Hi Ya'll

We are on our very first "business trip" in Alabama! So far, I think Alabama in January looks and feels a lot like Missouri in the early fall. The people are super nice with super thick accents. Its really pretty, too. Right now I'm sitting in our hotel room while Mark and the two other guys interviewing with Jim Walter Resources are doing something interview-related. Us wives went out to this civil war ruined court house and took pictures, and walked around the University of Alabama.

For all our meals so far we've been out to eat. Last night we went to a sushi place... I really really hate Japanese food I've decided. I went for the first time to a sushi bar last week and hated it. I got filet mingon which would have been amazing without the flavoring that they put on it. It was loud, with firey explosions, and the rice and noodles were crunchy. I just don't like fish...

For lunch today we went to the most legit ribs place. They serve beer, iced tea, soft drinks, ribs, store bought bread and banana puddin'. On styrofoam plates. With a roll of paper towels in the middle of the table. You use your fingers and tear the meat off the bones with your teeth. It was amazingly delicious.

I've heard the word "ya'll" plenty in my life, but never as much as here. People are seeming to insert it in the weirdest places.

I think I wanted to talk about the plane rides out here on United. They were tiny. My head touched the ceiling. I was clausterphobic...maybe a little freaking out. And they charged for our checked bags, which I was weirded out about.

We toured the apartments that they'll let us stay in until we buy a house if we choose to live here. They are beautiful! And fully funished.

I have no idea how we are ever going to decide where to live. I feel so lucky that we have so many options, but its been pretty frustrating not knowing what's going to happen. We'll be in Pittsburgh at the end of January, so that's cool.

I'm going to get ready for our shmancy dinner with the CEOs tonight, but hopefully I'll blog about the rest of our trip!

I can't believe I haven't blogged since October. Oops!

Happy Halloween!

Casey came to visit me this weekend! We went to the Utah Museum of Fine Arts, and here is my probably illegally taken picture of my favorite sculpture of all time. A horse constructed from tree limbs, casted in pewter. There are a lot of neat-o things there.

We went on a little downtown jaunt to the awesomest library and came across this idea in a magazine.

The bats, pumpkins, and ghosts are a weird variation of salt dough that must be microwaved.

The tree is a cut up and twisted paper bag.

Its a nice little decoration for the microwave.

Casey's cute little bat!

Hahaha... our leaf-pumpkin creation for the door.
I'm happy for October.

I love this kind of fall weather.

Mark's got a lot of job interviews! It looks like we'll be travelling a lot this semester, previewing the various places we might live. Maybe me by myself, since Mark has a lot of school. Who knows. It's pretty exciting! The end is in sight!

Hello the blogging world!

Summer is over, which means that the months away from personal internet connection have ebbed! We have only two semesters until Mark is graduated and the proud holder of a degree!

For the summer, we lived in Price, Utah and Mark worked for Dugout Canyon Mine. We were quite impressed that despite being on fire, they decided to have Mark come to work anyways. They flooded the mine to put out the fire, and Mark got to scuba dive underground and weld some pipes and survey. Which he quite loved, a marriage of two of his favorite things. Once the zillion gallons of water were pumped from the mine, production resumed as normal for a few hours...(I cannot recall the exact period of respite and Mark is at school) when bam! There was an issue with sparks? And it caught fire again? Later it was proved that the blaze lasted 13 seconds, but hazard! And danger! The President of the United States shut down the mine. Forever. Luckily for us, the company decided to keep four people, two reclamation engineers to spiff up the countryside, and two ventilation engineers to reverse the problem and combat bureaucracy. Mark, the intern, was chosen despite his lack of actually being a ventilation engineer to fight for the cause. Lots of miners and engineers including the big bosses were shipped around the United States. This story is getting really long. In the end, production has resumed as of Monday, and everyone is very impressed with Mark, intern. Job offers galore have poured in, providing opportunities for us around the globe. So now, we settle into being homeless students. Homeless?! Yes. Our apartment doesn't become available until tomorrow morning. Oh, well that's not bad. Yes, our worldly possessions sit in the driveway of the kindly grandparents on Mark's mother's side. So that's good.

Jamie! What did you do all summer?
I'm still trying to figure that out. Perhaps when everything is unpacked I will take pictures of various projects and post them here. Most notably, I have been refining my portrait-from-a-picture drawing skills and watching Star Trek. I read a lot of books, and saw my family a lot, and Lara came to visit me. We had many traveling and "fun things to do" plans but for some reason, Mark worked every single weekend. I think he had four days off. The library and I became the best of friends. I even read the Fountainhead (don't read it) and Anne of Green Gables (I almost spelled it without an 'e'). I now have a whole notebook full of decorating-my-new-house ideas, which I will employ as soon as I buy a house. I have some ideas for paintings that I would like to do, and a fat stack of things I need to be finishing.

If you want some extra brownie points, please help us move in tomorrow. Preferable those of you with telekinesis. Thoughts of lugging that mattress up three flights of stairs makes me tired. Not that I would actually lift it, but you know. The fifth time moving in two years? Too much.

I like fun Mondays

Shmashed rocks.

The thing that saves my life all the time

El gatito. He is cute. And angry.

I really like red.

Finals are almost here, and I can't wait until they're over. Not for my sake... my classes are easy-peasy. But I'm not looking forward to moving. Again. We have so much STUFF. I wish we were buying our new house because Mark was graduating. And then I wouldn't have to move for a long-o time. And I'd have a clothes dryer. Not to wish away my life, or anything.

My classes for fall look pretty exciting! I'm thinking of registering for SCUBA. This will make Mark happy. Also, I thought I'd need some sort of exersize credit, but I already have a lot. So it would be one more class. Which not might be so smart at this point.

Today I got a million books from the library. Chances are, 75% of them are garbage, and I'll stop reading on page 3, but I got some for-sure books. Like Norse mythology and a Foxtrot compilation. And some Joyce Carol Oats short stories. Mostly I like roaming around the awesomazing library that is the Salt Lake City Main. Lots of art and crazy staircases and a zillion books. It is quite nice.

When I got home from the library, there was a gaggle of people out in the court surrounding...a telescope! Our telescope, to be precise. Just Mark, realigning something or rather and showing people the moon. I really missed our telescope. Winter just isn't very nice. I'm loving the new weather.

Are all Roberts Arts and Crafts going out of business?

I made a cute-cute necklace out of some closing sale beads.

Mark is done with classes on Fridays at 8:20 in the morning. Which means... fun things! Like going to the largest hole in the planet mankind has ever dug. Digged?

We saw a lot of copper.
And this snazzy temple

And this gigantic wheel.

This big hole used to be a mountain. And then they moved seven billion tons of dirt and rock out of it, creating something that can be seen from space.

I think this is Mark's favorite place.

Then we went to a movie. I didn't like it very much. It could have been the lack of popcorn, though...

Good day to you! I hope that you had a happy Easter.
I was hoping to do a things that I love series. I even took a million weird pictures. And where did they go? I do not know, for I cannot find them. Not a major loss... so here are some old pictures of things I love.

GREEN. My daddy. Some little bros. I love my family.

Puppies.

Peeps. Even stuffed ones.

Looking at my guts. Look! There's my brain!

This precious kitty. I probably found this little friend on deviantart.com and tacked it to my pictures for later perusal. I like the eyes. And also the dead mouse beneath. So strange.

I found an Easter egg in a bottle of pain pills. I love Mark.

Marchy March

Hello!

I uploaded some pictures to my facebook, and I figured I'd not neglect my blog. Probably a good idea. These pictures are from our outing downtown yesterday before we went to a Jazz game.

I love the Salt Lake City Temple!

We had fun. Mark yelled himself hoarse--he really likes basketball. In fact, he terrified a small child in front of us with his "yes yes yes yes!"

Definitely a successful trip. For now I occupy my time thinking about what we are going to do for Mark's spring break! I am so excited for winter to be over. I think spring officially starts this Saturday. I am happy for sunshine and the first signs of spring green. You know, the crayon color? Its real. My favorite.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!