Rockin the beer gut........

So I just have to say that it is songs like this that give country a bad name. I heard this on the radio last night and had to come home and look it up. It is a disgrace. Perhaps you have had the chance to be as grossed out as me and if not, just click here:

http://www.cmt.com/videos/unplugged/trailer-choir/262542/rockin-the-beer-gut.jhtml?id=1592110

A good weekend

Highlights from this weekend:
-driving in Kirkwood and I mentioned to Chris that the Kirkwood farmer's market looked really busy when we drove by. His response to me, "Was it as busy as the market in Aladdin, you know, in Agraba?" So apparently we are comparing everything to Disney movies these days.....
-filling up with gas and getting hit on (I guess I should mention the fact that they were like 13 years old and they didn't whistle very well!)
-sleeping in for 3 days in a row
-actually being able to hang out with friends on Friday and Saturday night

We're Jammin'

One of the things that I've missed a lot while we've been out here in St. Louis is the raspberry jam my mom makes. It's like a little piece of heaven on a piece of bread. Nothing Smucker's makes can even hold a candle up to it. Anyhoo, I decided to get in touch with my homemaking side and try making some here instead of forcing myself to wait until December to have some more. It was actually pretty easy, and now we're stocked with jam that tastes a ton better than the store stuff (not quite the same as Mom's, but very good nonetheless). My little pyramid is meager compared to the shelves that Mom makes, but it will be enough to take care of us for a while.

Summer Vacation

After enduring the end of Linzi's semester, studying for Step 1 (why don't they send me my score already?!) and the facial hair associated with that, we got to go out to Utah for a couple of weeks at the end of June. It was a wonderful vacation...a much needed break from school. Here are some of the highlights of the trip, in no particular order:
1. Spending the weekend up in Park City with the Karrens. The hotel was wonderful, as were the Alpine Slide, trolley ride up to Main Street, and the fun time trying to find a place to eat dinner on Friday night (the karren women are to say the least- picky!). I especially loved getting demolished at fusball at the hands of Linzi...she's ruthless.
2. Critics Corner: "Up"--Great show; "Despereaux"--Good show; "High School Musical 1"--not too bad; "HSM 2"--Really, really, and I mean really stupid; "Twilight"--not too bad; "Traitor"--good show; "Forever Strong"--Great show...you should see Linzi's Haka Dance
3. Fathers Day afternoon. We were enjoying a nice afternoon game of basketball outside when one of the balls bounced into the garage. While getting it, I did not notice the pile of tile sitting near the door and sliced the top of my foot on one of the pieces. It was a pretty good cut. I was mostly upset that we were going to have to pay a ton of money to get it stitched up at an ER or something, but Carol Seely came to the rescue. She had all the supplies needed to fix me up, so we went over there, interrupted their afternoon, and she sewed me up like it was nothing.
4. Many hours of Wii fun...MarioKart, WiiFit, MarioParty and Bowling.
5. Backpacking with Scott, his funny sayings, snowcones, smores and fishing competitions
6. Trip to the Zoo with Utley's, Kristin, Eli and Hatty, especially when Sophie told me that the animals wanted to get out of their cages because they wanted to kill us. She wasn't afraid, just said it like it was matter of fact.
7. Multiple trips to the swimming pool.
8. Pedicures for the ladies
9. Golf at Bountiful Ridge with the Boys
10. Learning those "fun" Turkish Getups while exercising at Jason and Michelle's. (and the delicious breakfast that followed)
11. Running into the Darley's at the zoo and Allen's in Farmington.
12. Multiple Keva's and Great Harvest slices of bread.
13. No Humidity!!!!
14. Getting to go to Sunday school together (and even just getting to go to that and Priesthood meeting).

Dear Beards, I'm Sorry

This is an open letter of apology to all the beards in the world, and everybody that loves beards and good looking facial hair.

Dear Beards,

I'm sorry. That's what I want to say the most. The pictures probably say it all, but I feel compelled to write a bit. I'm sorry I used your name to describe the thing that inhabited my face and neck for the last five weeks. I even thought I was clever by calling it a "Boards Beard." As you can see from the pictures, I was clearly delusional to use that sort of language. Maybe something like "Pre-Boards Patches", "Studyin' 'Stache" or simply a "Study Buddy." Loved ones would ask me if I shaved parts of it to make it look as sparce it did...no, sadly that's all I've got. You probably just laughed at me. I know that you're proud of men like those below using your name to describe their facial hair. I can only dream of one day being able to grow something like these fine gentlemen.

But I had to try, and I did think that it helped me with my studying and on the test. I felt smarter as I would pull at it thinking about different questions. I should have taken a hint that I should have shaved when the primary kids started snickering one day and saying to each other "He's growing a Moustache...a MOUSTACHE!" I'll admit that was pretty funny.

Anyhoo, once more I'm sorry that you had to be associated with that thing on my face. I'm sure it will be another 26 years before I try to grow another one. And if at that time it's as sorry as it was here in 2009, I'll be sure to call it something else. Just know I will be admiring you from afar, just as I always have done.

Sincerely,

Chris "Baby Face" Brown

One final goodbye to that thing of "beauty"

Freedom!!!

I've finally finished what has been the most intense 5 weeks of studying in my life. Last Saturday I took Step 1 of the Boards, a fun little 8 hour test. I'd spent the last 5 weeks spending about 12-14 hours a day preparing for the test, and still felt like there was a ton of stuff that I still needed to learn. But now it's all over and all I can do is wait 6 weeks until my score comes back to see how I did. I didn't feel like I kicked it in the face (sorry Jason, I tried), but I never felt great about my practice tests and seemed to do okay on those. Hopefully my score will be high enough to enable me to get into the residency that I want (and no, I still don't know what that is). I'm incredibly grateful for Linzi, though. She has put up with all my studying and absentmindedness with so much patience and support, even though she was busy herself with school and work. Thanks Linz.

I spent most of my time studying at a local community college. It was quite a unique crowd that was there. I'm going to miss the kid that said "I'll be back" to the library as he was leaving one Friday night in his best Terminator impression. I'll miss the kid that randomly stopped as I was eating lunch to show me a card trick. He was trying his best, but unfortunately I missed the climax of his performance as I was pausing my iPod to give him my full attention. Whoops! That was an awkward encounter, but I loved it! I'll miss the lady with really red hair that sat next to me as I studied and even said that she'd pray for me. I'll miss the kid that would drop out of a tree every afternoon at about 2pm. Why was he up there? I have no idea but it did brighten my day as I sat studying by the window to see a kid randomly fall from a tree and then just walk away as if what he'd done was completely normal. Anyhoo, I will not miss doing nothing but studying all day long, almost losing my mind. I won't miss getting a parking ticket on the one day I decided to park in the "visitor's" parking lot after avoiding it all summer because I thought I'd get a ticket. And I especially won't miss not being able to hang out with Linzi.

But now we're both done and get to go back to Utah for a couple of weeks to visit our families. It's going to be a great trip.

Step 1

So you know your husband is studying for Step 1 if:
-you wake up to a strange woman's voice and then realize it is his alarm clock and it is talking about endotoxins and e-coli
-during sacrament meeting he leans over to you and whispers, "do you know what the kidney disease is that comes after e-coli 0157:h7?"
-you are constantly being interrupted (during a story you are telling about YOUR day)by him quizzing you about subject matter that your story reminds him of even though he knows you will not know the answer
-you turn down a girl's night to hang out with him and then he says, I have to finish taking a test first
-he starts using words like mittelschmertz and spinnbarkeit not in the context they should be (I will let you look them up!)
-you look over at him and he has a pen behind one ear and a highlighter behind the other (this is the case this very minute in fact)
-he is growing a hideously sharp beard/molesterstache......sigh....one day I will get my husband back!