The 25 days of Christmas

Many of you know that my mom is a believer. She loves magic, fantasy, make-believe, color, dreaming, wishing, singing and of course: fairy dust.

Well year after year she has put together her "happys" as she calls them. They are fun things to do with your kids every day of December leading up to Christmas. Most include a scripture, hymn, a story about something you didn't know about Christmas, and creative idea to help your kids think of Christmas and have fun spending time with the family.

I know many of you moms are so crafty yourselves, but if you need some new ideas, go to my mom's blog

Happy December 10th of Christmas.

Dental School

Many friends and family have been asking about the status of Jimmy going to dental school--so I thought I'd post on here once and for all. First though--I have some thoughts:

Applying to dental school is an accomplishment in itself. To even apply, you must have at least a 3.5 GPA (in those difficult classes like micro bio, bio chem, anatomy, organic chem, and more yucky classes), over 100 hours experience shadowing multiple dentists for free, 5 volunteer experiences, multiple jobs during college, be a member and in leadership positions in different clubs, 10 extra curricular activities, scored well on the Dental Admission Test, have 3 letters of rec, a 1 page essay, fill out a 50 page application along with supplemental applications from each school, fork out thousands of dollars, travel the country interviewing at your own expense--and oh--you have to do all this WHILE you're still in school.

So for those who think we've been MIA since February--now you know why. It's been the most stressful experience of my life, and I'm not even the one applying (although I did help with ehhhem--most of the above). It's also been the most rewarding, testimony building, and progressive experience.

You all know how it is after you've given everything for something you want so bad, and then you start seeing results. Yeah, that's how it is.

So far we've heard back from 3 dental schools--all of which are in our top 5. University of Pacific-UOP (in San Francisco), NYU, and UNLV.

The earliest we can even find out if we've been accepted to any of the dental schools is December, but we probably won't decide until March 2011.

Oh and most importantly, I'm happy to report that after all the stress this year has brought, we are still happily married.

Thanks to all those who have prayed and supported us. We love you and we'll keep you posted.

Dog Obsessed

Dog Obsessed. That's what I've become. Could it be some part of me yearning for a baby and I've simply appeased it by loving a dog like a human? Maybe. Ok--probably yes. Growing up, we never had a dog. In fact, my mom and I counted that we've owned about 30 cats (we won't tell you what happened to them all). But I married a man loves dogs, grew up with dogs, and begged me for 2 years to buy a dog. So, I had some rules.

It had to be small. It couldn't shed. It couldn't smell. It couldn't bark a lot.

Which is why our Silky-Yorkie is perfect. She's 6 lbs full grown, doesn't bark, has been so easy to train to do tricks, is submissive (but a little head strong), and perfect. Plus--there is nothing like coming home and having her act like you just saved the world. Now I understand why dogs are man's best friend.

This is what Roxy would look like if we had a convertible!

Here is me and Roxy at the gas station. She is actually sitting in her "car seat" (told you I'm obsessed). We hook that onto the front seat and she can sit in it and stick her head out the window.

Roxy at the beach. HA! She looks like an old grandpa when it's windy.

She didn't like the water

Us at natural bridges. We love taking her with us on all our adventures.

This is cooper. He outweighs her by about 5 pounds but she's about 3 times as fast as him so it makes up for it. He lives in our apartment complex too. If I say, "Let's go get Cooper" I can let her off the leash and she takes me directly to his front door 3 buildings away.

If you were like me--and didn't understand why people loved their dogs so much--you should try it.

Part of the Job

So as part of my job, I routinely do interviews on network affiliates here in Sacramento on major scams, general advice to the public, launch investigation results, or answer brief questions from local media. I haven't posted any on here yet so thought I'd show you one (from Univision--can you pick up on that Dominican accent?). Thanks Allison for going into your archives and finding this one from Friday. Thanks Jimmy for the cute scarf you gave me for my bday last week. And thanks mom for the cute shirt. Good thing I looked nice on Friday ;0) I come on at about 30 seconds.

Dominoe Table

As most of you know, Jimmy and I both served our missions in the Dominican Republic. One of the major extracurricular activities--I might even go as far to call it a sport-- is playing dominoes.

Yes--there is actually a way to play dominoes other than just stacking them up and then knocking them down.

No it's not Mexican Train--nor is it the kind where you play your dominoes and then count the dots to get individual points. It's played on a team, 4 players at a time, and believe it or not, requires concentration, strategy, being able to count to 6, and a lot of swearing in Spanish.

"Veinte cinco--cincuenta--capi cua--no voy--'ta tranka'o'--conchole"

This is the real thing that we passed by on every corner. I'm not joking when I say EVERY CORNER. Usualy there were 15 people swarming around the table and lots of beer. I love how they are all covering their dominoes. I saw a machete fight once over this game. They take it very, VERY seriously!
We use to play with some people in our ward every Friday night (girls vs. boys) until both of our marriages practically ended in divorce. Ok, joking--kinda. We're all pretty competitive.

Oh and did I mention that my sweetie made it for me? They cost over $250 to get one shipped from Puerto Rico so my lovey made me one (and Uncle Kevin may have taught us a few things...ok--he can pretty much design these things for a living!). So--if anyone knows how to play some dominoes--our place--Friday night.

Take It Easy

Since we've gotten married, Jimmy has throw his back out 3 times...all wakeboarding (well one was due to moving someone from our ward). SO, after hundreds of dollars in chiropractic bills--I told Jimmy to "take it easy" when we went out on the river with some friends a few weekends ago. This is "takin' it easy" for Jimmy (no flips).

It was a good day (other than the fact that the boat broke down and we had to get towed back in before I could get a chance).

Family Pictures

I don't remember ever posting these pictures that Daniel took at Lake Tahoe. Here is the whole family (minus 1--we need to photoshop Emily in these).

The brothers

Candid shot of mom and dad, me and Jimmy
Tyer is a STUD

The missionary man--Trav

Bet he misses that hair

Zach-attack

He's so photogenic

"Peace"

The Whole Family

At the cabin

Backyard

Sure makes me wish they all lived closer...

Capitola

Last weekend we got to wake up early and do this all day (Katie-left, Jimmy-right)

...we also went to natural bridges and the tide pools...
...and of course lived off of Pizza My Heart. Thanks Aunt Pam and Uncle Kevin!

Divorce Agreement

I've realized that I've never been so involved in politics as I have been in the past few years. It could be due to the fact that I've graduated and taken a real liking to economics which can be used to solve so many of the world's problems (maybe I should recommend a class to our president). It also could be due to the fact that I live about 5 minutes from my state's capital and am constantly surrounded by elections (not to even mention the whole prop 8 campaign). Or, it could be because I have a grandma, some cousins, and a husband who just can't stand it when there are parasites to our society. Furthermore--I was forwarded this email which leads me to say, I'D ALSO--LIKE A DIVORCE.

DIVORCE AGREEMENT
Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters, et al:

We have stuck together since the late 1950's for the sake of the kids, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated each other for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has clearly
run its course.

Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right for us all, so let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way.

Here is a model separation agreement:
Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each taking a similar portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes.

We don't like redistributive taxes so you can keep them. You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU. Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military. We'll take the nasty, smelly oil industry and you can go with wind, solar and biodiesel. You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O'Donnell. You are, however, responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them.

We'll keep capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart and Wall Street. You can have your beloved lifelong welfare dwellers, food stamps, homeless, homeboys, hippies, druggies and illegal aliens. We'll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, greedy
CEO's and rednecks. We'll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood .

You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we'll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us. You can have the peaceniks and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we'll help provide them security.

We'll keep our Judeo-Christian values. You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism, political correctness and Shirley McClain. You can also have the U.N. but we will no longer be paying the bill.

We'll keep the SUV's, pickup trucks and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Subaru station wagon you can find.

You can give everyone healthcare if you can find any practicing doctors. We'll continue to believe healthcare is a luxury and not a right. We'll keep "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "The National Anthem." I'm sure you'll be happy to substitute "Imagine", "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing", "Kum Ba Ya" or "We Are the World".

We'll practice trickledown economics and you can continue to give trickle up poverty your best shot. Since it often so offends you, we'll keep our history, our name and our flag.

Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like-minded liberal and conservative patriots and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I'll bet you answer which one of us will need whose help in 15 years.

Sincerely,
John J. Wall
Law Student and an American

P.. S. Also, please take Ted Turner, Sean Penn, Martin Sheen, Barbara Streisand, & Jane Fonda with you.

Southern California

Last weekend Jimmy and I went down to Southern California for Jimmy's best friend's wedding--Jon Barker and Kim. As I write this post I keep thinking that at this time yesterday my feet were tucked into the warm sand as I smelled the ocean spray and watched dolphins from the beach. Sigh--I want to go back!

In our 4 days in So Cal we spent most of our time in Orange County. We went to Disneyland (I haven't been back since I moved 12 years ago--it was SOOOO DIFFERENT!), Manhattan Beach, Hunington Beach, Newport Beach, out to dinner with a bunch of old friends and then to a Karaoke Bar (SO FUN! We ended up singing a song by Journey that goes "Don't Stop--Believing").

We got to see the Newport temple for our first time--totally gorgeous! We also got to set up the honeymoon suite for our buddy and his new bride with strawberries and whipped cream, candles, and many more goodies ;0)

That night we had the reception and then I got to catch up with one of my old roommates who just got back from a mission a week ago.

We're glad to say that we returned from So Cal 2 shades darker with sand still all over the car, our cell phones, and in our ears. We're gonna live there someday. Yup--we're sure of it!

USA Education

And we wonder what's wrong with our country's education (I just saw this on Yahoo news today: http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_upshot/20100811/od_yblog_upshot/behold-americas-educational-system-captured-in-a-single-photograph

The beach

Last weekend we went to the beach with our friend Nikki and our 3 dogs. We surfed in the morning and hung out until the waves got better that night. Of course we ate at "Pizza My Heart" and hung out with my mom.

Me and Jimmy before we went hit the waves

Me and Jimmy getting all packed up to go
Me sleeping with Roxy

Jimmy taking a nap

Roxy taking a nap in the car

Jimmy riding a wave

Katie riding a wave

After we're all clean and showered off. The whole gang.

Us at the Redwood Big Trees

Me and our good friend Nikki about to hit the waves

We loved it so much that this weekend we're going back. Too bad we have to wear these wetsuits.

Summer Fun

We feel like summer has truly begun now that we have so much more time together. In Sacramento there are hundreds of miles of bike trail along rivers and lakes. Last night after work while we were waiting for my mom and brothers to arrive, we decided to go for a ride!

Oh and this picture, well this is how my mom (left), Zach (middle) and Tyler (right) looked as I left for work this morning. Guess we wore them out! (I love how Zach has the JetBlue eye patch things on!) If you look closely, can you spot Roxy?
This weekend we're off to the beach! I love CA!

Celebration

Many of you know that these past 7 months for us have been filled with anxiety attacks, stress, frustration, and lack of sleep. Getting into dental school has been the hardest thing I've ever done (and it's not even me applying!). You don't just have to have perfect grades, a great score on the DAT, and a clean background; but you have to have years of volunteer experience and shadow dentists for hundreds of hours and work while attending school to build your resume and have great relationships with your teachers so they write you amazing letters of rec., and visit the schools and stay in contact with them as much as possible before you even apply. Oh and then there’s the thousands of dollars you spend JUST to apply.

Well, at the beginning when we decided on dentistry, we made a deal with Heavenly Father that both of us made during our missions as well. We’d work like it all depended on us, and we’d pray like it all depended on Him. Then, if in the end, we still didn’t get into dental school, we’d know: 1-that we tried our hardest and gave our best which is all that is required of us, and 2-that it wasn’t His will.

After a lot of fasting, saving, working, sleepless nights, months without hardly seeing each other, and studying, we finally had the burden lifted from us…

….NO we’re not into dental school YET, but Jimmy did amazing on the DAT (dental admission test) and all that uncertainty is gone. Now we just wait until December to find out where we go.

I literally feel like I’ve lost 100 lbs, haven’t had an anxiety attack in months, and best of all, I have my husband back to myself!

Life is good.

Here is us celebrating at Olive Garden after we found out Jimmy’s DAT scores. I’d be lying if I said there weren’t a bunch of tears shed that night. (and the wine is sparkling cider!)

4th of July

For 4th of July this year we hung around Sacramento and went to the Folsom rodeo with our friends Jake and Krista--and by the looks of these pictures you can tell it was over 100 degrees out!

Me and Jimmy in our best cowboy garb
Just what are these boys intently looking at?...

... This guy! He jumped out of an airplane with a flag attached. It was SO COOL! He landed right into the arena.

And of course I had to add this picture because this is who was at home waiting for us.