Candyman

I have always loved this song by Christina Aguilera, but I had never seen the music video! I love all the costumes, and the fact that she is dancing with Benji! I wish they would have shown a few more shots of him and his cute moves! Check it out!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nu-7rPdFjvI

Meet Bella

And yes, her name is Bella Swan

Today's news

We bought one of the cars I talked about earlier. I feel like it's my baby. Pictures to come!

Finland in pictures

So I've been happily reading everyone else's blog for the last few weeks, when I saw on someone else's blog that my own blog hasn't been updated for 4 weeks.

Oh yeah. We went to Finland.
Gorgeous, right? We enjoyed the city of Helsinki

Met up with Raimo's family
Got to know Eila Mummu, and ate all the food she cooked usWent to the temple. And much much more.

Then we spent 3 days in New York. We went to the statue of liberty, ellis island, ground zero, central park...
and saw Romeo and Juliet the ballet at the met. And we had a dance lesson from Eugene in Brooklyn.

There are many more pictures. I think the pictures tell the story best. It was a very busy, fun vacation. I am glad to be home!

This weekend

We are preparing to take off to Finland. Actually, it has been hard to plan for this trip because there have just been so many other things to think of, even right up until the day we leave. We are going to have a great time though. Just need to get through this weekend. It is going to be so crazy. And Raimo has to finish 3 finals tomorrow so we can leave Friday morning. We are driving Blake's truck down and he is flying--thankfully we were able to work out a way to get down there. We will drive straight to girls camp in the St George area where we are giving talks and dancing and singing, then continue on late into the night to Las Vegas. Sleep. Wake early and drive straight to a bridal shower for Traci. We were such good friends, especially senior year, and we have kept in touch through college. I really like how we can just talk for hours and how we love all the same stuff--cute clothes and shoes, going out to eat, and watching movies! Total girlfriends. I wish we could see more of each other. I'm so excited she is marrying Jeff--they are a great couple! I have some cute favors for the shower and a cute present for her. Anyway, the shower is on Monica's birthday, so we will probably celebrate her birthday on the following Monday at the zoo. We will squeeze in some Father's day celebrations on Sunday and then celebrate Mom's birthday on Tuesday and on Wednesday we take off for Finland. This trip might feel like a vacation from real life! But probably not. Tammy has so many things for us to see and do, and we are stopping in New York on the way back. Hope the money lasts till then! haha

In other news, we have been spending a lot of time at Mikko and Nicole's house since Raimo has had class in Salt Lake twice a week. I play with her babies and pretend they are mine and that's fun. I really love watching Raimo play with kids, especially little Mikko, who is 6 and half. Mikko takes him so seriously, no matter what Raimo tells him. The other day he was teaching him the things he needs to practice so he can become a Jedi. For example, he has to use the force to do special balance tricks, he has to obey his mom and pick up the playroom, he has to use the force to fend off the styrofoam arrows Raimo shoots at him. Mikko believes everything Raimo says to him, but he never believes me like that! And it's really cute to see Raimo hold a baby. In some ways babies make him nervous, but they look so cute and tiny wrapped in a strong bicep. It's also been fun to get to know Mikko and Nicole a bit better. We stayed up there like 3 days last week and just hung out and laughed and played. It is fun for me to have an older sister to talk to.

That is what's new. I have been quite busy since my previous posts, planning my talk and shower stuff. I also worked on an editing job, created my little graduation announcement (it actually took forever), and have been going to bed later and later every night. Well, talk to you when we get back,
Jessica

Car shopping

We said goodbye to our Honda yesterday. I'm feeling a little sad about it because it has served us well. But I just have to keep reminding myself how mad I was at that car for breaking on the way to St George and how I wanted to just abandon it right then and there. We made some money off of it and are hoping to find a new car soon.

It is so hard shopping for a car. I would never have thought it would be so un-fun. I really like the idea of a brand new car or a car that is a 2009. Everyone we talk to has their own strong opinions about how and what to buy. Some people insist on a specific brand name, some people think we would be crazy to buy a brand new car. Some say, "Why not. Buy a new car--that would be fun." Some say buy something based on its re-sale value. Some say quality over cost, some say cheapest is best. Seriously though, everyone we talk to is very opinionated about how to buy a car. Why does everyone think they know? At the same time, everyone is right. But we want to be somewhere in the middle.

We want a car that will be a good car for the next 4 years maybe, or longer (unless we feel like trading it). We want to spend as little money as possible, but I don't want to spend thousands of dollars on something I don't even like to drive. I hope we can find a beautiful, shiny black thing to drive that just has all the sweet features I want, that is comfortable, and that is going to drive well. I want to make long road trips without any fear of breaking down. I want warranties, I want it all. Oh, and I want it to be cute and to have really great AC. Is that so unreasonable?


Here's what we've looked at.

Ford Focus

Toyota Camry

Chevy Cobalt



Kia Forte

Hyundai Elantra

Honda Civic

Are you sensing a pattern? They all look about the same, they are all in the same price range. I just want to find some dealer that's gonna give us the best deal of our lives.

We are currently driving Raimo's little black low-ride truck from high school, lovingly called the beaner. I am hoping it holds up long enough for us to figure something out!!!

Post-Graduation

It's been very wonderful. I spent the first week waking up late and going through old emails and taking care of business (working on paperwork for all Raimo's medication, paying bills and tuition). I also got to know Rachel Ray. And Tyra. And Ellen. And my local PBS station. I LOVE daytime television! I now know how to make Poor Man's Salad and many many types of tacos (big hit around the cinco de mayo). I also know how to fix up a door to make it more weather-proof, how to best arrange plants, trees, and flowers in my future garden, and how to buy and install energy-saving systems for water and electricity my future house. These are very important skills for me to know!

The weekend after graduation we went to California, as Raimo explained. We visited Kari and Sarah for a few days, competed in LA, stopped in Riverside for a night, and in Vegas each way. It was such a warm and much needed trip. When we got home, I was suddenly sick. It can't be summer if I don't have a terrible cold first (Nauvoo last year, honeymoon year before). It just happens. Thankfully, I didn't have a life, so I got to stay home and hang out with Rachel and Tyra some more. I was pretty sick for about two weeks, but now it has just faded to some basic seasonal allergies I think.

Spent more time sleeping and watching tv, as well as filling out a few online job applications from home.

Went to the Provo library and picked up some books and dvds. I was honestly afraid that it would take me a long time to pick up a book again after 5 years of serious reading. However, I am just fine. Don't worry--my reading days have only begun. I am trying to make my way through a list of 1001 books you should read before you die. We'll see how I like them.

Last weekend Nicole called up and invited us to come down to St George for a couple of nights. We headed down after Raimo's class in Salt Lake, only to have our dear Honda break down outside of Parawan. It put a damper on the fun, but we still enjoyed basking in the sun by the pool all day and hanging out with family.

After much tribulation (mostly on Raimo's dad's part), the Honda is back in our garage and working fine. It was not as broken as we thought it was--just needed a new wire somewhere. However, we are ready to sell. It would make a great Provo/Utah car, but not the best for long road trips. Anyone want to buy it??

This week I have been a bit more productive. I was actually surprised how exhausted I felt after many days of doing nothing. I worked on a project yesterday that actually stimulated my brain for 4 hours. I will show it to you all soon. Last night Raimo and I had a fun date, spending some of our gift cards at the mall, buying shakes and jalapeno poppers, and watching 6 episodes of Mad Men.

Today we went on a lovely hike in rock canyon. I had asked Raimo to take me on a nice walking hike in nature. This was not quite so. It was pretty much uphill on gravel and rocks. It felt good to be outside and it was really beautiful. Raimo protected me from mountain lions with his knife and rock-throwing. Raimo is now napping and I am doing some major catch-up on this blog. It has been a wonderful couple of weeks. Raimo and I spend all day together!

Spring Semester: Embassy: cold weather

We're 3 weeks into the semester, and so much has happened. First off Jessica graduated, immediately after that, we left for California, we went to the beach but it was windy. We got to see my nephews, and be there for my nieces birthday party. it was nice. We competed at Embassy where we placed 4th. Not bad considering it was our first comp, and we had just barely finished our routine, 6 days before. Couples 1-3 came from the filipines. we did alright. We also got to see where Jessica's mom grew up. It was really cool. Thats the extent of my writing abilities.

The School of Essential Ingredients

I would recommend this book. I really liked it, even cried in it. The overall theme is how food is related to experiences we have in life and relationships with people. Being a food-lover myself, I identified very much with phrases like "the taste ran through her, full and rich and complicated, dense as a long deep kiss." Some food is really that good, don't you think?

I really loved all the characterization in the book--it followed a bunch of different people's lives and connected them somehow. I especially liked the young mother who had two young children and was struggling with her identity, feeling like she had given up her life for her kids. I also liked Helen and Carl, an older couple who have grown together in their marriage so that they are very much the same and have this way of seeming to be next to each other even when they are on opposite sides of the room. Have you ever known a couple like that? It is so romantic. Carl reminded me of Raimo. I like how when Carl recounts their first dance, she "followed his lead like water." Haha Raimo I will try to be more like that.

Anyway, while experimenting with and eating delicious food, all these people are in the process of finding and re-finding themselves. I may have cried. More than once. This is a book I'd like to read again in 10 or 20 years and see how I have changed.

April Showers

Did I or did I not predict the weather for graduation day in my February 9th post? It has been beautiful and sunny for a few weeks, but today it is thundering and raining so hard! And there is a forecast of snow. I can't believe it. Oh well, not too big of a deal. It'll just make it hard to take pictures! It is really coming down hard right now, but just 3 hours ago Kylie and I were laying out on the lawn trying to get tan. Now the weather is absolutely crazy! And we had just finally started using the scooter again! (which has been giving us problems, by the way) That will just have to wait. Graduation will be fun. I'm mostly excited to go out to lunch!!

Yesterday I officially finished college. I took my last final of my life--sewing. I probably did about B-range work. I'm happy with that. Today I feel a little weird. We woke up and had a dance lesson... and then... went and got my cap and gown... and then.... nothing. I'm at work now... doing... nothing. I have no homework, no final exam looming in the back of my mind. I'm just chillin. It feels nice. What now???