2012

I waited too long to buy a new planner for 2012.  I realize it's only January 4th... but today I felt like my life was in shambles.  I went through way too many post-its today - it was not pretty.   Immediately after work I went to Target to look for a planner.  I looked for one earlier today at the campus bookstore because, hey, college kids want to organize their lives, right?  Crappiest planners I've ever seen!  So I just spent 20 min looking through every single planner in Target at least twice... why is it so hard to find a decent one?  My eyes started to water and I could feel my nose getting red, and then I mentally slapped myself for almost crying in public over A PLANNER.  I finally decided on one that would do.  It's got about half of the things I want.  Close enough.  Gotta get my life together before I explode.

*huge deep breath*

2012 will be a good year.

we went to hawaii!

we stayed on Oahu for a week with my family. it was wonderful.



we went snorkeling at Hanauma Bay.



we went to the Polynesian Cultural Center.



we saw the temple.



we went to Pearl Harbor.



we visited the dorms at BYU-H my parents used to live in.



there were beaches EVERYWHERE.



and we wandered and walked and had a good time.

peppers

we had no idea our pepper plants would grow so fast!






tomatoes are next.

i wish my laptop had a better camera

i love these girls.

midnight

i've been eating A LOT lately. not really sure what's up with that (not prego!). i think i probably eat about twice as much as dan does. we eat the same amount of food for dinner, and then i have a second dinner about an hour later. he has a glass of water before bed, and i have a bowl of something or a handful of cookies before bed.
and when i stay up this late* i get super hungry and i come to a dilemma: go to bed starving or go to bed fat?
not that eating one midnight snack is going to make me fat, but i've eaten a midnight snack** each night for the last few weeks and it's starting to show. my tummy jiggles - it didn't do that before.
oh, body. what are you doing to me?

*midnight used to be early. i used to stay up until 2 or 3 on a regular basis. what happened? am i old???!
**snack = 500 calorie meal


on a happier note - i'm doing pull-ups!
i've never done a pull-up in my life... until now.
a while ago i randomly decided to buy a pull-up bar and it has been the best investment i have ever made. dan does sets of 5 throughout the day and i do one (i'm still a girl) each time i enter/leave the room. it's wonderful.

dan's writing skills > amanda's writing skills

Life These Days-

It has been about six months since I moved from Utah to Arizona. Moving so far from everything and everyone I know still seems unreal. I miss being able to spend time with family and with friends. The house hasn't been perfect by any means, but it has been perfect for us. We only know a handful of neighbors, but we haven't met anyone we don't honestly and truly like. Our dogs mess up the house far more than we expected they would be able to, but it's worth it to have two cute little pups to keep us company. The yard hasn't been finished yet, but hey, neither has the inside. Slowly the projects are getting done, and the house becomes in reality what we saw in our minds the first time we walked through.

The strangest thing about moving to Arizona was feeling that Amanda and I belonged here all along. I still haven't felt an awkward phase. Early on Amanda and I decided that living in Arizona feels like a vacation. We keep expecting it to end, but it just keeps going. No snow in the winter months? Sign me up for four more years, sir. Really really really hot summers? I'm a big fan. Cacti and palm trees and desert flowers? Yes, please. And it is just icing on the cake that our monthly house payment is just barely above what we were paying for rent. My mission president used to say "for a penny more, you can go first class". President, I agreed with you then and I agree with you now.

I'm doing the same work I did in Utah, except instead of having to wake up, get dressed and drive to work, I roll out of bed and walk ten steps to my desk. Working from home I actually feel more productive than at the office, and in more ways than one. I don't have any distractions, everything I need is close by, I'm able to eat what I want when I want without having to drive anywhere to get it... it has been great. Not only am I able to help provide for our little family, I'm able to take care of the nitty gritty to help Amanda on her way through grad school. With Amanda working so hard, it's nice for me to have the time to take care of things around the house. I do have to find the willpower to continue taking care of projects around the house.

Overall I'm starting to feel old. I look in the mirror and I still see the same kid I did when I was sixteen, but I have come to grips with the grey hairs, the wrinkles, and the little gut forming on my waistline. I've been working to get rid of that gut, and honestly I'm probably in better shape than I have been in years, but the fact that I have to work at it makes me feel old. I don't mind the grey hairs, in fact I think it's somewhat fun. When I see the gray hairs it makes me feel like I'm pretending to be older than I actually am. When the neighbor kids come over (oh, and they come over to see the dogs, not me), they all call me Brother Clayton or Mister Clayton. Suddenly I'm too old for kids to call me Dan, or Danny, or Daniel. I don't think I like being called Brother/Mister Clayton, but I feel that trying to make the kids change their ways would make me seem more old than less.

Amanda and I were called to teach the 4-year-olds at church. It is so much fun being able to teach these kids, to watch as they learn and play and act out and be kids. There have been moments where I felt overwhelmed, but having Amanda there with me makes all the difference in the world. The kids are adorable, and it warms my heart to see them learning about their Saviour. The biggest blessing for me has been to be able to relearn the gospel through the eyes of a 4-year-old. When you get down to it, the world really is just as simple as it was when you were 4... it is you that started fretting over the monkey business.

I have fallen in love with my wife again. I never fell out of love with Amanda, but I feel like I've gotten to know more about her and to appreciate more about her than I did before. I have watched Amanda work and strive more than I've ever seen her in the past as she works toward her doctorate. Yet even though Amanda is so busy, I feel that we've become less "me and you" and more "us" since coming to Arizona. It is nice to have a partner in life who is not afraid to criticize or remind me where I have need of improvement, yet does so without being critical or harsh. I can't think of a single fight we've had. (I'm not just talking Arizona, I'm talking since we got married). A lot of people told me to be careful when the honeymoon phase ended because that's when the real problems begin. Honestly, I'm not sure if we're still in the honeymoon phase, or if we transitioned out of it so smoothly as to not even notice we had left it.

I have tried toning down my political rantings. I still feel the same way about the world politically as I have in the past, but I've realized that not everyone wants to hear it. To quote Ayn Rand, "It is not advisable... to venture unsolicited opinions. You should spare yourself the embarrassing discovery of their exact value to your listener." Since I'm on the topic of politics, and I'm not forcing anyone to read this, I believe that debt is the biggest problem this nation faces. The country is out of money. I get discouraged when simple mathematics become a debate between the left and the right. We should all be honest enough with ourselves to say that the United States needs to stop spending money. As far as politics go, I still share little tidbits on Facebook and with others here and there, but mostly I'm trying not to step on people's toes.

On that same note, one simple truth has been repeatedly thrust to the forefront of my mind lately: you cannot change others, you can only change yourself. While I may not be seeking to fundamentally change myself, I have [in my old age] seen the necessity for constant self improvement. I'm thankful for friends and family all around who give me examples of how I can improve physically, spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, in matters of etiquette and propriety, and in so many other ways. It is through diligent and continued self improvement that one is able to continually improve one's lot in life, regardless of the condition of the world around oneself. The motto of my youth, life is only as good as you make it, is still true for me today, though I've changed the way I interpret it along the way.

God has blessed me, and life is good.

sew what?

got a sewing machine for christmas!



made an awesome skirt... in ONE day!

with belt:

no belt:


puppy loves it too!

hard work is hard.

semester #1: got an A- in my one "real" class (woo hoo!) and successfully got through teaching. i managed to keep my class average at exactly 75%. pretty proud of that.

this weekend me and dan finally started working on the front yard. winter here = finally not so hot we melt every time we go outside.
when we moved in there were a bunch of large rocks up against the house in the front and on the sides. we want to change that, so we started moving them. there were A LOT more than we expected. after removing a top layer of rocks we would find more layers of rocks BURIED underneath. like, buried in the dirt. after we were done for the day it looked like we had gotten a bunch of new rocks instead of getting rid of rocks because we dug up so many. so, rock moving will take more time than we expected, but we have plenty of time and a wonderful neighbor that let us borrow his wheelbarrow!

christmas:

the week before christmas we flew to slc to spend time with family and friends. it was nice doing christmas early with the families because we didn't have to worry about splitting up one day with both sides. one day for dan's fam and one day for mine. also got to see friends briefly.
it was nice, but it was also very cold. i love this az weather.
on christmas day we went on a hike with our neighbors (again, LOVE this az weather). we took our dogs - i think they loved it. then we had dinner with the same neighbors. this is the same family we are borrowing the wheelbarrow from. they have basically adopted us. we love them.


sore from moving rocks.
happy and fat from the holidays.
ready to start the new year.

arizona =

being sunburned every other day and buying a new, darker shade of foundation every other week.

besides that,
I LOVE IT HERE!

dan is loving working from home, i'm enjoying going to school, and we both love having our home.
the dogs are happy - we play with them and walk them everyday, and they have each other to play with as well.
we've been putting the house together pretty quickly, and it's looking very good.
also, we did the bathroom in less than 2 days - pretty proud of that. took out the vanity and painted it, removed the countertop/sink and cut it with a saw, put in towel racks, painted the walls.

ARIZONA!

i drove down with my mama last week. we couldn't figure out how to get the water on, so we stayed in a hotel for the first night. the next day we called the city and they showed up in only a few minutes to get our water going.
paint
paint
paint
the previous owners had HORRIBLE taste. the entire house is either pale orange or puke-blue. it's awful! so i'm repainting the entire thing. it's a lovely house, and it's in a lovely neighborhood, it just needs some new color and decor.
don't have internet yet.
i've been going to mcdonalds every other day to use their wifi. i also feel obligated to buy something when i spend time here - i'm also getting fat. hah.
it's HOT here.
it's already in the 90's BEFORE sunrise. then it's 115 - 120 during the day. yeesh.
but it'll be glorious the rest of the year.
the new ward is nice. very nice. i felt very welcomed the second i walked into the building on sunday.
oh, and somehow people find things out about me very quickly.
one of the sisters said she knew just by looking at me that i play piano. (weird?????)
i'm doing a musical number on sunday. haha, my records aren't even in yet.
dan is still in ut for his job. then he'll be here in a couple weeks. set up his office in one of the bedrooms and work from home!

so excited for everything.
school starts soon.
life starts soon.

so much to be happy about

we just went through all of the closing papers for the house. it's a HUGE stack of papers! why can't buying a house be easy like buying a car??
oh well. i'm soooooooo suuuuuper excited! closing is in a few days. and then we will be homeowners.
*sigh*
it all sounds so grown up. i feel like a child. well, i'm 22. i AM a child. haha.
and dan is 25, but he's just a kitten.

other things to be excited about:
dan's sister kathleen is getting married on friday! i like her a lot. actually, i like dan's whole family a lot. i'm very blessed to have found such a great guy from such a great family.

in june we will be going to california, taiwan, and indonesia with my family! it'll be dan's first time out of the country, and his first time meeting a lot of my family.
*side story: when dan got his passport my mom took one look at the picture and said "you look like a terrorist". thanks mom :)
i'm looking forward to this vacation, it'll be nice to get away from all the craziness here for a few weeks and relax and spend time with family. and go shopping!!! and my parents are paying for us to go as a graduation gift to me. they are very nice to us.

after that, the next big thing is moving to mesa.

oh man, i'm getting excited.
i'm also getting pretty nervous about starting school.
i've been out of school for a year, and let's be honest here, my study habits weren't that great to begin with. i hope i do well in the classes. but i've also been in a lab full time for a year. i'm excited to start new labwork.
i hope i make a good scientist.

i'm pretty jealous of dan. he's got a GREAT setup. he gets to work from home full time, which means he doesn't have to get dressed in the morning (something i hate doing, along with showers. i'm gross, i know.) and he gets to be with the puppies all day. oh ya, we're taking our dogs D and tomi with us!
but he also said he's excited about having time to cook dinner every night. something i am also happy about :D


summary:

we have a great life together <3

HUGE UPDATE!

so, it's been awhile. here's what we've been up to:

• we've been working like CRAZY. we like to get on insane save/make-money kicks. or maybe our whole marriage we've been on just one really big kick? probably.
• amanda picked up tutoring on the side. she currently tutors trig and genetics.
• dan has been working a lot of overtime AND manages to keep the apartment looking nice. and feeds amanda well.
  
• after being married for over a year we finally got our wedding video. it is perfect. i wanted to post it here, but it's too big.
  
  here's a link:
  http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150089481135144&ref=nf
  
  
• amanda applied to graduates schools.
• amanda got interviews at the University of Utah and Arizona State University
• amanda got offers from both schools.
• team damanda searched, pondered, prayed, and made a whole lot of pro/con lists, and decided to go to arizona.
• dan found out he will be able to work from home no matter where we end up!
  
• dan has a potential raise coming as well.
• we went to arizona last weekend. friday we drove straight to pheonix after work, arrived at about 5am. saturday we spent the day looking at houses. saturday night we stayed at the nicest hotel dan has ever been to (but not the nicest hotel amanda's ever been to, because she's a spoiled little girl). we hot-tubbed. sunday we spent the day driving back to midvale.
• mon-wed: moving from our apartment to amanda's parents (to save money and avoid double house/rent payments) and getting approved for loans.
• today: made an offer on a house
• a couple of hours ago: got our offer ACCEPTED!

we'll be in arizona in august :)


more updates to come!!!

moustache.

you know what?

blogging is silly when you have a facebook and hardly enough life to fill even THAT up.
goodbye blog, i'll return when my life becomes eventful. or when i'm bored... like right now.

SCIENCE!

working full time is... full time. who would've thought?! i love my job though. right now i'm working on a gene mapping project. i did a suppressor screen last summer and found a cool mutation. it looked like it might be something we already know about - but it isn't! (yet, anyways). so i'm mapping it. it's super exciting :) hmmm... am i allowed to talk genetics here? jk. i won't bore you with silly details. but if you come over, don't be surprised if i force you to sit through a power point presentation of my work.

graduation, vegas, san rafael, more graduation

I graduated! yay!



B.S. in Biology, Minor in Music.
the ceremonies were ridiculously boring (and the talks were very cliche), but it was nice to walk around in my cap and gown and feel like i did something special :)

me and dan and jeni went to paris afterwards.



i mean, vegas. whatever.









it was a fantastic trip. we stayed at my aunt's house in henderson and hung out in her backyard pool. then we went to jeni's friend's wedding in boulder.
it was in the 90's the whole weekend. soooo nice!


the next weekend we went on a crazy camping trip at san rafael.
i almost died.

the hike:







it was super fun - but next time i'm going to need to work out before hand. i was definitely not prepared strength-wise.


the night we got back my mom threw me a graduation party!









the end.

regarding slacks.

does anyone understand how hard it is to find perfection twice in a lifetime?

fall 2003: i was shopping for slacks to wear on my lds proselyting mission. i didn't know exactly what i was looking for at the time, although i had been a fan of slacks for some time. i was going by feel--what felt nice, what felt strong, what felt easily wrinkleable (yes, you can feel that in a fabric). i was looking at style--cuffs on the legs, change pocket within the front right pocket, buttons on the back pockets, single button flag under a zipper fly (yes, i'm very particular). finally, i found what felt "right". it's hard to explain, but i knew that these were the pants i wanted. they were originally $75, but on sale for $35. i bought two.

december 2005: i had spent the last two years wearing these two pairs of slacks almost EVERY day and they still looked as good as new. the only damage to the pants at all came from getting my pants leg stuck in a bike chain and getting a horrible large sliver through the upper thigh. these pants were indestructable, and i wanted more. i set to work right away searching for the same slacks. i searched out the manufacturer--out of business. i found out the company that had taken over--they no longer made that style. i searched for pants made out of the same fabric (polyester/cotton blend)--nobody uses that. i gave up.

december 2008: after 5 years of wearing these slacks almost daily, there were definite signs of wear. although the pants themselves looked great, the cuffs were showing quite a bit of wear. Hundreds of washes had worn the fabric thin in some areas, although you wouldn't notice unless you looked closely. amanda had been searching online for polyester/cotton slacks and actually found some! on sale!! we ordered 3 pairs in my size. when the pants arrived i found out that i had probably put on some weight, while my old slacks had stretched out with me. 30X30 just didn't cover it anymore. we tried to take these pants back to jcpenney to get the next size up, but they didn't have the right size. we called this battle a loss.

april 2009: "i'll take three! i don't even need to try these on!! i'll buy them right now!!!"

happy pants

we went shopping last night... after years and years of searching, dan finally found his pants.

good morning!

i woke up this morning to weird noises in the other room. i went to check it out - dan was doing push ups.

made me super happy :)

blaue boon for ogen boon?

"come on babe! i helped you out earlier in the game! repay the favor!!"

"no! i'm going to make you eat that ogen boon. hahaha."

"baaaabe! come on!! this is spiteful!"

"no, this is me being smart!"

yes, babe, you are smart. i'm glad you're not afraid to win. i'm glad you're smart enough to win. i love you.