Celebration of Womb Emancipation Days!

It is a season of festivities around this time of year. Yours truly is the second of ten children, and we like to blob up together in our birthdays. We have three birthdays in September, and four in October. Now, thanks, to Andrew, we have four in September as well. (This isn't counting extended family, which would hike up the numbers in a lovingly wonderful way.) 

The Septembers

DADDY

This fine fellow pictured below is mine Daddy. He's a wonderful man. He taught me how to work and how to love knowledge and music. Thanks to him, I love the smell of construction sites, especially halogen lights. Those things are the best ever!

"You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose." 

"It's Operator Malfunction."

"LA LA LAAAAAAA LA LA LAAAAA!"

                                                                    

   KARSTEN

A strapping lad of ten years, this boy is an absolute Beast. Isn't he adorable? He'll turn into a Prince, that's for sure. He makes touchdowns and interceptions and tackles and baskets and passes and all sorts of sporty things. He's also got a great smile, and a tender heart. 

"Come and det it, wadies!"

 "AHHHHHHHHHH!"

"I have a food baby." 

ME

Yup, I'm in this month. Actually, that day when I fell over and died with Francis on my head was the day after my birthday. You'll recognize my picture by now. (In case you didn't know, I'm the girl in the white dress in all of these pictures.)

ANDREW

This fine specimen of a man is old today! But that's alright, because I love him dearly still. He's a good man. He's smart, loves music and dancing, laughing and playing, and learning and discovering. He also fixes all the technology I break. 

"Cake."  

"IT'S SCIENCE!"  

"NOW YOU KNOW!"

The Octobers

                                 KEKKA the MELON

What a talker! And what a baker! Did you know that my favorite cake recipe comes from this girl? She likes to watch cool tv shows with me, like Martin the Warrior. She reads more books than are in existence, and she orbits in the back yard.

"Be gentle! You'll break the melon!"

"Carried!"

"I forgot to put the eggs in..."

SPUD

Now, Spud is just about as Studly as you can get. He's strong, stubborn, sweet, and loves cute things. He draws really neat pictures of Kiwis. He's probably one of the best brothers in the whole world, and I look up to him, both literally and figuratively. 

"I'm going to rule the world." 

"Isn't it so cute?!" 

"CLENCH! YOUR! ...."

DUKE

Duke will make you fall on the floor, gasping with all of your might for one sweet breath of air- but you don't get it because you're laughing too hard. He loves his Mama, and shows it by bossing her around and/or making "your mom" jokes with me (but only when Mom is right there). His favorite color is sunshine yellow.

"My mommy wants me to go home now."

 "YOUR Mom's...!"

"Mom, stop." 

BUGHEERA

A little trickster and trouble maker in the guise of an angel, that's what she is! And I couldn't love her more. She's a miser, but has a generous heart when she sets her mind to it. She doesn't use original words if she doesn't have to, and she doesn't have to very often because she can quote every Disney (and several other) movie in the entire world. Talk about unoriginal originality!

"HEY BUDDY!" 

"Eat your applesauce."  

"My dog...is dead."

Those are our birthdays for these two months. A very joyous time of festivities for the lot of you. We little children here at school love you all from afar, and send our love, hugs, and a small box of assorted cookies your way.

Feet VS. Shoes

In case you children were wondering, I probably should listen to Andrew more often. I got these really cute shoes a while ago, and I hadn't broken them in before school started. So I wore them to class. The backs of my feet fell off, so I didn't wear them again very soon. But on Thursday night, National Instruments (NI) was giving an info session (with free food!) and directly afterwards, we were going to a choir concert. 

DRESS UP TIME!!!!

After picking out my outfit and putting on my makeup, I felt ready to face the room full of engineers. And to listen to the strains of melodious melodies and harmonies. I think that it had something to do with the fact that I opened my mouth so widely to put my mascara on. I just inhaled some good vibes or something.

Against Andrew's express wishes and goodly advice, I slipped my dainty little foot into my darling little flats, and marched out the door towards a fantastic evening. 

We drove up to the Wilk, and parked there. Then we went and had free food from NI, and listened to the nice people talk. I remembered some of the guys from when they took us out to Tucanos a while back (in February). All of the recruiters came up and talked about how great it is to work at NI, and how amazing that company is. The great thing about it is that NI really IS a great company! That's where Andy did his internship this past summer, and he LOVED it. 

After the info session, we were walking to the HFAC to go to the concert. I noticed that my feet were a LEEEEEEETLE bit tender, but I didn't want to say anything to Andrew. I didn't want him to be right. So I suffered in silence with the knowledge that my feet were going to be very sore by the end of the night. I refused to take off my shoes or to show any sign of discomfort. As Mad-Eye Moody said, 

That doesn't really apply here, but it's a good quote all the same.

We went to the choir concert, where there was a lot of pretty music that Andy and I both loved and enjoyed very much. We're both music lovers, but we've been so busy lately that we haven't been able to enjoy much musicaling. But the Men's Chorus is a wonderfully fun group to listen to and to watch! How fun! The Concert Choir sang one of my favorite songs "Pilgrim's Hymn" by Stephen Paulus. The song sounds like this:

While we were there, we saw two really interesting things. One was a dude in the front row of the Men's Chorus. He liked to sway back and forth <------------> in a that-way-wardly kind of motion. The other was a little old lady who had donned one of her finest outfits especially for this auspicious occasion. 

Isn't she adorable? I think she is. We enjoyed her outfit as much as we enjoyed the fine music that was swarming about us like a fine scent hangs in the breeze in a flower garden in the sunshine.

On the way to the car after the concert, I had to start slowing down a little because of my feet. Andrew gave me a "look." I confessed that I might maybe kinda sorta have an itsy bitsy teeny weeny merest inkling of the formation of the idea of pain... But I refused help, sped up, and got to the car. And then we were... home. It had arrived. The moment of truth. Andrew and I walked in the door (I actually kinda lurched in just behind him). He looked at me. ............ I looked at him............. He looked at me. ........... Then I walked over to our closet to take off my shoes in peace. It didn't work. 

He and I had different opinions of the state on my lowerest limb.

What I said they felt like. 

 

*Note: ^Above image: A downright dirty lie, if there ever was one done told by an old mama bear sitting on a cactus in the rain forest!

What Andrew said they were like.

This was a gross exaggeration from a man who is very sweet, very loving, and very good at taking care of his wife, but no understanding of the proper ways to train a shoe. "Train a shoe while she is young, and when she has grown old, she will not depart from it!"

What they were actually like doesn't really match either of the above:

So... he was right. He's actually right a whole lot of the time. He's kinda a smart dude like that. 

That concludes the epic battle between foot and shoe. I lost this battle, but I feel like I've gained serious ground in the war of breaking in a new pair of flats. However, it was not without noticeable effect. Between my sore feet and still being a little sick, I was not wholly present while attempting to walk to classes today. There was much stumbling about, nearly falling over, and other general confusion. My teacher commented that he didn't notice much difference from any other day. I'm not sure how to take that comment.

But now Andy and I are home. It's been a long week, but it's nearly over. We both have tests and other nonsense tomorrow. Ptewie! AND it's Andy's birthday, too. Tomorrow or Sunday, I shall tell you all good news that can't be put up with this post, because it's entirely too random. Carry on, sweet children, and sleep sweet.

What Happens When Tashya Gets Sick and Hallucinates

So today has been an interesting day. It all started out... this morning... when Andrew and I woke up. Actually, what happened is the alarm went off twenty times, and I didn't want to get up. I felt funny. Only it wasn't that ----------> kind of funny. It was a differently strange kind of funny (see below). But I got up (very late) anyway, and got ready to go to school.

I had a group presentation to give today in my ENG 373 Literature of the Enlightenment, 1643-17something or other class. I figured that I should look somewhat presentable so I put on SOME makeup, and put on what appeared to be clothing, and walked out the door with Andrew. I managed to do all this while my head was doing strange things.

MWF means four classes for me, and all of them literature classes, one of them in a different language. I got through my French class. I didn't succeed, though, that's for sure. The best part was when my teacher asked me a question, and I told him that sometimes life is too easy, and we're all bored, and the stupid nobility have it all. Except for I didn't say that, it didn't answer his question, and it had nothing to do with the poem we were reading.

So I continued on my merry way on to my next three classes, all while having peculiar feelings in mine noggin.

Those magical stars are actually me wondering what was going on around me.

I don't remember much about my Rhetoric class. Sadly. Strangely. I know we talked about criminal shows.

 In my Gothic literature class, I asked my teacher if there was a musical of Frankenstein. He said there may be. I'm going to look that up. Unfortunately for my image with the teacher, we were not talking about plays, musicals, or Frankenstein at that point. I asked it out of nowhere. But in my mind, it did connect somehow. It was like a really big connect-the-dot that only made sense to me. I could see the dots AND the numbers. Everyone else had to rely on my vague actions, mystical arm movements, and disjointed speech patterns. Communication was not very successful.

What I thought was happening.

What was actually happening.

This is what happens when I haven't
gotten enough attention from Andrew
in a while. I go "PAY ATTENTION TO ME!"
He thinks it's cute. Ask him.

By the time I gave the group presentation, which was in my last class at 1:00, I was all sorts of strange and tired and weird. My head had been pounding all day, and I was experiencing a strange disconnect with anything outside of my immediate past three seconds of consciousness. I don't remember much of the group thing. The teacher liked it, despite technical difficulties. Yay! After class, I went up the tall stairs of death, and waited for Andy to get out of class. Then we went over to the Fletcher building so he could finish some computer lab of intelligentness. I was waiting for him NOT in the lab, AWAY from technology. It's generally safer for the both myself and the computers if we aren't in too close of proximity. 

While I was downstairs, I couldn't help but notice that the world was getting stranger. And that I was shrinking in height, and growing in width. And that my hair was getting greasy and falling out.

Everything was out of shape. My hair started looking like a Gollum reenactment. Objects started acting like Salvador Dali had come to town. My stomach started making really strange rocking/sloshing/I dislike you greatly-movements/feelings/complaints. Desperate for aid, I called Andy down to me. He was the bestest husband alive. He packed up his stuff, and carried my backpack, and half carried me, all the way home. Once home, I did the only thing that I could under the circumstances.

I fell on the bed, put my teddy bear Francis on my head, and promptly passed out for about 2 hours. During that time period, I was having strange dreams about Enya songs, and my missing husband (who was in the next room, not actually missing). When I woke up... I was hungry. Andrew and I had Frosted Flakes for dinner. My stomach decided that that was enough sugar before I was full, so Andy made me soup. I really must say that Andrew gets 18.75 out of 10 Awesome Husband Points for the day. What a sweetheart. I love that guy. 

Andrew finished his lab, and he's smart. I like to tell him he's the SMARTEST ME ON CAMPUS! That doesn't mean he's the smartest *Tashya* at BYU, but the most intelligent Mechanical Engineering student attending BYU at this time.

And now, instead of doing homework, I did all of this nonsense. My head didn't want to think. Depending on how things are working in the morning, I might stay home. Too much Dali or Monet, and I'll stay abed. If it's closer to Caravaggio, I suppose that's good enough and I'll be out and about. I'm going to tell Andy that he's really awesome some more, and then go to bed. And pray that my tummy doesn't dislike me in the morn. And that my hair stops looking like Gollum. "There's no point in living if I can't be beautiful!" Ah, gotta love the Chelson quotes.

And we'll just dive right in, shall we?

Hola!

Don't let that opening fool you. Neither of us speak that language. Andy speaks Brazilian, though, and I can blurble French and am also highly fluent in Franglish.
The world is smiling upon us, the happy couple, this fine day. We have been married for ONE WHOLE MONTH today! Is that not exciting? I find it to be so. In honor of the occasion, Randy (ones of Andy's nicknames used nearly exclusively by yours truly) got me some fresh pineapple. ALSO I received some little chocolatey morsels of happiness in the form of Lindt Truffles. White chocolate with cream cheese filling is my favorite. What pure delight does flow from that seemingly inconsequential little thing! *sigh* What happiness is mine because of a loving husband. What? What did I get HIM? Oh, I'm so awesome. I got him a little parachute man to throw off the tops of buildings and such. I like to encourage him in his pursuits of knowledge. He likes aerodynamics. His life dream (after marrying a princess) is to become a mad scientist and work with all sorts of air rockets and other cool explosive things. I am helping to steer him in the direction of saving the lives of the valiant individuals who attempt to fly his creations. We're a good match.

This past Tuesday (a week ago minus a day), we finally got a real bed. We've been sleeping on a twin sized air mattress these past few weeks... and... Well, real beds are amazingly stupendously fantabulous. Yipee! The air mattress was useful as we have been moving into our new apartment. When we needed floor space to unpack, we'd just lean the bed right up against the wall and VOILA! Space. Can't really do that with a big bed. Well, you probably could, but it wouldn't be very easy. 

On Friday night we watched a movie for my Rhetoric class. It's called Sunset Boulevard, and it's amazingly creepily intense. I don't know if I've ever seen any acting that was quite that good. The plot was very tense, but it was so well done, and the music was riveting and haunting! I don't know if I'd ever watch it again, but it was amazing. Andy said the same thing. It was on campus and we got to watch it in the library theater from the old school film reels. This wasn't a DVD up there projecting, it was the OLD stuff! It was a really neat experience to see that. We even got to watch the first installment of the adventures of Copperhead and the Mysterious Dr. Satan! Now that was one trippy little show. It's a serial from back in the days. A serial is something like Pixar's shorts nowadays. You know when you go watch a Pixar movie in theaters and they have those cute little animated things before the show? Apparently, back in the day they used to play a serial, a newsreel, and the feature picture. Neat stuff. 

Erm, other happenings? We got our wedding pictures this week. That's terribly exciting, isn't it? Now we can share moments from our special day with everyone! And, most importantly, we'll get to look at them all we want!... Well, that's actually false since we have so much homework all the time. I'm taking 17 credits of senior level English classes, and Andrew is in his Capstone project this year. We have a lot to do, and we're usually on campus from about 8:00 am to about 4:00 pm or so. Give or take a few hours depending on the day and how many group projects that we have going on.

Andrew is a pretty wonderful guy. When I'm really busy with homework (five too many hours of reading material), he'll help wash the dishes, or play with my hair (one of my favoritest things ever!), or just help lighten my stressed nerves. He's amazing, and I'm one lucky girl. 

Well, that's it for this time, folks! We're off to do more homework, a group meeting, family night, and dinner! 
Ciao!

PS. We don't speak Italian either.