I used to say that I would never play World of Warcraft--I used to make fun of all of my friends who played. But then I married Jacob, and somehow he convinced me one day to make a character, and then I realized that it was actually quite fun. Although I seem to get bored of my characters by the time they get to about level 30, because then I abandon them and start over with a new character. I have a level 29 blood elf paladin named Lexandra, a level 32 human mage named Lynnora, and my newest character is currently a level 13 night elf hunter named Xylena. My very first character was a gnome mage named Xyli who I only played with for a few levels and then abandoned. I spent almost as much time creating her than I did playing--you have to make a lot of decisions when you create a character, even down to choosing their hair color and making up a name... it's like designing a little doll to play with. I think you're supposed to use the special abilities of each of the races and different classes to guide your decisions more than their physical appearance, but I definitely cared more about things like their robe color than I did about what they could do.
Anyway, last night I did something else I said I would never do: I joined a guild on World of Warcraft. I didn't want to join them. I started my newest character a few days ago in a realm for new players, and I've rejected many requests to join new guilds since I started playing her, but this one wouldn't take no for an answer. I think they were just getting started and desperate for members. I tried everything short of logging out of the game to avoid them. I declined their invitations. I said no. I gave them all of my excuses. And they shot them all down, one by one. I told them that I never had any idea what I was doing in the game and that I had no desire to play with other people. I told them that I didn't want other people around to witness the many stupid things that I undoubtedly do every time I play. When they tried to tell me of the many benefits of being in a guild, I had no idea what anything they were talking about even meant. But they didn't care--they used my arguments against me and pointed out that if I was in their guild, they could explain things to me and help me out. So when I ran out of excuses, I caved and joined their little guild. And then I spent the remainder of the night avoiding anyone I saw that was in the guild. If they were doing the same quest as I was, I ran the other way and did something else instead. I knew it was ridiculous even as I was doing it. I know that I am still just a player on a computer screen to them--they don't know who I am. But for some reason, just knowing that I was now in their little group made me feel less anonymous. So I ran away. The only good thing about it was that random people started Congratulating me when I leveled or got a new achievement, which made me feel strangely good about myself.
So there you have my public confession. I have not only played World of Warcraft, but I liked it. I get excited when Jacob signs off because it means I can get on and play. And now I've written a blog post about it, which makes me even more pathetic. :)
Friday, February 26, 2010
Saturday, February 13, 2010
little family update
I started this blog so that I could keep my family and friends on the other side of the country updated on our lives, but I never update the blog, so I've done a pretty crappy job of that. I'm hoping that after I have the baby, I will be more motivated to take pictures and post updates... we will have to see. For now, we just have a couple pieces of news:
Jacob was offered a full-time job about a week ago at Provo Canyon School, where he has been working on-call for the past 6 months or so. He is also now the lead supervisor on his shift, which comes with more responsibility, but sadly, not a pay raise. We are both extremely grateful that they were able to finally hire him full-time, because we've been worried about what was going to happen after I have the baby and quit my teaching job. We're relieved to know that Jacob will have a guaranteed income and especially that we can get benefits through his work!
Jacob also passed his third and final exam to become certified as an EMT, so they should be sending him his certification soon. He aced the EMT course he took last semester (despite not buying any of the textbooks/materials), and I am so proud of him!
Even though we've been worried about how we will survive when I stop teaching, I cannot wait for my last day at work. I have really hated my job this year, which is sad, because last year I really loved it. My dad's advice to me has always been "Do it for the students", but the sad truth is that the students aren't always enough to make it bearable. Every other aspect of the job has sucked so much this year that helping my students hasn't been enough to make it worth it. I'm so relieved that I only have to make it another 6 weeks, because I don't think I could make it to the end of the school year. I really hope that if I go back to teaching someday, the work environment and the politics won't be as bad as they are right now at my school.
In baby news, I am about 34 weeks along with 6 more to go. Everyone tells me that I'm not very big, but I feel so huge compared to how small I was just 8 months ago. Jacob likes to make fun of my belly and laugh at me when I can't sit up from a reclining position (although he always helps me up after he's had a chance to laugh). Our baby moves around all the time, especially when I am trying to sleep, but most of the time I love it! I like having the reassurance that she's still ok and moving around. My back hurts constantly now, but Jacob has been a good sport and will rub it for me whenever I ask. He has also given up fighting me for his pajama pants... I wear them all the time when I am home because I have no pajama pants of my own that I can fit into. He has also been a huge help with cleaning around our apartment, and grocery shopping, and all of the other little things that I haven't felt up to doing as often as they are needed. And he's been very understanding with my crazy emotions, which have been out of control lately. I don't know why... I guess it's a combination of a lot of different factors... but the past few weeks have been incredibly hard. There were a couple days every week where I came home from work and sobbed for no good reason, and every time, Jacob came into the room and laid on the bed with me, rubbing my back and listening to my rantings, even though most of them were ridiculous. And for the few things that were legitimate worries, Jacob knew just the right thing to say to help me put things into perspective and stop stressing out so much. I'm so thankful for my loving, helpful husband! Being pregnant has been a thousand times harder than I expected, both emotionally and physically, and I would never be able to get through it without him.
With Valentine's Day coming this weekend, I was feeling a little bummed because Jacob and I weren't going to get to spend any time together due to opposite work schedules. Unknown to me, however, they cancelled Jacob's Friday night shift, so he made plans to surprise me with flowers and candy! He left the house before I got home from work, and he led me to believe that he was at work and was going to be there for his entire shift. So when the doorbell rang an hour later and I saw someone standing to the side with flowers, I honestly thought that it was someone who just had the wrong address. I was pleasantly surprised to open the door and find my husband holding flowers and chocolate, not only because I thought he was supposed to be at work but also because I had told him that we should probably just stick to cards this year to save money. So I really hadn't been expecting anything!
Jacob managed to surprise me last Valentine's Day, too, not with the fact that he got me roses, but because he snuck into my apartment in the middle of the night to leave the roses and chocolates in my room. My first thought when I woke up and saw them was, "Who are those for?!". It's funny to me that both times he gave me flowers, my first thought was that they were sent to me by mistake.
So there is our update! Happy Valentine's Weekend and Happy Birthday (yesterday) to my wonderful mother!
Jacob was offered a full-time job about a week ago at Provo Canyon School, where he has been working on-call for the past 6 months or so. He is also now the lead supervisor on his shift, which comes with more responsibility, but sadly, not a pay raise. We are both extremely grateful that they were able to finally hire him full-time, because we've been worried about what was going to happen after I have the baby and quit my teaching job. We're relieved to know that Jacob will have a guaranteed income and especially that we can get benefits through his work!
Jacob also passed his third and final exam to become certified as an EMT, so they should be sending him his certification soon. He aced the EMT course he took last semester (despite not buying any of the textbooks/materials), and I am so proud of him!
Even though we've been worried about how we will survive when I stop teaching, I cannot wait for my last day at work. I have really hated my job this year, which is sad, because last year I really loved it. My dad's advice to me has always been "Do it for the students", but the sad truth is that the students aren't always enough to make it bearable. Every other aspect of the job has sucked so much this year that helping my students hasn't been enough to make it worth it. I'm so relieved that I only have to make it another 6 weeks, because I don't think I could make it to the end of the school year. I really hope that if I go back to teaching someday, the work environment and the politics won't be as bad as they are right now at my school.
In baby news, I am about 34 weeks along with 6 more to go. Everyone tells me that I'm not very big, but I feel so huge compared to how small I was just 8 months ago. Jacob likes to make fun of my belly and laugh at me when I can't sit up from a reclining position (although he always helps me up after he's had a chance to laugh). Our baby moves around all the time, especially when I am trying to sleep, but most of the time I love it! I like having the reassurance that she's still ok and moving around. My back hurts constantly now, but Jacob has been a good sport and will rub it for me whenever I ask. He has also given up fighting me for his pajama pants... I wear them all the time when I am home because I have no pajama pants of my own that I can fit into. He has also been a huge help with cleaning around our apartment, and grocery shopping, and all of the other little things that I haven't felt up to doing as often as they are needed. And he's been very understanding with my crazy emotions, which have been out of control lately. I don't know why... I guess it's a combination of a lot of different factors... but the past few weeks have been incredibly hard. There were a couple days every week where I came home from work and sobbed for no good reason, and every time, Jacob came into the room and laid on the bed with me, rubbing my back and listening to my rantings, even though most of them were ridiculous. And for the few things that were legitimate worries, Jacob knew just the right thing to say to help me put things into perspective and stop stressing out so much. I'm so thankful for my loving, helpful husband! Being pregnant has been a thousand times harder than I expected, both emotionally and physically, and I would never be able to get through it without him.
With Valentine's Day coming this weekend, I was feeling a little bummed because Jacob and I weren't going to get to spend any time together due to opposite work schedules. Unknown to me, however, they cancelled Jacob's Friday night shift, so he made plans to surprise me with flowers and candy! He left the house before I got home from work, and he led me to believe that he was at work and was going to be there for his entire shift. So when the doorbell rang an hour later and I saw someone standing to the side with flowers, I honestly thought that it was someone who just had the wrong address. I was pleasantly surprised to open the door and find my husband holding flowers and chocolate, not only because I thought he was supposed to be at work but also because I had told him that we should probably just stick to cards this year to save money. So I really hadn't been expecting anything!
Jacob managed to surprise me last Valentine's Day, too, not with the fact that he got me roses, but because he snuck into my apartment in the middle of the night to leave the roses and chocolates in my room. My first thought when I woke up and saw them was, "Who are those for?!". It's funny to me that both times he gave me flowers, my first thought was that they were sent to me by mistake.
So there is our update! Happy Valentine's Weekend and Happy Birthday (yesterday) to my wonderful mother!
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