Birthday Treats

Well Cory's birthday month was a success. The letters from everyone were so amazing. I teared up, laughed, and rolled my eyes at the stories everyone told. This husband of mine...he is special. :) I had such a good response from people that I had to start doubling it up near the end, which was so great and even more exciting. He got to open a present a couple of the days which made his birthday last so long. It was so nice too, because we didn't really get to spend too much time focusing on him on his actual birthday due to classes and what not, so the whole month celebration was perfect. We had a get together with close friends at Goodwood the night before and I don't think there is any other way he would have preferred to spend his time. He was in heaven.  We also dragged out the celebrating by taking the free birthday meal coupons to all of the places we could. :) So many delicious treats. We had a lovely time during Octcoryfest. I loved every minute of it. Thank you so much to all those who took the time to write the letters. I can't emphasize it enough, but he absolutely LOVED each and every one of them.

Fall

I love fall. I don't like, at all, what it brings after, but for the brief period of crisp, sunny, clear weather, I love it. A couple of weeks ago, we were lucky enough to go to with our friends, the Utterbacks, to the Big Red Barn in Santequin. It was a beautifully warm day, almost too warm!, and we picked out some perfect pumpkins. There were so many to choose from, but Cory and I both have really good eyes for perfection, so it was pretty easy. We snacked on some apple cider doughnuts as we rode on the hay ride. It was perfect day and trip, thanks guys! 

We then spent a lovely evening with our other friends, the Tengbergs, and carved the best pumpkin ever! It was really fun to spend some time with them, and their brother and his girlfriend, eating apples and caramel and watching the world series. Bring on more fall fun!

These were our pumpkin shots last year. I can't believe it has already been a year!

Funnies

So, during work I sometimes need some pick-me-ups. Today was one of those days. So I found these and thought I would share them.

Octcoryfest!

October is Cory's birthday month and the most exciting month of the year! It's such a fun season with Fall slowly creeping in that I decided that Cory's birthday should slowly creep in as well. So I was trying to think of a cheap but meaningful thing that would last a whole month, so I thought of a birthday countdown!! I emailed friends and family members for letters or thoughts about Cory and got such great responses! I was tearing up with so many of them because they were saying exactly the things I feel about Cory too. I knew he would love it. So, while he abandoned me for 10 days to do his research study, I got to work putting it all together and was able to surprise him with this when he came home!

He gets to open one each morning and so far they have been amazing. I'm so happy that we have such great friends and family who did this for us. I also have a few presents sitting out all wrapped that he cannot touch! :) I'm loving his anticipation. Throughout the countdown there are a few special days that will let him pick a present to open. I can't wait for his actual birthday and am so excited to make it through all of these special letters. Thank you all! Also, on a side note, we made these delicious pizza rolls the other night. They are amazing. I'm pretty sure what made them so good was that we went to the bakery at Smiths and got some fresh dough there-so cheap and so delish. We were in heaven eating them and I am telling you that you must go make these now. They are that good. 

Goodbye Stagecoach, hello Meatwagon!

Hey team blogosphere!
     I think it's about time that the World Wide Interwebs be exposed to the innerworking of my brain. So, in the spirit of Abbey and Taylor's blog (aandtzmoos.blogspot.com/ [like 2 weeks ago or something]), I thought I would also update y'all as to what's going on in my life. Bree has done a terrific job of keeping everyone up to date, so you all know that she is busy working her butt off taking 19 credits and working 20 hours/week on campus. She's amazing at what she does. She still finds time to come home and hang out with me, and pretend like her life is still as loosey-goosey as it was in the Summer.
     I quit my job at Wells Fargo Bank. All told, I worked there for about 18 months. The majority of my time there was as a teller, which I really enjoyed for the most part. Then I was promoted to be a banker when I graduated, and did that for about 3 months. After 3 months I realized I wasn't loving what I was doing, where I was doing it, or for whom I was doing it. As I had gradually grown more and more dissatisfied with that position, I was looking all around trying to find 'my calling' in life. I had some cool experiences that lead me to the realization that I want to work in healthcare administration. I've always, always wanted to work in healthcare, but I've also always, always known that I don't have the brainpower to become a doctor. But my degree lends itself well to the field of healthcare administration, and I'm in a good spot to be able to start down that road right now. So, realizing, of course, that Wells Fargo Bank was not a good place to start a healthcare career, I called it quits and embarked upon a new journey.
     I kinda jumped without a chute, because I hadn't landed myself a new job yet, but I am confident I'll find something enjoyable rather quickly. In the meantime, I'm studying hard for the GMAT so that I can get in to an MHA program (Master's of Healthcare Administration) and get going with my graduate degree. Right now the two schools we are most interested in are Arizona State University and THE Ohio State University. Taylor would also be sad if I didn't mention that Iowa is an option. I'm taking the GMAT at 8:00 am on December 14th. So wish me luck.
     On Tuesday I will be going in to Lifetree Clinical Research and taking part in a 10-day study where I take a pain killer and they monitor my vitals 3-6 times each day. I'll be in lockdown for 10 days, but will be paid $2,825 for doing it. It's perfect for me, since I'll have 10 days to study uninterrupted for the GMAT, and I'll be able to finish all of my grad school applications as well. It's going to be dope.
     Bree just finished making dinner, so I'm out like a trout. Forgive my typoes, I haven't typed on a computer for like 3 weeks. It's great. Also, I bought Modern Family Season 2 on DVD...I pre-ordered it before it came out. Picked it up at 10:00 am the day it came out. Very happy about that.

Love,
Cory

Love is a Battlefield

I love water. I love drinking water, swimming in water, putting my hands in running water, making footprints on the concrete after stepping in water. I just love water! That is, in fact, why Cory and I decided to do some engagements underwater, a common love.

And actually, when I'm mad or sad, running water over my hands or feet or something is the absolute best soother for me. So, you get that I love water. I also love getting up high in the air. I grew up going to Lake Powell every year with a family of cliff jumpers and thrill seeking tubers. You had to like getting high (in the air) to survive. So, it goes without saying, I like swinging! The higher I can go, the better. I get mesmerized with being so high on roller coasters and such activities. It's such a thrill!

Notice the crazed look in my eyes?

This was the stratosphere in Las Vegas. I had to BEG Cory to go on it and, as this picture shows, Cory does not share the love of heights with me at all.

Now that you have the basic background information necessary, you can now understand my elation upon seeing Cory's uncle's new swing set. 15-20 feet high. Set on a hill. Swinging out over a lake. It was like he had taken a dream from my mind and made it reality. We swung on it the first time at night and it was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. I couldn't wait to get on it during the day and jump off into the water. We had driven to Stansbury Park (right by Tooele)  that night because we were volunteering at the Stansbury Triathlon the next morning at 6 am! Luckily, Cory's Uncle Steve and Aunt Judy live there and were nice enough to let us stay over. So the next day we did our volunteering, wrapped it up at noon, and made it back to the swings! Cory and I jumped off a few times and had our fun before wanting to get higher. It is impossible to propel yourself higher on that swing set. Once you hit a certain height, you need assistance, so Steve came over to help us out, of course! Cory bailed the second he saw Steve behind him (remember the Stratosphere picture?), so I got on ready for a thrill. Steve has a requirement that you can't jump until you see the lake above the cross bars on top of the swing set (a man after my own heart), but while approaching that level my shorts/hands/everything slipped and I had to hold on to make sure my neck and head made it to the water before back flipping in. I came up surprised to be in one piece, while Cory and Steve were high-fiving how awesome I am (it was all a little foggy, but I'm sure that's how it was). It wasn't until I started making my way to the beach that I felt the pain in my left pinky. I looked to see why and sure enough it was bleeding from a slice, so, just to be sure, I checked my right hand too. It was a lot worse over on that one. I had a pretty gross, torn up side of my hand. Deep red blood and white fatty layers were protruding from a torn up layer of skin. However, I felt more hurt that I was so betrayed by the two things I love. Love, as they say, is a battlefield, right?  Cory and Steve helped me clean the wounds, support me when I was almost passing out, and bandage me up; and then Steve said "you'll probably have to get stitches." And Cory said, "yeah I didn't want to freak you out, but I thought that the minute I saw it." Stitches?! No way. My mom always treated our wounds with steri strips or butterfly bandages. I had never had stitches! We drove to the instacare in Sugarhouse and my fears were confirmed. I would no longer be a stitches virgin. Apparently I had a skin avulsion. I'll let wikipedia explain that to you : an avulsion is an injury in which a body structure is forcibly detached. It most commonly refers to a surface trauma where all layers of the skin have been torn away, exposing the underlying structures (e.g. subcutaneous tissue, muscle, tendons). This is similar to an abrasion but more severe, as body parts such as an eyelid or an ear can be partially or fully detached from the body. The term comes from the Latin word avellere, "to tear off".  I bet you feel smarter now. The whole thing probably took less than an hour and only a few painful moments (okay, more like 20 painful moments), and then I was nursing my pain with an oreo milkshake and corn dog. That makes me happy. I am, however, pretty disabled as I am the worst at everything left-handed. Like so so bad! Cory has been an angel. He braids my hair, puts on my clothes, does my make-up, and spreads the cream cheese.  Can you believe it? I don't know what I'd do without him. I love/hate it. I already hate being so dependent and making him do everything! But he is the best. I'll be getting all SIX stitches out Saturday and then, hopefully, be back to being right handed. I am currently typing one-handed and this has taken me an hour+ to type. :) (sorry for the following graphic pictures...)

Please ignore the frazzled look.

Yay for fatty, deep fried foods!

Cory's handiwork for me today. Notice the perfect braid and beautifully applied eye shadow?

Mud Run!

On Saturday, Cory and I did a mud run in Logan with his family. It was so much fun! The course was perfect. Not too hilly, but just enough for a little variation. There were 24 obstacles over the 5k race and they were all so much fun! There were 4 slip-n-slides, some mud trenches, hay bales, a big "spider web", a floating bridge, and some tires set up. It was a blast! We were told (threatened) by Cory's aunt that we were all staying together because we were going to help each other with each obstacle, so we obeyed and all 11 of us stayed together throughout the whole course. We also got to visit with some friends before the race and see their new (to us) apartment. So cute! I wish they lived closer though... (hint, hint, Traci!) ;) It was a great Saturday, and the perfect end to summer. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves: