The Pain!

So I am the worst procrastinator! I am just reaching my finals week...it just sneaked up this year, yeah and I have two papers due...in, um I don't know, like 17 hours. I have one almost complete, the other one well let's not talk about that one right now. I have some Dr. Pepper to try to get me through the night, (By the way I haven't had a Dr. Pepper or a Caffeinated beverage in many moons! I was doing so well, but desperate times calls for desperate measures!) but I needed a little break and I wanted to share my experience in hopes that you will all learn something from it.

When I finish these papers I also have a bunch of Statistics homework to catch up on, then my finals begin Tuesday! I have a final Tuesday at 1pm, Thursday at 3pm, and Saturday at 10am!

For those of you who are not in school I hope you are enjoying your spare time and I hope you feel sympathy for me...and for all of you who are currently going through this same hell as me I understand your pain!

Craft Fair

One of my favorite family traditions is the day after Thanksgiving all the girls go to the Spanish Fork Craft fair at the Fair Grounds. For many years I would go for just one reason...the doughnuts. The picture above is a picture of me in front of the doughnut guys. They are so delicious. We mostly used the craft fair to get ideas, we very seldom bought anything (except the doughnuts). So now that I've moved away that is the one thing I really miss about this week. Yet my boss, Dixi came to my rescue last year and invited me to the big craft fair in Anchorage...so we have now a two year tradition going. I went this Saturday with her and Anchorage has a very unique craft fair.

(I want to know where you can buy these pants)

These were my favorite! Fur is really big in Alaska, but I've never seen mittens this big!! They were very warm and covered almost my whole arm.
It was a great start to the Holidays! I found some really delicious chocolates and a cute ear warmer/headband thing.

This week I have work, half a week of school, Adult Volleyball competition at our church, Thanksgiving with some friends in our ward...and back to work on Black Friday!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Lunch Date

Kendo's Thai Food, Downtown Anchorage, AK

I just had lunch with Jed. I picked him up at his work and he took me here! This little dumpy gross trailer, called Kendo's. However, it was delicious Thai food.

It was so nice to get away from the office, get out into the little bit of sunlight that we get.

Thanks babe for lunch, I love you!

Only in Alaska

So last week Jed's boss got attacked by a bear. It was pretty intense...the bear charged just after he killed a deer. He got torn up pretty bad but nothing critical. He broke some ribs, tore a big gash in his leg and it bit his butt. The bear was shot several times before it finally died. Crazy huh?!

Only in Alaska!

Below is a link to an article with his story in more detail.

http://alaskadispatch.com/dispatches/news/7403-alaska-bear-attack-a-shot-too-late?showall=1

Birthday, SAD and Food Poisoning

I celebrated my birthday this week. I had a really great birthday! My co-workers decorated my desk at work and gave me a gift card to iTunes, plus we had a delicious cake. After work, Jed came home with some sweet gifts! He spoiled me this year. He gave me a magnified makeup mirror, which i've been very excited about. Plus, a table for my sewing machine, and a glue gun. One of my favorites gifts was a S.A.D. Light (a seasonal affective disorder light). It smaller than the picture below...but the picture made me laugh.
I look just like the woman when I sit in front of my light. I thought about taking it to work...but it is incredibly bright. But hopefully it will help the long winters in Anchorage.

Jed and I then went to one of my favorite little restaurants, Lucky Wish Bone, for a delicious swiss and bacon hamburger and onion rings. Then we went to see the movie below...which was cute, but predictable. The rest of the week went okay. It is getting colder here and I didn't wear my Uggs on Tuesday and thought I was going to get frost bite on my toes. I finally decided to go buy these boots I've been looking at since early this summer. I took advantage of the money my mom and dad sent me for my birthday to get these super cute, and warm (up to -40 degrees) boots.

My week ended with what we suspect as food poisoning. We think it is from some questionable spaghetti sauce we found in our fridge. Jed warned me and I told him it was fine. I missed work Friday and I'm missing class today still with horrible stomach cramps.

How Great Shall Be Your Joy

Today is a lazy Sunday. It is snowing out side...you can't really see it in the picture above, but we are just hanging out and enjoying our fire place.


I have something to share with you. Since I moved away from Utah, I have really missed all my friends. It took me a while to make friends here in Alaska and most of my friends are also my co-workers. A little while ago I was particularly missing my good friends who are also members of the LDS faith. I missed having someone to talk to about spiritual things and who understood and respected my faith. Well, I prayed that I could find a friend in my ward or someone who was a member of the church to be friends with...But it seems the Lord can answer your prayers in ways that you are not expecting. He answered my prayer, in a way I really wasn't expecting.

I have a good friend (who I'll refer to as J) who started asking me questions about my religion about 10 months ago. She was going through a rough time and I volunteered Jed to give her a blessing. Which she accepted. We shared some things about the church and gave her a Book of Mormon. I didn't hear any other questions or bring up the church for a long time...It wasn't until I started praying a couple weeks ago that my friend J told me she was reading the Book of Mormon. I was really excited to hear that she was reading and that she had questions. She asked me more questions and we talked for a long time. I felt horrible when I didn't pick up on her hints about wanting to come to church with me. She first asked where the church was, then she asked what time it started, what people wore to church...and finally I caught on and asked her if she wanted to come with us on Sunday. So now J has been to church twice and we had the missionaries teach her the first lesson at our place. It is incredible to hear her talk about the things she is learning. She is very interested and wants to continue coming to church, and hearing the missionaries lessons. It is an amazing experience for me to help answer questions. And now I have a friend who is learning about the church and who wants to asks me questions about spiritual things, and who is learning more about my faith. I know He answers our prayers!

Halloween 2010: Jones' style!

It is Halloween Weekend! We had a really great time getting our costumes together and going to our church's Trunk-or-Treat! It was a lot of fun. Jed Dressed up as a hillbilly/redneck, I went as Woodsy the Owl "Give a Hoot, Don't Pollute". We gave out a lot of candy and had fun talking to some people in our ward.

Other updates:
* I got an A on my statistics mid-term and got B's on my other two mid-terms! School is half way done!
* A friend came to church with me today and is coming to our house Tuesday night to hear the missionaries lessons.
* We are having dinner tonight with a family in the ward who seem very cool...they like to bike and are really outdoorsy....my friend who came to church is also coming!
* That is pretty much the update...but I think the first bullet point would explain why there is nothing else to report. I am studying a lot!

just a weekly update

So another week has gone by. It seems that I haven't accomplished much except for homework this week. I think I left a load of clothes in the washer that will have to be washed again. I even made Jed go do the grocery shopping.
I have two mid-terms this week. I am experiencing my first 400 level college exam and it shouldnt be a surprise that studying for this exam is kicking my butt. I also have my statistics Mid-term, but luckily I have a good study buddy and we spend hours every Wednesday night so I feel like I am doing much much better this go round...Just don't ask me WHY we use any of the formulas...I just know how to plug in the info.

It's super cold already...it's been in the 20-30's all week. But no snow! It's supposed to snow tomorrow. I really wish I would have already put my studded tires on my car!

October 9th, One Year!

Jed and I had our first wedding anniversary! October 09th. So, being the first big anniversary, we had to celebrate doing something different than the normal dinner and movie. So we spent the night at the Alyeska hotel. It was fantastic, complete with white robes, slippers and fancy rooms. On the way out to Girdwood we chased the Bore Tide, it was great! Since I've only seen it one other time. It was a pretty good tide also...we tried to get pictures but since we both forgot the camera we only had cellphone cameras. But it was really beautiful! This is Jed literally chasing the bore tide...he ran down the trail to see if we could get a better view.

If you look really closely and if you were there you would be able to see the tide in this photo...but good luck! Just think of it as a beautiful scene.

I surprised Jed by having someone I found on Craigslist make a cake...to traditionally celebrate our first anniversary! It was delicious. I hid it in the car, then sneaked out and had the front desk delivery it! It was a great surprise!

My 180th semi-annual General Conference Weekend

I had a really great and spiritual weekend! Saturday was busy because both Jed and I have classes, so we weren't able to listen to a lot of conference. I did get to listen to some of Saturday Afternoon session while I was busy cleaning my house and making cinamin rolls.

To make things better we had the missionaries for dinner. They came right after the priesthood session. We made them a huge breakfast/dinner...with tons of pancakes, eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and Cinamin rolls for desert. The last few times we've fed the missionaries we have underestimated the amount of food they are capable of eating...so this time we were prepared, it felt like we were feeding an army! But after all was said and done there was not much left! I think we have found our secret weapon to satisfy missionaries appetites! They were a lot of fun also! We found out that our next door neighbor...or the neighbor on the other side of our wall is also LDS, but just semi active. It was great to have the missionaries in our home and to feel the spirit.

Sunday was a great, we watched conference at home with our laptop plugged into our TV. We stayed in our pajamas all day and we make a delicious roast in the crockpot! I love general conference.

So next Saturday is our one year anniversary!! It's gone by fast huh?

My Five Seconds of Fame

Where do I start?

Last night I got the phone call telling me where I needed to go for my big scene. They also sent an email of instructions, including please bring your own wardrobe, have clean, dry hair with no product in it...and three shades of lipstick. So Jed and I went on an adventure to our local thrift store I tried on several outfits and finally found a great navy blue pant suit with a light pink button up shirt!

I had to arrive at 10:30am and I immediately saw a bunch of big Universal Studios trucks and after getting checked in I was sent straight to wardrobe. I was the only one out of the group who's wardrobe they approved of, infant they loved it. My hair was already awesome because I did as they said and didn't put hair product in it...it was big and really frizzy. After getting my wardrobe approved (well, after adding black stockings, and giant gold earrings), I went to the main trailer for hair. I was there for a while, just chatting away, asking questions, and saying things about all the big movie stars...I realized that the person doing my hair was trying to keep me turned a certain direction, which made me suspiceious and THEN I realized that there was some one famous in the trailer also getting their hair done just two chairs down from me. It only took me a second of listening carefully to know it was Kristen Bell...but I still asked "Oh my gosh! Is that Kristen Bell?!?" Then I realized by my tone that I could get out of control. I was too nervous to say anything to her. She started talking about how strange it was to see cooler with dutch tape coming around on the baggage carousal, until she realized that people were shipping fish and meat...I really wanted to tell her that wasn't the case, that really Alaska is just that cheap and really that redneck that we use Igloo Coolers for luggage! I finished my hair and they quickly rushed me out. No introductions, no autographs, no pictures you will just have to believe my word.Vinessa Shaw also came into the trailer and seemed very nice and cute...but I've never heard of her or recognize any movie that she's been in...but I feel it is note worthy!

Once we were all dressed with hair and makeup done they took us to an upstairs room in this dirty warehouse and told us we couldn't talk more than a whisper, we couldn't leave the room and they would call us shortly. Hours went by, I met some very nice people. My favorite was Célia an older woman from Brazil, I started to speak to her in portuguese and we talked the entire time. Come to find out she didn't really speak English and didn't know really what was going on. Once I started translating her personality really came out and she was a lot of fun, for everyone!

We sat around for many hours and then around 3pm finally they let us eat lunch. We were in a big open area of the warehouse...like a garage...but the food was really good. While we were sitting there we were all talking and I told them that I was in the trailer with Kristen Bell...I said "I am sure we won't be seeing any big names down here! I am sure they get to eat in the fancy part of the warehouse." Then the kid sitting across from me said "Isn't that Kristen Bell sitting right behind us?" So we all watched for a minute and sure enough it WAS! So as she walked by I said "We love you Kristen!" and she stopped for a second and was smiled and said "Thank you". We spent the rest of lunch trying to come up with ways to embellish the moment. It finally ended that Stacy (one of the ladies I met) and I would be having lunch tomorrow with Kristen, and the kid across the table got her number and had high hopes of getting a date.

We were then shuffled quietly back to the "Holding Pen" and waited for another hour before they led us down to the white house set. We all just sat there, we weren't supposed to show a lot of energy. We practiced about 5 times, then they shot the scene another, I don't know 10 times maybe. President Reagan came into the conference room and spoke a few lines. He was very fun and charming. His line apparently ended mid sentence so he finished his line differently each time...blaming the problems with the soviet union on the democrats, the republicans and my favorite was he went off on Nancy. The actor playing Reagan had a problem with fidgetting with his hands and the director Ken Kwapis (Director of the Office) didn't like it, so we had to re-shoot a bunch of times. We all walked away very certain that it was such a small scene that they are definitely going to cut it from the movie. So I have no pictures, no proof and I am sure if they need to cut any scenes it will be Reagan and the White House scene!

But it was fun! I got to practice my Portuguese and meet some fun people. Plus I saw Kristen Bell and Vinessa Shaw (who ever that is), and Ken Kwapis! I still hope to see Ted Danson and Drew Barrymore walking the streets of Anchorage!

4.9 Earthquake

Today we had an earthquake. A 4.9...it was the strongest I have experienced yet. My co-worker started to get nervous when it didn't quit right away, so she hurried and got under her desk. We just laughed and it quickly stopped...no harm done.

Then Jed and I texted each other at the exact same time "Did you feel that?!"

I'm serious!

I was serious when I said I was going to start Pilloos and Such!

Here is my new link Pilloosandsuch.blogspot.com.

I am hoping I can get more things on my new blog soon! I am just trying to get the word out about Pilloos and Such. I hope all my Alaska friends see this link!

But on a different note. I am doing well, I am busy with school and I am very excited for my upcoming role in "Everybody Loves Whales"---it's not really a role, I am going to be an extra I will probably just stand in the back of the room.

Hello Hollywood...Is That You Calling?

This morning I received this email...basically from Hollywood!

Hello Sarah,
We thank you for auditioning for “Everybody Loves Whales.” This film
is about the grey whales caught in the ice near Barrow in 1988, their rescue and
the local, national and international press frenzy surrounding it all.
Yesterday, the film’s director, Ken Kwapis made his selections for the “White
House Scene” he hopes will be available to work on the film, if you’re receiving
this email, then you are part of that selected group.

Though cast
as extras, you will be seen and be an integral part of this film. Days
will typically be 12 hours, pay at minimum wage rates – roughly about 119.00 per
day with a warm meal half way through each day. You have been selected as a
White House Press member. This scene is scheduled to shoot on FRIDAY,
SEPTEMBER 24th in Anchorage.

I am really excited to be an extra. I think it is great that they are paying me $119.00 AND a hot meal. I was also thrilled to see that I would be going to the white house (*wink*) I've never been to Washington. I am not sure if I will be seeing or working with Drew Barrymore...I still don't know what her role is in the movie. So I may have some interesting stories ahead!

Pilloos & Such

I have felt an urge to be crafty lately! Perhaps my creative side has been neglected by all the intellectual studying I'm doing. Whatever it is I am having a lot of fun. I have come up with a lot of creative ideas and how I can possibly use it to hopefully make some extra cash...since I work for a non-profit agency I'm not exactly rolling in the dough. So this is my tiny business proposition and if you have any ideas for me let me know! It all started when I saw a really cute throw pillow at Target that was $30! Outrageaous!! Since when do we need to get a small business loan to buy some throw pillows? So I made my own! Then I thought, I bet I could make a bunch of throw pillows and sell them to my co-workers and to my friends! So then I came up with the name "Pilloos & Such", because I don't want to limit myself to just pillows. I was born with crafty genes and with some help with ideas maybe I could make enough to cover my expenses. Who knows maybe I could do the saturday market, christmas craft fairs...and eventually sell my product world wide! Well maybe that is too much but I'd be interested in hearing what you think!

I recovered this pillow that was in my office and gave it a little make over! This is Just the beginning of Pilloos & Such

Casting Call

Today I left work early, Jed and I went to the Dimond Center Mall for a casting call for the film "Everybody Loves Whales"...so not only will the Willies be famous, we will be a big famous family!!

(Jed was trying to be inconspicuous and just took a really blurry photo)

First Aid Certified

Yesterday while I was driving home from work I saw a girl get hit by a truck. I was kind of stuck in traffic and on the on coming traffic I saw an older Ford truck slam on his brake right before nailing this girl, neither of them were going very fast, the girl rolled to the ground but then didn't get up. The guy driving the truck got out really quickly and had his cell phone out. I debated pulling over because there was so much traffic but I hurried and pulled into a car wash parking area and grabbed my blood borne pathogens kit they gave me at work, (which I always keep in my glove box) and ran across the street. I was the first to respond! Well besides the kid that hit her and he was on the phone to 911... Plus I was CPR & First Aid certified. She was unconscious but breathing...and smelled very strongly of alcohol. Just seconds after I got there her friend was there and said she was drunk and had asthma...but this time there is tons of traffic, and out of no where this lady on the opposing side is yelling out her window that she has an inhaler! with her arm waving out of the window with an inhaler. That made me laugh, because she was breathing okay she was just unconscious! The police arrived in less than 2 minutes and I didn't actually see what happened so they didn't need me any longer.

I've never come onto an accident like that, and luckily it wasn't worse. Ironically I have my First Aid training scheduled for Monday morning...that sure would have been nice LAST Monday. I think I did okay but she wasn't in too bad of shape! When I left I had adrenaline pumping through me so fast, I was totally excited that I actually stopped and got to help. I called Jed to tell him I was running late because I was a hero and totally saved someone's live!

Almost Famous!

I can't keep a secret! Jed was hoping to keep it a secret and then surprise everyone! But it's legitimate, they are filming "Everybody Loves Whales" Starring Drew Barrymore here in Anchorage. They are considering using the Willy's in the film...it's going to be FAMOUS!!! Maybe Drew Barrymore will drive it? Or John Krasinski (Jim from the Office) is also starring in the film!! It's so exciting!! I am going to try to audition to be an extra and maybe we will both be famous!

A New Semester

Tonight I semi-enjoyed my last evening without homework. Tomorrow is my first day of my Fall Semester. I am registered for Statistics (again), Demography, and Social Theory. I am only a few semesters from graduating, well to be more specific about 3...so I am getting to the more intensive courses, the ones where they actually expect you to know something about Sociology. I have a feeling this semester is going to be very crazy! It already started today. In order for me to continue working 40 hours a week I have to flex my hours around my school schedule. That means that I have to work late a few nights, go in super early other mornings and hope that nothing else comes up. It is really difficult to continue working when even the janitors are leaving for the evening, but hopefully I will have more work to do soon and if not I can sneak in some study time after everyone's gone.

One thing I am excited about it having Jed back! He flies in on Wednesday...this little break has been the longest we've been apart since we got married. It is strange not to have him around. I'm not to the point in our marriage that I enjoy the 'time apart'...as some have suggested.

So come this week I am starting my 40 hours plus 9 credit school schedule...Farewell friends!

Saturday

I spent another weekend cleaning my apartment! I think the vinegar is starting to work, but I also read the coffee grinds help absorb the smell. I have about 20 nylons full of coffee grinds hanging around. I washed the windows, put baking soda on the carpets. Have any of you ever moved into a place that had a chain smoker living there? I guess I got my mom's hyper-sensitive sense of smell because it drives me crazy!

But in addition to washing walls I hit some garage sales this morning and also I went with my co-worker to the Saturday's market...while at one of the garage sales I got some really cool plants! They are kind of crazy but maybe they will help freshen things up! I think I am going to call them Oscar & Jerry...let's see if I can keep them alive during the winter when there is no sunlight!

Above: Oscar

Below: Jerry

Office Space

I feel just like Milton from the Office Space!

"And I said, I don't care if they lay me off either, because I told, I told Dixi that if they move my desk one more time, then, then I'm, I'm quitting, I'm going to quit. And, and I told Barb too, because they've moved my desk four times already this year, and I used to be over by the window, and I could see the Moose, and they were merry, but then, they switched from the Swingline to the Boston stapler, but I kept my Swingline stapler because it didn't bind up as much, and I kept the staples for the Swingline stapler and it's not okay because if they take my stapler then I'll set the building on fire..."

My new desk! It's smaller...further away from a window and I now share an office with two other ladies.

But I got to bring my stapler with me!

From Fairbanks to Anchorage

I finally finished my mini-mester at University of Fairbanks...well kind of I have one more paper to submit by tomorrow. But Jed and I decided to go to the Tanana Fair before we started packing!
The fair is awesome, it is small, but it has some really good food! We only had time for, corn on the cob that had been completely submersed in butter, deep fried chip-on-a-stick, Denali Creme puffs with a gallon of rich chocolate syrup on top, deep fried elephant ears, lemonade with vanilla. It was delicious!

I really love Fairbanks! It was a beautiful summer, warm and sunny all summer long!
But alas! Summer must end.
Jed and I moved into our dive of an apartment Thursday evening. We arrived to find that the carpet had not been fully installed...and that they only decided to replace the front room, not the bedrooms carpet. Also, they only painted where they had patched holes, with white paint over a creamy tan color...it looks great!
So needless to say it didn't help the smokey smell one bit! This is our fabulous kitchen...with bright orange counter tops.
(note the color in comparison to the fire extinguisher)

This is my favorite part the big windows...also because I can open the window and the smokey smell kind of passes for a minute.


We found an awesome couch at a clearance center and Jed recruited his co-worker to help move it up the stairs (3 flights of awkward stairs)

We were both really tired after moving everything in...but Jed had to turn around and drive back to Fairbanks!

Our summer fling ended!

Jed won't be back until school starts, about a week and a half...then he'll be back almost every 'weekend'.

I start working again tomorrow and I have walls to wash to see if the smoke smell will go away.