Zits 101

Pregnancy has been throwing my face some major curve balls.  There have been times of the "glow," but I'm pretty sure most of the time my face has been total Zit Nation.  I have a terrible history with zits.  I pick at them (or rather destroy them) too early and too often which results in giant scabs that take days to heal.  It's not pretty.

So Jeremy decided it was time for an intervention after witnessing my obvious struggle too many times.  Basically, the lesson was don't touch it!  (Lesson number 2 was be gentle!!)  Which is really hard to do and I have had some monumental failures and that reinforces the importance of listening to Jeremy's wisdom.  Anytime I wanted to touch it, I would check in with Jeremy to see if it was ready.  Usually, the answer was no. 

I have been doing so well this past week.  I have been walking away from the mirror and successfully stopping myself from picking at my face.  And it is looking AWESOME.  Not sure if it is because of my progress in Zits 101 or if my pregnancy hormones have shifted. Whatever it is, I hope it continues because I'm loving it.

snowflakes and awkward teenagers

our ward was in charge of a multi-stake youth dance over the weekend.  we had kids come from rhode island and new hampshire and all over massachusetts.  (sidenote: how is it that i still don't know how to spell massachusetts after living here almost 4 years? man... thank heavens for spell check.) we had a polar express theme.  we built a train photo booth and everyone wore pajamas.  i was in charge of the snowflakes, so i made lots of snowflakes over this past week (over 200!!).

the youth made a handful of them, so i wasn't completely on my own.  we strung garlands of them across the gym and put some in the game room and refreshment room (hot chocolate, cookies, and donuts!!).

jeremy came to help chaperone the dance and we made our way out on the dance floor a few times.  we had a blast. teenagers can be terribly awkward (and some just don't have manners).  i swear i was never that awkward.  it was pretty entertaining.   it was fun trying to pair up the wallflowers.  a dance is no fun if you never get on the dance floor.

i got asked to dance by a couple of the teenage boys.  the first time i said yes... rookie mistake.  as we were dancing he asked where i was from, i answered, and then i said, "i'm actually a leader."  his response, "ah, man." (ha!) i cut him loose to dance with someone his own age and scrammed to the kitchen to help with the hot chocolate.  later, i successfully deflected a dance request to a teenage girl that was in the vicinity. 

obviously, i would much rather dance, than chaperone while others dance. which is why i'm scheming away to have a low-key new year's eve dance for couples and families in the ward.  it's kind of in the works.  just need more people to jump on board so i'm not doing it by myself.  we'll see if it happens.

sunday headstands

we spent quite a bit of time last night practicing our headstands. 

jeremy covertly filmed this one... so sneaky.

success!!

jeremy getting pretty close.

so close... again.

hooray!

i had a pretty great weekend.

V8

we started a competition with my family for the new year.  one of the things we earn points for is eating a fruit and vegetable every day.

jeremy wanted to get some V8 so he could easily get his veggie in (i went the route of spinach smoothies and lots of green beans).  i told him it was gross - i haven't tried it, but veggie juice... it just has to be gross.  jeremy insisted that it wouldn't be that bad and if it was, he would choke it down.  i didn't believe him and we bought it anyway.

the next day, he went for it. there was gagging, coughing, and "that's terrible!" from the kitchen as he tried to get a whole glass down.  he had to chase it with milk.  lots of milk.

he has been slowly chugging away at our hefty 46 oz jug of V8 (go big or go home!).  he says it is getting a little easier - he has a gulping technique to minimize the contact between the juice and his taste buds.  i have been pretty impressed.  i couldn't do that.

(i had to have some one night to earn my point and it was awful stuff, like tears coming out of my eyes awful.  not doing that again.)

the mikey flop

have you heard of the corgi flop?

watch it, then come back.

well, my daddy loves corgis.  mostly because he feels a sort of kinship with them.  corgis are short, so is my dad.  they have prominent ears, so does my dad.  corgis also have short legs, so does my dad.  so when my little brother sent me this video today, i just couldn't resist.  presenting....

the mikey flop

let me buy you a tonic

for our morning date we went golfing.
it was just us and the old folks out on the course today, so of course we had a wonderful time.

i found a five dollar bill on one of the tees. true story! i gasped in surprise, my typical gasp that makes jeremy think we are about to get run over by a car, and told jeremy "i am rich!" as i pocketed the bill.  after he realized we were indeed safe, he said we should probably check with the group in front of us to see if they dropped it before we deem it ours, which of course i was going to do.  you should always try to return money, because they just might give it back to you, you know to reward you for being honest, and then you can have the money and a clear conscience.  at the end of the round, i found two of the three old men ahead of us in the clubhouse and asked them about the money.  unfortunately, it was one of theirs and i returned the cash to the rightful owner.  the conversation that followed was quite hilarious.  the guy thanked me for being honest and was trying to buy me drinks (a tonic - which i'm still not sure what that is.  i told him i was going to get slurpees - which were delicious - he probably thought i was 15), their buddy came in and announced, "here's our heavy hitter," while looking at me and i am completely confused, they seemed to think i could drive the ball well because they wanted driving lessons, and the other other guy started asking me if i am from here, i told them i was from out west and they decided that was the reason i was so honest, because i'm "not from around here," we laughed and i told them to enjoy the day, while the first man was still trying to buy me a drink.  funny guys.  they made my day.

to the bank

i emptied my piggy banks and check out that cash!

 i rounded up a whopping $483.50 in those guys. i try to put any cash that comes my way in my piggy banks so i don't spend it.  and do you know where it's all going?  towards my scooter!  woot woot!  i just opened a special savings account for my future scooter.  you know... just saving my pennies for this beaut:

isn't it gorgeous?!  i am still undecided on the color, but the red is pretty awesome. only $4,100 to go!  i'm always accepting donations.  :)

i think i'm pretty funny

i voted yesterday.. along with the rest of america

and i made sure i wore my patriotism. 

good thing because i didn't get a sticker.

 jeremy and i went in the early morning right when it opened and there was quite a line.

i was getting all choked up about it.  you know, exercising my right to vote, seeing others do it, too. i didn't even care who they were voting for, or that i was going to be late to class because it was taking longer than expected.  i was just pleased as punch to get to voice my opinion on a national level.  pretty cool stuff if i do say so myself.  this country is pretty great.  so are lots of others... but i am fond of the one we live in.  anyways... want to know who i voted for?

my hot husband.

i really did, not for president though. i followed expected protocol for the big ones.

on the ballot there were a number of offices where only one person was running... so i wrote in jeremy's name and voted for him.  i figured he would do a pretty good job.  it doesn't look like anybody else did that, because he didn't win.  but there is always next year.

at church

 if you recall, jeremy and i teach the sunbeams.

 i wore these shoes to church yesterday and during
our lesson one of our cute 4-year-olds said, 

"Hey you have cheetah shoes. 
Do they make you run fast?"

kids say the funniest things.

and actually they are leopard. who knew?

nahant beach

after a morning of sleeping in and playing tennis (it's a hard life, i know), we decided to check out nahant beach this afternoon. i've heard really good things about it, so we had to see for ourselves. it's only 20 minutes away and $3 to park all day right on the beach. you can't beat that... seriously! so we took off for the place.

and... nahant beach was great. i can't get over how soft the sand is. the water is also considerably warmer than the pacific ocean and shallow for a long ways out there. we loved it. they even had "shave ice," although it wasn't as amazing as other places we have tried, it was still good. we will definitely be visiting nahant beach before our days of summer freedom come to an end. it was a fun day!

oh! crazy seagull story: so jeremy and i were just frolicking in the ocean and looking back every so often to make sure no one was swiping our loot. suddenly, we eyed two seagulls walking all over our stuff. we saw one take a bite of something, so we started running (well, i ran as jeremy gingerly followed at a walking pace). nothing was really awry at the scene, just some sandy seagull prints across the towels, but one of the perpetrators did manage to remove my bookmark from my book and plop it in the sand. funny little guy. i suppose he doesn't approve of reading for leisure.

that kind of day

this was our experience today while teaching the sunbeams (3 and 4 year olds) from jeremy's point of view:

So normally when we say the closing prayer in our primary class, the kids know that we wait for their parents to come pick them up and then they get to go home. Well today, we were asked to end our class five minutes early and have the kids meet back in the primary room, so they could say thank you and good bye to one of our great primary leaders who is moving out of the ward. Our sunbeams were so confused when we told them that after our closing prayer we were not done yet. While waiting in the hall our poor kids didn't know what to do. So they started running away to find their parents and playing loud games with the other primary children... basically, not being reverent. When it was time to go in the primary room, we were able to get all of them in except one. This poor child was not having it. He was done with primary and just wanted to go home. So when Katie was trying to help this cute little guy into the room, he just dropped to the floor and started crying. He was screaming that he wanted to go home and wanted his parents. As soon as he fell to the floor, Katie threw her hands up and looked at me while saying, "I'm done, I'm done with this!" She then turned around and went into the primary room with the rest of the children. So I was left to deal with the screaming child. Hilarious.

a little tired

yesterday was an exhausting day. i'm not really sure what was so exhausting
about it, but all i know is that my legs were telling me they were TIRED.

to make matters worse, on the way home i missed my bus stop. yep. sure did.
i forgot to press the button to request the stop and we just drove
right past it. as soon i as i realized we were driving away from, no longer
to, my beloved abode, i'm pretty sure i audibly said, oh shoot! and
hurried to press the button.

so i trudged on home, backtracking where the bus drove and then up the hill
to our place until i finally made it. i headed straight for the couch
dropping everything as i went.

jeremy later asked, "what's this?" referring to the creative display of items.
my reply: "it's called a meltdown."

the very worst

yesterday i experienced the very worst thing in the world.

it was terrible.

i hopped in the shower washed my hair, put conditioner in my hair, and i was about to shave my legs, but... the water was getting colder. i kept turning it warmer - the warmest it would go -and it got colder and colder. so i decided to just deal with the hairy legs for another day and finished rinsing my hair in the cold cold water. by the end of the shower i was so frustrated (and freezing) i was sobbing... uncontrollably and muttering how i HATE cold showers.

jeremy came in to see what was wrong and i just cried and cried, saying, "i'm so cold! i'm just so cold!" i retreated back to the bed, still crying, and curled up underneath the comforter to try to bring back some warmth to my poor soul. jeremy came in to check on me and asked if i was feeling better. i told him "kind of" and that cold showers are the very worst things in the world! holding back a laugh he said he wasn't so sure. but i made certain he understood... they are the VERY worst things in the world.

needless to say, he made sure i got the first shower this morning and it was nice and HOT!

i think the whole thing reminded him of this incident.

riding the T

to get home from school, i walk for 10 minutes and hop on the subway. i'm on the subway for 15 minutes and then i catch a bus which usually takes about 20 more minutes before i arrive at my humble abode.

today on the subway...
a disheveled man was taking up at least three seats with his bicycle and big bag. he was on the phone when i got on and i sat down across from him. the conversation didn't go well because he hung up the phone and started cussing. he was not happy. a couple stops later the man grabs his bike and announces to the packed car, "Everybody separate. I just found out I got to work this weekend when I thought I was going to have the weekend off...." he went on to mumble something about the government and some other things i couldn't make out - he wasn't making much sense. the way was parted and he steered his bicycle off. at the next stop a tall man exited saying, "Everybody separate. I have the weekend off."

after the funny subway ride, i hopped on the bus with the magic three numbers - the route that takes me home. i was busy reading for one of my classes when at the last second a giant round man boarded the bus. he headed towards the back and realized he knew the man sitting next to me. he extended his hand to greet him and as he did i was overwhelmed with an awful stench. i hope my face didn't show it. he proceeded to stand directly in front of me with, get this, not one hand, but BOTH hands reaching up to the bar above for stability. both pits were just dishing the smelliest of all smells right in my face. it was gross. to make matters worse, the driver decided to take a detour which ended up making this pleasant bus ride even longer. i was very pleased when the giant round man with the smelliest of smelly pits got off the bus one stop before mine. it was time to get some fresh air.

officially oriented

today jeremy and i each had orientation.
(well, orientation started. jeremy's is 4 days, mine is 2.)

mine was great! i am so excited to start school. the whole thing reassured me that social work is what i want to do. in my two year program, i will go to class two days a week and then go to my internship the other three days of the week. this year i will be interning at a residential treatment program for teenage boys overcoming substance abuse. oh yeah, this will be a grand adventure!

jeremy had a good time at his orientation, too. he had to go all alone on "family day" poor guy, luckily we have our buddies amber and ryan here (ryan is also going to dental school). funny story: i got a text from amber around lunch time that said, "Someone asked if we were Jeremy's parents. What?" HILARIOUS! i couldn't believe it! i got the full story later. amber and ryan were sitting next to jeremy at lunch and another student's mom was next to amber. she leaned over to ask amber, "is he your oldest or youngest?" her eyes popped out of her head as confusion ensued. she straightened that mom out and informed her that both of the boys were in dental school. how nuts! how could amber have a son the same age as her?? so crazy! don't worry amber, you do NOT look old enough to have a child in dental school.... AT ALL!

anyway, it was a good day! here we are in our new shirts:

woot woot!

lookie, lookie!

we thought we would entertain ourselves at the driving range last night
and while my shots were less than exciting, i found this treasure in my golf bag.


my summer golf pass from 2003
hilarious!

this was right after my stint on the high school golf team.
did you know i played golf for my high school? fun times.

one day at practice, a couple of us out on the driving range. a kid on my team (let's call him ted - i don't remember his name, but he was super cute!) decided he was done and asked if i wanted to hit the rest of his golf balls. i told him yes, so ted started chipping them down to me and one of them hit me right on the left pinkie, no lie. i was outraged (i might have overreacted) and with my driver in hand, i squared up (this is when his buddy -now known as fred- started running out into the driving range, funny kid) and i hit a yellow, dimpled ball right at ted with all of my might - not the smartest decision, they were no more than 25 feet away. i certainly have the worst luck sometimes, because the ball actually HIT ted... in the HEAD. and THEN... it bounced off of ted's head and pegged fred in the leg. true story! now let's go over that again... the ball i hit with my driver beamed ted in the head and then PING! went flying towards fred and nailed him in the leg. it was NUTS!

this is where pure panic ensued. imagine the scene: one kid down and out (seriously... i knocked him out), the other hopping around moaning holding his right calf, and all the chaos was caused by you.

i ran over to ted - still flat on the ground - to see the damage. this is where i have the best luck, because the golf ball hit ted directly on the sturdy forehead, not some other vital, more delicate, part of the face (the eye, the mouth, etc). it was a miracle! as he came to, apologies were spilling out of my mouth to the two of them, especially ted. we made sure everyone was okay, generally speaking, and we made our way to the clubhouse. the boys assured me they were just fine and i was grateful they weren't completely furious with me. we told the story to the coaches and i was sure i was done for the season or something... turns out, i didn't even get a lecture on golf safety. they just laughed. they cut the little 14-year-old freshman some much appreciated slack and i never hit a golf ball at a person ever again. lesson learned, i tell you, lesson LEARNED! you might actually hit someone when you try to...

in order to kind of make up for my misdeed, i loaded the bus for the next tournament with two gallon size bags full of homemade cookies (the coconut oatmeal toffee variety) and personally delivered them to the two boys with bumps and bruises. after that we were good buds again and they loved telling everyone the crazy story.

it was an exciting golf season for sure.

summon your power animal

just go to the enchanted forest...
and when you feel your power animal approaching,

click, and it will be revealed to you.

no joke. riley showed me this today. it's hilarious.

my power animal is the unicorn!
riley's is the buffalo. what's yours?
i would love to know!

go here!

glad i called

today i called the boston schools on my lunch break to "check my application status"- a.k.a. see if they could give me ANY information. i was worried about calling them since i called a week and half ago and they didn't really have anything exciting to tell me. one said i would know in a few weeks and the other said 4-6 weeks. but i called anyway... because i'm so brave and all.

i called boston college first. she said that my file was still under review, but that they would probably have a decision by the end of the week and i would get a letter next week. i thought this was awesome news. i could find out next week. yay! unless i get rejected... then boo.

i called simmons college next -these guys originally told me 4-6 weeks, so i about chickened out. but the phone call went like this:
"oh we sent out your acceptance letter on friday."
"wait, i got accepted?!!"
"yep."
"ARE YOU SERIOUS!?!? OH MY GOSH! this is AWESOME!! YES! This is great news! i can't believe it!"
"yeah, and we sent it to this address: blah blah blah. is that right?"
"yep, that's me. i think i could cry! AAHHHHH! WOW! THANK YOU! have a great day!!"
"you too."

she must think i'm nuts.

we should hear back from boston college next week, but looking at the two programs i am leaning more towards simmons anyway. it's an awesome program with all sorts of specializations in Mental Health/Addictions, Trauma, Children and Family, and more. i love it! we will see. this is so much FUN! i can't believe i got in!

wow... glad i made that phone call.

and now i owe my dad dinner.
what a great bet to lose?! ... can we go to pei wei dad? i LOVE pei wei.

reprimanded

I just got reprimanded for my out of office auto-reply email, which reads something like this:
(names, places, dates, and extensions have been changed to protect the innocent)

I am out of the office until Monday, July 11, 2011 around 3 pm. I'm just kicking it in Sweden. If you need help in the mean time you can contact: Felix 8-9534 or Penelope 8-1346. Sorry for the inconvenience... I hope the rest of your day rocks!

Ciao!
Katie

Some don't appreciate my personality (just one person really) ... so rather than just not loving it, they have killed it. I guess my e-mail wasn't professional enough. It now reads:

I am out of the office until Monday, July 11, 2011.

see? killed it.

Post edit: I am not really out of the office until Monday, July 11, 2011. I just picked a random date... but that would be awesome.

from jeremy

"i have always wanted to work in a library. aaaaaalways."

hm. ok, babe. learn something new everyday.

he told me about this dream library job as we were discussing
whether or not he should get a job for the summer before dental school.

"can you imagine a job where you don't have to say anything all day?"

i guess i can, but i don't imagine actually wanting that job. what a funny kid.
maybe he will be applying for jobs at libraries this summer.

would you believe me if i told you this was my 600th post? well, believe it.