Summer Remodeling

So, here are a few of the things I've been working on while I've been in San Diego:

I completely redid the laundry room. I didn't take a before picture, but the walls were a lime green with a 70's style wallpaper on the wall behind the washer and dryer. I removed the wallpaper and the old shelf that was up above the washer/dryer, painted the room, took out the old laminate tile and installed the new tile. New shelving and a new doorknob later and we were done. =] I like it.

I helped Britte make these Bridal Shower cakes for our friend, Emilyssa. Mostly I helped make the little flowers on the cakes and the bodies (which I sculpted out of fondant). It was fun for my first cake decorating experience, but I realized I'm probably way too perfectionistic while I was making the flowers!

Britte and I took down the old tile from our parents' bathroom. The pipe broke quite a while ago, and we finally decided we were smart enough to fix it. Eventually we decided we should just completely redo the whole shower area. Taking out the ugly old tile was actually pretty fun, but big trash bags were necessary.

Britte sanded down the glue on the old greenboard that was still good, so we didn't have to replace that section. In case you were wondering, you don't use "greenboard" any more, you use a mold resistant cement board. Fortunately, they still paint one side of the cement board green, probably because they know people like us (who work on their own home repairs) will freak out if we don't use the right supplies.

Sweeping the old greenboard pieces out of the tub in preparation for putting up the new ones.

Setting the tiles. It's a good thing there were two of us because it made it easier. For the most part I spread the grout and Britte pushed the tiles into place.

Cutting tiles. It was actually kind of fun, I felt like I was back in ceramics class...

...except I didn't get this wet in ceramics class, even on the wheel!

Britte takes a break in the newly tiled tub.

Here's the end product! (The curtain looks way brighter than it actually is. In reality it's more of a calm teal color. I'm assuming it's the flash causing the difference).

And on to the next project!!! The most frustrating part of this bathroom was the plumbing. The old plumbing was so messed up that removing the old pipes was incredibly hard. I actually had to heat the old pipe and twist the pieces out with a plumbers wrench. Ridiculous. Then attaching the new system took forever because the pipes we were trying to attach the new system to were a little bent, and to top it off we couldn't get the pipes to drain completely. Anyhow, we finally fixed the water problem by draining all the pipes in the house (you have to turn the water to the house off and then turn all the faucets, including the hoses outside, on) and then with a little more solder and a few "love-taps" with a hammer we got our new pipes to fit into the old ones.

Here's the finished product. Looks the same as the other one, but we decided to put the decorative line on top. Yea for like-new bathrooms!

And to top it off, here's my adorable nephew! =] He directed me in remodeling the play-doh into a bunch of animals. This was my favorite remodeling project so far, even if I didn't get to use the propane torch.

I keep wishing I had something amazing to write...

The best I can do right now is, I'm still alive. I made it through graduation. No tripping, thank goodness. I don't know why that's my biggest fear. Maybe because I fell off the back of the risers once at a choral concert... I'll include some graduation pics for your (and my) amusement.

Outside, walking to the Spectrum. It's tradition that the master's students walk from one side of campus to the other. Thank goodness it wasn't snowing!



Where's Waldo (Or, in this case, Bekah)?



Getting my hood. The instructions for the hood literally tell you to put it on in a certain direction and then have someone help you fix the back. Luckily the school provides people who are obviously (based on the number of layers they were wearing) qualified to help fix your hood for you.



Walking across the stage. And Mike's finger. Someday I'll edit that out. But not today. Today you get all the gory details.



Graduated =]

So, "now what" you ask? Now I'm studying for a licensure exam I'm taking soon. I'll go down to San Diego for July, to help get some of my grandpa's things taken care of. Then looking for a job, hopefully working by August. Probably in Utah, preferably in the Salt Lakish area, but I may not be too picky, considering the job market and economy. And such.

I have only two problems that I need to fix in order to be a normal person again. 1: Graduate school, and the attending projects, papers and other such fun things that I toiled over into the wee hours of the morning in order to complete graduate school, has left me with the terrible habit of staying up late. My brain can't shut down early enough to go to bed at a reasonable hour. I'm hoping that my time in Cali will rearrange this problem, since my family tend to be early-going-to-bedders. 2: I now have the tendency to "need" to be busy. Because my brain tells me that if I'm not doing something important, it's because I've forgotten the important things that need to be done. Then I sit and wrack my brain for the things I should be doing. This also causes a problem in the social arena. I've been generally "too busy" to do many fun things for the past two years. So, when someone mentions something it takes me forever to decide if I have time to do it. I'll have to retrain my brain to stop being so stingy with my time, I suppose.

Nothing else too exciting, friends. I finished a crafty project I've been working on. I moved, but only temporarily, until I leave for Cali in a couple of weeks. I have some time to do things like take a look at some painfully neglected genealogy, books, and projects I want to complete someday. Hopefully someday is coming soon. He seems to keep running further away from me, despite my efforts to cage him in. I finished graduate school with the relief of finding my turtle still alive. He has neither died from neglect nor committed suicide out of the sheer rage of living in a much colder climate than he would prefer. And that alone is a huge accomplishment.

By the way, thanks for everything you guys. I couldn't have gotten through the past two years without you =]

~Bekahjo

Oceans

In honor of my new-found freedom and the ability to use 2 hours or so in the manner that I so pleased, I went to go see "Oceans" this week. When I first walked into the theater it was empty, but it was early afternoon so I wasn't too surprised. Just before the trailers started a bunch of couples came in and scattered themselves around the theater, and I thought "How nice that all these couples decided to spend their date learning about the ocean!" I reveled during the previews that I wasn't the only person in the world who liked movies/documentaries like this.

Then the movie started. A small pair of feet wearing little kid pajamas scurried across a hard wood floor. Then little children were suddenly attacking Tina Fey and Steve Carell. What the...? Then I realized that I was sitting in the "Date Night" theater. I pulled my ticket out to see if I misread it. Theater 5. I'm pretty sure I'm in theater 5. I sat and pondered for a minute whether I would stay in there and just watch Date Night by default. I like Steve Carell. I haven't seen Tina Fey in many things, but she seemed entertaining. Then I went through the whole "Do I really want to sit here and watch this?" debate. And I didn't. So, looking like a fool because I, of course, sat in the front row where I could prop my feet up on that bar thing, I got up and left the theater. As I did, I checked the number of the theater. Five. My ticket again. Five. I checked that the stub didn't say Date Night. It said Oceans. Okay, so I've determined I'm not crazy. Good. I like that feeling. I went around the corner to the candy people. They were helping people, but I decided to be a little more brash than usual, and gave one of them "the mother look," as my brother's like to call it. One of them came over right away. "Umm, I'm here to watch Oceans, and my ticket says theater five but it's playing Date Night." "Oh yeah, sorry," the kid says "they changed the theater. It's in six now." Pause, in which I internally say to this kid "Did you think it might be a good idea to tell your customers this?" Instead I said "How far into the movie is it?" "Well, I think the previews probably just ended. If it's too far into the movie, we can exchange your ticket for a later showing." I decided then I didn't care, if the movie was good I'd probably buy it anyhow later on, and stopped torturing the awkward candy kid.

Still, what kind of movie theater doesn't tell you which theater to go into? Isn't the entire purpose of purchasing a ticket with the theater number on it supposed to ensure that I will, eventually, make it into the movie I paid to see?

Anyhow, when I got in there it was just a few minutes in, and they were starting with classic shots of whales breaching, so I figured I hadn't missed much. I settled down, this time higher up in the seating area so I could take in the whole picture. The only other people in the theater was this grandma and mom with her two boys. The older one was sitting up on the top row by himself, right under the projector, and the younger one kept running between sitting with his mom and sitting with his brother. It was pretty fun to hear them get grossed out by some of the stuff in the movie though. I was a little sad there weren't more people there. There was this GREAT scene in the movie though! They were showing these spider crabs off the coast of Australia, I think, and it was like a battle scene. One group of spider crabs made their way towards another large group. They began attacking each other like crazy. Then the camera panned out and there were literally THOUSANDS of these spider crabs all attacking each other. I felt like I was watching that scene in Lord of the Rings, at the Battle of Helms Deep.

Maybe this is why I'm not married. I'm too boring. I'd rather watch Oceans than Date Night. The thing is though, I think this stuff IS fun. Where are all these people that get as much enjoyment out of the same things I do? For example, right now my roommates are out in the front room watching Baby Momma. And I don't want to sound like I'm bashing Tina Fey, and there may be some point in time where I actually want to watch that movie...but I'd kind of rather read, or go on a walk, or swim, or sew or do calligraphy or go hiking or plan my future. Bah.

What's her face...

So, want to hear something funny that happened in church today? There's this guy in my ward who goes down to San Diego all the time on business or for fun. Since last September or so when he found out I'm from San Diego, he's been calling me "San Diego." He'll just be like "Hey San Diego, how's it going?" etc. And we'll usually end up talking about San Diego for a minute or so. Anyhow, I saw him today just before Sunday School and talked with him about the earthquake that happened over Easter. Then he asked me if I'd like to say the opening prayer in Sunday School, since he was conducting. I said sure. Sunday School started and he made the announcements for the week. Then he was announcing the opening song and prayer--and he said "and the opening prayer will be given by San Diego..." and he got this blank yet horrified look on his face that clearly said to me he had momentarily forgotten my real name. It was pretty hilarious. I supplied my real name, and everyone laughed. So now, for the rest of the time in the ward, I'm pretty sure everyone is going to be calling me San Diego.

It kind of reminds me of this game on a radio program I once heard, where they were like "What if you were named after the place where you were born?" and tried to get as many random possibilities as possible. Though technically, with those rules, I would actually be named Washington D.C., not San Diego. Kind of think I like the latter better, just because it's smoother to say. And warmer there.

So, in case anyone was wondering what my after grad plans are, these are them (and don't worry, I have a whole calendar made up for when I'm doing what so I actually get some productive things done): May-mid June: Study for clinical exam, while working and completing internship at LDS Family Services. Mid June-July: Go home to San Diego and help take care of Grandpa's/other family stuff that it will take a while to clear out (and sneak in as much snorkeling as is humanly possible). July-whenever: Look for job in Utah (yes, I will be looking/living in Utah) while completing several other sundry goals that I hope to finish before my life is over (It sometimes feels like it'll take that long).

I only somewhat feel like I should have a job all lined up for after graduation, and the opportunities for application to such jobs have presented themselves--but I would much rather wait for a month or two and make sure to pass the exam the first time than get a job and worry about whether or not I'll be able to keep it. (You don't pass the exam, you don't work). So, in case you were wondering, my brief unemployment is strategic. And technically I won't be unemployed anyhow. I just won't be employed to my fullest capacity (and won't be getting paid as much as I would if I'd gotten a more official type job). Okay, babbling now. I'll stop.

Lastly, I'd like to point out what incredible self control I have. I bought the last Fablehaven book over Easter, but I promised myself I wouldn't read it until a) I finished reading Oliver Twist (done!) and b) I finished all of my semester projects (not done...). My semester projects will be done tomorrow, since I'm presenting my research project in class. Then there's an oral exam Wednesday, but I'm not too worried about it, so I figure by Tuesday, and Wednesday night at the most, I'll be able to crack it open. It's sitting on my desk, tempting me. I should've hidden it somewhere, but it just didn't feel right. I mean, how can you resist a book titled "Keys to the Demon Prison"? But I have managed, so far, to do it. Can't wait until Wednesday =]

Love your guts,
~San Diego

The operative word is "Spring"

I sometimes wish I had more interesting things to tell. This week was Spring Break, but I decided to work this week instead of actually taking a break, in order to prepare for upcoming unemploymentness. Which isn't a word. I went to my sister's house last weekend and spent some time with her and my brother-in-law, and my oh-so-adorable-and-brilliant nephew, as seen here:



And here:


(This is some of what we do when Mom and Dad are gone)

The rest of the week was work, with several redbox movies interspersed throughout: Ice Castles (the new one. I know, they did a new one! It's basically the same as the old one, and just as good) Did you hear about the Morgans (wasn't that impressed), Where the Wild Things Are (perfect...but I thought it was probably too scary for kids; almost leaned towards a PG-13 rating. Hence my argument that there should be a rating in between PG and PG-13), Bright Star (beautiful, but sad), and I went to see Leap Year in the $3 theater (predictable, but darling; and I'm even more determined to tour Ireland this summer Britte!). Today I heard a song from the old Saturday's Warrior movie on the radio and had a sudden desire to watch it. I don't own it though, so I watched Mountain of the Lord (four stars) instead. I also sewed a bunch--something I love but don't regularly have the luxury of doing. I resisted the temptation to clean my room. Or maybe it was a prompting, but saying "temptation" makes it sound like a good thing, so we'll stick with that. It's mostly just school papers that I'll have to sift through eventually anyways.

I do have one tiny problem. About a month ago I planted some daisies and poppies in little bread pans and put them in my window. It had been a particularly warm day, and I was excited for Spring. They're growing and their just so charming and cheerful. But now I don't know what to do with them. They need a bigger home, and I've thought of taking them hiking with me one day near the end of Aprilish and randomly planting them in the wilderness, but I just want to make sure they have a good home. I'd love to keep them, but once they get bigger I won't have room for them anymore. Does anyone that lives nearby want some daisies and poppies? Otherwise, I'll probably plant them near Green Canyon somewhere. That's not bad is it? I know they don't usually want you picking flowers when you hike (which, I confess, I tend to do anyhow), but planting them isn't bad, is it? It's kind of like planting a tree. Or replacing all the flowers I have picked...Justification for the next time I want to pick some, right? =]