Middle East Chaos.

I promise that I am not going to go on a political rant.

Promise.

That being said, if you haven't tuned in to what's going on in the Middle East....

I think you should.

This is a big deal people.

Back in December, a man in Tunisia became so frustrated with the government

and the fact that he couldn't find any work (despite his college degree)

that he poured gas all over his body and lit himself on fire in the middle of the market.

The people in Tunisia rallied around this man and basically drove their president out of the country about two weeks ago.

Now in Egypt, people are following Tunisia's lead.

President Hosni Mubarak has been the authoritarian leader for about 30 years.

The Egyptians also are frustrated with their government's lack of action during the troubling state of the global economy.

History literally is happening in Egypt as these citizens are forming massive protests against their leader and the government. There is not a political party or interest group organizing these protests. The people are just THAT upset.

Now, as a disclaimer, I am not pretending to be an expert on the Middle East.

However, I have taken a few classes and find the region absolutely fascinating enough to recognize that if the Egyptian government is overthrown, ANYTHING could happen in the Middle East.

The Camp David Peace Accords are what has kept relations stable between Egypt and Israel for the last 30 years. If Egypt undergoes a drastic regime change, Israel is going to be nervous.

Like REALLY nervous.

From everything that I have learned about this region, the best way to describe it is like a a house made out of playing cards. Even if one small piece of the bigger picture changes just a little bit, a complete breakdown or remodel can happen.

Ben Wedeman is a CNN correspondent on the ground in Cairo.

His twitter feed paints a great picture of what things are like right now.

This is one of the sources that I've been tuning into the last few days.

Take a look. And say a prayer for the people in the midst of this chaos.

And be grateful for the freedoms that we enjoy in the United States,

regardless of race, religion, political party, and so on.

Okay. I'm sorry if I did end up ranting.

Back to the fluffy stuff in life now.

To read... or not to read...

I have probably 150-200 pages of reading for my capstone class Monday that I really should be focusing on right now.
But alas, I cannot.
I just have too many other fun things in my head at the moment.
Like decorating for Valentine's Day.
I think I will just do that instead.
Much more exciting than reading.

Funds for us poor newlyweds are limited for "frivolous" things such as decorating.
So I gotta use a lot of what I already have.
Practicality Mrs. McCormick... practicality.

Here is my inspiration/limitation:

We already have these fabulous plates that the Kelly family gave us as a wedding gift.
Annnnd... I have a red wall.
So red certainly will be part of my color scheme.
Excited for how this is gonna turn out!

Dear husband,

Today I went to my first of a four day series of Photoshop Classes.
They are on campus at BYU through the IT department and are FREE.
Since it was so so cool and I already learned a lot...
I would pretty please love a new awesome camera.
Nikon DSLR, to be specific.




Oh and while you're at it, the fancy lens would be great too.




Um, I also would probably need Photoshop...




Thanks Chasen!
Love ya!

Decided.

There are only 97 days, 2 hours, 15 minutes, 34 seconds until I graduate college.
As the countdown begins for my undergraduate career,
I finally can say with confidence what I want to do in life.
After this incredible forum by Condoleezza Rice at BYU,
I know for sure that I want to
TEACH.
I'm not quite sure which path I will take to get there
(Masters in Education, Post-Bacc Teaching License, etc. etc.)
Or where I want to end up
(High School Government or History Classes...
Intro to Political Science at the Community College)
However, I know that teaching is what I want to do.
And I am happy.
The end.

Mac's Photo Booth

Hee hee... I am on Chase's computer cause mine is near expiration
(the battery is dunzo; it ceases to exist; it has given up the ghost)
And I came across these...
They made me laugh.
Happy Weekend!!

{Yes... we are so classy.}

Lately....

So... I have been told on more than one occasion that I am what you call a "blog slacker."
And, sadly, I'll admit to that.
I started the blog right as last semester started to get busy...
BUT
(Drum roll everyone....)

Tomorrow I begin my very last semester of my undergraduate education.

That means I can finally slack off.
Really though... it's called "senioritis" - a commonly known malady that attacks even the most diligent of students during their very last semester.
I used to be one of those. Now I plan to blog.
HA... but really. I am deciding between 6 and 9 credits right now. I expect to have plenty of time to get into this blogging thing. And maybe do our laundry on time every week.
Oh and visiting teaching too.
(oopsies December... not sure what happened that month)
I promise.... this time it's for real...
SO everyone, you can stop accusing me of blog slacking already!
New Year... new resolution... new commitment to blog.
Done.

Here's a few of the fun things we've been up to since I took my last blogging hiatus:

Sometime in October/November we met THIS guy-



Coach Lon Kruger of the UNLV Runnin' Rebels.
I think this might be a happier moment for Chasen than our wedding day.
Too bad when this pic was taken I was in the middle of telling Coach that even though we're up in Utah and I go to BYU... we'll be cheering for the Rebels with a big crowd come February 5th.
Go Rebs.
Amen.

December came time to decorate for Christmas!!
One of my most favorite things to do during the holiday season.

Chase claims that he married Christmas Spirit herself...
but I just say that he's actually sometimes a scrooge...
I, of course, am not the over-the-top one here.

The finished product with prettily wrapped presents:



Some more pretty Christmas decorations:

Mr. Scrooge was worried I would spend wayy too much on decorations...
so rather than buy real wreaths that I wanted so badly for our red wall,
I made two fun feather boa wreaths.
Easy: Just bend a wire clothes hanger into a circle, buy a feather boa from the craft store for about $6 and twist around the wire circle. Voila!

Also a lot cheaper than a real wreath-
Giant glittery bow from Kmart



Christmas Eve:

Chase finally couldn't wait ANY longer... so we ended up opening up our presents to each other on Christmas Eve. Well, it technically was after midnight, but still against my usual rules. It actually was kinda fun and might end up being a new tradition. We'll see.



The loot:

Chase's sweet rebel ornament I found on Ebay...
Actually made in Poland. Go figure.



I guess Chase really did end up having a very Rebel Christmas...
Along with the ornament I got him, he ended up with the new black jersey from Rebel Swag,
A rebel tee,
Hat,
Pajama pants,
And new Nikes for the gym... in rebel colors.

Chasen surprised Haley with this Jazz jersey.
The result?
This is how we looked last Thursday when both the Jazz and Rebs played.
We're so cool.

New Years Eve
Chase's classy solution to keeping our sparkling cider cold 'til midnight...
Kitchen bowl + snow
Needless to say, his hands were frozen after this brilliant idea.
Wear some gloves next time love.

Happy New Year!

Love,
Little Mrs. McCormick
(and Chasen too)