I Can't Find My Trapper Keeper

I have some big news. Not big like I'm getting married! But big like it will occupy my time for the next few years (not eternity!). I have made the decision to go back to school. Did you know that they don't sell My Little Pony Trapper Keepers anymore?! This made me very upset and almost made me change my mind.

I have decided to go back to school and get another Bachelor's degree. You say, "Another Bachelor's degree?" Yes, ANOTHER one. Degrees are like shoes, A Girl can't have too many degrees (or shoes). The first one was in Marriage, Family, and Human Development with a minor in Travel and Tourism Studies. People always asked me what I was planning to do with that degree. I told them I would marry a rich man and travel all the time. As we all know, that didn't happen. As a good friend told me BEFORE I got that degree, you can't do anything with it. After 6 years of hitting the pavement, I have decided that she was right and I should have followed her advice. Hindsight is 20/20.

So you are probably asking, What is she going to try this time? Well, here it is....Accounting. Doesn't that sound exciting?! I know you guys can hardly contain yourself. Take a moment to catch your breath before continue reading. Okay? To make it sound a little more exciting, I thought I would tell you what sound most appealing to me in the world of Accounting. It is Auditing! I know! Sounds SO much fun, doesn't it?! I already strike fear in the hearts of all children just by coming in contact with them. I thought Why stop with the children? I might as well strike fear in the hearts of adults as well. We'll see once I get in the classes, what I actually decide to concentrate on.

So in case you are keeping score, here's what I have so far and what I plan to have when all this education is complete:

1 One Year Certificate in Business Management from Salt Lake Community College (SLCC)

1 Associate of Science Degree in General Studies (SLCC)

1 Associate of Science Degree in Business (SLCC)*

1 Bachelor's Degree in Marriage, Family, and Human Development with a minor in Travel and Tourism Studies from Brigham Young University (BYU)

1 Bachelor's Degree in Business Accounting from University of Utah (U of U)*

1 Masters degree in Accounting from BYU*

OR

1 MBA with Finance Emphasis from BYU*

The degrees with * are not completed yet.

Do you think that is enough paid education for one person? Do you think I can get a respectable job with those credentials? I'm not so sure! We'll see what the future holds.

The education journey begins May 12th. I decided to start out with an easy load my first semester of a measly 18 credits. Piece of cake! I figure if I'm gonna do it, I should just jump in with both feet and not look back. I'm not getting any younger! It should take me about 2 1/2 years to complete the Bachelor's degree and another 2 years if I add a Master's onto it. I am still undecided on the Master's degree. I will have to see how I feel when I get closer to getting my (2nd) Bachelor's degree.

Since I don't use my first Bachelor's degree, I figured I would sell it on ebay. I need to get some money for tuition. Higher education prices haven't gotten any lower in the past decade. I figure maybe someone else can use it.

So I'm not really sure if I should be wearing blue or red so I've decided the new color is purple. I'm grateful there will only really be one day a year usually between September and December when I really have to make a choice.

I guess the blood that runs through my veins really is blue because I called BYU about getting another Bachelor's degree and they denied my request. The rules at BYU are one Bachelor's degree per person so I was out of luck. So I had to settle for the University of Utah. Sorry all my Ute fans. I don't mean to dog you.

Well, this will be quite the adventure! I will have to keep you posted from the walls of higher education. I will keep you educated on everything I am learning OUTSIDE of class! It should prove to be interesting. Stay tuned!

Hey Baby Lets Go To Vegas!

Where have I been last week? Vegas, baby! My parents had a Convention in Vegas and were planning to drive so I figured I would tag along. There is nothing like free transportation and accommodations. Since I had no income, I figured I would see if I could make a little dough on the slots or at the tables! Just kidding!

As I was telling my friends that I was planning to go to Vegas for a few days, some of them asked me what I was planning to do since I don't gamble. There are a MILLION things to do in Vegas besides gamble. I told them that since I don't gamble, the second thing that Vegas was known for was weddings. I told them I was going to get married. Too bad I never found a suitable groom! Oh well! This trip turned into a shopping trip.

I absolutely love Vegas. It seems that people either love Vegas or they hate it! There seems to be no middle ground.

My dad got to attend meetings the three days we were there. My mom and I seemed to be anywhere but at the convention. We went to both of the outlet stores located on the north and south ends of the strip. My mom got some great deals at the stores on the south end of the strip while I hit the jackpot at the outlet stores on the north end of the strip.

In case you were wondering where the best deal on the Strip is, I have the answer for you. The best deal is $1 per scoop of ice cream between 2-4 PM everyday at Betty's Diner in the Imperial Palace. It is the best kept secret on the Strip. In case you were wondering where the Imperial Palace is, it is across the street from Caesar's Palace and next door to Harrah's. The scoops are HUGE and one scoop is very satisfying!

We spent one morning at the Las Vegas Temple. It's amazing how two places so opposite are just a few miles from each other.

We did attend one show that was part of the convention. We saw a hypnotist perform on some people in the audience. It was very entertaining! I totally believe that those people were hypnotized! I'm a believer! The human mind, it's an amazing thing!

My parents and I all said the same thing the morning after we got home. We were all gratefull to sleep in our own beds in our own rooms. We would never survive in a third world country where we would have to share a one room house.

Is a passport required to go to IKEA?

A few weeks ago Mark and I renewed our passports and decided to spend the evening at IKEA. Yes, it took us an entire evening to conquer and see every last inch of IKEA. We met in the oversized parking lot at 4:30 PM and I did not arrive home until midnight. (Granted, we did some other things besides IKEA but still....) We spent three hours of our life at IKEA! I am still debating as to whether it was a good use of my time.

So we started upstairs in the very large IKEA. We found these comfy chairs right away and sat there for a while catching up on old times. That was basically how the entire night went. We walked for awhile, commented on stuff we saw, sat and chitchatted, and then moved on to the next display. We acted as if every display was our house. We slammed the kitchen doors, sat on the sofas, looked in the closets, laid on the beds, helped ourselves to the stuff on the bookcase, etc. You get the picture. It was a very hands on experience.

Here are some things we learned:

I have the strength of ten men. I accidentally ripped off a handle in one of the kitchen displays.

Not all the kitchen cabinets have the slam protected feature.

At least one of the TVs in the displays actually works.

All of the books on the bookcases are in Swedish. (I'm not really sure it was Swedish because neither Mark nor I speak Swedish, but we both know it was NOT English!)

Everything we thought would be expensive was cheap and everything we thought should be cheap was expensive.

The food in the restaurant was delicious and well worth the few bucks we spent on it.

There were some things that neither Mark nor I were sure what to do with??

Two out of every three women between the ages of 18 to 50 that we saw were pregnant. (I told Mark to stay away from me, especially when we were trying out the firmness of the beds!)

Imaginations are a must.

The boxes of games on the bookshelves do not contain the games. (They were empty boxes.)

The employees are not very happy if you take the place setting from the kitchen displays and use it in the restaurant.

I am not a very good driver of a shopping cart when Mark is in it.

The carbonated pear juice in the wine bottle causes a lot of air in the stomach which results in some pretty good belching.

Apparently every man in America needs 100 tea lights, according to Mark. I'm not really sure why?! We did learn that you can't light a tea light from the cigarette lighter in a car. (All it will really do is create smoke which really kills the mood.)

There you have it! My review of IKEA. It was nice to go there once, but I hope to never do the full tour again! Sorry, Mark forgot his camera so there are no pictures. I'm sure if you call IKEA and ask for their security surveillance tape from that evening, it will have caught all of our investigations.

Out of This World!

Mark had a brilliant plan that we should go Cosmic Bowling last weekend. We decided to meet there at 9:30 PM so we could put our names on the list for a lane. Mark decided to grace me with his presence around 10 PM. I put our names on the list and they told us it would be an hour wait for a lane. We didn't mind waiting. Just after Mark got his tokens from the machine to play some arcade games, they called our names for our lane. It was definitely not an hour wait. It was more like a 10 minute wait! Anyway, Mark and I have decided that based on our performance, we will not be trying out for a league anytime soon. We could try out for the Gutterball Goonies, since that was where our bowling balls spent most of the night. Mark did get a few strikes and spares. I managed a few spares of my own. All in all we had a great time! We just realized that we are definitely not high schoolers anymore and we are more than happy to leave Cosmic Bowling to the next generation. Here are some pictures of our humiliation. Enjoy at our expense.

The Long Awaited Cabela's Pictures

Well, here they are. The long awaited pictures from Cabela's. I am blaming the full moon for me being able to get these pictures. Enjoy!

I decided to go gangsta'

Innocent aquarium watching

The infamous feeding of the fish. This video is rated PG-13. Caution: Contains violence.

My reenaction of the fish feeding

I would advise not to get between a woman and her gun

Me and Mark preparing for the Uintas

Adventures at Cabela's

I really wanted to wait to post this until I had some pictures. I highly doubt I will be getting any pictures from Mark so I will just give you the word version. You will have to use your imaginations (what's that?) for the pictures. Sorry!

One day after Mark got off work, we decided to have an adventurous outing. We went to Cabela's. I would liken it to a poor man's Disneyland. It even has a Matterhorn (sort of)!! Since we were a poor man (and woman), we figured this place was for us. Even though it was free to go there, we both left some of our wallets there.

We got there at 5:45 PM so we were just in time to watch the feeding of the fish in the aquarium. My friend who had already been there told me, "You have to see the feeding of the fish." The only problem was finding the aquarium. We sort of gave up (even though we really never started looking), when an employee came up to us and asked if we had seen the feeding of the fish. We both replied we hadn't. He directed us to the fish. The aquarium was already being scoped out by a Boy Scout troop. Mark and I watched the feeding of the fish. I really didn't find it appropriate for anyone under the age of 14 years old. It was very graphic and a bit disturbing. Mark and I just kept looking at the fish and then looking at each other and then back at the fish. We didn't know what to think. We just kept saying, "This is sick and wrong....Yet it is so entertaining!"

After the horrifically entertaining fish feeding, we set our sights to the rest of the store. Cabela's has everything you would ever need for the outdoors and everything you didn't think you would need. I am an indoor girl myself but hanging out with Mark over these past two years has "encouraged" me to explore my outdoor self.

We (read here Mark) found the shooting range in the store. He loaded his pockets up with tokens and had a shoot em up good time. It was mildly entertaining for me to watch as dinky little things happened when he hit the target-a bottle falling over, a light turning on, you know the drill). After much coaxing, Mark talked me into shooting a round or two. At first I had no idea what I was doing. (At least that was what I lead him to believe. Hee-hee!) We finally decided on a friendly shooting competition. When all the shots had been taken, let's just say that I ate dinner for free that evening! 'nough said!

Mark and I both have sweet teeth that can't be ignored. When our teeth and stomachs led us to the fudge shop, we couldn't resist. We came out a little poorer and our taste buds much happier!

Then it was on to the camping gear. Mark and I are planning a little camping trip to the Uintas this summer (because we waited too long to go last summer) so Mark enjoyed pointing out all the necessities-tent, sleeping bags, lanterns, etc. I pointed out all the necessities we would need as well-portable shower with hot water, portable potty, air mattress, microwave, etc. I think me and Mark have a slightly different idea of "camping".

Our last stop was in the gun department. Can I just say, "Wow, there are a lot of guns to choose from!" We saw BB guns for hundreds of dollars! I agree with Mark. He said, "If you're going to spend that much on a gun, you might as well get a real gun!" Well said.

Cabela's is a very fun place to go. I highly recommend it to anyone that wants a cheap night out (granted you don't buy anything).

Our next adventures will be taking place at...IKEA! I can't wait!

Sunny San Diego...or NOT!

As my mom told me this morning, "It's not Valentine's Day anymore! Update your blog!" Since I am such an obedient daughter (the most obedient daughter she has), I thought I would update my blog. I will tell you all about my fun-filled (?) trip to San Diego, CA.

I flew to San Diego on a Thursday night (the night before my dad's big surgery). I arrived in a bit of rain. My mom picked me up at the airport since my dad was undergoing the process of "preparing" for the surgery (i.e. clearing out the old digestive system). My mom and I enjoyed clam chowder in a bread bowl from Boudin's. (I don't think we could have been more California than that!) We enjoyed catching up. Then we all went to bed early since the next day would start before the sun woke up.

Friday morning arrived very early with two different alarm clocks going off around 4:45 AM (I think). My parents got ready for the day while I moved from sleeping on the couch to an actual bed. My parents left for the hospital and I received a few more hours of much needed beauty sleep! While my dad's surgery was delayed a few hours, I helped myself to the hotel's breakfast buffet and then repented for an hour on the treadmill! :) My mom finally came back to the hotel for me around 11 AM after my dad had finally been wheeled into surgery. We packed up our "activity bag" and headed to the hospital.

What do you do for eight and a half hours in the hospital when you are not the one being operated on? Oh the possibilities are endless. One of my favorite activities was watching people try go into a bathroom whose door was locked. I then enjoyed watching about three different maintenance people try to find a key that would unlock it. My guess was that there was a patient that fell off the toilet in there just waiting to be rescued. (I have had experience falling off a toilet and being locked in a bathroom but I will have to save those stories for another time.) After quite a while, the door to the bathroom was finally opened and much to my disappointment there wasn't anyone stuck in there. It was empty. Another activity I enjoyed while waiting in the hospital was watching people in scrubs carry walkers around the hospital. These were not patients walking with the walkers, mind you. It was personnel CARRYING walkers. If I got paid for every person I saw carrying a walker, I could have paid for my dad's surgery. (I later found out that the people carrying the walkers were physical therapists. THe PTs were taking the walkers to patients so they could get up and walking after their surgeries.) My time was also spent reading, knitting, and checking my email.

My dad was a real trooper and made it through the surgery. Most of the cancer was removed along with some organs that he didn't really need (spleen, appendix, and 2 feet of the colon). No need to carry around extra weight, I always say! He lost about 40 pounds just from all that was removed from his body (mucous, fat). He has lost another 10 pounds since the surgery since he's not really eating that much. (He lost the equivalent of a whole Melodie!) He received 9 units of California's best Grade A blood. He is a true Californian now. If he starts talking like a surfer dude, we will know why. The doctor was very pleased with how the surgery went. If the doctor is pleased, then we are pleased.

Saturday morning my mom and I slept in. (But if you talk to my dad, we were there bright and early as soon as they would allow visitors in the room. He was heavily medicated so he doesn't really remember anything.) He was quite groggy and talked really quietly. I kept saying, "What? Speak up! I can't hear you!" As a result of him talking so softly, I think my mom and I overcompensated by yelling back to him. Oh well! He kept asking anyone and everyone for a popsicle. He wasn't allowed to have a popsicle because the digestive system (that had been recently manhandled) couldn't handle anything in it for a while. He couldn't have anything to eat until he farted! That didn't stop him from asking nurses, doctors, me and mom, the guy sweeping the floor, etc for a popsicle.

We ditched dad for a little while and performed a session at the San Diego Temple. We got in a Spanish session so we had to use the gift of tongues (the headset) so we could understand what was going on. It was very entertaining for me! The San Diego Temple is so BEAUTIFUL inside and out (just like me!)!! The only word that describes it is WOW!!! I wanted to go back a ton more times. (Too bad they were closed the remaining days I was there-Sunday and Monday.)

We went back and visited Dad that afternoon at the hospital. We broke some rules and were kindly rebuked by the nurse. I enjoyed watching the monitor of dad's blood pressure and heartbeat. It was like watching TV. Nothing like saying something to someone and immediately see their inner reaction!

Sunday was spent visiting with Dad. We bailed on him for a little over an hour and went to church. Sunday evening Mom and I drove to San CLemente (about halfway between LA and San Diego) to meet my friend Matt. Matt lives in LA and we have done the Christmas Spectacular together in Nashville for the past three years. It was great to spend a few hours talking with him. He is one of my favorite people to just hang out with.

We drove back to the hospital and spent a short amount of time with dad. We asked if we could turn on the TV in his room and he told us no and to go home. So we did. We wondered who the man was that had taken over my dad's body. Usually it's us asking him to turn off the TV! He is the king of TV at our house.

Monday morning my mom and I got up bright and early and headed to the hospital. I had a 10 AM flight to catch so I had to say our goodbyes before we were all fully awake. When I left San Diego, it was blue sky, warm, and sunny. My mom said that as soon as I left the rain departed with me. The sun came out and it has been beautiful ever since (just about).

I am enjoying my last few days of absolute freedom before my parents return. I am actually looking forward to having someone to talk to (but don't tell them). I can only talk to myself for so long and it so one-sided. Not a lot of "discussion" going on. Anyway, Thanks to all of you for your kind thoughts, love, support, prayers, and friendship. Like a good friend told me at the beginning of this "Dad has cancer" journey, you certainly find out who your friends are when you got through something difficult! Thanks for taking the journey with me!