Stella?

So... it's all I can talk about lately, so you have probably all heard about this, but I HAS A JEEP! I know, I know-- what happened to the reliable, efficient Corolla or Civic? We almost bought 2 different Corollas, but they both fell through, and because we had gap insurance on Saabrina (the car that was totaled), we had $1000 to use towards a car purchase but it had to be within 60 days. So after being frustrated about the Corollas falling through, I just for fun looked up Jeeps on KSL. Well, Joe and I found this awesome looking green Wrangler and we decided to go test drive (just for fun). Well, I loved it. And after consulting Uncle Dave and Paul Shelley, resident Jeep experts, they both said it sounded like a good deal. Well, we had pretty much decided on it, but not finalized anything (to my knowledge) when Joe surprised me with it and bought and picked it up. I was shocked! It was mine! All mine Buwahahahaha! Ehem. Sorry. Anyway, it's a 1997 Wrangler but it's in really good condition and only has 100,000 miles on it. It already has a 3" lift and new 31" tires, so Moab: here I come! It has a soft top which is fun, but it does make for noisy freeway driving so I may invest in getting a hardtop for it someday. And yes. It has bad gas mileage. But, I figure, if I'm ever going to own a Jeep in my life, now is the time because I am only driving to work or school or the store, which are all less than 5 minutes away, and I don't have kids that I am trying to fit and be safe in a car yet, and we live in Utah where I actually have opportunities to do some off-roading... Okay so maybe I am crazy. I think I shall name her Stella, but I am still thinking. Any opinions? Joe likes "Dexter", but it is clearly a girl, so any other ideas? I have also considered "Juke" and "Zuka"

School is good but crazy. I only have 2 weeks left before finals. I am working on 2 different (lengthy) research papers right now: one about the Nazi appropriation of Shakespeare, and the other about new media rental methods and business strategies.

Work is fine but stressful: one of the fill time managers is in Fiji for 3 weeks and so I have been working 30-40 hours instead of my usual 25.

We just found out on Sunday that our ward is splitting in half, effective the week after conference. So now all the Orem residents are in a separate ward from us Provo residents. Our ward is getting a new bishopric, but we still meet in the same building at the same time. It is bittersweet- I was just getting comfortable with our ward. But most of our close friends that we have made live at the Branbury with us so they are still in our ward.

We are hoping to be RA's starting in April for our building at the Branbury (the majority of our apartment building is single students), which would be awesome because we would get a discount on rent.

I am also hoping to do an internship this summer as a technical writer.

We also plan on going on many camping, hiking, and jeeping trips...

Many, many, many.

Okiloveyoubyebye!

And yes, I just revamped the blog design

Let me know what you think... is it too busy?

Observations

No exciting stories today.





I do want to thank everyone who contributed to the painting of Christ (shown below) that we were given for our wedding! We were able to finally get it framed (thanks to Mom) and put up on our wall (thanks to Joe) and it is GORGEOUS. So thank you thank you thank you.

I mostly just wanted to write down a few of things I have been learning and a some observations.

So I am taking a technical writing class (English 316) and I am learning a lot, but mostly, realizing that this is something that I really enjoy doing and am fairly competent at. Can I make that observation? Ok well I just love that it is all about writing CLEARLY. As an English major with a poetry emphasis, writing flowery, creative, and profound language is all I've ever learned or focused on. I love doing that and it is great, but it's also nice to learn this skill, and I mean SKILL. It is hard sometimes to just be really economical and straightforward. You put clarity above everything else, even at the sacrifice of repetition, sentence flow, awkward phrasing, etc. I also think I like this field because I get to investigate, read, absorb, learn, comprehend, analyze, interpret, translate, write, communicate, edit, and then design; all of which I like to do. Plus, it includes just the right amount of business and technology with the writing. I guess I am just trying to say that I like the environment. Note to self: maybe you should pursue this career...

I am also taking this great Shakespeare class: pure, liquid, awesome. Basically, we come to class having done the reading, and then sit in a circle and just discuss Shakespeare all day. Brilliant.

Another observation: now that some 70% of my classmate peers are married or at least getting more serious about life because graduation is near, they are a lot more reliable, efficient, hard-working, responsible, confident, etc. This makes collaborative and group projects so much more enjoyable to work on, and also makes class discussion so much more relevant and interesting.

I've decided that young married student wards are AMAZING. Everyone is like, in the same boat and going through similar life experiences. I feel so unified with my ward and especially my relief socity because of this. It's like, one person has a baby so everyone helps out and brings meals, etc. one month, and then the next month, you* have a baby and everyone brings you meals and stuff. No one is afraid to ask for help because we are all taking turns helping and many are going through life-time firsts together. Pretty cool.

*Author's note: "you" is not referring to me here; this was a rhetorical situation; I am not with child.

Observation #3 (if anyone is keeping track): Husbands are rad. Pretty much Joe is so good at helping me through stuff when I am an emotional wreck. I thought it would take longer to be able to identify each other's needs, and I know we are still learning, but he has been so good to me when I am having one of my (amazingly many...) bad days.

Our newest exciting endeaver is trying to buy a car. Our Saab was declared a total loss after the accident so we inherited Joe's old car that was being used by his brother-in-law, but they didn't really need it anymore. So this new (to us) car would be for me! We are looking at Toyota Corollas because I want something really reliable. We are looking at a 2005 with 80,000 miles on it. Any input/opinions? I am really excited: I haven't really had a car to drive since I used the K-car for about 6 months in high school... oh the memories.

Sorry if this was broing. But I am just thankful that work (I finally got a raise!) and school are going really well and for this temporary calm in the craze of life after the past month. I am definitely grateful that January and February are over: 2010 can only go up from here! Thank you for all your love and support,

Emily