Mr. Internet

In Mormon culture, when you are single and hit the age of 25, many people start to worry about why you are not married. Every time you go home to visit or see someone that you have not seen in a long time... one of the first questions you are asked is if you are dating someone. When the answer is no, the next question is Why not? When you tell them you just have not found the right guy yet, many times what they say next is..... "Well, have you tried the Internet?". I HATE this. I know it shouldn't bother me.... but it does. I feel like resorting to the Internet for dating is like you are giving up and are desperate and that is your only option left if you want to get married. However, I know that it does work for some people. I know personally of some success stories.

That being said, I actually do have an account on a singles site. I will admit it. Most people that meet people online are pretty secret about it and don't want others to know.... but more people are searching online than you think. I have met very FEW guys that have contacted me online. I don't search out guys I just have an account and go through phases with checking it to see if anyone has written me. Most of the guys either are super weird/ awkward which is why they are doing most of their dating online OR I get the guys that just want to make out with me.... which is why some people have given the site the nick name of "LDS Hook Up". Either way.... I'm usually not interested and don't write back. I hardly attract normal guys with my profile. Then again.... this is what I have as my profile picture, so maybe I don't really take it seriously.

So.... moving on to "Mr. Internet". For this post, he is not one guy, but Mr. Internet is representing many guys that have written me over the last few months. I have been collecting the good ones to share with you.

The first experience I will tell you about.... because I didn't copy it. The rest I will copy and paste as they were written to me. This first experience is back in the day when I used MySpace (which I didn't use for dating, but would get hit on every once in a while). One day, I had received an email from a guy. He didn't have a picture posted and the email just said something like "I think your cute and you seem fun. Check out my profile and see what I have to offer and let me know if you are interested". I am of course curious, so I look at his profile. His profile says that he is Mormon, in shape and making good money. His profile ALSO said that he was in his 40's and he was happily married with children. What the what? Why is he writing me? I then read his profile where he explains that his wife doesn't know that he is online and he doesn't want to hurt anyone... he just wants to have a little fun when he is out. I'm totally disgusted of course and don't reply. He writes me again. "Did you read my profile? I would love to have a good time with you and I would be willing to pay you for your time". SICK!!!! Which part of my profile says that I am a prostitute!? Oh... I'm pretty sure it doesn't. What about my profile makes me look like I would even be slightly interested in that you creep! You better believe I was offended. You also better believe that I wrote him back and told him off and how terrible he was being and eventually his wife would find out. I think soon after that he deleted his profile... not to say he didn't try to continue his creepiness.  That was my ultimate worst experience.

Here are some messages that I have gotten from different guys lately.....

#1- How's Provo? I'm sure you're freezing your keister off. ALthough, even here in the CA front... it's still pretty darn chilly. 

Oh, BTW, I'm not bipolar. 

Maybe a little OCD, but not bipolar. 

#2- Kiss me with your potato chip lips.. ;) 

#3- How is today l guess cool.you are very beautiful.can we be friend.hoping to hear from you soon.

#4- Quack Quack.

#5- i will dig it..cuz real men have gardens!

#6- Can I take chips from your lips? Just kidding. don't mind it.

You know? Your smile can give happiness to many people. I feel that we can be good friends. How do you feel? 

#7 - Hey Tracy!!! Happy new year, can I ask, and don't mean to scare you but I was just wondering if I was to come to utah, would you like to perhaps do something together?

#8-  I wanna kiss your lips.. i mean your pringles muah muah muah

#9- I hope you don't mind me sending you a message. I wanted to introduce myself and let you know I really enjoyed your profile. My name is ____ and I recently moved to Salt Lake City from Texas for grad school at the U of U. I work in West Jordan as a social worker for a domestic violence shelter house.

How goofy do you get in public? I'm guilty almost everytime I go to Target or Wal-Mart of being quite crazy, its like I say, insanity is the only freedom left in a sane world gone mad. 

I hope to hear back from you, hopefully I did a good enough job of sparking your interest. I guarantee I'm a good guy. You're probably thinking that you've heard that before, but did it ever come with a Texas Guarantee?

#10-  Hey Tracy how are you? how's things my darling, what have you been upto? do you think I could borrow a broom so I can sweep you off your feet? If I was to come to utah what would you say?

#11- Ooooo.... I love it when I get messages like these. 

What's up cutie? Just wanted to say hi. Don't be shy! I think you're pretty fly. I'm a nice guy. Maybe you should give me a try? Why ask why? Try bud dry! lol. Come on baby! I won't ever cheat, control you or lie. Just wanna be loved before I die! Ok I've rambled enough, Now I'll just say goodbye. P.S. You have pretty eyes. :)

Now for my 2 top favorite / weirdest emails I have received!!

#12 - I am ___ a model and director .. i will tell u a little secret b4 i start i am a very romantic man ...i

love to make my woman feel wanted ...ok..i do a little of model grooming too....i like painting..pics of those i love
mostly ...i also writs poems and quotes for commercial purposes .........i am 40 years old and i have a son ...his
name is james....i lost my wife in a car crash and things have not remained the same since then.....i will tell u this
u are really an angel and thats why i am taking this time out to appreciate what the good LORD has sent my way.i have taken time to view ur pics over and over again ,,,,and i have also read through ur profile say 10 times and thats why im taken this medium to reach u ...i have a lot to say about

myself...............Hmmm, describe myself? Let's see.... I am genuine, loyal, honest, trustworthy, truthful,
committed, funny, loving (my hearts as big as Texas), I believe in dating/being committed to only one
woman---which makes me a one woman man, I'm confident, I also enjoy working in my yard,
swimming, spending time with my son, fishing, boating, shooting pool (though I will admit----I'm not
too good), throwing darts (been quite a while since I've done this---I do still enjoy it), firing up the grill,
spoiling that special woman in my life, flirting with and teasing that special woman in my life, also
completely and totally satisfying my woman, horse back riding, vacationing in the mountains, riding
four wheelers, jet-skiing, also enjoy spending quiet evenings at home and cuddling up with my
special man watching a movie, listening to music or just wrapping up my woman up in my arms
talking. I know these things don't make me different but these are some of the things I enjoy. I enjoy
the simple things life has to offer. You should never take a relationship for granted, always enjoy the
relationship because the two of you are together and potentially are looking to start a new life
together, not because of any material things you may derive from the relationship. Material things
don't mean a thing if you don't have someone you love to share and enjoy them with., though i am
very new on this site ..........and thats why i will like to leave here pretty soon .......remember i wouldn't want to remain here for too long ...i need a serious relationship .....a woman with values and respect for her man ........and i will treat her like my queen forever and ever .....i also will be happy if u will add me to ur yahoo messenger .....

AND Last but not least....

#13- I left my sweetheart many years ago in the premortal existence and promised to marry her in this mortal life.She is beautiful.She is loving,down to earth,full of spirit,enduring,she has charity,she is caring,she is always thinking of me,she want me to be there always for her and forever.I promised her that I will love her forever and known else.She is so inviting and holds me always as her treasured pearl.She is God fearing and has the testimony of the gospel.I love her like my life.I promised to take her to the temple. SO ARE YOU THE ONE? have a wonderful evening. 

And now you know why I don't date guys from the Internet. Just Sayin. I DO want to know which one was your favorite though.

Run and Tell that!

Lately, there has been a lot of sharing of funny YouTube video's. One night when we were all sharing our favorite video's, someone showed this one. Most everyone had seen it, but I had not. I thought it was pretty funny. I mean... the fact that it actually happened is not funny, but the guy on the news telling about what happened is pretty funny. The fact that they made it into a little rap song is even more funny. If you are like me and not up to date on all of the YouTube video's going around....  then let me introduce you to this one.

Here is the news clip. Need to watch this one first.



Now here is the song.



HA HA HA HA HA!!!

DVD Storage to Chic Shelves

I used to have my TV in my bedroom. Besides an occasional late night movie on a Friday night as I went to bed.... I really didn't use my TV. Recently some of you know that I am transforming the living room of the basement into a TV/ craft room with decorations inspired by my travels. So the TV moved, but I didn't want to display the DVD's the way I had them before. Instead of getting rid of the little shelves that held my DVD's.... I got an idea to keep them and make them cute. What did I do to do this? I went to the craft store and bought scrapbook paper that matched the theme of my bedroom and put it on the back of the shelves. Since they are small shelves, I decided to display perfume bottles, candles and a few frames. I'm not done... some of the shelves are still empty.... but you get the idea. I actually love it.  Brings a fun new element to the room and another place to hold stuff. They usually make perfume bottles very fancy, so why not put them on display?

Now... there is an empty wall where the TV used to be. I am feeling another project coming....

Before

After

Before

After

I think they are cute AND it was a cheap and simple way to change something to make it seem like new.

Cleanse

I have talked about doing the Cabbage Soup Diet/ Cleanse before, but I have had a few people ask me about it since I am doing it again and so I thought i would share it on the blog.

Its only 7 days long and with only putting good things in your body.... you feel great after. At least I do. I know that since the holiday's I have just been feeling kind of crappy. I can  just feel when my body needs a cleanse and it was long over due. Its just hard because I am surrounded by good food all the time. I think its really a good thing to do every once in a while though... and the bonus with this cleanse is that you are supposed to lose up to 10 pounds by the end of the week. 

Here is what you do...

Day 1: Eat only fruit, but no banana's. For drinks you can have cranberry juice or unsweetened tea.

Day 2: Eat only Veggies, but no peas or corn. End the day with baked potato with butter.

Day 3: Mix Days 1 & 2.

Day 4: Bananas and milk (up to 8 bananas) and no limit on milk.

Day 5: Beef and Tomatoes (10-20 oz beef & up to 6 tomatoes).  Can substitute beef with chicken or fish.

Day 6: Beef and Veggies, but no potato. You can have 2 or 3 steaks if you want.

Day 7: Brown rice, veggies and unsweetened fruit juices

You can have as much of the Cabbage Soup as you want, but must eat it at least once a day along with at least 4 glasses of water and a vitamin. 

What you need for the Cabbage Soup:

Cabbage Soup Recipe

* 6 large green onions

* 2 green peppers

* 1 or 2 cans of diced tomatoes

* 3 carrots

* 1 (10oz) mushrooms

* 1 bunch celery

* 1/2 head of cabbage

* 1 package of Lipton Soup Mix

* 1 or 2 cubes of bouillon

* 1 48oz can of V8 juice

* season with salt, pepper or any seasoning.

Cut up everything and add to pot along with 12 cups of water or 8 cups of water and the V8 juice. Cook for about 3 hours..... yeah.... it takes a while. However, this soup lasts me the whole week.

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 50

Oh my gosh! Can you believe I have been confessing for 50 weeks now? Crazy.

Speaking of crazy things.... I can't believe I have to give up my background on my blog. I only have a few days left with it. I have grown so attached to the look of my blog and now.... its going to have to change. I have been thinking a lot of what I want it to look like. It will take some getting used to, but maybe the forced change will be a good thing. You will have to be the judge of that.

Last night, I got on facebook to check things out before I went to bed. EVERY SINGLE status update on there from my friends was about the BYU basket ball game. I would have posted on my status that I didn't watch the game and don't care..... but I hardly ever update my status on facebook because I figure if people want to know what is going on with me.... they can read my blog. Plus, I thought people might hate on me if I admitted to not watching the game. Lets be honest, I can't lose friends right now. ha ha. Seriously though.... I think I was buying food at WalMart and I really don't care that I missed "the best BYU basketball game ever". Call me a weirdo if you want.

The time as come. Its quarter end again. Seems to come so quickly. Its amazing the difference. It can go from being really slow to super busy the DAY quarter end officially starts. Yep... I have been busy. Its not a bad thing though.... makes the day go by faster.

Remember how I LOVE my new eyelashes? Well, I loved them so much that I want everyone to know how awesome I think Jenni is and I set up a business blog for her. I called it "A Little Blink of Mink" since they are Mink eyelashes and "Lush Lashes" and "Lovely Lashes" were majorly taken by other people doing eyelash extensions.  Please look at the blog HERE and let me know what you think of it. Next time I see her to do my fills, I am going to get better pictures of her for the blog. Its a start.

I feel like I know a LOT of people that are pregnant right now. I could be wrong.... but it seems like either I know a bunch of people getting married, or a bunch of people that are pregnant and having babies. I know several people that are due in June. Crazy.

This was a big month with goals that I had set for myself. Now the end of the month is here and its crunch time. I am wondering if I am going to be able to make it. I totally got held back with my India room with a couch disaster. Lets just say Jeanna and I spent an hour trying to get the couch I bought to fit down the stairs to the basement and it ended with major disappointment.  I picked out a new one that was not in stock and I don't know when it is going to be delivered. I also don't know when my Saree is going to come in the mail. Any day now.... so my goal of completing that room this month.... well... I might not make it. I also had a goal to finish my India book.... I might still be able to make it if I can finish it this weekend, which means I need many hours to dedicate to it to make it great. I also have a goal to read a book a month.... not sure I am going to make that one either unless I start dedicating my nights to reading. Maybe I set the bar too high for myself. I had a goal to go to the temple once a month so at least I did that one. I am not a complete disappointment.

Everyone is talking about the Bachelor. I have had several people, even my friend Eric, ask me if I have been watching because obviously they have. I have to admit that i have never gotten into the show. I have seen several episodes over the years and I can see why people get hooked, but I just never have. I know this season of the Bachelor is a big deal because #1... there is a girl on there from SLC that I guess nobody likes and #2 because this is Brad (the Bachelor's) 2nd time being the Bachelor because the first time didn't work out.... he couldn't propose. I decided to watch the most recent episode to see what the fuss was about. I totally see how people are sucked into watching.... its ridiculous. That is why the show has been on the air for so long. What I don't understand is why ANYONE would sign up for it. The girls are letting themselves be played on national television. All of the girls fall in love with 1 man while he is falling in love with 6 and letting them all believe that they are special and different from the rest of the girls when in all reality they are not. I don't understand how you can "fall in love" under these circumstances. I really really don't get it. How do you really get to know 1 person when you are dating 9? I just watch the show and I laugh. I could NEVER do it. I would never be able to open myself up to a guy and have to share him with a house full of other girls and watch it. Nope. Its SO wrong.... but maybe its just me.

Photo of the Week 48

Really missing this right now....

Peter Pan

On Saturday after the Bridal shower, the baptism and the reunion dinner, I went to a play.
The gang got together again. We love to see plays together. This time we went to BYU's performance of Peter Pan. Jayna had a lot to do with the play which is one of the main reasons why we went. She helped put on the show and made this wonderful table display. Isn't she awesome? I know she put a lot of work into that play and it payed off, they did an awesome job. This was actually my first time seeing Peter Pan the musical. I of course have seen the Disney movie and I know some of the music from the show. It was well done. My favorite part was the Indian's. They had some rockin costumes and amazing choreography. It made me want to learn their dances. So fun!
Here is Jayna in front of her table display.

Here is most of the group that went to support Jayna and see the awesome play.

Bravo! Bravo!!

Reunion at the Banks

On Saturday after I attended the Bridal Shower and a Baptism, I had a dinner to attend...

When I first moved into Deer Haven (we won't talk about how long ago that was) I had one of the best bishopric's ever. Like.... I cried when they got released. That has only happened one other time. I just loved them. Well, I have not really seen them since. Brother and Sister Banks just remodeled their kitchen and to celebrate wanted to have us all over. Well... not all of us.... a select few of the people that were in the ward back in the day.

It was so fun to see the Banks and the Stewarts. Sadly the Mitchells couldn't come. It would have been a total blast to have them there. Hopefully we can do it again sometime.

Here are some of my friends from when I first joined the ward that came to the dinner.

Me and my good friend for the past several years.... Angela.

I always LOVE getting together with old friends that you have not seen in a long time. 

Winter Bridal Shower

Yesterday I went to the cutest bridal shower that I think I have ever attended. It was for one of my cruise girls BFF's, Nicole. I have kind of retired from going to Bridal Shower's.... but Nicole is a really good friend for the past several years and is the sweetest, so I wanted to go to hers. Aileen and other cruise BFF Nicole put it on and it was my favorite Bridal shower I have attended. Why? Amazing food (I will have to make the yummy dishes and blog about it because they were amazing), beautifully decorated, NO dumb bridal shower games, nothing that made me feel uncomfortable... just chatting with good friends eating good food and watching her open presents.

I just loved how Aileen and Nicole decorated for the shower.... so I sat and admired their work and took pictures. The Bride sign was probably the cutest sign I have ever seen. I also LOVED the idea of the little flags that said different things on the straws. I will have to keep that in mind for my next party. They also had cute party favors for everyone to take home. Seriously. Everything. Cute.

Here I am with the Bride to be.... and then all of the girls that came to the shower (except one). I am so happy for Nicole. The man she is marrying is awesome and Nicole deserves it. I wish them all the best!

Don't Judge Me Because They're Fake

For as long as I can remember, I have been super jealous of the people that have long beautiful eyelashes. I have always dreamed of having them but didn't think that would ever be a dream that would come true. I mean, I have the fake set that you buy at the store and glue on... but they are super dramatic and don't look natural and I basically wear them on Halloween and that's it.

A few weeks ago I found out that my old co-worker and good friend is certified to do eyelash extensions and was going to be in town. I contacted her right away and told her I wanted them. Sooo..... on Friday night my roommate and I went to see Jenni and she gave us our eyelash extensions and for a really good price. It took about an hour each to get them put on. It was painless and they look completely natural. In fact.... NOBODY has noticed that I have them on unless I have told them. They look awesome! I absolutely love them. I feel so pretty with them. Also, another huge bonus is that it saves me time getting ready. Why? Because I don't have to curl my eyelashes and put on mascara.

Here is Jenni putting the lashes on my roommate.

Here are my lashes before....

And after.

I also enjoyed being able to catch up with Jenni. I had not seen her since we worked together two years or so ago. She is the sweetest. This girl knows how to make you feel like a million bucks. Love her to death. If this is ever something you have wanted to get done (even for just a special occasion) and you are in Utah County or in Boise Idaho.... Jenni is your girl and I can get you her contact info. :o) I know I am a happy customer. Thanks Jenni! Your the best!

Mr. Persistent

Back in July I gave this guy that I hardly knew my phone number. When we first met.... he seemed normal, which is why when he asked for my phone number... I gave it to him. It was very soon after I did this that I realized he was a weirdo and therefore was a big mistake to give him my phone number.

At first I felt bad for him and responded to his text messages. This lasted about a month. Which was a month too long. Texting with this guy would be an all day and all night event because he just kept sending text message after text message of him begging me to hang out with him and telling me over and over how great and special I am. If I didn't respond to one text, he would send three or four more text wondering why I wasn't responding and if I was mad at him for some reason. I finally told him he text me too much and I couldn't handle it. This helped the situation for like.... a couple days... at the most.

I honestly never wanted to see this guy. He was WAY too weird and needy. I finally had to stop being nice and I decided to stop responding this his text messages. For the first month of not responding to his text messages he just kept texting me "Hi, how are you? This is Mr. Persistent. Remember me?" Like I had just gotten a new phone or accidentally deleted his number and that is why I wasn't responding. Try again Mr. Persistent. If it were the other way around.... if someone didn't respond to a couple of my texts, well.... I would take the hint and wouldn't try to contact them again. Then again, I feel like I am a pretty normal person and I know for sure now that Mr. Persistent is not a normal person.

The second month of me not answering his text messages at first I thought was going really well. I didn't hear from him for a while. Then all of the sudden I got several text messages from him within a couple of days! Ummmm..... okay.
First one went something like this....

"Hey Tracy, I haven't heard from you in a long time. How have you been? I would really like to hear from you again, you are such a sweet person and a good example to me."

(First method.... maybe if I sweet talk her and tell her how awesome I think she is, she will think I'm sweet and want to talk to me)

Second one came around 2am and went something like this....

"I don't blame you for not responding to me. I'm a worthless piece of crap. You will not hear from me again"

(Second method.... maybe I can get her to feel sorry for me and get her to respond by guilt. What I was thinking was.... wow... weird. I feel sorry for him, but not enough to respond. He is finally getting the hint! I hope he means it when he says I won't hear from him again)

Third one came the next day and went something like this....

"Hey Tracy! Thanks for being such an awesome friend to me. Let me know if you are ever flying somewhere, I can give you my buddy pass and you will fly for free"

(Third method.... maybe if I bribe her she will respond to me. What I was thinking was.... MAN! I thought he promised me I would never hear from him again!).

I wish I could say after two months of not responding to ANY of his text messages that he would have stopped texting me. In July the mistake was made of me giving this guy my phone number. Six months later, now January.... I am still paying for this mistake. He still texts me. He is still trying different methods to see if he can get a response out of me.  Just the other day I got a text from him that said "Tracy, you are so beautiful and great example to me" two days later "whats up".

Dear Mr. Persistent,

I will tell you whats up! GIVE UP!!! I'm NOT going to text you back! I'm sure there is another girl out there just waiting for your attention and devotion. That girl is not me. Sorry.

Thanks,
Tracy

You think he will ever give up?

Confessions of a Brunette on the Internet 49

On Saturday after shopping with my friend Rachel, we went to one of my favorite restaurants in Provo. The Bombay House. For those of you who don't know what that is, its Indian food. I had not eaten there since I have been to India. It was weird/ awesome to see the huge picture of the Taj Mahal on the wall and say... hey! I have been there! Looking at the menu I wanted something that they didn't have on the menu... something that I had while I was in India and fell in love with. I asked for it even though it was not on the menu, and.... they gave it to me.... and it was awesome. I need to eat Indian food more often. I need to try and make it since I bought a cookbook there. I also just found the Bollywood Market which I can find all the things I need to cook the food. Perfect.

Almost every time I go to WalMart, I see people I know. This last Monday my good friend Jessica and I went to get food and we ran into two good friends. We ended up talking in the isle for an hour. We all live within 2 minutes of each other and never do that, but we see each other in WalMart and bonding time. Who knew that WalMart had the ability to bring people together?

So... I got released from my calling as FHE leader and I could not be happier. I used to love the calling, its true.... but when I got a partner that didn't help and only a few people in my group actually came (not even my roommates) it got old pretty fast. Since I didn't have to worry about planning FHE this week, I went to Jess's group and we all played our favorite YouTube Video's. Amazingly enough I had already seen most of the videos. I am not sure what that says about me. Its awesome how much entertainment comes from YouTube.

I watched American Idol last night because I was bored. I was not planning on watching this season because I am done with that show... but I was curious about how the new judges would be. I think the show is not the same without Simon. Steven Tyler is kind of weird and JLo is pretty much exactly like Paula. Seriously. The auditions I think are entertaining to watch.... but I won't watch past that. There will not be another year like the David vs David year. I was devoted then.... not since.

I think counseling is awesome. I feel like more people should go. Of course I think good counseling comes from good counselors and not all of them are. When my ex fiance and I broke up... I was a mess. It was the hardest thing I had ever gone through. I couldn't go a day at work without crying (my poor co-workers.... they were so great to me). My boss was the one that suggested that I go to counseling and that it was something that was included in my benefits so I wouldn't have to pay and pointed me in the direction of a GREAT counselor. I thought to myself... I have never been to counseling, but why not? It could only help me right? Can't get worse than where I was at, so I went. He was so awesome. Every time I left his office I left feeling really positive and having hope. I went once a week for a month and then it became less and less. It only lasted 3 months, but I think it was the best thing that I did for myself at that time having just gone through what I did. I was able to move forward a lot faster. The counselor helped me realize how good it was that we didn't get married and all the issues that he had and that I was okay, I handled everything well and that I was going to find someone else that was such a better match for me. He let me cry to him and gave me options of things to do that I could handle at the time. He was a great man. I will always be thankful for him. He made a difference in my life. I say was a great man because my boss told me the other day that he recently died. He wasn't super old or sick, he died of a sudden heart attack in Costco. I was so sad to hear this news. He was such a great man that not only made a difference in my life but in the life of many. I am lucky that my issues were resolved and he told me I didn't need him anymore a year ago. He had told me on our last visit (even though I had plenty more visits to use) that I didn't need him anymore because I was fine.... but that if I ever needed him in the future for anything to give him a call, even if it was a year later. That was a year ago that he said that. I actually have considered going back, just to talk about some things and I am sad that I can't. I'm even more sad for the people that were currently working with him. He was a good man that made a difference in many lives.

Last night I went to a birthday party. At this party.... I tried SPAM for the first time. Its not the sickest thing that I have ever eaten, but I really don't know why people buy the stuff. It smells and looks like cat food. My BFF neighbor took a picture to document my first time trying SPAM.

Photo of the Week 47

I drive by these horses everyday.

Cousins

At the family gathering, I got to spend a little bit of time with my cousin Lauren. She is one of the few cousins my age and that I saw pretty often growing up so we have always been pretty close.

I had actually just been cleaning through my stuff and ran into a lot of old pictures and found a few of Lauren and I through the years. I know we have pictures together earlier than this.... but the earliest one I could find was when we were in Jr. High. I might have been a freshman in High School. It was taken at our cousin Greta's wedding.

At Lauren's brother Brandon's Wedding.

At our Grandma's funeral

I visited Lauren when she was going to BYU Idaho and we went to Jackson Hole.

At the Festival of Colors

At the Rodeo

At Lauren's Wedding

And here we are now (taken at the family gathering). Lauren is now pregnant!!!! Congrats to her and Chris.

Lauren is such a sweetheart. We have had a lot of good memories together and I am blessed not only to have her in my life but that we were able to form a close relationship as cousins. We were a really great support to each other with things that we had both been through and I enjoy spending time with her and Chris now and just catching up on life. Hopefully one day I will catch up to her (marriage & kid) and we will have more of an excuse to get together. :o) Love you Lauren! Thanks for being amazing.

Directions

I don't know who the first person was that thought to do this, but I have heard it from a couple of people. You go to Google Maps and then click on get directions. You type in USA as start of destination and Japan as the end point.

This is what what comes up. *click on image to enlarge*

First of all, I am not sure why when you type in "USA" it decides to start you off in Kansas, but you do... so deal with it. It then leads you to Washington. Once you are to the end of Washington #31 in the directions tells you to Kayak across the Pacific Ocean. This is better than yahoo maps which I think tells you to swim. Hopefully there is a kayak there waiting for you or you come prepared with one. #32 in the directions is to keep going straight.... you know.... while you are kayaking. As if you know what direction is straight while you are kayaking across the Pacific Ocean.

Then they are nice enough to lead you to Hawaii for a break before you get to #46 in the directions which tells you to to kayak across the Pacific Ocean again until you get to Japan. You would think once you kayaked to Japan that you would just be in Japan.... but you still have 31 more directions before it says you are officially in your destination spot of Japan. From start to finish there are 78 directions.

And it will only take you 35 days to complete this trip. How do you think they measured how fast you would be able to kayak from Washington to Hawaii? Or from Hawaii to Japan? I think it would take me longer than 35 days for this trip. I would get really tired of kayaking. Actually... I would probably die on this trip of starvation, dehydration and then I would drown and get eaten by a shark. Maybe I'm a wimp. Just sayin.

We are Family

My Aunt Sharleen is in town from Washington State to visit her son and his family. She thought it would be fun to have a dinner at my parents house since they have a nice big house that can fit a lot of people.
So we had a pot luck Sunday dinner and amazingly almost all of my mom's side of the family that live in Utah attended. Some drove up to an hour and 40 minutes to come! Its rare that my mom's side of the family gets together, so it was a lot fun to see some of my aunts and uncles and cousins after not seeing some of them for many years.

It got a little crazy, but somehow we documented the event with pictures.

1st Generation. My mom and 3 out of 6 of her siblings. Aren't they a good looking bunch?

2nd Generation. Me and 6 out of 19 of my cousins. Sorry for the major red eye.

3rd Generation. This was the hardest picture to get. I couldn't even tell you how many 3rd generation kids there are because I don't even know. A lot.

Here is everyone that came to the dinner. Without the stairs I don't think we would have been able to get a picture where you could see everyone. It was a crazy house for a few hours, but it sure was a lot of fun. So good to see everyone that came.

Bigger is not Always Better

A LONG time ago, my little brother built a computer. Back then, it was the bomb dot com. When my brother left on his mission in 2004, he gave me that gem of a computer. For YEARS I have been using that computer. Lugging it around. It didn't matter that they were making computers smaller and smaller.... I kept that computer. People would look at my computer in my room and say... what the.... I don't know why. Maybe because it was HUGE? Mostly people would ask me why it had a handle on top. I would then have to explain that my brother built it that way for LAN parties. Then I would remember that most people don't know what a LAN Party is and would have to explain it to them. Besides the handle on top of the tower and the see through case with the red light around the fan, I think my favorite thing about that computer is the dragon sticker that my brother put by the power button.

Well, a little over a year ago I bought a MacBook Pro. I no longer needed the HUGE computer. I still kept it for a year because I had not taken all the info off of the hard drive and put it on my laptop. I have been going through all of my stuff and getting rid of stuff I don't use anymore and the computer was one of them. I finally got all the info I needed off of it and gave it back to my brother this weekend. Using it again after a year I had forgotten how slow and full of viruses it was. It was good to me, but I was not sad to see it go. I wonder how happy my brother was to get back his master piece after 7 years?

Definitely not a bad thing to go from this....

To this....

I love having more space. I love technology.