Photo of the Week 5

This little bug followed me into work one day....

Trololo

I got nothing today.... but I have my goal to blog everyday this month. So I will share a video that my brother in law, Dan, shared with me!

I don't understand this video at all, but it makes me laugh every time. I know I am easily amused, but I hope it makes you laugh or smile like it does for me. :o) I need that, especially on a Tuesday... that feels like a Thursday.

Welcoming Spring!

This was my 4th year attending the Festival of Colors at the Hare Krishna Temple in Spanish Fork Utah. (If you would like to see my posts of the previous 2 years at this event, click on the label below this post).

Every year it gets more and more crowded because it is such a fun event. This was the first year that they had two different celebrations during the day so more people could join in. In India, they celebrate the Festival of Colors to welcome Spring. Why do they invite a bunch of people that don't share their belief's? Because they are all about love and friendship, and this is their way of reaching out and making friends. In fact, before the colors are thrown they have each of us find someone we don't know and hug them. Ha ha. It still gets pretty crazy though. P.S. I usually try not to overwhelm you with pictures... but there were so many fun ones, I had a hard time choosing. Although pictures are awesome, people that are not there have no idea what it is like to be in the middle of throwing the colors. So here is a video of what it is like when you are there.

Then, after that.... you look like this...
But the cool part is seeing how everyone's faces's look. They all turn out so different. Each face is a different art masterpiece!

Here are some pictures of the group that I went with. We had a blast!
HARE KRISHNA!!!

Chic Mirror

Thursday and Friday night I spent hanging out with Desiree! We had been talking about having a craft night and I told her about this mirror idea that I saw on a blog and she was up for the challenge. I was excited that someone actually wanted to do a craft with me. We bought most of the things we needed on Thursday and then Friday we got to work. I have to admit that I thought it was going to be a lot easier than it was. I had not worked with wood since I took wood shop in middle school. Thankfully Chuck (Desiree's hubby) was there to help us out, even though he probably wished that he wasn't there. Anyway, I really love how it turned out. I think it is super cute and chic and looks a lot better in my room than it did before. If you like this idea and want to make one of your own.... learn how to do it here.

Hooray for another successful craft! Thanks Desiree for joining with me on this one. Let's do it again sometime.

Mr. Tall & Handsome

A couple of years ago, I was set up on yet another blind date. When he came to pick me up, I saw that he was tall and handsome. He had a super cute smile too. Off to a good start. I was excited.

Mr Tall & Handsom: "You look nice"

*He says as he opens the door for me*

Me: "Why Thank you!"

*He gave a nervous laugh and I thought to myself... and a cute laugh too? This just keeps getting better*

Mr Tall & Handsome: "Are you wearing Victoria's Secret?"

*Awkward pause*

Me: "Um What?" ...*Thinking* "I mean I am... but who asks that? He doesn't even know me. Seriously?"**

Mr Tall & Handsom: " Oh gosh. That came out wrong didn't it."

Me: "..... yeah..."

Mr Tall & Handsom: "Your perfume...."

Me: "What?"

Mr Tall & Handsome: "Is the perfume you are wearing Love Spell, by Victoria's Secret?"

Me: "OH!! YA!"

*We both laugh awkwardly*

Me: "That is what you meant" *thinking... "Good, I don't have to be creeped out by this guy... yet..."**

Mr Tall and Handsome: "Yes, that is what I meant. I mean... it is only the first date after all."

Hobby Lobby

Last night I hung out with my good friend Desiree. We were supposed to have a craft night... but, we spent too much time in the amazing Hobby Lobby. Then when we went to get all of our supplies for our craft, but Lowe's wouldn't cut wood for us (which was very necessary for our project)... so... we are going to try again tonight. Stay tuned for that craft.
Hobby Lobby was a pretty amazing store. It took us like an hour and a half to just browse through the whole store! It has crafts and home decorations. It's a glorified craft store. My favorite was looking at all the home decoration stuff. If you like stores like Tai Pan and Rod Works (like I do), then you will love this store. I totally want to go back and get more stuff. I only bought a few things. Oh, and did I mention it was pretty cheap? The stuff that was more expensive, there was a sign right by it that said it was like 50% off. So... it was still cheap. :o) Hooray for fun stores!

Here is what Desiree and I bought at Hobby Lobby. As soon as I got home, I hung up my new purchases.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 6

I Believe…

Everyone needs at least 1 hug a day. The more the better, but at least 1.

You are never too old to build a fort.

You can never have enough friends. Never stop making friends.

Laughter is really the best medicine for an aching soul.

When you buy a batch of Strawberries, you should always dedicate some for being dipped in chocolate.

You should always stay true to your word.

Everyone should have the experience of traveling.

The best way to learn is by experience.

It is important to express yourself! (Writing, photography, art, dancing, music, cooking, etc..)

You should live your life in a way so that when you look back on it, you have no regrets.

It is cooler to make it yourself than to buy it (if you can).

A picture IS worth a thousand words.

You should work hard, but then make time for playing too.

It’s okay to sleep in once a week.

You should pamper yourself every once in a while (it makes you feel good).

Service is just as much for the giver as it is the receiver.

Taking vacations is VERY important.

Music can sometimes touch you more than words a lone can.

Your actions should speak just as loud as your words.

You should tell people you love them. Don’t assume they know, even if they do.

You should always be polite.

You should not take advantage of people, and you shouldn't let people take advantage of you!

You are never too old for Disneyland.

Everyone should visit Disneyland at least once in their life.

At some point in life, everyone should have a passport. With stamps in it.

You can only be in love with one person. If you think you are in love with more than one person at the same time, its not true love. (Bachelor show?)

You should always dress your best for church.

There is always room for dessert.

Everyone (unless you are unable to) should donate blood at least once in their life.

You can accomplish anything you set your mind to. It may not come as easy as it does for others, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it.

Everyone has a little bit of nerd in them.

It is good for you to let out a good cry sometimes.

People get what they deserve.

Everyone should recycle.

Family comes first.

When you make an effort to look good, you feel good.

Beauty can be painful.

Dating for 4 seasons and a road trip before getting married.

You should marry your best friend.

Getting a massage once in a while is VERY good for you.

Almost everything tastes better with Nutella on it.

Giving people the benefit of the doubt is better than not.

People can change if they really want to.

Everyone should have a “Bucket List”.

You should make your home (room… whatever space you have) a sanctuary.

You should know and love who you are.

Photo of the Week 4

Another New York Photo. This one is of the Brooklyn Bridge. There is something awesome about a bridge. They make for great pictures, that is for sure. I am thinking about putting this one up in my office along with this one.

Fiddler on the Roof

So tonight, us girls got together again to see another play at the Hale Center in SLC. Last time we saw "Curtains", this time... "Fiddler on the Roof". It's a classic. We didn't have as big of a group this time, but we sure had fun. I forget how long it is though. At the end I started to get a little antsy because my butt hurt from sitting so long. All the actors did an amazing job though, and once again I am amazed with everything they can do with such a small, round stage. Gotta love the plays. Below we got pictures with two of our favorite actors from the show.

Another fun thing that happened was I saw my co-worker, Paul. And his wife. He didn't see me... so I texted him before the show started and said "I see you". He didn't have my number programed into his phone... so it was pretty funny to watch him look at his phone and look around and wonder who saw him. After the show he came up to me and gave me a little hug and told me he got a laugh out of it.

Hooray for plays! I love them. Although... it is REALLY hard for me NOT to sing a long while I am watching. I do a pretty good job holding back, but there was a couple of times I caught myself humming along.

Jewelry Tree

I have been wanting to make one of these for a while. I have seen them a lot of craft blogs and such. Friday I was home a lone with nothing to do, so along with making cookies to celebrate my blogs birthday, I also made this Jewelry Tree. I also got the idea from a craft blog to use salt as a filler for the vase. I really like how it turned out. I think it is super cute. I now need to find the perfect place to put it.

Potato Derby

Saturday our ward took advantage of the sunshine and had a ward activity at the park. We had a Potato Derby! I have to admit that Pinewood Derby's always looked fun to me, and growing up I was always a little jealous of the scouts. So I was excited for this activity. We each got a potato to carve and then put wheels on it, gave it a name and raced it down the track. I named mine "T-Racer". I know. Clever right? It didn't do too well, mostly because I raced first and the track was kind of messed up in the beginning. That's okay though. It was still fun. Below there is a picture of the top 3 winners of the Derby. They got little medals. For refreshments, what else would we have except a Potato Bar. Yummy food + Fun Activity + Sunshine = Good Saturday!

Two Years!

Today is my blog's birthday! It's 2 years old. To celebrate, I made cookies. Oatmeal cookies to be exact. I had never made oatmeal cookies... mostly because I don't buy oatmeal because I think eating oatmeal is gross. But using the oats in cookies or granola is okay by me.

I have really loved having a blog. It helps me share my feelings, and accomplishments and be positive about my life. It has been an awesome journal and I have just loved having it more and more. I also love looking at all the other blogs out there... many inspire me to learn more and develop new talents, or some just make me laugh and brighten my day. Some have helped me get to know people even more than I thought I did. I just love blogs.

Side note. I love the comments people leave me on my blog. It might seem silly... but I guess I am a person that needs a lot of love and encouragement and support. When I see people's comments, it makes me happy that people are reading and they care and like my blog. Not trying to guilt people into leaving me comments, BUT I do love reading them. So don't be shy. Even if I don't know you that well, or don't know you at all... I welcome all comments. And it is nice to see who is reading my blog. :o)

Last year I named off 50 things that I did that past year and said I was going to make it a tradition. I was trying to decide if I want to do that again. Especially since not everything about this past year was so great for me, and 50 is a lot of things to list. I will do a list, but I think I will make it shorter. Here we go...

This past year I....

1- Went to the Festival of Colors for the 3rd year in a row

2- Went to Colorado for the first time

3- Performed a solo in "Woman at the Well"

4- Did the HCG diet again loosing a total of 35 lbs.

5- Went to the Art Ball at the Springville Art Museum

6- Spent a long weekend in Santa Barbara with my family, also went to i Modonnari

7- Went Camping in Utah a few times

8- Did many crafts

9- Went Geocashing

10- Re-watched all the Harry Potters and then went to see the newest Harry Potter in the theater.

11- Went tubing down Provo River

12- Spent a weekend in Vegas (Saw friends Lolly & Brian Christensen and saw Broadway show "Lion King" for the first time)

13- Hiked to Stewart Falls

14- Went Fishing

15- Ward Camp Out

16- Went to Antelope Island

17- Took a Photography Class

18- Went to the fair

19- Had a Santa Barbara Reunion

20- Went to Brad's wedding and got to spend time with my best guy friends

21- Spent a weekend in Arizona, got to see Jamie's play & visit my Grandparents

22- Moved across the street

23- Saw a couple of plays

24- Spent Thanksgiving with my family here in Utah

25- Went to my cousin Lauren's wedding

26- Spent a weekend with my friend Nicole Taylor in Ogden

27- Went on the Polar Express in Heber

28- Went home to Santa Barbara, spent the weekend with my good friend Kirsten and my family

29- Sang at Disneyland (Candlelight) for my 13th year in a row

30- I bought a tv

31- I bought my Mac laptop (after talking about it for YEARS)

32- Went to see the Christmas lights at the zoo in SLC

33- Spent Christmas in Arizona with my sister Jamie, her family and my parents.

34- Met my newest niece, Gwen, for the first time (born November)

35- I was released from Activities Council and Ward Employment Specialist and became an FHE Mom.

36- Went to a Masquerade

37- Went tubing at Soldier Hallow for work

38- Celebrated 1 year working for Novell

39- Took another trip with Cheryl to visit Lolly in Vegas

40- Had a Sister (and mom) trip to Arizona!

Okay, so only ten less than last year. Although I did plenty this year, I am hoping that next year's post will be even more exciting. I certainly learned a lot this last year and although it was not always easy or pleasant, I am extremely grateful for the loving, supportive and wonderful people in my life.

Happy Birthday Blog! Thanks for being there for me everyday!

* I would put the recipe for these cookies on this blog, but it was just the recipe on the back of the oatmeal box. They were just okay anyway.

St. Patricks Day

Yes, I know this is a couple days late, but Happy St. Patrick's Day. It is fun to see all of the green isn't it? I think so... then again, green is my favorite color. Everyone at my work wore green, it was great. I would have posted these pictures earlier, but I was kind of waiting for a friend in my ward to post her pictures on facebook so I could get some of them to add to my blog post. Including us doing some river dancing maybe? I'm still waiting for those... I just couldn't wait any longer. She obviously doesn't know that I have a goal to blog everyday and I can't wait around. HA! You will just have to deal with the pictures I have.
After going to Institute that night, I went to a ward party. It was actually a birthday party for Matt Hansen. Since his birthday is on St. Patrick's Day... well... that was obviously going to be the theme for his party. Everyone is wearing green already right? For being guys... they did a great job with the Irish Decor and green themed food. It was very festively awesome. As you can see in the collage above, my good friend Rob (who I have mentioned several times in my blog before) wore a quilt the whole day. Hooray for Holiday's and fun parties!

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 5

Last week I mentioned how I made origami cranes in church and such. On my flight to Arizona, I sat next to my sister in the plane and she had little Grant in her lap. It was late and he struggled a little bit on the plane (not as much as he did on the way back). We didn't have any toys or a bottle to keep him entertained so I tried to find things in my purse. I ended up grabbing a piece of paper and making him an origami crane to serve as a toy. He was only entertained for a minute or two... but I think it entertained the guy next to me a lot more. He was an older guy... married with kids, coming home from a business trip. He watched as I made the paper crane.
Man next to me: "Did you just make that? THAT is impressive!"
Me: "Umm... ya. I did."
Man next to me: "Can you make some more so I can watch how you did it?"
Me: "Sure, okay"
*I start to make smaller ones out of the left over paper that I had from the last one I made"
Man next to me: "Right on! Can I show my friend?"
Me: "Umm.. sure, I don't care."
Man next to me: *talking to his friend across the isle* "Look dude! Right on". *He then gave it back to me* I had also made more out of my napkin and he asked me what makes the best cranes. I told him foil rappers... like gum. He then gets up, goes into the overhead compartment and goes through his bag. Sits back down and hands me a pack of gum.
Man next to me: "Here, you can have some gum and then make some more cranes. You can keep the pack".
Me: "Well, thank you. That was very nice." *I made more canes out of the gum wrappers*
Man next to me: "Those are so cool. Can I keep them and show them to my kids?"
Me: "Yep, sure. Go ahead. I wasn't going to keep them".
I just make them to entertain myself... who knew it would be so entertaining to others as well. It made the flight more interesting, that's for sure... and I got a free pack of yummy gum. :o)

Today I woke up late. I have never been a morning person, even as a kid and I was getting 12 hours of sleep, I still did not enjoy getting up in the morning. My dad would always tease me that it took a crowbar to get me out of bed in the morning. So naturally... I am a night owl. Every night I stay up too late and every morning I wake up hating myself for doing it and promising myself that I will go to bed early that night. It hardly ever happens. I don't know what prevents me... where those hours go... it just hardly ever happens. Don't ask me how I got 4 years perfect attendance in early morning seminary. The thought of getting up at 5:30 am is painful for me now. If I ever become a mom... it is going to be quite an adjustment for me.

Question. Why do guys feel the need to contact you after the relationship is done and over with. It would be one thing if you ended friends... Case #1-I dated this one guy, it was only for a couple of weeks and I guess I liked him more than he liked me. He just told me all of this weird stuff about him to scare me off and then pushed me away and stopped talking to me. All you have to say is, I don't think we should date, lets be friends.... or you don't even have to be friends (I like being friends... but whatever) so 5 months after he stops talking to me without any explanation of why, he calls me... like nothing ever happened and asks me how I am doing and tells me he is getting married. Wow, really? Why do I care? You stopped talking to me 5 months ago remember? Case #2- I dated this other guy off and on in about a year's time (a couple of years ago). We were not super good friends, just one of those random people you meet and kind of date. The first time around I was trying to see if I was interested in him and he was being flaky with me and come to find out he was dating someone else. Good thing I didn't care that much. I called him out on it and didn't talk to him anymore. He later made comments on my pictures on myspace (ya... this was back when I used myspace) saying how beautiful they were. He was still in a relationship, this bugged me... so I wrote on his wall telling him how nice his comments on my pictures were... knowing full well that his girlfriend would read my comment and then go to my profile and look at the comments he wrote on my pictures. Did it work? Yes, yes it did. He then deleted the comments and me as a friend. HA! Later they broke up and he contacted me again telling me what happened (even though I already knew) and he convinced me to go out with him. I gave it another try. He was a nice guy, but he liked me more than I liked him. Plus that... he was too much drama. Months after it ended, he would still text me.. try to get me to come over and hang out with him. At one point he texted me and I told him I was dating someone, and he told me he was dating someone too, in fact they were getting married in a couple of months. Umm what? Why are you texting me then? Seriously!
I don't understand both of these cases. If I am in love with someone, I don't think about other guys that I have dated, and I certainly don't contact them. If these guys were really in love with these girls, wouldn't they not care about any other girl? Maybe I just attract sleazy guys. I don't get it.

Just so you guys know... today I started to put tags on some of my posts that have themes. Like photo of the week. You can click on the tag "photography" at the bottom if you want to view my other photo's. Also recipe's & crafts. Just in case you don't want to look through two years to find a certain theme. Pretty cool huh?

P.S. I have someone texting me right now. I have no idea who they are or how they got my number, but he claims he knows me and wants to hang out. I have been trying to figure out who this person is for an hour now. Still no clue. Not sure if I should be creeped out or if I should think it is funny. I am kind of thinking its funny. If I do know who this person is.... I feel bad for not remembering them.

Photo of the Week 3

As pretty as it can be.... I am hoping the snow is done now. I doubt it though. We will probably get some more next month.

Trophy

Back in January, my ward started an FHE competition which I explained a little about here. I have to say that my group was never into getting points. We don't have a lot of people that come in our group, plus all but two of the guys in our group are dating someone or engaged, and one of the guys that comes is over 31 so he is technically not in the ward therefore doesn't count as a member of our group (so we can't date each other for points). Luckily nobody in my group cares if we win because we we would rather have a yummy treat than a trophy anyway. Plus we have fun without counting points. I do however like the monthly competitions. The ice cream sculptures we got 2nd place and the awkward photo contest we won. Even if we win... that only contributes to our points, doesn't make us the winning group. Oh well. We may lack in numbers and guys in our group BUT we do NOT lack in creativity!

Anyway... my visiting teacher and I were discussing how our groups felt about the competition when the idea came up to steal the trophy. What fun would it be to have a big trophy going from group to group if nobody was going to steal it? Not only did we think it was a good idea, but both our groups thought it was an awesome idea, plus people from other groups liked the idea as well. So... we made a plan and made it happen. Many were involved which made it that much better. People from every FHE group were there including one of the FHE co-chairs that had no idea what we were doing. Even people from their own group. We knew where the trophy was, but how do we create a big enough distraction that we could walk out their door with a huge trophy in our hands?

We threw them an "Un-Birthday Party" in honor of "Alice In Wonderland" coming out... which these girls all went to the midnight showing that I went to. We brought a cake, we sang and gathered in the kitchen... turned off the lights in the living room (where the trophy was) and had a party.

During the commotion, I took the trophy and replaced it with another trophy that someone else bought.... and this note and I quietly went out the front door with the big trophy. Not even the people that knew I was going to take the trophy noticed I had left. I was that good. :o) I ran home, put the trophy there, ran back to the party and when I came back in told everyone that I had to step out to take a phone call.
After the party, we took the trophy from my house to someone else's house, where we held it hostage! We set up an email account on gmail so we could send out a few of these pictures so they could see the trophy. The email was sent from "westolethetrophy@gmail.com" so they didn't know who took it. After that, we took the trophy to someone else's house, someone who was not even at the party.... so they have NO idea where to find it. So many people were involved in this. That is the only way I think it could have happened. To all of these people I am grateful, because this was fun and really has brought our ward together more than the competition did itself. Good times. Now that we have had our fun... we should probably give it back or something. You think a week is long enough to keep it?

Mr Macho/ Mr Creeper

Sometime during this month, I decided to make a goal to blog everyday. Has anyone noticed? Except I made this goal later and I missed March 1st. So I just post dated a Bruschetta recipe for that day if anyone is interested in it.

I made this goal #1, to see if I could do it. #2, this is my journal and I am trying to be better about writing (about anything and everything) #3, to see if people would get bored with me... or if I would get more readers because of it (not sure which one is happening yet). I also posted that poll to see what people like most about this blog... you know, so I could post more of what people enjoy. I guess you guys love the guy stories.... so I thought I would pull out an old one for your enjoyment. I actually blogged about this one before, but it was my second post ever on my blog. Back when only 3 people read my blog, so it is worth telling again. Sorry for those of you who have heard this one before.

About 3 years ago, I sort of dated this guy. I only say sort of because I was under the impression that we were dating, but later found out that to him I was just a friend with benefits. Jerk. Anyway... this guy had kind of an obsession with weapons. I thought it was a little over the top.... but he is a guy, so I thought it was not that unusual. We were both night owls, we talked every night on the phone and later he moved down the sidewalk from me, so he would invite me over to watch movies with him at his place. We would always cuddle as we watched the movies. One particular night when we were snuggled up watching a movie.......

Mr Macho: " Hey, did I tell you what I bought today?"

Me: "No, what did you buy?"

Mr Macho: "It's really awesome..."

*I'm waiting to hear what it is that he bought. He doesn't say anything, he just reaches over me and pulls something off of the floor..... all of the sudden, there is a big sharp knife between our faces as we still cuddle*

Me: "Umm, wow, a knife!" (starting to feel very uncomfortable)

Mr Macho: "Ya, isn't it awesome?" (he says this as he feels the blade that is still very close to my face)

Me: "Yes, very awesome.... but... it would be more awesome if it were not so close to my face. You think we could put it away now?"

Mr Macho: "Oh ya, uh.... sorry..." (he then puts the knife away)

Seriously? Who pulls a knife in someones face while you are snuggled up watching a movie together? Way to kill the moment! It was so weird/creepy. I was really only about 90% sure that he wouldn't hurt me. It freaked me out a little bit.

Back when I worked at Apx, I told one of my co-workers this story. He thought it was pretty funny. He ended up making this little comic strip and putting it up for everyone in the office to see.

*Click on the image to enlarge*

Pi Day

First of all, Happy Pi Day! 3.14 = pi. In honor of pi day... Jamie made a pie and put the pi symbol on top (out of banana's), and just for fun I made the Nutella Truffles again. Since we were dipping in chocolate already... we dipped some strawberries too.

After church and dinner we took pictures since it was our last day together. And the nephews were all looking so cute in their church clothes. Oh how I love my family. It has been so fun hanging out with my sisters and the kiddos. I'm not really looking forward to going back to Utah tomorrow.... but alas, I must go back to work. Thank you Mom & Lori for driving and meeting Kristy and I in AZ. Thank you Kristy for planning the weekend with me and being my travel buddy. Thank you Jamie and Dan for letting us all gather at your house and feeding us. It was a wonderful weekend and I hope it is not too long before we can do it again. Maybe when Lori has her baby?

Grant, William & Asher... my cute nephews

Mom with her 4 lovely daughters

my sisters are probably hating me for putting this picture up... but I couldn't help it. I think its funny...

Cave Creek

Today we spent the day in Cave Creek, where my grandparents live. We first went to my Grandma's house to hang out for a while. Then, we went out to lunch (my Grandma's favorite thing to do with her family) to Mimi's Cafe. You will see in the picture below, Asher decided to climb up into the window and almost fell asleep gazing out. He is a funny kid. It has been so fun this weekend to see all the different personalities of my nephews. They are all such different characters and really make me laugh. After we had a yummy lunch, we went to visit my grandpa in the care home he is living at. Funny that in October, it was the first time I saw my grandparents in 3 or 4 years and now I have visited them 3 or 4 times in the last 6 months. It has been great. Every time I go and see my Grandpa, it has been easier for me to see him in the condition he is in. I no longer cry when I see him and can just be happy and give him kisses on the head and rub his back. I love that even though he can't talk... he lets you know he is okay by winking at you. We sang to him for a while and I was so impressed that he mouthed the words to a lot of the children's songs and would tap his feet too. It was cute. After an hour or so... it was time to head home. I went for a walk in this perfect weather to try and get some cool pictures. I am just loving the sun... and being able to wear flip flops and shorts and short sleeve shirts... I heard it snowed today in Utah. Not looking forward to going back to that.

Only one more day with the family.... going by too fast. Wish I could somehow slow it down.

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Last night my oldest sister Kristy and I (and her youngest, Grant) flew to Arizona to my sister Jamie's house. My mom and sister Lori drove from Santa Barbara to meet us there so that we could spend a weekend with the girls (and some of the kids). All of us sisters have not been together since last May when we were all together in Santa Barbara. We love to spend time together and it doesn't happen enough... so we are excited for the weekend. Today we mostly spent time just catching up and playing with the kids... but my mom stayed home with her grandsons and us sister's went out to lunch to this nice authentic French restaurant. We all ordered something different and shared. It was all SO GOOD. For dessert we got crepes with Nuetella and Banana's. Little piece of Heaven if you ask me. Then we did a little window shopping and hung out at home the rest of the day. The weather is so PERFECT here right now. It is just like Santa Barbara weather which I have really been missing since Utah is still very cold. It was the first time in months that I have been able to wear short sleeves and flip flops. It felt SO great. I have missed the sun. Hooray for Arizona and spending time with the family. I already know this weekend is going to go by too fast, but I am so happy to be here.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 4

*WARNING this might be long... I think I have a lot on my mind or something, or I just talk a lot, take your pick*

After the new year, I had a list of things that I wanted to get in the habit of doing. Of course the list was long, but some of them had to do with my physical appearance.

#1- Making an effort in getting ready in the morning = hair, make up & cute outfit. Check.

#2- Start exercising again. Check.

#3- Whiten teeth again. Check.

#4- Start wearing my retainer again so my teeth to go back to being crooked…. Unchecked! I went to put them on again the other night and the bottom and top retainers DID NOT FIT! Uh oh! Has it been that long since I have worn them? I swear I have gone long periods of time before without wearing them and still have been able to put them on. They really will not fit at all anymore. Can I blame that on fillings? Umm…. Should I get new ones? Dang it!

In the past 5 months I have had an unusual amount of nightmares. I hate it, I wake up feeling terrible. Either people are making fun of me and making me want to cry, or people are chasing me and trying to kill me. Either way…. I wake up with my heart racing and feeling down. Does this happen to anyone else? I figure I am not normal. The only thing so far that I have found helps me is falling asleep to classical music. Any other ideas?

Every week during sacrament meeting (during the talks) I make origami cranes out of the programs. I have been doing this every week for the last few months. I make as many as I can from when the talks start to when they end. My speed has improved a lot over the months. There are a group of girls that sit next to me many Sunday’s that find it amusing. They can tell when I start to get low on paper and will hand me programs or whatever they can find to keep me going. Don’t worry, I still listen to the talks. In fact… I think it helps me to pay attention. Kind of like when I used to knit in my college classes. (my professors actually thought it was awesome because it was a “lost art”). Anyway… after I make as many as I can make, I leave them there for the next ward to find. I wonder if people in that ward wonder who makes the origami cranes every week. If I were to find those in church every week… I would think it was awesome. Maybe it is just me. This last week I made a flock out of 3 programs and half of a calendar. It was impressive. But I was caught. Later that night at ward prayer, the 1^st counselor in the Bishopric came up to me and asked me if I was the one making the cranes in church. I confessed. He said he gathered them all up and handed them out. He thought they were neat. So I guess I wasn’t in trouble… but… I hope the next ward was not disappointed to not see any cranes that week. I am not giving up. I will make more next time. "An ancient Japanese legend promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish by a crane, such as long life or recovery from illness or injury. The crane in Japan is one of the mystical or holy creatures (others include the dragon and the tortoise), and is said to live for a thousand years. In Asia, it is commonly said that folding 1000 paper origami cranes makes a person's wish come true. This makes them popular gifts for special friends and family." So… really, I want a wish…. And the next ward should be honored that I am leaving them paper cranes, because I want them to get a wish too, and have a long happy life. Ha ha.

My good friend Rob has been in the ward as long as I have. In that time we have formed a couple traditions. We give each other bird hugs and we watch 80’s classic movies together. Recently we watched “The Dark Crystal”, “Willow” and “The Goonies”. It has been a couple of years when we started (took a year break because we were both dating someone) so we have decided to re-watch a couple, including “The Never Ending Story” which we watched on Monday after FHE. I loved this movie as a kid. Still love it. The music rocks! I remember pretending to ride around on Artax ( the horse) as a kid while I sang the awesome synthesizer tunes from the movie. I also love how dramatic Bastian is about reading the book. Well, towards the end of the movie, Bastian finds out in order to save Fantasia and the Childlike Empress, he has to give the Empress a new name. Earlier he says if he were to choose the new name, he already knew what he would pick, his mom’s name (his mom died) because supposedly she has a beautiful name. He just never says what it is. So when it comes time for him to yell out his chosen name to save Fantasia, my entire life and all the times I have watched this movie… I have never been able to figure out what name he calls out. This has always bugged me. I brought it up while we watched this part. Another friend that was there suggested that we just put the subtitles on to figure it out. DUH! Why did I never think of this before!? So we rewind the scene and put on the subtitles.

Me: “I have been waiting my whole life to know what name he calls out. I’m so excited”

**Movie continues**

Me: “Here it comes!!!”

** movie continues, Bastian yells out the name, at that point, the subtitles stop, and then continue after he is done yelling the name**

Me: “WHAT?!!! The people who put in the subtitles couldn't even understand it enough to put it in! I was so excited to finally find out. Guess I will never know.”

So Rob ends up on Google to search for the answer. Wikapedia gives us an answer. The name that he yells out is Moon Child. What? No way. This is the first time I don’t believe Wikapedia and look for a second opinion. Nate, another friend that stayed to watch the movie suggests looking up the screenplay. I google the screenplay of the movie. Found it. We go to the script for that part of the movie. Indeed… “Moon Child” is the name that he gives to the Childlike Empress to save Fantasia. I was disappointed. All I can say is…. His mother must have been a big time hippy.