looking back to 8 years ago

i should have known it wasn't going to be a regular day when the sounds of scooby doo didn't inform me that adam was out of the shower so it was my turn to get ready for school. i thought only for a minute on scooby doo, but proceeded to roll out of bed & get my school clothes ready for after my shower. i almost wish now that i had just stayed in bed. when i opened my bedroom door that morning, adam quickly stated, "someone flew a plane into the world trade center!" i admit i wasn't fully awake or comprehending what he had said. so i went into the kitchen where he was, and looked at the tv reporting news.
i couldn't believe what i was seeing & hearing. who would do such a thing? was it an accident? and what were the world trade centers? i had no idea. i realize how silly that is now, but i am from a smaller town in idaho and was in high school, and didn't care much for the world. when the second plane hit, i was even more confused at what was going on. i remember getting to school and a girl was running up and down the hallways yelling that it was the end of the world and the pentagon had been hit by another airplane as well. every class i went to had the tv on and tuned to the news stations. well, every class but math. my teacher told us that we had had enough of it all day and that for one hour we could focus on something else. i was grateful for the break, but also wanted to know if there were more airplanes suddenly crashing into other important buildings. i know all flights were grounded, but somehow i still worried.
many of us, if not all, will always remember exactly where we were, what we were doing, and what happened that day forever. i know that many elderly people remember events from their lifetimes just as significant as 9/11 is for us today. almost 3,000 people were killed. some gave their lives willingly for others, and some were not so fortunate to have a choice in the matter. i know that i am grateful i live the United States of America. what blessings we have because of it. freedom isn't free, but we do have a choice. we are the land of the free because of the brave. i think we are all brave in our own ways. i am thankful for the opportunities and the rights and freedoms i have. God bless America! we live in a time of hardship, but we must remember that there could and there is always much worse things that can be reality. thank you to all those men, women, and children who have died for our country.

the best thing about zach

alright already....give me some slack...i've been busy. details about zach.....one of the greatest things about him is that he loves me! holy cow!... me! he loves me!
zach was born in st. george, and has moved around southern utah for the majority of his life. he is 25 as i have previously posted.... ;) he is going to UVU. studying to be a PA. zach is really really good looking and has the most beautiful grey/green/blue eyes i have ever seen. he has strawberry dark blonde hair. when he grows facial hair, it comes in more red. he looks really good with and without facial hair. we met through mutual friends of ours. (lis & mary) who the entire time of driving down to secondhand serenade kept telling me i need to date zach. i had never met him before, but had heard of him. when i first saw zach, i thought "hmmm he is pretty cute."
oddly enough though, i wasn't looking for a relationship. we didn't exchange numbers. i was tempted to steal his phone from him & program in my number, but didn't. he actually was going to do the same with mine, but didn't. instead, we left things as they were. i then found zach on facebook from lis' page. we got to talking and i gave him my number. since then, we have talked every day or night about anything & everything. we take turns diving up or down to see each other on the weekends. (i am not sure what will happen when i start clinicals & right now i don't want to think about that) anyway...zach is seriously amazing. he knows me i think better than i know myself. for instance our first real official date he asked what i would like to do. i thought ice skating, but responded "i am game for whatever." zach answered, "how about ice skating." i never mentioned it or even suggested it. i just had thought it. and ice skating was a lot of fun. we talked and talked and talked. and even now we can talk and talk and talk. ok, i mostly do the talking. zach would say otherwise...but we really know i can't ever shut up.
and now i am going to blog about my day today. it started out kinda rough. i had a colder shower than i would have liked because the water heater was turned down to below warm.... ugh. in fact, it was really almost a cold shower. work was going alright for being the day before ad day. then it went from ok to crazy. my boss came in & we realized that the work yesterday wasn't finished like it should have been. then we also realized that the person responsible had come in late to the office yesterday, but had clocked in 'on time' meaning he had come in to work, clocked in, went upstairs and took his time coming down into the office (approx 25) minutes worth of time. and today he was 20 minutes late. needless to say...he finally got fired today! hooray! but also very hard because that now created 4 times the work for my boss & i today. meaning i pulled a 10 & 1/2 hour day. i got home from work at 4:45, stuffed burger king down my throat, quickly got ready for class, grabbed my bags & drove down to slc for massage class. my partner today was a really good massage therapist practitioner. but the best thing about today, however, was when zach said good morning to me and told me he loves me. and i love him too! and it is ever so wonderful. and now i am awake, blogging about today at 1am. but i have to be to work in 2 hours....so i don't think i will be actually sleeping tonight. tomorrow i am super excited to see zach before class. it seems like we are making a tradition on wednesdays to meet and have late lunch/early dinner before i have to go to class. and now i am not sure what else to post. oh, wait i know....it looks like i am going to be spending thanksgiving with zach & his family. i hope they like me. and now i really going to end here cause i think i may try & get some sleep or just talk to zach all night. he is laughing at me cause i am asking him what i should write about him. (i love you zach) ;)

ok, ok....zach & i

so i have been getting some grief from a few of you about why i haven't mentioned zach more. well...first off...i haven't had much time to get online with work & school. secondly, when i have had time, my internet hasn't been working. my landlords say that it should be all fixed now...we shall see. anyway. today is sunday & i have time to catch you all up on the happenings in my life. i shall start with 2 weeks ago. the week went fairly quickly with work & school. zach came up to salt lake to see me wednesday & we had a lunch/dinner date. we had sandwiches in the park. and saturday was the super service activity. zach came up and we helped paint the railings around the church. other people were doing other things around the building & more deep cleaning the interior. it was a lot of fun. i am sure most people were amazed that i actually had a huge smile on my face. (i don't really talk to or know many people in my ward so i don't really break out into my usual self.) anyways, it was a lot of fun. it was really a fun weekend.

now onto this past week. school has been going fairly well. i feel behind though. class is only 3 &1/2 hours long monday-thursday. each night is a different class, and each week the classes change up a bit. we only get to see & hear things once, and that makes it a bit difficult to remember & then use later in class. i am excited for our tables to come in. i ordered the forest green table. not that it matters because the table will be covered with sheets, but on occasion, when it is a quick massage (like rodeos) where the clients stay robed. on wednesday, zach came up to salt lake again. we had another lunch/dinner date. this time we had sushi in the park. it was really good. zach got a salmon roll something, and i got a crab roll something.

then this weekend i went down to springville and zach and i went hiking. we hiked squaw peak. it was hard, and my gluteus maximus is extremely sore. the entire hike took us about 4 hours round trip. the view of utah lake was quite pretty. posted below are pictures. so all in all...zach & i are dating. we are going good places. i really like him a lot, and he really likes me. we are extremely happy and excited to see where the possibilities of an us will take us. i am putting a disclaimer here....we had just hiked 2 and a half hours....so please excuse the sweaty red face of mine. thanks ;)

weekend happenings

so i went to provo friday after work. zach & i went camping at hobble creek. it rained on us. and i got chilled...so unfortunately i am sick. not sick enough to miss work & definitely not school, but my nose won't stop running. we went back to zach's apartment saturday morning & made breakfast. then we went shopping for more black dress pants for me for school. we found two great pairs that zach approves of. he says i look really good in them. the best part...they were on sale and i spent a lot less that i was expecting. so yippie i have more school clothes. and then we took a nap because neither of us slept extremely well friday night. i did take a benadryl friday cause my allergies were going crazy, so i slept better than i thought, but i still woke up a few times freezing from what zach tells me. i don't really remember...drugs in the system... anyways... then we went to my friend eddy's wedding reception in draper. everyone was asking zach & i if we were married. um, no...we are just dating. i already told zach if he even mentions that he is ring shopping or thinking marriage before a year, my answer will be no. maybe that is mean, but i see no reason to rush anything. he agrees. after the reception, i had to take zach back to provo so he could get on the road for hurricane. (that is where he is from). he left yesterday afternoon on vacation with his family to california. he will be back later this week. i get to see him for sure saturday. he is coming up to help with the service project for my ward and then we are maybe having a bon fire. i am excited. i just hope this stupid head cold will be gone.
school is going well. there are still stupid people in my class that annoy me. and as it turns out, i am not the only one annoyed. i have found at least 4 others who feel the same way i do. it is only a matter of time before they weed themselves out. tonight is just lecture, and hopefully i will be able not to sniff sniff sniff all through class. i took dayquil twice at work and once when i got home. i will take it again before class & maybe once on break during class. either way, i hope i can stay attentive and not go completely crazy sniffling.
i am excited for labor day. i don't have class that monday, so lis, zach & i are thinking a road trip somewhere close so it doesn't cost a whole lot would be tons of fun. we shall see what happens. i am thinking either river trip or moab or even just camping...timpanogos maybe. either way, i am excited & it will be tons of fun. no stupid people invited :) only the good ones. and now i am going to go eat something before i drive down to slc for class.

quick update

school has officially started. i have been in for 2 weeks now. i am loving it, but really hating stupid people. oh well, i will live and they will weed themselves out of class. zach & i are officially dating as boyfriend/girlfriend. he is truly a great guy that comes highly recommended by 2 of my very close friends. i trust their opinions and have good feelings about zach & myself. he is wonderful. last weekend he came up and we spent saturday together. zach made breakfast (cinnamon french toast) and it was delicious. then we went to the dinosaur park in north ogden. it is really a fun little interesting place. after the dinosaurs, we went to TGIFs for lunch. i ordered a really yummy wrap and zach ordered mini burger things. unfortunately something in my food made my stomach hate me. zach thinks there may have been pepperoni in it. erin was kind enough to finish my leftovers i brought home so i didn't dissect it to find out for sure. i just know that i won't be getting the wrap unless i have some stomach medicine handy. zach was sweet and asked what he could do to help me feel better. he is really very observant & attentive. i like it! and then mary & collin came over and we had a picnic type dinner in the back yard and played monopoly (zach won) and pounce. it was a lot of fun.
this past sunday i had a work party. after i got out of church, i called zach. we talked for a bit when he asked what i had planned for the rest of the day. i didn't even have to ask him to come all the way from provo just for a stupid work party for me. he offered to come because i mentioned that they said i could bring someone. i told him that i was ok if he didn't come, but that i would like to have his company. zach is amazing. and wednesday we met before i had to go to class and we had a picnic in the park. i like him. and i am excited for this weekend because i am going down to provo to see him and spend the day. saturday night i have a wedding reception in draper and zach asked if i wanted him to come with me. of course i want him to come with me, but i understand if he doesn't want to go to a wedding reception for someone he doesn't know. but he said he will come.
school is going fairly well. i am learning a ton. anatomy is making sense for the first time in how many classes of it i have been through. we learned our first massage stroke on tuesday. we also ordered our massage tables. i am soooo excited for them to come in. i got the forest green one. it is really pretty. not that it truly matters because there will be sheets on the table, but hey...ya never know. i can't wait until they come in and i can use my table and practice what i learned in class. any volunteers?... i know my list is getting kinda long... oh well. take advantage of a free massage while you can. (i can't charge or accept tips as a student) and that is a quick update. it is late and i need sleep. and i don't know when i will be back on since my life is work & school & zach now. i will try when i can to keep everyone updated.

it has been a busy week

my date with zach was really a lot of fun. he drove up from provo. then we went ice skating at the ice sheet. zach hadn't eaten anything all day so we only skated for about an hour. it was ok though cause i was frozen at this point. we then went to the rice garden chinese restaurant inside simth's. it is take out so we went to a park and ate. zach & i just talked and talked and talked. and he discovered very quickly that i am extremely ticklish. even though i was laughing, i wish i could not be as ticklish as i am...esp when i start getting tickled cause it only gets worse. i become even more jumpy and one doesn't even have to ouch me to make me jump. zach enjoyed himself at my expense. time flies when you are having fun. the sun set on us so we had to leave the park. we came back to my place and watched mr. & mrs. smith. then it was time for zach to leave cause he still had to drive back to provo. we have talked everyday this week and he is coming back up tomorrow for a double date with mary & her date.
monday i started back to school. actually i started a new school. i am now officially attending UCMT. i am a massage therapist practitioner! monday was orientation and professional development. tuesday was anatomy. wednesday was massage basics. and thursday was the second massage basics class. i am really excited about learning and performing massage. my class right now has 54 students. i know this may be bad to say, but i hope that some drop out...esp the ones that have been disruptive so far. i know i am there to learn and study, but i wonder why other people bother coming if they are just going to interrupt the teacher with inappropriate comments and talking out of turn. anyways...the year i am sure will go quickly. i will let you all know when my clinical days are. hopefully you can come and see me. massages at the school only cost the public $25 and you don't tip because we can't accept them as students. and this weekend, if you get the chance, massages are 2 for 1. so you pay $25 for 2 people. go get a massage! they are sooooo good for you and your health!

i wonder why

i really do have the worst luck ever. i am trying, really, to stay upbeat and positive, but it gets so hard. today i got up and went to go get my tires rotated since i don't know when they were last rotated. i know that i've put a few miles on them, so i figured it is about time. well, i ended up having to buy 4 new tires. the tread on two of mine were just awful. in fact, the les schwab guy was surprised that i had no complaints on how my jeep was driving. he said that i should have had shaking and that braking should have been funny as well. ok, he didn't phrase it that way. the one tire was down to the warning tread. the other tire had a very weird wear pattern. i was going to just get two tires, but with a 4-wheel drive, it is best to get 4. the other two would only have lasted probably another month before they were down to warning tread. i am glad i went in, but UGH!!! 4 new tires! that is a lot of money. at least now i have the les schwab promise to fix flats, free rotations, and all that jazz. and at least they didn't treat me like i didn't know what i was talking about. and they put new caps on my tire stems. the last place that checked my tire pressure didn't put the caps back on. this is a very bad thing! it can freeze in the winter and get debris in it in the summer causing the tire pressure measurement to be off. this in turn causes your tire pressure light on the dash to malfunction. this costs a lot more money to fix.
then i went to get my jeep washed. the car wash misread where my jeep was. causing my time to expire. so i went inside to get another car wash. i got my jeep lined up, but then the car wash hit my bike and stopped working. so i went back inside and got another car wash, took my bike off, and went through. thankfully i only had to pay for one wash. but half of my jeep got soap twice. my undercarriage got soap 3 times. and my jeep doesn't look clean enough for me, but it is clean. so after 3 times through the car wash, my jeep looks ok.
when i got home after all of this, i took a shower and when i put my favorite jeans on, they split down the crotch. thankfully i can sew. and i hope my repair job works. i have to wonder what else is going to go wrong. i am laughing at my stupid dumb luck. really though, can i just have a rope or something? i just am hoping that tonight will be tons of fun and goes well. i have a date with zach. we are going ice skating. maybe i can break a leg or something since i don't have health insurance anymore. my dad forgot to fax the paperwork i asked him for. and now i've missed the deadline. so i have to wait until january to get health insurance. let's pray if something happens to me that it is in my jeep...where i am insured. anyway... i just wonder why. and now i am going to go get ready for my date.