Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas!


I hope you have a wonderful Christmas filled with joy!!

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Have you ever...?

Let me just start off by saying that I'm so excited for Christmas! I went home this past weekend to be there when my sister got off the plane (kind of long story, but she's safe!) and I'm going home this weekend and will be there until January! Soo, excited! Really, I don't think you understand how excited I am. There is no place like home for the holidays! I still have shopping to do... I really haven't started on it. But, I will get it done in time, I promise.

Now, onto the "Have you ever" part... (by the way, if you are reading this, I tag you). I bolded the ones I have done.

1. Started your own blog- I definitely think I have
2. Slept under the stars- Yup, at girl's camp. The stars are beautiful
3. Played in a band- Sadly, no
4. Visited Hawaii-Not yet
5. Watched a meteor shower - No
6. Given more than you can afford to charity - Not sure how to answer this
7. Been to Disneyland - I've been just outside the gates, does that count? (ok, it doesn't really count)
8. Climbed a mountain - No
9. Held a praying mantis - Yes!
10. Sang a solo- No
11. Bungee jumped - No, but I sort of want to. That whole feeling of jumping up and down really fast sounds fun (Dramamine, here I come).
12. Visited Paris- No, but hopefully someday I will!
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea - No
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch -The art of perfecting 7-layer bars
15. Adopted a child - No
16. Had food poisoning - I really think I have (there was this pizza place...)
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty- No, but I've seen it in pictures. Again, someday I hope to see it
18. Grown your own vegetables - Yes, and they tasted delicious!
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France -No
20. Slept on an overnight train -No, but it sounds fun
21. Had a pillow fight -Yes
22. Hitch hiked -No
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill - Isn't that dishonest?
24. Built a snow fort - Yes, I have. It was tons of fun
25. Held a lamb - They are so cute! (Jeanette, remember Judy in Powell?)
26. Gone skinny dipping - Umm, no I haven't
27. Run a Marathon- No
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice - I have in my dreams
29. Seen a total eclipse -Yes, it was in 8th grade I believe, and we had those special glasses
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset - Yes
31. Hit a home run - No
32. Been on a cruise - No
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person -Yes, it's beautiful, really on both sides but more so on the Canadian side
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors - No, but someday we will go
35. Seen an Amish community -Yes
36. Taught yourself a new language- No, I tried to learn sign language, but I didn't really teach myself
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied - How do I answer this?
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person - No
39. Gone rock climbing - No, but I have been rapelling
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David - No
41. Sung karaoke - Sort of, if you count doing it at home
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt -Yes, I have! We waited for about 45 minutes and it was worth it!
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant - No, but I hope to one day
44. Visited Africa - No
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight -Yes
46. Been transported in an ambulance - I have ridden in one when somebody else was being transported on the stretcher
47. Had your portrait painted - No
48. Gone deep sea fishing -No
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person - Someday...
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris - No *sigh*
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling -No
52. Kissed in the rain -No
53. Played in the mud -Yes, I'm sure I made mud pies when I was younger too
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie- No
56. Visited the Great Wall of China -No
57. Started a business -Does selling lemonade count?
58. Taken a martial arts class? -No
59. Visited Russia -No
60. Served at a soup kitchen - Yes
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies -Yes, I love those things!
62. Gone whale watching - No
63. Got flowers for no reason- No
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma - Yes to the blood donation (no to the platelets or plasma. You might just convince me though, Brenna!)
65. Gone sky diving - No, see # 11 (I want to, but I'm also afraid of heights. It's quite the dilemma)
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp - No, but I would like to go sometime
67. Bounced a check - Actually, I have (just once though)
68. Flown in a helicopter - No
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy - From being destroyed by a dog
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial - Yes
71. Eaten Caviar - Yes, and I was surprised it didn't taste as bad as I had imagined
72. Pieced a quilt - Helped to piece one
73. Stood in Times Square - No
74. Toured the Everglades -No
75. Been fired from a job - No
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London -No
77. Broken a bone -No (keeping my fingers crossed)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle - No
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person-No
80. Published a book -No
81. Visited the Vatican -No
82. Bought a brand new car - Well, it was brand new to me...
83. Walked in Jerusalem - No
84. Had your picture in the newspaper -Yes
85. Read the entire Bible - Yes
86. Visited the White House - I stood outside the gates, but I wasn't able to inside. So, technically I have visited it. (But, I will go back and tour it)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - Sadly, I have killed and prepared an animal for eating but I couldn't actually eat it (somebody else did though, so it didn't go to waste)
88. Had chickenpox- Sort of...
89. Saved someone’s life - My stuffed animal (see # 69)
90. Sat on a jury - No, but oh, boy have I always wanted to!
91. Met someone famous- Yes
92. Joined a book club - Yes
93. Lost a loved one - Yes
94. Had a baby - No
95. Seen the Alamo in person - No
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake-No
97. Been involved in a law suit - Yes, but unfortunately I haven't received any money from it
98. Owned a cell phone - No. Really, I think I am one of the last people on earth not to own one
99. Been stung by a bee - Yes
100. Seen Mount Rushmore in person - No
101. Learned to play an instrument - Yes, but sadly I didn't pratice as much as I should have

Sunday, November 30, 2008

Giving Thanks

"Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American." ~O. Henry

I enjoy this time of year to reflect on what I am thankful for. Granted, I'm trying to be better about "living in thanksgiving daily" but it's also nice to have a day to celebrate those things that we're specifically thankful for. I also love being with family to celebrate the holidays.



Here are a few things that I'm thankful for this year:

*My family. I really don't know what I would do with out them. I am grateful for their love and patience. I am so happy I was able to spend the majority of this week with them! But, right now, I'm also sad it's coming to a close. Did this week seem to go by faster than usual, or was it just me that noticed it?

*The gospel. The gospel means everything to me and I honestly don't know where I would be without it in my life. I love the gospel!

*My Savior. I am so grateful to Christ for His love for us and the ability that we have to draw closer to Him.

A few of the other things I am thankful for:

*Warm house
*Job
*Down comforter :)
*Pets
*The opportunity to live in this country and all the freedoms that go along with it
*Food to eat
*Money
*A car that runs
*Temples where families can be sealed for eternity

What are you thankful for this year?

My family has a tradition of going out the Saturday after Thanksgiving to cut down our Christmas tree. Usually we have a specific place we go but last year and this year my mom and I went to a new place to cut it down. Growing up our whole family would go to cut it, but both years my dad was working and my sister was in Idaho so my mom and I just went. Honestly, it takes a while to find the perfect tree, and this year was no different...but I think we found one in record time. It only took a little over an hour! We started out looking at the trees in the front of the farm and wound our way to the back. We would see one that we thought might work from a distance, but when we got up close it was either too bare or had a twisted trunk or was too short. (The poor trees, they're probably thinking to themselves "gosh, humans are so picky!")

After looking at many trees and not really finding one that was "perfect", we decided that we needed to pick one from the ones we had looked at. We narrowed our choices to about three from the front of the farm that we thought would be fine. Unfortunately, we just remembered them in our heads, but forgot to tag or identify them in some way. When we went up front to look at them again, we realized we had built them up to be "the" tree but couldn't actually remember which ones they were! Luckily there was one that we put a stick in (from the back of the farm) and we decided to go back to that one. After looking it over one last time, we decided it would work and cut it down. They had a little tractor that the tree was put on, so we wouldn't have to carry it, and it was driven up to the front of the farm. A little elf was even driving the tractor! He was so cute. After they shook it to get all the dead needles off, they put netting over it, put it in the car, and we drove it home. Now comes the fun part of setting it up and putting the lights and decorations on it. Such memories we have (and will have) of cutting down the Christmas tree! I love this time of year!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

Worth it?

I love free food! I went with my roommates and donated blood for the first time today here in Lexington. Honestly, I was impressed. Despite the uncomfort of the actual needle, I got a free t-shirt, card for a free meal at McDonald's, and a card for free chips and guacamole at Chipotle. Pretty sweet deal, huh? A little blood for almost two meals and another shirt! Plus, they had Little Debbie snack cakes and pop and juice machines for refreshment after donating. I think I will definitely go back. Incidentally, I used to be afraid of needles! I was so afraid that I even cried when they tried to give me the MMR vaccine in 7th grade. My parents had to drag me into the room so the nurse could give it to me. Needless to say, I'm not so afraid anymore, thankfully.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Tag, I'm it!

A while ago my friend tagged me. Here goes: (some of them I edited because I didn't have 9 things)

9 TV SHOWS I WATCH:
-Law and Order: SVU
-Law and Order: CI
-Seinfeld
-Bones
-24
-CSI: New York
-As Time Goes By
-The Office (sometimes)
-House M.D.

9 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS:
-Olive Garden
-Outback Steakhouse (they have great rolls)
-IHop (just went there for the first time yesterday!)
-Josiah's (since closed)
-Mongolian BBQ
-Golden Corral
-Coldstone Creamery (does that count?)

9 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY:
-Went with a friend while she had her car repaired
-Went to the library and checked out books
-Ate at IHop
-Went to the store
-Had friends over and watched movies
-Checked Facebook
-Read my email
-Chatted with a friend
-Breathed in and out (pretty important!)

9 THINGS I AM LOOKING FORWARD TO:
-Thanksgiving with my family
-Christmas with my family
-Getting married
-Meeting new people
-The day I won't have to worry about money so much
-Having children
-Going to NYC (someday it will happen!)
-A new (to me) car

9 THINGS ON MY WISH LIST:
-A husband
-Children
-A dog
-Egg cups
-Phantom of the Opera movie
-More money :-)
-Being able to make better use of my time

9 THINGS I AM SCARED OF:
-Being alone
-Having something bad happen to my family
-Dark alleys
-Heights
-Getting lost (happens to me a lot though, I should be used to it by now!)
-Pushy people
-Speaking my mind
-Scary movies
-Haunted halloween parks

9 PEOPLE I TAG:
-Becky F.
-Sam C.
-Tara
-Jeanette B.
-Holly S.
-Rebecca A.
-Anyone else who
-wants to tag themselves...

Friday, October 17, 2008

Sad, but true

In honor of Halloween coming up and the current economic crisis, enjoy...


Friday, October 3, 2008

The O'Reilly Factor




Wow, this is an interesting news broadcast. Quite funny if you ask me. I won't go into how I feel about the bailout or the financial crisis. I'll just suffice it to say that the American people need to be more responsible for their own spending and financial affairs.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

I am...

I am....tired.
I think....finding a job shouldn't be this hard.
I know....the church is true.
I want....to find some friends.
I have....the best family.
I miss....my family.
I fear....heights.
I feel....a little depressed.
I hear....Josh Groban singing.
I smell....nothing.
I crave....Brenna's chocolate chip pancakes.
I cry....more often than I should.
I search...for a friend and a job.
I wonder....if I will ever find something I enjoy doing.
I regret....not writing to my grandmother more often.
I wish....I had more money.
I love....my family.
I care....sometimes, more often than I should about what other people think.
I always....call my mom.
I worry....that I won't have enough money.
I am not....married.
I remember....being young and carefree. Being a grown-up is hard!
I believe....deep down inside, that everything will work out for the best.
I sing...in the shower.
I don't always....think before I speak.
I argue....sometimes.
I write....in my journal, not as often as I should.
I lose....my temper.
I listen....to music.
I don't understand...a lot of things.
I can usually be found....at the apartment.
I need....to find a job.
I forget....but I'm working on it...
I am happy....not right now, but hopefully I will be.

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Play list

I added a play list of music to the bottom of the blog. It is kind of hard to access down there but, it doesn't really fit on the side... So, if you want to listen to music you'll just have to scroll down. It includes a variety of different songs and artists and I hope you find something you like.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Nightmares


I have nightmares about these things. We have killed at least 20 of them so far in the apartment, and they are fast. We have a designated shoe to kill them and we keep it out just in case. Every night we see a new one (or two or three). Along with a spider and mosquitoes. Will it ever end? Until you have actually seen one in person I don't think you have an idea of the fear they induce. We can't walk anywhere with out the thought (and fear) of seeing one of them. They blend in with the carpets which makes it even worse. At least they aren't upstairs in the bedrooms. I have shivers just thinking about them. Gross!

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

Innocent until proven guilty

We thought Hannah looked a little too innocent and sweet... and cool for her own good.
She showed us her paws and we didn't see anything, we were a little suspicious though, but then...
we saw her nose and we knew,

sure enough, she had been digging!

Those are the Terriers for you!

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Time and Change

This is belated but I wanted to post pictures from my graduation. I graduated from The Ohio State University on June 8, 2008! The following are pictures starting on the Friday before graduation.

This is graduation rehearsal as we are walking into the stadium. We had been in the French Field House for about 45 minutes before we actually started walking to the stadium. Needless to say, it was quite hot that day in the the field house with so many graduates and no fans.


We finally make it into the stadium.



Taking our seats.





Block O!


The graduates sat in the upper levels of the lower seating (if that makes sense) and all the guests sat elsewhere.



Architecture from the outside of the stadium.



These few pictures are from the Commencement Eve Candlelight Ceremony which was held on Saturday, the day before graduation. This is a picture of Mirror Lake.



Carmen Ohio:
Oh come let's sing Ohio's praise
And songs to Alma Mater raise
While our hearts rebounding thrill
With joy which death alone can still
Summer's heat or winter's cold
The seasons pass the years will roll
Time and change will surely show
How firm thy friendship... O-H-I-O!
(Sorry the pictures are so blurry...it was hard to get a good one).


Candles held up during O-H-I-O.



My mom and me. I love this picture.



My mom, my sister, and me.




All of our candles together. This is such a cool picture! President Gee spoke at the ceremony as well as a student that was chosen to represent OSU. This was the first year for the candle ceremony, but it was a big success.



Ohio State congratulates the class of 2008


This is my father, my sister and me on the day of graduation in the French Field House.



Getting ready. Exciting times!

My mom, me, and my dad.


My mom looks so happy in this picture! We always tease each other about our heights. (I'm actually taller) but my mom thinks she is so I was obliging her in this picture and look, I am shorter!



PhD students walking into the stadium before the ceremony. All of the names of the PhD students were read and they actually went up to the stand and received their diploma. It took forever, but if I had worked that hard I would want my name read too!


ROTC members preparing to raise the flag. Don't they look nice?


Table after table of diplomas. Each of the graduates had a number and we went into our rows by number. They actually handed out real diplomas during graduation. For 7,857 students graduating, I'd say that was a pretty good feat of coordination!



Raising the flag.


Going....


Up!

Brian Williams, the anchor of NBC Nightly News, was the speaker. He spoke about going out and helping the world and making a difference in the lives of others.

Receiving my diploma!! (I'm in the lower right hand corner...)


I was searching for my family while I was sitting in the stands and wasn't able to find them. As I went down to receive my diploma, I saw my family waving and they caught a picture of me.


After the ceremony. My face is all sun burnt. And I was sooo hot and sweaty. I had to go home and take a shower.

My family after graduation. My dad had worked the night before and did not get much sleep as we had to be on campus around 11 am and the ceremony went until after 4 pm. Thank you to my family for supporting me and for encouraging me to keep going. It was well worth it. I love you!!

With President Gee (he's LDS too!) Don't you just love his hat? I think it's so cute.


O-H-I-O with President Gee! So fun!


After meeting President Gee. It was so nice of him to take the time for pictures with the graduates. He is so great!


My sister and I on the way home!


My yummy celebration cookie!

Me and my diploma! Even though it's not really a big deal I wore honor cords for being a member of Phi Upsilon Omicron, a Human Ecology honor society. It was fun to see all the other members wearing them. A lot of people asked what they were for because the cords were yellow and purple, not scarlet and grey.


OSU grad. Finally!!



Monday, August 25, 2008

They do what?!?

Mosquitoes would be so much more useful if they gave us something in return for just sucking our blood. Something like a quicker metabolism or the power to be invisible or, I don't know, something else cool. Instead, they just leave us with itchy red bites that swell up and last for days. Ugh.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Team USA

Do you know where Tunisia is located? I didn't before yesterday. One of the swimmers, Oussama Mellouli, won the first gold medal for his country in the 1,500 meter freestyle. I love watching the Olympics!! There is such a feeling of unity when athletes from all over the world come together and compete. It is so wonderful cheering for the underdog and hoping they win, and then when they do or anyone else, watching them tear up when the national anthem is played during the medal ceremonies. It is so cool that Michael Phelps won 8 gold medals. Go him! He just kept swimming, just kept swimming, just kept swimming. (from Finding Nemo). Diving, swimming, and running are my favorites to watch. U-S-A, U-S-A!

My parents celebrated their 34th wedding anniversary this month. I'm so happy they found each other and for their love and patience with me over the years. They are the best parents and I'm glad they are mine! Here's to 34 more years!

Craigslist is the best. I decided to buy a car yesterday. It has 246,000 miles and it's 19 years old but it's $800 dollars. I'm picking it up and paying for it tomorrow. Yippee! Now for the job...

(If you're interested, Tunisia is located in North Africa between Algeria and Libya and south of Italy). Interesting, huh?

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Chocolate

I have to say, I'm not a huge fan of chocolate. When I do eat it I prefer it with nuts or caramel or toffee or something else in it. I do not like raisins either. Recently though I've had a big craving for Cadbury Fruit and Nut bars. The chocolate is so smooth and creamy and the bars have just the right amount of fruit and nuts (almonds) in them. They are really good!

Thursday, July 31, 2008

6 Days

My sister said that if I can't find a job I can always resort to donating plasma. I know I will find one!

The other day at camp one of the boys had run off and was missing from our group. R (the male counselor) went to look for him. When they came back R told us that he had asked the boy where he was, this was the boy's response: "I was lost. I was looking for Jesus to save me" R told us he told the boy, "Sorry buddy, you're looking in the wrong place, this is a Jewish camp" I thought it was really funny.

Kindergartners wear me out. I think my sleep debt is so high I could sleep for a month. 6 more days of camp. Not that I'm counting.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Memory Tag

Several of my friends have this on their blog. I'm a little late joining them.

Here are the rules:

1. Add 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 you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments. Join the fun!

Monday, June 30, 2008

Frustrated

I was frustrated today. It rained almost the whole day at camp which meant the children had to stay indoors almost the whole day and we weren't able to do our usual activities. It was also super crazy with all the campers indoors.

During afternoon pool we were told by a lifeguard to use the deep end of the indoor heated pool, because another group from camp was using the shallow end. Half of the children in my group couldn't go in because they don't know how to swim in that end. With about 10 minutes left of the swim time the lifeguard told us that we needed to go outside to swim, where it was windy, cold, and rainy. So we got the children out of the water and took all their stuff outside to swim. I just didn't understand why we couldn't stay in the heated pool or go in the shallow end. It was so cold outside for the little ones. Most of them hardly have any body fat to keep them warm as it is. Of course, I tried to stay excited about it for the children. It was just really hard with the mixed messages. And it was the same lifeguard that told us both times. Oh, well, at least we only had six children today. Also, smart thinking on my part but, I wore khaki light pants today and got a lot of mud on them. Here's to hoping it doesn't rain tomorrow...

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Oh, what do you do in the summertime?

I've been really bad at blogging. I always think "Oh, I should write but I'll do it later" then later never comes. Anyhow...I thought I would write about some of things I've been doing so far this summer.

These are some of the things that I do in the summer time:


Plant a garden. We finally have some vegetables that are ripe in the garden. Some radishes were picked today. Some of them were quite huge (and spicy too, whoo!). We also canned four jars of cherries from the two trees in our backyard with more to come. This year we got them before the birds. The lettuce is ready and the tomatoes and peppers are also starting to come up. The squash plants have little squash flowers on them. These are our canned cherries.


Go swimming. I'm working as a camp counselor at a Jewish summer camp. I work with two other counselors and we have about 12 five year olds that we take care of. They can be quite a handful sometimes but are so fun to work with. We go swimming twice a day. They have swimming lessons in the morning and free swim in the afternoon.

There are three girls in the group and they always want to play "shark" with me during the free swim. They pretend they are going to attack me and I have to swim away. Once they catch me, I get to be the shark and try to catch them. Another game they like to play is "touch the rope." There is a rope which divides the shallow end from the deep end. They like to have me swim them over and let them touch the rope. They each stick their little pointer fingers out and quickly touch the rope and are ready to go back. It is so cute. For those of you that have seen Finding Nemo it reminds me of the part where they race out to touch the "butt."

One of boys told me the other day that one of his favorite movies was Kung Fu Panda and he said I "definitely have to watch it on the IMAX screen!" I would love to put pictures up but, unfortunately, I am not able to because of privacy reasons.

Volunteer at Special Olympics. My sister and I volunteered for the Special Olympics yesterday which was actually Saturday the 28th. (I started this post on Thursday). We helped with the aquatics. Some of the people are so funny. Some of them are also very flirty. So flirty in fact, that one guy offered to be my boyfriend! After each group swam they had a little awards ceremony. They went onto a stand much like the real Olympics and received their medals and had their pictures taken. It was really fun. The Olympics were held at OSU and I'm surprised at how many different events they had. Some of them included gymnastics, volleyball, swimming, and track.

Eat fruit. I LOVE summertime fruit. There is such variety during the summer and it all tastes sooo good.

Listen to the rain and watch the thunderstorms. It has rained during the past three days. Usually it only lasts for 45 minutes or less but I still enjoy it. I miss having a big porch to sit outside and watch them.

I tried moving the pictures down and I became frustrated, so they're staying right where they are. I put the cursor where I wanted the pictures and after I downloaded them they didn't end up where I wanted but went to the top of the post instead. Argh...

This is a little bit of what I have been up to lately. What do you do in the summertime?
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...