Parker Update

Well, it's been some time since I updated on our lives. That's mostly because there hasn't been any big or exciting stories to post. I guess, however, that that's the best news in and of itself. :) Our lives are just cruising along and we are here together for the ride.

Geoff is well entrenched into semester #2 at UVU and is having a lot of success so far. His anatomy class is tough stuff - way harder than the one I took. Luckily Geoff is great at memorization, so hopefully it won't get too bad!

I'm into year 2 as the fund raising master (ha...I should ask for a title change...) for KBYU TV, and I still love it. Geoff at I will celebrate our 18-month anniversary next month, as well, which is exciting. I didn't think it was possible to love him more than I did on our wedding day - but I easily love him 100 times more today. I am so thankful for his love and support and I know that he is truly my perfect match.

In other news, Geoff and I have a class of 10 sunbeams this year. Yesterday we had half of them...and it was pretty crazy! Luckily they are super cute, sweet kids, so we can't help but love them - however, we are definitely ready for a nap after 2 hours corralling them. I've made a mental note not to have quintuplets. ha.

I learned the definition of Sleet this weekend...and I think I was better off before I understood what it really meant. It means that it looks like it's snowing outside, but what ends up on the ground is a slippery, wet mess! Gratefully, my parents gave me new boots for Christmas so I can keep my feet dry! My dog, however, is a whole different story. He looks so homely and homeless during the winter. I dare you to try to keep a dog clean when he gets wet every time you take him out! I'm thinking of buying 100 aerosol cans and spraying them directly at the sky in hopes of creating a bigger hole in the atmosphere, thus speeding up global warming. :-) Or maybe Geoff and I will learn to carve statues out of coconuts and we'll go live on a tropical island somewhere and sell our artwork. Hmm...why haven't I thought of this before.

Lastly, I have learned a slightly demoralizing fact about myself recently. I'm a sucker for an informercial. Now, I'm smart enough that I don't actually call and order everything I see...but you better believe I'm the one watching, nodding along with the host thinking, that IS the best idea I've ever heard. Be it the Malibu Pilates Chair, the Jack LaLanne Power Juicer, or the Chic Shaper. Unfortunately, because of the time of day I go to the gym (6am), I see lots of informercials. This has caused me to create an 11th dream job - infomercial crap tester (clearly this needs a better title, perhaps merchandise evaluation master). I'd love to order everything I see and try it and then report on whether it's a scam or amazing.

Best Wishes!

Amanda

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Dream Job

The other day at work we were doing some introductions and were asked what our dream job is. I gave the standard answer (general manager of a major league baseball team...although I think it would be a lot easier to just be the owner). But as I've mused over it the last few days, I've decided that I have 10 dream jobs. And I'd honestly love to get to do each of them someday...if it didn't require more school, time, and money - besides, if I actually did them, they wouldn't be dreams anymore. ;-)

Here they are, in no particular order:

1) Personal Trainer - Granted I'm not the world's most fit person (yet!), but I've really learned about the power of exercise and how important it is to take care of our bodies. I'd love to help people achieve their goals in this area.

2) Bakery Owner - I LOVE to bake. I love to learn to bake new things. I love to bake cute things. I love to have someone to give my baked goods to so I don't end up eating them all. A bakery seems like the logical conclusion. And I think I'd call it Sprinkles. Ha.

3) Restaurant Owner - I probably shouldn't post this on the internet, lest someone steal my grand idea, but I want to open an restaurant called Five Hundred. Nothing on the menu over 500 calories - but all amazingly delicious. Mama G would really be the menu mastermind, but it would be awesome.

4) Stay-at-home Mom - All of my fellow Desperate Housewives fans may appreciate my hidden desire to be Bree Van De Kamp (or more recently Hodge). I think there is a lost art to housewifeness (real word, I'm sure) and it would be so great to have a lovely house and family to devote all my time and energies to.

5) Hairstylist - This is not too unlike the reason I'd like to be a personal trainer. Everyone feels better after a few highlights, layers, or just a good hairwashing. I'd like to help people look and feel their best.

6) Dietitian/Nutritionist/Diet Counselor - See job #1 for reasons.

7) Public Relations Spokesperson - I think there is very little that affects the longevity of a corporation than it's public relations department/philosophy. The relationship with the public is the most important relationship a company can foster, I would love to be the one who gets to represent a company to it's publics and foster those relationships. This is perhaps why I love my current job so much - non-profit fund raising is a very similar avenue.

8) Singer - There are few things that make me happier than when I am singing. If I could make money doing it, I'm pretty sure nothing could make me happier (not including my fantastic husband, that is!)

9) House-flipper - Home improvement projects and interior decorating are passions of mine. I would love to buy homes in need of lovin', fix them up and turn them around for a profit. Along with this comes getting my real estate license so I can sell them myself. Oh, yeah.

10) Actress - I don't really have a huge passion for acting, but I would love an invite to all the nifty shindigs they get to go to. And any excuse to get to wear designer dress and drape myself over the arm of my man is the perfect excuse. Ha.

So, get to thinking, what's your dream job(s)? It's fun.

Amanda

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Ice Fish

Okay, so I'm either REALLY missing something...or this is as funny as I think it is. I was standing in line at the grocery store when I happened upon a giant Coke display. The display architect was clever enough to surmise that he could weave Coke Zero boxes amongst the Coke boxes to spell out words. However, I then noticed that instead of spelling, "Buy Coke" or "On Sale," they had decided to spell "Ice Fish." Now, mind you, even Ice Cold would have made sense.
Then it occurred to me that maybe there was a contest and the fist customer to mention the bizarre message was going to be the recipient of some grand prize like frozen fish for life, or a million dollars. Alas, I didn't bring it up with my checker...and now I may have doomed myself to a life where I have to pay for my ice fish. What a shame.

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Real Life Returns

I feel like it's been forever since I wrote anything - and that's probably true! It's been a great couple of weeks, though.

Christmas Eve, I worked. After I got off work, Geoff and I loaded all of our stuff into the Passat and head up to his parents house for a few days. We spent Christmas Eve with his parents and three siblings still living at home - it was fun! We spent the night and woke up Christmas morning with them. Geoff and I opened presents for about an hour and a half and absolutely LOVED spoiling on another. I got an iPod dock for my office, two new pairs of shoes, a sweater, a fantastic Kathy Van Zeeland purse, video camera, 2 seasons of Desperate Housewives and a bunch of other awesome gifts!

Around 10am, the rest of Geoff's siblings arrived with their families and we had breakfast and a family gift exchange. My Brother-in-law Derek had drawn my name and gave me the Britney Spears Circus CD, of course, I was thrilled! It's a great CD. We played games and hung out for the afternoon, had Christmas dinner together and watched the new Indiana Jones on blu ray in the evening.

The 26th we loaded up Geoff's parents CR-V (which they were nice enough to let us borrow for the drive to California - since it has all wheel drive, it was preferable in potentially poor weather driving), stopped in Salt Lake to visit his grandma and then left for California. We made it to my parents house at about 6:30am on the 27th and I don't think I'll ever forget the look of shock and surprise on my parent's faces. It was perfect.

We spent the next week in California with my family - and I almost forgot how cold it is in Utah. We shopped, mini-golfed, bowled, went to the Oakland Zoo, celebrated the New Year, and had just a blast. We didn't have any bad weather during our travels, which is lucky this time of year!We did have one setback, however. We left to come back to Utah on the night of the 3rd...but the car only made it about 3 hours into the drive. We broke down on I-80 in Sacramento and had to call a tow-truck to get us. All of our Christmas gifts were in the car...so we had to carry a lot of stuff to the hotel. Luckily, Pep Boys is open on Sunday and had the part they needed to fix the clutch. It took them about 7 hours to repair it, and we left Sacramento Sunday at about 4:45pm. This also means we got home Monday morning at 4:00am. And I had to get to work at 8am. No doubt I'll sleep well tonight!

Amanda

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