Disney Sing Along

If you could have seen what I'm about to explain your life would be that much fuller:

Yesterday Eric and I got home in the evening and were just chilling. We happened to be watching and singing along to some Disney songs on YouTube. I went into the kitchen for something and when I came back into the bedroom I saw Eric, naked (from just being done with his shower), sitting on the bed and singing along to the Little Mermaid very intently. It looked like he was captivated by the video and singing very seriously. I cracked up, it was too funny not to be documented (Eric told me I could write about this, so don't worry).

One Year Anniversary

For our first year anniversary (Dec. 20) Eric and I slept in! Well at first I did because Eric snuck out of bed, went to Kneaders and brought back the cinnamon rolls and French toast I was craving. I thought we were going to go there together once we woke up, but Eric decided the surprise breakfast in bed would be better. See how cute he is.
So we ate our breakfast in bed while watching an episode or two of 24 (season 4)- we're so addicted to Jack Bower. We then took a nap until around 2:30pm! We just finished finals week the day before so we had our excuse.
Finally after getting our butts out of bed we did some snowshoeing in S canyon. I got to try out my sweet snow boots I got for my birthday from Eric's parents. While we were there we saw and pet two beautiful malamute dogs. That partly made our day. We want a dog but live in a no dog allowed apartment.
After snowshoeing we decided to go to the nastiest place for dinner. Eric was sporting sweet goodness (refer to the picture at the bottom of this posting) and I was looking rad in my snow clothes so we weren't about to go somewhere fancy. We ate at the steak something (pretty much exactly like the Italian Place). There was so much grease on everything we felt so disgusting. Our waiter looked like he was 12 and the cook had a sweet mustache.
It was a huge dissapointment but so funny. We'll probably always remember our 1st anniversary with the malamute dogs and eating the nasty steak restaurant food.
Eric and I had fun though. We always laugh and have a good time so that's really all that matters.
To conclude the day we snuggled in bed while watching 24 until 2am.

This is "sweet goodness" (the brown velour pants)

DONE

Eric and I are done with finals, done with our majors and have LOVED getting our undergrads at BYU! After my last final this Friday night (Nutrition 100), I checked my score and under the score screen Eric wrote me a cute note: "Andrea my bride, you're done!" I got so excited I yelled for joy outside and ran home, sliding all the way on the fresh snow we got today.

The next step is now our graduate work. Eric just got an interview for the U!! We're so excited and hope that he rocks his interview and gets in. It would be perfect for me to get into the U as well, but if not I still have hope for USN (S. Jordan). This way we'll both be in school in Utah and near family!!

Messiah

If you get the chance to listen to Handel's Messiah live, do it! Eric and I saw a performance of it tonight at the museum of art in Springville, and it was fantastic. In the next life I want to be a soprano singing opera babe.

Last Day of Classes

It was a sad day being the last day of classes :(
This is my last semester as an undergrad, and I finished my career at BYU with Nutrition 100 (highly recommended class), Orthopedic Impariments (okay class but I had a great group), Public Speaking (don't take unless you have to), Bible as Literature (super good), and Chem 107 (terrible lab but I had a killer group). I literally shed a few tears on Eric today I was so sad after I said good-bye to my classmates in Nutrition and my teacher Dr. Richards.
I then went to my Bible Lit class where I presented my final project that Eric helped me so much on. It was actually his idea. The prof really liked it, told me in class that it was A work, and that he'd like to hire me on as one of his research assistants. How 'bout that!
Later this evening I came home after work to find that my loving husband had made me dinner. We then watched an episode of The Office together and Eric went to bed at 8:30pm. The stinker slept until 3pm yesterday and then didn't go to bed until 5am, and then woke back up for classes at 7:30am, and then made me breakfast! Wow, he must love me, or I must be lucky...

Also, as a side note, I am soooooo upset with the weather in Utah this winter. It is Dec. 11 and I was in a t-shirt for most of the day. This is crap weather! I want cold and snow!! It's been snowing so much in ColoRADo and I miss it. We have not even experienced an inch of snow here. The most we've gotten is some wimpy snow flurries. This is what I need for my life to be complete every winter:

E & A's Clubs

Eric is the club founder and president of the BYU Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu club on campus, while I am the president of the BYU Pre-Pharmacy club. We've had a lot going on with our clubs lately. Here's what's been going on:

Eric's been having a great turn out for his club meetings (every Wednesday and Saturday). He and some of his club members were meeting everyday for a month to prepare for a competition this past Nov. 15. It was at Throwdown in Orem and lasted ALL day. It was pretty cool to watch because everyone in Eric's club placed except for one guy.

Eric's club members (Eric refereed for the first 5hrs before his matches)

The advanced winners

Eric took 1st place in his Advanced light-weight division. I was so proud and oh so nervous. Before Eric competed one guy was convulsing on the ground because his cervical spine (from what I could see) was flexed pretty hard and he was being choked. Another guy was carried away in a stretcher to the hospital for landing on his upper thoracic/cervical spine area. Eric came out of his first match winning against a wrestler who previously was in a 30min. match. Eric took him out in less than 5min.

Eric gearing up for his first match against the wrestler

Rolling in the cage

The next guy Eric went up against was a man covered in tattoos (like many of the guys there that day). He put up a great fight but kept trying to get Eric in ankle locks (very dangerous and dirty moves). Eric made a sweet Judo take-down on the guy, and the guy did a flying arm bar on Eric. In the end Eric won and the guy popped his rib out or something with the cartiledge connecting the rib to the sternum because there was a bump near that area, and was very painful.

Winner!

Posing with Michael Peays

#1 Fan

Now my club is completely boring next to Eric's, but I have to say that the leadership this year has completely turned the club around. Last year the club was falling apart, but my presidency took over and now we actually have a turnout at the meetings. We've done a lot of advertising. We recently had two pharmacists come speak to our club from the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center. Currently we're working on having a field trip to the University of Southern Nevada (Draper campus).

These pictures are from the allied health week on campus (Nov.21). Our club had a game where you had to match the brand name drug to its generic counterpart for a prize of delicious chocolate.

'Tis the Season to be Happy

So basically life is great, and I love every minute of it. Eric and I are graduating this December, and I'm so happy that I've been able to have the education I've worked for and have met so many incredible people. I'm sad that I'm graduating, BYU is awesome and is full of awesome people. This was truly and one in a million experience and I wouldn't have traded it for anything. I mean, I've been in two cadaver classes, physical therapy, biomechanics, physics, music, religion, chem labs, nutrition, public speaking, microbiology and Korean classes (to name a few of the interesting ones) and I'm going to miss them so much.

Right now I love being in my orthopedic impairments (EXSC 460) class, learning how to assess different nerve or bone or muscle impairments and learning how to treat them. But more than the classes I'm going to miss my peers and teachers. Working together in groups and learning together is a wonderful feeling. Having teachers as sources of knowledge to answer my questions is a resource so valuable its bewildering. I love school so much. Eric loves it too and one of the many reasons we're attracted to each other is because we both love learning.

Another reason that life is great is because I have a great job. I'm a pharmacy technician (Andrea Stevens CPhT) in a closed-door pharmacy (we send out meds to assisted living and nursing homes- no dealing with customers!) in Springville, Utah. I have great co-workers and an awesome pharmacist I work with. I never dread going into work, sometimes I even wish I could be there longer. And if I get into pharmacy school, school will be that much easier because I already know the top 200 drugs, and their basic function. I love being in the pharmacy track, but sometimes I wish I could be a PA or MD because they get to work with patients- hands on touching and using your knowledge to solve their maladies or problems. I can't afford the time for that though, as I want to have a family in the near future, but maybe in the next life...

Life is also good because it's CHRISTMAS season. I don't particularly care about counting down to Dec. 25, because I love the season surrounding it. Eric and I have decorated our apartment a little and it's so cozy and full of Christmas spirit. I don't even want to think about taking the decor down, that will be a sad day. I wish we could have Christmas decorations up all year. And Christmas music makes me so happy (You're a mean one Mr. Grinch just played on my pandora radio station, oh yea!)

But the number one reason I choose to be happy is because I am marriend to my best friend and we are so in love. We are great friends and have thoroughly enjoyed our first year of marriage (coming up on Dec. 20). We love being members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we have wonderful friends who support us, we support each other and help each other try to be the best people we can be. I'm so lucky. And I love the fact that Eric will be mine for eternity. That makes my heart smile.

Here's a view into my past week:

Friday (10/17)-
Chem 107 test
Friday Night Live- I went to support my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu husband

Saturday (10/18)-
PCAT (5 hr. test!)
Went to visit my cousin and her 4 cute kids
Bought a coat at REI
Went out to eat at Carrabba's with my handsome boy
Eric cleaned the whole apt for me

Sunday (10/19)-
Eric gave a talk in sacrament

Monday (10/20)-
Eric's and my 10 monthersary
Nutrition test

Tuesday (10/21)-
I gave an educational speech on the disadvantages of vitamin supplements in my public speaking class

Wednesday (10/22)-
Catching up on studying

Thursday (10/23)-
Orthopedic Impairments test
Bible as Literature test

Friday (10/24)-
Free date with Eric to the skyroom for lunch
Eric and I went to the photographer's for the final time and finished picking out our wedding pictures for our wedding album (almost a year ago)

Saturday (10/25)-
Prepared for my sacrament talk
Watched a bunch of movies
Went to the mall and Costco

Sunday (10/26)-
Gave a sacrament talk
Eric taught in Priesthood

Perfect Husband

Yesterday I took the PCAT (Pharmacy College Admissions Test) up at the University of Utah. It was probably the longest test I've ever taken. I was in the testing room from 8:30am-2pm. I am so glad it's finally over. This was my first time being on rival territory, but I have to say that Utah's campus is beautiful. It reminds me more of CU-Boulders campus and surrounding area, which is probably why I like it more than BYU. It was a gorgeous fall day yesterday and it was fun to see people dressed up in red for the Utah football game. I would love for Eric and I to get into the UofU, that or CU-Denver. Those are definitely our top choices. We have also applied to the east coast schools, and living on the east coast, just for the duration of med/pharm school would be great too.

I also went to visit my cousin yesterday and saw their new baby Lila. It was fun to see them and long overdue. I haven't seen them for a year, and they live 40min away! I have some pretty cute second-cousins.

I then went and picked up my new winter coat from REI- I've been wearing this ugly purple one for 4 years now, and Eric finally told me he didn't like it and wanted me to get a new one. Gladly I did and love it.

Eric and I then met up and went out to eat at Carraba's. The chefs were definitely on last night because our meal was out of this world. I ordered the grilled salmon and Eric the mushroom ravioli. Both were fantastic, but especially the salmon. It had the most delicious sauce on top- pureed tomatoes, fresh basil and balsamic vinegar. We're going to try to make it at home sometime.

When we finally got home it felt like I had been away for forever. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much Eric had cleaned around the house. He did all the laundry, dusted, cleaned the closet, fixed the window drapes, fixed a flat bike tire, cleaned the bathroom, and more. He's the best husband. He did it for me because he knows that I love cleanliness and would want to come home to a clean house. He's the best. I sure lucked out with my boy.

Here are some random pictures from our camera:
The other week I was making rolls for the first time...The dough just kept rising and rising...



Eric and I went for a walk one Friday afternoon to see the colors changing in Provo Canyon, and we found a bunch of these Dr. Seuss like plants (or weeds).

Classes We've Taken Together

Classes Eric and I have had together at BYU:

Chem 105
Chem 351
Chem 353
Chem 481
Pearl of Great Price
PDBio 220

BYU

As many of you know, Eric and I met in my Anatomy Class. He was my TA and I had recognized him when he walked in on the first day, but couldn't put my finger on how I knew him. I thought he was a returned missionary from my freshman year in the dorms.

One day Katie Larsen and I were studying anatomy in open lab together (we had so much fun, I think we laughed more in open lab than studied, but hey we both got A's) when Eric came in. I asked her who this boy was and she said, "he's the annoying guy from Chemistry!" Oh yea!!!! I remember now. He used to sit behind Katie and me and make (what I thought then) were the most annoying comments.

I got over his "annoyingness" and grew to like him. We used to study as friends together in the library and even went on a non-date to the MOA to eat lunch (specifically stated because I was his student). My Anatomy Lab final occurred on a Thursday after which Eric asked me out for the next two nights. He made me curry at his house on the first night and then we watched Pride and Prejudice. Eric "let" us watch this movie so he could impress me by watching a girly movie.

The second night we went to the play Beauty and the Beast. I tried my hardest to seem stupid to Eric so he wouldn't ask me out again (I hated being the one to say no to dates, so I developed a scheme with boys that if I acted stupid maybe they would not like me on their own). Well, that didn't happen and Eric even tried holding my hand after the play as we were walking to his car. AKWARD! It was a totally akward situation because I didn't want to hold his hand and made it more akward than it should have been. To make the night even more memorable, Eric even went in for a kiss at the end of the night! It was our second date!! I turned my head and Eric said "Just kidding!" to save embarrassment.

After a while I calmed down about Eric and continued to study with him. He would rub my back and I his. We did this for a while, you know, all the little flirty things people do. One night we went over to Eric's aunt's house for a Christmas party. I saw him interacting with his family and cousins and immediately fell in love with Eric. I saw how genuine and loved he was. I saw a side of him I hadn't known and knew, that night, that I would kiss him. And that we did. We found a spot south of campus, a hidden enclave with snowy trees all around. The scene glimmered with snow from the moon and there was a quiet wonder world sound, the sound that comes with snow, muffling out all other sounds. It was from here that we started, or continued rather, our story. That story has led us happily to today, 22 months later, as Mr. and Mrs. Stevens.

Sunday Morning

This morning Eric started his 3 month get-fit/get-ripped program. It consists of waking up every morning at 5:50am for a run. I tagged along, feeling like a bum in bed, even though it was so early. Yesterday it rained ALL day and this morning it was still raining. We had a nice mile run in the rain to the Smith Field House, where we ran 2 miles and then ran back home. I was shocked the Smith Field House, at BYU mind you, was open on Sunday.


We then made a delicious waffle, egg, bacon breakfast and watched Prince Caspian and General Conference (where we both fell fast asleep). General Conference weekend has it's own funny culture in Utah. On Saturday, when the guys go to their Priesthood session, all the girls unite to have girls night out. There was so much estrogen in the mall last night and not a guy in sight. Then on Sunday, its a lazy pajama day with a feast of general conference talks and music.

Date Night

Last night I took Eric on a surprise date to see the Shangri-La Chinese Acrobats from the People's Republic of China. Eric had no idea what performance we were about to watch, but there were some clues as we came to the De Jong Concert hall where they were performing. We saw a guy dressed up in an Asian style shirt, another guy wearing a t-shirt saying: "Korea's got Seoul," and lots of little kids. His guess was the play Mulan.

These girls were juggling tables and ceramic pots with their feet!


The show was amazing. There were stunts that I've never imagined or could imagine, and the men acrobats were ripped. They were petite, not like Arnold Schwarzenager, but their muscles were some of the most defined muscles I've seen. If you know any anatomy you'll appreciate this: on one guy you could see his deltoid, anterior and middle aspects of it clearly defined! I've never seen that on anyone except for on an opened cadaver. We were very impressed and had a great time.
After the play we took a walk to the spot south of campus where we had our first kiss almost 2 years ago. It was a fun and memorable night.

Life right now

This is a random picture of my husband who keeps life fun.









I'm in the process of collecting letters of recommendation from my past science professors. I've come to learn though, that the ones who knew me well enough to write one are retired now or are no longer at BYU. The one's who I didn't get to know (and who don't know me) require stringent GPA's to get one from them. I did however get one from my Biomechanics teacher and a math professor. I just need one more from another science professor. Blah- I hate asking for them too, it's such an uncomfortable process. (I need all these letters for the application process of getting into pharmacy school).

In my public speaking class (requirement for pharmacy school- weird huh), I had a great speech going for myself until I botched it up by completely forgetting where I was in my speech and what my next thought was. I completely went blank. It was embarrassing and I had practiced it a lot and felt very confident. I was honestly speechless in front of my class for 5-10sec. Next time better be better- I have to give a eulogy of myself.

Tonight is Eric's last day at his terrible vampire job. He's a night auditor at one of the Marriott hotels in Provo. Graveyards along with school in the day equals one messed up sleeping (or lack there of) schedule. Now instead of sleeping with my hubby 2 nights a week, I'll get to every night. What a treat!!

I start my first job as a certified pharmacy technician tomorrow. It's at a closed door pharmacy in Springville called Healthwise Pharmacy. Closed door means I don't have to deal with customers (or nurses!!- from when I did my hours at the hospital).