The best way to spread Christmas cheer is by singing loud for all to hear.

Sunday was our one-year anniversary. To celebrate, yesterday we went out to Applebee's for dinner.

Jacob ordered a salad. I ordered a steak.

It made me giggle.

Baby, it's cold outside

In case you were wondering how I'm feeling at this exact moment in time, allow me to inform you:

I'm ridiculously giddy with anticipation.

Anticipation for what? Christmas? Seeing all of the nieces and nephews and siblings-in-law in a few days? Well, yes, that too.

But in just two short hours is the FOURTH GRADE CHRISTMAS PARTY!

And I'm surprising all of "my" former students just by showing up.

I can hardly wait!

Just sayin'

If first trimester morning sickness is anything like having the stomach flu for an extended period of time, I'm not sure I ever want to bear children.

Countdown

At this moment in time, I am:

1 day away from completing student teaching
2 days away from seeing the lights on Temple Square (it'll be Jacob's first time!)
3 days away from giving a talk in Sacrament meeting
8 days away from attending "my" fourth graders' Christmas party
10 days away from our one-year anniversary
13 days away from driving down to Arizona for Christmas
16 days away from Christmas.

Bring on the Christmas cheer!

He knows when you're awake

Thanksgiving was still enjoyable, despite my parents and Emily being unable to come up to Utah. We went to my Aunt Barbara's house and enjoyed spending the day with our relatives.

Heather double-dog-dared Dustin to make a snow angel:

Crazy kid. Check out the snow in his ears.

On Black Friday, Jacob stayed up until 7:30 in the morning shopping. I? I am not a shopper. I went to Walmart with him at midnight and was grumpy the whole time. Thus, he did not require me to go to the other stores with him. He pretty much took care of all of his Christmas presents -- makes shopping easy for me!

Among his purchases, he bought our very first Christmas tree:

No, I kid! This is what it really looks like:



Please note the plethora of presents wrapped in the same plaid wrapping paper. Remember that time I was banished to the computer room for THREE hours? Jacob did some of his shopping for me at DI and bought over half of those presents for a grand total of $16. What can I say? The man knows how to stretch a dollar. Although why he chose to use only one kind of wrapping paper when I clearly bought two varieties to add some diversity to our tree, I do not know.

Also, while we were at DI, I found the cutest Halloween decoration I just couldn't pass up:

Really, have you ever seen a cuter Frankenstein?

And while we're on the topic of decorations, here's the crowning jewel. It just isn't Christmas until Santa adorns the toilet seat.

Why yes, I did just post a picture of our toilet. When Jacob saw this lovely little addition, he asked, "Will it stay clean?" I told him, "If you pee on it I will CUT you."

And for good measure, here are some pictures of us (old pictures -- as in from before the move -- but pictures nonetheless), just in case you've forgotten what we look like.



Few things bring me greater joy than seeing him wear an apron. I had to cajole him into wearing it at first, but these days he'll put it on of his own accord to do the dishes. Precious.



We always crush our graham crackers on the floor. It's tradition.





The goose is getting fat

Jacob just asked where the packing tape is.

He's wrapping Christmas presents.

Should I be concerned?

EDIT: He just asked if we have "a lot of rubber bands." What is this man trying to do?

Bah humbag.

Dear Blizzard of 2010:

You were heralded as the winter storm that "will far surpass anything that we've seen, probably for the last several years." We were prepared for gushing winds and torrents of snow. Teachers were crossing their fingers for a snow day at our school, and BYU campus even shut down just in case.

When you finally rolled around our town, you dusted the ground with three to four inches of lightly falling snow -- less snow than Mother Nature dumped on us Saturday night.

The Great Blizzard of 2010 was underwhelming, to say the least.

But apparently you were still fierce enough in other parts of the country to make driving conditions hazardous enough to cause my family to cancel their trip up to Utah for Thanksgiving.

And for that, I shake my fist at you. You stink.

Love Strongly Dislike,
Jennifer

See how they run

Horror of horrors! The pink eye is spreading! By which I mean Jacob, of course, is still uninfected (his immune system must be stronger than mine -- maybe because he actually takes his vitamins), but my other eye has fallen prey to the itchiness, pinkness, and, erm, other unpleasant aspects of pink eye. (Think: crusties)

Every cloud has its silver lining, though. Four day weekend, anyone?

I couldn't resist adding a photo. Because I'm gross like that. Please note the swollen eyelid. And this is why I'm staying home from school -- otherwise, I might scare the small children.

You put the lime in the coconut

I'm trying to like first grade. I really am. But it's hard when I've been infested with millions of first grade germs.

Two weeks ago from tomorrow, I came home from school with a bit of a sore throat. Mere hours later, I was racked with chills and barely had enough energy to crawl from the couch to the bedroom. (Yes, there was crawling involved. Ask Jacob.) The next day, I spent approximately 18 hours asleep or in bed, and consumed nothing but orange juice, a small bowl of soup, a roll, and a Frosty.

The flu struck, and it struck hard.

I managed to recover well enough to go back to school on Monday, and that week I was fine.

About two days ago, I started coming down with a cold. And yesterday, I was hit with the mother of all first grade illnesses -- pink eye. I didn't realize it until after school what it probably was, and when I showed up to school this morning I was sent home with explicit orders to see a doctor.

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said, "No more monkeys jumping on the bed!" And by that I mean he said I do indeed have conjunctivitis and that I'll be highly contagious for the next 24 hours.

Rock on.

I need more thunderbolts!

Today I may or may not have very nearly said "Yes it is, girl," to one of my male first grade students. Thankfully, I caught myself before it slipped out. Because somehow I don't think he would've taken it quite as well as the other men in my life (read: Jacob and occasionally my brother-in-law Dustin) do.

"I have a craving for Halloween candy. Why, oh why did we finish it all off yesterday?"

For those of you who may not be aware, I'm in the midst of student teaching. I spent the first half of the semester in a fourth grade class. Fourth grade was good to me. I could joke around with the students, the students still looked up to me (two of them cried when I left), and the students were able to do a wide range of things independently.

Now, I'm in a first grade class.

I don't want to sound like a whiner-pants, but man, I miss fourth grade.

Sure, the first graders are adorable. That's one of the things they have going for them. I have nieces in first grade that I adore, so it's not necessarily the kids that are the problem.

The problem lies in these factors:

-Half of the students don't know how to tie their own shoes.

-The runny noses.

-The student artwork that ends up dripping great gobs of glue.

-We sing the same five songs Every. Single. Day. While repetition is a good thing, and I'm sure it's great for the kids, I have a harder time appreciating the songs when they're stuck in my head at night so I can't fall asleep.

-The students are not allowed to sharpen their own pencils. As such, the teacher and I spend about 345,602 minutes a day sharpening pencils for the students. I'm becoming quite the professional pencil sharpener.


Oh, the pencil sharpening! This gives me the most grief of all.

Now, in an attempt to be more positive about this experience, here are the things I've enjoyed about first grade:

-The read alouds. I won't lie, I pretty much captivate those kids when I read to them. I like to think it's because of my great use of expression.

-The students, for the most part, are eager to please. And most of them have a positive attitude about schoolwork still.

-The hugs.

-The students rockin' out, singing and dancing along to a song that was playing before an assembly today.

So I suppose first grade isn't so bad. But you better believe I'm visiting my fourth graders during their Christmas party in December.

"When we're rich and have our own house, can we have heated toilet seats?'

For those of you who are not aware, it has already begun snowing in Utah. Just last night good ol' Mother Nature dumped five to six inches on us. Apparently Mother Nature is not aware that it is still October.

But I digress.

The changing of the weather indicates several things:

1) I suddenly feel the urge to listen to Christmas music (although, to be honest, I've been listening to it the last couple of weeks).

2) I start wearing beanies -- and, on occasion, my Eeyore slippers -- to bed.

3) I drink hot chocolate like there's no tomorrow. And not just any hot chocolate -- Stephen's Gourmet Hot Chocolate.

Back in the day when Heather and I were roommates, we had a hot chocolate collection unrivaled by anyone in the ward. Here's a picture for proof:

Impressive, no?

Well, once Heather and I stopped living together, we had to divide up the hot chocolate collection, which was definitely a tragedy. And since that day, my collection has been dwindling.

Jacob said he won't let me buy more hot chocolate until I exhaust my current supply. I take that as permission to drink a minimum of one cup a day.

The other day, while glancing at the label of one of those cans, I noticed that Stephen's had a website. Being the fan that I am, I perused it to see what new flavors they had.

Horror of horrors! When I clicked on the "Shopping" button, I noticed that they didn't stock Orange Creme anymore -- which was by and far their most delicious variety. Why, oh why, did the company commit such an atrocity?

My faith was shaken. Until I saw that Orange Creme was, in fact, in stock -- and listed in the Clearance section.

Happy day!

Houston, we have a problem.

Apparently I wasn't thinking straight when I planned my grocery list a week and a half ago (yes, we only go every two weeks. Otherwise life would be bleak. For me, at least.), because I intended to make a lovely tater tot casserole for dinner tonight. Okay, maybe it isn't that lovely. It isn't much more than ground meat, cream of mushroom soup, and tater tots dumped into a casserole dish, but it is easy, which is definitely one of its perks.

And somehow, here I am, tater tot-less.

Do you think Jacob would eat it if I served straight ground turkey for dinner tonight? (Actually, don't answer that. He'd probably drown it in ketchup and then eat it, but what would I eat?)

Looks like cold cereal and/or waffles for dinner tonight. Again.

Update: I just might be able to whip together some tostadas or burritos or something. Lucky for me, I had a can of refried beans on hand . . . :)

For those of you who love a man in uniform . . .

This is what Jacob wears to the Police Academy every Monday and Wednesday. Strapping, no?

I like to think there are a lot of possibilities with this outfit. Just yesterday, we went to our public library to pick up a DVD that Jacob had on hold. Much to our (and the librarian's) dismay, somebody had stolen the DVD from the shelves. I told Jacob that he should just stand by the exit or the hold shelves in this uniform for an hour after class every day to deter potential thieves.

He didn't seemed terribly thrilled with the idea.

I also told him he could pretend to be a cop in an unmarked vehicle and sit at the side of the road and watch for speeders.

For some reason, he didn't like that idea either. Something about being "illegal" or such. 



And then, there's always the possibility of coming to my elementary school to speak to the students about "Stranger Danger" or something like that. Never mind the fact that he isn't an actual police officer yet. The kids don't need to know that.

A disclaimer of sorts

Lest you think the title of this blog is ridiculously cheesy (and I know it can be taken that way), it's in reference to this fabulous song:



Jacob and I have engaged in many a dance party to this song. And yes, I know it well enough that without even watching the video, I can tell him "this is the part where she dances with Moses with the ribbon! This is where they get married!" and so on and so forth.

Embrace it.

"Dang wishbones. They never work!" -- Jacob

It's no secret that I'm a very jumpy person. It's also no secret that scary movies and I do not make a good combination. Years ago, I watched The Grudge with some of my friends in high school and I screamed like a little girl for the entire duration of the last ten minutes of the movie.

So I wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of watching it again when Jacob proposed the idea over a year ago, before we were engaged. Nevertheless, he is a persistant fella, so I finally agreed, provided he signed a little contract before we started the movie.

We found the contract today while we were cleaning up our apartment in an attempt to cut down on how many boxes we have stashed in our second bedroom. And now, for your reading pleasure, I present to you the official contract:

"I, Jennifer Sudweeks, consent to watching The Grudge if and only if the following terms, conditions, and restrictions are met:

"1. Jacob is not allowed to make any sudden movements, send Jennifer any texts, or make the creepy throat noise during the movie.

"2. Jacob is not allowed to mock Jennifer for any screaming or other whanny actions she does during the movie.

"3. If Jennifer deems it necessary, a guard shall be posted outside the bathroom when she showers to ensure that no creepy Japanese children enter the bathroom.

"Jacob, the undersigned, agrees to comply with these terms and conditions under penalty of never again having the opportunity of watching a creepy movie with Jennifer."

And then I had both of us sign it at the bottom.

Teehee.

Just because Jacob says we need a "joint blog"

Oh hey. Jacob and I have been married for nine months now, and despite the fact that I have my own blog on another site, Jacob was insistent that we get a blog for the both of us. You know, something for us to post pictures on and such.

Well, I haven't posted on my other blog in two months, and we haven't even taken most of the pictures off our camera since getting married, so we'll see if we ever update this thing. But I suppose miracles happen.

I also suppose that a fitting first post for our joint blog would be something about our "story." And since I haven't committed that to writing for the whole world to see as of yet, here goes:

Once upon a time, in July of 2009 to be precise, there was a girl named Jennifer who was living with some fabulous roommates in Provo.




(Yes, I realize that the last picture is from freshman year. But look at the hotness of Cari's eyebrows and our flattering facial expressions.)

Now, Jennifer was not expecting to find love anytime soon, despite one of her coworker's attempts to send her on flirting missions. Said missions included inviting an apartment of guys over for cookies and talking to three guys at ward prayer and things like that, but they didn't result in anything promising.

At the same time, there was a strapping man heading up to Utah for a mission reunion.
As it just so happens, this young man (hereafter referred to as "Jacob") needed a place to stay while in Utah. So he hit up one of his old mission buddies and arranged to sleep on the couch at his apartment complex.

Lo and behold, that was the very complex that Jennifer was living at!

It just so happens that Jennifer and her friend decided to throw a game night after ward prayer while Jacob was in town. They invited several apartments -- including the one where Jacob was staying. Jacob, who had decided early on that he was going to check out the BYU girls to see if they were really all that, figured he'd attend and see if there were any potential prospects.

Jacob strode into the apartment and Jennifer had a few thoughts run through her mind, not necessarily in this order: "He's really tall." "Is he new in the ward? I don't recognize him." And "He's really cute."

Throughout the game night, Jennifer and Jacob engaged in "lingering eye contact" and a bit of light flirting (nothing too over-the-top, though, as there were a good eight or nine other people there).

After they parted ways, Jennifer immediately went online to try to stalk Jacob on facebook. Unsuccessfully. She didn't know his last name, and when she tried to find him through a mutual friend, the profile pictures were all so small! Good news for her, though -- Jacob stalked her on facebook as well.

Friend requests were accepted, and the two chatted online for awhile. Finally, Jennifer had to retire to bed, as she worked custodial at BYU in the mornings, but she gave him her phone number and suggested they hang out during the week. Impressed by her boldness, Jacob agreed. And so the two made plans to hang out after she got off work the next day.

Well, Jennifer just had butterflies that whole night and had a hard time sleeping, because here was this very handsome guy expressing interest in her! What exciting news!

Jacob came over to her apartment Monday afternoon, and after he agreed to participate in a Disney sing-along, she decided that he was a pretty good guy. After that, they spent almost every free moment together.

They went to the temple:
They went hiking:

And then went on a tour of BYU campus and attempted to find an animatronic figure of Brigham Young like she'd heard rumors of, but they were unsuccessful.

And at the end of the week, Jacob had to go back home to Arizona. Jennifer was sad, but they decided to keep dating over the phone and see what happened.

After a few weeks of phone dating, Jennifer booked some plane tickets to visit Jacob in Arizona. She met his family, including his adorable nieces and nephews, and thought they were a pretty sweet bunch of people. She also thought that Arizona was ridiculously hot, but it wasn't so bad in Flagstaff, where they rode a ski lift:


Another month went by, and then the two decided to fly to California so Jacob could meet her family. And to, you know, ask a very important question to her father.

Despite claims that he was going to wait until at least October to pop the question, the day after talking to her father, Jacob surprised Jennifer by taking her sky diving! Jennifer suspected something was going on, but didn't want to spoil the moment, so she didn't say anything. Sure enough, after she had both feet firmly planted on earth again, Jacob got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. And of course, she said yes.

And so the two made preparations to get married in December after finals and before Christmas. They saw each other twice more before the wedding -- once in Utah when Jacob came up to celebrate Jennifer's birthday, and once in Arizona when Jennifer went down for Thanksgiving. But by the time they tied the knot, they had only seen each other in person for a total of about three weeks!

The wedding was beautiful, and everything ran smoothly. And now Jacob and Jennifer are together forever.
Life still has its ups and downs, but they're enjoying the ride . . . together. ::cue the cheesy music::

(Not) the end.

If you had been driving -- or even if you had been walking or riding your bike -- around my neighborhood this evening, you might have seen me jogging down the street in shorts and a sweatshirt, sweat dripping down my face.

But Jennifer, you might ask, if you were so sweaty, why didn't you just take off your sweatshirt?

That, my friends, is an excellent question.

The answer is this: Somewhere between taking off my regular shirt to change into my workout clothes and putting on a sweatshirt to protect me from the initial outside chill, I forgot to put on another shirt. And I didn't find this out until I was already several minutes into my run, and I clearly didn't want to throw off my groove by running home and putting on some proper attire, so the sweatshirt stayed.

Whoopsie.

"Look! Erosion!" -- Griffin

Me, sitting in bed with my laptop, notebook, box of Kleenex, and a small container of Mentholatum, which in this case means "ointment you rub under your nose to help clear up the ol' congested nasal passages": coughs weakly and, as it so happens, fakely. "Do you want to get me some ice cream for my poor, ailing throat?

Jacob: "No."

I go back to my homework and Jacob leaves the bedroom. After a few minutes, I decide to stop being lazy and get my ice cream myself. Jacob is standing in the kitchen with a carton of ice cream and a package of waffle cones.

Jacob: "It's supposed to be a surprise!"

I cover my eyes and quickly tiptoe back to the bedroom. (Why I tiptoed, I do not know.) Jacob enters a few moments later, with an ice cream cone that he presents to me with great flourish.
Me: "Oh! I'm so surprised!"

And that's why he's (to steal a phrase from Heather) the best in the west.
P.S. I wrote almost that entire entry one-handed, as I was holding an ice cream cone in the other hand. It was tricky.

"I don't think saying 'toesies' makes you sound manly in ANY context."

Today, as I was walking home from school, I was suddenly afflicted with a case of the hiccups. If you know me at all, this is not unusual.

Eight minutes later, I was still hiccuping. "Self," I thought to myself, "if you keep this up for long enough, you might break a world record!"

My hiccups stopped immediately. Go figure.

Have a caffeine-free weekend.

Once upon a time, I had a roommate we'll call Miscilla. (Hi, Miscilla!)  When she got ready in the morning, she would sometimes leave her pants unzipped until the last possible moment.

And let's be honest, my friends, I judged.

But these days, I've come to embrace her ways. Buttoning and zipping up pants just seems so burdensome these days. And buckling the belt? Good heavens! Who do you think I am, Wonder Woman?

Maybe I'll properly fasten my pants before Jacob and I go out tonight. Or promptly after they fall down. Whichever comes first.

EDIT: Um, I just realized that this entry makes it sounds like I'm pregnant. Which I most definitely am NOT. So don't get any funny ideas.