The New Adventures of Wesley the Cat.

Last weekend we went up to visit Daniel's parents in Gig Harbor. His dad has a project boat, and needed Daniel's help with a couple things. It was a long hot day on Friday, so it was nice to hop in the car with the air conditioning going. We headed over the bridge right around sunset, and it was gorgeous.

We don't usually bring Wesley with us when we go up because he hates the car ride, specifically his carrier. We dragged him along this time with the promise of outside time. So Saturday morning, while Daniel was being helpful and working on the boat, I ventured out to enjoy the glorious morning sunshine.

I've always been a morning person, and beautiful summer mornings are my favorite. The air always feels so crisp and fresh...and I imagine the grass is tastier. Wesley seemed to enjoy it. He got to be an outside cat for the day, and we had a backyard to enjoy the gorgeous weather. Saturday afternoon we did get to see "Up" which was a fabulous movie. I loved it.

We finished up with an evening barbecuing fillet Mignon. Wesley couldn't quite handle the delicious smell of fresh meat, and he begged and begged for some.

"please nanna please, just a small taste"

Wesley was fairly persistent with his begging, and made his point all over her black pants. Good thing for lint rollers!

He was happy after dinner when we fed him some of the left overs. He's definitely one spoiled cat...after all, what kind of cat gets left over Fillet Mignon?

My Garden

I live in an apartment, and it meets my needs just fine. I look forward to owning a home, but I'm happy making the best of what I've got. One thing that isn't really practical about living in an apartment is having a garden, so leave it to my mother-in-law, to give me an apartment garden (for my birthday). I know this isn't technically what it's called, but let me introduce to you, my AeroGarden:

Picture from aerogrow.com

So far my Basil is growing the most.

We only planted our garden 2 weeks ago, so I'm really impressed with how quickly things have started sprouting and growing. It'll still be a few weeks till it's ready go use use, but it has been so easy to care for. Yesterday was the first time it asked for more water and nutrients. All that involved, was pouring water into the garden, and emptying two little nutrient tablets into it. This garden lets you know exactly what it needs, and the lights are on a schedule, so there's no forgetting to turn it on or off. This is really my kind of contraption. Our garden came with an herb kit, and I'm sure I'll love cooking with fresh herbs during the summer and fall. But when it's time to replant, you'd better believe I'm going to do strawberries. I can't think of anything better than having a garden full of fresh strawberries in the middle of winter.

The Midas Touch

A long time ago, there lived a man, and whatever he touched, turned to gold. King Midas is now famous for that, and the phrase "the Midas touch" is now well known.

I seem to have just the opposite problem. Especially when it comes to electronics.

Examples:

1. My first laptop was stolen a few years ago. When Daniel and I were engaged, he did a medical study for money. He had to stay in the medical center for a week, without many of his personal belongings, so I figured he could use my laptop to keep him company. Even though they had security cameras monitoring the rooms, and everyone who came in and out of the building, there was "no way to recover it". Yeah...it sounds sketchy to me too.
2. My replacement laptop worked just fine until the power cord stopped working. To solve that, we were able to find an older, but compatible power cord to solve the problem.
3. Shortly after the replacement power cord came along, one of the memory sticks gave out.
4. We have since upgraded the memory, but the replacement power cord is dead. I'm dreading paying full price for a power cord, so until I decided to drop $100, I charge my laptop at my parents house once a week when we're over there on Sunday evenings. Then I hope it lasts the rest of the week.
5. For Christmas 2 years ago, my wonderful mother in-law got me a Chi hair straightener that I'd been wishing for. It was great, and I loved it. For about the first two months. Then all of a sudden it stopped working. There was no warranty on it, so I had to pay to have it serviced. It's now in working order, but doesn't it seem like 2 months is a pretty short lifespan for something like that?
6. I got a new camera last fall. The very first picture I took, the flash popped up, and wouldn't go back down. Thankfully Costco has the best return policy, so I was able to return the camera. I did however have to wait till Christmas for my new one (and thankfully, so far, no problems with it).
7. 10 days before Christmas, Daniel and I got our first cell phone plan. A few days after Christmas, I was running an errand for my mom, and my poor new cell phone fell out of my pocket and into a puddle of melted snow. It's little screen was glowing ominously from the bottom of the puddle, but there was no restoring it. Since I had only had my phone for two weeks, I was still within the period of time to sign up for insurance. Thankfully, they let me sign up, and I was able to get a replacement phone.
8. Last September, I got a sweet little mp3 player from woot! It has worked very well, and I've loved it. Until Thursday. I took it out of my purse to connect to my speakers at work, and all I could hear was ticking. This is unfortunate, since it's still pretty new, but especially because I've been on a good gym schedule, thanks in a large part to my mp3 player. This morning when I grabbed my gym bag, I had the quick foresight to transfer the micro sd card from my mp3 player to my cell phone. I even grabbed the special connector headphones so I can use them at the gym tonight.
9. Now imagine my disappointment when I tried out the music player on my phone earlier, to find that only one of the ear buds works on my headphones. These aren't the typical audio jack headphones either...they had a special plug that isn't readily available. I suppose I should just be grateful that I have one working ear bud, but it's getting old.

I don't write this for pitty...I'll get by with one working earphone...I just want to know if anybody else has this kind of problem, or if it's just me. I have a feeling I'm not the only one, and the underlying cause just might be that electronics are made cheaper and cheaper, with the intent that consumers will buy things more often.

What's your opinion, am I a wrecking machine, or is it a well delivered scam from corporate America?

three more.

I love this picture. I'm glad Stephen bought a copy...I don't know if I would have spent $20.00 on it, but I'm glad he did

This one is somewhat embarrassing. This was the first time we went on this ride, and Daniel was a complete natural. I wasn't. I wish I could say I really improved the second time we rode it...but sadly that is not the case.

You might notice I'm ranked 93rd though...not too shabby...unless you consider this picture was taken during a magic morning, one hour before the park was totally open...

I have more pictures from my in-laws that I'll post, but the weather is gorgeous, and I'm booked the rest of the day. Happy Memorial Day to all...and also, happy birthday to my beautiful mother!

As Promised...

So here we go! These Disneyland pictures are all from my camera. Hopefully after this weekend, I'll be able to get pictures from my in-laws. I'm hoping they took more pictures than I did, because even though I carried my camera everywhere, I didn't always pull it out when I should have.

Tom (Daniel's Dad), Daniel, Me, and Daniel's brother Stephen

This picture is the first day at Disneyland on the tram on the way into the park. Daniel's mom made us matching "Guglielmo Family Vacation" t-shirts. We all humored her that first day and wore them. And since the poll results were inconclusive regarding the fanny pack issue, I decided to give both options a try. The first two days I sported an awesome fanny pack and loved the hands free convenience. It was also useful because I had burnt my shoulders the very first day we in the pool. So my purse wouldn't have been kind to a fresh burn.

I discovered my camera had a neat firework setting. I played around with it during the fireworks show the first night and had a lot of fun.

I'm pretty sure that Pirates of the Caribbean might be my favorite ride. I loved it especially because we never had to wait more than 10 minutes to get on it, and a couple of times we walked right on and the boats were waiting for us. That was pretty much the story of our trip though. The lines were all really short and we were able to use fast passes to beat the crowds on the weekend. I think the longest we had to wait for any one ride was half an hour for the California Adventure Ferris Wheel. We got in a swinging gondola, and it was neat to be that high over the park, and all of a sudden start swinging unpredictably.

Dead Men Tell No Tales
Not so flattering self portrait on King Arthur's Carousel
We all went on the Jungle Cruise together, and because of the matching shirts with Guglielmo clearly spelled out, we were suddenly incorporated into the story told by the skipper.

dinosaur bones on Thunder Mountain

We took our niece on this ride, and amazingly she loved it. She may be only a 3 year old, but she did awesome on the roller coasters. She also loved the Matterhorn.

Resident Ducks who finished off Stephen's $17 breakfast.

We pent a surprising amount of time feeding the ducks at Disneyland. The deal that we got was five days for the price of three. Because the park was so empty, it felt like after the first three days, we had already done everything we'd wanted to at least twice, maybe three times, so days 4 and 5 were spent taking things a little slower. Thus, the ducks.

I always loved Pooh Bear when I was little, so I was really happy they made a Winnie the Pooh Ride. It was a little psychedelic during the hephalumps and woozels sequence, but overall, it was a great kids ride. I also got mauled by a tigger on the way down the hill from Critter Country. I was walking with Daniel and Stephen, when all of a sudden from behind me, I was getting bounced and patted by a big fuzzy neon orange tigger. It happened so fast and unexpectedly that nobody got any pictures, but it happened!

The hotel pool from our window

Sad to be packing up and going home!

We had a late flight on the 13th, so we drove out to Huntington Beach before we went to the air port. It was a nice beach, and we must have been at the dog area, because there were a bunch of cute dogs playing in the water and chasing each other along the shore.

I only got into the water up to my mid calf's, but it was refreshing, and not nearly as cold as the Washington beaches. I still prefer the ocean in Hawaii, but I love a good beach anywhere. I wish we'd had more time and beach equipment, because I would have loved to play there all day.

Daniel and Emma playing at the beach. Getting some last minute wiggles out before we got on the plane.

I can't wait to have kids. I know Daniel's going to be such a good dad. He adores Emma, and is so good with her!

I love Palm Trees. I'm certain I could live in southern California and be a very happy person. I love the sun and warmth, and ocean.

I also loved this purple tree that was growing near the airport. I don't know what type of tree it is, but it was gorgeous!

Waiting at the airport. The Long Beach airport was really small, and had a nice outside waiting area where we got our last does of California sunshine before we had to get on the plane and come back to the rain.

Love the scenery!

Stephen is such a weirdo. But we loved having him there. He made people watching very enjoyable. And even though the lines were short, there was still a lot of people watching to be taken care of. He also went on all the scary rides with me. Daniel didn't want to go on Tower of Terror, or the Maliboomer, so Stephen and I did those by ourselves. I may have screemed like a girl and felt nauseous the rest of the afternoon, but it was fun to try rides like that.

We also rode California Screamin' and Space Mountain so many times we knew exactly when to make faces for the camera. The last time we rode Space Mountain, Stephen bought a picture. I'll try and scan it, because our poses, (mostly Stephen's) are priceless. His last pose involved taking off his shoe during the ride, posing with it for the picture, and having it back on his foot when we got off. I've got to hand it to him, that must have taken serious skills.

I'm so glad I got to go on vacation. It was just what I needed. And after having been back at work for a week now, I'm sad that vacations have to end. However, all good things do end, but, I've got other things to look forward to, and life is good.

A conversation about blogging.

Yesterday Daniel asked me about my 'webpage'. I think if he calls it a webpage instead of a blog, it makes it ok for him. For some unknown reason, he thinks 'blogs' are silly.

Anyway, he asked me how often I post. In return, I promptly asked him if he ever reads my blog. He said no. Which is fine. I don't mind that he doesn't read it, and it doesn't surprise me. He then suggested that I should post every day, and he wanted to know why I don't post more regularly.

I explained that I don't always have a lot to say, and that I do most of my blogging at work (I know, I know...) where I don't have access to my pictures, and most people seem to think that a blog without pictures is hardly worth a visit.

Thus, why I haven't posted about my fabulous trip to California, which happened over a week ago. I did take pictures, and I did have a wonderful time, but I kept waiting to get more pictures from my in-laws, who still happen to be in California. So I wait...when I really ought to just jump right on in and post. Even if it's without pictures.

So to hold you over until an actual picture post and Disneyland narrative (maybe tonight!?), here's something to enjoy!

Day one, walking down main street!

I think the loveliest time of the year is the spring

I must be a pretty lame blogger. I noticed I only have 12 posts so far this year. By the way, thank you all for your commens on my last post! I had so much fun reading them and learning more about you!

Today's post was inspired by my cousin Heidi. I loved her list of spring Favorites.

Today my favorites are:

1. All the pink blossoms on the trees.
2. Warm enough weather to open windows and let in the air.
3. Strawberries!
4. Tulips and Daffodils
5. Hiding/Finding Easter Eggs (this is a regular activity throughout spring for Daniel and I. We did this with my family on Sunday evening, just for fun)
6. Outside games.
7. Letting my cats out on the balcony.
8. Birds chirping...but not outside my window early in the morning.
9. Going for walks outside in the evenings.
10. Longer daylight hours!
11. Capri pants and summer skirts
12. Soft green grass
13. Grilling season
14. Looking forward to summer!

Will be in Disneyland 2 weeks from today!

I'm leaning towards an over the sholder bag/purse, instead of a fanny pack.

I need a serious break from work after the last few weeks. I'm so excited to play in the park all morning, and relax by the pool in the afternoon.

Pretty much I can't wait!

23

Today's the day I turn 23.
It's pretty exciting because:

1. I LOVE birthdays.
2. Daniel and I have been celebrating all week.
3. I have an exciting weekend ahead with lots of family and fun.
4. I love getting older. Each birthday is like a special milestone. I feel older, more accomplished, and wiser. Even if it's just in my head, I love it.

And for my birthday, instead of making this all about me, I want to know more about you. In a comment, tell me one thing (or two or three) that you remember about being 23. What were you doing at 23? What were your goals? Fears? Ambitions? Dreams? Please share, I'd love to learn more about all of you and what you were like at 23!

It's already Wednesday

I'll start by saying that I had a fabulous Easter Weekend, complete with pictures, which true to form are still on my camera. One of the major perks of working at a Catholic University are the holidays. We get all the usual, ie. 4th of July, Veterans day, etc. but we also get some obscure ones, like Saint Benedict's day, Good Friday and Easter Monday. This made for a nice long weekend, even if it rained the whole time.


But that, my friends, is not the point of this post.

I have some news, that has been making me giddy with excitement since Saturday Night.


This may not seem like such a big deal to some of you, but I'm sure others understand perfectly.

The reason I'm so excited is because Daniel and I are going on a vacation in just 3 short weeks. It's a little last minute, but we've been scheming and planning for quite while. So when a good deal came up, we grabbed it.

So now, for the details of our upcoming adventure: Very, very early on May 7th, we'll be flying down to Disneyland, and staying till May 13th. We'll be going down there with Daniel's parents, his brother and our niece Emma. this will be a lot of fun, and we're staying in a two bedroom suite, so there will be enough room for everyone. I've been to Disneyland a couple times, but it has been almost 10 years since my last trip, so to prepare for this trip, I've been reading anything and everything I can get my hands on for good tips and advice. My mother-in-law bought an Unofficial Disneyland Guide book that I'm almost done with, and it has a lot of ideas about when to do certain rides etc. I know a lot of you are Disneyland experts, so if you have any tips, advice, or stories please share!

One last thing is my dilemma. I am having a hard time deciding whether convenience or fashion is more important...basically, do I Fanny pack? or do I not fanny pack? I can see the advantages of carrying a fanny pack with water bottles, snacks, camera, everything...but I kind of cringe at the thought of it. Advice is welcome, and please vote on my poll in the sidebar!

just looking at this makes me excited!

On this day in history...

...and by history I mean 2006, Daniel and I were down in Utah for our 'spring break/day off for conference' from BYU-Idaho. Things were going nicely, we'd gone shopping in Park City, had lunch at Arbys, and were just enjoying our time in Utah. It was close to sunset, and we were conveniently close to the Provo Temple. Daniel suggested we go for a walk. We did, and part way through, as the clouds broke, and revealed a crescent moon, he got down on one knee and asked me to be his forever. I couldn't have been happier!






Side note: Daniel had done a lot of research to time the moon schedule so that I could have my crescent moon I'd been dreaming of as part of his proposal. I don't know why, but I've always loved crescent moons. We were especially lucky that day, because it had been snowing during the afternoon, and only cleared off for that evening, just in time for him to pop the question!

I never once questioned him as to whether his proposal was an April Fools joke. Good thing it wasn't!

Windy

Today has been a windy day. Daniel and I went out to lunch together today, and I just about felt like I was going to get blown over. The wind has been howling outside my window all day and the lights have been flickering. This reminds me of Rexburg. The wind wasn't too bad in the summer, but it made the winter that much colder. One of my favorite memories of life in Rexburg was the very last semester we lived there. It was summer, and we were broke. More broke than I can really believe, even now. I was graduating and we were moving back to Washington in a couple months, and we were doing everything we could to make the time go quickly. The days were hot, but when it cooled down, it was a perfectly comfortable evening. My favorite thing to do on those long summer evenings was to go for a walk around Smith Park, which was conveniently only a block from our apartment. We'd time the walk perfectly, right after the sunset, and we were surrounded in twilight. Sometimes we'd play on the swings, or sit on the bleachers by the baseball field, but usually we'd walk a few loops around the park, dodging sprinklers, and talking about the possibilities of the future. We'd dream of our upcoming move, babies, houses, anything and everything. It all seemed so far off, and impossible at the time. All we really cared about was the fact that our future held a lot of potential. It still does, but back then it seemed so simple. So while I sit here, listening to the wind outside my window, I remember happiness despite the struggles we were going through. I loved those simple walks on a warm summer night, holding the hand of the one I love. I really believe it is the small simple things in life that make all the difference. Right now I'm grateful to have good memories of our time in Rexburg, and on this cold blustery afternoon, I'm longing for summer, with long evenings and walks during the magical, dusky twilight.

picture from www.rexburg.org

Journaling

I found these journaling questions on a random website that linked them back to Oprah. I don't watch Oprah, but these are some interesting topics.

1. What would you do if you knew you could not fail?
After thinking about this question for quite a while, I don't know if there's a lot that I would do differently. The main thing I'd want to do is get a Masters Degree in Occupational Therapy. I've toyed around with this idea before, but the closest program is at University of Puget Sound, and would cost about $60,000 to complete. That price tag makes it really impractical, but still a dream. I'm not concerned about failing in a program like that, but it would be good to have a guarantee that all that time and effort put into it would pay off and be the best choice.

2. What do you love about yourself?
I love my hair. I love the color, how it has natural red highlights in the sun, and that I can wear it curly or straight without too much work either way. It's nice to have one feature that I don't have to worry about whether it has gained weight, or needs to be toned, etc. That is why I love my hair.

3. What would you do if money was not a concern in your life?
I love this idea. If I had a money tree, the first thing on my list would be to have a baby. Then I'd make sure Daniel could go to school for as long as he wanted, and I'd buy us a house, not just any house either, I'd love to live in the neighborhood by the Portland Temple. Then I'd be a stay at home mom and make dinner every night and take care of my family. I hope to do this someday even without a money tree. Right now however, I am the money tree, and I like to think of myself as just a sapling.

4. What did you love when you were a child?
When I was a child, I loved playing Little House on the Prairie. There were several girls in my neighborhood around the same age, and we'd get together and we'd each pretend to be a character, and we'd imagine ourselves living like Laura Ingalls Wilder, or her sisters. My brother Nathan would tag along and he'd get to be the dog. We had so many fun afternoons spent crossing the plains between the play fort in my back yard, and the one next door. I had a lot of fun playing make-believe when I was young. Sometimes I wonder what has happened to my imagination.

That's all for now. I know this isn't the most exciting post, but it was fun to think about these questions. If anyone else wants to do these, they can be found here.

Green

Happy Saint Patrick's day to all. I love this day because I love green. Maybe because Green was my last name for all but the last two and a half years of my life, maybe because it is so fresh and springy...or maybe I just love green. Either way I have an awesome outfit on today with a new green sweater. Regardless of the outfit, I've been feeling very off today.

This morning I woke up and I was still very tired, I hurried to get ready, ate a quick breakfast, and ran out the door. I wasn't late, but I wasn't as early as I'd hoped to be. I'm always early when Daniel comes with me for his classes, but he's on spring break this week, so I was alone, and running late. As I got out of the car I grabbed my lunch and book, but couldn't find my purse! I couldn't believe it, but I left my purse at home this morning. I never imagined being one of those people who couldn't function without a purse, but here I am, half way through my day and I'm still feeling off...just because I'm purse-less. Not only does this mean no drivers license (oops) or money (good thing I did remember my lunch), it also means no chap stick, no mints, no gum, no music during the day (my mp3 player is in my purse right now from the gym last night), and no cell phone. I can handle most things that get thrown at me during the day without music, mints etc...but this lack of chapstick is just about to kill me.

A few things I've been thinking about lately:

If I were to ever have twins, a boy and a girl, I would name them Oliver and Amanda. This is important, because my favorite books when I was a child were the Oliver and Amanda pig books. I loved them. I'm not pregnant, and I don't ever hope to have twins, but if this were to happen, I have a names!

I went to a relief society birthday last week and the topic was about "personal journeys". One of the talks really stuck out to me. The lady spoke of how things in our lives happen to us, to draw us closer to our Heavenly Father. I've been thinking about that, wondering what I should be learning from the events in my own life, and if I'm responding the right way. Am I letting myself be drawn back to my Father in Heaven?

I want so badly to go on a vacation. Even just a mini vacation like our train trip last year. Really though I found an awesome cruise this summer and we're currently trying to line up our schedules to go on a fabulous Caribbean adventure with our best friends from BYU-I. I really hope this works, it would be such a nice getaway. If not, I'll plan another long weekend away by train and pretend it's an exotic trip!

I've decided to join the book club for relief society. This month we're reading the Count of Monte Cristo. So far I love it as much as I liked the movie...although I'm still in the middle of it.

Also, what's with all the snow we've been having? I'm beginning to think that some global warming would be nice right about now. I'm ready for spring!

a Picture Post

It's Thursday Night. The quiet, stay at home kind which I enjoy so much. Daniel is off at game night, so it's just me and my two gentlemen feline friends. And to celebrate this stay at home night (mostly cause for once I'm not blogging at work), I'm going to share some pictures from my new camera. These are going to be a bunch of random pictures, but since I don't usually have access to them at work, I figured this would be fun. Here we go!

This is the new couch...which as promised, looks huge in our small apartment. Someday it will fit just right in our home!

This is a cat condo we worked on building with Daniel's dad over christmas break. We left one weekend, and came back the next and it was 6 feet tall!

This was our beautiful christmas tree. Decorated from the top half up...mostly cause of two certain pesky cats.

This would be my Wesley cat. He doesn't get to go outside very often, because we don't have a yard. When we take him with us to Daniel's parent's house, he get some supervised backyard time. This was on adventure he was having, and I don't know what he was looking at, but you can tell he's focused.

This is Wesley in his usual position, perched on top of a blanket. That is one of our favorite blankets by the way. I wanted to make Daniel a quilt for christmas when we were first dating, because the silly boy slept in a sleeping bag. He loved this blanket, and it served him well till we got married. Now it's perfect for cuddling on the couch!

This is the finished cat tree in our living room. I had no idea it would get so huge, but the cats love it. Hopefully someday we'll have a larger living space or a basement where it can live. Right now if people came over, I think they'd assume we're crazy cat people...but then maybe we are.

While we're discussing blankets, this is a hilarious incident which happened one day while I was at work. Daniel was trying to be helpful, and do some laundry. This blanket (my senior quilt which I absolutely adore) needed to be washed, and Daniel started the load of laundry. I came home on my lunch break, started to switch the load from the washer to the dryer and found what looked like little bits of paper stuck to my blanket. I thought maybe there was a piece of paper that got mixed in with the laundry, but the more I looked, the more paper there was. It turns out that an entire box of envelopes had gotten knocked into the washing machine, and wen through the wash cycle. I don't know how this happened, but it definitely made for an amusing situation, and turned Daniel off from doing laundry for a while. This is the back side of the blanket. At the time I had it draped over the shower curtain rod, and I was trying to beat off the wet paper. In case this ever happens to anyone out there, this worked for the most part. Then I put it in the dryer, took it out every 10-15 minutes and shook it outside like a parachute. It took quite a while, and a lot of work, but my quilt is as good as new, and there was no lasting damage...just a lot of laughs.

Last but not least, here is the most recent picture of us. A couple sundays ago, I noticed we were particularly matchey, so I had my parents take some pictures of us. I don't love getting my picture taken, but seeing as most of our pictures that we have are wedding/engagement, I figured we might as well give it a shot. Here we are:
I hope you enjoyed this picture post...I'll work on using more pictures, they are kind of fun.

Brought to you by the letter B

It took me a while to realize that I needed a prompt for my next post. That said, I will share my favorite B things.

1. Bath and Body Works. I love anything and everything from this shop. If I ever needed a side job, this would be the first place I'd look. I have a collection of their products which increase my daily quality of living. My two favorite sales each year are their semi-annual events. I use their paper bags over and over again to carry my lunch to and from work. I'll have to take a picture of my lotion collection, because I don't even know how many I have. At my desk at work I have Tropical Passion Fruit, and Mango Mandarin. In my purse, I carry a small tube of Sensual Amber anti-bacterial lotion. On the bookshelf beside my bed I have a bunch of different scents, because let's face it: A girls got to have options. Right now my favorite smell is Dancing Waters. But I'm also crazy about Magnolia Blossom. I love the wall flower plug-in's, the hand soap, body wash, Mentha lip tint...pretty much I'm a fanatic. And I like it that way. If any of you love Bath and body Works as much as I do, what's your favorite scent?

2. Bananas. I like Bananas, but I'm picky about them. I don't like them too ripe, and I don't like them mixed with strawberries. I don't like mixing Bananas with berries, or ice cream or anything like that, but I'll eat it in fruit salad, and I love Banana bread/muffins/pancakes. Weird? Maybe.

3. Babies. I love babies, and right now pretty much I just love other peoples babies, but someday, not too many years from now, I'll have my own babies to love. They'll have big dark eyes and lots and lots of dark brown hair. I know I'll love it.

4. Books. I love finding a book that I can escape with. A book that sucks you right in, and makes you lose track of time. I don't always stretch my reading comfort zone, but it's something I should work on. I love good books like that, but then I always feel like I should pace myself for fear it's going to be over and done with too quickly. I also love children's picture books and chapter books. Some of my favorites today are books that I read in my childhood.

5. Baking. I love mixing ingredients, trying new recipes, experimenting a little, and seeing the end result. Sometimes things flop, but other times they work out. I recently discovered that my pumpkin chip muffins need oil. The applesauce substitute that I tried definitely didn't work. Someday I want to try to make Bagels...which brings me to #6.

6. Bagels. I practically lived off of bagels during high school. Specifically Bagel Brother's Cheese Bagels. I loved them, and haven't had one since I graduated. It may be time to find the nearest Bagel Brother's and have a delicious memory.

7. Breakfast. I happen to be married to one of those people who doesn't eat breakfast, but I'm convinced that if he had been raised in my home he wouldn't feel this way. I think it's one of the most uncomfortable things to start the day without a breakfast. Growing up, my dad would have breakfast ready each day of the week. Monday's we'd get waffles- not the icky Belgian kind, but the traditional skinny waffles. Tuesday we had a choice between oatmeal or cereal. It seemed like torture to have to eat oatmeal when I was little, but now I enjoy it. Wednesday we were treated to pancakes, fresh off the griddle (chocolate chip was my favorite). Thursdays were cold cereal days and for some reason, this seemed like a treat at the time. Now I'd give almost anything to have a breakfast menu like I grew up with. As is, I eat cereal pretty much every morning. If I'm really feeling ambitious, or have extra time I'll add some breakfast sausage or an English muffin to mix it up. On Friday we'd get French Toast, and Saturday was rather unpredictable. Some mornings we'd have scrambled eggs with coffee cake, or he would try a new pancake recipe, or something else entirely different or unheard of. My dad like to try new things, and he was an expert in the breakfast variety. Pretty much I was spoiled with the best dad a girl could ask for.

8. Bunnies. When I was a small child, I wanted a pet rabbit. More than anything. I remember in first grade a classmate brought her rabbit for show and tell, and from then on, I knew I needed a bunny of my own. My parents didn't think that a young child needed such a high maintenance pet, so they told me to wait until I was older. For my eighth birthday (which was conveniently close to Easter) we went to a small bunny farm, and I got to choose whichever bunny I wanted. I found a small female cream bunny with brown spots. She was beautiful, and I loved her and named her butter cup. I really ought to hook up our scanner, and post some pictures to go along with this.

9. Boats. I used to get allergy shots in high school, and the doctor's magazine selection was really slim. If I didn't have homework to work on, I browse through Yachting Magazine. I loved looking at pictures of boats with all the amenities. Some of these boats were multiple stories high, and had crazy luxurious features and cost millions of dollars. In high school I had great plans of being independently wealthy when I grew up, and one of the things on my list was a personal yacht. I realize it's a little impractical to have a yacht, but I still think it would be fun. Someday I'd like to take a chartered yacht trip through the remote islands of the South Pacific. I think I'd love traveling this way, and it would be a fun adventure...and a little more reasonable than actually owning a yacht. I had been saving my spare change for this vacation for most of my growing up years, but during our broke married year at BYU-I, most of that change went to laundry and date nights (by date night, I mean we cashed in the dimes and got half price drinks at sonic during happy hour...yum!). One of my favorite summer activities is to walk around the water front and look at boats. Daniel and I love to do this in Gig Harbor with his parents, cause his dad gets so excited and can tell you all sorts of fun facts about boats.

10. Barbeque's. One of the things I love most about summer are BBQ's. I love summer food, especially things cooked on the grill. I love BBQ hamburgers, grilled chicken, steak, pretty much anything. Even hot dogs become more edible when grilled outside. I also love the fresh fruit that goes with a BBQ.

11. Blankets. I love to be cuddled up with a blanket. If I'm at home, and I'm sitting, you bet there's a blanket over me. While this does allow us to save money on our heating bill, it's also so much more comfy. I have a fairly good blanket collection with hand made quilts, fleeces, and throws. I love the variety, and the different warmth factors associated with each blanket. Even during the summer, I like to have a blanket near by. I even have one tucked away at my desk, in case I need one at work.

12. Blistex. One of my addictions is chapstick. I have to put it on before I go to sleep each night, and I have to keep one in my purse. Believe it or not I've cut back a lot, probably because I no longer live in the frigid dessert of Idaho. My favorite Blistex is the light green "herbal answer".

The end. Stay tuned for the letter C.

A story about one of my new favorites and a tag.

On Thursday nights, Daniel gets together with two guys from our ward, and they play strategy games. Most of the time they play till their wives make them come home for the night (usually before 11:00), and then they pick up where they left off the next week. Some Thursday nights I hang out with one of the other wives, but other nights I enjoy a quiet evening in. This last Thursday I stayed in. I made some popcorn, and watched Miss Congeniality (one of my all time favorite classic chic flicks), read for a little while, and then enjoyed some blogging on Daniel's computer. Anyway on to my story...
That night, Daniel came home from Randall's (his friend) house with a great surprise. Randall had sent him home with the first season of Lost. We'd heard a little bit about this series, and contemplated renting it, but hadn't gotten around to it yet. On Friday after a busy week, we were planning on enjoying an evening in with our usual favorite: House. But since we were borrowing it, we figured we'd switch things up and give Lost a try. Snacks were gathered, pajamas were worn, pillows and blankets were collected, and we settled in for the night. We put the disc in, Daniel pressed 'play all' and from the very first episode, we were hooked. Without realizing it, we had watched episode after episode. What felt like only seconds later, was after midnight.

We'd anticipated having a fairly productive weekend, but ended up throwing plans aside, ignoring chores, and getting completely lost, in Lost. Since that fateful Friday night, we've been living and breathing all things Lost. We've been discussing characters like they're old friends, trying to predict what's going to happen next, warning our favorites about impending danger, and losing ourselves in the suspense. Is it silly to be so involved in what amounts to a fictional tv series? Definitely. But it's fun, and I've loved being so absorbed with smoke monsters, and adventures and getting off the island. Last night we finished the first season, and had to run to Randal's to pick up the second and third. We should be all set for the next few days, and I'm going to love it! I'm already imagining what kind of adventures we'll run into tonight.


Other things:

I was tagged by my beautiful aunt Cindy, so here we go!

Rules: It's harder than it looks! Copy to your own note, erase my answers, enter yours, and randomly tag some people (including me). Use the first letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real. . .nothing made up! If the person before you had the same first initial, you must use different answers. You cannot use any word twice and you can't use your name for the boy/girl name question.Have Fun!!

1. What is your name: Alicia
2. A four Letter Word: Alto
3. A boy's Name: Alex
4. A girl's Name: Amanda
5. An occupation: Accountant
6. A color: Amber
7. Something you wear: Angora socks (I had to google this because I couldn't think of anything!)
8. A food: asparagus
9. Something found in the bathroom: Aftershave
10. A place: Alaska
11. A reason for being late: Appointments
12. Something you shout: Ahoy!
13. A movie title: After the Sun Set
14. Something you drink: Apple Juice
15. A musical group: All American Rejects
16. An animal: African Swallow
17. A street name: Alameda (this is the only one I can think of, but it also happens to be by Cindy's house)
18. A type of car: Audi
19. Something scary: Alligators!!
20. Ice cream flavor: Almond Fudge

Pretty much I'll tag anybody who wants to do this!

Also, I think Daniel has fixed my laptop, so I should be able to post some pictures finally! Part of this fix was upgrading the memory, so I'm excited to have a faster, working computer.

And last but not least, we got out early yesterday because of snow, and I cleaned and cleaned and cleaned. I had to make up for my lazy weekend which was NOT spent cleaning, thanks to my latest addiction. Thank you for all the tips, and advice, I enjoyed reading all your comments and learning more about you all! I'm glad to know I'm not the only one out there who doesn't find cleaning to be second nature. I think my quest for cleanliness is still a work in progress, but I started organizing things more efficiently, so hopefully with everything in it's place, it'll be easier to keep it tidy.

Help!

One of my goals this year (and every year) is to keep a tidier apartment. I don't know how, but it seems like it gets cluttered so easily. I've tried making cleaning calendars and charts, but these never seem to work out so well. Maybe it's having two cats and a husband with messy tendencies, or maybe it's a lack of cleaning skills on my part. I don't know why this is a constant struggle, but I need cleaning/organization tips. Especially from those who have balanced cleaning with full time employment, daily exercise, church callings etc. I want to know what works for you, and what doesn't? Is there a secret that I'm missing, or was I born to struggle with keeping my house clean? I know I want an impeccably clean living space, but I also recognize that it may not happen (without giving up everything else in life), so how do I find a happy medium? I'd love to hear from any and all with ideas, tips or stories to motivate and inspire me to do better!

A is for Alicia

I know it's totally unexpected to see two posts from me in one week, but I'm trying to do better. My aunt Susan was tagged to write a post about the letter S, and she did such an awesome job, that I'm inspired to do the same. I haven't been tagged so I think I can make my own rules, and the first thing I'm going to do is start with the letter A. I'm going to try to follow through with this for each letter of the alphabet, because after all, that would be 26 ready made post ideas. Can't beat that! So to begin, I will list as many things as I can think of that I like, that start with the Letter A.

1. Apples. I love a good crunchy sweet apple. My favorite variety this year is Honey Crisp. I tried these when they were on sale at Fred Meyer earlier this year, but normally they're pretty expensive. A couple weeks ago while in Tacoma, I noticed the sign on the Tacoma Boys market said they had Honey Crisp apples for $.99 a pound. Imagine my delight when I purchased a bag of honey crisp apples for super cheap. When Daniel and I were at the Tacoma Boys (which is a really neat place, I'm not sure exactly if it's a farmers market or a grocery store or how it's classified, but I love getting good deals there) I also got oranges for $.49 a pound, and grapes for $.99 a pound. I love it.

2. Afternoon naps. Nothing beats a cozy nap in the afternoon. Since I work all day, my only chance for a nap of this variety is the weekend, and now that we have afternoon church, that gets rid of Sunday, so Saturday is now my only day for an afternoon nap. This is sad, but it's ok. I did get a lot of afternoon naps during christmas break, so it kind of makes up for it.

3. April. This is one of my favorite months of the year. I love the beginnings of spring time when the sun reappears, and the flowers bloom. This is also my birthday month, so that also makes it fun.

4. Anticipation. I love anticipation. I've always liked Christmas Eve, and early Christmas morning before all the surprises are up. The giddy feeling of anticipation is so much fun to me.

5. Being Active. I think it has to do with the way my parents raised me, but I love to be actively doing something. On weekends, I have to get dressed and do stuff, preferably relatively early in the day, or I feel like I've wasted my whole day. I also love to be active when it comes to exercise. It feels so good to be physically active...you'd think that would be motivation enough to get to the gym every day...sometimes it's not.

6. Adventures! I haven't really had any adventures recently, but back in June when Daniel and I took our little train vacation, that was my kind of adventure. I still love talking about riding the train, and I'm currently trying to come up with another little vacation we could take for cheap. I looked into flying down to LA for Daniel's spring break and then going on a cruise to Mexico, but when everything added up, it was more pricey than I'd hoped it would be. So if anyone has any affordable getaway ideas, I'd love to hear them!

7. Animals: Mostly my cat named Wesley. He's my favorite cat. I also have always loved rabbits. When I was turning eight, I was allowed to get my first real pet, and I chose a rabbit and named her butter cup.

That's all I can think of for now. Somehow I thought that this would be a lot easier!

I saw these journal ideas on another blog, and figured it would be a good post. Eventually I'll post some pictures (after all, I did get the camera I've been hoping for, and the pictures have been taken).

Outside my window: It's very grey, and it looks really cold, I'm glad to be inside.

I am thinking: I've been thinking about a lot of things lately. Yesterday I read the transcripts from the Round Table Discussion which was broadcast during the World Leadership Training Meeting in February 2008, and it's really stuck with me. It's so full of truth, and it's one of my favorite things to read and re-read over and over again. It's all about eternal families, and each section is wonderful. For those interested, it's available here. It's a long one, but I promise you it's good. My favorite part is the section titled "Bearing Children in Faith". I love the comparison to paying tithing.

I am thankful for: the wonderful people that surround me. I love living close to my parents and extended family, and Daniel's family. I'm also grateful for the friends we've made in our ward over the last year. It's one of my favorite things to spend time with those I love.

I am wearing: My favorite work pants. I love the pants cause they're the most stylish, but they are not the most comfortable...I'm also wearing a not so favorite sweater. My work wardrobe could really use some touch ups...so could my general wardrobe, but that's a whole separate post!

I am creating: a new post for my neglected blog. If I had a working computer at home, I might post more frequently, but again, my lap top has given up. Hopefully Daniel will get to fixing it sometime!

I am going: I'm already at work for the day, and I'll be here till 5:00. After that Daniel and I are going to the gym (assuming he remembers to bring my mp3 player). Then we're going to go home and have dinner, and maybe watch an episode of House. That's pretty much our usual routine!

I am reading: Right now I'm in the middle of three books. I'm almost done with White Oleander, but it got overly depressing, so I haven't actually finished it yet. Someday maybe. It's sitting on the edge of my kitchen table as a constant reminder that it was left unfinished. I'm also in the middle of John Grisham's The Appeal. This is a little more interesting, and I'm actively reading it right now. The third book is the Book of Mormon. I think I'm always in the middle of that one somewhere.

I am hoping: I'm hoping for guidance and answers as Daniel and I contemplate the big scary decisions of our future. The words of Church Leaders make me feel peaceful and calm (probably why I keep re-reading the article I mentioned earlier). I know there are a lot of decisions to make, ie. house? baby? education? car? etc. and it will all work out, but it's a little intimidating being in the thick of it.

I am hearing: the printer, and other office noises. Blogging at work? You betcha! At this moment, I have nothing better to do. We're past the first two weeks of school (which were crazy busy with overtime etc.), but things will be gearing up again tomorrow, as we start processing student's financial aid refunds. This will be a good thing for us, because for Daniel, free tuition+financial aid= refund!

Around the house: Since I'm not there, I can only assume that right now there's a husband who's studying and two kitties who are most likely sleeping. The house is not spotless, but it's not a disaster yet...After all, it's only Wednesday.

One of my Favorite things: Right now one of my favorite things are Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches. They're healthy and delicious and perfect for dessert!

Plan for the rest of the week: Work, exercise, relax. Friday we're going to visit Daniel's family, and Saturday we're going to the temple. It's going to be a good weekend!

Updates...more later.

Since I've been the world's best blogger over the last month or so...I figured an update might be in order. I just wish I had pictures to complement this post. Unfortunately the camera I've had since my freshman year of college has all but kicked the bucket, and I'm hoping there's a new one hiding in a box under the tree!

We've had a couple fun things happen lately, we got a new couch the weekend after thanksgiving (this is one place a picture would be nice! Assuming the camera I've been hoping for comes in a couple days, I'll add pictures of all these things). The couch looked a lot smaller in the store than it does in our apartment, but it's comfy and we love it.

We also got a real live Christmas tree, and so far our cats have not knocked it over. This alone is impressive, and we've loved having a Christmas tree with all the lights and decorations. It's fun being festive and decorative. This year our tree is themed and probably will be until we have kids who bring home fun ornaments. At that point I'm sure we'll have a hodge-podge tree with lots of colors and shapes, but for now it's red and gold and beautiful!

Another fun update is that we got new cell phones, and new phone numbers. All who want my phone number, or Daniel's should e-mail me, because as much as I love the blogging community and trust those around me, I don't feel good about posting my phone number for all to see. My e-mail is aliavalon17@juno.com. Since we switched carriers, we were able to get a really good deal on cool touch screen phones. It has been a fun upgrade, even though I don't use very many of the features.

One last piece of noteworthy news is that I've had snow days! Obviously most of the US has had snow over the last week, but I have really enjoyed these days off. Last week I had Wednesday through Friday off, and I had yesterday off too. I had to go to work today, but it was 2 hours delayed, and we're going to be getting out early because of more snow coming and in honor of Christmas Eve. It has been so cozy staying home with Daniel and watching movies together. We've also gotten to spend a lot of time with my family playing games and eating together. As inconvenient as it was to have snow from November to May while we were living in Rexburg, it was blissful to have a nice break from work over this past week.

I'm now off from work and ready to enjoy another week of Christmas break. In case it isn't clear, I love having a job where we get snow days and Christmas break days.

Merry Christmas to all, and enjoy the season!