I Really am a Writer, I Promise!

I've been meeting a lot of new people lately. It's a perk of being the Relief Society President of a Married Student Ward that always experiences a huge influx of new members corresponding with the changing semesters at the two local universities (BYU and UVU).

And most new people I meet ask me, "So, what do you do?" and I tell them, "I'm a writer for an online Marketing Company." And then they say "Really? You're a professional writer? That's so cool!" Yep. Really. I'm a professional writer. But then I read my blog and think to myself "If anyone actually read this they probably would not believe that I actually get paid to write for people. For businesses none the less. (Although honestly, I don't get paid that much.)

So I decided that I should post some samples of my writing on my blog. Don't worry, I won't post anything I wrote for work (used car dealership ads get boring, even if I wrote them myself). If You're interested in reading a short chapter from the Young Adult novel I work on occasionally, I included the following chapter entitled Bra Shopping

Background: Angela is an overweight 15 year old girl who struggles with severe self confidence problems. Part of the novel (the part this chapter represents) works through her relationship with her mother, while the main body of the story deals with more serious issues with her friends.

Fried like a Sausage

I love BYU football. I truly do. I'm one of those people who goes to the games and stays the WHOLE time, even if we are up 44-0 at the end of the third quarter. I was taught that you're not a real fan if you leave before singing the fight song at the end of the game. But for crying out loud, I've never been a pregnant fan before!

For the last three weeks I've shown up to church on Sunday completely exhausted, dehydrated and sunburned to prove my hard core fan status. In fact, its gotten to point I have to hide from one of the Elder's Quorum presidents every Sunday because he chews me out for allowing myself to be out in the sun for that long 'in my condition'. I need to be more careful. If I'm overheated and dehydrated, my baby is dehydrated, and all that.

Well this week he was right. I was so unprepared. It's partly the weather's fault, it was stormy and drizzling when Pete and I left for the game and I was more concerned about how I was going to stay dry for three and a half hours. So sunscreen and hats were not top on my list of necessary game day supplies. You'd think living in Ireland for so long would have taught me a lesson or two about trusting the reliability of the weather.

The moment Pete and I entered Lavell Edwards Stadium the clouds parted and the sun shone. I thought it was a good omen, the sun always shines on the Cougars. It didn't take long to realize I was toast. So despite a mostly exciting, good game, for the first time in my life I wanted to leave the game early--to get out of the baking sun and into the shade. I contented myself with spending the forth quarter inside the portal by the concession stands where I could still see most of the field but was out of direct sunlight. I still had a horrifying sunburn at church the next day. It made me look really dignified when I met the new sisters in my ward; they think the Relief Society President is a total redneck--which, as of right now I am.

And it hurts. I'm sitting at work rubbing aloe lotion on all the tender spots that are practically sizzling under my fingers.

I hope the Cougars appreciate the sacrifices I make for them.

On a different note entirely,

Baby is moving. I know baby's been moving for a long time, but now I can feel it. I didn't realize what it was at first, I thought I was having mild cramps, but I realized yesterday that the cramps are coming more frequently and they seem to come and go with loud noises among other things. Baby was reacting to George Q. Cannon going off at the game. Baby can hear, and the noise startled him/her. Crazy.

What's in a Name?

Like every other expecting mother in the universe, I spend a lot of my time thinking about potential names for the little squirmer in my belly. I was delighted to find this website to help me decide just how unique the names Pete and I are considering are:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 23 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

So far, I know that favorite boy name is a winner (only 1 in the US) and my two top girls names are pretty good as well. My own name however, is shared with 23 other females (goodness, I hope they're females!) in the US. See how your name rates.

Thank Heaven for Sexy Shoes

I'm wearing hot shoes today. Shoes are about the only Sexy thing I can wear these days, anything else I might try just makes me feel silly with my growing baby bump. I find that pregnancy has driven me to accessorize more. I remember to wear earrings more often and take advantage of my large necklace collection. I feel like Rabbit trying to decorate Winnie the Pooh's back side when he got stuck in the hole. Or maybe more like Pooh actually getting stuck in the hole . . . I'll have to think about that.

But don't worry Baby! I still love you, despite what you put me through!

Cravings

Last night a I had a craving--but not the typical 'I'm pregnant, I need ice cream and pickles' kind. I suddenly NEEDED to watch this movie.

Because I love it. It's my favorite Girly movie, and I'm not huge on Chicky-flicky-girl movies. In fact, I don't think I've seen any new Romantic Comedies since Bewitched came out in 2005. I only saw that because I love Nicole Kidman, but I'm pretty convinced Will Ferrell is a moron.

Anyway, I called Kait at 9:00 and made her drop everything to search my parents' video library for Sabrina, and when she couldn't find it I coerced her into coming with me (to two different video rental stores and the Orem Library) and then watch the beautiful Harrison Ford with me. Linus Larabee is definately the better looking brother. Too bad Julia Ormond is the weak link in the movie in which she plays the title role.

And because the Orem Public Library is awesome, I can keep my movie for a week and watch it as many times as I want! Sigh . . . this may be a long weekend for poor Pete.

Family time at the Zoo Slide Show

Ireland 2008

Oven Carmel Corn

Last weekend I gave in to one of the temptations of the season; Carmel Popcorn. Actually, I don't know if Carmel Popcorn is supposed to be a Fall treat, it seems like we always get two or three giant tins with three flavors of Popcorn for Christmas. But to me, Carmel Popcorn is a Fall-ish seasonal treat, after all, the Pilgrims and Indians ate popcorn at the first Thanksgiving, right? They really missed out on the Carmel part though. This is called progress.

Since those big popcorn tubs don't appear in stores for a couple of months, I made it myself. It was delicious. I only made a half recipe (I thought 15 cups of popcorn was a little much) but Pete and I devoured nearly the whole batch during the BYU football game. Had I made 15 cups it might have lasted past the weekend. Maybe.

So now I know what I'm giving out as Halloween treats! I'm getting excited already!

The Season Begins . . .

As every new season begins to creep in I usually find myself thinking 'This is my favorite time of year' regardless of the season. A couple of days ago I had that moment as I noticed I actually needed a jacket to block a chilly breeze on my stroll through the park.

Why would I say Fall is my fave? This year it's likely because I'm pregnant and Summer is just too blasted hot. But completely aside from that, I love fall for many reasons. The smells, the flavors, the colors, the figure forgiving clothing, BYU FOOTBALL . . .

GO COUGARS!