Surprise!

For those of you who don't know yet (and to remind those of you who do) I've been accepted to the Professional MBA program at U of U!!! If you can't tell, we're excited. The reason it's a surprise is because we weren't expecting an answer until the middle of this month, but we actually found out at the end of April. Now we can stay where we are (we're getting sick of moving) and keep jobs and insurance and all the good stuff we need. We feel blessed. Everything has worked out so well for us. People at work keep telling me I now have to buy a U of U flag to hang in my office. Just to put everyone at ease, just because I'm going to the U, it doesn't mean I have to start wearing red everywhere. You don't replace a lifetime of loyalty with one acceptance letter.

Guess what! That trip you all remember as the "Disneyland trip" two years ago was actually a wedding. A couple of people you may have met got married back then. It's okay, we're not offended that your kids remember Disneyland more than crying for pictures at the temple. We're so excited about our anniversary. It hardly seems like we've been married for two years. Last year our wymount ward threw us a party (disguised as a Cinco de Mayo fiesta), and this year the Young Women had a fund raiser fiesta (also supposed to be for Cinco de Mayo). It's so kind of all of these people to throw us parties every year.

In celebration for all of you we decided to copy Charisse and Kory and fill out the Quiz.

1. What is his/her name? Michelle Lynn Marchant. Brian Dale Marchant.

2. How long did you date? About 10 months including engagement. June 17th 2005 until Dec 17th 2005 when we got engaged. Then until May 5th, 2006. So, about 10-1/2 months from first date to wedding.

3. How old is he/she? 23. 28.

4. How old are you? 27 or 8, something like that. 23.

5. Who eats more sweets? It depends on where they're hiding. I think Brian talks about wanting them more, but I probably actually eat more.

6. Who said 'I love you' first? I can't remember for sure, maybe me. He did.

7. Who is taller? It's close, but I am. Brian.

8. Who can sing better? Definitely the beautiful Michelle. Brian, definitely.

9. Who is smarter? Probably Michelle. Depends on what we're talking about.

10. Who does the laundry? We usually do it together, but sometimes I sneak it in before she gets home from work. Both of us, but Brian has been lately.

11. Who does the dishes? Usually Michelle. Me.

12. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? Is that looking at it from the head or the foot of the bed? If you're lying the right direction on your back, Michelle does, but if you're on your stomach, I do. If you're standing at the foot of the bed looking at it, Brian does. If you're in bed, I do.

13. Who mows the lawn? I honestly can't wait to say that I do. Brian will...

14. Who cooks dinner? Usually Michelle, and, might I add, it is excellent. Me.

15. Who is more stubborn? I guess it depends on the subject. Probably me.

16.Who kissed who first? I kissed her. He kissed me :)

17. Who asked who out first? I guess technically an unknown person did because we went on a date box date from our singles ward, but of the two of us, I asked her first. Brian asked me.

18. Who proposed? I did. Brian did.

19. Who has more siblings? I do (4 to 3). Brian.

20. Who wears the pants? Well I definitely don't wear skirts! Depends. Both of us.

21. What is your favorite thing about her? Where do I start? She loves me. That's pretty important. Her hair smells good. She has a beautiful smile. She has a cute giggle. Her eyes are beautiful (sometimes they have that mischievous twinkle). I think you get the point. I love how Brian can always, even on my grumpiest of grumpy days, make me happy again. He is gentle and patient and fun.

This is a quickie

Just a quick note to let y'all know what's been happening here in West Valley. By that I mean not the stuff you hear on the news about someone being killed. For those of you who are familiar with my TV house (thanks, dad, for the name, the weight of it really makes that the most appropriate title), it has now become a tv stand. I spent an hour or so on our balcony (which is not much larger that the tv house) with a power saw on Saturday and made the tv house into a much more manageable tv stand. For those of you wondering why on earth I have a power saw, I will offer the simple explanation...I like power saws. A more detailed description for those of you who don't know why I ended up with a worm-drive Makita circular saw can be provided if enough people request it. Anyway, here's a picture. I'm planning on using the sides of the top section to make doors for the former bottom section (now it's the only section). We think it will help baby-proof the whole thing (for those of you thinking I'm alluding to anything here, please understand that I own several Disney movies that I have only watched maybe once simply because I want my kids to have something to enjoy...I'm a planner, but I feel I must explain myself so that nobody jumps to any major conclusions. We wouldn't blog about having a baby before we had actually told you either in person or over the phone). Anyway, we're super excited about how open our apartment feels now (even though it's still kind of small). You should all come over and see it sometime.

We had a pretty fun ward party this last weekend. We were told that we could show up at 6:00 to mingle before dinner, but that dinner would be served promptly at 6:30. Well, at 6:45 when the only people there were the elders' quorum president's extended family and us, I said to myself, "Self, if they have extended family here, why shouldn't I invite my sister who lives so close and I never do anything with? Hmm, maybe I will." It was good to see you, Charisse and Kory (by the way, we should hang out more).

Anyway, I said this would be a short one, so let's not make a liar of me. Here's to power saws and lasagna (ooh, and garlic bread too).

It's all grand, and it's all green

Where should we start? How about Easter? We went to California, and we enjoyed warm weather, sunshine, and the works (we’re not sure what the “works” are, but we enjoyed them). We got to see the Broadway musical, Wicked. We thoroughly enjoyed it. For those of you who haven’t seen it, we highly recommend it. For those of you who have never heard of it, we recommend you get the CD and spend a year or so trying to figure out the story line by listening to that. It makes it so exciting to finally see how things fit together. We also had Easter dinner with Michelle’s family. It was a good trip, and fun to visit with those of you we saw.

Michelle has become quite the gardener. She planted seeds, and they grew! Granted, we haven’t seen any fruit yet, but it has only been a few weeks since they were planted. So far they’ve grown really, really big. Some of them have been transplanted twice into bigger containers. We’re hoping for a plentiful harvest of lettuce, sweet peas, and cucumbers (mmmmm). Brian bought Michelle dirt for her birthday (well, technically it’s soil), and she was so excited to get it. She wanted some planter boxes for the balcony, so it was a good birthday.

Brian is excited to share the news of a new addition to the family. Yes, you guessed it, we finally replaced the Taurus! We now have a 2002 green Honda Civic. It had just under 80,000 miles on it, which qualified it for a 4 year, 48,000 mile warranty. 200 miles later and it would have only qualified for a 2 year warranty. It’s so nice to have a car he’s sure will get him to work and back every day. Brian had a birthday too. He got The Candy Shop War by Brandon Mull. He hasn’t read it all yet (in fact he just started), but when he finishes, he’ll let you know how good it is.

Still no word on school, but around this time next month we’ll know if Brian has been accepted to U of U. Keep praying for us so we can go to the right place.