Off to Brazil!

I'll be taking a long break from this blog, because I'm going to serve as a missionary in Brazil for 18 months! You can check out my missionary blog here that my parents will (hopefully) be updating with some of my letters and pictures.

Future Library: 3

I will most definitely have the Chronicles of Narnia series by C. S. Lewis in my future library.  They are excellent, especially the second (The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe) which everyone thinks is the first, but it's not.  And then I love the last one (The Last Battle).  The others are entertaining, but these two have so much symbolism about life.  What makes it better is that the books are fairly simple and not difficult to understand.  

Hobbit Home?

Isn't this cool? This guy built a whole home out of natural materials in Wales. And he and his family actually live there. It looks so cozy! And I love the Tolkien theme. Sooo fun. :)




See more of the design and construction here.

Facelift

Well, I'm not in school right now and it's killing me. So I have lots of time on my hands now. And with that time, I've been learning a lot about computer coding, especially for blogs. So, as you can see, I've been experimenting with this blog look. I think it's getting there.

I totally wish I knew more about this. I learned a bit in one of my classes last year, but not nearly enough to be able to create one from scratch. Right now I'm just manipulating other templates.

Someday

My family went to the Festival of the Trees and there were some amazing quilts there! And it made me want to be all crafty and artsy and make a quilt like them. But that probably won't happen any time soon.

Maybe I could do one in the 2 months of break before I go to Brazil. But...I don't know if that's enough time.

Someday though.

My MJ Post - Don't we all have one?

I can't believe it's December! November sure flew by.

AND I can't believe it's December and there's no snow!

If it's gonna be freezing outside (hello, 15 degrees!) then can't we have just a little snow? Please. I'm sure I'll regret these words in a few weeks when it is snowing and wet and cold. But then we can ski, right?

So, I meant to post this a while ago. But here it is now.


I saw the Michael Jackson movie, This Is It, and absolutely LOVED it! Definitely worth the $10 buck admission price. But we got in for $5! Thanks to the manager lady who let us switch movies without paying the extra price! (There's a $10 flat cost for This Is It, no matinee discount.)

I can't believe how talented that guy was! And at 50, he was still amazing. I wish I could move like that. Maybe in the next life. :)

Pass the butter!

Thanksgiving was a hoot this year. We celebrated at my grandma's house, all 65 of us. So fun, loud, chaotic, etc.

The turkey (dark, of course), cranberries, stuffing, mashed potatoes, salad, yams, and rolls were excellent, as always. Except for the pie. I'm not a huge fan of pie.

But my favorite was the butter.

This year it doubled as a decoration and spread:


But now, the question is:

WHAT DO YOU DO WITH 10 TURKEY-SHAPED BUTTERS AFTER THANKSGIVING?!

Uh...wait until next year?

Shape them into Santas for Christmas?

Make a massive butter-snowman with all of them?

Oh, this could get fun.

Discovery!

I found this great new app-thing called Dropbox.

It's pretty much like having a jump-drive, without actually having a jump-drive! Make sense?

So, you can install dropbox on your computers (like home and laptop, or even your phone) and then it will automatically sync anything you save in that folder. Then you can access it at any computer or anywhere with internet!

Sweet.

Now sorry that I'm kind of advertising for something. And I hate that. But I also think it's a cool idea. And that overrides the I-hate-promoting-other-stuff feeling. I just wish I had come up with the idea. So simple. So brilliant.

My rant against Microsoft

Don't we all have one of these? Well here's mine:

WHY did Microsoft have to change all their format extensions? Instead of doc, ppt, and xls, Microsoft changed them to docx, pptx, xlsx, etc for their 2007 version. Now, if I download something in those new formats, my "old" 2003 version can't open them!

Can't you see it?! This is all a money-making ploy by Microsoft to force everyone to buy their new version. Then, in 2010, they'll come up with some other format (like idoc and ippt, since ianything is the new irage) that we'll all have to switch over again! So Microsoft proves once more that it controls the world. And I say:


Fortunately, there are sites that will convert formats for free. Like my new pal Zamzar. It'll email you a link to download the new converted file. Brilliant. Thank you for providing some control over these ridiculous formats.

How happy is your state?

I read about a study that ranked the happiness level of each state.

Guess who came in as #1.....

That's right,

U T A H !

No surprises there, of course. :)

And close behind was...

#2 - Hawaii

#3 - Wyoming

#4 - Colorado

#5 - Minnesota

Way to represent, Western States!

The study interviewed 350,000 people about their well-being in six areas: overall evaluation, emotional health, physical health, healthy behaviors (e.g., exercising) and job satisfaction.

See how other states ranked or read more here.

Bring on the Ball

I've really never been much of a basketball fan. I usually like football more. But for some reason, I'm really excited about this season! Even more excited than I have been about football. Here's why.

There are fewer players in basketball, so it's easy to memorize the whole team and keep of track of who likes to do what. Plus, they don't have to wear any masks or padding, so it's easy to see who is who without memorizing all of their numbers. And, the game is so much faster--fewer breaks and stops and pauses that seem to drag on and on. Not much of that in bb.

And with that, go cougs!

.

BYUism - 2

#2 If you want to stand out or (dare we say it) be "rebellious" at BYU, then grow a mustache.

BYUisms

A new series dedicated to listing common expectations and regular occurrences at the Y.

#1 - If you are a male, business major at BYU, you better get a faux hawk!

Stay tuned for more!

Ode to the Swimming Days

My little squashmore brother Garrett recently joined the Orem High School swim team, and all his talk of meets and races and practices has brought me back to the good-old-days of swimming.

Yes, the good-old-days of swimming--the days of waking up in the morning at 5:00 am to go to practice, and then going to practice again after school ; the days of constantly smelling like chlorine and never being able to get rid of it; the days of talking in the sauna after practice for hours and hours and hours. Wonderful. I loved it.

For my swimmer friends:

Meets. Relays. San Diego. 400 relay song. Goggles. In-and-outs. Sauna. The Rec Center. Flip turns. Pulling lane lines. Cheers. Caps. Attitude...kick butt! Tapering. Kickboards. Favio. Traveling. 200 medley relay. Staying in hotels. DQs. Utah County Invite. Winning. Losing. Streamlines. Warm ups. OTAC. Banquets. Cap thief. Awards. Region. The Christmas set. The hot tub. Counting for the 500. Valentines Day practice. Sweats. Paddles. Pull. Team "Moms". Strip 1000. 200 free relay. Not shaving. The clock. Kick. State. Shaving. Cedar City/St. George. 400 free relay. Mesh bag. Attempting to do sychronized swimming. Layering swim suits. Drills. Sprints. Team parties. Towels. Flip flops. Dives. Park City. Blocks. Starts. Blue and Gold. Sandy. Todd. Battle for the paddle. Dan.

Friends!

Swimmers! What are some of your memories?

While it's Halloween . . . Look who's in the death business now

The other day, I was doing some casual online shopping and found that you can now order caskets and urns through Walmart!

Yes, it is true. I even looked on their website to make sure. The lowest price for a casket was $895! Not bad, Walmart. In fact, I'd probably end up buying one there. Why pay the big bucks for something that's never going to be seen again?

My favorites from the selection:

The "Lady de Guadalupe" Steel Casket, $895.00

The "Supreme Distinction" Steel Casket, $1199.00

The "Wings of Freedom" Adult Urn, $174.05


And for your pet's needs:

The "Standing Tall Cat Calico" Brass Urn, $114.00
*For cats up to 40 lbs*

Unfortunately, these items cannot be returned...

Order yours online now! Click here.

Big News is Here!

Big news that requires a separate blog...

See here.

"He's got the swine"

I got this funny email from my Aunt Joyce today:


Swine flu paranoia is getting out of hand....

HA!

Side Note: TWO days till the big news!

Clutch

I've really been wanting a little clutch bag lately.

It'd be so nice! Because, most of the time when I'm running an errand or going out for the night I just need my wallet, phone, and keys. Maybe some chapstick. And I don't need a big purse to carry all those around. So a clutch is perfect!

Side Note: The big news (see the end of this post) is coming this week!

Addiction

I think I have a serious problem: I'm addicted to sweets! Usually of the chocolate variety, but if those aren't around, usually anything will do.

This became very apparent when my family left for UEA last week and left me with NOTHING sweet to eat! I almost died. In fact, my family's lucky that I'm still alive and well.

Next time, you might not be so lucky. Better stock up on some of these.

Or, if Oreos aren't available, I can always live of some Dove Darks!

I blame my dad for this addiction.

Crunch Time!

I love Fall.

Why?

Because I can crunch all the leaves on the ground!

Seriously, I am weird about this.

I'll will go slightly out of my way so I can step on some crunchy leaf in front of me. For some reason, it is really satisfying. Try it. I bet you like it too. And then you'll be on the lookout for extra crunchy leaves.

This movie is finally coming out today! And it got a great review. I want to see it. Anybody else want to see it too?

Also, I just tried Pandora for the first time today. Yeah, I'm probably way behind everyone. But it's pretty cool so far. For those of you who don't know, it's a free radio that guesses what kind of songs you'll like based on your feedback. It's a great idea, actually.

And, last but not least, I should have some exciting news coming soon (12-19 days) . . . So stay tuned!