My job will be better than yours!

I'm just sayin....

According to the U.S. News and World Report, genetic counseling is one of the best career choices of 2009.

"U.S. News has plowed through hundreds of careers, looking for the jobs with the best outlook in this recessionary economy (and beyond), the highest rates of job satisfaction, the least difficult training necessary, the most prestige, and the highest pay. These careers have staying power: They're smart moves now, and they'll be smart moves for years to come."

Here's a snippet of what they said about it. "Some 90 percent of genetic counselors are satisfied with their job. And it's not surprising. Compared with other healthcare professions, your work tends to be more rewarding. You're not expected to cure difficult diseases but merely to help a person explore options and provide support. So most of your clients are pleased with what you've done. Also, you're not forced into 12-minute patient appointments. A session with a patient or family member often lasts an hour. Plus, the job market is growing."

That gives me hope because right now there is not much hope in my academic and professional life as finals are rapidly approaching and I have midterms and term papers due left and right.

See all the best careers for 2009 here.

The Christmas Preview...

It snowed all day on Saturday. It was beautiful, puffy snow that stuck right on top of our piles of Autumn leaves that we still haven't bagged up yet, making it seem as though they were happy piles of snow instead of leaves. Tyler and I felt cozy and cheerful in our little home. We shamelessly dusted off our old Christmas records and listened to Frank Sinatra, Julie Andrews and Elvis sing all our favorite carols. We didn't even care that it wasn't after Thanksgiving yet. We woke up on Sunday to find that all the snow had melted so it was back to Autumn and thinking about pumpkin pie. Our little Christmas preview was just enough to get me excited without killing it too early. I love that.

Speaking of pumpkin pie, though, you have got to get yourself to the BYU Creamery on 9th and get some of their pumpkin pie ice cream! Wow. It even has divine little chunks of homemade pie crust in it. Tyler mixed his with eggnog ice cream and it made me a little jealous of his cone when I only had pumpkin pie in mine.

Don't you just love this time of year? We sure do

p.s. That ugly tan couch in the picture above will soon be replaced with a magical vintage find, as soon as it gets delivered to us Thanksgiving weekend. Stay tuned!

Halloween

Tyler's grandma had her 80th birthday at the end of October, so we drove up to Idaho Falls to celebrate with her. See Tyler's sister Tiffany's fantastic posts about the trip here, here and here. We were all witches for Halloween. The funny story behind this is that I really, really wanted to be a lion tamer. Tyler knew this because I talked about it often, trying to convince him to be my lion. Then, as I was preparing my costume and talking over ideas with my sister, Tyler casually drops a little fact: we are all dressing up as witches this year, he says. I guess he forgot to tell me that we were going to be in Idaho for Halloween and that we were all supposed to dress up as witches. "You never told me that!" I said. And he said, "Well you never asked!" True. I forgot to specifically ask if we were all dressing up as witches this year. I guess it never crossed my mind. Silly me. So next year I will be a lion tamer. I even found a neat vintage jacket that will be perfect. Can't wait :)

Happy Veterans Day!

I love that the Boy Scouts from our ward come and put a big flag in our yard on patriotic holidays. First of all, it reminds me that there actually is a holiday, but it also fills me with love and gratitude for our nation to see our flag waving in the breeze.

Today is one of those days.

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in 1918 the World War I Armistice was signed by Germany, ending the war. Thus November 11 used to be known as Armistice Day until the 50's when it was renamed Veterans Day to honor all veterans, not just those who served in WWI. How grateful I am for all those who have served in the military in various capacities to guard and protect our nation and others, as well.

I'm taking a class right now that I would HIGHLY recommend to all BYU students. It's called The Pen and the Sword. There are two semesters of it, Honors 201 and Honors 202, one dealing with history before 1500, the other with history from 1500-present. The whole class is about war in literature and how humans have viewed war, waged war, and resolved conflicts throughout history. We have read works ranging from the Iliad to Socrates to the book of Genesis trying to understand why we as humans are constantly angry and fighting. One of the themes of the class is whether or not peace is even possible, and if it is, what peace even means. Does peace mean signing a cease fire, as they did in WWI? I don't believe that anyone could argue that the end of WWI brought peace at all, even though everyone's troops went home...

My professor, world renown Egyptologist Wilfred C. Griggs has been teaching this class for over 20 years and he said that every year that he has taught the class there has been a major war somewhere in the world. Scary, right? Why does it have to be this way? Why can't we all just get along? Throughout this semester, I have had huge personal realizations regarding the way I view human nature, foreign policy, and what it truly means to be a hero. Thus I will and this short musing by saying that I believe that those who willingly enlist to serve our nation in the military are true heros, while those who get fat sitting in the seats of Congress mostly are not...

Happy Veterans Day to you all. I hope you take some time today to think about what freedom means to you, and think of all those who have made tremendous personal sacrifices so that we can enjoy that freedom every day. And don't forget to hug a veteran!

Who doesn't love J-Dawgs?

Seriously though. I think it's near impossible to eat a fresh-off-the-grill J-Dawgs' hot dog and not love every bite of it... Unless you're a vegetarian, which I used to be (yes, used to be.. as in, not anymore).

Anyway, the point of this post is not an advertisement for them, but a little tidbit of news. While eating there I chatted with a friendly employee who informed me that they are expanding! They're building a J-Dawgs at UVU and the U this year. They're going to take it a little slow and see how the new ones do, but the goal is to have one at every college campus in Utah... and maybe even the whole world! Okay, so maybe I added the whole world bit, but they really are going to try to get on every campus in Utah, which I think is brilliant. Way to go, J-Dawgs. Spread your special sauce love to all those other college kids who have no idea what they're missing yet.

(photo from here.)