overheard

Brian: I need to eat because I'm really hungry....And I need to kiss you because I'm really kissy.

AU11

Ok, I know this is going to look/sound like bragging, but I swear it's not! I was just so excited about my grades that I had to share!

Some of you probably know how much I struggled in this chem class this quarter. However, Brian says he'll never trust me again when I say I'm not doing well in a class (chem or otherwise). I have to say though, I worked pretty darn hard for that A.

Brian vs. Santa

Ok, I guess a more appropriate title would be "Brian vs. Santa's leg." Poor Santa! Actually, Brian's pretty light - I felt bad for Santa when the Elders decided to sit on his lap (one of them is quite tall and therefore weighs over 200 pounds).

Any guesses as to what Brian told Santa he wanted for Christmas?
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Yup, he said he wanted to wake up on Christmas morning and find out that his wife loves Christmas as much as he does. I laughed and told him "Not happening!" We later decided it might be possible, if he woke up and didn't like Christmas anymore (or at least, as much as he does right now). But he said that would only happen if Christmas kicked his puppy or something. I told him I would gladly dress up as Christmas and kick his puppy for him. ;) And no, he doesn't have a puppy.

overheard

Brian: This is the first time I've ever seen a real woodpecker, and it makes me realize they're really dumb.

a poll

I've had short hair envy for a while now, especially now that my hair is relatively long again. (I've never had it more than a couple inches longer than it is now.) I keep seeing these really cute short haircuts and wanting to chop it off again. I know I'd probably be annoyed with styling it and want to grow it out again, but it's pretty tempting. Brian says I can do it even though I know he prefers my long hair.

So, what do you think?

vs.

overheard

Amy: Why are you only wearing one sock?
Brian (somewhat sleepily): It came off.

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In Portuguese a couple weeks ago, our professor, Regina, was trying to explain the differences between "ser" (to be) and "estar" (to be, but more temporary). It's a tough concept for Americans to grasp. We were specifically talking about being married or single because someone had brought it up. The point Regina was trying to make is that you would still use "ser" to say someone is single, even though that is a state of being that could change. However, what she said was something along the lines of "You need to say 'sou solteiro' (single) because that doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon." Even though she was answering the question for the whole class, she was specifically addressing the person who had asked the question, and it obviously came out very wrong. We laughed long and hard over that.

(Tangent: The feminine form of "married" is "casada." For some reason, it tickles me to death that I can say "Meu nome é Amy Casaday. Sou casada.")

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Amy: *shooting some baskets after Thanksgiving dinner and failing miserably*
Kylie (cousin, 3 years old?): Oopsies. That's kind of hard for you, isn't it?
Amy: *misses some more shots*
Abby (niece, 5 years old): You're pretty bad at that.

Gotta love kids! ;)

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We were doing an activity in Portuguese where we had to give our partners advice after they told us what their problem/situation was. For example, if your partner told you they've been gaining weight, you might tell them to eat less or exercise. (We're sort of limited on vocabulary since it's only 101, but we were supposed to give the best advice we could.) After practicing with our partners, we went over the activity as a class.

Regina: Tenho uma prova de Matemática amanhã.
Kid in class: Você tem que ir à festa.
Regina: I said, "Tenho uma prova de Matemática amanhã."
Kid: I know. Você tem que ir à festa.
Regina (to the class): You guys give really bad advice.

(For those who don't speak Portuguese, Regina said she had a math test the next day and my classmate responded that she should go to the party.)

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Brian: Wanna go on a 50 mile bike ride?
Amy: No, I don't think I could go that far. How about 3 miles?

Brian: It's a bike. In Ohio. You pedal once and go a mile.

aren't we cute?

a note

This is my handwriting.

This is also my handwriting, just a bit neater.

That is all.

photo update

It's time to throw some more pics on here.

(8/5/11) Brian and I went camping at the equestrian site in Alum Creek State Park.

(8/5/11) We found this while exploring. No idea what kind of animal it came from.

(8/29/11) We had a lot of trouble figuring out what to put on the big wall in our living room. Finally, I decided to buy canvases and paint so we could make our own art. :) This was an FHE project.

(8/29/11) Brian's spooky painting.

(8/29/11) My painting. I decided to call it "Window to the Imagination."

(9/14/11) Some friends and I went and picked Honeycrisp apples (aka "Honeycrack apples" according to one friend, haha). I made some yummy applesauce and then used some of it to make apple butter. My first attempt ever, and it turned out to be delicious! (I did can more applesauce later but didn't document it with photos.)

(9/18/11) Another lovely product of the apple bounty. Shhh...I used a store-bought crust. It doesn't look very pretty, but I assure you it tasted wonderful. :)

(10/15/11) A.W. Marion State Park - ward campout. This place was beautiful!

(10/15/11) A.W. Marion State park - ward campout.

(10/28/11) Brian and I decided to check out the Indian mounds at Highbanks Metropark. These aren't the mounds, but I love this picture! It was a beautiful evening and a great hike.

(10/22/11) "I'd like to buy a vowel, Pat." This is how we dressed up for our ward's Trunk or Treat/Chili Cook-off. All the adults thought it was great/hilarious - we even won the award for "Most Original Costumes." (We were trying to compete with our friends, the Carpers, for the "Best Couple" award. They won it with their Scrabble piece costumes, but we were happy with our originality award.) The kids were enthralled by the game but had no idea what Wheel of Fortune actually was (which made me feel old...and sad). Also, remind me never to go blonde.

(10/31/11) We went to a Halloween party but everyone had already seen our Wheel of Fortune costumes, so we had to switch it up. I'm an imaginary friend.

thanks

Today, I am grateful for bus drivers who have compassion and slow down/stop for you when you're running after them.

(Yup, I almost missed the bus this morning. Pretty sure I looked ridiculous, running as fast as I could while loaded down like a Sherpa. It was already a later bus than I normally take because I was still working on getting my stuff ready when I needed to leave for the earlier bus. The later one still gets me to class on time, but I like to have time before class to chill and work on school stuff.)

Today, I am grateful that whatever sickness I thought I was getting over the weekend did not spill over into this week.

(I may have only gotten about 2 hours of sleep on Thursday night because of a lab report that was due on Friday. If you ask if it was worth it, I'll probably say no...but the perfectionist in me had to keep on going so I wouldn't have to turn it in late. I miraculously stayed awake - and actually got stuff done! - at school and in the library until about 1 that afternoon, then headed home to nap. We went camping with the ward at A.W. Marion State Park on Friday night. We had a blast, but it was a bit chilly. That was expected, so I had plenty of layers, but I was worried with all my sneezing on Saturday that I was coming down with something. I wouldn't have been surprised because of the lack of sleep combined with the cold. Fortunately, whatever it was wasn't quite as bad on Sunday, and I'm feeling even better today.)

In spite of stressing out over my exam tonight (which I should probably be studying for instead of writing this...but I did study for a while, so I'm taking a break from that for a minute), today's been a pretty good start to the week. :)


Addendum:
Today, I am grateful for people who wear funny shirts that make me laugh while walking around campus.

(I was on my way to a aula de Português today when I saw a guy with this on his shirt:

It took me a second to realize what i was - longer than it should have - but when I did, I really did laugh out loud. I'm sure the people around me wondered.)

Today, I'm grateful for exams that are not quite as difficult as I expected.

(Read: I psyched myself out. That chem exam I was studying for? I need not have worried. I was super stressed about it because I didn't get/make the time to study for it over the weekend. I probably could have reviewed even less than I did and still done ok. I hope I'm not speaking too soon, but I felt pretty good about it when I turned it in - good enough to text Brian that I thought I tore it up. I suppose we'll see for sure when I get the results back...)

oops

I unwittingly let a wasp (or similar insect) free on the bus today.

While I was waiting at the bus stop, I saw it snooping in my tote bag, probably around the tupperware from my chicken enchiladas. (There was one hovering around me while I ate lunch outside, so it didn't really surprise me.) I had a while to wait, so I pulled out my chem book to catch up on a little reading. I didn't notice, but it must have stayed in my bag. Soon after sitting down on the bus, I noticed that the man next to me was staring intently - first at me, then at the window, and finally the ceiling. I followed his gaze and discovered the offending bug. I had registered some movement near my bag when it flew out, but it wasn't enough to make me stop and wonder what it was. Anyway, my seat mate seemed pretty anxious about it but didn't say anything. Eventually, it flew to another section of the bus. I figured it would find some way out, and I think it did finally follow someone out the door.

No harm done, I guess.

Portuguese

Brian and I had this conversation the other day. It might only be funny to those who speak Portuguese, but I found it amusing and thought I'd share. :) (I suppose I could always explain it.)

Brian: Te amo.
Amy: Te amo mais.
Brian: Did you just "sh?"
Amy (sheepishly): Yes.

the five little peppers and how they grew

Apparently I'm way too proud of our garden and have to keep posting pictures of various plants we've managed to grow. :) These little beauties have been adding some flavor and spice to our meals for probably 3 months now. At some point, I decided I wanted to can some of them to make mild pepper rings. We have no idea how they turned out because they're supposed to sit in the juice for at least 3 weeks (from what I read), but at least I know the jars sealed even though I was improvising with canning equipment (that's another story altogether). Other than that, we eat them in our chicken curry or pasta sauce or give them away to neighbors and friends.

sweet banana peppers

red chile peppers (mighty spicy, even when they're green)

Funny story (it wasn't at the time):
When I was canning the pepper rings, I mostly put the sweet banana peppers in. However, I decided to try one jar with a few red chile pepper rings (1-2 peppers). After cutting them up, I touched the corner of my eye without even thinking. I think I had even washed my hands, but the oil from the peppers was still on them, so my eye started burning. I figured I should probably get my contacts out ASAP, so I headed upstairs. At that point, I knew I should wash my hands really carefully before attempting to take them out. What I didn't know is that apparently the oil doesn't come off that easily (even after wiping my hands really well on the towel). I managed to get one contact out, but that eye started burning almost immediately after touching it to grab the contact. I had tears streaming down my face and was practically bent over in pain, and I still needed to get the other contact out. Obviously, at this point, I knew I wouldn't get the other one out without a struggle, but I didn't know of another way to get the oil off my hands. After waiting a couple minutes for the pain to go down, I unsuccessfully went for the other contact. Since it didn't come out, I had to wait again before the next attempt. I think I got it out on the second try, but by then I was bawling and whimpering. At some point during this whole ordeal, Brian called to tell me he was coming home, and I had to run downstairs, find my phone, and try not to sound too upset/wimpy. I've decided that I essentially sprayed myself with pepper spray, and I don't think I ever want to be in a situation where that happens for real. My eyes eventually felt better that night, but I think they were red for at least a couple hours (and I actually kept feeling the burning on my fingers for a while because I think some of it got under a few of my nails).

P.S. I threw those contacts away.