A red sweater

Last year sometime Lori gave me a red sweater (a hand-me-up). I like the sweater a lot. She said that she didn't like it because it clashes with her hair, but I think I've discovered the real reason she doesn't like the sweater. I'm wearing the sweater today and it goes something like this. I went in the bathroom a few minutes ago and I could tell which stall I went in before. I can find every seat I've sat in today. My black pea coat has a red tint to it. I just de-linted my black pants because they were red too. Everything I've touched today has turned red.

OK- I think that's still not quite it. Really it comes down to the fact that she doesn't want this fabulous quote to be said of her, "She was wearin' her red, fuzzy sweater with her front all stickin' out..."

And one more thing...It's a cow neck sweater. I'm not sure I like the name of that. Does that mean I look more like Bossy or Twinkle-toes or Pencils?

Oh well...I'm still wearing the red fuzzy sweater and it actually looks really cute. Just don't look at everything I've touched today.

Idaho...good country folks

At the Center for Teaching and Learning we are working on a project for the Testing Center. As a part of the project we are trying to put all of the test set up and their answer key and everything online. BYU Idaho is doing some interesting things where the Testing Center actually prints the students' tests for them. Right now in our Testing Center in Provo, they do everything on paper and they want to do more online. So my roommate Tonya, Tom - the programmer at the CTL, and I came to Idaho to see their testing center and to talk to the director and instructors and to see it in action. We came up yesterday and we met with some people today and have had a really good experience. The director is really nice and we saw some really neat things that they are doing. I decided I really really like BYU Idaho. I remember coming up when Amy was here, and liking it then, but coming again is really good. I like that it is a small-town feel and there are more "country folks" and I'm a country folks too and I like it that way.

Report and Update

I got to go home last weekend and saw the grandparents, Mom & Dad, Steven & Candace & family, and Amy & David & family. It was so much fun! Thank you all for the good times.

Monday night was our big special musical number at the Family Home Afternoon with the little ladies in our ward. I got home from work and found the RS program and realized that the FHA was actually going to be a potluck. Because I hadn't been home, I didn't have any food made. Tonya had made some zucchini bread, so we sliced it and took it. Our program also said it started at 5:30, so we took a few minutes to eat a little snack and to practice our song. We got there at 5:45 and they said that they decided to start at 5 instead, and had called everyone, but us. So we were super late, but we ate a little and visited and then we went into the living room for the "entertainment." They were disappointed that we only had one number to play, but then they all introduced themselves, and were so cute. We just love them so much. We think they are so much fun. We found out also that they all have season tickets at the Hale Center Theater and they were going to the play that night. I think it would be fun to join them. They were just as cute as could be. We want to invite them over sometimes too.

A new hobby

On church Sunday, we had lots of comments and smiles from different people. They thought we were pretty funny. Many of them said our write up "made [them] smile." Or laugh... :)

Before Relief Society one sister came up and asked us if we would please come to their Family Home Evening Enrichment group to introduce ourselves a little bit more. It seems like we have a lot of older sisters in the ward, which we really like. Anyway, then she said she noticed that we have a little band and she would really like us to play a little number at the FHE group. So we went home, and I don't have my recorder here and Michelle doesn't have her xylophone. Tonya got out her harmonica and said to try it, so I did. I figured out how to play some little songs. Last night after we did our painting for the evening, I told Vibeke and Tonya that we should go to the mall because I wanted to get my own harmonica. So we went and bought one.

When we got home, Tonya and I pulled out the Hymnbook and started playing different hymns trying to find one we could play for the little group. We had so much fun. It was really fun to learn how to play it and I think I should practice some more though. It was fun to learn a new hobby.

Welcome to the new ward

So, in case you didn't know, I moved to a new house (I know Mom said it is a miracle and that she thought it would never happen. We have been having a lot of fun since we moved in. None of is is getting any work done, but we are having tons of fun. Lately we have been fixing and painting the basement so some other girls can move in. It has been a lot of work, but a lot of fun to learn also.

When we went to our new ward, one of the sisters came up to us and asked us if we would write up an introduction to ourselves for the ward newsletter. We had so much fun writing it, so I thought I would share it with you. This way you can also get to know my roommates. Vibeke isn't in the write up because she is going to the singles ward in the stake. Michelle and Tonya are my new roommates.

Michelle Baron, Cary Johnson, & Tonya Tripp
Here’s a story of three lovely ladies who were single and looking for a spouse. They couldn’t find one, so they moved in together and that’s how they all became the bachelorette bunch.

We are originally from different states (Michelle-Massachusetts, Cary-Colorado, and Tonya-California), but we have been in Utah long enough to call it home. We met in the Instructional, Psychology, and Technology PhD program at BYU. We figured since we already spend our days and nights together, we might as well live together too. Upon moving in to the Peterson’s house, we discovered that we have seven crock pots, 60 lbs. of oats, more than enough paper products to supply the next ward party and enough Christmas villages to create a metropolis.
Together we have traveled to all 50 states, 5 continents, and 24 countries. We speak English,
Spanish, French, ASL, Chinese, Cambodian, and Vietnamese (Well, at least enough to haggle at the markets). We spend our evenings and weekends writing scholarly articles. We’ll even share our writing with you if you are in need of something to help you get to sleep at night.
Although we’re in graduate school, we prefer to read children’s books, and we have a few
thousand in our library to choose from.
Our hobbies include crocheting random household items, painting random household items, and going to yard sales to find random household items. We also enjoy running and swimming. We have run 2 marathons, 2 half marathons, and 20 5Ks, and according to our estimations, we have swam enough miles to cover the distance of the Nile River. We love cooking and baking, so we are glad we have a large kitchen. However, we are definitely in need of a second refrigerator to store all our creations. Our Sunday band consists of a harmonica, recorder, and xylophone, and the average age of our fan club is 85. This may be due to the fact that they are either hard of hearing or bed ridden.
In the future, we hope to get jobs at the same university in the same department, so we can continue to spend all our time together. If that doesn’t work out for us, we’re thinking of becoming the next hosts of Design on a Dime. Ultimately, were just “looking for a few good men.”

La Oficina aka The Office

Once upon a time there was a little car. She liked to go many places and she carries many interesting things. Sometimes she carries people. The missionaries that I go with fondly refer to her as "la oficina" or "the office" because they leave their stuff in her while we go into church. Sometimes she carries plants. Sometimes she carries bags of dirt or bags of bark. She has even carried bags of manure for the garden. The other night, my friend and I went to Home Depot to get some stuff for my friend's yard and she was concerned about my car carrying all of the stuff that she was buying, but I wasn't worried because "la oficina" carries many, many things.

This week she carried something new that she hadn't carried before - trees. Kj asked me to pick up some peach trees for him. In my imagination, the trees would be fairly flexible as young saplings are. So off I went to the greenhouse/nursery to buy the two trees. I looked for the right kind and then I thought that they would do. So I bought them and pulled them out in the little red wagon that they have there. Of course I was wearing my new white blouse and nice skirt. I decided to put the short one in the back seat, so I put the first one in and it fit just fine. Then I slid the front seat all the way back and started putting in the taller one. When I tried to bend the trunk to get it in, I knew it wouldn't work. Then I racked my brain to think what to do next. I had a brilliant idea to roll down the window and I angled the trunk through the open window and closed the door. It was great! Then I tried to drive slowly so the leaves didn't all blow off the trees. And "la oficina" did it one more time - she had a successful hauling trip and we arrived safe and sound with two trees in tow. I tried to get a picture with both trees in view, but the light and the angle didn't work so well, so here is the only one you get. I must say that not only "la oficina" had provided lots of good transportation, she also carries many, many varieties of things. And I'm grateful. As small as she is, she carries lots of stuff! And I hope she will continue to want to play for many years to come!

Happy Birthday Holli!

Hope you have a fun day with Holli on her birthday! I can't believe she is one!!!

In the first week after Christmas, my true love gave to me...

This week I started school again! Sometimes I wonder if the end is really in sight...and it is, but sometimes it seems far off. I am really excited about my classes. One of my classes this semester is an evaluation class, and we will be pursuing different studies in evaluation. The other class is very exciting to me. It is an introduction into Open Learning. It has to do with a movement by universities to open their classes up to the world so individuals can have access to knowledge. I am writing about it on another blog if you are interested. I'll be blogging about the history, legal issues, the production issues, and sustainability...I think. I'll blog about it at http://iptitsallaboutlearning.blogspot.com. Every week I'll be posting at least one thing about it. I wasn't sure if I should take it or not, but I attended the first day and I loved it! As I prepared for this week, I almost felt giddy inside as I learned more about the movement and the goodness associated with opening up education to be accessed by the world. I just think it is a brilliant plan. To provide education to everyone. Then I am working on a project at the Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) where we are designing a university gradebook that will be really awesome if we can actually come up with something valuable. I started working with my team this week and we began some of the initial brainstorming and designing. We are hoping that by the end of the month, we will have some samples to take out to get feedback from professors in different departments so we can make it actually usable. It is fun to create something that hopefully will be meaningful for others. I am really happy to be back at the CTL. It is such a fun place to work!

Thank you!

Thank you to everyone for the phone calls and emails and everything for the birthday! It was a special day and I did enjoy it. It was good to talk to everyone. I hope everyone has a good week! I love you all!

Mesita

It was so nice to be home with everyone this Christmas and New Years. It was good to visit and to catch up. Thank you all for making it a nice Christmas and for making it fun. I was so glad to be able to be with family and to enjoy our time together.

Tomorrow is the beginning of another semester. I can't believe it. The last one went so fast.

Today I got a new calling as a Ward Language Missionary assigned to the Spanish ward, so I was thinking about how it is similar to having a calling to go to Mesita. I was thinking about the days of going over to the old Rock Church and to have to fire up the heater so we didn't freeze to death. Or how about when we made the wrinkled apple head people that the mice got into. And what about the "weee" road - going over all of the bumps and laughing. Those were good days of lots of fun. I'm so glad we had the Mesita experience because it was a good one for our family.