BEST OF 2007: movies

disclaimer... we got married, bridget started a new job, and brad is a semester away from graduating so we didn't see our normal amount of movies this year, if we left something awesome off it's because we didn't see it. But give us recommendations and we'll try and catch up!

best action movie
transformers, live free or die hard

best drama
dan in real life

best comedy movie
blades of glory

best chick flick movie
waitress

best PG and under movie
august rush

best harry potter movie
harry potter 5


biggest suprise
enchanted, oceans 13

best movie they finally edited and aired on tbs
old school, love actually

movie bridget really wants to see
juno


best rented movie
little manhattan (actually came out in 2006)


biggest dissapointment
pirates 3

looking forward to in 2008
star trek (brad), mamma mia (could be awesome, could be horrid), dark knight, james bond, harry potter, twilight

BEST OF 2007: television

to commemorate this fine year I think we all need a look back at it's wonderfulness and not so wonderfulness... in the style of everything vh1 we will do this in a series of lists & countdowns, get ready!

(disclaimer: this is the opinion of brad & bridget, we encourage disagreements, outrage and plenty of witty remarks letting us know how wrong we are)

best show
The Office

best new show
Burn Notice

honorable mention
Big Bang Theory, Reaper

best show I missed the first time then caught up via dvd
Heroes

honorable mention
How I Met Your Mother

guilty pleasure
The Hills

honorable mention
Gossip Girl, So Think You Think You Can Dance

best educational show
Planet Earth

best show in syndication
Law and Order (I'm pretty sure we've seen every episode twice)

show that jumped the shark
24 (sorry jack I guess I now take your world saving abilities for granted, can’t help it)

show that almost jumped the shark
Grey’s Anatomy (when Izzy started doing CPR on a deer, are you kidding me?)

worst thing that happened to television
the writers strike

UIC

Woo hoo! We just got word that Brad was accepted to the University of Illinois at Chicago! We are thrilled! We won't make any decisions right away but at least Dental School is a reality, he really will be going to school next year, to at least UIC. It feels good to finally have the pressure over!

i scream, you scream

This might be the best news I've heard all year...

"Good news for ice cream lovers: A recent Swedish study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that women who have at least one serving of full-fat dairy products a day gain less weight than women who don’t. Researchers aren’t entirely sure why, but it’s believed that a compound in milk fat called conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) may aid weight loss."

two down & eight to go

Well Brad finished his interview with Southern Illinois yesterday. He said everything went well and he really liked the 'small town' feel of Alton. We should be hearing back from both schools before November 30th! We still haven't heard anything back from any other schools, but that's two down and eight to go! It feels good to have a few schools completely out of our hands.

gone baby gone

So brad is gone for the weekend for his two dental school interviews for the University of Illinois at Chicago and Southern Illinois. He already had the one at UIC and at the end of his second interview they told him "Well I don't see any reason why we won't see you here next year". Who knows if they say that to all the applicants, but we were still pleased. They told us that we would most likely hear back from them by Nov. 30 so we will keep you updated! Well since Brad is gone I don't have a lot going on, but here are some random thoughts...

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My book club is officially up and running! Our first meeting is on December 6th from 7-8 PM. We are reading "Twilight" to start things off non-offensive and easy. Anyone interested in coming is more than welcome! It's at my apartment and I promise there will be some delicious vampire themed food :)

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My mom finally moved in to her house in Lehi, so while Brad is out of town I will be spending all my time helping her unpack and get things ready for the holidays. Hopefully by Saturday night we can a have a few beds set up so I can just sleep there instead of driving back and forth from Provo.

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Brad and I are desperate to go to the BYU/Utah game next Saturday (but not desperate enough to spend a fortune). If anyone knows how we can obtain reasonably priced tickets we are very interested! Hey, we'll even take free tickets :)

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Brad and I tried to make a list of things we want for Christmas and it was next to impossible! We could barely think of three items between the two of us. Remember the good old days when you would just list everything in the Toys R Us catalogue and call it a day? That thing was as big a phone book! Come on, it was incredible. I'm sure I could do the same thing with Pottery Barn, but my point is Christmas isn't the same wonderfully shallow holiday it is when you are a kid. When you are older it's all about family and Christ and giving! When did this happen?

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I've been conducting an experiment at work called "dress for the job you want". Apparently when you wear heels and skirts in a professional environment all of sudden you become taken seriously. Weirdly enough it's seriously true.

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The Mavs have now beat San Antonio and Golden State! Cuban Nation can now take a collective sigh of relief. I feel like we might be on to something good here. By the way this picture is amazing, but cracks me up- the slogan "New Heights" and a crate? Doesn't matter, Avery is the man.

help!

Okay, so I know the intention of the blog isn't normally to generate discussion or solicit feedback but I am desperate! I (Bridget) have been assigned the calling of running the Relief Society book club... yeah this produces both bad and good feelings in me... but that's a whole other blog post all together. What I really need help with is coming up with book ideas.

This is the list I have so far, and I just need some suggestions on appropriate/interesting books. If this were my own independent book club I could come up with a million books to read but I'm riding the fine line here of pleasing everyone and no one at the same time.

In summary: can anyone see of any of these books being possibly inappropriate and also any other suggestions? I'm looking for 4 more books to add to the list knowing that half of them will probably be cut.

Life of Pi- Yann Martel
Jane Eyre- Charlotte Brontë
Man’s Search for Meaning- Viktor Frankl
Rebecca- Daphne du Maurier
The Secret Life of Bees- Sue Monk Kidd
Little Women- Louisa May Alcott
Girl in Hyacinth Blue- Susan Vreeland
My Name is Asher Lev- Chaim Potok
1776- David McCullough
Orson Scott Card- Enchantment
A Girl Named Zippy- Haven Kimmel
Peace Like a River- Leif Enger
These Is My Words: The Diary of Sarah Agnes Prine- Nancey E Turner
Crow Lake- Mary Lawson

1776: I'm worried about this one because it's a little dense and some might not be in to this genre.

I haven't read: The Secret Life of Bees, but it came highly recommended by another book clubber I talked to.

Rebecca is also really long and talks about adultery... but she is portrayed as the evil character and the adultery is never romanticized or condoned.

mmmmm.... this might all be a lost cause. HELP!

may the force be with you

our nephew was yoda for halloween, how sweet is that?

the finer things club

Jim's irish accent on the office last night had both brad and I wishing we were in the Finer Things Club... if you know what I mean...

By the way, that was the best episode so far this season. Here are some quotes to re-live the magic again and again. ALL GOLD.

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Michael: [dictating a want-ad for Stanley’s replacement] Wanted: middle-aged black man with sass. Big butt. Bigger heart. I can’t…do this…

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Dwight: The eyes are the groin of the head.

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Andy: The “Finer Things Club” is the most exclusive club in this office. Naturally it’s where I need to be. The Party Planning Committee is my backup and Kevin’s band is my safety.

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Michael: You cannot take the hilarious black guy from the office. Stanley is part of what makes this branch so extraordinary: the bluesy wisdom, the sassy remarks, the crossword puzzles, the smile, those big watery red eyes. I don’t know how George Bush did it when Colin Powell left.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

So the company I work for is obsessed with Halloween. Each department is given a cash budget to decorate their department in a theme. Outside judges are brought in to rate the departments and costumes and give prizes. For lunch they served Hot Chocolate and donuts and played the Charlie Brown Great Pumpkin Movie on all the TVs. Then for the last hour of the day everyone's kids came and trick-or-treated to each department. There are about 400 employees so there were a whole slew of kids running around. My department decided to go with the Wizard of Oz theme and I was assigned the role of Dorothy. While my costume was a little small (my aunt made it for her daughter when she was in high school) it was fun to see everyone get so in to it. The department that won the decorating contest did Nightmare Before Christmas (they covered everything in black, put black lights throughout the office and hand painted life size versions of all the characters and had the movie projected on all the walls). It was pretty incredible to see all the talent and effort that went in to everything.

After work I went over to Brooke and Dave's to pass out their Halloween candy while they took their kids trick-or-treating. Lauren was Ariel (kudos to Brooke for finding the awesome Ariel wig) and Scott was a Nay-Nay (his word for horse or anything horse related). Brad and Scott are best buds so Brad was especially said he couldn't be there to see them in their costumes.

Lauren: "Did Uncle Brad dress up as Toto?"

Bridget: "No, I think Brad dressed up as BYU student."

Lauren: "... That's not fun!"
Bridget: "I think Brad would agree."

zions + vegas = legendary

(R-L: Chas, JC, Kjell, Ellie, Rach, Anthong, Mattie, Bridget, Brad)

So last Friday our "Adventure Club" (so named because we supposedly go on wild adventures a few times a year) drove down to St. George to stay in the condo of Anthony's gracious grandmother. We got up early Saturday morning (not too early, we were still two hours behind schedule of course) and went to Zion's National Park to hike Angel's Landing. Now for the unfamiliar Angel's Landing is 5785 feet tall. The trail is a five mile loop with a 1488 foot increase in altitude. The trail is strenuous and littered with sharp drop offs and narrow paths. People have died while hiking the trail atop the steep narrow cliffs. However, the views from the end of the trail are spectacular and well worth the climb. This is a sign showing how not to accidentally walk off a cliff.

This is the end of the trail, four feet to the left or right and you'd sky-dive sans parachute 1500 feet.

This is a bridge at the beginning of the trail; Zion's has an amazing red hue in the rocks. The mountains are overwhelmingly massive but gorgeous. The other pictures is a little cave on the trail; we couldn't resist the disgustingly cute photo op.

These are our two "dangerous" pictures. That's me swinging my legs over the ledge, and Brad doing his best Spiderman impression, this looks a lot more dangerous than it was...

So after the hike we decided to do Vegas: Couples Style. We found it a little ironic that the three married couples chose to venture down to Vegas on a Saturday night while the three single people stayed in St. George to get fast food and play cards (reportedly they actually had a rip-roaring time and stayed up until 6:30 AM in an intense game of Tarot). What, you might ask, is there to do in Vegas when you are LDS, married, and poor? Not a whole lot. We went to the Cheesecake factory (yum!) walked around Caesar's Palace (excellent decor, they've really spruced the place up recently), and walked over to the Ballagio to watch the fountains (not running due to high winds). This is the best picture we came up with after we found the most non-camera-stealing looking person we could find to take the picture... :) The blurry effect really says a lot about Vegas.

All in all an A+ as far as Adventure Club trips go... next up we are going white water rafting on the snake river in the spring.

st. louis people

And they are finally rollin in... Brad just got a call from Southern Illinois and they want to interview him too (not one of our top choices but we'd still get in-state tuition). The school is down near St. Louis which reminds me of a story:

When Brad & I were on our way to Chicago last summer we flew Southwest. As most of you know you pick your seating when you board the plane. So at the last minute this family boarded and their kids had to be scattered all over in various vacant seats. Their seven year old son sat next to us and we enjoyed his lively conversation, he was hilarious. At one point he asked us (now I don't know how to say this the most pc way, but he was a little black boy from the city so imagine it in that kind of an accent) "Where you guys come from?", so we told him we were from Utah but we were on our way to visit Chicago. He paused for a moment and considered this and then said "Oh, I thought you was from St. Louis". We asked him why and he responded "You look like St. Louis people!", we laughed and hoped it was somewhat of a compliment. Now I don't know what "St. Louis people" look like, but at least we'd have the seven-year-olds fooled!

We'll keep you updated as we hopefully hear back from more schools!

dental school update

So we've been completely unnerved while awaiting any kind of a response from the 10 (yes 10!) dental schools we applied to in June. Too bad they take their sweet time because Brad and I have been on edge for the last month eager for good news. Well yesterday we finally heard from our top choice UIC (University of Illinois at Chicago) and Brad has an interview! Not only is this our top choice it's probably one of the hardest to get in to of the ten. This doesn't mean he's been accepted but it's a great start, they only interview a small percentage of the top applicants. To us it seems like the hardest part is over (waiting) but I can tell it's only just begun. Hopefully we'll start hearing from more schools and we can get some of the interviews scheduled for the same trip.

UIC is our top choice because it's an excellent dental school and it has a one year (as opposed to two year) medical program that Brad will go through to specialize in after the four year dental program. Additionally, we'll be eligible for in-state tuition! Brad grew up in Illinois and though we aren't thrilled with the idea of being away from the mountains & our normal outdoor activities we are certain we can make it work. It will also be nice to still be close to family.

Brad's interview isn't scheduled yet, it will probably be within the next few weeks so we'd appreciate any available prayers thrown our way :)

bear down, chicago bears...

I don't know I must be in the football mood... my friend Ellie just convinced me to sign up for a girl's flag football team. Our first game is Thursday! I know there will be unintential comedy galore, we'll see. Apparently these chicks are intense, they have plays! Hmmmm...

So with football on my mind I came across this picture last night. This is all of Brad's brothers and his dad wearing shirts I made them. They say "Ditka, Polish Sausage, Bears". I for one thought it was a clever ode to SNL, and what better way is there to win over your new in-laws then with sports paraphenlia?

Left to right: dave, chris, charlie, ken, brad, ross

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By the way, while we are on the football track, it's probably appropriate I make a few shout outs:

--- To Chris for always providing us with a large screen viewing of the Bears games (whether in his own home or another)
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--- To Chris's dog maggie for the amazingly foul smells she produces from such a tiny body during the Bear's games
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--- To our sister-in-law Brooke (& Dave) for usually providing an amazing Sunday (and sometimes Saturday) meal for us... to prepare us for the Bears games
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--- To Griese for not making a complete fool of himself, Tillman for his forced turnovers, and Lovie for his awsomeness... the whole season is now worth it since we beat the Packers (sorry Favre!)

hail to the chief

So Brad & I took a quiz to see who we should vote for in the next presidential election. Pretty interesting results. Apparently Brad & I should vote for Fred Thompson. Yeah, that Fred Thompson. What? Loved your work in Curley Sue Fred! Mmmm we are addicted to Law & Order, maybe there's something there...

I'm just a little worried, does he know that if he's elected he'll actually have to be the president, not just play one?

Here's to you D.A. Arthur Branch... you've got two votes. Maybe.

vampires...

It's funny how I only learned to love to read when I was finished with school. College nearly ruined it as I was forced to read pretentious short stories and 'classic' novels. Not all of it was bad, but for some reason a situation where I was forced to read a so-called intellectual novel because it had an obviously existential theme and then forced to discuss it with a room full of drabbling idiots who liked the sound of their own voices while trying to impress our grad student of a teacher put a bad taste in my mouth. Funny how that works, huh? Now I can choose what I read (even if it's still the so-called intellectual novels, at least it's by choice) and quietly consider my own conclusions and deeper meanings. So my point is, now I really enjoy reading.

After recently finishing the marathon of a series on the life of Josephine Bonaparte I felt like I had lost a friend. That is until my sister-from-another-mister Kristin got me hooked on the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer.

Now for those non-believers out there, yes it's technically written for the young adult crowd (but so is Harry Potter, so that can't be a reason not to read it) and yes the love story is a little over-the-top (that's completely true and I have no excuses), but there is so much more to enjoy! There is this whole other vampire world hidden from humans while they live among us, and just like Harry and the magical world, now sometimes I forget that vampires really don't exist. So, since I read all three books in about 8 days it's kind of been on my mind a lot and now it seems like everything reminds me of vampires. So here is some recent evidence that I came across last night. He's my own little Edward!

Point of this blog... I like to read, Brad looked really cute as a three year old vampire :)

sweet justice...

Dear guy who controls the temperature at work,

I'm not sure whether you think sitting at desk all day while 12 degree arctic air forms icicles off of my computer will inspire me to work more efficiently or if the power you wield has all gone to your head as you show us all who's really in control. Either way I defy you! I applaud your effort. Better luck next time.

Love,
Bridget




Dear Lasko Ceramic Heater with adjustable thermostat,

I love you!

Love,
Bridget

summa time recap

so to recap our summer... we got engaged April 1 and then married in the salt lake temple on June 12, 2007.

Brad studied all summer to take the DAT and did pretty well... this is a local minor league baseball game were he brought his books and studied the whole time, I think he paused long enough for us to take this picture to make it look like we had fun :) ... it was an (un)eventful few months

Meanwhile Bridget started a new job (working in human resources for a large dental software company) and Brad had to start classes again. At the end of August we each finally got a break and went to Brad's home town Naperville (near Chicago) for our wedding reception (the only time the Carn's could host it due to their busy traveling schedule).

We had some awesome tiki torches to help fight off the bugs, although the last 30 mins everyone got eaten alive anyway. Luckily we had amazing weather and the reception went off without a hitch. This is us 'extinguishing' the proceedings of our wedding reception, a la Survivor style... we are both such nerds. But I got another chance to wear my wedding dress (so sad, I would wear it everyday if I could)!

These are some sweet aprons that a lady in Brad's ward made us as a gift. I think this might be our Christmas card this year, ha!

While we were in Naperville we got to do a few things (go to Portillo's, a minor league baseball game, the Chicago temple, and stock up on Bears apparel for the football season). One day we went the Museum of Science and Industry and we got to ride Segways. Actually pretty fun! Suprisingly easy to drive. If we had a couple extra thousand dollars lying around we might invest in one... those bad boys can go like 40 mph! (The one we tried out was rigged to top out at 5 mph, so sad)

This was some exhibit on how cow manure can be recycled and used in other ways. We couldn't resist... first it's basically Brad's motto & secondly this is far too much immature bathroom humor to pass up on :)

One day we even got to go down to Nauvoo and Carthage and spend the day having our own private tour of the town. We went a week after their busy season ended so we saw maybe 10 other people that day. We left at 6:30 AM and got home that night at 11:00 PM. A full day but worth it!

Brad though it would be a nice treat for the missionaries for him to bring the gun show to town... haha.

And our other notable adventure from the summer was the purchase of this motorcycle, Bridget wasn't thrilled at first but she actually learned to like it after we took some night rides around Provo. I would like to do a tribute to the short lived member of our family, an ode if you will:

BIKE

He came in to our lives

welcomed with so much love (mostly from Brad)

and left so suddenly

as we realized we couldn't rationally keep him

there were tears as we said our goodbye (aka I came home one day and Brad had sold him)

but he will always be remembered as

the bike that captured our hearts for those short 6 six weeks

this is a shout to you little buddy, where ever you are

it's about time

so we've decided to join the world of blogging... don't worry we're only three years behind everyone else :) we'll put up some pictures and updates soon!