Happy Birthday, Josh!

This past Saturday was Josh's birthday. My mom made a de-licious chocolate cake and I got to put some heartwarming words on it. :)

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

On Friday, we had a school assembly where every grade sings a Christmas song for the rest of the school to enjoy and we sing other songs all together. Mr. and Mrs. Claus also drop by with a few elves. It was so much fun! There is little that will get you in a jolly mood faster than over 1,000 children singing Christmas songs.

Wallaby's

So, last Saturday night, after the horrible football game, Shauna and I decided to go out to dinner. She had a luncheon at school catered by Wallaby's barbecue restaurant in Lindon, UT, and has ever since sworn up and down that they had the best BBQ she'd ever had. So, willing to take the challenge (and hoping to prove her correct), we drove out to Wallaby's.

When we arrived, we noticed that it was also next door to China Lilly's chinese gourmet, which we'd both heard about. So, now you know where our next culinary adventure will be at. Anyways, as we walked through the door of Wallaby's, we were greeted by a happy, middle-aged guy named Bob who happened to be the owner. He was very nice, albeit talkative. He bragged, with reason, about the extent to which they prepare their meat--I'm talking ribs and briskets that are smoked on site then cured and aged for days before they make it onto your plate; the seasoning and sauce is caramelized on the outside of the meat during the process... By the time he was done explaining, I was sold and salivating!

We ordered a meal that came with three meat choices, one of which I insisted on being 1/4 rack of ribs. Needless to say, I was not disappointed. We didn't wait long before our food was brought out to us piping hot. Their three homebrewed sauces are extremely good, as well. The meat from the ribs just fell off the bone like I had never before experienced! When we go back, I'm going for the full rack. That stuff was amazing and worth the trip by themselves. Shauna would also have me say to get the cinnamon roll for $1.99. It was delicious, too! In all, Shauna and I both split that plate with two sides and two drinks for about $25.

So, in short, if you're into BBQ, you have to go to Wallaby's on State St. in Lindon, UT. I did my best to explain it, but it is truly something you have to experience for yourself.

Is anyone really surprised when prophecies come to pass?

We received this article from Shauna's aunt the other day. Shauna's mom also mentioned that this article has been circulated around California. It is so powerful, especially when read in the context of what has been going on in California and among the Church recently, with Prop 8 and all that. The words of the Old Testament prophet Joshua resonate today just as clear, urgent, and challenging as they were when he first spoke them, "Choose ye this day whom ye will serve!"

If you would like the whole article, it can be found at LDS.org.

"A More Determined Discipleship"
by Neal A Maxwell
Neal A. Maxwell, "A More Determined Discipleship," Ensign, Feb 1979, 69–73
An address delivered at Brigham Young University, 10 October 1978

"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not they will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions.

President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.'

"This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. . . Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted. . . . This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions.

"Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened.... Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, 'summer is nigh.' Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat." (Emphasis added)

Day at the Shooting Range

Saturday, Shauna, Thomas (her brother), and I all went out to Range Masters in Springville, UT, to rent some handguns and use their indoor range. While the prices went up since I was last there (three years ago), it was still well worth it and a lot of fun. Our goal for this trip was to find what kind of gun Shauna is comfortable shooting and also to give us all more experience shooting handguns. Experience is important when it comes to gun safety, and, like in all other aspects of life, knowledge is power.

We started off with a Glock 9mm and a brick of 50 rounds. The Glock was nice, but it was a little big and uncomfortable for all three of us. I'd forgotten how powerful a 9mm was because the last time I was at the range, I shot a Glock .40 first, then a 9mm, so the 9mm seemed really small. Haha. So, we shot about a clip each and then switched out the Glock for a Sig Sauer 9mm. The Sig in comparison was a lot nicer and more comfortable. But, it was still a little too big.

I have to throw in here that it was really cute watching Shauna's routine: She'd step up to the range, load and cock the gun like a pro, get into her stance, carefully take aim, fire one shot into the ceiling, one shot somewhere down range, place the gun calmly back onto the table, and walk away. I think her cowgirl name would be Ol' Two Shot Shauna. =)

Anyways, after talking with the clerk, he set us up with a Sig .380. The gun itself is a lot smaller than the others and the bullet is slightly shorter than a 9mm, though they're about the same diameter. The one big con is that because the barrel is shorter, it produces more of a 'bang' and therefore a little more kick. But, Shauna liked this one much better. In fact, by the time we were done with our .380 rounds, Shauna was able to plant quite a few rounds onto the target and at a good distance down range. (Way to go, honey!)

After the Sig, we switched out for a Colt .380, and that was slightly smaller than the Sig. It felt a little better and the clip was easier to load. But, we learned that the Colt was way more expensive than the other guns.

So, as I mentioned previously, one of main purposes of this outing was to gain experience (and to have some fun). Although Shauna and I differ on some political issues, one issue we are both adamant about is our right to bear arms and the importance of being able to protect yourself and those you love from harm (i.e., from crazy bad guys that think rampaging through a small-town, neighborhood shopping mall is the end to a perfect night out, etc.). The world is getting to be a scarier place, and it's just good to be prepared. I'll leave it at that.

Bottom line: Date to the shooting range--highly recommended!

'South for the Summer'

Here is a link to my brother's band, South for the Summer. They have a new Myspace and a couple of new songs on there. Please, stop by and listen. They're really good, and I'm not just saying that. Spread the word. (P.S., Jared has the vocals and the bass guitar).

I also wanted to post some pics I took of the American Idol auditions. They'll help you get a feel for everything you missed by not going. =)

Ryan Seacrest, ladies and gentlemen!
(No, you can't see him. I was feet away from him and I couldn't see him... All those tall, 5'3" Utah girls... But doesn't the bright, white light make him appear angelic?)


Jared, waiting for the big moment (hours into the day).


Jared auditioning (post yawn)
He's the big guy in the black shirt, second table from the left.

Our 'American Idol' Experience: Part III

When I say my brother is a great singer and has great talents in music, I understand why you might think that I'm just biased and that he's not any better than the average Joe. But, as unbiased as I possibly can be, I really do think he has great talent. He is the lead singer of his band, South for the Summer, which he and some friends put together a couple years ago. He also plays some bass guitar. They all have remarkable talent for music. They write all of their own music, though they also cover songs too. And I love his music! I think that the songs are well-written (again, all original material) and that they're catchy. Plus, Jared has been a DJ and singer at Roxy's 50's diner at the Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas for the last few years. Keep in mind that he started that gig when he was still in high school. So, please, don't take my opinion for granted just because I am his brother.

TUESDAY: HYPE

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So, there we sat with our $9 bottles of water and pretzel. Even before we had first gotten to our assigned seats, the sound of singing beckoned us down. The producers had the arena singing this year's 'crowd songs', or the songs they have everyone sing in every city for their little video they'll play at the beginning of the TV season to make it look like we were all having a wonderful time. And, in all honesty, it was kind of fun. At the very least, the singing and the sight of all the banners and stuff helped us forget about the disastrous morning. But, even that was too good to last.

After we sang the songs about a dozen times, they told us to go crazy for the cameras. We had to be on our feet screaming and jumping around every time the camera was approaching our section. And we did that like a dozen times, at least, while the camera people tried this angle and that angle. They later started pulling people out of the audience and replacing them with 'prettier' people. You know, the stereotypical 'Utah girls'. And then they did the same shots all over again. This went on for at least 2 hours, no kidding. Then, as people began getting tired of that business and leaving their seats for food and restrooms, etc., the producers yelled at us over the PA system, saying that anyone not back in their seats in 5 minutes was going to be permanently replaced and sent to the end of the audition line. They "had a job to do" and we couldn't audition until they got what they needed. That's when it all became real to me--this was all just hype. They didn't care about us. They were using us! And I don't know about you, but that just rubs me the wrong way. I felt like the only thing missing from the picture was a bull whip in the producers' hands. So, I was done 'having fun' for the cameras, and I think Jared felt the same way. It will be extremely funny watching for us on TV.

Later on, they finally set up half of the tables to conduct auditions. We were in the 4th section away from the front of the line, so, roughly 1,800 people away from auditioning. At the rate they were moving, it was going at least 3 hours before our section even got looked at by the producers.

About 45 minutes later, very well-timed and probably planned that way because the whole arena was getting restless and fed up with things, they announced that auditions would be suspended for about an hour while they did some more camera shots. But this time, there would be a special guest: host, Ryan Seacrest. And, oh, you should've heard the girls go crazy! You could've just ax-murdered their families, but, man, if you sent Seacrest out to them afterward, they would've forgotten everything. That's what it felt like. So Seacrest comes out and does some of his little promo takes--purposely surrounded by cute blondes who were hand-selected by the producers, mind you--and leaves. Whoo hoo! Glad that's done... Seacrest probably went back to his presidential suite while we were left to sit for hours--no food, little water, and little to no motivation.

TUESDAY: GAME TIME

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For those of you who are fortunate enough to not know the audition process, I'll try to explain it to you. There are many levels of auditions in the whole process before you can even make it on to Hollywood, and there are at least two stages before you can even audition in front of the real judges (the famous trio). The first stage is where we and the other 7,000 hopefuls were at that point. This stage involves you being randomly assigned to one of eleven stations in groups of four where you would either audition in front of a low-level producer, an associate producer, or a bunch of random temps (as far as I could tell). Each singer got approximately 10 seconds. Then, the 'judge' would either keep you behind to advance you to stage two, while dismissing the others, or he or she would dismiss all four of you at once. And that's it. After putting up with all the hours of crap that morning, which started at 3am for us, you got 10 seconds to sing in front of someone who probably couldn't carry a tune in a bucket themselves. Ten seconds.

As we sat there for hours waiting for our section's chance to audition, we watched the judges closest to us. We began to notice a funny pattern. The two tables closest to us were manned by two official looking adults, so obviously not the temps that I mentioned previously, but most likely the lower-level producers. The tables farthest from us were staffed by the temp-looking people, kids or interns, basically. We noticed that the farther tables were letting alot more people through than the closer tables. In fact, the producers' tables let nobody through at all for a long time.

If you're acquainted at with all with probability theory or statistics, this should seem especially odd. Doesn't it make sense that if you take a random distribution of talent and divide it up randomly that you'll end up with a bunch of little random distributions of talent? In other words, every table should have been allowing people through at approximately the same rate. Such wasn't the case, so I became suspicious. This wasn't a talent search at all...

I started pay close attention to one of the close tables. The producer was a middle-aged woman who couldn't have appeared less excited to be there. Her eyes were constantly half-shut and glazed over, her head was cocked to one side and rested heavily on one hand which was propped securely on the table. She seemed to sigh at every new song she had to endure. Often, she would hold her hand up after only a few seconds of a song and impatiently wave the performer back and away from her table. I think I could count the number of people she let through on one hand, and that's out of all the hours I sat and watched. Then, suddenly, as a new group of four approached the table and started to sing, she came alive! The first guy was a good looking, young black guy, dressed up to the nines. I couldn't hear at all what he sang. The next guy was his friend, equally good looking and dressed up. Again, I couldn't hear his song. But, you should've seen this lady. She sat straight up in her chair, paid close attention to them both, then asked them both to sing another song. She then dismissed the other two singers, and again, had the two guys sing again--for a long time. Then, she gets up from her table, gets her friend producer, and has the guys sing for him. They both talk behind their clipboards for a long time, nod some sort of approval, then she has them come up to the table, she fills out some paperwork, changes their wristbands, and sends them on their way to the next stage. And when I say that went on for a long time, that took like fifteen minutes! When everyone else had 10 seconds, fifteen minutes is an eternity! The lady then left her station, returned after a few minutes, and slumped back into her chair, back to her old routine. I remember thinking that she filled her quota. That's what that was. Too many things just didn't make sense. I'll bet the producers are given a specific goal for their auditions that day. They'll let the temps and interns find the semi-good filler talent or whatever, but the big time producers are the ones that are scouting for the ratings boost or 'the scoop', whatever that may be. I don't want to speculate what that is, it could be a number of things or it could be nothing. That's just what my gut says about the whole situation. So, I looked over at Jared and said, "Dude, whatever you do, don't get table 11!" Guess what table he got...

As Jared marched off with the rest of the section, he got coralled into the huge line which was four deep, and made his way to the front where he'd be assigned a table number to go to with his group. Seriously, the line was a thousand people strong, there were 11 possible tables to get assigned to. What are the freakin odds? As Jared's group did an about face and started walking back toward me, I remember thinking, "No freakin way!" And sure enough: table 11. I just couldn't believe it.

Jared approached the table. He told us that he chose to sing Marvin Gaye's "I Heard it through the Grapevine", a classic song, which Jared had practiced on and sounded amazing singing. His backups were a Bon Jovi song (always a good choice) and another song I can't remember now. I wasn't sure which one he was going to choose, but he later told me he sang Grapevine.

Just as Jared started to sing, I'll be damned if the lady didn't yawn right in Jared's face! She didn't even try to hide it, she didn't look sorry, nothing. Just a big, fat yawn. Jared told me afterwards that at that moment, he just didn't even care anymore. He sang as best he could, but his reasons to care all went away with her stupid yawn. After the last of them sang, she told them, in as mono-toned a voice as possible, lacking any semblance of emotion, "I know you all have sacrificed alot to be here and that you have amazing talent. Thank you for coming, but this just isn't your year. Please come back in the future. Have a nice day."

To say the least, I was a little disappointed--disappointed and angry--disappointed, angry, and offended. Yet, I was semi-relieved, too. And Jared felt the same way. It's just not worth it. After 9 or more hours of hell, we limped back to my car, and headed home.

Overall, it was a good experience. Now we know, right? And now we have a story to tell. In the end, it all boils down to the fundamental difference between a talent show and a reality show. I would go as far to say that it's also the difference between a reality show and a business, because that's what it is: a business. As a side note, this experience has permanently altered how I look at reality TV shows. I can't stand them anymore. 'Disenchantment' doesn't really do my experience justice...

Thank you all for reading. Give my brother's band a shout-out and if you're ever at Roxy's in Vegas, tell him Josh sent you.

Back at School

I feel so much more prepared this second year teaching as far as everyday routines, behavior management, and when I should teach what goes. (I actually spent quite a bit of time this summer planning out my year which I am so grateful I was smart enough to do.) It is very exciting to have a little experience under my belt.

BUT this year will still be far from easy. There are always things that come up to try a teacher's patience, flexibility, and smarts. My class this year is much different than last year's--which is good and bad. I'm in a bit of shock, actually, at the differences. I always knew it would be different, but I didn't realize how drastic a change it could be. The academic abilities of this year's group is much more spread out (K to 3rd or 4th grade in reading and math), which really will be a challenge that I'm excited to rise to but nervous about anyway. :) Two students try to get away without doing any work--something I honestly didn't really see last year. I was taken aback when that started on the first day of school, when most students are on their very best behavior. That's okay, because I don't expect that will last long (hopefully), because I won't make it easy for them not to do anything.

I just have to say, I never appreciated my teachers as much as I do now. I am constantly thinking about my students and spend a lot of time preparing lessons and praying. It is really such a rollercoaster ride--some days I loooove teaching, and sometimes I wonder why I chose such a difficult profession. Teaching is so hard but also so rewarding! I love seeing last year's students, and the students I student-taught the year before and see the smile on their face when they see me.

I just have to share one cute little experience. On Fridays we have Fun Friday where each third grade class matches with another class for a half hour of fun for those who are caught up in class and were well-behaved. (A few students may have to sit out due to problems during the week or missing work.) We alternate who's in charge. This week, I was in charge, so we did a little color-cut-and-glue project. So after school, I'm on my way to the office and the kids are streaming down the hallway to the buses. This little girl I don't know comes and gives me this big hug and says something like, "Bye, Mrs. Hiram!" Not knowing who she was, I took the safe route and told her with a big smile, "Have a great weekend!" The only thing I can figure is that she's in the other class that did Fun Friday with us and that she therefore likes me after having spent a half hour in my classroom. :) Cute.

Our 'American Idol' Experience: Part II

If anyone has ever tried to find a place to eat in the heart of Salt Lake City after hours (or before hours in our situation) or even a place in general--anything that's open--you might relate to our situation. Around Temple Square at 5am, there is absolutely nothing going on! It's really quite an odd feeling. Fortunately, I knew where a couple gas stations were that I thought might be open, and after being rejected by McDonald's and let down by Denny's, those gas stations were our only hope. And, what do you know, but the first one we tried, a Maverick station, was open for business. So, we parked, ran in, and hoped that they had anything resembling food. I may have even eaten the week-old taquitos or hot dogs gas stations are known for had we not seen the egg and sausage biscuits under the heat lamps. We grabbed a couple of those, two Krispy-Kreme donuts, and drinks, and we were off!

On our way into town, we took note of some of the pay-parking lots we passed as we approached the arena. One thing we noticed right away was everyone was fighting to get into the lots right across the street from the arena--and paying for it! After the gas station, we jetted off to a parking lot that was relatively close and nearly empty. That lot charged $5 for 12 hours and was about two blocks away. After living in Provo and attending BYU for the last couple years, one thing I have learned is to not be afraid of walking. While the other people were waiting in line for a long time just for the possibility of paying $10-12 for a parking spot, we paid $5 and walked 5 minutes. And here's where we get to the line.

TUESDAY: THE LINE

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Once we made it to the arena, we were surprised at how long the line actually was. When we first passed by at 4:30am, it was fairly short and close to the entrance. At 5am, the line extended the length of a city block--there were literally a couple thousand people in front of us. And, what's more, after waiting for maybe 10 minutes, we turned around and looked back and the line had doubled in length behind us. And this wasn't a single-file line either: it was probably a good 20 people wide.

And we waited. In the pages of rules they give you, among the list of prohibited items not to bring were chairs and chairs that fold. So where were to sit? The sidewalk. But we weren't about to sit on the city sidewalk, especially since Jared was all spiffed out in black. And that ended up being wise because a girl behind us decided to spill her Starbucks all over. It still got on my backpack.

And we waited. After we were there awhile, this guy with the smallest megaphone I have ever seen came out and tried to tell us that it would be about another hour before the line started moving so we should "get comfortable". He had to repeat this message every ten feet or so up the line. I kept joking that I could see a Fisher-Price logo on the side of his loudspeaker. He would've been louder had he cupped his hands and talked loudly.

As our hour of waiting turned into two, we just stood there and talked with people around us. This one guy in particular just wouldn't shut up though. He was acting like we were best friends. Plus, I don't know what it is with Mormon kids that wannabe jack like it's cool or something, but he kept going out of his way to drop 'hell' and 'damn' in his sentences, and in places that don't even make sense, you know what I mean? Like he's trying way too hard. I wanted to laugh at first, and later I just wanted to punch him. Maybe he had to try extra hard after he found out I go to BYU, like he wanted to make sure I knew he wasn't as good as me or something. But, c'mon man, I'm from Las Vegas! Like your little scripture swears are going to impress or intimidate me. Get a clue!

Anyways, another thing that started off fun but quickly turned annoying was the media coverage that was there walking the line. We saw the American Idol camera crews pass by us a few times, the local Fox news team did spots right in front of us (which nobody at home was awake to see), the local NBC and CBS channels, the local CBS helicopter, the local NBC news-radio, and the TV Guide channel hosted by none other than American Idol Season 1 runner-up: Justin Guarini. We were like, "Holy crap! Is that--the TV Guide channel?" Haha.

Two hours or so after the dude with the Hot Wheels megaphone from Toys R' Us announced that it would only be an hour, we arrive at the turning point to this story. The line started to move. That was exciting, if just for the chance to move our legs. Slowly, we made our way forward half a block when suddenly, and this always happens to me, the line monitors put their arms right in front of us to stop the line and put up the yellow tape. And we had to wait some more! Not only did we have to wait, the same guy comes out 20 minutes later with his miniphone to tell us that all of the people in front of us are going to be doing photo and video ops for about another hour and therefore, they were going to take us through a different entrance--behind us. He told us all to do an about-face and walk the other way to the doors. Somebody asked him, "Does that mean we're now the end of the line?" And he responded, "Yes, it does." After waking up at 2:30am, driving up to Salt Lake, making it through our whole breakfast fiasco, and then waiting for hours standing in line, it was now as if we hadn't even shown up until 8:30am. We were at the back of the line and we had missed the "front" of the line by two steps.

While that sucked, to put it mildly, Jared and I quickly reconciled ourselves with the situation thinking that at least we didn't have to stand for another couple hours in the sun doing photo ops. We were already sick of the media and the hype. We just wanted to audition and get on with our lives. Little did we know...

TUESDAY: SECURITY

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I think the worst out of all these disappointments was when we finally made it to the entrance to the arena. When we were close, the same quietspeaker dude comes out and announces that, by the way, no outside food or beverage is allowed inside the arena. See, this was irritating to me, to say the least, because knowing that we would more than likely be all day at the arena waiting, I had packed Jared and myself enough snacks and drinks to survive. I didn't know what to do. I asked the people around me if anyone wanted a drink and I started to pass stuff out. A few minutes later we hear, by the way, you can take unopened beverages inside. You've got to be kidding me! Fortunately, I had one left. So we get to "security" where they look in our bags, and all they were looking for was food. They didn't even check my cargo shorts pockets (where I didn't even think to stash our snacks, dang it!). I could've had alQaeda in its entirety inside my backpack and nobody would've cared unless Osama had a Snickers bar!

After we finally made it inside and to our assigned, ticketed seats, they announced that for our convenience the arena has kindly opened one of their concession stands where food and beverages can be purchased. I think it was at this point that my eye started twitching. That was so maddening! I had plenty to say to the managers of that place and let me tell you, it wasn't anything you could find in any holy book. But I knew, just like they knew, that we needed food. So, long story short, after awhile, I went and stood in line for 30 minutes to pay $9 for a pretzel (with no cheese) and two Dasani bottles of water. It was absolutely disgusting, and I'm not talking about the food.

To be continued...

Our 'American Idol' Experience: Part I

The week of July 29, 2008, Fox's American Idol reality show came to Salt Lake City to hold auditions. My younger brother, Jared, decided he wanted to audition this year, so he and his girlfriend, Lanita, came up from Las Vegas to stay with us in Provo for a few days. Jared was allowed to take one person with him to the auditions, so he asked me if I would go, and, being the supportive older brother that I am, I said yes. And of course, I was thrilled both to go and that he would ask me.

DAY ONE

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Our experience began in the early hours of Sunday morning, July 27. Before you audition, you and your guest have to go "register", which entails a staffer looking at your ID for a split second and giving you a wristband and two assigned seat tickets. The earlier you get your tickets, the better your chances of getting to audition. This process officially began at 8am in Salt Lake, with the line starting to form at 5am. We wanted to get there at least by 8am, which we did, but when we arrived, although we didn't have to wait long, we were not even close to the front of the line. We found out that there were like a thousand people ahead of us and that they had opened up the line at 7am, not 8am. It wasn't a big deal, but it wasn't a very impressive introduction to the American Idol process. Had we only known what awaited us on Tuesday...

TUESDAY: WAKE UP CALL

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Tuesday began much like Sunday did, just with less sleep. It was a lot of fun having Jared and Lanita here, so we got carried away playing games and stuff. It wasn't until late Monday night that I did the math and realized we probably wanted to wake up at 3am or sooner because the line started forming at 5am (the paperwork said to be in line by 5am, so we took that to mean mandatory). So, we woke up at 2:30am and planned to just get ready and leave, then eat breakfast somewhere up in Salt Lake. I even googled the Denny's and McDonalds nearest to the arena, I was sure one of them could accommodate us.

We got up there around 4:15am, drove around a little to scout out the area, figured we had enough time for McDonalds, so off we went. We get to McDonalds and the big sign is off, though the sign with the words on it was on and it said "Drive-Thru 24h" and the restaurant kitchen lights were on. We pull over to the drive-thru (which was lit) and waited. And waited... I drove to the second drive-thru, and waited. No response. Finally, I pulled forward to the window. We could see two workers in there maybe 15 feet from us, but they paid us no attention. So I honked. Nothing. I leaned out of my car and tapped the window. Nothing. Frustrated, we rushed off. It was now 4:30ish.

We parked at Denny's and ran inside, "Can we order something to-go?" The server replied, "Oh, I'm sorry we're out of to-go boxes." So I asked how long it would take to order a quick meal. "Oh, I'm sorry, but our grills are being cleaned. It will be about 20 minutes." Jared and glanced at each other in amazement and made our way back to the car.

I couldn't believe this was happening. At 4:45am, more and more people were walking up the streets toward the arena, and we hadn't even eaten breakfast yet, let alone found a parking lot and claimed our place in the rapidly growing line.

To be continued...

Celebrating Two Years!

Yesterday (8/19), Shauna and I celebrated our second anniversary! Two years... we both remarked that it didn't seem anything like two years. It has already felt like an eternity! (LOL. Just kidding, sweetheart...) But, seriously, time has flown by! Two years is the length of a full-time LDS mission (for guys), and I don't remember it going that fast. It's pretty crazy.

This summer has been a lot of fun. We got to go to DC, we got to go to Vegas, and all the fun stuff in between. But, all the fun took all our time. As soon as we got home from DC, Shauna had to jump right back into planning for her quickly approaching new school year. I had to start an online class that I hoped to finish before my new semester starts (if wishes were fishes...), and so, we left ourselves with very little steam and even less time. Thus, we didn't plan any extraordinary trip or anything like that for our anniversary. Of course, Shauna's second day of school was yesterday too, so that further complicated any hope we had of running away for a couple days. But, nevertheless, nothing stopped us from going out to dinner to what has apparently become our restaurant tradition: TGI Friday's.

The pic I added above is of a little display I threw together to welcome Shauna home from work. The photo pictured there is from our very first date/meeting-in-person ever taken outside St. George, UT, in the spring of 2005. Meeting Shauna that weekend was the greatest thing that ever happened to me.

Our Garden is Officially Cool

Our garden is officially cool because the first vegetables were ripe for the pickin'! 4 zucchinis today. I cannot tell you how exciting it was to walk out there and literally pick the fruits (well, vegetables) of our labor! I was just jumping inside with glee! I admit, I do talk to the plants, and I told them how proud I am of them! With such encouragement, I expect to be picking veggies all summer long. :)

Let me just share a few more pictures... with captions because I like writing them... not because I think you can't see.

[Left]Our garden which will be producing beans, tomatoes, onions, crookneck squash, and, of course, zucchini. [Right] Crookneck that will be ready soon!
[Left] A tomato that needs to turn red so I can eat it. [Right] One of the zucchinis I picked today before I actually did with one growing to the left of it.

Vegetable Garden

I have got to say that I love our garden! There are 4 tomatoes growing and 4 crookneck squash growing, and 4 or 5 zucchinis! I am so excited!!! Hopefully in a few more days we can pick our first zucchini. Mmmm...

Random DC Highlights

RANDOM DC HIGHLIGHTS:

Chilling with the presidential candidates.

Here I am reflecting at the Reflecting Pool (haha!)... Spelling that made me laugh, offically. :)


Josh with a million dollars... Josh and the Korean War Memorial...




Hanging out with the Edwards... At the metro's steep escalator that used to scare me as a child...


At a dinner theater where we saw West Side Story... At the DC temple.












OTHER HIGHLIGHTS:

• Seeing the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights. I felt so strongly looking at them that they were inspired of God.
• Being at the Capitol and hearing The 1812 Overture with live cannons! Need I say more? It was so COOL!
• Being able to hang out with my husband!
• Hearing the organ at the National Cathedral.
• Eating out!
  
• Going to the Wright brothers exhibit room at the Air and Space Museum. It was really interesting. It sounds a little sappy, but I really gained an appreciation for what good men they were.
• Seeing the dinosaur bones and the Natural History Museum. I can't believe those bones were actually parts of living creatures on our earth even though I know they were!
• The monuments. It was a good reminder of great men who helped found this county and those who have fought to keep this country.

NOT HIGHLIGHTS:

• Heat and humidity.
• Massive reaction to a bug bite. [See picture.] I wore a bandaid to try to cover it. After the day shown, I wore a bigger one.

Alas, the Glabes Have Left Us in Mourning

Yesterday, the Glabes left us. They moved out of Twin Pines, leaving us the only couple on our floor that moved in during the summer of 2006. Yes, we are the "old" couple on our floor now. Of course, though we've been hanging out for almost two years, we hadn't actually taken a picture together--we're not as good as the Christensens about that. (The Christensens are another summer '06 couple that has also left us, right after having little Kelsey.) So literally minutes before they drove away, we snapped a picture. We wish the Glabes luck--they'll be missed. We hope they, too, will be peer-pressured into posting on their blog. :)

Pancakes the Size of Pizzas... and a Sofa the Size of a Swimming Pool

While we were in Vegas, we got to celebrate Kim's birthday (Josh's sister). We went to Hash House a Go Go to eat her birthday dinner. Everyone ordered the pancake but me. My eyes almost popped out of my head when I saw what looked to be a pancake approximately 16 inches in diameter. (The fork in the picture is for scale). I ordered corn beef hash and also had a sizable meal (in background). No one came even close to finishing.

Now, the next memorable moment we couldn't take a picture of because all hands were full of this sofa Kim had. She just moved into an apartment, and this couch wouldn't fit up the stairs into her apartment--it can seat 4 quite comfortably, by the way, so a little big... So Kim, Josh, Jared, Lanita, and I set to work to get it up over the balcony. Yes, over the balcony. Josh tied a rope around it, then he and Jared pushed it up while us gals pulled from above. After the couch was pretty high, Josh ran up and helped us continue to pull it higher. Once we had enough above the railing to tip it, I grabbed the arm and hung on it, making it angle toward us instead of Jared (we were afraid we'd squish him). After that, it was cake. In case any of the naysayers from the apartment community read this, just know this: We did it! You may have laughed, but we did it! It's really too bad someone didn't stick around to record our amazing feat.

Our tires were made out of sand!

     Yesterday, to get ready for a trip to Vegas this weekend, we took Shauna's car in to Costco to get the tires rotated and balanced and checked out. After wandering around the warehouse for about 45 minutes, we got a call from the tech and he told us that he couldn't do the tires because they were bald! This immediately frustrated Shauna (for lack of more colorful words) because she had personally purchased the tires herself just 2 years ago, almost to the day! Furthermore, the tires had a 45,000 mile warranty on them and we had only put about 24,000 on them. We went to talk with the tech and he showed us that, sure enough, the front tires were worn down to the wear bars. His first comment to us was, "Well, you gotta rotate and balance your tires every 6-8 thousand miles, and you haven't been doing that, blah blah blah, so now you have no warranty. Sucks to be you." (More or less, I may be paraphrasing. But he seriously had the 'get out of my face stupid customer' air about him.) So, we started arguing with him because Shauna was told at a different Costco last year when she had the tires done (at about 12,000 miles, only 4,000 miles over their recommended mileage) that she only needed to have that done "oh, ya know, every so often" and was told nothing about the warranty depending on it. Then, the guy turned to the paperwork we had (we always keep the paperwork/invoices for stuff like this), and he realizes that we didn't even 'purchase' the tires because Shauna's name wasn't on the invoice.

     That's a whole other story that Shauna can fill you in on later. Short version is that while traveling back to California from Utah a couple years ago, Shauna's car broke down. She was carpooling with her friend whose dad happened to be a couple hours' drive away, so he came and swapped them cars so Shauna could make a flight. While he was driving her car home, it blew a tire (it wasn't a good summer for her car), so he took it to Costco and bought a new tire under his membership. Shauna, after returning from her trip a couple weeks later, took the car back to Costco and purchased three more tires herself but under his membership so they could get the 'buy 4' discount. And yet, that wasn't good enough for this tech. It was pretty much game over at that point.

     Not even once did he concede that, hey, that sucks the tires we sold you were made out of sand, let's see what we can do for you. Not once did he apologize or sympathize or feel anything. And I guess we really didn't feel anything either as we drove half a mile up the street to Discount Tire Co. and dropped $50 more than Costco would've charged for 4 brand spankin' new tires. Eat that, Costco!

     And that reminds me: the dude at Costco told us we needed to replace only the two front tires and that the two back tires "were fine, and that tells me there's something wrong with your car that you'll want to get fixed blah blah blah". We got to Discount Tire and the guy looked at our tires for 10 seconds and showed me how all four tires were worn down to the wear bars. I asked him about the front tires because it did appear to me as if we had an alignment problem (the tires were very worn only on the outside edge), and he told me it was actually fairly normal for tires to wear like that and if we weren't having any problems with the car pulling to one direction or the other (which we weren't) that we didn't have an alignment problem.

     The moral of the story:

• If you buy new tires, be aware of the terms of the warranty, i.e., be aware of when they need to be rotated and balanced, and DO IT, no matter what the tech says. Like the guy at Discount told us, some people, at every company, are pretty chill about the rules like that and some people are pretty strict, so it's best just to get it done the strict way to avoid our situation (meeting the strict guy after we met the chill guy). And, remember routine tire maintenance is (or should be) free.
  
• If you want some awesome sand-based evaporative-rubber dissolves-on-asphalt won't-last-past-half-their-life tires, then we highly recommend Michelin tires.

     And, just to make certain we didn't have any money left at the end of the day, we stopped by Jiffy Lube on the way home for an oil change.

La-Z-Boy Reclining Loveseat is Welcomed into the Hiram Home

June 13th marked a momentous occasion for the Hiram Family: Josh and Shauna purchased their first couch! [Celebratory music, please!] Josh found it on craigslist and immediately called for an appointment. We went to the ATM, borrowed Papa Ned's truck, and off we went! Once we returned the truck, we came home and played Wii--in the reclined position, of course. Another plus, as if we need another plus, is that our living room looks bigger now, having gotten rid of the apartment complex's massive (and uncomfortable) couch and replaced it with our smaller loveseat. An all-in-all good day for the Hiram family. : )

Craziness

It has been a crazy last couple weeks! So crazy, in fact, I will just bullet-list some of the highlights (yes, I do love bullet-lists):

• We got to go celebrate the careers of some of Shauna's mentors and good friends who were retiring from teaching third grade. The four teachers retiring are leaving Shauna and two other first-year teachers to reign over the third grade. It was a great dinner party, for which, Shauna and her friends were in charge of providing the salad; long story short: there are still Costco-sized boxes of salad stuff in our fridge from the party 3 weeks ago.
• I'm taking a Genealogy and Family History class at BYU, and one of the assignments is to go to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City and do some original research. We got to go last weekend and spent a good four hours there. Shauna spent the time working on her own family line, and I did my assignment. I was supposed to find an original document (on microfilm) about one of my ancestors. After searching all day, all I came up with for that individual was this poorly written record of his marriage in 1854. But, that's better than nothing!
• And, the best for last, we want to wish our good friends Kyle and Megan congratulations on the birth of a beautiful and healthy baby girl. We've had a lot of fun being able to visit them in the hospital the last few nights and play some games with them there, and of course, we got to hold the baby. I think my favorite part from their blog leading up to the delivery was Kyle's menu updates--nachos and double cheeseburger, footlong hot dog... Haha. We've enjoyed being good friends with them and are sad that they're moving soon. Fortunately, they're not going to be too far away. One thing's for sure: they may be better pirates than we are, but they'll never catch us at Phase 10! Fwahahaha!

The rest will have to wait till later. I've gotta get some homework done! =*(



-Josh

Spice Girl's Simple Pleasures

A few weeks ago, I put up two shelves for my spices above the oven! YAY! I can read them and reach them without knocking a couple out of the cupboard or pulling them up one at a time from a drawer! Simple pleasures are often the best, especially when you put the work in. I've noticed this with my third graders, too. They can play the simplest game, dance a simple dance, etc... and be completely happy. It's refreshing in a world where people seem to need so much to be happy. (Not that I'll give up my Wii, mind you.)



:) Shauna

One month later...

Well, it's been exactly 30 days since our previous (and first) blog post, so I guess it's officially okay for us to post again. We don't want to subject our blog to overposting, you know... Haha.

So, here are some highlights about what we've been up to:

• FIRST, mainly because it is the only picture I have readily available (and also because she looks so cute!), Shauna got her hair cut! Although she's going to kill me when she finds out I posted the one of her with straightened hair, it's my favorite! When she wears her sunglasses, I think she looks like a movie star! (Just know I loved you all! Remember me for the good things! LOL)
• Next, I signed up to be on our ward's intramural kickball team at BYU and ended up being asked to be the captain! It has been SO much fun! Our team is solid! We've played our four regular season games so far and our record is 2-2. Granted, one of the wins was by default since the other team had to forfeit, but, we've had a lot of fun and I think we've even learned a lot about the sport and improved our skills. Now, we're just waiting for our tournament ranking and we'll be off to the championship! I think Shauna got some pics of me, maybe even some video, so check back for those later (or tune into ESPN; I'm sure one of their million stations picked up our game...)
• About two weekends ago, we splurged on a garden! Our landlord gave us permission to cultivate a nice garden plot that hadn't been used for years at another complex of his right across the street from us. We spent an entire Saturday ripping weeds out and getting it ready (and anhialating Jiminy Cricket's family... you should've seen them! There were at least 20, and we couldn't afford any Seagulls, so...) and then we spent an entire evening shopping at Home Depot and planting the seeds. We may, I say 'may', have gone a little overboard on the planting, but it's our first time! So, we have to experiment with what grows. And, speaking of growing, we checked today (it's been about 9 days since we planted) and we're starting to get some sprouts! The zucchini is growing the best so far.

Other than the above, not much else going on. Shauna's got six teaching days left of this, her first school year. I just wrapped up my first round of Spring midterms (one went well, one didn't). And we're both excited for summer!



-Josh

Welcome to our blog!

I remember sitting at home in Las Vegas and watching the news on TV shortly after I'd returned home from my mission and listening to a reporter talk about 'blogs'. I'd served for two years in Washington State, as in, inside of the United States, and yet, I had never in my life heard the word 'blog' (I'd never heard of an iPod before, either. I remember asking my friend, "What's an ipid?"). Anyways, this reporter was talking about blogging like it was common-place (which it was) and I was lost and intrigued! I began researching it and I think I asked Shauna about it. She pointed me toward Blogspot, back in the day when it was Blogspot. It seemed like a cool idea at the time. For some reason, what I really grabbed hold of during my research were RSS feeds, and my very first blog was just a whole bunch of RSS feeds. I guess it made me feel like a secret agent or spy or something, like in the movies--the dude that sits down at his computer in the morning and receives the latest updates from headquarters. I'd always intended on taking clips from some and writing my two cents worth about them, like I was an important news journalist or CIA analyst--I'm really in to Tom Clancy's 'Jack Ryan' books, by the way--but the idea of publishing it on the scary world wide web was too intimidating for me. I was a hardcore secret agent at heart, albeit a shy one. So, longer story less long, my first blog died out. I'd forgotten all about it until recently when we started thinking about starting our family blog. By the time I thought to check it again, Google had acquired blogspot (now Blogger) and my old blog was no more.



And so, our friends, welcome to our family blog. I hope it goes better than my first one, and with fewer RSS feeds. I think our current subtitle says it best, we'll post whatever we have time for. Please leave us comments and keep in touch. We look forward to checking out your blogs too, so please send us your links.



-Josh