somebody got time to blog

and they got a new camera
and they had a great christmas
and they have a handsome new nephew
and they got an entire week off of work to play with family






but i can't tell you who. that just wouldn't be fun.

something new! something new!

i came home for the weekend just in time to enjoy my new christmas wreath.

then i woke up the next day to a coat of new Christmas snow.


so i spent most of the weekend alone in front of jesse's new christmas present (he was studying, you see).

and finally resorted to practicing my top model faces with the new hair.

hope everyone else enjoyed a few new pleasures...

so this is christmas... and other updates

my, my. time flies when you are having fun. and, trust me, plenty of fun has been had in these parts.

i wish i had some photos to accompany this post, but i regretfully lack them. perhaps, if someone somewhere had room in his super kind heart to get me a new camera for christmas (i won't name names, but you know who you are) that could be remedied.

just to list some cool items of late:

a visit to benihana -- aka asian hooters (minus the nagasakis)
a stay in downtown slc
partying with aunt missy
a week of 'relaxation' with the families in IF
my first (and last) true black friday experience
putting up my christmas tree
buying jesse's christmas present, firmly denying him access until dec. 25
chopping off my hair--all of it
setting up jesse's christmas present dec. 4 (way to stick to your guns, becca)
eagerly awaiting the impending arrival of yet another sweet nephew from my sister/bff

i love these days when i can honestly step back and realize how wonderful life is.

on top of all of this, we are in the middle of the season dedicated to goodwill and peace on earth. as strangers get just a little bit nicer (unless they are shoppers at a NY walmart) to each other and searching to find ways to help those in need, my heart is brightened.

so, if you are reading, feel free to belt out your own rendition of this tune:

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!
AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!
LET'S HOPE IT'S A GOOD ONE,
WITHOUT ANY FEAR!

on my second wedding anniversary

two years ago i was wed to monsieur jones. we were sealed in the idaho falls temple for time and all eternity. i knew i had taken on a huge commitment at a very young age. i knew that i still had a lot of things i wanted to accomplish in my life.

getting married in eastern idaho in mid-november does not guarantee great wedding day weather (although there was no ironic rain). it was cold. the plants were all dead. the gardens at the temple were nothing but dirt. the trees had lost most of their leaves. my wedding cake looked like it belonged at a twelve-year-old's birthday party. my brother cameron couldn't be there. a lot of wonderful, influential friends weren't able to make it.


i hardly noticed. it was the happiest day of my life.

i was young (at least two years younger than now), bright-eyed, and wildly in love. and that is what i remember most. everything that day was about love.

my mom made me taquitos for our luncheon (i love you). my dad stayed up past 9:30 and went twenty minutes past his perfectly planned schedule (i love you). my sister jil posed in pictures even though she was eight months pregnant (i love you). my sweet bridesmaids spent the entire day at our disposal (i love you). my in-laws mingled with davises all day long (i love you). my cousin ern became our bar tender at the last minute so i could have my cherry diet coke (i love you). and so many people went out of their way to let us know how excited they were for us (i love you).

and wouldn't it be wonderful if i could always carry that feeling with me in our marriage? i thnk it does. after two years, this is how it goes.

he harasses me for taking too long to blog (i love you). i mess up the dinner i spent all night making (i love you). he reminds me to say please and thank you (i love you). i spend 12 hours away from home between work and my commute (i love you). he digs his bony legs into me on the couch (i love you). i repeatedly hit snooze on my alarm for almost an hour every morning, waking him (i love you). i get cranky and say things i don't mean to say (i love you). he looks past it (i love you). he stays up all night studying for tests and still makes time to go home teaching (i love you). we slowly build a life together, dream together, and hope for the best (i love you)

and so it goes. but i fear that we get so caught up in the events that we occasionally forget the guiding force behind them. in case all of those terms of affection get lost in our daily interactions, let's have it out here.

jesse, i love you. i am so glad you are my best friend. happy anniversary.

i am suddenly itchy everywhere

and i haven't blogged in a while.

my illness is now just an occassional cough (hooray!)
my halloween was a family affair
my life is lacking pictures, so you will have to settle for the cliff's notes
my job is getting busy, busy, busy
my two-year wedding anniversary is getting oh-so-close--speaking of which,
my husband is oh-so-busy
my last follow-up class for my MA is on saturday--then i can finally hang that diploma they sent me in the mail
my heart is full of gratitude for having a charmed life

and yet, somehow, TONIGHT

my heart is troubled over the future of our country that will be determined tomorrow. after months and months of contemplation, analysis, discussion with my brilliant husband, and prayer, i am still conflicted on the big national vote (you know, that one involving the oblong office). however, i do hope that the good people of california will vote honorably.

today i love my body

so, i've been absent.

noticeably (i hope?)

please don't take it personally, friends. this week has been a rough one, and the last thing i need is to alienate people.

see, early last monday morning--2:26 a.m. to be exact--i woke regretting the taco time i ate at the garden of eden truckstop on our way home from boise. before i could register feeling nauseous, it was too late.

i threw up all day monday. to make things more interesting, my insulin pump started giving me some serious troubles two hours after my first late-night vomit session.

my sweet husband finally took me to the doctor (even though i was crying that i didn't want to leave the house) because things weren't looking good. i couldn't keep down water and was obviously getting pretty dehydrated.

urgent care told us they couldn't do anything but call the ER, so i threw up in their office and we left.

we got to the ER, where i was told i needed to be admitted to the hospital for severe dehydration, critically high blood sugar, and the beginnings of ketoacidosis. i spent the night in the ICU.

it turns out this all started from a touch of strep throat. ridiculous sounding, isn't it?

anyway, i don't share this just to explain my absence or even for pity (though both are certainly motives).

i share this because i don't want to forget how grateful i am for my health, for my body, for good health insurance (timing couldn't have been better on this), and for my support system.

today, and every day, i am blessed.

more uplifting blogging to commence ASAP.

working girl

updates.

haircut: delayed.

exercise: nonexistent

schedule: jam-packed

new job: absolutely fabulous

family time: exponentially increased

blogging time: regretfully lacking

plea to readers: patience, little ones. patience.

my hero

an incident from last night:

boo runs squealing from the bathroom

b: jesse! jesse! there is an earwig in the bathroom sink! kill it! kill it!
j: are you sure it's an earwig? it's probably just another beetle.
b: alright, well can you please go kill whatever just watched me use the bathroom?

jesse sets his book down, walks into the bathroom, and turns on the sink.

j (yells from bathroom): alright, i covered it with a glob of toothpaste so it couldn't get away. i'll take care of it.
b: toothpaste?
j: yeah, to hold it down so it couldn't fly away if it felt a little water, or heard the water, or sensed i was going to be turning the water on. i'm trying to just wash it down the drain.
b: really?
j: yeah. don't worry, it worked.

sink turns off. boo joins jesse in the bathroom to see him dumping mouthwash down the sink.

b: mouthwash? what are you doing?
j: what? it would really burn if it got all this mouthwash in its eyes. can you imagine how badly that would burn to get mouthwash in your eyes?
b: i think i see it crawling back out of the drain.
j: yep, i'll smash it. can you imagine how much faster it would have been if i hadn't blinded it with the mouth wash first?

thank you, honey, for always thinking up such elaborate schemes to keep me feeling safe.

simple pleasures

sometimes i think life will be perfect when i have written something that is recognized as significant by the world.

sometimes i think life will be perfect when i have obtained perfect faith and act with perfect charity.

sometimes i think life will be perfect when i finally have what i consider to be a perfect haircut.

sometimes i think life will be perfect when i am a mother to a dozen wee ones.

sometimes i think life will be perfect when i have traveled the world over.

then jesse comes around and convinces me that there is little one needs to really feel that life has attained a state like unto perfection. this weekend all it took was some "cotton eyed joe" blaring, roller skates firmly strapped to my feet, quarters flowing into the arcade games of DeLeta Family Fun Center, a wealth of tickets to spend on finger puppets and plastic jewelry, and some time laughing hysterically with my best friend.

best.date.ever.

speech! speech! speech!

does this blog feel more official?
does it sound like it is coming from a productive member of society?
because it is.

i got a job. and i am thrilled. and it is BY FAR the best job i applied for.

in two weeks, i will begin working as a writer/tours administrator for the idaho national lab (inl). this job is fabulous for a few reasons:

they actually LIKE that i have a master's in english (who knew?)
the interview itself was so relaxed, fun, and interesting
it is in idaho falls, so i will be able to go to target on a regular basis after work
the health insurance is AWESOME
i get every other friday off
it pays significantly more than any other job i applied for.

so, thank you to everyone who said a little prayer for me or kept me in their thoughts. i have no doubt that those efforts helped so very, very much. today i have learned--yet again--that i am pretty willing to take whatever comes my way first, but that if i am patient and let the Lord help me make these decisions that he always comes up with a much better plan.

and that's today's thought. holla.

so poorly cast as a malcontent

well, as it always seems to happen, the moment i published my self-pitying declaration, things started to look up. it seems the Lord always knows just when to come through for me and show me that life really is much more of a blessing than a difficulty... no big news to report on the job front as of yet, but it looks like we are on the brink of something amazing, so keep the prayers/good thoughts coming. and to everyone who provided some words of encouragement THANK YOU. you made me laugh and, most importantly, you made me feel much better.

i have decided to use this post to highlight some of the positives about my life lately. i don't have any pictures of the house yet (i know, i really should get going on that), but I have enjoyed working on a few projects for all the new space. for instance, i am now the third generation of the davis family to refinish this dresser. my grandma refinished it some years ago, then passed it on to my parents--who also refinished it--and now i have had my turn. i quite like how it turned out.

i also had a gay old time making myself a table runner, as the dining table is actually used for eating now and not as my desk. awesome.

and yes, in case you were wondering, it's totally reversible. i'm not really great at the whole sewing thing (if you don't believe me, you can ask my dad. he always likes to tell people about the time i tried to make pajama pants and i sewed the whole thing shut. come to think of it, that would have made one lovely, pants-shaped table runner...), so this is pretty exciting.

another momentous occasion has been getting jesse a new bike to handle his transportation needs, particularly the need to get from one end of campus straight uphill to the other side of campus in ten minutes. i feel like we have now adopted a lovely, red, french child who lives in the back of the house next to our washer and dryer. welcome to the family, LeMond.

finally, and most excitingly, we are so close to both of our families. the drive to visit our parents seems so short in comparison to the drive from boise. it has been so great to be able to quickly make a visit... and to show annie and marion (aka mommy dearest) the thrill that is photobooth.

so, overall, life is good. life is great. life is blessed.

i can't see why you'd want to live here

alright, i hate to use my blog as a forum for pure complaining (though my last post was also a rant of sorts...), but i am having a rough week. to be brief: i hate pocatello--aka blowsville. it seems that every day in pocatello is the beginning of another disappointment. here is the abridged list of my complaints:

there is no target.
the winco (my hopeful replacement of target) here is tiny and totally sucks.
i have no friends.
my sweet nephews are almost three hundred miles away, and they are getting bigger and learning new things all the time without me. the phone just isn't cutting it.
jesse is busy with school all the time.
i still don't have a job.
there are spiders EVERYWHERE (one crawled out from behind my oven yesterday while i was making dinner!).

i know that technically eastern idaho is my home, so this shouldn't be such an adjustment, but i am totally homesick.

i'm trying to remain positive--really, i am--but i am reaching my breaking point. before i go crazy and chop off all of my hair in an effort to cope (i have already tried to schedule an appointment, luckily my stylist isn't returning my phone call--AH! add that to my list of complaints), does anyone have any words of encouragement?

stop the insanity!

this week has been an incredibly exciting one in the world of today's politics. i don't know about you, but the husband and i have greatly enjoyed spending the time listening to the promises made by candidates in what is starting to look like one of the most interesting presidential races i will ever experience in my lifetime. while i have so appreciated the discussion on matters that hit me close to home--the need for affordable healthcare, funding for higher education, and soothing the turbulent economy--i feel that there is one issue that has been largely ignored: the jonas brothers.

i guess i'm just getting really old and cranky, but i don't understand the appeal of the jonas brothers. i wanted to like them based on their name--i feel that my own last name is close enough that we share some kind of bond that only those whose five-letter last names begins with a J and ends with an S can understand, and it certainly doesn't hurt that Weezer has given their last name a certain amount of coolness. yet, i can't see why freckly girls with fresh acne all around the country talk about nothing but the three awkward brothers. they aren't that attractive, they are annoying to listen to when they speak, and that difficulty increases exponentially once they pull out their display instruments and feign music making. i was content to sit by and let them continue to make a mockery of the title of musician, but it seems that my time as an apathetic bystander has passed.

you see, it's not that i feel a need to seek out opportunities to comment on how the upcoming generation is mindless and tasteless (though there is likely a wealth of information to support such arguments--please see katy parry's "i kissed a girl" for one such source of evidence), but i have been assaulted time and again by the horror that is the jonas brothers' cover of the beatles' classic "hello, goodbye" (please see video Exhibit A below). listen, i like target and the "hello, good-buy" mentality within the facility as much as the next gal, but the auditory assault that is the whiny voices of the pre-pubsecent brothers has become too much. while watching my morning episode of what not to wear (an unemployed gal has to fill her time however she can), the target commercial featuring said song played no less than seven times. in response, i make a call to all who read my blog (that's right, all seven of you): STOP THE INSANITY.



while i recognize that the vast number of young girls in the world who dream of the day that one of the jonas brothers will blow into their small town, whisk them right out of their retainer, and love them with a force that not even danielle steele could have foreseen see these over-manufactured attempts at contending with musical greats as a sign of certain musical greatness that the jonas brothers possess, i feel a message needs to be sent. if the beatles classic were intended to be as whiny as performed by aforementioned teen sensations, then John Lennon would have performed it thus himself. and he would have done it much better. for proof, see exhibit B: John Lennon showing the kids how the big boys do things.



i feel much better now that my grievance with a group of young teens is completely off my chest, and i hope to have your support as i seek to fight the influence of terrible music in the lives of america's next generation. i appreciate your support on this urgent issue.

the white coats are coming! the white coats are coming!

excuse the lame title. i am feeling a bit tapped out, creatively speaking.

last night we had jesse's white coat ceremony. basically, this means that he now gets a white coat, and he is officially a pharmacy student. it was so nice to see him recognized for his hard work getting into pharmacy school. plus, he looks really cute in his white coat.

here he is being robed in the white coat of the pharmacy world...

signing the pharmacists' code of ethics...

forced group shot of the class of 2012...
prom photo with the wifey...
and finally, with the proud parents.

congrats, honey! you are the handsomest future pharmacist i know.

i'll spare you the metaphors about being tagged...

do you feel that more insight is totally necessary to understand the inner workings of yours truly? would, oh say, six random facts about myself lighten your spirits? dying to know six completely random items about me? thanks to my cyberfriend diana (not as creepy as it sounds... well, maybe it is) here you have it:

1. i was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at the age of 20. not so juvenile. this disease worried me greatly until my doctor happily informed me that i can still eat whatever i want. and i do. i guess you could call that a score on the chronic disease front.

2. i'm really average, but i like to pretend i'm not. i have an average face and an average name (seriously, i moved from davis to jones. i tell jesse that i hope in the next life we get to be smiths). there's nothing wrong with being average, but i get really sick of hearing "oh my gosh, do you have any sisters that live in des moines, iowa? because you look exactly like..." or "hey, are you related to any macphees? because you look just like a macphee" or, my all-time favorite discussion with a byu-idaho locker room worker, "hey, tiffany, i didn't see you in our class last night. where were you?" "umm... i'm not tiffany. as you can probably see by the student ID card i just handed you that clearly lists my name as rebecca." "are you sure?" i know they all mean well, but it irks.

3. i'm still unemployed. don't let anyone fool you into thinking that a Master's degree somehow increases your chances of getting a job. it's bullocks.

4. my husband and i just moved into a three bedroom house in pocatello--hence my absence from the blogosphere. the house is old but cool. and i found it on craigslist. and i ended up knowing the girl who listed it on craigslist from byu-idaho. and it's only $10 more a month than our previous one bedroom shack in boise. score.

5. i love french fries, but i don't eat any part of a french fry that looks suspect. if it is nasty brown colored, disfigured from burning, or incredibly soggy, i bite around it and throw the unfit remains in the garbage.

6. i have the world's greatest family, particularly my two nieces and seven nephews. yep, seven (well, the seventh will be popping out in december). apparently we can only produce males in our family.

and because i am really bad at including photos for my posts, here is a real-time photo of myself (seriously, i just took it for all of you) in case you forgot what i look like...

alright, i tag... libby, jil, jesse (mostly because your blog is really lame these days, dearest), and diane. cheers!

au revoir, les bois

boise, i already miss you.

the social education of sick boo

so, by now it's no mystery to my large readership that i have, of late, been afflicted with the nastiness of the headcold. in the middle of july. i must admit that it has likely been the worst cold i can recall ever having, but i was in denial. big time.

not only was i unemployed, living in my parents' condo, and dreaming of the day i will have legitimate reason to leave the couch, i now found myself lacking the physical prowess to actually get off the couch. daytime tv became my constant companion (seriously, ask me about any commercial currently on tv, and i'm sure i've seen it. my new favorites: the stride gum commercial where the goat rams the guy walking down the street and one of bitty's old favorites, the "there is such a thing as being a little pregnant." i saw it, and it was everything bitty had promised).

jesse had, however, planned a social outing far in advance: the opening midnight screening of the dark knight. i was eager to go, and despite my inability to keep my mouth closed for more than three seconds, complicating that whole "eating" thing, i convinced everyone i was feeling better.

after all, i wasn't new to the whole going to the movies sick thing. one time when i was dating he-who-shall-not-be-named in college, i had to take a box of tissues with me to the theater. i was told i was an embarrassment blowing my nose every five minutes. undeterred by the social embarrassment of being sick in the movies, jesse and brandon watched as i packed my purse full of alka seltzer, a plastic cup (to make said alka seltzer), cough drops, a box of tissues, the hobbit--for down time, and my slippers (aka my booties). finding myself justified to say, "fashion be damned," i put on my comfiest boise state jacket and confidently left the house.

ten minutes later jesse and i walked into the theater. i panicked. i suppose that my weeks of being alone in the condo and my recent acclimation to the comfort of the couch had not prepared me for the mass number of people swarming around to watch heath ledger's final work. i started to feel dizzy, but i persevered. because we arrived over an hour early for our showing, we had great seats in the theater--the kind of seats where no one can sit in front of you, so you can keep your feet perched selfishly in front of you the entire time.

within minutes i started to feel nauceous. jesse insisted that it was just the chinese food, but i found myself flashing back to another terrible movie instance with he-who-shall-not-be-named that ended with me throwing up in the garbage can in the movie theater lobby. let's just say it was my most attractive moment. i started panicking. what if i threw up in heath ledger's final work? would that be offensive? disgusting? i started crying. i couldn't help myself.

jesse offered to drive me home, but i knew he wanted to see the film, so i convinced him i could drive myself. he walked me out to the car, with me crying the entire way. people stared. i got even more embarrassed so i cried more. to shorten this tragic tale, i made it home safely and immediately fell asleep, only to wake when jesse came home three hours later, raving about the greatness of the movie.

although i'm sad to have missed the movie (i'm promised we can go together in the near future), i feel that i have finally learned that it is socially inappropriate to go to the movies sick. just another great life lesson.

pretty sure being sick in july should be illegal

yet, i still find myself cozying up in front of the tv all day with a wicked sore throat, congestion, and killer headache.

awesome.

there and back again: a hoboo's story

since i don't have a job and jesse had some time off, we decided to go home for the fourth of july. mostly, we spent time ooh-ing and ahh-ing over all the cute offspring in both of our families. it was time well spent.


first baby on the list was izzie, our niece on jesse's side of the family. izzie and i bonded quickly (it's amazing how food brings people together, even when the people are only three months old), and i felt it was time to take our relationship to the next level...

tyra banks seems to be a significant force in the lives of hopefuls for america's next top model, so it seemed only natural that i coach izzie through her first photo shoot. i have a feeling she was born to strike a pose.

the rest of the week was spent catering to the needs of all the grandchildren on my side of the family, and it was insane to say the least. jesse had to head back to boise shortly after barbecuing on the fourth, but i stayed behind to help create a pirate birthday party (the cake i made rocked, and if i get a picture of it, i will certainly have to post it) for my oldest nephew, parker, and implement said party for ten kids under the age of eight. it was intense.

going to idaho falls is really a great time, and i definitely needed to recharge my battery, but i was eager to return home to my sweet husband and my lack of job prospects (alright, perhaps i was really only looking forward to the whole great husband bit). i love the babies and all, but it is nice to have a quiet home where we can spend hours lovingly gazing into each other's eyes, discussing all of our admirable qualities (which is obviously what we do in all of our spare time).

my plans for unbridled love were smashed into the rocks of reality when i returned to find jesse united with his new love: his brand new macbook he got for pharmacy school (thanks again debbie and larry!). while i am pleased for him, and recognize that the computer rocks, i can't help but secretly loathe it for its living desire to fulfill his every command and ability to do so much more quickly and efficiently than yours truly.

i left the land of babies to return to jesse focused intently on his own. such is life.

p.s. credit for this post's title can be credited to: my recently renewed love for the hobbit (thereby including bilbo baggins and j.r.r. tolkien) and jesse's brilliant analysis of myself as a "hoboo".

on a less controversial topic...

my lovely sister is pregnant with her third child, and i am getting a new niece in december. alright, well we aren't sure whether or not this is, in fact, a girl, but it seems only fair that jil finally get a girl. since the time that jil told me she was pregnant, i had been spending a great deal of time dreaming of the beauty that will emerge in six months, until jil brought home this recent souveneir from her latest visit to the doctor's office...

you might notice that not only are the ocular cavities enormously large for her tiny head, but she appears to have flesh-mangling teeth. i fear that this baby may in fact be alien spawn sent to eat me.

the doctor claims that those are the baby's little hands and not fangs, but i'm still not entirely convinced. what do you think: child or alien spawn?

violated

i guess i should have seen it coming. i mean, when i think of david sedaris, sensitive and uplifting aren't quite the first two terms that come to mind. but when i heard he was coming to boise to promote his new book, i knew i had to check it out.

so, today after class, i unknowingly headed off to my local Hastings (an incredibly unlikely place for a new york times best selling author to show up, but i'm not complaining). i picked up a copy of the newest book. i laughed at the reading. after all, making coffee out of water from an arrangement of wildflowers is unceasingly humorous. i find david sedaris's voice oddly soothing--perhaps because i have grown so accustomed to listening to it on This American Life? whatever reason for this comfort, i felt i had made a great decision for my evening.

i have never tried to get a book signed before (i'm usually cranky by the time they get to signings), but i had this delusional idea that it may have actually gone quickly, so i got in line. for two and a half hours. this is in addition to the forty-five minutes spent standing during the reading (not that i--and my feet!--am/are complaining). luckily i had my dear friend jana, my cousin jake, and his beautiful wife rachel to keep me company.

i finally got to the front of the line, with pained feet and emotinal fatigue, and realized i didn't really have anything to say. no worries, david took it from there. staring relentlessly at my chest, he simply said, "Rebecca, what nice breasts you have."

"what?" i reply incredulously

"well, i mean, i'm no expert or anything" (in case you don't know, david sedaris is gay) "but you have seriously nice breasts."

he has still failed to look at my face once.

i instantly turned bright red. at this point in time, jake and rachel started cracking up. everyone in line can tell how obviously uncomfortable this comment has made me, so they all start laughing. i don't think i had ever been this mortified in my life... until he started writing this astute observation on the title page of my book.

"please," i plead, "please don't write that in my book."

"rebecca," he said, "they won't be nice forever..."

and so it is. eternally preserved for my grandchildren to lovingly cherish generations down the road. i don't think i have ever experienced such a mixture of mortification, flattery, and hilarity.

update on the mundane

i never thought i'd be genuinely sad to see a class go. certainly i have had those classes that i knew i'd learned from and enjoyed, but after a full semester, i generally knew it was time to go. but today i am actually sad that i didn't have to go to school again.

i just finished taking a week-long creative nonfiction class, and it was absolutely wonderful. i loved my instructor and his approach for setting up the class, i loved my writing group i workshopped with all week, i loved seeing andrea's happy little face every day, and i really loved making the time to write something new every night. i received such positive feedback and helpful critique--and i even shared some of my stuff with jesse (which i generally refuse to do).

i thought i would dread a 9-4 class every day this week, but all in all, it was a really great experience.

let's hope this upcoming week's class is almost as good.

and seriously, guys, i need some positive thoughts headed my way for the job hunt. i'm starting to really stress out...

school's (not) out for the summer

i started school again today.
only two more weeks of class and i am officially done with classes for my Master's.
now, if only i could find a job to use my degree...

in other news, we moved

about a week and a half ago, jesse and i had our first big move together. because we are moving to pocatello in the next little bit, we didn't see much point renewing our lease or going month-to-month (particularly because i am currently unemployed and therefore broke), so it was time to move on.

i have been delaying blogging about the move for a few reasons:


1. i am still recovering physically from the exhaustion that naturally ensues after a big move (in our rush to move out, we didn't even think to ask anyone to help us move all of our furniture, so it was just jesse and i)

2. i hate blogging about events for which i have no pictures (all pictures used in this post are a bit old)

3. i am oddly emotional about the whole ordeal


i know that not everyone saw our apartment as lovingly as i did. most people walked in to our five hundred square foot, one bedroom cave and would make comments like "wow, cozy space here," which not so subtly translates to "how do you live in these cramped quarters?" however, i loved it there. it was our first place together and it really felt like home to me.

right now we are staying at my dad's condo in the boise area, and we're grateful for the free rent (and the extra storage space for everything we haven't had time to deposit in our storage unit in pocatello), but i still find myself dreaming of this...

and ocassionally this little nook...

but i don't miss the tiny kitchen so much, though there were some good memories to be had there (can you imagine the frustration associated with making an entire thanksgiving dinner on that mini stove?)

so, until we have new jobs and homes, for now we live homeless, humble, and happy.

over and out.

rising from the ashes

alright, so i may officially be the worst blogger in the world for the last few weeks. however, life has slowed down a bit, and it is time to rise from the ashes to my former blogging glory. rather than overwhelm you all with the amazingly exciting and significant moments of our lives for the past few weeks, i'll cover one topic per post and try to keep up with the posting these moments regularly.

as promised, here is some more on Jesse's graduation.




jesse graduated, with honors, and i am so incredibly proud of him. not only did i get to see the young chap take the next step toward his five-year plan (yeah, we have a five-year plan), but we were also thrilled to have both of our parents and all of my siblings make the trip to congratulate him. it was a truly momentous occassion. it was remarkably warm the day of graduation (95 degrees), and i felt like i was melting. i can't imagine how jesse felt in his robes and layers of shirts... yowza.



after the ceremony, i threw a fabulously exciting barbecue over at my sister's house (apparently our apartment had a maximum occupancy of five, so the twenty-something people who attended felt more comfortable in larger quarters).





of course, no celebration of a major moment in jesse's life would be complete without a borderline hideous cake made by yours truly, so i was obliged to follow through with this teal monstrosity (it was supposed to be bronco blue...)

by the end of the day, i think the past six years of hard work finally caught up to jesse. that boy was tuckered out.

i'm proud of you jesse, and i hope you enjoy the next two months of break. come august it's back to school with you... congratulations!

pretty sure my husband is wonderful

and handsome.



and (as of saturday) a college graduate! more pictures on that to come...

DONE!

all student-ly duties for Spring 2008 semester are officially completed.

if i didn't feel so exhausted and have such a headache, there would be frolicking of sorts.

conversation with jesse

b: missy says that i need to destress and be treated like a queen
j: yeah? i think she's onto something
b: really?!? (look of excited anticipation)
j: ... yeah... MUTINY!

the final nail in the coffin

alright, so all things considered, i have been blessed with really great health.

sure, i have the diabetes (to be pronounced dī-ǝ-bē-dǝs), but considering the amount of crap i eat, i think i have been pretty lucky thus far with all of that. i haven't complained about making myself bleed 4-5 times a day or giving myself injections, so i feel i'm entitled to one small rant.

with that in mind, allow me to complain for just a moment about my miniscule trial and tribulation this week. in addition to digging deep for motivation to finish the semester (one more week! surely i can do this?), i have been dealing with an infected fingernail since november--i suppose i should have started this blog as a cautionary tale of home manicures. however, my doctors assure me that as a diabetic i am particularly prone to infections, so you are all likely fine. my run-of-the-mill infection caused a fungal infection (grossed out yet?), and 85% of my fingernail has since fallen off.

it's hideous, but it is my cross to bear.

i have gone to the student health center four times for my stupid right-hand ring finger, and over spring break i finally got some meds (of course, i had to pay full price for the meds because insurance companies hate me). so, not only are these pills potent in my mouth and cause all items coming out of my body to take on a distinctly musty smell (alright, now you're hitting the grossed out point), this past week i have lost the sense of taste!

TASTE.


i taste nothing. for a few days i could slightly taste salt and vinegar potato chips, but i can't even taste that any more. i have been trying all kinds of different things, supposing that perhaps my palate was simply limited. nothing. no spice. no sweetness. i couldn't even taste the doritos i bought out of the vending machine in a moment of desperation.

Exhibit A: Happy Boo after enjoying a tasty meal (and some wonderful company). This joy may never manifest itself again; I just wanted to give everyone a chance to say goodbye.

supposedly it's temporary. in the long run it's inconsequential, but i am going crazy. if i am still running on four senses for the remainder of my treatment (at least another two months), i may need to be institutionalized.

this should clear things up

wondering why i'm so eager for summer?

because i pretty much envision it being like this.




i'm even planning on picking up a little french.

the job hunt begins

now that jesse has made his decision for his future education, and we have an idea of where we are headed for the next few years, the time has come for me to begin the dreaded job hunt.

while i am looking forward to this new chapter of our lives, let me be clear: i hate looking for jobs.

there is something incredibly nerve-wracking about trying to find a position that i will enjoy, that will use my education and my so-called "skill-set," and that will provide decent pay and--most importantly--health benefits. even more annoyingly, i hate drafting overly confident letters of application and listing out my many brilliant qualities (brilliant as i may be).

as i work through this process, i have learned that i am not good at selling myself. i am sure my mother will be relieved.

on a lighter note, here is a list of qualities i wish were appropriate for a résumé:

• Outstanding internet shopping skills
• Mediocre attempts at cooking
• Ability to prevent small children from placing even smaller toys in my husband's guitar
• Stellar laundry-folding and organizing skills
• Total inability to find multiple terms for "skills" that people would actually use

you know how it goes.

wishing my life away?

growing up, my dad always emphasized to never start wishing your life away. every time i start to say something to him like "i just can't wait until..." he interrupts me and emphasizes how important it is to live--and enjoy--each day despite, and sometimes because of, its difficulties. after all, no day will ever feel entirely perfect. it seems like sage advice from a man who has worked so diligently to make his life meaningful and has become a personal hero of mine.

still, there are days like today where i feel like i can't help but wish i were somewhere else, doing something else, so i'm just going to say it. i am so sick of school. i don't ever remember feeling this way in my life. even when i finished my undergraduate work, i left feeling like i had just warmed up. now i feel like even completing the simplest assignment is pure torture.

i can't wait until i'm done with my MA and can start enjoying reading again. i feel like the bureaucracy of the degree has distanced me from a close, life-long friend.

i can't wait until i am done teaching. i can't wait until i can stop having to deal with the dishonesty, laziness, and disrespect that i encounter from my students much more frequently than i had ever anticipated. i know that i have some great students, but i can't help but feel so bogged down from all of the crap that comes with the job.

so, while i appreciate the opportunity and recognize how great all of this is--life-altering and whatnot--i'm over it. sorry, dad.

I'm Back!

Dearest Readers:

I'm sure the worry about my whereabouts has most of you deeply concerned. Fret not. I intend to take this opportunity to thoroughly update you on my recent doings and goings.

First of all, Spring Break came! Huzzah! My parents came for a few days, and we celebrated Easter at their condo here in Boise. We ate food, watched my nephews participate in an Easter egg hunt, and made merry. I wanted to document the occassion, so Jesse and I went to take a picture. My nephew Heath is Jesse's bff, and he was quite uncomfortable that he wasn't part of the picture, so he ran out to join us. Anywhere that Heath goes, his little brother Wade also has to go. His little legs brought him waddling right behind Heath (with no shoes on!), hence our picture as a lovely family of four... On Tuesday we went to Idaho Falls to spend some time with Jesse's family. Our timing was perfect as our new niece, Isabelle, came early on Easter Sunday. We were so excited to meet her, and we were not disappointed. She is absolutely gorgeous, even at two days old (I think she gets it from her Aunt Becca--even though we are technically only related through marriage).

Jesse is officially in L.O.V.E. I think it's because they have the same haircut.

(Exhibit A: Jesse and Izzie sporting the same hairstyle)
The Davis family also received a new addition on Wednesday. My brother and his wife welcomed their third child, Deacon (click on his name for a pic of the sweet baby). I have yet to meet him, but I am quite certain that he is absolutely charming! I happen to love babies, so two in one week is pretty exciting in my book (and apparently my family is trying to outbreed all of your families...).

Finally, dear reader, during my absence the most exciting thing happened. Jesse and I were looking forward to getting our mail when we arrived back in Boise as we are still waiting to hear back from some pharmacy schools. Jesse was forlorn to find he had not received anything from ISU (his first choice out of all the schools he applied to). About an hour later we decided to check our mail again, in case we received anything new and exciting. Lo and behold, Jesse had a letter from ISU. Lo and behold, he was accepted! I am so proud of him!I guess this means that we are headed to Pocatello sometime this summer... So, is this sufficient information, readers? Can we continue our love of blogging together?

Lovingly Yours,

Boo

BREAK, PLEASE

i have cabin fever so badly that even the mention of "cabin" in the phrase "cabin fever" sounds like an exotic vacation. spring break, could you please start a week early? please?

i've become popular! i mean... been tagged!

i have finally been tagged by my friend rachel to answer the following questions about myself. here goes...

What were you doing ten years ago?

ten years ago i was 13 years old. i was in eighth grade and in the middle of my incredibly awkward stage. after being rejected for everything i tried out for (cheerleading, gymnastics, district musicals), i was hardcore into my junior high school journalism class (as i was certain i would grow up to be a hardcore journalist). i could sense that i didn't love pop music, but struggled to find other music (i had no mentor), so i listened to no doubt and smashing pumpkins constantly. it was also about ten years ago that i met jesse. wondering why he wasn't interested in me? check this out:



What were you doing five years ago?

five years ago i was in my second semester at byu-idaho. i had just been kicked out of my apartment (which i now wear like a badge of honor), but that was alright as i was pretty much living at the library anyway. i was spooning with one stephanie joy hawkins (now robertson) on a regular basis, and we were in the early stages of planning our spooning book. also, not to be debbie downer, but five years from saturday i lost my brother, cameron. that wasn't so fun.


Five things on my to-do list today:

1. clean apartment. check.
2. procrastinate homework. check.
3. respond to this tagging (almost check).
4. read Parzival.
5. watch Lost.


What snacks I enjoy:

i pretty much enjoy snacks in general. haribo mini frogs are tops. i also love me some apple slices and peanut butter, chips, cereal, raw broccoli with ranch, and always a diet soda.


What would I do if I suddenly became a billionaire?

give some away (jesse would insist that a huge chunk go to cancer research). go to law school and set up a killer nonprofit organization. put jesse through school. have a baby (hopefully?). buy a house. save some for the (future) little ones. donate the money for a new liberal arts building on the BSU campus.


Three bad habits?

1. i procrastinate (like most everyone)
2. i can be overly sensitive
3. i really like to snack


Five places I've lived:

1. idaho falls, id
2. rexburg, id
3. arlington, va
4. boise, id
5. yep, that's about it.

Five jobs I've had:

1. lawncare technician (i mowed lawns at a cemetery)
2. reading tutor (at byu-i)
3. adjunct instructor (at byu-i)/teaching assistant (at bsu)
4. constitutent services specialist (at the governor's office)
5. medical records specialist (at a crappy hospital)


Five things you don't know about me:

1. i really hate: unnecessarily competitive people (i didn't know life was always such a competition), insurance companies, and spiders.
2. i am diabetic and have a diet, as my husband would tell you, of rice and candy.
3. i am really burnt out. i love school, but i think i've reached my limit when it comes to english literary studies. at the same time, i don't think i'm completely done with school just yet... should be interesting to see what happens.
4. i'm wearing earrings shaped like pinecones right now.
5. i'm pretty much an open book.

i tag:

suzie, bitty, andrea, libby, jetta, and anyone else looking for something to blog about...