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."