Monday, October 27, 2008

"Great Works" of Halloween

As an Honors program participant, I am required to have a certain number of "Great Works" experiences involving classic works of art, literature, music, etc. The Honors program often puts on activities that help students fulfill these Great Works experiences, and Friday night Stephanie and I attended one such activity. It was a Halloween party with a few games, tons of candy and cookies, and a showing of the classic film Bride of Frankenstein.

The games were kinda lame (it was mostly freshmen, what can you expect? see Figure 2), and the movie was almost too amusing to be considered a great work of art (it sure is classic though). It was fun anyway. We were, however, encouraged to come in costume, and our costume "the doctor and the pregnant lady" was very popular--we won the award for the "Authentic" category (see Figure 1), the prize of which was to relieve the Honors program of some of their extra candy. It was a good little inexpensive Friday-night date.

Figure 1: The "doctor and the pregnant lady" was a big hit. I think Stephanie is a "great work" of art!


Figure 2: Stephanie is trying to figure out these freshman, and I am helping the Honors program not to waste their cookies and frosting!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

I'm Back!!!

I had my first business trip this last week. Part of my responsibilities at work involve research with standards for web-based learning. This past week my boss and I attended a conference in Pensacola, Florida to and discusses some of the research we have been doing. It was really nice to be right on the beach, although I didn't have a chance to go--the only time I wasn't busy it was raining! Anyway, it was a great experience. I must admit, however, that I am glad to be home with Stephanie. It's not easy being apart for that many days, especially since she's pregnant. We celebrated with a romantic date night after she picked me up from the airport last night!

Stephanie is now 22 weeks along...She's still pregnant...It's still a girl...She's still a full time student and part time employee...and full time wife. All things considered, she's doing pretty well!

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Whoaa we're halfway there!

Stephanie is 21 weeks today. That puts us just over halfway there!

About Daniel...

Name & meaning: Daniel Scott
I am not exactly sure why Mom and Dad named him Daniel Scott... BUT, according to babynames.com, Daniel is Hebrew and means "God is my Judge," and Scott originates in England and means "Of Scottish Origin." I didn't feel like doing anymore research, so that is the best you are going to get.

I do have kind of a funny story though...Right after we got home from our honeymoon, Mom and Dad Standage helped us lug our gifts into the apartment, and put things away. Daniel was in the other room, and Dad came up and asked me, (ok maybe this isn't exactly the way it went, but it was something pretty similar) " So, do you call Daniel Dan, or Daniel?" I was a little surprised and replied that I call him Daniel most of the time. Dad then said "That is good, because in our family we call him Daniel."

Apparently, when Mom and Dad named him, they always wanted Daniel to be DANIEL. I personally like Daniel better than Dan, but if we are around people that call him Dan, I call him Dan...especially when I need to get his attention.

Age: 23

Nicknames: Dan (mostly used by Utah people who tend to be lazy and shorten names...meaning no offense, I do it too), Honey, Handsome, he is my Knight in Shining Armor, Mr. Incredible, and the most used by me: My Hero.

Favorite Activities: He loves computers, and he likes learning about new technology; playing, singing, and listening to music; he likes to cook every once in a while; he likes the outdoors when the weather is good; most of all he likes to come home and cater to the needs of his dearest, most lovely, pregnant (and unfortunately sometimes grumpy) wife.

Favorite Foods: Enchiladas, baked beans and cornbread, cheese, fresh fruits and veggies, anything with sugar in it, he will pretty much eat anything I make...which either means that he is easy to please, or I am a VERY good cook (which I really don't think is the case).

Least Favorite Foods: He really isn't picky. Celery isn't his favorite, but he eats it; he had a bad experience with too much stringy, melted cheese once, so he sometimes has a hard time with lasagna, and homemade macaroni and cheese.

Favorite Music: John Mayer, U2, Mo-Tab, Classical (especially Mozart "because leading experts say, Mozart makes babies smarter").

Favorite Toys: he likes playing with his best friend (me. However, I do not consider myself a toy), computers, and his guitar.

Favorite Book: I can't really say I know what his favorite book is. All I have ever seen him reading is his scriptures and textbooks. I'd say out of those two, the scriptures are probably high on the favorite list. He also likes the Chronicles of Narnia.

Favorite Item of Clothing: He likes to dress business casual, but I don't really know what his favorite is. MY favorite outfit is a tie between his dark blue shirt that dad gave him, and the lighter blue shirt that Uncle Eric gave him. I like it when he wears either of those shirts with his tan pants.

What Makes Him Happy: Feeling like he has accomplished something, getting good grades, eating ice cream, music, ME!

What Makes Him Sad: not having enough time in one day, feeling overwhelmed with all of his responsibility (which he handles very well), he is most sad when I am sad.

Additional things I love about Daniel: His hard work and willingness to serve, treating others with respect, his eyes, his commitment to the gospel and trying to do the right thing, or Christ like thing all the time, his sincerity, treating me with love and respect even when I am ornery, making me feel like the most beautiful princess in the world.

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

It's a...GIRL!


After a busy morning, I finally have a chance to slow down and share some exciting news with everybody. I'll just cut to the chase...we're having a girl!!!

Stephanie and I made a trip to the radiology clinic this morning for her first ultrasound. Although our baby was good at striking cute poses, apparently they weren't the kind of poses that made it easy to take the required measurements! Despite the lack of cooperation on her part, we were able to figure out that she's a girl.


Now that we know we're having a girl, we can get serious about names. We've thought about Heather Breanne and Victoria Breanne (Tori for short). We'll just have to see though.


We love you everybody!!!