Minor Incidents

Goodbye for now

2010-09-13T22:24:00.002-06:00

I know a lot of you encouraged me to continue by blog, but I just can't garner any enthusiasm for it. Maybe one day I'll start another blog with a really cool name and a really cool theme. I'll let you know, but until then, goodbye.

Heber

2010-08-10T19:17:00.003-06:00

I know it's been forever since I last posted, but there's just nothing I want to write about at the moment. I did go up to Heber this past weekend and took some pictures of the beautiful landscape. So here they are. That's all . . . for now.

Camille Jean Zurcher

2010-07-04T11:50:00.004-06:00

I designed Camille's baby announcements. These were easy to design because the photos were so artistically done and they are really the main design of the cards. Well, I'm getting ready to go to her baby blessing in about 20 minutes. It will be a great fourth with my family! Happy Independence Day!

Well, we just got back so here are some pictures from the event. Tomorrow's event: boating on Utah Lake! So excited. We got a ski for Caroline so it will be her first attempt tomorrow. There may be tears, but I'm sure we'll all have fun!

Emily's Present

2010-06-24T22:28:00.003-06:00

Emily's birthday is tomorrow (Happy Birthday Emily!) and I decided to give her a portrait like the one I did of Kate for Christmas and I decided I'd post a picture of it. She was here in Utah this past weekend so I was able to give it to her personally. I had it framed like Kate's and the two pictures actually look really neat together so I took a picture of that too. Sorry about the reflections!

Beijing

2010-06-06T16:37:00.012-06:00

On the morning of Thursday, May 20th, Max and I flew from Xi'an to Beijing. Have I told you about Chinese domestic flights? The flight must have only been about an hour and a half, yet they gave us full meals. Obviously, the food is nothing to rave about, but they don't give that food out on American flights unless it's at least 4 hours long and that's only if it's a more expensive airline. The first thing we did when we got to Beijing was go to Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City.

Here I am, standing in Tiananmen Square, with The Forbidden City and Chairman Mao's big face behind me. The other pictures are building that surround the square. I don't really know what they are though. In the square, there would be these random people selling water because it was so hot. It wasn't anything official. They would just have a flat of bottled water. The bottles were clearly cold because I could see the precipitation on them, but I couldn't figure out where they got cold water from. We were headed down into the subway when about 5 of them came running through with their water to hide because the police showed up and apparently it's illegal to pedal water the way they were doing. I thought it was pretty funny.

The Forbidden City is absolutely huge! I understand why they call it a city now. It was building after courtyard after building and so on. The picture above shows a detail on one of the buildings. This has obviously been restored. A lot of the buildings near the entrance were restored like this, but mostly it wasn't restored, which I think I liked best because it made it seem more historical and real. There were some rooms we were able to look into that had everything in place, supposedly as it was when it was in use. We were only allowed to look in the windows. Every room had a big elaborate dais and throne for the emperor and I thought the rooms all looked kind of alike, but each room had a different use.

Here's a portion that hasn't been restored.

This is some natural rock formed by rainwater in the garden portion of the palace. After visiting The Forbidden City, Max and I went to the silk market. This place doesn't just sell silk, it sells EVERYTHING. I mean, anything you ever wanted probably exists in this 5-story + basement building. There was stall after stall of clothing, toys, jewelry, shoes, electronic, fabric, etc. As you walk through, the salespeople are fairly aggressive and yell out to you as you walk by. Since I was wearing a pink shirt that day, they were calling me "pink lady" in order to get my attention. It was an experience, but I didn't get to browse as much as I would have liked because if you even glance at anything in interest, they pounce on you. I did, however, look at the pearls because I knew I wanted to buy some. I've always really liked those little seed pearls, but none of the pre-made jewelry incorporated these pearls in their designs. Max told me I could just design something and they'd make it for me. So I had them twist several stands of the seed pearls with one strand of slightly larger pearls. I really love it and I'll post a picture later. Once again, Max helped me get a good price.

The day before I had to leave China, Max and I went with a group from our hostel to the Great Wall. We went to an old part of the wall so we didn't have to pay and entrance fee (unless you count the old lady in the middle of the path with a sickle that forced our guide to pay her some money) and there weren't very many people around. We were an eclectic group; 2 Americans, 2 Dutch, 2 French, 1 Norwegian and 1 Chinese, but we made quick friends and it was quite enjoyable.

This wasn't just a nice little stroll, this was a hike. In the picture above, you can see the tower at the top were ultimately ended up at. It doesn't look very steep in this picture, but that stretch of wall you see started with stairs and then a slope. I think the angle of the incline was steeper than 45 degrees. It was a workout, but a lot of fun because it was scenic.

All in all, I had a very fun trip. I don't know if I'd ever plan another trip to China, but I'm glad I got to experience it once. If I went back, I'd probably go to Hong Kong again. That place merits more exploration. Max was lucky he was able to live there for a couple of months and I'm happy he invited me over for a little adventure. Now I've been thinking about where I want to travel to next. Italy and Australia are top on my list.

Xi'an

2010-06-02T21:33:00.014-06:00

On the night of Monday, May 17th, Max and I made sure we were at the train station way ahead of schedule. We bought soft sleeper tickets. This meant we were in a cabin with only 2 other people. We had the top bunks and below us were 2 Chinese men who clearly spoke no English. We left at 8 PM. In the ceiling of our cabin was a speaker they used to pipe soft hits throughout the train. This went on until about 10 PM when they turned it off so people could sleep. The 2 Chinese men under us had fallen asleep and when the music was turned off, we could hear both of the them snoring. I looked over at Max the same time he looked at me and we both just started laughing. These guys were synchronized. When one was breathing in, the other would be breathing out. I put my earphones in, which, fortunately, also double as ear plugs, and fell asleep until about 5:30 AM. At that point, I was just lightly dozing until 7:00 AM when they thought it would be a good idea to turn the soft hits on again. Did I tell you how loud the volume was? It was loud enough that if Max and I wanted to talk we had to raise our voices. Luckily, we arrived in Xi'an around 11 AM. It was quite the experience and I was able to see some of the beautiful countryside of China. By the way, Xi'an is pronounced "She-an."

This was the hostel we stayed at in Xi'an. I really liked this place despite the concrete slab that was our bed. You can't tell in this picture, but when you open those doors, the sill of the door came up about 1 and a half feet, so we had to step over it. The hostel had a series of courtyards and houses and everything was open. Again, you can't tell from this picture, but this place held a lot of depth. Also, I liked it because there were four adorable kittens that lived here. Just down the street from the hostel, was this restaurant that Max and I liked so much, we went there for dinner twice. On the second night, we were eating when our waiter came running by, preceded by a rat he was chasing. We had to remind ourselves that we were in China.

This is the bell tower in Xi'an and below is the drum tower. Right around this area is the Muslim Quarter. They have a lot of dried fruits and nuts for sale here and they also have a market where there is plenty of touristy things to buy. This is were I decided to buy Cole and Caroline each a kite and a jade bracelet for myself. Max was a rather good bargainer and got me some great prices on these items.

The Kites.
The Bracelet.

This is a restored version of one of the gates to the city of Xi'an. Max and I walked around the streets in this area one night. All we really did was walk and take in everything that was happening. A lot of cooking, relaxing and Mahjong playing. I learned how to play Mahjong in Hong Kong and really wanted to bring some tiles home, but they're so heavy! In Xi'an there are a bunch of these guys that ride around on motorized bikes with a sort of cart thing attached to the back that two people can ride in. Everywhere we went, we were asked if we wanted a ride. As we were walking in what we thought was the direction of our hostel one night, we decided to take one just for fun. It was probably a good thing we took it because we were so turned around. It was a crazy ride with a lot of horn honking involved, but we made it back to the hostel.

Of course, the main reason people go to Xi'an is to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. These were only discovered in 1974 by a farmer digging a well. We saw this guy in the gift shop signing autographs. I thought that was kind of funny. I just can't believe China didn't know about this tomb before 36 years ago. Anyway, when they first opened up the tomb, the statues were in pieces. The ones you see in these pictures are only replicas. The reason this emperor's tomb is in Xi'an, is because Xi'an was the capital city for four dynasties. This emperor is actually the guy who first commissioned the building of the Great Wall and I guess he wasn't too well liked because soon after he was buried in his tomb, it was raided and a lot of the statues were broken and ceilings collapsed. Apparently, all the warriors have different faces and they were originally painted. In a museum portion of this place, we actually saw a few warriors that still had a little paint on them. All the warriors carried brass weapons and we saw many of these in the museum as well.

Beijing is that last stop on my China trip. Visit again soon for the final posting!

Shanghai

2010-05-27T15:41:00.031-06:00

On the morning of May 13th, Max and I headed up to Shenzhen. Shenzhen is right on the border of Hong Kong, so this was where we crossed over to mainland China and this is where facebook stopped working. We had the intention of buying train tickets to Shanghai, but when we got there, we found out they had no tickets for about 3 days. We had an "oh crap" moment where we contemplated going back to Hong Kong, but Max didn't have any more entries to China on his Visa. After walking around for a while, we decided we could fly even though we'd have to spend way more than we wanted to. I took my phone out and looked up how to get from the Shenzhen train station to the Shenzhen airport. It was a 45 minute mini-bus ride which Max claims was the most comfortable ride of the trip. Once at the airport we booked a ticket and ended up in Shanghai a whole half day early!

This was the hostel we stayed at. Every time we came and went from the hostel, we had to cross a fairly busy street. This was when we realized that traffic lights and signs are not law, but more of a suggestion. Also, pedestrians never have the right of way, not even in a cross walk. It kind of felt like playing Frogger, but for real.

One of the first things Max and I did in Shanghai was go to the World Expo. This is me waiting in the security line. We felt a bit like cattle.

The first pavilion we went to was ours of course! I didn't care too much for the building. It felt too corporate, but they had some awesome HD digital projectors inside.

This was the little cartoon character that represented the Expo.

Max and I both bought one of these passports in the gift shop. In each pavilion we went to, we'd get a stamp. We collected about 65 stamps and we probably didn't even go to half of the pavilions. We couldn't go to very many European pavilions because the lines were so long for those and we just didn't have enough time to wait.

On each page of the passport, there would be a little illustration of one of the pavilions. There was only about 48 pages in the passport, so they couldn't give a page to each country. Above, you can see the USA pavilion on page 44, so we got the stamp for that pavilion on that page.

Israel had a page, so we got a stamp on that page too. Iran, however, did not have their own page, so Max and I tried to see if we could get Iran to stamp on Israel's page. They would not. The guy stamped on the next page, which was Italy. Max went on to make North Korea and Cuba stamp on the USA page.

Speaking of Iran, in their pavilion, Max and I were surrounded by a bunch of school kids. All the boys were asking Max for their picture with him and all the girls were asking for their picture with me. Max and I finally had to leave the pavilion as fast as possible because we were afraid people were going to start thinking we were some sort of celebrities and want their picture with us too. This happened to Max many more times. I think the Chinese people were awed by his height. Other people would just take pictures of us as we were walking by. There aren't too many foreigners in China and I guess because we look so different from them, they want pictures of us. It was kind of weird and I've always hated when I've accidentally gotten into a stranger's picture because I don't want them to have a picture of me. Well, that went out the window!

This was China's pavilion. Of course it was the largest and one of the only permanent buildings. Unfortunately, Max and I didn't know we needed a reservation to go inside so we didn't get to see it. We heard they will stay open. I guess it's kind of like a museum. So if I ever go to Shanghai again, I can still see it.

This was the UK's pavilion. I thought it was one of the most interesting-looking buildings. Max and I didn't get to go inside thought. Look at that line!

Denmark brought the famous Little Mermaid statue. It's never left Denmark and I read that they even had a debate in their parliament about whether or not to bring it. China wanted it though, so they got it!

This is Switzerland. They had a gondola on the roof that people could ride. This was another long line, so we didn't get to see inside.

In Mexico's pavilion, they had these masks, so Max and I took a few pictures. Some of the pavilions had restaurants with food from that country. Max and I were craving Mexican food and since Mexican food is non-existent in China, this was our only chance. It was pretty good.

We didn't spend our whole time in Shanghai at the Expo though. We went to the downtown area where all the cool buildings are. This one is called the Oriental Pearl Television Tower.

Max and I went to the 100th floor of the building that looks like it has a handle. It's called the SWFC, which stands for Shanghai World Financial Center. It was built in 2008 and it's taller than the Sear's Tower and the Empire State Building. We took a really fast elevator form the first floor the the 94th floor. I think it took less than a minute. It was so fast we had to keep popping our ears because we were ascending so fast.

You can see the Huangpu River and the Oriental Pearl Television Tower behind me. We were in a room right above the space in the building that makes it look like it has a handle, so the floor had glass panels in some places were we could see the streets and buildings below us.

This is Jing'an Temple. It's a Buddhist monastery right in the middle of the city.

Max and I were suppose to leave on a train to Xi'an on the night of May 16th, but when we got to the station only 5 minutes before the scheduled departure, they had already closed the gate. We were pretty mad at ourselves, but we were able to exchange our tickets for the next night and got an extra day in Shanghai.

Hong Kong

2010-05-24T19:25:00.014-06:00

I'm going to talk about my China trip in 4 separate posts, one for each city I visited. On the morning of Saturday, May 8th, I left Salt Lake City and arrived in Hong Kong on Sunday evening. I lost 14 hours and it felt like Saturday and Sunday were just one long day. My friend, Max, picked me up at the airport and we went to his friend, Tyler and his wife, Angie's apartment. Max had been staying there for the past month and they were kind enough to let me stay as well. My first impressions of Hong Kong were that it was very metropolitan, very international, and very humid!

Here's the view while we were waiting for a trolley car. In Hong Kong, they have these cards called Octopus cards. You're able to put money on it and it will pay for any form of public transportation with just a quick scan and you can also use it at places like 7-11 and McDonald's. Very convenient and did I mention they have 7-11 in Hong Kong? There's one on almost every block!

In Hong Kong, there's this place called the Jade Market. It's in a warehouse-type building and includes row after row of vendors selling jade, glass beads, pearls, etc. Max has designed some necklaces while in Hong Kong and has had them made here. I didn't buy anything here because it felt like it was too early in the trip to be spending money.

This was a mural near where I was staying that I thought was kind of interesting. Max told me, and I soon noticed, that businesses in Hong Kong would cluster together. If there was a type of business, like a dried seafood shop or a butcher, in one spot, there would be 20 more of that business right next door. This was actually a trend that we saw all throughout China. Kind of interesting.

One of the days in Hong Kong, Max took me to this gondola out by the airport that takes you up to this giant statue of Buddha. It was a beautiful ride and I was able to see a lot of the landscape. This is a very touristy thing to do, so we saw a lot of foreigners.

After seeing Big Buddha, we took a bus down to this little fishing village called, Tai O. We went out on this little boat through the village and then a little way out to sea so we could see the pink dolphins.

This was the best picture I could get of a dolphin. Enlarge the picture and you might see it better.

We walked through the village after the boat ride. We found this guy on the street making this delicious treat, but I never found out what it was called. I thought the way he cooked this was kind of interesting. He started by pouring a pancake-like batter into this mold.

He'd place the top on and place it over this makeshift coal-burning stove.

While that batch was cooking, He'd take a fan and cool of the previous batch (seen on the bottom left) and then give it to the customer.

Downtown Hong Kong had a lot of beautiful architecture. It's very pedestrian friendly as you are able to get around via raised walkways. As you can see, they keep it very clean and beautiful. I was amazed to see how clean their public transportation was too. They don't let you eat or drink on any of the buses or subway.

Another of the days in Hong Kong, Max and I went on a little hike just outside the city. It was called Dragon's Back because at one point on the hike, you walk along the ridge of the mountain and have the ocean on either side. It was very beautiful and gave me a chance to see more of the landscape of Hong Kong. Did I mention how may stairs there are in Hong Kong? A lot. The topography is very mountainous.

At night, Hong Kong has something called the Night Market. A bunch of vendors set up booths along a road selling anything from knock-off purses, to pirated DVDs, to fortune telling. I think I could say that Hong Kong was my favorite place I visited in China. Well, next up is Shanghai so be sure to visit again soon.

A little suprise!

2010-05-01T18:42:00.004-06:00

Camille Jean Zurcher was born just after midnight on May 1st, 2010. She was 6 pounds 11 ounces and 19 inches long. She was a surprise because she wasn't due until May 22nd. Melissa had to be induced early because she had preeclampsia. Everything went well and both baby and mother are healthy and doing fine. I was so happy I was able to go to the hospital to meet little Camille so soon after her birth and I'm glad I got to hold her before I go off to China.

Spring

2010-04-26T20:33:00.007-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, I bought my first digital SLR camera. With the advent of Spring, I've had a lot of opportunity to photograph nature. I've always maintained that Autumn is my favorite season, but the longer I live in Utah, the more I'm leaning towards Spring as my favorite. It holds so much promise of warmth and sun. In literally a week, the landscape goes from dead, dull and gray, to life bursting with color. I leave for China in 11 days, so I'm trying to learn how to use my camera. Here are some of the photos I've taken:

Easter

2010-04-05T21:46:00.002-06:00

Easter morning looked like this at my house. I don't ever remember having snow on Easter. We're suppose to get more today and tomorrow. Isn't it suppose to be Spring?

We dyed Easter Eggs this year using brown eggs. The colors get a lot darker.

Of course we spent most of the weekend watching General Conference.

My mom set an incredible Easter dinner table. I contributed by making the place cards. We had some family and friends come over. Kate even came home for the occasion!

Cole and Caroline had a sensory overload as they were given many Easter gifts and even more Easter candy.

But Cole still didn't want his picture taken.

This year, we doubled Easter with my dad's birthday celebration. His real birthday is this Wednesday. Happy Birthday Dad!

It was a good weekend :)

Status Quo

2010-04-01T09:16:00.003-06:00

The requests for a new posting have come in so I thought I'd better get on it. I've been delaying this because I honestly don't know what to talk about so don't mind me if I start to ramble. I guess I'm just maintaining the status quo, which, I guess, is a good thing.

I just finished Jodi Picoult's latest novel, House Rules, yesterday. It was an interesting subject matter about an autistic kid who gets convicted of murder, but I thought the plot was predictable. It wasn't her best work.

Last Tuesday, I went to the Republican caucus with my dad. I'd never been to a caucus before and apparently there were a number of first-timers because the local news reported that there was a record turnout for the Republicans. The Dems actually had less people show up. Let's hope this is the trend for the rest of the country. November couldn't come sooner.

A couple Saturdays ago, my parents and I went down to BYU to attend Heather's senior recital. She majored in Media Music so she writes and performs her own music. She arranged a piece for herself and Jacob; Heather on the piano and Jacob playing the cello. She had another song that her sister sang while she played the piano and sang the harmony. My favorite was a collection of 3 songs that she has written for children's plays. She played the piano and had 2 really good singer sing the songs. She also had many songs where she would play the piano and sing solo. Never having heard Heather perform, my parents and I were really impressed. We had no idea that she was so talented.

Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you I cut my hair! About 10 inches! Can you tell in the picture above? No one seems to notice unless I tell them. Anyway, my 2 trips to Arizona and California last month really had me excited and ready for Spring, but it snowed all day and night and the result was 8 inches of snow at my house AND it's still snowing! So sad. Well, have a wonderful Easter and relaxing General Conference weekend! Yay for staying in pajamas for 2 days!

15 years gone

2010-03-16T22:58:00.001-06:00

We wore our yellow and lit our luminaries. We love you Mary!

Highway 1, Big Sur and Carmel

2010-03-15T11:08:00.009-06:00

Emily, Kate and I decided to drive Highway 1 from LA to Carmel. We'd never done this, but always heard it was a beautiful drive so we left Saturday morning.

Our first stop along the way was this place where you can view elephant seals while they're sunbathing. They make the strangest noises and they're oddly human-like.

Here's one of the elephant seals. They're a lot bigger than the regular seals. In the foreground, you'll see a stupid chipmunk that wouldn't get out of the way.

Our second stop was Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park in Big Sur. We took a short little hike to see McWay Falls. It's this awesome waterfall that falls right onto the beach.

We reached Carmel in the evening. We walked around for a bit, but it was so cold! We stayed in a B&B that was about a block from the ocean. It was a cute little place.

The view from outside our room's door.

Emily and I went running on Sunday morning. We went out before the sun was up and it was beautiful to see the sun slowly rise and light up the landscape. I made sure to bring my camera and made Emily stop several times so I could take a picture.

We walked around Carmel again later that day, made a few purchases and headed down to the beautiful beach. It was a sunny day and there were tons of people and even more dogs! It made us wish we had ours with us.

On the drive back to LA, we stopped at Hearst Castle. The pool was my favorite. I can appreciate all the priceless art and architecture the place contains, but meshed together as it is, I didn't find it very appealing. The setting, of course, was the best part. The ocean could be seen for miles in both directions.

Why don't I just put my entire suitcase in the Ziploc bag?

2010-03-12T10:38:00.004-07:00

I went to visit my friend in Arizona last weekend. On my return trip Monday morning, my bag is flagged and has to be gone through. I hate this. I cringe as the TSA lady riffles through my personal belongings, especially my underwear. It's upsetting to see a perfectly careful packing job disrupted by such callous hands. When she opens my cosmetic bag, she takes out my deodorant and tells me I should have put it in my Ziploc bag with the rest of my liquids just so they can make sure it is not a liquid. Is this a new rule? I thought we only have to put what meager liquid items we are allotted in that little Ziploc bag. Now we have to include non-liquid items so they can make sure they aren't liquid? Then the TSA lady tells me it's okay this time. So what, if I don't put my deodorant in the liquid baggie next time your going to confiscate it? Call over security and arrest me? What? Has anyone ever been punished for not putting their liquid items in the baggie? That would be interesting to know.

I'm leaving this evening to go to LA for a few days. I did not put my deodorant in my liquids bag. Let's see what happens. Even if they look through my bag and find it though, they won't know I've broken the so called rules before, right? Anyway, I'm real excited to be going today. I like flying and the whole airport experience. The most interesting things on a trip will most likely happen in the airport or on the plane, so I'm sure I'll have at least one good story by the time my trip comes to it's close. Don't hold your breath though. I've been lax when it comes to my blog lately, but I'll try to do better for anyone who still reads this. Dad, that's you. Well, have a great weekend!

26

2010-02-19T21:14:00.004-07:00

Another birthday.

And some pictures of Jerry and Lucy.

Year of the Tiger

2010-02-14T11:05:00.004-07:00

Kate gets to travel almost every year with her HarpFusion group. Last May, they went to Brazil and this July, they're going to China! I'm really jealous because I've never been to South America or Asia. She's never been to Europe, however, while I have, but I'm sure she'll make it over there sooner or later. Anyway, last May, about 2 weeks before she was scheduled to leave for Brazil, she called me and asked if I could design a bag for them. I agreed and luckily was able to whip up a design that night and they had their bags by the trip. This year, I anticipated Kate's request and decided I'd do the design now while there was no pressure. Below are both the designs I did for Brazil last year and for China this year.

I chose the green and yellow based on Brazil's flag and put it on a navy blue bag. I think the palm trees and jungle plants explain themselves.

The tan color will actually be metallic gold when silk screened. There is red, of course, and the turquoise harp is for the official HarpFusion color. It's going to be put on a black bag. Very Chinese, right? 2010 is the Year of the Tiger, hence the tiger and the little Chinese character, which means Year of the Tiger.

Goodbye to California

2010-01-27T10:20:00.003-07:00

My parents are driving through the Nevada desert right now on their way to Northern California. They're going there to pack up what's left in the house in Vacaville. Last month, my dad sold his practice and his house in California. After 15 years of commuting between Utah and California, my dad can finally rest . . . well, sort of. He still has 2 practices here in Utah, but he is definitely relieved that the stress of the commute is over. My dad is one of the most selfless people I know. He works so hard and gives everything to his family. My work ethic is a direct result of watching my dad's example throughout my life. I know I've said these things before, but they're worth repeating. I have such a great father and I'm so lucky!

Now that my parents don't own property in California, they're actually going to have to vote in Utah. They feel like their vote won't count here, but I don't think it ever really counted in California anyway. Our ties to California aren't completely severed. We'll always have friends there and Emily is living in LA at the moment, although Southern California is almost like a whole separate state. I know I will always have countless memories from my childhood, growing up on Cheyenne Drive, walking to the Esplin's house, summer nights making smores at Glenbrook, catching frogs in the dry creek bed, Alamo, driving to Stinson Beach, trips to the city, our orange and apricot trees, Blue Jays, sleeping on the trampoline EVERY night in the summer, Super Nintendo, Sega, Nut Tree, humidity, Halloween carnival at school (no coats required!), sitting on the heater in the chilly winter mornings, the red Suburban, eating at Wendy's, the playhouse, Cleo, and so many more good memories. I hope I will be able to create a loving home for my kids like my parents did for me and that they will be able to look back on their childhoods with fondness too.

Christmas 2009

2010-01-04T00:40:00.007-07:00

I thought I'd better post this since it's already January! I can't believe that. Anyway, remember when I told you I was working on a special drawing? Well, I finished it back in November, but I couldn't show you it yet. That was because I had Kate this year for sibling gifts and I decided to use one of her pictures she had taken with her harp a few years ago and turn it into a pencil drawing. Here's the result (I think it turned out pretty good):

Kate is trying to pose like the drawing here.

Christmas this year was low-key and quiet. Briton and Melissa came over on Christmas Eve and Jacob and Heather came Christmas night. Luckily, Emily and Danny were able to have a few days off and were both home for Christmas. Here are few more pictures from the day.

Kate got a Wii.

Dad got a new Kindle and gave his old one to Emily.

Mom got some new Pottery Barn sheets for her bed.

Grandpa got a novel.

I got a new blu-ray player.

Emily got a puzzle of Santa Monica. She also got a blu-ray player; same one as mine.

We didn't get a picture of it, but Danny got a Pottery Barn lamp for is house in St. Louis.

Banished Words

2009-12-31T12:08:00.003-07:00

Here's the list of the words you can't say in 2010; they've been banned! Reading this always makes me realize how annoyed I am of most of these words. I bet you'll feel the same way. If you're interested in last year's list, refer to my December, 21, 2008 post.

SHOVEL-READY

"Apparently, the generally accepted definition of this phrase is to imply that a project has been completely designed and all that is left to do is to implement it . . . however, when something dies, it, too, is shovel-ready for burial and so I get confused about the meaning. I would suggest that we just say the project is ready to implement." – Jerry Redington, Keosauqua, Iowa.
"A relatively new term already overused by media and politicians. Bury this term, please." – Pat Batcheller, Southgate, Michigan.
"Do I really need a reason? Well, if so how about this: I just saw it in tandem with 'cyber-ready' and nearly choked on my coffee. It's starting the '-ready' jargon. Makes me 'vacation-ready.'" – Karen Hill, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
"Stick a shovel in it. It's done." – Joe Grimm, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

TRANSPARENT/TRANSPARENCY

"I can see clearly that this is the new buzzword for the year." – Joann Eschenburg, Clinton Twp., Michigan.
"In the lexicon of the political arena, this word is supposed to mean obvious or easily understood. In reality, political transparency is more invisible than obvious!" – Deb Larson, Bellaire, Michigan.
"I just don't see it." – Joe Grimm, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan.

CZAR

Long used by the media as a metaphor for positions of high authority, including 'baseball czar' Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, appointed by team owners as commissioner-for-life in 1919. U.S. president Woodrow Wilson had an 'industry czar' during World War I. Lesser-known 'czar' roles in government during the last 100 years include: censorship, housing and oil czars in 1941; rubber czar in 1942; patronage czar (1945); clean-up (1952); missile (1954); inflation (1971); e-commerce (1998); bioethics, faith-based and reading czars (2001); bird flu (2004); democracy (2005); abstinence and birth control czars (2006); and weatherization czar (2008).

"First it was a 'drug czar' [banished in 1990]. This year gave us a 'car czar.' What's next? A 'banished words czar'?" – Michael F. Raczko, Swanton, Ohio.
"We have appointed a czar of such-and-such; clearly that's better than a 'leader,' 'coordinator' or 'director'! – Derek Lawrence, Thunder Bay, Ontario.
"The president has been handing these "czar" positions out like party favors." – Scott Lassiter, Houston, Texas.

TWEET

And all of its variations…tweetaholic, retweet, twitterhea, twitterature, twittersphere…

"People tweet and retweet and I just heard the word 'tweet' so many times it lost all meaning." – Ricardo, Merida, Yucatan, Mexico.
Mikhail Swift of Hillman, Michigan says the tweeting is "pointless . . . yet has somehow managed to take the nation by storm. I'm tired of hearing about celebrity X's new tweet, and how great of a tweeter he or she is."
"I don't know a single non-celebrity who actually uses it," says Alex Thompson of Sault St. Marie, Michigan.
Jay Brazier of Williamston, Michigan says she supposes that tweeters might be "twits."

APP

"Must we b sbjct to yt another abrv? Why does the English language have to fit on a two-inch screen? I hate the sound of it. I think I'll listen to a symph on the rad." – Edward R. Bolt, Grand Rapids, Mich.
"Is there an 'app' for making this annoying word go away? Why can't we just call them 'programs' again?" – Kuahmel Allah, Los Angeles, California.

SEXTING

Sending sexually explicit pictures and text messages through the cell phone.

"Any dangerous new trend that also happens to have a clever mash-up of words, involves teens, and gets television talk show hosts interested must be banished." – Ishmael Daro, Saskatoon, Sask., Canada.

FRIEND AS A VERB

Came into popularity through social networking websites. You add someone to your network by "friending" them, or remove them by "unfriending" them.

"I'm certainly as much of a Facebook addict as the next person, but I'm getting a little weary of 'friending' people and being 'friended' by them. My daughter talks of 'sending friend requests,' which doesn't rankle me as much, so maybe we should all take her lead." – John Wetterholt, Crystal Lake, Illinois.
"'Befriend' is much more pleasant to the human ear and a perfectly useful word in the dictionary." – Kevin K., Morris, Okla.

TEACHABLE MOMENT

What might otherwise be known as 'a lesson.'

"It's a condescending substitute for 'opportunity to make a point,'" says Eric Rosenquist of College Station, Texas.
"If everything's a 'teachable moment,' we should all have teaching credentials, including the guy at the bar who likes to fight after one shot too many." – Kuahmel Allah, Los Angeles, California.
"This phrase is used to describe everything from potty-training to politics. It's time to vote it out!" – Jodi, Youngstown, Ohio.

IN THESE ECONOMIC TIMES . . .

Nominations concerning the economy started rolling in as the 2009 list was being put together last year, i.e. "bailout." They kept coming this year, in these trouble economic times. " South Park " warned us about what would happen if we angered The Economy.

"Overused and redundant. Aren't ALL times 'these economic times'?" – Barb Stutesman, Three Rivers, Michigan.
"In this economy, we can't afford to be wasteful . . . In this economy, we all need some security . . . In this economy, frogs could start falling from the sky . . . In this economy, blah blah blah . . . Overused for everything from trying to market products as inexpensive to simply explaining any and all behavior during the recession." – Mark, Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
"When someone prefaces a statement with 'in this economic climate,' its starts to sound like a sales pitch, or just an excuse on which to blame every problem. And if a letter or e-mail message from your employer starts with this phrase, usually it means you're not getting a raise this year." – Dominic, Seattle, Wash.

STIMULUS

"Everything in the news is about the stimulus packages . . . it is no longer a grant, it's stimulus money, stimulus checks, etc. I think it is just being over-used." – Teri Heikkila, Rudyard, Michigan.
"Overused by companies to advertise a promotion." – David Willis, Houston, Texas.
"What next, can I go down to the local bar and down a few drinks and call it a stimulus package?" – Richard Brown, Portland, Oregon.

TOXIC ASSETS

We think we're going to be sick.

"Whatever happened to simply 'bad stocks,' 'debts,' or 'loans'?" – Monty Heidenreich, Homewood, Illinois.
"What a wretched term!" – Lee Freedman, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.

TOO BIG TO FAIL

"Just for the record, nothing's too big to fail unless the government lets it." – Claire Shefchik, Brooklyn, New York.
"Does such a thing exist? We'll never know if a company is too big to fail, unless somehow it does fail, and then it will no longer be too big to fail. Make it stop!" – Holli, Raleigh, North Carolina.

BROMANCE

"Have we really reached the point where being friends has to be described in a pseudo-romantic context? Just stop it already!" – Greg Zagorski, Washington, D.C.
"I am sick of combined words the media creates to make them sound catchier. Frenemies? Bromances? Blogorrhea? I'm going to scream!" – Kaylynn, Alberta, Canada.

CHILLAXIN'

Nominated for several years. We couldn't chill about it anymore.

"Heard everywhere from MTV to ESPN to CNN. A bothersome term that seeks to combine chillin' with relaxin' makes me want to be 'axin' this word." – Tammy, Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
"A made-up word used by annoying Gen-Yers." – Chris Jensen, Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.
"Horrifying overuse, even in face-to-face conversation . . . It should receive bonus points for its ability to exhort the opposite reaction from the receiver." – Bret Bledsoe, Cincinnati, Ohio.

OBAMA-prefix or roots?

The LSSU Word Banishment Committee held out hope that folks would want to Obama-ban Obama-structions, but were surprised that no one Obama-nominated any, such as these compiled by the Oxford Dictionary in 2009: Obamanomics, Obamanation, Obamafication, Obamacare, Obamalicious, Obamaland….We say Obamanough already.

Briton & Melissa's Christmas Card 2009

2009-12-10T22:52:00.002-07:00

I did Briton and Melissa's Christmas card again this year. I feel like I've put more in this card than any other years, because I went with them when they took these pictures so I could make Cole smile, which wasn't the easiest task that day! This year, it's just a simple folded card. The first picture is of the front and back and the second picture is the inside.

Gloria

2009-12-06T19:45:00.007-07:00

Emily came into town this weekend to play in Lex de Azevedo's production of Gloria: The Life of Christ Part I - The Nativity. My mom went on Friday night to see her and my dad and I went on Saturday night. It was a beautiful production and Emily played a major role. The only other instruments besides the harp, were the organ and piano. There was also quite a large choir made up of 3 choirs. One of them was a high school choir. After the production, my dad and I were standing by Emily while she was talking to some people. A kid from the high school choir came up to Emily and said he and some of the other guys in the choir were really impressed. As he was walking away, he turned around and said, "and not just with the playing!" Since this kid was about 17, we got a laugh out of that.

I was glad I was able to spend time, however short, with Emily this weekend. I'm so excited for Christmas. Kate comes home on the 16th, Danny the 23rd and Emily on Christmas Eve. It will be great to have a full house. It's too quiet sometimes.

The lighting was not cooperating with the flash on my camera. We're pretty washed out. So my dad decided to stand far away and zoom in on us . . .

and this oblivious kid walked right in front at the exact moment my dad took the picture.

My dad took another picture. Successful this time, but I'm laughing.

I had to stand far away to get this one too, but no mishaps.

Here is Emily with Lex. Emily played Gloria for him last year and has done a few other productions with him over the years.

Here is Emily with Lex, the soloists and 2 pianists.

What's all the hype about?

2009-11-20T17:53:00.006-07:00

In case you haven't heard, In-N-Out Burger opened in Draper this week. My dad said he went by around 11:30 AM on the opening day and the place was packed. I'm talking, cars-lined-up-for-a-couple-of-blocks packed. On the news they interviewed several people who had camped out in tents just so they could get a burger and fries at opening. I started wondering what kind of people would do this. Obviously, they weren't doing it for the food. Honestly, In-N-Out Burger is good, but it's not that good! Do you think they wanted to get on the news or do you think they wanted to have a good story to tell? I'm willing to bet that for most of the people, it's the latter. Confession: I once stood in line over night. Although I really wanted the item I was standing in line for, the story was probably a bigger motivation. So, here it is . . .

Do you remember when the Nintendo Wii came out 3 years ago and they were really hard to get? For some reason, Kate and I really wanted one. It was almost Christmas and our goal was to have one under the tree. I think that we may not have been so desperate to have one once Christmas was over, so a lot of of our motivation depended on getting one for Christmas. It would be a great triumph. I called around to so many stores and soon realized that the only way we were going to get one was if we waited in line . . . all night.

I called the Circuit City in Fort Union on the first Saturday in December and found out that they were getting a shipment of 6 Wiis, but they weren't going to sell them until Sunday morning. Kate and I loaded some chairs and blankets in the car, dressed in our ski clothes and headed to Circuit City around 9:00 PM. There were already about 3 people in line, so we set up our stuff right next to them. At first, I really couldn't believe what we were doing; it didn't seem real, but as the surrounding stores began closing and the parking lot emptied, I realized we were in this for the long hall.

Did I mention it was snowing? Yeah, there was a big storm that night. Luckily we were under the overhang of the building. Just across the parking lot at Target, there must have been about 50 people waiting in line. Target was getting a bigger shipment, but the people had to be out in the open. I almost felt sorry for them. Around 2 or 3 in the morning, my dad showed up and stayed the rest of the time. I don't think he could sleep while Kate and I were out of our minds. We alternated going to the car and sitting outside. Of course my dad brought the camera so I included the pictures below. Kate was so enthused!

I think it was 7 AM when Circuit City opened. Kate bought one and I bought one. We kept one and sold the other for almost double. I thought it was worth it because we got a Wii out of it. Now doing the same thing for a hamburger? I don't think so, but I do plan on heading over to In-N-Out eventually. It is pretty good.

Domestic Disturbance

2009-11-12T11:21:00.003-07:00

Yesterday I went to Paradise Bakery for lunch. When I was walking back out to my car, I noticed a couple who passed me, walking fast. The man was carrying a crying 2-year-old girl while the woman was trying to keep up with the man. There were other groups of 2-3 people around me walking to there cars as well. So now I was walking about 15 feet behind this couple when the man grabbed the woman's phone and threw it hard on the ground. It bounced away, the woman went to retrieve it and then ran after the man saying, "you can't take my daughter." She looked around at the people in the parking lot and said, "will someone please help me?" She made eye contact with me, but I didn't know what to do. Luckily, there were 2 rather large, tough-looking guys nearest to her, so they went over to intervene. This is how the confrontation went:

Tough Guys: What's going on here? (These guys are pretty much ignored by the couple.)
Woman to Man: You can't take my daughter. She's crying because she wants her Mommy. She doesn't want to go with you. You can't take her.
Though Guys: Are you two separated?
Man to Woman: Do you think it's okay to do this in front of her? Let me just go put her in the car and we'll talk.
Woman: No. I'm going to call the cops.
Man: Let me just go put her in the car and then we'll talk.
Though Guys: We can't let you do that if there's going to be violence.
Woman to Man: Yeah, you're violent.
Man: I'm not violent. How am I violent?
Woman: You threw my freaking phone. Give me my daughter or I'm going to call the cops.

That's all I heard because at this point, I got into my car. There were a bunch of rubber-neckers and I didn't want to be one of those people. As I drove away, the man was putting the little girl into a car. He shut the door and then the talking commenced. Obviously I didn't hear anything, but I saw a bunch of angry hand gestures and people still standing around to keep the peace, I guess. It was kind of intense though. Have any of you ever seen anything like this? Did you do anything?

I Voted

2009-11-03T09:24:00.003-07:00

So, you know those "I voted" stickers you get after you've voted? I'm just curious, do you guys wear those? Isn't it kind of like bragging or giving a guilt trip to those who haven't voted? That's what I've always thought. Today, when the lady handed me mine, she said "here's your badge of honor." I thought about that a bit and realized that that was really true. It is a badge of honor and it's sad that those who go and do their duty as Americans have to be honored for doing such, even if that honor is just a little sticker. Well, I attached my sticker to my sweater and I hope it will remind those who see it to go vote too.

I Love Halloween!

2009-10-31T21:23:00.004-06:00

I've said it before, but I'll say it again. I love Halloween! All the scary movies come out, the weather starts turning cool and, as Kate wrote in a recent letter to me, it's the start of good things to come. I also really love dressing up. Always have. Don't you remember when I wrote about it before?

Today was such a beautiful and rather warm day. When I got home from my art class, I took the dogs out in the sun and set to work carving pumpkins. I thouroughly cleaned out 4 pumpkins with the intention of carving some incredible scenes into them. I started carving a haunted house, but got frustrated and sick of carving. My mom turned it into a "B" and carved "O's" in 2 of the other pumpkins. I decided I could handle carving a face and the result is the photo above. Not too bad I guess. We only had about 10 trick-or-treaters. I think our hill is too much work for a little piece of candy. These kids need to strap on the roller blades like I did. I collected so much more candy wearing those, but I think they're out of style now.

Last night, I went to a Halloween party and dressed in Emily's fairy costume (thanks Emily!). I must say the wings were a challenge though. There were a lot of people there and I think I hit just about everyone I passed with the wings. There were some really cool costumes. People are really creative. I think I need to be more creative next year. Unfortunately, the cops came to break up the party around midnight. I guess we were a bit too loud, or maybe it's just all the old people in Holladay who like their quiet little town.

Well, tomorrow is November. I can't believe it. I'm already looking forward to turkey! Happy Halloween!

A spooky story

2009-10-29T10:55:00.007-06:00

Since I was a little girl, I've loved hearing and telling ghost stories. I don't know what it is. I don't know if I even believe in ghosts or paranormal activity. I guess I just like getting scared from the possibility. Why? I don't know, but I know I'm not the only one. Why else would all the haunted houses that pop up in the month of October be so successful if people didn't like getting scared?

I was talking to some friends who had gone on one of those Salt Lake City ghost tours. They were telling me some of the stories they were told and so I went online to find out a little more. I found another pretty spooky story that I'd thought I'd share. It takes place only 2 years ago at the Pioneer Memorial Museum downtown.

On October 10, 2007 Utah Capitol State Police saw an image on the monitors which come from the Pioneer Memorial Museum. One of the officers actually took a photo of the image in the monitor, and gave the photo to the museum. The monitors are in the Utah Capitol building and the images come from the cameras in the museum a few blocks away. State Police watch the monitors and respond if there appears to be an intruder.

The image appeared four times over an 8 day period and always appeared between about 11:00 PM and 3:00 AM. During these hours the museum is closed and empty, no one is inside except cleaning or maintenance. During this 8 day period the motion detectors in the museum were set off several times, and the image appeared 4 times. The ghostly image appeared without setting off motion detectors sometimes, other times motion detectors went off without showing the image. Each time the image was seen, it looked like the same person and the image always persisted for several minutes. Capitol State Police are the security for the museum, so they sent Officers to investigate and found the museum secure each time they saw unusual images or motion detectors went off.

In an interesting side story, the museum director speculates that she may know who it is in the image. 20 years ago a sampler was stolen from the museum. A museum staffer recognized the sampler recently listed for sale on eBay. That staffer contacted eBay and sent documentation that the item was stolen. eBay contacted the seller whose family had purchased the sampler in good faith years earlier. They immediately returned the sampler to Daughters of Utah Pioneers.

During the interval of the images appearing to the State Police and the return of the sampler, a Custodian reported that on one night, he saw a young lady who was dressed in black and sitting on a bench in the museum foyer. The custodian explained that the museum was closed and she must leave. He unlocked and opened the front door for her. She never spoke, but arose and walked out the door, but not down the steps! The girl floated above the steps and sidewalk until she disappeared!

I don't know if this is true, but I've always kind of wanted to experience paranormal activity. It would probably scare the crap out of me, but I'd have the best story to tell! So now I want to know, have any of you seen a ghost, heard a voice, anything? Let me know and have a happy Halloween!

Self Portrait

2009-10-17T21:19:00.003-06:00

Well, I said I'd share some of my art, so here it is. This was my first, and so far only, attempt at a self portrait. I'm hoping I'll start moving more quickly because I have big plans. I've been playing around with gesso, watercolors and prisma colored pencils and that's just on one painting! I'm also working on a special drawing, but I won't be posting that one for a while.

A Good Read

2009-10-05T22:13:00.004-06:00

For the longest time, when I'd go to the bookstore, I'd shy away from the Young Adult section. I always wanted to go take a look, but for some reason I felt that even looking at the books, let alone buying them, would make me seem like an immature, unsophisticated little girl or some such thing. Kate quite likes this genre of book, so I started reading some of hers. Easy reading? yes. Deep literary works? probably not, but some of the stories are so intriguing. That's the case with this book, "The Hunger Games," by Suzanne Collins. Both my sisters read this book so I finally decided to see what it was all about.

As you can guess, I enjoyed it immensely and thought I'd recommend it to anyone who isn't embarrassed to traverse the Young Adult section at Barnes and Noble. I'm too lazy to write a summary, but I want to include one I read on my friend's blog. You'll be intrigued! Oh, and it's a trilogy. I'm starting the second book tonight.

The former countries of North America have been run down by disease, famine, and war, until they dissolved completely. In their place, the Capitol with 13 surrounding districts took power. For a while all was calm, but then District 13 rose up and tried to rebel. The Capitol crushed them, of course, and peace returned but the Capitol, determined to remind the remaining 12 districts that they are powerless, institutes the annual Hunger Games.

Each year, the names of all the boys and girls ages 12-18 are put into a drawing and one boy and one girl from each district are selected to go fight in the Hunger Games. The 12 girls and 12 boys fight to the death until only one remains. The whole thing is televised and required viewing for all the districts.

Katniss lives in District 12, one of the poorer districts, and she spends much of her time hunting since she is responsible for feeding her family following her father’s death in a coalmine seven years earlier. She has also put her name into the drawing extra times in exchange for extra rations of food (as many in her district do); the number of times your name is entered also increases each year – 1 for the year you are 12, 2 the year you’re 13 and so on, so she knows her chances of getting her name drawn are fairly good. Instead she is stunned when her younger sister, Prim, is chosen instead – after all her name was only in the pool once.

Determined to avoid the fate of watching her sister murdered on television, Katniss volunteers to go in her place. To add to the injury, the boy who is chosen from the district is her same age, Peeta, the son of the baker, who, after her father’s death, risked his mother’s wrath to give her two loaves of bread. She has always liked him and felt in his debt, but now they will be mortal enemies in the Hunger Games arena.

Newport Beach

2009-09-23T11:52:00.001-06:00

My parents and I flew to LA last Friday because Emily had just started her 2-week vacation and we all wanted to do something. On Saturday, we drove down to Newport Beach where we rented a condo at the Marriott. On Sunday, we enjoyed a very relaxing afternoon at the beach in Newport Beach. I swam in the surprisingly warm ocean until a larger wave came and threw me against the ocean floor and left me with 2 rug burned knees. We grilled steaks that night and I got everyone to watch a scary movie.

On Monday we went to Laguna Beach and then went over to Balboa Island where we got frozen bananas and Balboa bars. We also took our car over the little ferry. Tuesday morning, my mom and I went the the Newport Temple. It was only about 8 minutes away from where we were staying. It is a beautiful temple and it's the first of the smaller temples that I've seen.

The weather was amazing and I will always love any vacation that involves the beach. It's going to be hard to go back to Utah, especially since I've heard that it got kind of cold there. But I love the Fall too, so I guess it'll be okay.

In Your Dreams

2009-09-11T09:47:00.004-06:00

I was reading an article online about dreams and what they mean. I've read about dreams before and I've always found it interesting. I don't usually remember my dreams, but what I do remember is really bizarre. Like last night. I dreamed that I was singing "America the Beautiful" with another woman. It was really beautiful. I could actually hear the music! I had an amazing voice that I wish were real and I was harmonizing with the woman. You may be thinking that that's not too strange. Well, how about that I was the woman's hostage and she had a man with her who was going to kill me after we sang? I can't remember what happened after that. I do remember being scared and running through a parking garage with an unknown guy. So what does this mean? I have no idea, but I thought I'd share some of the things I learned from the article.

Falling
Have you ever had a dream where you're tripping and you stumble, or even fall off a cliff or something and then you jerk awake? I hate that! Here's what it may mean: "If you fall from a high place, you could fear you are failing, or falling from a position or status. If you trip and fall, you might be thinking you are taking a misstep in life, and need to rethink your plans. It can be that you are generally feeling insecure. But, always look to your life to see in what area you feel insecure, and this may present itself in the dream."

Flying
I've had a few dreams where I was actually flying. It was an incredible feeling. One time I was on a bike. I've never seen "E.T." but I'm sure that the famous silhouette of the kid on the bike with the moon behind had some influence on my dream. So what does flying mean? "Flying dreams are about independence and gaining freedom over self-doubt and insecurity. These dreams show you are experiencing greater control over life, growing and overcoming personal doubt."

Being Chased
I once had a dream where I was being chased by a witch in a grocery store. In another dream, I was being chased by a shark in a swimming pool. I was very interested in learning the meaning of this. "This sort of dream can occur when there is something upsetting that you are dealing with and is causing anxiety. Are you running away from it? Look at who is chasing you. Are you getting away or not? Maybe you need to figure out how to deal with someone who is being aggressive with you, and you have been avoiding it, so it is coming up in your dream. If it is some dark shadowy thing that is chasing you, that could be a past experience or trauma trying to come up to the surface."

Recurring Dreams
I've never had a recurring dream that I know of, but I've heard of people who have. I've always thought they must be some kind of warning. The analysis supports that thought. "These are important to take note of as something in your life is trying to get your attention so you can understand it. These dreams provide an important message about your life situation over which you may not have control. You may need to address habitual ways in which you deal with your internal or external world and then the dream may change or stop entirely."

A lot of people can't remember their dreams. I usually don't remember anything about my dreams. I've heard that if you keep a notebook by your bed and write down everything you remember the minute you wake up, you'll start remembering your dreams and some people even learn to control their dreams. I've always wanted to try this. I may not learn anything, but I'm sure I'd have some good stories! If you want to read the full article, you can click here.

More Wedding Pictures

2009-09-06T20:00:00.010-06:00

Heather George was our photographer. She did an amazing job. Check her out at www.heathergeorgephotography.com. Enjoy the photos. I know, there's a ton!

Art Classes

2009-08-26T20:54:00.002-06:00

I was a visual arts major in college and had to take many drawing and painting-type classes at the beginning before I got into graphic design. Anyone who majored in the visual arts field will tell you how subjective these classes are. For instance, I took two drawing classes. One was level 1 drawing while the other was level 2 drawing. In level 1, my grade was a B. The teacher was a graduate student who I thought graded rather harshly. A lot of the students in the class weren't even visual arts majors. In level 2, I received an A. This class was for visual arts majors only and the teacher was a professional artist. He even wanted to do a trade with me; one of my drawings for one of his.

My point is that the old adage, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," has quite a bit of significance in the art field. One teacher thought I was mediocre at best, while the other thought I was quite good. I guess, if I always wanted to get that A, I would have had to adapt my style to suit the tastes of my teacher. That's basically what I have to do as a graphic designer, only instead of pleasing the professor, it's a client I have to please. This sometimes means going against my better judgement and design sensibilities. But I have to have a job, right?

Anyway, now that I'm out of school, I don't have to be graded on my work anymore. This is why I have decided to start taking art lessons again. One of the classes I took at BYU was oil painting. My teacher lived in SLC and taught out of her house. She also teaches private group lessons. I called her last week and, luckily, she has a spot available for me. So now I just need to dust off my old brushes, paints and pencils and get back to work. I'm excited and I thought that I could periodically post some of the stuff I was doing. Although, now that I think about it, that's kind of turning you into the graders. But why make art if no one is going to look at it? Sure, it will bring me happiness, but that happiness will increase if I'm able to share it will others.

Just don't grade too harshly.

Jacob and Heather's Wedding

2009-08-16T10:46:00.005-06:00

Jacob and Heather were married in the Salt Lake Temple yesterday morning. It was pouring rain outside when we went in for the sealing, but luckily, it had stopped once we came out for the pictures. The luncheon was in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and it was just the perfect length. Everyone seemed to have a good time and the happy couple are off to Hawaii this morning. Congratulation Mr. and Mrs. Zurcher!

Here are some of the amateur pictures we took. I'll post some the professionals ones soon.

Bridal Showers and Lagoon

2009-08-05T00:10:00.016-06:00

I don't really feel like writing much, so I'm just going to post a bunch of pictures. Last Wednesday, my home ward had a shower for Heather. Then on Thursday, my Aunt had a shower for her too. Friday, Jacob, Heather, Kate and I went to Lagoon. Maybe I'll feel like writing more next time.

Jacob & Heather's Wedding Announcements

2009-07-29T13:11:00.007-06:00

I designed the announcements for Jacob and Heather and had them letterpressed at Bjorn Press in Provo. The design caters to letterpress and you can't really get the full effect from just looking at them online. Hopefully, we can get it photographed at the wedding and some of that letterpress detail can be captured. The wedding is 17 days away and we've got the announcements all sent out!

Six Down, One To Go

2009-07-20T21:42:00.005-06:00

Ever since the fourth Harry Potter book, Kate and I have waited in line at midnight for every book and movie. I was a Sophomore in High School when I first picked it up, just before the huge craze started. Kate and I aren't the crazy fans that dress up and carry wands around, but we have grown up with it and really enjoy it. When we'd get the new book, we'd kind of have a contest to see who'd finish first. Kate always won, but I attribute that to the fact that I always had a job to hinder my reading time.

Last Tuesday night, we went to the movie at midnight. I didn't get to bed that morning until 4, but it was definitely worth it. No, not every event in the book was included in the movie, but obviously some things had to be cut. It was 3 hours long as it was! The picture above is of Me and Kate being excited with the sixth book right before we saw the sixth movie. Now there's just one left, which is a good thing since the actors are getting kind of old!

American Harp Society National Competition

2009-07-15T14:40:00.001-06:00

This past Sunday, Kate played her harp in my ward. Since we don't have very many musical numbers, everyone loved it. They probably would have loved it anyway, but the lack of music just made her playing all the more poignant. As always, she did a beautiful job. This recent performance reminded me that I have not mentioned what an amazing harpist Kate is. Kate exhibited her great talent in the American Harp Society National Competition held a Westminster College at the end of June. Although she did not win, it was an incredible honor even to be chosen as 1 of 8 finalists out of 38 harpists to compete in the competition. I was able to attend the competition to hear her play. I was nervous for Kate, but I shouldn't have been because she did exceptionally well. Kate said she wasn't even nervous at all and thought it was the best performance of her pieces she had done yet.

She worked so hard and right before the competition, she did a series of small performances. One of these performances was held at our house and my mom invited friends from our ward and a few relatives that live nearby. Everyone enjoyed it and Kate held an impromptu Q&A session. Not many people are familiar with the harp and they are always stunned that a harpist has to push pedals up and down during a piece in order to achieve sharps and flats. It is a complicated instrument and I'm so proud that Kate has mastered it so well. She has a passion for music and I know she will go far.

Here is a picture from Kate's performance at our house answering questions and then one from her performance at Westminster with her friends from Harp Fusion.

Summer of Birthdays

2009-07-11T17:36:00.006-06:00

4 out of the 7 kids in my family have birthdays in the Summer months. The other 3 (including myself) have birthdays in the Winter. The most recent birthdays were Emily on June 25 and Jacob on July 10. I've tried to post pictures where it's just me and Emily and just me and Jacob, but with as many siblings as we have, there's always bound to be another kid thrown into the shot. But I found quite a few. I'm not always good at doing these birthday blogs and I'll probably quit doing them soon. It just seems like someone is always having a birthday.

Anyway, Emily and I are number 4 and 5. Growing up, we were either the best of friends or the worst. I'll try to focus on the times when we were friends. We both had sticker collections and one of my favorite things to do was to trade stickers with her. Sounds lame, but I loved it. We also both had American Dolls. I had Kirsten and she had Samantha, whom they don't make anymore. We use to have little tea parties with our doll's miniature porcelain. I don't know why, but hours and hours would pass when we played with those dolls, or so it seemed. We shared a room and had bunk beds; mine was the bottom. Sometimes Emily would come to bed after me, but I'd still be awake and I'd grab her legs while she was climbing up and ladder and scare the crap out of her. She was already scared of the sharks since we were convinced the bedroom floor turned into the ocean in the dark. Children's imaginations are so funny.

Now that we're older, we usually aren't even living together, let alone sharing a room. The last time we were under the same roof for an extended period of time was before she graduated from Med School and I moved home after I graduated from BYU. That only lasted 2 years though. Now she lives in LA and I just got a chance to visit her, as you can see from 2 recent posts I made. She just moved into a new apartment. It's more like a duplex because, although it's attached, it has two-stories and a garage. It even has a little backyard with grass! The best part is that the house is literally across the street from the temple. Now, every time she goes anywhere, she will pass the temple. Anyway, she's an amazing person with so much ambition and perseverance. I wouldn't last one week doing the things she's done. Obviously, she's quite accomplished. She has both and Bachelor's and Master's in Harp Performance and now she's a doctor! Emily, you truly inspire me and I'm proud to call you "sister." Happy birthday. I love you.

Me, Mary and Emily in our playroom in Vacaville. We had a lot of fun in the room.

Me, Emily and Jacob on our deck in Vacaville.

Me and Emily. I don't know where we are.

Me and Emily at the Sacramento Airport with matching dresses. I love Emily's sweater :)

Me, Emily and Kate. I'm not sure what year this is.

Me and Emily in Lisbon last Spring. We were in the castle going down this narrow spiral staircase crammed with a bunch of smelly Europeans.

Jacob is my closest sibling in age. We have always been really good friends and played endlessly together growing up. Most of my childhood memories with him are when we played in the backyard. We use to pull the trampoline under the swing set, then climb to the top and jump onto it. I loved doing that. I really need to go skydiving. We also put the trampoline underneath the basketball hoop so that we could dunk. My favorite was gathering up all the balls (we had about 20) and putting them on the trampoline and then jumping while trying not to get hit until all the balls were on the ground. We also loved to read scary stories when we slept out on the trampoline in the summers. Is this about my memories with Jacob or the trampoline?!

Jacob came to live with me in Provo the year before his mission. I wish I could go back to those days. I loved it. Now he's getting married next month and although I'm happy for him, I'm going to miss him. I know he's not dying, but our relationship will alter. He'll have someone he'll need to put before everyone else and I'll never live with him again. It's bittersweet. He's really done well since he's been home from his mission. I'm talking about an A in Organic Chemistry among other great grades! He's taking the DAT on Wednesday and I know he's going to do well. He's such a hard worker and really knows where he wants to go in life. He's not letting anything hold him back and I admire him for that. Jacob, good luck with your test. I'm so excited to see you home soon (he's been in Maryland since May) and I love you. Happy birthday!

Me and Jacob playing in the playhouse in Vacaville.

Me and Jacob on the boat in McCall, Idaho. I always thought it was funny that Jacob sucked his finger rather than his thumb.

Jacob got this Jeep for his birthday one year. We use to take turns driving it.

I thought this picture looked so funny. We're cruising down Cheyenne Drive in Vacaville.

First day of school. This is a signature face of Jacob's. To this day, you'll find him doing it in a lot of pictures.

Me and Jacob at the Salt Lake Airport in 2005. We were headed to Maryland to visit my Aunt Janet. Actually, that's exactly where Jacob is now.

Me and Jacob on Ellis Island.

Fourth of July Fun

2009-07-06T21:56:00.008-06:00

Thanks to all the rain we had in June, we haven't been able to take our boat out. July 4th, despite the threatening clouds, we took the boat to Utah Lake. It turned out to be an awesome, warm and sunny day. I went with Kate, Briton and Melissa, and the two kids. We enjoyed wake boarding, skiing, swimming and the Big Mable. Cole was a bit hesitant with the swimming and Big Mable, but he ended up loving both. Caroline turned into a little fish this year and loves jumping off the back of the boat.

After boating, we had a BBQ at Briton's house. Blue Cheese Hamburgers, white corn, watermelon, guacamole salsa, chocolate cupcakes, star-shaped sugar cookies . . . a true American meal! Cole had to go to bed before the fireworks, but Caroline was so excited. She liked the Sparklers, but got scared when they burned down close to her hand. We all had a great time. Thanks Briton and Melissa.

My parents weren't able to spend the fourth with us because they were in LA helping Emily move to her new apartment. The weekend before, my dad drove with Danny to St. Louis and helped him move into his new house. Hopefully those two will stay put for a while and the moving will be limited to every couple of years rather than every year! A couple of weekends ago, we almost had the whole family home (only Jacob was missing) for about a 2-day window. It was Emily's birthday, so we had a family celebration. I love it when we are able to get the family together like that, especially since those occasions are getting less frequent.

I had Friday off since the fourth was on a Saturday. Kate and I went to Steiner to swim. When we went to pay, the guy asked us how old we were. I said 25 and Kate said 19. The guy looked surprised and said never mind. We asked him how old he thought we were and he said 17 and 15 tops. Really? Do I look 8 years younger? I decided this underestimation of my age was due to my lack of makeup. Later that night, we went to Public Enemies and because it was rated R, I got carded! So with makeup on, I look younger than 17? I'm sure it was just a case of CYA on the theater's part, but still! My mom thinks we all look younger than we actually are because of our 25% Danish blood. I don't know. Maybe I'll appreciate it when I'm older.

Here are some pictures of the above events. Enjoy!

Los Angeles Trip, Part II

2009-06-26T09:25:00.002-06:00

Emily had to work over night from Monday to Tuesday. It was pretty dull without her and I was too scared to leave the apartment to go anywhere by myself, so I watched John & Kate Plus 8 to find out what the big announcement was. No surprises there. Anyway, when Emily got off on Tuesday around 1 in the afternoon, we went to lunch in Westwood Village where they were setting up for the premiere of Public Enemies at one of the little theaters. There were already a bunch of crazy people waiting in line for a chance to see Johnny Depp/Christian Bale that night.

After lunch, we went to The Getty Center, which sits up on a hill near Bel Air. It was beautiful architecture with numerous views of the city and gorgeous gardens. Oh yeah, the art inside was pretty cool too! It was a nice sunny day, but it was a little bit chilly up there. That night, we went to Santa Monica Pier and walked around a bit. Pretty cool, but really touristy. I know I was a tourist, but still!

Wednesday, Emily, her friend, Nick, and I went to Conan O'Brien. We went to Universal Studios and walked around the shopping area for a while before the show. We watched some kids doing that fake skydiving thing. Pretty funny. Then we went to Conan where we stood in line for a couple hours and then finally got into the studio where it was freezing! Note: if you go to Conan, make sure you take a sweatshirt, no matter how hot it is outside. Anyway, we were on the second row right across from Max Wienberg and the band. Conan had an animal expert on, so they brought out a black bear cub, a bob cat, a white python, a timber wolf, a vulture and an elephant (awesome). They also had a little baby zebra that they brought in at the end of the show. I wasn't familiar with the second guest or the band, but it was still pretty cool to be there live.

Here's a little cafe area at The Getty Center with the city in the background.

Emily is pointing to wear she lives. The tall, white building to the right of her finger overlooks her apartment.

There were some pretty cool water features at The Getty Center. I really liked this one.

Another view from the top.

We had a few of these. Raspberries and shaved white chocolate. Mmmm.

Santa Monica Pier.

Me and Emily with the Santa Monica Pier Ferris wheel in the background.

Emily and I didn't really get any pictures when we went to Conan (except the one of us at Universal Studios at the very top of this post), so I decided to include this one of when Jacob and I went to Conan in New York back in 2005. There was no photography allowed, but I somehow managed to get this one without any of the pages seeing. If that guy in front hadn't put his stupid hand up, you could have seen more of the stage. Oh well. At least I got Jacob's big face in there.

Los Angeles Trip, Part I

2009-06-22T11:48:00.008-06:00

I flew down to LA on Friday after work. Emily picked me up at LAX, which was a madhouse, and then we went to a movie. The Proposal was actually pretty good, despite the negative reviews. Emily and I were definitely laughing, especially at the naked scene. Anyway, on Saturday we went shopping at The Grove and then at Beverly Center. Later that night, we walked around Westwood Village since it's so near Emily's Apartment. They were showing a movie on one of those big blow-up screens and all of the little theaters were showing LA Film Festival movies.

Yesterday, we got up and went to the Farmer's Market. We got some amazing, white peaches, nectarines, apricots, strawberries, white cherries, and asparagus. So good! The gloomy morning cleared up so we decided to go to the beach. Emily lives about 3 miles from Santa Monica Beach, but she drives further so she can go to Manhattan Beach, her favorite. She actually bought a surfboard and is teaching herself, but we didn't bring it. We just went to soak up the sun. It was glorious. I've missed the sun in stormy Salt Lake. Escaping with only a few burn spots, Emily and I went to her ward, which meets right behind the temple. Of course I wanted pictures, so we walked around the grounds for a while. It was beautiful and peaceful.

There's more to come. Enjoy some pictures in the meantime.

This is The Grove. It's an outdoor shopping center and they have about any store you can think of.

Emily and I thought this was so funny. When we were growing up in Northern California, we had a grocery store by us that had Thrifty's ice cream and the scoops were cylinders. We were excited to see this unusual ice cream shape hasn't completely died out.

Here's Me and Emily at Manhattan Beach. Across from where we're sitting are a bunch of beach houses. Emily says that once she's a rich doctor, she's going to buy one. I'll be visiting a lot. :)

The front of the temple with the reflection pool in front.

There were these beautiful rose trees.

So we both had to take pictures by them.

The gardens all around were gorgeous and very Southern Californiany.

The entrance to the temple.

Come Again Another Day

2009-06-13T15:16:00.005-06:00

The latest downpour is rumbling to a close outside my window. Jerry was interested in the distant sounds of thunder so I put him up in my window so he could watch the storm. Lucy just gets crazy when she hears thunder, so I'm glad Kate's home to take care of that. It's funny that just a year ago I was blogging about there not being enough rain. Now, however, we've had rain everyday for about 2 weeks and I'm fed up with it. Where's the sun? I want to go boating. I want to get tan. Luckily, I'm going down to LA next weekend to visit Emily. It had better be sunny. Emily, you're in charge of that and I'm holding you responsible! I hope that when I get back, this Seattle-like weather will have moved on.

It's kind of funny that when I really have nothing else to blog about, I start blogging about the weather. I'll try not to make this a habit!

Kathryn's Nineteenth

2009-06-08T17:19:00.004-06:00

Today is Kate's birthday. Yesterday, Briton and Melissa came over with the kids for dinner. We had such a good cake from Normandie. Today, we went to the Oquirrh Mountain Temple open house. It was beautiful, but it was so hard to take pictures because of all the wind. Only one more year and my mom will officially have no more teenagers, just twenty and thirty somethings who can't seem to get married.

I'm so glad to be able to spend the summer with Kate. I've been kind of lonely living at home with just my parents. Don't get me wrong. I love living and spending time with my parents, but there's nothing like living with a sister. She's my little sidekick. She joined my singles ward, which I love, and also my gym, which I love even more. Happy Birthday Kate. I love you!

Memorial Day Sunday

2009-05-24T17:25:00.006-06:00

It started out as a gray and rainy day, but the sun came out while I was in church and it turned out to be a beautiful Spring day. A perfect day for visiting the cemetery. Dad and I went over there to admire the flowers I dropped off this morning while it was drizzling. And while we were there we got our traditional hot dog and coke.

Yesterday, I babysat Caroline and Cole for a few hours. We jumped on the trampoline and played "Ring Around the Rosie." After "we all fall down," Cole always says "Again the roses." It cracks me up. After taking the dogs for a walk, I put a movie on for them. I made popcorn and sat on the couch in between the two kids. We were all enjoying the popcorn, and after a while, I decided I'd had enough so I stopped eating it. Cole noticed this and he took my hand and put it in the bowl. I thought that was so funny. Anyway, I'll get to enjoy a day off work tomorrow. Kate comes home from Brazil and we're planning a BBQ. It should be a great day. I just hope the weather stays nice. Happy Memorial Day!

Need I say more?

2009-05-16T23:38:00.005-06:00

Yes, that's right. Conan is soon to be back on the air. I have tickets for June 24th so I'm real excited. I may even be on TV so you better watch for me!

iPhone Photos

2009-05-09T23:48:00.007-06:00

I got my iPhone back in October last year. I have absolutely loved it! I thought that since I really can't think of anything else to blog about at the moment, I'd share some of the photos I've taken since I got it. I think it takes pretty good photos. Way better than my old Razr. As you will see, the dogs are the subject matter most of the time. Go figure!

The little bean after a bath.

Salt Lake Temple from a window in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.

Walk?

He didn't like me taking pictures of him. I love the way his tail is wagging while he is barking at me.

Jodi Picoult at the book signing I went to.

Tulips at the Bountiful Temple.

A beautiful Spring walk on Cottonwood Lane.

Tulips along our driveway.

This dip made me run across the street to get a picture of him with the Wiener Mobile when he spotted it. Such a dip!

Letterpressed Salt Lake Temple

2009-05-02T09:53:00.006-06:00

Yesterday I received this poster in the mail. It was designed by Cameron Moll and letterpressed by the Bjørn Letterpress Studio in Orem. Bjørn is the one I'm going to use for Jacob's wedding invitations. Can't wait. Anyway, the design for this façade of the Salt Lake Temple, was done using only characters from 3 typefaces: Bickham Script Pro, Engravers MT, and Epic. I think that's what makes this so unique; it's designed purely with type. I love it and now I need to get it framed. Check out some of the detail. The Angel Moroni is one of my favorite details.

Update

2009-04-24T09:48:00.011-06:00

This is my 100th post! When I asked my dad a couple of weeks ago how many posts he thought I had done, he said 30. Oh how wrong he was! I've been doing this for almost 2 years. I better have more than that. Anyway, I thought I'd do a little update post before my dad starts bugging me and asking why I haven't had a new post in a while.

My mom and I spent an entire afternoon the day before our Thanksgiving trip to California planting over 100 tulip bulbs. We've had to wait a while to see the fruits of our labor, but the time has finally come. I love the early spring when splashes of color begin appearing amongst the gloom and I love the sun.

Briton, Melissa and their 2 children are doing great living the American Dream. Caroline is turning 5 in about a week. I can't believe she's that old already and will be going to Kindergarten in the Fall! Cole is starting to talk in a way that makes sense. He's the happiest little boy!

Danny just bought his first home in St. Louis and will be moving there in July to begin his 4-year Radiology residency at Washington University.

Emily has almost been living in LA for a year. She may be moving to a new apartment so she can take her dog, Kramer, down with her and we can go back to being a one pack family.

Jacob finished winter semester at BYU. He's going to hang out at the house for a couple of weeks and then he's heading out to my aunt's farm in Maryland to work for the summer. It'll be nice to have him home for a while, however short that is.

Heather, Jacob's finance, left for London today. She'll be gone for 2 months. She's going to be living in the same place at the same time I did 3 years ago. I'm so jealous. I would give anything to go back and live those 2 months over again.

Kate completes her Freshman year of college in about 3 weeks. She's coming home in the middle of May for about a day and then heading to Brazil with Harp Fusion. They'll be there for about a week. I'm so glad she'll be home for the summer. It's great living at home and I enjoy my parents' company, but it will be nice to have a sister at home with me.

As for me? Well everything is pretty much the same. Kind of boring, but such is life. I continue to enjoy the company of my two little pups. I took them up to Millcreek canyon last week. There was still snow, but it was such a warm day. Jerry will be 3 next month, which is amazing for a dog with mega esophagus. I love them. They are my friends. Well, that's that. Our next big family event is Jacob's wedding in August, but I'm sure we'll do some stuff between now and then.

Congratulations Jacob!

2009-04-14T23:23:00.005-06:00

From my mom: "The Circle of Honor Award is given by the BYU Student Honor Association to only 5 students a year for being an "exceptional example of honor, integrity and commitment to Christ." Jacob received this award today at the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah presented to him by Cecil Samuelson, President of Brigham Young University. Before the presentation they showed a 3 minute video of each of the 5 recipients, telling about each one of them and this was shown on the big video screen used for B-ball games. When he was physically handed the award it was mentioned that he has a 3.9 GPA and plans to attend Dental School upon graduation."

Jacob lived with me in Provo when I was a Junior at BYU and he was a Freshman. He hadn't been the most motivated person in high school and I couldn't believe what a huge transformation he made that year. He not only achieved a 4.0 GPA, but because he was preparing for his mission, he became an incredibly spiritual person. I've always known what a great person he was, but after seeing how hard he worked and what he accomplished that year, I came to admire and even look up to him. Congratulations on this award, Jacob! I love you and I'm so proud of you!

I'm glad it's your birthday

2009-04-07T09:00:00.002-06:00

Over this past weekend, Jacob, Heather, my parents and I were looking at all our old slides to find pictures of Jacob for the wedding video. It made me realize that my dad spent countless hours taking pictures and organizing them, not to mention the hours of the actual activities that made these pictures possible. Sports, school programs, vacations, etc. Yes, my mom spent a lot of time doing these things too, but this post is about my dad since it's his birthday! Didn't I mention that? Happy Birthday Dad!

I really couldn't ask for a better Father. I know that sounds cliche, but it's true. When I was little, I always felt so lucky that I got such a good Dad. Well, I still think that today, but because I'm older, I appreciate him in different ways. One thing I really appreciate about him, is how interested he is in the things that I'm doing. For example, he reads my blog more than anyone I know. He visits it so often, he'll even tell me when people have commented and is always asking when I'll have a new post. Sometimes, he'll even suggest a topic to write about. I keep telling him he needs to start a blog of his own, but he hasn't caved yet.

Another thing I appreciate about him is how generous he is. At the beginning of March, I decided I wanted to put my Infiniti up for sale and buy my parent's 4 Runner. While I was at work one day, my dad took the Infiniti to get it cleaned and detailed, then he took a bunch of pictures of it so that I could post them in the ad. It saved me a whole bunch of time and effort. If I thought about it, there's probably hundreds of stories where he's done stuff like this for me, this is just a more recent one. You know, I was right when I was little. I've got a really GOOD Dad!

Here's some random pictures of me and my dad together.

Meet the Author

2009-03-25T21:17:00.010-06:00

Tonight I got to meet my favorite modern author. Her name is Jodi Picoult and I've talked about her a couple times before. The book to the left is her newest novel that came out at the beginning of the month. She comes out with a new novel every year. Since I've been following her, they've always come out in March. Anyway, she read a few passages from "Handle With Care" and then took some questions.

The answers to the questions were so interesting. I'm sure she's answered the same questions a million times, so, in a way, her answers are prepared, but I loved hearing them. It takes her 9 months to write a book. Usually, she spends 2 months researching and 7 months writing. Her favorite part is the research. She's gone out with the fire department, been on death row, lived with the Amish, gone out with ghost hunters, observed open-heart surgery, lived on an Indian reservation, and I can't remember everything she said. How cool would that be though? It made me want to be an author!

For this latest book, Jodi spent time with several families that had a child with Osteogenesis Imperfecta or Brittle Bone Disease because this is what one of the main characters in the book has. She did everything with them so that she could know exactly how to write about it. This is how all her novels are, which is why I find them so fascinating. Her novels are usually controversial, but she's good at presenting both sides through her characters and leaving out any personal bias she may have. They always have a twist ending, but she doesn't just tack one on at the end. Throughout her books, she includes little clues or foreshadowing, if you will, as to how it's going to end.

Hopefully I've intrigued you enough that you'll want to read one of her books now. I recommend "Second Glance." It's my favorite and tonight, Jodi said it was her favorite too! It's the ghost hunting one and I've always loved paranormal stuff. "Plain Truth" is also really good. It's the one about the Amish. "My Sister's Keeper" seems to be most people's favorite. The movie is coming out June 26th, the cast of which includes Cameron Diaz, Alec Baldwin, and Joan Cusack, to name a few. Jodi just got to screen it and said it was really good, but as an author she has no say in anything about the movie. For that reason, she could do nothing about the fact that they changed the ending. When she told us this, there was an audible gasp in the auditorium and if any of you have read it, you know why. How could they even think of changing that perfectly tragic and brilliant ending?! Jodi actually got thrown off the movie set for arguing about the ending. She said to just close yours eyes for the last 10 minutes and then go home and read the real ending.

It was cool to listen to and meet her and I got my book signed with my name and everything! I'm looking forward to her upcoming books. 2010's book will be about a kid with high-functioning Autism that goes on trial for murder and 2011's will be about embryo donation and gay rights. Like I said, she likes to choose the controversial topics, but it sure makes for an interesting read.

Spring Break in Arizona

2009-03-17T11:20:00.001-06:00

My spring break consisted of this past weekend plus Monday. These are the times I really miss school, even though I didn't get a spring break at BYU. Still! Anyway, I went down to Phoenix and stayed with my friend and her husband, Paige and Jeff, in Gilbert, Arizona. Kate's spring break is this week, so she drove up from Tucson on Friday night and stayed at their house as well. The weather was amazing. It was sunny and about 80 degrees. I even got to go swimming and layout! Wow, am I white! We also did a bit of shopping since there's so many places to shop.

So Paige and Jeff got a white Lab puppy back in the fall and now he's 7-months-old. He's huge (60 lbs.) and still growing! He's really sweet and LOVES to play, as most puppies do. We took him to the dog park one afternoon. I've decided we really need to get a dog park in Utah. This place was amazing. There were literally hundreds of dogs running around and there was a pretty big pond that the dogs could go swimming in. We were there for a least an hour just watching Nacho play tug of war and steal other dog's toys.

It was a great weekend and I really need to make my way down to Arizona more often. Just not in the summer!

Me and Paige.

Me, Nacho and Kate.

Paige live right next to Megan Street. She can move all the way to Arizona, but she'll never be rid of me!

Engaged!!!

2009-03-12T09:07:00.003-06:00

Jacob and Heather are getting married! Jacob proposed to Heather last night and she said yes! This is how it happened . . .

Heather's birthday is today, so last night, Jacob tells her that my parents want to meet them for dinner at The Roof restaurant in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. When they get in the elevator to go up to the 10th floor, Jacob tells Heather his mom wants them to look at the reception rooms on the 9th floor to see if they want to have their luncheon in them.

They go down the hall to the Kirtland Room. I'm sure most of you have been in this room. It's the one that has the windows right across from the Temple. It's a great view. When they go into the room, Jacob plays it cool and pretends like he is really looking around. Just then, the marketing director (or some sort of title like that) comes in to talk to them about the particulars of the room. This was not intended. I was really hoping something like this wouldn't happen, but luckily the timing was perfect and Jacob wasn't proposing yet.

After the guy leaves, Jacob tells Heather to come look out the window at the temple. On the ledge are some scriptures (which I had previously placed there). So Jacob says, "Hey look! Someone left their scriptures here." When Heather looks at them she notices a name inscribed on them. This name, of course, is Heather Zurcher. Jacob then tells her they are a present for her birthday so she takes them and opens them. On the ribbon marker in the middle of the book, is the ring. Jacob takes the ring off the ribbon, gets down on his knee and puts the ring on her finger while asking her to marry him. She says yes.

So that's the story. The best part of the whole thing was that Heather had no idea. Since she knew it was coming at some point, we knew it would be difficult, but Jacob did a good job pulling it off. It was fun for me to come up with the plan with Jacob and it was really cool to be a part of it. They are a cute couple and we're looking forward to the wedding in August. Have a look at some more pictures.

This was how the ring was placed in the scriptures. The book actually closed and you couldn't tell there was anything in it.

Heather's soon-to-be new name.

This was right after the proposal and here's the view of the temple from the Kirtland Room.

Here's a close-up of the ring.

The lobby of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. They had these cool-looking fake flowers.

And since the proposal was so close to temple square, we had to get some pictures.

Here they are pretending like they're talking and I'm not behind them taking pictures.

Grand Opening

2009-03-06T21:00:00.007-07:00

After work today, my parents and I went to the new Nordstrom to partake of the shoes, formal dresses, white chocolate bread pudding, etc. It was great and highly recommended. You should all go when you get a chance. I just had to buy something, so I got this dress:

What do you think? Should I keep it?

Anyway, I bet you thought my birthday was over. I thought it was over too, but I got two packages in the mail this week.

First, Kate sent me this shirt. I think she's trying to get me back for all those years I bought her BYU paraphernalia.

And then tonight, I got a big package from Emily. I LOVE the box it came in. I'll definitely have to figure out a use for it because I don't want to throw it away.

Inside was a bag that she got me for the purpose of "taking my crap to the gym." Since I was using a bag more suited for the beach, I greatly appreciated this.

I have the best sisters anyone could ask for! Thank you Kate. Thank you Emily. And thank you Nordstrom.

Another Celebration!

2009-03-01T21:00:00.003-07:00

My birthday isn't over yet . . . well, now it is, but earlier today my family and I had one last celebration. It was the Sunday Birthday Dinner, of course. At my request, we had steamed artichokes for dinner (obviously with other stuff too) and a lemon curd cake from Normandy Bakery. It was really good! Enjoy a few pictures. My dad was there too, but he was taking the pictures.

A Quarter of a Century!

2009-02-22T21:29:00.008-07:00

I'm sure you've all been on pins and needles wondering what I did for my birthday. Well, let me tell you. The first thing that made my birthday such a fabulous day is that I didn't go to work. That would have been enough for me, but I also got to spend the whole day with my mom. We started the day off by going to the Draper Temple open house, hence the picture to the left (not a great representation of the temple since my mom said she was trying to get me rather than the temple . . . go figure!). It was a snowy and gloomy day and the gray temple doesn't look as beautiful as it could with green grass, bright flowers and a blue sky, but my mom and I wanted to document the event. Plus, I wanted Emily to know I wore her coat :)

It was so beautiful inside. This was my second time going through a temple during the open house; the first being Nauvoo. I can't believe all the specialized craftsmanship and detail. Hand-carved carpet? Amazing! I included two pictures of my favorite rooms in the temple that I got off KSL's website.

My (emily's) coat matches the fire hydrant! Yeah!

This is the baptistery. I love how the font stands alone in the middle of the room. I also love the fact that there are windows in this room. Most of the other temple's baptisteries that I've been to don't have any windows.

This is the brides' dressing room. I LOVE the carpet in this room. You can't really see it in this picture, but the wall sconces on the sides of the mirrors were absolutely incredible.

So after we saw the temple we went to The Gateway and had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. I got the Greek pizza. It was pretty good if you like feta cheese and Greek olives. Anthropologie was our last stop of the day, where my mom bought me a couple articles of clothing, including this great blouse below. It's really kind of a spring-like blouse so I may have to wait until I wear it. Anyway, it was a great birthday. I don't feel any different, but I did notice a couple of new wrinkles :(

Valentine's Day and an Anniversary

2009-02-16T09:57:00.005-07:00

A date on Valentine's Day? Nope. It was girls night at my house. I had some friends and some friends of friends come over on Valentine's night. 10 girls, no boys! We had a great dinner, karaoke and dancing.

Melissa sent me a Valentine's Day email with these cute kids so of course I had to put them on my blog. I don't mind bragging that I have the cutest niece and nephew.

Yesterday was my grandparents 66th wedding anniversary. We all gathered at The Wellington, the assisted living place where they reside, and had another great dinner. The best part of the dinner were the deserts my mom made. She made red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting, chocolate covered Oreos, heart-shaped sugar cookies with pink frosting (some were half-dipped in chocolate, yum!), and rice krispie treats drizzled with chocolate. Can you believe it though? 66 years! My grandpa is 93, but they may be able to make it to 70 years.

Well, as you can see, I had a great weekend. I think the best part was that Kate came home from school for a few days. It felt so natural when she was home; almost like she had never been gone. I miss her already, as I do all my siblings living away. It's great living at home because when anyone gets a break, they usually come home to visit so I get to see them. Anyway, tomorrow is my birthday. What am I doing? You'll just have to wait to find out!

Is this going on the fridge?

2009-02-07T10:12:00.003-07:00

My brother, Jacob, emailed this to me. I usually don't propagate forwards, but I thought this was funny and think everyone will get a little laugh. I don't know if it's real, but let's pretend.

A first grade girl handed in the drawing below for a homework assignment. After it was graded and the child brought it home, she returned to school the next day with the following note from her mother to her teacher:

Dear Ms. Davis,
I want to be very clear on my child's illustration. It is NOT of me on a dance pole on a stage in a strip joint. I work at Home Depot and had commented to my daughter how much money we made in the recent snowstorm. This drawing is of me . . . selling a shovel.
Mrs. Harrington

The Month of Love

2009-02-01T17:36:00.009-07:00

I love February! I always have. I don't really know why, but it probably has something to do with the fact that I love Valentine's Day. I just think there is something so nice about having a holiday that is associated with love and big red hearts, smack dab in the middle of winter. Love is always a worthy thing to celebrate and it doesn't even have to be romantic love. It can be any kind of love. When I was little I use to make handmade valentines for every single person in my class at school. I guess you could say that underneath the heart-shaped doilies, red construction paper and craft glitter, I was telling my classmates that I loved them. I am, of course, being a bit facetious.

Today, as a tribute to the first day of February, I wore red to church. A red turtleneck, a red and white striped skirt, and red shoes. I had a couple of people comment on my outfit and I told them that it was February, as if that explained everything. Red is a must in February. I've toned down my festive outfits since I was little though. Had I been 10-years-old, I would have been wearing this stellar outfit:

Check out those awesome leggings! I think I was wearing red converse shoes as well. Kate and my sweet Grandma Zurcher are in this picture with me. As you may have guessed, February holds a lot of wonderful memories for me and hopefully more to come! Happy February!

Cole's Birthday Party!

2009-01-19T10:33:00.007-07:00

Friday was Cole's birthday and he turned 2-years-old. I was telling Melissa that it seems like he's been around so much longer than that. I guess that when you have these little nieces and nephews come into your life, it seems like they've always been a part of it. Briton and Melissa had a little party for him and invited both sides of the family to come. He was so cute. He still doesn't talk very coherently, but he can say words here and there and some names. He goes around calling both my mom and dad "Cheryl."

It's fun to watch little kids grow up. You start to see glimpses of their personalities little by little. They are so uninhibited and so refreshing. While Cole was opening his presents, Caroline turned to her aunt, who is 2 years older, and said "Chelsea, after Cole opens all his presents, we get to play with them!" Cole didn't really care. He was content playing with the wrapping paper and a balloon he carried around with him all night. Later, as we sang "Happy Birthday" to Cole, he got really shy when he noticed all the attention in the room was centered on him. He's definitely a Zurcher!

Cole tried to blow out the candles by placing his front teeth on his lower lip. It didn't quite work, but his dad helped him.

Cole with the flannel blanket that Grandma Cheryl made him.

I love this little pouting face!

Caroline (4) with her Aunt Chelsea (6).

My favorite thing about this picture is Jacob smirking in the background, wearing his Thomas the Train paper conductor hat. What a dip!

Happy Birthday Danny!

2009-01-12T09:57:00.000-07:00

I've joked before about how I could say anything about Danny on my blog and he'd never know because he never reads it. Well, his girlfriend, Amanda, told me that she looks at it every now and then and tells Danny when he's mentioned. So I figure he'll see this post . . . eventually.

Danny has mostly been a good big brother. I remember being teased a lot by him when I was younger, but that has pretty much died out. I use to love to watch him play video games and sometimes still do. He's always game for a little Mario Kart, Settlers of Catan or any other game. On top of all of this, he's the smartest guy I know and I'm sure he will be a successful doctor. Happy birthday Danny. I love you!

Have you done this?

2009-01-08T13:24:00.012-07:00

I thought that since this is the beginning of a new year, making a list of the things I have done would be fun, but I found this list on another blog and decided that I would post it instead. The items in orange are things I have already done and obviously the items in blue are the things I have yet to do, or may never do. When I went through the list I thought that I had done a lot, but I counted and I've only done 40 out of 100! You'd think that having lived in Salt Lake City for almost half my life, I would have swam in the Great Salt Lake by now. I have work to do. How many things on this list have you done?

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen an eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Been to Niagara Falls
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Been to the Grand Canyon
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Been to the Alamo
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Danced the night away

New Year's 2008 and the New Year 2009

2009-01-05T11:15:00.016-07:00

This weekend was so great. I wish I could live it again. It started out on New Year's Eve at Market Street Grill with my family. My mom made a reservation for us back in October and it was a good thing she did because it was crowded! Briton, Melissa and the kids met the rest of us there. I'm not a fan of fish and there's about 3 things on the menu that I can order, but I still like the place. After dinner, Danny, Amanda, Kate and I played Wii Mario Kart and then Jacob joined us to watch the ball drop in Times Square. It was pretty uneventful, but it was a nice New Year's.

The rest of the weekend consisted of taking down the Christmas trees, finishing the 2000 piece puzzle (we did a total of 6,750 pieces this year!), reading, and general relaxation and lounging around. On Friday I went to lunch with my friend, Paige, whom I had not seen for a whole year! It was really good to talk to her in person. After lunch, we went to The Curious Case of Benjamin Button with our moms and Jacob. Despite it's length, I thought it was a pretty good movie.

Emily flew in from LA on Friday night to spend the weekend with us. On Saturday night, Jacob brought his girlfriend, Heather, and we went to Goodwood. We went home and watched Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day. It's an excellent movie for those of you looking for a good flick.

Now I'm back to work and I'm in a contemplative mood at the start of this new year. I wonder and am anticipating what might happen this year. I feel like it will be a good year and I'm excited to live it. I hope your year will be as great as mine is going to be!

Don't say it

2008-12-31T09:24:00.011-07:00

Every year, Lake Superior State University puts out a list of banned words and phrases called "List of Words to Be Banished from the Queen's English for Mis-use, Over-use and General Uselessness." The school only chooses 15 out of about 5,000 nominations. I love reading this list each year and I thought I'd share it with you. Happy New Year!

GREEN

The ubiquitous 'Green' and all of its variables, such as 'going green,' 'building green,' 'greening,' 'green technology,' 'green solutions' and more, drew the most attention from those who sent in nominations this year.
"This phrase makes me go green every time I hear it." Danielle Bruinin, Lawence, Kansas.
"I'm all for being environmentally responsible, but this 'green' needs to be nipped in the bud." Valerie Gilson, Gales Ferry, Connecticut.
"Companies are less 'green' than ever, advertising the fact they are 'green.' Is anyone buying this nonsense?" Mark Etchason, Denver, Colorado.
"If something is good for the environment, just say so. As Kermit would say, 'It isn't easy being green.'" Kevin Sherlock, Hiawatha, Iowa.
"If I see one more corporation declare itself 'green,' I'm going to start burning tires in my backyard." Ed Hardiman, Bristow, Virginia.
" This spawned 'green solution,' 'green technology,' and the horrible use of the word as a verb, as in, 'We really need to think about greening our office.'" Mike McDermott, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

CARBON FOOTPRINT or CARBON OFFSETTING

"It is now considered fashionable for everyone, tree hugger or lumberjack alike, to pay money to questionable companies to 'offset' their own 'carbon footprint.' What a scam! Get rid of it immediately!" Ginger Hunt, London, England.
Mike of Chicago says that when he hears the phrase 'carbon footprint,' "I envision microscopic impressions on the surface of the earth where an atom of carbon forgot to wear its shoes."
Christy Loop of Woodbridge, Virginia, says that 'leaving a carbon footprint' has become the new 'politically incorrect.' "How can we not, in one way or another, affect our natural environment?"

MAVERICK

"The constant repetition of this word for months before the US election diluted whatever meaning it previously had. Even the comic offshoot 'mavericky' was terribly overused. A minimum five-year banishment of both words is suggested so they will not be available during the next federal election." Matthew Mattila, Green Bay, Wisconsin.
"You know it's time to banish this word when even the Maverick family, who descended from the rancher who inspired the term, says it's being mis-used." Scott Urbanowski, Kentwood, Michigan.
"I'm a maverick, he's a maverick, wouldn't you like to be a maverick, too?" Michael Burke, Silver Spring, Maryland.

FIRST DUDE

"Skateboard English is not an appropriate way to refer to the spouse of a high-ranking public official." Paul Ruschmann, Canton, Michigan.

BAILOUT

"Use of emergency funds to remove toxic assets from banks' balance sheets is not a bailout. When your cousin calls you from jail in the middle of the night, he wants a bailout." Ben Green, State College, Pennsylvania.
"Is it a loan? Is it a purchase of assets by the government? Is it a gift made by the taxpayers?" Dave Gill, Traverse City, Michigan.
"Now it seems as though every sector of the economy wants a bailout. Unfortunately, ordinary workers can't qualify." Tony, McLeansville, North Carolina.
"Don't we love how Capitol Hill will bailout Wall Street, but not Main Street?" Derrick Chamberlain, Midland, Michigan.

WALL STREET/MAIN STREET

"When this little dyad first came into use at the start of the financial crisis, I thought it was a clever use of parallelism. But it's simply over-used. No 'serious' discussion of the crisis can take place without some political figure lamenting the fact that the trouble on Wall Street is affecting 'folks' on Main Street." Charles Harrison, Aiken, South Carolina.
"The recent and continuing financial failings are not limited to 'Wall Street,' nor should one paint business, consumers, and small investors as 'Main Street.' Topeka (where I work), and Lawrence (where I live), Kansas, have no named 'Main Street.' How tiresome." Kent McAnally, Topeka, Kansas.
"I am so tired of hearing about everything affecting 'Main Street.' I know that with the 'Wall Street' collapse, the comparison is convenient, but really, let's find another way to talk about everyman or the middle class, or even, heaven forbid, 'Joe the Plumber.'" Stacey, Knoxville, Tennessee.

MONKEY

"Especially on the Internet, many people seem to think they can make any boring name sound more attractive just by adding the word 'monkey' to it. Do a search to find the latest. It is no longer funny." Roger Landman, Somerville, Massachusetts.

Supposed to resemble a heart, or stand for the work 'love.' Used when sending those important text messages to loved ones. "Just say the word instead of making me turn my head sideways and wondering what 'less than three' means." Andrea Estrada, Chicago.

ICON or ICONIC

Overused, especially among entertainers and in entertainment news, according to Roby Yates of Dallas, who says that "every actor, actress and entertainment magazine show overuses this." One of the most-nominated words of the year.
"Everyone and everything cannot be 'iconic.' Can't we switch to 'legendary' or 'famous for'? In our entertainment-driven culture, it seems everyone in show business is 'iconic' for some reason or another." John Flood, Bray, Wicklow, Ireland.
"It's becoming the new 'awesome' - overused to the point where everything from a fast-food restaurant chain to celebrities is 'iconic.'" Jodi Gill, New Berlin, Wisconsin.
"Just because a writer recognizes something does not make it an icon (a visual symbol or representation which inspires worship or veneration) or iconic. It just means that the writer has seen it before." Brian Murphy, Fairfield, Connecticut.

GAME CHANGER

"It's game OVER for this cliché, which gets overused in the news media, political arenas and in business." Cynthia, Mt. Pleasant, Michigan.

STAYCATION

"Occurrences of this word are going up with gas prices. 'Vacation' does not mean 'travel,' nor does travel always involve vacation. Let's send this word on a slow boat to nowhere." Dan Muldoon, Omaha, Nebraska.
"The coast of petrol forces many families to curtail their summer voyages and a new word has sprung, idiotic and rootless..." Michele Mooney, Los Angeles, California.

DESPERATE SEARCH

"Every time the news can't find something intelligent to report, they start on a 'desperate search' for someone, somewhere." Rick A. Hyatt, Saratoga, Wyoming.

NOT SO MUCH

"I wish that the phrase was used not so much," says Tom Benson of Milwaukee, who notes that it is used widely in news media, especially in sports, i.e. 'The Gophers have a shot at the playoffs; the Chipmunks, not so much.'
"Casual language usage is acceptable. 'Not so much?' Not so much." David Hollis, Hubbardsville, New York.
"Do I like concise writing? Yes. Do I like verbose clichés? Not so much." David W. Downing, St. Paul, Minnesota.
"A favorite of snarky critics and bloggers." Jeff Baenen, Minneapolis, Minnesota.

WINNER OF FIVE NOMINATIONS

"It hasn't won an Academy Award yet. It has only been NOMINATED!" John Bohenek, Abilene, Texas.

IT'S THAT TIME OF YEAR AGAIN

Nominated by Kathleen Brosemer of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, for "general overuse and meaninglessness. When is it not 'that time of year again?" From Valentine's sales to year-end charity letters, invitations to summer picnics and Christmas parties, it's 'that time' of year again. Just get to the point of the solicitation, invitation, and newsletter and cut out six useless and annoying words."

Christmas Day 2008

2008-12-27T14:17:00.013-07:00

Christmas was so relaxing this year. We all got up pretty late and had breakfast; hootenannies, hash browns and Canadian bacon! After breakfast, we went into the living room to open our gifts. We decided to have a small Christmas this year with fewer gifts. It was kind of nice. I got the Sony Blu-ray player that I wanted, Emily got a Canon camera (as seen in the Ashton Kutcher commercials), Kate got clothes and Jacob got a nüvi.

After the present opening, we all went off to play with our new toys and take showers. Briton, Melissa, Caroline and Cole came over for our annual Christmas ham. After dinner, we made gingerbread houses. I wish I had a picture of Caroline's. It was so cute. Things dwindled from there. Briton and his family went home, a couple of us finished the puzzle, and Emily got ready to go back to LA. We were really hoping that her flight would be cancelled, but the snow didn't come. It did come, however, while my mom was taking Emily to the airport. Well, because of this wonderful Christmas snow, her flight was delayed so long that she wouldn't have been able to get home in time for work the next day. So she was able to stay and she doesn't go home until tomorrow. We decided to go to Marely and Me Christmas night and we were all bawling by the end, but it was good. When we got home, Kate and I took the dogs on a walk. We ran down the hill the whole way in the knee-deep snow, ran around the church and then back up the hill. It was so fun!

We really missed Danny on Christmas, but he came in yesterday and will spend New Year's with us. I'm dreading going back to work on Monday after such a nice little break, but life does go on. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

My grandparents came over for breakfast and gift opening.

My dad and I relaxing on the couch.

My mom and Kate enjoying breakfast at the counter.

The four youngest (Jacob, Me, Kate and Emily) in front of the family room Christmas tree.

Briton, Melissa and Caroline sitting down for dinner.

My beautiful gingerbread house. Jacob's in this because he made the pathway leading to the door. Surprisingly, he did a good job :)

Jacob and I putting in the last pieces of the puzzle. Right after this, my dad took a piece and hid it in his hand so he could put in the last piece. Little cheat!

It was a white Christmas after all!

New Obsession

2008-12-23T10:21:00.005-07:00

At the beginning of this month, Bally Total Health and Fitness, closed it's doors here in Utah. Bally's was the gym I went to. They gave no warning and they closed right after they had taken my membership fee for the month of December! Trashy, I know. After looking into a few gyms, I decided to join Xcel. It's a really nice gym that I belonged to when I was in high school. They have a towel service, more than 3 TVs that can be changed to any channel (yes Bally's, there are actually more channels other than CNN, Fox News and ESPN!), and they have awesome classes. When I went to check into membership, the guy took me to a class called BodyPump before he told me anything else. I guess he knew that letting me use the gym would sell it rather than spewing a bunch of crap like other gym salesmen do. I was already thinking I would join this gym, but after that class, I was completely sold.

BodyPump is an hour-long strength training class. The workout goes through all the major muscle groups and uses familiar exercises like squats, presses, lifts and curls. It's all put to music and is taught by two instructors. The instructors have been women every time I've gone, but it's not just for girls because there are men who come to the class as well. It's tough and I've been sore after every class I've been to. So, I joined the gym, got Emily a 2 week free guest pass and we've been going for the past week and a half. I'll miss going with someone when Emily goes back to LA, but I plan to continue going because it's my new obsession!

Christmas Tag

2008-12-22T09:25:00.009-07:00

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper for sure! I love tying all the beautiful ribbon on the packages.

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial. It's just easier.

3. When do you put up the tree(s)? Usually after Thanksgiving, but this year it was before because my family and I went to California for Thanksgiving and I wanted the trees to be up when we got back. Although I live at my parents' house, I put up and decorate the two trees. . .with a little help from my mom.

4. When do you take the tree(s) down? Usually before New Year's, but Danny is coming to visit the day after Christmas so we're going to keep them up a little longer for him.

5. Do you like eggnog? I love it! It's so good.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Legos. They were the best!

7. Hardest person to buy for? My brother Danny. Luckily I only have to buy a gift for him every 5 years. If you remember, I had to buy a gift for him last year and I asked for your help here, and ended up buying him this.

8. Easiest person to buy for? My mom and my sisters. I think it's because they like the same things that I do so I just buy things that I want.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes. My mom gave my a Willie Raye Nativity set last year.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? If I did Christmas cards it would definitely be by snail mail and never email.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can't really think of one. When I was little, however, I hated getting clothes. I only wanted toys.

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Home Alone. I know it's kind of lame but it brings back such good memories of my childhood. It's nostalgic.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Usually December, but sometimes in November.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? I don't think so.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Everything! That's my problem. Actually, my favorite is the gourmet candy that my mom puts in my stocking.

16. Lights on the tree? Of course. Inside and out.

17. Favorite Christmas song? O Holy Night and What Child is This.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Almost always stay home. The only time I ever traveled was when my family and I lived in California and we went to my grandparents house in Salt Lake.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Yep, ever since I was about 6-years-old!

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Always a star and never an angel.

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Only the new Christmas pajamas and the sibling gifts are opened on Christmas Eve.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The crowds. Online shopping is the way to go. Yay for Cyber Monday!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? Hallmark ornaments.

24. Favorite food for Christmas dinner? The Lion House rolls that my mom makes.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A Sony Blu-ray player.

Disaster with a happy ending

2008-12-11T23:06:00.001-07:00

++= DISASTER

Tuesday night I went to go do something in a different part of the house and left my two dogs in my room. Well, I'm sure you've guessed what happened. I'm pretty sure it was Lucy. She's the original troublemaker. I think she got up on the desk because I had a package of beef jerky on a shelf next to my desk. I purposely put the package up there so that the dogs couldn't get it. It worked. They couldn't get it, but I would have given them the entire package of beef jerky if doing that would have diverted this crisis. Tuesday night, when I came back into my room and saw that can of Diet Dr. Pepper lying on it's side on my laptop, was not a good night.

Yesterday, I took my computer to the Genius Bar at the Apple store in Gateway. It turned on okay and seemed to be working great. The guy played around with the keys and noticed some of them were sticking and some weren't responding. So he said he'd replace my keyboard for free! Parts and labor! It was such good news and I don't think I could have been luckier! Oh, and I still love my dogs.

Briton & Melissa's Christmas Card 2008

2008-12-02T22:38:00.004-07:00

I made Briton and Melissa's Christmas card last year and I made it again this year. It's front and back and it folds in three like an accordion. Check it out:

Happy

2008-11-23T12:07:00.004-07:00

I've been extremely happy lately. There's no apparent reason for this happiness and it's actually kind of surprising considering the troubling times we are in. I walked into the store the other day not realizing I was smiling and a man said to me, "Miss, what's the reason for the smile? It's making me nervous." I found that comment a bit odd. I wasn't smiling at him but it made me wonder myself why I was smiling. I concluded that I must just be happy. Simple. I think it's important to be happy. It really makes things so much easier to deal with. I have quite a bit that I worry about from time to time. My life's not perfect and I have to fulfill many obligations and responsibilities, but I've decided to focus on the things in my life that make me happy. Here are just a few things that make me happy right now:

Thanksgiving is this week and we are heading down to Southern California. I will get to see many friends and family that I haven't seen for a while.
After Thanksgiving, Christmas is just a month a way and I will get to spend a lot of time with my family. I LOVE Christmas!
The joy that my family, including my dogs, brings me.
The Gospel of Jesus Christ and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

These were just a few of the simple things that bring me happiness. As you can see, some of them are seasonal and others are a constant in my life and really the foundation of my happiness. So my message to you is to be happy and to have a HAPPY Thanksgiving!

One last thing. A lot of blogs I visit will have pictures of the living spaces of the author. I don't own my own house. I live with my parents, but I thought it would be fun to show some pictures of my lovely, little room since I recently decorated for Christmas. Check it out.

Here's my bed and my desk.

Here's the view of my bed from my door. This is what you would see when you entered.

Here's the view from the window. You can see my full desk as well as my dressers, which I've had since I was a little girl.

Here's the view from my bed. The door to the left of the TV goes out to the hallway and the main house. The door to the right goes into my bathroom, but I'm not posting any pictures of that because it's messy!

Lastly, here's a closeup of my desk. If you look on the top shelf you will see the Williraye Nativity set that my mom gave me last year.