The Phantom Catfish

A couple weeks ago Jessica and I noticed that one of our catfish (Sigmoid) was missing. Since we only have a 10 gallon aquarium, there aren't many hiding places. We searched far and wide looking at every cubic centimeter of water. But alas, no Sigmoid. "Okay, weird" we thought. If he jumped out or was swallowed up by another fish (which would be highly impossible in our aquarium of 1-2 inch fish) then we hoped it was a fast and painless death.
So once we had gotten through the mourning stage for our catfish Sigmoid, he goes and shows up in our aquarium this morning. We are so miffed as to where he could have been. Maybe he has a girlfriend in our neighbor's aquarium or was on sabbatical in the Caribbean. Needless to say, our fish has come from his phantom world to grace us with his presence again. It is a little spooky, but we are happy to welcome him home like a prodigal son.

Brr

The snow storm today was phenomenal. Though we were all expecting it, it still seemed to hit by surprise. I went into my window-less biochemistry classroom at 10:30 with a blue sky behind me and came out at 11:30 to a wall of white. Not only was the snow falling in sheets, but the wind was blowing like a million miles an hour. By the time I got to work, I was covered in snow from head to foot because of the wind. My makeup was running down my face and my jeans were soaking wet. What a day.

I cannot write a blog today without mentioning our dear prophet. He was an amazing man and did more for man kind than many people realize. I am so glad I was once able to shake his hand and look into the eyes of a true man of God. I am sure he is being welcomed into Heaven by millions of people with open arms. His example of faith and service will never be forgotten. President Hinckley will truly be missed.

One Down, Three to Go

Today I submitted the first of four nursing applications to the University of Utah, which is my preferred choice for numerous reasons. However, I will be more than thrilled to get into Weber State, Southern Utah or Dixie State.

It is such a huge relief to have one application done. Hopefully the rest will be easier to complete. And who knows? Maybe 2 years from now I will be an action figure. If so, I implore upon all of you to buy it :-)

Girl Time

Last night my cute friend Lena came over. She was in the neighborhood and just stopped by for a few minutes. It was so fun to get a random knock on the door at 9:30 at night! We chatted about life, jobs, husbands, and tea parties! She was only here for about 20 minutes, but it reminded me how much fun girl talk is. For all you ladies in my life...we need to just hang out and chat more! Nothing can take the place of good, old fashioned girl talk.

The Holidays Have Come and Gone

What a wonderful Holiday season it has been. I am so glad that Jess and I have our families so close...especially during the holidays. We were able to spend time with both of our families. In fact, it works out perfectly for us. My family does all of our family stuff on Christmas Eve and Jess' does their on Christmas.
Some highlights for me were getting a cool metal cellist statue, giving Jessica Dr. Mario for Nintendo 64, giving my mom a Kitchen Aid, having 3 special needs men from my sisters work over to my parents and receiving numerous books, including, The Chamber by John Grishman, A Body of Evidence by Patricia Cornwell and a book about Egypt (I am currently reading The Chamber, I highly recommend it). I have found this new love for reading. I used to not enjoy it, but have learned to thrive on it.
Let me expand on the 3 special needs men from my sister's work. My only sister Katie works at nursing style home with men who have special needs. Three of them, Bart, Jeff and Bobby came over to my parents for Thanksgiving and Christmas. They are each in there 30's and 40's and have different needs. Bart, who is in his 40's, is delayed mentally to about 7 years old. When my parents had asked what he wanted for Christmas he told them a remote control car. Come Christmas Eve when Bart opened his gift he was beyond excited when he opened up a huge remote control Hummer. Bart was ecstatic about his new toy. He was not caught up in how many gifts he would receive. It was a simple wish with astounding joy following. It was such a moving moment for me. I was reminded of a great principle. It is, that to give, not receive is truly the greater principle of Christmas. My parents have 7 children, 3 (almost 4) in-laws and 6 grandchildren. They had way more than plenty of people to buy gifts for and yet they still reached out and bought gifts for 3 more. They do all of this without a want for anything in return.
Moving on to New Year's. We hung out with Jessica's brother, his wife and her parents for New Year's Eve. We played games, ate too many sweets and partied into 2008. Each of us came up with a New Year's resolution. Mine is to apply to numerous nursing schools and hopefully get in to one. Jessica's is to run a 5K and graduate. Hopefully these resolutions will come to pass this year. Bienvenidos 2008!