Welcome to Kansas City, Dorothy

Let me name just a few things that have happened since I last posted:

1. I graduated from BYU!!! Bachelor of Science, majored in Nursing. Magna Cum Laude. 5 years of hard work. Sooooo glad it's over.
2. On my graduation weekend, we packed up and moved out of our apartment. It was so much fun that I can't wait to move couches with Jake and shampoo the carpets at 1 am again. Oh the joys.
3. We moved out to Kansas City, Missouri, for the summer so Jake can work for APX with two of his cousins. Much to my surprise, one of my old college roommates-- Allyn Nelson-- is out here with her husband, Jared, who is also working for APX! That was definitely a memorable moment- when they showed up at my doorstep the morning after we arrived in Missouri!
4. We survived a tornado on our third night here! There were tornado warnings all evening, during several of which Joshua and I hid in the closet with Allyn and Danielle. Nothing much happened, so Jake and I went to sleep with relatively little worry. We were both woken at 2 am by the most terrifying weather I have ever experienced! The lightning was almost constant- like a strobe light. I thought the thunder was constant, too... until I realized it was just the wind! The apartments were shaking and I thought we were in a tornado... except the warning sirens weren't going off. We reassured ourselves that it must just be a bad thunderstorm because the tornado sirens weren't sounding off. We actually fell back to sleep, only to learn in the morning that the tornado had touched down 1 mile away from our apartment and wreaked havoc on a bunch of houses and demolished a restaurant. I guess that was our welcoming gift from the Midwest!

I know that's only 4 items, but it all took place within one week! If I included all the details, the list would probably go up to 100. Since I don't feel like recounting in detail the last 2 weeks of my life, I will just do a "tag" that I read on Kathryn's blog. I may be a new blogger, but I do know what a "tag" is. She didn't tag me, specifically, so I tagged myself instead.

A- ADVOCATE FOR: freedom, truth, and love
B- BEST FEATURE: my intuition
C- CAR OF MY DREAMS: a natural gas SUV
D- DREAMS & DESIRES: to be completely self-reliant. to live happily with my husband and children. to see God.
E- ESSENTIAL ITEMS: Jake. Joshua. wheat. water. cayenne pepper. tampons.
F- FAMILY: Jacob, Joshua; Dad & Mom, Gina & Rob, Nate, Kirsten, Emmie; Randy, Kathy; Hartman & Chelsea + Gabe, Ethan, Lily, Olivia; Kaerlig & Dave + Rainer, Davey, Ellie; David & Michelle + Talia, Sophia, Naomi, baby boy; Kassi, Julie.
G- GREAT PLACES TO EAT: Tepanyaki Japanese Steakhouse. Macaroni Grill. Rector family gatherings. Andersen family gatherings.
H- HAVE NEVER: smoked weed. gone skydiving. gotten a B. plucked a chicken. watched Bravehart. kissed someone on a first date.
I- IF I HAD A MILLION DOLLARS, I WOULD: save the world, obviously.
J- JUNKIE FOR: love, baby.
K- KINDRED SPIRIT: my husband. my son. my mom. my sister.
L- LITTLE-KNOWN FACTS: I was a competitive gymnast for 5 years. I went to a Hanson concert when I was 13. Jake and I told each other we wanted to get married on our second date. I have lived the majority of my life in Minnesota. I was Miss Teen Idaho and Homecoming Queen in 2002. I was drum major for my high school's marching band. I won an essay contest at BYU. I used to teach salsa dancing. It only took us 2 weeks to get pregnant.
M- MEMORABLE MOMENT: covering my arms with garbage bags and cleaning diarrhea from a 400-lb. woman's butt.
N- NEVER AGAIN WILL I: ingest castor oil to induce labor.
O- OCCASIONAL INDULGENCE: online TV episodes. a new shirt. Cheetos. a 3-hour nap.
P- PROFESSION: nurse. professional wife/lover/mother/cook/maid/driver/billpayer.
Q- QUOTE: Be the change you want to see in the world.
R- REASONS TO SMILE: a good paycheck. afternoon delight. Joshua. friends. fitting into pre-pregnancy clothes.
S- SOME OF MY PAST JOBS: nurse (pediatric home health, burn trauma ICU). certified nursing assistant (burn trauma ICU, Huntsman cancer hospital, psych ward, various nursing homes). lifeguard. telemarketer. math tutor. spanish tutor.
T- TAG SOME FRIENDS: Anyone who has actually read this far on my blog!
U- UNINTERESTED IN: Nascar. Golf. Shopping channels on TV. Hannah Montana.
V- VERY SCARED OF: Hillary Clinton as President. John McCain as President. Barack Obama as President.
W- WORST HABIT: putting off cleaning the bathroom. letting food spoil before I use it up.
X- X MARKS MY FAVORITE VACATION SPOT: Mexico.
Y- YEAR I WAS BORN: 1985
Z- ZODIAC SIGN: Gemini.

Okay, now that I've wasted at least an hour blogging, I'm going to try to reclaim it by being productive in some way. Oh, and can someone please explain to me how to post pictures on here??? Thanks!!!