Days of the Davies

Technical difficulty

2011-07-01T07:38:00.000-07:00

Last night I was going to post our 3 days in Island Park so they would show up in order and our internet decided to freak out after the day 3 post. :( I'm at work this morning, so the others will be up later. :)

Island Park Day 3

2011-06-30T20:54:00.000-07:00

The last day we had a slow morning and enjoyed breakfast burritos. Andrew made several smaller ones and lovingly referred to them as "Mini 'hos" (mini Idaho burritos). Haha! We went to Big Springs and fed the fish, birds, and some sort of little creature. It rained pretty hard while we were there but it was still really fun. Everyone got into their tye dye for a group picture before we left.

How many people does it take to get a shirt on Ty? ;) Steven and Lynn got it on eventually. Plus you can see a couple of the awesome (but sadly pink) tye dye shirts.

Andrew attacking Stacey. Haha :)

Ty feeding the cool little animal at Big Springs..not really sure what it was but it LOVED bread!

It was raining pretty hard!

I was trying to get pictures of him to show the rain on his face...isn't this one adorable?

"Remember This: Kindness Begins with Me"

2011-04-21T20:02:00.000-07:00

I was reading this talk from the 2011 General Young Women Meeting. It is so wonderful! I just want to share it with you!

This is how the talk starts. "A few weeks ago I learned an important lesson from a Laurel who was the youth speaker in my ward. I was touched as she confidently taught and testified of Jesus Christ. She concluded her remarks with this statement: 'When I make Jesus Christ the center of my life, my day goes better, I’m kinder to my loved ones, and I am filled with joy.' I have observed this young woman from a distance over the past few months. She greets everyone with sparkling eyes and a quick smile. I’ve watched her rejoice in the success of other youth. Two Mia Maids recently reported to me of this young woman’s decision to forfeit her ticket to a movie when she realized that it was not going to be an experience that was “virtuous and lovely.”¹ She’s loving, kind, and obedient. She comes from a single-parent home, and her life has not been without challenges, so I’ve wondered how she maintains her happy, kind spirit. When this young woman testified, 'I center my life on Jesus Christ,' I had the answer."

Don't you want to meet that girl? And be just like her?

Another thing I LOVED:

"President Thomas S. Monson taught us how to interact with our peers and everyone we meet when he told the young women of the Church, 'My precious young sisters, I plead with you to have the courage to refrain from judging and criticizing those around you, as well as the courage to make certain everyone is included and feels loved and valued.'"

Courage. Don't you love that?!

Have the courage to refrain from judging and criticizing those around you, as well as the courage to make certain everyone is included and feels loved and valued.

I LOVE IT. I want to post it somewhere in my house...

One more. "President Monson...has always had a special place in his heart for the elderly. He recognizes the value of a short visit, a ready smile, or a squeeze of a well-worn, wrinkled hand. Such simple acts of charity bring color into a life the sometimes is made up of long, lonely, gray days. I would invite each of you to be mindful of your grandparents and the elderly. Look around at church tomorrow and identify those who could use your shade of color added to their life. It doesn't take much: greet them by name, engage them in a short conversation, be available to assist them....'Remember this: kindness begins with me.'"

LOVE!

Now, I'm giving you an assignment. Ready?

http://lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/remember-this-kindness-begins-with-me?lang=eng&query=kindness+begins+with+me

GO!

Read the rest of this talk. Pretty please? You will LOVE it!

Happy birthday Doug!

2011-04-11T09:14:00.000-07:00

Doug's birthday was last week. Here's a little info about him. :)

He is ridiculously handsome (evidence above!)
He is SO patient.
He loves kids, and they love him.
He is such a hard worker.
He never gets mad.
He doesn't complain.
He is going to school to be a graphic designer.
He makes me laugh.
He is my favorite!

I'll post more about his day after the gift from my parents come. :)

"Calling All Angels" 2

2011-02-05T09:40:00.000-08:00

This is Doug's sweet cousin Angie and her husband Neal. She went into preterm labor and they only had a few hours with their little Jayden. They are AMAZING people. This is the second year they are doing this service project in memory of him.

Can you make time to help?

I'm more than happy to collect blankets from you if you don't want to ship them. Let me know! Send me an email at imgone2mexico@hotmail.com.

Yellowstone

2010-12-06T18:00:00.001-08:00

This is from a couple months ago, but oh well.

We decided to go to Yellowstone on free entrance to national parks day. I surprised Doug and booked a "cabin" for that night. We had so much fun!

I can't figure out how to move pictures on here now...so they're in a weird order.

Only in Yellowstone!

A bear! WE SAW A BEAR!

The inside of the lodge. Don't you want to curl up in one of those chairs and read?

Cool sunburst picture at the tiny "lake" on the Continental Divide. (I think its a pond, but who makes the rules anyway..)

The gorgeous view from the amazing dining room in the lodge! Sunset at Yellowstone Lake.

Our cabin.

It was so fun to get away for a night and just be together. We had a blast!

Free Canvas Print!

2010-10-20T15:12:00.000-07:00

I saw this on another blog and I think I'm going to take advantage of it! A company called Canvas People is giving $55 off any size canvas, you just pay shipping (14.95, I think). That makes an 8x10 canvas free, but the shipping. The rest of their canvas prices are INCREDIBLY REASONABLE with that discount too! Go check out! You upload your picture and choose a size canvas. AWESOME.

http://www.canvaspeople.com/special-offer?utm_source=HO_CP&utm_medium=Affil&utm_campaign=promo

Tagged :)

2010-10-12T13:35:00.000-07:00

My friend Allie tagged me for these fun questions. Here it goes. :)

What is your favorite Christmas tradition?
When I was younger, my mom and I would pull blankets out and sleep by the Christmas tree for a night sometime before Christmas. Oh, and my dad would make me wait in my parents' room til he got the video camera set up...every Christmas. Talk about torture! Haha

What is your favorite way to relieve anger/frustration?
Talk about it! Poor Doug gets to hear blow-by-blows of what people do that drives me crazy. Haha

What was the last good movie you watched? Why?
Salt was AMAZING! I thought it was going to be just another good secret agent movie but it had SO many twists! We LOVED it!

What is the first thing you think of when you wake up?
Depends on the day. What time is it? Can I sleep longer? Is Doug in the bathroom?

Name 5 things that make you happy.
Doug! My family and Doug's family. My friends. Traveling. Comfy clothes.

Describe your perfect day.
Sleeping in together and hanging out all day with nothing to worry about.

What is the worst job you've ever had?
I worked with developmentally disabled adults and some of them were REALLY hard! There was one who got mad all the time over tiny stuff, and there was one who you had to wipe every time she went to the bathroom. Iiiiick. Good thing I was just a fill in at that job!

If you could relive the best day of your life, what day would it be? I want details!
I've had so many best days with Doug! Our wedding day would obviously be amazing to relive, and just soak it in more. A weekend we recently spent in Yellowstone where I suprised him with a cabin on the lake...we saw the sites and came back to the lodge and ate a yummy dinner in the GORGEOUS dining room that faced the lake. We played games and relaxed and saw everything else the next day. A camping trip we went on this summer was amazing too... there's a lot of days that would be awesome to relive!

Watering Plants

2010-09-03T15:48:00.000-07:00

Just a quick laugh for all of you.

My boss came up and handed me a pitcher and said, "Will you water the plants?" I asked her where they all were and she pointed into the big room next to us and said vaguely, "There's one there, there, and there, and in the corner. And there's two in my office." She indicated that it didn't need to be done immediately.

Well, it was after she left and I decided to go water the plants. There seemed to be more than she mentioned, but fit in with them being close together (there, there, and there). She failed to mention there were fake plants. And I totally watered a fake plant.

Hahahahaha :)

The Blue Angels

2010-07-29T14:38:00.000-07:00

If you haven't seen the Blue Angels before, you HAVE to go see them if they're ever anywhere near you!

Two days before the show, I was at my friend Kourtney's house and the Blue Angels started practicing and flying right over her house. Once we figured out what that loud noise was, we were like little kids running outside to see them. My parents came down the weekend of the show and my mom had a great idea of where we could go watch for free. We ended up right next to the runway, with free parking, and no ticket price. :) It was the most perfect spot- they would fly right over us all the time.

Feast your eyes on the wonder that mere mortals know only as the Blue Angels. :)

See how low they got? We had such a perfect spot.

Holy cow....

I spy with my little eyes: two upside down planes. Can you spy them too? How on EARTH do they do that?!?! (A common question in my mind throughout the show)

I don't get how they can fly that close together! If any of them even hiccuped they'd all die.

We had so much fun! There's nothing like seeing something so amazing that you can't stop saying, "Oh wow!" "Holy cow!" "How do they do that?" "That's impossible, but they do it anyway!" every other second. :)

Prayers For Preslee

2010-07-15T09:28:00.000-07:00

I stumbled across the story about this family. I don't know them, but it broke my heart. A young couple in Rexburg has a daughter named Preslee. A few days ago, she fell in a canal and a farmer found her 2 miles down. She's at Primary Children's now. Go check out their blogs and say a prayer for her. They look like SUCH a sweet family.

http://helpsullengers.blogspot.com/

http://patrickandashley.blogspot.com/

Oops

2010-05-01T21:23:00.000-07:00

The most recent 3 blogs (all published tonight) published in a weird order. I meant for the older stuff to be at the bottom. Read all the way down to the Sleepover one! :)

Happy Birthday to Me :)

2010-05-01T21:07:00.001-07:00

Like our anniversary post, this is almost 3 months late. Oops.

I started my day off by going to work at 8 in the morning. My sweet bosses got me a card and came out and made everyone sing to me. :) When I came home, I couldn't wait to open presents. I got The Proposal and an iPod (from Doug and my parents)! Doug knows me better than I do... I had thought that when I got an iPod I would want a pink one, but he explained as I opened a RED one that the pink ones were nasty and he got me this awesome red one instead. It's so nice! He had engraved on the back: Now we can rock out together. Xoxoxo He's so sweet! We went to my favorite restaurant for dinner.

My angel visiting teacher brought me a present so sweet it almost made me cry! I had raved about some cookies she brought me about a month before. For my birthday, she brought me a plate of hot cookies, a bag of dough that she had frozen so I could have them whenever, a scoop, the recipe, and the chocolate that goes in. Thanks so much Terry!

My mother in law bought me the vinyl saying for the frame that I bought ages ago with it in mind. It's a 24x36 frame that now reads: "Real love stories never has endings." We're going to hang on the wall next to our stairs when we get the motivation to get the ladder in here, haha. She also gave me money that I'm going to use to buy paint for the kitchen! Sweeet! Thanks!

My sister in laws went together and got me a gift card to the most wonderful decorating store! I quickly used it to buy awesome decorations, of course! :)

My parents came down the next weekend and we went to my favorite restaurant again with them. I got free fried ice cream. :) It was a wonderful birthday!

Thanks everyone! Love you all!

Our Anniversary (Posted almost 3 months late...)

2010-05-01T20:55:00.000-07:00

So....this is almost three months late. But I figured it would be good to get it on here anyways.

It's been a year already! It's gone by so fast and I love him so much! For our anniversary, we started off by sleeping in! It's a rare day that we can sleep in together, so it was wonderful. We went to go to Avatar 3D but it was sold out. (I should have listened to Doug! It had been out so long that I really didn't think it would still sell out...oopps!!) We changed our plans and bought tickets for the later showing and went to dinner early. My mom was so sweet and had given us money to go to an expensive restaurant. Thanks mom! After dinner, we went and picked up a new wedding cake layer that I surprised Doug with from the same lady that made our cake. We went to the movie and LOVED it! It was both of our first 3D movie and it was an awesome movie too! It was so nice to spend the whole day together.

Pretty cute in 3D glassees, huh? :)

Sleepover!

2010-05-01T20:42:00.000-07:00

A while back we had our nieces over to our house for a sleepover! We had such a good time! We had pizza for dinner (yum!) and made the world's best brownies together for dessert. I LOVED having the girls helping with the brownies, it was heaven! Needless to say, they were very enthusiastic helpers!

I love these girls so much!!

Calling All Prayers!

2010-02-15T23:03:00.000-08:00

This is my cousin's daughter, Michelle.

She is an angel. A miracle. The moment she was born she had to start fighting for her life. After forever in the hospital, she was finally been able to come home. She has been growing and learning SO much since then! Unfortunately, she is back in the hospital very, very sick. I know you don't know her, but she desperately needs your prayers right now. So please, please, PLEASE pray for sweet Michelle with all your heart.

The Refiner's Fire

2010-01-20T09:13:00.000-08:00

Doug and I were in SLC and had the amazing opportunity to watch gold be refined up close. I am banging my head against the wall that I didn't think to take the camera in... But I was completely overwhelmed by why this certain symbolism is used in the scriptures.

First, the gold goes into a very thick metal cup and gets put into a metal tub where the fire is. This fire was so powerful by itself that it was astounding to look at...and the people said the fire they have didn't get hot enough by itself, so they took what looked like a welding torch to it to get the fire even hotter every once in a while. I asked them how hot it had to be to refine the gold, and the answer was somewhere around 1800 degrees. Every so often he would drop in some powder that makes all the impurities cling to it and come together . After quite awhile of melting the gold, the refiner got the cup out and cooled it in buckets of water. He dropped the gold out onto the floor, and all the impurities were all together in a black shape on the bottom. He hit it and they all dropped right off.

Pretty simple right? I can't even explain to you what a powerful representation to me of why the refiner's fire is used as a symbol. You're going through a trial and it's really bad, and then when you think it can't get any worse, the fire gets hotter. It circulates between bad and worse, all the while you are (hopefully) learning what you need to and your imperfections are sinking down. When you bring the Savior into it, the imperfections or bad things can fall right off, just like in the gold.

It's odd to me how much this experience taught me..I definitely don't think it was a coincidence that we had this opportunity. I mean, I'm the type of person that gets emotional at gorgeous art and beautiful songs, not watching raging fires.. Not that I got teary eyed emotional at the experience, but I don't think I've ever felt so powerfully taught about a symbol and that I knew and understood why Heavenly Father chose that symbol to use for us. I remember that feeling of absolute understanding and I know that I was supposed to learn what I did.

Going private

2009-12-31T14:50:00.000-08:00

I have thought about it and have decided to make our little blog private. There are lots of things I want to post and don't feel comfortable doing so in view of the general public. So, send me an email with the email address you use to login to: mmaarrcciieeATgmailDOTcom. :)

If there's a chance I won't recognize who you are by your email address, just write your name in the subject of the email. I look forward to posting about things, places, and people I love that I wouldn't otherwise do without having the blog being private. :D

Couple survey :)

2009-12-09T11:02:00.000-08:00

My friend Allie did this and it was cute!

1. When is your "engagement" anniversary?
*November 19th

2. When is your "marriage" anniversary:
*February 6th

3. How long have you known your spouse:
*Ha, neither of us remember when we first met. But somewhere around 2 years.

4. How long did you date/court before you were engaged?
*6 months

5. Where did you meet your spouse for the first time?
*Neither of us remember! Haha! But it was through friends/my friends' single's ward/Institute. So probably at a party or an activity.

7. Do you have any children:
*Nieces and nephews for now :)

8. How many - boys/girls:
*As long as they're healthy that's the most important thing!

9. Do you have any house pets:
*A cat

11. Do you live in the country or town/city:
*Country

12. What are some of your favorite activities together:
*Spending time together. Relaxing, watching movies, playing games. Just chatting.

13. Do you have a favorite vacation spot:
*Mexico was really fun!

14. When did you first kiss?
*After we'd been "officially" together for a couple weeks

15. What church do you attend?
*The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

16. Did you get married in a church?
*Nope, Idaho Falls Temple

17. What town is your current address at:
*Our address isn't in a town :)

18. Do you work or stay at home:
*We're never home! Work and school!

19. Where did you go on your honeymoon:
*A month after we got married we went on a road trip to Nauvoo.

20.What was the funniest gift you gave when dating?
*Haha well before we got married I did a little countdown with presents for every day. For 6 days before I gave him a package of sugar cookies and I THOUGHT they had twelve so I said something like 6 cookies (times two) and there were only ten! He hasn't let me forget it. Apparently sugar cookies come in 10's, not 12's.

21.How long have you been together?
*A year and almost 5 months

22. How long did you know each other before you started dating?
*About 5 or 6 months, and then we dated for 2 months before we were together.

23. Who asked who out?
*Doug asked me

26. Which situation is the hardest on you as a couple?
*Our crazy busy lives.

27. Did you go to the same school?
*Nope

28. Are you from the same home town?
*Not "technically", but yes. Our moms grew up like a block away from each other too.

29. Who is smarter?
*We're both smarter at different things. For example, I have no clue how to operate power tools or build things. However, if he happened to hurt himself while using said power tools, I know how to take care of it. :D

30. Who is more sensitive?
*Me

31.Where do you eat out most as a couple?
*Good question. We like lots of places!

32. Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple?
*Mexico

33.Who has the craziest exes?
*It depends on your definition of crazy...

34. What attracted you about him/her?
-We were friends and he was super nice and fun to hang out with

35. Who does the cooking?
*Doug usually cooks breakfast and I cook everything else

36. Who is more social?
*Depends on the situation. I would maybe say Doug though. He can strike up conversations with people he doesn't even know.

37. Who is the neat-freak?
*For the kitchen and family room-me!! For the bedroom-mostly Doug.

38. Who is more stubborn?
*We're both pretty stubborn

39. Who hogs the bed?
*Neither of us. We sleep in the middle

40. Who wakes up earlier?
*Doug!

41. Where was your first date?
*His basement. We watched I am Legend. I kept jumping and he would laugh at me. Hahaha

42.Who had more boyfriends/girlfriends?
*Me

43. Do you get flowers often?
*No

44. How do you spend the holidays?
*Together and with fam

46. How long did it take to get serious?
*Awhile

47. Who eats more?
*Depends on what it is!

48. Who does the laundry?
*I do the actual laundry but Doug is good at helping me sort and hang

49. Who’s better with the computer?
*Doug

50. Leave a piece of advice for the other couples:
*DATE NIGHT!

The Crazy Lady at Wendy's

2009-11-16T10:38:00.000-08:00

Here is a story that is funny, sad, and sure to make you shake your head. (I know, I get to

Doug and I were going to a movie and decided to grab dinner at Wendy's beforehand. It was on a weeknight and at an odd time so there were only two other tables of people and a few people behind us in line. We got our food and sat down at the second-to-farthest-from-the-counter table. We were eating when I saw a lady and a teenager walk in and march to the counter.
I heard, "BLAH BLAH BLAH SO I WANT A REFUND!" The manager kindly said, "I'd be happy to do that for you." The lady started railing on so loud that we could hear almost every word she said. She was yelling something about how her daughter had ordered her fries with no salt and she had seen them shake the salt shaker all over them. She accused the poor kid who took their order of saying things. She yelled (several times), "AND TO LET YOUR EMPLOYEES STAND BACK THERE AND TALK ABOUT CUSTOMERS...THAT IS SOOO UNPROFESSIONAL!" She continued on and said to the kid who took their order, "I AM HERE TO TALK TO YOUR MANAGER! YOU ARE JUST THE LOW MAN ON THE TOTEM POLE!!! WHY ARE YOU JUST STANDING AROUND?!?! GO CLEAN THAT FILTHY FLOOR!" This lady was so crazy that if we were in a big city, I'd honestly be scared she would pull out a gun and shoot the manager and kid. After more than five minutes of yelling, she finally stomped away.
We went up and talked to the people at the front since Doug knows them all, and the "talking about customers" was someone had mentioned something and used the phrase, "the girl who needs no salt on her fries."
Honestly?!?!?! Was it really worth yelling, insulting people, and making a bum of yourself to ask for a refund and make your "point"? How sad! People. *Sigh*

Wow

2009-10-26T18:48:00.000-07:00

I was talking to one of my best friends from elementary school today who is now in the Marines, and he told me this story, and it was so touching I had to share it. Prepare to get teary eyed.

He was in the Phillipines for part of their deployment and every morning a little 6 year old girl named Cameron would wait outside for my friend to give him lumpia (think egg roll). He would give her food, water and a little bit of money for her family. Sadly, an older kid found out and beat her up badly and stole her family's food for the week. I asked him if she was okay, and he said yes. He had their doctor look at her and patch up.

Then, I asked him how he got the food to give to her. I am all teary eyed just writing this.. He told me he gave them MREs, and that they love them down there. I said, "Yeah, but how did you get them?" This was his exact reply:
"They were my rations, I'd only eat like once a day there, and I'd give the rest of them to her."

Is that a hero, or what? Sometimes being a hero isn't about the huge things. It's an amazing reminder that Marines aren't just hardened killing machines..

Doesn't this make you want to donate to a food bank?

Parking tickets bring out the best in people...

2009-10-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

So you know those crazy people who think it is completely appropriate to yell at employees of some workplace about something that's totally not the employee's fault? Yeah... Mix parking tickets into the mix and it can get a little ugly sometimes.

The person who works next to me handles the parking tickets for the huge parking lot that surrounds our workplace. The other day, I was zoning out until I heard, "I GET A PARKING TICKET EVERY TIME I COME HERE!!" Of course the tone of voice caught my attention. I held my amusement down to (I hope) a small smirk. His rant continued, and ended with a really rather entertaining remark that went something like this. "IF I'M HERE MORE THAN HALF AN HOUR AND GET A METER TICKET....I'LL....BLOW MY TOP!!!!!!!"

Hehehe. Just a little amusement for your day. :)

50 things that make me happy

2009-10-05T16:59:00.000-07:00

So I saw this as an idea for a scrapbook layout and thought it would be a fun blog instead. So, here goes.

1. My husband!!!!
2. Listening to rain
3. Cuddling
4. Our kitty
5. When my little nephew says something full of a-t-t-i-t-u-d-e. (Sorry Stacey..but you have to admit it's a littttle funny)
6. My nieces and nephews
7. Having sisters, finally :)
8. Reading a book so good that I can't put it down
9. My fluffy pig slippers
10. Making someone else happy
11. Laughing
12. Surprising Doug with something
13. Sales
14. Decorations
15. Cooking
16. Baking
17. Eating my creations
18. Watching movies
19. Sleeping in together
20. Hearing "I love you"
21. Wearing PJs
22. Giving compliments
23. Getting compliments
24. Drinking hot chocolate
25. Laying down after a long day
26. Paychecks being bigger than expected
27. Buying presents
28. Stargazer lilies
29. Friends
30. Getting free movie tickets
31. Singing
32. Dancing
33. Otter Pops
34. Hangin' out with my cousins (and their awesome kids!)
35. Date night
36. Hoodies
37. Beaches
38. The sound of the ocean
39. Traveling
40. Having my parents visit
41. My favorite Mexican restaurant
42. Pictures
43. Pictures of Christ with children (especially David Bowman's! Google his art. Now! Right now!!!)
44. 3 Doors Down, Linkin Park, Hinder, Saving Abel, and Nickelback music. Plus lots more.
45. The Twilight Series (so sue me. haha)
46. Sunsets
47. Organizing (it's a new one!)
48. Shopping
49. Holidays
50. Did I mention my husband? ♥

P.S. If you were naughty and didn't google David Bowman's art, NOW IS YOUR CHANCE! Haha.

P.P.S. You should do this too. I officially "tag" all of you who read this. :)

Food storage...Help!

2009-08-31T08:14:00.000-07:00

I know I should have been being better all along, but lately I've been thinking about food storage a lot and wanting to get our's going better. I had been making it a goal in my head to get going on our 3 month supply. A few days later, I was looking through some papers and found a packet about food storage. I knew this could not be a coincidence. The packet listed the -Safely Gathered In- blog so I checked it out. It is an AWESOME food storage blog, I highly recommend checking it out.
So here's where I need help. I made my 3 month plan and started working on it, thinking it would be no real problem. It got hard because I was trying to think of meals that didn't involve eggs, cheese, or other dairy like sour cream since they can't be stored. I cook tons of different things, but a lot of them involve those dairy products that can't be stored. Does anyone know of something for eggs or sour cream? Like powdered milk is for milk?
Or am I just taking this too far? Something I looked at said if you followed their plan you wouldn't have to go to the grocery store a single time for 3 months. But we REALLY like eggs and cheese and dairy products..! I guess in a natural disaster or something it would be super hard to go to the store and they would probably be out of everything.. but still, that's not the only situation we plan for, right? How do you guys do it?
Next off, do any of you have any good recipes for food storage? Some of our normal meals work easily to store, but not a lot of them.

So pretty much I would love ANY advice, ideas, or help you can give me! I really want to get this going but I really need some help!

IKEA

2009-08-03T14:01:00.000-07:00

Ikea. Where to start? I had heard of Ikea before. People say great things about it. I have spent hours drooling over their website. My visiting teacher (aka my personal angel!) even got me a couple things from there to go into my huge basket of bridal shower gifts from her. I love the sauce tool she got me. It REALLY does keep sauces/gravies from clumping!

Anyways... We went down to Provo a couple weeks ago with Doug's family to see his aunt and uncle's new house, and to see all their kids who are in town from all over the country. The house was FABULOUS!! It was cool meeting his cousins too, since I hadn't met most of them from that family before. We had a great time. When we were leaving town, Doug's mom asked if we wanted to stop at Ikea since me and Stacey (my sister in law) had never been there before. We happily agreed and I was SO excited!

The first thing we saw when we walked in the doors was side tables for $12. WHAT?! Who sells side tables for that cheap?!?!?! The family split up and set up a meeting time and place to leave. Doug and I took the escalator upstairs to the "Showroom". It was amazing! The store is so huge that they have to post signs up so you don't get lost. They even have posted shortcuts in case you want to skip some stuff to go on to other things. THEY HAD COMPLETE HOUSES IN THE SHOWROOM! They showed how you can utilize space and fit a whole house into like 500 or less square feet. You just can't understand the monstrosity of this store unless you have been in one.

We were walking along in the kitchen tools area and I saw a big basket of woks. I have been DYING to get a wok. In the store where we live, they are like $39.99 and up. I walked over to the basket and was admiring them and asked Doug how much they were cuz there wasn't price tags on them. He replied, "7.99". I squeaked out in excitement and asked if he had seen the right price for these. He assured me that was indeed the price of the woks. I excitedly asked him if I could get one and he said yes. There had been a lady near us who must have heard the whole conversation.. As we were walking away, Doug said, "As long as you cook stuff in it." The lady started giggling and as she walked by me she whispered, "Or smack him with it!" I couldn't believe it! It was so funny, but...I would never do that with someone I didn't know! Haha!

We picked up some wooden cooking utensils for... 59 cents (for a set of 3).

I saw a pot hanger. My parents have been looking for one since they moved into their new house. They had one in their old rental and my mom hated it at first and then fell completely in love with it. They looked around where we live for one and came back empty handed. They were not willing to pay $250-$300 for one. This pot hanger in Ikea was $15. I called my dad and he told me to get it. I grabbed fifteen hooks...$12. Are you saying WOW yet?!

We continued on. I saw pretty vases that at home would cost like $8-$12....for $2.49. Can you say HAPPY MARCIE?! I of course grabbed one. We finished looking around upstairs and went downstairs, where all the loose stuff is and the rooms aren't set up. I wanted EVERYTHING. I think my heart rate doubled in the kitchen tools area, because I wanted one of everything. My brother in law somewhere around this point asked me what I want for Christmas and I said, "This whole store!" He laughed. We continued and passed into the decorations area. We were unfortunately out of time, so we could only briefly look. It's probably a great thing, cuz I would have spent more money. :) We got a lucky twisting bamboo and a gorgeous little vase to put it in. I bet you can't guess how much the vase cost! 79 CENTS!!! And it's not plastic!!!

Somewhere in the middle, I looked at Doug and concluded, "We've died in a car crash, haven't we? We are in heaven." That is my summary of IKEA.

The joke of the vet clinic

2009-07-20T17:22:00.000-07:00

Warning: if you have one, put your drink down. If you end up thinking this story is as funny as I do, your monitor will not appreciate a shower.

Flashback to years and years ago (probably close to 15 years ago):
My family sold an old vehicle to a Mexican family. They were soo thrilled that they handmade and painted a leather case that fit around a bottle of tequila and gave them to us as a gift. My parents kept it because the case was neat and it was hand painted.

About two weeks before present time:
My parents came to visit us for several days so they brought their 2 cats so no one had to come take care of them while my parents were gone. I miss the kitties so I was glad to see them. However, one of the little stinkers got hungry and tore holes in MY cat's bag of cat food. After my parents left, when my cat would get hungry, she would try and tear the holes even more.

Present time:
I moved the bottle of tequila and noticed the case had writing painted on it too, which I had never noticed. I hadn't looked at it closely since we had received it, probably. So I tipped the bottle over to try and read since I have taken far too many Spanish classes. Well, apparently the seal of the bottle broke, and tequila spilled out all over my hand and of course, the cat food bag just HAD to be right under the accident scene. Tequila got on the outside but there were holes all over it.
My cat was acting starved so after washing my hands and stowing the tequila away in a plastic bag, I felt her food and after deeming it dry, I gave her some. I regretted it as I became worried tequila had indeed gotten into the food and would poison her. I took the food away from her and called my mom for advice. She thought the alcohol would have evaporated but I was still worried. I said, "I can't just call the vet office and ask if tequila on my cat food is going to kill her!" My mom finally convinced me to call the office and not try and explain that I don't drink, but just ask if it would hurt my cat. So I did it. I really called the vet to ask if tequila would poison my cat.

Me: "Hi, are any of the vets available? I have a question."
Receptionist: "They are all with clients right now, but if you tell me your question I can ask them when they are done and have them call you back."
CRAP CRAP CRAP!!!!
Me: "Okay.. Well, my cat food bag has a bunch of holes in it and some tequila spilled out and I'm worried it got into her food. Is it going to hurt her?"
Receptionist: "A vet just came out. Let me go ask."
Receptionist: "The alcohol evaporates very quickly so your cat should be fine."

Really?! Who else in the world but me falls upon the misfortune of having to call the vet to ask if tequila will poison their cat?!?!?! I don't know how the receptionist managed to stay calm on the phone, but I am sure I was the laughing stock of that clinic once she hung up.

Recipe Blog!!!!

2009-07-09T12:08:00.001-07:00

I finally got my recipe blog up and running with a couple recipes to start it off with! Go check it out! There will be lots and lots more to come. :D

littleladychef.blogspot.com

Also be sure to check out the post below, it's new. Funny I should get my recipe blog going after the post about how my kitchen is doomed....

Our kitchen is doomed.

2009-06-09T14:02:00.000-07:00

Really. It's true. With the messes and accidents that happen in our kitchen, you would think we had 4 year old quadruplet boys.

The curse started (oddly enough) after we had been cleaning out the huge cupboard the serves as a pantry. My parents didn't move hardly any of the food out of it when they moved. So one night, Doug and I spent a couple hours taking everything out that we wouldn't use and hauled boxes and boxes of their food downstairs. We completely cleaned the inside of this huge cupboard and put all of our stuff back in.
Near the end, I got a can of Dr. Pepper out of the fridge, opened it, and had drank a little out of it. We thought we were done but spotted a jar of spaghetti sauce on the counter that we had forgotten to put away. Doug grabbed it and walked over to put it away. I had my Dr. Pepper in my hand, and as he reached to put the sauce away, he hit my hand (or the can) with the bottle, and my can of Dr. Pepper fell to the floor. Only, instead of just spilling, something horrible happened. It hit the ground and fell on its side, and suddenly started spinning so fast that it just looked like a purpleish red circle. And while it was spinning, it was OF COURSE spraying our entire kitchen, wall to wall, with Dr. Pepper.
I was soaked past my knees, Doug was soaked too, the wall closest to the scene was dripping from about 3 or 4 feet high down. The cupboard we had just spent 2 hours cleaning was dripping Dr. Pepper. Mind you, this cupboard is about 3 feet deep and a couple feet from the ground, and the back wall of it was dripping too. The food we had put inside now had brown polka dots. The nearest counter had gotten it to and my stovetop was even covered. Our other cupboards were dripping. Don't forget the floor had a puddle near the can, and sprays across the room....and we hadn't bought a mop yet AND it was around 11 at night. This Dr. Pepper not only had an incredible range, but it also got clear high up on things.
Now, I wish I had a picture of the carnage to show you. But at the time, I was so mad that it wasn't funny. I stood in the same spot, my legs dripping, speechless, just staring for I don't even know how long. Doug at one point said, "It's funny." and I snapped back, "No it's not!" I finally moved and we started to clean up. I was trying not to cry and I asked him to feed the animals while I cleaned. He walked away and I started to cry. Now it's HILARIOUS, but trust me, it wasn't then!

And that's how the curse started.

Next, (only a week or so later) I was reaching into the fridge for something, and knocked out a can of leftover pineapple. I yelled in frustration and stomped back to the bedroom to tell Doug, "Come look what I just did." He said, "Did you spill something?" And I said, "Just come look." He came out and we both had some good laughs about it. This time, I took a picture.

And last, (at least to this point), I was cooking dinner and got thirsty. I got out a can of my newfound friend Antioxidant Cherry 7-Up. I was browning hamburger to make Tory's tater tot casserole. I usually get low enough fat content hamburger that I don't have to drain it, but for some reason, it was fatty enough this time that I had to drain it. I tried draining into a little can and was struggling, so I decided to just tilt the pan and spoon it out. I had the pan tilted so the fat was near one edge and I didn't want to set it flat again while I grabbed a spoon.
I looked around for something I could set the pan handle on to keep it tilted enough. Viola! I saw my can of 7-Up on the counter right next to the stove and it was the perfect height. Now I'm sure you can guess what happened next, and sadly enough I knew it was a bad idea but I still did it. So I set the handle on the can. Surprisingly enough it didn't knock it over immediatley, but while I was spooning grease out something happened and the can tipped over. It was just far enough from the edge of the counter that when it tipped, the pop ran down the cupboards before hitting the ground. Yuk.

Let me repeat, our kitchen is doomed. I'm sure there will be more funny stories to come, stay tuned!

UPDATED!!! [finally]

2009-04-09T14:30:00.000-07:00

I just spent forever posting a ton of new blogs and making it look prettier. Start at the bottom, I'm too lazy to do it backwards so it appears in the right order. :) ENJOY!

Doug's Birthday!

2009-04-09T14:20:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was Doug's birthday. I surprised him with this totally homemade cake. Homemade frosting is so delicious but I didn't realize how difficult it is to make without my mom's commercial mixer!!

We went out to dinner and then to the new Fast and Furious movie. We both absolutely love the series and the new movie is no let down! The stunts are INCREDIBLE!

He got spoiled for his birthday. A new Garmin nuvi 255 surprised him alot! He has been really really wanting a GPS.

The other, littler gifts were a sweet pen, a car freshener, and a 3 pack of his favorite gum. The GPS definitely stole the show though. :)

Nauvoo road trip: Part 3

2009-04-09T13:55:00.000-07:00

After we went to Libery Jail we went to dinner and to a hotel we found a coupon for, for really cheap. As cheap as the coupon was for, I knew it was not going to be a nice hotel. However, I was not expecting what we got. We got there and had to buzz in to have the hotel person unlock the door for us to come in. It reeked of smoke inside. I was a little worried and asked her after we checked in if stuff would be safe in our car over night. She said, "Oh yeah. Just lock your doors." We went to our room, and besides it smelling so strong of old urine it almost killed me, this is what we found:

This is one of the holes in the boxsprings.

Here is the bathroom tile...

And the hole in the bathroom door added a classy touch.

We stayed in there for a few minutes when I decided I wanted to pop some popcorn we bought because my game was on. We called the lobby and of course there was no microwave in the entire hotel. We drove to a gas station to use their's and they were supposed to be open, but they were apparently closed. And not just closed, but a huge chain was wrapped around the door handles. This confirmed my fear that we were in a bad part of town. We kept driving and found an open one...with bars in the doors. Yikes! We obviously didn't know we had picked a bad part of town beforehand. That night, we slept on our emergency blanket from the car and used Doug's dirty t-shirts over the pillowcases. I'm surprised we haven't contracted any strange diseases yet!

The next we woke up to monsoonal rain and wind. On our way out of town we stopped for gas. After a few minutes of pumping gas, Doug opened my door and said, "Uh...I think we have a serious problem." My heart dropped. "See those black things over there?" He pointed across the parking lot. "Those black pieces are our gas cap." I told him to go grab it. He brought it back, and BY MIRACLE, when it blew off the car and got ran over, the only part that got shattered off was the handle part. We still had a working gas cap! Minus the handle, but hey, it still worked. What a blessing!

We stopped that night in a totally fine hotel luckily. The next day we drove the rest of the way home. Our only misfortune the rest of the trip:

Holy crap! I was bending over to grab something and heard a huge thud. I looked up and to my surprise saw this huge...crack thing...in our windshield! I gasped and the rearview mirror was blocking Doug's view of it so he bent around and freaked out too. Stupid semis kicking rocks at us! We are so lucky it didn't break our whole windshield though!

The end :)

Nauvoo road trip: Part 2

2009-04-09T13:17:00.000-07:00

Read the post below first!

The next part of our trip was Nauvoo! Driving in, it was nothing like I had pictured. We had an awesome historic hotel for cheap, and when we got there, they were running a half off special those nights! I love travelling off season! All the shops and buildings were closed when we got there so we just looked around and made plans for the next day before going the famous buffet that just so happened to be in our hotel We ate SO much! Their dining rooms could hold hundreds of people all at once and were so pretty! Here is the one we were in:

Our table was right under this huge fake apple tree! So pretty!

The next day we went shopping and then into the historic buildings of Nauvoo. I am trying to resist posting tons of pictures so maybe I just won't post any of the buildings. We went to the bakery where you get a free gingerbread man cookie. Yum! Then we went to the family living center where they have demonstrations of how things like making bread, candles, rope, rugs, barrels, and pottery were made back then. Since us and one other family were all that were there, we got to keep stuff they made! So cool! Then we went to the blacksmith shop where we watched the missionary make a mini horseshoe. We got one of those too!

That night we went to the Nauvoo temple. It was so special to be there! The temple president greeted us as we walked in and then after when we left. He is really friendly! It was also really cool to see a rose that President Hinckley painted on one of the paintings.

The next day we went to Carthage Jail on our way out of town. I learned so much there!

After Carthage, we drove to Independence, MO to see Liberty Jail. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip because of how much it strengthened my testimony. When you see the conditions they were kept in for 5 months, you can understand why Joseph asked, "O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?"

Seeing all these sites was amazing and I am so glad we went! The trip strengthened my testimony so much. There is no way Joseph Smith could have suffered all the things he did if the church was not true. The saints were so strong to leave their beautiful city. It is amazing to see where they walked as they left town, knowing they were living their homes that they would never see again. Being in Nauvoo made things personal for me. I am so excited to re-read the Doctrine and Covenants now that I have seen many of the places they lived.

For the last part of our trip, read the post above! It's funny and worth reading, I promise.

Nauvoo road trip: Part 1

2009-04-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

Doug and I decided about 2 or 3 weeks to go to Nauvoo for spring break. Pretty spontaneous for a week long trip! My parents had already invited us to their house in Wyoming the first weekend of it because their stake was getting the Draper Utah temple dedication. So we started the fun road trip with a weekend in the beautiful Pinedale, Wyoming.

A dollar to the first person who sees what is "wrong" with this picture. J/k. See the deer in those people's backyard (right behind the porch)? Driving around town you see deer and moose running around everywhere! Crazy huh?

Fremont Lake. There were breathtaking views all over in the mountains.

Our next leg of the trip was supposed to be to Mt. Rushmore. The morning we were supposed to leave super early, my parents checked the weather for us and found out there was going to be a blizzard right over the roads we were supposed to travel. I am used to living in Idaho where when a blizzard is predicted, it never happens, so I didn't really buy into it. Doug and I were exhausted though and decided to sleep some more and check the weather again. What a blessing! A Wyoming DOT webcam that had earlier shown wet roads was now a complete white out! My dad being the awesome navigator he is, printed us off maps of how we could skip that leg of the trip and go directly to Omaha, our next stop for the Winter Quarters Temple.

This is my favorite temple now! Look how pretty the doors are. The inside is incredible.

In Omaha we also went to Carrabba's, a delicious Italian restaurant. If you ever see one, go!! We went to Cabela's (AMAZING!) and a huge mall where we saw this sweet food drive display:

Wall-E! Isn't that the sweetest thing ever?!

Continue on our trip with part 2 (the post above)!

I'm it!

2009-04-09T11:57:00.000-07:00

Sorry it took me so long to see the tag Steph!

Here goes.

8 Favorite TV Shows:
MYTHBUSTERS!

American Idol

Bullrun (my brother in law got me addicted..)
Cold Case

I don't really watch much TV...

8 Things I Look Forward To:

Summer
Painting the house

Gym membership
Camping

Playing with nieces and nephews
Date night

Scrapbooking
Clean house :)

8 Things on My Wish List
Some new shirts for summer
A good grade in Anat and Phys
A santoku knife
To find out if I'm accepted into the Paramedic program
A fun summer job
That cookbook I really wanted and restrained myself from buying... :)
A hair cut (does anyone have any ideas? I can't figure out how I want it!)
My cousins to live closer (HINT HINT! haha)

8 Things I Did Yesterday:

Wrote a paper

Went to yoga
Volunteered at new freshman registration

Looked at the Ikea website

Wrote down recipes

Looked at the awesome sale Albertson's is having

Ate lunch with Doug
Bought donuts at almost 11 pm because they sounded good to us :)

8 Favorite Restaurants:

Maddox
Melina's
Texas Roadhouse
Olive Garden
Wendy's
Taco Bell
Perkin's
Red Robin

Just for laughs

2009-03-02T15:36:00.000-08:00

I hope this makes you laugh too. I was looking through old pictures and came across this one, a picture of one of my more famous bad hair days. (I promise I fixed it before I left my house though!)

Enjoy...

Haha!

The Engagement

2008-12-12T13:10:00.000-08:00

I know, I know...it's a month late but here is the complete story.

I knew the proposal was coming because we picked my ring together on a Saturday. The following Sunday or Monday I had a very strange dream. It went like this: Doug and I were together and out of nowhere he said, "We have to go to the Wendy's cookie room!" and I said "Okay..." So we went inside this back room and there were cookies strewn everywhere, on the floors, shelves, table, etc. There were also about 40 ring boxes spread throughout the room. He said, "You have to find your ring." So I started opening boxes and they were empty. After opening three I looked at him and said, "Knowing my luck, you would have had it in your pocket the whole time." He shrugged and had an expression on his face like yeah, you got me, and got down on his knee. He didn't say anything and pulled out the ring box and opened it and I saw some red on the ring and thought, that's not my ring!!!! I put it on and realized it was his stretchy silicone CTR ring he wears all the time in real life.

End dream..back to real life. I always tell him my crazy dreams and I told him this one of course since it was also realllly funny. Wednesday I went up to visit him and we ate dinner and sat around for awhile. He went to the bathroom and I heard him come out and then he didn't come back for a couple minutes. He came back with a jacket on and asked me if I wanted to go for a walk. We started walking and it was a freezing, windy night. As we got closer to the temple my hands were getting close to numb til we figured out we could pull his sleeve over our hands. We walked on the temple grounds and up in front of the baptistry doors. He held me for a long time and his heart was beating sooo crazy fast and hard. Finally he grabbed my arms to push me back a little. He got on one knee and said really fast, "Will you marry me?" Then opened the ring box and inside was his stretchy red CTR ring. I said "Yes!" and started laughing and he said, "Just kidding, I have the real one in my pocket." and pulled out my ring.

I love him.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

2008-11-07T13:30:00.000-08:00

Let me just preface this by saying I am not a feminist. I LOVE when men hold doors open for me. I LOVE shaving my legs. Sometimes men just irritate me to death though with the things they come up with.

In Institute one night we were talking about how mothers should stay home to care for the children, etc. A guy raised his hand and said, "Yeah, and having women in the workplace increases the chance of infidelity." EXCUSE ME?!?! If a man is going to be unloyal he is going to be unloyal whether there are pretty women in his workplace or not. If he is not a loyal person he will find an opportunity to satisfy his desires whether he is in an all male work environment or not. Using his same reasoning, having men in the workplace increases their chance of becoming gay! Honestly people?? I was fuuuming.

Another time I was talking to a couple guys I know. One of them is extremely bitter about women/dating/marriage. He talked about how no girls are willing to commit. I mentioned in the conversation how it's sad that some girls in college now think they don't need a man in their life and just want their career. Later in the conversation he said, "Oh, and I have figured out I can't date college girls." Someone asked why and he said, "Because all they want is THEIR career and they think they don't need a man." (Okay so I know I had said that earlier, but the difference is he said he couldn't date college girls..) EXCUSE ME?!?! I immediately fired back, "I want a family, and I'm in college and I want a career! I don't want to be an uneducated mom!" He looked super shocked and just said, "Oh..." Good luck marrying a girl who hasn't gone to college, buddy. What happens when you have a kid come home with math homework and she can't help them with it and you're at work? What happens if you ever get really sick or become disabled and she doesn't have a single viable job skill? I mean honestly what does he want? Perhaps a fresh out of high school, naive 18 year old to be a baby factory. Or maybe even an older girl who never had the motivation to attend any college or obtain any kind of certificate, who has been working random jobs since she graduated. I mean really, good luck with that.

I was pretty outraged with both of these situations. I know plenty, PLENTY of girls in college, and also plenty out of college with careers, that want a family. That would give anything to find Mr. Right so they could FINALLY start the family they've been wanting for years. So please men, don't attribute a woman's career to not wanting a family. You would be disrespecting these girls that are doing what the prophet said by getting an education. And the women out of college that already have their respectable careers are being patient and waiting for the right man to come along, so please respect that.

12 hours of adventures

2008-10-03T14:46:00.000-07:00

I surprised Doug with tickets to see Allred, Jason Reeves, and Yellowcard. The day of the concert he drove down and picked me up on campus and we started our day of adventures.

Adventure #1: Dried Squid.
We stopped at a rest stop and on the way to the bathrooms Doug spotted a Korean family. He started talking to them in Korean and they stood there and chatted away. I was in awe that they were cooking a full blown meal on a picnic table... Literally, with mini stove things, cutting boards, knives, you name it. Doug told me they invited us to stay for lunch but it would be an hour and we didn't have that much time. They opened a bag of dried squid and offered us each a piece. I thought sure why not and tried it. It was like a little piece of jerky that looked like it had scales and was clearish. The first bite was good! So I ripped off another piece and started chewing it up. Then it hit. It was seriously one of the WORST things I have ever tasted! I gag and wretch really easily anyway but with this...wow! You don't even know how hard it was to keep it in my mouth and keep chewing it so I wouldn't insult them! I had to keep it in my mouth and keep chewing it til they said goodbye and we were out of sight for me to spit it all out. Icky!

Adventure #2: Fall colors!
I hadn't even thought about it, but the colors in this canyon were GORGEOUS! All the hillsides were covered in orange and red trees.

Adventure #3: Slightly shady Korean restaurant.
Before our trip I looked up and found a Korean restaurant there. Doug hasn't eaten it in a long time and he's been wanting me to try it too. We went and only a couple things sounded even slightly appetizing so he helped me narrow it down to curry. It came out smelling amazing and bearing a shocking resemblance to vomit.
It was absolutely delicious! It was very spicy but I loved it too much to mind the fire in my mouth. It got worse after I tried the kim chi though, that almost made my eyes water over. Doug and his friend that met us there were really entertained.

Adventure #4: Concert.
The concert was one of my favorites that I've ever been to! It was by far the loudest and the ear that faced away from the speakers that I didn't plug, rang for 3 days and scared me to death.

Yay for Yellowcard Unplugged! Allred and Jason Reeves were amazing too but my camera was being ridiculous so we don't have any pictures of them.

We had other adventures on the way home like almost getting in a wreck (literally we missed it by inches, maybe less) and others. What a fun day it was!

Dear college textbook publishers,

2008-09-15T21:19:00.000-07:00

To quote the movie Little Rascals, "I hate your guts...you are the scuuuum between my toes!"

There is something wrong with this picture.

Anatomy and Physiology package: $273
Spanish textbook (paper back, slightly larger than a normal novel): $92
Spanish novel (I saved ten dollars because I thought to order it through Barnes and Noble): $9
Statistics textbook: $137
Medical Terminology textbook: $73
Literature textbook: $65
Anthropology book 1: $22
Anthropology book 2: $18
Anthropology book 3: $20
Anthropology book 4 (the only textbook I could get used this semester): $18
(Yes, there were FOUR required books for anthropology, for crying out loud!)

Going to college: totally not priceless!

Before taxes: $727.
After taxes: $771 for required textbooks alone, that's not including some of the optional things I bought.

I bought my spanish textbook by itself one day and it made me feel slightly better and slightly worse that the cashier gasped when she told me my 92 dollar total for the stupid novel sized paperback textbook.

I hate textbook publishers almost as much as oil companies.

One of those weeks.

2008-09-11T16:52:00.000-07:00

I give up on life this week! I feel like my brain fell out somewhere and I'm trying to crawl along without it. Here are some of the highlights of my week.

Monday I almost lit the kitchen on fire for my very first time. Out of habit I lit the front burner of the stove when I really meant to light the back one. I was doing other stuff in the kitchen thinking those popping and sizzling noises were the water coming to a boil. Then I saw smoke from the front burner. I had put a bag of vegetables partially on the front burner...the one I lit.

Wednesday I walked into a bakery and bought two loaves of bread. I paid and carefully put my change back in my wallet and walked out of the store. I was about halfway to my truck when they came out chasing me with my bread that I had left right on the counter.

Today I think beats them all. You know there's a certain time of month when a woman just NEEDS what she wants to eat... Well I was looking through my recipes and found my favorite cookie recipe that I haven't made in ages because they take forever to make. Well they sounded really good so I decided to make them. I had about half the ingredients mixed and went to grab the baking soda and the box was gone. I couldn't find it. So I grabbed a bucket to stand on and went digging around the very tip top shelf and voila there was a tiny unopened box. I made my cookies and when the first batch came out I ate one hot. Yum. Then I ate another one and it tasted a little weird so of course I had to try another. The third one actually burned my mouth, and not from temperature. Then I had a memory of putting the baking soda in and thinking that looked like a lot. I looked at my measuring spoons and sure enough, the TABLESPOON had remnants of white dust on it, INSTEAD OF THE TEASPOON. I apparently put in four tablespoons, instead of four teaspoons. ARGHGHGHGH. I tried to salvage the rest of the dough by adding more of a couple things, but when I baked it it didn't look right and when I tasted it I got so mad I threw everything away. So I was happy I had put dinner in the crock pot a few hours earlier and I knew it was going to be good, so I went to get it to serve it AND....(drumroll)....I had unplugged the crock pot to plug in the mixer for the cookies and never plugged the crock pot in. My eyes honestly filled with tears and if someone hadn't have been standing with me, I would have burst right into tears. So here I sit, waiting for my stupid dinner to rewarm in the crock pot. (And yes, I did remember to plug it back in this time.)

If you need a laugh

2008-08-27T19:31:00.000-07:00

If you need a laugh, keep reading.

Colleges are places with lots of people. When you have so many people, you're bound to run in to every type. I just had the fortune of running into what I would say in a very sarcastic voice are "high, high class" people.

The very first session of Statistics (Monday) ended with a guy arguing with the professor about an answer for around 10 minutes. It was the kind of question that gave two possible answers and we had to decide which was correct. Wednesday (today) the professor started off class by telling us that the answer that had been argued over was both of the answers and explained why. The boy, meanwhile, was playing on his laptop and I'm sure didn't hear a word she said. Funny how that works!

My next and favorite experiences were in my literature class. Right before class started a girl came and sat in the desk in front of me. I noticed how big her hair was, it looked a little thick but she didn't manage it right. Instead of doing something to try and tame it down even a little bit, how she had it made it come out almost to the sides of her shoulders. It was like looking at a hairy upside down V. Here is the clincher... the professor walked and stood in front of our row and I literally could not see any trace of him. He totally and completely disappeared behind her hair. It was extremely difficult to hold in the giggles.
Meanwhile, diagonal to me, was a black guy wearing a dew rag and his sunglasses. He kept sticking his lips out which was pretty funny in itself. The killer was when he turned to look around the class (facing right in my direction) and had his lips stuck out all the way to his nose. And he wasn't trying to be funny! I really think he thought it was hot!! I was trying sooo hard not to burst out laughing. And as if that wasn't enough, when he turned back around, he proceeded to stroke his lips. Not in the side to side way which is somewhat normal but UP and DOWN. While they were still stuck out. The effort of not laughing was making my whole body tingle.

Just over an hour and a half later I headed to anatomy and physiology lab. I had an advantage since I was one of the only ones who had already had lecture..but still this is funny. The TA went over tissue types and then we were looking at slides of them. I had a microscope to myself and an older woman came over and had muttered something about not being able to find anything and asked me if I had found anything. (That immediately hit me that she probably didn't have a clue how to use a microscope since these were GOOD slides. And at the beginning of class the TA had asked if anyone didn't know how to use one and no one raised their hands...) Anyways. I told her yes and she asked me if she could look, so I let her. Here is the conversation. Excuse my little notes on it, but you really have to know how her voice was to get complete enjoyment out of what she said.

Her, in an utterly and completely dumbfounded voice- "What is that?!"
Me (wondering why she didn't just look at the sticker on the slide)- "Adipose."
Her- "Where is that found??"
Me- "Fat."
Her (absolutely gushing)- "Oh my gosh you are sooooo smart!!!!!! You know sooooo much!!!"
Me- "Well I should be, I've had this stuff over and over again."
Her (in a voice that said, I shouldn't have assumed you were smart since you apparently you have to take this class over again)- "Oh, have you taken this before?"
Me- "No. I took a high school anat and phys class that was taught at a college level, I took a biology class that had a big section on anat and phys, and I'm an EMT."
Her- "OH MY GOSH YOU ARE SOOOOOO SMART!!!!!"
Me- "Umm...not really. With as many times as I've had this stuff I should be better at it."
Her (gushing again)- "Well if you ever want to give me a tip or anything.." as she walked away.

Honestly. How much more awkward can a conversation about a school topic get?!?! I was standing there seriously feeling like a Greek god being hailed or something. Just because I knew what adipose is and where it's found. I guess some people are just incredibly easy to please. I wish she was the one grading my tests... haha!

The things we say..

2008-08-03T21:12:00.000-07:00

Here is a quick funny story.

The background: Friday I left for Utah with Doug and his family for his family reunion. I forgot to pack a PJ shirt so last second I put one on top of my bag, under the straps. Saturday I met Missy and went to Lagoon and spent the night in Salt Lake with her, Dan, and Nicole.

The story: Picture this..Saturday night I was completely exhausted from not sleeping well the night before and being very active all day at a water park and then Lagoon. I was getting ready for bed and here is the conversation in a nutshell:

Me: "Crap, my shirt fell off in his car."
Nicole: "Oh it FELL off, did it??"
Me (embarrassed): "Yeah, it was on my bag."
Nicole: "On your back?!"

Okay, so that's pretty dirty but completely innocent at the same time. Don't pretend like you didn't laugh, or at least smile. :)

Chronicles of a Previous Biology Major

2008-07-08T22:43:00.000-07:00

You learn things in biology you don't want to know. Trust me. The classes made me a worse germ freak than I already was, which is really truly saying something. But I really did learn some useful things.

Fact #1 If your mom does home canning, do you remember how she would always freak out about boiling the green beans for 15 minutes without touching it with the spoon or anything, to kill any BOTULISM? Guess what? That is a complete MYTH! If the botulism is not killed during the actual bottling process, you will die. Sad but true. Boiling the green beans will kill the organisms, but not the toxin...which just so happens to be (I'm not kidding) literally the most deadly substance known to mankind. So for at least for my cousins, you remember that growing up, getting scolded if you stirred them before 15 minutes and having to get out a new spoon. I know I did. I was pleased as could be to tell that to my mom and Debra...and I bet you wouldn't be able to guess that really didn't believe me. :) Apparently they have been bottling properly though, since we are all still alive (and boiling them never did anything).

Fact #2 The label reads "kills 99.9% of germs" and you think hooray. I know I used to, being the germ freak that I am. Haaa. I am happy to say since this day in class, I haven't used anything with that on the label. Here is why. Say you have a modest amount of germs...say 10,000 and we will pretend like we are cleaning the bathroom. You use something that kills 99.9% of germs, and have 100 left now. 100 that are now resistant to that antibacterial product. Now someone hops in the shower and the bathroom gets steamy and warm...which speeds up bacteria's reproduction significantly. They reproduce at a crazy fast rate under this condition and suddenly your bathroom is filled with bacteria that is completely resistant to whatever product you used. So next time you clean with that, no germs are killed and they keep reproducing. Sickening thought, isn't it?

Fact #3 (Disclaimer to Mattskie: if you continue reading you CANNOT get mad at me, I warned you!!!!) Melaleuca oil is not a good antibacterial product! In our lab we had to do a final project and one group chose to test different antibacterial products. They put disks soaked in the product into the petri dish that had been swiped from someplace germy. Some of the petri dishes didn't really have anything, some of them had a dot or two here and there... but the Melaleuca oil petri dish GREW bacteria everywhere! Not that it matters, since you now know cleaning with antibacterial products isn't a good idea anyway. :)

The two morals of the story:

Bottle properly or you will die. :)
AND
Soap and water is the best cleaning agent.

The Miracle of the Keys

2008-06-24T20:58:00.001-07:00

It never ceases to amaze me how little things can turn out to be incredible miracles. Yesterday a friend and I headed to a place about half an hour away to go swimming for the afternoon. We pulled in the parking lot and she parked her car and went to pull the keys out of the ignition and they wouldn't even turn to the point where you pull them out. We tugged on them and they wouldn't come out or even budge to where we could pull them out. We drove around the parking lot a little, reparked and tried to get them out again. We tried everything we could think of for awhile until we decided to start calling people. She called her grandpa first, but he wasn't home so she ended up chatting with her grandma for a minute. I called my dad and talked to him for a few minutes. We tried what they said and nothing worked. She called one more person and he told us something to try and a couple minutes later it worked and we got the keys out and headed in to pay to get in. I had ignored a call from someone because I thought I knew what he was calling about and I didn't want to talk for a long time when we just got to the pool. Boy did I turn out to be wrong. He then sent me a text asking if my best friend was okay. I told him as far as I knew she was, and asked what happened. He called me, and this time I answered. He told me that my best friend's fiance had committed suicide. We were able to leave the pool before we had paid and I really think if it weren't for the problem with the keys that delayed us a long time, I would have been in the pool and not gotten that phone call. Because of being delayed by a dumb key, I was able to turn around and come straight back to town to my friend's house to be with her during the worst time of her life. I will forever be grateful for that little key and the loving Heavenly Father who made it stick.

We miss you like crazy Anthony. You'll never be forgotten.

I Love My Family!

2008-06-16T16:35:00.001-07:00

I've always known I have the best family ever but lately I've gotten lots of good reminders.

My parents are two of the rocks in my life. They love and support me and have taught me to do the same for others. My dad can always make me laugh and my mom is there when I need someone to cry on.

My grandparents, although they are all gone now, have left an amazing legacy. They knew how important family was and passed that value to all of us.

My cousins are amazing examples to me. I love being around them! Thanks for letting me grow up with you.

My aunts and uncles are so supportive. They are always there when we need them.

I have the best family in the whole wide world!

Why I'm Not Married

2008-06-12T13:10:00.001-07:00

The topic of "why I'm not married" is a common one amongst my single best friends. We laugh about it, joke about, make fun of each other for it..the works. I think I am the lucky one of the bunch however, because I know the probably number one reason why I'm not married or engaged. I'm not ready yet.

Tons of girls my age or a year older are engaged, already married, pregnant, already have a kid, you get the idea. Both of my best friends from high school are engaged, and one of my other best friends has a promise ring. I'm so excited for them! That is what is right for them, but that just isn't what is right for me personally. I have a lot of learning and growing left to do. I'm glad my Heavenly Father knows me perfectly and knows I still need time to prepare before he sends the right guy my way.

Funny Traveling Stories

2008-05-23T15:28:00.000-07:00

I've done a lot of traveling and something funny always happens on trips so I'll share a few stories.

In Australia- I was on my homestay and the girl said, "Hey, do you want a -----?"(I can't remember the word now). And I said, "A what?" So she repeated, "A ------." I did not understand her so we walked out to the freezer and she got me an ice cream.

In Mexico- We were staying in a hotel that was literally on the edge of a cliff. It was a weird little motel, all the rooms faced an outdoor courtyard type thing so the doors from the rooms went to outside. One night me and one of my room mates were up pretty late and it had started to storm pretty bad. We decided to get towels to stuff under the door because there was a huge gap between the door and the ground so we didn't want our room flooding with rain overnight. We were both just standing up from stuffing towels under the door when either the hotel or the cliff was struck by lightning. It was one of the craziest things ever. We looked at each other and started to scream bloody murder and just stood there screaming and hugging each other.

In Ohio- I got checked out by more girls than guys. I was highly disturbed.

In Indiana- A guy I smiled at (because I'm a nice person and smile at random people) started talking to me and following me all over the convention center and wouldn't leave me alone. I would even say things like "Well, I better go find my parents." and he said, "Oh, can I walk you?" Yikes!

In Texas- I checked into the convention and got my paperwork and walked off. I waited a few minutes and wondered what was taking Missy so long so I walked back to the desk to find her saying in an extremely exasperated tone, "My last name is BARKER!! BAAARRRRKKKKEEERRRR!!!!" The lady kept saying she didn't understand what Missy was saying and was looking in the E's for her paperwork. It took Missy and I saying her last name over and over and me finally spelling it out for the lady to understand Barker through our accents.

Also in Texas, a few days later, Missy got way sick so we had to take her to a doctor. The closest one we could find was about half an hour away. We took her there and she got a shot that made her super sleepy so she crashed in the car on the way back to the hotel. She couldn't walk by herself because the medicine made her THAT sleepy so walking into the hotel we just wrapped arms around each other's shoulders and she staggered along with me. In the elevator she kept swaying and an old lady was glaring me down. Finally, when Missy swayed really hard, she said, "Is she okay?!" in this way rude voice, like I was bringing her back drunk or something. I explained. So we got to our floor and we were almost to our room and Missy tripped and she WOKE UP and asked me where we were. She had been sleep walking.

In Georgia- We stopped at a gas station that had a small ice cream parlor type thing too. I saw they had peach ice cream, and since they are famous for their peaches, I decided to try it. I knew our accents were hard for them to understand, so I spoke as clearly as I possibly could when I ordered my peach ice cream. This huge black lady was behind the counter and after I told her what I wanted, she just said, "WHAT?" In Georgia, peaches are "payches".

In Couer d'Alene- Right after I got back from Mexico we took a trip to northern Idaho. I was so tan from being in Mexico that I didn't look like I was caucasian anymore. We were in a gas station and this guy and my mom started talking. He had swastikas tattooed on his elbows (amongst a ton of other tattoos) and the classic buzzed blond hair and pale pale skin. I was freeeaking out.

On the way home from Michigan- This was around 11 at night and we had been driving since about 7 in the morning, so we were all exhausted. I knew we weren't supposed to drive through Colorado at all but I looked at a road sign as we passed it and realized all the mileages were for cities in Colorado. "Dad, why were all those cities for Colorado???" I asked. He didn't completely buy it but sure enough, we hadn't taken a turn we needed to and were in Colorado. We had to go about 10 miles into the state before we could turn around.

Colorado- On a different trip when we were in Colorado and meant to be in Colorado, we were staying in a teeny tiny little town. We were driving along and saw the sign for the town's tiny high school and on the sign was announcing the FFA meeting. That's Future Farmers of America. I cracked up because it was a town small enough to have an FFA meeting posted on the high school marquee.

In an airport (I can't remember which)- Our flight to taking us to that airport was extremely late so we got into this airport like 15 minutes before our next connecting flight was supposed to take off. My parents told me to run and tell them to hold the plane, literally. I scrambled out and found a map, and naturally our terminal was the LAST one in the hall. And this was a gigantic airport mind you. So here I am, sprinting through the airport in my flip flops and backpack so it sounds like a herd of elephants coming through. Everyone stared at me and it was seriously like a classic scene from movies.

You Mean So Much

2008-05-20T17:30:00.000-07:00

This is for my best friends.

Tino: It's awesome to tell you people not only are you one of my very best friends, you're my cousin too. Remember how we didn't like each other when we were little? During a round of Candyland if someone would have ever told us we'd get so tight, you probably would have killed me just so it wouldn't happen. Haha! You are an amazing person. Your ability to do what is right no matter what the situation is or who is involved is incredible. You are an example to everyone around you. You are someone I can always run to. You really are my personal counselor. :) Thanks for being your amazing self!

Bug: I can't believe you're getting married this summer! And to think, two years ago I was SO mad when you started dating him because I wanted you to go for Miguel.. Haha! You give awesome advice and you always stick up for me no matter what. Thanks! We've done some crazy things since we met in fifth grade. Probably 90% of the crazy stuff I've done/has happened has been with you. Let's just never fall through ice again, ok? Once was enough. :) You are the only person I can NEVER fool when I'm sad or mad or any other emotion. And you are the only person I can absolutely 100 percent guarantee can cheer me up no matter what. Thanks for always sticking with me even when our lives have take turns in different directions!

Kywie: I can't remember when we stopped being enemies and started being friends, I'm just glad we did! I love how you are always so happy! You're just awesome like that. Thanks for always making time for me even though I'm sure Rusty would rather you be with him. :) And speaking of Rusty...I'm so excited for you guys!!!! Every time I think about Olive Garden I think about you. We have had some good times there. "It's like raspberry ballerinas doing pirouettes across my tongue." Only you would think of something like that. You are so much fun and I just love being around you.

Reese: You are such a strong person. I love that about you, but I also love how you aren't too strong to cry. I remember when that kid freaked out at you and I gave you a hug and you started to cry, I got so furious at him for making you cry! I also admire how you love people unconditionally. If you love someone, no matter what they do or what happens, you still love them. That's a special trait. You could make any situation fun. You are also the best cook ever. You are going to make your husband a very fat (happy) man someday! I'm not kidding when I say your eskimo bars are the most divine substance known to mankind. I can trust you with any secret. Thanks for wanting to hang out with me more after that fateful game of Apples to Apples. :D

Tato: You always stick up for people. For every bad thing someone has to say, you have like 5 good things to say. However you never let people say one bad thing about your family or friends, which is awesome too. I love our heart-to-hearts late at night and how I can trust you with any secret. You could also make any situation fun. You haven't had it easy but you are always ready for a new day. I admire your career because it's something I could never do and I bet most other people couldn't either. You not only make a difference in their lives but also everyone around you. The same line of Reese's applies to you too. :)

I love you guys!

Life Isn't A Game

2008-05-19T00:12:00.000-07:00

Lately I've gotten really sick of the crappy dating stuff going on for myself, my friends, and people I know. Granted this is about guys, and I'm not saying girls don't do bad things too (cuz they totally do), but this is from my perspective. Anonymous stories but I promise they are true.
1) A girl met a guy in class and they hung out after. They held hands a couple hours later and although that is really fast, he made no move to kiss her when she left so she wasn't worried he was only in it for that. He started talking to her a lot and showing a lot of interest. The next week he suggested doing something after class if he was able to. She sat down in class, he came and sat next to her, and another girl came and sat on his other side. She started putting her hand on his leg, playing with his hair, grabbing his hand, writing stuff on his back for him to guess...you get the idea. After class he talked to that girl and her friend and left without saying goodbye.
2) A girl decided to open herself up to a good friend who had become extremely interested in her. Things went wrong from the start when he wouldn't completely commit and suggested they date other people. Neither of them went on other dates but after a short while he ended things with a reason he should have known before he started anything with her.
3) More than one guy I personally know will date a girl for somewhere around two weeks, drop her, and immediately have a new girl. Even to the point of this: cuddling and holding hands with girl A and the next time she sees him (a couple days later) he is cuddling and stuff with girl B, but he never broke it off or said anything to girl A. Another of these guys is even a little scary about how obsessive he is over whatever girl he has at the moment.
The moral of the story is that this kind of treatment isn't okay! In situation one, the girl got lead on and burned pretty bad. Holding hands obviously meant basically nothing to the guy, but to most girls (like this one) holding hands DOES mean something. But these types of guys have to realize that when they hold hands with a girl and show a lot of interest, yeah the girl is going to think he is interested! Also, guys always say they can't stand "those kind of girls" that are all over them, but look at this situation. He soaked it all up, even when the girl he had been showing tons of interest in was sitting right next to him.
In situation two, the moral is don't start something with someone until you're sure it's right and you're sure you want to. This guy could have saved a girl's heart and their friendship by just staying friends.
The third situation is perhaps the most irritating to me. These guys think it is okay to bounce from girl to girl to girl with no thought of what they are doing. Let me give you a hint: when you meet the new hottest girl, don't just pounce and start dating her immediately and then two weeks later realize you don't like her. It would save a ton of trouble if these kind of guys would actually get to know a girl before they decide to date them. Wow, what a radical thought it is to actually know someone before you date them.. Having flavors of the week is not okay. Plus watching this from the sidelines, my friends and I have lost respect for these guys and would say no to a date with them without even the slightest hesitation. What is going to happen when these guys decide to they want to settle down, and realize the new hottest girls out there may not be what they want in marriage, but the girls they have known and trusted for a long time refuse to date them because they don't want to be the next flavor of the week? Good luck with that one. And honestly, what are these guys getting from doing this? A bad reputation, hurting girls, losing respect...is it worth it to have every girl you want every other week?
Life isn't a game, and people need to stop playing with other people like toys. The end.

Thank you Juan!!

2008-05-04T09:54:00.000-07:00

Here is my funny story of the week.

Before I start, let me just tell you that I honestly had a really great time, this is just some of the quirky stuff that happened. Last night I helped a Latino club I'm in set up stuff for the Cinco de Mayo festivities going on yesterday. For helping, we got free tickets to a dance. I went with my friends from the club and felt a little out of place for awhile. I didn't know how to dance to the music so Juan and I just stood on the side. The rest of our friends hadn't showed up yet. He introduced me to another guy he knew there. After awhile, the other guy asked me to dance and was really patient with me while I learned how to dance. He would ask me to dance every few songs and it was fun. The rest of our friends came and we stood together and talked.

This guy with a cowboy hat came and asked me to dance, and I said "Sure. I don't really know how..." and all of the sudden he turned to Joy and asked her to dance. I was confused and thought he wanted to dance with both of us, but I realized he must have thought I said no. How lucky that turned out to be! He started asking Joy to dance almost every song and she came back disgusted once and said he had started kissing her neck. YIKES!!!! After a while he asked me to dance a couple times and I had to push his face away from my neck a couple times. I dunno if he was just leaning into me or what, but after what Joy said, I was pretty creeped out. Joy got a little tactical about avoiding him when she could...she saw him coming towards her so she snatched Juan and asked him to dance right before the creeper got to her. Then, we went to throw our gum away across the room once, and a new song started. She grabbed me and said something like, "Wait! He's looking around." So we stopped walking and sure enough, he was looking right where we had been sitting. So we hid behind this really tall guy until he asked one of our other poor friends to dance.

Close to the end of the dance a guy I hadn't danced with before asked me to dance. It was a dance I hadn't really done before, and the guy doesn't lead (you're completely apart), so I was kind of winging it and hoping I didn't have a neon light over my head that said GRINGO! A few songs later (the last song of the night) he asked me to dance again, and we did the same dance. He never said a word to me other than when he asked me to dance. I went back to my friends to talk because the dance was over. A guy I hadn't even seen walked up and asked me something like "My friend would like to know your name." So I looked, and back a ways there was the guy I had been dancing with that last song. What are we, in eighth grade again?? Who sends their friend to ask me my name?!? So I told him, and was hoping he wasn't about to ask my number, but luckily he just walked off. I was scared the guy I had danced with would follow me out or something to get my number, so I walked up to Juan and whispered "Hold my hand!!" So he grabbed my hand and walked out with me. I'm not good at shutting guys down so I usually just chicken out and give them my number. I didn't want to take chances so I had Juan save me.

Joy just told me today that as she and Trina were walking to their car last night, creeper cowboy yelled out to them so Trina just yelled "ADIOS!" and they ran for the car. Haha

So that's my crazy story.

The conversation goes bad when the weather is brought up...

2008-04-15T20:52:00.000-07:00

But that doesn't count since this is a blog.

Yesterday was 75 degrees. I wore shorts, a t-shirt, and sandals and drove with my window down. People came into the clinic sunburned.

Today was significantly chillier and cloudy. I went into class and it was just windy outside, but nothing else. About an hour and a half later when I came out of class, it was blizzarding outside. And I am not exaggerating when I say BLIZZARDING! I should be happy for the moisture so we don't stay in a drought, but sometimes going from 75 degrees to a blizzard can be a little shocking.

And on a completely random (and happier) note, I FINISHED MY EMT CLASS!! Wahoo! Now I just have to take a couple tests and I'll be licensed. :)

Just a little joke

2008-03-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

My friend Sherry who is in my EMT class works for the National Guard. She has a casualty kit to doll "victims" up for medic training. She had her coworker drop off the kit and she put it in the bathroom so no one knew. During a break we went into the bathroom and she did me up with glass in my forehead and head, scratches, pavement, and lots and lots of blood. It took awhile so we walked into class after it had started again (that night just so happened to be bleeding and shock night). Everyone turned and looked when the door opened and I shuffled in slowly and let out a very agonized sound. We got them soo good!!!!

I'm so happy!

2008-03-15T12:52:00.000-07:00

After having an enlightening talk with the director of the P.A. program this week, I think I have finally figured out what to do!

My major is now Spanish. I despised Biology anyways, and the director told me they want people with diversity. Plus, he told me they have thought about making two years of Spanish a requirement to get into the program, so they obviously think Spanish is important.

I will do the Paramedic program my junior year.

Then finish up my bachelor's senior year, and apply for P.A. school that spring!

Sometimes things just happen how they're supposed to. I'm on track for these plans, without knowing ahead of time this is the way I would want to go.

Update

2008-03-10T21:52:00.000-07:00

Here's an update for people (probably just my wonderful cousins who just HAD to move away) that I haven't talked to in awhile. I miss you guys.

My current major is biology with a minor in spanish. I set on that path to go to P.A. school after my Bachelor's. This semester I am also certifying to be an EMT-Basic. I've realized I truly love this kind of work and am now extremely seriously considering switching my major to spanish and becoming a paramedic (which is only an Associate's). A bilingual paramedic would be pretty valuable don't you think?

I am president of LDSSA on campus. That is the Latter Day Saints Student Association. It is tough. The club has never really gotten its feet on the ground so I've had no foundation to build on. It doesn't help that to be a member you HAVE to also be enrolled in an Institute class. There are few members and my attempts to get things started have basically failed. I sent out an email to try and get a first meeting scheduled, and two people replied. That was a flop. Today I did phone calling to ask for help at a couple events this week, and out of the people who I talked to, one guy can help. It's a little frustrating. Hopefully I can get things going better.

I am on Institute Council. What an amazing calling! I work with four great people along with the Institute Director to plan and carry out activities for each month for the entire area. We also take turns conducting opening exercises at Institute on Thursday nights and providing treats after for about 75 people! (For around 50 dollars, mind you!) I can safely say we ROCK at figuring out good treats for a good amount of people for a good price! This calling has truly been such a great opportunity for me. I almost shudder to think what my life would be like without the friends I have made through it. God really can make more out of our lives for us than we can for ourselves.

And the answer you have been waiting for...NO, I don't have a boyfriend. Tory doesn't have to interview anyone yet like he has threatened he will. :D

100 things about me.

2008-03-05T22:32:00.001-08:00

I am totally copying Katy and Annie, but I loved their blogs with 100 things about themselves! So here I go with 100 things about me.
1) My eyes change colors depending on my mood and how I feel.
2) Despite some crazy partying friends, I have NEVER tried alcohol or drugs.
3) If I'm crying about physical pain, it literally guarantees I have to see a doctor. The times I've actually cried about pain, I've been messsssssed up.
4) I can't stand having my fingernails painted.
5) I can cross my pinky toe on my right foot.
6) I have a water pillow. Yay for the chiropractor's really good suggestion.
7) The ring I wear everyday (other than my CTR ring) was a gift from my parents on my 16th birthday.
8) I love fishing and find it very relaxing.
9) Hoodies are my favorite.
10) When something is really funny it's hard for me to stop laughing.
11) I'm a good artist, but only with pencil. I can't paint worth anything.
12) I have super tiny wrists.
13) I really enjoy watching football and I miss being a trainer.
14) I think Annie's eskimo bars are quite possibly the most divine substance known to mankind.
15) I really like hip hop.
16) I'm an only child.
17) I'm good at Guitar Hero but suck at every other video game ever.
18) Sometimes I dirty dance when I'm home and no one's watching. :] You gotta get it out of your system somehow right?
19) I occasionally sing in the shower when there's a good song on the radio.
20) I hate being cold or shivering.
21) I'm a pyro.
22) One of my biggest pet peeves is getting ready in the mornings.
23) I'm a really fast typer.
24) And also a very fast texter.
25) The game Boxers or Briefs never fails to make me laugh til I cry.
26) I was lucky enough to get my mom's side of the family's eyes.
27) I wish I still had flawless skin on my face like I did in high school. Ugh.
28) I enjoy reading good books.
29) Traveling is one of my favorite things to do.
30) Except I miss my cat too much when I'm gone.
31) I don't really like eating spaghetti or other super messy foods in public.
32) One of my favorite smells is Fierce.
33) I like cuddling.
34) I have bad back problems that got started when my family was in a terrible car wreck when I was four. My spine got stretched 2-3 inches in the accident.
35) I despise seafood with a fiery burning passion.
36) I love having friends that I can sit and do nothing in particular with but still have a blast.
37) I love thunderstorms.
38) I get claustrophobic in situations that you might not believe.
39) I can get really shy sometimes.
40) The name "testosterone TV" was started with me describing Matt's TV. Since then, the name has stuck and everyone loves it.
41) I love shooting guns and just so happen to be very good at it.
42) I can't handle sleeping with my head under the blankets. I wish I could, but every time I've pulled them over my head I feel like I'm going to suffocate.
43) I look really funny in baseball hats.
44) I've only passed out twice in my life.
45) I love scrapbooking.
46) I'm a good photographer. It runs in my family.
47) I like eating pickles at midnight with Katy.
48) The first (and only) man to propose to me was four years old. And I love him to death.
49) I'm creative.
50) I teach the sunbeams in Primary.
51) I started my first college class the day after I graduated from high school.
52) I really enjoy working out. I guess you could say I'm an endorphin junkie. (That's the happy chemical your brain releases when you exercise.)
53) I get sunburned pretty easily but it turns tan a couple days later.
54) I'm a big tomboy but I've heard that most people's first impression of me is that I'm preppy. Yikes.
55) My family has a lot of traditions and I love them.
56) My family is the best.
57) I HATE rollercoasters.
58) I am an extremely curious person.
59) I'm OCD about the order I get ready for bed every night.
60) Cereal is my late night snack.
61) I have a friend who is a Marine and I am very proud of him.
62) I'm a night owl.
63) Don't laugh... I'm super scared of the dark.
64) I really don't like being outside in the rain but I love driving in it or laying on my bed and listening to it.
65) I dream a lot at night.
66) My cousins' kids are my "nieces" and "nephews". They are incredible.
67) I love Mexican food.
68) I know what heartbreak feels like, and unfortunately I've broken a heart and maybe two. Those combined have made me a little cautious now..
69) I love concerts. I have seen these bands: 3 Doors Down, Red, Buckcherry, 3 Days Grace, Cobra Starship, Boys Like Girls, Cartel, Ryanhood, Woods Tea Company, Jeremy Buck and the Bang, Black Tide, Operator, Avenged Sevenfold, AFI and many others at Warped Tour, and I have me and my cousin's tickets for Jimmy Eat World and Paramore next month!
70) I am going to cry my eyes out when my cousin leaves for college. I'm not looking forward to it at all.
71) I wrote some really good song lyrics...then lost the binder they are all in.
72) The little Heise golf course is my favorite golf course as of now.
73) I try really hard not to be hypocritical since hypocritical people drive me nuts.
74) Certain songs remind me of certain people.
75) I have friends from all kinds of "groups" and I wouldn't have it any other way.
76) I really like when people make mix CDs for me.
77) I love making new friends.
78) I'm probably the jumpiest person alive.
79) I'm a slow hiker. I like enjoying the scenery and not killing myself to get to the top fast.
80) I'm a slightly picky eater.
81) I've been pulled over twice but somehow the only ticket I've ever gotten was a parking ticket.
82) I love fruit.
83) I don't like going to expensive restaurants on dates because it makes me feel bad they are spending so much money on me for one meal.
84) I connect with a lot of people.
85) I am going to learn how to quilt.
86) I hate fighting with people. It's one of the worst feelings in the world.
87) I love whitewater rafting.
88) I really like when guys are gentlemen.
89) I like giving compliments.
90) There are a lot of places in the world I have goals to see.
91) I still bleed orange. (Probably only people from here will understand that.)
92) I like watching scary movies as long as I'm not alone.
93) I am now used to getting treats for 75 people...for around 50 dollars or under.
94) I love federal holidays. No classes! :0)
95) I don't particularly like wearing shoes. I can't wait until it's warm enough for sandals.
96) I'm a daddy's girl.
97) I love camping.
98) I like buying flowers for my friends.
99) I only like pens with blue ink.
100) The fact that I attract OLD men is sometimes funny, but sometimes excruciatingly frustrating.

Well, there's 100 random things about me!

Things to do this summer

2008-02-16T17:59:00.000-08:00

I know it's only February but I'm already planning on fun things to do this summer.

1) Lots of hiking. The only one I have specifically decided on so far is to hike to Upper Palisades again as soon as the snow melts enough to get up there.
2) Martin's Cove. I am going to Martin's Cove again with Marci as soon as the snow melts there too. I guess that could count as a hike kind of, but oh well.
3) Get Chaco tan lines. :] Haha
4) Camping trips with friends. The great outdoors + great friends = a great time.
5) Fourth of July. It's one of my favorite holidays and there's definitely going to be lots of celebrating! And more fun (a.k.a. "the kinds you have to get in Wyoming") fireworks...but this year I just need to figure out how to not get law enforcement or the fire department involved again. Oopsies.
6) Barbecues. Like Katie said, "Eating hot dogs and hamburgers and pasta salads...MMM!!"
7) Bonfires. They are just the best, but then again I am a pyro.
8) Whitewater rafting. I just love going!

Summer '08 is gonna be great! Hey that rhymes. How cheesy.