Many down, ONE more to go.....

WHEW!!!!!!!! So, as of Dec 15th, was Brint's last day of the semester. Then on Dec 16th my "real" husband appeared. The stress that AB Tech brings into your home is unreal. Tuesday was the best day we've had together in a long time. No looming class project constantly hanging over his head when we want to do something together, or run an errand. No fighting or elbow throwing (J/K) to get a little time on the computer.

Tuesday we got to sleep in (a little), went to Sam's club.. and had fun, went to the free Migun beds for our massage... and had fun, went out to lunch at Moe's (sat with Jen McBride.. had a lovely visit)... and had fun, had the Missionaries over for dinner... and of course ALWAYS have fun with them. All is right in the Argall household. Aaaahhhh!

I get my "real" husband for one fun filled month, and then that other guy comes back. But we won't focus on that, think of the positive Dayna... think of the positive!

Did I say he graduates in May of '09!!!!!

Great Night Out

I just could not let a fun night go buy and not blog about it!! So on Saturday night (Nov 22) Jeff Zentner and Matt Call's (Lewis)bands were playing. Jeff was playing first at the Green Sage Cafe. It was very warm and intimate setting, on a VERY cold night. Destinee and Ryan Blau were there, and eventually Sarah (Jeff's wife), and Leslie (Matt's wife) were there. Brint and I cuddled around our vegan hot chocolate (thought it tasted weird, then we realized we were in a vegan cafe... oops!) It was still warm, and had chocolate in it, how bad could it be... don't ask Brint.

Jeff did a wonderful job, and sang some really great songs. So 9 o'clock came and it was time to face the bitter cold once again, and walk to Stella Blue's for Matt's gig. We huffed it up the hill with Destinee and Ryan. Poor Destinee was just freezing to death.

When we got there they were finishing setting up. Both Brint and I had never been there before, it was pretty rough looking inside. Like one of those Seattle grunge places. That being said, it was funny to see quite a few people from church there. We almost out numbered the concert going folk. So here we were in this dark place listening to some GREAT music by Lewis, and we noticed that they had a table set up to sell their CDs.

This is kind of a funny little story. On the table was a cake, right along side Lewis's CDs. On the cake it said "Eat Me", that was meant in a nice way of saying free cake. I thought this flowered cake was soooo out of place, and I thought "You know your a Mormon when you bring cake to a rock gig!" I got a couple of laughs out of that. I also thought how crafty of Leslie to entice people to come to the table for free cake,and to buy a CD.

Well, I guess that wasn't the story. The band that went on first had a band member, and it was his birthday. I like my story better! So Lewis did AWESOME, it was their first gig since loosing Tyler, who played key board and back up vocals. They still rocked the house!!!

We all didn't not want that fun night to end, especially since Destinee and Ryan had a babysitter (Rachel) who was spending the night! What to do, what to do?!?!? Dairy Queen for blizzards... dang closed. McDonalds for something yummy... dang drive through open only. So off to Destinee and Ryan's house for her famous molten lava cake... Woo Hoo!!!

So it was Brint and myself, Matt & Leslie, Destinee & Ryan (of course), and Rachel. All the girls in the kitchen to make the molten lava cake... well, really to watch Destinee make the cake, and the boys shooting the breeze in the family room. A little time later and those heavenly cakes came out of the oven, piping hot.

Now, every lava cake I've had not been that great, and I didn't know what the big deal was. UNTIL.... I had Destinee's. Now I understand. Holly Crap Batman!! Words cannot describe how amazingly good that was.Uggghhh!

So I am a good four bites in with a little ice cream. I shuv the fifth bite into my mouth and uh oh... I looked over at Rachel, with my cheeks stuffed with this chocolate heaven, and realized... Dayna, your on Weight Watchers!!! CRAP!!!!!

Oh well, at least the ice cream was carb free! There is always a silver lining!! We had such a cozy fun night at their house. So THANKS to Jeff and Matt for their great gigs, THANKS to the Blau's for letting us invade their house and making the mouth watering lava cake, and to the peeps for making it a FUN night out in Asheville. I think Brint and I needed a night out like that!

Halloween on Labor and Delivery!!!!

So I really work with the best people on the whole plant. Why is that you ask.... they know when to be serious, professional, and can handle ANY emergency. However, they also know when to cut loose, let go of the stress, and have a fun time. The first pic is of Dr.Stewart and his pirate patch. He did have a serious injury to his eye, but because he is such a good sport, he let us put skull and cross bone stickers on his eye patch. In this pic he is saying Arrrrrrggggggg...


This is Melissa (aka:Peanut), she is our scrub tech. Since we can't ware costumes in our department, she is putting her scary face on. Stand back she does bite!!


My boss Melinda came around the corner and surprised us with this mask. I thought she was George Bush, but she couldn't decide on wether to come as Dr.VanDyke...


...or Dr. Stewart!?!?


Micki got in on the action as a mummy. She put on the "daddy suit" (when they go back to the OR), and a ton of gauze. Ain't she perrtty!!


The sweet kids from Peds & Peds ICU came through to the different departments to trick-or-treat, but we just missed them. Bummer!



We were so upset that we missed the kids that we tried to catch up to them. Micki said that the picture below is of her being a mummy. I say it's her "One flew over the Cukoo's nest" moment! He, he!!



This lovely couple is Ellen and Micki. Check out Ellen's suit she drew a skeleton, complete with a heart and all! They are both our circulator nurses in our operating rooms. Aren't they fun!!!

My First Rally!!

FYI: Sorry that my blogs are soooo behind. Brint is constantly on the computer for school/homework, and it seems to take forever to download my pics. So sorry if I'm a little behind! This next event actually took place on Oct 25, 2008...

So Brint told me on Friday that he could get us free tickets to see Sarah Palin in a rally at the Civic Center, let me tell you I really didn't jump at the chance. It wasn't for any dislike for her, I really think she is an amazing person. I think I wasn't excited because I really didn't want to go the the Civic Center on a sunday, find a parking spot, and stand in a very long line. Waaa, waaa! We went and let me just say it was such a great experience.

When we got there the line went all the way around the city block of the Civic Center. I thought we would NEVER get in. Brint left me in line, and went to the front of the building to see if there were any free posters or stickers. He found Nelia, her family, Jen Wilmer, and Jordan from the ward near the front of the line. We knew they would be there, but not that close to the front door. So they invited us to sneak into the line.... I know, I know it was the sabbath and we were cutting in line. Uggghhh!

If there was any punishment it was standing there for two hours just waiting for the doors to open. Everyone was in a chest to cheek mass. Kind of interesting as I listened to the sounds of protesters behind us, and a group of church goers in front singing amazing grace. Oh I could go on, and on about the experience on the outside of the Civic Center alone. The one thing I do want to say was that Nelia's mom rocked!! She was like herding her sheep making sure we all got in no matter what. I think she's been to a rally or two!




Whew, finally got inside. When we were inside the center, it was like walking into your television. The stage, chairs, flags, posters, banners, lights, cameras, reporters, secret service agents, podium, and tele-prompter were just like it is on TV. It was very surreal. Here are some shots of when we first arrived. Of course Nelia scored some great seats between the music stage and Sarah Palin's stage.



Now there is so much to be said about our experience there, but I think the pics are so much more fun to look at.









They even had Sarah Palin look alikes. There was a little girl who was a mini-me of Sarah Palin. The funniest part was that people were stopping them to take their picture with them. Everyone was having so much fun there. We did the wave to many times to count. Funny how humans have the most fun with the simplest things!




Here she is... the next V.P. of the United States of America!


This is us with Sarah Palin... well if you click on the picture and look to the left of us, she is just below the girl who is walking on the blue stage with a white top on. Oh and their is a small blue poster next to her face. It's a stretch, but technically we got our picture "with" her... he, he!



Thanks to Nelia and her family, for giving us an amazing oppertunity and a great day!!

Late night munchies!!

So these pics are weeks old, but none the less their still pretty cute. When Ryan Jeven's sister, Vanessa, was here we decided to go out to for her "last supper". She decided to go the the famed Waffle House. So we went late and had a great meal with a little entertainment. We sat at the "bar" and watched our food being made. It was like being at one of those Japanese restaurants but with waffles! That was fun.....thanks Vanessa for picking the spot and coming to Asheville!!!!

Big Shoes To Fill!

This is not to boast or brag, I just want to get my thoughts and experiences out. I was called to be a Relief Society president for our branch. President Blau asked me on Sunday 9/14, and it was minutes before sacrament was to start. So of course my heart and head were pounding. But, ever since he asked me that question (that everyone else knew was coming but me) I have felt different. Not of feeling like "I have the power" (just kidding by the way), but that I am really feeling like I am a part of Heavenly Fathers plan.

You know when you have deja vu. Well I kind of felt like that with my patriarchal blessing. Has something ever happened to you in your life, and all of a sudden your fulfilling what your patriarchal blessing had said. Well this was it, this was the moment. Well actually it was during my set apart blessing that Pres. Blau gave me. His words were the same words in my patriarchal blessing. I truly felt the hand of God on my head that moment. Brint and I talked about it after the blessing, and the words were so literal that it even startled him. I feel different, I feel empowered. By that I mean I feel more confident, that Heavenly Father is behind me 100%. That I know there will be struggles and sacrifices with this calling, but I will not be alone.

All I can say it's amazing when you finally see your purpose in this life, and all the possibilities that are out there. That doors start to open, you step outside of the box, your comfort zone. And you feel like you have accomplished something and made a difference. What better thing to do but to be on the Lords errand.

Mystery Dinner Theater

I was going to wait and let Cass blog about what we did at the Jevne's house, but she's probably busy with moving and everything. So here goes. Katie and Ryan Jevne had a Mystery Dinner night and a farewell to Justin and Cass (before they moved to Texas) at their house. They had invited Brint and myself, Justin and Cass, Nate Skroski, and Rachel Johns. The theme was renaissance. The parts picked out for each of us was perfect! Cass was the queen, Nate was the prince, Rachel was the "princess", Justin was the Queen's personal Bishop "wink, wink", Katie and Ryan were the Duke and Duchess, Brint was the knight, and I was the princesses "serving wench". Figures, I was the serving wench....he, he! I wish I could remember all the creative names that we had for each character they were very funny.

So of course you have to dress up so you can really be in character. We were trying to take a series of serious, smiling, and funny. But it just fell apart after the second round. Here are the great pics that were taken....pretty dang funny!




Ok let's be serious now....everyone look majestic...and this is when Rachel looses it!


Now this is ALL of us loosing it!



Now we are just out of control....check out the Jevnes!!!



OK...Everyone be serious....this is serious....seriously!



Did Brint's foot just make a fart sound on the tile????



So there is NO recovery after that.....Nice face Justin!!


Twenty attempts later to get a SERIOUS picture and we finally got it!



Now at this point it's late, we laughed our butts off, and now we were just plain crazy. Don't ask....just don't ask!! And yes we were all saying weeee while these next pics were take....like I said don't ask!





Now I am really looking forward to the blog and pics that Cass had. I know she got some great pics!!

Those Beavers!

Ok, reality check this morning. You know you in the south when.....we were driving down the bottom half of the road that we live on. On the bottom half there are a couple homes, huge horse pastures, and good flowing creek. At least it was a good flowing creek. As I said Brint and I were driving home and saw two Ford trucks on the side of the road where the creek "bridge" was. And there where two good ol' boys with their overalls on and their ol' farmin' hats. Just scratching away at their heads.

We did know one of the older men. It was an uncle of our neighbor Amy (who we do our jam with). His name is Glenn. Brint stopped the car (since he is the most nosey person ever), and asked what was going on. Glenn said "Beaver!". Pause, pause, pause. You could hear crickets chirping at this point. Brint says "well what's he doing?". Glenn said "Building a dam!" Pause, pause, pause....crickets STILL chirping! Brint says "What are you going to do?". Glenn said "Get em'!" Brint said "Are you going to shoot him?" Glenn said "Nope, where going to catch him and take him to the creek by those new houses. That will teach them!"

What he is talking about are new housing development on Dogwood Rd. They desimated a beautiful hill that was half trees, and half rolling horse pasture. IT IS AWFUL!!! Brint and I agreed with him, thought about helping (just kidding), but just took pictures of what was left of the "dam" in the creek.

Now on to GRAPES!!

On Labor Day weekend our friends Susie and Anna invited us over for a Labor Day Pool Party and cook out. It was soooo much fun! We got to talking with them about the over abundance of grapes. They told us if we picked them, gave them a couple of pints of grape jam, we could have the rest. Wooooo, Hoooo!!! Oh wait, we have to pick all those grapes....oh crud!!

So we came back the next day, with our neighbor and partner, Mark, in toe. And we picked under the arbour (while trying not to make the honey bees and bumble bees mad), and the Wall-O-Grapes! They had so many grapes. In fact the vines had grown up into the Redwood trees. We got out our signature orange Home Depot buckets, pruning shears, and a ladder (more on the ladder in a minute).





Oh my gosh, the best part of all this was just looking at the beauty of the grapes. They were SO plump, and SO purple. If you just stood there and took in the smells, it just reminded me of home, of being in Napa and Sonoma. Aaaahhh!



Ok, so on with the ladder story. As you saw in the pictures above these grapes were huge and amazing. Brint was able to grab a HUGE cluster of grapes. They were sooo pretty that I asked Anna to take a picture of us, while Brint holds the grapes. So I am standing on the bottom step as the "weight", yeah...thanks a lot. Brint is standing two steps above me. I am holding the coveted Home Depot buck to catch the grapes, and I turn my body to face the camera. Anna is getting ready to take the shot, as Brint says "Hurry, my feet are starting to hurt." Two seconds later Brint falls (full weight) ON TOP OF ME!!! All on my top left shoulder and left...uh...well...chestage are. I leaned forward because of his weight (I will be kind and not say how much), he bounced off my shoulder and you know what.

Then he bounced off my back and butt, only to land ever so softly onto the ground. Uh, OOOWWW~!!! Of course I was totally to blame because I "made him turn around", and I put the crushed grapes under his shoes that made him fall. Yes, and I really wanted to be the catcher of my heavy-pound husband onto my chest (which turned a lovely shade of black, green, and yellow). I had to laugh (other wise I would cry, and people were watching) because Susie and Anna were both watching, with mouths agape. And the funny thing to was Anna was standing there with the camera, and wasn't able to catch the Argall Acrobats at all. So instead, here is the peaceful and happy picture before the "incident".

All the while, Cleo, Anna and Susie's dog, gave a look of "What the heck was that!?!?".

We have since canned most of the grapes, sold some to the restaurant in Candler and will soon sell some to our personal customers. My back feels better, and my "other" wounds have healed....all this for the bounty of the grapes and yummy jelly! Thanks again Anna and Susie for letting us pick...love you guys!!!!!