It Happens Every Time...

when I see you! It happens every time when I think of you. It happens every time, ooh it's magic when we meet baby down on Dream Street.

Okay enough reminiscing about one of my favorite childhood songs by Dream Street. On to the point of this post:

It happens every time--When I actually decide to be proactive and do my homework at work, I either discover that it requires a program our work computers are unfortunately not equipped with, or I don't know how to do it.

Like today.

At least this semester anyways.

I am in Sociology 307 and I HATE it!!! I spend way more time on the 5-point assignments than I do the 100-point assignments. Seriously. I spend 2+ hours on the 5-pointers and only like an hour on the 100-pointers. AND we have a 5-pointer due almost every class period. This class is set up horribly.

Enough complaining, we will now explore other aspects of the happenings in the Life of Lisa.

We are 1/3 of the way through the semester. Hallelujah. I actually might not die before I am able to get married.
Wedding plans are...coming along.
Dan and I are having our engagements shot on Saturday. Saturday, when the high is supposed to be in the 50s and there is a 30% chance of rain. As much as I love rain, I am sincerely hoping the skies are able to keep their tear ducts/salavary glands/what-have-you shut on Saturday.
I am lucky enough to be having 3 bridal showers. I am very grateful for the people who want to throw them for me. I am also very nervous about the gifts I may be getting...heh.
My dear little brother is in Canada now! (And has been for about 2 weeks, I'm behind.) And he is loving it! Look at how cute he is.






He's a real live missionary with a name tag. So crazy and so wonderful.





The end.

Negative + Negative = Positive

Today at work I accidentally discovered that if you take two two-word phrases that mean the same positive thing and accidentally mix them up, it's two negatives.

I was talking to a lady on the phone and she thanked me. I got tongue-tied and mixed "you're welcome" with "no problem."

This is what I ended up saying to her: "You're problem. Err, no welcome."

I sounded like a total scrooge. Haha.

Important Events Call for a Long Post.

There are 35 pictures in this post.

Many things have happened recently. I thought about doing separate blog posts for each of the events I plan to document but am too lazy to do so, so I will separate, entertain, and explain as best I can.


The Family

My family came up here to P-town in July and we had our family photos taken. Our last family photos before Travis went on his mission!!! I love my family sooo much. Here are a few of my favorites.


My parents are so cute. I love this laughing one.




The ones of my parents and me are in black and white because my hair looks disheveled and fly-away because I changed outfits. The black and white kinda hides the fly-aways. :]



I LOVE THIS ONE. Travis is the best Little Brother in the whole universe!


And then I couldn't decide which of these three to post....so you get all of them.




Isn't my family the best!? :]


The Romance

So you remember my last post? And the hint I picked up on? Here's the story:

Dan went home to Arizona with me last week. On Wednesday, August 24, Dan, Travis, and my parents went to the temple to do some sealings. Dan and I had plans to go on a date that night. When they all got back and I was getting ready, I asked my mom if Dan was going to propose that night. She looked completely bewildered and said she had no clue (liar).

So Dan and I made our way to the scrumptious restaurant Macaroni Grill. They have butcher paper on top of the tablecloths that you can draw on, and so we did.

Then we started a rambunctious game of hangman (okay, it wasn't that rambunctious...). I did the word "asparagus," which if any of you know me well you'll know that has been one of my favorite words since I was 14. Don't ask why because I don't know. In fact, it was written in window paint on the front window of our house for years. Anyways, Dan guessed "a" and then immediately got the rest of it. Boo.

Then it was Dan's turn. I guessed "e" and several other letters that were wrong (as you can see by my half-hung man). I was convinced it wasn't a real word, then when he assured me it was real that I didn't know the word, and then when he assured me I did know the word that it wasn't common. But then I realized what it was.

Hmmm. After dinner, Dan suggested going to walk around the temple. I love the Mesa temple. However, there is this random cactus garden off to the side that is not the prettiest thing, and that is where my dad proposed to my mom. I always thought that was a mixture of hilarious and horrifying and told my parents to never let my husband propose to me there. In a cactus garden, really!?!?

So we began walking around. We stopped to read a plaque and I laid my head on Dan's shoulder. And oh boy his heart was RACING! LOUD! And I said to him, "Hey Danner, your heart is beating really loud right now." And he said, "Oh....it is? That's..weird..." He's so cute haha.

We continued our stroll around the temple and to my horror we turned onto the path of the cactus garden. The whole time I was thinking, "Oh my gosh. Not the cactus garden. Is he going to propose to me in the cactus garden!?" But then all of a sudden I realized I didn't care. I thought it would be cool to be proposed to in the same spot my parents got engaged. But we did not stop there, were made a loop around the cactus garden and continued.

After a few minutes we went and sat down on a bench. I could tell he was so nervous. We started talking and Dan told me that he wanted me to be his best friend for eternity then got down on one knee and asked if I would marry him. I said of course!

After the sealing session that Dan and my family did, they went up to the Celestial Room. While they were there, Dan asked their permission (including Travis's) to marry me and they all said yes. We're going to be sealed in the Mesa temple on December 27, 2011. This is a special day because this is also the day I was sealed to my parents in 1989! I'm pretty excited and I couldn't have a better FIANCE! :]

(And so, Kaela, it really is time for that nice linen paper. For those of you who wish to know more, please refer to Kaela's comment in this post.)


The Mission

MY LITTLE BROTHER IS GONE!!!!! He reported to the MTC here in Provo, Utah yesterday. He will be there for three weeks and then be off to Calgary Canada to serve the people there! My heart hurts a little to think that he is about a 5 minute walk down the street from me right now (I am at work, just south of the MTC) but that I can't see him. I am so proud of him and I miss him SO much. Travis was really nervous in the morning, though he'd never admit to it. I could tell though. And I don't blame him! But I know he is really excited too. I just hope he is doing well and adjusting well. Keep him in your prayers! :]

Before we dropped him off, we took some pictures across the street. Here they are in all of their glory.

Goofiness doesn't die when you become a missionary :]

Then we took him to the MTC. Curb drop-off. Ripping the band aid off rather than sitting with the departing missionaries through an orientation and (what I've heard is) a tear-jerking movie. I think it's better this way, they whisk the missionaries away before you have time to start crying (though I did shed a few tears as we drove away). Here is Elder Boatman talking with the three host missionaries who helped him with his luggage.

And here is Elder Boatman entering into the Lord's service. This is the last time I will see him for 2 years. He will miss my wedding and I will miss him terribly, but I KNOW that this is the perfect thing to be doing right now so I am happy. In honor of my family's love for The Office, and more specifically quotes from The Office: "Just like that, as mysteriously as he arrived, he was gone."

I love him so much!!!!


That completes the events I feel necessary to document.

For your viewing pleasure, here are some photos Dan and I took on my computer. We were having a difficult time getting a good picture of our faces and the ring. But I love them all.

Daniel.

So this kid I'm dating, Dan, is quite the character. Here are a few reasons I love him so much!

He dresses up like an Indian (err...excuse me...a Native American) with Ashley and me to go crash a cowboy poker night down the hall. (Mind you, this is after he insists that Ashley and I sit in a triangle with him on the kitchen floor around a large bowl of beans and find our inner-chi. Don't worry, there was a lot of chanting involved.)

Even though he gets on my case (just like my mother) about smiling in pictures, he totally makes as many goofy faces as I do.

HIS EYES! They are so pretty AND they are two different colors. :]

He is so cute. Just look at this picture. I look a little wretched but I love Dan's face.

And finally I love him just because he is so fun and easy to be around. I am never bored around him and I am totally comfortable with him.

Of course there are a ton of other reasons why I love him but those are just a few.

Funny story. I love how hilarious Dan is when he doesn't try to be. Here it is:

I wear a CTR ring on my right ring finger. Tonight Dan and I were over at Ashley's and Dan was playing around with my ring, trying to get it off my finger. I have a habit of peeing 30 times a day (not really but it feels like it), and right before the 27th pee break Dan insisted that it come off my finger. So I give him the ring and go to the bathroom. I come back in the room and he is sticking the ring on all of his fingers, with what I can tell is a great effort to make it look very nonchalant and nothing out of the ordinary even though it's a bit obvious he is paying very special attention to where my ring seems to fit his fingers the best.

Oh Daniel. I know what you're really doing. ;]

Gotta Share This One.

So I know I don't look particularly lovely in this photo, but I love it. Dan's cousin captured it while we were all up at their grandma's dry farm. (I went with Dan to his family reunion in Idaho Falls this last weekend.)

:]

Poll.

I want to get as many opinions as possible. So if I don't know you, feel free to comment. If you are a blog stalker (though I doubt I have any...), feel free to comment. And, of course, if you are a friend, feel free to comment. This is just for fun.
(And for those of you who always mix the names up like I did before I was an ice cream server, the one on the left is a sugar cone and the one on the right is a cake cone.)

Harry Potter

The Era of Harry Potter is quickly drawing to a close. I (as well as most of you) literally grew up with Harry Potter. We were always the same age. Every year or two we'd get a new book and/or movie. And now, the final movie is coming out....Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part Two.

Rest assured I have already purchased my tickets to the midnight showing.

I had a goal to reread the Harry Potter series before the last movie came out. Mistake: I didn't start reading them til....like May or something. Then school started. Needless to say, I'm only about 1/4 of the way through the fourth book. I was totally stressing out and had Ashley bring her seventh book to me so I could just skip the rest and read it before the last movie came out.

Today at work, I finally opened the book and was overwhelmed with stress. I was skipping 2 3/4 books, and I was going to have to find time to read this 759-page book in a week, while staying on top of my school work, while having my family here (YAY!). Do you see my dilemma?

As I opened the book, I expressed my concern and stress to Ashley (probably for the twelfth time). And she said: "Lisa. You are crazy. You're acting like you're going to fail something if you don't read this book. I don't know why you're doing this, you don't HAVE to have it read before the movie. And besides, if you read it right before the movie, the movie may dissapoint you."

That was a big slap in the head! Sometimes I get into these mindsets of how something HAS to work that I don't consider other and more viable possibilities. So, I gave her back the seventh book and am continuing the fourth.

Anyways, I just want to express my love for the Harry Potter series. Love expressed.

On a somewhat related note, Ashley introduced me to this funny website.... Dear Blank Please Blank. I caution you some of the things posted are not up to par with good standards. However, there is a lot of hilarious stuff too. To keep with the Harry Potter theme, here are a few samples of my favorites:

Dear Cedric Diggory,
Vampires don't sparkle. 20 points from Hufflepuff!
Sincerely, Snape

Dear Rebecca,
You are a disgrace to the family name.
Sincerely, Sirius.

Dear Edward,
This is why you were in Hufflepuff.
Sincerely, The Sorting Hat

Dear Jacob Black,
I noticed you drive a motorcycle and turn into a huge dog. How original.
Sincerely, Sirius Black.

Dear dad,
Please stop, this game of 'got your nose' has gone on far too long.
Sincerely, Voldemort.

and my favorite:

Dear Twilight fans,
Let's do some math! Harry Potter > Voldemort. Voldemort > Cedric Diggory. Cedric Diggory = Edward Cullen. Therefore, Harry Potter > Edward Cullen.
Sincerely, suck on that.


Love, Lisa