my galactic misunderstanding

alan and i have been watching a lot of documentaries about the universe. tonight i had a huge breakthrough. i'm pretty embarrassed about it actually. i kind of have a reputation for being pretty into science. so it is even more embarrassing. here it is...
see how there is a bright light in the middle of the galaxy there? guess what. it is not the sun. The planets in our solar system are not orbiting around that bright light. our sun is just one of the specks of light. that means that there could be billions of other planets JUST in our galaxy. i wish i could express how hard i did not know that. i thought that the milky way was kind of "ours." But really, we are it's. i would also like to apologize if i have ever corrected you about something. you have no reason to ever believe anything i may think or say.

i am amazed at my ignorance. and also how crazy small we are.

halloween and nanowrimo

i'm not usually a big halloween fan. i just like to wear normal clothes ok? alan and i went down to provo for a little halloween party. it was great. being married to alan has really changed my opinion about candy. it's gone from, "candy tastes good but i don't want to eat it because it will make me fat." to, "candy tastes good." halloween is a lot better now.
can you guess what we are? ok i'll tell you. I am wyoming and alan is colorado. we are standing in geographical relation to each other.


Here we are thinking about candy...

Now that October is over we are focusing on the month long celebration of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). The goal is to write 50,000 words by november 30th at midnight. So far I have about 5,000 words. that's 1/10th of a novel! I was going to try to write a real story but i'm more into nonfiction- so i've decided to try to write down all of my memories from when i was little and didn't know how to write. I've always been a journal keeper but it is really interesting to see what my brain remembers all these years later. it's also fun to think about my family so much. When its done it will be like a little slice of Nieman heritage. Brothers and sisters- you should all do this and then we can compile it and publish one of those books that goes back and forth between perspectives. you know...those books that do that?
anyway. happy NaNoWriMo everyone.

wisdom teeth, spinning, and lost

on friday i got my wisdom teeth out. it was awesome. joke. i wonder if wisdom teeth have always been a problem for humans, or if our jaws use to be better equip to accommodate them? anyway. this weekend has been so dumb. i really miss eating real food and not taking massive amounts of medicine. alan has been taking very good care of me, bless his sweet husband heart. i can't wait to feel normal again. anyway, i'll halt with my four wisdom tooth tale already. however, i did take the opportunity to catch up on the last season of LOST. guys. this show is so lame. but i HAD to know how it ended. i'm so glad its over and i will never have to think about it again. also- i would like to say that it was so bad. so are they all dead? did everything actually happen? what the heck.
further, i have started to spin. not on a bike. on a spinning wheel. it is so fun. here are some samples...
special thanks to Mary from Camaj handsupn yarns and to Katy for facilitating this dream. come. true.

fruit

the other day i went over to my friend's house and she had thoughtfully prepared a fruit salad. i'm not super into fruit but i didn't want to be rude... we got to talking about my fruit aversion and i guess i have never actually tried raspberries. soooo this is me trying to have an open minded mouth. i have since eaten four more raspberries and may think about consuming several more in the future.

spaghetti squash oh my gosh

this is my very favorite meal lately. fancy salad with crazins, walnuts, and avocados- featuring the very delicious, nutritious, and non fictitious spaghetti squash. i also have been experimenting with biscuits and rolls. turns out crescent rolls have to rise for a SUPER long time. they ended up being a bed time snack. i should have read the recipe all the way through before starting. every time i got to the next step they had to rise for another hour. also- i have been under the impression that wax paper and parchment paper are essentially the same thing... but apparently wax paper smokes a lot when you bake it. is that normal?
here are the crescent rolls after a smokey kitchen, after a wax paper fiasco, and a long time after dinner. they were pretty good despite the wait.

Vaughn Life Coaching

My friend Kyle runs a life coaching company- Vaughn Life Coaching. They help people figure out what they want out of life and how to best accomplish their goals. Kyle is super motivating and fun. Let him life coach you. Or just enter this week's give away on his blog! btw- even if you don't need a life coach- his blog has a lot of good ideas about time management, motivation, and goals. it's super helpful and interesting.

foodgawker

sooooo i don't usually use capital letters...but: FOODGAWKER. is this a secret that you and the internet have been keeping from me? honestly. if you knew that such a wonderful recipe resource existed and didn't bother telling me about it (so, everyone except google)- i think i need a written apology. and if this is the first you are hearing about the miracle that is foodgawker, a written thank you will do. it is just fantastic. i won't say more. just go there. go there like it's an actual place you could go. go there so hard. go there like you have never been anywhere else.

ok ok ok ok ok

one more recap post and then we will be back in business. so i think we left off just before the weddin'. everything was wonderful. thanks to my mom and tons of ladies from our ward. we were able to have most of both families there. it was just fantastic. however, i will not miss searching high and low for anything sea foam green, coral, and yellow. I've returned to my normal navy blue, grey, and white tendencies. thank goodness.
the adjustment to married life has been surprisingly easy. and i really do mean surprising. everyone told us that the first year would be awful but that it would eventually get better. we are crossing our fingers that an easy first year doesn't mean that the rest of the years will be hard. haha. we spend most of our time watching 'the office' on netflix, indexing, or going on walks.

anyway... we have been loving our little life. before we got married i quit my cushy (joke) school slp job without having anything else lined up. then we moved to draper. then we unpacked boxes. then i started job hunting. it was surprisingly hard. buuut long story (filled with many miracles and blessings from God) short, i found one. i work at a skilled nursing/rehabilitation center that is 4 minutes from my house. actually it is more like 7 now that school has started (there are like 3 school zones between my house and my work). i really love my job. it's been a good change of pace from working at a school. it is amazing how different working with kids and adults is. i can't decide if 4 year olds are funnier than 80 year olds. or who is more inappropriate.

here are some kissey wedding pictures...


the most beautiful flowers that have ever happened to a wedding...mustache fun at fentons...

baby goats

something you may not know about me is that i have suddenly become kind of interested in baby goats (and goats in general). something you may not know about baby goats is that they are adorable. i just stumbled upon this delightful cache of goat pictures and personal goat information.
I would definitely recommend spending a few minutes poking around the "goat album" and don't miss out on the "kidding schedule." Oh and the bios on the sale page are pretty good.
here is a little something to pique your interest...
"you know -something that isn't likely to disappoint you, is a goat farm"
-katy anderson

federal government mormon ads

this is why i am glad the federal government doesn't get to teach religion in public school...
it takes this...
and turns it into this...


chipmunks? ok.

fun things that have happened

it's so hard to come back from a blogging hiatus. the thing that i think everyone likes most about blogs is looking at pictures. so, to lure you back to the "safety dance," I will give you what you want...


just a little adventure with the nephews over christmas break. they continue to be so adorable and funny. they are looking for the frozen yogurt store.


I bought this rug at ikea. i have never seen a rug that i really just loved. and i still haven't. but this one is alright.

alan, looking very style at the grilled cheese gala OF THE CENTURY (thanks to becca and kyle).

and this is RUBY (also thanks to becca and kyle). my only hope is that she falls in love with one of my nephews.


fun times at the international market by IKEA in california. we are all looking very style. especially katy...who is now my very official roommate. and i love that about her.


THIS is a very large political map of the world. it stays in my kitchen (my table is not usually this messy, how embarrassing). we have a lot of fun playing geography games and making fun of the things people name islands.