Jenn

New Blog!

2009-01-07T11:20:00.000-08:00

It was an eventful Christmas break! And my favorite event was the day I became Mrs. Rost! Rob and I are so happy, and to share our happiness with everyone else, we have created a new blog together. Well, Rob created it and put my name on it..:)I will be deleting this blog, so make sure you add our new blog to YOUR blog!

www.rostlikefrost.blogspot.com

or just click HERE!

4 things

2008-12-06T18:32:00.000-08:00

Well, Drew didn't tag me, but what can I say, I am sick of studying and have nothing better to do. so....

4 things

4 Things I was doing 10 years ago:

1. Highland dancing
2. Being a typical 12 year old and cared about what I wore and what other people thought of me
3. Making my mom drive me and my friends everywhere
4. Being a royal pain in the butt to all my teachers. loved being the class clown.

4 things on my list to do today:
1. Study for all my finals next week.
2. laundry and housework
3. study
4. oh... and study. (just a smidgen stressed out with school)

4 Things I love about my husband(soon to be..):
1. He leaves me little notes around the house every time he leaves des moines
2. He is always looking for ways to make me happy.
3. That I can sit and talk to him for hours. And that he sits and listens to all my ramblings about all the interesting things I have read in my textbooks or learned at school or clinicals.
4. He is incredibly smart and people respect his opinion because he knows so much.

4 Jobs I have had:
1. 1st job was when I was 14 and I worked in the school cafeteria as a credit when I was in 8th grade. Got paid to go to school...
2. Worked for the city in high school and did summer camps and coached 7th grade boys basketball.
3. clerical work for a general contractor
4. clerk at Banner Good Sam. aka: question answerer, person to complain to, and girl that hospital staff and patients hit on
5. have to add a 5th because this was my favorite. In the winter my sister and I would pick the oranges off our tree and sell them. We made bank for little kids.

4 movies I have seen more than once:
1. Almost all Adam Sandler movies
2. The Island
3. Hitched
4. Legally blonde

4 Places I have lived:
1. Salt Lake city
2. mesa
3. Des moines
4. soon to be Phoenix!

4 Places I have visited:
1. Scotland
2. Jamaica, haiti, grand cayman island, and cozumel (cruise)
3. Rocky Pointe, mexico
4. New York City

4 T.V. Shows I watch:
1. House
2. The doctors
3. Grey's anatomy (starting to see a theme??!?)
4. anything on the food network

4 Things you may not know about me:
1. I am not very daring at trying new foods. I pretty much stick to what I know I like and don't venture outside of that. But, I have to say, I have a big range of what I do eat already.
2. I read every chapter in my anatomy and physiology books 3 times in a 2.5 month time span.
3. Well, my family knows this, but I am freak about having a super clean bed. Sheets, mattress, comforter, pillows, everything. Dust mites are the ugliest things alive. AND YOU CAN'T SEE THEM! ewww
4. I hate reading fiction books.

2008-11-30T08:00:00.000-08:00

I finally got our wedding invitations out. Sorry for those that started freaking out (I got quite a few phone calls and texts...) wondering if we were still getting married and if they were invited....
So since the wedding invitations have arrived in people's mail boxes, I thought it is okay to post some of our engagement photos; complements to Ryan Hoffman Photography.

December 19th!!!!

Only 19 more days!!

I AM A SURVIVOR

2008-11-24T11:15:00.000-08:00

I survived my first SINGLE DIGIT day. On Friday it was 8 degrees when I left for school at 8:30 in the morning.

Yes, I toughed it out. And counted the many minutes I spent shivering as my exercise for the day.

Chex Mix, Harrison style

2008-11-21T12:56:00.000-08:00

My mom has been making this for us since we were little and it is still one of my favorite snacks/desserts. It is addicting, once you start eating it, you find yourself still eating it hours later.

And, Rob loves it too, so I will be making it after I write this post.

I know it has corn syrup, and I am sorry, because I know that corn syrup is in EVERYTHING and isn't good for you in high quantities, but trust me, this stuff is so good that you will hope that it is the first thing you get to shove in your mouth when you walk into heaven. and this is how I think: raisins=healthy. nuts=healthy. seeds=healthy. rice chex=healthy. so... Chex mix=healthy

So here it is... feel free to add as much mixed nuts, sunflower seeds, and raisins as you like. or omit them if you don't like some of them. Also, craisins are delicious in this too.

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup Karo syrup
1 Tablespoon vanilla
1 box chex cereal (I suggest rice or corn. wheat isn't so good in this)
mixed nuts
sunflower seeds (salted are best)
raisins

Mix cereal, nuts, seeds, and raisins together in a large bowl. set aside.

Bring butter, sugar and karo syrup to a boil. Boil for 3 minutes only. DO NOT GO OVER THE 3 MINUTES!!!! If you do, your chex mix will cool down and be hard and crunchy instead of chewy like it is supposed to be. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla. (it will kind of foam up a bit, take a deep breath, this is normal)

Pour syrup mixture over cereal mixture and fold in.

Put in a tupperware container for storage.

2008-11-03T10:21:00.000-08:00

The fall trees and colors are absolutely GORGEOUS! I'm going to be sad when all the leaves fall off and I have to look at bare trees.

What girls can do and guys can't...

2008-10-21T11:08:00.000-07:00

Multitask

Pella, Iowa; AKA Dutch country

2008-10-07T12:37:00.000-07:00

This past week Rob was here and on Saturday we decided to take a short little trip to Pella, Iowa. It is about 45 minutes East of Des Moines, so I could handle this type of roadtrip (I hate roadtrips...)

Rob lived in Holland for the first 8 years of his life and so Pella was somewhere that we were looking foward to seeing. This little town is committed to keeping close ties with dutch heritage. Downtown is really cute with red-brick roads, a canal, gorgeous flowers everywhere, and dutch style buildings. It also has the nation's largest working windmill. We had a lovely (greek) lunch, looked at the dutch shops, bakeries, and meat markets. And, suprisingly, we had a lot of fun.
Rob was just happy that he found some dutch mayonaise:)

And my sweetheart was sweet enough to let me practice scanning on him. It is funny to look at this picture because almost all the ultrasound pictures you see couples post are either of the baby or of the mom getting the scan. I think it is funny to have the guy getting the scan. You just don't see pictures of it on peoples blogs... that's why Rob and I are just so cool. One day I scanned his abdominal aorta and in this picture we are looking at his liver. super fun!

It TASTES like Fall!

2008-09-28T14:41:00.000-07:00

After all the years of my family making fun of me because I lack cooking skills, I now have Rob to prove that I CAN COOK! With the help of my mom, enrichment night, emily's delicious recipes, and a cookbook that my mom gave me, I have to say, I am a pretty darn cook.

Right now there are so many yummy fall/summer foods in season and I think food just tastes better when it is in season. So... here are some of my favorite recipes that I have made recently that just taste like fall!

Apple Oatmeal Cookies

Now, I am fortunate enough to live just blocks away from a large farmer's market AND an apple orchard. So Rob and I picked up some fresh picked, local Honey Crisp apples for this recipe. And in my opinion (Rob disagrees), the cookies are pretty healthy. Even though we don't agree on that, we agree that they are yummy and so moist.

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 1/3 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup butter (melt & cool)
1 egg
1/4 cup milk
2 cups apples (peel and chop in little chunks)

Mix everything together
Bake at 375 for 12 minutes

Freezer Jam

Berries are just going out of season right now, so get them while you can! Rob and I made strawberry-rasberry jam, and at enrichment night, I made strawberry-rasperry-blueberry jam. IT IS SUPER EASY TO MAKE! AND INCREDIBLY GOOD, especially on fresh baked bread.

Just make sure you follow the recipe exactly or you might get jam that doesn't set up very well. And whatever you do, resist sticking a spoon or finger that you already licked back in the jam. Not only is this tasting method unsanitary, but the enzymes in your saliva break down the gelatin, which results in jam that doesn't set.

**** I am only posting how to make strawberry jam. If you use a different fruit, you need to follow the ratios that are in the insert for your pectin****

EXACTLY 2 cups mashed berries(about 1 lb whole berries)
- wash, destem, and mash with a potatoe masher.

Add EXACTLY 4 cups of sugar to the berries and stir well. Let sit for 10 minutes.

Add Certo brand premium liquid fruit pectin to fruit mixture. Stir for about 3 minutes until the sugar is completely dissolved and no longer grainy. It's okay if there are still a few sugar crystals.

Pour into small 1-2 cups size containers. Let sit at room temperature for 24 hours. It will then be ready to eat or to freeze.

Freezes for a year. Once taken out and put into fridge, it will last for about a month.

Everything just... Fits

2008-09-22T18:38:00.000-07:00

I don't know if everyone has gone through a period in their life similar to what I am feeling right now, but I just feel like everything has worked out perfectly for me and that everything I am doing is in every shape and form what I am supposed to be doing. Well, except for being away from Rob. But, that isn't included.

I am absolutely LOVING the sonography program. There are 6 other girls in my program and then like 7ish girls in the cardiac program. Everyone is from a different walk of life, but we have such a blast in our classes and labs.

If anyone knows me, they know I have a passion for anatomy and physiology and all that goes with it. Oh my heavens, I have been in heaven. Sweet, blessed, heaven full of diseases, arteries, veins, muscles, organs, and anomalies. Sorry, that may sound sick, but it is SO AMAZING! Our body is AMAZING! I have no idea how someone could have a body and not believe in God.

What I am trying to get at is that it feels so good to know that I am going into a profession that is right for me. It feels so good to know that I am marrying a wonderful, sweet, loving, gentleman and that he is the guy destined to be with me. It feels so great to feel like the sonography program I am in is right for me. (minus the living in des moines part... ) Life is great!

Oh... but I do have a little complaint because well, I don't really enjoy too much about Des Moines, IA. So, everyone that finds out that I am from Arizona makes a comment about how I am going to hate the winter here. I swear, EVERYONE. Comments like these make me want to be back in my backyard floating in the pool with the hot arizona sun beating on my skin:

"When my kids graduate, I am getting out of here. I do not want to stay for another winter"
"Last winter I thought I was going to die. Not just once, a couple of times."
"It gets to -20 degrees here."
"Its not so much the snow that sucks, it is the ice storms."
and the farmers almanac, which is better than the weather forecasters said that last year was the worst winter in like 30 years and that this winter is going to be worse than last year. And that we should be expecting snow by mid-late October.

OCTOBER.

You. have. to. be. kidding. me

never thought I would miss the Arizona sun, but I would take it about now.

Missin Rob and...

2008-09-05T15:35:00.000-07:00

Arizona and my family and good mexican food and stinky (nickname for our dog) and everyone that I know in Arizona.

But mostly, Rob.

I was watching TV with my roommate's dog, Charlie, and the dish wasn't getting any signal, so I opened the blinds to see if the weather was bad and it is pouring rain. Luckily the rain doesn't screw up my computer or else I would have probably resulted in reading more of my ultrasound physics book. Not the most interesting of books...

But it is really nice to just look out the window and enjoy watching the rain. Something Arizonans don't get to see very often.

But... I wish Rob was here to watch it with me.

I am officially an Iowan

2008-09-02T12:22:00.001-07:00

Well, it was a really long drive (23 hours to be exact) but I made it to Des Moines with my back seat driver, Rob. I have one word to describe the scenery: CORN!!!! I swear that from the very beginning of Nebraska all the way until I pulled into my new driveway, there was CORN on both sides of the highway, THE WHOLE WAY!

We have pretty much spent most of our time getting settled in, buying everything that I need and enjoying the beautiful weather. It is so funny when I hear people say "it is soooooo hot!" When I was just thinking to myself, man, it sure feels good out here!

Moving in Des Moines weather was absolutely wonderful compared to Mesa. I wasn't drenched in sweat after the first box...

Let's see... what else could I tell you about...

I have really enjoyed cooking dinners and lunches for us. Emily's cooking website has came in handy and we have LOVED all the recipes we have tried from there.
We also went to the farmer's market and picked up a bunch of fresh fruit and veggies and had a scrumptious dinner with them. Of course we had to try the Iowa sweet corn, which was delicious. You should be jealous. mmmmm....

For Labor Day, we kayaked the Raccoon River. Well, part of it. 6 miles to be exact. If anyone visits or moves to Iowa, I do not recommend this. If I wasn't paddleing, I was moving backwards. The water was so low and it was pretty windy. For about the last 45 minutes, I did not want to paddle one more time. But... that's the awful thing about it, I mean, the GREAT thing about it. You can't just stop paddleing when you want to quit, there is no where to get off and quit.... you just have to keep paddleing. But we did it!

Um... I think that is about it for now. Rob has to go back home to Phoenix tomorrow, so I better spend as much time with him as I can.

Our new entertainment

2008-08-08T15:11:00.000-07:00

As I have said like a million times, I know these pictures suck, but have sympathy on me, my camera is a gonner, I have to get a new one, so you will have to put up with cell phone pics for now.

But... if you can't tell, this is Rob playing one of our new favorite things.

THE Wii

While we were in Des Moines, my mother bought a Wii. yes... my mother. If you don't know my mom, let me tell you a little bit about her. She RARELY watches t.v., she would rather read a book. We have owned:
the atari
nintendo
nintendo 64
sega
playstation
playstation 2

never have I seen my mother play ANY of the games. So, it was a BIG suprise to find out that my mom bought a nintendo system. But, we are happy she bought it because it has been a total blast.

We have been playing tennis, baseball, boxing, and then doing yoga, aerobics, and strength training. And, I am a yoga master according to the Wii :) :) :) :) Who would have thoght.

I really want one for when I move to Iowa, but I am not sure I want to dish out the $400 for a game... we'll see.

More pictures from Des Moines

2008-08-08T14:35:00.000-07:00

Here are the cell phone pictures that Rob took while we are in Des Moines. I know... they are all of me, and it may look like I am in love with my self, when really it is that Rob is in love with me and took all the pictures.

This is one of the many tornado shelters signs that are posted. Something you NEVER see in Arizona.

I am standing in line at YOUNKERS. It is a department store kind of like Dillards that they have all over the place in Iowa.

Rob and I ate at this Greek restaurant on Friday night and they had our favorite... GREEK FRIES! mmm.... If you want to try them, there is this delicious place in Mesa at the AMC 24 on stapley called Cyprus pita grill that serves them. You will fall in love. But as we were waiting for our food, Rob took pictures of me posing as a model and making weird faces.

And this is the hat off of a manican at younkers that Rob made me wear while he took a picture. You can tell I really liked the hat by my facial expression.

Talking to my momma while Rob got some white hot chocolate.

We spent a little bit of time finding a mattress. I think this is the one I chose. Pretty comfy....

Update on LIFE

2008-08-05T13:18:00.000-07:00

I had a short conversation with Rob's brother on Sunday evening in the Des Moines airport where I was chastened for not updating my blog. Might I add that I had the hardest time understanding Rob's brother with his really thick accent. So to spare myself from another embarassing conversation where I am chastened for not updating my blog... I will list 5 things that have happened recently in our lives.

1. We had a birthday BBQ for my little sister, Chantel. Chantel whined at my brother, Jayson's birthday because Rob and I got a pinata for Jayson. I guess Chantel always wanted a pinata when she was little and she never got one. So... Rob and I headed over to the Ranch Market in Phoenix and got her this HUMONGOUS spongebob squarepants pinata. It took her like 5 minutes to find where the pinata was, and a good 5 minutes of getting the crap beat out of it before it broke.

2. Rob was baptized! I can't find the pictures from his baptism, but when I find them, I will put them on here. It was a WONDERFUL experience for me (and him:)) Words cannot describe what a wonderful experience it was.

3. We went to Des Moines!

We got back Sunday night. We found a place for me to live while I am going to school and I went to orientation. We loved driving with the windows down and enjoying the CLEAN, COOL air. This is a picture of the state capitol. There was a little concert going on down the street from it one of the nights that we went and listened to for a bit.

4. We went to the Des Moines Farmer's Market Saturday morning. It was a HUGE event and it happens every Saturday from 7am-noon. It seemed like it was about 2 miles long and it was PACKED with people, and YUMMY food:)
We first enjoyed a delicious (probably the best I have ever had) piece of watermelon.

And then we came across this little tent serving some breakfast and it had pofferjies. Pofferjies are kind of like little itty bitty pancakes served with powdered sugar. It is a Dutch dish (Rob is dutch...) and Rob was in HEAVEN when he ate them.

5. We went to a piano bar. Where we drank non-alcoholic fruity drinks:) The pianists were amazing and one of the guys had an AMAZING voice. It was pretty cool. I know the picture is pretty bad... but we were trying not to have a flash go off while they were playing.

2008-07-21T07:13:00.000-07:00

Recently I received an email entitled "The Dangers of Plastic Bags." What would you think if you received this email?
To be honest, I thought to myself, 'hmm.... probably another tree-hugger email.'
But, since I don't have very much to do at work and currently don't have school to keep me busy, it could be an email entitled "How to fix a carburetor," and I would read it.

This was probably one of the best emails I have read in a long time. It was a little tree-huggerish, but maybe I was a little more receptive to it since I have been dating Rob for a while now. (He's VERY "green")

This is the slideshow that came in the email I received:
http://www.mobilebaynep.com/site/Forefront/TheDangersofPlasticBags.pdf

I would like everyone to be a little more observant of what we are doing to the Earth. Whether it be people throwing their cigarettes on the ground, using plastic bags from the grocery store, drinking out of water bottles, using sandwich baggies, saran wrap, driving when it is not necessary, mowing your lawn incessantly, wasting water, not conserving energy, and the list can go on and on....

After watching this little slideshow I decided to do 2 really, really simple things.

1. Reduce the number of plastic bags I use. To do this, I purchased for, I think $1, reusable grocery bags. One of them I got from Fresh & Easy marketplace and the other I picked up at Walmart.

I actually LOVE these bags more than plastic bags. I just keep it in my car, so I have it when I go to a grocery store. You can fit a ton of food in them and not have to worry about the bag breaking or have to make a million trips to and from your car to your kitchen. And, the majority of these bags are made out of recycled materials.

2. Reduce the number of water bottles I use. I drink A LOT of water throughout the day. And I usually just buy a bunch at the grocery store, or purchase them in the cafeteria at work. It would never even cross my mind when I would throw all these water bottles away everyday. So, what I do now is I have kept 4 waterbottles and just refill them every night. It doesn't matter that it isn't my favorite, SmartWater, it is JUST WATER!

Things like this are so incredibly easy to do. We just have to get out of the rut of having everything at our fingertips and so convenient.

The pictures and statistics in the email I received are disgusting. And WE are the sources for the problem.

God gave us a BEAUTIFUL Earth and WE are the ones that need to take care of it. I for one, don't want my posterity to have to live in filth.

she can cook!

2008-07-15T12:44:00.000-07:00

So, as previously mentioned, my new favorite sandwich is the mozarella caprese at Switch. So, I decided to make it. Let me tell you... MAN IS IT GOOD!!
This is how I made it:

Basil Pesto:
2 Cups fresh basil leaves(packed)
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
3 garlic cloves, minced
a little salt and pepper

The recipe says to only put certain ingredients in at a time in the food processor, but I thought it was a waste of time. And, I don't own a food processor. So, I just threw everything in at once in the blender and it turned out perfect.

Lemon-Garlic Mayonaise
Mayonaise
Fresh minced garlic
a little lemon juice

Just mix them all together. :)

Other ingredients needed for sandwich
Focaccia Bread (I got mine at fresh and easy and it was SO good!)
Fresh Mozarella sliced in thick pieces
lettuce
Fresh sliced tomatoes

Just spread some pesto on one piece of bread and some garlic-lemon mayo on the other piece of bread. Put mozarella, tomatoes and lettuce on and close the sandwich! ENJOY!

Trust me, this is a sandwich everyone needs to try.

Volunteers are Needed!!!

2008-07-10T13:08:00.000-07:00

Rob and I have volunteered to work at Homebase Youth Homeless Shelter. This shelter is on 9th street and Devonshire in downtown Phoenix. THIS is their website for more info.

We need some more people to help cook and serve breakfast for the youth staying at this shelter.

If you are wanting to volunteer, help out in the community, serve our Heavenly Father, or just don't have anything going on on July 19th from 8am-10am, please let me know if you are able to help. I am needing people that are SURE they can volunteer and that I can count on to come.

Text me, email me, call me, or leave a comment.

FOOD!

2008-07-08T15:26:00.000-07:00

I have made a list of places that I want to eat at before I leave for Des Moines. If you couldn't tell, I LOVE food! And Phoenix has so many cute little places with EXCELLENT food that I have wanted to try for the longest time.

I am so glad I work in Phoenix and received the opportunity to realize that the food choices in MESA... well... SUCK.

A few of my favorite places in Phoenix that I am really going to miss are:

1. Switch
their mozarella caprese on a ciabatta roll is one of the best sandwiches I have ever had.

2. My Florist Cafe
Food is excellent! And if you go there at night (not sure if it is every night) there is this AMAZING pianist that plays on the baby grand piano.

3. The breadfruit authentic Jamaican grill
Really really spicy, but it was pretty tasty. And really healthy too. They had this interesting carrot juice that was actually really refreshing.

4. Ritos Mexican Food
As ghetto as you can get. Doesn't have a name on the building, only accepts cash and has a ridiculously small menu. But I haven't had anything there that wasn't good.

5. Red Devil Pizza
MMM....

6. Chelsea's Kitchen
Everything I have had except for the chicken tacos have been mmmm...mmmm good!

7. La Grande Orange
Breakfast here is the best anywhere.

On monday, Rob and I tried Mac Alpines Soda Fountain on Central. It was pretty fun! very old fashioned and the ice cream sodas were delicious!

Let's get a little political

2008-07-03T14:30:00.000-07:00

**** DISCLAIMER: In no way am I trying to force anyone to do anything. In no way is this meant to be violent. In no way am I saying that I hate illegal immigrants. In no way do I want to argue with anyone. This is my opinion and my feelings about illegal immigration. Yes, I see it on an ever day basis and yes, I did do research before hand mainly on the United States Immigration support website.****

I'm a US citizen. I am also an Arizonan. I am a student. I am a part of the working class. I pay my taxes. I pay for medical insurance. I pay for car insurance. If I get a fine, I pay the fine. I take my car in for emissions. I speak English. I follow US and Arizona laws.

Living in Arizona, going to school in Arizona and working in a hospital in downtown Phoenix has made me have pretty strong feelings towards illegal immigration.

On a minutely (not monthy, daily, or hourly... minutely) basis, I deal with illegal immigrants that

1. Don't speak English. Demand an interpreter. And are suprised when you say you don't speak Spanish.

2. Ask how to apply for a social security card the second after they have a baby.

3. Make US citizens with health insurance that are in the emergency room wait because they are clogging up the emergency room with sore throats, coughs, and the common cold because they don't have insurance.

4. Ask for AHCCC

and my list can just go on and on...

So when I heard the illegal mexicans on TV whining about Sheriff Joe Arpaio asking for proof of citizenship when they are pulled over by an officer, it threw me over the edge. Why is it that they think they have rights in our country? Why is it that they think they can do whatever they want? Why is it that they think that it is not fair that OUR officers are abiding by our immigration laws? If you were here legally, you have nothing to worry about it you are asked to prove your citizenship. If you are here illegally, your sorry ass deserves to be sent back to where you came from.

Every illegal citizen here in the United States is a criminal. Yes, CRIMINALS. They broke a pretty big US law by crossing the border illegally. And criminals deserve to be treated like CRIMINALS.

For those of you who think that illegal immigration is not a problem, did you know that an estimated 12 million - 20 million illegal immigrants reside in the United States? Did you know that 50% of the people on the roads in Arizona do not have insurance? Did you know that an estimated 4,500 undocumented mexicans try and cross our southern border EACH DAY. That's 1,642,500 a year. Did you know that our country is giving ILLEGAL Immigrants (CRIMINALS), benefits that many of our own citizens don't get to enjoy such as
-Licences
-In-state tuition
-financial aid
-welfare
-mortgages
-bank accounts
-health care
-AHCCC

They get fake ID's, they get fake social security cards with fake social security numbers on it, they get fake green cards. They are then hired by employers that don't run these fake ID's through. Why? My guess is cheap labor. Why would they hire a willing to work American for $10/hr when they can hire an illegal alien for minimum wage? However, that minumum wage isn't a tax payers minimum wage. Their minimum wage has no taxes taken out. Anyways, they then are paid, get a W2 and the government gets their W2 with a fake social security number. Their unpaid taxes and W2's are stashed into what the government calls a "earnings suspense file" in hope of finding out who the W2's belong to someday. This file is growing and has about $50 billion every year of unpaid taxes in it.

In other words... we are paying them a pretty good wage, they don't pay any taxes, they receive health care, welfare, financial aid and all the benefits of living in America, while we pay for them to enjoy all this. We pay for them to live on our land, we pay for them to drive on our roads, we pay for EVERYTHING for them to live here as criminals, illegally on our land.

I for one, and sick of it. I understand that they come from a country where their living circumstances may not be the greatest. But, look at our world... They are not the only country that is struggling. They are not the only country with high poverty (although they were ranked #4 for the most millionaires). They are not the only country!

They are making a mockery of our country. Coming here, breaking our immigration laws. Not learning English. Breaking more of our laws by driving without a drivers licenses, insurance, not registering their vehicles, not getting emmissions checked, not paying taxes, using fake ID's, social security cards, and green cards, working illegally, and then lets not forget the thousands of burglaries, drug raids, smuggling, murders, assault charges, and hit-and-run accidents that they are involved with. And then running rally's and marches waving the Mexican flag on our soil demanding rights. Do you as an American have any rights in Mexico? Didn't think so.

Our government, and us, need to do something. We need to secure our borders. Get the ones that are here, out of here. Quit giving them all the luxuries and benefits that they are receiving. And show them that we are not going put up with them breaking our laws! We will probably never be able to completely rid illegal immigration. But we can start decreasing the ones coming in and getting the ones that are here out.

Please, please, please pay attention to what is happening in politics here locally, in the state, and across the country. A big election is coming up pretty soon and WE are the ones that need to vote responsibly. WE need to know what the candidates WE are voting for stand for.

sUpRiSe!!!!

2008-06-30T07:58:00.000-07:00

This past saturday was pretty eventful. I thought I was going with my mom to get my dress altered on Saturday. So I grabbed my dress, had to shop for shoes the week prior and headed out the door with my mom. When we arrived at "Mrs. Smith's" house I rang the door bell and one of the ladies that volunteers at work with me answered the door! I was in complete shock, but it hadn't sunk in that it was a suprise party. I thought she was friends with "mrs. smith." After about a minute I finally caught on. It was hilarious and so much fun.

The ladies that volunteer at the hospital are the sweetest, most generous, funnest group of ladies. They have taught me so much. Every week at work is a blast with them. And they went WAY out of their way to plan this suprise bridal shower for me. It was so fun and a great group of gals to spend my Saturday with.

My ALL-TIME favorite cake from Tammie Coe Cakes.

Rob joined us for cake at the very end. I still can't believe he knew about this all along and didn't blurb! And this is Lennie.

The yummy cake again with Carmen

Carmen, Lennie and my lovely Mother in their toilet paper dresses.

Barb, my mom, and Marian

Diane, Carmen and Donna Rae

Barbara and Lennie

Part of one of the games we played. Was hilarious.

The whole gang! They are so wonderful to me. And they put a lot of work into this special day for me. I had a TON of fun with them. A wonderful, wonderful suprise!

Meet Will

2008-06-24T13:06:00.001-07:00

This is Will, Rob's cat. However, since Rob will be commuting back and forth between Des Moines and Phoenix, he won't be able to take care of Will anymore. So we are trying to find a home for him. We don't want to give him to a shelter or the humane society because... well, they aren't that humane...
But, seriously, if you are able to take care of a cat and need someone to keep you company or to have fun with, let me know. He really is incredibly sweet, really cute, and loves to be loved. He has been neutered. He is an indoor-only cat. Is great with other dogs and cats. Is fine with kids picking him up and petting him. he is just a perfect cat! And he needs a home!

What have I been up to???

2008-06-18T09:01:00.001-07:00

Since Rob LOVES Indiana Jones, it was a must that we went and saw the new Indiana Jones movie. Rob didn't like it one bit, but I thought it was better than the other Indiana Jones movies that he tortured me with. After the movie we went and had fun at Dave & Busters playing arcades with our friend Dee Dee. This is a picture of me kicking some bootay at the racing game.

Now this may seem a little weird, but I was driving in to work this morning and was completely disgusted by the air quality. I remember when Rob proposed to me for the 2nd time on top of South Mountain and I commented on how pretty all the mountains surrounding the valley were. However, this morning, none of those pretty mountains existed. All the gross crap that we fill the air with are clouding the view of them. (I shouldn't be the one to talk though... I drive quite a bit...)
It made me think though. It truly was disgusting to see the air look so poor.

We have been enjoying holding our new Nephew, Bennett. He is so tiny, and so cute. The second photo is what my brother sent to me after we visited him. (if you can't read it, it says "thanks for coming over Aunt Jenn and Rob")

I have wanted to take Rob to bahama bucks for the longest time, but didn't know it still existed. However, we found 2 of them! This was Rob's comment when he ate it:
"I never thought I was a deprived child..." He started to think he was after ate this.

We had lots of fun babysitting Addison, Leith and Sylus (spelling?)
We went on a bike ride, blew bubbles, played soccer, and enjoyed cleaning up after Sylus pooped in the bath tub.

Other than that, I just finished my final class yesterday until I move to Des Moines. Feels good to be done. We chose had our engagement photos done, chose our linens/centerpieces and all that good stuff for the wedding, chose wedding bands, and everything is just coming along well!

A Sad Goodbye

2008-06-05T12:32:00.000-07:00

If you are new to my blog, you may not know that I am moving to Des Moines, Iowa in August to begin a long sought after sonography program. I am really really excited!
But, I am also going to miss a lot of Arizona. Arizona is basically all I have known, and I really love living here.

I was reading Aubrey's Blog and she had this cute thing posted on ways you know you are from Arizona. These are a few of the ones I really liked: (mainly because they are SOOOOO true!)

You can attend any function wearing shorts and a tank top. (and flip flops!)

The temperature drops below 85, you feel a bit chilly

You realize that snowbirds aren't really birds at all, but just really bad out of state drivers that hate their winters

You take rain dances seriously

You know better than to get into a car with leather

Most of the restaurants in town have the first name "El" or "Los."

You buy salsa by the gallon

You think a red light is merely a suggestion

You can pronounce Saguaro, Tempe, San Xavier, Canyon de Chelly, Mogollon Rim, Cholla, Gila and Tucson.

You burn your hand opening the car door

You can be in the snow, then drive for an hour...and it will be over 100 degrees

You can hear the weather forecast of 115 degrees without flinching.

The best parking is determined by shade.....not distance.

BUT!!!
I love Arizona!
This nurse came into work today and talked to me. I found out she is from outside of Des Moines and the one thing she had to say to me was: "wear warm clothes..."
ARIZONA DOESN'T SELL WARM CLOTHES

Back in the Day....

2008-06-03T08:17:00.000-07:00

I was recently looking through the Victoria's Secret magazine that was mailed to my house. And many of the photos made the girls boobs look like this. I just don't get it! That looks like the most uncomfortable outfit I can ever imagine! Smooshed boobs for a whole evening, on purpose. Ughh... shoot me instead!

I just don't understand the appeal. Along with the discomfort, pain and complete unhappiness, it makes it look like she has 6 boobs!
1 & 2. the ones under her dress
3 & 4. the ones just above her dress
5 & 6. the ones schmeemed to under her armpits.

I knew that women care about how BIG their boobs are, but I didn't know that they cared about having more than 2 of them! I have never felt so old fashioned until I saw all these pictures!

Can you imagine trying to shove 5 boobs in a sports bra, or having to run with 5 boobs, or what a bra might look like with 5 cups? Oh the fun a guy would have with not only 2 boobs, but 5!!! (Rob is probably rolling his eyes right about now...)

Anyways, I guess what it comes down to is that I am happy with 2 boobs, thank you very much!

All warm and tingly

2008-05-28T14:06:00.000-07:00

Sorry that this photo is so unclear, but I still haven't called my camera company and so my camera still won't turn on. That is why you guys have had to be entertained by camera phone pictures. But, today Rob suprised me with a bouquet of flowers this morning and then left me with this little note when I was busy at work.

Why am I so blessed? Everything has just worked out for me my whole life.

And... I did notice that the note is on a sticky for hospice of Arizona. No, I was not trying to advertise them, but hey, if you need their number, now you know where to find it!
Have a great day!

Gotta Love AZ Weather

2008-05-23T13:27:00.000-07:00

Only in Arizona does it go from 110 degrees on Monday, to 55 degrees on Friday and then supposed to be 92 by Sunday.
It is pouring rain right now and I am enjoying smelling and seeing it rain outside. It is beautiful!!! Us Arizonans don't get to see the rain very often so it is a nice change from the blistering hot.

Things I enjoyed with yesterday's weather:
not burning my hand on my steering wheel
not feeling like I am in a sauna with a blowdryer on me when I get into my car after work.
not having my back look like I rolled in a puddle of water when I get out of my car.
not being blinded by the sun when I drive East at 6:30
Being able to wear a long sleeve shirt.
Being able to walk outside without sweating.
Being able to smell rain.
Having a breeze.

God loves us Arizonans and wanted to give us a break.

It's already MAY!

2008-05-09T08:27:00.001-07:00

First things first. I AM AN AUNT! Jay and Halima had their first baby, Bennett, on Sunday and he is adorable. Rob and I and the family went over to the hospital to visit on Sunday evening.

Second, I GOT MY DRESS! It is gorgeous!

Third, we chose a date and place for our wedding! It will be on December 19th, 2008 at the Wright House. BEAUTIFUL!

And since we are talking about beautiful, I think I should post a picture of my beautiful ring. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! The diamond is beyond superb.

And now on to some randomness.

I have never talked about my love for Boba. Boba is basically a smoothie (I love coconut & Milk) with these little balls of goo in it. Sounds gross, but these little balls of tapioca are delicious! Especially when they are from The Street Cafe (Southern/Dobson). A couple of weeks ago I asked Rob if he will bring me boba whenever he comes to visit me in Des Moines. Unfortunately I think the answer was a no because it would melt.

Random picture

2008-04-30T13:18:00.001-07:00

Rob left a suprise for me on my computer today and this photo was one of the suprises.
These adorable little girls at dance gave Rob and I some Christmas treats which were a pretzel with a chocolate kiss kind of melted on it. Rob had them in his car and some spilled on the passenger seat floor. He never cleaned them up and I was sitting in the passenger seat one day on the way home from Tia Rosas. I had my shoes off and we had the floor heater in the car on.
I looked down at my feet and said, "wow, my feet are disgusting! They are so dirty!"
When I looked at them closer I realized that it was melted chocolate all over my feet and on the bottom of my pants.
So this picture is me when we got home washing my feet in the kitchen sink:)
As for the beanie... I think it was sitting in Rob's car and I put it on.

Where it all began

2008-04-14T12:56:00.000-07:00

This is a picture that one of my favorite people in the whole world took for Rob and I. Her name is Diane and she is one of the volunteers that works with me. She took this picture at work (hence the name badges we are wearing) which is where Rob and I met. I always saw Rob at work and waved to him when he came over, but we never really talked. Then one day Rob had a fire drill in his building and he came over to get a drink. On his way out, he walked up to me and asked me out. Who would have thought that after a firedrill, chelsea's kitchen and F1 racing, we would be getting married!

Takin a break

2008-04-11T13:18:00.000-07:00

I have been studying since 7:00 this morning and since it is now 1:18, I decided I better take a break. So I signed on to write a blog to find out that my blog is all in FRENCH! Took me a while to figure out what to click to change it back to english.

I'll start off with my decision I made last Friday, or maybe it was 2 Friday's ago, who knows. I chose a sonography program! I will be moving to Des Moines Iowa, WHERE I WILL FREEZE MY BAHOOKEY OFF!!! I will attend Mercy College of Health Sciences, it is a private catholic college (won't I fit in?)beginnning in the fall. I love what the program looks like and everyone I have talked to has been so nice, friendly, and intellegent. Yes, intellegent. You wouldn't believe how intellectually challenged some of the people associated with the schools I have talked to in the past year have been.

Let me give you an example:
Convo with one school that couldn't think out-of-the-box:

School: Hi Jennifer, we are looking at your transcripts to apply to the sonography program and you are missing one of the pre-requisites, college algebra.

Me: I don't have college algebra, but I have pre-calc, and calculus. I took a placement test and passed out of college algebra and was placed in pre-calculus.

School: yes, we see that you took those classes, but unfortunately we are only choosing applicants that have the pre-requisite of college algebra.

Me: You do know that college algebra is a pre-requisite for calculus, right?

School: yes, but they only look at college algebra and you don't have college algebra.

Me: Okay... so what can I do?

School: You can take college algebra.

Me: You want me to go backwards and take college algebra?

School: that is the only thing you can do.

Me: alrighty then...

I am really excited to start and so glad that I got into a program. I spent a lot of time and money applying to programs across the US and worked really hard studying to keep a high GPA, and it ALL PAID OFF!

On another note... I GOT MY RING!!! I no longer have to wear the blue wax ring! It is absolutely gorgeous. The diamond is incredible and I am very, very happy:)Rob proposed for the second time last Friday at South Mountain with a beautiful sunset behind us and the whole valley below us. Perfect. I would post a picture to show off it's magnificence, but my camera is retarded and won't turn on. So... you will have to wait until I decide to call Kodak. I have been putting it off because I want to spare myself from talking to the customer service representative that landed in America yesterday and knows a total of 10 words in English. Let me accumulate some patience :) then I will post it.

Accepted

2008-04-01T07:50:00.000-07:00

As I was enjoying the lovely side-effects of stress in my work's ladies room, (too much information? I don't really care if you think it is too much information, I just put that there to be polite) it hit me! I HAVE A LOT GOING ON IN MY LIFE!!! So when I returned from the ladies room, I decided to stop studying and just relax. And my relaxation is writing a blog on what is going on in my life right now.

I got accepted into 3 sonography programs. They are in Des Moines, IA, Omaha, NE, and St. Cloud, MN. All ridiculously cold locations. I am going to go crazy when it is July and I don't burn my hands everytime I touch my steering wheel. I am super happy, but I envisioned this to be a happier and easier decision than is has turned out to be. Having to decide what is good for me is easy, but having to decide what is best for me and rob is a little bit more difficult. But we are praying and talking and getting a lot of advice to try and make this a little easier.

Then depending on the school I go to, school will either start in June or September. Not knowing when I will start is difficult for us becuase we are also trying to plan a wedding.

Then, I have a pathophysiology exam tonight. An exam on material that we covered the last 2 classes which I attended 30 minutes in the last 2 classes due to the lovely effects of stress noted above. So, I feel really unprepared, but what can you do, right?

Then to be the cherry on top of the whipped cream, it is April and that means that the blossoms on the citrus trees, (which we have 17 of) are nice and stinky. Now I know you are probably saying, stinky, what??? orange blossoms smell so good! no. they smell good if there is one or 2 trees. But when there is a whole grove of trees it smells more like vomit. True story.
And on top of it, Jenn has allergies to these stinky blossoms. So Jenn has spent the past couple of days feeling like crap with allergies, living in the bathroom with stress, and trying to decide what to do with school.

I think I feel a little better. Now I have to get back to studying for my exam in pathophysiology this evening. There is nothing better than studying alterations in neurologic function and disorders of the special senses. No, really, there is nothing better.

Well... maybe chocolate is better :)

March is almost over

2008-03-28T07:27:00.000-07:00

This is Rob and I celebrating our first St. Paddy's day together. Sportin the green. The Mesa Caledonian Pipe Band (who I used to play with) was playing at Padre Murphey's in Glendale. It was a blast. And when the pipe band came on, holy hannah, the crowd loved them. Drunks and pipes seem to go together. I also enjoyed a DELICIOUS corned beef and cabbage sandwich. mmmm...

I get made fun of quite a bit for this at work. I am always cold. It doesn't matter that currently it is 90 degrees outside, I will still have this heater on at my feet. When people come to my desk they think they are having hot flashes. I am in heaven though. I think my work should give it to me as a present when I leave for Des Moines.

This was the picnic that Rob had for me after he proposed. It was scruptious. He had all of my favorites. Hummus and gluten free pita bread, Irn Bru, Martinelli's, cheesecake, hot chocolate, and fruit. It was gorgeous outside and the company was the best part.

This is part of a little thing that I do everytime I walk by the sunglasses section of a store. I find the largest sunglasses I see and put them on. Then I turn to Rob and ask, "Do I look like a Bug?" This picture, though, was the policeman look.

It's the symbolism that I love

2008-03-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post what I have had on my left hand for the past couple of weeks. Rob's friend is a jeweler at Coffin & Trout and is making my ring. However, it is still being made, so I have the lovely opportunity to wear this BEAUTIFUL blue wax ring until it is finished. Hopefully it will be done in a week or so. I am REALLY excited to see it!

But, I have started to really like this blue ring on my finger. I don't really care that it isn't that attractive, but the meaning behind the ring is what I really like. I love that it is from Rob. And everytime I see it, feel it or someone points it out, I think of Rob and how much I love him.

2008-03-18T07:50:00.000-07:00

I figured today would be the perfect day to write a blog since spring break is officially over and I start class again this evening. And, Rob taught me how to do hyperlinks today, so in this email, I will be testing out my new skill. So there will be as many hyperlinks as I can fit in :)

Just an update on what has been going on in the past week or so. Last week was full of informing everyone about Rob and I being engaged. And... I am still smiling!!!!
Friday night we went to dinner at Taylor's favorite restaurant, Cafe Rio. I enjoyed a DELICIOUS pork taco salad. Rob had salmon tacos, something I would NEVER order. Then we went over to Jesterz, the comedy club, and talked in the parking lot until we realized that we were never going to get a seat in the show so we just kept talking in the car. Then went to my place where I fell asleep watching John Candy's movie, " Uncle Buck," but Rob of course stayed awake. What's new right?

Then saturday we went to the Renaissance Festival where we saw some REALLY weird people. The people there really go all out on costumes and accents and all that stuff. We also watched a really cool show done by Adam Crack who is a world champion whip cracker. Quite a job if you ask me. I enjoyed the show though. We just looked around and watched people and had a good time. Then afterwards went and picked up a book that I heard was excellent and some amaretto icecream at the marble slab. mmmmmm.....
let's see... then later on that night we went on a double date with Angela and her boyfriend Brian. We went to our favorite, Tia Rosas for dinner and then met some other friends at Four Peaks for a bon fire in the desert. It was a lot of fun. and the smores were pretty tasty!

The past couple weeks have been so wonderful not having to worry about memorizing and learning about diseases or applying to schools. I loved spending time with friends, family and the love of my life.

I'm officially engaged!

2008-03-10T12:31:00.000-07:00

After a long vacation in the caribbean this past week I sat down on the plane in Fort Lauderdale to come home. After I had buckled my seat belt and got settled in, the stewardess announced over the PA system, "will Jennifer Harrison please stand up?" I stood up and she announced this over the PA: " Jennifer Harrison, you are the most beautiful person inside and out. I missed you so much. I am so blessed you are in my life. I love and respect you with every ounce of me. See you in a few hours. Yours for eternity, Rob." The plane was oohhhing and awwwing and everyone was asking about him, including the flight attendants because they didn't know how he was able to get the message to them.

Then when I stepped out of the plane in Phoenix, Rob was standing at my gate in a tux with a sign that said "Jennifer M. Harrison, Will you marry me?"

I said YES!!! and I am now engaged to the love of my life, Rob. I don't think I have stopped smiling from the time that I saw him dressed in his handsome, handsome tux. I truly am the luckiest girl in the whole world. I am treated so well. I feel loved at every moment of every day. I am so blessed to be able to spend eternity with Rob. I love him more than anything in the world and don't think I have been more sure or more happy about anything in my whole life. He is my love. He is my sweetheart. He is my pal. And yes... I am STILL smiling:)

**** since everyone is asking... We don't have a date set quite yet. We are waiting to hear from some schools that I applied to before choosing a special day!****

Land, Sea and Water

2008-03-10T07:50:00.001-07:00

I safely landed in Phoenix after a WONDERFUL cruise with my sister and parents. We stopped in: Haiti, Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel.

In Haiti, Chantel and I went on the largest zipline over water. It wasn't as much as a thrill as I was hoping it to be. It was more like how parasailing in Rocky Pointe was: a beautiful view.

Then in Jamaica my mom and I hiked Duns River Falls. I cannot begin to tell you how beautiful the falls were. So much fun!

Then in the Caymans, my mom and I went on a tour to Hell (not great at all), the Rum Cake factory, a huge turtle farm, and then we were taken out about 30 minutes into the middle of the ocean where there was a sandbar. There were TONS of stingrays, huge and small. We got to get in the water with them and they swim all around you, rub up on you, and we held quite a few of them. At first I didn't want to really touch them, but my tour guide brought one up to me and told me to hold it I told him nicely about 5-6 times that I didn't want to and started to back away from him when he said "DON'T YOU MAKE ME CHASE YOU!" I held it and then after that he had the stingray give me a back massage. Very nice...This was probably my favorite thing that we did. It was really, really cool.

Then in Cozumel, I shopped a little and just read. I finished 'The Five Love Languages' as well as 'The Diary of Anne Frank' while I was on the ship.

On the boat I did some rock climbing with my Dad. Did this flowrider surfing/boogie boarding thing (I want one in my backyard). Ate really good food. Went to some really good shows. Sat out at the pool. Watched a lot of people biff it on the flowrider. Shopped. And RELAXED!

Stingrays in Cayman with my mom.

Stingrays again!

Monkey and a bat

We think it is an ant-eater, but not really sure.

The beautiful beach in Cozumel. I think Cozumel had the prettiest water of all of the ports we stopped at.

This is an iguana (sp?) in Grand Cayman. They were EVERYWHERE!

Turtle at the turtle farm in Grand Cayman.

Hell in Cayman island.

Hell.

Pirate guy. These things were at just about every store.

Elephant.

Duns River Falls in Jamaica.

Duns River Falls.

A little lizard that was on the railing at the Falls.

Duns River falls.

Duns River falls.

Duns River falls.

Duns River Falls with my Mom!

A bunny?

Haiti

Chantel and I in Haiti with our ship behind us.

Just finished the zipline.

In Haiti with Chantel again.

Swan

Rock climbing

Rock climbing

Me on the Flowrider!

Doing the safety lecture on the first day.

Beach view from our hotel in Miami.

When I get old... I want to be like these ladies

2008-02-29T07:49:00.001-08:00

Andrew that works for the mail room had this conversation with 2 of the funniest volunteers in the hospital.

Bev: Oh, do you have any mail for me?

Andrew: No, I am sorry.

Margaret: You aren't going to get any mail, you don't even have any friends that can write!

Bev: Yah, you are right...

CANADA

2008-02-27T07:23:00.000-08:00

As some of you may know, Rob and I went to his hometown in Canada last week. I had so much fun with him and his mom. But, of course, it was FREEZING! There is nothing like feeling like you have 20 layers of clothes on and still being cold! I received quite a few text messages checking to see how I was handling the cold. I figured me sending the text message back to them was a good sign that my fingers hadn't turned into popsicles.
I went sledding for the first time! (or taboggoning as the Canucks call it...) The first attempt that we made to go sledding, we didn't have a sled and it was Sunday so we didn't want to go buy one. So we tried sledding on storage bin lids. It actually worked, but we didn't go down the hill really fast. So the next day, we bought a real sled and it was a blast!

My brother, Jayson sent me an email bragging about how nice it is in Phoenix and that he was sitting in shorts and tee shirt outside. So Rob dressed up like so in the picture below and his mom took the picure. I followed behind in my winter coat, boots and gloves. The front door was left open and so I closed it so the hot air wouldn't get out. We took the picture and then went to go inside to find out that I had shut the locked door. We were locked out of the house and Rob was in shorts and a t-shirt. His mom was in a light jacket, and I was all nice and warm... After a while, we found someone with a key to let us in, but I felt so bad.

Have lots of studying to do now. Have to take my final for pathophysiology tomorrow since I will be gone next week for the exam. Yippee!!!!
Missed all my friends and family and can't wait to see everyone!!!!

Camera Phone Pics #2!

2008-02-15T11:24:00.000-08:00

Camera phone pics aren't always the greatest, but they are still great to take!

This is this squishy little kids toy that we found while we are at Walmart looking for a good puzzle. Rob can't stand the feeling of this squishy thing. He definately didn't like the feeling of me putting it around his head.

Welcome back Willie! This is the normal smile that is always on Willie face.

A typical beautiful sunset in Arizona. I love the sunsets in Arizona, but was just informed in my pathophysiology class as to why we have such beautiful sunsets. POLLUTION!!!! Who would have thought. But, I don't really care, they are gorgeous

One of the many things Rob did for me on Valentines day. This was at my car in the parking garage at work. I am so spoiled. really, the most spoiled girl in the whole world. He doesn't agree with me, but remember... I am ALWAYS right :)

Random pic of Rob

Another random pic of Rob. This one was sent to me while he was waiting for me to get out of class. Definately made class go by quicker knowing that I got to see him when class was over.

And then I became the internet junkie

2008-02-05T06:07:00.000-08:00

I really didn't do anything extremely productive yesterday at work. But I did look through quite a few blogs on the internet. That is where I found a picture of myself on a blog that I didn't even know existed.
This is picture is of me and my longtime friend at her bridal shower. Known her since grade school. Those were the days... She is now married to a wonderful guy and is pregnant with her first baby!
But, don't you love finding pictures of yourself on the internet? Oh and I like that I kind of look like I have a tan in that picture... What happened?

I know I already said it, but I LOVE ROB

2008-02-03T11:05:00.000-08:00

I am so incredibly happy when I am around him. He treats me like a princess. He makes me a better person. He is my strength when I am weak. He is always there to comfort me, make me happy, make me laugh, to listen to me, to talk to me, and to share special moments with me. I am so happy he is in my life. Thank heavens for that fire drill at work which brought him over to ask me out. I am thankful for everyday that I get to spend with him.

God did make disgusting creatures

2008-02-01T07:15:00.000-08:00

For the past couple months, I have had a housekeeper that isn't the friendliest of people. I on the other hand, am pretty outgoing and like to talk to people. So for the first couple weeks of this new housekeeper, I would say "Good Morning, How are you?" to him. The response I would get everyday was:
1. he would ignore me, and not acknowlege that I talked to him.
or
2. he would do a little grunt but not even look up.

So after a couple of weeks, I knew I wasn't going to get him to say hi or smile or be happy. So I kind of quit saying Hi.

I swear this guy hates me. He knows it is like 30 degrees outside and that when the door opens it is freezing. But he ALWAYS makes sure he vacuums the rug infront of the door so the door stays open at like 7 in the morning. And not only does he vacuum it, but he vacuums it like 4 times! Then today the vacuum wasn't working I guess, and so he fixed it for like 3 minutes infront of the door so the door stayed open the WHOLE time. I am not kidding you, this guy is out to make me miserable.

Well anyways, I was sitting at my desk chatting with Jim the maintenance worker(I think that is his name...) and the housekeeper of the devil starts vacuuming behind my desk.

::::Side note::: he always vacuums my desk when I am:
a. talking to someone
b. on the phone
c. when I am talking to someone AND a helicopter is flying in
so in all of these instances, I have to end up yelling so the people can hear me.
:::SIDE NOTE OVER:::

I moved my chair and trashcan so he could vacuum but he missed this one thing on the floor. I thought it was a red pepper or something. So I picked it up to throw it away. When I realized it was not a red pepper, it was a COCKROACH! The most disgusting creature on EARTH! I threw it down and put hand sanitizer on like 3 times and was freaking out for a good 30 seconds.
I then look over and my devilish housekeeper is laughing... LAUGHING! Now some of you may think that this is a sad situation here. I did pick up the filthiest creature ever created. But I have never seen this guy smile. Not once and he has been here for 2 months at least. So... inspite of me being thoroughly grossed out, I am happy. If my housekeeper was happy, I am happy. But, don't expect me to pick up another cockroach, just to get him to smile again.

All the women wrapped around his finger

2008-01-31T08:27:00.000-08:00

Rob has one of my volunteers wrapped around his little finger. She comes to work with me every Monday, and every Monday she says, "so, show me what Rob made for you this week!" (referring to all of the food he makes me). And every week she is so fascinated that she writes everything down that Rob made, draws pictures and asks me how Rob made it.

Well, the volunteer league had their annual meeting and they asked Rob to come to the meeting and show them how to make swans out of apples and suns out of birds (refer to my blog titled "rob's breakfast creation #2 for pics of what they look like). The volunteers had a great time and he now has about 20 volunteers wrapped around his finger.

I snuck in and took some pictures with my camera phone of him. He looked so cute in his chef's outfit.

Tagged!!!

2008-01-29T13:31:00.000-08:00

1. What 2 things do you always have with you? Burts Bees Chapstick and my cell phone.2. What is your favorite tv show? House
3. What is your middle name? Marie, I think every girl named Jennifer has the middle name, Marie.
4. What characteristics do you despise in a person? bad communication skills, not friendly, and people that don't speak English in America.
5. What is your favorite item of clothing? hoodie sweatshirts
6. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go? right now I am liking the Maldives
7. What color is your bathroom? purple. eh. not my favorite color.
8. What did you want to be when you were little? In first grade I put that I wanted to be a housecleaner... don't ask me why...
9. How are you today? A little frazzled because I have a big exam today and forgot all my books at home. But other than that, I am doing FANTASTIC!!! I love life!
10. What is your favorite candy? hm... well the gift shop at work would say it is Rolo's (they supply them just for me), but I love peanutbutter M&M's, recees, and three musketeers
11. What is your favorite flower? Gerbera Daisies
12. What is your favorite thing to do? Be with Rob.
13. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Red!!!!
14. Who is the last person you spoke to on the phone? Someone asking about where to get a digital blood pressure cuff, everything about a digital blood pressure cuff, if a bicep one is better than a wrist one... and on and on... why am I supposed to know this?
15. Hugs or kisses? yes please!
16. What is under your bed? hmm.. I think luggage and the mats for Dance dance revolution.
17.What is your favorite smell? Brown sugar and fig and rob when he wears polo double black.
18. How many keys are on your key ring? 2
19. What are your top 3 qualities you value in a friend? A good listener, fun, and real.
20. Who is your favorite friend from high school? Well, I have 2... Tara and Willie :):)

YAY! It this tag is over!!!

Joke of the day from the director of security at BGSMC

2008-01-24T09:54:00.000-08:00

The director of security tells me a joke every time he sees me. This morning he stopped by and told me this joke. I found it to be pretty funny.

2 old lady were sitting next to eachother in the pew at church.
The sermon just kept going and going.

Finally one of the ladies turned to the other and said, "man, this sermon is lasting forever, my butt is starting to fall asleep!"

The other lady replied, "I know! I have heard it snore 3 times!!!"

have a wonderful day!

I love Rob. I love him!

2008-01-15T12:57:00.000-08:00

When I went to bed last night, I was hoping that I would just sleep right on through today so that I wouldn't have to actually "be here" today. I knew I had a long day ahead of me and didn't really want to try and tough it out.
I had to be up at 4 am after sleeping on the couch due to family being in town. Then have an ultrasound at 6:30. Work at 7:00. Get books for school. Then have school from 6-10:45 pm. Yes, you read that right, 6-10:45. It is insane. But I am really excited for the class. Human Pathophysiology. If any of you know me well... you know that I love studying the human body more than anything. So I am really excited. But anyways, I then should get home around 11:30. In other words, it is a long fricken day.
So, I was not really looking forward to the day, but so far, everything has been so incredibly nice. It has been one of the nicest days ever. God has placed so many wonderful people in my path today that have made my day so happy, bright and just absolutely lovely.

I received a text from Rob when I woke up saying "Good Luck, Babe. XOXO."

Rob called me and talked with me on my way to my ultrasound, making sure I was okay, and was staying awake.

The admitting and medical imaging department at work was absolutely wonderful to me and got me registered in what seemed like record time (special employee treatment...) and got me in and out of my procedure super fast.

The sonographer that did my procedure was so helpful and nice and talked to me about some schools to apply to and gave me some names and phone numbers. Was extremely helpful.

I had 2 volunteers come in to work today to help me out. My new volunteer, Joan, came and she is an absolute crack up. We had a great time.

The old guy in the black jumpsuit brought me tangelos from his tree.

Lulu's served potatoe bacon soup today. My favorite.

We then received a phone call from the loading dock regarding flowers for a Miss Jennifer Harrison. When I came back from lunch, I had a beautiful bouquet of none other than my favorite... gerber daisies. From of course... Rob. So stinking gorgeous. They made me so happy and I honestly haven't stopped smiling. Even when I have moody people coming and talking to me at work, I still can't stop smiling.

It is only 2:45 right now, but I know that the rest of my day is going to be just as good as the first half, if not better. I love life. I love the people in my life. (especially Rob...)I love God.

New Word for Webster

2008-01-10T14:12:00.001-08:00

Forgot to post this a while back. But while talking to Chris on the phone at the gym, I said a word that has definately stuck.

SHUTEVER.

The porcelain Gods

2008-01-10T13:12:00.000-08:00

I have done 2 things new recently. One I have developed an addiction to Smart Water. No, it doesn't make me smarter and yes, it is JUST water. But, it tastes so refreshing, clean and oh so good! And two, I have increased my water intake to on average about 60-100 oz. a day.

With this new addiction and the increased water intake, I end up basically living in the bathroom here at work. I have to pee like every 30 minutes. Which has brought me to the topic of this blog. New inventions and technology is amazing, but sometimes it is just pesky! For example: the automatic flushing toilet. Great invention. I don't have to touch a nasty toilet handle that has had bacteria and feces flipping up on it everytime it is flushed. But, I am starting to think that I would rather touch that dirty handle than to be sitting on the toilet and all of the sudden it starts flushing! It more convenient to wash bacteria off of your hands than it is your butt.Or, another pet peeve... you have just put the toilet seat cover on and the toilet flushes, bringing the toilet seat along with it. After putting 3 toilet seat covers on and watching them get flushed down the toilet, I have to end up hovering over the toilet because I don't want to spend anymore of my precious time putting toilet seat covers on the toilet. I mean, c'mon, I could be playing sudoku!

Anyways, I love technology. But some inventions are just more of a hassel than they were thought out to be.

12th Day of Christmas

2008-01-07T11:12:00.001-08:00

The 12th day of Christmas was by far my favorite day. Rob suprised me with 12 vouchers for personal time with him. It did have a disclaimer on it stating things that I can't do during this personal time: such things include activities involving meat and breaking the law etc... but everyone knows that I don't quite follow rules.

I love, love, love, my 12th day of Christmas present from Rob. He is such a sweetheart.

The 11th Day of Christmas

2008-01-04T07:29:00.000-08:00

Rob has been doing 12 days of Christmas for me and today is the 11th day of Christmas. I think I am being a little spoiled here, but hey, I like it! He treats me like a princess every single day. Whether it be massaging my feet without me having to ask, or bringing me breakfast with a suprise rice krispie treat in it, or holding me as I fall asleep every night, or opening my door every time I get in the car, or taking me on dates, or leaving me cards on my car, or having flowers sent to my desk, or giving me gerber daisies all of the time, or walking out in the cold to heat up the car for me and then picking me up at the entrance of every place we go to, or making me laugh, and always listening to everything I have to say, even if it is stupid, cheesy, boring or hilarious.
Here is the wonderful gifts that I have received for the 11 days of Christmas. I will post what I get tomorrow later on.... after reading these, you will see how spoiled I am.
1. one beautiful homemade picture frame with us in it.
2. two ounce baster (remember the baster I ruined with power steering fluid??)
3. three games of racquetball with my a new ipod amplifier.
4. 4 times six hours of 24 and twister. (the first season of 24 and twister game)
5. A five hour flight to Canada.
6. Six Burt's Bees wax Chapsticks
7. Seven ounce box of Godiva Chocolates (he has found the way to my heart...)
8. Eight hours of anatomy lessons and reading. (a humongous and really good book of the human body and a book on GI health)
9. Nine inch long Victoria's secret pink bathrobe and victoria's secret gift card.
10. Ten manicured finger nails.
11. Eleven hours of bathroom reading. (Uncle John's bathroom reader, and the 365 stupidest things ever said.)

Stairs

2007-12-31T13:38:00.000-08:00

This guy in a wheelchair came up to me just a second ago. He was a good looking guy in a wheelchair. His shirt said, "stairs suck." I am still laughing.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!! and happy late hanukkah to Kevin

2007-12-24T11:45:00.001-08:00

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas! I got to have lunch with Santa! :)

I love my job

2007-12-07T14:04:00.000-08:00

I received the most beautiful gerber daisy I have ever seen in my life today from the flower man.

Six Flags, California

2007-11-30T11:51:00.001-08:00

NYC!

2007-11-30T10:19:00.001-08:00

complaint(s)

2007-11-30T08:08:00.000-08:00

I am not a violent person. I am not a mean person. In fact, I would consider myself pretty nice, calm and friendly.

But there are some people that do certain things that make me want to be a mean person just to get them to leave me alone. And today, I just feel like writing my frustrations that I have towards these people.

1. Pregnant mothers that drink alcohol, smoke, or do drugs.

2. People that are obese. I know this sounds so hateful, but it disgusts me. I just watched an extremely obese guy snarf down 2 egg mcmuffins, and a breakfast burrito in about 5 minutes. And to top it off he just belched. Disgusting. First off, food is not meant to be inhaled. Second, he should not be eating that much food and definately not fast food. And third, he better not demand for me to get someone to push him in a wheelchair to the 10th floor because he can't walk that far. It is disgusting.

3. Smokers. They smoke wherever and whenever they want. Stinking up the place. Then they come in and talk to me and they smell like a month old ashtray. Then they put their cigarrette butts out wherever they darn well feel like it. In the beautiful flower pots, on the ground, throw them out their car window... geesh.

4. Anyone that lives in the United States and doesn't speak English.

5. This employee at work that comes up to me every stinkin day and thinks it is hilarious to ask me how to get to room 987, or room 1324, or any non-existing room. Then he has to laugh for about 3 minutes afterwards because he thinks it is so hilarious everyday. It was not funny the first time and it is still not funny the 101st time. Please leave me alone.

NEW YORK CITY!

2007-11-27T06:44:00.000-08:00

Well, I celebrated my 21st birthday in one of the best places possible... NEW YORK CITY! I loved every minute of our little vacation. Got to spend some time with Holly who came over from Boston with her friend Gorge, went to the statue of liberty, time square, rockefeller center, madison square garden, saks fifth avenue, Macy's, emire state building, little italy (delicious...), china town, greenwich village, central park, and just enjoyed the atmosphere, food and shops. Couldn't have asked for better company or a better trip.
Here are some pics from the weekend. Rob has some more pics on his camera of some of the fun stuff we did, those will come a little later.

Doin what we did most of the time in NYC, walked around... But it was so fun.

I wasn't too impressed with the breakfast burrito, as you can tell by my face...

My last breakfast in NYC :(

Rob having coffee in Greenwhich village.

Me messing around with my camera in the souvenir shop of the emire state building.

Not a great pic, but this is the elevator to the 80th floor of the empire state building. The guy next to me freaked out when he saw a camera flash in a cramped elevator, to which I replied "HI!"

The empire state building

At central park

PIGGY BACK RIDE!

Holly is attempting to hide her subway guide in her notebook, but her notebook is upside down.

Holly got caught hiding her subway book in her normal book

Holly and Jorge in the subway

My first trip into a NYC subway... Holly and Jorge are awaiting me on the other side, cheering me on.

We made it to the top of the Statue of Liberty!!

A view of the city from the statue of Liberty

A look up the Statue of Liberty's skirt:)

View of the stairs we had to hike.

The 156 stairs we walked up to see the statue.

This one is for Tara. I know how much you love feet. This is how big the Statue of Liberty's foot is. HUMONGO!

The Statue of Liberty

After waiting in the longest line ever, we finally made it on the ferry to go to the statue of liberty.

Hard Rock Cafe

I made Rob into Zoolander.

One of the first stops.... the Rockerfeller center for ice skating. So fun! And, for the record, Jenn did not fall, not once:)

Hollywood

2007-11-21T11:23:00.000-08:00

So, I don't have enough time to put all of my pics up from this past weekend in California, but here are a couple. I have a long research paper to write and that has taken priority over my precious blog... sorry. But here are a couple of pictures from our trip to Hollywood on Sunday.

This Weekend

2007-11-16T14:06:00.000-08:00

I am going to SIX FLAGS! One of my favorite places in the whole entire world.

If you want to come, you are still welcome to :)

Camera Phone

2007-11-12T07:13:00.000-08:00

I have so many pics on my phone and thought I should put them to use. Basically almost all of them are retarded, but at one point they meant something to me.

This is Chantel and I at the Brian Reagan show that we went to with my cousin. Hilarious.

Started my morning off with this... poor Rob, can't have any.

the 1-800Flowers guy brings me gerber daisies every week. I love my job.

Rob and I ordered Hummus at the Belagio and the chef's were bored :)

Chillin at the houseboat.

Came in to work to find this on my chair... I still am scatching my head as to where this came from.

Rob treated me to the restaurant "Green." This is a picture of the fake chicken I ate. I never knew fake chicken existed, but it does, and I, Jennifer Harrison ate it.

My lab partner and I were really bored in Microbiology and so we decided to start taking pictures while our slides were staining. This is my tumor on my hand.

The playboy hat Sean won for me at the state fair.

I thought this was cool looking. Saw it on my way home the other night.

2007-10-29T08:06:00.000-07:00

Ladies! We can now pee standing up!!!!!

http://www.mysweetpee.com/using/index.asp

I am not saying this is a stupid invention, but isn't this why they created toilet seat covers?

Ikea

2007-10-22T10:08:00.000-07:00

I never knew I could get such a perverse pleasure in looking at furniture, linens, cups, and rugs. Don't ask me, I don't get it either. But, I had so much fun at Ikea. It could be the new hot spot to hang out. I think we rated the comfyness (yes that is a word...) of every couch in the building, had pillow fights, rides in the shopping carts, basketball games with stuffed animals, and where can you get a 12 pack of cups for $4?? Amazing! This is by far the coolest store I have been in.

And Tara, I looked all over for the ikea glasses that you always took from my parents house because they are "the perfect cup for cranberry juice," but never found them. I wanted to make you a care package and send it to you so you could remember home, but they must not make them anymore. I was sad... It's the thought that counts right?

It all started with the cart ride. So fun.

Yes, I crawled through this little tunnel when all the people around me thought I couldn't.

I look like Lord of the Dance ;)

This was part of the game where you had to think of 3 uses for these little Christmas Decorations. Oh wait, sorry Kevin is Jewish, "Holiday decorations."

I am 100x fantastisk. not fantastick, fantastisk.

This was by far one of the coolest things I have done in my life.

Still part of the game.

I cannot begin to tell you the danger of having this many scissors in one pile...

Why do people think it is weird to jump in the pillow rack?

13,000 feet

2007-10-22T07:33:00.000-07:00

I did it... sky diving that is. I don't think I can put words to how amazing jumping out of a perfectly good plane at 13,000 feet and freefalling for 60 seconds feels. It was absolutely amazing. Nothing compares to it.

Here are some of the pictures from it.

This one is the best because you can actually see how fast I am falling by looking at the skin on my arm.

If anyone wants to go, I will MOST DEFINATELY go again. Name a time and place and I am game.

Walk for the Cure

2007-10-17T07:32:00.001-07:00

Well, I did it. I walked for the cure.
But, the whole thing kind of seemed a little ridiculous to me. I don't know if I was the only one thinking this, so I did a little research on the whole thing. I am mainly questioning how me walking is going to affect breast cancer. Also, where all the money that is donated from these 10's of thousands of people is actually going to. Here is a little break down from where Susan G. Komen says the money we donate goes to:

I don't want to sound ignorant or mean or uncaring, but I don't feel like this is a very good division of the donations. Also, in my research I found that only 84¢ of every dollar actually goes towards one of these areas. Where is the other 16¢ going to? Now you may be saying whooped-de-doo, 16¢... but let me put it into perspective for you. The majority of participants pay $25 to do the race for the cure. If you calculate it, $4 of my $25 is somewhere unknown. Multiply it by the 38,000 participants for the event just in Phoenix and that is $148,000 going to an unknown place. Not going towards research, screening, treatment. That is a lot of money. And that was just in one day, one event. These events are taking place all the time, all over the place.
Now to the little pie chart they have of where the money is used. 33% goes to research/adwards. How much of that 33% is actually going towards research and not awards? (I don't really care about awards) Then 29% to education: I don't know about everyone else, but I feel like there has been enough education about breast cancer by now. Don't believe me? How about you go up to 30 people and ask them what they can tell you about breast cancer. You won't get anyone saying, "breast cancer? What's that?" You will get a pretty good description of what breast cancer is. I feel like EVERY American knows what breast cancer is. Yes, that 29% was probably necessary years and years ago when breast cancer wasn't such a popular topic as is is now, but let's drop that percentage and use it for research, treatment, screenings; that is where we need it! Breast Cancer "awareness" is no longer necessary. Everyone is aware it is out there and that it is affecting a ton of people, men and women. Let's quit this awareness crap and actually make a dent in breast cancer's affect on the world's population!

Rob's Breakfast Creation #2

2007-10-16T08:32:00.000-07:00

Rob has found the way to my heart... Food!

He made an unbelievable breakfast this morning for me. Brain food for my midterms this afternoon... hence the A shaped piece of toast.
If you look really close, you can pick out all of the food. There is an egg, an A shaped toast, a bird shaped apple (really cool...), chocolate covered strawberries, grapes, sun shaped oranges, 2 multivitamins, and a piece of gum.

I will say it again... what would I do without Rob?

2007-10-15T09:23:00.000-07:00

I officially declare that Rage Against the Machine is the best to rock out to in the car.

Love Hate Relationship

2007-10-15T08:12:00.000-07:00

I used to LOVE the dentist. I relate this to 2 things that my mom did while I was growing up.
First, she always bought the healthy, non-sugar cereals. Basically the crappy tasting cereals. Everyone else had Lucky Charms, Captain Crunch, Cinnamon Toast Crunch or basically any cereal whose first ingredients were sugar, corn syrup and high fructose corn syrup and then coated in sugar or frosting. But us Harrison children, we grew up on oatmeal, shredded wheat, cream of wheat, and cheerios because heaven forbid if we had honey nut cheerios we would be the "hyperactive children" at school.
Second, brushing your teeth wasn't something taken lightly. There was a timer in every bathroom. You had to set it for 3 minutes and had to be brushing your teeth for the whole 3 minutes.

But as the picture depicts above, I obviously don't do either of those things anymore. About the time my mom quit packing my lunches I started the new diet that has continued consisting of pixie sticks and chocolate chip cookies dipped in frosting.

So, I spent Wednesday afternoon at the dentist, where I have gone at least once every month for the past 3 months. You can see an indirect relationship between my bank account balance and the number of visits to the dentist.

However, there is a good thing from this last picture. My dentist did offer to numb me up again so I can be Elvis for Halloween, get a nose or lip ring or get the permanent tatooing for lipstick.

Needless to say, the dentist isn't as fun as it used to be. I no longer walk out of the dentist with a lollipop, scratch-n-sniff sticker and a new toothbrush. Instead I walk out with a numbed mouth, fillings, and $800 poorer.

But I am still smiling...

2007-10-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

This morning I found myself thinking of brilliant ideas.
Not making your bed saves an enormous amount of time in the morning thus allowing you to lay in bed for just that much longer.
Keeping all lights off saves you from scaring your self silly when walking past a mirror first thing in the morning.
Putting a bowl of icecream next to your bed before going to sleep is not a good idea.

But the one that I am most proud of is how I combined kitchen utensils and automotives this morning. First, it is a miracle that I knew how to get my hood of my car open. But it was pure skill when I poured too much power steering fluid in the little compartment.

That is when I added number 11 to the "ten things to do with a Turkey Baster" list.
1. Pour perfect batter
2. Remove excess water from a coffeemaker
3. Water hard-to-reach plants
4. Refresh water in flower arrangements
5. Place water in a pet's bowl
6. Clean an aquarium
7. Blow away roaches and ants
8. Transfer paints and solvents
9. Cure a musty smelling air conditioner
10.Fix a leaky fridge
11. Remove excess power steering fluid out of it's compartment

We won't be using that turkey baster for cooking anymore... but seriously, who thinks of awesome things like that.

Best Breakfast Ever

2007-10-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

Last night I was informed about something that has been troubling me. I am not sure why it is troubling me as much as it, but it is. What can you do about it?

This morning I was given my answer. Not from mind blowing advise or an epiphany or a message sent from God. But in a breakfast. A breakfast made by Rob.

Why should this bother me? I can't do anything about it. So throw a smile on and make today the best day ever. I have way too much, have been blessed in innumerable ways, have everything I could ever ask for(well, except for a puppy, an idea of where I want to go for my bday, normal working intestines and a helicopter). So logically, to let some petty little thing that I have no control over, make me upset, unhappy, or distraught is the most ridiculous thing I can thing of. Sometimes it takes a smiley face breakfast to help you realize that.
And yes, the breakfast was as good as it looks. Eggs, toast, apples, banana and chocolate. What would I do without Rob?

General Conference

2007-10-05T09:01:00.000-07:00

Kevin:
HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!
Sorry, that was the most awesome statement I've ever read.
"We can always teevo church."

Why don't we have church on TV every week?

Global Warming

2007-10-04T10:09:00.001-07:00

Thanks to global warming, my ass gets flossed.

Pungent

2007-10-03T10:32:00.000-07:00

Working where I do, I am approached by a very diverse population. Wealthy, poor, homeless, mediocre, prissy, bossy, moody, happy, bubbly, rude, considerate, ugly, pretty, fat, ridiculously obese, skinny, oddly shaped, handsome, smokin' hot, hillbillies, businessmen, chiseled, crazy, handicapped, old, young, pleasant, brilliant, and just plain stupid. But the ones that drive me the most crazy are the "smelly ones."

Not until I have worked at this job have I had such foul smells go through my nose.

But, today I experienced a pleasant smell. A lady that I helped smelled exactly like my grandma smells. It is a sweet perfume and it is what my grandma always wears.

I find it funny how I can't remember the majority of the people I see in a day or tell you what they were wearing, or what they asked me, or even what color hair the person I helped last had. But smells are different. I can tell you exactly who came up to my desk and smelled like they hadn't showered in a few days. Or who smelled like smoke. Or who made me have to spray air deodorizer after they left.
:::Tangent::: one of my worst fears is that a smelly person will come in and their smell lingers at my desk and the next person that walks up will think it is me that smells. Forget about fear of heights, being fat, or doorknobs, I am scared of people thinking I smell.

Anyways, it would be nice if everyone understood the value of a bar of soap, deodorant and toothpaste. Priceless.

Press your lips against mine and kiss me

2007-10-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

I can vividly remember driving to school in 9th grade and hearing the country song "I Wanna Talk about Me," by Toby Keith play every single morning for at least a month. Then as Mr. Huckelberry was rambling on about logarithyms and postulates and other useless information that I had to learn in school, my head was fogged with "wanna talk about me, wanna talk about I, wanna talk about number one, oh my me my..."
So, I would like to dedicate this to how awesome I am.
Just when I thought I was a idiot compared to the Asian Microbiology Freakos and was about to drop the class in fear of failing, I found out that I am just as smart as those freaks of nature! (that doesn't imply that I am a freak of nature). I have an 86%!!!!! This is why a happy dance occured in the school parking lot at about 4:45 yesterday evening. White girls can shake their ass. Then I went to schlotsky's deli and got a large root beer to celebrate. Party animal ova here!
Please, take this moment to think about how wonderful I am.

Shijingshah Amusement Park

2007-10-01T08:22:00.000-07:00

This morning while listening to KMLE Country I also heard another little fact that actually proved to be a little incorrect when I researched it a little more. But very intriguing to me.

They said that there is now a Disneyland in China! Right away I kind of got all giddy inside. Why you ask? Because now I can fit in more than 2 rides in a day because 80% of Disneylands population would vanish! This is how I currently feel about Disneyland: You end up stading in line for hours and you have to listen to the Asians babble in their foreign language, wondering what kind of crap they are saying about you. Then! Then! They have to take pictures of EVERYTHING! Here is Joe on the red bench, here is Joe on the blue bench, here is Joe eating a churro, here is a picture of the churro, here is Joe standing in line for the Matterhorn. C'mon! Joe looks the same in every picture and Californian Churros look the same as Chinese Churros!

So the best part about my research was to find out that this actually isn't a Disneyland. It isn't associated with Disney at all. It is the Shijingshah Amusement Park. The President of the park said in an interview that nothing is copied from Disney and that all the characters in the park are original creations. Let me just show you some of the pictures of the characters at the park...

That's not Donald Duck, just a normal looking Chinese Duck.

According to the Park Representatives, this is not Minnie Mouse, it is a cat with very large ears!

Just last week I was talking about how I think that Asians are brilliant people. Mainly because the only people doing well in my Microbiology class are Asians. (Professor is from China... hm...)

But after these comments, I am questioning their intelligence. Who doesn't know the difference between a mouse and a cat? Obviously more than one person in China. I now take back the comment I made about Asians being brilliant people and have now came up with a excuse for why I got a 68% on my last Micro exam. It is because my professor doesn't actually know the difference between bacterial cells. Therefore, I don't know the difference. It all makes sense. Wow, I am feeling so much better now. Thank you Shijingshah Amusement Park President, you have made my life so much better.

Not Just Pumpkins and Witches

2007-10-01T07:36:00.000-07:00

Did you know that October is a freakin exciting month? Not just because there are haunted houses, corn mazes of Jay Leno, and you can dress up as the opposite gender and no one says anything, but becuase it is National Celebrate Sun Dried Tomatoes Month!

As I was driving in to work listening to nothing other than KMLE Country, I was informed about what this month actually is! And to think after all these years I never knew what October was all about!

Did you know that October is:

National Go Hog Wild- Eat Country Ham Month
National Caramel Month
National Construction Toy Month
National Family Sexuality Month
National Liver Awareness Month
National Pajama Month
National Popcorn Awareness Month
National Roller-Skating Month
National Sarcastic Awareness Month
National Window-Covering Safety Month
National Positive Attitude Month
National Right Brainers rule Month
National Spinach Lovers Month
National Vegetarians Month

There are just a few of these that I have some questions on. First, why is there a liver awareness month? Aren't we all aware that we have a liver? Second, aren't we all aware that there is popcorn? Third, what the heck is a window-covering and why is it so safe? If there was a fire and you had to jump out of your window, you couldn't. I think they need to consult with Smokey the Bear on that one.

Which brings me to my next thought. How do you get to declare that a month is National "insert name here" month? Don't get me wrong, I am very excited to hear that it is National Cookie, Chili, Caramel and Wishbones for Pets Month, but how do I make it National Wear No Underwear Month or National Speak English Only Month or National Mondays and Fridays are days off Month (Kevin, that one is for you) or National Socks are not to be Worn with Sandals Awareness Month. The world would be so much better if I decided what we should observe and celebrate each month.

For English press one, para en Español marque el numero dos

2007-09-26T07:54:00.000-07:00

"Information, this is Jenn, how can I help you?"

"¿Hola, se llama Juan Manuel Rodriguez Sanchez, yo quiero tortugas y tengo hickies por todas partes mi cuello, me puede ayudar usted? "

Stop. Rewind....
Did I answer the phone saying "Información, mi nombre es Jenn, cómo le puedo ayudar?"
Just making sure I am still sane. Thought I magically became fluent in Spanish overnight.

Crawl is His Name

2007-09-14T11:30:00.000-07:00

This is the dog that my sister's boyfriend had shipped from Hungary to him. Yes it is hairless except for the mohawk that runs from his head and along his spine, and his feet.

Six Flags at the Whipple home

2007-09-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

These are my favorite kids in the whole world. Last night the couch was turned into a rollercoaster. Brought me back to the good old childhood days when we made up games in the pool, made a city in chalk on the driveways of the neighborhood, rode our bike for hours, cut eachother's hair, put mascara all over the walls, and didn't have a care in the world.

So last night I was over at the Whipples whom I used to nanny for and when the babysitter was telling them to stop using the couch as a rollercoaster, something just clicked in my head. Why can't they use the couch as a rollercoaster? It's not hurting anyone or anything. They are having a total blast! They are keeping themselves occupied. They are bonding with eachother. They are laughing and using their imagination! Something that is kind of rare in kids these days. So, I said, "HOP ON THE ROLLERCOASTER!" (the babysitter probably hated me...)

Here are some pics of us.

Spandex is a Privilege Not a Right

2007-09-14T08:13:00.000-07:00

In response to my last post, Robbie wanted to share an traumatizing experience. Please read. Your vision may depend on it.

Dear readers,

It has come to my attention lately of a public eye sore. I am now wearing an eye patch every day due to a recent visit to the gym. During what should have been an hour of kick butt endorphins and eye candy, I was confronted by a rather large women in spandex shorts and a sports bra. It's not so much the fact that she was working out that was troubling me, in fact, kudos to her for the attempt. What's bothering me is she insisted on back bends in spandex.

Spandex does not make you invisible, it not a super garment. It does not instantly make you go from a size 24 to a size 4. All it has done is compressed the fat and now there are clearly visible cottage cheese dimples. Similar to the little craters on the moon. In fact, I was waiting to see Neil Armstrong bouncing all over her chucky ass. Cottage cheese belongs in the fridge not in the gym.

-Robbie

Lesson learned today. CONSULT, CONSULT, CONSULT. Spandex is made for large innertubes, shiny chairs at the club, car seat covers, and bicycle seats. NOT for everyday wear. And especially not for those with too much junk in the trunk, more than 5% body fat, or if you are unable to see your feet.

Fashion Police

2007-09-11T09:26:00.001-07:00

I created this blog yesterday and was intending to actually post something. But found some other things such as cleaning, studying and shopping more important. I guess having a blog is the "cool" thing to do. Along with huffing the air out of whipped cream cans and the fumes of sharpie markers. So, with that said, I promoted myself to a new level of coolness.

Now, with how my day has been today I can't pass up the opportunity to talk about a concern that every American should be aware of. It is the concern of the possibility of you developing ugly looking boobs. Guys, don't stop reading now, just because you are a guy doesn't mean this doesn't apply to you.

Why, why, why would you buy a bra that is too small for you? It's like trying to fit 10 gallons of jello into a 1 pint tubberware container. It is gonna jiggle it's way out of there!
If any of these apply to you, you need a new bra:
1. If your fat rolls over your band.
2. If your boobs are jiggling uncontrolably
3. When you take your bra off, you can see exactly where your bra was because it is imprinted on your skin
4. Your nipples are showing because
a. your cup size is too small
b. your bra isn't thick enough for your nipples
5. Your boobs are resting on:
a. a fat roll
b. your belt

For heaven's sake, drive your butt to Victoria's Secret and they will measure you! FOR FREE!

Oh and for the guys. It is called "the gym." Use it. Chicks dig it.