Umm…I suppose I should address the 19 month gap in my blogging…. but I don’t know if I really should.  Let’s sum up:

• Graduated from the University of Utah
• Had ankle surgery
• Got two promotions – Admin for Catering & Convention Services, and now Software Specialist
• Moved out
• Fell in love

I know that so many more details are wanted/required – but really….I should have kept up the blog!  So you have to deal with the list.  The blog has mainly been resurrected because I have so many funny stories about the men in my life – they just crack me up.  So I’m taking my mother’s advice, and blogging about them so you can all enjoy them.

Meet Tony & Randy Strader

Tony is in the hoodie.  He’s been my best friend for about the last 2 years.  He got a job as a bellman at my hotel while I was still at the Front Desk, and we’ve been close ever since.  He and I actually moved out into a house with another one of our friends, Jake aka Spanky (looks just like the Little Rascal!) this past March.  He’s my Tiger (Tony the Tiger *giggle*).

Thanks to Tony, I met Randy, his big brother.  When Tony and I first starting hanging out, Randy was seriously seeing another girl.  But this past March, when Tony and I started talking about being roommates, it came to light that Randy and ExGirl were no longer together.  One thing led to another, and we are head over heels in love.  He makes me so unbelievably happy and these 6 months that we’ve been together are just the start of forever.  As of yesterday – Randy asked me to move into his house with him.  =)

So begins my life with the Strader brothers.

These boys crack me up.  They are always up to something new and exciting and always make me laugh.  This last week they’ve both had something “blog-worthy.”  Randy first….

The State Fair is in town.  We went on Monday with some friends, and while we were waiting for Tony to join us Randy got thirsty.  So we headed over to the water tent.  I quickly spotted the signs that said “Bottles Sold at Concession Stands” and knew it was only a home delivery sales tent.  I tried to divert Randy – but he wanted to check it out anyway.  Below are the results:

For only $5/month for the unit, and $5/5 gal. jug you can have cold AND hot water at your finger tips!  Notice it is placed in the kitchen….where we also have a sink…..  Also note that we ordered a cold/hot unit and were delivered a cold/room temp unit…which is apparently even better for Randy because your body can process room temp water faster and thus he can drink more.

Next up – we have this:

Yep – just a normal fashion magazine.  Tips, tricks, products, and best looks.  Only look closer….

ITS FOR TONY!!  LOL!!!  His hair is getting a little shaggy.  I hope that those Beauty Tips give him some good ideas on how to look his best this Fall Season.

=)

Conflict: Stephanie vs. Illness
Winner: Illness
Ya – remember how in my last post I was feeling like I’d been hit by a bus?  Turns out it was not your common cold.  It was walking pneumonia.  My doc gave me some horsepills and some cough syrup with codeine.  I spent three days at home in bed coughing up a lung.  The cough hung on for a little bit, but now I’m all better.  But for the time being, it seriously kicked my butt.

Conflict: Money vs. Movies vs. Sleep
Winner: Movies
Really this was no contest.  I made the best investment of my life.  F.Y.E. stores have a backstage pass membership.  For $25 you can have a yearly pass that gives you 10% off of everything, including sale items, and then I get 20% off during the week of my birthday!!  I’m in heaven.  I spend like $30 on movies a week.  This conflict also means that I will stay out late at night, even though I have to get up for work at 4 am, to see very important movies (Oscar nominees especially).  Yesterday Kimmy and I spent the day at the mall and saw two movies.

                            Subconflict: Blind Side vs.  Shutter Island
                            Winner: Blind Side
                             No contest. Shutter Island was predictable, the music was AWFUL and anti-climatic.  It was just…meh. 

Conflict: Stress vs. Sanity
Winner: Toss-up
This one changes daily.  I’ve been trying to get everything set for graduation, which includes setting up an internship for the summer.  So far this has proved incredibly difficult and if I don’t get it set up in the next two weeks, I won’t graduate.  Ok…so maybe stress wins.  But sanity gets a few minutes when I settle down for a bath and some reading.

Conflict: Wendy’s vs. A&W vs. Burger King vs. McDonalds
Winner: A&W
Last night after our movie excitement, Kimmy and I decided to hunt for the best cheeseburger in town.  We only made it to the four basics before we got so hungry we had to stop accepting applicants.  Which means the Crown Burger was exempt from the contest, which is a shame because he would have surely won.  A&W came in first – it was 49 cents more expesensive, but it was worth it.  Followed closely by McDonalds with Wendy’s Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger coming in 3rd.  It was cold, and there was too much lettuce.  BK’s Jr. Whopper came in dead last.  The King has been dethroned.

Discovery 1 – I will always remember something else I wanted to say as soon as I finish blogging/talking on the phone/writing an email, etc.  So here is the other quote from my last blog post I wanted to say:

Person 6 whom I am showing to Human Resources to fill out an application and is AT LEAST 35 years old: “Wow – its so clean!  I’ve never been in a hotel before…..wow…that’s a big Laundro-Mat.”   Good luck with that application lady.

Discovery 2 – The Late Night with Jimmy Fallon show.  So funny.  It might have been the chance appearance of Freddie Prinze Jr., but clearly Fallon  has excellent taste in guest stars – 5 gold stars Fallon.

Discovery 3 - My car blows.  Harder than we already knew.  That’s why it counts as a discovery.  I will prob end up fixing is this time (about $300 worth), and then  start looking for a new car which I may purchase at my leisure.  Probably a Mazda3 or Mazda6 (I like the look of the 3….but the 6 comes with a V6 engine…) 

Discovery 4 - Edwin McCain’s song “I’ll Be.”   I heard it on the XM radio this morning and I wanted to put my life on hold and that song on repeat.  It’s beautiful.  It’s an oldie too so I’m sure most of you know it.  I’ll sing it for you if you like.

Discovery 5 – One of the following activities has given me a cold: Wii Fit, Dining at Hoppers in Fort Union, 1 am BBQs with steak, corn, and lovely toasted baguettes with swiss cheese, burnt popcorn, the new movie Legion, smelling too many colognes in an hour, crossword puzzles, WalMart or JiffyLube.  That mostly sums up my past 48 hours, and let me tell you that the last 12 hours have not been fun.  It feels like I got hit by a bus carrying sumo wrestlers. 

Discvoery 6 – 6 am work shifts, looooots of trips to Starbucks and the library cafe, and the occasional round of WiiFit will cause me to lose 4 lbs in 6 days.  Is there a copyright to that diet? The StarWii diet I shall call it.  You’re welcome.

*Addendum 1 – As noted earlier in Discovery 1, I have something else to say.

Discovery 7  - People who do not prioritize travel need not apply for boyfriend status.  When I say, ”I think I’ll take my next trip to Ireland” and they say, “Why would you want to go there?” followed by, “No, I don’t really care if I never see Europe” they have successfully blown themselves off my radar. Try Person 6 who had never been to a hotel before.  She is probably lonely.

Here are a few snippets of the things that I have heard around home, school, and work the past few days. 

Person 1: “Excuse me.  I dont mean to loiter around you, but your voice has such strange but pleasant phoentical anomalies.  You sound so different.  I thought that, maybe we might chat for awhile?”

Person 1 One Week Later at 5:30 pm: “I was supposed to be home at 4 but I thought I’d just wait for you.  I researched all these pictures from my Facebook so that I could show you my life.  I know you are really busy with work and school, so maybe you don’t have time to hang out, so I’m okay to wait until May.”

Person 2: “Well, if I was a criminal in Cancun, I would MAKE all the companies be eco-friendly or I would hire my drug cartel to kidnap them.”

Person 2 later that evening: “What I don’t get is why we don’t use more terror propoganda if it gets things done.  Like terrorists.  They attack us once and airports are the safest things ever.  Lets just turn sustainability into a life or death situation.”

Person 3: “I’m making chili and scones.  I heard about this thing where you put chili and cheese onto a scone, and THAT is called a Navajo Taco.”

Person 3 (leaving a phone message): “Hi, um.  So I may have just made the biggest mistake of my life…and yours. So call me back.”

Person 4 was asked this question: You like to travel in a group don’t you?
Person 4: “Well I’m a janitor at night.”  (???)

Person 5: “In George Clooney’s new movie, he is going through airport security and stereotypes all the different lines to see who is the best to get behind.  And it turns out that Asians – sorry - are the best and families suck.”

Person 5 a few months ago: “Oh, do you need a lawyer?  Here.  Here’s the card for my attorney consultant.  The one for my defense attorney.  The one for my sexal harassment case, and the one for my P.O.”

Sometimes I wish I recorded my days…people say the weirdest things.

Current life is….tedious.  Or maybe that’s just my current mood.  Either way – things have got to start hussling up.

I need desperately for the weather to change from this:

to THIS:

Thank my lucky stars that the family is leaving on Monday morning to spend Christmas in Orlando, Florida.  Still – I have 1.5 more work shifts to get through and they are insisting on taking their time with it.

I also only have one more semester to get through before I have a diploma.  Wowza.  A BA in only three years.  Go me. 

Finishing school also means transfering departments at my place of work to finish out my last internship.  I love my current position, but its wearing on me.  I feel the need to move on to bigger and better. 

One more of my high school friends just got engaged (Congrats James & his lovely Mary Belle!)  – and I have a sneaking suspicion that more of them will soon be in a similar relationship.  Which leaves me practically begging the men of SLC to hurry up and mature.  Or have the mature ones be willing to date an (almost) 21 year old.  Either way – wherefor art thou Romeo?

Speaking of being almost 21 – that needs to hurry up and change too.  How can I possibly plan my cruise with Ashley if I’m not allowed to go without a 25 year old chaperon?!  Being under 21 foiled my cruise plans two years ago…it won’t happen again…

Out of respect for my mother – I won’t mention the desire for my savings account to grow.  Or my furniture collection.  Or the posession of a solitary living situation.  Not a peep….

Come on life – pick up the pace!

As much as I hate to admit it, lots of people are smarter than me.  At least, that’s the reasoning I have for my fascination with quotes.

I want to cover my bedroom walls with all the wise words I can find – most, if not all of them, are derived from classical sources.  Dickens, Homer, Forster, Shakespeare, Milton, etc.  But sometimes…wisdom shows up in unexpected places.

Before my good friend Matthew left the workplace, I kept a log of all the funny things he said.  Ironically enough, this document was entitled The Wise Words of Matthew.   It contained such items as: “Stephanie!  You drive like they’re evacuating the city!” and “It’s hard to find good friends in a bad economy.”  See?  Very wise….

My most recent muse of wisdom was none other than my little sis.  She explained how promotions work in the following conversation (taking place waiting for New Moon to start on Opening Night). 

Me:  How do you think you become a theater manager?

Dani:  *sigh*  (As if it were sooooo obvious)   Well first you start taking out the trash

Me:  *silence*

Dani: And then you get promoted, promoted, promoted.  And then people start quitting on you.  And then before you know it, you’re running the place!

Me: Oh.

Maybe I need to start taking out the trash more often….

I love languages.  Love them.   Most of you know that I speak Spanish, French, and some Italian.

My parents love to tell anyone who will listen about how we discovered my language talent on a family trip to Venice.  I’d just studied the phrasebook on the way over and picked it up enough to be able to order, shop, greet, and apparently translate between an Italian riverboat driver and a Spanish couple.

ANYWAY!  I haven’t taken French for nearly a year now, and I’m feeling the need to sart up a new language project.

A graduation trip is in the works (YAY!!!!!) and I’ve been brushing up on some German.  Look look (I cant figure out how to add accents and symbols so bear with me):

Ich heiBe Stephanie.  Es ist meine muter.  Wir mochten eine taxi fur der morgan. 

Nice eh?  No Google was necessary in the production of those three sentences.  I also have an itch to go pick up a Hungarian phrasebook….

The itch will be scratched before the week is out.

Adios! xo

Life got pretty exciting for a little bit! 

Most recent adventure – I’ve moved home.  I’m pretty much all moved, other than my larger furniture pieces, which will be moving tomorrow morning.  I think the family is excited to have me back for a bit   I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit excited to be there either.

Fall Break has come and gone. Dylan and I went to Anaheim  and had some fun at Disneyland and Knott’s “Scary” Farm and what not.  We’ve since broken up, but we’re still friends and the vacation was still fun.  Rather than create a photo album – cuz that takes fooooreeevver on here, I thought I’d just put up some photographic highlights.

And the best for last….

<3  It was a good trip

All you  need is LOVE

My busy schedule is in full swing and apparently I blinked and missed September.  Seriously.  It was like 2 days long.  But thats ok, because October is bringing plenty of fun things.

Only 8 more days until Dyan and I leave for Disneyland!  The boy is ecstatic.  Practically uncontrollable.  He reminds me every day how much longer it is until we leave and pesters me about why I’m not more excited.   I mentioned buying treats for the airplane and that tripled the excitement.  He had never even thought to do that.  The big kahuna is when I asked if he wanted me to type up a packing list for him.  (Thanks Mom, for showing me the light.  They really do help!)  I like to be able to check everything off as it goes into the bag so I know I’m not forgetting anything.  Apparently Dylan thought he was a pro already and laughed at me.  The very next day was when we went up to Brighton and guess what.  He forgot pajama pants.  Oh he had like 3 shirts and 4 pairs of socks and a hoodie and a jacket and even a hat, but no pajama pants.  Needless to say he will be receiving a packing list.

October is the start of the holidays   I love the holidays – Halloween, not my fave, but its alright.   My dad starts singing Silver Bells the second he thinks its appropriate.  I guess its time to start thinking about Christmas shopping! 

In case my mother or I haven’t mentioned it enough – my lease is ending this month.  When I get back from California I must pack up all my worldly belongings and move back home.  *sigh*  Such mixed feelings.  I think some three layer dessert will help to soothe my ruffled feathers though…and it will be nice to have breakfast food every day. 

I just have to get started on making a sign out sheet for my beloved movie collection.  I realize this is nerdy and probably unnecessary – but my brother hoards movies.  Sometimes unintentionally.  Borrowing, I don’t mind.  But 2 months is probably enough time to have watched it and returned it to its alphabetically accurate location. 

October also brings Fall.  You must say the word Fall as you sigh.  Its just how it needs to be.  Fall is my favorite.