Thursday, April 24, 2008

Finally!

I took my last final today! I think I'll do a dance of joy like Balki from "Perfect Strangers."

Friday, April 18, 2008

Spring Fever

I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of Spring, and Utah is seriously disappointing me. Every time the sun comes out just long enough to extract all the skirts and short sleeves from my closet, I wake up the next morning to discover snow on my car. WHY?! It's April and time for Spring to stay for good! Spring is nothing but a dirty tease.

School has continued to devour my life and soul, but I had my last official class today! If I can just get through all my finals next week I'll be home free.

On Sunday I had a very valid excuse to take a break from all my studying because my friend Liz had a baby! I went to visit her at the hospital and had the chance to hold her teeny-tiny little guy, Nicholas. He is unbelievably adorable...almost cute enough to inspire me to have one of my own. ALMOST. I should probably work on the whole husband thing first.

Liz's Baby 01

Liz's Baby 02

Friday, April 4, 2008

Science Experiment

Try to imagine a scenario where a few silly boys decide to make hydrogen in their backyard. Let's say that these boys buy some industrial drain cleaner, a few plastic tubes, a Sobe bottle and a peanut butter jar...and then attempt to surpass Mr. Wizard with their impressive science skills. Now imagine that the aforementioned silly boys go by the names Easton, Ty, and Brad.

Easton was the one who actually started the madness, and he insisted on dragging me to Lowe's to pick up the supplies he needed for his science project. For those of you who know Easton, you won't be surprised by another one of his attempts to blow himself up. He gets a big kick out of putting himself directly in the path of oncoming danger. I wasn't too keen on the idea of homemade hydrogen, but Easton managed to brainwash Ty and Brad into thinking it was a good idea and I was quickly outnumbered.

Hydrogen 02

The boys drilled holes in the tops of a few bottles to create the reactor container and scrubbers, hooked up the tubes, and attached a plastic trash bag to (hopefully) fill up with hydrogen. Easton cut up a Cafe Rio aluminum tin to put in the Sobe bottle, and we all watched him add the Drano to kick off the chemical reaction. I hid behind the barbecue for safety while I yelled at Easton to get away from the bubbling, vibrating Sobe bottle.

Hydrogen 01

After a couple of setbacks involving a cracked reactor bottle and insufficient Drano, the boys finally figured everything out and managed to fill up a trash bag with hydrogen! Sometimes I think Easton's too clever for his own good.

Don't they look so proud of themselves?Hydrogen 04

Of course the boys needed to prove their maturity (or lack thereof) by using a flaming sock on the end of a plastic samurai sword to light the floating hydrogen bag on fire. Everybody laughed and cheered and toasted Easton's success...but I think the crowd was ultimately more interested in the big blazing sock than the melted bag of hydrogen.

And although I don't really approve of Easton's tendency towards hazardous projects, I must reluctantly admit that the hydrogen experiment was pretty fun. Who wouldn't get a kick out of seeing a bunch of fully-grown men sprinting around the corner of the house for cover from a deadly and dangerous Sobe bottle?

Hydrogen 03

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Easter Fun

I miss being a kid. I’ve decided that Easter was much more exciting back in the days when I used to wake up at the crack of dawn and gallop around the house to grab as much candy as I could get my little hands on. The Easter treats always seemed to taste better after brawling with my sisters to claim the best loot.

Easton made me a magnificent Easter basket, complete with a white chocolate cross and all the fruity candy I could eat.Easter 05

What could be better than a holiday that gives you a legitimate excuse to eat enough candy to make yourself look pregnant?Easter 03

TR was nice enough to invite us to his family’s house for Easter dinner, and I think it’s safe to say that we all gorged ourselves on way too much food. It was all SO good!

After eating everything in sight...Easter 04

Easter 02

TR is very excited about Easter, in case you couldn't tell…Easter 01