, Ben and I got to attend an awards night for the scholarship he received from the College of Business. It was fun because we were able to get all dressed up and even had hors d'oeuvres beforehand! (Fancy schmancy) The food was great. Even Lima had a good time with mom and dad. ;)

It's Our Lima Bean!

Little Lima at 11 weeks. Isn't he/she cute?

The 4-D picture of our baby. (Don't ask me why it's 4-D and not 3-D)

Well, to officially announce it...we're having a baby! Here are pictures from the ultrasound last week. We don't know if it's a boy or a girl yet, but the appointment is set for November 16th. See if you can tell from the blobbish pictures...:) My due date is April 9th, so I've still got a long long way to go. I have been so lucky to not have bad morning sickness. Saltines are the best! That's how I start my morning every day in bed. I've been mostly tired, not really sick, and I haven't thrown up once. (Knock on wood.) I've really have been so lucky. Since I'm almost done with my first trimester, I'm supposedly coming out of the stage when morning sickness is generally a problem, so I'm just praying that it doesn't start now.

The ultrasound was awesome! It was amazing to see and hear the little heart beating and to see our little bean flailing around. It's weird to see, because I can't feel anything, and I don't look pregnant yet. So it made it more real to actually see that there's something in there.

Random Thought

I've decided that I'm skeptical of products that have the words "extra fancy" on the packaging. I'm concerned that I need reassurance of fanciness. I was unaware that some products were lacking in fanciness. When I read that, I wonder what they're compensating for. I guess I assumed that it goes without saying that there is some standard of fanciness in products, like ketchup, for example. But you know what happens when you assume...Don't even get me started when there are multiple "extras" written. There's just no need. I kind of relate this to exclamation marks. As my high school AP English teacher, Mr. Drake, told me, "Every person is born with three exclamation points. Once you've used them, they're gone. So use sparingly." I hate it when people include more than one exclamation point on the end of a sentence. One will suffice. If companies insist on assuring us of their fanciness, they could simply leave off the "extra".
Another thing I've been pondering is the "classic yellow" mustard. Is there another "unclassic blue" mustard? Or worse, an "unfancy green" mustard?
Also, when it is written, "super super size" is super an actual form of measurement? Like a cup? Quart? Gallon? You'd think it would be standardized, since so many companies feel compelled to describe the size of their product as "super".

A Taste of Italy

Marco and Ilaria becoming True Aggies

Christiana and Silvio becoming True Aggies

Silvio and little Rebecca becoming True Aggies

David and Rebecca in front of the Logan Temple

Melinda, Ben, Marco, and Ilaria in front of the Logan Temple

Marco, Becky, David, and Jenny roasting hot dogs in Logan Canyon.

Yesterday, we were lucky to have the Spinelli family from Ben's mission to Italy come visit us in Logan! I can't even describe what an awesome and amazing family they are. My family had the opportunity to meet them when we went on our trip to Italy in May 2005. They were the most welcoming and friendly family and we were so impressed by them. It was hard for me to understand what they were saying both then and now, because I obviously don't speak Italian, but I actually caught more than I thought I would. The Spinellis are seriously the most generous, positive, and gracious family I think I've ever met. They were just so happy about everything! Even though they are going through some hard times with pregnancies and illness and work, and all kinds of things, they are so happy for other people. They are such good examples.

Ilaria was especially excited to come visit us, because Ben baptized her while on his mission. She and Marco dated for 9 years or so before they decided to get married, then their marriage was delayed because of problems with their documentation for 5 more months. They've been married for a year and a half now, and were sealed in the temple shortly after their civil ceremony. Christiana and Silvio are living in Ogden with their two children, David and Rebecca. Christiana speaks very very good English, so she helped me understand what was going on a lot. :)

We had such a great time showing them around, because they were so happy to see anything. We took them up to Utah State's campus and made them all become True Aggies, we took them to Aggie Ice Cream, then the Logan Temple where they were just in awe. They couldn't believe how many temples we have so close by, when the closest temple to them is in Switzerland. Everything we showed them they would say "Bellisimo!" or "Molto Bello!" which means good, great, beautiful, etc. We also showed them the Logan Tabernacle and then took them to Logan Canyon where we roasted hot dogs, and gave them a sampling of American Mormon picnic salads. They actually seemed to like it, so that made me happy. On our way to the canyon, we picked up Jenny and her roommate Linds. Jenny, Linds, Rebecca, David, and I all enjoyed throwing rocks into the river. I guess that's an international thing, as my mom said. :) They were hilarious because they were jabbering in English the entire time. It was crazy to hear them speak Italian with their parents! It was adorable. When they were speaking English, Jenny and I kept asking them to sing "Old McDonald" in Italian (because they had been singing it before) but Becky refused. She's a little wild woman! Both kids were absolutely adorable and spoke very good English. I just wish I spoke more Italian.

When it was time to say goodbye, all of them gave us hugs and the kiss on each side and said "Ciao!" (I was proud, because I said "Ciao, Grazia!" and that's about all I can say!) We were sad to see them go, but were so happy we had the opportunity to spend the day with them.

Labor Day Weekend

Bradders, Poppy, and Teffers

Benners bein' all cute n' stuff

Our whimsical family picture

Nin just fishin'

Mom just readin'

Labor Day weekend was pretty fun this year. We went down Friday evening and saw the Christensens for a little while, then we went over to the Johnson home and went to the condo in Midway. We were sad that Nat, Scott, and Ashley weren't able to come!

The next morning, the boys went golfing, and the girls went to Swiss Days...Hooray! I just love Swiss Days, and I look forward to going every single year. For those of you that don't know what Swiss Days is, my dad describes it as a gigantic Quilted Bear outside. Ben HATES the Quilted Bear and held his breath the entire time he was there with his grandma one time. There are actually quite a few cool things at Swiss Days, and a lot of men go with their wives and actually enjoy it. It can get pretty hot and crowded, but I thought it was worth it to get all the cute things I did!

After Swiss Days, the girls just lounged around enjoying their purchases until the boys got home. We drove back to Murray so that my mom and dad could be there at church on Sunday for their churchy responsibilities. Saturday night was a highlight for Ben because we did a Del Taco run for the fam, rented "Breach" and also made a stop off at Skippers (it's a scary-looking seafood restaurant.) It's been Ben's quest ever since he saw it to eat something from there, and he finally got his chance--and he didn't even get sick! I was amazed. Anything with an askew sign automatically makes me a little wary. He got clam chowder, which totally grossed me out, because I have bad memories of it as a child. Scott will sympathize with me here. I'm sure my mom made just great clam chowder, but we just hated it! She keeps telling me that I need to try it as an adult, but I can't bring myself to do it because I remember the time she made me eat 5 more bites before I could go outside and have an otter pop. Those five bites were the biggest crisis of my life, and I just sat and stared while the chowder got colder and more congealed. Mmmmm....don't you want some now? I somehow made it through, or my mom gave up...I'm not sure which one. But knowing my mom, she actually probably didn't give up--so I'm thinking I choked it down while gagging in a dramatic way. Scott was right there with me, he can attest to this. (I'd like to insert here that my mom would say right about now, "I'm such a mean mom, aren't I? in a sarcastic voice. Love you, mom!) So to sum it all up, Ben's life is complete now that he has sampled Skippers.

On Sunday, my mom and dad cooked up a delectable dinner, and we got to see Scott and Ashley! Yay! Then we went to the McMullin monthly family home evening and had a good time there. Ben's kind uncle sent us with a huge bagful of vegetables so we can eat for another week. (Thanks, Garn!) After that, it was back to the condo where we roasted marshmallows in the backyard, recounted even more childhood memories, and played a few rounds of Perpetual Commotion. Good times.

The next day, Ben and Brad went waverunning with Ben's cousins while the rest of us slept in and had a good breakfast. When they got home, we took a drive to Teapot lake and went fishing for a little while. We were so proud, because it was so spontaneous of us! Of course we didn't catch anything, because that's just our luck, but we had a good time watching for the bear that was sighted the night before! To finish a pretty perfect weekend, we dined at the Dairy Keen in Midway, which is a classic. All in all, it was a great weekend.

Back to School

Sigh...it's back to school once again. Ben is enjoying his classes so far, but I think he's a little bummed that he has homework, and I don't really have what you would call "homework" anymore. I have lesson plans, yes. Projects, yes. But no more tests! Hooray!

I started off my school week with boring seminars on campus that were somewhat helpful with preparing for student teaching. Then I got to meet my fourth graders on Wednesday! They're little angels compared to the child delinquents I taught during summer school. I actually do have a special place in my heart for those summer school kids, but it still catches me off guard when I tell the kids to do an assignment and they get to work. Or my positive reinforcement with tickets works. Beautiful. There are some that are still trying to test me and my evident student-teacherness, but if they keep pushing, they're going to see Miss Viola Swamp from me. So there. Ha. All in all, I think it will be a great semester, and even greater because it's my last one! I really think teaching is the greatest, and I'm enjoying myself even though I come home so tired and drained from the day. I think I bore Benners with the stories of my students because a lot of times you really did have to be there, but he's usually a good husband and humors me by pretending to listen while I talk about the little hispanic boy who threw his arms around me on Friday and asked when I was coming back. It was one of those awkward moments as a teacher where you know you can't not hug the kid back, but you have to be SUPER careful about it at the same time. I just love the awkwardity...

Our Story

Since Lacey tagged me, I get to write mine and Ben's love story. Oh....for cute!

Where did you meet your husband?

I met Ben through my dear brother Scott. They both went to Italy on their missions, so they knew each other before we all came to Utah State. Scott and I registered for the same creative arts class so that we could sit together and be best friends. It turned out that Elder Christensen from the mission just happened to have creative arts with us. What are the odds that in a class of 800 people, my future husband would run into my brother and we would all sit together? (I guess the odds are pretty good...) So after our first creative arts class, Ben and I had Chemistry class together without Scott, and after that we had an hour break where we usually went to the library to "study". The rest is history.

What was the first thing you said to him?

Something like "hi." I actually thought he was kind of weird because he was so friendly to my brother. I thought he was just this stranger that was way too eager to meet someone new.
(For those of you that know Scott, you know he's not an overly outgoing, animated person, so that's why it struck me so weird that he was talking to the friendly stranger. We love you Scott!)

Where was your first date? Kiss?

We had a hangout before we actually had a date. We went to a creative arts event together with his sister Brooke and all of her friends that had crushes on Ben. (Luckily, Ben and I worked the seating arrangement so that Ben was on the end, I was next to Ben, and then his best friend Ryan was on the other side of me with all the other girls way on the other side. Take that!)

But anyway, back to our first date. Ben asked me on a date about 2 weeks after we met, and I found out later that I was his second choice for the date. :( Oh well, I won. We went to the Bluebird for dinner and then to National Treasure afterward. We had a great time talking about all sorts of things we had in common. It was a great date. I got a wonderful hug at the end of the night.

Our first kiss was at my apartment after we watched a movie. (Coincidentally, Ben kissed me after he promised his best friend Ryan that he wouldn't for at least another week. Take that, Ryan!)

Long or short courtship?

I guess it was short...it seemed long to me though! We met in January, got engaged in April, and got married in August. I dated Ben the longest of anyone I've ever dated...

Where did you get engaged?

We got engaged at Maddox in Brigham City after one of Ben's soccer games. He completely surprised me! He arranged for both of our families to meet us in Brigham City so they could be there when he proposed. Cute, huh? He had written me a love letter and a list of 100 memories and had his brother and my sister bring the letter and roses to me at the table. It took me a minute to figure out what was going on, but I eventually figured it out. :) After reading the letter I looked up and saw both of our families standing there and then Ben came out and knelt down and said "Melinda, I love you so much, will you marry me?" And I said yes.

How did the reception go?

We had a luncheon at the Gathering Place at Gardner Village for our family and friends and then held our reception at Heritage Gardens. Our reception was AWESOME. We appreciated all the support we received from all the people who attended! The dessert buffet was amazing, our photographer was amazing, the flowers were amazing, and the bridesmaids and groomsmen looked amazing in their clothes. The bride and groom weren't so bad-looking either. It was a definite success. Everything went perfectly. (I guess I was kind of a Bridezilla. Actually, not really, I'm just into details.)

How was the honeymoon?

We went to the San Juan islands for our honeymoon. We flew to Washington and then took a ferry to Orcas Island. Unfortunately, our travel agent didn't think we needed a car, and she was dead wrong. Our Bed & Breakfast was a few miles inland, and we had to wait 45 minutes for a taxi to come pick us up. When we finally got to the Turtleback Farm Inn, I was starving and felt so sick. We had to hitch a ride into town with one of the employees so that we could get a few things at the grocery store and get something for dinner. Interestingly enough, there were zero good restaurants in town. Everyone we talked to said that the food was terrible everywhere and it was all overpriced. We did discover a pizza place that was pretty good, though. This kind employee took us back to the Inn when we were finished in town, and we just sat on the bed and laughed until we were in tears because we were so stranded. Up until about the third day of our honeymoon we had to catch rides with people going in to town. I felt like I was 14 again, asking my mom for a ride somewhere. On the third day of our honeymoon, while riding the town shuttle around, we saw an ad for rental cars on a pamphlet. We thought there was little hope since we called everywhere on the island and all the cars were rented, but we asked anyway. It turned out that they had this old blue chevy van. We had never been more excited to drive a stupid van. Overall, the honeymoon was a success, but it was kind of a disaster. We were able to do a lot even though we didn't have a car at first. We went whale watching, swimming in a freshwater lake, to the community farmer's market/craft extravaganza, and many picnics. It was great, and it makes a great story as well.

Happy Anniversary!

As of yesterday, at 9:40 a.m. Ben and I have officially been married for two years. Crazy, huh? It has absolutely flown by. Two years of marital bliss...sigh...And what, you might ask, did we do for our big anniversary? We stayed at the Providence Inn Bed & Breakfast. It's a charming little place that's connected to an old church. Our room was very cozy.

Dinner at the Copper Mill (my new favorite restaurant in Logan. The Bluebird doesn't quite do it for me as much since I got food poisoning there) was lovely. Our waiter was awesome. Ben was away from the table, and he came over and asked if we were going to the opera (this is where I wanted to reply "Heck no, I want nothing to do with Satan--I mean Michael Ballam") but instead I just smiled and said "No, it's actually our anniversary...2 years...etc." Then he asked "So how's it goin'? Good?" Huh? What? How's it goin'? That's what I was thinking anyway, but instead I just laughed and said "It's going really well." "Good." he said as he walked away. Then he came back and said "That was kind of a dumb question, I don't know what I was expecting you to say...I'd better be careful about what I ask in case it's not going well for someone." "Yeah, marriage totally sucks, that's why we're celebrating two years." Ha ha, anyway...I guess you had to be there. I hope I didn't make him feel too awkward. Then he brought us free dessert! I love free dessert.

After that we just hung out in our room, played games, and watched movies. I even surprised Ben with a mini anniversary cake "leetle keck" (That's mine and my dad's way of saying things with a mock-Italian accent. We did the voice all over Italy, my mom doesn't think it's very funny). The dumb cake kept sliding off the plate though and Ben ended up planting his hand in the middle of the frosting. Good times.

The Bed & Breakfast was so nice though. They brought us popcorn for our movie and breakfast in bed! (Hence the name?) Anyway, our anniversary was a blast. Here are some pictures of our room from the internet (we forgot our camera, dang it!):

Pet Peeve

However delightful it is working at USU as a switchboard operator, it does have its drawbacks. Here are some highlights:

1. People calling because they want to be reassured that they won't be attacked by Mormons the second they come to Logan. They want to know about the bars, clubs, and sleep-over policy for the university. Since I'm the local authority on all of that, I'm just the perfect person to talk to. (Right....) I must say that I'm not jealous of that lifestyle AT ALL. But whatever floats your boat, right?

2. People yelling personal insults at you over the phone because the registrar's office won't answer their dang phone. And no I will not run over and tell them to answer their phone, so stop asking.

3. Older people calling me sweetie, dear, cutie, honey, darling, etc. Do I really sound that young on the phone?

4. The same old man calling and telling us jokes and riddles, such as: How many farm animals can you fit into a pair of women's pantyhose? (I still don't know. He never told us the answer. It's going to bug me. How many can you fit?)

5. The same mysterious boy that always tries to guess our names. (We're not supposed to tell anyone our names, so when they ask we have to say "I can't give out that information) We'll say "Utah State" and he'll say "Jessica?" and most of the time we'll say "No, this is the operator" but one time he guessed one of our names. It was creepy.

6. Lonely young men that call on Friday or Saturday nights and ask us to look up the number for Lava Hot Springs and then ask us to go with them when we get off work. How desperate can you be? Do I have a sexy voice or somethin'?

7. The same little girl that calls over and over again and tells us that we're fat and ugly and that we're fired. She's a gem.

8. Summer citizens. (Oh dear...don't get me started) I'm sorry, but you are not allowed to call crappy student housing your "summer condo". It's no condo, trust me. And no, people are not conspiring against you by giving you the broken phone every single summer you come to Cache Valley. Lastly, I will NOT use my personal cell phone to call your daughter in Vermont to tell her you arrived safely. It's 11:00 p.m. her time and she's probably glad to be rid of you anyway.

9. Trying to decipher what foreigners are saying. 9 times out of 10 they want International Students and Scholars, and the other 10% want this other guy on campus named Neil Dabb. (I don't actually know who he is, but I think he might be a drug dealer, member of the Mafia, or part of the CIA.)

10. Working on nights, weekends, and holidays when all we can say is "I'm sorry, campus is closed. Call another time." Honestly, who really believes that the registrar's office will be open at 9:30 on a Saturday night?

11. The awkward silence that follows when someone asks for the Gay and Lesbian Center. Then the disgusted "ew" that follows after they've been transferred.

Big Weekend (Kind of like one of Stephanie's Big Days, but even bigger)

What an eventful weekend! Phew! It was enjoyable to take a trip to Salt Lake, but man was it exhausting. We celebrated Nat's birthday, played mom and dad to 10 kids, and...ok, so I guess it doesn't sound like much at all, but it really was!

Just the fact that we didn't miss Natalie's birthday by being on a trip made her birthday tons better. ;) (We love you Nat!) We got to celebrate by having a girls' day at Gardner Village where we went to lunch at the bakery, shopped around (in the pouring rain) and then went to the movie No Reservations. It was pretty cute. I would recommend it. (Oh, and P.S. Ben worked hard for his grandpa during Girls' Day. But don't worry, I'm not completely a mean wife because I tended 10 of his younger siblings for 7 hours the next day by myself while he went golfing with my dad--as Mom always says "it all evened out in the end.")

After Girls' Day we went over to the Christensen household to relieve Mary Ditto of her parenting duties. Then we had dinner, tried to put the little kids to bed (notice the operative word: tried) and then played a form of Mormon Mad Gab with the older kids until we were dead tired. I think our crowning accomplishment though was getting all 10 kids to their cousins' baptism EARLY. Hooray! They were all so well-behaved through it too. I was very impressed, as were all the relatives.

After the baptism, most kids fell asleep and then we did shifts of playing computer and Nintendo with cleaning their rooms and doing their jobs. (Note: Ben is such a good husband. He was hesitant to leave me alone even though I reassured him that I handle 30 kids at a time by myself at school all day. But he was even thinking of canceling golf so that he could help me! Isn't that sweet? I told him he could go though, and when he came back he made me just sit and relax while he got the house cleaned up and put the kids back to bed.) It is extremely tiring to keep tabs on every child! Later that night, Brooke and the Alli-Cat came to visit all the way from Virginia. Alli is so big now--she's starting to walk! She is a very cute little niece. I feel bad for Tim being all alone in Virginia for 10 days without his girls! When we left Sunday morning to drive back to Logan, we were glad to turn the house and kids over to Brooke. Good luck! :)