A Little Bit Goes a Long Way

This cute boy sitting on my lap is one of my nephews. He happens to be the nephew who made my Christmas this year. :)

Like any single person, there are aspects of Christmas that I dread every year. I love the season, the shopping, the food, and the family. But sometimes the family parties, and other parties, can be painful to get through. I have been the only single sibling in my family for 7 or 8 years now and I feel like this year was the first year that I felt okay about braving another Christmas Eve alone. Some of my nieces and nephews are a little older now and keep me company at the parties, that helps a whole lot.

This Christmas Eve, the nephew pictured above showed up at my parents' house and marched straight downstairs towards me, with a little green box in his hand. He said, "This is for you, Megan." And he handed me the box. I've never received a Christmas gift from a niece of nephew before because they're all pretty young. They're just learning to get gifts for their siblings and a cousin whose name they draw. So the single act of him giving me a gift melted my heart right then and there. I gave him a big squeeze and told him that I loved him. He ran off to play with his cousins.

After he walked away his mom told me that when they were at Target a few weeks ago, my nephew had seen this gift and mentioned to his mom that it would be something that I would like. Even though I wasn't on his list of people to shop for, he decided to get the gift for me and pay for it with his own money. He is only five, so you can imagine that he doesn't have much of his own money to begin with.

At the end of the evening's festivities, after all the kids had opened their presents, I opened my gift from my nephew. Inside the box were two pairs of mittens. They DID look like something that I would like. In fact, I had seen them myself at Target and commented on how cute they were to my friend. My nephew was so excited about his gift for me. His little tender heart understands at a young age how good it feels to do things for other people. He has no idea how much his little act meant to me. I get choked up every time I think about it or brag to my friends about my new mittens. It just goes to show that a little bit can go a long way!

Threat Level Midnight

I hate to post two videos in a row... BUT.... this one is really good!

A friend of mine googled my email address in an attempt to understand what it was referring to. He found his answer, and a whole lot more! 

Enjoy.

Carry On

I rediscovered this video after years... and it still makes me laugh! 

Warning: This is not for the faint of heart.

i cry

I think that I have given the impression in previous posts that I NEVER cry. That is certainly not the case. I RARELY cry. However, the following are things that can actually make me cry (aside from the obvious heartbreaks of the dating world):

1. Old people

A few weeks ago my ward delivered Thanksgiving food boxes to elderly people in an apartment complex in Salt Lake for the Utah Food Bank. The complex is designed for low income elderly people to reside. As my friend Paul and I knocked on each door, we were greeted by very friendly, very lonely old people. Each person lived alone. One woman was particularly touching. She asked us to bring her food in and put it in her kitchen for her. She reminded me of my own grandmother that is now passed away. She was sitting a mint green winged-back chair watching The Wheel of Fortune with all sorts of knick knacks on the table in front of her. She was in a floral print night gown and grinned from ear to ear the whole while we were there. The first thing I noticed when we walked in was her long table filled with pictures of what I can only assume are her grandchildren and family. As we made room in her freezer for her food, she pulled out a single chocolate chip cookie in a ziploc that had been saved in her freezer for some special occasion. She offered it to me and my friend. This made me laugh a little. As we tried to leave, she offered us some candy from her dish that was no where to be found. After a few minutes of searching for the missing candy dish, we told her we had to go. She felt so bad that she couldn't find it and felt even worse that we had to leave. This made me cry.

2. Babies and children

I was no good at being a teacher. Any time a student came to me to tell me that another student had been picking on them I would get upset. I had to act logically as a teacher, but as soon as I talked to the student, gave them a hug, and sent them back to recess, I always cried a little bit. 

I cry a little every time I hold a new baby.

3. Small animals

Big animals don't affect me so much, but there's something about small, seemingly-helpless animals. I cried like a baby at the age of 22 when our family dog of 15 years was put to sleep. I almost cried last night when I accidentally ran over a dead kitten in the road. And then I threw up a little in my mouth. I can't watch TV programs that involve sad stories about small animals. On the way to church on I-15 last winter there was a small dog in the middle of the freeway near the Beck Street Exit. I pulled off to the side and called my mom to see where I should take the dog once I caught it (which I planned to do). My mom yelled at me louder than I've ever heard her yell as she told me to get back in my car and threatened to kill me if I crossed I-15 on foot. After a few minutes she talked me into letting the dog be and driving on to church. I cried the rest of the way to church, thinking about that poor dog. Although I tell myself that he found the exit and his way home to a loving family.

Deciduous Trees

I was driving back to work after lunch today and I noticed one lonely, dead leaf floating through the air, down to the ground. I drove on and a moments later, I noticed another single, dead leaf floating down to the ground. At first I was inclined to call someone I love and declare, "It's raining leaves!" Then the rational part of my mind, which is very small, took over. I looked at the trees that lined the side of the road of which I was following. At first glance the trees seemed bare and void of all leaves. But as I looked closer I could see that there were still a handful of leaves on the branches of each tree, hanging on for dear life. I looked at all of the leaves on the ground around the trees. There were hundreds, probably thousands, of leaves on the ground. I couldn't help but wonder WHY those few leaves were still in the hanging onto the branches when the majority of the leaves were on the ground. How on earth were they withstanding the wind and other elements of nature? I know this is silly, but I began cheering the remaining leaves on in my mind! I was thinking things like, "Sure, you're dead and mother nature is working completely against you, but keep hold of that tree! Keep holding on!" In the few moments I spent thinking about the few strong leaves, I felt empowered. Those leaves don't know why they're holding on. Leaves don't know anything, really. Yet they were holding on. They were standing against the odds. Against the norm. Against man's understanding of the laws of nature.
There are a dozen parallels that I could draw right now about how this relates to life, my personal life, and the ever-present force of evil working on us in this world. Unfortunately, I'm at work and don't have time. Feel free to draw your own parallels and share them with me. Really. :)

In high school, my gal pals and I had a favorite movie in that we loved to quote, "You've Got Mail." This is one of the lines that my friend AnnaLee and I used to quote often:

"Kathleen, you are a lone reed. You are a lone reed, standing tall, waving boldly in the corrupt sands of commerce."

I've never thought about the meaning of this quote, we just liked the way Meg Ryan said it. Today I like meaning of the line more than the delivery. Sometimes I feel a little like Kathleen Kelly. We all do.

I'm glad I saw that leaf floating down to the ground today. It reminded me to keep holding on.

I {heart} my family

Memories of Christmas Last Year

Baffled.

I've learned a lot of things in my life. Especially the past few years, it seems. But if there's a concept that I seem to keep learning more and more about, it's that things in life don't turn out like you'd expect. Not even the way you want them to, and sometimes not even in a way that you could have anticipated. That's what's on my mind tonight. Life is good. I'm generally happy. But man, life can sure throw some curve balls. 

I don't know of one person who could say that they are doing today what they had set to do five years previous. I mean, I planned to be alive... I met that goal. But other than that, not one single aspect of my life is what I thought it would be five years ago. In hindsight, not meeting some of those goals is probably a good thing. I'm sure I wouldn't have much time for family and other important things if I had really become the CEO of a large corporation by now. :)

I guess I'm posting just to make a statement. I'm not sharing thoughts of happy or sad things. It is what it is, and it's a fact. Life is full of surprises. Most surprises happen for a reason; sometimes we don't know what the reason is for years to come. And that's what I'm going to keep telling myself: someday I'll know why things worked out the way they did.

Mustache Monday

Rather than bore you with a story, 

I'll just let you enjoy the pictures and come up with your own story. 

Why Not?

You can thank me later. :)

Stop This Train!!

I would (or should) apologize for another post on the topic of dating, but I'm single. So if you're morally opposed to reading about dating, I'm clearly not the blog friend for you.

My thoughts are pretty scattered and they're floating all around in my head....

When you get to be my age (not that I consider myself terribly old) you tend to have a rather extensive dating history. It's a natural result of living in a dating-oriented society. I don't feel bad for having A LOT of dating history. However, I do start to wonder if I should feel bad about some of the feedback I get from members of the opposite gender. After years I'm still hearing some of the same comments from boys. There were two, in particular, in the last two days that have spurred my current train of thoughts. However, if you care to read on, you'll find that I'm clearly not at fault for my dating experiences gone awry. 

Let me start by informing the world (because I'm sure the whole world reads my blog) that facebook chat or any other form of chat, for that matter, does not qualify as actual, legitimate communication with members of the opposite gender that you may have interest in! No! It does not ever, ever, ever count! Come on boys... stop being a bunch of pansies. And while I'm on the subject, don't EVER ask a girl out via text message. Don't "chat" with her via text message to "get to know her." Pick up the dang phone, dial the seven digits (more in some cases), ask the girl on a date, be sure to use the word "DATE", PLAN something, pick her up, talk to her in person to get to know her, wash, rinse, and repeat. Seriously though... come on. When did we become a generation of socially inept individuals?! Okay... now that I've got that off my chest...

A boy was "chatting" with me online yesterday via facebook chat during a break at work. This boy and I have been in the same ward for some time. We chat every now and then in person and chat once in a while on facebook when we're both pretending to work. After a stimulating conversation about mullets or something along those lines he throws out the line, "You know, it's your sarcasm that's prevented me from asking you out." No boy, I didn't know that. But thank you for typing that to me via facebook during the middle of my work day. And in case you were wondering, I never in a million years would have guessed that you were even remotely interested in going out with me. And if that conversation was your last ditch effort to get me to go out with you.... you failed. Miserably.

a) Why are we having this conversation online?

b) Why was this conversation so long in the making?

c) My sarcasm is one of my traits that I happen to be most fond of. Plus it's genetic (passed from my dad). So you might as well make fun of my other traits that I can't do a darn thing about. How about my shoe size... care to take a stab at that? 

Next came my favorite part of the conversation... I was accused of running away from boys as soon as I sense that they might be interested in asking me out. I didn't know what to say to him about this and I still don't. If I do this, it's purely subconscious. My subconscious obviously doesn't want to go out with whatever boy triggers this act. 

Fast forward to this afternoon, at work, also on facebook. A boy that I've known for a couple of years through mutual friends had the audacity to ask me why I'm still single. Obviously I don't know or I would fix the problem and no longer be single. Boys... 

Then this boy tells me that I have what he called a fear of "Dating Buyer's Remorse." Naturally I had to inquire as to what that was just in case it's contagious. He said that I don't settle on or "buy" a boy to date because I'm afraid I will have feelings similar to buyer's remorse once I settle on one boy. I'm not sure, but I think he accused me of always wanting the bigger and better thing. Then he said I'm probably single because I haven't found the right lawyer, doctor, professional athlete yet. Yep, pretty sure he accused me of being shallow as well. And finally, the icing on the cake... he had the audacity to joke around about the two of us dating. You know what they say about boys who joke...

Later tonight came the coup de grace! I was at a Dessert Night get-together tonight with a couple of my friends. This Dessert Night is put on a few times a month by a group of boys who live in a house together. They used to host these parties about two years ago when I initially met them and they have just started hosting them again. I have known the boys who put these on for years now (in case you can't do the math). One of them tonight inquired as to whether or not I was dating someone. I informed him that I recently broke up with someone and he said he'd done the same. I guess that conversation must have had some hidden meaning that I'm not aware of because as soon as we both pronounced our single state, his tone changed. He was warmer, flirty, and suddenly felt the need to put his hand on the small of my back while talking to me. I have known him for years! Why now? Did he wake up this morning and decide, "I think I'll like Megan today"? Honestly. Then he informed me that a while ago (which was actually years ago) he had tried to TEXT me to ask me out. Can you believe it? A text. He told me that I was really rude to him. And I was kind enough to tell him that he deserved it. Keep in mind that he's not your 21-year-old that just returned from a mission and lacks social skills. He's 30 and he's very social. I sincerely hope that he does not text me a date invitation again... he does not know what he'll have coming.

All of these enlightening experiences have happened within a 30 hour period. Sadly, it's par for the course. Just imagine how lucky I am to do this day after day, year after year. Boys don't realize that I've been around a while; I have some idea of what I'm doing. None of this mediocre dating crap is going to fly with me. I pity the foo who asks me out via text message!!

Farewell to Four Pounds

You may recall a post from a few weeks ago about a fitness competition that I was joining with a girl from work, Farewell to Fat. Well tonight was the final weigh-in. Let me preface if by telling you... I haven't worked out in over 10 days (I've been sick), I cheat almost daily on my new no-sugar challenge, I've been lethargic and sick, and I can't remember a vegetable that I've purposely eaten in the last 12 days. Needless to say I was dreading the final weigh-in. 

HOWEVER, I came up 4 pound lighter than the last weigh-in two weeks ago.  My team won 2nd place in total pounds lost and first place in points (keeping food journals, exercising, following nutrition challenges, etc.).

Moral of the story: eat whatever the heck you want, exercise when you can and just pray for the flu before you have to weigh yourself. 

Ill Intentions & An Identity Crisis

So I have had every intention of blogging over the course of the last month-ish. But life got crazy somehow. I attribute the craziness to the following factors:

1. Break up

2. Bad hair month 

3. Crazy women who refuse to retire and make all our lives easier

4. The curse of living or possibly working on land that was once an ancient Indian burial ground

5. Beets. Bears. Battlestar Gallactica.

6. Communicable diseases

7. October 31st and the squares on the calendar that precede it.

1-Break up? Yeah, I did that. Turns out I'm getting better and better at them. I'm actually thinking of possibly writing a book, creating a support group, or becoming a professional trainer on break up how-tos. I can break up in my sleep ... with one had tied behind my back. Man, this one was different though. It was definitely not cut and dry; something that is still on my mind. Sometimes I hate thinking.

2- Bad hair month. I wonder if there's any correlation between break ups, stress at work, and the amount of hair that falls out of my head each time I wash my hair. I think the only solution is to stop washing my hair.  Think of all the time and money I'll save!

3- Crazy woman who won't retire... referenced above in "stress at work." Bless her heart...

4- Ancient Indian burial ground. I don't make the rules, I just deal with them. Everyone around me is sick and afflicted in some way lately. I can ONLY attribute this to the fact that we are either living or working on ground that was once an ancient Indian burial ground. Just ask Michael, he knows what I'm talking about.

5- Which bear is best?

6- Communicable diseases. Today is Wednesday, almost Thursday. One week ago today I came from work with a fever and aches which I fought viciously for the next 3 days. They were followed by dizziness and cold-like symptoms on Sunday and a sinus infection, pink eyes (yes, both eyes), and a bronchial infection on Monday. Needless to say I'm rather behind at work and can't stand the sight of the ceiling in my room.

7- October 31st. Halloween is my most favorite of holidays. Not that I don't love Christmas. I mean, I have a heart so I enjoy the holiday. But you certainly don't get to wear a costume and dance around to loud music while eating sugar-based sweets. Think about it.

It is actually item #7 on my list of factors that lead to my identity crisis this Halloween season. See photos below:

Princess Lea sewn by my sister, Hollie. 

Reused from a previous Halloween.

The Friday before Halloween.

Matching flappers sewn by my mom (maybe Hollie). 

Used from the old high school dance days (Remember Marcie?)

The Saturday before Halloween.

The Cowardly Lion. Sweats purchased at Target. 

Idea from a previous year. 

Hair curled by Marcie.

The Monday before Halloween.

And presenting my actual 2008 Halloween costume....

Sewn by my very talented sister, Hollie! 

This was by far my favorite costume yet! 

She did such a great job. I was complimented on the dress countless times.

"Ketchup"

"Ketchup" was a term I used in my classroom for the times in the school day's schedule when we could catch up on any and everything that needed catching up on. This post is a "Ketchup" post because I have a medley of events to catch up on as far as blogging goes.

First thing's first.... I think everyone in cyberspace needs to know... I won the Guitar Hero Competition at work last week. It's a shame you can't see my fake tattoos in this picture. 

Oh! And I convinced the rest of my department to put fake tattoos on as well. I happen to have a rather large supply of fake tattoos. 

On an unrelated note, if any of you happen to come across any super cool or cheesy fake tattoos, please let me know.

Tonight one of my best friends and I had the opportunity to have dinner with former students of ours who happen to be brother and sister. Their mom called us to arrange the dinner and we showed up as the surprise guests of honor.  I have to say, I felt a little like a celebrity when five kids came running into the front yard to greet us, screaming our names. My former student, Christian, was one of the few boys in my class last year that wasn't too cool to give his teacher a hug. He was always so sweet to me and laughed at all the jokes I told, even when they weren't funny (which only happened like once).  It was such a fun night! But I have to admit I'm exhausted from being mauled by five small children non-stop for three hours. (How did I ever teach school?)

A couple of weeks ago, I needed to make a treat for a game night with some friends. I handed the job over to a few of my nephews just to see how it would come together. It was the cutest thing... there were marshmallows and Golden Grahams all over! The oldest of the bunch took the job very seriously while the other two snacked on the ingredients that were spilled on the counter. I didn't have the heart to tell my friends that three darling children had either touched or slobbered on each piece of the treat. 

One of my nephews turned 6 last week! Here are some super cute photos of some super cute kids at the birthday party.

i

I have had a weird couple of days and haven't felt like writing. I'm hoping this writing "exercise" will clear my head so I can get back to my usual blog banter.

i

I am... ten minutes late to everything!

I want... to have a family of my own someday.

I have... a tension headache that didn't go away after getting a massage yesterday (yikes).

I wish... I managed my time better.

I could... manage my time better (man, the guilt set in fast).

I hate... watching people treat each other unkindly. There's never any reason for that.

I fear... SPIDERS. And failure; which explains why I'm hesitant to try new things.

I hear... Norm snoring down the hall. Which brings up a really good point about me needing/wanting to move out of my parents house (bless their hearts).

I search... through brain research and educational studies at work for the most effective way to write curriculum.

I don't think... I will ever cut my hair shorter than shoulder length again. 

I regret... rushing through college only to get finished and enter the adult world while most of my friends were still enjoying college.

I love... my nieces and nephews more than anything in this entire world! I have the cutest, most intelligent nieces and nephews and I would rather be with them than do anything else.

I ache for... finding a best friend that I can't wait to spend all of eternity with.

I always cry... about once a year... and it usually has something to do with old people, small children, or animals.

I am not... a fan of chick flicks and romance novels.

I dance... while driving my car just to make the passengers a little uneasy. I get the best results from my mom. :)

I sing... as long as there is no one that sings better than me within earshot. 

I never... go to bed before midnight.

I rarely... wake up without hitting snooze.

I cry when... there is just a really, really good reason for crying and there is no option of expressing my emotions verbally.

I watch... "The Office" faithfully every Thursday night and the History channel while I work on projects; that's it.

I am not always... sarcastic or joking?

I hate that... any time I decide to wash my car, I happen to park near some rogue sprinkler that attacks my car with hard water.

I am confused about... why things sometimes work out the way they do.

I need... a hug. Oh, and a million dollars (see: " I hear").

I should... brush my teeth before I go to bed. Maybe I will... nah, probably not.

Farewell to Fat

My friend Natalie that I work with invited me to join her and some family members for a Farewell to Fat challenge sponsored by the Clearfield Aquatic Center. Our team's main goal is to make ourselves more aware of what we're putting in our bodies and try to create healthier habits (and a little weight loss wouldn't hurt our feelings). There is a different nutritional challenge each week, along with a weigh-in. Our challenge this week is to drink over 64 ounces of water a day.... needless to say, I am really getting to know the bathroom here at work! And anyone who knows me knows how hard this is because I only use public/shared restrooms on a NEED TO basis. :) 

We have been tracking our meals on this free, government sponsored website: mypyramid.gov

"My Pyramid Menu Planner" is a wonderful way to track caloric intake, see that you're eating balanced meals, and train yourself to pay attention to what you're eating. Check it out!

You Are Too Kind!

Okay, so near the end of the 2007-2008 school year (when I was still a school teacher), my students and I put together a class blog. It is linked on the side of my blog and also here. This was a REALLY fun project that my students chose as a way to publish their group writing pieces. It's pretty darn cute if you have a minute to check it out... gives you a little insight to how kids in 4th grade think and write and what they think is important.

Well right before the 2008-2009 school year started, I had a little party with my former class to end the summer with a bang. The party was an idea that my kids had come up with and that one of me student's moms took off and ran with. She put together such a fun party! The kids and I had the greatest time and I couldn't think of a better way to wrap up my teacher career (if you can call 3 years of teaching a career). This cute mom took a bunch of photos and rather than having her send them to me in a series of emails, I gave her the sign in name and password to our class blog to have her upload them to the slideshow.  That cute stink added a post to our class blog... a post that should have made my cry, and would have if I were a crier.... although my eyes DID well up with tears. Anyhow, if you care about me at all, you should humor me by checking out my former students' posts and pictures and then telling my how adorable they are and how it made you want to be in 4th grade again. In case you're wondering, there was a guitar solo, balloon animals, and sign painting at our party. THANK YOU TAMMY!

p.s. I REALLY miss the 4th grade....

Quirky Me.

I was tagged by my cute friend Mechelle. This is a fun tag because it gives you insight to the quirks that we all try to hide in person, but feel brave enough to write about on our blogs. :)

Rules: Link the person that tagged you. Mention these rules on your blog. Tell 6 unspectacular quirks of yourself and tag 6 fellow bloggers. Got it? Let's go!

1: I fear that I am a little more than slightly OCD. Each morning I wake up and follow the same routine as I get ready for work. If my routine is even slightly altered by an outside force, the rest of the day is a complete wash. Here is a glimpse of my daily schedule: When I leave for work I put my purse, my water bottle, and my banana on the passenger's seat in the exact same spot. Then I turn the radio to 103.5 before turning my air to "recirculate" with the temperature right between hot and cold. Once I'm at work, I put my car keys in the front pocket of my bag, set my water bottle and banana on the front right corner of my desk, remove my ipod from my bag, etc......

2: At some point in my early adulthood I trained myself not to cry. I think I viewed it as a weakness at the time, although I know better now. I rarely cry. I can't even cry when I think it would make me feel better. I can feel my eyes start to well up with tears if the mood strikes me, but they never leave my eyes and even that doesn't last long. I often tell people that I cry or did cry hoping that I can convince my subconscious to release the tears, but it doesn't seem to work. The last time that I can remember REALLY crying was almost two and a half years ago over a dumb boy... WHAT A WASTE! I think there may be something wrong with me. :)

3: I LOVE hoodies! I can't explain this zeal for such a casual garment. It just is what it is. It probably didn't help that I worked retail for a few years and got a 40% discount on purchases at my store. I own nearly 30 hoodies. They fill an entire closet next to my room.... and then some. They vary in style from pullover, full zip, half zip, long sleeve, elbow sleeve, logo, floral, striped, solid, fur-lined, fleece-lined, etc. I also own 12 winter coats, but that's another story.

Here are just some of my many hoodies in action.

4: I LOVE reading! I always have. I think that would explain why I was painfully shy growing up, I would rather have been reading than doing anything else all through grade school. However, I am notorious for STARTING books. Notice I didn't follow that up with finishing. I have shelves of books that have books marks resting halfway through them. I just get so excited when I hear about new books that I can't wait until I finish the current book and the poor thing gets deserted. I spend hours on end at Barnes and Noble and often offer it up as a date idea to boys when it's clear halfway through the evening that I don't want to suffer through conversation with them any longer (am I evil?) 

Here are just SOME of my current reads.

5: I think I'm pretty immature for an adult. I love to play games, run around and chase my nieces and nephews, watch cartoons, read children's literature, eat Snack Packs, etc. Last weekend I lead my friends in a game of Sardines (a cousin game to Hide and Seek). They were reluctant at first but warmed up to it so well that we played it for nearly 3 hours! I personally own a Nintendo DS with a number of games and a Wii. I often lock Norm out of the house, or play Steamroller with my mom to wake her up, hang up on phone conversations for no reason, prank call friends and loved ones, pull pranks on people at work, dress up in costumes for occasions other than Halloween and the list goes on! Heaven help me....

6: I am a methodical eater. All items on my plate are to remain very separate. Foods of different natures are not allowed to touch each other. I begin by eating the hot foods, so I can enjoy them before they get cold, then I eat any vegetables or fruit, finally I eat any cold non- veggie or fruit food. In the case of mixed meals, such as a Cafe Rio salad, I do NOT mix the ingredients. I try to get an equal amount of food category in each bite I take. As I'm writing this, it's very clear to me that I need a hobby.

I tag Ali, Tatiana, Marcie, Hollie, Natalie, and Tammy.

THIS is Worth Your 2 Minutes and 45 Seconds (give or take a few)!

Waldo Ultimatum

I've Never Won Anything Before...

Yes, it's true. I've finally won something... I'm blushing. (I'm hoping that my next achievement will be a Dundie!) After spending most of her day on Wednesdays for an entire school year in my classroom, this lady still manages to help me out and make my day!

The rules of this award are:

1. The winner can put the logo on his/her blog.

2. Link the person you received your award from.

3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

4. Put links of those blogs on yours.

5. Leave a message on the blogs of the people you've nominated.

Here we go.... Drumroll please...

This freakishly talented lady posts pictures and details of all of her latest wonderful creations. Plus each of her posts features her wit and comedic sarcasm... along with pictures of my ADORABLE nieces and nephews! I should also mention that she openly gives of her time to help her crazy, younger sister with any project she decides to take on. I sure love her!

This tender-hearted woman has a blog filled with some of the most entertaining, yet true, stories of mischievous children. She also posts lots of beautiful photos of her DARLING children that show the makings of what I'm sure is to become a well-known photographer. :) Plus she is my on call hair stylist and esthetician. Thanks to her, my odds of getting married someday have gone up drastically.

This blog belongs to a BEAUTIFUL girl that I had the privilege of growing up near. She is super intelligent and ridiculously funny... which makes for a very entertaining blog. I catch myself laughing out loud at her posts frequently. She has a real talent for writing, not to mention a tender, loving heart that makes everyone feel welcome around her.

This blog is owned by a friend of mine who I respect and hate at the same time for his intelligence.... only because he is unbeatable at trivia games. His posts are very well-written with an almost hidden, dry humor that proves just how intelligent he is. I don't know how one person is capable of thinking of/thinking up so many things, so quickly!

The publisher of this blog is a girl.... woman, I guess :) that I went to junior high and high school with. She was a friend that I always looked up to and admired and I love to check her posts to see all the fun things that her darling family is doing. It's fun to keep tabs with friends like this that I have so many FUN memories of.

This bog is kept by a girl... woman :)... that I went to college with. She and her husband were both loyal friends of mine and we shared many unforgettable memories (some that I'm sure we wish we could forget!) They have the most beautiful little girl and I love to see her latest pictures along with all of her cute craft ideas (that I will probably never do).

I have to re-link back to the blog that "nominated" me. I LOVE her blog. It's so fun to keep tabs on my darling, former student and to see all of the fun things that her mom is doing... it makes me excited to me a mother someday.....

Not the Biggest Loser, Just a Loser...

I am currently munching on a bag of plain M & Ms and my friend Graham is now $50 richer... you do the math. (sigh)

Another One Bites the Dust And a Barking Child's Dog Bend!

I am happy to report that yet another member of the Sugar Free Challenge has caved, leaving only myself and two others. I was with the other two remaining members a couple of nights ago and we made guesses at who would fall next. The thing is... I don't know that any of us will. One of the boys is painfully laid back; it has probably never occurred to him that he's missing out on sugar. The other boy is painfully stubborn.... much like me. We decided that we'll probably have to track one another down when we're on our death beds to say that we decided to break the challenge before we died of old age. Maybe I'll still be blogging then. I'll be sure to post the results.

Also, I did yoga for the VERY first time in my life tonight. It was quite the experience. I will say that it was much more difficult than I had anticipated. I did break into a sweat and begin some heavy/fast breathing. I really enjoyed it, especially the nap I took the last few minutes during the "cool down." I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my gym will hold a class called Yoga for Inflexible People.

Kill me.....

Just thought I'd give an update on the sugar situation. I hate it. I've been dreaming in chocolate and it's all I can do to keep myself from walking down to the vending machine at work for a bag of Peanut M & M's!

Also, one of the members dropped out of the bet yesterday (bless her heart, she had a break up) which means my odds of winning are much better. :) I should mention that I am sorry for her misfortune although I plan on capitalizing on her loss.  Now if I could just get the others to crack soon so I don't have to go on living like this... kill me!

On a more positive note.... I broke out in hives the night before last. That's been a real neat experience. I've only had hives one other time in my life... on my trip to Hawaii with some friends. I'm starting to notice a trend in friend trips and me being sick or afflicted....

I'm rather cynical when I write late at night, so I'd better save the space for another day.

Sugar Free

I am known for having a sweet tooth of sorts. I have had the recipe for Muddy Buddies memorized since I was 9 years old. And I have made a batch in under 10 minutes on EVERY Thursday that an episode of "The Office' has aired.... since it's inception! Also, I have recently discovered a delicious recipe for simple sugar cookies with delicious buttercream frosting that I enjoy making for any occasion. Additionally, my friend Erika introduced me to cupcakes made from scratch.... I never knew it was possible!! For my 25th birthday this past June, I had FOUR people give me large bags of Peanut M & M's because they know just how much those chocolatey morsels mean to me. My life is ruled by sugar!! 

I had no idea how bad it was until some of my friends decided to enter a sugar free challenge. There are five of us involved, three of which have severe cases of the sweet tooth, myself included. I don't know how my friend got the idea for this challenge, but it couldn't have come at a better time! The terms are that we each put some money in the pot, you get ONE DAY a week when you can eat sugar, the other six are sugar free, and whoever lasts the longest takes the money. It just so happens that 3 of the 5 people involved are stubborn ol'mules, myelf included. It could be interesting....

I am beginning my 3rd week of the sugar free challenge and I am doing okay. The first 3 days or so were not pretty. I had no idea just how much I relied on sugar.... or how much sugar I consumed on a daily basis. I was a BEAR to everyone the first few days as I felt my body go through sugar withdrawals.  Then things planed out and I was okay..... just okay. Until the first day I could eat sugar; I ate a small bag of Peanut M & M's, two fun size Kit Kats, a chocolate chip cookie, and two Tootsie Roll Midges. I was ill, to say the least. 

Week two wasn't so bad. I've had to readjust my daily menus to fruits and food with natural sugars to keep me awake at my desk. Labor Day weekend was part of our week two and we decided to lift the ban for two days since we were all out of town together. I made Muddy Buddies, sugar cookies, a different Chex Mix covered in white chocolate that we lovingly call Santa's Crack, and I bought myself a bag of Peanut M & M's. I was ill. Again.

Today I made the decision that in order to win this bet and release myself from the chains of complex sugars, I am no longer going to take my free day of sugar each week. I am nervous just thinking about it! But it's time. I don't like having such a strong dependency on things; especially something as silly as sugar. So, wish me luck. Here goes nothin'!

(p.s. If anyone out there happens to know a sugar free recipe for Muddy Buddies, send it my way.)

Tagged

Four Places I Go Over and Over

1. Target

2. Barnes and Noble

3. Jamba Juice

4. The restroom (if I'm being honest)

Four Places I'd Rather Be

1. Lake Powell

2. San Diego

3. In French wine country reading a good book... not drinking wine

4. Playing games with good friends or a cute boy

Four People I Talk to on a Regular Basis

1. Erika

2. Marcie

3. My mom (usually much too early in the morning for my liking)

4. Collin 

Four Places I Like to Eat

1. Maddox

2. Cafe Rio/Bajio's/Costa Azul

3. Mac Cool's

4. MiMi's

Four People I Tag:

1. Michelle

2. Shae

3. Tammy

4. Andrea

Remember When?

I stole this idea from my sister's blog. Thought it might be fun...

1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume that you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Let's not be too embarrassing here, people.  :)

Mein Kampf, My Eye.

Issues.

Disclaimer: For those of you who have been married for more than 5 years, your memory (or lack of) will not allow for you to fully understand this post. You see, this post is about the frustrations of dating, which you may think you remember, but you don't.  The pain of dating has now become nothing more than a memory that has confused itself with your dreams/nightmares. :)

Today I am feeling frustrated with dating... again. Shocker. I've often said that I wouldn't mind being single if I didn't have to date. This concept seems nice to me because I've never been a girl who has minded being single. Truthfully, I haven't minded dating either. I'm pretty open to whichever path my life takes, single-ness or relationships. However, I don't love that dating inevitably comes with feelings of one kind or another. I hate feelings. I wish I could just do my thing, live my life, date around, meet someone great, fall in love with him and never have feelings involved.... Oh, and become a millionaire. I'm just now learning that it can't work like that... I'm a little slower than most. (By the way, I blame Disney movies for my naive misconceptions about relationships, in case you were wondering). Writing this post, for me, is acting as a sort of purging of my soul; maybe I'll feel better after I let it out. I'm recently starting to see the error of my ways in dating. My "dating" life has been following the same pattern for years now and it took a dear friend coming into my life to help me see the light. 

It all started in college when I was a fearless dating machine. I dated a whole bunch, was flighty, fickle, and has absolutely no intentions of getting serious with any boy. Then one caught me off-guard my senior year when I finally admitted to myself after dating him for almost 8 months that I REALLY cared for him. By the time I reached a point where I could actually tell him this, things were too far gone. Anyhow, one thing lead to another and after over a year of dating he and I broke up. It broke my heart. Worse than I could have imagined. I would then spend the next few years just trying to get over him, not admitting to anyone that I wasn't over him.

Then came Captain A-Hole, as we lovingly call him in my family. He seemed like the perfect fit for me. He seemed too good to be true. And he was. He forced his way into my life and fairly quickly into my heart, only to take a sudden, shocking exit... where he got away with my self confidence and trust. But over time I realized that the breakup was a huge blessing. 

I consider those two experiences my only real serious experiences, though there have been many fillers between them. Both were damaging in completely different ways. Surprisingly, it seems to be the effect from the first experience that I just can't get past. 

After Captain A-Hole left my life, I found myself grasping onto friends and pulling them in as closely as possible. They all happened to be boys. As our friendships were getting strong, I was fighting to come back into life with feelings and a heart toward the opposite gender. This stage is when I REALLY became "one of the guys." I forced that role upon myself to fill a void in my life and not have to deal with feelings beyond friendship. This is the part of my life I'm feeling frustrated with lately. For the past few years, having mostly male friends that I spend vast amounts of time with has created a lot of grey areas. I keep running into situations where one of the 2 people involved starts to have feelings or wonders if they do.... and typically the other doesn't. It's even more frustrating because I never see it as it's happening, someone usually has to point it out to me. I'm sick of the grey area. I'm sick of having male friends with ulterior motives. I'm sick of spending a lot of time with guys friends who will never think of me as more than a friend when I'm secretly hoping in the back of my mind that they'll come around. I have spent years running in circles of telling my friends that I don't think of them like that and having the same two boys who "don't think of me like that" still taking up good amounts of my precious time.

This talk was given by Dallin H. Oaks to a group of  Young Single Adults in 2005. I know this talk well. Almost well enough to paraphrase it. "Why?" you might ask, do I know it so well.... probably because once the talk was released on video, young adults in my area were inundated with its message in Sunday School, Priesthood/Relief Society Meetings, Family Home Evenings, etc.

So today I pledge to shut my friendship door, or at least close it halfway. I am going to keep male friends in moderation and not let myself get attached to them or let them get attached to me. Today I pledge to rediscover true dating and make a place for it in my life! I will grow up and no longer be a 20-something Peter Pan.  I know that there is no guaranteed outcome, but I can do my part. All I can do is try.

Am I Too Picky?

This is for those loving friends and family members who tell me otherwise :)

The quiz results don't lie:

You Are Picky When it Counts

Like most sane women, you want a great guy who will treat you well. But you're also willing to put up with a few flaws in your Mr. Right You should congratulate yourself on having a realistic approach to dating. You probably have quite a few great guys you can date!

Are You Too Picky When It Comes To Men?

This is How I Roll

This is the pool where I spend my Saturday afternoons. More specifically, this is the Spring Float that I spend those afternoons on.

This is the giant tricycle that I once rode for the length of an entire DHS Homecoming Parade. Now it's a high force towing vehicle for pounds of crazy kids.

These are some of the crazy kids that I get the pleasure of being related to.

... And more of those crazy kids. Good luck getting the 3 of them to look at the camera at the same time!

This is what the Hansen Hair Salon looks like on a Sunday evening. Also doubles as black mail against my nephew when he's old enough to be embarrassed by this photo!

And THAT is how I roll......

Young Again

So I was starting to feel old today. Well, not just today, but lately.  For some reason I felt especially old today. I came home fairly early last night; early enough that my mom knew I didn't go to any fireworks for the 24th of July. She said, "You're sure acting like an old fart for being so young." I'm just not as young as I used to be, it happens. 

So tonight I went with the boys to dinner and to see Batman (Which, by the way, scared me to death! But that's another post for another day.)  Jordo and I left the theater before the show started to get treats and we were outraged at the price of a bag of M & Ms at the theater! I'd have to mortgage my house (if I had one) to buy the treats I wanted. So we ran over to Target, bought four LARGE bags of M & Ms (one for each of us, of course) and some beef jerky and headed back to the theater. The movie ended and the night was fairly young so the boys came over to my house for our usual game of "Sit Around and Make Fun of Each Other." It's really a game, the rules aren't very complicated if you'd like to learn sometime. When I was sufficiently pissed off by the boys, I kicked them out. After they walked out the door I realized they'd each left their LARGE bags of M & Ms... on purpose! I picked them up and ran out the door after them. They ran to their car yelling "Get inside with your M & Ms before the Joker gets you!" I immediately turned around with my arms full of delicious chocolate goodness, ran back across the lawn and attempted to run up the steps, only to feel myself falling down hard on the concrete. I somehow managed to scrape up each and every side of my leg... which I'm sure is nothing short of a miracle if you look at the physics of the fall. The boys tore off in the car and I crawled into the house, grasping at the M & Ms and trying hard not to pee my pants. It was, after all, almost 2 am. 

I share this story because of the feeling I have now, after the fall. Do you remember that scraped knee, constant stinging feeling that you had ALL summer as a child? Well, I have that. At first it hurt and felt more like a pain, but now it's a constant reminder that I'm not as old as I feel sometimes. I can still have the same experiences I had as a kid, just in a bigger body :)

Then or Now?

I went to The Police concert last Saturday with a friend. I couldn't stop commenting on how good Sting looked for his age. I was even surprising myself each time I heard the comments come out of my mouth.... mostly because Sting was wearing a see-through, fish net-esque shirt and I've never been one to admire men in fish net shirts. ( I guess I've never really had the opportunity to... I wonder if they would grow on me...) Anyhow, my question to you is:

Was Sting better looking THEN (when The Police were releasing new, hit singles) or NOW ( when The Police are playing a reunion tour and their songs are mostly played on "Classic" or "We play the songs you grew up with" radio stations)???

I give you, Vintage Sting:

And now I give you, rugged old man Sting:

Although his face is blocked by a speaker in this first photo, you can see the shirt I mentioned previously that I have mixed feelings about.....