When Bushes go BAD!

On Sunday Maddie and I went for walk up 600 North. During our walk I (being the nerdy landscape architecture student that I am) took notice of some of the landscaping faux pas along the way.

Bushes that were once small get big

Some of them get really BIG, the house above is when we thought "bushes gone bad"

Don't plant a tree right next to your house, not only is it a fire hazard. It just doesn't look right.

This image is a good example of Xeriscape gone bad. It is a good thing to cut down on water use, but if you decide to do something like this you have to be dedicated to keeping it looking nice. Nothing is as easy to maintain as grass! I know it is hard to believe but someone tore out lawn to put in this ugly wood chip pit.

Bowling balls are NOT yard art!

Again here we see the sad effects of plants growing, its not their fault the don't get to choose where they are planted. When trees meet powerlines they generally lose.

"Everything is good for something, even if it is just a bad example."

We also saw a really cool Ent.

This view of the Wellsville mountains from Old Main Hill in the morning is one of the best parts of my day.

He knows what's good for him

Although I've seen childhood pictures of Ben wearing horrid Y attire -- he denies he was ever a real BYU fan, but I don't believe him -- he has learned a thing or two since we've been married. The most important being that the U is pretty much the only team out there that won't let its fans down.

Way to go UTES!!

Blackmail?

I found Lauren, Natalie and Peter quite attractive in this picture from Chloe's "mission farewell" party. I may or may not save it for future weddings. It all depends on whether or not I magically find some Utah-BYU tickets in my possession before the game tomorrow.

Alas, this picture brings to my being some painful memories. Lauren and I were looking for our dear mother at this party, and could not find her anywhere. We looked through the living room, squoze (squeezed? hmm) our way through the kitchen and over to the stairs where the extremely strange smell was lingering. We looked downstairs, outside. People told us, "She was just here" and pointed us in the direction she went. No luck. Someone said, "She's sitting on the porch next door at John's." When Lauren went over, Mother dear was mysteriously gone yet again. Mother is surprisingly sneaky despite her stumbling tendencies. Finally, upon giving up and about to shed some tears, we spotted her in the kitchen doing something.

Oh Mama! Thank goodness! We were two very scared little girls without our Moma.

What In The World!

So as I was walking around campus yesterday I noticed some flowers in bloom! I am not sure if it is due to global warming or not, but if it is I might not be terribly against it. What an incredibly beautiful fall we have had up here in Logan.

This other picture is just kind of weird. This is at the office where Maddie and I work and they have this pink light in the ceiling. No one is sure what it is there for so they use it for parties. On this occasion the Bosses are gone for the week so it has been on all week so far.

Confession: I've got issues

It’s the vampires. They’re starting to get to me.

I have never been NERVOUS to see a dumb movie before. I’ve never been so caught up in anything before as I am with the Twilight series. It’s a little embarrassing. I am proud to say, however, that I AM NOT IN LOVE WITH EDWARD CULLEN. I had to get that out of the way. I have never had a dream about him, and I do not fantasize about him.

I think it’s Stephenie Meyer’s style of writing that gets me, actually. The story’s dark, misty, mysterious and magical tone is so evident because of her style. I love her use of description and, as what’s-his-name from the Music Man would say, “phraseology.” Warm, liquid topaz eyes, hiss from deep in the chest, lips curling over his teeth into a snarl, are a few among the many descriptions I enjoy. I often find myself reading over the same paragraph three or four times because the image the words paint in my head is amazing. I can’t get enough of it!

But maybe I have had enough of it. On Saturday night, I got like 15 minutes of sleep. I couldn’t fall asleep to begin with, and when I finally did, the next thing I know, I’m awake and picnicked. Scared to death of the dream I just had. Can you guess what the dream was about? Yep, vampires. But, not the vamps from the story, not even anything to do with the stories besides the monsters. For some reason, I can’t forget the dream, so if anyone is considering jumping off a cliff, keep reading this, and I’m sure I give you the last push you need:

My dream: I was living in this small community on the top of a hill. I have a friend who is nameless, and nobody I knew. Somehow, I just knew that he was my best friend. He had silver hair. Suddenly one day, we heard there was a vampire infestation in our little community, and all the humans were being evacuated. You see, the community was surrounded by a gigantic gate, and the humans were going to lock all the vampires in. Well, the next thing I knew, my best friend had become a vampire! He was really scared about getting locked in, but humans were checking everyone as they evacuated, making sure no vampires got out. He was terrified, so I told him we would trick the gate keepers on our way out. We made a run for it, and as we were being checked, I told them that my friend was my husband and he had an eye problem. Somehow, we got by, and hopped safely onto a shuttle bus heading away from the doomed community.

But, as we were sitting on the bus, my friend suddenly turned to me with a horrifyingly evil look in his face. He made a face like he was sniffing me and everybody on the bus, and then he attacked and killed them all, including me. As soon as he turned to kill me, I was suddenly outside of my body watching. I saw everyone on the bus dead, and my body was covered in blood (which doesn’t make much sense at all, considering a vampire killed me).

That’s it. I woke up and every time I started drifting off to sleep, these images would come back to my head. So I forced myself to stay awake for a long time. And Ben is no help at all. The house could be on fire with a marching band stomping through it and he wouldn’t even twitch an eyelid. He is the deepest sleeper I’ve ever known. If I need anything after he’s asleep, I’m on my own.

So, maybe I have had enough of that story, but, for some reason I can’t put those dag-nabbed books down! And it's not just the Twilight books, I love The Host as well, maybe even more than the "bloodsucker" (as Jacob would say) books.

However, I just listened through the movie’s soundtrack, and I think I heard the F-bomb more than a few times in some of the songs. What’s up with that?

Surprise!

My mom called me this morning, shocking me with the news that an article I wrote in May for the Deseret News was published in the print section of the Mormon Times today!

Back when I wrote it, the editors did not want to publish it because I was writing about a relative (Ben's aunt who lives in Australia, who I've only met three times) and was therefore not objective. So I was shocked when the editor called me about a month ago asking about my relationship with her. But even then, I still didn't think anything would happen. But I'm really glad it actually did!

Things have happened with Susan's life since I wrote the article. She's had some serious health problems, but I hope her family will understand why that isn't covered in the article.

Anyway, here's the address:Architect goes far from S.L. to return home

Happy Election Day!

Well, I've never been so nervous about election day before. I feel kind of retarded coming to grips with just how anxious I am. Let's just say I'm afraid that if a certain someone is elected to a certain position, they will use their power to attack and destroy mankind in a bloody horrific massacre.

What a looming dread I have been feeling lately! The dark, rainy ominous weather seems to justify my fears. Although, since reading a certain book about voluptuous vampires, I'm really starting to appreciate and enjoy this this kind of weather! I really am pathetic.

At least I don't make my husband pretend like he's a vampire and bite my neck -- which I've heard women do -- ... he already does that on his own! (I think he secretly loves the series, too.)