The coolest thing!!!

Well...at least for me. It is said in business that if you are googleable you are not as important as you could be. To do this open up your Google search engine and type your name followed by your industry. If you are found on the first page of results you are doing awesome. This is where it gets really cool. Type Joseph Petersen Horticulture. Just try it. Yeah! I'm #1.

Photo Friday?

We still do that? Who knew! We managed to find some photos, despite the super crash of our computer and camera issues. Yeah for pictures. Anyway, I thought I would give a sneak preview. I'm so proud of and I... our first collage. Yep, you guessed it, I always did them with mom. Poor Joe!

Photo Friday

Well, today is Friday! And, I see no photos. I did spend much of my day, however, viewing many photos while I tried to put together a MM Mouse page (which I hope you all have done, also.) But, it made me realize just how important this blog is. What a great overview of our year. I'm sure there are things missing and many things not photographed, but overall, it was lots of fun to review the year. And, it's especially fun to review the year in pictures. I especially miss the blogs from Michelle and family. Sure wish they could join us!

We had such a fun week, last week with James, Liz and the boys. We spent most of the time here at home, but did get one day, and what an adventure that was, in Washington, D.C. We went to the zoo, and the national mall (the monuments and capital building), drove by the White House and topped it off at the temple.

We also got to spend an afternoon in the nearby Skyline Cavern. It was a mile of walking and lots of beautiful cave formations.

Marquie has especially missed the extra people in our home--no really. It's just too much quiet time here with just us old folks. This week has gone by so quickly.

Being the nice mother that I am, I spent much of my day cleaning Marquie's room. I needed to wash her sheets and decided that she could use a little boost. I only cleaned her room, not her outer room. I did pick up her dirty clothes, but I did not wash them.

Anyway, here are some pictures Marquie took, of course, of our week with the Hutchings family!

Podcast - the new radio

Lately I've taken up quite an interest in Podcasts.  There are podcasts for all sorts of things - news, book readings, random interesting subjects, and just about anything.  I like them because I get a new episode at least weekly from each one.  I also feel that the news podcasts are a little more down to earth than some of the more common media.  These are a few of them that I like and would recommend:

"The Classic Tales Podcast" - this one is a different reading each week of what the host feels are classic literary works.  The last one I downloaded was Jeckyll and Hyde

"This American Life" - This is my favorite one, but it's hard to explain - they basically pick an interesting phenomena each week and highlight it.  My favorite was one entitled "Enforcers" that talked about a group of Americans that scam Nigerian email scammers for fun.  It was very fascinating.

"LDS General Conference" - you can get this easily through iTunes store for free, and you can download any general conference session that you want, even ones from the past.

"NPR Planet Money Podcast" - this one just barely started up, and it's a daily catch up on what's going on in our nation's financial situation, and gives the nitty gritty details in a broken down way.

There are lots of other good LDS podcasts you can download, that have good talks and speeches.  It's a fun way to spice up your ipod if you get tired of listening to the same music over and over.

Oh yeah...I realize we haven't really posted in awhile.  Justin and I are working hard with school and work and church and everything going on.  Our life is pretty busy, and I'm sure most of you can relate.  This weekend was Julia's baby blessing and it was really wonderful.   A bunch of Bryce's family was there, and us and G&G Workman were there too.  When sacrament meeting started and it was getting time for the baby blessing, Grandma and Grandpa weren't there and Michelle said a little prayer that Grandpa would be able to be here to participate in the priesthood circle for the blessing.  Lo and behold, the bishop forgot to have the blessing during ward business, and it had to be postponed until after the sacrament.  Grandpa was here by then and it all worked out.  The bishop was embarrassed that he forgot, but Michelle politely explained that his forgetfulness was an answer to her prayer.

Other than that everything is basically normal.  Justin is a little stressed with the workload of the Flagship program, but finds solace in working at the MTC.  He really enjoys it, and just hopes that all of his future jobs give him just as much fulfillment.  He gets new set of missionaries next week, something that hasn't happened for 6 months now.  I'm working hard to not fall behind on my school work while I work for two professors.  TAing isn't that bad, except for the mountains of papers and tests to grade, and I wish I had more time to devote to the more fun research job and start interviewing immigrants for UCIP (Utah County Immigration Project).  If everything works out, I should get an ORCA (which means $), and have my name on a published paper by next year.  Lets hope for the best!!

The best reason to buy an iphone

This has actually sparked some interest in me. It looks awesome!

http://gizmodo.com/5062569/windows-mobile-running-on-an-iphone

SHOPPING!!!

Unfortunately for Joe, we braved the outlet mall today. I generally attack The Children's Place with mom, but..... I have to say, I think we did very well. We purchased 11 pairs of pants, 6 shirts, 2 pair of p.j.s, 6 pair of socks, a robe, and a belt for.... $125. While Joe does not comprehend what a truly amazing deal this is, I think most of the rest of you can look past the sticker shock and see how really cool I am! I am so proud. We also went to Costco. That is always fun until you have to pay for it. It was a really fun day, but now I think I shall sleep for the next few days.... HA.

For those of you I haven't been able to speak with, an update. Joe has his surgery to remove all those extra intestines (he is special!) scheduled for December 19. While this does not allow him to come to the reunion, it does keep him from having to take 2 weeks of his vacation time next year. Yeah for vacation time! The kids and I will still be attending. No, I am not leaving him unattended, (how cruel do you think I am?). Yes, he will probably still be in the hospital on Chloe's birthday. What do you do.... cake in the hospital! Yes, he can eat it.

I met with my doctor on Thursday and he wants to fix me almost as much as I do. He has requested two tests. One to check my pancreas (apparently similar symptoms), and an hour long picture taking of my kidneys. This test will show how much work each of the kidneys are doing. If the left kidney is less than 20% he will probably be willing to remove it. Otherwise..... we won't go there.

Other than that, life is super! Even with that, life is super. I was reading this week of a new drug being introduced to elementary school kids. It is a mix of heroin and something else. Anyway, they made it look and taste similar to pop rocks candy. They give it out, kid eats it all and either overdoses and dies, or is addicted. People are calling in bomb threats to schools everywhere. One elementary school evacuated only to have snipers placed on the roof ready for them. Why do I tell you this? To say hurray for home school. I too think we have come to a time when we must return our focus to our homes. We better control the environment, teachings, and overall standards. To Marquie who attends public school, you are a true shining example of Christ to those stuck in this crazy world. Be strong!

Happy Happy happy! Love you all!

I'm the Winner

While I had no intentions of visiting mom and dad before March here I find myself, so I just have to gloat that I am the first to visit!  Yippee!  

It is a lovely house with plenty of space for the boys to play.  It has been a delightful visit so far and I'm looking for it to continue.  Now I just need to find a way to do something fun.  Somehow they landed themselves 1 hr from DC and 2 hr from the temple with no hope of public transit.  Hmmm. . . we may need to rethink this.  I would still like to go to the zoo and the temple and see some fun things . . . maybe tomorrow or Thursday or if I'm really patient I'll wait until this weekend.  I think it is time to start planning and I promise to take some fun pics!  I haven't heard from anyone in awhile.  I hope you are all doing well even if you all seem to be sick.  We're praying for you!