CRAZY FRIDAYS

Fridays are normally casual days, where everyone at the office wears jeans. However, yesterday we were going to the Country Club for lunch for reaching our goal, and although I asked the manager and got his approval it was still ok to wear jeans, I must admit Friday morning as I was getting dressed I was still questioning the decision. However, he gave the approval, so I wasn't going to miss another casual Friday. I strolled into the office in my jeans at 7 am, to try and get a jump on work before the lunch at 11:30 a.m. (and the rest of the day off-yeah!), and that is when it all started. At 7:30 Jeff (my manager) came over and peeked around my cube. I asked what he was looking at and he said "you wore jeans...you can't wear jeans to the country club"!


"I knew it", I thought to myself, but I had failed the thought to bring another pair of pants in the car so now what was I to do? With a 35-45 minute commute it wasn't worth it to go back home so Taheera, who was also wearing jeans, decided we should go to the mall and just get a pair of dress slacks to change into. We both found pants at Gap, and I love mine so I will keep them. Taheera is 6 feet tall, so she asked the Gap employee to take the cuff out and steam them so they would be long enough and not have wrinkles. While he did this, we decided to play mannequin in the store and take pictures. It was pretty funny, and with not that many people at the mall at 10 a.m. we only got a few weird stares.....although I think the store manager was excited to have us leave :)




First, Taheera posed as a mannequin in this cute hat that was for sale in the store. (She can hold perfectly still for a long time.)



I decided to pose like the model in the picture --- it was a totally awkward pose, and I needed a little more practice with the tilt of the head it looks like....
















Next thing I know, Taheera is putting on a shirt to blend in with the "Casual T-shirt family of mannequins"

I decided to try to insert my head on the mannequin, but it was too tall.....However, I did buy the dress that is to my left....a totally cute comfortable dress, that can also be doubled as the "very stylish long shirt" trend that people wear over pants, and gives a totally European look. Love it!!!

Overall, a great excuse to go shopping...















Then, upon arriving home at 1 pm from the crazy morning, I pulled into the garage and found a surprise in the corner ---- a real BIG BLACK WIDOW ---- yes, you might think it is a spider you only hear about existing, it actually does. It had a huge egg sac in the web, and at first I thought I would just have Chip kill it when he got home, but after going inside and then coming out 10 minutes later to find it gone, I realized I would have to do something myself. So after an hour at the pool I came home to find it back in this original position, and I took Chip's shoe and took a swing. First one missed. I was a little shaky, but the spider didn't try to run; I guess the female instinct is the same in any species, and she stayed right next to her egg sac. So I took another swing and got both with one blow. Sorry to poor Charlotte and her web, but I just couldn't have poisonous little creatures taking over my garage!!!!

Weekend Fun!

Realxin' in the theatre room.....ready to start Bourne Supremacy!!!

So this past weekend started off with us going to one of our favorite restaurants, 131 Main, with some of our new favorite friends (the Stevensons), followed by a trip to Walmart for some items Chip needed for his boat trip Saturday morning and the movie Bourne Supremacy. (we were rewatching the first 2 before going to see the 3rd). Saturday Chip went boating while I went shopping for some house decorations with Sarah -- I got some great stuff and they will be featured in the near future. After we got back, we went to our ward pool party for some great BBQ and social time. We love the ward and have met tons of new friends. Afterwards, we went to Bishop's to watch Bourne Supremacy on the big screen in the theatre room. (we watched Bourn Identity there on Monday for FHE). The theatre room features a 106" screen and stadium seating with great reclining couches. The walls our dark chocolate brown and it even has dimmer lights on the side like a real theatre. Thus, we plan on hanging out lots with the Bishop. Then, on Sunday, we went over to Bishop's again for a Ping Pong tournament and games --> We played a new game that is tons of fun called "Loaded Questions". It is my new favorite. Needless to say we were tired getting up this morning and heading back to work, and besides all the fun I also managed to: clean the entire house, do all the laundry, make food for Chip's lunches for the week, work out, and prepare and teach my YW lesson. Phew! No wonder I was a little bit tired today at work. :)

The Houter family & Bishop and Beth Draughon gettin ready for the movie --- sweet screen eh?

Chip got beat, for the second time, by Bishop!

The whole gang playing "loaded questions......we laughed so hard we all had stronger abs by the end!

The weekends are so fun they seem to fly by. It is crazy school is starting so soon, I have almost worked 1 month already, and I feel I have lived here for years. I love North Carolina.

All About Me >>> 50 "Stephanie-isms"

So I was tagged to write 8 interesting things about myself; however, as I thought about it, I had way more than 8 I wanted to include, so I thought I would do 50. Not that I am super INTERESTING, but I do realize I have many funny quirks and the more I list the quirkier I find I am. So here goes.



1. I love Reality TV....American Idol, America's Next Top Model, So You Think You Can Dance, Dancing with the Stars, the Bachelor, etc.

2. I have become accustomed to having crickets in my house, and as much as I hate finding them and dealing with them, I find myself talking to them and feeling bad when I kill them.

3. I love cleaning the kitchen and putting all the dishes into the dishwasher, but hate unloading it....so the dishes often will remain clean in the dishwasher until I pull them out to use them again.

4. I have an obsession of popping zits and peeling off sunburned skin (Chip hates it when I try to pop his, and I haven't had any sunburns to peel this summer, but I am fascinated by peeling others sunburned skin off --- especially when I get the BIG flakes that keep on peeling)

5. I love doing makeup, but hate doing my hair.

6. I have gotten into designing ballroom dresses....even though I don't dance anymore...so Kimmy will have lots of new designs to choose from.

7. I have gotten into eating food that is included in the PH Miracle ---- and love all the avocados I get to eat .

8. I like having a french manicure, but hate actually getting it done and all the stuff that gets trapped underneath them.

9. I have started drinking a ton of WATER each day, but have to put lemon and lime slices into it (lucky for me they are on sale at the grocery store)

10. It takes me hours to find everything at the grocery store, even when I have a list, and yet I prefer cooking to going out to eat -- although now I don't have a lot time for this.

11. I used to go to bed each night without washing my face..... but now if I don't use my Mac towelettes and follow my 20 minute routine, I can't fall asleep.

12. I often come up with my OWN WORDS and invent my own little phrases (of which Chip loves to make fun of)

13. I have a big closet, and yet I always just DROP my clothes on the floor on my side of the bed....Sorry Chip. (It drives him bonkers)

14. I love to sing at the top of my lungs while driving in my car.....and the great part is I think to myself I sound as good as the singer.

15. I love the Harry Potter books, but I don't care for the movies.

16. Fall weather in Utah is my very favorite season - the changing leaves, crisp cold air, back to school, and football season

17. I can always incorporate treats into my YW lesson somehow, and almost always have an object lesson each week (I love my calling as Mia Maid Advisor)

18. I secretly always wished I was of a different ETHNIC background, as I always wanted the beautiful olive tan skin.

19. I have started doing Hip Hop Abs and look forward each day to my workouts and cool dance moves I am picking up.

20. I am actually really sad not to be returning to BYU this fall for more school and to reunite with all of our friends (as if 7 years weren't enough). I am really going to miss it.

21. I am TERRIFIED of snakes.

22. I can go to the same restaurants over and over again. Out here in Charlotte it is Panera; back in Utah it is Costa Vida. I never get sick of the food there.

23. I am always thinking of new businesses I could start or ways I could make more money doing things I enjoy more than just accounting stuff.

24. I love icecream, and no matter how healthy I can be, I could never cut ice cream all the way out of my diet.

25. I love fruits and veggies, and now eat spinach salad at least once a day from Harris Teeters, the "POSH" grocery store out here that is like a restaurant.

26. I like doing laundry, but hate ironing and putting the clothes away.

27. I enjoy decorating the house, and yet am so picky I seem to have so many ideas I talk about doing, and then can't choose which one I want to use and so it takes a long time before I do anything.

28. I have come to love cooking, except when I have to use chicken. I hate touching raw chicken at all cuz it just grosses me out.

29. I have an ice machine at work that produces the little cubed kind you get at many restaurants, which is my favorite thing to munch on ---- however, I learned chewing on ice all the time is actually a form of a disease called pica. (Could be worse) :)

30. I love all sports, especially basketball and tennis. This past year I was ranked 211 in the NCAA tournament challenge out of millions of people who put a bracket together.....it all went downhill for me when NC lost. Still, it was pretty cool. (I was 99.8% accurate up until then)

31. I accidentally mistook the bishop for Chip and was rubbing his back and cuddling up to him from behind until I saw Chip sitting in a chair across the room and became totally mortified about what I had done (will never live this down)

32. I love North Carolina and can't imagine living anywhere else right now, and yet every once in awhile I still get homesick for good ole Provo and my Utah friends.

33. I watch E news and am always keeping up to date with what is going on in Hollywood, and although I shouldn't care, I find myself getting riled up about certain things.

34. I finished a master's degree in accounting, and yet would love to go back to beauty school.

35. I love having my hair brushed and played with, and used to trick the kids I babysat into having a contest to see who could brush it the best.

36. When I go to the movies, no matter how full I am I always want to get popcorn --- I love the smell and the salty buttery flavor it is, and it helps me stay awake throughout the movie.

37. Whenever Chip and I go to restaurants, I always have to ask him what I should get for my meal because I can't choose on my own!

38. I seem to get into a dance mode whenever I vacuum --- so it takes a lot longer to get the job done.

39. I hate shaving, but love the smooth feel of shaved legs in my sheets.

40. No matter how hot it is, I always have to have a blanket when watching TV and falling asleep.

41. About once a month I get into a mode where I start to compose my own piano piece, but I always only end up getting the intro done before I get stuck :(

42. I love dark rooms and watching tv in the dark, but am still sometimes scared of the dark.

43. Overcast days always seem to put me in a GOOD mood and give me energy (go figure!)

44. When I discover a new song I like, I can listen to it over and over on repeat without ever getting sick of it

45. I have a problem that when I go shopping, if I find something I like, I can't choose which color to get so I have to get the same shirt in all the colors. (Trying to change this)

46. I have the greatest family and also in-laws.... right now Chip and I are arguing over where to spend Christmas....but i want to spend it with his family, and he wants to go to mine (guess it is good we love each others family so much)

47. My dream vacation is to go to Italy...maybe someday!

48. I fall asleep in every movie I watch - both in the theatre and at home.

49. I love rollercoasters, broadway plays, and sushi.

50. Hot dogs and strawberry sundaes at costco are simply DELICIOUS!!!!