Kate wants a puppy

I have a problem. I love animals too much. Well I don't really think this is a problem but apparently the pets do. We just got back from Utah and my sister's cat named Pal is living with the Parents. He is a pretty cat and lives up to the cat species- sassy and better than everyone else. Mostly he just wants to be left alone, but I can't leave him alone. I'm like a little kid, I see the furry feline and I have to pet it. He is just so soft and sweet- when he wants to be that is. I even kissed (on the head), this cat until I saw him trot up to the porch with a bird in his mouth. So now I keep this killer away from my face. But other than that, I can't resist him. And then there was my sweet old dog Wicket Lawrence Harvey, the best Shi Tzu you could ask for. Now this was really one of the pets that I couldn't resist. I would follow him day and night, and like pal, he would run from me day and night. I would swaddle him in baby doll blankets (see below), and take really good care of him. I tolerated his old man stink and gas problems, I took him on walks, bathed him, shared my bed, I even shared my ice cream cones with him. We were the best of friends, in my eyes at least. But I've decided I need to get over this animal love addiction so that when we finally have a dog, it will be my most loyal friend and not run off to Bill as soon as he walks in the door (like when my sister would come home from college, you couldn't peel Wicket from her side, he loved her cold bedroom and small cuddly bed- in fact, he loved her so much that when she brought home her fiance, he peed on him and or his things numerous time). Maybe I've just been going through animal withdrawal my whole life. Maybe a soft furry blanket would do the trick. Bill write that down, soft furry blanket for next gift exchange. By then I will be ready for woman's best friend- a puppy.

Happy New Year- almost

Deena Kastor, she is a champ- this will be me! Happy New Year one and all!

Who knows if I will be able to wake my self up tomorrow to write and actual new years post, so you are getting it on new years eve. Here are my new years resolutions: eat right, get in shape, and start training for my new favorite day of the year- Patriots day, the day the greatest marathon in the world takes place. And to keep myself accountable, I just might be posting my daily regime on my blog, so if I'm a slacker, scorn me for it. I need to be tough!

Last night I was laying in bed thinking about the marathon and I got really excited, so I excited that I couldn't go to sleep. My adrenaline was rushing and all I could think of was the thrill of the race. Some of you may think that marathon and thrill don't belong in the same sentence, but once you run one, you will know better. Even now, I'm breaking a sweat thinking about the Wellesley girls that you can hear at least a mile away, heart break hill, the cheering crowd, Legal Seafoods, all the people you meet. It is incredible and I can't wait. To start off my training I had to get the shoes of champions. Gold shoes means gold medal right? Anyways, the training has begun so Boston here we come!!! (so clever, I should have written this whole post with a little more of a rhyming flare)

We're Here!

Just wanted to let you all know that we made it to Utah safe and sound, so you can stop holding your breath now. However, the flight was extremely turbulent.... bumps with smelly people and lots of babies. Great combination.
Now to my next item of business. I just finished Anna Karenina and I need to talk about it. So if you've made it through this book- please comment (you know, what did you think, did you like it, how about that ending, favorite and least favorite character, you get the gist of it). If you have not read the book, read comments at your own risk!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas and Gnocchi

I must say I love this time of year. I know it sounds so cliche, but I do. Christmas is such a festive time of year. The only time when you can do such silly things as buy a giant fake tree and string it with lights, garland and decorations and keep it in your house, make incredibly big socks that would be really uncomfortable to wear just so you can stick an orange, some nuts, and a little gift inside, wear ugly Christmas sweaters and Christmas socks and stand on random peoples doorsteps and serenade them with holiday songs. But it is also a time to spend with family and friends celebrating the birth of Christ our Savior- which I am really looking forward to. We are flying out in a couple of days and are excited to spread some Christmas love and cheer to all we come in contact with (you've all been warned). But since we can't visit everyone, consider this your Christmas news letter.

Bill has just finished his first semester here at the UofC and as far as I can tell has really enjoyed it. He has loved the scholarly atmosphere and all of his professors. He finished his 2 finals last Monday and since then has had some well deserved r and r. Let me tell you, he worked his butt off. In addition to school, Bill was called as a primary worker- Valiant 11 or whatever it is called now, and he loves it. He comes home singing all the primary songs that he learned for the day. In addition to school and church, Bill is a brave brave man. He braves the elements for none other than his wife- ie wind, rain, cold, snow, wind, snow, cold, wind, and snow. Today in fact, he dug the car out of a 16" snow drift for 10 minutes while I waited in the nice warm lobby (due to my high heals of course). He is such a champ, and he is mine!

As for me, well there is really nothing to say. I'm working for the university in the department of Medical Center Development where people donate obscene amounts of money to the hospitals, medical school, and biological sciences department. I'm the secretary/receptionist which keeps me fairly busy and it has been a great job thus fair. Just cross your fingers I will get hired on as a permanent employee. On the church side of my life, I'm on the enrichment committee, which has been a great calling. And finally, to keep myself busy I work out with Barack Obama, explore various shopping centers around the city and I occasionally drop in at the International House of Pancakes- not to be confuse with IHOP, to eat none other than pancakes.

So Merry Christmas all, we love you and will see you..........sometime.
And here is a picture of our Christmas tree and stockings and what I made for dinner today- gnocchi with a tomato mushroom sauce and chicken! It was pretty darn good!

My Twin

My dear friend JoSue said she found my twin on campus. I was so excited, I've always wanted to know what I looked like from a non-biased point of view. And if this really is my twin, she is cute so hopefully that make me cute? Well I'll let you decide- does this girl look like my twin?
My BYU ID photo from 2002.

"Happy Birthday" from the Senator?

Yesterday was my 24th birthday- can you believe? I am so old. Because I am getting so old, I went downstairs to the fitness club to work out my arthritic knees (no I don't really have arthritis, just starting to train for the greatest race in the world) and go for a run. Low and behold, who comes in with his body guard- none other then Senator Barrack Obama. I don't know if it was his body guard or his fashion advisor, because he did not have his shirt tucked in- so I'll go with fashion advisor. I'm on the treadmill finishing up my workout and he gets on the treadmill one over. Here is the best part- he talked to me! Yes ladies and gents. he initiated a conversation! It went like this:

Senator: "Excuse me."

Senator: "Excuse me."

(It took me a minute to realize he was speaking to me)

Me: "Yes?"

Senator: "Was there someone on this treadmill before me?"

Me: "I do not believe so, it was empty when I got here."

Senator: "oh okay, I just found these-" he held up a pair of glasses.

Me: "oh, sorry."

Wasn't that enlightening. Had he known it was my birthday, I'm sure he would have added a Happy Birthday into the conversation. He is that kind of a person.

We both proceeded with our workouts and he was rather amusing to secretly watch yesterday morning. He was running pretty fast and got quite winded- he would go for a few minutes at a fast pace and then he would jump onto the sides of the treadmill (you know, with the belt still moving, but feet on the frame of the machine). He did this a lot- he should of thought about the consequences before he became a chain smoker. But I guess he needs to get in shape before elections come around. Thanks Barack for a great end to my workout!

Cold Dark Winter

It is officially winter here. A cold 20ish degrees and snow. Would you believe we got snow before Utah? Madness, I know. A total of 3-4 inches in the Chicagoland area. Unfortunately, it has been so cold and cloudy this week, that there is still 3-4 inches on the ground. Anyways, here a a few pictures from our windows. (and you will see that rush hour was especially bad because of the snow!)

6 Honest Things You May Not Know About Me

This is my first tag, and I think it is really exciting- at least for now.

1. I used to wear glasses in elementary school because my eyes didn't work together. Those glasses wearing days of elementary school were filled with face injuries. My glasses were like a magnet to rubber balls on the play ground. For instance- I remember distinctly in 5th grade standing on the black top talking to my friends and looking up- just in time to see a red rubber ball come sailing across the playground and nail me in the face. Luckily my crazy eye problem ended and I was then able to avoid countless face injuries. But in high school I started wearing glasses again- my smart yet fake glasses and I would only wear them on test days, or just when I needed to be smart. I loved them. And now, I just read Hollywood's blog about glasses for $8, and I'm strongly considering buying some new smart glasses.

2. I heart jackets! Some people love to accessorize with rings, earrings, necklaces, you know, a little bling bling. Not me, I love jackets. A jacket can make or break an outfit. I mean, you need a jacket for all occasions- rain, snow, shine, warm, chilly, windy- thus you need: down, gortex, trench, faux fur, wind breaker, fleece, soft shell, hard shell, and of course, just a cute jacket (and it's on sale Bill- talk to me about sizes!)

3. I was a Miracle! Well I'm sure/hope my mom and dad would say so. My siblings on the other hand would consider me another M word- Mistake. How mean.

4. I hate whistlers. I think this strong hatred comes from my dear sister Liz who would yell at me to stop whistling when we were young. So now I don't whistle, and when someone is whistling in public- ie- bus, train, elevator, sidewalk- I want to yank their whistler out.

5. I'm all signed up for the Boston Marathon- 2008!

6. My dream car growing up was a mini van- because I hated sitting between Chris and Liz on the long drives from Kansas to Utah. Both are tall, and both felt justified in sitting spread eagle- thus taking up my tiny allotment of space in back seat. All I wanted was captain seats. My dream car never came, and it never will. Audi Allroad- here I come (in many years)! You may call me the Wagon Master!

Now, I will tag......Liz, Mari, Nan, Suzy, and Katherine. Get to work, I need something new to read!

Thanksgiving Update- Belated

Forgive me for this long awaited post on Thanksgiving. I don't have much access to Bill's computer since he has been studying for finals since before the great feast. So here is the Thanksgiving update now- only a little more than a week late.
Oh Thanksgiving, so much to say where to start? The feast was great. We had a great turn out with Bill's parents in town and a few friends from the ward and back home. We had tons of food!!! That probably deserves way more explanation points but since this is a blog and not a talk directed to the primary children, I will reserve them for a later date. We had so much food, I don't think anything was even half way gone from delightful green bean casseroles, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn bread, berry pie, lemon meringue, ginger carrots, you name it, we had it. The food turned out fabulous, and we really couldn't have asked for better company.
Bill was in charge of the turkey and did a great job, I made home made rolls and they actually turned out! I also made 2 pumpkin pies and an apple pie- these were not as successful as my rolls. In fact, at 2pm (1 hour before the feast) I got fed up with my pie crusts and ran across the street to Village Foods to buy some crusts. I totally cheated. Oh well, they still tasted good. Anyways- oh yes, and the stuffing. We had more than you can imagine, we probably should have taken it down to the local soup kitchen, we could have fed 50+ people and still had left overs. All in all, it was a great day! Here are the only pictures that were taken with our camera, for more extensive, and I mean way more extensive pictures, email Bill's mom.