Weddings, and more weddings!

So for the past 3 weekends, Michael and I have had the beautiful blessing of attending weddings! The first weekend was Steve Harris' wedding to Heidi :). We were invited to attend the temple sealing, but they set their date the SAME day as my graduation.... so we couldn't go. We were able to get to their reception though, and it was beautiful. Steve and Heidi (poor guys) stood in their "waiting line" (I don't know what the official term is...) and we were able to wait and give our congratulations. It was so nice, and I obviously cried like the little baby I am. I was also able to finally meet Steve's parents! The party was fun with delicious desserts and fun party guests: Tyler and Rachel.

 Speaking about Tyler and Rachel, that lovely couple got married the next weekend! They had a cool reception in the skyroom. We accidentally sat on the brides side (which I guess doesn't matter since we know her too...) in what Michael and I called the "loser table" because no one but another random guy sat with us. Their ceremony included more "ceremony" since a lot of Rachel's relatives weren't members. Now that I look back at Michael and mine's wedding, we probably should have done something similar... but anyways, it was so cute to watch and to have them do the ring ceremony for everyone. Obviously, I cried again. I don't even know why I mention it, it's like saying the sky is blue. Anywho, the food was awesome and I was excited for the dancing, but Michael reminded me that we were old married folk, and we suck at dancing.

Last, but not least, this past weekend we got to see Mickelle, Michael's good friend from Arkansas, get married. The party was so beautifully decorated and they also had awesome food. Basically, if there is any food, I'll have a good time. Anywho, we sat and talked to some of Michael's old friends and I was grateful to meet them. They were a funny bunch and we sat around and made funny jokes. We got to watch them cut the cake and do the dancing thing. I found out that Mickelle's husband's family is deaf! I desperately wanted to use some of my ASL, but I haven't practiced in a long time so I decided to spare them and myself. I did enjoy watching the translator and catching things that I remembered learning.

Anywho, school started for poor Michael but to keep me busy I applied for a part-time Linguistics job (on top of my full-time BYU job and my tutoring) and I got it!!!!!!!!!! I am more than excited to start my part-time job and to actually use skills I worked so hard to develop! I like making money (especially if I can spoil my pups), but now I can hone my skills and put something cool on my resume.

Life is good and we are blessed :)

PS. My pups turned 5 months yesterday!!!! Also, my poor baby Luke had a swollen eye! I'm not sure if it's because of Leia, or because of allergies.... but it broke my heart whenever he looked at me. I wanted to run him to the vet but Michael kept me at bay....

Big Babies

So I was sitting around looking at old pictures of my dogs and realized, "Holy crap, they've grown!" I know, genius right? I'm not actually that retarded, I know they've grown, but it freakin looks like they exploded. I still remember when we got Leia, Michael was able to carry her with his hand. Now it takes some leg muscles to get her up, if she's not squirming and kicking with her (very!!) powerful legs. And Luke just doesn't really care if we pick him up, but now it hurts more when he bites (he likes to eat hair...).

 WHAT HAPPENED TO MY FLUFF!?

 

 He looks more tan now... my dog can get tanner than me. Freakin-a.

 So cuddly and fluffy!

Giant Beast.

 Rough housing as puppies isn't that scary...

 now we need to clear the room...

And to think, they're not even 5 months yet. My babies are now lean, mean, barking machines!

Car Troubles

How unlucky am I? Let me explain:

Michael comes to pick me up from work around 5ish. By this time I am more than ready to get home and relax with tweedle dee and tweedle dumb (you can take a guess about who I'm talking about) and of course Leia (hahah jk! I meant Michael). Anywho, so I get picked up and we're talking about each others day but then I get a weird feeling and we hear this weird noise coming from our car. Michael asks me to check to see if we have a flat tire so I look out the window and to my great discovery, we had a flat tire.

PERFECT

So we pull to the side and park by a small apartment to try and assess the situation. We have had flat tires before so it wasn't rocket science or really that big of an issue. We get the nugget things off and then start trying to pull the tire off and IT WON'T BUDGE. It was rusted to the stupid tire thingy. Michael tried every possible way that was capable for us but the thing would not move a muscle. So here we are, sitting and wondering what to do when finally Michael does what he does best: calls his Mom. Kathy Black is probably the most knowledge person about anything. I could probably ask her what the best method to fly to the moon would be and her method would work better than anything NASA thought of. Anyways, she tells us to get some WD40 to help get the rust off, or do something in that nature. So we call Lisa, who was more than generous to help us (she's helped us with situations like this a lot... poor girl) and brought us some WD40. So we sit there and put it on and it doesn't work. Are we surprised? No. While we were waiting for Lisa, Michael called FireStone to get someone to tow our car. They said they would be there at 7:05 (it was 6:15 when we called). At 6:30 they said they would need another 30 minutes... so 7:30. Great. 

So here we are, sitting and waiting with a TON of people passing us. How many asked if we needed help? 1. And that was when we were taking the nuggets off, so pre-tirebeinggay. I was trying to think of all the good things that happened, or that could have happened. Here is my list:

1. Our car didn't blow up

2. Our tire didn't blow off the car and sending our car into a dangerous situation

3. We had a spare tire

4. We caught the tire on time

5. Large dark clouds were rolling over so it wasn't hot anymore

Oh wait... I forgot, LARGE DARK CLOUDS were rolling over us. But I actually was really happy that it wasn't hot. So after waiting for an hour and 45 minutes, the large dark clouds did exactly what we thought they would do. Pour. We had some places to go and sit under until the rain passed, but we both just kinda sat on the side of the curb getting wet. It matched my mood, and I was lazy. Well, after the little (and by little I mean a lot) rain, around 7:00 we were approached by a couple and their friend. They asked if we were their neighbors (since we conveniently parked in their neighbors parking space). We said no, and I pointed to the tire that was right next to them... anywho, they got the point and offered to help! FINALLY! One guy had a rubber mallet so while he hit the tire from behind, the other guy pulled. The tire came out in 30.56 seconds. I didn't actually time it, but it took less than a minute. I wanted to cry, and honestly, I probably did. 

Some things I learned today:

1. Always have WD40

2. We have insurance for towing

3. Always carry a rubber mallet (we bought one today)

4. Have an umbrella in the car

5. Never expect people who are taught to be generous and kind to ACTUALLY BE GENEROUS AND KIND.

Stupid kids in Provo, learn how to give aid when it's OBVIOUS that people need help.

Luke and Leia's First Swim

Yesterday was pretty fun and freakin hilarious. We decided to go to Bear Lake to swim with the puppies, but unfortunately all we saw were these stupid signs:

Stupid Utah...

Anyways, after some failed attempts to find a place to swim with the dogs, we decided to go and swim in the Provo River. The day was HOT, as it usually is, but the water was freezzzzzzing. It was one of those colds where your body went numb after 2 minutes in the water. It was cold, but we still stayed. I threw Leia and Luke in the water and of course Leia hated it while Luke seemed to be having the time of his life. It was so funny to see how different they reacted. 

 My little Michael Phelps

 Freezing freakin water

 Luke ready to pounce in

 They're first swim :)

 Leia wasn't having it... poor little nun

 Luke and Leia are polar opposites when it comes to grace in the water

 Luke glides through the water (notice above) while Leia splashes very violently (notice above)

 Poor Michael. Who needs to actually get in the water when you can just stand next to Leia. She'll bring the water to you!

 Leia working her magic on my sister.

 Leia kept using Luke as a floatation device.

She smelled GREAT afterward. Love wet dog smell. (please note the sarcasm).

Graduation

I am finally an alumnus of BYU :D. I like to thank the Linguistics department for offering me a degree from their department, and for all the support I have had from family and friends. Graduation was pretty exciting to sit through and I probably was going to cry 23899384 times. Thursday was the commencement where all the August graduates gathered together. Friday was convocation for each college so the group was significantly smaller which I liked because it made it more personal. Below are some pictures from both days :)

Thursday Commencement 

I'm not pregnant...

 My future graduate :)

Friday Convocation

 My mom bought me beautiful flowers :)

 Walking across the stage!

My BYU experience has been so fun thanks to all my amazing friends. Freshman year was hilarious and so fun (shout out to: Ryry, Tyty, SteeStee, Andrew, and a whole lot of other crazy losers). Yes, our nicknames were retarded, but so were we. We had some hilarious times together... too many to even tell. Sophomore year was pretty awesome as well, but lonely since 90% of my freshman friends were gone. I was lucky enough to have some amazing roommates though and to have met one of my best friends, Emily! Also, sophomore year was when I met my amazing and hunky husband, Michael Black <3. Junior year was filled with new experiences such as dealing with a new roommate (a more permanent one) and focusing on my major classes instead of generals. And finally, senior year was full of exciting new things like moving, seeing the "light" at the end of the tunnel, and adopting Luke and Leia! It will be interesting to go without homework, but it won't be too different since I still work at BYU. I'm excited for what comes, especially when I get to start my master's degree. We don't have set plans yet, but I'm definitely applying to get a master's in communication disorders and eventually start a career in Speech Therapy. But like we've learned, life doesn't follow what you plan for it to follow, so I'm just excited to start this next year as a graduate and bread winner :).

Dog Farm

Like promised, I am going to list all the dogs that I will own (Michael might not be aware of this list yet):

St. Bernard

If you tell me this isn't cute, I'm going to punch you.

Bernese Mountain Dog

What more can I say? They're beautiful. And fluffy. But they don't live a long time... sad day.

Newfoundland

I can't take the overwhelming fluffiness.

Great Dane

Not fluffy, but beautiful and big.

English Mastiff

Huge, yes. Might kill me if they sat on me, yes. Love it, yes.

Great Pyrenees

Leia is half this... but I want a purebred. Again, it's fluffy. 

Tibetan Mastiff

I love the lion look.

Collie

I would name it Lasie.

Greater Swiss Mountain Dog

It's like a berner (bernese mountain dog), but not fluffy. Still cute.

Weimaraner

 I don't know what it is about these dogs, but they intrigue me so much.

Akita

It's a cotton ball. Period.

Border Collie

 Just look at that precious face. If a border collie were a person, they would have a cowboy hat. Sexy. (hint hint Michael)

Samoyed

So beautiful.

Siberian Husky

 We actually had a husky for about 1.2 days. They're very aggressive players so Luke and Leia weren't having it... next time.

Is it so wrong to want 109283157925 puppies? I think not.

New Blog Name

So the other day I was sitting around thinking about what to write next on the blog when the phrase "A Tale of Two Tales" hit me. I was actually thinking about the time I sent my mom a box of chocolate strawberries for her birthday:

Last year, instead of sending flowers again, I wanted to send something special so I thought sending strawberries would be a great idea! I ordered them (without telling my mom) and waited for a call from her saying how wonderful they were. So the day finally came and I never got a call.... I thought, "oh, maybe she didn't get them". Well, she actually did. The reason she didn't call me was because she thought the box was a bomb. Yes, you read right, a BOMB. The box was just a plain brown packaging box, but my mom didn't want to open it because on the box was written the following: "Contents will disappear once box is opened" (or something like that). My mom didn't know she was receiving anything from me so she immediately thought that it was anthrax or some other type of explosive or drug. Needless to say, she was freaked out and called the number on the box to find out what pervert or freak sent her the box. The lady on the phone told her that a "Pah-ola Black" had sent it. About 5 seconds later I get a call from an hysterical mom laughing at how she reacted. She said they were amazing and that they truly did "disappear once opened". I laughed so hard... my poor mom.

Anywho, so remember a couple posts ago I said that we mysteriously got an IPAD and Nook color in the mail with no return address? Well turns out the IPAD was my graduation present from my beautiful mother :) (the Nook was for my sister... boo). It was funny because that threw us for a loop as well. I mean, I was ready to call the cops and report a missing IPAD... and I thought they would blow up. But besides that fact, it was funny because she unintentionally got back at us for the stress we caused her.

So back to the point of the title of the blog (I've been told that my conversations never stay on topic...). I was thinking of those two "tales" and then thought, "Hey, Luke and Leia have TAILS, which makes two". That's where I got the cute title (I know it's cute, please). I'm finally creative and I'll give myself credit. The blog isn't really about the dogs though, it's about everything (which is usually the dogs) but I couldn't resist.

Seven Peaks

Today was the ever eventful day of waiting in lines, getting my feet burned, and paying out-of-the-butt for a day at Seven Peaks. Actually, we didn't really pay out-of-the-butt since we got that deal... but Michael, Ale, and I are really upset at how Seven Peaks charges for every little thing they can. For one thing, they freakin charge for tubes... I think they have 2 rides that DON'T need tubes. All the other amusement parks I've been too have never charged me for tubes, but Seven Peaks does. They also charge $6 for a stupid locker... where in other places you just pay a quarter per hour (or something like that). They also charge to use their chairs... I'm honestly surprised that they don't charge for using the bathroom, or picking wedgies (which you get plenty of). Anywho, next time we know that there WONT be a next time.

Here are some pictures of our adventures:

Seven Peaks Tower

There was a wait before we got in... We were planning on arriving around 10 but lagged a little and got there at 11. Good thing we did because apparently the park doesn't open it's gate for "one day pass" ticket holders until 11. Yay for us.

We were so happy, until we got in there and saw how much they rip people off. 

Slides! We went on most of them, but Michael went on that nasty orange one by himself (I wasn't up for having my swimsuit logged up my butt again).

My sexy companions. The wave pool was cool, except we kept getting bothered by these stupid little girls. They kept asking us questions about ourselves... I told them to shut up and go away after a while (I said it without the intention of them hearing) but they went away after that. Yay again. 

I apparently find the floor more fascinating. Winning. 

 I look like an old lady with my towel...

The "tube" picture I wanted really badly. Ale is on the bottom, I'm in the middle, and Michael is on the top. Awesome, I know. 

I call this: Tan & Pale

My little sister Ale.

Yes, she's cooler than me.

I LOVE dippin' dots. I was actually craving them the other day and was really sad because Utah doesn't have them anywhere (at least to my knowledge).

Love.

I have this condition where I get more white with sun. Curse my genetics. 

THIS. RIDE. IS. AWESOME. It's called the Boomerang. So usually most people don't reach the sides of this ride... but Michael, Ale, and I were an INCH away from falling off every time we did this ride. I exaggerate all the time, but I'm not this time. I would start out this ride screaming and then laughing hysterically because I was always surprised that we survived. 

WEDGIE EXTREME

Just for kicks. Stupid bloodsuckers.