Deep Fried Fun

Drum roll, if you please...

Yes, this is my second post two days in a row! I'm so proud. Unfortunately, the reason I even have time to do this is because I'm home sick today. No work, no school - just lazing around in my pjs trying to feel awake enough to do anything! I've got an annoying throaty stomachy heady thing, but mostly I'm just insanely tired! It's the weirdest thing. Hopefully it'll be gone in a few days (it's already been here a few days), and hopefully I don't pass it on to Dallin. The last thing he needs is to get sick!

Anyway, the real meaning of this post is to tell you all about this past weekend, when we hit up the AZ State Fair! We went on Saturday night, and even though my illness had really started to hit hard that morning, we were still able to have a great time. We had to go that weekend because it was the weekend of the Demolition Derby, which is Dallin's favorite. Something about cars smashing into each other and breaking down and catching on fire must be enjoyable to boys. Hm. Ah what the heck I thought it was fun too!

Ready for the main event! (It was impossible to get a good picture, what with the lighting and all).

Our view from the grandstands.

These cars were literally stuck together. They would catch fire whenever they tried to pull them apart. A real crowd pleaser.

Dallin got some sweet video of the whole thing. Let me see if I can get this to work...mov02872

Well after that we made our way around the rest of the fair. We met up with Tiffiny and Caleb, which was swell. Super swell, in fact, because Tiffiny and I rode an elephant! Check one more off the "things to do before I die" list!

Seriously good times, right there.

TJ and Lisa won the junk food prize, with their enormous cheese fries. Congrats, guys!

Dallin also won a prize (and so did I, by extension) by winning a ripoff carnival game! We are now the proud owners of a huge, as-yet nameless frog that is taking up a ton of space in our family room! YES!

Oh yeah, people were jealous.

We finished off the trip in the best way possible, by playing Rock Bank on a stage in front of millions hundreds dozens about a dozen people. They loved our rendition of Weezer's "Buddy Holly" (is that really the name of that song? Who cares? ROCK ON)

We had a great time! Best of all, we missed the fiasco that was the ASU Oregon game! I mean, GO DEVILS and all that, but I'm glad we missed that embarrassment.

Love the fair.

It's Halloween-time!

For those of you that have never spent more than five minutes with me or aren't very perceptive, let me share something about myself with you: Disneyland is my second home. I mean, seriously. Love that place. We went to the Happiest Place last weekend with another couple in our ward, who appropriately described Disneyland as "Katie's cocaine." Sure, I'll go with that. Let's modify it a bit, Seriously So Blessed style: "Disneyland: like cocaine, but cheaper, legal, and not against the Plan." Ok, so I don't know about the cheaper part, but the rest really works, don't you think?

Anyway, D-Land was all decked out for Halloween. Seriously, October is like one of the best times to go, in my professional opinion. It's never incredibly crowded, the weather rocks, and the Halloween decorations are fun. All around Disney goodness. Anyway, here are some pictures from our fantastic trip! (btw, these pictures are made possible because of the miracle finding of my camera charger. Thank you, Sarah!)

After Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, which really is very scary, you know.

All ready for the new Toy Story ride, which completely ROCKS. love it.

Let us all notice whose hands are the only ones in the air in this picture. Such a good ride!

here's your sign.

Indiana Jones! I finally saw the hidden Mickey ears! BAH!

At the entrance- a great example of the Halloween decor!

Well before I get too carried away and post all our pictures...I'm gonna say that's a good stopping point. You should at least get the idea that it was a fantastic trip! The rest of the pics are on Facebook if you really want to see. Until next time, Disneyland.

long time, no blog

Don't worry about the fact that September just didn't happen on this blog. It's an overrated month anyway.

For those of you that just HAFTA know what happened...um... school. work. church. sleep. eat. repeat.

Happy, September lovers?

And now, on to the present.

School is ongoing and tireless, but actually pretty interesting. Dallin always has some new fun fact about the mysteries of the world to share from his biology class. If you want to know how deserts are made or how bees communicate the location of food, he's your man. I, for one, have been introduced to some...interesting... new short stories in one of my classes, and to some...interesting... italian films in another. And I've had the chance to write a bit on some fun subjects, which is always good. I have a couple online classes but I've got plenty of free time in between my on campus classes, so I get most of it taken care of then.

In honor of another recent experience I have had, I concocted a little something. Enjoy!

Katie hates big tests that cause stress. However, Katie loves Double Stuf Oreos. The LSAT is a big test that causes stress. However, you are allowed to take Double Stuf Oreos into the LSAT testing room.

The above statements, if true, most strongly support which of the following conclusions?

A) If Katie takes Double Stuf Oreos into the LSAT testing room, then she will enjoy the LSAT.
B) Even if Katie does take Double Stuf Oreos into the LSAT testing room, she will still fail the LSAT miserably.
C) Katie will eat Double Stuf Oreos in large amounts before and after taking the LSAT.
D) Double Stuf Oreos have no impact on a student's LSAT score, otherwise they would not be allowed in the testing room.
E) Katie should not have taken the LSAT. What a dumb idea.

Choose your answer. I'll tell you in three weeks if you were right.

This is what I subjected myself to. I took the LSAT last weekend. And yes, I did take Double Stuf (yep, one F. I checked the pack in my pantry) Oreos into the testing center with me for my break-time snack. Unfortunately, none of the questions dealt with Oreos, no matter what amount of stuffing, or maybe I'd be feeling better about the whole thing. But it's OVER, which brings me immense relief. Now I just have to wait for three weeks (well, two now) to see my score, and that brings me immense anxiety. *Sigh*

In other news, I got a new job! I'm now a teller at Bank of America. It's great...other than the fact that there are a million things to learn that I feel like everyone expects me to already know. And the fact that I could get robbed at any moment. And the fact that the branch I'm at is forever away. And the fact that everyone hates the manager. And the fact that the stupid vacation rules just might ruin our wonderful holiday plans. And the fact that I have to wear stupid business clothes (and SHOES) that are crazy uncomfortable. But you know, other than that...great.

Yeah, yeah, whine whine. I still have hope for the bank though. Everyone there says they hated it when they first started too, so hey, maybe it'll turn out all right (skeptical noise/face).

Well, guess that about covers it. We're going to Disneyland this weekend with another couple in our ward (I know, right...again? I love it there), and we're still nailing down Halloween plans...and costumes...ideas? Last year Dallin was an interactive Facebook (you could write on his wall) and I was interactive Sudoku (you could fill in a number). Best *cough* last minute *cough* costumes ever, right? How will we top them?

-Katie

p.s. Also, we know ASU football sucks. We really don't have to talk about it. Sadness.

ketchup!

Am I retarded for giving my post that title? Shut up, I thought it was funny.

So we are down to our last few days of summer before school starts. It's like a dark cloud is hovering in the distance, just waiting to come and downpour on our perfect homework-free picnic. But we've been doing stuff to make sure we make the most of our remaining time (does that sound like we're dying?)

Most importantly (drumroll please) I turned 21 on the 15th! Hooray! But that was not the most exciting part (sidenote: turning 21 is not a big deal for a Mormon girl. Horizontal driver's license...thrilling). The most exciting part was our trip to Disneyland to celebrate! Ah, what a great day. The lines were not too long, it was not swelteringly hot, and I got wished happy birthday by about 60 Disney employees thanks to the Disneyland birthday button I sported the whole day. Yesssssss. I think Dallin is running for some kind of "ultimate husband" position. And he's doing great (the trip was his idea)

What else? There have been a couple wedding receptions of really good friends (love weddings, love friends... good times); I've seen "Mamma Mia!" twice and can be found making a fool of myself dancing/singing to the soundtrack of said film in my car; I'm looking for a new job; I just got an awesome over-the-door pantry organizer, which I'm so excited about you'd think it was singlehandedly solving all life's problems; and my Grandma is starting cooking classes for her daughter/daughters-in-law/granddaughters, the first of which was last night, and it was fantastic!

So that might be all that's going on with me at the moment. As for Dallin, he's working, being a sport as I drag him to stranger-infested receptions or ditch him for a while to hang with in-from-out-of-town girlfriends, and dreading school even more than I am. He's a fantastic husband who takes excellent care of his wife! We're living the good life, indeed.

-katie

Bummer that I don't have ANY pics to include with this post...Oh well. Use your imaginations :)

24th of July (Pioneer Day) in Thatcher, AZ

I got to learn a lot about my wife this last weekend as we visited the town of Thatcher, AZ where her dad grew up for their annual "Pioneer Day" celebration. It was GOOD FUN and I suspect we'll be going back every year. I grew up in Spring City, UT and although we did have a similar festivity (I remember a fireman's breakfast and fire trucks to wake everyone up at 6 am), I don't think our little town of 900+ residents was able to put on quite the show that Thatcher (a whopping 4,000+ residents) does.

I say it was "good fun" and I'm being totally honest. Once you see the pictures below, you may think I was being sarcastic but I really did enjoy myself. I think that now that I'm a big city boy, laughing at the traditions of a small town was only so fun because it hit so close to home.

We got to Thatcher just in time for the parade at 5:00PM. It was raining (as you can see from the pictures), but not even the most fierce storm could have stopped us from supporting these guys. Here are some examples of the floats we saw. Most of them have to do with the recent announcement that a new LDS temple will be built in Gila Valley.

Pioneers digging in to that fresh soil.... on the back of a flatbed trailer

This one was actually cool. That sign states a prophecy by John Taylor that "one of the most beautiful temples ever built among the Saints in the Rocky Mountains ultimately would be built in the Gila Valley."

I would have liked to see more than 30 seconds of work go in to making this float

Kind of disturbing

And what parade would be complete without some mormon missionaries??

Good ol' Mr. Ed

Mr. Ed version 2.0

There were others but I think these should be enough to give you an idea. After that, the whole town (and surrounding towns) head up to the college of Eastern Arizona football field to have some food and watch the fireworks. I had forgotten what a friendly and fun environment a small town can be (to visit, not to stay!) Katie's dad spent the whole evening talking with old friends while Katie and I took Bauer (their dog) for a walk

who me?

Lots of hilarity ensued. I love that dog. Anyway, remember how I told you that a storm had been breweing over head the whole time? Well now it stepped up a notch and we got soaked. Of course it was right in the middle of the fireworks, so we couldn't very well get up and leave (at least I couldn't) and we decided to stay and "weather" the storm.

And now for the climax of our story. I was content to be wet on the car ride home, but Katie's grandma

Insisted that we have dry clothes. We had to take them off of course, and in the mean time, she provided us with ... clothing (can I call it that?) to wear until they were dry. Katie got off easy with an old red robe of her grandma's, and I got stuck with a hand made v-neck sweater from 1940 that used to be her grandpa's. Take a good look at these photos, folks -- you won't find them anywhere else.

Princess Katie

A close up

Our winner!

So there you have it, folks! Will we be seeing you there next year?

Dallin

Book Review- The Host by Stephanie Meyer

So, I'm no book critic- really, I'm not- but I am an avid reader! I love to read, I love to think about what I read, and I love to talk to other people about what I read! so I suppose this begins another facet of our blog- Katie's book reviews!

I just finished Stephanie Meyer's The Host a few days ago. it was one of those books that I was really excited to read, because I wanted to see what this author could do outside of the "Twilight" series, which, although it has made her insanely popular, in my opinion, does not display the best writing out there. I was hoping she could break out of the "He's so devastatingly beautiful...marble skin...piercing eyes," on and on routine that, if we're perfectly honest, really does dominate the "Twilight" books and almost, almost, hides the story.

And that is really a shame, because she has great stories, with amazing potential, that she generally does a fantastic job of telling. The Host, for instance, tells the story of Wanderer, an alien "soul" who has possessed the body of a human girl named Melanie, as has become routine to the point that true humans hardly exist on the planet anymore. The conflict arises as Wanderer realizes that Melanie is still conscious inside her body, and Wanderer cannot escape some of the stronger feelings that Melanie possesses, including her love and concern for Melanie's brother, Jamie, and boyfriend, Jared, who are hiding out in hopes of remaining true humans.

Wanderer sets out to find these two boys she can't help but love. She finds them hiding out in the desert mountains of Arizona with a small colony of humans who have escaped being possessed by souls. The majority of the rest of the book takes place within these caves, as Wanderer tries to become accepted and trusted by these people who have experienced nothing but fear, sorrow, and loss at the hands of her race.

This really is a very good premise for a science fiction book. It involves strange, outlandish (but still thought provoking) ideas, and really delves into the idea of what it means to be "human." Wanderer's feelings show true human complexity as she feels anger and frustration, emotions that are not commonly felt amongst her own kind. The humans within the story are just as conflicted, unsure about how to react to the presence of a member of the enemy society. Most of them adjust, however, and one boy, Ian, even falls in love with Wanderer, loving her for herself instead of for the mind of Melanie struggling within the shared body.

The biggest problem with the story, unfortunately, is the way it is presented. Meyer's writing is incessantly repetitive, constantly re-reminding the reader of the same thoughts and feelings multiple times. It almost wouldn't be too much, if the book wasn't so long. Another writing issue arises towards the end of the story, when something happens that suddenly makes Wanderer's path perfectly clear to her, and leaves the reader (or at least me) going "wh-what? why does that mean she has to do that? where did that come from?" continuing for several pages, until you're sure you missed something and have to go back and check. And then, when it is finally actually explained to you, you think: "Oh. Well that isn't a very big deal. She should have thought of that before." Wanderer becomes completely obsessed with this solution, positive that it is the only solution and absolutely nothing can be done about it, and the reader is left to wonder where it came from, and why it is so inevitable.

In short, The Host is a good story that was probably dragged out a little too long, and that has a climax that falls flat. After the long middle portion of the book, in which too much is written and not enough happens, I was expecting a really dynamite ending, and I felt like I just didn't get it. It is, however, worth reading. Like I said before, the story will make you think, and while the characters may be somewhat cookie cutter, they have passion. Just don't expect a stellar experience. And for goodness' sake, stop calling Meyer the new Rowling. Ridiculous.

http://www.stepheniemeyer.com/thehost.html

Grade: B-

Reading next: Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen