Ms. Groban, school, and disease

I have been more than absent from posting in the last few weeks, so I'll try to update and/or give excuses to why there have been no words from Liz.

-3 weeks ago I went to my hair stylist and bravely said, "I want my hair cut short and colored blond". She awarded my bravery with: "Well, we only have you down for a haircut, and we close at five, so...." What the ellipses don't tell you is that it's apparently impossible to color short hair in 2 hours (Annie can prove this wrong) so I settled on a haircut and a promise that a glaze would make my hair look amazing. I like shorter hair, but it's not short enough, and when I wear

it curly, it looks a lil like:



And while I enjoy the new fame this hairstyle has awarded me, I'm not done with you, Nagem*.

-I have finished my first class at the University of Phoenix in Michigan. I'm happy to say that I earned a good grade, know more about addiction, and can now say I have made it through a powerpoint presentation with repeated words, spelling errors, and a slide used on a different presentation without too much embarrassment. Although this was never a worry with Hollie and Stacie, I have learned I shouldn't assume everyone can spell/use words correctly. I feel it is important to point out I was not in charge of this powerpoint, but was clever enough to work in the twice-used slide without anyone noticing (I think).

-After several weeks of research, typing, and inner turmoil, Nate finished his some 25 page "brief". I join Nate in questioning the logic of calling the assignment brief, but he worked really hard, went a bit crazy, and is glad it is finished. To celebrate his and his fellow classmates’ accomplishment, we all went to an Indian restaurant that could drive Royal India out of its place next to a gamer shop in a Sandy strip mall. The food was good, the company was entertaining, and some present proved that living around 30 + years on the earth doesn't mean one can't be considered obnoxious...sorry fellow diners...it wasn't me.

-The past week, I have fallen to a cold that has probably been chasing me for the last couple of months. My boss isn't really in to letting people stay home when ill, so the healthy ones get to enjoy guessing who will fall prey next. This week it was me and another co-worker. I still went to work, hoping to be able to leave early if the other girl showed up. She didn't. Two days into my cold, my boss came over to me and gave me two Airbourne tablets as if that would take away what I was suffering from. For those who are unfamiliar, Airbourne is great, but they are also only preventative...so when offered the tablets, I was both insulted and amused. By Friday, 3 days into the cold, I planned to show up to work, but leave early no matter what; I needed a nap, and it was my turn. Early in the day, it was set up that I could leave at 2pm. 3 and 1/2 hours early...lucky! As I was leaving, my boss was getting ready to go to Costco to get "MORE OF THOSE LYSOL WIPES TO CLEAN IT UP IN HERE". He also asked the other girl who is sick if she thought we could leave the windows open over the weekend (it's currently a Level II snowstorm) to "air out all the disease". I can appreciate one not wanting to get sick, but leprosy isn't currently a problem (right?), and a cold doesn't = disease. Let me stay home and you'll save on Lysol, I promise.


*Name has been changed

Saturday is a special day

A few weeks ago, during one of our bi-weekly visits to Costco, Nate and I picked up a flier for "Healthy Heart Day!" We signed up for a free blood pressure and cholesterol test for this Saturday at 11:00am. I think we were actually on time for something, but unfortunately I don't know how much it mattered (I will still reference this event if I'm ever accused of being chronically late). We sat down with the two nurses and while they were taking my blood sample, a very heavy older man strolled by with his shopping cart "What are you guys doing?" he says; Nurse: "Free cholesterol screening" Old man: (rolling his eyes and turning quickly away) "Humph". He acted as if he didn't move fast enough one of the nurses would check that cholesterol whether he liked it or not. I started giggling, so I put my head down. My nurse, complete with a knife-stabbing-a-heart-named-Chuck tattoo on her arm, asked me if I was okay. All throughout this time, Nate, being his chatty self, was attempting to get some/any feedback on his test results...Nate: "so what is a good ratio for LDL?" Nurses: (I can't say I remember any response). Nate tried a few times with no luck, so I decided to be an expert and review the results. Once we were done, we walked over to ask the pharmacist if he could recommend anything to assist Nate and his triglycerides..."um, you could buy some supplements here, but they won't really do anything, so you should just get a prescription". Unsure whether that was an endorsement for doctors, prescriptions, or Costco products, we took a stroll through the supplement aisle. So it was lunchtime, we were at Costco, and Nate's triglycerides are high...Nate says..."Hotdogs for lunch?"

I heart Detriot

I am excited to report that I am officially a student once again! And while my commute is about 6-7 times longer than my last jaunts to school, it still feels worth it. My first day was a couple of Mondays ago; I was excited because in order to make it to the Detroit campus on time, I need to leave work by 4:30pm. The hour of freedom is quickly eaten up by driving with not so courteous Michiganites and the ridiculous truckers that are constantly passing through. The first week, I did not yet have my new cd player installed, so I spent this time talking to...myself. Not the entire time of course, just when: 1-I got off on the wrong exit and guessed which on-ramp would be the best choice, 2-when I drove past the University of Phoenix building 4+ times without realizing it, and then 3-again when I finally spotted the enormous lettering I should have noticed through the black sky and rain. I made my way up to the student resource center, looking for a monitor to tell me what classroom I should head to. They don't have monitors, and I was ill-prepared with information, so I asked the woman at the desk which classroom addictions and dependency was in. Her reply: "do you have the class number?" Liz: "no, I don't." Woman: "do you have the instructor's name?" Liz: "no, I actually don't have that either." Woman: (more as a statement than question) "so you don't know nuthin." Liz: "right". Anyway, I soon figured out I was in fact in the wrong building. Something about my plight and sudden cussing made this woman want to be my friend, so she nicely explained how to get to the correct building... I got to my class about 15-20 minutes late and discovered that for the next six weeks, I will not only learn about addiction, I will experience life as a minority in the classroom. For the next few hours, we went over scenarios of clients who all had almost impressive combinations of plights, e.g., bipolar, formerly used cocaine, now on methadone and still drinks, just found out partner died of aids, has been arrested for fighting with police officers, may or may not have an std they haven't checked out yet...I was too embarrassed to participate in the role playing, so I sat back, ate my peanut butter and honey, and thought about my long drive home.

What I learned this week

This is what I get to see on the way to work. I'm glad we got that issue cleared up...I wonder why my ward doesn't have a marquee?

"I'm Barry Gibb!!"

I was let off early from work on Friday, so Nate and I decided to take advantage of our free afternoon/evening. We went to Chipotle for an early dinner. It was good, but I got a bit nervous: when I asked for a chicken burrito, I was told that everyone gets the chicken burrito. I respond, "well, it's the safe choice". Chipotle worker: "Safe? That's messed up." So...is it messed up because my statement was inaccurate??
From there we moved on to the Franklin Park mall...for the record, if anyone is bored and in Toledo (synonymous? of course not), this mall is a great spot for free entertainment. Our original goal was to pick up Nate's suit that was being altered. Before that happened, we decided to walk around and see if there was anything else to find...and yes there was. Our first stop:
-While I was checking out the sale racks/boxes at Express, we heard a handful of girls discussing (read: yelling) something that had just happened, I thought they said something about dinner, but I couldn't tell. The slightly effeminate Express worker proceeded to imitate and make fun of them, which helped make the purchase less painful.
-As we walked out of Express, we were directed by police officers to walk on the other side of the mall. Nate was telling a story that I ignored-I looked over and saw a bunch of food and plastic hair extensions strewn all over the place. We kept walking, I kept staring, and we saw more cops talking to some innocent looking teenagers, complete with a girl yelling into her phone about her night at the mall. She and the Express crowd could've been sisters, so I wondered if the two groups had split into 1-Express clothes 2-food and hair.
-We went to Aldo to see if there were any fun shoes...Nate quickly bored of this activity and decided to "hide" behind a display to do a karate kick and yell "I'm Barry Gibb!!" He didn't realize, but one of the employees had moved, thereby getting a full view of Nate's talent. I couldn't even tell if Nate was embarrassed, but I didn't think it was the time to ask for a size 8 1/2, so we left.

Christmas Vacation

What we normally came back to in our bed at Tom's house

Feeding the ducks at Murray Park

Trevor-every kid should be this excited for clothes

Jackson being "held" by Sadi

Nate and Amos reading

Me and Vince-Ethan somehow is grossed out by us.

Trying out some wedding cake

Me, Jackie and Jenn

At Jim's house...I'm glad Mom decided to smile...

Highlights of Christmas trip back to Utah:

-waiting 4 hours total extra on the runway before our planes were able to take off

-checking out Jim's new juicer...yes it does juice potatoes

-seeing Vince in his tiny baby phase

-lots of Christmas snow, very little need to drive in it

-finding out that Nate has put a Buick LeSabre on the dream car list

-going to Temple Square, which included several sightings of BYU hats/scarves, along with an overheard joke about the Urim and Thumim (can't get that in Toledo, folks)

-being asked several times why we are living in Toledo...one quote "ya, I turned down a job there just cause I really didn't want to live there" (didn't/don't know this person).

-seeing lots of family and at least some friends!

Tagged Again

A-Attached or single? Very attached
B-Best friend? Ruth, Lynds, Alisha, more than I'm not thinking of. I remember in 5th-6th grade making a list of my best friends; like ranking them....was I alone?
C-Cake or pie? YES
D-Day of choice? Saturday is my fav
E-Essential item? flat iron, good smelling lotion
F-Favorite Color? purple and green
G-Gummy bears or gummy worms? worms, bears...I'll take them both
H-Hometown? Sandy, Utah
I-Favorite indulgence? dumb pop girl music, brownies
J-January or July? My birthday is January 14th :)
K-Kids? nope
L-Life isn't complete without? Nathan (AW) and a good book
M-Marriage date? 12/5/2006 (we just tasted our wedding cake for our anniversary and it was pretty darn good)
N-Number of brothers and sisters? including marriages: 7 brothers (Jim, Steve, Tom, Matt, Aaron, Ben, Woody) 8 sisters (Ruth, Alisha, Michelle, Stacey, Bonnie, Jenn, Jessica, Jackie)
O-Oranges and Apples? Clementines are easy to peel, Fuji apples (green apples if in a salad)
P-Pet Peeves-talk radio (I know it's informative, it still makes me crazy) and having to repeat something I've said (even though I mumble)
Q-Quote? "I've never seen that. I've never seen anybody drive their garbage down to the street and bang the hell out of it with a stick. I..I've never seen that." (The Burbs)

R-Reason to smile? Nathan (aw again), good family, good friends...to many reasons to list.

S-Season? Fall-it's pretty no matter where you live
T-Tag 3 friends. Ruth (like you are busy), Lyndsay (cause you like being tagged), Alisha (like you are busy)
U-unknown fact? My life is an open book. I haven't told (most) everyone that I'm going back to school starting Jan 28th!
V-Favorite Veggie? If V-8 Splash counts, that's #1, then snow peas.
W-Worst habit? um, take your pick.
X-X-ray or ultrasound? I've had an x-ray before, so I'll have to go with that.
Y-Your Favorite food? Zatarain's black beans and rice, cereal, Costco pizza.
Z-Zodiac? Capricorn