Tigger and Taz

Doggie pictures

This is Tigger (T I double Guh errr)

What's with the mood swings?

You know, I have heard that there is some "condition" out there called SAD, where you get depressed really easily in the winter because of the lack of light, or something like that. I find that I am experiencing something similar, but completely different to that. I find it hard to be in one given mood consistently for more than a day at a time. One day I will be happy, care free, loving life, and the next day I will be iritable and hard to get along with. Another day I will be off in lala land and not really paying any attention to life as it passes me by, and the next day I will be so swamped with things that I percieve that I have to do that I don't know what to do with myself. For example, Sunday was one of the days that I just felt... wierd. I wasn't showing the love and attention that I needed to to my wife and our daughter, I just wanted to go off and do my own thing for most of the day afer church. Monday, on the other hand, saw me coming home happy and jovial, and ready to spend all the time in the world with my family. I guess it's just another personality quirk for me to work on: be Happy!

Harris Herald: Pictures of Lydia

Pictures of Lydia

Pictures of Lydia

A future X-box player

(starting young)


Lydia's first time in the snow.

Is School getting Harder? I think so.

Well, I appologise to everyone out there that has been awaiting a new blog from us. I guess I got lazy with the blogg posting over the Christmas break, and never got back into it. hopefully I can get back into it and provide all of you with hours of interesting reading over the next year.

So, we are already 1/4 of the way through the winter semester. I have already had a few mid-terms so far. I didn't do as well as I had hoped, but still alright. I am only taking 12 credit hours this semester, but it is getting tough. it's like the farther I get along, the more advanced the materials are that I am learning about! What a novel thought hu. Anyway, I am finding myself studying and applying myself to school harder than ever before, and getting worse grades (B's and C's instead of A's and B's) than I have ever gotten. Thankfully, I haven't dropped below a C yet in anyof my classes, but it's getting difficult.

As far as home life goes, we are doing alright. Kate is having a hard time with me right now, because she doesn't feel like I spend as much time with her as she would like. To tell you the truth, I don't. I would really like to spend more time at home playing with Kate, Lydia, and the pets, but between work, school, and everything else, it's just hard trying to prioritize and fit everything in that needs to be done. I am trying to do better though, and that's what counts right?

Lydia is still not walking consistently. She can walk, we have seen her do it. She just seems to prefer crawling for some reason. Maybe she thinks it is faster to crawl to wherever it is she needs to go than it is to walk. She just needs to get out of her comfort zone and "Do the walk".

We got another new pet as well. His name is Tigger ( T I double Gu errr). He is a 2 1/2 year old pure bred toy fox terrier. We got him from an older couple in Lehi Utah. He is tall compared to Taz, but very thin. We have been feeding him puppy food and other high in fat foods to try and fill him out so that you can't see his ribs anymore. He gave us a bit of a scare the first week that we had him, by not eating or drinking anything for 2-3 days. The vet said that he was healthy, but has a little bit of liver problems. I think the reason he wasn't eating was because he was stressed from transfering families, and becase he ate a bite of a chocolate bar that I had foolinshy left on the couch one night. He seems fine now though, and is very active, especially when we bring out his favorite squeeky toys. I'll post a picture of him in a later blog, as I am typing this one from a school computer, and don't have access to the pictures that we took. I guess I will also write a little bit more about what has happened in the last few months, with pictures (Like Christmas) in later bloggs too.

Anyway, my time for writing is up, and I have to go to my next class. Hope you enjoyed this one. Till next time.

Happy Thanks Giving

We hade a vere fun thanks giving ,we went to harald and holly Toomys we played games and veseted entill 4:00pm and then had lotes of food afterword we had pie lotes and lotes of piewe had about 10 defrent kinds of pie.it was delicious!!!!! If the Toomys are reading this

THANK YOU!!!!!!

Thanksgiving Prep

Whew, I am tuckered out. The combination of work, school, and trying to spend time with the family and playing has exhausted me. Today was the first day of Thanksgiving break from school. I had intended to spend it mostly with Kate, but that didn't work out too well. I left to go shopping for thanksgiving supplies rather early on this morning, and left Kate and Lydia behind because Lydia was sleeping. Then when I got home, I just got too busy into preparations, that we didn't really get to spend much time just the two of us. I was making 22 layer rainbow jello, and a whole bunch of mini pies. They were both easily done, but time consuming to do. The jello turned out great, I think, but the pies I have yet to determine how good they are. I guess they will get their trial run tomorrow at the Thanksgiving feast at my aunt and uncle Toomey's. Anyway, about half way through making all these things, I got a call from my work saying that they were overrun with plumbing calls, and wondered if I would be able to come in and help out. I did, and ended up spending till 8:00 working, leaving me to finish off the preparations in the evening.
Luckily, I think I got it all done, and Kate, Lydia, and I are all looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with family tomorrow.

Lydia B-day

Pets

At my wife's suggestion, I am writing a bit about our pets today. We do love having them arround, most of the time, but they can get into an awfull lot of trouble too. To start off with, our cat is named J.C., short for: Just Cat. We got him in about June of 2006 as a 6 week old kitten, and have had him ever since. He kind of had a rough start. We had a ferret named pinky at the time, and they liked to play rought together. On one eventfull visit to the vet to get all the imunizations and shots up to date, we made a quick stop at a store, while leaving the cat and ferret in the car for about 15 minutes. It was the middle of summer, but we had the windows cracked, and we weren't gon very long. Anyway, The heat didn't really seem to get to them so much as the playing rough did. When we got back to the car, we arrived to see tufts of fur missing on the ferrets neck, and blood driping from the cat's jaw. We imediately rushed back to the vets where JC was diagnosed with a broken jaw, and was schedueled for surgery imediately. We also got antibacterial medicin for the ferret, who was in no where near as bad a condition as the cat was. While the cat was in surgery for his jaw, he also had his front claws removed, and his manhood stolen while he was under anesthesia. He had it rough and woosy for about a month after that. His jaw has since healed for the most part, but he will have a scar on his lower jaw for the rest of his life. In day to day life, JC usually does what most cats do best.
That is, being the lazy king of the house. When he does something we don't ant him to do though, such as jumping on counters and tables, chewing on the baby bottle nipple, and going outside, he gets some action. He gets one verbal warning in the form of me yelling out CAT. If he doesn't cease and decist imediately, he gets a date with the bathtub spout dumping cold water on him untill he is completely soaked. Needless to say, he has quickly learned that I mean it when I give that warning, and he almost always bolts when I use that tone, for fear of spending the next couple of hours drying off.

Incedently, we no longer have the ferret pinky. She was under a three month probationary period with my wife, who never really got along with pinky in the first place. I made Kate let me keep pinky for three months, and told her that if at the end of that period if she still didn't like her, that I would get rid of her. Well, she didn't make it. I think it was the refusal to stop pooing in the corners that finally did her in. The three months came and went, and Pinky went to a Ferret shelter in Layton with them.

Our Dog's name is Taz, short for Princess Tazmania. She is still a relatively new addition to our family. She is the runt of a litter of Toy Fox Terriers that one of our neighbors dogs had. Her name, as you may have guessed, fits her quite well as she is a rambunctious ball of energy whenever anyone is willing to play with her. She has a little bit of rope that she loves to play tug of war and fetch with. She has learned to sit, come, stay, and tippy toe dance so far. Like the cat though, she gets soaked when we catch her doing something wrong. For some reason, getting wet doesn't seem to bother her as much as it bothers JC though. Anyway, we are adapting to enjoy life with our daughter and our pets. Now all we need is another boy, pet or baby, so that JC and I are no longer outnumbered by the girls.

Good Eatin

Today was another rather productive day, with all the homework that was due this week getting done in great time. By 3:30, I was done with homework and ready to move on. Actually, I was hungry. I have been considering getting a meal plan from BYU for a while, because I just don't go home enough to eat, and I don't like paying 3 bucks for a burger that won't even close to fill me up. So, with the encouragement of a friend that actually has a meal plan, I went down to the BYU cafeteria and ate with him the other day, as I described in that days blog. Anyway, I looked at what it would cost if I were to get on the meal plan now, and $109.00 would get me one full course buffet meal per day for the rest of the semester, making it about $4.50 per meal. That is a much better deal than trying to eat out at taco bell or burger king, because there is tons of food, and most of it is even healthy fruits, veggies, breads, etc. I went ahead and signed up for the plan, hoping that it is the right decision. If it works out, I will sign up again for one for the winter semester.

After signing up, my friend and I went down and enjoyed a nice meal before heading our separate ways. In my case, I was ready to head home, and to work if there were enough plumbing jobs that they needed me. When I got to my scooter to go though, I found that I had gotten a parking ticket. It said that I was double parked, which technically I was, even though I wasn't blocking the entrance or exit of anyone at all, and I have been parking in the same area for most of the semester and most people do double park there. Anyway, I went straight to the campus parking office, parking in a stall designated for people visiting the police office. I actually had a very pleasant conversation with the gentleman that dealt with my claim. Even though the ticket was only for $10.00, and I was willing to pay it, he was merciful to me and said that it was most likely just an overzealous student officer that had ticketed me, and gave me $5.00 off. I left the office feeling good about the encounter. When I got back to my scooter though, I found another parking ticket! It said that I was not suppose to park my scooter in the stall for people visiting the parking office, because it was a car stall. So I once again grabbed the ticket, and went into the office where the Man that I had spoken to about my previous ticket promptly denounced the second ticket and sent me on my way. This was my first time ever getting a parking ticket, let alone two in one day, so it was eventful for me.

I then checked in at work where they didn't have anything that they needed me to do tonight, though there are probably some jobs for tomorrow. When I got home, Kate wanted to go to town to do some grocery chopping with me, so we loaded into the car, and went to Wall mart. We were able to do our shopping relatively quickly, though the bill was more expensive than I would have liked as we got a few learning toys for Lydia. We then went home, sweet home. We put Lydia to bed, put away the groceries, and then pulled out the cardiovascular training tapes that we have been using, and we both spent an hour doing a pretty good work out. By the time we finished that, it was about 8:30, and we both just wanted to relax, but weren't quite ready for bed. So we sat down and watched Vertical Limit together. In retrospect, we probably should have just gone to bed, as Kate fell asleep half way through it; but I liked the "cuddle time" anyway. that brings us to this point and I can't write much more about what I am doing now, than just that I am writing this, So I guess that's all. Gnite all!

The Navy Route?

I thought that today was another productive day, as I accomplished most all of what I had set out to do at the begining of the day. I did better on my Am-Htg quiz this morning than I usually do, and I finished all of the EcEn 301 homework that is due tomorow(All about Base 10, Hexadecimal, and Binary conversions).

As I was getting ready to go home after all those studies were done, I was passing one of the flyer boards that are always present with different opportunities presented for the students. Usually, I glance at them and move on, uninterested in anything that they have to say. But today as I was passing the board, one flyer in particular caught my eye. It was from the Navy advertizing that they needed civil, mechanical, electrical, and Nuclear engineers. Allong with my facination for things that hover, like hovercraft and helicopters, I have also oftentimes wondered about nuclear power. If accepted into the program, the navy would not pay my tuition for me, but would pay me a monthly paycheck while I am going to school. After talking to a recruiter, and a few other guys that are actually in the program, I realised that I currently don't qualify, as I am about 25 Lb. overweight. But if I loose the weight, I am in good stead with my technical qualifications. The application process takes about 4 months from the time I applied, which couldn't even happen till I lost the weight, and I could back out at any time untill the last and final interview that would give me my commission. Going into this program would free me up from my current work obligations enough that I could concentrate almost exclusively on school. Thus reducing stress, and hopefully increasing my GPA.

Long term, I would go to OCS, and other training programs for about two years after graduating with my Bachelorate degree, and then I would be assigned to a ship of some sort; probably either a boomer submarine, or an aircraft carrier. I would have to serve at least one 6 month tenure out at see with my ship, but much of the rest of the time will be spent in training on a land base where I can spend lots of time with my wife and daughter. It is also only a 4 year commitment after I graduate. And depending on how much I like it, I can choose to extend my service.

I have talked a little bit about it with my wife Kate, and at first, she seemed to like the idea, untill I told her about me having to be away for 6 months at a time. THAT, she didn't like at all. We are going to need to do a lot of thoughtfull contemplation, prayer, and temple visits before we make a final decission on the matter, but for now, I am getting enthused about it.

In other news, Lydia is getting cuter every day, as well as more rambunctious. The stairs are nothing to her now, and we can no longer have any certainty where in the house she is, untill we hear a CRASH, as something comes toppling off of something else just within her reach. What would I do without my two favorite girls?

Lydia's fun

Life is good, no one is sick. Lydia is growing every day. Today she learned that she can make art on the floor just by throwing her food down, that our dog and cat make great targets, and that food makes a good face cream and Shampoo for her hair. She also learned that a good way to scare mom is by climbing up two flights of stairs and then hiding under the bed when mom is not looking. She is learning some words like mommy, daddy, hello, bye-bye, kitty, and puppy. But her favorite word would be no-no as she shakes her head with a big grin on her face.

What a Day

I feel that I had an interesting, productive, and very long day today. Classes started at 8 this morning, and went through most of the day. All throughout the day I was constantly worying about when was I going to get time to study for my American Heritage exam, and when was I going to take the exam?

I pretty much studied every chance I got of more than 15 minutes, because any less than that is not productive. I also took a few pictures arround the BYU campus as I was going from class to class. This picture is of the SWKT building. I don't actually have any classes there, but I spend time there in the American Heritage lab that is in the basement, as well as in the computer lab that is also in the basement there.

I did get a welcome break at one o'clock today when I went to the cafeteria for lunch with my good friend Todd Reeder. He had some extra money left over on his meal plan and, in an effort to show me the benefits of said plan to get me to get one as well, paid for my lunch. According to him, lunch on the meal plan basically translates to about $4.50 per meal. It was like going to a chuck-a-rama all you can eat buffet with burgers, salad bars, main dish bars, desert bars, tons of drink varieties, and an ice cream bar to boot. Seeing as how I currently usually skip breakfast and lunch, and just eat dinner when I get home at the end of the day, I must say that I am tempted, especially after discovering that the cafeteria food really wasn't half bad.

My last class of the day was Electrical Engineering 301, which I am struggling in. I actually understood what we talked about in class today for a change: converting between base 10, hexadecimal, and binary systems. After class I met with one of the TA's, to get help with other concepts that I am having trouble with for a few minutes, and then finally got to spend some real time studying for my A-Heritage exam. I wanted to take the exam today because I had missed it yesterday, and I don't want to take it tomorow as I already have a full day planned, and it will cost a $7.00 late fee to take it then as well. Anyway, I got to study from about 3:30 to 7:30 for the exam, and was astually able to bone up on quite a few of the things that I thought were going to be on the exam. I finally reached the point where if I studied any longer, I wouldn't have given myself enough time to actually take the test. So I headed over to the testing center where I encountered one of the longest lines there that I have ever seen. I didn't even actually get into take the test untill about 8:20. Seeing as how the testing center closes at 10:00, 1 hour and 40 minutes was cutting my test taking time a little bit closer than I would have liked. I got out of the test feeling much better about it than I had about the first one, and even got an 83% on the multiple choice section, which constitutes about 1/2 of the test grade. I also feel that I answered the short answer/essay section a lot better than the last one, so I'm optimistic about my grade going up in the class. Here's hopin!

And so the Bloggs begin

So, it is the end of the day and I am disappointed in the total progress that I was able to make with my school work. I did finish the work that was required for two of my classes(EE 301, and Physics 220), but I didn't get in the study that I would have liked for my American Heritage Class. I have a mid-term that runs through Thursday, but that I have to take on Wednesday, and I feel woefully inadequately prepared for it. On the bright side though, I have a friend that I have been working with in one of my classes, and we seem to work very well together getting better grades together than either one of us would get individually. We have both signed up for classes for the winter semester at BYU, and will share 3-4 classes depending on how things work out; deffinately something I am looking forward too.

Our daughter Lydia has recently mastered the art of climbing the stairs, which is both Hilarious to watch, and worrisome to contemplate. Where we use to be able to leave the room for a minute or two without worrying about her getting into too much trouble, she now has the ability to go places hitherto inaccessible to her. I even tried to put up a kiddie gate to keep her from going upstairs, but she slipped through the crack that I had left under it for the pets, and surprised me while I was working on the computer. She thinks it is the funnest game to play hide and seek with us, and squeals in delight as we chase her up the stairs and all around the house. Now, if only she would learn that it is better to go down the stairs backwards instead of head over heels, we'd have it made.