Wait...Blind Means You Can't See?

Santa Rosa, CA weather: foggy and 51 degrees (feels like 51 degrees)Fargo weather: cloudy and 18 degrees (feels like 7 degrees)Maybe this little stint to CA was a mistake...we'll get used to 50 degree weather just to head out to 10 degree weather. Oops. :-)So, today was a lovely day in the neighborhood. Daddio had a meeting in Oakland, so Ma, Geoff and I came along and after the meeting we went to Bay Street and Ikea in Emeryville. After that we...

Categories:

Spare Some Change?

Provo Weather: currently cloudy and 36 degrees (feels like 27)Fargo Weather: currently cloudy and -3 degrees (feels like -20)Countdown to Fargo: 14 daysWell, my clock just switched over to midnight, which means that today is my second-to-last day of work at BYUB. It's still all a little surreal for me. I mean...tomorrow will be my last day there? I'm going to go to Fargo? In a matter of days, my whole life will change into a new life I've never imagined?As...

Categories:

Double Trouble

Provo Weather: currently clear and 9 degrees (feels like 9 degrees)Fargo Weather: currently clear and -9 degrees (feels like -21 degrees)Countdown to Fargo: 19 daysWell, things are carrying on. I'm working on training my co-workers in the many tedious tasks that make up my job. They are doing a great job learning everything. It puts me in this weird limbo at work, though. My supervisor told everyone to "pretend like I'm not there" and only ask me...

Categories:

Time flies when you're...moving to Fargo.

Weather in Provo: currently snowing and 24 degrees (feels like 18).Weather in Fargo: currently lightly snowing and 10 degrees (feels like -3).Countdown to Fargo: 21 daysI can't believe how fast time seems to be passing. Thanksgiving was 11 days ago. We've been moved out of our old apartment now for 11 days! My last day of work in Utah is in 8 days. The moving truck arrives in 8 days. Christmas is in 19 days. Snow fell in the valley yesterday for...

Categories:

Moving truck, check

Weather in Provo: currently 25 degrees and cloudy. Weather in Fargo: currently 7 degrees and partly cloudy.Countdown to Fargo: 22 daysWell, Geoff and I finally decided to bite the bullet and have a moving company trek all our stuff out to Fargo for us. I think it's going to be the best idea (despite the extra mileage on the Mercedes). Especially given the potential weather hazards we may encounter on our drive up and over to North Dakota. I called...

Categories:

One + Two = uh...

Mama G always seems to be beating me to the punch (I know, you were expect the word pulp there instead of punch, but those beatings have tapered off for the time being). She blogged the other day about oxymorons and poor grammar. Well, I've got one heckuva typo for you.Imagine this. Geoff and I are cruising around TJ Max (obviously). Items make their way to TJ Max for various reasons. Overstock from other stores, last season's pants from the department...

Categories:

Moving (and grooving)

Countdown to Fargo: 27 DaysWe had a pretty eventful weekend as our preparations for life in Fargo began. On Tuesday night, I began the (surprisingly) tedious task of packing up all our stuff. Wednesday, we loaded up as much as we could into a small trailer and the Parker's suburban and dropped a load off in the parent's garage for storage until the actual move. We hijacked Harrison (Geoff's little brother) the whole time. It was SO great to have...

Categories:

Top Ten

The top ten things you didn't know about Fargo, North Dakota: 10) Fargo is the largest city in the U.S state of North Dakota (in 2008 the population was estimated to be 99,200)9) The city motto is "Gateway to the West". 8) The city of Fargo was originally named "Centralia," but was later renamed to "Fargo" in honor of Northern Pacific Railway director and Wells Fargo Express Company founder William Fargo.7) Yankee great Roger Maris, one-half of the...

Categories:

Bah Microondas.

Taking a cue from The Trophy Wife, I came across some instructions yesterday that I wanted to share with you. I was reorganizing the items in our storage closet when I came across an old microwave box. It looks fairly standard, right?Now take a closer look.1) Broken wine glasses are permitted near the microwave. Either that or the box is telling me that the microwave will work for breaking my wine glasses OR it will make them shine.2) Levitation...

Categories:

It's not every day...

So, on my usual jaunt to the gas station to nab myself the most giant cup of Diet Mountain Dew I can buy (which, by the way, is NOT big enough), I had an interesting encounter.The 7-Eleven worker (we'll call him Joe), was ringing me up and whisting along with the music in the background (Beethoven, I believe. Yes, Beethoven, at the 7-Eleven), Joe then looks at me and says "I'm so glad you came in today."Why, you may wonder? Well, it was NOT my beautiful...

Categories:

YOUR Help is Needed

Geoff and I spent the weekend in Idaho (which I will blog about it much detail soon), but first - we need your help. Saturday, Amanda, Scott, Geoff and I all carved pumpkins. We would like YOU, my loyal blog readers, to vote on the best pumpkin. The winner and the carver will be highlighted in a blog next week. (Vote on the right hand side of the blo...

Categories:

Mraz-tastic

So, yesterday was a long day.Alarm went off at 6:45am...I snoozed it until 7:15am. Climbed out of bed, got ready for work. Got to work at 8am. Put in my 8 hours (very productive and awesome hours if I do say so myself). Stopped by the Texaco to get soda from Geoff. Went home to retrieve my homework that I forgot to nab when I left in the morning and try to ignore the dogs downstairs and their excitement that I came home...because I really didn't....

Categories:

Busy, Busy

It's that time of the year here at work, where everything steps into a higher gear and we wrap up the year with pledge drives and letters, inventory and gift sending. It's also the time to prepare for next year. Budgeting and goal setting and reviewing the successes (or not-so-much) of the last year. Cue midterms and cold weather.Anyway, despite the hectic goings on in our lives, we are doing great.We have joined the worldwide scavenger hunt that is geocaching and are having a blast. Stay tuned for more info on that. Perhaps even a whole new blog...

Categories:

Girls' Night Out

*Dislcaimer: I wish I had photos to go with this post. However, naturally, we did not take any.Friday, as usual, Geoff had to work the closing shift at work. So my super-amazing friends, Amanda and Latissa, took me out to dinner and a movie to celebrate the day of my birth. That's right, I got to go out TWICE. :)We went to Mimi's (which is always delish). The waiter made a bet that it was only my 20th birthday. So that was good.The girls gave me presents. Amanda gave me a fabulous watch that I absolutely adore (I was telling her earlier, though,...

Categories:

Birthday Surprises

Yesterday, as you are likely aware, was my twenty-third birthday. I am a girl who really has everything she needs...and practically everything she wants. So, when Geoff asked me what I wanted for my birthday, try as I might, I could not come up with anything. I mean, I always want clothes and shoes and purses...but I didn't picture any of those items bringing him any joy to give me (and I really think the greatest part about getting a gift is the...

Categories:

Twenty-Three

Well, today is the magic day. The day that my mom and I have our magical 3 months of halves/doubles. I'm am exactly half her age today.I'm very grateful that 23-years ago today she birthed me. And I'm glad it was her, of all people. She's the best mom ever. And she married the best dad for me. I'm a pretty lucky kid.Luckier still because this morning she graced me with a BLUE BOX. I'm wearing a Tiffany bracelet as I type this. Fantastic.I'm not sure...

Categories:

Really?

So, I was sitting in class yesterday learning how to take the derivative of trig functions (you know, sin, cos, tangent...all that good stuff) when my teacher said the funniest thing. "So," he says, "the test starts on Friday. Do you guys all feel ready?"Wait. What? Test? But I already have a degree, teacher, I'm here for MORE education. I don't actually have to take tests...Haha. No, but really, I'm kind of excited for the test. Partly because I...

Categories:

Beauty School Dropout

About 6 months ago, I made a vow to myself that I would never again dye my hair at home.About 6 hours ago, I made a vow to myself that I will never again cut my dog's hair at home.It's the first time I'm glad for him that he's blind....

Categories:

Rom-bo Update

Well, our little dog-child is growing up nicely. He's got such long legs that it almost looks silly to us since we are so used to Rubio's short legs. He is a pretty "rom"bunctious guy by nature. He likes to challenge you and purposely push the limits of what we'll allow. And the chewing! He's still doing the teething thing, so we're excited for him to get over that.Despite his arrogance, he's learning obedience really well. He's about 95% potty trained...

Categories:

Well...it means...uh...

So, on Monday, Steph and I were leaving the gym when I remarked to her that my butt hurt (the stationary bike can have that effect). I then thought for a moment and realized that that wasn't true. I then amended my statement and told her that my hind-quarters (okay, I really said butt again, but I didn't wanna overdo it with the butt talk; but now I've said butt twice more then I would have to just type the sentence in the first place) ached. Then...

Categories:

As it turns out...

So, a few things in my life have recently turned out a little differently then expected:1) As it turns out, that Calculus class I spent the entire holiday weekend catching up on was the wrong class. I switched from Calc 112 to Calc 119 and spent the most recent weekend catching up on that work.2) As it turns out, Rom probably hasn't had any food for about 3 days - Rubio has been eating it all. And, as it turns out, when Rubio eats enough food for...

Categories:

Losing or Gaining?

Well, it is entirely possible that I have lost my mind. However, if I do have a brain left, it's going to get bigger.After some thought (but not a ton), Geoff and I agreed earlier this week that I should enroll in classes at BYU. Which classes, you may ask? Well, pre-pharmacy classes. I will still be working full-time and therefore will only be taking 4 credits a semster (I would take 7, but I'm only allowed to take 6 as an employee).Why, you may...

Categories:

Snack-tastic

During the winter I had some sort of super-human/super wife power that overcame me and I was able to somehow get up each morning at 5:15 for the gym, come home, cook breakfast for Husband, pack lunch for myself and husband, get ready for work, make my own breakfast, start a load of laundry, and make it to work by 8:00am.Whatever wave of awesomeness that turned me into such a go-getter has since passed. Poor Geoff has been left to fend for himself...

Categories:

What's Wrong with the Status Quo?

So, I was sitting and musing about what my next blog should be about when I came to the realization that nothing has happened worth blogging about since my last blog. Life is just kind of following along the status quo. Work, school (started on Wednesday for Geoff), caring for the dogs, cleaning, cooking, fro-yo, and the Food Network fill most of the hours of the days. However, I also find absolutely nothing wrong with that. Routine and consistency...

Categories:

2 Years

It has been ages since I blogged. My apologies to the 4 people who actually read my blog. ;-)A lot has happened in the past little while. Romulus came home from the hospital for good. He'll be hitting the 13-week-old mark on Saturday and is happy as a clam. He is getting so big! He's as tall as Rubio now (although he's about half the length). He's got quite a personality as The Engebretsen's can attest. They watched the dogs while Geoff and I went...

Categories:

And the dog came back the very next, next, next, next day.

Well, Romulus is home (for good), finally.He beat Parvo. Against the odds, it would seem, for a guy of his size and stature. He's SO happy to be home. Even though he has spent the majority of his time as our dog in the vet hospital, I think he has grown even more attached to us. He's so happy to see us and just wants to crawl up on our laps whenever he's got the chance. This morning when we went to pick him up from the vet, there was another couple...

Categories:

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good: Rom is doing better. The Urgent Care vet (UCV) said he was able to get him to eat last night and the dog didn't throw it up or diarrhea it back out. Yay! Haha. He's still spending the day at the regular vet, but the hope is that he'll be able to come home tonight - if he remains able to eat and to keep food down (or, rather, in) for the rest of the day.Here he is (pictured below) with his IV and enormous bag of fluids. I like the bandages...

Categories:

Big Sigh

Well, the barking has ceased, at least for the moment.For those of you who know Rubio, you know he doesn't make any noise. Well, Romulus has spent the last 17 hours in the hospital, so his little grumblings and barkings have not been heard.Much to our shock and dismay, Romulus was diagnosed with an extremely vicious and contagious virus yesterday: The Parvo Virus. This virus is relatively common in puppies, but is brutal and has meant Rom has been...

Categories:

Here a Bark, There a Bark...

Quite unexpectedly this weekend Geoff and I gained a new member of the Parker brood. Sneaking his way into our lives is Romulus Parker (named after the legendary founder of Rome, mind you, not the Star Trek characters - a fact Geoff so cleverly witheld from telling me about during the name selection). He's a salt and pepper colored Miniature Schnauzer. He loves to chase, chew, run, play, tumble, tossle, and snuggle. He's a sweetheart to be sure,...

Categories: