Here's an update.
Only three more school days and we finally get a break!!!
Jordan and I have been working really hard with school and the apartment. We are in desperate need of a break and in desperate need of help with our apartment during the break. My goal is to get all the sheet-rock put up and ready to mud by the end of the Thanksgiving break. I don't know how it is going to get done but I am going to try really, really, really, really, really, really hard to make it happen. I hope to have pictures up of everything that we do have finished but that might take a while too.
That's all for now.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Friday, October 31, 2008
Jordan's 2nd Blog!!! (New and Improved)
So I found this in BYU's daily paper of all places (the paper isn't that great but... I digress) and I thought you guys would enjoy it. And don't think this is a new idea by Obama... This has been a standard foundational liberal idea since FDR. -Jordan
A redistribution of grades
Inspired by Barack Obama By: Marc Watterson
Great news everybody! Inspired by the ideas of presidential candidate Barack
Obama, your local school district has announced a radical idea that is going to
change the world!
The hard work and effort of those who have struggled through their education
to get the best grades possible now have the opportunity to give back. For
you who have worked hard and are getting A’s and A-’s, you will now receive a B+! Have no fear, this is in no way degrading your efforts! Rather, this will be for the benefit of all your classmates as no child will be left behind. Your grades are now being deducted and the difference is being given to those who receive D’s and F’s so that every student will pass with at least a C! After all, how unfair is it to label some of your classmates as failures? Just because they don’t see the need for studying or putting much effort into their education doesn’t mean it’s their fault.
And so, in an effort to promote equality among students, there will now be a redistribution of grades. In this system, each student passes regardless of effort or intelligence gained. Now, don’t let this deter those of you who go the extra mile in trying to learn, there’s still plenty of incentive for you to try and get better grades! You must always remember that your efforts no longer just concern you and your aspirations. Your fellow students now depend on you to get them to the finish line, whether they jog there of their own accord or you have to drag them, kicking and screaming, to graduation. The success of this program depends on you!
The greatest impact this new program will have is in the workplace! You see, this program is also being implemented in colleges and universities all across the nation! Students will now, more than ever, depend on the efforts of these A students to get them their passing grades in every class. Again, regardless of effort, everyone receives a passing grade in classes of higher learning. This will be the same in trade, law, medical and graduate schools as well! Think of it, there will never be a labor shortage again as an influx of “passing” workers flood the market! Sure, there might be a rise in flooded basements and guilty persons going free as otherwise incompetent employees are now given positions of trust in society. But at least we can rest assured every night knowing that despite our intellectual mistakes at work, there were those out there who were willing to sacrifice their hard-earned grades so we could pass every year in school.
Doesn’t this sound fair? Why on earth wouldn’t it be all right to take the hard-earned efforts of individuals and give the rewards of their labors to others instead? Why? Because this is America! This is where the dream still exists that through grit and determination, a man might change the stars and the world around him. This is the land where the ideals of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” remain a noble individual task, not a governmental duty.
Barack Obama would have the American people, us, believe that it is up to the government to provide the roof over our head, the food on our table, and the clothes on our backs. He suggests that it has always been government’s responsibility to do this but that the American people, since the conception of the Constitution, have been blinded by their desire to work hard and enjoy the fruits of their labors. Instead, he contends that it’s government’s job to take these hard-earned fruits and give them to everyone who refused to work hard, if at all. Obama is no Robin Hood. Business owners, Hollywood and sports stars and other wealthy individuals are no Prince Johns. And we, the American public, are no impoverished citizens of Sherwood Forest. If anything, Obama would have the government take the role of Prince John, while wearing the mask of Robin Hood. However, depriving us of our incentive to work hard and hindering our ability to progress would indeed make us a sorrowful and impoverished people.
Is this the future we want? Are these proposals really fair? Do we really believe these ideas are in our and our children’s best interest? Make your vision for the future clear, vote on Tuesday and get involved!
A redistribution of grades
Inspired by Barack Obama By: Marc Watterson
Great news everybody! Inspired by the ideas of presidential candidate Barack
Obama, your local school district has announced a radical idea that is going to
change the world!
The hard work and effort of those who have struggled through their education
to get the best grades possible now have the opportunity to give back. For
you who have worked hard and are getting A’s and A-’s, you will now receive a B+! Have no fear, this is in no way degrading your efforts! Rather, this will be for the benefit of all your classmates as no child will be left behind. Your grades are now being deducted and the difference is being given to those who receive D’s and F’s so that every student will pass with at least a C! After all, how unfair is it to label some of your classmates as failures? Just because they don’t see the need for studying or putting much effort into their education doesn’t mean it’s their fault.
And so, in an effort to promote equality among students, there will now be a redistribution of grades. In this system, each student passes regardless of effort or intelligence gained. Now, don’t let this deter those of you who go the extra mile in trying to learn, there’s still plenty of incentive for you to try and get better grades! You must always remember that your efforts no longer just concern you and your aspirations. Your fellow students now depend on you to get them to the finish line, whether they jog there of their own accord or you have to drag them, kicking and screaming, to graduation. The success of this program depends on you!
The greatest impact this new program will have is in the workplace! You see, this program is also being implemented in colleges and universities all across the nation! Students will now, more than ever, depend on the efforts of these A students to get them their passing grades in every class. Again, regardless of effort, everyone receives a passing grade in classes of higher learning. This will be the same in trade, law, medical and graduate schools as well! Think of it, there will never be a labor shortage again as an influx of “passing” workers flood the market! Sure, there might be a rise in flooded basements and guilty persons going free as otherwise incompetent employees are now given positions of trust in society. But at least we can rest assured every night knowing that despite our intellectual mistakes at work, there were those out there who were willing to sacrifice their hard-earned grades so we could pass every year in school.
Doesn’t this sound fair? Why on earth wouldn’t it be all right to take the hard-earned efforts of individuals and give the rewards of their labors to others instead? Why? Because this is America! This is where the dream still exists that through grit and determination, a man might change the stars and the world around him. This is the land where the ideals of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” remain a noble individual task, not a governmental duty.
Barack Obama would have the American people, us, believe that it is up to the government to provide the roof over our head, the food on our table, and the clothes on our backs. He suggests that it has always been government’s responsibility to do this but that the American people, since the conception of the Constitution, have been blinded by their desire to work hard and enjoy the fruits of their labors. Instead, he contends that it’s government’s job to take these hard-earned fruits and give them to everyone who refused to work hard, if at all. Obama is no Robin Hood. Business owners, Hollywood and sports stars and other wealthy individuals are no Prince Johns. And we, the American public, are no impoverished citizens of Sherwood Forest. If anything, Obama would have the government take the role of Prince John, while wearing the mask of Robin Hood. However, depriving us of our incentive to work hard and hindering our ability to progress would indeed make us a sorrowful and impoverished people.
Is this the future we want? Are these proposals really fair? Do we really believe these ideas are in our and our children’s best interest? Make your vision for the future clear, vote on Tuesday and get involved!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Happy 25th Birthday!!!!!!!!!!!!
Jordan turns a quarter of a century today. I love you Jordan and I hope you have a wonderful birthday even though you're sick.
I LOVE YOU.
I LOVE YOU.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Vote Yes on Prop. 8
Tonight we went to a live broadcast by Elder Ballard, Elder Cook and Elder Clayton on proposition 8, California's proposition to add to its constitution a legal definition of marriage as being between a man and a women. These three Elders of the church have come out and asked for all Californian residents to become active in educating people about prop. 8 and they have also asked that all Californian residents that are not in the state right now to sent in absentee ballots voting yes on prop. 8.
Having three general authorities of the church ask us to do this is something that we take very seriously. We are asking all of you to find out as much about prop. 8 as you can and to try and pass this proposition. Call all the people you know who live in California and ask them to educate themselves and their friends.
I would like to note that prop. 8 does not take away any rights that homosexual couples already have in California it just legaly defines marriage as being between a man and a women. There is more information about prop. 8 at www.protectmarriage.com, we encourage everyone to look up information about this proposition.
Having three general authorities of the church ask us to do this is something that we take very seriously. We are asking all of you to find out as much about prop. 8 as you can and to try and pass this proposition. Call all the people you know who live in California and ask them to educate themselves and their friends.
I would like to note that prop. 8 does not take away any rights that homosexual couples already have in California it just legaly defines marriage as being between a man and a women. There is more information about prop. 8 at www.protectmarriage.com, we encourage everyone to look up information about this proposition.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Sadly I won't be taking showers in my own house for at least two days
So my goal of getting the shower grout sealed and ready to use by today was not achieved. We did seal the grout last night though (we finished at about two in the morning). This means that by Tuesday night we should have it water worthy. I did however reach several of my other goals this weekend.
1. I washed 11 loads of laundry
2. We finished building the bedroom and living room closets (so I have a place to put all that clean laundry.
3. We put the shelves in the pantry so now I can actually put food in it, it is very convenient to have food so close to the kitchen now.
4. Watched General Conference (to watch it we had to go to Grandma and Grandpa Miles' house because we don't have a t.v.).
5. I started putting up tile in the kitchen so that we can start building the counter that the kitchen sink goes in.
6. Cleared a path to the computer and downloaded pictures from the last three months (Gaby and Anna be prepared for your graduation pictures, and Lauren and Rick we have some wedding pictures to post and to send to you)
That is a lot of stuff!!! Unfortunately I also didn't get to recording the grades for the class I TA in Oops! Well what are you going to do?
1. I washed 11 loads of laundry
2. We finished building the bedroom and living room closets (so I have a place to put all that clean laundry.
3. We put the shelves in the pantry so now I can actually put food in it, it is very convenient to have food so close to the kitchen now.
4. Watched General Conference (to watch it we had to go to Grandma and Grandpa Miles' house because we don't have a t.v.).
5. I started putting up tile in the kitchen so that we can start building the counter that the kitchen sink goes in.
6. Cleared a path to the computer and downloaded pictures from the last three months (Gaby and Anna be prepared for your graduation pictures, and Lauren and Rick we have some wedding pictures to post and to send to you)
That is a lot of stuff!!! Unfortunately I also didn't get to recording the grades for the class I TA in Oops! Well what are you going to do?
Friday, October 3, 2008
My Goal is to be able to take a Shower in My Own House by Monday!!!!!!!!
Sorry we don't have a real before picture but we ripped out all the ceilings to rewire before we took any pictures. The first picture shows the shower and the cabinets with our new recessed lights being installed. I happen to really like this shower curtain so no comments from the peanut gallery thank you.
The next one is when our shower became a storage facility so that we could work in other rooms. The picture to the right is the beginning of construction (or destruction depending on how you look at it).
Here is the fun surprise we found (because again the people who built our apartment are not the brightest people). I hope this hasn't been making us sick.
Here are some more pre-tub pictures.
Here is the wall before. Yes random this is a random thing to have in the bathroom wall, but we didn't do it.
And behind that wall is where we finally found the water heater [that's not dangerous at all :(].
And here is a preview of the final product, the bathtub in place. I will show a picture of it tiled, grouted and the final product when we have the final product.
Thank you Andrew and Dad for your help. And thank you Mom and Tami for letting them help.
The next one is when our shower became a storage facility so that we could work in other rooms. The picture to the right is the beginning of construction (or destruction depending on how you look at it).
Here is the fun surprise we found (because again the people who built our apartment are not the brightest people). I hope this hasn't been making us sick.
Here are some more pre-tub pictures.
Here is the wall before. Yes random this is a random thing to have in the bathroom wall, but we didn't do it.
And behind that wall is where we finally found the water heater [that's not dangerous at all :(].
And here is a preview of the final product, the bathtub in place. I will show a picture of it tiled, grouted and the final product when we have the final product.
Thank you Andrew and Dad for your help. And thank you Mom and Tami for letting them help.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
This is Harder than it Looks.
Jordan and I are training to be scuba instructors. This means we have to devote at least four hours once a week to teaching classes with the instructors.
Well this week Jordan and I had to teach our class on Monday and on Tuesday we finally made up one of my classes that I missed when I was sick (you never dive when you have sinus problems). This might not sound like it would be exhausting but it is, and now we have to spend the rest of the week studding for test and making up homework because we were studding for test. O how we wish school could be over!!!!
Saturday, September 13, 2008
We're making progress
We have had a very busy couple of weeks, here is the update for everyone.
We finally got our financial aid, after a two month wait and several threats by BYU to drop all our classes because we had not paid tuition yet. This means that we finally got our books after two weeks of school (two weeks worth of homework in one weekend, who could ask for anything else).
We were also able to rent out our apartment that was empty for two weeks. I was getting really tired of scheduling viewings (in between our classes) for people that already had apartments or who never returned your calls. Now we have more time for catching up on our homework.
We also have been making some progress on the apartment. I now have (drum roll please!) a wall in the kitchen, a ceiling in the bathroom, and most of the bathtub tiled. Can you believe it? A ceiling in one room in my house, it feels like Christmas came early this year. You don't know how much you miss ceilings and walls (and everything else that is suppose to go in a house) until you don't have it for almost three months. I would not recommend a remodel to anyone who is still in school or who has an empty apartment to fill.
So there you go, you can all experience my joy. We are making progress and that is all that matters.
We finally got our financial aid, after a two month wait and several threats by BYU to drop all our classes because we had not paid tuition yet. This means that we finally got our books after two weeks of school (two weeks worth of homework in one weekend, who could ask for anything else).
We were also able to rent out our apartment that was empty for two weeks. I was getting really tired of scheduling viewings (in between our classes) for people that already had apartments or who never returned your calls. Now we have more time for catching up on our homework.
We also have been making some progress on the apartment. I now have (drum roll please!) a wall in the kitchen, a ceiling in the bathroom, and most of the bathtub tiled. Can you believe it? A ceiling in one room in my house, it feels like Christmas came early this year. You don't know how much you miss ceilings and walls (and everything else that is suppose to go in a house) until you don't have it for almost three months. I would not recommend a remodel to anyone who is still in school or who has an empty apartment to fill.
So there you go, you can all experience my joy. We are making progress and that is all that matters.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
I Hate Election Years
I am calling out to all those wives out there that have to deal with their husband's obsessions. Some wives have to put up with sports year round, others have to watch as their husbands spend massive amounts of money on "Man Toys" which are usually overpriced gadgets that you don't need. Well my husband only watches football and has to research-to-death every purchase he makes. But my husband does have his own special obsession; he is a news junky and his news of choice is Politics.
This means that when we get home, after the BYU library closes at midnight, and all I want to do is go to sleep my husband has to stay up for another hour reading the New York Times on his phone. Right now as I type, this (very cranky) hypoglycemic who hasn't eaten since 2:00 (and I'm suppose to eat every three hours), has to sit in the library because of what? Because of the Republican National Convention!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now, I have vented and you have gotten a good laugh, because the truth is funny, so the order has been restored in the Universe.
Thank You and Good Night
This means that when we get home, after the BYU library closes at midnight, and all I want to do is go to sleep my husband has to stay up for another hour reading the New York Times on his phone. Right now as I type, this (very cranky) hypoglycemic who hasn't eaten since 2:00 (and I'm suppose to eat every three hours), has to sit in the library because of what? Because of the Republican National Convention!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Now, I have vented and you have gotten a good laugh, because the truth is funny, so the order has been restored in the Universe.
Thank You and Good Night
My House is a Mess but it is not My Falt!!!
Just to catch everyone up on what we have been spending all of our free time on, as well as all of my mental energy, I have provided some pictures.
Some of you have seen our very cozy 460 ft2 apartment. And some of you have seen what it has unfortunately turned into. This first picture shows Jordan crammed in between the counters doing the dishes by lamp light. Yes, we had no kitchen light. As you can see the cozy feeling the rest of the house has is just a claustrophobic feeling in the kitchen.
This is my wonderful kitchen space. Now getting cold solid items in the oven wasn't the problem, it was getting the scolding liquid ones out that was the problem.
Gretta this picture is for you. Our poorly thought out kitchen has a very odd colored granite counter tops, yes granite counter tops in a hole of an apartment don't ask me why. And on the counter are some color ideas I have for painting the apartment I will use a light gray in the bathroom, a dark gray in the kitchen, and this creamy brown color in the rest of the house. If any one has any other ideas I am still open to any of them.
This is our kitchen after the first day of construction, Don't you just love the wall paper?
This was the first of many surprises we found while starting this project. Instead of renting the equipment to cut a hole for the window they decided to use a sledge hammer and just knock out a big hole. They then covered it up with plywood which explains the dark gray dirty spider webs that filled the space.
And for thous of you who need a closer look at that wonderful wall paper here is Jordan taking down the grease covered cabinets that were hanging over the unventilated stove.
That's all for now I hope you all enjoy your wonderful kitchens, bathrooms, walls, ceilings and closets (because I don't have any right now). I would also like to thank Reed, Quinn, Andrew, Jordan's cousin Kurt and my Dad who have helped us with our wonderful disaster.
Some of you have seen our very cozy 460 ft2 apartment. And some of you have seen what it has unfortunately turned into. This first picture shows Jordan crammed in between the counters doing the dishes by lamp light. Yes, we had no kitchen light. As you can see the cozy feeling the rest of the house has is just a claustrophobic feeling in the kitchen.
This is my wonderful kitchen space. Now getting cold solid items in the oven wasn't the problem, it was getting the scolding liquid ones out that was the problem.
Gretta this picture is for you. Our poorly thought out kitchen has a very odd colored granite counter tops, yes granite counter tops in a hole of an apartment don't ask me why. And on the counter are some color ideas I have for painting the apartment I will use a light gray in the bathroom, a dark gray in the kitchen, and this creamy brown color in the rest of the house. If any one has any other ideas I am still open to any of them.
This is our kitchen after the first day of construction, Don't you just love the wall paper?
This was the first of many surprises we found while starting this project. Instead of renting the equipment to cut a hole for the window they decided to use a sledge hammer and just knock out a big hole. They then covered it up with plywood which explains the dark gray dirty spider webs that filled the space.
And for thous of you who need a closer look at that wonderful wall paper here is Jordan taking down the grease covered cabinets that were hanging over the unventilated stove.
That's all for now I hope you all enjoy your wonderful kitchens, bathrooms, walls, ceilings and closets (because I don't have any right now). I would also like to thank Reed, Quinn, Andrew, Jordan's cousin Kurt and my Dad who have helped us with our wonderful disaster.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Here it goes!
After about six months of reading my family member's wonderful blogs I have decided to stop be so lazy and start my own. I do not have any pictures to add today because it is the first day of school and my wonderful husband and I are too busy to run home and get any of them. I do plan on updating everyone on what we have been doing with the first year of our marriage, but we still do not have the internet at our home so I will be updating my blog from campus (so be patient with me).
I would like to thank my family for hours of entertainment and I hope to be able to return the favor. I would also ask all of you to pray for my sister Gretta and her family right now if you check out her blog you will be caught up on what's going on with her.
I would like to thank my family for hours of entertainment and I hope to be able to return the favor. I would also ask all of you to pray for my sister Gretta and her family right now if you check out her blog you will be caught up on what's going on with her.
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