Emissions and driver's licenses

I had to have emissions done on the 4Runner this past week so the registration could be renewed. We can simply renew registration and not register with Colorado since we are here as non-resident students. Colorado doesn't have a safety test and instead of allowing most car repair places perform the emissions test, they only have 8-ish locations around the entire state where emissions is tested. Fortunately for us, one is nearby. Unfortunately, they only have 1 testing hub for cars that are full time 4 wheel/all wheel drive. Seriously? Close to 25 cars were tested in the other 5 hubs before we got in. And I went at supposedly a slow time; not during lunch or first thing in the morning, not the first week or the last week of the month, nor right after a holiday. It was a Thursday. I guess 45 minutes really wasn't that bad and Ellie was good through it all.

Tell me if you think this is crazy. Most states, Utah and Colorado included, don't require you to have their state Driver's license if you are in the state as a non-resident student. But Utah law requires that you update your address within a certain amount of time after moving. The problem, they only accept Utah addresses as a residence. Although you can use an out of state mailing address.

Whats going on around here?

Around here, we've been enjoying some nice spring like weather. We went to the park the other day just so Ellie could run around, swing and go down the slides. Ellie and I take small walks almost every day but I don't know if they do me that much good other than being outside as Ellie is walking too and she doesn't move too fast. Although it does make me laugh to watch her try to run and keep up.  She also likes mimicking animal noises.  Every dog she sees, she barks at. The crows are coming back around so she caws back at them. She tried to chase a squirrel at the park and thought that was hilarious.

Ellie has managed to lose my old phone and she lost it good.  Last week, I could hear it beeping meaning the power was dying but more importantly that it was somewhere on the main floor and most likely not completely enclosed.  Well, I have looked everywhere Ellie can reach on the main floor. I removed all the couch cushions and felt in between the bottom and the back. Looked in every box, under and around all the couches, the TV, the kitchen table, in the kitchen, in the recycle container, around the water storage she tried to carry around, on the food storage shelves that she pulls the food off, next to the washer and dryer because she likes to pull out the broom to pretend to sweep, etc. Jake has helped look and nothing.

Ellie received her first big bump on her head this last week. She was running into the kitchen and tripped, smacking her head on a chair at the table and boy did she hit hard. It bumped rather quickly and was blue within minutes. Luckily it went down quickly as well and it doesn't seem to bother her at all. Add that bruise to the ones on her legs and it might look as though she is being abused. She sticks her legs between the slats on the crib, either on purpose or unknowingly while she sleeps, but her knees are a little chubby so her legs get stuck. Its hard to not laugh when she is stuck laying down or facing a certain direction right after waking up from a nap.

I was recently called as the Assistant Nursery Leader so now instead of worrying about who has to teach with Ellie in the class, she now comes and hangs out in the nursery. It's kind of fun but a little surprising as there are around 25 toddlers between 18 months and 3 years right now between the 2 wards with a good number more to join this year. Sadly although there are roughly 8 people called to the nursery, plenty of parents feel they need to hang out in there with the kids making the room a little crowded. There are some that come hang out just during play time and then take their kids out as soon as the lesson is starting.

Jake is still with the Young Men and still working hard at school. He studies his heart out.

Commercials that explain it all

I have seen both these commercials and thought they tell the real story well. 

The first I think is hilarious. It's the Vick's Dayquil Man Cold. I laugh hysterically every time it comes on and Jake just rolls his eyes at me.

The next is the Oscar Meyer Carving board turkey. Notice how the kids are acting up, the mom feeds the baby while on the phone and trying to get the boy to sit down.  My bet is that she set the table, did the shopping, and will be cleaning up also. After she will get the kids ready for bed and finally sit down with her husband. He will lean over, kiss her, thank her for being such a great wife and mother and she will forgive  him and continue loving him.

Thank you to all the wives, mothers, and caretakers out there who do seemly everything so that the lives of everyone around them is blessed.

I'm a Mormon

A couple of weeks ago, we were asked by our bishop and the missionaries to create a profile on Mormon.org to help people understand a little more about Mormons. This is a new effort by the church to show the world that Mormons come from all walks of life, have a variety of interests, and are like most people.

If you want to see my profile, click on the "I'm a Mormon" button on the side of the blog.  I encourage anyone reading this to check out the Mormon.org website, maybe my profile, and if you are a member, create your own profile to share with your friends and family.

Valentines Day

I have never been big into Valentines Day. Of course I love it when someone does something nice for you but I kinds hate that there is a day that it is expected. Our Valentines was very low key (probably because I am a huge slacker). We went out to eat at Outback Steakhouse. Jake did buy me 2 Valentines day cards which were very sweet and he wrote some very nice things in them. (I love you babe.)  I do hope that as Ellie grows older I will be able to make Valentines special like my mom did for me.

Ellie did receive a card from Grandma Wendy and Poppy DeVon with a gift card to her favorite restaurant, Chik-a-fila. She loved the card because of the cute bug on the front but I know she will really love the gift card when we use it to buy chicky nuggets.

I was thinking about Valentines Day a bit this year, especially with that commercial that talked about Valentines Day and love. I don't remember the company so probably not the most effective commercial but I remember that it says Valentines Day isn't just for saying "I love you." It is about saying "I love us."  I really like that because you can love a person but not love who you are when your with them or who you are together and you can love being with a person but not love them. Love is about caring for another person as a person only and who they encourage you to be.

Also Valentines Day should be about ALL people you love, not just significant others. It has turned so much into a "couples" holiday which tends to leave out those without someone or who have lost someone. My goal is to keep Valentines Day about saying I love you and I love us to all those people I care about, not just Jake. If your single, I suggest you celebrate the loves you have and not the loves lost.

New Phones

Jake's phone has officially had it. It had died and somehow for about 2 weeks (or longer) he managed to resurrect it long enough to read a text or return a phone call but usually somewhere in the middle the screen would fade out and it would shut off. Luckily for us this place called Car Toys was having a huge sale. Free smartphones (after mail in rebate) so we drove down to take a look; or if this were Jake's story to buy phones.

Jake has already decided what phone he wanted, the HTC G2. It has a slide out keyboard which works great for him since he has "man sized" fingers.  (He tells me they are fat but then changes to man sized when I say something to someone else.)  I was debating between 2 phones and still not exactly sure I wanted a new phone. Don't get me wrong, I love having nice, new things especially when they are fun to play with. At the same time, I only really need phone calls and texts. My other phone has an awesome music player in it and it still works fine. I have survived in this world with out ever owning an i-pod. I ended up getting the Samsung Vibrant.

It has been fun trying to figure things out but here are a few pet peeves (if you know how to fix any of them, let me know):

1. Contacts cannot be placed into groups and given separate ring tones unless you move them off the SIM card and on the phone memory.
2. Although it syncs with facebook, you can't post stuff pictures or videos directly to facebook. And you are very limited on what you can look at on facebook.
3. More than half of the application pre-installed on the phone (the calendar) won't work unless you already have or sign up for a gmail account.
4. The users manual is the shortest I have ever seen and really doesn't have useful information, just the super basics of turning on and off the phone and moving, adding, or deleting apps.
5. At a pre-set time the screen turns off and the phone becomes locked. Extending this time drains the battery but to unlock the phone you have to press the power button and then either slide the screen or input a password.

I do like some of the features on the phone:

1. There is a 5mp camera and a postcard app that allows you to take funny pictures.
2. The camcorder is HD, but you do have to manually change a setting if you want to be able to send the video via message.
3. The swype texting feature is pretty cool. I just wish sometimes it had better guesses at which letters you were pushing.

Is having a smartphone really worth it?

Making cards

I have decided to start making cards again since I already have most of the stuff and then I don't have to spend hours in the store looking for the perfect funny card or search my house for all my old thank you cards. It is a little tricky to work on though because all the material is upstairs but the best/biggest work space is the kitchen table. Also, I can't have any of it out while Ellie is awake. She is coming into the drawing stage and I can only imagine what kind of damage she could do to herself and the place with scrapbook supplies.

Here's the first set of cards.

Jake says we should try making our own funny cards.  Who knows how well that will turn out? I mean, I can be funny but usually only at opportune times. Besides, with only me trying to think of funny stuff to say it might take a while. How many people do you think Hallmark has working to create their funny cards?