I can't believe how long its been since I updated this!

I'll start with Thanksgiving. We ended up spending most of the day at home by ourselves and having a quick dinner with my family. I made sugar cookies and garlic mashed potatoes. I have to say, it is one of my favorite recipes. I of course, went to dinner saying I wasn't going to eat too much - and I, of course, left stuffed!! It's so hard when there is so much good food.

The weekend of December 5-6, Geoff was in Colorado for two games. They won the first, and lost the second. During the second game, Geoff was thrown down, and hit his head. They said he had a mild concussion. He had a headache that night and a little the next day, but recovered quickly from it. He's fine now, but it did make me a little nervous.

December 13th was Geoff's birthday. It was the first year since he started college that he didn't have a final on his birthday. He did have practice though. We didn't do anything really exciting because we both had finals the next week. For his birthday I gave him a coat and some shoes - exciting, I know - but it's hard to buy things for someone who never asks for anything, or says they want anything.

The Fall semester ended a few weeks ago. We both did good in our classes. I'm especially proud of Geoff who was worried about his schedule. He actually ended up doing a lot better then he ever expected. His schedule next semester is killer, but he is so smart, I'm sure he'll do great. My finals went well, I'm just glad they are over. This break has been so nice, but its going way too fast.

This Christmas was one of the best I can remember. We decorated right after we got back from Thanksgiving dinner and watched our first Christmas movie that night. This is Geoff's favorite time of the year, and it's been so much fun to watch him be so excited. He even got up in the middle of the night and set up presents from Santa and turned the tree on for when I woke up. Christmas day is always busy for us, but I'm so thankful that our family's plans work out so we can be to just about everything.

This month has been so great -I hope everyone has had a good Christmas.

6-0

I really have tried to update this in the last month, but every time I sit down to update, there just isn't that much to write about...But I figured Westminster being 6-0 was a good reason to post.

Last weekend I was lucky enough to go down to Las Vegas to watch Geoff play in 2 games. The first game was against Vanguard - and it wasn't much of a game...they won 74-48. Geoff played well, and it really was a fun game to watch. He had 18 points and 9 rebounds. The second night they played Concordia - who is ranked 9th. (Westminster is 13th). Westminster won 89-81. That game was a little bit more exciting - although I must admit that it would have been better if Geoff wasn't on the bench with 2 fouls in the first few minutes. But either way, they beat the 9th ranked team and will move up in the rankings.

Saturday, after the game, we went to the Bellagio buffet - it was amazing!! They had tons of food - top sirloin, seafood, pasta, and the best part...the dessert bar. It was soooo good. After dinner we went to see Criss Angel at the Luxor. Now, I have only seen one episode of his show Mind Freak, but I was expecting some pretty cool tricks. Instead, it was a lot of normal stuff - you know, cut someone in half, disappear and reappear - that kind of stuff. The show also had a lot of Cirque De Soleil with it, which was cool, but not what I expected. I think the general consensus of the group was that if your wanting to see some cool magic...this probably isn't the show to see.

Tomorrow Geoff leaves for Idaho - and will hopefully come back 8-0!! Good Luck Griffins!

Good News...Bad News

So I went to the doctor (who I absolutely LOVE - partly because he's a Jayhawk) for my knee on Sept. 29, and he recommended I get an MRI because of my history with knee pain/surgery. When I went back on the 8th, I got some good news and some bad news...bad news is that I have a tear in my cartilage, another part of cartilage is wearing down, and I have a cyst in the back of my knee that is partially ruptured. Goods news is, it's not as bad as it sounds. I'll need to have surgery eventually, but at this point its up to me - and I'm in no hurry to have another surgery.

So, the plan is to keep running and training for the races I want to run in the spring, and hopefully get it fixed after either Ragnar or the Hobble Creek Half next year.

School is going good for both of us. We both have had a lot of tests and have done well on them. Geoff is taking a ton of classes trying to get everything done so he can graduate this summer. with all the transferring he's done, he's taken enough classes to graduate almost twice!!

Basketball started a few weeks ago for Geoff and their first game is on Halloween - and they're away in Montana. I can't believe how fast it came. I LOVE basketball, but at the same time I HATE basketball season :-).

It's been a busy last few weeks, but now that I think about it, I cant remember a whole lot that happened. But here's a few highlights:

Last Saturday we took Lynn to the vet. She has a slow thyroid and it was time for a refill. I decided to go to a new vet since the last one I took her to here in Salt Lake was really rude. This new vet was a TON better. I am so much happier taking here there. I was hoping her thyroid was still low because that would mean she would more medicine and it would hopefully solve her weight and shedding problem. Well, good news/bad news...her thyroid level is good on the medication that she is on. But that also means that we need to walk her more and switch her food - cause she needs to lose about 20 pounds...probably doesn't help that she ate a whole pumpkin pie at my parents last night (while we were gone).

Also, a few weeks ago I twisted my knee and felt this tingling sensation. It didn't hurt too bad, but always had this weird feeling in side of it. Then, a few days ago, it started to hurt really really bad. It was bad enough that I went and saw one of Geoff's trainers. He thought that I may have torn off a piece of cartilage and said that I should go see a doctor. I'd been putting that off cause it seems like by the time I can get into a doctor, the problem I'm going for has gone away. Well, I was able to get an appointment for Monday, and sure enough it doesn't hurt anymore. I was even able to run yesterday. I'm debating on whether or not to go - I hate going in the first place, but then going in a saying "My knee used to hurt, but its fine now" - I just don't see the point.

School is going good for both of us. Geoff took his first test this last week and I had my first one on Saturday. It's been really hard for both of us to stay on top of our homework. Basketball hasn't started yet for Geoff but they are doing conditioning and lifting. I've done a few of their workouts, and I can't believe some of the stuff they do - it's killer.

The spider problem has gone away, but we have a new bug come into our hall. It's called a Jerusalem Cricket, and they are so gross. Their like 1 1/2 inches long, and they don't even look like a real bug. We sprayed the first 2, but I guess they are supposed to be really good and harmless so we haven't sprayed any more of them. This is what they look like.

Gross - I know...

School, spiders, and fall

School started a few weeks ago for us. Needless to say, it's been two week and we're both already behind. It's just so hard to want to do homework when we could go swimming, go the gym together, or even just sit and do nothing. I'm taking 2 nutrition classes and a family economics class. Geoff has a full load of 16 hours with all accounting classes. He really amazes me - being able (or more willing) to take on that many upper division classes at a fairly hard school, and play basketball.



We've found a new nightly activity - we call it "spider hunting." For those who don't know, I DO NOT like spiders. And for some reason, our hall is the only hall in the whole complex that has a ton of bugs - trust me, we've gone and looked at quite a few other halls. So, every night when we go and take Lynn out, we take our bottle of spray and spray the bugs. I know, some bugs are good, and it's not so much that I think they will hurt me, as it is the fact that that I just don't like them. In the past week we have sprayed 8 BIG spiders - who have all had a ton of little spider babies hanging on them - and we also got a black widow. In the past few days there haven't been as many - hopefully the cooler weather will help with the problem.

I just have to say that I am sad to see summer go - I really do enjoy the heat, sun, and fun things to do. But, I also love fall. I like the cooler, fresh air and the leaves, and mountains. I also like the holidays, the decorations, the foods, the smells, and all those things that make fall, fall. I'm hoping we can get a few hikes or picnics in before it gets too cold.

A Very Traumatic Weekend...

Saturday was shot day - for the dogs. I took Lynn for her yearly vaccination. She is a very very clingy dog who doesn't like to leave my side - even for a minute - which doesn't make for a very easy vet appointment.

We got there early and there were about 10 dogs in line before us. The way it works, you go in and fill out the papers, wait for your turn and pay, and then your dog gets called back. My mom kept her dog out in the lobby while I took Lynn in to fill out the paper work. I opened the door and started walking in. It wasn't long before I realized Lynn was not following me. She had seen all the other dogs and was too scared. It took a minute but she finally followed me.

We made our way up to the counter and Lynn quickly hid in front of me. After filling out the paper work I tried to move to the bench to wait. And, again, Lynn would not follow. After some more coaxing I got her to come with. She headed strait for the corner and didn't move. Soon after she had found her spot (which also happened to be on the scale) she spotted my mom and her dog through the glass. This prompted quite a bit of whining - which sounds almost like a dying cow. We were then called up to pay which wasn't such a bad ordeal since most of the dogs had gone by then.

A few minutes later they were called back. Buckles - my mom's dog - went willingly. Lynn, on the other hand, was so set on staying with me she pulled right out of her collar. I finally ended up walking to the door with her so she would go. Thirty seconds later they were done and we were on our way home. Doesn't sound like that big of a deal...huh? And it really wasn't. But for a dog who won't leave my side, and is scared of almost any other dog, it was NOT a good day. Funny thing is, she was probably 25+ pounds heavier then any other dog in that room.

Bad news is, she is going to be groomed today...and compared to that, Saturday was NOTHING.

It's been a while...and a few things have happened, so I'll update on the big stuff.

First, we finally moved, and are now living in Sandy. We came up about 3 weeks ago. It was pretty crazy. Our landlord in Cedar told us that if we wanted to move early, he would give us some of our rent for that month back - and since we really had no reason to stay down there, we left. We had been looking for a place up here in Salt Lake for a while, but couldn't find anything we really liked, and would take our dog as well. So, for the first week we lived with my parents. It wasn't bad because we kinda just came and went as we wanted, but it wasn't the same as being on our own and being our own little family. Then, one Saturday, Geoff decided to go get us an apartment, and 4 hours later, we were moving in. It's a nice place, and I'm glad that we are on our own again - but I do appreciate my parents letting us stay there for the week that we did.

It's weird being back in Salt Lake. Even though we both lived here before we moved, coming back has been harder then we thought it would be. Geoff and I miss Cedar a TON!!! I never thought I would say it, but I really honestly LOVED being down there. In fact, I hate to admit it, I did cry a little when we left. Salt Lake will be good for us, but right now it's been a challenge adjusting.

The past few weeks have been filled with unpacking, starting a new job, basketball camps, and spending time with friends and family. I'm proud to say that we are done with the boxes and our house actually looks and feels like "our house." With everything that has been going on, we have had very little time to relax and spend time by ourselves. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have stuff to do, but sometimes I just want a minute to do nothing. Last weekend, (the 4th of July) we finally got that chance. We helped some of our good friends move into their new house, and spent the rest of the night just hanging out with us - and doing nothing. And I hate to say it, because I really do love the fireworks on the 4th, but the only reason we saw any was because Lynn, our dog, needed to go out. Geoff and I had even forgotten about the fireworks - and were both a little surprised when we walked out and saw all of our neighbors. (But it was fun to watch them for a minute.)

Hopefully life will return back to normal sometime soon.