The New Year -- Yeah for 08!

With New Year's Eve arriving tomorrow, I thought it might be appropriate to write down some of my thoughts about this past year. And reflect on things that could have gone better, were amazing, and life in general. So, please sit back, relax and delve into the last year of my life.

2007 was a milestone year for me. On February 1st, I officially had been home from my mission 1 year. Scary thought, especially after I went to my mission reunion (October 2007) and discovered that most of my companions and friends had now married and were having or had had their first child. And I wondered--what had I really been doing during that year? Because everyone else seemed to have been at the right place to find someone to marry, but I was still waiting for a date! But I'm really, honestly, fine with it now--it was just interesting to see the difference choices and where life had taken all of us.

I also graduated. Huge milestone for me. Yeah! I had a great last term (I had to take classes spring term, because I only needed one more class to graduate and I wasn't about to wait for fall to do it). I officially graduated in August, but walked in April graduation. I earned my BA in History, with a minor in English literature. I'm personally proud of my senior thesis: Feminism and the popular culture characters of Nancy Drew, Gidget, and Batgirl. It's 25 pages of sheer hard work, research, and love. I never had so much fun writing a paper, and I got an 'A' on it.

With graduation constantly in the forefront, I began searching for a new job. My interviews took me to Salt Lake and to Washington D.C. I was going to go to the Bay Area to also do an interview, however I was given the job opportunity in Salt Lake and felt that for now--this was a good place to be, make money, and save it for future plans. So, as a post previous to this mentioned--I am currently the senior bilingual secretary of the Liahona magazine. I have fun times at the job, including catching President Henry B. Eyring snagging some candy from his secretary's candy bowl, but I really enjoy everything that I'm learning. I know it's not a forever job, but it's nice for now. Plus, I'm becoming ridiculously proficient with a Mac computer which can only improve my resume further. For those curious--no, I am not continuing my pursuit of the job in Washington D.C. After much prayer and study and pondering, I just felt that now would not be the right time for me to try that. I was happy for the opportunity to go and see a place I had never seen before and have more experiences to fill up my pretty empty journal. I will not be staying at the secretary job forever. Currently, I'm weighing and gathering information on several paths I can take, but those will probably not occur in the near future. I like my job and for now, I'm sticking with it until I learn everything I can.

I didn't do much traveling this year. In May, I went to San Diego for Memorial Day weekend with my roommate Laura. We had a great time seeing the zoo, checking out Seal Beach, the temple, Coronado, and Point Loma. It was fun to play tour guide for a couple of days. I was grateful to Mom and Dad who let us stay at the house. I went to Manti for the Manti Pageant in June, and then to Bear Lake for the reunion in July, and D.C. in July. Other than that--I have stayed in Utah. Unfortunately with real life jobs they expect you to be there for the majority of the year!

So, all in all, 2007 was a great year full of experiences and I'm growing and learning. With 2008 on the brink, I want to post a few of my resolutions--and I intend to keep them all, in fact! I've already started working on them!

1. Try 2 new recipes every other week.
2. Lose ********* lbs. (uh...not going to reveal that number)
   
3. Write 1 article to be published in the Church magazines for 2009 or 2010. (Now I just have to think up a story to use!)
4. Listening to the promptings of the spirit more often
5. Be slower to anger, and quicker to forgive
6. Learn a little bit more about cars and mechanical stuff
7. Visit with family more
8. Move closer to work (maybe even get my own apartment)
9. Save more money
10. Figure out a new life path
11. Go on 5 dates this year (hey...I don't think I've gone on more than 6 dates in my lifetime--5 dates is a pretty lofty goal for anyone who wants to bash it!)
12. Take more pictures
13. Laugh more often
14. Write in my journal more
    

And ladies and gentlemen, there you have it. A list of some things I'm going to work on this year. Hopefully, I'll do them all. But for right now, I'm glad that tomorrow is a new day and that I have the chance to change this year and become better. I hope you all have a Happy New Year and are able to do something fun. If you're in Utah New Year's Eve or on New Years, you're welcome to give me a call. I have nothing planned for tomorrow night, nor Tuesday. Maybe make a pizza on Tuesday and some egg nog. Cheers! Happy New Year! Yeah for oh-eight!

Christmas and other times...

So, I took some pictures of Christmas, but we'll get to those in a second. I realized I had been neglecting putting in some pictures of myself and my friends during my oh-so many adventures. So here's a look at the last couple of months:

This is Laura, Derry, and me at the Homecoming parade in September (like I said...I'm a little late with some of these pictures. I forgot I had them!). We look so happy! Laura was my roommate last year, and I knew both Derry and Laura before my mission. Laura is now in Michigan working with DOW Chemical, and Derry is still in Provo, and is married and expecting her first child. Yeah for friends!

And now for Christmas. Christmas was quiet this year--only Dawn, my parents, and myself for Christmas, until that evening when Kevin and his family arrived. But we had fun. I had a crazy flight in that included being stuck on a plane going nowhere for 2 and a half hours, and arriving in San Diego 2 hours late!

On Saturday, 22nd, Mom, Dad and I went to LA to see Wicked at the Pantages Theater.

It was amazing and I highly recommend it to anyone! It was fantastic! I really liked the actress who played Elphaba. Her voice was beautiful. I wish that my voice sounded like that! That's a picture of her...or at least according to Google Image Search.
Christmas was relaxing with my parents and Dawn. We got up and opened presents, ate breakfast, and called the other member of our families. It was great.

So, here are the four stockings filled with candy. I guess we were all very good this year. The presents ended up being pampered chef thermometers. I can't wait to use mine!

One of Mom's favorite gifts was the scrapbook of the family reunion and a DVD of each family's life in review. Dawn put it together and did an amazing job. I enjoyed it, along with everyone's choice in music. We watched it after opening all the gifts and Mom said, "I hope you just do this every year and forget about trying to give me a present!" Hopefully the masses will listen, because it might force me to take more pictures of myself!

Dad's favorite gift was his remote controlled helicopter.

Here he is proudly displaying the helicopter.

Dawn is opening up gifts. She also made the cinnamon rolls for breakfast, and Mom made homemade hot chocolate. Yeah for both of them for making the best Christmas breakfast!

Well, those are all of my pictures. I got back to Utah on the 26th in the evening because I had to work on the 27th. Mom and Dad ended up renting me a motel room for the night since I got in at 9:45pm and it had snowed in Utah. So, I got a good night's rest and then got to drive straight in to work. Fantastico! So, now I'm back and if anyone has any ideas for how to spend my New Year's Eve (after work, of course) and New Year's day--let me know. I'll be happy to even just ring in the new year! 2008. Who knew that we'd get here!

Quotation of the Day

I was feeling inspired today to begin my blog with a quote. So I ventured to Wikiquote and the following was chosen as the quotation of the day:

It is a queer and fantastic world. Why can't people have what they want? The things were all there to content everybody; yet everybody has got the wrong thing. Perhaps you can make head or tail of it; it is beyond me. ~ Ford Madox Ford

I found this thought to be so appropriate to my life these days. Last night, my roommate invited over a bunch of people to have dinner. These people included friends from high school, to my other roommate's friends. I helped make some dinner, and we prayed and went to eat. There were 2 groups--one of some of the guys surrounding one of my roommates, and another group of people that were surrounding my other roommate. There were not enough chairs, so I was relegated to the kitchen to stand (which is fine since our living room, dining area, and kitchen are completely open to one another.

For an hour, I stood, ate, and tried to chat but everyone seemed to be focused on one of my two roommates. So, I washed my dishes, put them in the dishwasher, and returned to my bedroom to work on a baby afghan that I am crocheting for one of my friends. And today, I feel lonely. I feel lonely because I'm not an interesting enough of a person to warrant a conversation. I'm not a spazz or loud--I have my thoughts and I try to think through them and converse as best as I can. I'm open to asking questions and answering them, but all of that does not warrant any attention. I ask myself: Why can't I have what I want? Is it really asking too much? For just one date? For one nice moment? And I guess it is. It has been eight months since my last date. I don't expect to have another one for awhile. It doesn't help that I have to go to another wedding reception this week, answer more questions regarding my life, and be told I'm getting old. I'm nearly 25--I can't be THAT old.

I need to move away from Utah County. 6 months. That's what I'm counting down to.

Dating Life in Happy Valley

For those who have missed it, there was a letter that appeared in BYU's infamous newspaper--The Daily Universe. The letter is a message to the sisters. While I agree with some facets of it, I feel only a bit of anger towards such a ridiculous representation of the single guys that are in the Utah Valley.

However, my true indignation goes out to the replies that were printed in today's edition of the Daily Universe. Unfortunately, they are only found on the PDF version, I currently cannot find the link. I will give the highlights from the best to the worst:

-If we suggest watching "Terminator" or "Die Hard" together, we are asking you to break up with us. That's the only way we get inspiration to write great songs for our band.

-You obviously haven't seen "Wicked"

-If marriage were a major, you'd never make it past the first prerequisite: Brains.

-Real diamonds retain their value, just like the real men that buy them.

Now the ones I have issue with...well, there's only two:

-"Step Up" is not just about dancing. It's about the message that anyone can change for the better.
Please. It was all about dancing. It wasn't the most genius of all movies I have ever watched and I will probably never purchase it. Don't make it deeper than it really is/was.

-Most girls go to football games to hang out with guys they like. They don't really care about the game.
I disagree. I know PLENTY of girls who go for the atmosphere--to feel the adrenaline of a crowd standing behind the team, cheering them to victory. It's not about chatting it up with the cute guy. And those girls who do go to hang out with the guys are the stupid ones.

So, for those of you who have been out of the dating loop, thanks for stopping back in to remind yourselves WHY you are grateful you got married. Because currently, I live in an area where you're damned if you do, and damned if you don't. And sadly, I fall into the later category.

There is a Mouse in my bedroom...

I am officially freaked out by the fact that last night I saw a mouse run from under my bed to my bookcase, then behind my dvds and over to my shoes. I haven't seen him since. I tried sleeping on the couch while watching a movie, but I was more interested in watching a movie than going to sleep. Every time I got up last night, I opened up my cell phone and used that LCD light to scare the mouse back into hiding. I have two blankets covering the space between my closet doors and the carpet, in the hopes that it won't go in there. It was a very long night.

The worst part was that my landlord didn't answer his phone until like the 10th call, and he refused to come over last night but will be over tonight (although I totally think that he will have some excuse. My favorite part of the conversation with him included these gems:

"There's a mouse in my bedroom."
"How did it get there?"
"I don't know. I didn't open any doors for it to come in."

Later in the conversation:
"So, I will come over tomorrow and we'll set a few mousetraps, how does that sound to you?"
"Perfect."
"Unless you want to keep it. Do you want to keep it?"
"The mouse?"
"Yeah."
"No. I want it gone! I don't want to keep it."

Hopefully that mouse knows what is good for it and ventured to some other area of the house besides my room.

At least one good thing happened--I ordered the Office Season 2 on DVD for $15, so I can finally stop bothering the Shopko employees for it, and Nate and Derry can finally continue the show. At least until they move.

I know...I know...

I know. I know I should be better at updating. But honestly? There's nothing TO update regarding. I go to work every day (wake up at 5 am to be ready), get to work between 7:10 and 7:40 am, attempt to work until at least 4pm, maybe 4:12 pm if I'm really diligent. I get home between 5:15 and 5:30, then maybe run errands, or change into comfy clothes and watch television or read a book, and then between 9 and 10 I'm in bed. Like I said, a boring life.

I'm currently reading Meg Cabot's new book Big Boned of her Heather Wells' Mystery series. Oh, how I love her writing. It's witty, funny, and does not require me to think too much or anaylze. I can just turn off my brain long enough to emmerse myself in her worlds where the awkward, funny, and not perfect girls can win the boy of their dreams. It's sad that books have become my social life. It's unhealthy, I know. Believe me...I know.

I know what everyone thinks--I should get out and get to know more people. I've tried that in my ward--for some reason, these YSAs are so involved in their own lives and their own thing that they're not ready to talk to anyone outside of their clique. Although, I do love the Relief Society presidency and a couple of girls I met on Sunday. They were so nice to me. Now, if only that would happen more often. I guess I'm going to have to schedule something (aka an "Enrichment group") and try and make more friends. Because that's all I really want, is to have some fun single friends again.

Or at least to sell my contract so I can move closer to work and not have such a long day traveling to work!

Christmas

I'm really in the Christmas mood now, and Halloween isn't even over yet!

I just bought my plane tickets home for the Christmas holiday. I'm flying on JetBlue and I'm taking 2 days off of work. Currently, I have 20 hours of paid leave. So, maybe by the time that Christmas rolls around I will have a third day of paid leave. Not because I need it--I need a half day in January because my old roommate Julie is getting married and I'm invited! Yes!

But now, I'm excited for December. I'm excited to go see the Forgotten Carols, because I have front row seats (I just hope that Melanie and Montana can go with me). I'm excited for the Christmas lights to be put up around Temple Square. And I'm excited just to go home to San Diego.

It really is the most wonderful time of year.

Only 56 more days, I guess.

Because Stephanie made me curious

This is the closest I have to a recent family picture on my computer--from E's wedding in 2005 (I was not there--I was in Spain. Bemoaning the fact that I was gone and commiserating with my mission president who was missing his daughter's wedding.)

After posting the results of the test yesterday, my sister-in-law, Stephanie posed the question regarding the rest of my family--what the results would be. Well, here they are (without pictures):

K (bro #1)--looks 6% more like Mom
C (bro #2)--looks 13% more like Mom
D (sis)--looks 19% more like Mom
N (bro #3)--looks 22% more like Dad (finally--One of us gets our looks from Dad.)
B (bro #4)--looks 12% more like Mom
J (bro #5)--looks 8% more like Dad
E (bro #6)--looks 8% more like Dad

And I'm an equal mixture.

Well, it looks like most of the family made out with Mom's genes--no wonder everyone thinks my siblings are good looking. Although I find it funny that J and E, who look the most similar out of the family, happen to have the same percentage.

In case anyone was curious....

I saw this link on my friend's blog and thought it would be fun to try. And look at the results--I'm equal parts my mother and father. I'm actually rather surprised.

The question is: what do you think?

And for those who are reading this--yes, my parents are fine in San Diego. They did have to evacuate, and were able to fit my mission box in the car, but the fire only came to within 5 miles of the house. They're back in there, safe and sound.

I'm riding the highs, I'm digging the lows...

I don't have any new pictures, unfortunately. I need to take more pictures. But my life is pretty boring these days. Well, that's not true. This past weekend was General Conference.

Because of my position at work, and the way conference works, I was able to read over two talks on Friday. President Thomas S. Monson's Saturday morning address, and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's Saturday afternoon talk. Both were fantastic to read. As I read Elder Holland's, I could hear his voice emphasizing certain words, and I was pretty surprised how correct I got his inflection when I heard him give it.

Friday after work, I drove to Kevin and Penny's, and changed my clothes and visited before heading to John Watson dealership in Ogden for my mission reunion. Although I enjoyed my reunion last year, I felt that it was rather useless this year. I felt very aware of my single-ness, and although many thought my new job was cool, it wasn't worth my time to go. I'm debating whether to even go next year.

I came back to Kevin and Penny's to spend the night, and watched a movie with the boys. Saturday morning I was up early to be back in Orem in time for the first session of Conference. Saturday night, I went and visited with Melanie and our old roommate Sara came over. We hadn't seen her in 3 years as she moved to Colorado right after her graduation in 2004.

Sunday, I spent the entire day with Melanie and Montana and their two sons--Mason and Peyton. I was able to try some new recipes on them to great success. We had breakfast while watching the first session of Conference, and then played a little bit before the second session and dinner. It was a fun time. I got to hold Peyton a lot, as well. I learned that he loves to fall asleep on his stomach, on your chest. I could have just laid on their couch for hours longer holding Peyton, but I knew I probably needed to get home and get ready for bed.

I arrived home on Saturday night to see an e-mail from Stephanie regarding my new nephew. His name is Zachary Wesley and from the pictures--he looks like a cute kid. I'm glad we have yet another boy. There can't be TOO many  boys, right? Not when they all look like my nephews do. Hopefully he'll be a good-natured boy.

Well, it's back to the grind for me. Until then---I'll keep riding the highs as they come.

Why Not...

Well, I had some time on this Sunday afternoon, so I figured it might be a good idea to update everyone on my life. I'm working for the LDS Church in Salt Lake City, and I love my job. Besides the commute (which will become extinct when I move next year when my contract at my apartment runs out next August), I definitely can't complain. Nice people. Great environment. I'm really enjoying all that I'm learning. And we're in high stress mode now as General Conference is upon us. It will be exciting to see what happens at that point.

Other than that, my life just keeps going. Yesterday, I drove with my best friend, Melanie, to the hospital and we were there for four hours. I got to hold little Peyton for an hour, even with all of his tubes. He's being fed Melanie's milk through a tube, and I will have to learn how to put that in when he comes home, just in case I happen to be babysitting. He is a cute little squirt and seems to be doing just fine. Afterwards, Melanie and I drove down to Sandy to our old friend, Russ' wedding reception. It was good to see him again, and his brother, Jason, with whom we were close friends as well. Russ actually married one of my co-workers, so it was nice to see her and be able to make a connection. I've gotten a new calling in my new ward--Relief Society pianist. Today was my first day of playing and I didn't do very well. So, I guess I need to get back in the habit of practicing more often. But other than that, life is just going.

Heeeeeeyyyyyyyy, Heeeeyyy Baby...I wanna know-oh-oh...

Well, to give you the update:
Melanie, my best friend, had her baby a week ago, yesterday. His name is Peyton Brock Page. There have been some complications. He was born with three chambers in his heart, instead of the normal four. And all of his organs are on the opposite side of where they are normally are (just like Donny Osmond...I told Mel that it was a sign that Peyton is going to get a big recording deal and make them a lot of money. She laughed). This week, or next, he's going in for open heart surgery to get a shunt put in ... but I got to see him on Sunday. The cutest little guy ever. He's started breathing on his own, which is obviously a good sign, but the rest we'll just have to wait and see. I wanted to post a good picture to show him off because he's another one of my "nephews".

I'll continue to update as things happen. Other than that--life is going well. Very busy. My job is amazing. Pictures of my desk soon to come. Things are going great there. I walk. I talk. I pass things out. I have become fluent in Spanish (again), French and Portuguese. Well, I can't actually SPEAK all of those, but I can read and understand. And I finally discovered which ward I'm to attend--that was after calling Membership, my Stake President, a counselor to the stake president, and the bishop. I hope this experience doesn't put me in line for a big calling, right?

Oops! Judging by the clock...I have to sign off and get going! Later!

Tyler's Laugh

While in DC, Becky attempted to get Tyler to give us a cute laugh. This was the result, after multiple attempts.

DC...or bust!

For those of you curious enough to ask, I went to Washington DC for a job interview and LOVED it. I mean, really loved it. I've never been that far east in the United States unless you count the few trips that have taken me into the airports of Miami and JFK. So, this was really thrilling. I stayed with Becky, Ken, and Tyler...and saw Melinda and Matt (who treated me to a very delicious dinner on Sunday). But here are some pictures of my adventures!

Here is Tyler, my "nephew" looking adorable.

Yep...that is the White House. And those boys on the side are from the National Water Polo team. They followed me from the metro exit. I was finally able to shake them somewhere between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial.

And it's me and the White House. That's right. Some day I will live in the White House. Actually, probably not. I already tried in the game Democracy. I was so bad that the Democrats AND Republicans (and I think a bunch of independents) were trying to impeach me!

This was a neat plaque that I found at the World War II Memorial. It reads: "Here we mark the price of freedom."

And lastly, me...all sweaty from the humidity and having walked all the way from the White House and metro stop. Behind me you see the reflecting pool and Washington Monument. Amazing! And no...I didn't climb the stairs to see the Lincoln Memorial. I was TIRED!

And that, everyone, was a snippet of my trip. It was a good time, and now I just wait to find out if this is where I begin the next phase of my life...or not!

So it begins

My life begins now as a recent college graduate. To celebrate (well...not to really celebrate, but rather for fun) some friends and I traveled to Manti to see the Pageant there. Yes it was semi-cheesy, but all in all well worth the trip and gas.

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