Merry Christmas!

Wait a minute! Christmas was a month ago. I know, I know. We're way late putting these pictures up, but here they are. Our Christmas was relatively uneventful. We opened present on Christmas Eve because we both had to work on Christmas morning. But Eliza and I had fun together, and we even had Michelle and Wendy over for Christmas dinner.

Um, I graduated...

For those of you that might have heard, I graduated on December 15th (or on a date really close to the 15th; I can't remember)! Here are some pictures of the blessed event:

I am very proud to be a college graduate, even though I only graduated with a degree in Liberal Arts (whatever the heck that is). I wish that I could say that I miss the college life, but I don't, because I'm still taking classes. I had to take Biochemistry for the University of Utah (which I didn't get accepted to) and I go to class three days a week.

Thank you, Michael, for taking these pictures. It's about time I show them off.

I give it a week...

Greetings from Logan, UT!

It continues to snow here with only a day or two between storms. I'm beginning to hope that I get invited to interview at the medical school in Glendale, Arizona, so that I have a good reason to get out of here.

A few weeks ago, the icicles were growing treacherously long over our porch. Eliza was starting to worry about the wellfare of our eyes (especially after watching a Mythbusters episode that confirmed the legend that an icicle CAN be lethal.) So, to ease her concerns, I set about trying to take care of the problem. Being that our townhome is two stories high, I had to find a sturdy but nonthreatening object that I could throw to knock down the icicles. Solution: a soccer ball.

The task wasn't as easy as you might think. After only a few successful attempts, and after Eliza took a few shots, I gave the soccer ball one last heft, and it would be the heft that landed the dear ball on the roof of our house, lodged in snuggly in a snow bank.
Again, being that our house is two stories high, the only thing we could do is wait for the snow to melt. Eliza, being the betting woman that she is, asked how long I would give it before it melted off the roof. "I give it a week," I said. "A week?" she replied. "I give it to February, at least!"



The ball was found on our sidewalk in four days time.

It's a BOY!!!

For those of you who didn't read Eliza's first blog entry and or didn't quite grasp the subtle hint of the good news, IT'S A BOY! If I had the ultrasound with me right now I would upload it and post it along with this entry, but I think Eliza still has it in her purse. We've already been clothes shopping and stroller shopping, and we are even starting to clean out the dirty guest bedroom for the new arrival.

For Christmas, Eliza really wanted a pair of Ugg boots. I was more than happy to try to get them, but I had no idea how hard it would be to buy a pair. I tried the official Ugg website, and just about everything had to be backordered. I tried Nordstrom.com, zappos.com, amazon.com, everywhere, but they just didn't have any boots available. So I finally resorted to ebay.com, which I normally love, but for an item that is unattainable, you have to pay quite a bit extra. I set my maximum bid $50 above the normal retail price (high, I know, but I am a very competitive ebayer). Even at that extravagant price, I couldn't win a pair of boots. Finally, after a Google search, I found a store that was selling the black Classic Short Ugg boots that Eliza wanted, and I bought them at retail price, free shipping. They might take a week or two to arrive, but it will be worth it. In all the excitement of boot shopping, I bought myself a pair of Ugg boots to keep my toesies warm up here in the North Pole of Utah. I found them on ebay for cheaper than retail, so I jumped on it (men's Uggs aren't in high enough demand, I guess).

This Christmas will be a little lame because I have to work Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but we will hopefully be able to find some time to visit our family. We are going to have Michelle and her sister Wendy over on Christmas night to celebrate. We are very excited. We got them stockings and some fun stocking stuffers, and hopefully we'll have something good to eat. Michelle, what do you want to eat that night? I was thinking about making my Red Pepper and Gouda soup, but I don't know what else to eat with it. Let me know if you have any ideas. (I can ask Michelle questions in our blog because she is one of our loyal readers and commenters. Thanks Michelle!)

I'll talk about graduation another day. Christmas and the new baby are topping the importance list. I will just mention that I passed all of my classes with a C+ or better, so I will receive a diploma. Yeah!

Chasing Santa

So today has been a good day. I had some news I wanted to share with my family so naturally I called my mother. She of course didn't answer so I called my sister Carlie who always has as much enthusiasm, and always knows where my mother is so I'll know where I can find her at later. Well I called to let my family know that my ultrasound went well and that I'm expecting a boy! Yes a boy. Which most of you know because I sent out a mass text. The ultrasound went well and even I could recognize the little penis! Chuck and I reminised over the time my sister asked me to set her baby down and not realizing 3 mo. olds don't sit on their own it plopped over and banged it's head. This was only a month ago so the embarresment is still quite fresh. That's not as bad as the time I forgot I was babysitting and left her baby in the crib to go get lunch with my brother. My other sister Katie reminded me of this today. So at the doctor's office Chuck and I were joking about how when our baby is born we won't know what he's capable of. "Hey go get yourself some cereal! Have you eaten yet? Baby! Answer me! Baby!"
Anyway I was so excited I completely ignored the fact that Carlie was barely breathing and yelling at her daughter Halle to hurry. My curiousity got the better of me and I finally asked what she was doing. "I'm chasing Santa." I let her go and left Santa to who knows what fate.
I think now would be a good time to remind everyone to take a step back and enjoy the spirit of Christmas. Appreciate family all that we've been given, or you could end up like Carlie, chasing Santa this Christmas.

IT'S A GIRL!!!

That is totally how it's going to be when we find out! We are going to scream it from the rafters. But we really don't know what our baby will be until the 18th or 19th of December. We could know now, but we don't because we have to wait. So we wait.

My sister is having another boy! Congratulations. This is her second. Here is her ultrasound. I don't really see a boy in the picture, but I'm sure he's there.

I'm graduating soon! I graduate December 15th. I don't really feel like it's happening for a number of reasons. 1) I hardly ever go on campus for my classes, so I feel disconnected from the University. 2) I still have to take a biochemistry class next semester to be able to get into the U. I originally thought that I didn't have to take Biochemistry, and that is why I opted to graduate early, but it turns out that I have to take it, and I have to graduate now because I said I would be graduating now. The admissions committee at the U is very hard to please. 3) I have been working more than schooling, so it really isn't a big part of my life right now.

Anyway, it will be interesting. Anyone is welcome to come. My graduation is Saturday, December 15th, at 10:30 am at the Dee Glen Spectrum on campus here in Logan, UT.

Here is a reminder of Eliza's big day last May:

We'll keep you updated on any baby news that might pop up. Eliza claims that she can feel the baby move, but then she farts. I'm pretty sure it's gas every time. She probably doesn't want me to say that, but it serves her right for not ever posting on our blog.

Amen

I just got an e-mail from my very first mission companion, Joe Wolfe. He and his wife are expecting a baby about a month before us, and I am so happy for them. He was one the best companions that I had on the mission. He was so good with the people, so good with me, and such a good leader. He was one of the youngest missionaries to train greenies, and he was a district leader at the same time. Elder Wolfe was a very successful missionary, and ended up being an Assistant to the President. He is such a good guy, and I miss him a lot. I am still using his phrases and making his excited noises. (Bomby!)
I just spoke to Eric Gardner, also from the mission, and he told me that Trentle is getting married! (Trent Hunsaker, also from the mission, also an Assistant to the President, also an awesome guy and my former roommate.) The word is he's getting married over spring break. Congratulations, Trent!

In other news, I am at the library trying to do my homework, but I just can't get into it. My geography class isn't what I was hoping it would be.


All I can I think about is a quote that one of the residents at the nursing home said while on the toilet anticipating a bowel movement: "Dear God... Amen."

Amen.

Gettin' in the groove

I'll admit, I haven't been to church in about 4 or 5 weeks. This is due to the fact that I work every other weekend, and on the weeks that I could have gone to church we had stake or general conference. So when I went yesterday, I felt about as antsy as the sunbeams! It's hard to sit that long in a room that is either too hot or too cold (or too boring). I'm going to have to get used to this church thing again.
I have to mention that I finally went to the temple on Saturday. It was awesome. I can't believe how blessed we are to have the opportunity to go to such a place to learn and become closer to our Father in heaven. Since it had been so long, and since I had just returned from St. George, I was a bit tired and uncomfortable at the temple too, but I stuck it out, and enjoyed it. From my trip to the temple, I realized that I really need to lose weight. My pants don't fit me anymore. I am showing way more than Eliza, and I'm not the one carrying the baby!

Two Interviews and a Funeral

So, I had my interview at University of Utah. It was actually two interviews, one with a doctor and one with a fourth-year medical student. I think they went well. I felt calm and I responded well to the questions asked. The nice thing about the interviews was they were relaxed. The interviewers weren't trying to make me look stupid or ask hard questions. They sincerely wanted to get to know me and see if I would be a good fit for the school (and I am, by the way). They gave me a tour of the facilities, and I am so excited to even think that I might have the opportunity to go there. The new health sciences building is beautiful. It would be a treat to go there. They won't let me know if I am accepted or not until March 1. Let the waiting begin!
Eliza and I went down to St. George with her family on friday to attend her grandfather's funeral. It was beautiful. Her aunt and uncle gave wonderful talks, there were two musical numbers sung, and the prayers gave us a little "something" to talk about. The overall trip was nice and entertaining. On the drive down to St. George, we got to experience a debate between Uncle Gordy and McKay about the intricacies of modern revelation (I sided with Gordy), and I successfully won a spelling bee by spelling hemorrhage, diarrhea, and diphtheria. On the drive back to Orem, we played "Topic: Subtopic", the next gameshow sensation, which gave way to brainstorming for possible business schemes for Michael and McKay to embark on as soon as Michael graduates from college (although I don't know how likely it will be to become Water Lords).
In the hotel that we stayed at, the water main broke, and we were without water until midnight, or possibly later. This was the opening act of the water tragedy, the closing act to be realized at the Platt home when I clogged the toilet, made it overflow, and, during clean-up, accidentally bleached the really nice hand towel in the bathroom. I only wish that I wasn't the star of the second half.
On a more delicious note, I ate at the new Market Street Grill in South Jordan with my parents, and it was AWESOME! I can't wait to go back.

Never going to post...

I've just faced the fact that Eliza will probably never post on our blog. She's become a blog baby because she thinks that I post too much. This is what I think: if we don't post regularly, then no one will ever read our blog because nothing will be new. So, I'll try to carry this burden alone. My sister and her husband just started their blog. Click here to see it.
I think blogs are the greatest thing. It's like mass e-mailing family and friends without the hassle of trying to figure out who you want to send it to. And the family and friends don't have to feel guilty about deleting those messages without reading them (which is what I often do). Blogs are so informal and fun. Go Blogs!
So, Referendum 1 didn't pass (YES!!!), so Eliza and I don't have to feel guilty about not voting yesterday (since we have a "STOP Vouchers" sign on our lawn). We just didn't register on time. I don't know what else to say about that.
I have my first medical school interview tomorrow at the University of Utah. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm not nervous yet. I haven't had enough time to think about it too much. But I'm sure that I'll be a mess tomorrow morning.