One Delicious Piece of the South

My husband is from the South. Because of this he grew up experiencing all kinds of things I have no clue about. (Butter beans, Smith's BBQ, and confederate flags are just a few.) Anyhow, the point is when I went to visit North Carolina for the first time, Chad's family introduced me to Bojangle's. (I would like to point out that just the name is pretty much a red flag that this is not something we exactly have in the North West. ) I tried it for the first time a bit skeptically, but one bite had me sold on their famous chicken 'n biscuits. The flaky biscuit covering a cajun style chicken filet, smothered in the most amazing honey mustard sauce in the world instantly became my best friend. When I left NC I was devastated to leave my new found buddy behind. (This probably was not a bad thing since it's not the most healthy snack out there) I only became more strongly attached to the orange & yellow fast food chain when Chad and I ate there repeatedly (at my request) on our honeymoon. I could not imagine living without a cajun filet biscuit when we returned to Utah.

Joy is visiting Provo this week and was sweet enough to bring us each 2 Bojangles biscuits. Can I just tell you, they may not be straight from Bojangles, but they are divine. I had one for lunch on Monday and I had one today. I would like to sincerely thank my mother-in-law for sacrificing her leg room on the plane in order to fit a cooler between her and the seat in front of her. She did this so I can now savor the most heavenly fast food known to man. Joy, I love you!

P.S. Any of you Northerners who have not had the privelege to snack at Bojangles, please...do yourself the biggest favor you possibly can. Plan a trip to North Carolina and see for yourself!

Good News, Bad News

The Bad:

Well, I attempted to soak my nails in straight acetone yesterday in an effort to force the fake nails to separate themselves from my hands...Unfortunately, this was to no avail. I have come to terms with the fact that I will have to live with these things until they fall off on their own. I did manage to clip them down so they will stop breaking in such painful ways.

The Good:

Anyway, on a more positive note I would like to point out how completely sweet it is that Chad went to Sally's Beauty Supply to attempt to find something that would help me solve this problem. He must really love me to stand at a counter with extra strength nail polish remover and have a woman ask him if he, "has a Sally's preferred card." Poor Chad... Anyway, I love him so much, he does so many things to help take care of me!

Because the nails didn't come off I am going to have to stand by my stance that everyone should avoid the entire procedure. I will say, however, that my friend Maggie informs me regular manicures (minus the acrylic junk) are quite enjoyable. So I guess you could go that route and be much safer should you choose to have your nails done =-)

Last night Chad and I bought our first piece of furniture together. We bought a coffee table that was on sale at Pier One. I love it! It looks so great in our living room!!! And we bought this candle that smells absolutely AMAZING! I kid you not, if you smelled this thing you would be so happy. I tell Chad about every five seconds how much I love the smell of it, it is that good! Plus, as an added bonus it is sitting on a table right as you walk into our apartment, so you are instantly greeted by its pleasant aroma. I love Pier One, it is the greatest store ever! Thanks to a gift card from Dr. Michaels we now own some lovely baskets, a divinely scented candle, and the coolest coffee table ever!

Worth the Pain???

Before Chad and I got married I made a very foolish mistake. My finger nails are a somewhat precious possession to me. I used to bite my fingernails horribly. I guess I was probably 11-ish when a Mary Kay lady came to one of our Merry-Miss activities at church. She was supposed to paint our fingernails. I of course had none, was extremely embarrassed, and vowed then and there to quit biting cold turkey. It is the one habit I can say I have truly kicked completely. Anyway, before our wedding, after much debate and deliberation, I opted to go to a nail salon and have a set of stupid, now frustrating, temporarily beautiful fake nails put onto my fingers. My co-worker Karen warned me that when her sister had this process performed for her wedding she hated it later. I did not listen. She told me, "Katie, your nails are so pretty now, just grow them out and have the real ones done..." Did I listen??? Sadly, no. I am now dealing with the consequences of this decision.

If you have never had a set of fake nails put onto your fingers let me indulge you with some information that may enlighten you a bit. Before this horrific mistake of the acrylic nails my only experiences with nail salons had been positive. (My roommate Briana is a believer in pedicures and I'd been with her twice to have my footsies scrubbed, massaged, and pampered.) When you go to have your nails done you sit (struggling to breathe due to the harsh fumes) at a little table and watch the person across from you destroy your natural nail. I honestly have no clue what stopped me from screaming, "STOP! You are ruining my hands!!!" Of course the woman barely spoke English...that might have had something to do with it...Anyway, the point is they completely file down your natural nail, glue a fake tip to the top and them paste this acrylic goo over your entire nail to lock the tip in place. I'll admit, they looked gorgeous upon completion. It was a little difficult to adjust to every day tasks with them, but it almost seemed worth it. They look quite fantastic in all of our wedding pictures as well. But that's not the point, the point is that their temporary beauty deceives you into thinking all is well, when the real problems arise when your natural nails begin to grow underneath.

I first discovered this shortly after Chad and I moved into our apartment. While trying to force one of our impossible to close kitchen drawers to shut, the tip of my nail snapped off! As I clutched my hand, grimacing in pain, mumbling, "Ouch!" I was ashamed to admit to Chad that this dramatic presentation was all on account of a broken nail. I used to make fun of girls who complained about that! Anyway, life was fine with my fingers for awhile after this. But today, while hurrying into the car to head back to work after lunch, I opened the door too quickly and HALF MY NAIL WAS SUDDENLY MISSING! I have never felt such agony throb through my hand as I did at that moment.

My husband is going to Sally's Beauty Supply for me as I type, to buy some kind of substance I can supposedly soak these babies in so they'll dissolve right off...All I have to say is they better. I don't know how much more of this pain I can take. Not to mention how ugly my once pretty fingers now look.

Anyway, I guess the point of this blog is just to warn everyone these things are nasty. Women of the world: Keep getting pedicures, pack the salons across the country to primp your feet!!! But please, heed my advice and stay away from these acrylic monstrosities!!!

Unexpectedly Excited

Today I picked up the paper as I often do at work. One of the headlines read "Mickelson wins second major title." Half of you reading this are instantly thinking I'm talking about Phil Mickelson winning the 2005 PGA Championship in NJ yesterday. That is what I'm talking about...the other half of you are now thinking, "Katie...golf?" Yes I know, I know...I myself find it odd that I even noticed this headline in the paper, and find it even more strange that I was ecstatic to know he had won...because I honestly was! Those of you who know me well know that I have never been much of a sports person, and that I never grew up watching ESPN. In fact until Chadwick, I would never have even considered watching golf on television. My husband loves golf. In fact, anywhere we go that there is anything resembling the shape/length of a golf club he practices his swing. He watches golf on television. He played golf in high school. He plays golf now. He has a set of golf clubs in a very nice bag in our closet. Anyway, the point is because it's something Chad loves, I watched The Masters (a tradition unlike any other, lol) with him this year. So, I figured I would hate it...but it kind of sucked me in! Don't get me wrong, I'm not planning on becoming an actual golfer anytime soon, but I actually LIKED watching it on TV. It was shocking to me; I never thought that would be something I'd enjoy. Anyhow, getting back to this Mickelson fellow: So, when we watched the Masters this year I wanted Phil Mickelson to win because he has the cutest wife. It had nothing to do with his actual golfing abilities because I didn't really know a lot about him, but listening to him and his wife talk instantly made him my favorite golfer. (I am an emotional person and became slightly emotionally attached to them...I'm such a dork...) Anyway, when Tiger Woods won The Masters I was extremely disgruntled. Right now Chad and I don't have a TV. Normally I would have realized my favorite golfer had won such a prestigious title right away, but because Chad has no way to watch sports center I had no idea. Anyway, I thought I would share my excitement with you even though it is kind of random. I've also included some pictures so you can see just how cute his little family is...you can't help but smile that he's the WINNER! Bless his little heart! I'm so happy =-)

The Way to Redeem a Severely Outdated Couch

This blog is going to express the extreme pleasure, nay the extreme joy that a little invention called the slipcover brings to my heart. Allow me to explain why these large pieces of cloth now covering our couches are so precious to me. It may be helpful if I begin with a description of what our living room furniture looks like without them. Our couches were created at some point during the horrible fashion mistakes of the 1980's...my guess would be during the early 80's. This is easy to pinpoint due to the other glass/brass ensembles we have in our apartment. Apparently our apartment complex has felt no need to replace these well used beauties, so it is our privilege to have them now. Don't get me wrong, I really was sincerely grateful to have furniture at ALL considering half the places we looked at had none. I really was, I'm not even lying. (Not to mention the stories I have heard of my parents early-married years, eating on cardboard boxes with apple crates for chairs...) Anyhow, back to the matter at hand: My dentist Dr. Froese bought us a slipcover as our wedding present. It is khaki and beautifully hides our purple/pink/teal 80's-esque upholstery. I love it! You know what I love even more? The fact that we bought the MATCHING loveseat cover from Target with one of the fabulous gift cards we received for our wedding. Our living room looks fabulous, and we owe it all to the slipcover! Thank you to whoever created this little gem of an invention, I am reaping the benefits now and cannot express enough my gratitude, I love you! (In a purely platonic way.)

The Sad Realization of the World's Dishonesty

I feel slightly cheated. I do not consider myself completely naive...I know the world is not a completely perfect place. I know people lie. I guess I was just under the mistaken impression that people would not lie directly to me. Sadly, I have been proven wrong multiple times lately. I work as a receptionist for BYU Mail Services. From 8 to 5 you can find me chilling at the front counter of this mailing station on campus. Recently my co-worker Karen and I have been shocked, appalled, and (silly as it sounds) have had our feelings hurt by people who have flat out lied to us!

From our work you can send packages to the Missionary Training Center for a small fee. These packages go over the same day, so it's a nice service for family and friends. There are certain things that we can not send. Because there's no guarantee the missionary will actually GET the box the same day we can't send things like pizza, fast food, ice-cream, etc. This isn't because we are mean people, it's because we don't want the missionaries to get FOOD POISONING! There's no fridge or freezer to store these items in before the missionary receives them. They could sit out all day long, or even a matter of days before the missionary would consume the parasite infested matter. Some people don't seem to understand this (despite our explanation). Because of this, we have many psychotic mothers/girlfriends/former roommates/whoever else trying to sneak the forbidden fruit into the MTC quite frequently. Por ejemplo, a couple of days ago a floozy waiting for "her missionary" type came in with her mother. They were sending some "cookies" to an Elder. Karen felt some heat RADIATING from the box. After asking the girl what was inside, she innocently replied, "Oh, just some cookies..." Karen of course, could smell the aroma of pepperoni and specifically ASKED the girl, "Is there any pizza in this? The box is kind of warm. If so, we can not send it, it will be confiscated in the mail room." "Oh no, it's just cookies..." After she was asked again, she said, "Well, there might be a couple of pieces in there, but it's mostly cookies and I told him if it's bad not to eat it." There "might" be a couple of pieces in there??? COME ON WOMAN!!!! YOU ARE A LIAR!!! Try an ENTIRE Brick Oven pizza, not a single cookie, and a note that says, "ha ha ha because of me you broke the rules." Now I ask you, is this absolute disregard for honestly necessary? I think not. We were outraged! We were FURIOUS!

...And enjoyed the pizza for lunch =-)

Toilet Fiasco

So after contemplating the idea of posting a blog for many weeks, I finally decided to go for it during a routine boring moment at work. I will now have a way to vent my concerns to the world!!!...or to anyone who is also having a boring moment at work and wants to read this =-)

So this Friday will mark 3 weeks of being married! I can honestly say they have been the best ever. Chad and I have been lucky enough to have tons of family and friends show us love and support. We had two absolutely beyond beautiful receptions and are now enjoying the wonderful gifts we received. I was overwhelmed by how much generosity people have shown us. It has been such a help to us!

Last night my parents came down to Provo. They brought us some last minute wedding gifts that had arrived for us. Right now our apartment floor is completley covered in stuff. I had no clue Chad and I had so many THINGS! Our apartment is small so it's a little overwhelming trying to figure out where everything will go, but I love it! My parents bought us a storage shelf-thingie to go over our toilet in the bathroom. This was quite exciting because we have no linen closet and having some storage in the bathroom will be nice for towels and such. So at 10:00 I tell Chad I want to put this together. We drove to Wal-Mart and bought a tool kit since we did not even own a screwdriver. So by the time we get home it is late, we are tired, but we are still somehow convinced we can put this shelf together. Soon it is midnight...yes, we may have slightly underestimated the complicated nature of a self proclaimed "easy-to-assemble" piece of furniture...Finally the assembly is nearly complete. We go to put the shelf in the bathroom...and...IT DOESN'T FIT! That's right folks, our toilet was too close to the wall to allow the shelf to slide behind it. Before you become too sadened by this disastrous thought, don't worry, my genius of a husband MADE it fit. In fact, I have been told, "It will fit, it will work, and we will like it." But the thing is, I do love it! And not just because we now have a place to put our bath towels. I love it because my adorable husband didn't get mad once while he was putting it together, even when we had to take it apart and stuff one piece behind the plumbing of the toilet to make it fit. I love it because it is ours, and it's in our bathroom, and we're married! Life is so wonderful now, even though I'm ridiculously tired at work because we were up all night putting it together. *Sigh...life is good