We're back

We got back yesterday from our Christmas trip to Virginia. I know everyone is dying to know all the details of the trip, so I will do my best to oblige.

Day 1: Arrived in Virginia. Unfortunately, as the trip progressed I started to feel sicker and sicker. My ear was bothering me somewhat on the flight...a foreshadowing of things to come. By the time we got to my In-laws house I was full-fledged sick and could do nothing but lay down. Not exactly the way I was hoping to start the trip. Everyone was over for dinner and a birthday party for my nephew, Tyson. I only wish I was more in the partying mood.

Day 2: Still sick. Really I slept most of the day. I have no idea what anyone else did, but I'm sure it was fun.

Day 3: The plan was to drive to my sister-in-law's house for a visit. Unfortunately, when I woke up my left ear was completely clogged and I could hear nothing out of it. I realized that I had an ear infection and probably needed an antibiotic. So after an hour on the phone with my insurance company they directed me to what they said was an Urgent Care. In actuality it was an ER. I thought that was a bit of overkill for an ear ache when I knew all I needed was some antibiotics and I would be fine. So Quinn located and urgent care and $150 later I had my prescription.

Day 4: After 24 hours of antibiotics I was feeling much better. So we headed off to the National Air and Space Museum with Quinn's brother Miles, his wife Heather and two of their adorable kids.

Below is a picture of us with our nephew Christian in front of the space shuttle. Very cool.


Day 5: We went ice skating. Well, I should be more accurate. Quinn and I watched everyone ice skate. I still wasn't feeling 100 percent so I figured it would be better to sit this activity out. Instead we watched our niece Ella while her parents skated their hearts out and we sat inside and sipped on hot chocolate.

Day 6: A relaxing day at home making final preparations for Christmas.

Day 7: Christmas Eve. It was a great day. We started off by going to church where my mother-in-law put on church single handily. She spoke in Sacrament, taught Sunday School and was part of the Relief Society program. All of it was amazing and a great way to start Christmas. That evening everyone came over for dinner and festivities. There were performances and a nativity as well as a visit from Santa. I was lucky enough to sit on Santa's lap. I don't have a picture but if my SIL Heather would be so kind to send it to me I could post for all to enjoy. Thanks Heather!


Day 8: Christmas morning. Quinn and I joined our nieces and nephew around 7:30 and then ate cinnamon rolls and began unwrapping gifts. It was so much fun. Quinn surprised me with my very own digital camera. Yes it is true! I finally have one. I'm so excited. So now my blog will be updated with pictures! Later that day everyone came over again and we had dinner and opened more gifts.

Day 9: My mother-in-law took Quinn and I to old town Alexandria. It was full of cute old colonial houses and cobblestone streets. We walked up and down old town, did some window shopping and ate lunch. Very fun. Below is a picture of Quinn and I on the cobblestone street. By the way, this picture was taken with my very own camera!!!



Day 10: Had to wake up at 3 am to catch 6 am flight back to Utah. But we made it.

Now we begin the preparations for the move to Dallas. Should be exciting.

You stink. You smell like beef and cheese.

My friend Wendi sent me this. It was so hilarious that I thought I'd try it myself. Here you go.

Enjoy!

Apartment Hunting

This has been a lot harder than I thought. Two of the apartment complexes that were recommended to us by the Guildhall ended up being more than I was wanting to pay in rent. The third, was right in our price range. So we left Dallas figuring we would just rent that place. However, I had to go and read reviews of it on apartmentratings.com and turns out they recently had a huge rat infestation. I've been freaking myself out about it ever since. I made Quinn call the property yesterday and grill them for a long time. They assured him they had taken care of the problem and that the problem was wide spread, not just their complex, but that still didn't relax me. The lady said they had traps around all of the buildings but that she occasionally sees a dead rat in the parking lot. Hello? Occasionally? Dead or alive, once is too much.

So I've been frantically searching for another apartment in our price range. It isn't even that the rat invested apartment is just a little bit cheaper, it is close to $200 dollars less than the other ones we looked at (thanks to a deal made with SMU --hopefully pre-rat infestation).

Yesterday, I thought I had found the solution. I found some great apartments within our price range. But wouldn't you know it, none were available in time for us to move in and be settled for school.

Anywho, so finally it boils down to this. We are going to be renting a very tiny apartment, 650 sq ft and giving that a whirl for a while. It is available when we need it, it is in a great location and oh yeah, the best part is that it isn't infested with rats.

Here is a link to the property if you want to check it out.

Lakeshore at Preston Apartments

Hopefully all will go well. Wish us luck!

An offer I can't refuse

Friday December 15th was going to be my last day at work. I was very excited about it. However, they made me an offer I can't refuse. It looks like I'll be staying on here for a little bit longer, at least until the beginning of February. How is that going to work, you ask? Well, I'll be flying up to Utah 4 days a week to help finish up a few projects. This really is a great blessing. It will allow Quinn and I to continue to eat while moving to Dallas. I was starting to freak out in true Arnett fashion concerning how long it would take me to find a new job in Dallas and how we would afford to live there. This opportunity will provide a nice buffer and allow me to take my time somewhat in locating new employment. Of course the downside is, that I will have to be working for a few days on our trip to VA, but it shouldn't be too bad.

Another upside is that I'll get to see Lindsay when she comes back from N. Ireland in January. Yea!!

Yea!!!

Please, please, please come back to us! I know I've missed you. I'm just hoping this news isn't too good to be true.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16080294/

Which blogs do you read?

I currently have 19 blogs that I read on an almost daily basis. Most of them are the blogs of friends and families. But a handful of them are more the more established blogs with a wider circulation.

Which blogs do you read on a daily basis? I'm always looking to expand what I read.

A few of my favorites are:

Ross, the intern's blog. This guy just cracks me up.

Obviously, the Lost spoiler blog is a must.

And a blog that is sure to be a favorite for all of you pop culture lovers out there who like me, need to have your finger on the pulse. This is USA Today's Pop Candy blog.

I'm cold!

It was another fun weekend with many Christmas activities. We didn't do much Friday night because pretty much I was passed out by 9:30, but we did go out to eat at Mimi's Cafe were I branched out and found a new favorite dish---jumbo spinach tortellini with mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and artichokes in a pesto cream sauce. Saturday morning I went out shopping with my Mom. Quinn stayed home under the pretense of having a headache but I think it was really just an excuse to continue playing Viva Pinatas on the XBox. He is very proud of his garden and all of his pinatas. Unfortunately, we had only borrowed the game for the weekend. So I'm sure he is longing for his pinatas this morning.

Saturday night we trekked up to Salt Lake and met Dana, Ryan and kids for a trip to Temple Square to view the lights. I froze. Seriously, there were points when I couldn't feel my fingers. I think Jaxson said it best when he looked up at me from his stroller and said "Devry, I'm cold!" He is very smart for a almost 2 year old.

But we quickly made our way through the throngs and got into the visitor center to warm up for a bit. Here is a picture of us waiting to go up to the Christus.


The kids sat so quietly and were so well behaved during the little presentation they do up by the Christus.



Sunday was nice and relaxing and I was able to make my favorite Christmas cookie--the lemon filled molasses cookies. Although, I feel slightly ill this morning so maybe I shouldn't have eaten as many as I did. Oh well.

A Holiday Song Book

Obviously I've been listening to nothing but holiday music on my car radio. I'm very grateful to both KOSY 106.5 and Light FM 100. Although I did think it a bit on the ridiculous side that they began playing Christmas music in October. But now that it is post Thanksgiving I'm in the full holiday music swing. For example, this morning Mariah Carey serenaded me on my drive this morning singing her holiday classic "All I Want For Christmas Is You." So what are your favorite holiday songs? Let's discuss.

A few of my favorites are:

Hark the Herald Angels Sing -- some renditions are definitely better than others, but in general, I love this hymn/Christmas carol.

Breath of Heaven -- on Amy Grant's album

Oh, Holy Night -- I'm partial to Celine Dion's version, but then again I'm partial to anything Celine Dion as my Celine sweatshirt and souvenir cup suggests.

Mary, did you know? -- on Clay Aiken's album. I adored it when he sang it live. Yes, I've been to TWO Clay Aiken concerts.

Do you hear what I hear? --I seriously just love this song. I don't have a favorite rendition yet, but I've heard it several times over the last few days and I'm loving it.

Mary's Lullaby --I grew up with my mom and her sisters signing this around the piano every Christmas Eve. I have the sheet music and even though I can't play the piano, I still attempt to play this song at Christmas time because I love it.

The First Noel (the Canon in D arrangement)-- I absolutely fell in love with this arrangement when we sang it in ward choir a few years ago. I wish I could find a good version on CD somewhere. I would buy it immediately.

Benefits of Moving

Temperature in Orem this morning: 15 degrees
Temperature in Dallas this morning: 73 degrees

Enough said.

In other news, I don't know what has gotten into me. I have a tremendous amount of the Christmas spirit and it came unusually early this year. I'm practical done with all my Christmas shopping. And in another fit of Christmas spirit, I decided I wanted to make cinnamon rolls last night. However, I could only find one package of yeast in the house that had a use by date of 2002. I didn't think that would work. So we all dredged out to the grocery store in frigid temperatures to buy yeast, a cheeseball and crackers, and sparkling apple juice. Then my mom and I stayed up until 11:30 last night making them. They turned out really well. At least everyone at work said so.

I also convinced my mom to make my favorite Christmas cookie. It is a ginger cookie with a lemon/coconut filling. They are hard to make and she hates doing it, but I told her it would bring me much happiness so she agreed. I hope she does it this weekend!

Weekend Fun

We had a fabulous Thanksgiving Weekend. Wednesday night I slaved away making sweet potatoes and an apple pie. Thursday (since I did all the work the night before) I was able to sleep in. Then we went to my aunt Mary's house for Thanksgiving Dinner. Quinn said he had never seen such a mass gathering before for Thanksgiving. I think there was just about 38 of us there for dinner. It was delicious.

After dinner, some of us went to see Deja Vu. It was alright. I would have rather spent the money on seeing The Work and the Glory III but it was sold out so what can you do.

Friday Quinn and I went and bought our first Christmas tree together. It is a rather beautiful tree. We spent the day decorating and had a lot of fun.

Saturday I night we went to a wedding. Afterwards, I was feeling sad that I had to miss the gingerbread house making festivities at my aunt's house, that I made Quinn stop by the grocery store and we picked up our own kit and candy. I spent the next two hourse constructing the house. It is amazing. The roof is tiled in Andes mints. I only wish I had a digital camera so I could post a picture of it in all its splendor.

Sunday was a nice relaxing day at home.

This morning the alarm went off at 6:30 a.m. and after 4 days of no alarm it was a sick sick joke.

And the verdict is...

ACCEPTED!!!




I'm so excited and happy to announce that as of today Quinn is officially part of the Digital Game Development Program at The Guildhall at SMU. I'm so proud of him and how hard he worked on his portfolio. He will be fantastic at level design.

There are a thousand things to do before we make the move to Dallas but I'm so excited to be doing them knowing that he will be training to do something he loves.

The Parent Trap

I have brought much enlightment to Quinn over the last few months (If I do say so myself :)) But I'm most proud of what I was able to accomplish last night. Quinn watched The Parent Trap with me and enjoyed it. Mind you, we watched the Lindsay Lohan remake and not the original, but still. And the best part of it is, is that he watched voluntarily. I left it up to him as to whether we should watch Iron Chef America: Battle Turkey (another thing I have got him hooked on) or The Parent Trap. He was already so into The Parent Trap that he couldn't change the channel. It was great.

TomKat

I read the most hilarious article ever about the TomKat wedding. It was so good, I have to post the article in its entirety. It's long but I know you will enjoy it. I still am very upset about this whole Katie being brainwashed business. She use to be normal and I spent years watching her on Dawson's Creek. Now she just weirds me out.

Here it is:

By Helen A.S. Popkin

MSNBC contributor

Congratulations, Katie Holmes, on your long-awaited nuptials! Frankly, we were starting to worry that maybe Tom Cruise would never “buy the cow,” if you catch our meaning. We’ll all breathe a sigh of relief this Saturday (Nov. 18) when you and the man you dreamed of marrying in high school finally tie the knot at that 15th century Italian castle in front of several hundred of your closest associates, many of whom you’ve been casually acquainted with for practically a whole year.

Do we call you “Kate” now, as Tom insists? You are, indeed the “remarkable woman,” Tom incessantly describes, bucking celebrity fashion and making your own baby rather than adopting one of those trendy third-world kids. And with so many celebrity break-ups, it takes a leap of faith to make your first Hollywood husband a guy whose first two actress wives are living happily ever after without him.

Not that we’re trying to freak you out. Just because sure-things like Britney and K-Fed, Reese and Ryan, Jessica and Nick, and that country singer from “Dancing with the Stars” and whomever she was married to, couldn’t make it work, doesn’t mean you need to worry. Why, you have everything a blushing young bride needs: Something old (your fiancé); something new (baby Suri); something borrowed (Scientology); and something blue (your family). But even if your folks are estranged, as rumors contend, we’re here for you. And since there’s no talking you out of this (right?), we’ve got some advice on keeping your marriage strong.

Cultivate outside interests. Or at least stop wearing matching outfits. Seriously, you may fit into each other’s black pants, black t-shirts, black jackets and sunglasses but that’s no excuse. It’s getting confusing, and anyway, on you Tom’s trousers are high waters.

Nurture intimacy. Every day, for at least one minute a day, stop waving, take off your matching sunglasses, relax your blinding rictus grins and make Tom actually look at you instead of the cameras.

But not too much intimacy. Kiss on that adorable baby all you want, but please, stop slobbering on each other every time you’re in the public eye. We get it. You’re in love. You have sex. The baby proves it. Now, please exercise some decorum. For us. We haven’t kept a meal down for over a year.

Get your story straight – before you leave the house. How is your relationship faring today? “Super In-Love?” “Gushingly Ga-Ga?” “Over-The-Moon?” Obtain the 411 from hubby first thing, and when the flashbulbs start, you won’t have to lock on Tom with one of your creepy stares, as if silently imploring him to guide your every mood.

Support your husband’s career. Remember, it was Paramount head Sumner Redstone‘s spouse Paula that got Tom’s production company axed from the studio when she told her husband that Tom “turned off all women.” Now that Tom’s heading up United Artists, ensure surrounding executives that chicks honestly do dig your man.

P.R. friendships can turn into real friendships. Despite that previous post-partum depression smack down with Tom, Brooke Shields seems to enjoy your company. And how’s the alleged “high-level minder from the Church of Scientology,” Jessica Feshbach Rodriguez? She’s been your best friend since you and Tom started dating – and she’s really good at answering your interview questions. That’ll come in handy at PTA meetings.

Beware of ambitious young starlets born around 1989. As you may have gleaned from the tabloids, Tom chooses his wives at 11-year age-intervals; Mimi Rogers (b. 1956), Nicole Kidman (b. 1967), and of course, you, the new Mrs. Cruise (b. 1978). To be safe, it’s probably best if you just stopped aging all together.

Review emergency procedures (and program your cell phone accordingly). Above all, Tom is a Good Samaritan. Why just recently, you both stopped on the road to aid at the scene of an accident. In 1998, Tom stopped a mugging. And in 1996 he rescued a family at sea. So remember, when danger strikes: 1. Dial 911. 2. Attempt CPR. 3. Text publicist.

Learn how to entertain. As a new wife, you’re bound to meet many new faces – ex-wives, Tom’s adopted children, and a whole bevy of C-list sitcom Scientologists such as Leah Remini, Kirstie Alley and Jenna Elfman, for whom Tom’s chartered a private flight to attend your wedding in Italy. And as with your wedding, never ever under any circumstances invite Oprah. Tom should always be the most famous person in the room.

Forget about marriage counseling. Psychology is, as Tom told Matt Lauer, a “Nazi science.” Just like with your new best friend Brooke’s post-partum depression, there’s nothing wrong with your marriage that vitamins and exercise can’t fix.

Remember, you’re Kate Cruise now. We hear that unlike his previous wives, you may take Tom’s last name. We understand that after you and Tom hooked up, you quickly canned your manager, agents and publicist. You also dropped out of the career-making Edie Sedgwick bio-pic “Factory Girl,” allegedly because Tom disapproved of the sordid material, that your nude scene in “Thank You For Smoking” was cut for the same reason, and you even turned down an Oscar nomination for that same role. Further, despite your talent and previously prodigious career, you have no projects in the works. But Katie – er – Kate, it’s okay to keep acting. Hey, Tom’s production company might get you a little something. Women need a hobby – just as long it doesn’t cross into career territory. You don’t want to end up like that poor Nicole Kidman, dumped via press release while filming “Moulin Rouge.”

And most importantly, don’t make a sex tape. Tom might find it.

Almost Decision Time

Many of you know that Quinn has applied to The Guildhall at SMU so that he can study video game design. Well, I know everyone is wondering if he got in or not. We still don't know. We emailed the admissions person yesterday to ask when we should know by. Mostly, because I'm getting anxious and need to know what to do about a job and a place to live if we do end up moving in January. Here was her response to Quinn:

"I hope by the middle of next week, our executive director is out until then and he makes the final admission decision...try not to worry, your stuff looks great :)"

Anyway, I was very encouraged by the response and hopefully it will be official before Thanksgiving. That will give us a month and a half to work out the small details like how we will pay for it, get a place to live and find a new job. Just the small details...no big deal.

A Burst of Real Fruit Flavor

Today I opened my first two pack of starbursts. You all know what I'm talking about. The little packs that containi two starburts each. This was one of the candies we passed out at our house for Halloween. I love starburst but had yet to partake. But this morning when I'm on my way out the door, a grabed a pack. I just opened it. It almost brought tears to my eyes...a red and a pink. It is the perfect combination. A true Halloween miracle. I'm just not a fan of the orange or yellow...especially the yellow. And there is nothing worse than opening a two-pack and seeing two yellow starbursts staring you straight in the face. One of my all time favorite Christmas gifts is from Erin. A copule of Halloween's ago, I went on and on about the two-packs and the plight of the double yellow. So for Christmas, she gave me a tin of nothing but red and pink starburts. It was pure delight.

Jason Returns

My brother-in-law, Ryan got on my case this morning because I wasn't quick enough with the posting this morning. I informed him that I had to finish my hair first before I could. He then told me that it was impressive that I do my hair at work. I have to admit this is the first day I've ever done it. It was a late morning and all I had time to do was just give the hair a quick blow dry. So I packed up the pomade and flat iron and brought it with me to work. It was quite genius. Although, I can't take all the credit for it, because it was my co-worker Amy who turned me on to this. But I can forsee many more mornings of me in the women's rest room finishing up the final touches.fun.

Jason visited our house last night as you can tell from the pictures below. Many children were frightened.

Halloween was a lot of fun. Dana and Ryan came over with the kiddies, Joseph and Sadie and joined Quinn, Mom, Jaxson and me. Lindsay also made an appearance. We all ate homemade chicken noodle soup, apple cider, sugar cookies and way too much candy. Ryan and Quinn took JoJo and Jax out for trick-or-treating. Apparently Jaxson did catch on rather quickly to the whole process and got a ton of candy.

Below are some pics of the kiddies. In case you can't tell, Sadie was Princess Leia, Jaxson was a disco dancer complete with afro and Jo was a pirate.

Nachoooooooooooooo!!!!

We had a costume contest today at work. Unfortunately, the Halloween spirit never quite got me this year, so I did not partake. But I don't feel too bad because I did spend 4 hours making and decorating sugar cookies last night for our work party. And it would have been longer if Quinn wouldn't have helped. He diligently frosted ghost after ghost.

Anyway, I thought I would share my favorite costumes from this year. They are as follows:

3rd Place goes to Bob Ross who has been busily painting "happy" trees around the office all day.


2nd Place went to Jimi Hendrix. A white guy dressed up as Jimi...classic!

And the winner is:

I mean really, how could that not win??

It is Time

I won't even begin to discuss how much crap I've gotten from my lack of blogging. But I was going through a funk. Completely uninspired. But I felt a twinge of inspiration this week and so now all of you can chilly down down (as Quinn would say) for a few days because I'm about to blog.

Let the inspiration begin:

First off, I must address Monday Night Football (Thanks Lindsay for telling me that I should blog about this, I believe it helped me feel my first twinge). I got home from work on Monday night to Quinn all decked out in his Giants gear. Of course, the Giants were playing the Cowboys for a chance to be undefeated in the division. Now the game was great, but what is really great about watching a Giants game with Quinn is how nervous he gets. Literally his hands were like ice until the middle of the 4th quarter when the win was more secure. Then finally a little blood began to flow again. It is a sight to see (and feel).

Second, I'm excited for the new season of 24. Check out the trailer. It is finally almost here.

Third, for all you Lost fans out there. This is site is my new obsession. Check it out. Beware, it contains spoilers.

And lastly, I'm about to go political on the blog. Something I've never done before, but this one really had me ticked off this morning. I know I risk offending my father and my father-in-law (both fans), but it is stuff like this that makes it so I just can't stomach the guy. You don't have to support stem cell research or agree with Michael J. Fox, but goodness gracious, at least know what you are talking about before making statements like this. Maybe I'm just sensitive since the Arnetts are all too familiar with Parkinsons disease. I would be very interested to hear my Dad's take on this. Dad, care to comment?

Adventures of a Pseudo Gamer

I usually have about two and a half hours to kill from the time I get home from work from the time Quinn gets home from practice. So last night after work, I turned on the Xbox 360 and played. I started off by playing a little Texas Hold 'Em, a game that we just recently downloaded for free. However, while playing our new Bishop stopped by so I soon began feeling guilty for playing a video game where I was pretend gambling so I then switched to Geometry Wars. I was hoping to be good at this game to make my husband proud. He wants nothing more than for me to become some sort of gamer. Unfortunately, I was NOT good at it. In fact, I stunk! I think I am destined to only be a amateur gamer. I do love my DS but even that game play is suffering as of late as we can't find which box we packed the charger in when we moved. I guess I will just have to find other talents to fine tune and postpone my days of a Gamer until later.

Surfing with the Mosquitoes

This week, our friend Amy invited us to go out on the boat with her to celebrate her birthday. Amy and Travis are in the picutres below.

We had a great time. Quinn tried wakesurfing for the first time and was amazing at it as you can tell from the pictures below.The water was beautiful and the temperature was perfect. However, we stayed out about 10 minutes too long on the lake. By the time we got back to the dock, we were hit with a swarm of mosquitoes. It was disgusting. Straight out of a horror film. They were so thick it was like a blanket. Amy and I were both hit hard with bites. We now sit at work and try to think up ways to get them to stop itching. So far, not much has worked. Hopefully, the itching won't last long. We've also had several people tell us that now we have the West Nile. We are hoping to get adjoining hospital rooms if that is the case.

Introducing...

I'm not trying to steal Lacy's thunder, but we are no longer expecting a puppy…we now have one. Quinn surprised me last night with out newest addition.


Isn't she cute? Her name is Muhana. She is perfect for me, a virtual puppy. Last night, we paid our bills and Quinn picked them up and said he was going to go walk them to the mail. I did think it a bit strange that he was going to walk mail out to the mail box at 9:30 at night. He was gone for a bit, and I started to think it a little strange. But just shrugged it off to the fact that he must have just met someone along the way and was chatting. He came back about 20 minutes later with a huge smile on his face and something hidden behind his back. Then he revealed his surprise. My very own Nintendo DS with the game Nintendogs. I'm in love already. We visited the kennel and spent time picking out the dog. We choose from 6 different breeds but finally settled on a Shih Tzu. I haven't spent much time with her yet, but plan to tonight while I'm at the baseball game.

For all the Arnett's out there that were addicted to SIMs back in the day (and I know there are a lot of us out there), this is right up your alley. You need to check it out.

FHE

Last night for FHE we made chocolate chip cookies. They are quite delicious. Quinn was very helpful in making them, especially when I realized that I had neglected to buy baking soda so he had to make a quick run to the store so we could finish. However, I think we may have made too many. Currently, we probably have about 5 dozen cookies at the house and I didn't even finish baking all the dough. Perhaps, I should have halfed the recipe. Oh well. If any of you want some, feel free to stop by.

The Art of the Side Dish

I heard that there was a lively debate that took place at one of the tables at my wedding regarding side dishes. According to several reports, the men felt like a meal required a side dish, while the women felt like their job was done with the main dish or entree. I need help. While, I love Dream Dinners and the convenience that it has brought to my life, I am struggling with the art of the side dish. I can pretty much never come up with more than salad, rice or potatoes. Quinn hasn't complained, but I'm bored with my own lack of selection. Thoughts or suggestions?

Illusion

Here is a link to a cool optical illusion. Check it out.

Do you have what it takes to become an American?

Today on MSNBC.com, they posted a sampling of questions of the civics test that immigrants must be able to answer during their naturalization interview. I thought it would be interesting to see how I do as well as others. Apparently, most Americans don't do well on tests like these.

Apparently, I'm a good citizen as I scored 100%.

Here is the test.

How did you do?

Movin' Out

As a wedding gift, our friends Anna and Evan gave us tickets to the traveling Broadway show "Movin' Out". Evan's brother, Matthew Friedman, is in the show and is lead vocals and piano. "Movin' Out" is based on the music of Billy Joel. There is no dialogue and the story is told completely through dance. Quinn and I both loved the show. And for all of the locals, Ruth Todd sat right in front of us. She was quite enthralled with the show and repeatedly was heard saying how fantastic and fabulous the show was. In other local celebrity news, Quinn also ran into Robert J. Debry (but not associates) in the bathroom at Capital theater. Evan's brother was fantasitc. He played the piano and sang every song in the show. What an amazing talent! Anna and Evan, thank you very much! We really enjoyed ourselves.

In other weekend news, we spent the rest of the weekend catching up on our M. Night Shyamalan movies ("The Village" for me and "Unbreakable" for Quinn) in order to prepare for the release of "Lady in the Water."

Quote of the Day

"Allegedly fed up with Hollywood trappings, Beverly Hillbilly Britney Spears is turning her back on the paparazzi, Kabbalah and — as we saw in last week’s Matt Lauer interview — handlers, stylists and self-respect."

--from the article "Look at our baby! Now, don't look! Brangelina's Namibian adventure sets a troubling precedent" on MSNBC. For the full article, click here.

Dream Dinners

Last night I went to my first Dream Dinners session. I had been wanting to try it out for a while now, because after only a month of marriage I was already struggling with dinner ideas. Not to mention the fact that sometimes after a day at work, the last thing I wanted to do was go home and cook.

But this definitely could be the answer to all my problems. In one hour and 15 minutes, I was able to prepare 6 meals (split in half for our rather small family--for a grand total of 12 dinners). It was easy fun and I can tell they are going to be delicious.

After I got home from my session, we quickly tested the dinners. Last night we had BBQ Pork Stuffed Burritos and they were excellent. And I don't even like to eat pork.

All told, I went home with Tex Mex BBQ Style Pork Stuffed Burritos, Mango Glazed Indian Salmon, Arroz con Pollo, Dill Marinated Shrimp, Dijon and Black Pepper Flank Steak, and Steaks with Roasted Red Peppers and Herb Butter. Check it out. Let me know what you think.

Dream Dinners

The pictures are finally here!

We finally got our proofs from the wedding. All 550 of them.

Here is a link to the photo album.

Our wedding pictures

Use my log in to access them.
email address: devryarnett@hotmail.om
password: devryquinn

The album is : Our Wedding!!

Now these are all of them. It is the good, the bad and the ugly. But over all, I love them.

Enjoy!

The King and I

It has long been a dream of mine to travel to Thailand. In fact, Mallory and I have lbeen planning a fabulous vaction to Thailand to celebrate her graduation from high school. I think my getting married may have hampered those plans. I can't really understand my obsession with Thailand. But it pretty much began seven years ago when I saw the movie "Brokedown Palace." To this day, this has got to be one of my favorite movies. I cry every single time I watch it and I have seen it many many times. Last night, I found it at my parents house so we put it in and watched it. We didn't even start the movie until after 10 pm but I didn't mind. I would sacrifice much sleep for this film.

Really, if someone hasn't seen it, you must. It might not be for everyone but I just love what this movie says about friendship. As Lindsay said this morning over IM, it is "delightfully depressing".

What you talkin' 'bout Willis?

Yesterday I received 3 strong urgings to update the blog. It has been dormant for a quite a while because I guess I just feel like I don't have that many exciting things to say. At least not compared to the wedding plans.

I will share one highlight from about 2 weeks ago. Quinn and I were going to dinner at Rumbi Grill as we pulled into the parking lot. We both did a double take as a dark blue VW bug drove past it. It looked like a child was driving it. Turns out it was Gary Coleman.

Now, I had heard he lived in Santaquin (although I can't imagine for what reason), but it was definitely something to see him in person. I guess a little car for a little person. Makes sense right?

The Honeymoon

We returned from a fantastic week in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on Tuesday night. We had a great time on the trip.
Wednesday upon arriving in Puerto Vallarta we headed to our hotel near the down town area of PV. We hit the beach and the pool immediately. That night we had dinner right on the beach at this little restaurant just a few hotels away from ours. The apple-mango tart was to die for. Below is a picture of us on our first night in PV at sunset.


Thursday we spent the entire day relaxing at the beach and by the pool. Below is a picture of Quinn in the "Quite Pool."


Also, a nice gentleman was so kind as to take the following picture of us underneath the waterfall at the pool.

Friday we braved the curvy windy roads and the crazy mexican drivers and drove south to Costa Careyes to attend Ryan and Nav's wedding. What a beautiful location and beautiful wedding. Below is a picture of us with the picturesque cove in the background.

Saturday we returned to PV and headed to another hotel. Below is a picture of me with one of the many sculptures lining the boardwalk of PV.

Last but not least we braved one of the canopy zip line tours. Below are pictures of us before the tour began. Quinn was crazy on the zip line and at times found it very hard to watch. But it was well worth the time and money. The view from the zip lines of the mountains and the city were unparralled.

Mexican Delights

We leave tonight for our fabulous trip to Mexico. I'm so excited. However, I did look at the forecast and they do predict rain every day while we are there. Oh, well. We will have fun anyway.

I hope to enjoy many mexican delights like Lindsay, Kristen and I did when we went to Mexico. In fact, below is one of those delights. Me, parasailing at sunset in Mazatlan.

Ryan's Blog Entry on our Wedding

Definitely worth checking out.

Ryan's Blog

More Photos

Thanks Ryan and Uncle Lance for all of these great pictures!!

We did it!

Thank you to everyone who was able to be part of our wedding. It was a fabulous day. I enjoyed every minute of it. It was so great to see so many family and friends and we would like to thank everyone who traveled so far and did so much to help make the day amazing for us. We couldn't have asked for more.

I'm a little tired from the whole affair. Who knew getting married could be so exhausting?? I told Quinn this morning that I'm definitely going to sleep in on Saturday for a very long time.

I only have one picture to post (courtesy of kristen) but it is a start. I would love it if everyone who took digital pictures would be so kind as to forward them on. I'll post them as I get them.

Once again, thank you so much for everything. You all mean so much to us.

Light at the End of the Tunnel

Three trips to the ER and one surgery later, I am finally feeling better. This is just in the nick of time as the wedding is now only 3 days away.

I must go on official record and say: Having a kidney stone is the worst pain imaginable. I thought I was going to die on multiple occasions because the pain was just too overwhelming. Thank goodness the doctors at the ER were generous with the morphine.

This episode definitely caused some setbacks in the wedding plans. Some things I'm just not going to be able to make happen. But the important stuff still will. Rain or shine, we are still getting married in 3 days and will get to celebrate with all of our family in friends, perhaps just not in the way that was originally intended.

Time flies. I can't believe it is already here. But I know we are both ready to move on to the next stage of our lives.

See you all on Saturday!

er

Yesterday, Quinn and I got to share another first--our first trip to the hospital!! About 9 am I was sitting at my desk eating some oatmeal and reading emails. All of the sudden, I started to have some pain in my lower back. It started to get worse and worse and then I started to get really nauseated. So I pretty much ran to the bathroom. The pain got so much worse to the point where I was doubled over and couldn't move. Luckily, I had thought to bring my phone into the bathroom. I called Quinn and woke him up and asked him to come get me because I thought something was seriously wrong with me and needed to go to the hospital. While, I waited one of my co-workers found me in the bathroom and stayed with me until he got there.

Once I got to the hospital, I thought the pain was under control. The doctor asked me repeatedly if I needed something for the pain and I kept saying no. Not 3 minutes after he left, I started to have the worst pain I've ever felt in my life. I told Quinn to go find the doctor and tell him I wanted pain medicine ASAP. So they hurried and got my IV in and gave me something for the nausea and the pain and then they gave me morphine and I started to fill a lot better. Anyway, turns out I have a kidney stone. They did a CT scan to see where it was and I guess I'm close to passing it. They sent us home after a few hours with a prescription for pain medicine and a caution against drinking soda. As soon as the nurse started to talk about how soda can cause stones, I wanted to shut her up. I knew that now Quinn would never let me drink soda again. But of course it didn't stop him. On our way home from the hospital, he stopped and got some lunch and ordered an extremely large root beer and then taunted me with it the whole way home!

Countdown

Only 19 days left. Time flies. Now if we can only get through all we have to do over these next 19 days...finals, moving, last minute wedding preparations.

I know I personally can't wait for my mom to get here on Thursday so I can have a wedding assistant. I came to the realization that planning a wedding would be easy if you had an assistant. I just need someone that I can send on assigments. You know, someone to go pick up a 5X7 silver picture frame or someone to go scour the city for square votive candle holders and someone to help me with tying pink ribbons on all of the boxes. Mom, see all of the exciting things you have to look forward to when you get here??

Easter weekend was great. Saturday we had our annual Easter Brunch since everyone's church schedules made it too difficult to find a time on Sunday. Afterwards, we had an Easter egg hunt for the kids. It didn't take long for Jaxson to figure out there was candy in the eggs. So as soon as he found one egg, he forgot about hunting for more and focused all of his energy on getting the egg open so he could shove the candy in his mouth.

Saturday night we all went up and met Steph and Jake who were in town for dinner. Afterwards we all went to the hotel to go swimming. Good times. It made me very excited for summer and warm weather.

Русско

What I am about to relate does not depict me in the best light. But as I was talking on the phone with my mom last night and related this story to her, she almost died laughing and told me I had to blog about it. So, here it goes.

Yesterday, I guess I was a little bored at work. I was messing around with my phone settings while I was on a phone call. I discovered that I could change the language of my phone. There were many different options. French, Portugese, Russian, Arabic, Chinese, etc… So, I decided to change my language settings to Russian. I thought I had thought it through enough. In my English settings, it said all of these languages in the actual language. So my thinking was that I would be able to mess around and change the language settings and figure out how to switch it back to English because it would say "English" in English. Hope this is all making sense. Well, as you might imagine, this is either not the case or I have not been able to find the place that says "English." So now my phone is completely in Russian and it is rendered slightly useless. When you search for a contact by letter nothing comes up since Russians use the cyrillic alphabet. So they only way I can use my phone is to scroll through my entire phonebook and find the name. Last night it was very difficult to find the alarm setting. But luckily I did and my alarm went off this morning and I made it to work.

And now a plea to my dear sister Mallory who knows the most Russian out of anyone I know. Isn't she adorably cute? If you could please send me an email with the words--- phone, settings, language and English---written in Russian that would be most appreciated. Hopefully I can figure out how to get my phone back to normal. Otherwise I'm afraid I'll have to take it into the store and have them restore factory settings and loose all of my information. So Mallory, can you please help me out??!!

Ring around the Roses

Yesterday I ordered my flowers for the wedding. Perhaps, most of you don't care about this, but I was really excited. Maybe that is because it is one less thing that is now done and taken care of. Anyway, we were able to order direct from a wholesaler and get a steal of a deal. I ordered 750 roses in three different varieties. I'm hoping the combination will look beautiful.








Also in other news, I think Quinn and I have finally found a place to live for the summer. And if this works out, then I will definitely be much more stress free than I am currently. Kristen, we will be neighbors. We hope to be the new residents of the apts on 600 South and 1200 West. Aren't you excited???

Music Makes the People Come Together

Once again, I am using this blog to solicit suggestions and advise. One of the hundreds of things I have left to do, is select an assortment of songs to make up the background music. I know everyone out there has great ideas as to what songs would make good wedding music. I would prefer them to be less on the cheezy side. And for those of you who might be wondering, Olivia Newton John's "I Honestly Love You" and other such delights are definitely on the cheezy side.

Tidbits

I know it has been long overdue for a new post. Nothing that big and consequential has happened lately. So this is just going to be a random assortment of tidbits.

1. Invitations are out. This is a huge relief. We are still waiting on one or two addresses but besides that I think we have most people covered. Everyone is saying how much they love the invitations. I’m glad. I fell in love with them right when I saw them in the store. And I love them in the pink.

2. We finalized the cake yesterday. My dearest Aunt Candy (c.s. arnett for those that read the comments) came over yesterday for the consultation. We decided on all of the different layers and I showed her the pink ribbon that I would like used for it. I'm quite excited and know it will look amazing.

3. Lexi came over yesterday for a hair consultation. She diligently curled my hair and we came up with some good ideas for the big day. I know I definitely have a clearer vision now of how I would like my hair for the big day. Thanks Lex!

4. Quinn survived his first semi-annual Mortensen post-Priesthood session Pie Night. It was fun, except for the part where I almost stopped breathing due to a really bad asthma attack caused by a house cat. Sorry to all you cat lovers out there, but I have no love for them, as they nearly kill me every time. I dare say I would not be sorry if they were all taken from the earth. I know, I would not miss them. I wasn't in the house for more than 10 minutes before my air passages were nearly sealed shut. Thank heavens my aunt had an inhaler handy that I could huff on throughout the night so I could stay long enough to inhale pizza and some german chocolate cream pie.

5. Also, Quinn is always saying that I have infiltrated his family. I think he has done the same. I was also informed this weekend that it is a go for the next Mortensen family cruise. Apparently, next summer all 40 of us will be setting sail for Hawaii. Mind you, I learned of this development from Quinn and not from anyone in the family, because apparently no one tells me anything.

Spaghetti Dinner

Yesterday after church I made spaghetti for dinner. I made a lot. And I mean a lot! I made a whole package of spaghetti noodles. Yes, I realize there were only two of us eating, but Quinn said he could eat a lot. He came in and piled his plate high with spaghetti. Seriously, there were pounds of spaghetti on his plate. He destroyed it. I couldn't believe that he ate it all, let alone how fast he ate it. This eating fest reminded me how sad I was once again that I don't have a digital camera. Otherwise I would have snapped a before and after shot for all of you to behold the feeding frenzy that occurred yesterday. But this has pretty much inspired me to begin a serious pursuit of purchasing a digital camera.