Reason 119: Volleyball

Saturday, January 29, 2011.

Last night BYU Men's Volleyball kicked off in the first home match of the season!  I am one of two student athletic trainer's assigned to the team which has been a blast so far!

The Fieldhouse is a super fun atmosphere.  I realized this is the first indoor sport that I have worked.  It's different, but nice to have a more relaxed assignment!

Volleyball beat UC Irvine 3-0 last night and will play again tonight at 7 pm!

Reason 118: ..... and Orca Grants!

Thursday, January 27, 2011.

Well, the diagnosis is officially in.  I went and saw my orthopedic surgeon yesterday and we decided to do an ACL revision surgery on February 10.  I definately have mixed feelings about this.  My knee is so bad I can barely find an activity to do to workout.  I can't squat down to tape an ankle, if I ever had to spineboard an athlete I would be in excruciating pain from kneeling, my knee gives out all the time, and I have no stability.  On the other hand, I am just thinking about how AWFUL I felt after my first surgery- never slept, didn't want to eat, could only sleep on my back, headaches... ugh.  But in the long term I know there is no way I could live with my knee like this.  And right now, I have access to one of the best surgeons in Utah.  Most surgeons perform about 10-15 ACL reconstructions a year.... Dr. Kimball performs about 150 ACL Reconstructions a year.  He has also done a fair share of revisions and most surgeons have not done that.

So... here we go with surgery number three!  14 days and counting.  Gotta get my handicap parking pass, figure out how to navigate this massive campus, talk to teachers, and get this thing rolling!

And today we have some *WAY* exciting news!  JASON GOT AN ORCA GRANT!  I am soooo proud of him!  ORCA stands for "Office of Research and Creative Activities."  Jason did his proposal about cancer metastasis.  Maren also got an ORCA grant!  She is in the crayfish business :) hehe.  Do I know the smartest, coolest people or what?  Each grant is worth $1500!  Way cool, right?

Reason 117: Weddings :)

Monday, January 24, 2011,

What a great weekend.  Kelsi and Emil got married and the whole thing was WONDERFUL! 

We were honored at the chance to attend the sealing...

Wow.
 
That's really all the words that can be said when you watch your best friend get sealed to an awesome guy for time and all eternity.  I cried.  Definately cried.

Here are some pictures from the day...

Kelsi and Emil Cluff :)

Me and the husband... He looks hot in church clothes.
Loved being back in our sealing room...

So many wonderful memories of the promises we've made!

My Temple.
60 degrees.
Sunshine.
Mmm.... beautiful day.

Best Friends

(Missing Sister Owens)

The Married Group!
The Hendrickson's, The Cluff's, and The Burton's
Quaint.  

(And...we all moved up in the alphabet!  Hurrah!)

I've known and loved this girl since I was 12.

Cruise, Alaska, first boyfriends, college, Michael Buble, high school, dances, missionaries...
We've tackled it all together.
And now, within seven months of each other, we married
handsome, smart, and AWESOME returned missionaries 

in the Temple.  

And the farewell as they drive off into the sunset of...

a Caribbean Cruise!  Woot!

Congrats to Kelsi and Emil!
Thanks for letting us share in your memories and joy.
We love you :)

Reason 116: Promises

Thursday, January 20, 2011

"How beautiful is the marriage of a young man and a young woman who begin their lives together kneeling at the altar in the house of the Lord, pledging their love and loyalty one to another for time and all eternity. When children come into that home, they are nurtured and cared for, loved and blessed with the feeling that their father loves their mother. In that environment they find peace and strength and security. Watching their father, they develop respect for women. They are taught self-control and self-discipline, which bring the strength to avoid later tragedy.

The years pass. The children eventually leave the home, one by one. And the father and the mother are again alone. But they have each other to talk with, to depend on, to nurture, to encourage, and to bless. There comes the autumn of life and a looking back with satisfaction and gladness. Through all of the years there has been loyalty, one to the other. There has been deference and courtesy. Now there is a certain mellowness, a softening, an effect that partakes of a hallowed relationship. They realize that death may come anytime, usually to one first with a separation of a season brief or lengthy. But they know also that because their companionship was sealed under the authority of the eternal priesthood and they have lived worthy of the blessings, there will be a reunion sweet and certain.

Brethren, this is the way our Father in Heaven would have it. This is the Lord’s way. He has so indicated. His prophets have spoken of it.

It takes effort. It takes self-control. It takes unselfishness. It requires the true essence of love, which is an anxious concern for the well-being and happiness of one’s companion. I could wish nothing better for all of you than this, and I pray that this may be your individual blessing, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

-President Gordon B. Hinckley-


I read this tonight as part of an assignment.  It touched me deeply.  I *KNOW* this is true and I am so grateful to be sealed for time and all eternity to Jason.  I'm so excited for this weekend to have one of my best friends in the entire world find this eternal, everlasting happiness.  

Reason 115: Monday!

Monday, January 17, 2011.

Today was a Monday.  And it rocked.  If there was some way to rig it so I didn't have class on Monday, I would.  I think it would improve life.  Haha :)

Today was successful.  Two lessons of D&C done (Jason and I are in an online religion class), we went and saw Tron, ate some yummy pizza at Malawi Pizza, found an AWESOME toy store with all the old candy bars, and we watched Star Wars 5.  I haven't seen all the Star Wars before and I definately haven't seen them in order... so we started them at number 4!  Because apparently all the cool kids watch number 4, 5, 6, then 1, 2, 3.  Whatever.  They are really good- I'm a big fan of C3PO and R2D2.  I told Jason that if either of them die or blow up, I'm not watching the rest of the movies.  And I'm serious.  Those are some witty little robots!

Tron was also very good- highly recommended.  I really want to see the old Tron.

I'm also stoked out of my MIND for this weekend.  Kelsi and Emil get married on Saturday :) 

Happy MLK Jr. Day!

Reason 114: Jambalaya, Football, and Bountiful Baskets

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Productive weekend so far.  And guess what?  There is one more day of it!  YES!  It's late so this will be short. But....here is a list of weekend successes!

1. Bountiful Basket

Do you see that goodness?  Bountiful Baskets is a co-op where you pay $15 and they go to farmers and markets and such and bring in all of these fruits and vegetables, divide them up for everyone that paid, and you pick them up!  Each basket is kind of a surprise- you never know exactly what you will get.  They try to stick with 50% fruit and 50% vegetables.  We also bought the Mexican pack of foods (peppers, tomatillos, onions, etc) and 2 pounds of granola.  Doesn't that all look delicious?  Mmm mmm good.  

2. Green Bay Packers

Packers won!  They didn't just win, they ate the Falcon's for dinner.  In the front of this picture is my Clay Matthews.  HOLY CRAP he is talented.  This picture is from NFL.com with the caption "The old adage is that defense wins championships.  The four teams still standing have the defensive playmakers to prove it." These are four very talented guys right here.
Next Sunday.  One pm.  Packers vs Bears.
NFC CHAMPIONSHIP.

Bears are gonna get killed.  I hate the Bears.

3.  Jambalaya 

Jake and I made jambalaya this week!  We are super cultured like that.  Haha :)  Here is the recipe we used...

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 pound andouille sausage, sliced
• 1 (28 ounce) can diced tomatoes with juice
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley
• 2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 pound frozen cooked shrimp without tails

It was so good!  We did it in our slow cooker so it smelled yummy all day.  Last night we put it over rice, tonight we put it over butternut squash.  I'd TOTALLY recommend the squash... healthier and way more flavor.

4. Granola chocolate chip cookies.

Yum.

I think I am obsessed with granola.
We also had granola, fruit, and yogurt for breakfast today.

Can you say amazing?

5. Dating and Courtship Class

It is with great sadness that we taught the final Sunday School lesson of our "Dating and Courtship" a.k.a. Marriage Prep class in a singles ward at BYU today.  

This class was SO much fun!  The classroom always filled up, so we got lots of cool discussions going with the class.  We got to teach on things like finances, communication, forgiveness, prayer, challenges, unity, and more.  We loved it and we will definately miss it.  But we also got word today that the renters are moving out of our Springville apartment in about 6 weeks! YAY!  

Reason 113: The tale of the Missing Laundry

January 14, 2011.

Last Saturday, we joined the rest of our complex in doing laundry in the Cambridge Court Laundry Room. We ended up needing four washers because we literally washed EVERYTHING- you know, one of those days.  We put the laundry in and left for a couple errands.  This took longer than anticipated and I was worried because we were late picking up laundry on such a busy day.  When we did get there, two of our washers had our wet clothes sitting on top (kind of weird knowing someone else touched your clothes- but I guess I would've done the same thing if there was such a demand for a washer).  So, I put all the clothes in the dryer and later return to pick all of the laundry up.

Over the next few days, I began to notice that pieces of laundry were missing.  First, it was my BYU Football Game day polo.  Then it was my Nike Golf Pants.  Then my under armour shirt.  Then my white BYU shorts and a white Sports Medicine tshirt.  Basically- I had lost everything I took to the bowl game. I was totally baffled.  Either:

A) Someone strategically combed through four loads of laundry to find EXACTLY what I wore the last two days of the New Mexico Bowl.
B) They had fallen out of the hamper and were somewhere in the closet.
C) I had taken them home to St. George and just- lost them all there.
D) I lost my mind and those clothes never existed.

The final straw was when, after only five days, I ran out of G's. I knew that THAT wasn't possible.  Who'd steal those?  It was all too weird.  I was just going to (sob) move on from all of my lost apparel.

I took the GRE today and got home to my wonderful husband who had all the laundry done, dinner was cooking, and the apartment was clean.  And lo and behold, my polo and pants and all of the other clothes were hanging nicely on the rack.

I had left them in the washer last week.  So the most correct answer is "D"- I have lost my mind (although, thankfully, my clothes still exist).

Reason 112: Condoleezza Rice

January 13, 2010.

Do you want to know one of the things I love about BYU?  They get the coolest devotional and forum speakers.  I've been blessed to hear from the Prophet, apostles, authors, musicians, astronauts, and now a very influential politician.  Condoleezza Rice came to BYU today and gave a fantastic talk about our nation and a lot of her opinion's.  Jason and I decided to go at the last minute and I am SO grateful we did.  I was amazed at her power of speech, her charisma, and her sense of humor.  In a 50 minute lecture, I was able to learn a LOT about why things are happening/have happened/and should happen in our nation.  

I love how we started out singing "Rejoice, the Lord is King."  That is a pretty powerful song with 18,000 voices!  My favorite point that she made was, 

“Today’s headlines and history’s judgments are rarely the same.”

Your life isn't necessarily about each individual day, but the culmination of day's and how it appears as one big group.  That is how you will be remembered in history.  And the beauty of this is that CHANGE IS POSSIBLE.  

"It doesn't matter where you came from, only where you are going."

Pretty cool.  Any day you can change your course.  It's just a cool perspective to have, especially when you consider the atonement.  And here is one last quote that I really enjoyed,

“As educated people, as people who are being given the gift of the transformative power of education, you have special responsibilities. You are fortunate that you are in a place here at Brigham Young University that believes that faith and reason go together, that does not see your intellect and your faith as enemies of each other, but sees them as integrally related in what you are.”

Did you know she was a music major for the first half of college?  She is a classically trained pianist.  Then she realized she didn't want to spend the rest of her life, "Teaching 13 year olds how to not murder Beethoven." Haha.  Looks like we were on the same page there!  

You can link to read more quotes from the forum HERE

And in other news, 

1. My husband is amazing.

2. I need this three day weekend.

3. I am refereeing water polo again... haha.  What a funny sport.

4. BYU Men's Volleyball is #2 in the NATION!  (They play #4 Standford this weekend)

5. Kelsi get's married in 8 days :)

Reason 111: Zumba!

January 10, 2011.

I think I wrote about this in April or May.. but Zumba is back!  I didn't have time for the classes in the fall because of football, but now I do.  Right now I think I will be doing yoga on MWF, Zumba on TTh, and some kind of weights/aerobics on Saturday.  I seriously love these classes.  For $48 dollars you get a wrist band and you can choose any classes you want to go to-- all semester.  There are about eight different kinds of classes for a total of 27 hours of class during the week.  I am SO stoked.  It will help my attention span to have all these different options.


And on another, less thrilling note, I finally saw an orthopaedic surgeon about my knee.  And it was a fail.  Literally- it was.  Dr. Kimball thinks that my ACL graft in my left knee has failed functionally and possibly structurally.  That means that....

This

and this

and this

....may all have to happen again.  Yep- they would redo my ACL reconstruction.  Can you say....awful? I wouldn't wish an ACL reconstruction on my worst enemy.  Ugh.  The only good thing that came from it was the rapid weight loss (hehe just kidding).  Nothing is for sure yet but I had a CT scan today and now we will just wait and see what the best course of action will be.  Meanwhile, I will try and continue these classes to the best of my ability (lots of compensation) and deal with it! 

Reason 110: And here we go again.

Sunday, January 9, 2011.

That was quick.  The holiday's have come and gone again.  A bit depressing, eh?  But now we are closer to the sunshine and summertime!

A quick rundown....

Fall semester was spent mostly in the Football Athletic Training room in the Student Athlete Building on Brigham Young University campus in Provo, Utah.   Every day from 1 pm to approximately 8 pm as well as all home games and most away games.  It was a rather large time commitment- but it was pretty amazing.  I was selected to go to the bowl game which was SO awesome!  Here are some pictures and a link to my Facebook album...

Flat billed New Mexico Bowl hats and gangsta trainers

Hooray New Mexico!

On the field

Me and Mary (and Kelts in spirit)

Chelts, Aly, Me, and Mary before the game

Click to here see the full album

Okay.  Then it was back to Provo and HOME to St. George!

That was a compilation of Christmas Eve, Christmas, Christmas break, and New Year's Eve.  ( And I realize that the Burton's don't take any pictures- ever.  But we did have Christmas with them, too!)  So much family- it was SO WONDERFUL!  We got to see Gran, Pops, Thomas, Sara, Greg, Sylvia, Paul, Ashly, Ali, Amanda, Jared, Dana, Justin, Josh, Joey, Julia, Jasmine... so awesome.  This big picture above is at midnight on New Year's Eve.  We went outside and we were banging pots and pans on the golf course and we were screaming.  Haha.  We also had my 21st birthday party that night!  Woot!

Here are some pics from my actual birthday...

Yep!  That is an un-labeled, pictorial rundown.  One more picture.  I got back to BYU and they had printed the poster to hang in the SAB about the bowl game.  I am so totally in the poster.  Can you spot me?  (Hint- grey sweatshirt)

Haha.

Now I am going to go watch the rest of Despicable Me with my amazing husband.