my best of police beat 2010

There have been some good ones, but here are my favorite Police Beat stories of 2010.

Jan. 12: The driver of a white pick-up truck reportedly whipped into a handicap stall, parked and ran to class. Officers confirmed that the running person indeed had a handicap permit.

Jan. 26 A mother called from Wymount. Her son, age 14, had locked himself in the bathroom. The call had been made for an argument over a video game and TV time. The officer was able to mediate the situation and the problem was resolved.

Feb. 14: A concerned mother called in because her 13-year-old daughter was threatening her with a stick. Officers responded and mediated the situation.

Feb. 19: An officer witnessed a male suspect kick one of the light posts on campus, causing it to go out. When the officer confronted the male, he apologized. Luckily, the light came back on and the male’s frustration didn’t damage the post seriously.

Feb. 24: Police received a call about a possible fight in progress in lot 16. Upon arrival, five individuals were separated. One was uncooperative. The two parties were arguing over which party deserved the parking stall. One party claimed his wife was sick and pregnant, but the other party wouldn’t give in. Police found another parking stall for the party.

March 4: A caller with a Jamaican accent made a call to the police department trying to reach basketball coach Dave Rose. He wanted to inform the coach that he won a contest and to receive his prize he simply had to send them a cashier’s check. Being familiar with the scam, the officer told him to stop calling; the caller was persistent and continued his calls. By coincidence ,the coach was in the office during one of his calls and told the secretary to give the caller his number. The coach then took care of the problem by blowing a very loud whistle into the mouthpiece. The caller has not called back since.

May 21: Graffiti was found on a pavilion by the Wilkinson Center bus stop stating, “Utah is infested with Satanists. Awareness is power.”

May 25: A man was reported to be carrying a gun in the HBLL. After an investigation, police found it was a cell phone case.

June 3: A cat was found in the Clyde Building. The incident was reported to police who arrived on the scene. The exterior doors were opened and the cat was herded outside of the building.

July 7: A man was reported drawing circles on the ground and throwing balls into the circles. The man was gone when police arrived.

July 8: A student reported a sex offense occurring at Wyview Park. When an officer arrived, he found a male and female making out. Both parties were clothed. The officer suggested they find another location to continue such activities.

July 9: A man was reported running outside in Army fatigues, holding a gun. When police arrived, they found the man was an ROTC student and the gun was a replica.

July 19: BYU Broadcasting reported receiving a suspicious letter. The letter was dismissed as being unsuspicious.

Aug. 16: Belongings were reported stolen from Stover Hall. The person who reported stolen items realized he was in the wrong room. When he returned to his room, none of his belongings were missing.

Sept. 8: A sanitary napkin dispenser in a women’s restroom in the FOB was broken into and all of the cash was stolen.

Sept. 9: Another sanitary napkin dispenser was broken into. All cash was reported missing.

Sept. 10: Another sanitary napkin dispenser was broken into, this time in a Smith Fieldhouse women’s restroom. All the money from the dispenser was reported missing.

Sept. 10: A student called to report a rock being painted at the ROTC building. Upon arrival, officers discovered two ROTC members painting a rock. The members explained that it is a tradition among ROTC members to paint a rock every month; on the month in question, the members chose pink. The officers decided it was not an offense and left.

Sept. 13: Several items were reported stolen from a female residence hall, including a wallet with contents worth over $200, and a batch of homemade cupcakes.

Oct. 5 Two male students were arguing over dating. One was having a difficult time getting dates and was telling the other student about it. The second student joked that he didn’t have a difficult time getting dates and he could date the other student’s mother. The first student took offense and slammed the second student against a wall and brandished a knife. Upon arrival, the police arrested the first student for aggravated assault. However, the second student decided not to press charges, so the first student was released.

Oct. 5 A suspicious individual was knocking on apartment doors in Wymount Terrace wearing a Guy Fawkes mask. When the officers arrived, Guy had once again eluded the police.

Oct. 5 A person has been seen in the Widtsoe lab leaving suspicious notes on green tape on the lab counter. The notes have said things like “super nice,” “nice,” and “good job.” The man has entered the lab and left these suspicious notes several nights in a row. Officers suspect he might be the boyfriend of one of the lab workers.

Oct. 19 A student called police when he discovered his motorcycle was continuously moved to different spots in a parking lot. The student was irritated.

Oct. 20 Three males were seen entering the Wilkinson Center. One of them went and suspiciously changed his pants. When officers arrived, they searched the area that the student changed in and found nothing.

Oct. 29 A woman was seen suspiciously looking in car windows in a parking lot near May Hall. When asked what she was doing, she said she was just passing the time while waiting to meet her daughter.

Nov. 5 Officers received a call from library security that reported a student lying on the floor of the HBLL atrium. The student refused to get up and leave. Upon arrival, the officer discovered the student was an anthropology student conducting an experiment. The student apologized and left.

Nov. 6 A lawnmower was reported tied to a tree. Furthermore, the report stated the lawnmower had been running for a while. When the officer arrived, the lawnmower had run out of gas and turned off.

Nov. 13 A concerned citizen reported seeing a bag of alcohol near the Wilkinson Center. It was actually a bag of groceries and the owner got onto the bus and left with it.

If you'd like to see all of the Police Beats, you can see them here.

the pilgrim's journey home

Happy Thanksgiving! In order to celebrate the holiday fully, I recommend that you all watch BYU choir's recent show "The Pilgrim's Journey Home." You can watch it online here:

http://www.byutv.org/watch/480-403

Or, if you have BYUTV, it will be broadcast on there on Thanksgiving day at 9 A.M. and also at 8:30 P.M. Keep an eye out for my handsome husband- he's in the Men's Chorus. This was the performance that they filmed for many hours over four evenings in spring of 2009.

My favorite is "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" and also "Going Home."

happy 24th!

John turned 24 on Sunday! We had a fun little party for him that night with friends and lots of pie.

Amanda and I took a trip up to Midvale near Salt Lake on Saturday to get him a chocolate silk pie form Marie Callenders- his favorite- and I also got a peach pie and razzleberry because those are amazing. John's cousins Kristi and Kingston, and Jenny and Stevie came over to celebrate, as well as Lauren, Amanda, Sean and Jennie, and Gabi and Jordan. Gabi made some delicious birthday candies that are popular in Brazil (where she's from) to share with us, and Kristi made some awesome refrigerator magnets out of Rook cards. We ate pie, ice cream, and cupcakes, visited, and played some Beatles Rock Band. It was a lot of fun!




He got a gun safe from his parents so he can put the pistol in it next to the bed, and some Boise State paraphernalia to wear to the Boise vs. Nevada game next month. And I got him a bottle of Acqua Di Gio cologne. John said it was more a present for me than for him, but I hope he liked it anyway.

I can't believe I woke up to a fine layer of snow on everything. I'm not ready for this! It's almost November and I'm ready for spring already. I'm going to go turn on the heater.

muddy

One day this last week Suki ran outside around 8:00 when John and I were returning home from doing something. A few hours later she still hadn't come home. John and I both went out with a flashlight for a while looking for her. It had just rained that day, so everything was wet and muddy.

I started getting really nervous that she got stuck somewhere, or got hit by a car or something, so I kept going out on the balcony calling for her. She always comes when I call for her. Well, around 11:00 I hear a small cry outside the door. I opened it, and there she was! And she was covered in mud.

We have no idea where she was or what she did to cake herself in mud, but I was just glad she came home. It was starting to get really cold out and I don't think she would have survived the night soaking wet if she had stayed outside.



We threw her in a bath (she didn't like it) and shampooed her up (she didn't really mind that) until she was all clean again. She was shivering after her bath, so I turned the oven on warm, left the door open, and put a towel on it so she could sit next to the heat. She must have been cold all night because she curled up under the covers next to me while she slept! Now that was cute.

post script

I've had a bunch of people ask how I am after the accident, so I just want to reassure everyone that I'm okay. The whole next day I had awful whiplash, but John was very nice and gave me neck massages and brought me Advil. It didn't feel like the Advil helped very much, but the pain probably would've been worse without it.

I'm a little scared to drive, but I'm okay. I'm glad I had my seat belt on and that the airbags didn't go off- I'd rather have my nose in one piece. John explained that the hood of the car was supposed to crumple like that or else it would've gone through the windshield. And also very, very glad that didn't happen.

up and down

I've had a very, very, very up and down week.

First of all, I got in a car accident on Tuesday. I feel so dumb! I was on University Ave in the Impala (my mom's car, not mine, so I felt sick when it got smasho-ed). There was an accident on the side of the road, out of the way, might I add, but everyone still decided to slow down to look. A Jeep Cherokee in front of me came to a sudden stop, I tried to come to a sudden stop, but didn't. The Impala's breaks aren't the best ones in the world... So I hit him.






Luckily just his bumper was damaged, and my car got most of it. There isn't any damage to the functional parts of the car, just body damage, so I was really lucky for that. The 85 year old man I hit was very nice to me. I apologized profusely and he said, "It's just a bumper. You can always use a new bumper." I was so worried that he'd be furious with me and that would've just been worse.

I called 911 to report the accident and an officer came to see us- the same one that was at the previous accident. We gave him our licenses, insurance, and registrations and wrote up statements about what happened. After our info was taken down he dismissed the older man and stayed to talk with me. He asked, "What happened?" I was perfectly calm about the whole incident when I explained. "There was another accident on the road so everyone slowed down. I tried to slow down, too, but I didn't in time so I hit him. And I feel so awful because I tried to slow down and was being so careful but it's still my fault. I have to take responsibility for it and I know that it was all because of me."

At that point I started bawling, which made me feel even dumber. But the officer was so nice. He said, "Allison, accidents happen and sometimes, even when it's considered your fault, you can't stop them and they aren't even really your fault." At that point he said that by law he has to issue a citation, so I just nodded and said I'd take one. Then he debated with himself for a while and said that he hates giving them out sometimes. Then he decided that he didn't want to give me one. I said I didn't want him to get in trouble and that I would take it, but he didn't give it to me. I was SO relieved! I don't know how much it would have cost me or what it would've done to my driving record.

And the rest of the week has just been so crazy- I can't even talk about everything. But the BYU game against SDSU was amazing tonight! The first quarter was just incredible! It was so fun watching it with John and Amber. We had a great time!

In a blast from the past moment, I found this picture of me from sophomore year. I didn't know I was so sexy :)

miscarriage

I hadn't made my pregnancy public yet because I feared something like this would happen. We were going to announce it to everyone once I hit the second trimester. I was seven weeks along with my little Bean, and was due April 26.

Yesterday afternoon I had some bad cramps and didn't think too much about it. I had read that cramps were normal in early pregnancy because the uterus is stretching. But when I went to the bathroom and saw that I was bleeding, I started panicking. After the cramps started getting worse, I asked John to take me to the emergency room where I had an ultrasound and blood work done. Sure enough, our worst fears were confirmed when the doctor came in and said that I was having a miscarriage.

Apparently the fetus had stopped growing about a week or two earlier and my body was finally shedding it. It made me feel better knowing that I didn't do anything to accidentally abort the baby. The body just wasn't perfect, so nature got rid of it so I can give my baby a perfect body later.

It was just shocking to be fine and then be at the hospital six hours later and find out that I was having a miscarriage. I have many mixed feelings. I'm so glad that I have Jennie who can help me out now. I'm not glad that she experienced something similar, but I'm so glad to have an empathetic friend to comfort me and help me out. And so many of my friends have been so supportive and helpful. I'm so grateful for all of the love that John and I have seen in the last 24 hours. And my mom is flying up tomorrow to stay with us for the weekend and help out. That will be so nice because I don't have the motivation to do anything right now. I fluctuate between feeling devastated and being okay, but my heart still aches and I don't know when that will stop.

I just wanted to write this because writing my feelings down and sharing them always makes me feel better. I didn't do this for sympathy or to make people feel bad for me.


To my little Bean,

I want you to know that your father I and love you so much, and we can't wait for you to join our family. I'm sorry that this body didn't work out for you, but we'll do all we can to make sure you come to us soon. We already have fallen in love with you and I feel like I've bonded with you quite a bit. I know you're up there waiting to come down and I bet you're impatient, and just as disappointed as we are! But the time will come when you can be a Jeppson with us and come to this world. Again, we love you so much and I hope to meet you soon.

Love,
Mommy

just one of those things

I didn't get the job :( I guess it wasn't meant to be.

John started back to school this week. So far he loves his classes and is even going to be taking a trip to Yellowstone weekend after next. He's going to collect samples from the pools there and examine microorganisms and such. He's super excited about it. I will miss him, but I'm sure Suki can keep me company.

job

I applied for a job this last week, and I had an interview! It's with Backstage Library Works, a company here in Provo that converts library's catalogs to computerized versions. They send copies of information to BSLW, and they type it into a computerized catalog. I took a test this last week as my application (and I didn't feel like I did very well at all) but the next day they called me and asked for an interview! The test had a few parts. First was spelling, where they have a sentence with a blank, give you the first three letters of the word that goes in the blank, and you have to fill it in and spell the word correctly.
I am __________ for my actions. (acc)

Next was a grammar/proofreading section. Super easy, no prob.

Then some general knowledge. And by general, they meant geography questions.
Nova Scotia (a)city (b)state (c)country (d)none of these

Ann Arbor (a)England (b)US (c)Australia (d)Canada

It really brought me back to my middle school geography class, and helped me know that I don't remember anything from it.

One part was simple. We had to say if a person was real or fictional. I wish there had been more of those, because I knew them better than the geography ones.

I also took a typing test, to see how many words per minute I can type and with what accuracy. They were looking for 45 WPM with 98% accuracy, and I scored 83 WPM with 98.3% accuracy.

Regardless of my score they still interviewed me, and I was really excited. It went well, and I even had a chance to do some of the work that I would actually be doing. I think they wanted to see how quickly I could learn. It was more complicated than I expected, but not hard. I think I would enjoy it.

I really, really, really hope that I get this job!

tired!

Man, the last week-ish, all I've been able to do is make myself get up, go work at the dental office for a few hours, come home, nap, wake up and do a few things while wishing I could go back to bed, and go to bed. Why am I so tired?! It's annoying.

I'm not sleeping too much. I've been getting about 9 hours every night. And I've been getting enough exercise. I'm just tired.

writing

I can't tell you how often I have a dream and wake up thinking, "I have to turn this into a book!" and then, after I wake up completely, I realize that the whole idea is nonsensical, boring, or just plain weird. And I mean worse than David Bowie randomly appearing in a Labyrinth-esque way.

I saw this video, and wanted to share it. I watch live TV and secretly hope things like this will happen.

suki

I went to Animal Ark in Orem with Wistie one day because we wanted to pet the bunnies that they have out front, and we saw a litter of kittens for sale. I wanted to pet them, too, because I love cats. I picked up a Siamese kitten, and Wistie picked an orange kitten. Mine was kind of nervous, and didn't like being held much. But the kitten Wistie had picked was purring louder than any cat I've heard before, and being adorable. I knew I had to have her! I asked the inlaws if I could have a cat in the condo, and after getting a yes, went back to the store right when it opened the next day before someone else could snatch her up!

We thought about names for a long time. For a while I wanted a cat and name it Momo, but it didn't fit her. So we considered Independence with the nick name Indie, but I couldn't ever remember it. So we finally decided to name her Suki.

She is adorable, and loves to play! I love that she sleeps on my pillow at night wrapped around my head. She is so snuggly, and such a good kitty.

recently

I must apologize for being absent for weeks. I haven't written or really read people's blogs in a long time. I finally sat down and caught up with the blogs I follow. It was a lot! So I did read everyone's blog, I promise, even if I didn't comment.

I'm in Boise right now helping my inlaws with their new basement. They had one dug and added a living room/library, kitchen, food storage room, bathroom, and two bedrooms. It is beautiful! I can't wait to come stay in it and watch movies on the projector.

I also went to Nevada last week to visit my parents and grandma. It was a solo trip, and John was left at home. I missed him a lot! But I went shopping and got some new clothes, went mini golfing with my dad, and made raspberry cheesecake with my mom. We watched a lot of movies including The Vampire's Assistant (it was pretty bad!), Percy Jackson and the Olympians (I had already seen it, but my parents hadn't. I liked it just as much the second and third time I watched it), and Princess and the Frog. I really liked seeing Drew and Christina. We went to Turtle Rock Park and played disc golf, and that was a blast, even though it was really hot and we ran into a scorpion. It was great visiting with Grandma, and watching Judge Judy with her and my mom. It was great just being home relaxing for a week.

first anniversary

John and I celebrated our first anniversary on June 20th. It's amazing how fast time went! We had such a fun, amazing first year together! I learned so much about marriage, and how to adjust to living with a man (it's so much different than girls!), and learning about... other married people stuff.

For our anniversary, John and I took a trip to Southern California with Amanda. We went to Disneyland for two days, and on the third day, we saw Prince of Persia and went to Newport Beach. We had a blast! We went on everything we wanted to at least once, had giant blisters, and sunburns.












We had a really great time. Happy first anniversary, darling!

premieres

We had a busy few days with Amanda, Victoria and our new friend, Craig. First we went to the Twilight movie Eclipse midnight premiere. I found out the day of that Craig had two tickets for John and I to go see it with him and his friends. Amanda and I went to the mall that afternoon, and I wanted to find a really cheap, cheesy Twilight t-shirt to wear to the show. So we went down to Hot Topic to see what they had. And, with unusual luck, they had New Moon t-shirts on sale for $5! We were stoked. I got one that had Edward and Bella kissing with the quote "Why are you so willing to give up your soul?" and Amanda got one that said, "It made no sense for you to love me. I knew that." I also got an Edward shirt for John to wear. They are so gross! But we were excited. We got them as a joke.




The movie itself was actually okay. It was much better than the first two for sure! It was just an angsty, teen romance movie. Everything I expected and a perfect movie for the right mood.

The next day, I prepared to make a cake for Victoria for her 20th birthday. She wanted an America theme, so I designed a red, white, and blue cake with fireworks exploding out the middle. After the second try because the first two layers stuck to the pans (and panic and tears, a quick trip to the store), it came together beautifully. Victoria loved it!






We played a game of Loaded Questions with a bunch of Victoria's friends, had some pizza, and got dressed and ready to go to The Last Airbender midnight premiere! Two in a row. I think we're crazy, but it was so fun! This time, we dressed up like characters from the cartoon TV show. Don't be fooled. This TV show is one of my all-time favorites, and is absolutely amazing! (Avatar: The Last Airbender on Nickelodeon). John had been working for a few days to make his Zuko costume, and Amanda was amazing and volunteered to work on my Katara dress while I was making Victoria's birthday cake. It turned out better than I had ever thought it would! Amanda was the Cabbage Man, Victoria was Zuko's evil sister, Azula, and Craig was the Avatar, Aang.

John and I with Apa!

Amanda the Cabbage Man, Craig as Aang, Victoria is Azula, John as Zuko, and me as Katara.

The Cabbage Man

The Avatar Aang

Princess Azula

Prince Zuko

Katara



Don't we all look legit?

I liked the movie overall, but it is nothing compared to the TV show. The script was pretty bad, and there wasn't any emotional ties to the characters, but the effects were really good, and the story was told really well. It made me want to watch the cartoon again!

I'm really, super tired, the house is a mess, and I have stained fingers from the frosting coloring, but I had a blast!

fight or mate?

It's definitely hard to tell if they are fighting or doing some aggressive, strange mating ritual. We'll just keep them separated just in case.

azula

Obi-Wan Kenobi has a girlfriend. We got her from a boy who had posted her on KSL. Poor thing was in a basement and never got out of her cage! We decided to name her Azula and call her ZuZu. Obi really likes her, and she shows signs of liking him, too, but they end up fighting when next to each other. He puffs up his beard, turns it black, and bobs his head to try and attract her, but she turns him down. And even though she was waving her harm in a circle (to show submission, or friendship), she still attacks him when they get close. I just don't understand! John and I think that it might be because ZuZu is bigger than Obi. We'll just have to see.

Today, I gave them a bath together (which, surprisingly, they didn't mind), and took them outside to bask in the sun where I captured this video of them "flirting."

allie's adventure with wistie

We took both of the cats to the Humane Society today. I feel bad, and I actually will miss them, but it's for the best. They were really unhappy here. I don't feel that guilty about taking them. The shelter there has a 97% adoption rate for cats within the first week, so I know they'll find homes.

Wistie came with me, mostly because I don't like driving on the freeway alone. On the way there, we had a few encounters with a driver. I was driving the the diamond lane, and was behind a car going slower. So a white car zoomed past me in the other lane and then changed lanes to get in front of me. Well, a little while later, I left the diamond lane and sped past the white car and gave him a little look like, "See ya, sucker! You're stuck behind a slow car." Then, a ways down the road, I got stuck behind someone going incredibly slow and couldn't get away, and the white car passed me and the driver looked at me like he was saying, "Look who's stuck now!" It made Wistie and I laugh so hard! It was just really funny to me. He eventually won because I was stuck behind the slow car in the diamond lane for a while until the lane opened up. Otherwise, I predict our battle would've kept going.

strike three, you're out

Nala is a naughty kitty. We left and went to Idaho for Mother's Day and was hoping that the cats would have some time to adjust, but they just got worse. Honestly, these are the meanest cats ever. John was in the bathroom last night scooping the kitty litter before bed, and Nala was by him. Then, he reached down to pet her on the head as he was leaving, and she bit him! She bit him so hard she drew blood. That's strike three. She's going to the Humane Society today. Adios, gato!

more kitty pictures

kittehs

Rafiki and Nala are the newest members of our household! We adopted these two Siamese cats from a lady who was getting sick and couldn't take care of them anymore. Rafiki is the Seal Point (darker) and Nala is the Blue Point (lighter). We just kept the names that they had. Rafiki is a male and Nala a female, but there isn't any chance of babies because they are fixed. Also, they are declawed. That makes me the happiest. We also got all of the accessory stuff like a litter box, litter, food, etc. They are both still a little scared, so I took some pictures, but I'll take better ones once they settle down.