Facebook Fast

{Day One}

Alright, Facebook is useful.  It has the capability of locating and connecting people across continents who otherwise maybe never would have gotten in touch.  It's great.  But the Firefox server does this nasty little thing where it automatically inserts my most visited web address, which happens to be Facebook, into my search bar.  It's trying to do the thinking for me.  And I've been letting it!

So every time I get onto the computer with a goal in mind {like, hmm, I dunno, homework!} I get distracted.  Facebook always comes first.  And if you're visiting Facebook several times a day, guess what!  It gets really really boring.  Painfully boring.  Like I'd really rather chew off my fingers than sit around on Facebook staring at the homepage feed, but for some reason I'm allowing my computer to control me.

Therefore, today is my first full day of the Facebook fast.  I won't get on that website even once between now and April 22nd, when I graduate.

{via}

Maybe I'll earn a few extra minutes each day to do those little domestic things I've been slacking on.  I haven't made the bed in a week- and how long does that take, really?  Only one Facebook visit?   :-)

A Wedding Weekend in Oregon

The most excited I've ever seen Leah {Roy's little sister} was the night she told me she was getting married.  There wasn't a ring yet, so she said it kind of hushed but like she was about to just burst.  She told me before she told Roy, which for some reason made me feel really special.  Not that I rubbed it in his face or anything...

I'd never had a sibling get married before.  And Leah had only been my sister for a matter of months.  But still, I had this urge to do a whole profile check on this guy.  Is he good enough?  Does he have a criminal record?  Is he secretly an ax murderer?

Luckily it didn't take hiring a detective to figure out that Jamie is a great guy.  Roy and I were stoked to be able to fly out to their wedding in Oregon this last weekend.  We spent the first night at his Aunt Elizabeth's, who was way nice.  When she found out I didn't like meat she put spinach in my eggs instead of sausage or bacon or anything.  :-)

The next morning we arrived at the LDS Portland temple.  Without Roy's tux shoes that he was going to lend to Jaime.  Awesome.  We are so great.

I did take some pictures at the reception, but they turned out dark and grainy.  So here is the only picture I have of the Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter!

It was a little cold and rainy in Oregon, but when we took pictures the rain miraculously stopped.  The ceremony was beautiful.  The reception was held in Newport at Sue and Jay's reception hall- the very same one that Roy and I had ours in.  But the time of year, the huge tent out back, and the different colors really made it look like a completely different place.  It looked fantastic.  Oh, plus they had karaoke. 

When we were starting to clean up after the reception Roy started asking around for his wife.  He said he was surprised when he heard "She's out in the tent doing karaoke."  :-)  So he came out to laugh at me real quick while I sang "Summer Days" with a bunch of his relatives.  Fun!

Once Friday was over we still had a whole day to hang out in Newport.  His mom made us amazing coffee cake and we played Mario Bros with his sisters for a while.  Then we decided we should go out and do something.  Leah had her friend Megan be her wedding photographer, and she was staying at the Buckmaster's as well.  Then downstairs there was Cayte (Jamie's little sister) and two of Jamie's friends.  We all piled into the Denali for an adventure.  Milly came too.

The Devil's Punchbowl.

I wanted to go swimming in the freezing, raging waters but...

We followed the longest, squirmiest road up a mountain before we got to the trail head.  The road was narrow, with only a single lane.  We almost died when a car rounded the corner at the same time as us.  Scary moment.  But this hike was so much fun, even despite the downpour.

Milly was a bit overly excited.  Whoever had her on the leash essentially got dragged through the forest.  In this case it is Cayte.

When the trail forked we split up.  Me, Megan, and Roy were tromping up the slick, wet trail and wondering whether it would ever meet up with the main trail.  After all, the primary point of the hike is seeing the waterfall and we didn't want to miss it.

Roy ran ahead with Milly.  He found the waterfall.  Megan and I found a newt!

{And no, we didn't bring proper shoes.  We had to leap through gigantic puddles.  I still need to wash my poor Pumas}

Oregon is one gorgeous place.

 We all made it.  I thought the wet hike might provoke my cold to make a comeback, but I'm still feeling great!

Dennis and Laura drove Roy and I to the airport.  Oregon seriously has some winding roads, which quickly put me to sleep.  But the time that I was awake was fun.  We were sad to say goodbye.

Soup for the Soul

I'm finally over my sickness!

The cuRe:  Love!  Yeah, okay, other than that.  Naturally, Roy did do a good job taking care of me.  But everything really turned around as soon as we set foot in Oregon.  That place is truly soup for the soul.

I'll write about it once I've caught up with school and have a spare moment.

Can't Sleep

It's almost midnight.  Roy has been snoozing silently beside me for about an hour and a half.  I tried to sleep for a while at first.  But you know how still the night is?  {Ok, other than when our entire bedroom rattles every time a train passes.}

You know the nights where the only thing you can hear is your own breathing?  And when that breathing hurts because your throat feels raw, it's kind of distracting and makes it hard to relax and just sleep.  Normally I would say, "YES!  An excuse to down some NyQuil!"  Tonight I'm resisting the temptation.  Why?  Because I have two papers and a test to study for tomorrow and I need to be able to keep my eyes open.

Any drug that causes drowsiness has a crazy impact on me.  I fall fast and hard into a dreamless sleep that can last for 24 hours if someone doesn't pull me out.  And even when I wake I walk around like I'm filled with sand.  So heavy and slow.  The last two days my head has been bobbing until about 3 pm.  Then I'm wide awake, can't sleep, and ready for more to put me out.

I sound like an addict.  Well I can assure you that I'm not.  See, I'm writing as therapy, hoping it will soothe me to sleep.  No more NyQuil.

Hopefully I get over being sick soon because we have some traveling to do this weekend for Leah's wedding.  :-)  Not to mention I have homework to do before we can go.

OK, what can I write about to lull me to sleep?

Tonight Roy and I saw Disney's Tangled with our friends Matt and Sarah.  What an amazing movie.  I laughed, I cried-- okay I didn't actually cry.  But there was a little girl a few rows ahead of ours that did enough crying for all of us.  Spoiler alert: there is a part where our "prince charming" of sorts dies from a stab wound.  He cut Rapunzel's healing, magical hair to forfeit his life to save hers.  It seems that all is lost.  And then we hear the little girl ahead of us bawling loudly, "But she doesn't have any magic left!!!!"

Haha!  That's exactly what the creative minds behind the movie wanted!  There is so much emotion in that movie, I absolutely love it.  As we watched the credits roll at the end I watched as though waiting for my own name to scroll past.  I wish it had.  A movie like that makes me wish I could have been part of the creative team.

Can you imagine?  Script writing for Disney?  Story boarding?  Now there's a dream.  I told Roy that maybe instead of getting my master's in creative writing I'll look into a film program.  It's kind of a joke... I think.

Before I start rambling senselessly I'm going to end here.  Maybe it's better to lull myself to sleep in a less public way- haha!  Goodnight.

P.S. I just looked over at Roy, still sleeping, and he had this huge cheesy smile on his face.  Hahaha!  Then he started mumbling something, so I asked him, "What, Roy?  What are you dreaming about?"
He said, "Dreaming about doing the same tax return that I already did."
Well I guess we know what Roy's dream is.
Who knew work made him so happy!

Rain, Snow, Worms, and Other Things

Don't you hate it when the weather catches you completely off guard?  That's what happened to me on Monday.  Utah has a funny habit of warming up, tricking you into thinking it's finally spring time, and then dumping buckets of snow on you.  Well Monday morning it was sunshine.  By afternoon I had dripping wet hair and my coat smelled funny because it has little feathers inside that I'm pretty sure aren't supposed to get wet!

With no hood, no umbrella, and my shoes starting make squelching noises, I decided to just enjoy it.  It's not worth running around and looking like an idiot.  On my long walk to my car I was watching the ground, avoiding puddles, when I saw a worm on the sidewalk.  Then a split second later there were hundreds and hundreds of worms everywhere, all glistening wet, stretched out on the cement. 

Maybe you're used to this.  But in Arizona worms don't come out in hordes when it rains.  Frogs do, but not worms.  But I was quickly seeing that worms and frogs pretty much meet the same demise.  Now look out, I'm about to get a little graphic.  It was almost impossible not to step on them, they were literally coating the walkway.  The few students around me didn't seem to mind just smashing them under their shoes.  GROSS!

So I'm sure you would have laughed if you'd seen me tiptoeing through the rain down that sidewalk.

The next day I was prepared.  I wore my wellies!

But of course it was warm and dry the whole day.  While walking up to campus I noticed the ducks were kinda far from their pond.  And then I realized what they were doing.  Worm pancakes.

Alright, should I leave you with something a little less disgusting?  How about some good news?  Roy and I got to go snowboarding again this last weekend.  My favorite!  I want to go again!

And I talked to the guys at the lost & found... they're on the hunt for the missing wedding band.  :-)

A Cute Little Miracle at the Hospital

Prologue: One night when we three couples were hanging out, I thought it would be fun to make guesses on the baby's birthday.  Shellena's official due date was March 15.  Roy guessed March 3rd, and we all scoffed.

Yesterday, March 3rd {somewhere around 10 pm} Story Rae Tietjen decided to make her debut.

Just like that, Carson and Shellena are now Daddy and Mommy!  WHOA! 

This little cutie didn't waste any time.  She got outta there fast!

Last night I was actually on my way to keep Shellena company at their apartment.  Carson had a late class and she was really not feeling so good.  She needed someone to distract her from her contractions.  The poor girl had contacted her doctor earlier in the day, who told her it was really very unlikely she was already in labor, and so she toughed it out thinking that she was probably just being a wimp. 

So, I left my class early only to arrive at their dark and very empty apartment.  When Shellena didn't answer her phone my first thought was ooooh myyyyy gooodnessss she's at the hospital!!!!  

I was able to get a hold of Carson, who told me that they were indeed where I thought they were.  He had jumped out of class when Shellena texted him, finally unable handle the pain for another minute.  When he explained to the professor why he had to leave, the class applauded him right out of the room.  Exciting :-)!  But still the couple were worried it might be a false alarm {the words from their doctor most likely casting doubt into the situation}.  Therefore, they didn't want me or any visitors heading to the hospital just yet.

Roy was at the gym and unable to answer my calls.  I didn't have a key to our apartment because I'd given it to my sister-in-law.  It was cold.  None of my friends were answering their phones.  I was homeless, not to mention anxious for our friends who were possibly having a baby!!!

So I calmed my nerves at Costa Vida.  Hmmmm, veggie salads....  wow just writing about it is making my mouth water.

Roy was able to meet me there eventually- which was really good because I felt like a LOSER eating at a booth by myself, surrounded by couples and big groups of students.  We rushed to the hospital together and met Kenny there.

Turns out the hospital is a pretty complicated place.  At each door there were two phones.  One of them would ask for a code and would then open to let you in and the other one... I'm not even sure.  But we picked up the wrong phone at one of the doors.  Oops!

After getting in trouble with nurses and meddling around with phones, we FINALLY found Carson and Shellena in a spacious room.  Shellena in a hospital bed with an IV, Carson right at her side.

And let me just say now... I'm recording here my first experience ever with this whole birth thing.  Sure, I've visited a few new mommies and their new babies, but only after it was born.  Days after.  I'd never seen a person right before giving birth!

It was a lot less scary than I'd expected.  We talked to them for a while, and they both seemed calm.  When Shellena felt a particularly strong contraction she would press a button that would make her feel a bit better.  Not so bad!

After a while the boys left to get Carson some food and things to keep him occupied.  Then Shellena started feeling a little less chipper.  Before I knew it, nurses were rushing in and exclaiming how quickly everything was going.  "The faster the better," they assured her.

All of a sudden I found myself trapped in a corner of the room with nurses and doctors all over the place.  I knew it was time to split, but I wasn't sure how to get passed the blockade of scrubs!

I eventually made it out with Carson's help.  But I was so excited!  I wanted to just stand on the other side of the door, waiting and listening.  Before I'd always thought giving birth was kind of a hush hush, we-don't-talk-about-it-because-it's-kind-of-gross thing.  Let me tell you, the excitement of a new person coming into the world banished any and all of those thoughts and feelings.  I just felt... AMAZED!  Amazed that Shellena and Carson had created a human being, that she was coming right away, and that she was going to be their daughter!

The sign on the door told Roy and I to clear out and head for the waiting room.  We weaved through the labyrinth of a hospital with huge smiles on our faces.  You would think we were going to be real aunts and uncles or something.

After watching basketball in the waiting room for what felt like forever, my phone rang.

ELLIOT: Is she here?
CARSON: I'm holding her in my arms right now.
ROY & ELLIOT: We're coming we're coming- {hang up}

We rushed back down the hallway, squeezing each others hands.  The excitement was palpable!  She was here!  We pushed open the door without knocking and...

Voila!

Baby!  {Disclaimer, all of these pictures were taken with my camera on my phone, so they aren't that great}

They didn't have a name for her right away, so we just called her Baby.  Or She.  Carson offered her to Roy but he said, "She's too little!" and didn't want to risk holding her.  Um- I hope that's not a problem in the future.

I got to hold her though.  And all my previous theories about how all newborns look like monkey-aliens... shattered.  This little girl is so beautiful.  And she looks so much like her parents I couldn't believe it.

Shellena looked amazing.  Not sweaty or red-faced or anything.  She had deflated as though she had never been pregnant before.  I don't expect that happens to everyone.

Story was born with her umbilical chord wrapped around her neck but they got her out quickly and everything was fine.  She's healthy and sleeps like a rock!  Sometimes Shellena would blow lightly on her face to make her wrinkle up her nose or squirm a little bit.  You know.  Just to make sure she was still actually alive.

Roy looked like he wanted to take her home.  He said, "Ell, can we get one of these?"  He was joking around.  But... I have a feeling this experience has opened up a whole new can of worms.

Since the Teitjens had rushed off to the hospital in such a hurry, they sent Kenny and I to their apartment with they keys to grab some things they'll need for staying at the hospital for two nights.  Why not Roy?  Because my hubby gets really sleepy.  He went home to go to sleep. 

When Kenny and I returned to the hospital we had to be checked in by security, because of the late hour.  The silver-haired man behind the desk asked for my first name.  And, of course, he gave me a weird look when I told him.  -_-  He asked, "Really?"  Haha!

Baby was with Carson getting her shots and getting checked out.  When we went back upstairs to where Shellena was staying, Andrea was there.  She'd had to work late and so had missed seeing the baby.  Until they brought her back in, of course.  If Roy and I were excited to see the baby, Andrea was ecstatic. 

Which is understandable, because this baby is adorable.

The next morning, after seeing off my sister-in-laws, Andrea and I returned to Carson and Shellena's house.  There were a few more afterthoughts we volunteered to pick up for them.  Like the car seat.  They need a car seat in their car now!  So weird.

We took advantage of having access to their house and car :-)

Welcome to the world, Story!