Thanksgiving all over again. ..

Happy Thanksgiving! Ok…I know it is a week past…almost Christmas even.

Alas! Here is my Thanksgiving story:

I flew into Denver Tuesday night and greeting my mother at the airport. She was about 20 minutes late due to a hold-up at Taco Bell. No really, it was a police hold-up. I wonder how desperate you have to be to try to steal from a Taco Bell…I mean what do they really have worth stealing?! Nachos Supreme? And I can’t imaging that a single Taco Bell takes in all that much in a day…surely not enough to be worth stealing. Besides, everyone that works there speaks Spanish—and only Spanish. When they can’t understand what the hold-up is all about they might confusedly ask: “do you want mexi-fries with that?” Personally, I don’t think there was a lot of thought put into that one. Really people. Where are the good criminal minds these days—this is embarrassing.

Mother and I were finally reunited and despite a stressful meal at Taco Bell and a cold wait outside the airport. No one was seriously hurt—in fact no one was hurt at all. Custom tradition of my mother and me, we talked the WHOLE 45 minute drive home from the airport. We covered all topics and felt almost on the same page when we got home—where there was another happy reunion.

Naughty Kitty was very glad to see me. Ok, so was my family. I hadn’t seen Kenny and Meggan for more than 10 minutes since Mayish of last year. All of us sat and got all caught-up on life. It was already late so after a while we all went to bed. Naughty was very happy to be let out of her nightly bathroom confinement and sleep with me in the bedroom.

Wednesday was relaxing. The main event was tasting wedding cake. Mmm…I found it interesting that Kenny and I were on the same page with our cake consuming habits and opinions. Chocolate is good was the main consensus. It was pretty fun. I helped mom pack for her departure the next day to Sunny California. Alright, I was probably more of a hindrance. I sat on the bed and chatted while she packed. I am such a good daughter. I went to Roger’s office and he was kind enough to torture me for a few minutes. Ok that was a lie. Anyone who knows me even a little knows I LOVE chiropractic work. I also got to see mom’s new office. I thought her new piece of art was a pushpin-board—good thing I didn’t try it out…that could have been disastrous. That night we had pizza. Every holiday we have pizza at least once. I love pizza. We also watched a Veggie Tales: The Wizard of Ha’s. Changing the field of poppies to a field of puppies? Brilliance. Who really stops and frolics in a field of poppies? Now ask yourself: if there was a field of adorable puppies…would you stop? Yes. I have to say, it had some clever moments—but still not as good as Lord of the Beans. We also went shopping for the last few things for dinner the next day.

Thanksgiving day was fun-filled with cooking. I made poppy seed raspberry muffins for breakfast to go with the cold pizza. Then I stole away with the paper for Black Friday. When Kenny and Meggan arrived, we started in with the cooking. It was fun to be with them cooking away in the kitchen. By twoish we were ready to eat. Grandma came over a little earlier. We had three courses: appetizers, salads, and REAL dinner. Everything was fun and good. I love food.

Friday, I picked Meggan up around 5am and we headed to Home Depot to get mom’s poinsettias. They are only a buck on black Friday. We got her a bunch including the token red one from Kenny. Meggan and I spent the greater part of the day walking around shopping, finding deals, encouraging each other on purchases, and a great breakfast together a La Peep. What fun we had. Grandma and I spent the last bit of the evening sewing and being creative. I asked her about her and grandpa’s BYU dating story. Cute. Gotta love a good romance. Kenny and Meggan took me to dinner at one of their favorite hang-out places called Tequila. Well…actually I drove. My plate was wonderful—but unbelievably hot. For all you Spanish speakers—you can’t laugh…but how was I supposed to know what Diablo meant? It started snowing when in dinner, and the drive home felt like we were in a StarTrek show. CLARIFICATION: not because I was driving at warp speed—but because there was so much snow falling. We actually slid around a bit, but ended up making it home safe.

Then it was Saturday. I actually was ready to go home. I had one more thing to look forward to. A few weeks ago I was craving Cinnabon and found-out that Danny had never had one. Disgrace! That day went online looking for the closest one. Astounded, I found that there was only one in Utah—in concourse C at the Airport. The only way to get to that gooey goodness was to fly somewhere. Thus, when I got off the plane I bought two and met Danny. It was a great break, but there was so much on my mind needing to get done and ready for Finals week. Another Thanksgiving break over and done with. Now to Christmas!

5th Folder Picture

My best friend Jill tagged me to post my 5th picture in my 5th folder. This is a picture from the Brigham Young University's Ballroom Concert two years ago. We danced to "Candy Man" and this is the final pose. I am the one cut off on the far right side. You can see my nose... It was WAY fun. Time of my life dancing at BYU.

The Last 5 Months in a few words...

So I just tried to post a novel of information I wrote a few months ago about my summer experiences, but again I could not get it to work! I don't know why...lame.
So I have given up and will just start from here and just mention a few important Summer points...
First, I have another little sister. Danette had little Kylie in June. I love being a big sister! She is adorable and I got to spend the whole day alone with Katie (one of my most memorable days while in Seattle). We read books, watched a Veggie Tales movie, and I introduced her to the world of Nutella. It was brilliant.


Second, Emily and I took a trip to Forks, Washington to celebrate our love for the Twilight series. It was a blast. We had girl/sister bonding time, ate good food, and saw Twilight sites.


Third, I went on a boating, fishing, and skiing trip with my dad. I almost got up on skis...next time I will have success.


There were many many more things that happened this summer, but these were the ones I thought I could not pass by.
Now for Fall...
School is tough. I have already written over 60 pages in papers, taken ugly Statistics tests, and given three presentations.
I turned 23...and have a hard time remembering when people ask me how old I am. Weird. I had amazing chocolate cake, lots of balloons, a football game, and friends. Who could ask for anything more?


Homecoming was the next big event. Danny (dance partner from three years ago...and just happens to be the person I am dating...), took me to my first and perhaps last BYU Homecoming dance. We got all dressed up and went dancing.


Halloween is the latest event to talk about. We were the party girls from three different eras: I was a 70's Disco Dancer, Nicole was a 80's Rocker Chick, and Whitney was a 90's Club Girl--all modest of course... Halloween was also Katie's 2nd birthday...and she was Thing 1 for Halloween...perfect for a two year old.
Alright, there is an update of major events. I will try to be more on top of this whole thing.

Back in Happy Valley.

Hello all.


I have been thoroughly chastised. Thus I am writing a post. Honestly it is not that I have not had anything interesting going on in my life--I just plead a forgetful mind.





For all who don't already know, my research time in Seattle has ended and I am back in Happy Valley once again for my last year of BYU. I started a new job at the Museum of Peoples and Cultures (the MPC). If you have never heard of this museum before, you are not alone... it is in the Allen Building south of campus near Brick Oven. Literally, on a hot day (so every day here) you can smell the gourmet pizza from up the street and then you can imagine the freshly brewed root beer ready to wash it down... almost makes my daily EasyMac unbearable. Almost. I have actually come to like the stuff. Well really I think that EMac and I have come to an understanding--almost a partnership. I need sustenance, it is quick, easy, and cheap...and with enough water to wash it down, the filmy leftovers of the almost plastic "cheese" on my teeth are minimal. Partnership is too strong...it is just an understanding.


I digress.


My job has been good. Not thrilling, but good none-the-less. I am currently working with two different areas: collections (not like the sheriff of Nottingham and money--more like Indiana Jones and artifacts) and education. In collections they saw me coming and said "Oooh...a new girl! (Devious little grins on Heidi and Tammy's faces) What can we do to torture her? Loans! Perfect." Really? Why would they do something like that? Thus when I work my collections hours I spend my time entering loans into the computer, fixing problems from before I was born, and pestering Heidi and Paul with impossible unanswerable questions (my little time to get back for putting me on loans). For real though, I don't mind it. I get to chat with them all day and feel like I actually know what I am doing. I'm glad they did not give me exhibition files--those look frightening...


The other part of my time I spend working with the education people. I have decided these people are the creativity of the museum. I am excited to get to learn from them. I helped (ok...watched--or "observed" rather) with the children's program called Mornings at the Museum (on Thursday however it is in the afternoon...we need to do something about that). This was fun. We pretended that we were archaeologists today and dug up beads, shells, and sherds (pottery pieces) that we put together into a pot. Kids are great. I also have a project that I am working on that is looking at all the courses taught by BYU and seeing how they might relate to the MPC. Long and tedious, but fun to find stretching correlations--I am good at those (weight lifting 101: Come and learn about building a pyramid!)...and so forth.





I moved into a new apartment as well. I have met two of my roommates and they are wonderful. They are putting up with all the stuff I brought into the apartment (NICOLE'S LOAD). But I have to keep friends somehow... There are two main attractions for me. First, I can now confidently spend my quarters wherever I like because we have a washer and dryer in the unit. Second, my car has luxury underground parking. My car smiles at me every afternoon that it does not have to be sunbathing.





The latest excitement in my life of work and research was the 4th of July weekend. I spent it with my best friend--Jill--and her family. Her parents just finished building their amazingly beautiful home up in the mountains. We spent the whole day (after the parade) eating and in the pool. Can't get much better than that. Jill and I both debuted our new swimming suits--mine is strawberry pink (I know shocker--and I even had the option of black...don't know what came over me), and Jill's is eggplant purple. We did watch fireworks that night, but I was so tired I really did not give them the attention they deserved.

Well...I think that is sufficient for now. Hope you all enjoy the update...

A Time To Live.

I have to add a congratulations to my beautiful friend Charity. (she will probbaly have some harsh words for me after putting this picture online--love ya!). She had a beautiful little baby girl the other day. Being in Seattle, I have not seen them yet, but Kendra took this picture and sent it to me. I think it is adorable! Congrats also to Sean--proud father. I can't wait to actually see her myself--in a month.

Here is a cloud picture I took while driving. Nice huh?

Edward--what's in a name?

I want to discuss the name Edward.
I just finished reading Jane Eyre. The hero and her love in that book was named Edward. He was, well...ugly. That didn't matter--but it was a point made often in the writing. In the Twilight series, Edward is a magnificently beautiful vampire. That wasn't the reason Bella loved him, it was just a point made often. In the Narnia series, one of the high kings is named Edward--and despite all his childish mistakes, he overcomes all those and is a strong individual. Sense and Sensibility...ok, you get the point.
Thus, I started thinking about the name and where I know it from. In history the name is attributed to royalty. This is due to King Edward the Confessor. People were impressed by his Christian humility that led to his name becoming a popular name for male children. Thus now, all of these characters in these books carry the name that means "rich or blessed guard." These strong male characters have become the fantasy love of many women since their publication in the 1800s. The name Edward was wildly popular until it's consistent down slide starting in the 1920s. Now the name is not very popular at all. Then again--there have not been any books with the Edward that have made an impact as these ones did--until now the Narnia Movies and the Twilight series. I wonder if this will change that fact. I have an uncle Edward (goes by Ed)--so I can claim it a family name--can you?