A Fortunate Self-Diagnosis

Reader's Digest version: Amy was tired. I got appendicitis. They put three holes in my stomach. They gave me jello. I am feeling a lot better. Amy danced. We are both sleeping again.

Thursday capped off a crazy week for me and Amy. She had been hard at work preparing for her folk dance performances of Christmas Around the World and pulled an all-nighter to finish a paper, beyond studying for tests in other classes and practicing with her tap dance group. I was doing what I could to help her have time to sleep.

My semester load has been easier, but this week I have been writing a few papers as well, and putting in a lot of hours at work helping with the newspaper’s Christmas contest. On Thursday I worked from 8 to 3, went to class until 5:30, then attended a service project with Beta Alpha Psi (accounting club) until 9.

Sometime during the evening my stomach started to hurt, presumably because I hadn’t eaten dinner. By the time Amy got home from dance rehearsal, the pain was still there, and I couldn’t sleep. The burning, concentrated aching behind my belly button felt pretty abnormal so I went online to check symptoms, thinking it could be either an ulcer or maybe food poisoning.

I wasn’t in any great pain, but I felt like I needed to get it checked out sooner than later. Hesitantly, I woke up Amy just after 1 AM and asked her to take me over to the emergency room, for lack of any other options. It was a hard decision, because I definitely didn’t feel sick enough to be going to the hospital.

Checking in at the emergency room, I felt even sillier telling them that I thought I might have appendicitis, considering the pain wasn’t localized on the right side of my abdomen like it normally would be. The doctor seemed skeptical as well, but decided to do a CAT scan to be sure. Things only started to feel serious when they put in my IV and I went unconscious for a few seconds and started to get nauseous.

We waited awhile for the CAT scan results, and I fully expected to hear that it was nothing but indigestion. But the doctor confirmed that I had a few stones obstructing my appendix and that it needed to come out. Because we caught it early, non-invasive laparoscopic surgery, where they make three small incisions under the navel, was still an option. We would just have to wait a few hours for the surgeon.

They moved me up to my own room on the sixth floor, where Amy waited with me until I went in for surgery just after 7. I don’t remember anything except moving onto an operating table, breathing on an oxygen mask, then waking up some time later shaking really bad. I guess when they removed my appendix, it was more inflamed than they initially thought. They moved me back upstairs to spend the day recuperating.

Amy was still able to make it to most of her classes on Friday, and she came to visit me after the surgery and just before her show that night. I was able to start eating liquids and soft foods right away, and I haven’t felt nauseous at all afterwards. Surprisingly, walking around relieves a lot of abdominal pressure and I am already feeling great, even without a lot of pain medication. I went to Amy’s Christmas Around the World performance last night—she did awesome and I was able to enjoy the show without too much discomfort. We are lucky to have identified the problem before it ruptured, and it actually came at a pretty fortunate time, instead of during finals or the holidays. Amy is now catching up on her sleep!

Colorado-Bound

Well I thought we should post a quick update to let everyone know that our plans for after graduation in April are starting to take shape. This week I called to accept an offer for a summer internship at McGladrey & Pullen, a public accounting firm located in downtown Denver. It marks the end of a lot of recruiting events that I am glad to be done with, and it means we'll be moving out to Colorado sometime in middle to late May. I am really excited about the people I'll be working with, and this firm is really good about letting you balance work with other life priorities, a luxury not usually afforded in the "Big 4" accounting environment. I'll be doing audit work on middle market clients, typically private companies or smaller publically-traded companies in the greater Denver area.

I'm also in the process of applying to the Masters of Accounting program at Colorado State University, with the only thing lacking being the GMAT exam that I'll take in a few weeks. I would start the program after my internship this summer, go to school for two semesters and be done by June 2010. Ideally, the internship would lead to a full-time job offer after I'm done with school.

Amy and I didn't carve any pumpkins for I think the third year in a row, but we did go to our friends' party dressed up as The Sunmaid Raisin Lady and BYU Quarterback Max Hall. We made lots and lots of Mom's pumpkin chocolate-chip and Bruce's famous chocolate-chip and butterscotch cookies and delivered them to our friends close by. We are really excited about the future additions to each of our families, congratulations Jon & Nicole and Cody & Jamie!

Small Service

Today I held the door open for a blind man and talked to him briefly as I registered to vote. Finding small ways to serve others is easy, try it!!

Homecoming Parade

I am part of the Folk Dance Ensemble at BYU this semester and had the priviledge of dancing during the Homecoming Parade this weekend! Our team did a choreography to Cotton Eyed Joe and an Indian/Bollywood/Bhangara dance that was performed by all 5 teams together. The route was a little less than 2 miles and we danced the entire time! I was exhausted by the end, but I love to perform so I enjoyed every minute of it. The crowd loved it and I had strangers telling me we were the best part of the parade! This was the first time I'd actually gone to BYU's Homecoming Parade and had a blast being in it! Today my legs and feet are a bit sore, but it was definitely worth it. Thanks Jeff for sitting in the cold and taking pictures! (I am in the team wearing red... in the back corner)

Back to the Future!!

You may have already seen this before, but in case you've wondered what your yearbook picture would look like if you had graduated from high school in a different year between 1950 and 2000, here's a fun little website: http://www.yearbookyourself.com. I personally think I should have graduated in '76 or '88, what awesome hair. Amy is, not surprisingly, cute in any decade.

Tag, You're it!

Jessica tagged me in her post to come up with 7 things I'd never say, and 7 things Jeff would never say. It took a lot more brain power than expected... we had a lot of laughs. I hope you have a laugh too!

7 things I’d never say:

1. I’m in the mood to listen to country!
2. Let’s go to the pet store.
3. Dancing is not my thing.
4. Please pass the pickles. (neither would Jeff)
5. Hellboy is my favorite movie.
6. Jeff, can I watch PTI with you? (Pardon the Interruption on ESPN)
7. Please, let me make the tossed salad!

7 things Jeff would never say:

1. Let’s skip the BYU football game today.
2. Anyone have a piece of gum?
3. Do you have any smaller shoe sizes?
4. Let’s go dancing!!
5. Full screen is better than wide screen.
6. I hate my iPod.
7. I hope the Red Sox win the World Series!

Karren, Stef, and Nicole... tag, you're it!

What We Did On Our Summer Vacation

I think a quick update is in order considering we haven't made blogging our #1 priority this summer. We've been using our time off from school to work and discuss some seemingly ominous life decisions. After our spring classes were over mid-June, Ernst & Young flew me out to Irvine for their Summer Leadership Program. Essentially all of the conferences I participated in this summer were opportunities to get to know different public accounting firms and meet professionals from the practice.

So, starting with McGladrey, E&Y, and PricewaterhouseCoopers, I am being recruited for something for the first time in my life! Is this what it feels like to be a football player? If only derivative contracts and equity consolidation were as exciting as the flee-flicker pass or the triple option. The Deloitte National Leadership Conference that I attended in Scottsdale was like a professional EFY with lots of free food and soda. We went to a dude ranch and did some service in the downtown Phoenix area in between sessions.

The day after I got back from Arizona, we flew to California for a week to visit my family. While there, we braved the heat of Six Flags Magic Mountain and each of its 13 roller coasters. And even a heavy case of nausea couldn't keep us away from In-N-Out on the way home! We also hit the beach, saw an Angels game, did dinner with some friends, and went to Boomers, where Amy's record against me in miniature golf was upped to 3-0. It was a quick week, but we were glad to spend some time with my sister Stef and her family that live in Arkansas.

Away from the ocean and over the Rockies, we visited Amy's family for a week as well. While in Colorado, I was invited to lunch with two partners from Deloitte's Denver audit practice, and was able to visit their local office and the offices of McGladrey which are, coincidentally, located in the same office building downtown. On Thursday we drove up to Estes Park and up over Trail Ridge Road (the highest paved road in the nation), including an unexpected but beautiful jaunt around the back side of Rocky Mountain National Park to get home! We also enjoyed playing with the kids and bumming out at the pool a little bit.

Well, we've been back in Provo this month trying to make some dough. Last weekend we went camping with our ward up in Mapleton Canyon, a good excuse to buy a new tent and break out our new sleeping bags. It turns out that if you wear a yellow t-shirt, the bugs and crawlers will think you are all the rage! Boy, do I love nature. I saw the Dark Knight twice (once with Amy and once in IMAX). And let's see, you could say I'm pretty enthused for football season. GO COUGARS! That's our concise summer travelogue. Thanks for reading!

1 Year Anniversary

Jeff and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary almost a month ago on June 13th! He gave me a gorgeous bouquet of flowers, we went out to dinner and a movie and came home to our frozen cake top! Yes, we saved the top of our wedding cake, mummified in the freezer for an entire year. After it had thawed all day we unwrapped it and hoped for a decent tasting treat. To our surprise it was delicious! Almond-poppyseed, yummy. The frosting was great too and even had some of the scrolling left on the surface. I found the flower arrangement that topped it and put it back in the cake for a few pictures. Here are some pictures from the wedding cake 1 year ago and the cake as it stood so beautifully on our anniversary. (We did not smash it in each other's faces this year) Happy Anniversary last month Jeffrey!! I LOVE YOU!

Random things about me...

I wanted to do it too, so here you go.


10 years ago:

I was 11 and terrified of being a “Middle-schooler.” The thought of having to open a locker on the first day made me nervous and sure enough, I was late to homeroom on my first day of class because I couldn’t get my locker open… I remember being nearly the last person left in the hallway. On a not-so-frightened note I was excited to soon be 12 and entering Beehives with the rest of my friends!


5 years ago:

Sweet 16!… nearly 17 by this time. Mom, Dad, Kels and I had just returned from a trip to Nauvoo and Winter Quarters during the summer break. I was working at Mail ‘N’ Copy in Windsor, getting ready to start my Junior year of H.S., and excited to be a part of the brand new Windsor High Varsity Dance Team.

5 months ago:

Gosh, five months ago… school School SCHOOL!!! I was deep in Organic Chemistry, both lecture and lab, Physics lecture and lab, Humanities, and two dance classes to keep my sanity! Both Jeff and I were diving into classes and staying up late doing homework. Let the fun begin again in less than two months!


5 Things on my To-Do List:

1. Scrapbook wedding pictures
2. Paint the pot for my alovera plant and repot it
3. Declare Minor
4. Schedule appointment with Dr. Brown to discuss nutrition research
5. Set up dentist appointments


5 Snacks:
1. Fruit
2. Dad’s cookies
3. dry cereal in a cup
4. Soynuts
5. Boiled artichoke and hollandaise sauce


5 Billionaire things:
1. Two Grand Pianos, maybe even a Concert Grand…
2. Home gym with full dance floor and personal dance/weight trainer
3. Recording studio
4. Game room: billiards, air-hockey, Super Mario Bro’s, Pac Man and a popcorn machine
5. Reserve an entire amusement park when family is in town


5 Places I have Lived:
1. Windsor, CO
2. Provo, UT
3. ?…..
4. Some day these others will fill up with new locations
5. But I hope we don’t have too many moves


5 Things You Might Not Know About Me:
1. I had an elderly imaginary friend named Toba who lived in a closet at Tozer school and looked like sunbonnet Sue
2. At the age of 14 I was four inches shorter and nearly 20 lbs more than I am now… a little on the ‘dense’ side as my brothers told me
3. I won the Harvest Festival Pageant in 2004 and became Miss Windsor 2004
4. I love the smell of coffee
5. I’ve saved and dried every rose ever given to me


5 Pet Peeves:
1. When my co-workers aren’t being proactive and are getting paid for sitting around
2. Two-faced people – being an entirely different person with me vs another individual
3. People arguing about things they know nothing about
4. Parents who have no control over their kids
5. Coffee can exhaust pipes, and over-sized ghetto spoilers

Slightly more acceptable than a chain letter?

I was tagged, so here you are...

10 years ago:
I was spending my days at summer basketball and volleyball practices prior to my freshman year at Tustin High. For all of my mom’s good intentions, I was happy to have escaped the clutches of rival Foothill High and be enrolled at a school with all of my friends. And I was procrastinating Boy Scout advancement at all costs.

5 years ago:
I was working at Anchor Blue in the Tustin Marketplace, a month before leaving for Brazil. By the time my visa had arrived, I was more than ready to leave. I secretly wondered if Ribeirão Preto would have real toothpaste and adequate sanitation. I went to three rock concerts that July to get it out of my system before I left for two years.

5 months ago:
The Junior Core of the Accounting program was rearing its ugly head at every turn. Amy and I had class on the night of Valentine’s Day, so we decided to go to dinner at Red Lobster two days before. I was starting to interview with some accounting firms for summer leadership programs.

5 Things on my To-Do List:
1. Apply for Pell Grant
2. Thank-you cards from the wedding (don’t judge me)
3. Convert some home video tapes to DVD
4. Finish my paper for the Religious Symposium in the fall
5. Plan CA/CO trips

5 Snacks:
1. Chips and salsa
2. Chex Mix
3. Gummi Bears
4. Crackers with Easy Cheese
5. Famous Amos chocolate chip cookies

5 Billionaire things:
1. Home gymnasium and pool
2. Full size home theater
3. Buy the Angels and remove the “Los Angeles”
4. Open a restaurant
5. Five-star member of the Cougar Club

5 Places I have Lived:
1. Tustin, CA
2. Provo, UT
3. Lins, Brazil
4. Espírito Santo do Pinhal, Brazil
5. São Carlos, Brazil

5 Things You Might Not Know About Me:
1. I have never chewed a piece of gum and never will
2. I was in a Bowling for Soup music video
3. I was nominated for Homecoming King
4. I met Fall Out Boy personally before they were big
5. I was cut from my 8th grade basketball and volleyball teams before the coach changed his mind and put me back on

5 Pet Peeves (this one was my idea):
1. Talking during movies
2. Errant candy wrappers (found anywhere except for the trash)
3. The bandwagon fan-mass currently calling itself “Red Sox Nation”
4. Excess posting of personal information on Facebook
5. When the volleyball is hit over on the second touch

I will not oblige anyone to pass this on, but feel free.

Tornado Pictures

Tornado in Windsor, CO May 22, 2008

Most of this information is going to be a repeat for my family, but a new update for Jeff's family.

As most of you heard there was a class 3 tornado that hit my home town of Windsor, CO on Thursday. I had just gotten home from class at 1pm and decided to watch some TV while eating my lunch. I turned the TV on and it was already set to the Weather Channel. The first thing I heard was, "Tornado in Windsor, Colorado." What? It didn't register at first but quickly I realized that it was going on and immediately called my dad for any information. He didn't answer his phone at first because ironically enough Kelsey had just heard the news too and was calling him from Idaho. They did indeed have a tornado and all of the schools were on lock-down so we couldn't get a hold of Mom for quite a while. I called Jeff at work to tell him what was going on and literally broke down into tears... sobbing tears. While I was talking to him I was watching the footage and had just seen video of damage done to a residential area. I didn't know the area from and arial perspective until I saw the landmarks of our town pool and few baseball diamonds in Chimney Park. That's when everything really hit me and I realized how real it was and how close our old home of 30yrs (just sold 1 month ago) was to the video I had seen. Jeff ran home and we watched the news and live footage online for hours. Thankfully everyone was fine and we were able to get a hold of my mom. She was helping keep the kids as calm as possible during the whole ordeal by playing games, telling stories, and even rocking some of the kids on her lap. Mom and Dad went to Windsor (since they now live in Johnstown, about 12 miles south of Windsor) the following day to check out our old house and take some pictures. Dad says that our home and along 1st street was the edge of the "Destruction Zone." Our home was not damage, thankfully! One of the shed doors was blown off, the east side of our fence was pulled up out of the ground and laid flat (still in one piece though), and the neighbors trampoline was in our Sumac tree. From what Dad reported the worst of the damage was just east and north of us a few blocks. There are a couple families from church that were in the Destruction Zone and lost their homes. When he and Mom went to see the damage the worst of it is blocked off and no one could get in. I'm grateful that my childhood home is still in tact and so grateful that everyone is safe. Above are some pictures that my parents took the day after and there are a few that I've gathered from other postings online from Windsor folks.

Primary President

A few weeks ago I was released as the Relief Society pianist, and called as the new Primary President!! We are in a married student ward and do not have an actual "Primary." I was confused because I knew we had a nursery and no Primary and wondered if a few of the kids were reaching Primary age. I could only think of a few kids that could possibly be getting close to "Sunbeam" age and wondered if the Bishopric was setting up a Primary Presidency for just a few kids. Last Sunday the stake expanded our ward boundaries and said we'd be getting some new families in our ward. This made my calling make more sense because I figured there must be some older kids in the new families our ward was gaining that would need to go to Primary. Well, this Sunday (today) Bishop told me to "go in" and see how things were done this week. Turns out that the Nursery IS the Primary!! So, I and the 3 other girls that I asked to be in the presidency are now the nursery leaders... as are our husbands! I'm a bit relieved because it won't be as extensive as I was anticipating having to start our ward off with their first ever Primary. Today there were 7 kids and I had a lot of fun. We didn't know if Jeff was supposed to come with me today or not, but now that we know he will be joining me in nursery. I think his favorite part will be snack time: gold fish and raisins. I really am excited to have this new calling and get to play with and teach the kids. I think Jeff will be great too. He's great with children.

Foot Poetry Tap Dance Ensemble

I have been wanting to post something on here and try out this blogging business but just have not had anything worth posting. Now that I've waited so long I have a few things to share!
Some of you know that I am in a tap dance ensemble called Foot Poetry. The BYU tap director organized it herself because the University will not organize one for us. We practice at a studio in Lindon between Orem and Pleasant Grove. It consists of 36 dancers, most currently at BYU, others have already graduated, and I believe a few are going to UVSC. It's quite the group. We typically practice each Saturday morning for a couple hours but practices have been cancelled for the rest of the summer. We were supposed to have our first performance on June 27th at the BYU tap dance workshop, but it got cancelled because not enough people signed up. Our first performance is now planned for sometime in September or October.
The website is still in progress, but if you want to look at it, it's http://www.footpoetry.com/

There's no basement in the Alamo

This is fairly old news, but in March I attended the CNBAM (College Newspaper Business & Advertising Managers) convention in San Antonio with four co-workers from the Daily Universe. It was a three-day conference at the hotel, with workshops and speakers discussing how to effectively run a college newspaper. Nothing terribly exciting. The city of San Antonio, however, is a very cool place to visit. And I never thought I would say that about anywhere or anything having to do with Texas. We took a boat ride down the Riverwalk, which is a partially man-made river winding through the city with some very cool architecture and lots of restaurants and stores and stuff. The Mexican food there was fantastic, but the steakhouse we ate at was a little overrated in my mind. I learned that you can see everything there is to see in San Antonio in about a day. The atmosphere there with the Final Four happening the next week was pretty exciting for me. And most people we met were really nice. The Alamo was smaller than I expected, and it reminded me of visiting the Spanish missions in California.

A story you may or may not have heard...

On a much warmer evening than this one, exactly two years ago, I ventured out to the sand volleyball pit at Stadium Terrace Apartments. I had just reluctantly renewed a contract to live there for the next year. Spring classes had started, but homework was going to have to wait. I had business out there on the court. If I ever had a chance of meeting interesting females while doing something I was good at, volleyball was going to be about my only option. But competitive play was hard to come by at Stadium Terrace. I knew the crowd. Short stumpy guy trying to play at the net? Girl with her hands clasped together tightly who pummels the ball into the bushes? Big dufus who hits the ball over EVERY time on the second touch? Wow, this gets old quickly. But lo, what is this vision on the horizon? Yes, two females. Maybe newbies? Definitely strangers, but females all the same. The one with the long brown hair is pretty cute. But can she PLAY?? Put her on the other team. Now serve it Big Dufus! Yes, yes, pass, set, and take this you vixen! Teach you to tug at my heartstrings while I'm playing volleyball. Whack! Dug. Whaaa?! Did that just happen? Yes, that just happened. The cutie passed up my dagger spike. Guess it's time to hang it up. Hey, she just asked you your name idiot! "I'm Jeff." I felt like saying "I'm Yours." Before I know it, the game is over, and I'm back in my apartment talking to my roommates. "Guys," I said, "I think I am going to ask out that Amy girl sometime." Two years ago today, true story.