Cassie's Rice Bag

This story begins eleven months ago, when Adam and I were a newly married couple. After having been married for about two weeks and living in Rexburg, we went down to Provo to visit Cassie and Jonny (Adam's sister and her husband). While we were there visiting, Jonny went snowboarding and hurt some part of his body (I don't remember what...maybe a shoulder). Anyways, Cassie insisted that he use the rice bag she had made. For those of you unfamiliar with what a rice bag is...it's fabric sewed up with rice inside that you heat up to make a heating pad. Jonny was not at all thrilled by the idea of using a rice bag because of the smell and resisted Cassie's attempts to put it on him. She had put mint inside the bag to make it smell good, but Jonny still thought it had an awful smell. The rice bag was quickly forgotten once Adam and I left Provo, until...

this past Sunday when my stomach hurt. If anything on my body hurt when I was living at home, my mom would bring me this heating pad that we've had for years. I really wanted the heating pad while I was in pain, but Georgia was too far away (so I couldn't borrow it from my mom) and it was Sunday so I couldn't send Adam to go buy one. Then it struck me...the memory of Cassie's rice bag! I went to the closet and pulled out a wash cloth and sewing needle and thread. I sat for about an hour sewing my rice bag together (I don't have a sewing machine...), and I put cloves in mine to make it smell good (but I think Jonny would still think it smells)! After heating it up in the microwave, it soothed my aching body! I was so happy and so proud of my little rice bag. I've been debating about whether or not to write about this because it's such a trivial and silly thing, but you know what...my rice bag makes me happy! Thanks Cassie for the great idea!

The RTA

So about two months ago, when I started working for Dix & Eaton, I drove our Mazda protege to work everyday. I would sit in that car for about 40 minutes every morning switching radio stations...convinced that if I pressed the buttons enough, the noisy morning show would disappear and magically music would play. Indeed I was disappointed each time! I would creep into construction infested downtown Cleveland and pull into the parking garage where it cost me $8.50 a day to park (that's with a hike to work...if I parked in the garage for the building I work in, it'd cost me $12.50 a day!). At the end of the day, I would turn around and make the trek back home. All in all, I used about a tank of gas a week...and with these crazy gas prices, I'm sure you're all aware of how quick that would add up! So after about a month of this, I decided that I've had enough. So I quit my job so that I wouldn't have to go downtown anymore! Okay, so I'm joking about having quit my job...I found a better solution than that.

At the beginning of October, I became more than just an acquaintance of Cleveland's public transportation system when I bought my first bus pass. To be honest, I was scared of riding the bus. I've seen the type of people waiting for the bus downtown...they're not exactly well groomed and smelling like a bouquet of flowers. My mind kept creating all sorts of interesting situations of getting stuck sitting next to Oscar the Grouch on vacation away from his garbage can! The first person I came in contact with at the bus stop near my home wasn't exactly the nicest. She has an 80s punker haircut with tatooed on face make-up (Adam keeps daring me to go up to her and say "I love Motley Crew too"). We weren't exactly sure where to catch the bus so we stopped and asked her...we must've caught her off guard because she looked at us like we were aliens coming to abduct her. I was relieved to find that everyone else at the stop seemed to be pretty normal. I quietly took my seat somewhere near the back of the bus (this is where all the "cool" kids sat in elementary school) and quickly realized that the "cool" people sat at the front of the bus. It would have been a great opprtunity for me to mesh in with their group because the leader, Joe Cool (okay, so his name is just Joe) was talking about The Office...a show I never miss. I made a mental note to ease my way up to their area over the next couple of days. I didn't want to start out as an outcast of the bus social life, and hopefully in the future another conversation would occur that I could casually jump into. Well, as I moved around each time I rode the bus, I met a wide array of people. There are the City Year young adults who wear red jackets and khaki pants, the woman who snorts through her throat, and the little old ladies who are real troopers to go downtown to work everyday. I eventually made it to the front of the bus where the "cool" people sit. I had to make a fool of myself before they finally noticed me...I kept getting on a different bus stops because I'd be running late. It was great finally being up there, but I missed the colorful personalities throughout the entire bus. The journey from the back of the bus to the front has allowed me to have an adventure everyday and get to know a lot of people. I like saving money and time using the RTA, but my favorite part is all the interesting people I get to meet!

A Happy Halloween!

Halloween was so much fun this year. First of all, I dressed up for the first time in nine years! I had been planning our costumes out for a month, so I was so excited to finally put them on! My dad went to Hong Kong on a business trip and sent us back some robes...so we used them for Halloween. Here we are:

We put pantyhose on our heads to make the hair. It was so tight on my head that I started getting a headache from all the pressure! I think it was totally worth it thought. After all, beauty is pain, right? Actually I didn't make a very pretty Asian, but I'm okay with that. Adam looked awesome. I think his favorite part of dressing up was getting to give himself a tatoo.We had so much fun at the party with our friends. All the kids were dressed up adorably. There was a lot of great snacks and hot chocolate.

Brittany Vaclaw and Randee Mecham dressed up too! They're so much fun and so cute! All in all it was a festive and fun Halloween.

I've been tagged...

by my friend Audrey to write down six things about me. I'm supposed to tag six others to do the same. I'm tagging Cassie, Amber, Karen (mom), Randee, Stephanie, and Brittany Vaclaw.

1. I love peanut butter and chocolate candy. I was completely addicted to peanut butter M&Ms in high school.
2. I hated country music until I moved to Coral Springs, Florida. My friend, Brittany Brassell, loved country and was the first to introduce me to the wonderful music of Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson. I've done my best to spread the gift of county music to Adam.


3. I am afraid of E.T. I saw the movie when I was four in a dark living room on a big sceen TV at my friend, Jacque's, house. Afterwards she took me upstairs to where there was a lifesize statue of E.T. with a glowing finger. Needless to say...I was terrified ever since. I know he's not real, but if I ever hear the music from the movie or see an unexpected picture him I freak out.
4. I love the smell of orange blossoms, Arizona sunsets, and dust storms. These are the things I miss most from Arizona. I've never found these things anywhere else.
5. My favorite TV show when I was a kid was Full House. It came on channel 13 at 5pm on week nights in Utah. I think I've seen every episode at least three times. Boy Meets World took it's place during my teen years.
6. In third grade I played Cheetah Star Wars at recess. I know that sounds weird...and it is. We were Star Wars characters as cheetahs rather than humans. I was always Princess Leia and actually even wore my hair in the side buns a couple of times. I'm really glad I grew out of that stage. By the way, I've never even seen the Star Wars movies so I don't know why this game was so appealing to me.

Well, there you have it. Six things about me...feel like you know me any better?

Cleveland Rocks!!!

This is Adam, I've never done one of these blogging things before. On wednesday, we went to the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame with our friends the Mechams. This picture was taken outside and we didn't get much more than that because no pictures were allowed inside at all. It was really cool and there were a lot of neat things to see inside, but the overall feeling was that we are still too young to really appreciate most of the things that they had inside there. They had a lot of outfits that people like Jimmy Hindrix and The Rolling Stones wore on stage. They had a giant brick wall representing Pink Floyd, and a special presentation for The Doors. To bo honest, Laura and I didn't know too much about those guys, so it didn't really captivate us as much as it was supposed to. Our favorite part was listening to the "top 500 influencial songs" over the last 60-70 years. There were a lot of songs that we recognized and that we could sing along to, much to the dismise of those standing around us. One neat thing that they had was a giant Weezer light, and it was outside the admittance area, so we were able to get a picture of that. Weezer was one of my favorite bands growing up so I was pretty excited about that.

Adam's Birthday!

Wednesday was Adam's birthday! I was so excited to give him his birthday present that I had him open it Tuesday night. He got a Wii and was so excited because he "never thought he'd get that kind of present from me." I kept him in the dark by telling him that I got him something practical for his birthday! He was really excited, and seeing that smile on his face was priceless.

Wednesday evening we had a little get together with friends for cake and ice cream. It was fun. Adam got a lot of birthday wishes from family and friends throughout the day which made him happy. So I must conclude with saying that even though Adam didn't get an Xbox 360 to play Halo 3 (sorry Jonny), I still think he enjoyed his birthday!

FHE Bowling Night

This past Monday Adam and I went bowling for family home evening. Our friends, Dan and Amber Patty invited us to go with them. It was a lot of fun playing with everyone, but not a whole lot of fun losing. I'm awful at bowling...although I did redeem myself on Wednesday when I beat them all at Wii bowling! Dan absolutly beat us all, and claimed "that's the best game he ever played and he's usually awful," but I'm a little skeptical. :) Adam has a nice spin he puts on

the ball and it was complimented with a nice side kick everytime that kept us all entertained. Amber pretty much rocked at bowling, and did a wonderful job of making it look effortless.

Amber and Dan have the cutest baby girl, Grace. After bowling we went to Friendly's for some food. Adam had fun giving Grace water from his straw. We're so grateful to be good friends with the Pattys!

Naked

Today I forgot to put my wedding rings on, and I also forgot my cell phone. Those things are such a huge part of my daily life that I feel as though I forgot to put my clothes on this morning! It amazes me how certain things play such a huge role in my life and I don't realize it until I go without!