Happy Halloween!

Love, Lucky

lol

Hey everyone,

Sorry I haven't posted much this semester, it's been crazy. Pretty much every day something bizarre and funny happens at this office. I don't know if it's our location or what, but if all I did was post the weird things that happen here, I wouldn't have time to do anything else. That being said, I have a funny story from today to share.

So, last week Jeb Bush (not this Bush brother) was on campus at our Media and Public Affairs Building giving a speech about how the GOP can remake its image. It was a pretty big news on campus and around town, because Jeb has been keeping a low profile, and lots of people had initially hoped he would be the Bush son to be president.

Anyway, we've got a crazy guy that comes to our office a lot. He apparently used to work at the Library of Congress, and is on medical disability. He demands random information about scholarships, and the paralegal certification / Master's degree program. The school advertises their paralegal and other professional certification programs heavily in the newspaper because they are profitable programs for the University.

So today he came in with a newspaper, and was livid. He had circled the time and room of the Paralegal program information session, but had apparently got it mixed up with the Jeb Bush speech. He came in today to the office and was yelling "I sat through the whole Jeb Bush program but he never got around to talking about paralegal studies!"

PS - after typing this out I realize it doesn't read as being very funny. But it was hilarious to me that a 40 year old man who knows who Jeb Bush is would think he was going to do a presentation on a paralegal certification, and that all the press would be here to cover it.

I <3 my cats

I don't care if all these posts makes me a crazy cat lady or not...these two rock my world.

Lesson Learned

One really bad habit of mine is to lock my car door before I close it. Yeah I have the keyless entry clicker and all that...but for some reason, I just open the door, lock it, then get out and close it. This sometimes results in me frantically looking for my keys just after getting out of the car, which is so lame. Anyway, today this happened:
My keys were locked IN the door. Luckily, the key and the clicker ended up on the outside of the car, so no problem. But still. Me + rain + Trader Joe's parking lot + Joe not home for another 5 hours = quick panic. WHEW. Lesson learned.

Tried and True Ideas I Found on the Interwebs

Dipping apples

Easier than caramel apples, I tried this at preschool:
apple chunks...covered in
nutella, peanut butter, or marshmallow fluff...then dipped in
chopped up candy, chocolate, cinnamon sugar, or dry jello mix
Success! (and HUGE sugar high)

"Smart" ice bucket

Put ice in a colander, then in a bigger container. Your guests end up with ice, not ice water.
Success!

Blink, Beach and 'Burg

Unplanned coordinating outfits, 2002

Blink 182 has influenced my life more than any other band...they gave my brother a job, which got me 1) super-cool status in high school when I got to hand out leftover Hurley and Blink bumper stickers, 2) backstage access to Warped Tour 2000, and 3) my awesome sister-in-law Carter (who met Jake on the road).

When Joe and I started chatting it up Freshman year at BYU, our similar tastes in music was a big plus. We talked about the concerts we went to, downloaded literally thousands of songs (thanks BYU's internet and audiogalaxy,) made each other awesome mixes, and made plans to attend a few shows together.

It's been 7.5 years, but we finally got to see a Blink show together! It was at the amphitheater in Virginia Beach...which is pretty much the coolest place to see a show ever. We had lawn seats, (but we mostly stood,) a great view, and tons of room to move around. Cons: the 3.5-turned-6.5-hour trip to get there, missing the opening band (Asher Roth,) the next band (All-American Rejects,) canceling due to a wrist injury, and parking five million miles away. Pros: Watching Fall Out Boy and Blink rock their little hearts out, knowing the words to every song, and dancing in the rain.

That night we stayed in Virginia Beach, and the next day enjoyed riding a 2-seater bicycle thingy up and down the boardwalk. We saw a pet adoption fair, leftover sand sculptures and a jetski contest.

Then we went to Williamsburg for a night. We walked around William & Mary and did whatever free stuff we could downtown. It's weird to go places where Joe applied to law school and think "We could have ended up here..." It was a beautiful campus, but we really enjoy ourselves here.

And that was our quick trip last weekend! This was actually my first time out of the "NoVa" (Northern Virginia) area since we've moved here (other than plane trips across the country). We definitely need to do it more often. Tons more of Virginia to enjoy!

What We've Been Up To...

I realize this is not at all "what we've been up to," because if we wrote:

7:00am-Joe and Britt wake up
7:45am-Joe to work
8:15am-Britt to work
4:30pm-Britt home
6:00pm-Joe to school
9:00pm-Joe home

y'all would be like "BORING!" (p.s. doesn't Joe's schedule suck and my schedule totally rule? Just remember that today I had to pick up poop, so don't be too jealous).
*****
So the Halo 3 ODST gamey thingy came out last week. There was a midnight release, and we went to it.
See? We're wearing Halo shirts 'cause we're cool. This reminds me of our last Halo-related midnight relase: November 2004 to get Halo 2 at the Media Play in Orem. Joe chillin with Master Chief. Wow, I can't believe Halo has played such an important part in our lives for this long. Crazy.
*****
On Saturday Joe had some law school friends over to watch cool 80's movies (of the Arnold Schwarzenegger/Steven Seagal variety); they do this every few months and rotate living rooms. Fun idea. Anyway, I used it as an excuse to make some pretty unhealthy snacks and to use our keep-food-warm thingy. Those are little smokies, stuffed potato skins and quesadillas. YUM. When is the next party? I will pretend to tolerate those movies if I can make junk food again.
*****
I know you guys have really missed the cat pictures, so here's one. Remember Joe's schedule? Sometimes he falls asleep on the couch. Wherever he is, Lucky finds him and cuddles up. Cute.
*****
And finally, I present to you: Photos hung in living room. We wanted to go a little "DC," so we enlarged our own photos of the Washington Monument, the Capitol, and the Iwo Jima Memorial. This took me way too long to not post a photo showing off my work.
I also put those LED-candles in the fireplaces because we never use it. They're on a timer, so every night from 7-midnight they "flicker". Way better than fake logs.*****
By this time tomorrow we will be on the lawn of the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Virginia Beach, getting ready for the Blink 182 concert. I can't wait.