2 New Discoveries

I have recently made two new discoveries that I have been having a lot of fun with: Twitter and iGoogle. As you can guess, I've been spending a lot of time online...

I've heard of Twitter before but wasn't sure exactly what it was. I've finally been catching up on all my blog reading since the holidays (not that it really needs catching up on) and Neil Gaiman (author) mentioned it numerous times. I absolutely adore his blog, by the way. So I decided to check it out and I think I'm being sucked in to the world that is online communication. It's basically a simplified version of facebook and focuses on the "what are you doing now" part combined with blogging. You have your homepage where you can post your entries and your friends can 'follow' you. You can also sign up to 'follow' other people. You can post from the web or from your phone via text messaging. My thread isn't that exciting, but I'm following Neil Gaiman and it's pretty entertaining. He's just won the Newberry Medal award for his recent publication The Graveyard Book and he's also involved in all the hype over the movie Coraline coming out next month (he wrote the original book the movie is based on). So he's been doing lots of interviews and phone calls, all of which are documented on his Twitter posts. Kinda fun and a little addictive.

My second discovery is iGoogle which is not so new but I've just finally got on board with my google account. You basically customize your own homepage with links and windows to your gmail, blogger and other google products as well as news feeds from various organizations, games, animations, pictures, etc. I like it because I can now easily access most of the websites I visit everyday all from one page and it gives me other important information like the weather forecast, top headlines in the news, quotes of the day, and even a gadget for Twitter. If you have a google account you should check it out and if you don't maybe it's time to think about joining everyone else on Google. They are going to take over the world, just accept it as inevitable.

Just Breathe

John and I had a laid back weekend, which was so nice after all the hustle and bustle. Our holidays were wonderful and we so enjoyed visiting family and friends. But this weekend was much needed.

Friday night we went bowling with some friends. I am the first to admit that I am awful at the much-loved pastime of rolling a ball down a wooden lane to knock over the pins, so I did not play. I figured it would be silly to pay for me to do something I probably wouldn't enjoy, especially since I was only there for the socializing anyway. So I did a lot of visiting and I got to hold Jocelyn who is almost 3 months old now. After the game, I don't have the slightest idea of who won, we went to Chipotle for a late dinner. And late it was... they politely let us know it was time to leave by putting all the chairs on the tables. When we got home we watched a few episodes of Frasier (we're on Season 7 of 11 now) then went to bed.

Sleeping in on Saturday was absolutely glorious. We didn't get up until about 10:30. Of course, staying in bed that long came with the usual dose of guilt over being lazy on a beautiful sunny day, bit I managed to push the feelings aside as I argued with myself that a lazy morning was long overdue. And the day ended up being mostly productive anyway - we ran a few errands, did some grocery shopping, tidied up the house, and made a lovely dinner. We also managed to get more Frasier in (I know, big surprise) and some 24. I did spend a few hours reading, too. I've started on a new fantasy book and I had forgotten how much I like being immersed in a fun adventure.

Sunday was also pretty relaxed so it was a lazy and enjoyable weekend all around. One thing of note: John was persuaded to buy fish at the store on Saturday and we had it for dinner last night with rice and acorn squash. Yes, John ate fish... willingly. This health kick of his must be serious indeed!

Go AZ Cardinals!!

Phoenix is all a buzz about the Arizona Cardinals football team - they're going to the Super Bowl! Last week was pretty exciting as everyone jumped on the bandwagon and became instant fans when the Cardinals made it to the NFC and played on Sunday. Everyone has something to say about it and everyone I've talked to watched the game on Sunday - even the lady at the department store who claimed she doesn't like football. John and I were in Tucson visiting Dave and Charity this weekend so we had someone to watch the game with and then celebrate with when our team won. It looks like John and I bring the sports luck with us wherever we go - the St. Louis Cardinals baseball team won the World Series when we moved to St. Louis and now the AZ Cardinals are going to the Super Bowl. Maybe it just has something to do with Cardinals...

This will be one of only a couple years that I watch the Super Bowl for the both the game and the commercials!

Work and Play

I'm now in my second week of working at ASU in the MBA Admissions office and so far it is going really well. Last week was kind of overwhelming as I met everyone I would be working with and then all the other people associated with the MBA programs. I met with each of the Admissions team members to get to know them better and so they could get to know me, too. By Thursday I was starting to feel more comfortable and settled, almost like I belong here. This week has also been good - I've started working on some projects and I realizing just how fun its going to be to work with all these people. So this change that I was so nervous about has turned out to be a good one as far as I can tell.

Last Friday John and I flew out to Salt Lake City to attend a couple of weddings. John's younger brother was married to Jessica in the Temple on Saturday. We were able to go to the wedding and then we stood out in the cold for a while before taking pictures. Then that afternoon we went to another friend's wedding - Joseph Golden - at the same Temple. I'm so glad we were able to go to both and celebrate with our friends and family. It was a good day, but very long and very cold. We thought we would have some time to visit with the family on Sunday but our flight left at 3 so we didn't get as much time as we would have liked. Brandon and Andrea had us over for dinner that night, which I was grateful for, and then we went to bed early after a long and busy weekend. I've been struggling just a little the last couple of days because I don't really feel like I got much of a weekend. Thank goodness there is a three day weekend in just a few days!

Meanwhile, John doesn't go back to school until next Tuesday so he's been vegging at home. He is recovering from a cold, so its probably good that he's resting up and getting plenty of sleep. I'm just jealous... He had a quick one day trip to California last week to meet the people in the office where he will be doing his internship. He was a little nervous but it turned out just fine and he's looking forward to spending a few months in California this summer. I, on the other hand, will be here in Arizona missing him terribly. But we'll deal with that when the time comes.

With all our traveling and vacations over for the holiday season we're finally settling back down into the regular rhythm of life. Routine is nice after so much craziness, but it was fun, too! So back to business for everyone!

Happy 2009!

(The pictures I've promised of our holiday parties and visiting with family.)

Surprisingly I've been ready for 2009 since the end of September - I caught myself writing 09 instead of 08 several times in the last few months. And now it's here! Happy New Year!

John and I are still in Utah enjoying the snow on the ground as long as it's not in the road. It has been pretty chilly and I'm about ready to get back to Arizona and warmer weather. Christmas at the Zincke's was so fun. We had a late start but that was okay because then the Christmas morning magic lasted even longer. Our activities in the last couple of weeks have included lots of Frasier, lots of food, and lots of shopping mixed in with a few movies and meals out. We have a couple more days here in Utah before we drive back down to work and school.

We spent last weekend in Colorado with my family, which was wonderful. Paul (my younger brother) gave a lovely farewell talk in church and we had a great time playing games and visiting with the Woodbury's. It was short, but it was fun and I'm so glad we got to be with the family for a couple of days before Paul leaves on January 7 to go into the MTC. It will be about 3 years before we can all be together again as a family because of my brother's missions.

Our holidays were happy and we're looking forward to a new year of more friends and family.