How I Wasted Sixteen Hours of My Life and Why I Plan to do it Again

A friend suggested I watch 24. She insisted I watch 24. We have daily instant message conversations, and I count at least TEN of which she mentioned the show and/or insisted that I watch it. Plus, she has a blog in which she raves about the show.

Eric thought it was something he would enjoy, and so he got the first season from Netflix. (Oh, how we love and adore Netflix). Honestly, we weren't impressed. Hooked, but not impressed.

Last Friday we were watching the third disc (each disc holds 4 episodes which are 40 minutes long without commercials), and when we finished we didn't have anything to do, so we decided to watch the fourth disc, the only problem being that we didn't yet have the fourth disc. After all, we only get one at a time from Netflix. We went to the video store and got the fourth and fifth discs.

Throughout the week we watched disc four and disc five. We borrowed the sixth from Eric's friend. When we asked him for it, he offered the second season, but we didn't want to see it. After all, we really didn't LOVE the show.

We watched the last five episodes, and now we are hooked. We have to see the second season. We just have to. Bah. Here goes another 16 hours.

A major complaint about the show- NONE of the female characters are likeable. Most are downright unlikeable. Those that are not unlikeable are also, unfortunately, not likeable. I hope this is remedied in season two.

Also, those of you who insisted we watch the series- I demand some sort of payment for stealing my life.

And because I love pictures- here's one of Jack, whom I only sort of like. I much prefer George Mason, to be honest.

Life-changing Caramel Apples

Last night we went to James' and Jenny's apartment where we ate caramel apples and watched The Corpse Bride.

Sounds ordinary, but in fact, it was not. The caramel apples were amazing. James and Jenny decided to mimic them after apples available at The Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.

We dipped all the apples in caramel. Some of the apples were dipped in white chocolate, others in milk chocolate. From there, some were dipped in crushed Oreos, others in a cinnamon/sugar mix.

My favorite was caramel, milk chocolate and Oreos.

Amazing!

I can never eat a plain caramel apple ever again.

Today's Significance

Today is an important day. Not because it's Halloween. Frankly, I don't care much for Halloween. It's a kid's holiday if you ask me. I never know what I should be, and I usually don't dress up. This year I wore jeans, a black shirt, and an orange sweater. I was one of two people in my office who didn't wear some sort of costume. And I'm okay with that.

The real significance of today is that Eric kissed me three years ago on this very day. And, whether or not you want the story, here it is-

The night before Halloween we went on a date. Eric took me to a nice dinner, and then we went to Abravanel Hall where we watched the Utah Symphony perform selected pieces from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. It was quite fantastic. Some time during the date, Eric finally got enough nerve to hold my hand. I knew he was working toward that, so I politely left my hands on my laps. After the symphony, we went to the Malt Shoppe where we shared a root beer float malt. Then he took me home.

The next day we had church. Naturally, we sat next to one another throughout the meetings. Then we went to our respective homes. Later that night Eric picked me up for Cousins' Dinner at his aunt and uncle's house. This particular aunt and uncle hosts dinner for all the college-aged cousins and their spouses/significant others once each month during the school year. Since that time, Eric and I have NEVER missed a cousins' dinner! It's one of my favorite times of each month- to gather with Eric's cousins who are SO cool for a night of random conversation and amazing food.

After the dinner, Eric and I went back to Willard's Place (the place where Eric lived). We looked at pictures from his mission and talked with the others that were there.

Then Eric took me to my apartment. Specifically, to the back porch, which was where he usually dropped me off. According to Eric, I was "begging to be kissed." And so he kissed me.

I don't think I was "begging" for it, but I was pleased nonetheless.

And that's that.

Big News

Today, Eric and I received some very exciting news. We received word that he was accepted to the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. We'll be moving there in February.

Meanwhile, here are some pictures of the city and school for your viewing pleasure:
This is the coast.

Here is the university.

Here is Baldwin Street. They claim it's the steepest street in the world.

Here is Dunedin Cathedral.

And here are some other old buildings in Dunedin.

This will be my first time to leave the country, and I am very eager to go!

Autumn

I know I've already written about how autumn is coming, but I'm doing it again. I'm just so excited! The weather is unbelievably pleasant lately- cool in the evenings, and entirely moderate in the afternoons.

The leaves are all changing colors, which is just beautiful The canyons are oh so pleasant.

Plus, this mountain lives in my backyard. Could I be any luckier?

Google Reader Rant

I use Google Reader. It aggregates all the blogs/websites that I read regularly into one place, and it brings in the text and photos of anything new on a blog. When I'm logged into my email I can check it. I could also check it by going to the site, but since I'm logged into my email at least 8 hours a day, I usually just check it through my email. I check it about seven million times a day. The key, here, is that to view my reader, I must be logged in to my Google account.

And this is where I have a bone to pick with Google Reader. I read four private blogs. These blogs do not come into my reader because I have to log into them with my Google account. Why can't Google Reader just pull in the feeds for these blogs? I'm logged into Google Reader anyway! It's the same log-in. This thing I do not understand.

So, Almighty Google. Fix this! It makes me crazy! I use Google Reader so that I don't have to go to 25 blogs to see what's new. All of that is brought to me with Google Reader. Except for the private blogs. I still have to go to those only to find out that nothing is new.

***I understand why people keep their blogs private. My beef is not with you. It is with Google. I will continue to go to your blogs, but I will wish they just came straight to me.