Oh the Joy of Learning...

So today in my Economics class my teacher went into the discussion of some of the points made in the book Guns, Germs and Steel. Now I recognized the title because me and Trevor got Dad this book for his birthday. Well after todays lesson I am definitely going to go out buy this book and read it. HOW FASCINATING! With all the geography and history classes I have been taking over the years I finally feel like I am starting to understand some of this stuff, and this book just completely peaked my interest! Can't wait to get started on it (Now only If I can find the time!)

Another book that was discussed in my Economics class a little while back was this book called "Marching Powder" we discussed briefly what it was about and used it as an example to help us understand a concept in the class. In our class there was actually a guy who had visited the prison in Bolivia himself. This book is based on the true story of an English man who gets caught smuggling cocaine out of Bolivia and is sent to the San Pedro prison. This prison is more then just the filthy conditions and corrupt guards. This prison itself is a whole community! They are given absolutely nothing when entering the prison yet the prison has developed into this sick crazy place to live, where they pay the guards to go in and out, they produce cocaine this whole place has a system and becomes it's own very unique society. The book follows the main charcater as he learns the system of San Pedro. It just seems like the craziest story ever, and someday soon I want to read this one as well!
So I found this book while researching a bit on something I read in one of my Geography classes that TOTALLY caught my attention. It seems like It would be an interesting read. Tell me if this excerpt from The Eternal Frontier:Ground Zero by Tim Flannery catches your attention, and what does it remind you of?
"No humans have ever experienced anything comparable to the asteroid impact, but once-just once in human written history-a faint echo of the great impact was directly experienced by a small section of humanity....
After reading this section, I couldn't help but ask myself... "How come I had never heard of this before?!" Anyways these three books are on my list of to do's to read sometime. Who knew you learned something in college eh?

No meat, No tooth...

This is the Best Picture Stanton Got, doesn't look so bad here... but it was.

So a couple weeks ago Trevor went on a hunting trip with his friend Stanton, they didn't catch anything... OH WELL. Apparently they only ever saw one elk the whole time and it was a cow (which means a girl elk, which they are not allowed to hunt) Trevor came home with some pretty crazy stories.
First crazy story: At one point during the afternoon (i guess it isn't the best time to hunt for elk dead in the afternoon) him and Stanton decided to explore, and went in search of some cool caves they had heard were in the area. They found one and were in it when they could hear this noise. At first they tried telling themselves it was just rocks falling or something... but it didn't take long for the both of them to start getting freaked out. They both just knew something was in the cave with them and it was NOT rocks falling. They decide to leave the cave to find blood on some of the rocks just outside the cave... FRESH Blood. Stanton apparently touched it because it looked so fresh, and the blood came up on his fingers. In the HOT sun up there in the mountains for it to still be that wet meant whatever was dripping with blood had just been dragged over those rocks. Then they found a cougar print in the area heading towards the cave they were in. Well Trevor and Stanton are pretty convinced that moments before they wondered into the cave the cougar had just grabbed some lunch and was going into the cave for a shady place to eat. They were pretty freaked out but thought it was pretty cool but decided to not stick around much longer.
Second Crazy Story: It was the last day of hunting and their 5th day out camping and hunting and the weather had gotten really bad. Apparently it had been snowing was very wet and rainy weather, not so fun. Stanton and Trevor had found a good "spot" whatever that means in hunting to look from/shoot from and they decided Trevor needed to go down a bit and "scare" some Elk up. So Trevor started down to go try to send some elk up where Stanton was (I don't really understand that mind of these boys or hunting but whatever haha) Trevor is hiking around for a bit, feeling pretty miserable from the cold etc (&missing me of course :) when he kind of find himself stuck. He came up to an straight up cliff, and really couldn't figure out any way to get back to where he was without having to climb it. Trevor while telling me the story goes on about how scary this was for him. (For Trevor to admit he was scared, means this must have been bad!) He said the whole time he was going up he was scared he was going to fall everything was so wet, etc etc. He was so worried the whole time going up.
Third Part of the crazy story: He made it up okay and feeling better about his situation, not feeling like he is about to fall to his death, he then slips on some wet patch smacks his head against a log, and his gun falls and smacks him right across the other side of his face. OUCH! and this is how Trevor lost a huge chunk out of his front tooth! He said he was so mad about having to climb up that wall, and then falling down and then chipping his tooth and how much pain he was in because of it just everything... he picked up the chunk of his tooth and just chucked it over the cliff he had just climbed up in anger. (I almost want to laugh at this part of the story because I can just imagine how he did this, I almost think it is cute when he is mad, haha.) Anyways They left to come home shortly after.
Crazy Story part Four: So the guy who guided Stanton and Trevor to hunt in this area is a member of their former bishopric from a past ward they were in. They have stayed in touch and are good friends. This guy just happens to be a dentist. Trevor calls him to explain what happened, and his situation about he just got married and doesn't have insurance. The guy totally understands and offers to fix Trevor's tooth for FREE. Pretty Cool eh?
Final end to the Crazy Stories: Trevor right before our wedding had hit his chin on something and hurt his front tooth. He swore he could see a crack straight up his front tooth a very fine line. Well after the dentist looked at his tooth he confirmed Trevor's thoughts. Apparently he had already had a crack in it that didn't help and probably was a factor in why it chipped when he fell. So for now Trevor has half a fake tooth, he was in a lot of pain because he did a lot of damage to the back of his tooth and exposed some nerve endings, ouchie! He has been advised that this is only a temporary fix and that eventually he will have to most likely get a root canal and a cap for a totally fake tooth. YAY for my husband's successful hunting trip, came home with no meat and no tooth, and If wasn't already complaining about how much money this trip was costing, he just rang up the bill even more. NO more HUNTING trips haha.

First Homemade Meal Together :)

So I forgot to post the funny story that went along with the first homemade meal I made Trevor. My mom had been up helping us move into our apartment (THANK YOU MOM!) and school was starting and we had been so busy and stressed out and living in all our crud everywhere we had been getting takeout for the past couple days for meals. Well the day we finally finished the apartment and moving in, my mom was leaving and Trevor had work and I decided I was going to make him dinner as a surprise. Our first homemade meal together in our apartment! I was VERY excited and I picked a recipe I knew he would LOVE, and I went to the store and bought all the ingredients and started making Trevor some Old Fashioned Beef and Mushroom Chili with Chipotle. Just the title itself I knew that Trevor would love it. I got the recipe from a book my sister in-law Serene gave me for our wedding called, "Not Your Mother's Slow Cooker Recipes for Two." (I wrote a blog about it if you want the recipe on my Alycia's Appetite.) I had everything perfect in the apartment (Trevor hadn't seen it finished and all put together so that was also apart of the surprise.) So I set the table just right, made some corn bread to go along with the chili topped with sour cream and some avocado was waiting at the dinner table just in time for Trevor to come home. He walked in, Groaned said, "I feel like I am about to throw up!" and ran past me straight into the bedroom and laid on the bed. Well you should have seen my face. Long story short, Trevor ended up eating something he felt his stomach could "handle" some noodle soup and he stayed in bed all night feeling horribly sick to his stomach. I of course was SUPER disappointed, I wanted to cry but stopped myself because of course he didn't do this on purpose. Trevor felt pretty bad about it all, but I will NEVER forget our first meal together in our new home. (Just in case you were wondering, Trevor had some the next day and LOVED it!)

Living Arrangments...

So mom, and Alex are the only ones who really know how our apartment is. It is small but still roomy all at the same time. We like it, but my only complaint is our outlets are randomly placed and we really don't have enough of them. For example most things that need to be done in the bathroom, are done in the kitchen. Yup, no outlets in our bathroom...crazy eh? So I came home once to find this in our kitchen and just had to take a picture. Trevor just leaves his razor on the fridge hahaha oh man.

Then I just took this cause I thought it was pretty funny, this is how I study for Geography! FUN TIMES! Trevor came home and saw this, and asked "what is going on in here?" I had papers everywhere and I tape my maps up all over the apartment :)


Not so much like the movies...

Well today I got to witness probably one of the saddest things I have ever seen in real life. You know how in the movies, when someone's husband or child or boyfriend dies in the military, someone from the military shows up to tell their loved ones they have passed in duty? I mean it is always sad in the movies when you watch it, they play some background music that fits the mood, everything.... well it is a lot worse to witness in real life.
Today at work multiple men in Uniform walked into our office today. At first I thought they were here for security stuff with Laura Bush coming to the Library on Monday... but I was wrong. They came to tell someone who works here at the library that her son had died. Lets just say the place filled with some awkward air. I was thinking how in the movies when the sad music is cued it would have been a lot better then the silence that you really experience. What a absolutely horrible duty to have to come into people lives, like at work and at their homes and tell them their child has died. It was the saddest thing I have ever seen, and really nothing like the movies.

Word Gets Around...

As you should all know by now, I am a receptionist at the Administration Department of the Library. Well part of my job is to help everyone here in the office, finish little projects or tasks they might have or need help on. Well a lot of mail comes in and out of this office, and I have noticed more and more people coming to me to address envelopes and hand write some notes to mail off. So the other day after my 4th or 5th letter of the day, I go since when do you all need so many letters going out?! Well I was informed that, word has gone around I have really nice handwriting, and so now everyone comes to me when something needs to be handwritten! haha Normally this wouldn't bother me... but after a days of writing and addressing all my Wedding Thank You's to have to go into work and Write and address letters for all these employees.... MY HAND WANTS TO GO ON STRIKE!

The Vampire Diaries.

So I KNOW what you are all thinking....Twilight impostors! At least that is what I first thought when I saw previews for this show. Well as many of you know Trevor and I do not have cable, so I have to find all my entertainment via television watching on the internet. I had seen previews for this show, and just didn't think too much about watching (although I did think how good looking the cast of the show was!) Well my good friend Tearsa came over for a sleepover and we started talking about how excited we are for the new Twilight movie to come out and she started telling me how much she loves this show The Vampire Diaries and she went on and on about it and how good it was and how it fills her cravings for Twilight while she waits for the movie to come out. Anyways she also went on about how hot the main character in the show is, which I have to admit I think is wayyyyy better looking then the actor who plays Edward, I have to be honest here, haha. Anyways, I watched the first episode, then the second, then the third, and now I can not wait for Thursday nights on the CW because I AM IN LOVE WITH THIS SHOW! I mean yes it is about vampires and young love, but it is also very different from Twilight, and for the record, those who think it is a rip off Twilight like I did.... FOR THE RECORD The show is actually based of the best selling books written by L.J. Smith, who's vampire books were written BEFORE Stephanie Meyer's (I even read some article where he is suing her for some copyrights etc. anyways...) I still LOVE Twilight, but now I also LOVE The Vampire Diaries! If you like Twilight you will like this show! So go drool over the gorgeous boys and the crazy story that unfolds in this show, I promise you wont be disappointed! &it will get you even THAT more excited for the new Twilight movie coming to theaters next MONTH! YAY!

Stefan the "good" vampire, and sooooooooooooo GORGEOUS! AH!

Group Projects... the two most horrible words you can hear in the classroom!

Can I just say I have been dealing with this since Elementary school! I am SO frustrated. I HATE HATE HATE group projects, always have always will. I am just one of those people who would rather do the whole thing by myself with only my name on it. Besides the fact that I usually take the leadership role when it comes to these kinds of things (it is just my personality I can't help it) But I also hate when group projects go bad. I think we ALL know what I am talking about here. I am in a Teaching History class and I love it, but we have these group projects that we all just started working on, where we design lesson plans etc. and it is a bunch of little projects apart of this GIANT project we are turning in at the end of the semester. We are on our first little project and it is due today, and guess what I am doing even though I have another huge project due for another class tomorrow? I am finishing up all the work my other two partners didn't do. At least the one girl attempted to do something the other kid has done absolutely nothing! In ym complainging last night Trevor says I should tell the teacher. I mean we arn't in Highschool anymore I don't want to have to "tell" on the kid, PLUS I have to work with them the rest of the semester I don't want things to be awkward or uncomfortable. I basically am doing this whole project by myself and I am the type of person that HAS to turn in something that is of the quality I would be proud of, so I find myself re-doing the half done work of this on chick and then doing all of my share and this other kids. They seem just peachy to let me have the full plate too which sucks. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

Fun Times!

So a couple weeks ago during general conference Brandon and his family and Ben made an appearance in Utah! Me and Alex were both very excited for this :) Me Ben and Alex go to out for lunch on that Friday before Ben's mission reunion he was up for, and my plans were to after go down to Provo where Brandon and Serene were to see my new little niece I haven't seen yet, Hayley! I was of course excited to see Sydney as well. Well to my Surprise the hour tops drive down to Provo took me a little over 3 HOURS! Apparently there was a BYU vs Utah State football game and the freeway was PACKED. I have never driven in traffic as horrible as that. I then got to go out to dinner at the Red Brick Oven (mmm love their root beer) with Brandon Serene, Sydney and Hayley. It was a lot of fun :) SOO much fun. I then held Hayley all night long until she fell asleep into my arms. It was perfection. Another exciting thing to note was my sweet moment I shared with Sydney... I was saying goodnight to her and after I sang her a church hymn I said "I love you Sydney, Goodnight!" Sydney (who has never properly said my name, Alycia is hard for kids to say) said, "Alesshca I love you." My heart melted. It sounded just like me name, and better then her pronouncing it right, she knew who I was. I love being an Aunt and I love my nieces and nephews so much It scares me, because if this is how I feel about my siblings children I can't even imagine what I would feel for my own. After a great night, I drove home and it took me 2 1/2 hours! UGH! I wanted to scream... Anyways the next day I got to go down to Sanchez's where Serene and the girls were and hang with everyone we ended the night watching a movie and eating peach cobbler it was a lot of fun, and I of course held Hayley the whole time :) just can't get enough! Then the next morning me and Trevor came down to watch conference with everyone, Trevor go to hold Hayley for the first time and you should have seen her. She lit up when she held, great big smiles the whole time! I had yet to see her smile! It was adorable. I think Trevor liked that she smiled when he held her. Children just love Trevor I guess because the whole day the Sanchez' girls and Sydney were all over him riding him like he was a horsey etc. and he just plays and plays with them. He is really sweet with them. Molly made some amazing breakfast again (as always) called Juevos Rancheros with Refried Beans (you can read all about it on my cooking blog) It was delish! Overall it was a great weekend and was so happy to get to see some family I don't get to see too often, and being able to see me new niece was just the BEST PART :)

She is a Baby SLUG

She just kept smiling away at Trevor!

She wouldn't take her eyes of him!

Sydney wanted to feed Trevor haha.



My Missing Husband?


Well this week is our fall break which means, NO SCHOOL! Of course I am still going to be working and doing a bunch of homework assignments etc. so I am not THAT excited about it. To make it worse last Friday was the first night that Trevor and I haven't been together since we have been married. Crazy feeling, you would think spending everyday and minute with someone you wouldn't mind them leaving you for a couple days, but it has really made me sad. I feel pathetic haha. Trevor left Friday and will be back Tuesday from the Elk Hunt with his friend Stanton. He better kill something and bring it home after all the dang money he spent on this trip, with the costs of tags, gas, food, equipment and everything he bought! Anyways, It has been lonely over at our apartment. I have had a couple friends over but nothing seems to do... I just want Trevor to COME HOME NOW!

Accepting Life...

Well after this morning I wasn't sure if I should feel relieved or sad or what exactly. But after calling my mommy (yes I still call my mommy when I am sad or confused) and reflecting on the new information relayed to me I actually find myself feeling more at peace and at ease then I have been all semester about my future and school. As some of you may know I was really attempting to finish school in 4 years even though my major takes at least 5 if not more. This is due partly because my major is basically two combined political science and history, also because my entire student teaching year is required before graduation. Anyways ever since my freshman year I have been taking at least 15 credits and strategically planning my classes to be able to finish everything... I had this amazing "plan!" Well as life has shown me... sometimes my plans are not the plan that seems to happen in life. This morning I met with a counselor who works specifically with the teaching licensure program. Basically you have to apply to get into the program (history being the hardest to get into because of low demand for history teachers, great) and this program only is offered in a specific order of fall term first spring term second. I am just a semester short of being able to properly apply etc for the 2010 teaching program year :( SO what does this mean? I said what do I do for a whole semester just waiting to be able to get into the fall 2011 program? WELL a blessing in disguise I guess. I always wanted to double minor (since currently I have a minor in teaching history) and I wanted it in ESL. I have been advised by every teacher I know high school level college level adviser's etc that this is the minor to have. Some states are even sending some of their teachers to get certificates and take ESL classes etc. For those who don't know ESL is English as a Second Language. It really is vital in todays public schools especially to know how to teach students who's first language isn't English. Since thats what a lot of schools are full of currently and it is only increasing. I always wanted to get this minor but decided that I didn't have the time. I have been feeling so pressured (pressure put on by myself) to hurry hurry hurry finish school so I can be done before Trevor is off to Law School, because I really, really really didn't want to transfer somewhere else. Well now I basically have no choice! I have an open semester now so what to do? Well I am going to get another minor. The best plan overall is to slow down a bit and get a minor and apply for the 2011-2012 teaching program. Because of this, this means if Trevor decides to go to Law School outside of Utah that I will be transferring somewhere else. Something I DID NOT want to do. I am learning to accept it now, and realizing in the long run trying to push through right now just isn't possible. BUT thing is, WHO knows where Trevor will go to Law School WHO knows what will happen exactly, but what I DO know is I have finally just accepted that I need to let go of my "plans" and just do the best thing for the situation I find myself in in life. I don't like when things don't go the way I planned, but life hasn't so far and I am pretty happy, so I guess I will just "let go" and trust my future will be okay!

Just a Day at Work...

As you know, if you read below, I have a new job working in the Administration department of the Library at the University of Utah. The J. Willard Marriott Library has been under renovations for the past several years and they finally have finished the Library. It really did turn out beautiful and they really have updated it with some cool new technology and work spaces for students. Anyways, for the rededication they are throwing a big event. When I say big, the speaker for the event is Laura Bush as in the previous First Lady Laura Bush. Because I work in the office as a secretary, I have been doing a lot to help with the event. Mainly I have been answering all the phone calls and taking down the R.S.V.P’s for over 3,000 invitations that went out (they are only expecting 1,000ish) but still I have been getting a lot more phone calls then usual with this rededication. What has been really kind of exciting is receiving phone calls from the offices, assistants, etc. of very important people here in Utah, and all over the world! I could go on and on about the people who have been invited and are calling in to R.S.V.P! Among all the really important people invited some of the coolest ones to get calls in from are from the many different apostles that have been invited. The little girl inside me just gets all excited and giggly! I mean Russel M. Nelson, Elder Holland? Come ON! Haha I have been really enjoying this job, and I am crossing my fingers I get to go to the event! I think I will be able to, but I am not asking just yet… Let’s Hope I do! How COOL would that be? Laura Bush, and a room full of many different powerful people :) wow!

First Month in the Apartment.

You see this picture? That is me holding a hot potato to my eye... yes my eye. I got my first ever and hopefully my last ever STYE! It was horrible. Mine didn't hurt or anything but it looked like a big bubble zit under my eye (needless to say I wore my glasses for the week) Stye as I looked up, are due to bad nutrition, STRESS, and sleep deprivation. Hmmm yes I probably had a large dose of all of those things do to the move in and start of school. I will get to THAT later, anyways I read if you get rid of a stye in a week or less that is really fast and you did a good job! I am proud to say my Stye was gone in less then a week, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! I did this by my mother's tip of the hot potato pressure on the eye, and some tea bags placed on the eye before I went to sleep. It was interesting but it all seemed to work! P.S. DO NOT look up pictures of Styes... not pretty. Anyways on to what CAUSED this in the first place...
So I will have to get the official apartment pictures for you guys soon, I am still waiting on Trevor to get all his guitar and music stuff together so I can take some pictures of everything! But moving in was such a task let me tell you! I can not even, nor do I want to imagine what It would have been like if my mom hadn't come up to Salt Lake City to help me. THANK YOU MOM! I mean, we had the first week of school the same time we moved in, transitioning between jobs, for both me and Trevor. Plus I had a nightmare of class schedules to fix, becoming a resident of Utah (NIGHTMARE!) and on and on and on... I mean seriously the list of things that needed to get done, and things that went wrong just kept growing and thanks to my mom we able to manage our time and get our apartment together WAY sooner then it would have ever got done.
SO NEWS: I got a new job! I needed less hours and a less stressful job this year to handle my work load in school right now. I got the PERFECT job. I am a receptionist/assistant at the front desk at the Administration Office of the Library at the University of Utah. Basically I get to sit at a desk, look pretty, do very few work (copy papers, answer the phone, file mail) and get paid to do my homework. They encourage students to do homework when there is nothing to do. So I get a lot of homework done, and get to meet a lot of very influential people from the school that come in and out of that office. Lets just say I am creating some god social networking in the place! The Dean and some other you know... haha. Basically it is great and I love it!

Now Trevor as some of you may know got an Internship this year with Senator Orrin Hatch. I was very proud of him! This internship has already led to some cool things. We got to attend a special Brazilian dinner on behalf of the Brazilian Utah Commerce (or something like that!) It was free food, &some important people and I just sat there and soaked it in, haha! All the people from the office came up to tell me how wonderful Trevor is, how much they like him, how cute he is etc etc. It was really cute and fun haha. Another cool thing Trevor got to do ended up in the Desert News! Trevor was able to participate with the office in a tree planting in remembrance of 9/11. Trevor's mom found this picture online from the article written about it. So pretty cool you can read if you want to know more the article link is below!

That would be part of Trevor's body in the picture. The main focus is of course the little girl but I am of course looking only at my hubby!

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/705329345/Utah-events-commemorate-911-attacks.html