Gerry Part 2

So its been a couple months since I got Gerry and I still like him a lot. Though he is still afraid of me. However, if I offer him treats like sunflower seeds or yogurt drops, he will sometimes come onto my hand and eat them. He mostly hangs inside his igloo, but he will sometimes form a bedding nest and just sleep in it. And he still will refuse to run in his wheel. :(

trash...

So last week, I bought a trash can. But it was one of those nice ones, that cost maybe 30-40 dollars in the store, the metal ones with the flip top. But I got it on sale, as a "as is" item for 5 dollars.

And guess what, it broke. A little plastic piece that holds another piece down, which would cause the trash can lid to flip open, broke off. So I tried temporary measures like scotch tape and super glue. The super glue was a disaster. I put a lot on and it did absolutely nothing. It just got all over my fingertips which feels like dried paint and that's an awful feeling. It took a couple days to come off. So I decided to use those 3m wall hangers and some packing tape to do the job. Is this repair job super ghetto or resourceful? I think it is both.

This is one of my less than intelligent posts.

Which design do you like better?

1. http://www.hillarystrawderman.com/index.html

2. http://www.hillarystrawderman.com/indexnew.html

I am working on the latter one. Still tweaking, redesigning it etc.

Gerry the gerbil (JAIR-ee)

So I have always wanted a furry pet of some kind, most preferably a dog, but I can't have a dog at my place so I decided to go with a small animal. I think guinea pigs are cute, but they are more expensive and I wanted to try out a smaller guy instead, considering I've never owned a rodent before. So I got a gerbil because they are the least odor producing small animals and are friendly. After much research and shopping for the best prices, I got Gerry. I just bought him today so he is getting used to his new home and pretty soon I will try and train him to use his running ball.

I will try and post clearer and better pictures when he gets more adapted to his cage.

Blog Deprived

So I realized the last time I blogged was ten months ago. That is sad. So I am going to very briefly summarize these last ten months for you.

1. I moved. Yeah, I got out of Utah and moved to Colorado Springs. I can spend time with Em and the babies and for a few months, I got to spend time with the rents. They are in Fiji now, serving a church mission. I also live in this cute little apartment that has a fireplace and my own bedroom, kitchen, and family room to myself.

2. I got a temp office job. First job working in an office setting. I don't know how long they will keep me, but at least I am getting some experience.

3. I spent Christmas with everyone in the family and Nastia, our Russian friend joined us too. We took lots of pictures, had some cherished moments. It was a lot of fun.

4. I am having fun at a Colorado Springs singles ward. Making new friends, serving callings etc. Funny story, one of my friends who went to BYU-Idaho (I even interviewed her for one of my college news packages), moved out here and I saw her one day and recognized the name too and we have become good friends.

Admiration

So today I was thinking about my family and I thought of my sister Emily and how I admire how she and Josh are such good parents. They teach their kids to do the rights things, to be responsible, and considerate of others. I think it is very selfless and loving for them to do all these things. Here is what I admire and notice about them...

1. They teach Austin and Anaya to be responsible like picking up their toys, helping out etc. For example, they have weekly chores and a reward system for doing their chores. I heard Austin is really good at folding his clothes and is great at getting his own breakfast.

2. They make sure they are learning both spiritually and academically.

A. They have family home evening which they teach them about the gospel and come up with creative activities that correlate with the lesson. See http://emjayeliason.blogspot.com/2010/03/p-night.html for an example.

B. Em also has school for the kids so they could learn numbers, letters, things about nature, and how our bodies work etc. And it is really sweet Em comes up with fun, interactive activities that will help the kids grasp the different subjects.

3. Em and Josh coordinate playtime activities with other families so they can meet other kids. It is good to learn to make friends and share with other kids.

4. Em will spent countless hours making things for the kids like dresses, costumes, presents etc. She once made lobster for Austin because he begged to try one (and lobster is expensive). She didn't have to spend the time to make the lobster, but she did because it would make Austin happy.

5. Em and Josh takes the time to go out with the kids and have one on one time with each of them so they can bond. Em took Austin on a hike despite the fact that she was exhausted and in great physical discomfort from her pregnancy. She sacrificed her time and energy so she could spend a day with Austin. I thought that was really sweet.

6. Em teaches the kids how to cook and make things even though it might be easier and less messy if she just did it herself.

A. She spends time making beautiful birthday cakes for the kids. Anaya wanted a princess cake with castles and Disney Cars characters and Austin got pretty cool train cake.

7. They also might get up early and spend hours looking at things that might be exciting for the kids like parades, air balloon events, easter egg hunts, holiday activities etc.

8. In the fall, Em and Josh will be taking Austin to a school that is farther away. They will have to get up early morning to drop off him at school and pick him up (no bus service) so Austin can have a safer and better education experience.

I can tell that Em and Josh devote much of their money, time, and energy to Austin and Anaya. I hope that when I become a mother I can learn and apply what they have taught and done for their kids.

April Fools!

Prank 1

So on April Fools, I called my parents and told them I broke my arm (Remember, I tried this same trick to my sister, Emily, a couple years ago and it worked :)). I called Dad first, but he didn't believe me, so I tried to pull a fast one on Mom. It took a lot of convincing to make my Mom believe me. After my mom got home, I told her the prank was over on the phone. After a period of long silence, Mom was flabbergasted and shocked to here that my broken arm was a joke. I HAD SUCCEEDED AGAIN!

Here are the steps to fooling someone:

1. Actually go to the hospital emergency room, take pictures of the emergency room and send them to your loved ones.

2. While on the phone, have one of the nurses that actually takes patients in, page you to "go to radiology so they can take x-rays"

3. Absolutely promise that you are in the hospital while you are telling the "horrible" news, which I was in the hospital, just in the food court.

4, If your Mom asks you what bone you broke and "you don't know", ask one of the surgeon waiting room attendants, to name a bone in your arm. He picked the radius.

5. Be persistent and patient.

Prank 2

How to Surprise your roommates

1. Buy really cheap, huge goldfish and put them in separate baggies.

2. Put those baggies in each of their rooms in very open places at random parts of the day.

3. Convince your one roommate there was "absolutely" no way you could have bought the fish because you were at "work all day"

Pictures coming soon.

Gratitude

Hi

Sometimes I focus so much on the negative that I forget to remember all the things I am thankful for. I am thankful for my family, my friends, the church, my sweet apartment and the things inside the apartment, my car, and yes my job :). Here is a video that is in the works (low quality).

Christmas Family Fun!

I apologize for the lack of recent updates on my blog. For Christmas, my sister Beckie and I drove to Colorado Springs/Woodland Park, Colorado and spent the holidays with my family. It was so great to be with the whole family! We had a couple sleepovers with my niece and nephew, Anaya and Austin, which is always an adventure :) and even my sister and her husband came up and slept over because of a snow storm. It had been a while since we spent the holidays together because Mom and Dad were on a mission. Here is a video of just a few highlights of our Christmas fun.

Being Crafty

I

So those of you who know me pretty much can say I don't do crafts. I don't sew, paint, or scrapbook things. Unlike my oldest sister who is the craft queen, I prefer putting pictures, video, and memories to a DVD rather than making it into a cute scrapbook.

But today, Beckie and I went to Wal-mart and decided to make something. So we bought wooden letters- for me An H for Hillary We also bought paints and brushes. Then we went home and painted them black and also put this glossy spray paint to

make the letters look smoother. It was a rather simple project

, but a craft nonetheless.

II

Quite a few weeks ago, I found an old 2008 calender sitting in a box. I knew I couldn't use it for its original purpose, so I decided to recycle some of the pictures. The pictures were very professional and beautiful. So I cut them out and got a frame and now they are hanging up. Wall art at a very low price!

Here is my finished product.

I miss you BYU-Idaho.

So it has been close to three months since I graduated from BYU-Idaho. And it seems as though it has been forever. Probably because I miss it. I was thinking how I miss it when we would say prayers before we began class. I remember if there was a particular difficult subject or test that day, a prayer would be absolutely necessary. Sometimes in classes, we discussed gospel principles and related them to scholarly topics. It was really nice to be allowed to discuss religion in our academic studies. It put a new perspective on things.

I was very grateful that teachers taught and led by example. I found it especially useful when professors would describe a personal and religious example to illustrate a concept. It showed me they had a great deal of humility and faith even though many of them had doctorate degrees. They were full of knowledge, but were willing to allow the spirit to teach them too.

I am also very touched when at the end of the semester, one of the very last things they share is their testimony. I remember the very last class at BYU-Idaho, my communications professor told us that he had a firm testimony in the gospel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was short and sweet, but it was nonetheless effective.

For the last four years, I had my life planned out. I had a schedule. I knew I had to learn this and that by a specific time. And now life is wide open. This is scary! I also like to plan and be in control of what is going to happen, but when I don't know what I am going to do or where I am going to be, the feeling is rather overwhelming. This uncertainty makes me appreciate the good times at BYU-Idaho.

I know a lot of people are excited to graduate from BYU-I. They want to rush out of Rexburg as fast as possible. They don't like all the rules like the dress code and curfew. Or the small town atmosphere. They complain. I just want to say that I enjoyed my time there. Now I know it is time to move on, but I am thankful I had the chance to spend four years there. And I am grateful for the members that sacrifice their time and money to make it possible for us to attend this institution.

Testimony

Hi

So today was fast sunday, so that meant testimony meeting. So I felt it would be appropriate to share my testimony today.

On October 5th, I went to my first live conference session in Salt Lake City with my sister, Beckie. The talks were very good. I especially liked President Monson's talk on service and Elder Holland's passionate talk on the Book of Mormon. As I was listening to

the apostles and prophet speak, I was thinking, how can THE CHURCH NOT BE TRUE? Seriously, their testimonies of the gospel, the firm and unmoving faith they have for these church principles makes me have a firmer testimony that these are truly men of God. They are not fakes. They are men who are trying to be better everyday.

I want to specifically bear my testimony about the prophet and apostles and general authorities. I know that they have been called of God and are here to strengthen and guide the members of the church.

I also want to express my gratitude for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ's love and sacrifice. I know that the Book of Mormon is a sacred word of God. Thank you. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Not the Best Idea

Alumna sues college because she hasn't found a job

• STORY HIGHLIGHTS
• Monroe College graduate says career office didn't help her with job placement
• She seeks $70,000 for tuition and $2,000 to compensate for stress
• Office shows preferential treatment to students with better grades, she says
• College says it is "committed to working with all its students"

By Jason Kessler

CNN 

Trina Thompson, 27, of the Bronx, graduated from New York's Monroe College in April with a bachelor of business administration degree in information technology.

On July 24, she filed suit against the college in Bronx Supreme Court, alleging that Monroe's "Office of Career Advancement did not help me with a full-time job placement. I am also suing them because of the stress I have been going through."

The college responded that it offers job-search support to all its students.

In her complaint, Thompson says she seeks $70,000 in reimbursement for her tuition and $2,000 to compensate for the stress of her three-month job search.

As Thompson sees it, any reasonable employer would pounce on an applicant with her academic credentials, which include a 2.7 grade-point average and a solid attendance record. But Monroe's career-services department has put forth insufficient effort to help her secure employment, she claims.

"They're supposed to say, 'I got this student, her attendance is good, her GPA is all right -- can you interview this person?' They're not doing that," she said.

Don't Miss

• Read the court filing (pdf)

Thompson said she has fulfilled her end of the job-search bargain, peppering companies listed on Monroe's e-recruiting site with cover letters, résumés and phone calls. But no more than two employers have responded to her outreach, and those leads have borne no fruit.

Her complaint adds, "The office of career advancement information technology counselor did not make sure their Monroe e-recruiting clients call their graduates that recently finished college for an interview to get a job placement. They have not tried hard enough to help me."

She suggested that Monroe's Office of Career Advancement shows preferential treatment to students with excellent grades. "They favor more toward students that got a 4.0. They help them more out with the job placement," she said.

Monroe College released a statement saying that "while it is clear that no college, especially in this economy, can guarantee employment, Monroe College remains committed to working with all its students, including Ms. Thompson, who graduated only three months ago, to prepare them for careers and to support them during their job search."

Thompson says she has not hired an attorney to represent her because she cannot afford one. When she filed her complaint, she also filed a "poor person order," which exempts her from filing fees associated with the lawsuit.

Asked whether she would advise other college graduates facing job woes to sue their alma maters, Thompson said yes.

"It doesn't make any sense: They went to school for four years, and then they come out working at McDonald's and Payless. That's not what they planned."  

My commentary:

1. Well I don’t think she is going to get a job now. Think she just blew her chances.
2. “A 2.7 G.P.A. and solid attendance record”  Yes, when you go to college, it is expected to actually attend classes. It is not something I would go on bragging about that “yay I went to class! Good for me!” It is one of those minimal requirements.
3. Suing your alma maters is NOT GOOD ADVICE!
4. Being a college graduate myself, I know that we are all in the same boat, whether we are fresh out of college or experienced workers, jobs are hard to come by.
5. "They're supposed to say, 'I got this student, her attendance is good, her GPA is all right -- can you interview this person?' They're not doing that,"

oh ok.

Enough said. I just find this rather humorous.

Graduation and Newel K. Whitney Breakfast

So the day has finally come! I graduated at BYU-Idaho with a Bachelors of Science in Communications with an emphasis in broadcasting. Mom and Dad were able to come. They helped me move and were able to come to commencement and convocation. Commencement was very good. The speakers did an excellent job. They gave inspirational talks about preparing for the future, having hope, building your lifelong resume etc. President Clark also spoke. It was amazing that Mom and Dad were seriously sitting very close to me. If I looked straight to my right they were there. It was perfect seating! Convocation was good. They gave us an alumni pin and diploma cover to each graduate. They went through the names really fast. In about fifteen minutes, they read aloud over two hundred names. We took lots of pictures before and after.

Newel K. Whitney Award Ceremony 

One day, I got a letter in the mail saying I won a Newel K. W

hitney Award. I was surprised and honored. I didn't even know about this award. On Friday, July 17th 2009, the

 recipients received a very nice clock and a teacher would introduce the recipient. Brother Weekes introduced me and talked about me being  optimistic and other stuff. All the communication faculty were there. It was really goo

d.

You know you are short when...

1. You have to sit on a pillow when you drive. It is all about the visibility folks. 
2. You can't change a light bulb because you can't reach it even standing on a chair.
3. You can't see your whole face in a public restroom mirror because the mirror is too high.
4. Your feet dangle from a chair cause your feet can't touch the ground. 
5. You have to climb on shelves to get to a higher shelf and thats when the employee asks you to stop and volunteers to get the item for you.
6. you have to wait for the bishopric to lower the podium a couple feet before giving a sacrament talk.
7. you can barely reach the pedals when going on an exercise bike. You have to stretch your legs and "yes, the seat cannot go any lower. sorry."
8. you have a hard time giving your signature on the credit card machine. You either have to try and lower the machine or stand on your tippy toes. (this has happened before and more than once!)
I will try and think of more later. I may or may have not experienced these eight things =)

The shorter person in the cartoon would represent me.

Piano (wo)man

Here is a clip of me playing the piano. It is a very low quality version because all you really need to hear is the piano. Yes, there are several mistakes and the lighting is bad cause I played this at one in the morning. 

A Blooper Moment...

So today, I decided to use the exercise equipment in the lounge of my apartment complex. I also wanted to get ahead on some reading so I brought my history book and a pen with me to study and also work out. Now this treadmill was new so for some reason it didn't have that emergency stop safety clip you attach to your person. But as I was running, I was reading and marking things in my book. Things were going pretty good.  Then the treadmill was going faster. As my book was bouncing up and down, I was concentrating harder on the words and not fully paying attention to my surroundings. Soon enough, I forgot that I was doing two things at once and took a tumble. I lost control and fell flat on my face! My history book went flying, I was down on the belt of the treadmill, trying to crawl up the treadmill while it was going full speed. I wanted to pull the emergency stop, but it was too late, I was quickly thrown off the end of the machine. Suddenly, I was on the floor of the exercise room. My knees were skinned up and slightly bleeding because of my unsuccessful crawling attempt. I got up and then looked for my book and turned off that darn treadmill :) 

There were also some people I knew in the other room who probably were wondering what the loud crash and groaning from the fall was. ha. ha. It was a funny embarrassment. 

A Word on the DHS RIghtwing Extremism Report

A Student’s Perspective on the Rightwing Extremism Report by the DHS

“I didn’t know I was an extremist”

 

            I first heard this news about classifying and warming Rightwing Extremists from my sister Beckie. To be frank, I did not believe her. I thought this report was just some far-fetched rumor. And to my surprise, I was wrong.

            When I researched this news, I went to several prominent and credible news sites.  At foxnews.com I found this article http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/15/protest-grows-report-right-wing-radicalization/. Now Fox news is known for its conservative news reporting so I was a little doubtful of the accuracy of the article. I thought the reporter could be overreacting to the whole situation. Maybe it wasn’t as bad as the report stated.

            Next I went to cnn.com, the more liberal news source. I continued to find several articles of how controversial this report was. This showed that maybe there wasn’t as big of a bias.

            I did extensive research on this report, reading several articles and opinions regarding this issue, but I wanted to get to the true source:the actual report. No commentaries, no opinions; just the straight truth.

 

             After looking over the ten-page report from the Department of Homeland Security, I was appalled by its distorted definitions of right-wing extremists. The report states Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups),

and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely.  It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.

So are we to say that those who oppose abortion or immigration are possible suspects of political extremitism? That is outrageous! I guess I could be an extremist, because I strongly oppose abortion.

The article also states “ (U//FOUO)  Proposed imposition of firearms restrictions and weapons bans

likely would attract new members into the ranks of rightwing extremist groups,

as well as potentially spur some of them to begin planning and training for

violence against the government…

— (U//FOUO)  Returning veterans possess combat skills and experience that are

attractive to rightwing extremists.  DHS/I&A is concerned that rightwing

extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to

boost their violent capabilities. “

This article disrespects our veterans who have fought so bravely to protect our natural and human rights. Does this take a way the credibility and purpose of our military if the government is insulting its military veterans?

Overall, this report is a threat to the constitution. It challenges the validity of the Bill or Rights. If you would like to see the report yourself, go to http://www.foxnews.com/projects/pdf/041609_extremism.pdf

Paint war

So my roomies and I and a bunch of friends decided to have a paint war. my roomies went to the festival of colors in utah where they throw a whole bunch of chalk at people. They arrived late so couldn't get to throw chalk at others, so we decided to have our own messy fun. We got five buckets of watered down paint and then all 15 of us went to war. we threw five colors of paint all over each other. I got some paint in my hair, my eyes, my ears. I was soaked. That lasted for a fun-filled few minutes. 

Then I learned how to ride a dirtbike. It was rocky, but exciting. It would be cool to have one. Then after we were covered in paint we went to wal-mart, we got a lot of interesting looks and comments about our appearance, but it was really cool. 

We had lots of fun. A great way to end the semester.

Pictures, Parties, and Silliness

Here is the continuation of our fun. And yes we do study, and we do HW, but we do like to have a social life.

Pictures: group pictures for a friend's class, out to Applebee's, candid pictures, and us drinking our IBC root beers.

What we also do besides our Sunday get togethers is poker night. Texas Hold'em is the usual game of choice. We don't have a buy in, so basically we are playing purely out of fun, no real money involved. It is fun cause then I am likely to take big risks. Do you call or fold? I raise! Just kidding.