Christmas Day

Christmas Day was really relaxed. My sister and her family were coming over to watch us open presents. So we slept in til 9 or 10. We all got up and showered and ready before we even went downstairs to our Christmas tree. My dad got his U2 tickets and he was so excited. They were wrapped up in a huge box and wrapped around a brick, courtesy of my Sister Lindsay and her husband. I love surprising people.


I'm sad that my moms tickets weren't exactly a surprise but she's really excited for the concert. I got some new sunday skirts. I got a book called Outliers. My sister got me some Ugg boots. and I got some new jeans. I also got some new jewelry. It was great. We got to video chat with my sister Erin in Missouri. We chilled and relaxed all afternoon and then went and saw the new Sherlock Holmes Movie. It was surprisingly clever. I'm a huge fan of Robert Dowey Junior.


My Friend Holly is on her mission in the Dominican Republic. She sent me this cool butterfly as a christmas gift. Her sister tracked me down at my work to deliver it. I'm not sure if its supposed to be an ornament or a hair clip. Its pretty massive.
er;curso

Christmas Eve.

Christmas Eve was great. I had to work from 12-3. Then i came home. My sister and her kids came over and we had dinner. We listened to a retelling of the christmas story. We read the book The Christmas Oranges. Then we had a white elephant gift opening. We all pretty much got to pick 2 wrapped mystery presents. Then, we could switch or trade with somebody who had already opened theirs. There were two awesome presents. One was Pride and Prejudice with 2 boxes of candy. The other was Home Alone with 2 boxes of Candy. There were books, a puzzle, chapstick, toy planes, a crystal candle holder, toy soldiers, a make up kit, and a slinky which the kids managed to ruin in less than 10 minutes. There was also some windshield wiper fluid which my dad opened. It was a perfect Ken gift so we can't figure out why he wasn't more excited about it. Then We watched the first part of Home Alone. Its a cute movie. I haven't seen it forever.

Then my dad and my brother and I read the book The Best Christmas Pagaent Ever. I had to make some Michael Buble tickets to wrap up for my mom since we couldn't get our real tickets until the day of the concert. So i printed out the ticket master logo and glued it on the front. The I had one side of the ticket had the date and time of the concert and the other side had a picture of Michael Buble.

Temple Square (Saturday Dec. 19)

So we finally had a get together with my friends from highschool. Sara, Holly, Luke, Wayne, and Jokke who is visiting from Hawaii during the christmas break. Travis was busy, Holly is on her mission, Jura was in France, and Alisha and her husband couldn't make it. We all met at 45th south and rode tracks down town so we didn't have to worry about parking. We walked around and looked at the pretty lights and the nativity sets from different countries. We also went and sat in the tabernacle for a minute and heard the acoustic demonstration with a pin dropping. You can hear it from everywhere in the building.
Then we all headed back to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.. Jokke wondered off by himself. He went to the visitors center while we headed back to the JSMB. He said he knew sisters that were serving there. Anyway, we went to the Nauvoo cafe. We got this yummy turkey pot pie with just about the best crust i've ever tasted. I agree with Luke, it was kind of delightful. We saw the Joseph Smith movie, which of course was great. Then we walked over to gateway and hung out by the hobo fires to keep warm. Luke and Holly and I decided all the street performers were making so much money we should haul our instruments down town and start playing. We'd probably make a ton of mulah.

They Make me Smile

SADLY KARL (AKA KARLO) COULDN'T MAKE IT


So this past week Erin and Bianca came to visit. Well she came 10 days ago (dec 8th) and just left Tuesday). It was so fun being able to see those two. I really miss them a lot. I think i'd die without video chat. I just felt bad Erin came right at the end of school with finals to study for and such. We didn't do anything terribly exciting. We got to hang play with Bianca, We chatted, We introduced my Dad to Glee, and she introduced both of us to Top Gear. Karls Parents live just a block from my parents in Alpine. It was sad. While Erin was here their dog Goliath died and their basement flooded.

While she was here we we had a Christmas Dinner with my two sisters Erin and Lindsay, their families, and my brother Jordan. My sisters kids crack me up, especially Jake. WE have an arcade basketball hoop we like to play each other on. My mom told Jake he better practice because she was going to play him on Christmas Eve. This was his typical Jake response. "um.. .I don't really see that happening". The 9 year old was trash talking his grandma. She told him she hoped he was right because it would be really embarrasing to tell his friends that he had been beaten by his grandma. ha ha

Highlights at work. Some cranky old man came in yelling and ranting to me about something i had no control over and was not my fault at all. He was yelling and mad as can be. He told me to get someone to talk to and he threatened to close all of his acounts at central bank because the merchant processor who runs his credit card transactions was holding onto his money and not getting it into account as fast as he wanted.
We also played a Christmas Carol game at work. We had a ton of anagram, and we had to name the song. For example WWYAMC would be we wish you a merry christmas. I think i spent at least an hour trying to figure out BATJI. (bring a torch Janette Isabella. I'm a geek, i even busted out the dictionary thinking that would help, but i had to cheat and use the internet. =-)


So School is out. Finals are done with and I did fairly decent. Phonetics I got a 97 on our written portion. I don't know how i did on my Aural Rehabilitation but i felt really good about it. My beastly Speech Anatomy lab took me at least 2 hours to finish. I was just glad i didn't fail it. I"m really happy with my 83.

Its finally beginning to feel a lot like Christmas. This past weekend (Dec 12th) My parents and my brother and I got to go to the Tabernacle Choir Concert with Natalie Cole. It was a great Concert.

Bubles-tales in Anxiety

So This has been a great week. Let me retell my my story of Ticket Master.
I never thought buying tickets for Michael Buble would cause so much stress in my life. I forgot that opening day of ticket sales each page of the order process is timed. So I only had a couple of minutes to accept the seats that ticketmaster found for me and to type in personal info (address, name, email)
So after I confirmed my order I came to the page where they tell you how much your order actually is and you have less than two minutes to type in your payment information. Well the order for 3 tickets was $312.00 (These were for my mom's birthday. My dad said he didn't want us to go and have fun without him.) So I was going to to use my credit card but it was super expensive, so i called my dad to tell how much it was, and to see if he thought it was a good idea. (he was the one who told me to get the best tickets, closest to the stage as possible). So my dad was really great and told me to use his credit card. So my two minutes are being used up during this conversation. So he gave me his credit card number. He told me his security code but I don't remember the screen asking for it. So i had to put in his credit card number and his address and billing information. So I barely made the time limit, and I put in my ticket order. Then the screen came back up and said, there is a problem with your order "Please enter your 3 digit security code". I only had 10 seconds and I just guessed the 3 numbers because I couldn't remember what my dad had told me. I seriously almost had a heart attack. i bet i would have cried if I had been thrown back into the virtual line. Gratefully it worked. The stress was worth it. And before I get any snide comments from any of my sisters. I am paying half of the bill. Check it out, we're sitting in section FBB

Roommates

This is the madness that happens around midnight in my apartment! Really.

So Funny I had to put this up

Gypsies

So this past Saturday my dad and I drove up North to the Sandy area to pick up my new car. We bought the car from my dad's friend Willis. Willis and his entire family are real life gypsies. My dad first met them under less than desireable circumstances while he was working for the FBI. The entire family love my dad now. They think both my parents are just wonderful.

But, I learned some things about gypsies. They don't believe in going to school. They don't read or write. My dad was talking to them about family history and writing down geneological information, birthdate and place, about their family (parents grandparents. It was really eye opening. Willis does not even know where he was born. His wife was saying that their family had come by ship to New York. She was sure that they had come from Romania. I'm pretty sure she doesn't know where Romania is or she would realize Romania is not anywhere close to the Atlantic Ocean.

My dad was telling me that for the most part the gypsy people actually originated from India. It makes sense but I had no idea. More modern gypsies have come form all over Europe like Spain, Italy, England etc.

One of Willis's sisters was asking me about living with my parents. I explained that I lived in Provo, in an apartment with roommates. She said, "oh rent is so expensive though. I said "yeah, but not as expensive as school can be". She was shocked and responded "oh, you have to pay to go to school?" That pretty much ended the conversation.

But the entire family, at least the one's i met were really nice. They are funny and just really sweet people.

Ups and Downs

So this past week started off by teaching me a valuable lesson.
I know fully appreciate Wal-Mart's Groceries. They are probably the best priced food around. I decided to try shopping at Maceys which was a bad idea. Everyting was pretty expensive and to top everything off, I went to the store to pick up red grapes, because I love them, and all Maceys had was sub-par green ones. I also for some reason broke my big black belt that I love. I was taking it off and thought I had released the little metal clasp but I hadn't. So I ended up going all Hulk on the belt and ripping it and destroying it.

There was one incident at work that really made my day. Some poor older lady came to my window and wanted to put a stop payment on one her checks that she had written. So I have to ask her specific questions like, when was the check made out? Who was it made out to? How much was the check written for? Every question I asked her was met by a what? Sorry? huh? I'm hard of hearing. So i ended up asking her every single question at least 4 times.

Well the rest of the week was full of good news. We got our Christmas gifts at work. Which was a 75.00 dollar gift card to Provo Mall. I went shopping and spent a lot of it already. I bought a new black Belt at Charlotte Russe, I really like that store. I found a very cute red shirt and some denim trouser cut pants that I can actually wear to work. Who would have thought that would have made me so excited. While I was at the Mall, I swear I saw the same guy I had bought my nail buffering manicure kit from at University Mall. It was kind of unsettling, because I'm not positive but i'm pretty sure he also came into my work to get a notary stamp. I also got my balancing incentive which was a 30.00 visa gift card. And I got my new Credit Card this week also.

We also had our work Christmas party where we exchanged gifts. I was assigned to bring a dessert to the party. I didn't want to buy a full supply of baking powder and baking soda so I decided to go to my parents after work to make some sugar cookies. Well my mom's been out of town, and my dad had run out of milk. So I had to go to the gas station and buy a quart of milk. Then I continued making my dough when i realized my parents didn't have baking powder. I felt very resourceful at this point and grateful that my parents had Cream of Tarter. Did you know you could substitute baking soda and cream of tarter for baking powder. The cookies turned out great. I made cookies in the shapes of starts and i made cream cheese frosting to go on them.

So the party was fun. We all exchanged gifts. I gave kelli cute little red soup bowls, two yummy soup mixes and a new book to read. Gaye gave me some lotion and an Itunes card, which i was so grateful for. I love buying music. I felt bad when i found out she had had my name. I realized earlier that week she had secretly been prying and trying to get gift ideas out of me. She was asking if I had my christmas shopping done, and if I had made my christmas list or if I was going to go buy myself something like a new DVD. and I niavely responded Oh, i don't know If I'd have to go look at the store and see what I could find. So i was essentially zero help to her.

Big news though: My car loan got approved. I borrowed money all on my own, without my parents help. This is the car I'm buying. Its a 2008 PT Cruiser


Plus Erin and Bianca are here visiting this week, and I get to buy Michael Buble tickets on friday.

Thanksgiving Break

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Thanksgiving started out by seeing New Moon with my roommate and her Family (see below for my thoughts about the movie). The rest of my break was so great. I got to see my uncle Ted. Even though he beats me everytime we play Canasta or speed its great having him around. He's hilarious,and its sad that we only get to see him once a year. I got to go home the entire week which was so nice. I have my Christmas shopping done and my Secret Santa Gift for my Christmas work party taken care of.
Thanksgiving day was bitter sweet. I had a really fun day but not as many people made it as we usually expect to come. All of my cousins basically were out of town or elsewhere for Thanksgiving, except my cousin Jessica. My sisters Erin and Adrienne weren't able to come home from Missouri and Denver. So our dinner was my sister Lindsay, Tyler, their 4 kids, my parents, me and Jordan, Jessica, My grandparents, and my uncle Ted. Our dinner was delicious especially the cranberry sauce, the sweet potato fries and the potato casserole. We had a nasty canasty card game, and I lost again. I played Jessica, Jake and Olivia at our Basketball hoop. Jake and I still tie everytime we play eachother. Why can't I beat the 9 year old. We got to chat and catch up and just have a fun time being together.
Jordan and Jessica and I hung out that night and ended up getting a Redbox. After Jessica went home my dad and Jordan and I were hanging out with Ted. We were talking about funny movies that we liked, and why getting dimentia when your old wouldn't be such a bad idea. We discussed the music Ted had in his I tunes Library. Then Ted had the bright idea of letting us watch this X-Files episode he had bought off Itunes. We were thinking this must be a really good, and super interesting episode if he actually paid for it. So we watched it. Ted is either seriously disturbed, or he has a sick sense of Humor. If anybody is interested the episode was called HOME. I have never seen anything quite as disturbing or disconcerting as this episode which was about this incestuous family involved in inbreeding. Ya, this family had 3 sons and one of the sons was both the dad and a brother to the other two. I was shocked and speechless. And, unfortunately Johnny Mathis songs are ruined for me. I drove to work the next morning and heard a Christmas song sung by Johnny Mathis, and it made me think of this episode. We were all sort of appalled after the show ended. Ted was just laughing at us. I still don't get why that episode spoke to him.

Friday my family and I went and saw Blind Side. Blind side was sweet. It was uplifting and inspiring, and funny and all the way around a good movie. I Highly recommend it. Even my mother enjoyed it which is saying something.

Saturday I went to work and had almost had a heart attack. A batch of work I had scanned on Friday never really got scanned so it was never processed or posted to people's acocunts. But that all got fixed today thank Heavens. Back to Saturday. I was going to take my sisters kids out for the afternoon, but Jake had to watch the BYU game so we had to reschedule. I got to hang out with my Dad and run errands that Afternoon. Over all it was a stupendous day. BYU beat the Utes. I got to take my friend Holly out for dinner since she was up in Logan for her birthday on the 19th. That was way fun. And I got my brother Jordan to spend time with me. ha ha. And my sweet miss baby Scarlett was born Saturday Afternoon. Pretty much the best ending to a Holiday Break. I just wish I could have gone to Denver with my mom to see her.

New Moon: My Review

First of all, let me say. This movie was infinitely better than Twilight. Kristen Stewart actually brought some depth to her character. And, while i still am not a fan of Bella, I didn't hate her in this movie. Jessica was absolutely hilarious at the part where Bella gets on the motorcycle with a complete stranger just so she can hear Edward. The scene where Bella is at the movies with Jacob and Mike was awesome. They were both holding out there hands so she would choose which one to hold. Priceless. I love the Cullens, especially Alice (when she gets in that argument with Jacob.) And at the end when Edward was fighting the Volturi, everytime he got smacked down on the marble floor I could feel it in my back. It was really well done, and the Volturi, especially Dakota Fanning were so creepy. and I'm not complaining about Jacob running around shirtless in his shorts the entire movie.

There were three parts that really made me laugh, that were of course unintentionally funny.
First Part: I find this part of the movie mind boggling. Bella crashes on her motorcycle, and Jacob's first reaction is to rip off of his shirt and wipe the blood off the cut on her head. Who does that???? Like my Sister said, Do you think Taylor Lautner felt cheep making this movie? ha ha ha

Second Part: right at the end is a weird day dream where Bella and Edward are running through a meadow.

Last Part: Jacob and Alice are having their argument, and Jacob goes all Hulk on her. He says "Don't make me upset, things could get very ugly" (and I want to add GRR!!!!) It made me laugh

There were several cheesy parts but these are the ones that stuck out to me.
So People keep asking me if I'm a Team Edward or Team Jacob. This is my honest, if not overly cynical response.
I'm not choosing a team or a side. I'm not wasting my time analyzing the pros and cons of a fictional relationship between characters/creatures in a made up story. Jacob and Edward aren't real people. It doesn't matter which one I prefer. Nor will there be a time when it does matter. It won't make my life any better or easier.
Twilight is just a story.

Priorities

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Nothing beats Thanksgiving break and playing Canasta and listening to music with Uncle Ted. Except, . . . maybe, possibly, the fact that Michael Buble is doing a concert in Salt Lake

How not to Dial 911

So Last Friday My roomate Kaisha fell asleep on our couch with her cell phone near by. Somehow she managed to get an emergency call out even though her keypad was locked and she was asleep. So at 3:30 in the morning the police had tracked her phone and came knocking on our door. She thought the knocking was part of a dream. She finally answered the door, and was really embarrased when the police explained what had happened and that they had come to make sure she was all right. At least we know we're safe =-). They police passed our emergency drill you could say.

The Most Wasted of All Days Is One Without Laughter

As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once, and Its harder everytime. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when your was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing by too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.

The Mentalist

So tonight's Episode of the Mentalist involved a kidnapping and ransom. In this particular story, the kidnapper gave the family less than 24 hours to get 3.75 million dollars in cash.
FYI people. I work at a bank. Banks never have that much cash on hand, sitting in their vault. They put in money orders everyweek, and they can't get large amounts of money, in big bills or small denominations, on a such short notice. And any transaction over $10,000 is automatically reported with a CTR form and I'm pretty sure the IRS is notified also.

Girl with the Green Gum meets a Hit and Run

So I had a huge presentation in my Aural Rehabilitation Class. It was about Public Laws, Deaf history, Educational Settings, and School Screenings.
It was a 45 minutes presentation so It was a big deal. I met my partner The Thursday before I presentation at her apartment and her little 5 year old daughter hung out with us while we finalized our power point. Then I met with her the day before our presentation (which was Wednesday the 11th). Before my partner, Ingunn came to meet me she dropped her daughter off at school. She told her daughter she was coming to meet me. Her daughter said Mom, you can't go meet her. When Ingunn asked her why her response was, "Because she always has the green gum and and she types too fast on the keyboard". Then she just gave her a look that said "uhh, mom you just don't understand.
I thought it was funny.

So last night, wednesday. I went out for a walk/jog. I was walking past an parking lot entrance/exit. There was a white car, stopped waiting to make a right hand turn and to pull out into traffic. They were stopped so i kept walking. Right when i get in front of their car they decide to hit the gas. I got my hands on their good and they kept going eventually running over my foot. They got me knocked down, my knee scraped up and my finger hurt and swollen. I don't know if i feel down and bent or what. I really wanted to say mean and obscene words. i just walked away fuming and all (what i can assume was the driver) could do was yell out their window "are you alright". I have now idea what they were doing that they clearly didn't see somebody right in front of their car.

But, I had a great run tonight. It was lightly raining=-), I listened to bon jovi, bryan adams, martina mcbride, david archuleta and michael buble. Oh, and no jerk bag driver ran my foot over. And its my Jakey Boy's Ninth Birthday. Love those kids to death.

I Just Haven't Met You Yet

OH Michael Buble, How do I love you. Let me count the ways. He he

If you haven't seen is video for Haven't met you Yet. I highly recommend it.

My Life in October

Here are just a few of the highlights
So Oct. 15 was my Dad's birthday. I had to work all day so I was going to buy him some apple fritters and drop them off at his work on my way to American Fork. Well I got to UVU and the parking lot was empty. I realized that my dad was on Fall break for the rest of the week so he wasn't at work. Luckily he was at Best Buy right by my work and he came and met me. That,

I'm pretty sure one of the customers in the drive up at the bank was either high or drunk and should not have been driving. When I took his check to go to my station and cash it he rang the call button and wanted to tell us we were doing a great job. So when I sent his cash out he was practically hanging out of his car door, and he was slurring his speech and he said You guys are the best!!!. It made me laugh for the rest of the hour.
So my parents went and test drove a car last saturday or the Saturday before that. The salesman told us he was from American Fork and hadgraduated from AF High in 2007. And, as I was defending their rivals, my highschool, Lone Peak, He asked me If i was still at school or if I had graduated yet. I told him i graduated in 2006, he felt really awkward and embarrased when he found out i was older than he was ha ha

So My roomate, who is a freshman and I were watching Glee one wednesday. One of the songs they performed was Sweet Caroline. My roommate does not know who Niel Diamond is. She said she recognized the song because she'd heard the Jonas Brothers sing it. I was kind of shocked, disappointed and a little appalled.

Then Last saturday I was at work. Some lady called and asked when day light savings time was. That was the only reason she called. but i guess the bank is as good a place as any to find that out. We are full service after all. ha ha. I guess it was better than calling 911 or something

So Yesterday, I had this crotchity old man swore at me. He had an account with us but wanted cash a check from another bank. I told him I couldn't use his account to cash the check until the balance was positive. He got all huffy and irritated and then bold me basically he didn't need by B.S. but he didn't say b.s.
And I had to go to Walmart to find a Halloween shirt. My work gave us the option to either wear a costume or wear jeans and a holiday shirt/sweater. I was just going to wear an orange shirt i already owned but they said it has to have something festive on it so here is what I came up with. What do you think? ha ha

Catch Up from my Life in September

This past sunday duriing Sacrament meeting, this girl in my ward that i've never met, was freaking staring at me during the opening song. then after we sang, she made some completely inappropriate and kind of rude about how on of my thumbs is different then the other. Keep in mind i've never spoken to this girl before, i don't know her name, and this is my first impression. "This is something abnormal that i've noticed about you" is what she was basically saying. Then she made some comment about people have to look at her but as she got up to bear her testimony in relief society. What ever!!!

So my sister Adrienne is coming tomorrow with her family, her husband and two boys. She 's the sister having a baby girl like the week after thanksgiving. I also found out that my oldest sister lindsay in having baby number five and is due in may.


So here are some highlights from the last two weeks. (sorry i didn't write last week, i'm an awful person). So I took a test that thursday before conference for my speech anatomy class. I got a 96% on the mulitple choice part and we get the written portion back in class tomorrow. Cross your fingers. ha ha.

Then My sister came from denver with her family that day and stayed for a week. I miss them a lot. her boys are so adroable, and i can't wait to meet the new baby in december. To secure my place as favorite aunt, i bought tristan and jack presents before they left. I bought Jack a stuffed monkey. I bought tristan an elephant. We named the elephant Harry.

Conference was so good. So many great talks, all about improving, and service and love. I loved Elder Bednars talk, Elder Uchtdorf's talk, Elder Oaks, Elder Holland. So so so good.

Last weekend I got kidnapped. It s a pretty funny story. So my roomate Sarah went to dinner with 3 of her friends, Liam, Graham, and Brittney. They came back to our apt afterwards and we hung out , and talked, and laughed, etc. etc. For an hour or two. Around midnight, they all decide to go to Brittney's place to make muddy buddies adn watch a movie. They tell me i'm going with them, and that I didn't have a choice. So Sarah and I were thinking we were going to Brittney's apt in Provo. As we drive in the car, we realize we are head toward the freeway and we were going to Brittney's family's house in Highland, which is pretty close to where your family is i think.

So we make treats and watch Arsenic and Old Lace. Finally the movie is over around 3:30 in the morning. Everyone is dead tired so we all just crashed on extra beds in Brittney's house. We drove home in the morning. It was quite an adventure.

then I had people from my ward last year over for dinner on Sunday. I almost ruined the sloppy joes i made. Who does that? how hard is it to make sloppy joes. um. . on a scale form 1-10 about 2. I was so embarrased. I did salvage them and they were delicous. We had grapes and sloppy joes and fries and apple pie. it was so good. We also got on skype and talked to my roomate who couldn't come because she' on an internship and is in Washington DC. So its been pretty crazy.

My Munchkins

THE GOLDEN EGG

These is a retelling of actual events that happened last saturday

So 2 days after the Idaho incident when my car broke down the first time, and After I get the car back. with the fuel pump replaced, I drive home from work and my engine overheats. My poor dad had to drive and come meet me. But we got the problem fixed. The radiator cap needed to be replaced.

So Everything was glorious this past week with the car. I even met my cousin for breakfast and drove around and hung out. Then Saturday, I drove over to WAlmart on University Parkway. As I'm leaving, ready to make a right hand turn on to the parkway my car stops and dies. Right at the light, so there's a whole long line of cars behind me. I'm sure they were really mad. some guy behind me tried to start my car and he couldn't help. Then, a whole bunch of guys pushed me across the intersection into a gas station parking lot. One of the guys actually asked me if i had gas in my car. I was thinking yes, I'm not an imbecile. Then this nice kid stayed and waited with me. We tried to start the car, checked fluids, checked for leaks. I called my parents, they were at a movie. I felt awful. My parents were trying to do something for their anniversary. They had a wedding reception and stake conference to go to as well that night. my brother was up in Heber so he didn't answer his phone. Luckily my friend Travis was in Provo. He came and picked me up. We hung out and went to Rumbi's. We sat and waited for my parents to come get the car but they were late and met me later at my aparment. They jump started my car and never had any problems on the way back. They left me my dad's car and took mine home. So the next day we got the battery tested and it was fine. Yet it keeps stalling. I'm actually afraid of my car sometimes. Nobody can tell me what is wrong with my car.

Topsy Turvy

“I must learn to love the fool in me the one who feels too much, talks too much, takes too many chances, wins sometimes and loses often, lacks self-control, loves and hates, hurts and gets hurt, promises and breaks promises, laughs and cries”

My Happy Place

“Ask yourself whether the dream of heaven and greatness should be waiting for us in our graves - or whether it should be ours here and now and on this earth.”



This post is dedicated to my cousin who inspired this little thought process with a list she made. AS I think about it I realize that I have had a pretty good life. I have been extremely lucky to have so many good people and things in my life. My friends and my family and our time together are really what make me the happiest. So right now there are things that I look forward to. Here is a list of moments or just things that i cherish,that I want to keep with me, and that I never want to lose.

~Laughing at stupid jokes with Jordan (especially nerdy jokes involving snow flakes and Plessy Vs. Ferguson)

~My munchkins birthdays. Especially talking to Tristan on his birthday when he asks me if I want to come to his house to play again. Of course my answer is yes.

~okay I had to steal this one from Mandy. Warm Cinnamon Rolls anytime but especially on rainy days. It just sounds heavenly.

~Music Period (whether it be Josh Groban, Michael Buble, Carrie Underwood, Yo Yo Ma or listening to show tunes). I love that I can rock out in my car, on my way to work, singing at the top of my lungs. It makes me feel energized and its great that noone else can hear me.

~On that note. I miss being in an orchestra. I miss being with a big group of friends, having a great time, working hard, and making something beautiful. Playing in a pit orchestra is even better. Its such a rush and some much fun, and one of my favorite memories of high school.

~Christmas Caroling after a fresh snow fall when its dark and peaceful, and quiet, and just completely still outside. And Also Sitting by the twinkling lights on the Christmas tree in the dark on Christmas Eve, just enjoying the calm. I love driving around looking at Christmas lights, and listening to Christmas music. Everyone seems happier at Christmas time. People are more giving, and pleasant and cheerful. I love the celebrating, the parties, the focus on Christ and on families. I love Christmas Eve Dinner with your family where you laugh, and play games, and just enjoy life.

~Watching my neice performing in her dance recitals. Probably the most adorable thing ever.

~Reviewing movies or books and having an intelligent conversation with my dad.

~Watching an old couple that you know have been married for probably 60 years holding hands and dancing together and smiling.

~Surprise notes or messages. When your roomate leaves you a note full of nice things and that says Hope You Have a Good Day. When your dad sends you a text message that says you are wonderful and that he misses you. Just when somebody asks how you're doing or says that they were thinking about you.

~Discussing with Erin, for almost an hour I might add, the different ways that common people misuse the English Language

~MOst of the time shopping is fun. When you find cute jeans or a shirt that looks good on you and is decently priced. Its also fun to find DVDs for only $5.

~Watching Bianca (the 8 month old) trying to steal food off of Daddy's plate. ha ha

~Making video/slideshows is my new obsession. I love finding the best pictures and pairing them with the perfect song or set of songs. It is a great way to preserve memories, and it makes a special and sincere gift that anybody would love.

~Challenging Jake (my nephew). He'll quiz me on trivia like WHAT IS THE CAPITOL OF ICELAND or WHAT DOES THE FLAG OF SWITZERLAND LOOK LIKE? We'll play Horse or kickball together. He likes to try and beat me at chess and Clue also.

~That rushing feeling you get when you go on an really intense rollercoaster or down FREEFALL at 7 peaks. You know that feeling where you feel the butterflies fluttering, you're almost nauseous, and your stomach ends crammed up where your throat should be.

~Blasting ABBA in the kitchen and baking some chocolate chip cookies.

Inspired by the Piano Man. . .

THEY'RE SHARING A DRINK THEY CALL LONELINESS,

BUT ITS BETTER THAN DRINKING ALONE

She can kill with a smile She can wound with her

eyes She can ruin your faith with her casual lies

And she only reveals what she wants you to see

She hides like a child But she's always a woman to me

She will promise you more Than the Garden

of Eden Then she'll carelessly cut you And laugh

while you're bleedin' But she'll bring out the best

And the worst you can be Blame it all on yourself

Cause she's always a woman to me

She is frequently kind And she's suddenly cruel

She can do as she pleases She's nobody's fool

But she can't be convicted She's earned her degree

And the most she will do Is throw shadows at you

But she's always a woman to me

The Ride-Life has Moments that are Hard to Describe

“Live life fully while you're here. Experience everything. Take care of yourself and your friends. Have fun, be crazy, be weird. Go out and screw up! You're going to anyway, so you might as well enjoy the process. Take the opportunity to learn from your mistakes. “Of course life is bizarre, the more bizarre it gets, the more interesting it is. The only way to approach it is to make yourself some popcorn and enjoy the show.”

Sometimes I sits and think, and sometimes I just sits.

Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important.



If I had my life to live over I'd like to make more mistakes next time. I'd relax. I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip. I would take fewer things seriously. I would take more chances. I would climb more mountains and swim more rivers. I would eat more ice cream and less beans. I would perhaps have more actual trouble, but I'd have fewer imaginary ones. You see, I'm one of those people who live sensibly and sanely hour after hour, day after day. Oh, I've had my moments, and if I had to do it over again, I'd have more of them. In fact, I'd try to have nothing else. Just moments, one after another, instead of living so many years ahead of each day.