almost all of our classes require internet and computers. I have been wanting a new computerthat is a mac for a while now because of all the editing programs and their ease of using them. So i knew i had some grant moneycoming in soon and i know that we were planning on buying me a new computer for christmas with that money. The problem was that the school needed to get rid of the style i wanted because it was old andthey only had threemore. So i got an early christmas present. I have also been working on several projects i have been wanting to attack. I have a hard drive that i have just been throwing files onto for saving and it got outrageously unorganized. So i took this advantage of a new computer to put it all on there and organize it. THANKFULLY it's a whole lot easier on this computer than it was on the other, because the way it notices the files makes it really simple and easy. I am also throwing away files i have no use for or interest in anymore. My hard drive had several projects in that as well. I have my music collections from every time i have redone my computer, my pictures that are never ending, and then the mi-nute project of my documents and video files. Still working on the music part. IT'S HORRENDOUS!!!! I am starting out by downloading all my cds; between Daniel and i, we have about 3 hundred folder binders full of music. So then after i get that all done i get to do all the digital stuff and work on naming them and finding the correct info so i don't have a billion unknown tracks and can't ever find my music i want. Been at it for about three days now and have about 1000 songs done so i still have 2.5 binders left. WISH ME LUCK! :) Ok so now the next thing... we had our one couch right... well we have people over enough and a good amount of people so i figured it would be a smart investment to get another couch that was bigger than a loveseat. Lucky for us we found this great couple who wanted to sell their couch. Its in like mint condition (just a little old style of fabric so we have a cover for it. ) and the size was wonderful, the price was candy! The couch is 7.8 inches long and so now we have that in our front room and had to totally rearrange our set up in the front room. Daniel says it's small and crowded now, but i think it's fine, specially for a first apartment. The couches are both way comfy! and they look great so it totally works. We have already had two groups of people over and we all had plenty time.
So during one of the groups being over to watch movies with us we
started having problems with our tv, dvd player, and playstation that we use for movies. It would work and kept freezing (never had it happen like this at all!!!) So with black friday coming up we have found some deals that we are debating and think we will be getting a new tv. The one we have is small and hums sometimes louder than the voices you hear when watching.
So this set up that we just changed to will be changed yet again and we might end up having the desk be in the kitchen so we can have more room for the tv.
To add to the problems, i may have mentioned a little while back that our bed risers broke in the middle of the night, freaking the crap out of us while we were sleeping... yeah not fun. So we had to take everything we had out and put the bed on the floor. That was our main storage place.... so it left us with one small path way to get around in our room. We finally had some time on saturday to go to the store (while it was snowing!) to get some wood for a new project. Luckily when i was younger my dad took me to fix
it workshops and i learned how to work with wood and do
projects on my own. (little projects without too much definite detail) So we got the wood and i got to work. Granted drilling holes on the tile at 11:30pm might not have been the smartest thing to do, but i'm not the most patient person sometimes. So we got the glue, screws, tools and everything we needed. I glued them and put the drill on to charge while we tried to watch our movie with friends. Then when they left i got to drilling. They look great, we just need more wood. About 6 more inches on every foot to go. They seem to be holding up alright. We just can't go jumping on the bed and make it slide across the room that's all.
So the snow here, I grew up in snow but i never remember it being as bad as it is here. Part of that could have been because of the neighborhood we lived in. Salt Lake is a whole lot bigger than Rexburg. Here they don't scrape the streets when it snows so you have ice every night until it finally melts. Luckily it's been pretty warm in the days to help the snow not stay too long. When it does snow i let Daniel do all the driving while i hold on for dear life to the "oh shit" bar. It's given that name for when kids are learning to drive and they scare the crap out of a parent sitting innocently in the passenger seat who can't control anything. I look just like one of those parents i feel because im clenching the seat with my left hand and grabbing the handle above the door with my right hand as i make a face that only you can imagine as being and "I'M GOING TO DIE!!!" face! Let me just tell you Daniel isn't a bad driver, It's the snow that makes the cars go sliding all over the place. I don't want to drive in it because i don't think i would react so calm and collected as he does when the car doesn't brake and STOP when we want it to. Instead it goes sliding forward racing toward the back of the car in front of us. During this Daniel is calm and adjusting with it to make us not hit the back, but see all i can think of in this moment is death is staring me in the eyes, not "what do i do to fix this" SO i am very glad that he is enjoying the weather driving.
With the snow finally here and more to come, that means that the holidays are coming as well. I am having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that i wont be near my family for Thanksgiving. I have never been away from my family for holidays and with the last 6 years of my life i have come to love and appreciate my family. I admire my grandparents and love being around them, even just for the everyday stuff. Holidays though have become even more of an importance to me since getting sick. The day my doctors finally knew i had cancer was the day before thanksgiving, they told my mom that there was something wrong but wouldn't tell her what or how serious until we went in about a week later to meet with my surgeon. That year my sisters and i started this tradition of we dress up all fancy like and we sit on the couch all cuddled together laughing, telling secrets, taking pictures, watching movies together and listening to the banter of the adults in the kitchen. We love this time of year probably more than any other time of the whole year. we watch grandpa as he dresses in grandma's apron that we pick out for him (usually the frilly one with lace on the border and it looks real cute haha). We watch grandma as she makes the yummy yams and beans. We watch mom as she dances in the kitchen to the christmas music playing and as she plays the nintendo ds during breaks of pulling things out of the oven. We sing songs, dance, drink cider, snack on yummy snacks and just enjoy the company of each other. Football is on in the background sometimes for grandpa when we haven't convinced him to play card games with us. Then we sit down to dinner and dinner is filled with stories, laughter, peace, and comfort. This is something i love so much to be apart of and this year Daniel and i will not be able to go to be near any family. Daniel's sister and her husband, who live in town are going to salt lake to be with his family and we wanted to be able to save our money for christmas to go to Cali. The ward is having a dinner but i feel like the people here aren't sincere really. i guess you get it everywhere but here it seems like people don't really talk to you unless it's for like a second. It is also because most of them know each other and have been in the ward for years. Non of the new people in the ward really go and so you just have your cliques. This is hard for me to come to grips with that it will just be us and Daniel's football. (not that it's bad, just it's not what i am use to) It's even more hard this season because with grandma being sick i feel bad that i am not home to be there with her and help her out with things like she needs. I worry constantly that something is going to happen to those grandparents of mine and i wont be there. Times are changing and as we are all growing up things are changing in each of our lives. Brylee could be going off to utah to be with our dad and Brook will be home alone with no sisters. This moving on thing is scary to think about sometimes and dealing with change is something i want but not sure how to handle sometimes. I know we will be there in about 6 weeks for Christmas, which is up there as the top or tied with Thanksgiving for the top. But then there is the fear again that my sister might be in utah. She has to go for half of her break overtime and she doesn't get to choose when it is. we will be there for the first half of her break and leaving when the second half starts.
As for the season feelings and cravings, i have also been craving turkey and stuffing. I made dinner the other night and it was really great. We are getting new seasonings and experimenting with all our foods. We both seemed to like this meal. The funny thing was we were hungry and so i made dinner and then when it was done and ready to eat we didn't feel like eating, so i put it in containers and ate it later and the next day. STILL GOOD i might add.
Anyway i just looked at the time and realized i should have been in bed an hour ago and need to get sleep to start the busiest week of the whole semester. Please if you could do somethings for me.
First- keep a feeling of love in your heart this season for those in your family and who are near you.
Second- keep a prayer for my grandmother and friend Luis that they can have strength to fight their relapses and that the doctors will know what to do to help them recover. I need both of them in my life still and they need all the help we can give them to have that strength and positive attitudes.
Love to you all and best wishes through out your week!
Love the Longs!!!
Issue 50 11-14-11
