I got nothin'

I wish I liked to blog as much as I like to blog stalk. My secret goal in life to become one of those way-freaking-awesome bloggers that get paid to blog about how awesome their lives are as they play every day, eat at delicious restaurants every weekend, and never wear the same outfit more than once. (I could also settle for working for Mark Zuckerberg on the Facebook Team)

But for now, I will blog stalk consistently and blog sporadically because it's kind of tricky to know what to blog about when all I have accomplished in the past few weeks is keeping my baby full, inhaling 2 plus boxes of eggnog creamies, and watching way too many episodes of Friends. And while I do, in fact, have the best husband ever and now the world's cutest baby, this blog was not created to prove that to anyone.

So here's to nothing to blog about!!!
Unless you want to talk about breastfeeding, creamies, and Friends. Then I have plenty of posts lined up.

My mini me

With all of the misunderstandings I have experienced in the past (see here and here), it's nice to know I'm not the only asian-looking caucasian in the family anymore.

So thanks, Jack!

Baby Jack

Jack Spencer Hall

November 27

6 pounds 12 ounces

Thankful*

*Thankful Hateful Post

I feel like I need to counteract all of this thankful business this month with a little venting.

I hate Max Hall. Not only because he hates the U (I know, that was so two years ago) but because he stole my favorite boy name. My son cannot have the same name as a BYU Quarterback, despite the fact that our baby is still nameless.

I hate that there is now just a 50 pound weight difference between Spencer and I. That may sound like a lot, but last year at this time, he weighed twice as much as me. Twice as much!!! He has lost a lot of weight since he is no longer doing track and I have gained a lot of weight because I'm pretty much a whale these days. It's depressing.

I hate that I get up to go to the bathroom at least 5 times a night. I swear I am not exaggerating.

However, I'm pretty sure that I have had the easiest pregnancy in the world, so I'm grateful for that.

I am also grateful that I convinced Spencer that purchasing this Aggie Big Blue hat was not a want, but a need! Merry Christmas to baby! (And to all you BYU fans, there are cute Baby Cougar hats for sale as well)

Love

I love the fall.

 

  

I especially love that my orange wallpaper, orange kitchen carpet, and orange giraffe painting match all of the beautiful fall colors. But not really.

I think the baby's room makes up for our awful kitchen.

Yes, I officially made this a mommy showoff post.

Stalking Page

I added a new page. Check it out!

Now how could I possibly have time for pinterest when I stalk these people plus you don't even know how many more? It's quite the chore!

Laughing Gas

A video of my brother, James, after he got his wisdom teeth out... enjoy!

Bloomington Lake: Round Two

Our second trip to Bloomington Lake was a snowless success!
Camping in a tent for three nights in my 7th month of pregnancy was also a success.
I am such a good sport.

Bryce

Spencer

Pinterest is not interesting

I have read more than a handful of blogs lately about pinterest and its awesomeness. I got an account and I just don't get it. Do I just read and share craft ideas, cake decorating techniques, and organization skills? Because that is not fun to me. That gives me anxiety. I would much rather spend my free time productively blog stalking...

But seriously, am I missing something?

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I met my brother-in-law for the first time yesterday. He just got home from his mission in Brazil and looks nothing like the pictures I had seen of him before his mission. He is a thrower on the track team at Utah State and got up to 300 pounds his freshman year.

Nobody recognized him at the airport.
Bryce - 60+ pounds = Spencer.

Baby!

We're having a BOY*!!!

Am I the only one who has trouble interpreting ultrasound pictures? They are harder than optical illusions. The only part of the ultrasound that was crystal clear to me were his man parts.

He is the cutest fetus** ever!!!! We are excited for November 29!


*Fetus and baby bump pictures will never be posted on this blog. Sorry to disappoint. 
**That is, if you think that Gollum from The Lord of the Rings is cute.

Utah and Summer celebrations

Utah weather stinks sometimes. It has been particularly stinky this year. I think we only had 3 sunny days in May.

On Memorial Day, it was snowy/rainy so we had a BBQ inside with Spencer's family and played intense games like this:

By July 4th, I thought the weather would be better. It was, so we went to Bear Lake. I wanted to show Spencer Bloomington Lake where I visited most summers of my childhood. It is a beautiful hike to a beautiful lake where you can swing off an awesome rope swing into water so freezing that your brain goes numb and you almost forget how to swim. Who wouldn't want to try that?

It's supposed to look like this:

But due to the consistent cold and snowy weather this winter and spring, it looked like this:

We hiked for a mile in swimsuits in at least 3 feet of snow on what we thought was the trail. But then we found the trail head so we gave up. No rope swing this year.

We went back to Bear Lake, rented beach cruisers, and got raspberry shakes instead.

Then we went to West Point for a BBQ and fireworks with Spencer's family.

And that is how we do summer in Utah.

BYPoo

Introducing my favorite BYU Incoming Freshman 2011 facebook page posts:

Dear BYU,
After my recent mind-blowingly amazing trek experience, I feel the need to become a professional pioneer. Could this be made into a major? I'll take as many handcart puling classes as I need. I want to make my life as Mormon as possible, and this seemed like my best bet.
Sincerely,
Marinda the Mormon

Today, while eating at the cougareat, I witnessed a girl sitting alone who was silently praying over her Taco Bell. I was instantly humbled and I kinda felt bad that I hadn't done the same.

Okay. So... tell me honestly. What are you more excited for about BYU? Your actual education and career development, or dating hot guys/girls? Come on be honest. :)

Are you guys paying tithing on scholarships? I haven't figured out what I should do...

Is anyone going to EFY this summer? I'm signed up to go to Santa Barbara, but I don't know if it will be awkward being 18 and out of high school...

God bless Utah State. 

One of those anniversary posts

"All because two practically underage people dated for two months and got engaged...."  

Quote from mormonchildbride.blogspot.com

On November 13 2009, my best friend, Katie, got married. I had just gotten out of a serious relationship but was surprisingly excited to be visiting Arizona for Katie's wedding, single. I was excited and happy for Katie and for my other friends who were married, but I did not envy them. I was happy where I was in life. I felt free and excited for the future. I had a mission in mind, or possibly teaching English abroad again after I graduated. I also was proud of Katie for not falling into the "Mormon stereotype" by dating her husband for a frighteningly short period of time. I mean how do you know they're the one if you have known them for less than a year, or have dated them for only a few months?! I even remember talking to her mom at her reception and saying something to the effect of, "Aren't you so glad that Katie dated Aaron for over a year? She's not one of those crazy girls!"

Little did I know that very very shortly I was going to become one of those girls.

The ones who get married at 20.
The ones who marry boys fresh off their missions, boys with no money and no clue what they want to be when they grow up.
The ones who date those boys for a very very brief period of time.
The ones who decide to get pregnant shortly after marriage and who are still as clueless as ever about their future.

The weekend after Katie got married I started dating Spencer. We were engaged by March, married by June, and pregnant the next February. I will not even disclose when we had the official talk about getting married because that is just plain humiliating. 21 days with Thanksgiving Break apart from each other included in those 21 days. Gag.

Growing up, I vowed that I would never become one of those girls. Too bad, so sad. I'll just eat my words because I'm happy.

Happy 365 days to us! 

My most favorite anniversary post ever can be found here written by my cousin Sue.

Get with the program!!

People that do not blog that I wish would:

• my mother
• The Sheets Seven
• K. Garcia
• Seriouslysoblessed

People that do not insert sarcastic comments on every post of every blog I stalk that I wish would:

• P. Heywood
• T. Jenson

My blog stalking world would be so much more complete with these guys in it.

But in the mean time, if anyone has any blog recommendations for me, do tell. You can't tell that I have way too much time on my hands, can you?

What you don't see

I love this.

Aggie

Below is my long, cheesy ode to Utah State. I wrote it for my English class last summer. Don't worry, I won't make you read it, but it's there if you want. I'll even give you a short bulleted summary so you don't miss out on this important information :)

• I LOVE Utah State.
• It is very possible that I have been brainwashed to love Utah State this much.
• It is certain that I have been brainwashed to hate BYU. (Props to my brother, James, who was also brainwashed but is still choosing BYU anyways.)
• I recognize that I am brainwashed, and yet I still LOVE Utah State. And still hate BYU. 

Since the founding of The Agricultural College of Utah in 1888, now known as Utah State University, many students have passed through this campus, but not without making their own mark (Hail the Utah Aggies).

I have a long history of Aggies in my family. My mother went to Utah State. Her parents went to Utah State. My grandma’s parents went to Utah State. My grandpa’s father went to Utah State. Aggie Blue runs through my veins, and because of this, I always knew that I would be an Aggie at Utah State University.

My Great-Grandpa Smith, G. Carolos Smith Jr., went to Utah State on a football scholarship until his brother died. He had to quit school and move back to his home in Holladay to work on the farm to help support his family. He always wished that he had his degree so he was adamant that his children all graduated. Sure enough, my Papa, Carlos Smith III, went to Utah State on a tennis scholarship, met his wife there, and earned his degree. 

Show me a true blooded

Aggie from Utah,

Who doesn't love the spot . . .

Where the sagebrush grows! (The Scotsman).

My Papa is the definition of a True Blooded Aggie. In addition to his schooling at Utah State, many years later he became the Director of Alumni.  He commuted to Logan from Salt Lake City every day for ten years to his job at the Alumni House. I’m pretty sure that he taught me the phrase “Go Aggies” within my first year of talking. He also has an amazing talent of bringing up Utah State into every topic of conversation. In my junior high and high school years when I visited Utah, I would sometimes drive up to Logan with him when he went to work. He would take me to lunch at the Hub on campus and as I watched the many Aggies interacting and passing by, he would tell me stories about his experiences as a college student at Utah State. “I first saw your grandmother right here at this student center. When my friend introduced me to her she was reading a book and all she did was nod her head at me and then kept on reading her book!” I heard that story and others so many times, but they never seemed to get old. 

Why is it so good? Well, Aggie Ice Cream has a 12% butterfat content. It's aged slightly longer and contains less air than most commercial brands. People loved it so much, more flavors were created. Now, Aggie Ice Cream has 26 flavors and is known around the world. (Aggie Ice Cream).

Every summer since I can remember, I visited my Great Grandma Libbie Maughan in Logan. She was my Grandma’s mother. She grew up in Cache Valley, graduated from Utah State with her husband, Lemoine, and worked for 38 years at Utah State Extension Service. Everyone on campus knew her and loved her. After her retirement she worked part time in the Biology Department and was still working there when my mom went to Utah State for school.

Visiting Grandma Libbie was always a treat. Every time I came out of Sardine Canyon, I searched for my two favorite landmarks of Cache Valley. Across the valley of farms and green pastures, I spotted the glowing castle-like structure, the Logan Temple, and the big blue “A” just behind it, Old Main. We drove up 400 North past the USU campus and pulled into the driveway of her small red brick house. My cute Grandma Libbie, without fail, would be sitting in her white chair in the driveway, waiting for us to arrive.  We would wear Grandma Libbie out with all of our Logan traditions: picking up Papa at the Alumni House, stopping at Fredrico’s for pizza, floating toy boats down the creek at Central Park, and cooling off with lemon custard Aggie ice cream. When it was time to leave, Grandma Libbie would give me a big hug. She would stand by our car and watch and wave to us until we turned the corner. I would watch her until she was out of sight. That image was always special to me because I knew that eventually, that would be my last image of my dear Grandma Libbie. She died my sophomore year of high school. 

Closing seconds of BYU game…when 10,270 crazy USU basketball fans sent the undefeated, all-mighty Cougars from Brigham Young home with the harshest “Winning-Team Losing-Team” chant. The fans came early, stayed the whole game and were rewarded with one of the biggest wins of the year. “Winning-Team Losing-Team” is something that is highly anticipated toward the end of the second half, and you could literally feel the message of, “Go home Dave Rose!” ringing through the air (Statesman sport staff pick out plays, players, teams of the year).

When I was a senior at Gilbert High School in Arizona, I wanted to go to Utah State, but forced myself to be opened minded and explore other options. I went to a recruiting trip at BYU. When a BYU recruiter had us create an account on their website, I did the only defiant thing I could think of – I set my password to “goaggies.” That night, they took us to a BYU volleyball game. “Go Cougars!” Everyone shouted. I made an attempt to cheer but nothing came to my mouth. I literally could not humble myself enough to make one tiny Cougar chant. This was the first time that I considered the possibility that I was a “brainwashed Aggie” as well as a “true blooded Aggie.” Either way, I was an Aggie through and through. My Papa made sure to end my trip on a positive note, so he picked me up from Provo and drove me all the way up to Logan for an Aggie football game.

I came to Utah State in the Fall of 2007 on an Ambassador scholarship. As an Ambassador, I help recruit incoming students by giving campus tours, visiting high schools, and putting on high school leadership programs. I love it because I am able to talk to people with passion about USU. I love the people here. I appreciate the professors I have had. Cache Valley is absolutely beautiful. I love the crazy basketball games, sledding down Old Main Hill, Homecoming week, and the fun college town atmosphere. I enjoy selling Utah State to other people because it means so much to me. I have had such great experiences here that I want others to have that as well. 

The Block A has stood as a traditional monument to aggie spirit. Campus tradition dictates that only those who kiss while sitting on the Block A, under a full moon, can be "true aggies." (True Aggie). 

I got home from my honeymoon last Sunday. I married an Aggie. He is on a track scholarship and we joke that this has increased my “Aggie status” in my Papa’s eyes. We are living in the same red brick house that I drove to every summer, my dear Grandma Libbie’s house. I know that she is pleased. When we entered the valley as we drove out of Sardine Canyon last Sunday night, I searched for my Cache Valley “landmarks,” like always.  But they had more significance to me now. The Logan Temple is now a personal landmark as, a little over a week ago inside those temple walls, my husband and I knelt together and made eternal promises to each other and to God. Likewise, the glowing blue “A” on top of Old Main feels like a personal landmark as this place has been so good to me. I smiled to myself and reflected on how different my life would have been if Utah State had not been a part of my life. My heart was full of gratitude for Utah State University and all the Aggies in my life. For most, an Aggie is just a school mascot. For me, it defines who I am.

 Utah State, hey!

Aggies all the way!

Go Aggies! Go Aggies!

Hey! Hey! Hey! (Fight Song). 

And that is all. Except for my long, cheesy ode to USU Ambassadors. Oh, wait, that has already been written! See below. (But really, you don't have to. It's a little inside jokey.)

Go Aggies!!!!

What's left of the 2007 USU Ambassador girls

My most favorite people to recruit in AZ with.

With my cute cousins at a football game, sophomore year

Crossing the boarder on a recruiting trip to Tuscon, freshman year

Spencer's only home track meet.

Aggie Ice Cream with Hannah, sophomore year

Chucking Easter Eggs down Old Main Hill

2007 USU Ambassadors, freshman year

Homecoming Street Painting, sophomore year

Confession: Spencer has not yet become a True Aggie. But it's his own fault because he's traveled basically every True Aggie night since we started dating.

Smith girls at their best!

6 Smith girls + 1 ipad + 1 facebook account = one awesome Saturday night!!

I swear that this picture was not posed. Spencer took this picture, probably out of boredom and disbelief that we had in fact, been sitting like this for over an hour. 

6 Smith girls + 1 ipad + 1 facebook account = one neglected husband. Actually four neglected husbands.

Why Wait?

I like this article about marrying young.

Stupid Helmet

Today, I woke up to a beautiful sunny day. It is interesting how my idea of a beautiful day has changed now that I have lived in Logan for 4 years - it was 43 degrees this morning. But I took advantage of the sun and went on a bike ride.

I love my road bike and I love my cute pink helmet. But here's the thing: I have a problem with this pink helmet. It takes a lot of concentration for me to figure out which side is the front and which side is the back. Retarded, I know. Anyways, I rode my bike and and I got lots of looks from runners as I passed them. (I knew it was because I looked so hard core.) I got home, saw my reflection in the window, and realized that yet again, I wore my helmet backwards... DANG IT!

The first time this occurred was during a triathlon a couple years ago. Yes, I know I look freaking awesome. Somehow, I accidentally left this picture out when I put pictures up on facebook.

I bet nobody would guess based on this picture that I took second place in my age group. Boo ya! Nobody saw this loser coming!

My five year old brother had the
nerve to make fun of me after

I think that I should stick to beach cruisers - helmetless. I pull that look off a lot better.