(Almond) Butter Luck Next Time

So, it's been a while since I've posted an update. I've been busy with school and haven't really felt like sitting at the computer to type. The solution is that it is now Sunday and I am using a laptop. It's ultra fancy and lets me sit at the couch while I blog. Thanks to some support from Merilee's parents, we've been able to get one for school. I saw lots of students with them at Cal Poly, and figured that it was about time I broke down and got one instead of having to worry about when computer labs were available. By the way, here's a random picture of Merilee and I at an A's game. I have such a wonderful wife.

We got free tickets from a friend (thanks Marty!) and it turned out to be a Journey-themed (you know, like the band) fireworks game, so we stayed for that before heading home.  Did I mention we got free parking? It was a great date, with the only hiccups being the fact that the free pizza promised by Round Table wasn't actually free.  On our way home from the coliseum, we stopped by the one in Castro Valley, and apart from trying to convince us that we were crazy and somehow imagined the announcer telling us we would get free pizza for our ticket stubs, they were out of dough.  I'm wondering how they stay in business since we stopped by another day with the internet promotion on my phone and they were almost out of dough again, but somehow had enough for two personal sized pizzas.  It was only like 8:00 pm that night.  Anyways, the end of the story is that it still cost us about three dollars, for what they said was "tax." Looking at the receipts, tax was like 25 cents, but the "Free Personal Sized Pizza" code only gave you $4.75 of the original $6.  I'm not really sure how that's free, or why I'm complaining about paying $3 instead of $12 for delicious pizza.  I guess I just don't like being lied to.

So this next week I have two finals. Physics and Materials.  Friday I had Circuits and Differential Equations. Having two finals, one in the morning and one in the late evening, on a Friday (a day when none of my classes meet), has got to be the worst idea ever.  Thanks Las Positas, for leaving me stranded on your campus for 7 hours with no open library, computer lab, or any place to study.  Thankfully, my math instructor let me and another student study in his office before the exam (they hadn't managed to lock him out yet).  Anyways.  I guess I should stop complaining so much on my blog. Let's find something good to talk about.

A week or so ago I was awarded a scholarship my engineering instructor nominated me for.  It was for "Engineering Student of the Year" and came with a $250 check.  The extra cash was great, but I'm grateful for the recognition more than anything.  I'm also glad I've been able to do something I like so well.  It's great to look back to three years ago when I got home from my mission (holy crap!) and set out on this crazy quest to become a rocket scientist.  There've been times when I've been intimidated by my goals or struggled with classes and work, but I'm glad I've stuck to it so far. I'm also a very, very, very lucky man to have my best friend and companion with me for the rest.

It's been a great joy to see many of my friends, either from the mission, or from the Single's Ward, graduate from BYU and BYU-Idaho over Facebook. Great joy not for them, but for myself because I still get four more years of school which is awesome. In all honestly, I really am excited for what I'm going to learn at Cal Poly, but I'm also very excited to have a job so I can support my family.  It's kind of scary thinking about the next four years and all the possible things we'll have to do with pretty much just Merilee's income (babies?).

Everyone keeps asking us when we're leaving.  We still have most of the summer here.  Our lease isn't up until August.  Meanwhile I'm taking a welding class and learning how to use a few design and programming software programs on my own.  Merilee keeps making delicious things and I keep eating them. These are peanut butter fudge cups.  She had one and unfortunately got a bad headache afterwards.  She can have almonds though, so we'll probably try making them with that next time, because they were incredibly good. But, you could already see that, couldn't you? Be jealous.

Here's a turtle.