Provo Life

Through working in the library and seeing people I know all day, to just being in a college community, I tend to see people I technically "know." And it would be rude to not talk to them.  This blog post from this absolutely hilarious blog completely puts into words and pictures what everyone living in Provo thinks....

Click here to laugh

It's here

So many of you know that I have been part of this cooking blog for a while now.  I was so excited to be a part of a blog with so many other co-authors who could share recipes back and forth, and comment on each other's recipes.  For me, seeing the finished product of my beautiful recipe posts was the best part... that and seeing all the comments that people left about my recipes.  So I posted recipe after recipe, with awesome pictures to guide you through the cooking process.  My recipes, however, were a little unique, in that they almost always had some type of healthy twist to them, with some nutritional tidbit of info about the meal.  I was so proud of my work. And I thought they would like it too...


I would check back to look at my posts nearly every day, to see what kind of comments were awaiting me at the foot of my posts....


..... zero comments


............. zero comments


.........................zero comments


Really??? You guys don't like it? FINE. I'm going to  leave and post my recipes somewhere else, where people will actually appreciate them... SUCKAS!!!!


Little did I know, Chris surprised me one night by creating a separate cooking blog for me.  And I have been working on it ever since.


So now I am in blogging heaven.  I get to create my own recipes, blog about them, and add my own artistic touch to them.  I also get to talk about the new and exciting findings in the healthy field about ways to improve health, and people will actually appreciate it. Imagine that. I get to talk about what I want to talk about, and people will actually like it.


So here is the link.


http://healthykitchenflavors.blogspot.com/


Use it wisely. Actually no. Use it as much as you can. Follow it. Check it all day every day. Cuz that's how often I will be working on it. Adding to and perfecting my project.

We haven't been hiding

I know I haven't posted for a while, but that is because I have mainly been busy with work at the library and work at home. Since I have already posted about work in the library , I decided to post about my work at home... mainly my home cookin'! So here are links to another blog that I am a part of. It is a cooking blog, and I post a lot of my creations on there. So here are my latest new posts. Chris's birthday was on Wednesday, and I made:

Crockpot Chuck roast, oven roasted asparagus, and French garlic toast

and...

Football cupcakes.

It was a very proud day in my kitchen. I literally lost sleep over how I was going to plan, time, prep, cook, and decorate everything. I'm SO glad it turned out the way I hoped!

The Lord of the LSAT: The Return of the Chris

Yes, I did just title that after one of the Lord of the Rings movies, it's my blog!

Well this week has been in great anticipation for a while. Why? The LSAT was on Monday. Chris has been studying for the LSAT since January, and has made it his full time job for the past two months. He was not able to work at the library at all because of how much he was preparing for this test. Therefore, I got to be the sugar momma, averaging about 65 hours a week between both jobs, not to mention all the housework waiting for me at home! BUT, as I think I've mentioned before, Chris has done more than his part to help keep the house clean for when I come home from work.

Needless to say, preparation for this test took it's toll on us both (but mostly Chris). So, to show my gratitude for all of his hard work these past months, I decided to have a little surprise waiting for him when he got done with his test...

On Sunday night, I began secretly texting his good friend, Ryan, telling him of my plans, and that I would need his help. In the end, Ryan was a BIG help in telling me what stores I could find potential gifts.

Monday morning rolls around, and I wake up early to make Chris a good breakfast. While he is eating/studying, I begin making his favorite apple bread, telling him that it will be waiting for him when he comes home (little did he know that it wasn't ALL that was going to be waiting!).

I drop Chris off at 11:30 at the Law School, wish him luck and tell him to kick butt, then go home. I now have two hours before I need to leave for work, and Chris will finish in 5 hours, coming home to an empty house. PERFECT.

I dash to the mall, go to the stores that Ryan suggested, and buy Chris a 2010 NFL Official Draft hat of his favorite NFL team, the Seahawks. On my way home, I pick up matching blue and white streamers and balloons, and head home. I now have an hour left, so I pop the bread in the oven, hurry and do dishes, and proceed to decorate the house in blue and white. I begin by blowing up balloons and cover the table with them. On one of the balloons, I draw a big smiley face, and place the hat on top of it, and place it just so, so that when Chris opens the door, that particular smiling, hat wearing balloon is the first to greet him. I then post signs all around the house saying things like "YAY! You did it!", and "I'm so proud of you!" and "Wahoo! It's over!". I even put one of the mirror saying "Dang! You look good!" haha. Lastly, I hang up all the streamers, the perfect finishing touch.

And then I'm off to work...

When Chris is done with the test, he stops by on his way home to visit me in the library working, tells me how he thinks he did on the test, and then heads home. He was on the phone with his mom when he saw the decorations on the door, so she got the hear the awesome reaction. But for the sake of the readers, I will post this video that Chris made just after he was surprised by everything. NOTE: some of the balloons are on the floor in the video, he moved them onto the floor to get to the hat, they were originally all on the table :)

Now that the LSAT is over with, we just have to wait in anticipation for the results! But the worst is behind us, and now I get to spend more time with the hubby! Oh and as a side note, we totally went out to eat at Red Lobster last night to celebrate the LSAT being done, and it was completely amazing. A great way to celebrate for sure!

Ode to the Oreo

Are you trying to switch to eating healthier, but like the taste of those chocolaty indulgences you had before being health conscious? Well never fear! All hope is not lost!

Recently Chris and I went grocery shopping and Chris came across oreos that seemed....healthier than the original brand. This is not a product put out by Nabisco, oh no. This healthier oreo is actually a product of a Brand that Chris and I have already trusted for other natural whole foods... Back To Nature. We have loved their all natural granola and crackers, both of which were very surprisingly tasty! So we thought we'd give these yummy new "Classic Crème cookies a try.

SO YUMMY! We actually like these new and healthy oreos better than the original! And way better for you too! This is why, and how, it is so much better: No hydrogenated oils; no HFCS; no artificial preservatives, flavors or colors; and it is made with all natural and organic foods, including raw sugar, not the bleached and refined white sugar!

Compare that with the regular Oreo ingredients...

Although these cookies are the healthier of the two, they should still, of course, be eaten in moderation, and with a big glass of milk! Mmmmm.... and the best part is, Oreo cookies aren't all that they have! They have lots of different kinds of cookies to choose from! Hooray for looking at the ingredients!!! :D

Why I Love My Job

When I got hired on the library security crew at the BYU Library, I was very hesitant about wearing that oh-so-flattering uniform. But, money was slim, so I wore the uniform and went to work. Well, over 2 1/2 years later, and I'm telling you that I would gladly wear this uniform for all the experiences I've had here!

But Julene, why would you wear that embarrassing uniform, it's SO masculine! Well first and foremost, the first time Chris talked to me was while I was wearing this uniform. While Chris and I were in the same ward during our single years, I had never actually talked to him until I stopped to talk to him and a mutual friend while they were both studying in the library together. After I was done visiting them, I went on my way to patrol the library, and Chris asked our mutual friend for my phone number. That night ended with a ride home from Chris, 2 hours of talking and getting to know Chris, and a date planned for that Saturday (awe!). Basically, I owe my marriage to this job!

Now-a-days, Chris works with me at the library. We try to work all the same shifts together, which is a great blessing in our lives! We have so much fun at work together, and enjoy sitting across from each other at each security desk, being connected through gmail chat.

I also love getting my daily laugh from the people that walk into the library. Everyone that walks in thinks that the sign above my head that says "University Police" actually means "Information Desk". So we get the best questions ever! Below is a list of actual questions that we have been asked while working:

Where is the education building? (Um, this is a University, education is going on in nearly every building)

(Pointing to the old section): Is the Library that way? (The entire building is the library, not just southern part of the building)

Where are the door numbers? (My guess would be right next to each door, but I've been wrong before)

Are ALL the bathrooms in the library closed? (My guess is only the bathrooms with a "closed" sign are going to be the ones that are closed)

Wait, so I can’t get to the south classrooms through there? (The only entrance and exit is at the front of the building, where security is, but thanks for checking to see if you couldsneak books out another way)

Do you still have tickets to the Orson Scott Card thing? (Security people usually don't sell tickets, this is a library, and am I suppose to know which Orson Scot Card "thing" you are talking about?)

There’s an Orson Scott card speech today in the first floor auditorium, do you know where that is? (I think you just answered your own question, buddy)

Which way to the atrium? (You're totally standing in it)

Do you know where the Orson Scott Card thing is? (Days after it was over.)

How do you get to Panda Express? (Cars work well for that sort of thing)

“I think one of the elevators is stuck.” Which one? “The one right there.” (pointing to the elevator with the sign that reads ‘elevator is broken’) Thank you ma’m, here’s your sign.

Patron: Do you guys have any gold plates?

Sec: No, just the bronze ones.

Patron: someone told me they had gold plates on display somewhere.

Sec: nope, just the bronze ones right behind you.

Patron: are you sure they’re not in some special vault hidden somewhere

Sec: (thinking if they are hidden they are not on display you frickin moron) No sir, just the bronze ones right behind you.

Two people go through 3m’s and the alarm goes off. “could you please walk through one at a time so that we can see who it is?” Both walk back through at the same time.

Can you tell me where the library is? (Classic)

Is this where we buy souvenirs? (No, but feel free to check out our wide collection of our very own BYU books!)

Have you guys had any backpacks turned in? -No, where did you last have it? - It was on my back.

Can you tell me which button I push to go down on the elevator?

714 (one of our officers): Who is the book checked out to?

Patron: me (big stupid grin)

714: what is your name, retard!!!!!

Patron: What part is the Library?

Officer: This is the library

Patron: But where can I study?

Where are the books? (This is a library, so probably everywhere)

How do I go up? ( Well, if you like, we have our stairs, our elevators, or there is our complimentary magic carpet near the back of the building)

Security talking to the patron who reported an individual looking at porn: "Sir, he wasn't looking at porn, it was an online dating website with some pictures of people in bikinis at the beach" Patron: "Okay, so what constitutes porn then?"

Patron with an awful lisp: “Excuse me, is this the ESC the Science building?”

“I usually park in the visitor’s parking on Saturday’s but I noticed that your faculty parking lot signs say Monday-Friday, so can I park in those lots on Saturdays?”

Hi, can you please tell me where all the people are? (The people that are all around you, or the people that you hear in your head?)

"So if we can have food in a certain part of the library, but the food places in the wilk are only open till 8pm, what do you suggest we do?" ( Do you want me to do your homework for you too?)

Besides getting my daily laugh from people, my job is on campus, which means I can literally walk from my classroom the next building away, and come right on to work.

I also get to walk if I want to, which guarantees at least 40 minutes of a good fast walk.

Chris and I are pretty good friends with a lot of the police officers on campus, which has proven to be very useful in the past!

I get to see what is in fashion for the season as BYU's fake-bake barbie dolls parade in with the brand new clothes bought with their parents' money (and I make a mental note to never wear that).

I get to see and talk with my friends on a daily basis!

For BYU standards, the library security position is one of the highest paying student jobs on campus, and after about 6 raises it starts to make quite the difference.

I get to blast loud and awesome music every night the last 15 minutes of closing the library. Blasting music throughout the entire library makes sure people actually leave haha.

Working Stadium of Fire... a love hate relationship. It is an all-day event, so I am on my feat all day, but I get to tell cool stories of guarding famous people backstage like Glen Beck, Miley Cyrus, SheDaisy, the Blue Man Group, and the Jonas Brothers. (and this year will be Carrie Underwood)

Hearing all of my boss's cool SWAT stories. I've come to call this "story time with Matt".

Having a tour of all the underground tunnels all over campus... crazy!

Being pepper sprayed, it sucks at the time, but it makes for a cool item to bring up while playing the game "2 truths, 1 lie".

Working with an extended family. I have been working with most of these people for more than 2 1/2 years, so we are all like family

We have our annual Halloween training in the basement of the library... basically all the lights are turned off and we are split in teams with one flashlight per team, and we run around trying to find as many scary pictures that were taped up as possible. Team who rounded up the most wins!

Potluck training meetings. This happens twice a year, we watch a movie, sign up for shifts, and our boss's wife usually brings some AWESOME food, like bbq ribs and yummy meatballs!

The occasional adrenaline rush. This is when there is a fire alarm (don't particularly appreciate the loud ear-piercing sound, but it definitely makes the day go by faster), or when one of our "BYU's most wanted" people walk into the library, we spot them, and BYU police comes to take them away again.

BYU at Halloween time. Everyone comes into the library. So I get to see a very wide variety of awesome costumes. I once saw a dad dressed as one of the ghost busters, and in the stroller was his baby dressed as the Stay-Puff Marshmallow Man. I have also seen a group of people dressed as different Tetris blocks, and they would walk around and pause every now and then to assemble and fit together.

The atrium during winter time. When it snows, the atrium has snow all over and around it, so it's like I'm inside a giant igloo!

The atrium during any other season. There are beautiful trees and flower beds right outside and through the window, so all i have to do is turn my head to look at the scene!

Undercover work. Occasionally, our officers will take turns roving the library in plain clothes instead of uniforms. We catch a lot of stuff this way!

In our locker room, we each have individual lockers with an individualized movie poster with our heads photo shopped in. Chris made them for everyone. Chris's poster is the Gladiator movie with is head instead of Russel Crowe's, and mine is the Tomb Raider poster with my head instead of Angelina Jolie's. We had some fun making all of them for everyone.

This is all that I can think of from the top of my head. But in a nutshell, yes, I love my job, and no, I am not going to leave it anytime soon!

Nice...

Yesterday could have been seen as a really good day, or a really exhausting/ not so good day. But I've decided to look at it as a really good day.

With the graveyard sleep schedule that Chris and I are on, I was not looking forward to being at work at 8:45am on Friday. Not only that, but it was my other job, which is very exhausting, but can be very rewarding. When I woke up Friday morning, I was not looking forward to having to exhaust myself when already operating on little sleep. AND IT WAS SNOWING ON MY WAY TO WORK! Work, however, turned out to be pretty good, a lot of the clients gave me some pretty good laughs, and I had some great talks with a lot of them. I also got to lead everyone in many rounds of hang-man!

Here's where my day starts to get even better:

I come home from work, tired and hungry, and not looking forward to working till midnight at my security job. BUT, I was looking forward to seeing Chris, and taking a nap in-between jobs. When I came home, I found Chris in the kitchen, in the middle of preparing a yummy lunch for the two of us. He wanted to have lunch ready for me when I came home, so that I could have more time to sleep! What a sweetie, right??

Well, the lunch was fabulous, the nap was rejuvenating, and it was then off to my other job for the day! I was lucky enough to work with people that I enjoy talking to, and kept me smiling all night. I also got a lot more herbal research done! While I was working, Chris called and said that he had finished LSAT studying a little early, and so one of his close friends was going to stop by our place and hang out with Chris until I got home. I was glad that Chris could have a good break and do some "guy-stuff" while I was gone so that he could get it out of his system lol. When I came home, the guys were still playing their computer games, and everything in the house was MAGICALLY cleaned! I'm talking dishes, vacuumed floors, bathroom mirror even cleaned, and many other things! Holy cow! He already surprised me once today with a great lunch, but now the whole house is cleaned? WHAT? This was such a great thing for me because not only did I come home to a clean house, but there were no chores left for me to do, so I could relax! So I told the guys to keep playing their games, and I was going to pop in a good chick flic and ENJOY not doing anything else! I had not felt that guilt-free about being so unproductive during a movie in a long time, and it was great! However, this particular chick flic was a tear-jerker at the end, and the guys conveniently got done with their games just as the movie was ending, so they got to come out of the office to a gross looking Julene with tears all down her face! WHATEVER! I didn't care! Ya, I'm a girl, and I ate Bryer's Black Raspberry and Chocolate ice cream while watching the Time Traveler's Wife. I HAD NOTHING ELSE TO DO!

Ahhhh..... what a great day :)

Workin Hard while Hardly Workin

So for the past two days, I have had a break from work and school. Today (Wednesday) has been the first day this week that I have actually came into work. I thought that my two days off would have been nice and relaxing, but I should have known better!

During this past semester, there were some deep cleaning things in the house that I have neglected, and these past two days were the just PERFECT for cleaning everything. Not to mention, Chris and I had a TON of grocery shopping to do, I had to bake cookies for the girls I visit teach (and the families Chris home teaches), I had to make the house presentable for my visiting teachers to come over, I had to scrub the shower from top to bottom, had to scrub mold that was growing in our bedroom, had to run into work at my second job to talk to my supervisor, had to run go to costco to get a few things that we forgot at Walmart the day before, had to bake banana bread (before the bananas went too bad), had to make apple bread (because Chris is allergic to bananas), had to make dinner both nights, had to prepare lunch and dinner for Wednesday (because I work a 14 hour day today), had to fold laundry (but Chris did that for me while I was running errands), had to do dishes twice (but Chris also did that for me once while I was running errands), I made salsa (which killed my wrist and took 3 hours), and we also made a bunch of herbal remedy capsules and tinctures last night. I'm sure I'm leaving out a few things that I did, but oh well. FORTUNATELY I was able to do a lot of my food chopping/ slicing/ shredding on a table in the living room while watching MY choice of movies. Oh ya, chick flick marathon! So while the past two days weren't relaxing, they certainly were rewarding. Now I feel so accomplished! When I get home from work tonight, I'm gonna look around and say: "Wow, look what I did!" haha

And... We're Back!

I admit, I've been a very big slacker when it comes to the blog. When I get in school mode, I have a one track mind that involves two things: 1) get my homework done, 2) make sure dinner is on the table. So blogging is on the very back burner.

But, now that school is over, I'm back to blogging! We both had a pretty good (and BUSY) semester. We were both working 25 hours a week, being full time students, Chris began studying for the LSAT, and I managed to keep a second job too, all while trying to keep us fed and keep the house clean. Luckily, Chris stepped in quite a bit, so it was really a team effort.

But enough about school! Summer is here!

Chris and I have found a project that we can do together this summer. My aunt is very much into holistic healing, and I have started to pick it up and be very interested in it. I have learned a lot about how important it is to eat some foods organic and how amazing herbs and essential oils are! I think I've always known that herbs can be helpful, but I didn't know just how powerful they can actually be! I have always been a strong believer in the power of eating healthy, (I haven't had a big illness in years), so I was glad I could find more natural remedies to add to my arsenal.

Needless to say, Chris and I took this newly developed interest in herbs, and turned it into a huge project! We got a whole new little herb station in the office, where we can make our own herbal recipes and hopefully even sell some to others so they can see the benefit also! So between me working two jobs, and Chris studying for the LSAT, we are going to have fun working together on this new fun hobby!