today i changed a tire in juicy couture

So F you adult life.

Disclaimer: I am well aware I do not look like the girl in this picture, especially not when bending over.  But it's a great photo don't you think?  And it helps to make my point.

well at least it's a longer vacation

Working in Colorado Springs was great. And it was so fun to stay the weekend in Denver to go skiing with my dad and bro. I'll have very few ski days this year (and in the years to come) so I'm going to relish them all. Good thing because it was super windy and below zero all day at Copper Mountain. I bought one of those ugly black face masks. They're awful, I know, but it was so much warmer I will probably continue to wear it even in warmer skiing conditions. You now officially cannot tell if I'm a man or a woman when I'm in my ski gear.

Sunday night I was supposed to fly back to Portland, then head to Utah on Wednesday (Christmas Eve) for about a week. All flights to Portland were cancelled that day because the weather was so atrocious. The next flight Alaska Airlines could get me on was the 25th. Really? Spending Christmas alone in Denver is an acceptable alternative to you? They could get me on a flight to Salt Lake the next day through one of their partners, because of course they don't fly through there themselves. I called my corporate travel number and they pretty totally unwilling to help. Lovely. So I walked over to the Southwest counter and bought a ticket to go straight to Salt Lake that afternoon. I hope every airline in the US goes bankrupt (well, again, and actually shut down this time) and only Southwest remains. Of course, the government will probably bail them out so it's only a pipe dream.

My dad was on the same flight so luckily I had someone to talk to. The plane was delayed from bad weather elsewhere. When we finally got on the plane three hours late, they realized the engine was broken and they had to unload and find us a new plane. Of course the plane is broken. You may be wondering, "Do you have anything to do other than complain about bad weather and crappy traveling?" No. No I don't. Trying to deal with messed up travel plans consumes my entire life right now. I need to do a serious cleanse before leaving Utah on the 30th so I can shake this bad energy.

Now I find myself happily, safely in Utah a few days early. I have two pairs of business casual pants, four business casual tops, one pair of jeans, two cardigans, pink Juicy pants, a Britney t-shirt, and ski clothes. The presents I bought my fam are back in Portland. As well as many items I would've liked to pack. I didn't even do a good job packing for Colorado because I was so rushed for time. This will be a good exercise for me in letting go of things that are not within my control. And focusing on the really important aspects of Christmas (like family time over decent holiday outfits properly accessorized).

wow that's big

So this week I was working in Colorado Springs. Our hotel and the client site was right by the most enormous church I've ever seen. Well, the most enormous modern church. There are many huge cathedrals in Europe obviously. It's called the New Life church. It's kind of shaped like a stadium, which I think makes it look all that much more impressive. A sign over one door says, "South Entrance." Any church that needs the entrances separately labeled is a big church. It holds 15,000 people. Apparently there was a shooting there last year, I'm not really one for keeping up with the news. Colorado Springs has the largest concentration of Evangelical Christians of any city in the country (thank you "Jesus Camp" for that little fact). I would have loved to be there over the weekend and attend a Sunday service. I'm sure it would have been a very different experience than my usual church. Much more noise and excitement on the stage and all.

the worst day ever

Sorry this post is going to be long and have no photos. But it will be therapeutic for me to write. So it's Sunday morning and I've woken up early to go to the 9am church at my building because I'm going to miss my ward flying to Colorado Springs for work that afternoon. I look outside to confirm the reports of snow turned out to be true. There's like 2 inches of snow on the ground and I think no problem I can get to church. Forgetting that I'm no longer in Utah and even the slightest bit of snow in Portland shuts down the entire city. Anyways, I get out of bed and get ready to go even though I'm tired from my office holiday party the night before. As I'm driving up the winding hill out of my apartment complex I slip a little but overall my car is doing pretty good. I'm almost to the stoplight to turn on the main road and my car simply can't make it up the last part of the hill.



I start to turn around and go back down and in the process my car begins to slide sideways. I slam my foot on the brake, throw it in neutral, and pull up the parking brake. Nothing. I'm sliding towards another car and completely panicking. Finally my car stops sliding before hitting the other car and I get out to assess the situation. Then two cars above mine on the hill slide into each other and continue sliding towards my car. I stand there watching in shock as the car slides into mine and suddenly people are shouting at me to get out of the way. You know because I'm standing downhill from my car that is sliding towards me trying to kill me. I turn to run out of the way and slip and fall because it's so icy. So I scramble on my hands and knees in my church dress to get out of the way of the car. Has your car ever tried to kill you? In the end there were 5 cars involved in the fender bender and no one was hurt. It took about an hour to get some snow melt on the ground and one by one remove the cars from the tangle. There was no one available to come help us because there were accidents all over the place. I parked my crunched car illegally next to the curb-- I didn't dare try to drive all the way back down. I exchanged information with the others involved in the accident and walked back to my apartment. Freezing to death by then in my little flats and a dress.



I decide to get online and see how delayed my flight is. Not delayed at all, which I think can't be right. I call my senior to see if he's heard anything about his flight and he told me that apparently the east side hasn't gotten as much snow as the west side and flights are indeed leaving. The highways to the airport are all a mess but the max train is still running so we can take public transportation to the airport. I tell him I can't drive my car anywhere (clearly) and my roommate's friend has been trying to get a taxi here all morning to no avail. So Jon (my senior) who has put chains on his car offers to drive me to the max station, which is so nice of him. I tell him I'll meet him at the top of my apartment complex in about 20 minutes so I can still make my flight. Then I begin packing like a mad woman. I get a bunch of stuff in my suitcase for a week of work and a weekend of skiing with the fam, bundle up, and begin the trek with my two suitcases. Still in disbelief that everything around me is falling apart yet somehow I must still find a way to audit. My roommate Casey has since gotten chains on her car and drives me to the top of the complex. I get out and call Jon and he ways he's on his way but they aren't letting people drive up the hill to my apartment complex. So I begin hiking down Barnes with my suitcases to meet up with Jon.



He drops me off and I head down the stairs to wait for the train. While waiting for the train I get interviewed by a news crew. I hope they put me on TV and people see me with mascara running down my face from the melted snow. After an hour ride on public transportation I get to the airport in time to make my flight. Oh, and I started my period on the train, of course. I grab some midol and some sushi for lunch and hop on my flight to Denver. Once I get to Denver I have to check in for my flight to Colorado Springs because I'm switching airlines. I make my way down to the terminal where all the small commuter planes land and it's getting colder and colder. Half of the hallway is blocked off because something has been leaking from the ceiling and the carpet is all wet. they have fans blowing and all the doors are open. Mind you the current temperature in Denver is minus ten. Have you ever breathed in air that cold? It hurts your lungs.



I wait for my flight back in the main terminal where it's warm, but practically freeze to death again while walking out to the plane. I waited for my senior for about an hour in Colorado Springs then we head to our rental car (where the temperature is still below zero). By this time I am starving to death so we decide to drive through somewhere for food on the way to the hotel. Honestly there is not much going on in Colorado Springs. We see a McDonald's after we've passed the exit and just hope there's something near our hotel. There isn't. I was too tired to want to drive back to the McDonald's. We found some fruit left over from the breakfast buffet so I eat an orange and a banana and fell into bed.



I was so excited to wake up to a new day and leave my Sunday behind me. This morning, I start getting ready for work, and, wait for it. Wait for it. There's no hot water in my room! I take a cold sponge bath in the sink because I don't have time to try to switch rooms. You know how gross you feel after being on an airplane and to not have a real shower is just awful. And I haven't washed my hair since Thursday. You guys I am so dirty it's unbelievable. I let the front desk know and apparently there was a bunch of snow blocking the hot water heater and the problem was getting fixed. Good maybe I can shower tomorrow.

my reign as break the fast co-chair

Today was my first attempt at feeding the 80-100 people that come to our Break the Fast each month.  I have been pee-my-pants excited about this calling.  It's like hosting a large-scale dinner party.  Tonight we did stroganoff, per request of a member of the bishopric.  You can find the recipe here.  I have added the recipe to the cute recipe organizer RZ got me.  My co-chair Nick and I went to Cash N' Carry on Saturday for the shopping and I fell in love with the store.  It's wholesale food and pretty much is just Costco with larger proportions.  Amazing.  Nick is going to be a great help for me because he's so low-key and I can get a little hyper about entertaining.  I shared with him my vision of three stroganoff pots: traditional with beef and mushrooms, one without mushrooms for those who don't like them, and one with textured vegetable protein instead of beef for the vegetarians (Oregon represent).  And he was pretty much like we're not doing that.  And we didn't.  And it turned out fine and we came within our budget of $100.

There was a bit of prep work for me to do at home.  It took me 2 1/2 hours to slice all of the beef.  Ground beef was suggested but I simply could not let go of all my hopes and dreams and I am unwilling to serve people stroganoff made with ground beef.
I know this photo is graphic, but I feel like everyone needs to experience 20 pounds of chuck roast.  This all started as one piece and it was huge!  And on sale for $1.87 a pound.  Nice.
Then there were the onions to be chopped before church.  This doesn't show them all-- there were fifteen in total.  My hands, kitchen, and car all still smell like raw onions.  Yummy.  Not.
Because it's not summer and thus not key onion season, the onions were very pungent.  I had just barely started slicing the tops off and my eyes were watering and stinging like crazy and I knew couldn't stand it for the whole time (it ended up being about 1 1/2 hours to chop the onions).  Ski goggles to the rescue.  It must have been quite a show when my roommate Casey came upstairs on her way out and saw me chopping fifteen onions in pajamas and ski goggles.  You're so jealous.
And last of all, here I am stirring stroganoff in the church kitchen.  Thank you Whit for the apron and Kirst for finding the red corduroy skirt.  This pot was unbelievably huge.  I started with just one pot, but as I stupidly thought RS would be enough time and didn't skip SS (afterall Megan was teaching) we had to divide some of the mixture into several pots to cook faster.  We barely got it done in time and I was getting pretty stressed out (big surprise) but everyone on my committee was super nice and trying to calm me down.  I thought the stroganoff tasted pretty good in the end, but it was too runny.  I don't know if I needed more flour and water paste, or if I just didn't give it enough prep time due to the time crunch.  And everyone who bright salad, bread, or dessert did a fabulous job.  All in all it was a pretty good first experience.  Next month I'm thinking stir-fry.  Feel free to make any suggestions for a great menu to feed the masses.  Also, if anyone would like some stroganoff just talk to me.  We have enough left to feed a small army.

road trippin'

Here are some photos from a recent work-enforced road trip.  I had to do an IO at a lumber yard in North Bend.  North Bend is on the coast, about 2/3 of the way down to CA.  The IO was estimated to take about an hour; the drive would take about four hours each way.  Really?  I was not thrilled with assignment when I first got it, especially because they would not put a hotel in the budget and expected me to make the entire drive in one day.  But the weather was perfect and it turned out to be a beautiful drive, especially after leaving I-5 South and heading West along Highway 38.  The IO went smoothly and I learned a lot of new information during my first trip to a lumber yard.  I had some lovely views of the coast, and stopped for lunch in this darling town called Winchester Bay.  I had fresh Dungeness crab for lunch at Crabby Cafe.  There was also this awesome elk reserve but my photos don't show the elk very well so I didn't post them.  You're driving along the road and there's this sign that says "Elk viewing 1/2 mile," and you think, what, they're just sitting there on the side of the road?  But they are.   It's this elk reserve where no one can hunt them and this herd has been hanging out in this big field for more than 100 years.  Very cool.  The best part of the trip was that I spent the night in Eugene visiting my friend Shannon and her daughter Paige.  I of course forgot to take a photo while there, but it was great to see them.  And I didn't roll into the office until about 9:15am the next morning and no one cared at all.  Lovely.

let's just make a scene

So tonight was the KNOW (KPMG Network of Women) annual holiday wine tasting party.  I stopped by for awhile to mingle, but honestly, didn't care to stay and learn about wine for two or more hours.  The partner who hosted the event lives out in Lake Oswego next to a nature park.  I had followed a coworker there and, as parking was crowded, we drove all the way to the end of the street to find a spot.  Well, to the end of what we thought was a street.  Apparently we didn't notice that the street had ended and we drove into the nature park.  On the way out, (it was very, very dark) we just continued down the "street" hoping it would meet up with the main road in a bit.  A good half a mile later, my coworker calls me and is like, "Did you notice that we're on a walking path and not on a road?  I had to stop because there are some trees in the path and my car can't get through."  Umm, what?  Seriously?  I look around and confirm that we are indeed in the middle of a forest, on a walking path not much wider than our cars, and are nowhere near the road.  So I begin backing up with my amazing driving skills (those who have seen me try to parallel park know how awesome this must have been) until I get to a spot where I can do a forty-point turn Austin Powers style and turn my car around to drive forward.  My dear coworker was worried her car didn't have the clearance of my Civic and couldn't handle going off the path to turn around.  I drove slowly to wait for her while she backed out the entire way.  It took a good 25 minutes.  You guys, this is my real life.  Stuff like this happens all the time.  Does everyone make a scene everywhere they go without even trying, or is it just me (and Lindsay)?  I mean, how do you find yourself half a mile (at least) into a dark forest on a walking path in your car that is not meant for off-roading?  The two bikers who passed looked way annoyed so I rolled my window down to apologize and mention we had gotten kind of lost.  The one guy made some jack-ass comment.  Really?  Clearly I'm special ed and I don't know how he could have no sympathy for my situation.  This may top my most embarrassing moments ever, over and above the sleeping pills in the Tokyo airport even.  I'm going to bed. 

does anyone know a vampire you can set me up with?

Seriously though. I want to date Edward Cullen. And have his half-vampire babies. Last night I went to see the midnight premier of Twilight with my two female coworkers for our last night in Anchorage. LOVED it. Yes the lines were just as cheesy in the movie as they were in the book. Yes I hate girls like Bella in real life who only define themselves by the men in their lives. Yes I hate controlling men like Edward in real life. But I care vehemently about these characters. Stephanie Meyer created magic in this series. The casting was fabulous and all of the characters looked just the way I imagined. Except maybe Rosalie, who I wanted to be more stunning.

We got to the theater a good three hours early (didn't want to risk getting stuck in line outside in Alaska). There were at least 40 people in line in front of us. I've never seen more "Team Edward" and "Team Jacob" t-shirts in my life. There were obnoxious, screaming middle school girls everywhere. I do not miss anything about middle school. The group right next to me was particularly loud and, as they kept growing in numbers, one girl was practically sitting on my lap by the time they let us into the theater. Also, a group of moms were handing out 4-page Twilight quizzes they had put together for the occasion. Amazing.

There was a minute of panic as we shuffled into the theater and were not allowed in because we had tickets for the showing in another room. We had just spent two hours in the line the movie theater workers told us to wait in and then had to go to another theater on the other side of the building. We were about to get all "I need to see a manager" on this teenager but the other theater was not as crowded and we still got good seats. Luckily.

This morning I had to drop off some supplies we'd borrowed from the Anchorage office, then take the shuttle to the airport. I saw a moose on the side of the road on my way out of town. Finally. The big beast did not disappoint. Now I'm enjoying free wifi in the airport, in serious need of a nap. Tonight I will study for the CPA exam I am taking tomorrow. I am so under prepared. Like, way more than for the other three. So please send positive energy my way because I want to pass FAR and be done with the whole thing. And date a vampire.

100 things i hate

My friend Linsday created this new blog for people to post a list of 100 things he or she hates. I worked on my list some last night and finished it up today during work (shhh don't tell). I've e-mailed my list and hopefully it will be posted here soon. There are other lists you can read and see how many things other people hate that you also hate! Too keep my karma even, I also made a list of 100 things I love, which is posted below. I am happy to say it took me substantially less time to list 100 things I love than to list 100 things I hate.

100 Things I Love with all my Heart

1 Art galleries
2 Attention
3 Bamboo (for good chi)
4 Banana republic
5 Big hair
6 Birthdays
7 Blogs
8 Blue pens
9 Boating
10 Bobby pins
11 Britney (still, so what)
12 Business casual
13 Chapstick
14 Checking off to-do lists
15 Clueless
16 Cowboy boots
17 Cupcakes
18 Dancing
19 Dimples
20 Dinner parties
21 Dreaming
22 Dressing up
23 Earmuffs
24 Earrings with sweat pants
25 Expensive jeans
26 Faith
27 Family
28 Faux fur
29 Frosting
30 Girlfriends
31 Glitter/ sequins/ sparkles
32 Hair dye
33 Halloween
34 Herbal tea
35 Holidays
36 Hot tubs
37 Independence
38 Independent films
39 Jane Austen
40 Kissing
41 Laughing
42 Laying by the pool
43 Low self monitors
44 Magazines
45 Marshmallows
46 Matching outfits
47 Medication
48 Monograms
49 Mountains
50 My bedroom
51 My job
52 Mysticism
53 Naps
54 Natural history museums
55 New crushes
56 New shoes
57 Nordstrom
58 Old houses with character
59 Pajamas
60 Passing sections of the CPA exam
61 Pearls
62 Pedicures
63 Philosophy body wash
64 Picnics
65 Pink anything and everything
66 Portland
67 Presents
68 Random text messages
69 Reading
70 Sarcasm
71 Scarves
72 School uniforms
73 Seat warmers
74 Self awareness
75 Sewing
76 Shopping
77 Singing in the car
78 Smiles
79 Snow skiing
80 Sorry (the board game)
81 Speaking in church
82 Spontaneity
83 Star gazing
84 Sunday brunch
85 Tasteful nudity
86 Tender mercies of the Lord
87 Thank-you cards
88 The 80's
89 The girls' names: Lucie, Bridget, & Piper
90 The sound of sneakers on a gym floor
91 Themed parties
92 Therapy
93 Thunder and lightning storms
94 Tinkerbell
95 Trashy TV marathons
96 Traveling
97 Trying something new
98 Walks
99 Watching snow fall
100 Weekend trips

my new mantra

My mother sent me this awhile ago and I absolutely loved it. It goes along with my new perspective on my new life (OK well it's the same life I've always had, I've just added new activities and changed location). My mother raised me to be independent on purpose and I attribute much of my current happy situation to her influence.

Receiving Your Own Beautiful Life - by Tama Kieves

I have often had a restless spirit. I have often thought I should have scored higher, weighed less, bought nicer furniture, and did something with my hair. But I am working with myself to let go of this impoverished way of being. I hope you will join me in this crusade for true peace and abundance.

I do not want to be anywhere else.
These are words of luxury. These are words of mystery. These are words of quantum healing. Sit down on the pillow of your own good life and be still. Stop searching, demanding, aching, casting about.

I do not want to be anywhere else.
This is what it means to live all the days of your life. This is what it means to stop and receive. You are like a hungry bird and you cannot receive because you have rejected the source of nutrition. The only source of nutrition is your present life. It's not over there or under that. It doesn't come later and it doesn't get better. You get better. You get better by believing in the remarkable perfection and wholeness of your own life.

I do not want to be anywhere else.
Let go of striving. Let go of hatred. Don't push away your bowl. Instead notice the crack and let its jagged line stroke your heart with its innocence and determination. It has something to teach you. That's why it's there. Everything has something to give you.

I do not want to be anywhere else.
These are words like open sesame. Dimensions reveal their secret light, their guarded precious language. Everything has always awaited you like a bowl of fresh fruit. Only you wanted to sit at someone else's table. You wanted another moment. You wanted another life. That desire cost more than you know. Don't pay the price. Seize the only existence you have. Seize your blemished moment, your exhausting day, your confusion and your elation.Everything in the media trains us to crave and hunger. Commercials starve us with the promise that satisfaction is over there. It's impossible. Satisfaction cannot be where I am not.

I do not want to be anywhere else.
This does not mean I will not walk out of the rain into a dry place. It means I will not belittle the rain. I will not regret the moisture on my skin. I will move forward. I will go where I am called and where I belong. But not with irritation or deprivation in my heart. I don't want to miss a moment of my life. I don't want to be anywhere else.

This time in my life is a gift. Not every woman (and certainly not every woman in the LDS church) gets young, single working years to focus solely on her own growth and development. I do not yet have to worry about maintaining a happy, healthy relationship with my husband or raising happy, well-adjusted children; those things will come in their proper time and place. My only hope is that I can use this time to really develop the attributes and skills God would have me develop during this time. I'd hate to find myself at the end of this period reflecting back and have nothing more to say than, "Well, I did a lot of shopping." There will be plenty of shopping, mind you. But so much more than that. I need to pour myself into church, work, service, family, friendships, travel, health, learning, and fun.

God has put me exactly where I need to be and has placed everything that I need in my path. I truly believe that. One of my favorite all-time scriptures (also copied from my mother and the theme of an education week talk I attended with RZ this summer) is Psalms 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God." I need this oh so badly at times. Quit crying, quit worrying, quit complaining, and for heaven's sake pick yourself up off the floor and be still and know that I am God. I'm thinking about having this printed in vinyl letters to stick on my wall. There's a perfect space just above my closet doors.

Today as I drove down the Seward Highway along the Alaskan coast I had a lot of time to reflect as I admired the beauty of the snow-covered mountains and the ice-covered water. I was struck so strongly that there was nowhere I would rather be at that moment. I could not be more thrilled to be on a business trip for a job I love and exploring an area of the world I've never been before. I love that I went to school at BYU and studied accounting. I love that I now live in Portland. I love my family. I love my friends. I love me. Thank you thank you thank you for this life.

my search for caribou barbie

Alaska is gorgeous. I miss the mountains in Provo oh so much and I am definitely getting my fill of mountains here. It snowed on Tuesday (or maybe Wednesday, the days are blurring together) so I got to experience my first snow of the season. I LOVE watching the snow fall from inside. And there's a good 5-6 hours of sunlight each day that I get to see from the window. It's pretty dark when we leave for work and when we go home. But I haven't worked a minute of overtime. I love interim work as opposed to year-end work. So much less to get done. I've been working on the same testwork for four straight days now and will continue tomorrow. It's much more monotonous than my smaller clients. And to top it off I'm in a cubicle by myself and the rest of the audit team is in a conference room together. Oh well everyone has to put her time in while on the way to taking over the world. :)

I have had the most delightful dinners while here. Fresh salmon and halibut 'til your eyes pop out. Last night I mixed it up with some prime rib. My coworkers are super fun and we've been having a great time. Two of them are going home over the weekend, one is staying to work, and I'm staying to play. I think I'll make the drive up to Alyeska ski resort to see the scenery and try another great restaurant I've heard about. And in every restaurant/hotel/building in this town there could not be more dead animals. Bears and moose just coming out of the wood works. And dead fish. Big ones. Amazing. Then Sunday I will venture to the Anchorage singles ward. That is if I can get the frickin' meetinghouse locator on the church website to work for me. Should be some glorious people watching.

Luckily I found a disposable digital camera at Fred Meyer so I can begin documenting my trip. I forgot to pack my camera, which has to be the worst oversight ever. I had better see a moose this weekend or sometime before I leave. I've given up the dream for a grizzly bear or even Sarah Palin, but the moose dream I will not give up. Wish me luck.

eat to live or live to eat?

Fall is officially here.  The crisp cool air, brightly-colored leaves, and wool sweaters all contribute to my love of this season of course.  But finding myself in Portland once again I can rekindle an old love affair with Burgerville.  It's a local burger chain that uses only ingredients from the Pacific Northwest.  They have amazing seasonal milkshakes-- the best are the blackberry featured in late summer, in case you were wondering.

Tonight, after deciding not to go out after a long week of work and a hugely long to do li

st for Saturday, I decided to have my Burgerville favorites for dinner.  The milkshake in season right now is the pumpkin spice and it's delightful.  But my real favorite from Burgerville is the sweet potato fries.  They're to die for.  And they help me miss Guru's in Provo a little less.  After my dinner of fries and a milkshake, I anticipate being in a food coma by 9:30pm.

it's a bit early for this

I've worked 11-12 hours each of the last two days.  And it looks like the trend will continue throughout the rest of the week.  I naively thought I would only work these kind of hours Jan-Mar.  Ha ha ha ha ha.  Not that I can really be sad today when I'm so excited about our next president.  After we get health insurance for everyone, I'd love to get rid of guns as well.  We'll just have to see what we can do.  Back to work, at least I'm still loving what I do and I'm working with great people.  And I've worked really hard to get here so I had better enjoy it.  I guess I'll just have to make the most out of my weekends.  Last weekend was fabulous and this coming weekend is looking good already.  Halloween deserves its own post once I get some photos to put on my blog.  Big thanks to RZ for my belly dancing costume.  I went to the church party to hang out with some of my awesome new friends.  They all dressed up in great costumes, actually danced at the party, then ended the night with a photo shoot.  These are my people.

i got a masters degree for this?

So I went on my very first Inventory Observation for work.  It's a classic assignment for a first year.  They're the reason I'm not allowed to be out of town for both Christmas and New Year's.  (Yes, I am in fact scheduled for an IO at 6am on January 1st while the rest of the firm is given a pad day off.)

My first IO assignment was for a cement plant in Vancouver, WA.  Before going, I got an e-mail telling me that I needed steel-toed shoes for safety requirements.  Umm, what?  How do I even process that information?  Where do you

 buy steel-toed shoes?  After some googling and phones calls (slow afternoon at work) I found the cheapest available option at Fred Meyer.  $35 for a men's size 8 1/2 that I definitely charged through to the firm.

I show up in Vancouver, expecting an hour and a half of counting rocks before I'm done.  4 1/2 hours, many piles of rocks, 2 silos, and 17 cement trucks later, I was all done.  And ready to spend several more hours documenting the experience of course.  It was freezing cold and raining and I was stuck wearing too-big ugly shoes, a hard hat, safety goggles, and a bright orange vest.  Hott.

My favorite part of the day was climbing to the top of the silo to drop a tape measure down and figure out how far up the cement 

(or flysash) goes.  There was this super narrow metal ladder (enclosed in a cage to prevent falling all the way off) that I had to climb up in three sections.  They gave me special grip gloves so I didn't slip and fall due to the rain and large shoes.  And I still have a muddy pair of steel toed shoes in the trunk of my car because I have no idea what to do with them.  Amazing.

coupons, coupons, coupons

OK so I went to FHE tonight. I usually never go (because I hate it) but I also have very few friends in my new ward so I need to make an effort to be social. And, we'd been informed that a coupon guru was coming to teach us how to use coupons. I had to go to hear this crazy coupon lady speak.

I show up, and there are two coupon people there, both from my home ward. One is Stephanie, my young women's president growing up, and the other is a man whom I don't know. He calls himself Captain Coupon. Amazing.

I hate using coupons, with a few exceptions I'll get to in a minute. I assumed you'd spend hours cutting coupons and getting newspaper ink all over your hands to save about four bucks a month. And, quite frankly, I think it's embarrassing to use coupons. Little did I know the extent to which coupon clipping can save you money grocery shopping. This man and woman claim to save 80-90% of their grocery costs in coupons. Captain Coupon's all-time record is getting a $400+ grocery bill down to less than $20. There are apparently three types of coupons you can use in conjunction with one another: manufacturer coupons, competitor coupons, and doubling coupons (they merely double the savings up to 50 cents from the other coupons you're using). The right combination can bring your food items to a negative balance and help offset the cost of other food items in your cart. Grocery stores will not actually give you the money if you're left with a negative balance (as Captain Coupon once was) but will insist you buy more groceries. Basically these coupon gurus are feeding their families on little to no money and I find that quite impressive.

Now to the coupons I already know I like:

• Costco, in general, has some great coupons every month or quarter or however often they send them


• Banana Republic will give you 20% off one item if you fill out a customer survey online attached to your receipt


• Bed, Bath & Beyond has those 20% off coupons every now and then


• JoAnn Fabrics (and other craft stores) usually have coupons sitting by the door as you come in

Maybe, after FHE tonight, more coupon clipping will make its way into my grocery shopping. Does anyone know if Trader Joe's and Whole Foods accept competitor coupons? In any case, this was hands down the best FHE I've ever been to. So entertaining. And thanks heavens I was sitting next to Diana for continuous under-our-breath dialogue, because I simply could not text Kirst and Linds fast enough about Stephanie's appearance as the coupon Guru.

more of the same thing

I had to do the apartment tour in two posts because I was having strugs getting the photos to upload in the correct order. But as I'm typing this I'm realizing that this post (with photos which I want last) will appear above the other post. For heaven's sake.
Here is my desk, curtains, and BEAUTIFUL birthday flowers from RZ. I hope you notice the large pile of computer bags to the right of the desk. I now own three laptops, which is too many.
Bigger closet than I had at college, although still not a walk in.
I've clearly run out of room to buy new clothes but somehow I think I'll find a way. :)
And my oh so cute green and brown bathroom. You can see both walls because of the mirror. There's also a green fuzzy floor mat which I like very much.

hello, i live here

Here is a photo tour of my new apartment, as promised. This post only covers my bedroom and bathroom because the rest of the apartment is not yet in a state for showing off. Hopefully someday. Enjoy.

Come on in...
You know you're dying to come visit and sleep in my bed with me. I'm still missing one paper lantern as IKEA was out of the largest size both times I've been to pick up other items. And please note the frames I spray-painted and hung on the wall in lieu of a headboard.
I found this bedside table at TJ Maxx and I love love love it. I did from the very beginning but was worried it's actually hideous and I only think it's amazing so I brought my mom and sister in for a second opinion. They agreed that it's fabulous. I've been tempted to carry the mermaid theme throughout the rest of the room but have not. And I realize they are probably lesbian mermaids on the front, but I'm not threatened by that because I'm secure in my sexuality.
I love this dresser from IKEA. Kirst got the same one. Thank you Dad for putting it together. After finishing my bedroom I am so over furniture you have to assemble yourself.
My full-length mirror which is much prettier than the one I'd always have in my college apartments but does not have the same slimming illusion because it's bigger. I guess better information leads to better decisions.

greece baby

Well my first official business trip was to Athens, Greece for new hire training. I love my job and wonder how long they'll keep pretending it's super fun. Maybe forever?

I'm sitting in the hotel by the airport for my last night. Our Internet access has been awful, limited to 2 hours per day and very slow because everyone is on at the same time. About halfway through training some first years figured out the admin password for the instructor's Internet which lasts all day, but updating my blog during class would have been too conspicuous.
Here's a photo tour of the trip highlights-- I definitely saw less of the city than on other European adventures when I'm not being tortured in a conference room all day.

Here's a sneak peak of the trip:


My training group for the first week. There were participants from 12 countries (US, Canada, UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Singapore, and clearly some others). I'm on the far right in a blue sweater and orange dress.

View of the conference rooms from above. I wish every morning I could get to work in 5 minutes by just taking the elevator downstairs.

A really darling patio restaurant one of our first nights there. The jet lag was probably killing me by this point in the night.

Opa! The fav cheer of the training attendees. I had to take one pic so I didn't feel like I was missing out on all of the fun. Licorice flavored hard liquor doesn't sound that great anyways so whatev.

Dinner at another fun place in Plaka-- our most frequented area of town. This is my new friend Kim who just moved to Portland after growing up in Chicago and attending school at Wisconsin. I'm really relieved she's cool.

fore!

I forgot how many attractive men golf. Any time of any day at any given golf course there will be men you wish were in your foursome. Or twosome if foursome sounds like a lot to handle. :)

Maybe I like the clothes the best. A nice preppy pair of Bermuda shorts paired with a polo shirt is probably my fav summer look (neck and neck with the poolside bathing suit).

Today my brother and I rented a golf cart which I've never done in the handful of times I've been golfing before. I really liked it. It was so nice to not carry that huge frickin' bag around. Of course, the break for my shoulders didn't improve my swing any. Whatev.

just call me grace

A week or so ago Shondel came to Utah for a visit and we spent Saturday on the boat.  My goal this summer had been to greatly improve my wake boarding skills because I'd made so much improvement in my snow skiing last winter.  I still suck just as much as I ever did.  Luckily I've mastered the art of enjoying activities you are not good at.

I spent many outings this summer trying to figure out if I'm goofy foot or regular.  I found photos of me in the past wake boarding with my right foot forward sometimes and my left foot forward sometimes.  I took Daniel's long board out in front of the house to figure which I preferred.  I have no preference.  Daniel thinks this is an a

nomaly.  I think it shows my natural, ambidextrous talent for water sports.

The great highlight of the day was getting up on the wake surf for the first time.  I like the wake surf because you're going so slow it doesn'

t hurt when you fall.  And I always fall and it tends to be pretty hard.  Nothing quite like a high speed, high pressure enema to end your turn behind the boat.

reg, bec, audit

That's the order I'm taking the CPA sections during August. There's another one coming (financial) in November. I spent the first month of my summer in Spain. Then I came home to my parents' house and have proceeded to do next to nothing everyday. There are intermittent activities of course, but most days consist of sleeping, exercising, and running errands. Note I left eating out on purpose as I've been on a diet and don't do much of that. I go boating too and have been working on my wake boarding and wake surfing skills (blog post to come). My goal for the summer had been to take all four sections of the CPA exam but as the summer closes and I haven't been studying I've let myself off the hook. I'm only taking three sections this summer. So I find myself tonight finished with the Reg lectures (but none of the assignments), one diagnostic exam, the exam tutorial, the handful of CPA-provided practice questions, and ready/planning to take the test tomorrow. I may throw in another practice exam in the morning. All in all I feel pretty comfortable with the material. This low level of preparation over just one week is ridiculously irresponsible. Every section I fail costs me (or really my dad) about $200 I can never recover. But in all honesty I'm taking the CPA exam about as seriously as I take everything in my life. I plan to repeat the one week cram session for the next two sections. I get my scores back in October, and, if I've managed to pass three sections of the CPA exam before beginning work, that would be HUGE. I'd be an all star for sure. If I fail I'll probably keep it pretty quiet at work and study more the next time around. I'll let you know how this works out for me. :)

let's do this

I love reading blogs. Friends, strangers, it just doesn't matter. My friend RZ got me hooked. I have intended (for quite some time now) to start my own blog once I've graduated from school and begun working. You know, real life. Well grad school is done and I'm about a month away from starting work so I guess I'm a grown up. I'm in the middle of buying a car and leasing an apartment not in Provo. I'm going to have my own bathroom and a queen bed. I think this is going to be fun.