Video HQ

There is this fabulous movie rental store just down the street from us. It used to be a Hollywood Video, but then changed to a Video HQ. It's FABULOUS! You can rent movies for 49 cents a night!! And new releases are 99 cents a night!! Due to the extremely low prices, Jon and I go there A LOT!! We rent movies there at least once a week, sometimes more. You can't imagine the number of movies we have rented in the last few months. I'm really going to miss this store when we move. Not only is cheap, but since we go there so often at least half of the staff know who we are! I find that fact very satisfying! I like the feeling of being recognized by strangers. I suppose it's like the feeling of going to a coffee shop so much that the workers know what your 'regular' drink is. I really like it and I'm going to miss that as well. Jon and I have to decided to take advantage of this store as much as we can until we move! We're going to have a lot of at home movie dates in the new 2 weeks!

Buffets and Truckers

So, Jon and I went to Buffet City tonight for dinner. It's fairly new so we decided that we would try it. I forgot it was a Chinese buffet so that was a little bummer, but it was okay. Personally, I'm not really a fan of buffets. I'm not saying that there aren't some good ones, but for the most part, I think that if you have to cook food fast and in such large quantities so you can feed people as much as they want to eat doesn't equal good food... This one was about the same as most others. It was fine, but not great. They did have sushi though, so it was better, but still not great.

Anyway, so we were sitting at our both and the table next to us was full of a bunch of Truckers. Apparently they all knew each other and had planned to stop at this buffet to enjoy dinner together. It was really entertaining! They were the classic Truckers; a bit grungy looking, dressed in Nascar attire, talking in southwestern accents... it was great! They started talking about work and all the stops they have to go through. Apparently their connection to dispatch was being dumb and they were all pretty frustrated. "I can't be on the phone for an hour! I gotta drive!", spoken in a fairly heavy southwestern accent. It was really quite funny and made for a nice entertainment with our dinner! It was pretty fun!

On another unrealed note, Jon and I were talking and I randomly brought up last night's epidsode of House. Jon made a fabulous joke, but I have to share the background of the episode in order for you to understand. So, if you haven't seen that episode: **** Spoiler Alert ****
So the basic gist of the episode (or the part that matters for the joke's sake) is that House is planning a bachelor party for Chase. Wilson tells House that he won't go to the party because he always ends up doing something to embarress himself. House pretends he doesn't care and ends up planning the party at Wilson's apartment to force him to come. During the party, Chase is about to leave, mostly drunk, when the team convince him to have one more drink, a body shot on a stripper. He agrees and takes the body shot. Only she is wearing a strawberry body butter (apparently made with real strawberries). Chase is allergic to strawberry, very allergic, and ends up in the hospital.

So, this is what happened while we were talking.
Me: "House tried to kill Chase!!"
Jon: "Yeah! With a strawberry flavored stripper!" *pause to think* "It was House, in Wilson's apartment, with a stawberry flavorted stripper!" (Referring to the game of Clue!)

I laughed so hard! It was great!!

Michiganders

Jonathan and I got back from Ann Arbor last night. It was 81 degrees when we left and only 45 degrees here in Utah when we got here. Too cold. I thought it was funny because whenever we tell people that we are moving to Michigan they tell us how cold it is, yet it was colder here the whole time we were in Michigan.

We found out today that Jon is still on the wait list at Washington, so that puts us back at knowing that we are going to Michigan! It's a bittersweet thing. I decided that I really do love Ann Arbor. I wasn't so sure at first, but the longer we stayed there and the more I saw of it, the more I grew to love it! It's pretty humid there. I wasn't really expecting that since it's not on the ocean, I suppose it's due to the lakes or something. I heard opposite opinions about the winter. Some people said it was about the same as Utah, and others said it was absolutely terrible and freezing. I like the snow, but I don't like the cold too much, so I can't really win. I decided not to worry about it too much since I'll be working at home anyway and won't really have to go outside in the winter anyway. So, there you go. I get to see the snow and stay warm in my house. Haha.

We took a walk around one of the parks in Ann Arbor, it goes around a part of the Huron river. It was so pretty. We saw a lot of pretty birds that we don't see here in Utah, so that was cool. And, oh my gosh, they have SO many raccoons there!! I didn't see any live ones, but about every mile or so there were dead ones on the side of the road. No more dead cats! That's cool. They look pretty funny actually, I hope that doesn't sound mean. I'm sure you don't want me to go into detail about the roadkill. ;)

Anyway, I'm excited to be living there! It seems like a lot of fun and it really is very nice and pretty. The mall was really nice too! Sweet!!

A Turn Of Events

So, here we are in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is 'second look weekend' for the medical students who are thinking about attending the school next fall. Jon has only been accepted to The University of Michigan, though he did at least get wait-listed at a few other schools. So, naturally, we assumed this is where we would be. We have been looking around at a few homes with a realtor and have decided to buy a condo instead of a house. We don't have anything picked out yet of course, it's a long, stressful process.

It is beautiful out here, the weather is nice (at the moment), and I think we would do well here. The people seem really great and the atmosphere is exciting! Jon's Aunt and Uncle live a little less than an hour away, and that should be a good thing for us, and probably for them. No one on our side of the family really comes up to visit them as everyone else lives in Utah... I feel bad for them.

We recently found out that Jon might be able to get into The Washington University in St. Louis. We aren't sure yet but if he can, it changes everything! We might actually have more of a choice on where to go. Washington University has a higher rating than Michigan, but both schools are great! Jon likes Ann Arbor better than St. Louis (I've never been to St. Louis, so I don't know), but he likes Washington a little better than Michigan. Though he really loves Michigan as well. It's hard for me, because I've seen it here in Michigan and have seen a little of the school too, but I have no idea what St. Louis is really like! We are thinking that we are going to see who will give us better financing to help us decide. It's overwhelming. I don't know how I feel. I can't decide where I want to be, where we should start raising our family. I know he will do well at either school... There are just a lot of pluses and minuses to consider....

On another note, being here in Ann Arbor and meeting some of the people that Jon will be going to school with has been really fun and interesting and even a little sad. We went to a dinner last night with about 10 or so other people. Some of the people haven't started medical school yet (Mo), and there were a few people that were in their 1st and 2nd years of school (M1 and M2). It was such a weird feeling to be there. We had dinner and some people had wine. After dinner they offered out beers that are supposed to be really good. By the end of the night, everyone had had a beer except for us. It was such an eye-opening experience. I had heard a lot about the 'bubble' that Utah is in, and I really understood how much that is true last night. I like being outside of the 'bubble'! It feels real! I can't explain it better than that, but I like it!

Also, it really made me sad to be with other people here, even some of the married LDS couples that we met. It made me REALLY wish that our dear friends Erick and Kira were going to be with us, that we could all go to the same school. I am going to miss them so much and it really hit me so much last night. I am really going to try super hard to make sure that we don't loose touch. There are so many things I love about them, including the many ways that they are so similar to Jon and I. I love them so much and I am going to miss them dearly. We love you guys!

We'll keep you updated on what we find out on Monday. Until then, Ciao!!

That's What She Said

THE OFFICE!!

Seeing as this is such a big deal to us, I decided that I needed to spend some time talking about this fabulous TV show!!

The Office is the greatest! I never watched it until I met Jon. He really loved it and watched it all the time. In fact, he used to skip class to watch it with one of his friends on his Ipod! Haha! I remember the first time I saw it. We went over to one of his friends house. The episode was (Women's Appreciation), when Phyllis gets flashed in the parking lot.. It definitely was not the best one for a first impression, but was still willing to give it a shot. I didn't love it at first, probably due to that first impression, but I soon grew to love it!! We watch it EVER week without fail! Sometimes we have to watch it online later, but we ALWAYS watch it!!

It is SO funny!! I love everything about it! One of my favorite characters (besides all the main ones like Dwight and Jim) is Angela! Weird huh?! I don't know what it is about her, but I just think she is so fun to watch. I LOVED the episode with her cats on the webcam (Lecture Circuit: Part 2)! HAHA! That was hilarious!!

Some of my favorite episodes are:
Season 1: The Alliance.
Season 2: Office Olympics, The Client (mostly due to Michael's screeplay), The Injury, Drug Testing, Conflict Resolution.
Season 3: The Merger, Ben Franklin, Business School, Beach Games.
Season 4: Fun Run, Dinner Party, The Chair Model, Did I Stutter, Goodbye Toby.
Season 5: Weight loss, Baby Shower, Customer Survey, The Duel, Prince Family Paper, Golden Ticket, Two Weeks, Heavy Competition.

Our weekly TV show schedule:
Monday: House M.D. Simply fabulous! You gotta love House!! Haha! And Hugh Laurie... very attractive in a rugged, older man kind of way. I mean, he's English who fakes an American accent! Who knew?! Love it! And Chase with his sexy Australian accent! Rawr!!

Tuesday: The Mentalist. Totally amazing! Very creative, a bit different then your normal CSI type show. Patrick Jane is absolutely fantastic to watch! He is so funny, and that smile.... I just can't help but smile back at him! So cute!

Wednesday: Lie To Me. STUNNING! This is such a cool show! I especially like that it is all based on fact, none of the techniques are made up. All of the things they say about people lying is totally true! And again, we have a great main character. Dr. Lightman is just awesome! It's a new show, so we are still getting to know the characters, but I just LOVE it!

Thursday: The Office! Which I have already talked about!

That's it for the week! We love our TV schedule! It's so much fun to be excited about the shows we watch on TV. The Office is our favorite, but we love all our shows!

Until next time... the show must go on!!!

Apologies

I just wanted to apologize for the way I have been acting lately. I have been really down lately and I haven't handled it very well. I could blame it on the stress of moving or the fact that I had to change my birth control prescription (yeah, TMI), but in the end, I really can't blame anything or anyone. I have taken things too personally or literally and I apologize for not handling things in a more mature, ladylike manner. I hope that I didn't offend anyone too much. I promise to be better and that it won't happen again. I am really very sorry, it is something that I am working on improving about myself. I love you all and I hope you can forgive my bad behavior. Thanks for listening. Always, Shalay P.S. On an unrelated note, I will also be added a new 'gadget' to the side of our blog (----->) to track Jon's sales this summer so everyone can be up to date with his success!

Love Story Meets Viva La Vida

My sister told me about this song and I think it is just stunning! So, I thought I would share it with all of you! I hope you like it as well! Enjoy!

Love Story Meets Viva La Vida- Jon Schmidt

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

Last time Jon and I went to visit my family in Arizona we got family pictures done! We had a lot of fun! My Mom was able to find a photographer so we didn't have to go to a studio (YUCK!) or try to do them ourselves! They turned out so great and I am SO grateful that my Mom put in the effort! It payed off! Thanks Mom!

So, here are a few of the pictures!

































Not too much has really changed yet. We have been talking to a lot of people who are thinking about coming out with us this summer, and that has been really fun and exciting!! It's coming up fast! We only have a few more weeks left until we get to stay in California! I sure hope my allergies clear up a bit though, every time we go down there I start struggling to breath. I think I'm realizing how people with asthma must feel... it sucks! It's weird, I only have problems in Sacramento! I've been to other areas in California and I'm fine! It's just Sacramento that gives me problems! Maybe it's the different plants in the area.... *shrug* I don't know.

We really can't wait to move! Things are getting really frustrating and both of us are having problems with people who just don't care that we are leaving. Maybe they don't realize that this isn't just for the summer (even though we've told them a million times) but whatever the reason, it sure is breaking our spirit. It hurts to realize that the people you care about don't care as much about you! It's good to know that we do have people that care though and we appreciate them all so much. I think it's just time to get out of here so we don't have to feel like this so much anymore!

We wish you all lots of love and we are really going to miss you!

Going Away Party

We recently had a 'going away' party with some of my friends from high school. We really don't have the time or patience to plan a big party with tons of people, so we did something smaller with just my closest friends. We have other things planned for other groups of friends, I'm excited for those too!!

For the party we had pizza, played Guitar Hero, and chatted and just had a good time. It was pretty fun and I think everyone had a good time. I was really happy to have Mercede there!! I haven't seen her in a while and it was so great to have her at the party! Micah also showed up! He had been home from his mission for about 2 days or so, so I didn't expect him, but Jon surprised me and invited him over! I was way excited! I had a bunch of good friend come as well and I was very glad that they made the effort to come and see me before I leave. Some of them left for a dance later that night...I'm still not sure how I feel about that... and everyone else just left when they had to go.

It was really fun. I'm going to miss being so close to so many friends, but I am way excited to be living far away and make new friends! Things are changing so fast and it is really overwhelming sometimes.

We are in California right now for the weekend! It is absolutely beautiful out here! Not a cloud in sight! It has been windy and a bit nippy though, but it's okay. Our apartments are fabulous!! It feels so cool to be here again, remembering last summer, it almost feels like coming home, even though we were only here for 3 months last year. I decided that I really do love California! Jon would love to move here, and only yesterday I decided that maybe I would love it too. The only issue is that I get REALLY bad allergies out here. Not the sneezy, itchy kind of allergies. I get 'I need to go to the Doctor and get a prescription and an inhaler because I can't breathe' kind of allergies. It's no fun! But other than that?! I LOVE CALIFORNIA!!

I had fun taking random pictures yesterday when Jon was out selling and I was bored at home. Here are a few:

How Frustrating...

So, we found out yesterday that Jon didn't accepted to the University of Utah Medical School. Jon was really unhappy about it! I mean, who do they think they are?! He went to school there for his entire pre-med program, always got A's, and they aren't even a very good school!! They are tied for #49 in the country!! Michigan is #11 and they accepted Jon!! Not to mention that their application was insane! It was way to hard and too long to be for a school with that low of a ranking!

It was really frustrating. Not that we really wanted to go there or anything, because we don't. But if we would have got accepted there then Michigan would have offered us more money to go to their school. Now we are worried that Michigan will offer us next to nothing and we will have to pay our entire way through school there. We are happy to be going to Michigan, Jon has always wanted to go there even before he applied, but it is a little unnerving to think that he only got accepted to Michigan. What if they had denied him too, then he wouldn't have gotten accepted anywhere... We wouldn't have a school to go to. What would we have done? Worked for Pinnacle another year and filled out the applications again!? They cost so much just to fill out! It's a scary thought and I am really grateful that they did accept him. Though Jon is feeling like they will see that he didn't get accepted anywhere else and they will wonder why they accepted him. Though even if they did, they can't take away his acceptance...right?...

I just felt so bad for Jon... I don't understand why all of the other schools turned him down. He's a great student! He's really smart! Why weren't they impressed?! I just don't get it... Not to mention, how do you comfort someone who got rejected so many times! I certainly did my best and he felt better by the end of the night, but it still has to be nagging at him. He is so wonderful. I love him so much. We are so excited to go out to Michigan! It sounds like a really great place!

Tomorrow night we are heading out to California for the weekend so that Jon can help get the office set up for the summer and do some selling! I can't wait to see our apartment!!