Pogo

This morning as I was walking up to my house, I saw one of the little boys down the street jumping on his pogo stick. I have seen him jumping on it a lot lately now that spring is here. Another little boy was walking down the hill to join him at the bus stop when the kid with the pogo stick yells up,

"Noah! I beat my record!!"
Noah replied, "What's your record?"
Pogo stick kid, "three hundred and fifty! What's yours?"
Noah said, "Only a hundred and fifty..."

I stopped listening here. I was smiling because I am the Pogo Stick Jumping CHAMPION. I was remembering my younger days when I pogo'd for over an hour on rough, clumpy ground at North Fork camp ground up Ogden canyon. Sure, I couldn't walk the next day cause my legs were so sore... but I did it.

MY record is 1,000 jumps on a pogo stick. I thought of smashing these young kids self confidence and telling them MY fantastic record. . . but thought maybe that was not nice. So I walked into my house proud of the fact that secretly, I am the pogo stick MASTER!

Another week gone

This week has flown by for me. Time seems to be going very quickly, which is great because that means that we will be going home sooner. I think we are down under 60 days until we pack up and head back to Utah and we are both very excited!

The big news this week is that I got into nursing school at Weber starting this fall!! I'm gonna be a nurse in two years! I found out that my sister also got in, so we will be able to study together and ace the whole program! ...Hopefully. Jaren and I have been celebrating all week with pizza the night we found out and ice cream every night after. I think we are about celebrated out. :)

We went to an appointment with the missionaries to visit a sister named Joyce. She is from South Africa and had a beautiful accent. She was VERY familiar with the bible and has just begun to read and pray about the Book of Mormon. I seriously admire investigators because they are so open minded and willing to accept the messages that the missionaries share. I hope I would be the same way. It has been interesting for me to get involved in missionary work; I have never done anything like it before. It is scary, especially when the missionaries put you on the spot in front of the investigator, but its also fun to be able to share what you know and believe.

We made some friends from our ward, Mary and Bryant Angelos. They met at BYU and are out here working and finishing up school. Mary is an engineer for a company here and Bryant is working on a doctorate in math... I think. They are both really fun. They love listening to Jaren tell stories about his work experiences (He has so many fun stories). Mary and I have hung out on Wednesdays for the past couple of weeks while the boys play basketball at the church. It is so nice to get out of the house and talk to another adult.

Bailey and Maya keep me pretty busy when I am working. They are very well behaved most of the time but need to be almost constantly entertained or they become a little crazy. I got them a book of fairy tales from the library and they both love the stories. Rumpelstiltskin is one of the favorites so far. I love when we can sit and read. It is very cozy with a twin on each side. Alot of times we get blankets and are all so warm and comfy! They take piano lessons so I get to help them practice everyday. They do really well when they put their minds to it and actually read the notes. It takes a little convincing and luck to get that to happen most days...

Jay, Jeri Dell and Blake (Jaren's family) are coming to visit us this next week!! They will fly in tomorrow morning and will be staying all week. We have a lot planned and we are SOOO excited to have them come!

This Day

This morning when Jaren's alarm went off at 7 AM I woke feeling pleasantly drowsy from my 8 1/2 hour night of sleep. I also felt great when I remembered that I don't have to work until 5 PM tonight. The bananas I bought the other day were perfectly ripe for my breakfast cereal this morning and we got our tax return today. I spent the morning shopping online for a new swimming suit. I was given a pep talk by the Wells Fargo banker when I called in to ask a question. Also it is Friday. I get to eat a cinnamon muffin with my lunch. I have dishes piled up in my sink and laundry all over the floor, but I don't really care. Also it is Friday.

Life in the great DC is pretty much as always. Wake up, drive Jaren to Metro, come home, breakfast, exercise, shower, Facebook, participate in some hobby to take up the afternoon. Babysit for a few hours, come home, eat dinner while watching TV, watch more TV, go to sleep.

My life is pretty awesome huh?

Things out of the norm lately:

1. Got scolded by the Pizza Hut order taker over the phone. I could hear him rolling his eyes at me when he said "...I TOLD you it would take between an hour to an hour and a half when you ordered," Like I was stupid for NOT hearing him.

2. Drove by the Pentagon on my way home from checking out a prospective new car. Got lost in downtown DC for an hour while my phone's GPS royally struggled. At least I got to see some new places? I was afraid I was going to get shot... or mugged. Or something.

3. Oh, we went to the Atlantic Ocean over pre-Valentines weekend. We ate cheese/chili fries on the boardwalk, found fun seashells, found a World War Two look out tower and some lighthouses, braved the freezing gale force winds and took lots of pictures.


I have decided that people who want to live in a place like this are crazy. I would hate to always need a GPS to go anywhere (and when the GPS gets stolen you are mostly doomed to either become hermits or spend eternity being lost). I miss open spaces and not feeling like someone is going to abduct me or steal my purse wherever I go. I am probably just paranoid. I think after we see a few more places at least I will be very excited to head back to UTAH!!

One Month Down

We can't believe that it has already been a month since we have been gone! The time seems to have flown by so far, and I sort of hope it continues to. We both miss our family and friends and not having to entertain ourselves every night. We now know why people get dogs or have children. :) It is fun just chilling and watching movies or playing video games every night, but I think the novelty of it wears off pretty quick. Really, we have been having a lot of fun together and the relaxed time together has been good for the both of us. We have been enjoying a lot of "lite" ice cream and frozen yogurt over the past couple of weeks while watching our movies every night. Jaren every once in a while will ask, "What are we going to do tonight?" To which I reply, "What do we do every night, Pinky? Try to take over the world!!!" But really we will just eat ice cream and watch a movie.

We both enjoy our work. Jaren got trained on how to give an interesting tour of the US Capitol building yesterday and he loved hearing about all the interesting behind the scenes information and history that not many people know about. He says the Capitol is an amazing building and I am looking forward to my personal tour. :)

My work is going well too. I have started to figure out Bailey and Maya's fun little quirks and we are all getting along really well now. When I first met the girls, I was afraid that I would never be able to tell them apart because they are identical twins... for the most part. After about 10 minutes of being around them I realized that they are completely different. They both have very distinguishable facial features and very different personalities. I think most twins do. They are fun. Bailey is a little chatter box and is the little ring leader. She orders Maya around, but in a very passive aggressive way it seems like. :) She knows what she wants and it is hard to change her mind or get her to do something she doesn't want to do. Since she is the little leader, if she says she doesn't want to do something, Maya will follow right along. Bailey is very sweet though, and is very curious. I was wearing a shirt with some abstract flowers on it one night and she touched a flower and asked what it was. I told her it was a flower. Then she got this look on her face and put both hands on my chest and asked, "What are these?" Haha. I have had a couple discussions with the girls about private areas and told her that she could ask her mom what they were because they were part of a private area. I love how blunt little kids are sometime. Bailey loves to wear dresses and fun, colorful tights. Anyway, that is a little bit about Bailey. Maya is a super sweet little girl as well and seems a little more girly girl than Bailey. Maya loves putting barrettes in her hair and is more in to dressing up. Maya loves to wear jeans and loves to point out that I always wear jeans, so we are matching often! Maya is a little quieter than Bailey, most of the time. She has her moments where she will run around screaming and going crazy and is funny to watch. She is a little shy sometimes and loves to play with her sister. Maya is very strong willed at times and does things on her own time. I have learned to never try to rush her to do anything. I try to let her know about 5 minutes beforehand to try to finish up whatever she is doing, because oooh if I try to make her stop doing anything, I get the glare of death. They both love to watch Curious George on Saturdays and to help make dinner. We have had fun making forts, blowing bubbles on plates, coloring, painting, pretending we are driving or on a big boat, being inchworms, and just cuddling up on the couch to read books. I think it is fun how much kids love you if you are willing to sit and play with them and pretend with them. Anyway, the girls are fun and I enjoy being with them. Their mom works on Capitol Hill for one of the science committees. She is a very nice person and always tells me how grateful she is that we are here and how much of a relief it is for me to be close to help her. I think its just good for all of us!


Jaren and I are looking forward to my birthday on Saturday. We aren't quite sure what all we are going to do, but I know that we are going to take a break from our diet and eat everything and anything we want. French toast, pasta, maybe a doughnut, ice cream, strawberry shortcake, and pizza are on my wish list so far... :) We might go to the temple or go test drive some cars... Who knows.

We sure miss everyone and hope everything is going well for you all!

My funny, genious brother on the evolution of mankind.

So I signed onto Facebook this morning and my little brothers status was this.

"Dalyn Cahoon has concluded that millions of years ago humans used the hair on their heads for photosynthesis."

I replied and asked him if he came up with this on his own and he then further explained...

"Well, sitting in Orgillens class, learning about photosynsthesis, and i started thinking: what if at one time in our past, millions of years ago, we used photosynthesis, and used our hair. but, a drastic change happened and we as a species had to adapt, and, in the evolutionary process of our evolution, our hair had to die in order for us to survive, and that is why our hair is dead, and yes sister, i did come up with this one."

How cool is he? :) haha I just thought I would share this spectacular insight into our own history as humans.

Tagged.

I was tagged in my cousins blog, so I guess I have to do this! :)

Four Shows I Watch:
1. Prison Break
2. Really
3. Only
4. Prison Break

Kind of funny considering our family situation. I love it though.

Four Things I'm Passionate About:
1. Jaren. I heart this kid.


2. All of my family. New and old. :)


3. Being good at things I do. ...Ok, so maybe its more of an obsession...
4. My beliefs

Four Phrases I Say A Lot:
1. Love ya!
2. How often do you floss?
3. You're SO funny...
4. We aren't going to spend ANY more money this month. (About four hundred dollars later... I'm serious this time. Too bad someone got a ticket this morning... haha)

Four Things I've Learned from the Past:
1. Be friends with your family while you live with them. You don't see them as much as you like when you move out. They really will be your best friends.
2. Don't leave your Ipod in your car in Brigham City. It will not be in your possession long.
3. Spend as much time as you can with those you love. You never know how long you will have.
4. Don't use hand soap to get the mascara off that gets stuck under your eyes. It makes your skin freak out.

Four Places I Would Like to Go:
1. Europe
2. Samoa again.
3. Fishing and actually catch a fish.
4. Brigham City: haven't been home for a while.

Four Things I Did Yesterday:
1. Went to school. Almost done!
2. Tried not to be a stupid spit sucker. :)
3. Helped make tons of pizza. Also helped eat LOTS of it.
4. Watched Avatar.

Four Things I'm Looking Forward to:
1. Summer!
2. Camping and fishing with Jaren and family.
3. For my anatomy final to be over.
4. My own house... and maybe a halfling (baby) or two or three :)

Four Things I Love about Winter:
1. Christmas!
2. Being warm in bed when it is cold and snowing.
3. Building snowmen.
4. Walking outside after working out hard.

Four Things on My Wish List:
1. An A in anatomy.
2. To catch a fish.
3. A baby someday. :)
4. A haircut.

FIVE People I tag:
1. Holly
2. Avree
3. Cara
4. Kirsten, Shannon, Caroline and any friends/family with blogs.

Little Things

So sometimes I stop to think about some of the little things that make life fun and interesting.

1. Our little niece Marin got some new pajamas for Easter. Her mom, Cara, told Marin she could wear her pajamas outside for the Easter Egg hunt if she put pants on underneath. When Marin came out with pants on underneath the nightgown, it looked like they were bothering her for some reason. While out searching for Easter Eggs, I realized why. Her pants were on backwards, and the plumbers would all be proud. :)

2. I noticed a dandelion growing right under the dryer vent right outside Kiley's apartment. What a smart little guy. He was just so nice and warm there!

3. Kiley came over to show me her Siamese twin strawberry.

4. Jaren got a 94% on his test from last week and the first thing I wanted to do was put it up on the refrigerator. We just don't have enough kids yet to fill it up with artwork! :)

5. Jaren is a master of making faces for the camera. Observe...

I am taking a break from studying. This week has been crazy trying to study for anatomy. We have our third test on Friday and the stress caught up to me on Monday night. My sister and I were studying and suddenly I got so overwhelmed by all the information and started crying. I soon realized that crying was only making me study slower, hence making me cry harder. Then, I angrily went to write some notes and my hand and arm hurt so bad from all the writing I have done in the past 3 months. Again the crybaby meter spiked and I was bawling. Good thing I had my husband to rub my back, my sister to lovingly force me to calm down and study, and a big bag of fresh pineapple. They say its bad to eat for comfort. . . but I am a firm believer that it is good for you! To prove it, I ate a bowl of frosted flakes when we were done. Just cause I deserved it.

And a random picture! :)

This Week

Its finally the weekend and I finally have time to update the blog! The past week flew by! Here are a few things that happened this week.

1. Monday I got 100 percent on the multiple choice section of my anatomy test!
2. Jaren and I watched Oceans Eleven.
3. I got to go help dissect cadavers at school with Kiley. It was so cool, but don't tell Jaren any details. He might throw up.
4. We had pizza night on Friday and invited a couple from our ward. We played battle of the sexes. I think the boys won for the first time ever!
5. At pizza night, we made cookies AND Muddy Buddies... bad idea. I think everyone had stomach aches by the end. Did the leftovers last long? Nope.
6. Jaren and I took pictures yesterday. We found a mouse.











7. Kiley and I went shopping last night. I found a cute shirt but I don't think Jaren liked in very much. :) haha Silence is never good when you ask your husband if he likes something.
8. Jaren almost killed our computer yesterday. He was leaning on the computer desk and knocked the whole thing backwards into the wall. The monitor fell to the ground, but don't worry it lives.
9. Jaren is changing clients at his work in the next couple of weeks and is lucky because he still gets to go to the hot tub once a week. Can I have that job for a couple days?
10. My cousin had a baby and my best friend got a boyfriend. What a fun week!

Night to Myself

We had a fun night with Jaren's family tonight. Jeri Dell and Jay are up from St. George, so we all went out to dinner at Cafe Sabor. All the boys headed out to an Aggie basketball game, and I found myself with a night all to myself. How did I spend it? Wasting time on the internet and Photoshop of course! I listened to "Tomb" by Allred about 5 times. . . If you haven't heard it, you should. It is a pretty song.

Yesterday we had pizza night with Kiley and Kennan and Kennan's sister Shae and friend. This friend turned out to be an acquaintance from high school, which was fun. We made TONS of pizza and then had peanutbutter cookie p'zookies.

Kiley texted me today because she had seen a rooster poking its head out of the window as she was driving... :)

I successfully named all 18 movements of the joints in the body today while studying with Kiley. I should be studying because we have a test monday, but I think I will sleep instead. At least tonight anyway.

I forgot how much fun little Marin, Kate, and Spencer are. (Ok, the parents are fun too!) We all need to do stuff more often!

Here are the products of my night alone... I'm getting tired.

This is the original... Then Edited a few ways

Then one of Kate. She is so cute.

Bored Bored Bored...

So as I was sitting in the TSC computer lab contemplating my boredom, I found myself repeatedly going back to that website... The one I hate to admit I am addicted to. Facebook. Why do I look forward to those little red notifications at the bottom of the page like they are Christmas presents? Why is there this strange desire to sit and look at hundreds of other peoples pictures? Its my addiction, such a sweet little word.... I also really enjoy this little cartoon for some reason. I think the real question is why do I have nothing else to do?! I need a hobby. I'll let you know when I find one. :)

Hello everyone! This is my first posting as Mrs. Sandberg! It will be a quick one because its almost time to go to my next class! But here are some of the happenings of the Sandberg household in the past couple months.

1. Moved into our apartment. Only a few troubles getting furniture in.
2. Jaren got a sound system. We LOVE watching movies. ;)
3. We went "camping" in a cabin at bear lake. Didn't catch any fish, so ate a whole pack of oreos for dinner. Flooring guys there at the cabin from 10-3AM... Very romantic weekend. :)
4. First Pizza night!!
5. Bottled 60 jars of apple pie filling with Jaren's family. So yummy!!
6. Went back to the temple for the first time this past week! Loved it! Almost couldn't get in cause Jaren's recommend is still having issues.