Maybe a Comedy Next Time...

Last night Alvin and I saw Defiance, the Daniel Craig movie about four Jewish brothers in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe escape into the Belarussian forests, where they join Russian resistance fighters and endeavor to build a village in order to protect themselves and about 1,000 Jewish non-combatants. It was very well done. (Alvin even cried.) Intense to say the least. But I do have to admit there were some moments when I thought Bond (Daniel Craig) crept out. Bielski, Tuvia Bielski...lol. The last movie we saw before this in the theaters was Valkyrie, the Tom Cruise movie about actual events, a plot to assassinate Hitler unfurled during the height of WWII. This was an incredible film. Again very very intense. I guess what hit me the most in both of these films is that they are both true stories. It makes you incredibly grateful for all that we have and the possibilities that lay before you. I recommend both shows if you haven't seen them.

Tag I'm It!

So my friend Krissy tagged me for my pet peeves.... (In no particular order.)

1. Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, Dr. Laura, etc.
2. Mix matched socks.
3. Overly talkative waiters/waitresses.
4. Cotton balls.
5. Anything symmetric.
6. Crappy logos.
7. The new building at the intersection of Hwy 89 & Harrison.
8. Warming up my truck in the morning.
9. The spurt of yogurt as you open it.
10. The watery substance that comes out the Ketchup bottle first.
11. Iowa

Tag YOU'RE it!

I'll Have the Regular...

Now this is neither here nor there but I thought it was a little funny. Last night Alvin and I went to my favorite Mexican place in Layton, Guadalajara Grill. We usually end up sharing a plate unless I’m feeling like snarfing a whole plate by myself. I get the same thing every time; the chili-verde burrito with rice and beans. Come to find out, Came, the owner’s sister and our waitress has noticed. We sat down and she says in her sweet Spanish accent and raised eyebrows, “Chili-verde with rice and beans?” LOL – I’ve turned into a regular! This has never happened before… I don’t know whether to be ashamed of eating out too much and being predicable or take it as a compliment that they remember me. Either way, “Guadalajara Night” what my mom and I called every other Wednesday in High School, has almost creped into my marriage as a norm. (Yay!)

A Little of This, A Little of That

I've copied Lissa on her playlist idea. As I started to gather songs though I realized my taste for bands has come directly from being the youngest of 5. Imagine this, a four year old Nattie jumping on Rosie's bed singing all the words to "Haunted When the Minutes Drag" off the 1988 movie, She's Having a Baby. "Haunted by your soul, Haunted by your hair..." Or better yet, a four year old me coming up with the interpretive dance for "Roll the Bones," by Rush. "Why are we here? (shrugging shoulders with hands out in why gesture) Because we're here. (both hands pointing down to the ground) Roll the bones. (Both hands pushing outwards as if pushing something)" LOL. So in tribute to those that have helped develop my taste in music the playlist to the left includes a song that was influenced from each member of my fam. Beginning with Mom, who has enforced the classics - I chose Vivaldi's Summer. Next, Dad - he began my affinity for Led Zepplin which is why I chose The Immigrant Song. Jen gave me my small fraction of love for country, hence Josh Turner's My Man. Rosie's phase of all things dark led to my liking of Beautiful South. They have an interesting way of making disturbing lyrics surprisingly upbeat. Melissa had a period of ska in high school. I've never stopped liking Dance Hall Crashers because of it. Billy's donation list could have been long but I chose Duran Duran - being in our St. Louis condo while the parents were out meant the CD player was blaring with Duran of the Duran's. So thank you for my wide array of music taste.

Cross Your T's & Dot Your I's!

Alvin's interview at the University of Utah begins tomorrow going on through Friday. I'm crossing my fingers, my eyes, my toes, etc... that this will go smoothly for him. I have all the confidence in the world that just being himself will blow them out of the water. Being accepted to the U would be killer! They have an amazing PT program, doable tuition, and the farthest we'd have to move is 20 minutes south! We really appreciate all the prayers. I love you sugar and know you've got much more than it takes!

Thick Envelopes

A few months ago when we got this whole application process going my sister Rosie was commiserating about completing the process as Jimmy was getting into Law school. “The best part is getting those thick envelopes,” she mentioned. Thick envelopes meant there was much more information than just a single sheet of paper thanking you for your application but denying you admission. Thick envelopes meant there was hope for information on student housing, financial aid, and program curriculum all of course would only be sent because you had been accepted. Even though we’ve heard from 70% of the schools we’ve applied to, not one of them has corresponded via ‘snail mail’. Jimmy began law school in 2003 (I think…) isn’t it interesting that in just 6 years they’ve all but eliminated the ‘thick envelope’? As an impatient person I shouldn’t complain; email is heaven sent. But for the sake of experiencing the ‘thick envelope’ I think I might create a bogus school and mail Alvin a package bursting at the seams, just so he can tear into it. Sadly it will be very anticlimactic when all he finds is 80 pages of blank college-ruled paper with a sticky note attached reading, “I’ve been told you’ll need this kind.”

Here’s an update:

Creighton Omaha, NE Interview 3/20/09
DMU Des Moines, IA Interviewed 1/9/09
Regis Denver, CO Interview 1/29/09
WUSTL St. Louis, MO Accepted
EW Cheney, WA Interview 2/21/09
UofU SLC, UT Interview 1/22-23/09
Puget Seattle, WA Nothing as of yet
UNLV Las Vegas, NV Interview 2/20/09
NAU Flagstaff, AZ Nothing as of yet
SU Winchester, VA Nothing as of yet

Could You Repeat That?

Yesterday was an ordinary Wednesday. I went to work. Alvin went to school. Around 8:00 pm we were settling into our nightly routine; me playing on my blog and Alvin surfing KSL. He has just posted his laptop on KSL so when his phone rang I thought nothing of it, thinking it was someone interested in his ad. Then I heard, “You’re kidding me!.....This is Washington University in St. Louis accepting me?!”

In deed it was. Susan Deusinger, the Director of Physical Therapy at WUSTL called Alvin to inform him he is accepted into their Doctorate of Physical Therapy Program. This is like getting accepted into the Harvard of Physical Therapy schools. Washington University in St. Louis is ranked #2 in the nation. (http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/grad/pht/search)

We are stunned to say the least. In fact, we thought it might have been a prank call. We even Googled the number to make sure it was for real...lol. When we sent the application we felt it was a shot in the dark! After making phone calls to our family with the awesome news the reality of this set in. We haven’t made a definite decision as of yet. Alvin is still going to interview with the University of Utah next week but he is going to forego interviewing at Regis and Creighton. My stomach is in knots with worry. There are so many factors to consider in this hefty decision. One of the largest factors being cost of tuition; three years at the U will cost approximately $45,000, three years at WUSTL will cost approximately $105,000. We’ve begun the stressful road of finding out if going to a top 5 school will make a difference. This is all of course, if Alvin gets into the U as well. If that doesn’t happen our decision has been made for us. All in all I’m extremely proud of my sweetheart for this accomplishment!

Home Sweet Home!

Alvin and I got home from Des Moines last night. I don’t know whatever made me thought we could make that drive in one shot. Thanks Dad for suggesting we should leave Wednesday. The roads were pretty clear but it was the 60 MPH winds that made the trip difficult. As we drove into what we thought was Des Moines Alvin and I kept asking ourselves, “Where’s the city?” Come to find out the city lies in a river bed and until you drive down right next to it you won’t see a thing. Thursday night, the evening before Alvin’s interview, he was so nervous. I’ve never seen him quite like that before. He was throwing up, pacing the room, and nervously going over possible interview questions. I tried to console him with the fact that DMU is small potatoes compared to the other schools that have been looking at him and that he should just consider this good practice (wink wink). We got up early the next morning and got him ready to go. I took a couple of pictures like it was his first day of school…lol.After dropping him off for his 10:30 to 3:30 interview, I had no clue what to do with my self. I stopped at the capitol and took a picture of myself…lol. Still I drove around looking for a mall or something. The more I wandered the more depressing it got and besides that there wasn’t even a Target to be found! I was trying to be upbeat and pretend Des Moines might be cool but maybe I wasn’t trying hard enough. Right before I went to pick up Alvin at 3:30 my Mom called and said we had received a letter from the University of Utah. There is a God and he loves me! I probably should have waited for Alvin to be on the phone but I had my Mom rip it open. We got an interview! Needless to say Alvin was zonked after his day at DMU. He was impressed with how state of the art this small school was but like me couldn’t get over the fact that it’s in Iowa. His words exactly, “This was an expensive way to find out what we already knew.” We don’t regret going. It was nice to get away with only the two of us. On the morning we were supposed to leave Des Moines I woke up at 4:00 am and all I could think was, “Let’s get the hell out of Des Moines!” We were out of the hotel and on the road by 4:30! This was good experience for interviewing and still cheaper than one flight to Des Moines. Alvin’s next interview is with the University of Utah on January 22nd & 23rd. Regis and Creighton are scheduled after but maybe we won’t have to bother…
On a funny side note: When I was little and growing up in St. Louis, Missouri my Mom would, on a whim, when she had lost all patience, pack she and I in the Mazda and head for Utah. We usually didn’t get all the way there; half way through Kansas she had cooled down and headed us back home. On these occasions I might have missed a day or so of school. To make sure I was still getting educated my Mom would assign me “reports” as we traveled. As Alvin and I were crossing the Wyoming Nebraska boarder there was a familiar sight. There is a rest stop there with a memorial for Abraham Lincoln. It’s a large copper bust of Honest Abe himself. This in fact was one of the “reports” I had been assigned. I was to draw a picture of the statue, read the information surrounding the memorial, and report the info below my picture. Upon our return my Mom would actually have me turn in my scholarly reports to my teacher as if I was supposed to get credit for my silly ramblings. My 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade teachers would be kind in saying, “That’s…that’s great!” all the while thinking inside, “What the crap am I supposed to do with this?!” Kudos to my Mom for trying! Oh how I wish I could have been a fly on the wall in those classrooms…lol!

Alvin and I just got into the Holiday Inn in Des Moines, IA after a 2 day drive of 1113.6 miles. As we got in at night we haven't had the opportunity to see the above city scape of Des Moines. Thanks Dad for the Holiday Inn points! Alvin's interview with DMU is tomorrow morning but tonight it doesn't get better than chillin' in the hot tub watching the FL / OK game and having Dominoes brought in. Best of luck to my baby tomorrow but secretly I'll be trying to sabbotage the day... Who's the crazy lady that pulled the fire alarm?!

New Year, New Phone, New Number

There wasn't any success in finding my cell phone. You don't realize just how much you need a cell phone until it's gone. Although it was nice holiday shopping without the interuptting phone call, "Where are you? When are you gonna be home?". But after the scary commute home last night I decided I should probably get a new phone. Unfortunately I wasn't able to keep my old number. My new number is 801-425-6315 (of which I'm very pleased, it's got a nice rhyme to it...lol) With the loss of my old sim card I don't have any of the contacts I previously did - if you could leave me your number so I could put it in my new phone I'd appreciate it!