Sunday, October 31, 2010

Guilty Pleasure

I am loving her right now, and I really don't like that I do. I tried to talk myself out of getting her CD, but we all knew it was going to happen. So T. Swift, thank you for another great CD. You bug me, but I love your music.


Needless to say, Husband is not loving her nearly as much as I am. He's a trooper. I promised him we'll be back to listening to Dave Matthews soon :)

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

The End is in Sight.

I can feel it in the air. The weather is changing. The mornings are darker, the nights are colder, and the heater is turned on. This year, these are all good signs.

I can now count on one hand the number of times I have to go to each of my classes (excluding finals). This means that in about 6 weeks I can call myself a graduate. That is assuming I pass all my classes of course.

I bombed my first test EVER and I wanted to die. I went to talk to my professor with a red face and glazed eyes as he told me not to worry, I would be fine. I sure hope he's right. I still ran out of class and bawled the whole way home. I am such a baby sometimes. It's just, why did that have to happen my LAST semester? I was so close. Oh well, it has to happen to everyone I guess.

I do love school though. Despite the tests, papers and projects, I am going to miss it. I love having this side of me that no one really knows about. At school, I'm kind of a nerd that loves deep conversations and the occasional outbreak of an argument amongst classmates. I like making comments now and then and having an opinion about a topic. At school, I feel smart. I'm going to miss that certain feeling.

Regardless of my love for school, I am ready to be done. I now think of myself more as a teacher than as a student. My brain has shifted to work, and school has taken the back burner. I love teaching and I want to be able to give it my all rather than being divided between school and my class. So, bring on the changing season and the cold temperatures. The sooner it comes, the sooner I can be a graduate.

Love always,
Jenessa

p.s. My mom bought us Christmas ornaments today! They are sitting in our living room and I am so excited about them. Just another reason for it to be December already!


Wednesday, October 13, 2010

My interaction with the Shape-Up lifestyle


This is basically a vent-post, so bare with me.

Let me explain to you the time I got chewed out for being a worker at Scoreboard Sports. One day a boy and his mom came in looking for cleats for soccer. The boy was approx 15 years old and his mom wore Shape-Ups. They are an unusually quiet mother and son. Very soft spoken and reserved. I started getting him some cleats that he wanted and he found a nice pair that he said, and I quote, “Feel Good.” After wearing them around for a hile, I rang them up and sent them on their way thinking nothing of it.

A few days later I got a call at work from this very same Shape-Up lady. She started chewing me out for selling her son cleats that are “too small and that hurt his feet.” She went on to say, “That it’s my responsibility as an employee to make sure that they fit right.” She said she would be in to exchange them and get the right size. Feeling a little flustered but not too bad, I went back to get the next size up for this young son of the Shape-Up mom. They came in and, avoiding the awkwardness, handed them the shoes and took the old par to the back. To my surprise he had worn them to a soccer practice, in the rain nonetheless. They were stained with grass and dirt and smelled not very pleasant. I told the woman that we could not take these back because he had already played in them. You could see her face heat up and her eyes start to water. Now this woman isn’t the kind of woman that talks things out. No, she is the kind of woman that cries and gets furious, like a weeping cry. But she and her son left the store.

To my surprise I got a call from her. She was furious! In between the sobs and high pitched shrieks, I heard her say that her son was also was crying. He just waited to get out of the store because he didn’t want to make a scene. She said that it’s my fault they didn’t fit because I didn’t check his toe to make sure it was at a good spot. What! How is that my responsibility? Your son said that they felt good! Who is this family?? Are they like the most unreasonable emotionly-based family ever? Mike, my boss, being the sweet guy he is exchanged the shoes for free. They left with tears in their eyes.

This is not only a portion of why this gets under my skin. The other is because what kind of world people like the Shape-Up lady makes; a world where it doesn’t matter how hard you work, but how hard you complain. If you whine and cry enough, you get what you want. No, that’s not how it should work. I so wish I could go back and be like “Look, Shape-Up lady, you need to shape up. Cry and whine all you want. You purchased these shoes. Your son wore them to a point where we cannot take them back, and that is that.” Then after telling her off, I would sell her some thin socks or blister preventing band-aids for her son.

Thus is my experience with the lifesyle of Shape-Ups.


The Gap

Friday, October 1, 2010

....We feel like illegal immigrants....

I put dots around the title because I saw lots of other blog posts with dots around the title
Let me take a moment to explain to you some of the deepest conversations my wife and I have had in our marriage.

When Nessy and I were youngins, we were raised on Cougar Football. Ness went to almost all home games, same season tickets every year, and even painted her face sometimes. My little wife grew up a die hard Cougar fan. I was raised the same way (minus the face painting, thats wierd) Needless to say, we were raised up to bleed blue.

As many of you may know, college football has started up again. Being young and full of life, we have been very excited to watch and keep up-to-date with as much as we can. This season is different than others however. Both of us are attending the University of Utah and feel like we are stuck in an awkward position. With the comments of Max Hall turning up the heat between the Y and the U, it feels like you have to be either a die hard Ute, or a True blue Coug. Speaking for myself, I feel like I am not as die hard of a cougar fan as I once was.
As mentioned before, we are yound and full of life and decided to try something a little crazy. Become a Ute fan. We went and watched the first Utah game over at my sisters, where they are huge Utah fans. We cheered when they scored and got mad when something bad happened just as any other fan would do. However, it felt as if we were betraying something deep within us. The cheers felt more forced then real. We were driving home when the deepest discusion of our marriage happened. We both confessed that we do not think we can become Ute fans. It just doesn't feel right. However we (at least I) feel distanced from the Cougars because we go to the U. With constant hazing from my family about betraying the Y when I transfered to the U, they wont accept me as a Cougar fan.

This is why we fill like illegal immigrants. When an immigrant comes to the US, but holds on to traditions from his former nation, he loses his place in society. He isn't apart of the US, nor his former country. His is in limbo, like Hugo and Ben from Lost. So we came up with a plan...


We are Aggies fans.


To celebrate our move, we are going to the USU vs BYU game tonight with a bunch of friends. I will be buying USU gear to wear. I am greatful for a wife who will let me join in on Utah State and not judging me for never going there. In my heart I did. But in fact, my body was on my mission. I now root for the Arkansas Razorbacks and the Aggies. For those who ask "Who will you root for when BYU plays Utah?" To them I say, My blood is still blue, just not as blue as it used to be. The Cougs will always have a place in my heart. But for now, its the Aggies.


So, wish us luck in our future ventures.


The Gap