Category Archives: Other

And a category, of course, for everything else. Thoughts, stuff to share, anything that doesn’t fit elsewhere.

Nothing like risking life and limb to get that laundry pressed.

New Favorite Extreme Sport

So Josh and I were wasting time online while studying for finals, and we somehow came across this awesome sport: extreme ironing. Oh wow, what a sport. Extreme environmental conditions? Check. Daredevil antics? Check. Life-threatening situations? Check. Iron and ironing board? Check. What better recipe could you have for an extreme sport that is incredibly awesome yet also domestic? Anyway, we got a kick out of the photos and hope you do, too. Oh, and we’re totally going to go extreme ironing on a date sometime.

Paige’s Poor Eye

The day Josh and I got married was by far the best day of my life! It was perfect, and we were so happy the whole day, glad to be surrounded by family and friends, and elated to start our life together.

If anything was even close to not perfect, it was when we were leaving the wedding reception. Everyone had formed a pathway of people and bubbles leading to our car. Oh, how pretty! Oh, how magical! Until…well, let’s take a look. We just got our wedding pictures back, and they reveal all:

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Exhibit A. Walking out the doors. Note how happy we look! Note Paige’s two eyes (pre-incident), both open and beaming. (And Josh is having lots of fun, too.)

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Exhibit B. The incident. A well-timed bubble hit me right in the eye! Note my pained and surprised expression.

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Exhibit C. Me trying to pass it off as nothing. Yes, I tried to grin and bear it, but note my right eye, painfully closed (and, really, it did hurt!).

So there you have it! Caught by digital imaging, Paige’s painful eye incident the day of our wedding. Luckily, no long-term damage was sustained, because the bubble soap all rinsed out later, and then Josh and I laughed about it. And we laughed even more when we got these pictures! Hope you enjoy them, too! (Oh, and more wedding pictures are coming soon!)

No spring break?!

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So here we are, in the middle of March, and we feel like school is just dragging on and on. It’s like our biological clocks are telling us, “Something’s missing…shouldn’t we be getting a week break from this right about now?” But no, thanks to BYU and it’s no-spring-break calendar, so it looks like we’re trudging through the school year without another break till finals are over. Yuck!

Since we’d like a break, but don’t get one, we daydreamed a little bit about vacations and breaks and thought we’d share!

Dream Vacation

Paige: Anywhere with great scenery, lots of open space, not-too-many crowds, close family, games, and food (good food is a must).

Josh: Going to a place where we have no deadlines to meet, places to be, or obligations to keep, but where there are tons of venues and things to see whenever we want. Definitely family close by to chill with. And food. Definitely good food. And maybe a roller coaster.

Ideal Way to Spend a Day Off

Paige: Sleeping in a little, packing up a lunch and snacks, and driving somewhere new—if the weather’s good, to go hiking or spend some time in the mountains. Then, after a nice day, coming home in the late afternoon to relax, cook a good meal, and watch a good movie.

Josh: Sleeping in for sure! But not too late, because if I had a whole day that I could spend doing whatever, then after waking up, a big breakfast of waffles and ice cream, eggs, bacon, and orange juice would be in order. Afterwards, we’d mozy around the house some more, until we got around to going out somewhere in nature. The day would be spent outside or seeing something until the late afternoon, as the sun is starting to set, at which point we’d head home and spend a nice evening as a family playing games, maybe watch a movie, just relaxing. And because it’s a day off, we’d definitely have to stay up late, just enjoying it as long as we could!

A Place We’ve Never Been to We’d Like to Visit

Paige: Southern France (Josh describes it so wonderfully! And since he served his mission there, there might be a good chance my wish will one day come true!)

Josh: I’ve always thought it would be great to visit China. It is a country that seems so full of varied landscapes, peoples, and cultures that I would love to see it. We would definitely have to hook up with a native friend though to give us a guided tour.

Something New and Adventurous We’d Like to Try

Paige: Riding in a hot air balloon! We went up in one for, like, eighteen seconds once, but that didn’t count because it was anchored to the ground.

Josh: Sky diving! While Paige would like to ride up into the air, I’d like to jump out into it. Hey, we can do both at the same time!

Service and Rejection

“Do a good turn daily!”

That’s what all good Boy Scouts memorize. And yet, sometimes it just doesn’t work out. Such was the case when we went to donate blood at the Red Cross Blood Drive the other day.

Josh had not given blood in a long time, because after having lived in Belgium for several years, there was always that crazy mad-cow disease problem. However, having recently checked with a Red Cross worker, I learned that everything should be okay.

We marched forth confidently at our scheduled time of 4:30 to give blood, only to read about a rule in the pre-donation manual stating that if you have lived in Europe for a cumulative total of more than 5 years, then you are out of luck! I asked a worker about this, and the first answer was that I would be fine, that it was just a malaria issue, and my countries (Belgium for four years, France for two) were not on the list.

However, after speaking with the second worker that verified my responses, the news came out: five years in any European country excludes you from ever giving blood! Noooo! (For the curious, the reason being that mad-cow disease, which was an issue back in the 90’s, is a neurological disease, transferred in blood, that can only be tested by taking a slice of your brain. bummer.)

This is the official indefinite deferral letter from the Red Cross. In other words, Josh is never allowed to give blood, EVAR!

So instead of giving blood, I was given a affidavit stating the reasons I could not ever give blood, and had to sign it to show my understanding. I also got a nice “Indefinite Deferral Letter,” shown here, also stating the same. By this time, Paige had already given blood. The plus side? I still got to eat the snacks… :)