Muchas Gracias!

Okay, real quick, I just want to say a few things that I'm thankful for since I haven't been doing this as often as I should!

1) Crossing things off of my bucket list. Its seriously one of the coolest things ever. Although, it wasn't a very HARD one...it was to finish my Christmas shopping before December starts and I'm happy to report that all of my shopping will be done by Friday. Can we say, 'boom baby?' Yes...yes we can! :) I guess I can't REALLY cross it off yet. Knowing my luck, I'll think I'm good to go and then Christmas Eve, I'll remember that I forgot something. Its very possible that I'll just wait til after Christmas and decide to randomly give a New Years gift...a part of me says that's cheating. But the other part says, who cares? :)

2) Volleyball. I know I hate on it all the time...mostly because I'm terrible at most sports and I always feel bad for the people on my team when, by some strange coincidence, someone forgets to jump in front of me and I get to take my shots at the ball and then it turns into some huge monstrosity. I'm really there as a place filler when needed and to provide accidental entertainment to the other team. :) But for real though, last night, when I played, it was really a lot of fun. Maybe its because none of the big, scary Tongans were there to crush me...its possible. Not to mention that everyone that stayed to play were all of my friends so they didn't really care...when volleyball isn't lame, I like it :)

3) Being organized and planned out. I bought myself a good planner the other day as a 'good job for getting a job' present. There's nothing like getting to cross things off of my list of things to get done (see above...I must have problems haha) or just knowing that you're not forgetting anything because its all written down and planned out. No mess ups except for user error :) I can cope with that! Its peaceful and calming to me. So its good to have that peace of mind on those stressful days!

Happy Thanksgiving to all y'all faithful readers. I love ya like a million pumpkin pies (with whipped cream on top, of course) :)

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Wow geez...I cant believe that I haven't written in so long! Please accept my apologies for being lazy :) Seeing as how its November, I want to pick three things that I'm grateful for and write about them for each entry this month. I need to be better about recognizing the blessings in my life! So, to start off, I'm thankful for finally getting a job! WOO HOO! It's not exactly what I would like to be doing, ultimately, but I have enjoyed my first week so that's definitely good. I was originally going to be an administrative assistant in the HR department, but long story short, they moved me over into accounting to be the new Travel/Expense Report guru for the Civilian Police department. Dyncorp has a lot of contracts with each of the branches of the US Military and basically, we send police over to Afghanistan, Iraq and other places like that to have them help train the police departments over there so that the security will be better. Dyncorp does a lot more than that, but that's pretty much my department in a nutshell. I really enjoy the people that I work with. My trainer, Heather, and I kinda bonded cuz she doesn't drink or do anything like that so its nice to have backup...I've already noticed how much everyone loves a little alcohol in that office. We had a department meeting on Thursday and when we walked in, we were given two tickets each, representing how many alcoholic beverages we were allowed to consume during the duration of the meeting. haha. Good times, right? My new cubicle has a label on one of the filing cabinets that says "Liquor cabinet" lol. I'm definitely not in Provo anymore, that's for sure! :) Heather's husband is a Baptist minister so we've had some fun little religious discussions too so its been good. And I'm so excited that I get my own cubicle! Sad, I know, but its still exciting for me anyway! :) I've been figuring out how I want to decorate it this week and I think I might finally get my laptop and phone this week, so I should be able to "move in" sometime soon :) YAY! I have a lot to be thankful for, that's for sure!

I'm also thankful for my little nieces. I know I talk about them ALL the time, but holy poop, I love those girls. It was interesting to see how much I really missed them this week since I couldn't go over and play with them everyday like I have been able to for the last few months. I stopped by on Thursday night after work and when I walked in, both girls came running to give me a huge hug and they pretty much wouldn't let go for most of the time that I was there. As Ben put it so well..."Its hard to have a bad day when you come home to that, isn't it?" Seriously...I'm pretty sure that those girls have made it so I didn't completely lose my mind during the first couple of months that I was here. They made the bad days into happy ones and put a smile on my face, for sure. I don't know what I'd do without them!

And the last one for today...I'm thankful for my new calling. Its funny that I'm actually excited about it. For those who don't know, I got put back into the Relief Society Presidency and this last week has been absolutely amazing! This is where I love to be, for sure. I'm the 2nd counselor this time, so I get to be in charge of activities, formerly known as enrichment. :) I almost feel like some kind of Relief Society junky or something...as soon as I got the calling, I got so excited and that familiar feeling that I had when I was RSP in Provo came back and it made me so happy to feel it again! I cant wait to serve the sisters of the Colleyville 2nd ward. We have a lot of work ahead of us but some wonderful things to work towards and I'm so excited about it! Not to mention that I'm going to learn so much while I'm serving in this capacity. The experience will be new and exciting, for sure! Yahoo! Bring it on!

Anyway, happy Novembering to all of you! I hope you can all find at least one thing that you're thankful for each day and try to remember it throughout the day! XOXO

A Taste of the Sweet Life

FYI: Seeing as how I usually just copy and paste this stuff into my electronic journal, its going to be a pretty long entry, so feel free to skip over reading all this stuff...it probably wont be very exciting :) This last week and a half I've been up in Utah for Kami's wedding. It was seriously one of the best weeks and a half of my life! That may have something to do with the fact that I got to go to the temple 5 times in less than a week and see my best friend get married. Not to mention that I got to catch up with all of my friends back in P Town and really live up the life I used to have there. I definitely didn't appreciate it well enough when I was living it.

Friday
I flew in (a little late as usual...my flights are hardly EVER on time) and right when I landed I get a text from JaeLyn telling me not to tell Kami that I was there yet. Chapan wanted to surprise her. I was supposed to meet her after work and head up to SLC with her to go get her marriage license. So, they called and told her my flight was late, which it was, and that she would just have to go without me. Luckily, it was only like 5 minutes late, so I was still able to surprise her :) JaeLyn took me over to where Chapan works in SLC and then we went up to the court building together and I got to pop out from behind a car to surprise Kami. She cried...I cried...lots of crying, but it was good. She was only mad at us for like 5seconds :) Later that night, we threw Kami a bridal shower and called it good. I've never seen Kami look so stylish! :) We stayed up talking as usual, ...and Kami ended up carressing my face when she was sleeping. Definitely hilarious, although, I suppose I deserved that after carressing her face with my foot back in high school while I was sleeping. I think I got the better end of the deal :)

Saturday
Kami took her endowments out on Saturday morning. It was fun since she took hers out at Timpanogos, where I did mine. It was fun to be back there. Momma Bear was right...she told me that when she came back to Utah and went through the temple after being in Dallas for so long, the big temples kinda feel TOO big. I kinda missed my little me sized temple. But I got over that soon enough :) After hangin out and lunching and stuff, Kami, Chapan and I went back to the temple to do a session that night at the Jordan River temple. Momma and Papa bear are temple workers there and Papa Bear was officiating so Kami wanted to go. That makes my temple count up to 6 at this point. Bring it on, baby! P.S. I decided I'm going to start doing a little mini scrapbook thing with all of the dates I went through each temple for the first time. I don't know why...but I can still remember each day for each of the temples...I'll count myself lucky cuz that usually never happens unless its in the form of a movie or song. :)

Sunday
Papa Bear gave a talk in church about temple worship which was so good! Although, I think one of my favorite parts of church that day was when Kami came into Relief Society, she pulled out a package of fruit snacks that she had packed extra for me :) It made me so much happy! I used to eat snacks during Sunday School all the time and for whatever reason, I haven't done that since I've moved back. Its the small things in life, right? Jeremy, JaeLyn, Papa Bear and I played a little round of Hand and Foot (JaeLyn and I stomped on the boys, by the way...totally awesome!) And then we wrapped it up with a little crud tournament. I must say that I wasn't quite as lucky at that game :) Emily and Matty came over for dinner and then we headed back to Provo. I made my rounds and said hi to everyone and then I got to go to singing time (one of my favorites that I've missed so much since I've been back), ward prayer and Disney night. It was so wonderful! Such a great day!

Monday
I woke up early and went to do a session with my friend Natania, in the Provo temple. It was so amazing...I turned around and guess who I saw, sitting in the chapel? ASHLEY STADLER!!! She's been in the MTC for like 3 weeks now and it was so wonderful to see her. We hugged and cried (yet again...I really should've kept count to see how many times I cried during this trip haha). It was so wonderful though. And Natania is serving where Ashley and her companion are going, so that was fun for them to tell her what more to expect and for Nat to know familiar faces when she gets there. Kami came down to Provo later on so we could do some last minute wedding shopping, which took just about all day. I think I pooped her out. :) But we got a lot of stuff done so that's what matters, right? Klark met us for lunch at Kneaders which was AMAZING. I've never been there except for breakfast before and it was so good! We went to FHE at the Stake President's house and then Jason came over and played yahtzee with Emily and I once we got back. I freakin love that game!

Tuesday
Verdon and I went to the Draper Temple (temple number 7) and we decided to do sealings. It was really cool...neither of us had done them before so it was neat to hear the promised blessings that you recieve when you are sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. Everyone else in the session were married so naturally they all gave the two of us a hard time. They kept tellin him that he needed to put a ring on my finger or that we should come back and do it for real next time. hahah cute old men. Definitely a funny experience. We both just laughed it off but definitely good memories, for sure. We met up with Marisa for lunch at this chinese buffet place and then I headed up to campus to visit with my old supervisors and coworkers. It was great! A little later, Erin and I went out for ice cream and to see Fame. We were so excited because Kherrington was in it and she was one of our favorites from SYTYCD. I remember, after it was over, we both just kinda sat there and were like uh...that's it? hahaha Apparently, it wasn't much like the broadway show of it. Erin remembered someone dying...and no one died, unless we both fell asleep. haha. It was still good times though, for sure. It was fun to catch up on life with her.

Wednesday
Wednesday was super fun! Emily didn't have to do her student teaching and her sister, Jen was in town. We met up with Jen Braithewaite and Britt (two of my old roommates) and went to Zupas for lunch. SO GOOD. That was probably one of my favorite restaurants in Provo. They have the BEST soups and sandwiches. After lunch, we came back to the apartment and played some songs on the guitar and pretty much spent about an hour watching funny youtube videos. We were all laughing til we were crying (count it...that's 3) and our sides hurt. So classic! Again...its all about the simple things in life, right? P.S. I learned how to play an A and a D chord on the guitar...watch out world, here I come! :) Afterwards we went and did some "girl shopping" which was a lot of fun. We finished up the night by watching Bolt with Adam...one of our favorites. So classicly awesome. "I'll snap his neck!" lol. I just cant get enough of that movie.

Thursday
I woke up a little early and went to breakfast with my friend Josh, from freshman year. It was fun to catch up with him. We went to Kneaders to get the all you can eat french toast! *melts* When I got back, we lounged around for a bit and ran some errands. Then, my sister and the Breinholt clan came up to go to the creamery...of course! :) There's no way that we could be in Utah without going to the creamery. This was Kandace's first time to experience the joy of the creamery ice cream too which was a tender experience for us Anderson sisters. Sadly, the girl that scooped my ice cream was no where near as generous as the dude scooping for my sister and Kandace. Hence my staring over at my sister's stash :) We headed back and attempted to take naps, to no avail. Later that night, we went to Kent and Kandace's boys' soccer games. Most of my time was spent on the playground, watching the kiddos...and playing a little too :)

Friday
The day before the wedding! Buckle up! We ran errands all day. We took the kids to the pumpkin patch so they could paint them while we were doing all the wedding stuff so they weren't bored all day. There were some last minute things that we needed to take care of...one of which was making picture frames to put on each of the tables at the reception. We came up with a plan and then got to work. It started out with me, JaeLyn, Meredith, Kami and Kandace and then they slowly left, realizing that we were in our element, leaving JaeLyn and I to finish it up. Chapan's family came over for some yummy homemade chinese food and we stayed up partying most of the night. Once everyone was gone, Kami and I stayed up for a while making sure she was packed and had everything ready to go for the next day so that nothing was forgotten.

Saturday
The big day finally arrived! Kami and I woke up dark and early to go get our hair done and then high tailed it off to the temple. Their sealing was BEAUTIFUL! It was really cool, because on the front row of chairs were all of us...all the brothers and their wives (and me)...just enough seats. It was perfect! I was doing okay until I saw Kami start to cry a little. Halla heard me whimper a bit and then reached over to grab my hand and that's when I kinda lost it. haha (count it...4). I didn't actually lose it til Kami gave me a hug afterwards. Holy crap we were crying like babies. haha. Loved it though. It was so special for me to get to be there. I absolutely loved it. It was just perfect. We took pictures outside, naturally (so cold!) and then headed over to Johnny Carinos for lunch. The reception was rockin too! It was so pretty. I wish my darn camera worked in dark places, but it doesn't so I have nothing to show for it. But it was fun. I got to see a few ppl from back in the day that lived in Texas while I was growing up and then moved to Utah. I saw a couple of my friends from Rexburg too so that was a fun surprise! The big joke that day was that since everyone else that was there was married, that Ron Dude (the Breinholt's youngest son who is on a mission) could be my date for the day. Good times dating cardboard, huh? :) In all, it was a stressful but WONDERFUL day. I'm so glad that I got to be there to share her special day with her.

Sunday
Emily came and got me from the reception and I spent my last day in P Town again. We had ward conference which was AMAZING. I loved getting to go back to my old ward and hear our bishop and stake president speak. They are just so wonderful. Afterwards, the Shell's (my old bishop and his family) came and took me up Bridal Veil Falls for an afternoon walk in the canyon. I don't have the pictures yet, so I cant post them, but it was SO beautiful. I showed my sister one of them and she said it reminded her of Anne of Green Gables. yeah. Loved it! It was so fun to be with them again. When I got back, Tiffany, Jen & Derrick, Mellissa and Zarah & Ashton came over for some good times. Klark came over to make us dinner...SO GOOD and then J Tal and Chris came over too. It was so much fun to visit with everyone! I loved every minute of it. Emily's apartment was in charge of ward prayer that night, so we skipped singing time to prepare our plans and then high tailed it off to ward prayer. It was fun to be a part of that again! We had disney night, one last time and then played Bang! after most people left. It was such a wonderful Sunday!

Monday
I woke up early and got all packed n junk and then walked up to see Adam at work until it was time for me to leave. I figured it was much better time spent than sitting around the apartment while everyone was at work and school. We had ourselves a nice little chat and then Marisa came and got me and brought me to the airport. Good times, right?!?! I headed up to FHE when I got back to Texas and actually had a great time with my friends playing Bang! (again...love it!) and then a few games of Volleyball. Let's just say that people want me to play, more because its funny to watch me attempt to play, than because of my skills. haha. Justin says that I look like someone from High School Musical when I try to spike the ball over the net. Not to mention that I make ninja noises anytime I hit the ball...needless to say, Will took it to another level and started using phrases from Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter everytime he hit the ball to go along with the ninja theme. hahah Good times, good times. Anyway, this is forever long and I've gotta go learn how to do the thriller, so I'm out! XOXO

Family Fun

Conference weekend was great! Its usually one of my favorite weekends of the year. And by 'usually,' I mean, 'always is.' :) I kicked it off by watchin Syd and Malla on Friday night for my sister and brother-in-law so they could go to the temple together and we had a blast! Those girls crack me up and they're so sweet! It was fun to kneel there together and listen to Syd help Malla say her bedtime prayers. Love it! So cute!

Saturday, I taught my dance class and watched the two sessions of conference with a nap somewhere in the middle. (in between sessions of course *teethy grin*) and then I babysat again. These kids are great though. I was sitting there and somehow we got on the subject of Star Wars and they pulled out all of the cartoon DVDs and laid them in front of me. I thought I was looking at heaven itself. haha. Needless to say, we all bonded through that experience. :) Once they were all in bed, I watched 27 dresses...that movie is more like my life than I thought. lol. It almost made me laugh cuz I'm almost positive that I've had some of the exact conversations that they have in that movie. Good times.

Sunday we had our traditional family breakfast, although a part of me did miss the 'conference pancake' from the last three years. The story goes like this...three years ago, we decided to make breakfast with a big group of people before the Saturday morning session. I was in charge of flipping the pancakes...I bet you can see where this is going. lol. I was trying to flip them onto a big plate and I missed... *blushes* Everyone thought it would be funny to leave it there throughout conference and then throw it away once it was over. You can imagine the questions we got when ppl came over. Uh...you know there's a pancake in the middle of your floor right? :) YOU BETCHA! Each conference after that, we always threw one of the pancakes on the floor in spirit of tradition. Conference pancake...how I missed this this time around! We also started up the traditional family back scratch/massage train. We even got Syd and Malla in on it. I'm sure we looked cool. Syd had put bows and crowns in all the girls' hair and we were all layin on the floor in pure bliss. It was great!

Oh, and my favorite talk of conference was Elder Holland's talk. Although, I think that might be everyone's favorite talk! lol Give it a listen if you feel the need! :)

And in super fun news...I leave for Utah this week! *jumps for joy* I cant tell you how excited I am to be back in Provo for a few days to be with my friends. I miss them so much! Provo, here I come!

Conference Weekend 'Miracles'

I LOVE Conference weekend. Its seriously one of my favorite weekends of the entire year. We had the General Relief Society meeting on Saturday which was amazing as usual. It was weird not being in Utah for it though. I was definitely spoiled with getting to go to at least one session each time conference rolled around. I guess it's time for other people to have the opportunity. Before the Relief Society session, we had a musical fireside for our Stake where my mom, sister and I got to sing the song 'Miracles,' by Sally DeFord, together. It was so special for all of us to get to do that. We used to sing together all the time. I remember when we sang for my brother's farewell, the Bishop got up and said something about the "Anderson sisters striking again!" It was good times! I remember when I was younger, my mom would play songs on the piano and my sister would pull out her flute and I would sing and we'd just do that for an hour or two. I remember doing "The Hearts of the Children" from the Primary songbook all the time! Maybe that's why I love doing genealogy so much now... Definitely one of my favorites. My sister videotaped us practicing and she put it on her blog for y'all that wanted to see it and weren't there. This one was probably better than the actual thing anyway since our knees weren't shaking with nerves, this time around :) We definitely weren't used to singing in front of people anymore...its been almost 10 years since we last sang together...woooo! Man how time flies! Anyway, here's the link: http://thetexasbreinholts.blogspot.com/2009/09/miracles.html

I cant wait for this weekend though. What can be better than two full days of uplifting messages and feeling the spirit. Bring it on! Sunday morning we always go over to my sister's before hand and we have quiche and...food? hahaha All I remember is the quiche. Cut me some slack...it's been 5 years since I've watched it at home. For some reason, I remember a lot of rolls too...but that shouldn't surprise anyone :) Most of my memories have bread in them. I'm in charge of the quiche this year tho and I'm using Beth's yummy recipe to change things up a bit! YUMMMM! My brother was pretty excited when I told him about it. The other quiche is good, but you can only have so much of it cuz its rich or something...I dunno... I hope it turns out well! :)

I don't know if I'm allowed to have a favorite apostle...but I do, so whatever! :) I always LOVE hearing from Elder Oaks. Not that I don't love hearing from the other's. I love them all...but there's something about Elder Oaks that I cant get enough of. I think it's cuz he's so intense that it kinda scares me a little and just zings me! Plus...he's the cutest old man and whenever he speaks, its always so wonderful! His voice also reminds me of the guy at the beginning of those Living Scriptures videos that's like "...please don't make a copy of this tape..." lol I love it and I love him! I hope everyone gets to watch it and has a wonderful experience. About 4 years ago, when I took a 'Teachings of the Living Prophets' class at BYU, she challenged us to pray and fast before Conference started and to ask certain questions. She told us to write them down and then take good notes throughout conference. Each time I've done that, each of my questions have been answered, if not through a talk, directly, through the spirit. I always laugh when the Conference issue of the Ensign comes out and I'm rereading the talks and comparing my notes and I had written things down that had nothing to do with anything they were saying. Its wonderful to know that the Lord communicates to us, the things we need to hear and know, through the Spirit and through his called prophets and apostles. I'm so grateful for this gospel and for the guidance, direction and peace that it constantly brings into my life.

Reunions of the Arizona Kind

I spent the last week-ish in Arizona and it was so much fun!!! I started out in Mesa to spend time with Beth and her family before I headed over to Havasu to see Ashley before she left on her mission. This was my first trip to the Mesa area and I LOVED it. It was so much fun to be there with my friends :) They introduced me to "gelato" which is an Italian ice cream...*melts* Yeah, so good! And we got to go to a few little craft/decoration shops which is definitely right up my alley! I probably could've stayed in those places all day. I played with Will a lot too which was totally different from what I'm used to. Instead of playing dress up and having Syd cover me in make up and hair clips and dancing around the room with Malla in my arms, I was playing pirates, star wars and baseball! Definitely a flip flop, but still really fun! Beth told me that one night, Will was talking in his sleep saying "Tara...I just want a cookie!" over and over again. haha. Gotta love it. I think one of my favorite parts of being in Mesa (other than just hangin with the Borgia's) was getting to go through a session at the Mesa temple. Brother Borgia ended up officiating at the session we were at, so that was cool. While he was standing there, I got to thinking....I wonder if it's weird for them. An entire room full of people is sitting there staring at you and you're looking back at them and not saying anything. hahaha Meh...they're probably used to it. It would be hard for me to not slip in a weird face every now and again though :) Seriously though...the Borgia's were so great. I think they feel bad because I was "bored" or something crazy...psh! please! I'm such a boring person...I did more there than I usually do here. haha I'm used to being unemployed and doing nothing all day. lol. I really did have so much fun and they did so many wonderful things for me! I really appreciate them so much. It definitely felt like a home away from home. Oh yeah....they introduced me to the gloriousness that is the cream puffs in the temple cafeteria. Holy, wonderful! Beth also introduced me to these SWEET baking pan things that you never have to spray or anything and the food pops right out (and very nicely browned too). It was so fun to bake mini muffins with them! And so easy too! No more hassle of muffin liners or cleaning up spills when you miss the cup part (which I do on a regular basis). When I'm rich, one day, I'm going to buy some. The end. I hope I get to go back soon...I really did love it there. AND not to mention that Emily is moving there in November so that's an added bonus! All of my favorite people, minus my family, are moving to Arizona...apparently its the place to be! :)

Havasu was fun too...we ended up cramming all of us into their house instead of me staying somewhere else which was definitely more fun but maybe more cluttered than they would've liked. Ashley and I were sharing her bed which is in between a twin and a full bed. So needless to say, we had some funny accidents. lol. Apparently, one night, I was dead asleep and I started playing footsie with Ashley's foot. She laughed and scooted me over a little. No harm, no foul right? HA! A little nudge isn't going to keep me away! Apparently, no matter how far away she moved her foot, I would keep searching for it with mine. This went on for a while. I would find her foot and be set at ease and she'd move it and I'd search for it again. :) Finally, Ashley just bent her knees so her feet were behind her. I started searching as per the usual and I got frustrated that I couldn't find her foot so I let out a big puff of air and retired to sleep on my other side as a sign of defeat. Definitely funny to laugh about when I woke up the next morning. The last night was hilarious because she had put off packing until the last possible hour. Naturally, I stayed up with her to help her pack since packing happens to be one my super powers. I can always get anything to fit! Anyway, by about 1:30 we were both slap happy from running around so much the previous couple of days that we would just start laughing hysterically out of no where and it wouldn't stop until we got too tired to laugh at all. OH and deal of the week...we went to walmart to get some last minute things for her and we saw that the clinical strength dove deodorant (so wonderful during hot weather) was on sale so we took it up to the register and the guy had his list comparison thing as to what other stores were selling it for and they rang up as 2.00 each when they're originally like 8.75. Naturally, we both ran back to grab armfuls of deodorant. I'm sure we looked retarded, but I'll do what is necessary in the name of a good sale such as that one! Her setting apart was wonderful too. The Spirit was so strong. The tradition in Havasu is to go around the room and say a part of your testimony or whatever else you feel impressed to say before they set her apart as a missionary which was really neat. I'll miss my Ash-face but I'm so excited to hear about all the crap she has to eat down there! hahahaha. (and all the other stuff too)

And I'm happy to report that since its been raining here so much, its actually green AND for the last two days its been like 70 degrees outside. I was actually COLD today. Weird, I know. But it definitely feels more like fall which is something I'm not used to happening here until December...MAYBE by Thanksgiving on rare occasions. Although, I'm not banking that this weather will last long :)

Nine

In honor of it being 9/9/09 tomorrow, I decided to do a little somethin' somethin' with it! Plus, I'm really excited for the new movie, Nine, to come out. :) Holy jeez, its gonna be good! Seriously though, nine has proven to be a particularly good number for me. We moved to Texas when I was 9 which has turned out amazingly. I met my best friend of all time when I was 9...Kami and her family came over on our first Sunday there and we hit it off. We've never failed to have ourselves a great time since then. When I moved into Sparks, I moved into apartment 9. Sparks was seriously one of my favorite parts of my BYU experience. So many of my favorite memories and so many of the people I met that impacted my life, happened there. No, nine is NOT my lucky number...but 8 is, and that's pretty darn close :) So see...nine is great! :) Anyway, I decided, in honor of the number 9 (haha I feel like I'm doing a Sesame Street tribute or something), I decided to list 9 things that most people don't know about me. That is...unless I know you really REALLY well, and/or you've ever lived with me, cuz you just sort of find these things out... Although, some of these, I dont think I've ever told anyone so enjoy!

1. The last time I watched the Land Before Time (a couple of months ago...shocking, I know), I cried when Little Foot's mom died. Yes, some may say I just have a tender heart. I say its because I'm lame and internalize movies too much. haha.

2. Speaking of crying...for a couple of years, I only cried out of my left eye. I have no idea why. That's just the facts. Someone else can explain it to me if they wish, but I'm happy to report that I'm back to normal and have two, fully functioning tear ducts.

3. The two playlists I listen to most on my itunes are musicals and instrumental music. They make any day a brighter day. :)

4. And speaking of musicals...I was thinking the other day about if I could play any role in a musical, who would I most like to be? I haven't succeeded in narrowing it down to the final winner, however, I have managed to narrow it down to...nine! haha jk, although, it did seem appropriate...no no, I narrowed it down to four: Ado Annie, Oklahoma!; Millie, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers; Penny Pingleton; Hairspry; and Eliza Doolittle, My Fair Lady.


Mind you, I'm not counting singing or acting ability in these...that would certainly narrow it down to zero. But in an ideal world, those would be my top four. Which is ironic, seeing as how The Sound of Music has always, and will always be one of my favorite movies, not to mention, my favorite musical of all time. There are just some scenes that I could never get through...mostly the part when they're singing about "I must have done something good." I always laugh far too hard for any normal person, when I watch that part. :)

5. If I could do absolutely ANYTHING for a career (and if it still even existed), my ideal job would be to be a performer on a Show Boat. Again, I'll insert that talent (and I'll go as far to say, dress size) will not be taken into account on this one either. But it would be AMAZING and I'm sure I'd love almost every moment of it! :)

6. I have another favorite flower other than daisies...I just don't tell people about it :) I LOVE pansies. Like seriously LOVE them. I could look at them all day. They just look like they're smiling at me all the time. Although, sometimes they make me think of Alice in Wonderland and that movie kinda creeped me out as a kid. The flowers weren't very nice, and that wasn't cool...

7. Ever since I took my endowments out a couple of months ago, I have made a new goal to do temple work in as many temples as possible in my life time. So far, I've done a sesson in four different temples: Timpanogos, Provo, Salt Lake City and Dallas. I'm hitting up Mesa next week and possibly Vegas, but we'll see how that goes. Verdon said he'd go with me to Manti when I come up to Utah in October. And I'm counting sitting in Kami's wedding in Oquirrh Mountain as doing temple work. I know it's cheating, but until I can go back and do a session there, I'm counting it :) My game, my rules :)

8. I am superstitious. Not like CRAZY amounts, but enough to make me do stuff. Example: I always try to hold my breath when we pass a cemetery and I keep a troll in my car for good luck (a family tradition). I dont think that anything terrible will happen if I don't do all of these things, but I do feel a sense of "luck" when I follow through with them. Like, maybe everything will go my way or something. It's almost like drinking my own Felix Felicis potion (for all you non-Harry Potter fans out there, that's liquid luck basically. Although, I'm not sure how we're friends enough for you to be reading my blog if you don't know anything about HP). :)

9. Here we go....the last one: I have a slight obsession with shoe horns. And when I say slight, I mean, really big. Example: I almost cried when I bent my last shoe horn out of commission. And yes, both of my tear ducts were working at this point. Its a good thing I controlled it, right? :) My fun moment of the day last week was when I was in Ross and I found a decorative sign that says "Life is made of choices...remove your shoes or scrub the floor." Attached is a shoe horn. I saw it and knew that even if I had no use for it, I had to have it. I also have a gargantuan shoe horn that's at least 2 feet tall, compliments of Melly. Thanks, lady-face. You're my hero. And if that's not enough, I always make sure to have two spares just incase of an incident like when I became the incredible hulk and bent my metal one.... *sighs* What a traumatic day. I'm glad that's over...

There you have it...Nine, nine, nine! How I love thee, number nine! I hope yall have a splendiforus 9/9/09 day! XOXO