51st.... and last.... post

Farewell to the Sandi Beach. No more Sand in your eyes!

We had a good run. But I'm following cue from my fellow bloggers and starting a family blog. It's not all about me, you know.

You can now turn to www.thebullocklife.blogspot.com for all your Sandi needs.

Ciao!

Settling In

Settling in = less interesting stuff = shorter blogs.

Brent is still working hard at school, as fast as the internet here will let him. We are still looking online and in the classifieds for jobs, we might just start doing plasma. I went to a job interview, but the place was horrible, the man I would be working for was yelling, and there were 10 girls ahead of me... so we left.

We got to go to the temple again this week, that was wonderful. We found out that movies are only 5 bucks on Tuesday (which is good, cause matinee tickets are 8.50 and regular are 11). We can walk to the mall (and theater) in about 5 minutes. Less time than it takes us to drive in Utah.

I'm already 1/4 done with my hours at the Egoscue clinic!

And in less productive news... we finished watching Season 1 of Heroes.

Pics to come... internet is too slow right now.

A Mutual Realization

Brent and I have been living it up. We eat. We sleep. We eat. We watch Simpson's .We watch Heroes (Season 1 DVD). We watch movies. We eat. We make cookies. We sleep.

And upon trying to remove our wedding rings the other day to shower, we realized something.

Either metal shrinks in lower altitudes... or we're getting fatter.

Yes.

Even Brent.

San Diego

Welcome. Let me give you the tour. You open the door and see this!

Walk in and to your left you'll see....

Our dining room! (We saved some money on our table....)

If you were to look on your right instead of left

when you walked in you'd see...

BRENT! Doing the dishes! In our KITCHEN!

Walk past the kitchen and on your right you'll see...

Our living room! Not fully organized yet...

Starting to make sense?

So our "bedroom" is adjacent to the living room.

From the front door, you walk in, past the dining room

and it's on your left!

Don't ask me why I'm posting a picture of it when it's so messy... when I took it I was so pleased we had unpacked, everything looked clean to me... at least there are vacuum lines on the carpet, focus on those.

We love our walk-in closet! I gave Brent almost half of it!

He said, "I get ALL this?!" And he meant it, he was expecting much less :)

And our bathroom... the shower curtain has since been raised to an appropriate height.

I work on the 6th floor of a building in downtown, and I love the view!

You can see a tiny sliver of water between the buildings.

I sit here and answer phone calls and schedule appointments when I'm not in the back doing exercises with the therapists and clients.

The plants all have names, I've forgotten most of them, but I know the one on the left is Bernadette.

So on Wednesday, we got all ready to go to the San Diego Temple.... but it's closed for cleaning until the 8th of February. Oops!

So we went to Bed, Bath & Beyond instead.

Friday was Brent's birthday! I let him sleep in while I went for my first California driving adventure in search of an appropriate birthday breakfast...

It took about a half an hour on the phone to make this happen, but it was worth it!

We were determined to go the temple before the month ended, so on Saturday we drove an hour and a half to the Newport Beach Temple. It was gorgeous!

Besides the Krispy Kreme and Papa John's, (which don't really count cause it was birthday food) we didn't go out to eat all week, and we were pretty hungry after the temple... it was inevitable really.

I'm in the very front, Brent's right behind me. (We didn't want to get wet) About 15 minutes from the temple is a magical place called Disneyland, I'm sure some of you have heard about it... We splurged and got annual passes. We figured we'd just have to force ourselves to go enough to make it worth it. What's nice, though, is that we live in Southern California now, and hence, were eligible to purchase the SoCal annual pass! Unfortunately, we didn't have any proof of address, but fortunately, the lady just had us tell her our address and she gave 'em to us!

For anyone familiar with my hiccups: After a ride, we walked off and I, you know, hiccuped. We were behind a group of teenagers and you know what happened next? They all started echoing me! One after the next, it was a chorus of hiccups. They didn't turn around and laugh or anything, they just kept imitating the sound. It was pretty strange. Brent just informed me the ride was Indiana Jones. Must've been a memorable moment.

---

California Dreamin':

A couple nights ago, I had a crazy dream about ants.

They were inside my skin, on my chest, a bunch of 'em. (Have you ever seen Mummy, where you can see the beetles crawl around under the guy's skin? It was like that.) And in my dream, I was FLIPPIN' out! Then, all the ants gathered and I could see them moving down my left arm, into the palm of my hand, forming an under-skin anthill.

In this dream, Brent was driving, and I kept trying to show him the ants in my skin and he kept asking what was wrong and I'm thinking, "Isn't it OBVIOUS?" So I got frustrated and yelled, "I'm not talking to you anymore!" The ants began to chew through the skin around the border of the base and when they had just finished coming full circle, I grabbed the sack of ants and threw it out the window. Sick, I know.

So I woke up and told Brent and he goes, "Ohhh!" Because apparently I had been mumbling in my sleep, and he was trying to ask me what was wrong, and then I just yelled at him, "I'm not talking to you anymore!"

---

Well, folks, that's about it for this week. We are both looking for jobs, still. Brent's working hard at his online classes. I'm working hard at my internship. And we have a blast at home, making meals and watching TV and movies. We would be goners if it weren't for the GPS we got ourselves for Christmas. We went to our ward today, it's definitely, well, a new ward, but I'm sure we'll get used to it! We miss you, we love you, and we'd love to see you and hear from you!

HoneyMOONers!!

Our first honeymoon pic. I don't know why we didn't get any at the lodge, but this is where we started taking out the camera. Somewhere between Orem and San Diego, this pup is cruisin!

Elegant night on the cruise.

My new handstand photo buddy.

p.s. Our ship is not the big one in the middle, but farther back,

you can just see it on the left.

Just before we went parasailing! My lifejacket was HUGE. Not very reassuring.

Before

After

We got off the ship pretty early Sunday morning, and spent the rest of the day driving around San Diego, exploring for Costco's, Wal-mart's and Target's. It was way fun, but terribly exhausting.

We got this dolly at Costco for 20 bucks. It greatly aided the unloading of our car.... it's a long walk down the hallway to our apartment when your arms are full. On top you'll note a Little Caesar's pizza box. When we passed it, Brent's eyes lit up like it was Christmas so we bought one.... and the lady told Brent she was looking for a girl to hire part time who can speak a little Spanish! Yeah, I know. It's Little Caesar's. But a job is a job and if nothing else is available, we'll be grateful for a little extra cash. Assuming I even get hired. But anyways.... it was exciting.

A couple (ok, a few) highlights:

Got seated with a group of older people for breakfast one day, and as we left them with their oatmeal (literally) to go on our parasailing adventure, someone said, "Cute couple!" I could have turned around and kissed them, but I refrained.

It took Brent and I about half the glass to decide that the virgin pina coladas we had ordered were anything but.

A skinny, tan, beautiful young woman who sat in the hot tub with us one night said, "Comedy, is like, SO funny." Genius.

A man in the market said, "You must be on your honeymoon. And that must be why you look tired and she looks happy."

Another man in the market was going to give us some sunglasses for 15 down from 18, but then accepted 10 because we were Mormons. Said he'd like to find himself a nice Mormon girlfriend.

Our parasail boat driver pointed to Brent's wedding ring, then grabbed a rope, threw it over a pole above his head, and proceeded to act out his own hanging, tying a noose around his neck and making dead faces.

We were waiting for dinner one night, and it was cold, and Brent was hugging me, I was wrapped inside his jacket a little bit. An old man passed, slugged Brent on the shoulder and said, "I didn't see anything, keep going!"

I try to be like Grace Kelly....

Ok. So I've been to my fair share of bridal showers. And I've teased the bride and rolled my eyes every time she blushed. Get over it. We all know what's going on, what's there to be embarrassed about?

But then today rolled around.

Tonight is my night.

To blush.

To want to hide under a rock and die.

Why?

Because it's MY bridal shower tonight, and I am the recipient of the embarrassing presents.

Even worse, it's the "family" shower. Which means I have my sisters, who will get me something to wear that probably isn't even ok in the bonds of marriage.... and my mother-in-law-to-be.... who will probably get me a card with a picture of the temple on it and... a hymn book?

A GRACEful bride-to-be would handle it all with poise and the right amount of humor and gratitude.... I'm afraid I'm going to choke, literally, and asphyxiate.... people will come up to me... poke me with a stick... and say it's a shame I never got to you-know-what.

I've been waiting for this year to come!!!

I just wanted to put a post up cause I think it's cool to have a post on the first day of the new year.

Also. I had my bridal pictures taken today, here's a shot of the bouquet (well, it isn't a great shot of the bouquet, but that blob by my face? That's it). It's so pretty (trust me, it is) and kind of expensive and now, it's like, what do I do with this thing?

Times and Seasons

Life changes fast.

High school.

Freshman year. AKA Snow Hall

Brent leaves.

Sophomore year. AKA The Colony

Moab.

Junior year. AKA 1/2 Year at Stadium Terrace AKA Prison

Spain.

Summer from "Dating H-E- double hockey sticks"

Dating, Engagement.

Christmas.

Each of these seasons in my life had highs and lows. Regrettably, I succumbed to the lows more than I should have. If I could have kept my head up, and endured it well, I would've realized that whatever situation I was in, it wouldn't last long, it would somehow shift, and soon, and I should just make the best of it. Some things went according to plan and some didn't. But I love where it's taken me. Lesson learned.

This is the foreseeable plan. The times and seasons coming up in the near to immediate future. Let's see if I REALLY learned my lesson.

New Year.

Marriage.

California.

Back to Utah.

p.s.

Ha ha ha ha, I'm totally not eavesdropping but let me tell you a funny sentence I just heard, "I'd rather be married as many times as I've been married, than be single as long as you've been single." Funny though it is, I'm inclined to disagree with the sentiment.

Santa Run, '09

Ok. So I hate to post something recent when there are so many cool stories from the in-between that I have yet to post, but I actually have this pic on my computer, whereas I am still waiting for some other ones.

Brent James had to work, poor fellow.

Charley finished her first ever 5k, and thus is the jolliest winner of the day.

You may observe Mark's leg in the left portion of the photo.

And I, I hoisted my belly as a bowl full of jelly around downtown Provo for 58 minutes last Saturday morning. Don't tell ME there's no Santa. I saw 200 of 'em!

3rd post of the day, this one by popular request ;)

Click on pictures to enlarge

We're here!

The CALIFORNIA letters were all peppermint-striped for Christmas,

way cute.

'Ze boyz

We were all glad Brent brought his Camelbak,

except for when he drank it so much he had to go potty all the time!

Here's the story:

Mark - Jen, I PROMISE, the front is the driest spot you can be.

Jen - You swear?

Mark - Would I lie? (he he he)

Rockin' the 3D glasses

Major red eye.

A sign that we should definitely NOT be going on this ride.

They don't call it Tower of Terror for nothin!

Space Mountain, I believe. Always a crowd-pleaser.

Tradition:

On the last day in the parks,

when it's dark and cold and no one is in line,

ride Splash Mountain over and over and over again just before you leave.

As Brent would say, "This is an incredible photo."

Universal Studios, Hollywood!

Click on the pictures to enlarge

The lovable Homer J Simpson (one of the best moments of my life here...)

You may be able to tell from my face, I'm a little confused as to why a picture is being taken at this moment in time. However, when Jen showed us the amazing, blue, purple, AND bright orange background, this instantly became my favorite picture of the trip.

Whispering sweet little nothings into his ear in Spanish. Actually, when he said, "Hablas Espanol?" She actually looked confused. I don't know how it's possible for a costume to look confused, but it was clear the character inside the suit did NOT habla.

Muah!

Something to be grateful for

Charley...

If only there were more of her to go around.

Born in 1963

A true California girl

Married and sealed to Tim Dawson on December 19, 1981

Bachelor's from UVU, Master's from BYU

Mother of Wendy, Shauna, Sandra, and Mark

Hobbies include:

Social working it up in Pleasant Grove, Utah

Spending time with loved ones

Traveling whenever possible

Being awesome

She's an excellent maker of Nanaimo bars,

each year she recruits her daughters to help

because she has so many requests

she ends up making over twenty batches,

and if you don't know what they are,

go discover them and make your life a happier place.

A mother to more than her own children,

Charley is willing to expend comfort, advice, and food to almost anyone.

She has a distinguished laugh that makes you smile,

and she loves riding in her convertible with the top down.

Now I just realized,

I don't know if this sounds more like a eulogy, personal ad, or mini-bio,

but the point is, this Thanksgiving, among my many other blessings,

I'm grateful for Charley.

Ready for Round 2?

Volleyball Update

K, guys, we're up to 11 team members on the roster! Sweet! I know it seems like a ton but it'll be nice on days when not everyone can show up. If we do have 11 people every time, we'll just take turns, it'll be a blast.

Cort, if your guy friend wants on, I need his Net ID.

First game is THIS Friday, 6:15. Come a little early and maybe we can do some warm-ups and make sure everything is good to go. If anyone is serious enough to want to do extra practice, let me know and we'll see how many people are interested.

Jessica, you and Marie can join if you'd like! But I do think we need to get together one way or another!

Questions? Comments?

Cheeky Canadians Reloaded

Team 148 In Coed Volleyball: Lower Division

Schedule:

Friday, 10-23, 615 PM, 138 Court A

Thursday, 10-29, 915 PM, 144 Court A

Wednesday, 11-4, 815 PM, 144 Court B

Tuesday, 11-10, 815 PM, 144 Court C

Saturday, 11-14, 915 AM, 144 Court A

Current Roster (Please notify me if you should or should not be on here) :

Jordan and Mandee Brame (Confirmed)

Eric and Courtney Bready (Confirmed)

Trevor and Katie Olsen (Confirmed)

Becky Bunnell (Confirmed)

Cort Wright (Confirmed)

Garrett? Last Name?

Sandra Dawson (Confirmed)

Rebecca Weiler (Confirmed)

Laura Wilde (Confirmed)

To get confirmed on the official roster, I need your BYU ID or NET ID.

By Thursday, please.

And $3. (BYU fee, not mine)

Are you ready for this?!

Homer - You tried your best and you failed miserably. The lesson is 'never try'.

The title of this post has nothing to do with the actual post, I just put it up cause Homer's great.

So I've been delaying posting anything new because I've lost my camera and it has some pictures of a pretty big event I want to share with you.

Yes.

My room.

Few are the friends who were lucky enough ever to experience the now-deceased "70's Room" I lived in at my mom's house. Looking at the floor was like looking into the sun; red, orange, and yellow, long shaggy carpet gazed back up at you with joy. It was impossible to know how much life was supported within the shag, but it's all gone now. The walls were a dark brown arrangement of authentic wood paneling. This too, is now a thing of the past. At the beginning of the school year, I decided I needed a better "study" environment. Where did I go? Home Depot! Two weeks, two coats and two new Ikea lamps later, the room was reborn. It's beautiful. It's amateur, but it's my new home, and I love it. Pictures to follow.

My New Love

I love Photo Booth. I do. What a cure for boredom.

bAck to the MAC!

from - Moab.

it's labor day weekend and this city is hoppin. long hours and free food have never made a better team. strawberry banana bolthouse has never been so refreshing. the sunset safari has never had better company. (except for maybe rog-a-roni, who came last year...and is now 4, woo hoo)
(Translation: Life is good.)

take a step back. cougars. B-y-u, b-Y-u, b-y-U! Ra ra, ra-ra-ra, Ra ra, ra-ra-ra! gooooOOOOO COUGARS!!! Better luck next time, Sooners. (Translation: No. 20 BYU upsets No. 3 Oklahoma in a brand new stadium, 14-13, the fans watched live, Jacobson is back, and it's gonna be a good season.)

take a step back. Killers. Ingrid Michaelson. Family. Isn't it about time? (Translation: I have been to two concerts. The Wiggles. The Fray. It's been two years. I'm going to two more concerts in two months. Killers with bro and bro-in-law. Ingrid with sis and sis. We shall party like the stars of rock.)

take a step back. Volleyball. ACSM Cert. Springboard Diving. Swimming. Marriage/Family Prep. NASM Cert. Personal Finance. Scuba diving. (Translation: Senior year at BYU is looking good.)

*I truly enjoy reading all your blogs. If I don't have yours posted on the right hand side of mine, tell me your url so I can add it. I promise to add pictures one day and think of something witty or intelligent to share instead of just these random journal-y posts.....ciao

My life on August 3rd.

I discovered this song on a bike ride a few days ago. I thought, "Man! Who would WANT to be with someone after listening to this song?" As you'll hear for yourselves if you care to listen, "Ooh, it, feels good to be free!" is pretty catchy.

Turns out, however, most people don't like breaking up. At least we have this song.

Sad, but true. Or is it funny, AND true?