Christmas time is here....

Well, I suppose since I have a minute, I will talk a little bit about the vacation I have been enjoying.

Jimmy and I got home last Saturday after a fairly long day of travel. We got in just before a big storm hit the east coast. Andrea and Roland were not as lucky....

But we have, in the last few days probably driven to and from Nelson (from Boxborough) 4 or 5 times. It is exhausting, but worth it. The activities have included, a ward Christmas party in Keene, a turkey dinner at the Coopriders, a visit to a museum with Christmas trees decorated as different story themes, skating on Tolmand pond, Joe's wrestling match (pinned the guy in a minute!), Ada's birthday party (Heather, the alphabet soup was delicious...oh and the Lemon cake too!), grinders with the Schillemats, Christmas breakfast with the Coopriders, Christmas dinner with the Schillemats (it was turkey, again....), cutting Jimmy's hair!!!!, visit with great gramma Schillemat, and today another Christmas dinner with the extended Schillemat family (turkey of course!).

It has been busy, but a lot of fun. Our snuggies for Heather and Nathan were well received, and my dad's book "Going Rogue," by Sarah Palin was quite a funny present to open. We enjoy the time with family, and are glad we still have another week. And thank you to everyone for the fantastic gifts. We are very grateful and excited to use them. Especially our new rubber chicken which I am sure will look wonderful on our tree next year!

And that is the story currently. I would also like to announce that I did not get below a B- in my Math Methods class. I calculated what I had to get on the final and it was a 58. Yes, I do things like that. I got a B+ which means I did not fail the class (as a grad student), in fact I did just what I wanted to do! Hooray for feeling like all the hard work paid off! What a fabulous after-Christmas treat!

Here are a few pictures for your enjoyment. Family is so fun!

Not so lovely picture, but it is of the two of us!

Jobo and Caity

Peder, Gretchy, and Geoff on Tolmand pond (a perfect day for skating!)

I'm using the hockey stick to hold me up!

Grrrrr!

Look Grandma Marie! Ada is a chicken!

Joe's winning!

The cutest little princesses you ever will see!

My man Jimmy!

Do you know how hard it is to crawl on ice?! Liam knows :)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!!

Done, done, done, done.......

Well, Jimmy is not quite done, but I don't think he gets quite as stressed as I do.

Today, I finished my last final, Math Methods in Physics. It was rough, but it is DONE! Yes, my friends, that is the most important part. Of course I want a good grade, but right now I am claiming sanity, and forgetting about the whole thing ;) Tonight I will help grade some tests, tomorrow I will clean our apartment and do some shopping, Friday we will leave on to go to good ole' New England.

Doesn't it sound just grand?!

Really good things...

We have had some really great things happen to us, as of late. Let me just give you a quick summary.

Excuse the outline form...it is easier to write!

1. Classes are DONE (finals next week..)
a. No more 601 homework
b. No more speeches
c. No more Ph127 grading until January
d. etc...
2. Gift swap goods
a. Jimmy received a Jelly Belly dispensing bear
b. I got a bag of Lindt chocolates Yum YUM!!!
3. Ward Christmas breakfast
Bacon, eggs, pancakes, hash browns, oranges, and bananas (I went to town on the oranges...)
4. LOADS of snow
"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....."

NUMERO CINCO!!!

JIMMY GOT INTO HIS FIRST LAW SCHOOL!!!!!!!!
Northeastern University, Boston MA
Scholarship for $25000

First glance.....

Congratulations Jimmy!

The letter of Acceptance!

If only I could include a video of Jimmy's dance of glee! Then you would know how excited he really is!

Some picture proof

Merry Christmas!!!!

It's Christmas TIME!!!!

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!! In honor of the time after Thanksgiving I wanted to fill you in on the current changes and modifications to our lives.

We decided well before Thanksgiving that we wouldn't thwart the Thanksgiving spirit by celebrating Christmas prematurely. But once we passed the big Thanksgiving meal, it was indeed Christmas time! Our celebrations have included putting up a mini-tree, wrapping some presents, putting up Christmas lights, drinking the peppermint hot chocolate, Christmas music galore, dancing like elves through our apartment, advent calendar, buying candy canes, making a gingerbread house, and just being plain cheery. It has been a lot of fun.

I will be sure to post a picture very, very soon.

What I am thankful for

Today in church one of the talks suggested we write a blog about the things we are thankful for. Here goes: (in no particular order....except for the first one!)

1. My husband
2. My family
3. My education
4. My ability to do physical things (i.e. running)
5. Nature - trees, flowers, good clean rain, clear star-lit skies, etc...
6. Holidays- to be together with my family
7. Scriptures
8. Songs of every kind
9. Laughter
10. Miracles
11. Teaching moments
12. The Gospel
13. Art
14. Scented candles
15. Autumn leaves
16. Walking and running trails
17. Cool, brisk afternoons
18. Banana bread
19. Board games
20. Disney movies
21. Temples
22. Wool socks
23. Cooking
24. Victory over math physics problems
25. Turning in Law School applications
26. Service opportunities
27. Good friends
28. NOVA on PBS
29. Sunday dinners with friends/family
30. Fruit and veggies
31. Water
32. Warm apartment (yes, we finally turned on the heat!)
33. Atonement
34. Transportation
35. Running races
36. Good memories
37. Mom & Dads
38. Grandparents
39. Musicals
40. Sunrises & sunsets
41. Family wards
42. Traditions
43. Spontaniety
44. Family vacations
45. Adventures
46. Puddles
47. Hikes
48. Jesus Christ
49. Smiling
50. Journals

And that, I will admit, is just a sampling. Wow! I dare you to do it too! There sure are a lot of things to be thankful for!!!

Practicing Thanksgiving

Jimmy and I are working on our Thanksgiving skills. On Friday night we made a Maple Pumpkin pie. On Saturday we brought it to Murray for people to taste-test. We had all positive comments.

Today we plan to make mashed potatoes, gravy, chicken(for lack of the other poultry), and we even have some squash. Yum, yum!

But other than our eating habits, life has been busy. This last week I taught a 2.5 hour class, and then the next day stayed home sick with a sore throat. I feel a lot better now, but I am still not 100%. Only 1.5 weeks to go until Thanksgiving. Jimmy has now officially submitted 2 applications. This week's was Northeastern. He is so close to being done, and that makes us both happy.

Funny stories, well I wouldn't say we really have any this week. It is getting colder outside, meaning we actually have some snow on the ground, or did as of this morning. Our running is getting a little more intense...we run about 10 minutes longer than the last couple weeks. Life is just grand!!

Pizza pizza!!

Yeah, that is right. Jimmy and I made homemade pizza on Friday night. It was delicious. I made the dough, with some Italian spices mixed in, and we topped it with tomato sauce with some three pepper salsa, cheese, ham, onion, and more pepper! It was fabulous! We had lots left over, so that means, yummy pizza for more than one day! Hooray!


On another note, yesterday I gave a small planetarium show to some girls for a church ward nearby. One of the girls is in my math class and she wanted to bring people to see the planetarium, and because I have access I offered to give them a short night sky show. I elaborated on the constellations and their stories. Did you know that most of the stories are about Zeus and his very mischievous ways? It was actually quite depressing. Oh well, I had fun anyways.

Mid week breather

Yesterday I spent all day working on homework that I had been working on for a week and a half. I do not exaggerate, I think I probably spent at least 30 hours on that one assignment. It was pretty unfortunate. But on the bright side the Professor was very understanding, and there were plenty of people to help out. It was long, hard, but rewarding.

So for one whole night I didn't think about that class. It was fabulous! I worked on my take home test, and on a presentation. I also got a little extra sleep because I was so intellectually over-loaded.

So, I call that my mid-week breather. Of course, I found out today that I have homework due Monday, and I my test home test is due Friday. So things are not done, but I feel a little more relaxed. Tonight I have a constellation lab, and I am watching the Biggest Loser. Did I ever mention how much I like that show? Kind of strange, I know, but fun all at the same time. Reminds me why I like to workout.

Sheriff and her bandit!

As proof that I did in fact "dress-up" here are some pictures. I know, I know the costume isn't all that authentic, but I sure did have fun walking around in my 4 inch high shoes. I could gaze longingly into Jimmy's eyes without having to look up.

Me, Jimmy and Tabitha (fall fairy)

Miriam, Brennen and Steve

We went to a Halloween party, at my friend/officemate, Tabitha's because I had work to do, and she lives near by. Plus, she has a fantastically fun house! And my other officemate and her husband and son came. They were dressed up as Astronauts/mission control. It was fabulous! But now I will show pictures instead of rambling....

High boots....yikes!

Blurry and Mysterious!

Pumpkin - more than meets the eye!

What do you think of my trendy new blog? We will see how long I keep it this way.

But onto something more exciting. Tomorrow is Halloween, so Jimmy and I prepared ourselves by getting costumes, and carving a pumpkin. I am usually not a big costume person, but in the past I have dressed up as an angel, Richard Simmons, and probably once in my life a ghost, just because it is easy to throw a sheet over my head. This year we took the easy route of cowboy/girl. Jimmy already had the boots and button up shirt. I however, was lacking. We went to Deseret Industries (like a salvation army back east), and I bought a ugly button up shirt, a jacket, and some particularly high shoes that look something like cowgirl boots. I wore this ensemble with jeans today. Tomorrow I may flex my Halloween spirit to a brown skirt. I promise to post some pictures when I get them tomorrow. Most people on campus didn't know I was dressed up, so it is not worth posting pictures of today's attire.

However I do want to show you all some pictures of our pumpkin carving skills. Jimmy took on the front of the pumpkin, carving a nice logo from Transformers. And I coped out with some stars in a fairly uneven pattern. They are to let some more light out. Plus it is artistically pleasing...or so I think.

Transformers - More than meets the eye!

Tomorrow we are slated to go to the Temple. go running, do homework, clean the apartment, hand out candy (I bought chocolate and fruit flavored candy for variety's sake) and then go to possibly a few Halloween parties. Gosh, this is a fun-filled weekend.

Colloquium

It is the middle of the week and towards the end of the school day and I am sitting in colloquium. This is the time when I normally do my other homework, and lifelessly search other information that has nothing to do with the topic being introduced. But today, Dr. Migenes is speaking, and he is entertaining. Let me describe his public speaking techniques. Normally it involves a little dancing and lots of very sarcastic jokes about how astronomers are ridiculous. It is very fun to watch. Plus, I know what he is talking about because it relates to my research. And...he even highlighted me as one of his students. I'M FAMOUS!! Well, kind of. Being popular in the physics department normally doesn't put you at the top of the social pyramid, but oh well. I am happy!

The Conference

Golden Colorado

I have safely arrived back to Provo after a long, physics-filled weekend. Highlights were:

1.My own room, 2 beds, one person! Heavenly. Although I did miss Jimmy. He does make the bed a lot warmer ;) It also prompted me to think about buying new pillows. Ours at home are just not as comfortable as the hotel pillows. La Quinta you know how to stock pillows.


2. My presentation at 8:48 am. There were not too many people (which was nice). But even with that, I thought I did a pretty good job. I didn't go over on time, and I could answer all the questions they asked me. It was quite fabulous!



3.Astronaut from NASA. He had been to space 5 times, 3 of which were to service the Hubble Space Telescope. I must say, he was fantastic. In his talk he showed us video of the trip. It was a very humbling experience to see Earth from that vantage point.

4.The van-ride. This is many not be the highlight, but it afforded a great chunk of the trip. We traveled 5ish hours Thursday, 3ish on Friday morning, and the large 8 hours for our trip home yesterday. We made it home around 11:30 pm. Long day, needless to say. Dr. Migenes was entertaining as always, and we had some very interesting physics and non-physics conversations. And the scenery was quite lovely. I enjoyed driving into and up the mountains! Beautiful!


5. Feeling smart because I actually had questions to ask. The set-up to these conferences is normally big talks for everyone, and sessions of talks having to do with specific topics. You pick and chose as there are parallel sessions with numerous topics. I went to sessions that had at least a small connection to astronomy. In 2 out of the 3 I was able to ask some sort of question. It made me feel like an actual graduate student. Hooray for feeling like I have learned something!

6. Getting home to see my very excited husband. It was a delightful trip, but I did in fact miss my bestest friend. When I got home he had 2 surprizes for me. First, he had fixed the light in our bedroom that seemed to have a wire loose, and second he bought Ben and Jerry's from Smiths. By the way it is cheapest there. We have bought it in numerous locations, including the factory store in Vermort. Just over $2 is a steal. He got my favorite Chunky Monkey, and Smore's. He is so good to me. And the laundry was done, and we had some food that we needed. What a wonderful guy!

So back to the grind. Tomorrow is my "ahhhh-I need to catch-up" day!

Rifle Colorado

I am on my way to a conference in Golden Colorado, and we made a stop in Rifle Colorado to spend the night. Yes, that is Golden and Rifle Colorado. Who comes up with these names?! But anyways....

We travelled 5ish hours, and have 3 to go tomorrow. Dr Migenes is the driver, and I have to say it has been just fine. Besides that fact that the van is completely full and I am one of the two girls in the van, life is just dandy. The hotel is quite spacious, especially because there are so few girls. Tomorrow night I get a room to myself. Wahoo!

Well, that is the update. I am trying to blog more so you have something to comment about ;)

Comments

I have found from my own blog-reading experience that the comments to the blogs are almost as good as the blog itself. Please share your thoughts about my blog. I want to know if people are enjoying it. Thanks!!

In style

I thought it was time to write another post, mostly because I have some pictures I want to show you all.

I will explain and then you will see the picture. Jimmy and I go on dates every week, much like we go to the Temple every Saturday. If anyone wants to join us, let me know. We would love the company. But back to the story. We decided that this last week we were going out to eat and then go on a little river cruise down the Provo river. After eating an enormous amount of food at Applebees, we decided because it wasn't dark enough, and because we were overly stuffed, that we should go into TJ-Maxx's and look around. It is always hit or miss...maybe tonight was our lucky night. Jimmy found a very trendy hat, and I bought a sweater. The sweater is not really noteworthy, however this hat is quite fantastic. Sad story, Jimmy already lost it. Or maybe someone stole it, it was just that awesome.

Just in case you wanted to know the cruise was fun. It was 30 minutes on the Provo river, with guys acting like pirates telling really silly pirate jokes. Ask me, and I can tell you are really good one ;)

Besides my hat story, I wanted to include a picture or two of Alice and Ada trying on my clothes. I felt like I was in style when I saw Alice tromping around in my jean jacket for a few hours. Oh, and by the way, I got it from TJ-Maxx's.
Oh, and I have some bowling pictures....wow this is slightly random, but I wanted to show my family that I am keeping up on my bowling skills. Goodness gracious, I need to be a little less all over the place. Yes, this bowling was another date night.

Next week Jimmy and I are presenting at conferences. I am going to Colorado to present at a physics conference. Jimmy is presenting at UVU. This isn't even his main research. He works for a graduate student making phone calls. My research is the same, OH Megamasers in Extragalactic mergers. I have to give a 10 minute presentation. Jimmy timed me today and I am under, which is good considering the nerves that will kick in the day I actually give the presentation. And that is what is in our future...plus some tests, and papers, and school...but who really cares about that stuff anyways?! ;)

My favorite things

This post is inspired by "My Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music. Lately I have been listening to a radio station that features many of these types of songs, and it has caused me to reflect on my favorite things.

1.My all time favorite thing is my husband. He is fantastic! Lately as we have been listening to the radio station with Disney/musical inspired music he has been dancing in the morning as we get ready for the day. It makes me smile and happy to have such a fun-loving person in my life. He has also taken on a great amount of the cooking because of my course load. I am so grateful to him. And there are a lot of other things that would form an endless, rambling paragraph of reasons I love him. Isn't it great we can marry our best friends!?

2. Another one of my favorite things is a good/hardworking day of work. My schoolwork has been quite consuming, but I have noticed that as I complete assignments and prepare for the next, I feel a great sense of accomplishment. It is fantastic to be busy with school again.

3. Little children are another one of my favorite things. They are so innocent and honest. This past weekend Jimmy, Gretchen and I spent the weekend in Murray with Jimmy's side of the family. His two nieces are wonderfully fun. Some of the best moments were their spontaneous hugs, calling me with Gretchen's cell phone from the other room, dressing up in my clothes as I folded them, and listening to them pray. It was fabulous! Hooray to Heather and Nathan for fantastic children. I really love spending time with all of you! Plus, I have the unique privilege of spending time with my officemate's son. I have been around for his birth and continual growth. He is almost 1 year old, which makes him a very active character. It has been a great blessing to see him grow and develop. It is also a great distraction from work.

4. The Gospel is another favorite thing in my life. I know, I know kind of sappy, but seriously so true. If I didn't have such a wonderful Church family, based on principles that I believe in, I don't know where I would be. Our ward is very friendly, and we enjoy the people we interact with. Jimmy has a calling with the Young Men, and I know that he is excited to be able to serve in that capacity. I am excited to do something as well. As a somewhat related story. Jimmy and I went to the ward Chili cookoff on Friday. We brought a cobbler, which Jimmy made in our Dutch oven. Listen to this recipe. This is no ordinary cobbler. Strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries, covered in milk chocolate chips, devil's food cake, and a layer of white chocolate. It was a hit. We had no leftovers...people were scraping the dutch oven as we left. Jimmy is a brilliant cook!

5. My family! I have recently acquired a bigger family. "A bigger family? How is that possible?!", you say. Well, now that I am married I now have the fabulous Cooprider family as my relatives. They are amazing! I am excited to spend more time with them. Plus I have an awesome family, that has always been my support and comfort. Poul, Andrea, Jobo, Gretchy, Pedy, Geoff, Mom and Dad, you are all wonderful people. Which leads into another one of my favorite things...

6. Communication. As I do every Sunday, I call home to talk to my parents and siblings. It is always fun to get an update about the happenings in NH. But even better, this past week I talked to my sister Andrea and her son, my cute nephew Liam! Skype, the video chat system, is wonderful. It made me very grateful for this convenience.

And that is just a few of my favorite things.....

Wait...

8. I would be remiss if I didn't mention my favorite activity of exercise. Running! I would like to report in writing that Jimmy and I are training for the Ragner Relay in Arizona. Our friends Davis and Melanie invited us to run a 200+ race with them. It is a relay where people run a number of legs, that add up to 15ish miles. It is going to be great. We bought new watches, and Jimmy got some new running pants. We got the wrong size, but we are going to take them back to get him all ready for the race. I am excited!

So now I will end. I am sure I have a lot more favorite things, but I believe I have distracted myself enough for this week.

Our Apartment!

I wanted to give you all an opportunity to see our new apartment. We are told it is quite spacious and we like it that way! Remember we are not going to school for interior design, we just try to keep things clean! :) Enjoy!

The Living Room

The Bedroom

The Bathroom

The Kitchen

Some busy times

School is hard....but it is not like I didn't expect school to be easy. However I realized this week that if I am efficient in my school work, I don't have many moments to do trivial things. But to argue a point, if I don't do trivial/relaxing things, I might go insane and my schoolwork many exponentially decline in quality. It is a toss up. This week has been difficult because I have been juggling schoolwork with schoolwork, trying to figure out what is the most important. I have grading to do, which is important for the students and my employment, I have homework for one class, that takes a minimum of 10 hours a week, and another class that at least takes up time because I have to be IN class (my advisor teaches it). Plus, I am planning on going to a conference in Colorado, and there is an abstract due this week, as well as registration and other details that make life hectic, and I also I have a proposal and another abstract due next week. Phew...I am tired just thinking about it. So why am I ranting? I am tired, and I am thinking that I was pretty silly to complain when I didn't have much to do. Secondly, I am one of those people that likes to tell people what needs to get done so I feel more of an obligation to get it done.

Besides this needless desire to tell you all about my busy life, I am excited to see a bunch of Jimmy's family this weekend. His Mom, Sister-in-law, and nieces are coming today, and we will be spending some time with them this weekend. It is a little vacation from the norm, and mostly a good way to distract myself from school for a few hours.

So, that is that. I am busy, and I am tired, but I am enjoying new experiences and being in school! Believe me, even though I rant about all the little time I have, I am happy! Yes, I am strange....

New Haircut

I haven't posted in a while, or at least talked about my currently life. First and foremost I got a haircut. Yes, it is a big change, especially after having such long and heavy hair for the summer. Can you tell that I am actually very thrilled to have the weight off? I went 2 Saturdays ago, and had 10 inches chopped off, with the intention of donating it to Locks for Love. I am told it looks good, and I will just trust that my husband and family members are not lying to me ;)

Other than that, Jimmy and I are doing a lot of apartment organization. We have things under control now. We have a futon, a rocking chairs (thanks Grandma Marie) table, chairs, and lots of pictures hanging on the walls. We also have a bed, which if you are ever interested has an interesting move-in story. I want to put up some pictures of our first place together, so remind me!

School is busy. Jimmy has four night classes, and I have two relatively hard graduate classes, plus 20 hours of TAing, and research. I feel pretty busy, but not overwhelmed. We still have time to make dinner at night, and get the rest required to make it through the next day.

Which reminds me. This last Saturday we went to Costco. Some of you know I have a very deep love for this wholesale grocery heaven. We got the executive membership, had our pictures taken and we are on our way to bulk food buying for at least a year. Oh, and shopping we did! We bought probably a good month's worth, minus the milk and produce that would go bad in the meantime. We also invested in some multi-vitamins that should keep us healthy and several snack foods to keep our pallets from diminishing after our long days on campus. I am maybe a little obsessed with the place, but it really does put a smile on my face to see some of my favorite foods in great quantities, not to mention good quality.

So that is my life as it is right now. Married life is treating me well. There are always things we have to adjust to. I haven't shared a bed, well since...okay that is not a good example. Every time I go home I have to share a bed with a sibling because there are not enough rooms. But It is still an adjustment trying not to kick or knock out my husband as I inevitably flail during the night. Sorry Jimmy. I love you! But we are having so much fun. We play host and hostess every Sunday night and invite people over for food and games. We wake up and go running, which I must admit is very heroic of Jimmy since it is not his favorite thing. We make fun dinners together, and we just enjoy living in the same place and sharing all our great experiences. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

So, I guess this is a little more than a post about hair, but really I am one known to ramble a bit.....

Wedding bliss

Time to add the newest pictures. Sorry, I don't have much time to comment on them. I will continue to add as I have time to do so. And they are mostly in backwards order. I will work on getting more from the reception in time. Feel free to comment!