YIKES

I can't believe Christmas is in 2 days! This year it has really just snuck up on me..How it's done that, I'm not sure. Stores started putting out Christmas stuff in October so I should have been well prepared..but I'm not. I've got to say that this year I've been feeling like Christmas has gotten lost in hustle and bustle. Every commercial I watch is all about buying the best presents and I know it's like that every year but...I was reading an article about how Christmas has affected the unemployed. Many people have just done Christmas differently, accounting for lack of funds to buy Christmas but do simple things with their families. I read some responses from others that made me sad. They feel ashamed that they can't buy their family presents so they just don't spend any time with their family. That made me sad that instead of coming together with family in a time of need they push them away. I can't say how I might react if put in the same situation but I sure hope I would want to be with my family. This holiday is all about family and just giving....giving whatever you have. It doesn't always have to be of monetary worth but sometimes just time is a great gift. I loved the first presidency's Christmas devotional because President Monson touched a little on how I've been feeling this season. It is Christmas, CHRIST is the most important part of the season. I guess that is what I feel has been lost in the hustle and bustle of getting ready for Christmas. I saw a lady who was wearing a pin that said "It's okay to say Merry Christmas!" At first I thought it was kind of a weird thing to be wearing but then I thought about how often people are afraid of saying the wrong thing and offending someone else. Someone may not believe in celebrating Christmas or something else. But I don't think it's wrong to spread the joy of Christmas. I'm not saying it to make someone offended. I'm saying it to try and be friendly and happy during this time of year, I think that is the message to take away.

I feel like I always end my posts this way but I hope that makes sense. I'm trying to hurry and I sometimes I feel like my thoughts don't always convey well to my blog! So for anyone reading this, hopefully you can follow me....if not...sorry!

Anyways, it is the season. I do love this time of the year and I love the fact that we get to celebrate our Saviors birth. I know that He probably was not born this time of the year but I'm still glad for the celebration. I'm grateful too, that I don't have to work on Christmas again and get to see my family...even if it's a brief visit! Let's also hope that this Christmas doesn't end in sickness like last year!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Delayed....And long...Sorry!

So I'm a little slow to post this. It's been somewhat of a crazy few weeks. In this post is some good news and some sad news. Good news first...I'm getting a new niece or nephew sometime in April! This news was definitely a surprise and I couldn't be more happy to get it! YAY!!!

As for the sad news, on Oct. 21, 2011, the same day my family received the news of a new baby, we also found out the my mom's cousin, Robert Brinton, who has always been Uncle Robert to us, suddenly passed away. This news is always unexpected and hard to deal with. I was at work when I found out and couldn't fully process it until later. Let me just say that my family spent lots of time at Uncle Robert and Aunt Nanette's house. When we moved to Texas, every summer we would drive back to Mesa and we usually stayed there. Their kids were relatively the same age as us and we always had a blast there! I have always been so grateful for the love that he and Aunt Nanette showed to us. ...This is still hard to write.... Uncle Robert was an amazing man. I think I realized that even more so at his funeral. He did so many things in the church and for the community, but he often did it quietly. He never did it to be praised. He always was kind and ALWAYS, ALWAYS had a smile on his face. I think it was usually a mischievous smile because he like to joke around. One of the best memories I have of him was a few Christmases ago...There was a whipped cream fight with him, his daughter Heidi and my dad. I think in this instance he was just a bystander, but somehow he ended up with the whipped cream on his head. There are more stories to be told but that is my favorite! I'm really grateful that I was close enough to be able and attend the funeral. It was a great service for a great man.

A week after the funeral, my mom called again, with bad news. I told her I just wasn't going to answer the phone anymore! My grandpa Roy's brother Leland passed away. This wasn't as unexpected as Uncle Robert but it's never easy. Fortunately, I was able to see him in July at a Smith family gathering. It had been years since the last time I'd seen Uncle Leland so I'm grateful for that opportunity. Uncle Leland lived kind of kitty corner from Grandpa and they somehow shared a backyard, so there were many times that we would visit Leland and Marilyn while at Grandpa's. His kids were all grown and gone by that time but we would still run over and visit and get homemade popsicles! Oh the fun times when you're young...He never looked like Grandpa but he was always kind like grandpa and I'm so grateful for the chance I had to know him.

Thankfully, this past week was news free....at least with my family. I'm hoping it stays that way for awhile...Twice is enough for a few years right?

But, back to the good news....YAY for new babies! Next week, we'll find out whether it's a niece or a nephew!!!!

Boston Finale!

This is the last post for Boston...Finally, I know it's taken me forever, but here it is. I can't remember which day this was but it was just Kalli, Steve and I. We went to the Boston Gardens(?) where they have these lovely swan paddle boats. It was fun to go. There were a few live swans and some ducks that kept chasing each other around the pond. We also saw a family of turtles and some ballerinas in a photo shoot. A very eventful time. We joined a class at the statue of George Washington...I think it was George... and we learned a lot about him from this class.
This is me on our lovely swan boat tour. Ignore how awful I look...It was humid and hot walking around!
This lovely picture is from our whale watching tour. As you can see it looks awfully cold right. I'm so smart and thought...I'll be ok without a jacket. I froze and quickly learned my lesson that you should always take a jacket with you. Because it was so foggy when we went, we saw no whales! We really couldn't see much because of the fog, but it was still a fun experience! Walking on the boat was an adventure and I feel like I might understand what it's like to be drunk! I thought I was walking straight but I was far from it! There was a family on our tour and oh my heck were they prepared for a sighting. There were like 5 of them and each had these monstrous cameras. It was pretty funny to watch them!

Random

So, mom emailed us a copy of Grandma Bertha's journal and I was reading it today. It's been pretty awesome. I was only 4 1/2 when she passed away. I have a few memories here and there of her but not many. It's been fun to read about her life. So far she writes a lot about canning at the cannery and being with family. It also makes me feel a little better about my own journal writing...or lack of it. There are many entries where she comments on how fast the time goes between entries, but she keeps trying to do better. I guess I need to do better now. Anyway, I've really enjoyed reading about life through her eyes and getting to know her a little better through her entries.

And I know, I still need to finish the stinking Boston trip. I sure have dragged it out enough....I'm getting there, I just wanted to write about this and then I'll catch up!

Maine!

Well, I'm finally finishing up Boston...only this post deals with Maine! And the pictures are out of order. We ended the day at Bob's Clam Hut. I had my first basket of fish and chips....and it wad pretty good. I also tried some lobster soup....it was good but I don't know how often I would have it!

This is at the Portland Observatory which was closed. It was opening for the season the week after we left, kind of a bummer!

This is an attempt at the jumping pictures...Let's just say that Kiersty is a much better photographer than I am, which is why I didn't post the pictures I took of her attempting the same...

I took lots of pictures of the ocean. I love watching it crash on the rocks! I think that out of all the places we went Maine, was one of my favorite. It is so beautiful there. I wish we could have explored some more. We did find a great outlet mall and shopped through a really amazing rainstorm!

Uh....

So, I realize that I kind of lost steam in the middle of my Boston trip...but I'm still here! I'll finish someday for all those who are just waiting in agony! Now I'm really behind because I have another trip to blog about...I just can't catch a break here!

The Mansions....

So there is a group of homes...mansions that have been preserved and are open to the public to see. We saw three of them, The Breakers, Rosecliff, and Marble House. Unfortunately, you can't take pictures inside so I just have a few shots of the outside and one of just a mansion we passed on the Cliff walk. We saw The Breakers mansion first and it kinda ruined the rest of them. I mean, they're all amazing but the Breakers is CRAZY! It really is just amazing how much time and money went into this house that was a 'summer cottage'. The whole house is just busy, wall to wall, there is something covering every inch of the house. The whole point of these summer cottages was to have these amazing balls, so each house had some sort of ball room. They also had like a type of patio that had like french doors that opened up around the ball room so people could stay in the ball room or go on the patio but the ocean breeze could come in a cool off the ball room. I liked that idea. But back to the house and it's craziness...The study had walls that were painted to look like leather walls and one of the room had platinum panels. Those walls will never tarnish, and would cost a fortune now to have. The kitchen...I loved it, it was so big and there was so much room to cook, probably because the staff was cooking for so many people usually. But I'd love to cook in a kitchen with that much room to move about! Now, out of the three houses we looked at, The Breakers was amazing, but I'd never want to live there, it's just too much. I like things a little more simple! Marble House was pretty amazing in that there were so many different kinds of marble used. Some rooms were kind of ugly in my opinion and I felt sorry for her kids. This lady had 2 sons and 1 daughter. She wanted her daughter to marry a duke so she pretty much dictated this girls life for her, how she sat, what her room looked like, who she married...not fun. Her sons almost seemed forgotten. They had very small rooms in the corner of the house and always had a nanny. Rosecliff, was a much smaller house, compared to the Breakers and Marble House. I like it though. It wasn't quite as extravagant and just looked a little more like a home. And they had this exhibit of wedding dresses throughout the tour that was fun. It was really interesting to see the different styles through the years.

This was just a pretty tree, and it looked perfect for sitting and taking pictures so...naturally, I sat and took a picture!

This is a great mystery of Newport. No one knows what this structure is exactly. Some think it's an old windmill, but it just stand there. So of course we had to see it! It is pretty interesting to go and speculate what it could be, but no one knows....da da dummm! We did a few other sights and ate dinner at a fun little pub/restaurant and then drove back to Boston. We did try and see the coast but it was a little too dark by the time we got there to really see much. I did love Rhode Island, definitely one of my favorite days!

Newport

This is Newport, Rhode Island. I have to say this was one of my favorite days. It was cold but the drive here was pretty great, and I just really loved the town. This is where we started our day. Those houses are at the start of the Cliff Walk. You can walk on a trail that takes you in front of the houses and along the ocean. As you can see, it was a really gray day so the ocean blended in really well with the sky, but I still loved it!

Now this is just a classic picture! I can really see Andrew coming out in the expression Dad is making. Dad likes to make lots of faces any time we try to take a picture...This was a great shot! Dad loved the ocean. He would just stop and stare out on the water while we walked along. I think if it weren't so darn cold up there, he'd love to live near the ocean. I can understand the love of the ocean though. This was only like my 3rd time being near an ocean, and I love it. It's just so amazing to watch the water. Kalli said that the other times they had seen the water it was so peaceful but that day, it was crashing on the rocks. I think sometimes you forget just how powerful that water can be. I remember the first time I swam in the ocean, it was so awesome until that current takes you under longer than you plan. When I put it like that, I'm not really sure why I love the ocean that much...

Here are some other shots of us walking along the Cliff Walk. There were a couple places where you could walk out on the rocks, as you can see, we did walk out. I would hate to lose my balance out there, that was a bit scary!

We stayed on this trail for like 1 or 2 miles, I can't remember. We were on our way to see the Mansions. I'll save those for another day. They were pretty spectacular. I can't imagine living in some of those houses....more on that later!

Walden Pond

I know all these pictures are kind of small, but I just have so many and this was an easier way to share them! Sunday after Kalli and Steve's Stake Conference, we packed a picnic and headed out to Walden Pond. Let me just tell you that we picked a heck of a day to go on a picnic. It was pretty darn cold. If you can see Mom in the pictures you can tell she was cold. She was wearing a down coat, sweaters, a scarf, a nice wool hat and mittens! We gave her a hard time because she

was always cold. But truthfully, I was also quite cold that day! Walden Pond is BEAUTIFUL! I don't know that my pictures really do it justice. We walked around the pond to the site of Henry David Thoreau's cabin. All of these houses we went to visit, were pretty amazing...because they were so small!

I wish that I could take some of the scenery I saw on this trip home with me. I'd love to be able to spend more time at some of these places. The pond was so peaceful and I can only imagine what it would look like in the fall.

After Walden Pond, we drove through the Minuteman National Park and stopped at some of the historical sites along the way. Then we got to Lexington and stopped at the Lexington Battle Green. There is a burial monument here where all those who were slain in battle are buried. I didn't get a picture of that. These pictures are all from the Battle Green. There was a nice man who works for the city I believe. He dresses up all revolutionary style and people can just talk to him about the city, about the history, or just whatever they want to...He was very informative though!

Don't Tread On Me....

So this is day 3...We started out the day visiting Bunker Hill monument. Part of the museum was closed so we just wondered around outside before we moved on to the USS Constitution. I've never been on board a ship like that. It's crazy! I can't imagine climbing up all the rigging and putting up sails and whatever else has to be done on a ship...Later on this trip, we actually saw a ship very much like this one but it was a working ship, complete with many, many sailors climbing up the rigging and everything. I think it was actually a Spanish ship, I'm not sure...Anyway, we chose to do the self-guided tour so we didn't get to go below decks. It was still pretty awesome to climb aboard that ship, it's not all original. There have been a few touch-ups here and there, but still amazing to think of all that ship has seen. If I were really awesome I could've purchased a flag and have it flown on the USS Constitution for like 2 seconds....I chose not to be that cool!

After that, we went to the Aquarium. I have to say, it was pretty neat to see all the animals...fish..turtles! They had lots of different penguins to see and I kept trying to take pictures of them swimming but those little guys are fast! I also got to hold a starfish and touch a sting ray. They had little sharks that you could pet too, but I missed out on that. It was kind of nerve-racking petting the sting rays, I just kept waiting for one of them to flick their tail just right...but luckily I survived!

Now I think this was all the same night...We also got to experience Candlepin Bowling. Which is basically bowling but the pins are much thinner. Much like a candle...The balls that you use are like the ones you use in ski-ball. So, it makes it much more difficult to knock down the pins because the balls are smaller and weigh less. The nice thing about it though, is they don't clear the pins that fall so if you're talented you can aim for the fallen pins and hopefully knock down more...I got lucky a few times! Mom, took us all by surprise the first game and won! I think Kalli won the next game. It was lots of fun though! You also bowl 10 frames and you get three turns each frame. It makes the scoring a little different, that still didn't help me the first game. I did do better on the second game and I won on my lane but not all around. So, if you're ever anywhere where they offer candlepin bowling, I'd highly recommend it!

P.S. The title of this post comes from the USS Constitution. I forgot to include the flag. But the flag that flies on the USS Constitution has those words on it...for those who didn't know!

Duck Tour

So on Friday we picked up Kiersty and Seth from the airport and then headed out to the Museum of Science and on a Duck Tour. Most of the pictures below are from the Duck Tour. We were Symphony Hal, that's the yellow Duck. The rainbow one is South End Sally, we just got a picture in front of that one, because it was just too good to pass up! The Museum of Science was pretty awesome. It was filled with kids though...crazy I know. There was so much to see there, we didn't make it to it all but, it was still fun. The Duck tour was also fun...it got quite chilly at the end though...Anyways, they take you all around Boston. We saw a lot of the same places we did on the Freedom Trail but lots of place we didn't see. It was still fun to hear about the history of Boston. Our tour guide was "Old Quackdonald" and he was quite funny. Kept us all entertained throughout the tour. He also had us quack at random people on the street.

At the end of the tour the Duck turns into a boat. It's pretty awesome...So at the end of the tour we went out on the Charles River and saw the Boston skyline. I got a few pictures of that but the sun kind of ruined some of them...! Again, there are so many things I could talk about in these posts but it would go on and on. So, I'm just going to stick with the basics and let you know I had fun! I can tell you this, seeing Boston and the history and beauty that the city has, made me a little sad to come back to Tucson. I mean, there are things I love about Tucson, but it is not a pretty town! Nor does it have the rich history that Boston does...And more importantly, it doesn't have the T. I was super excited to get to experience the T, Boston's subway! I know I'm a dork :)

P.S. Because most of us were pretty turned around while we were in Boston, the Museum of Science just seemed to appear wherever we were. It was always there...kinda creepy! It was mostly because we were always going to the same area of town but...sounds better when I say it followed us!

Freedom Trail!

Alright, I've been back for almost 3 weeks now so I figured I should get some pictures up from my trip! For those of you reading this that don't know where I went...I went to Boston for 11 days in May. Kalli and Steve graduated so Mom, Dad, Kiersty, Seth and I all flew out to Boston to celebrate with them!

None of us except for Dad, have been that far east so it was an adventure. These pictures are from our first real day there. It was just Kalli, Steve, mom, dad and I for the first few days. This is Thursday May 19th, we went on the Freedom Trail. Thats basically just the walking tour of historic Boston. It was pretty amazing to see all of the history. I loved walking around Boston, its so old and there is so much history in the city. We started out at Boston Commons and worked our way up to the North End, which is basically the Italian district. We ate some amazing Italian food and got some wonderful cannolis from Mike's Pastries...yummm! Anyway- so this is definitely the short version, I could go on describing what all we saw and did, but it would be super long! So, my favorite part about the freedom trail? It's really hard to narrow it down. I really enjoyed it all. I think it's amazing to be in the places where our nation was born. I know that they are just buildings and it's been hundreds of years since they were used to build a nation but it's really just amazing to think about it. We did go inside Paul Revere's house and I've got to say, it sure made me grateful to not have to live back then! I can't believe how many people they could fit into such a small place. I am extremely grateful that growing up, I didn't have to share my room with like 6 other people....just 2!

Slightly Delayed...

So this post is like a month overdue but what can I say? I got distracted with a new haircut! So the three of us, Sasha, Breanna and I, decided to head to Utah for conference weekend. We left Thursday with the intent of arriving at a somewhat decent hour.....those plans did not work so well for us. We didn't end up leaving Tucson til like 5pmish. Then, we made pretty good time to Flagstaff. Unfortunately, none of us had ever really driven that route and all we had to go on were google map directions. So google maps took us close to Page, Az but then sent us on an alternate route through some place called Marble Canyon. These are where the lovely pictures were taken. So, we had planned on stopping in Page and filling up because we were getting low. Only our directions took us west of Page to this lovely town with one gas station that closed early and didn't have a credit card reader. So, here we are stuck in this town with no gas available and our gas light was on and Page was like 40 miles away still...in the other direction! Fun right? So what else do you do when you're stuck in a small town that all closed down for the night and you're almost out of gas? Well, you contemplate lots of things including knocking on doors at the Marble Canyon Lodge and seeing if anyone wants to drive you to Page and then praying that the car will make it to Page on the gas that is left in the tank. Well, that is what we did, and we now know that Breanna's car will go at least 50 more miles once the gas light comes on! It's probably not really the best way to test it but...we're unconventional! Anyways, despite losing like an hour driving back to Page and then back through Marble Canyon we still got to Payson in like 12 hours...at 6:30am! Then, I went and spent the rest of the weekend with Ellen and family, Kiersty and Brittany. I would've included Seth but he was cramming for finals so, I really only saw him for a few hours! Friday, I hung out with Ellen at Dillards and then Kierst, Britt and I went and saw a movie. I'm sad we don't have a theater like that one in Tucson. It's like 1.50...or 3? for a movie and then the treats are either 1 or 2 bucks depending on the size. It was a pretty sweet deal. Then on Sat, we went shopping and ran errands and met up with Ellen and the girls for Girls Night Out. Surprisingly, we shopped more and had a great dinner from Bajios! I miss those here too. To my dismay, as we were getting ready for bed on Saturday night it was snowing! And despite Kiersty's reassurances that it would stop, I woke up to this on Sunday morning!

Thankfully, the snow melted while we watched conference and our drive back to Tucson was pretty much snow free. At least snow free on the roads. But after our lovely experience on the way to Utah, we decided to go back to Tucson through Vegas. And we never let the gas tank get that low again. I'd say we all learned pretty good lessons from this trip! And, this has nothing to do with lessons, but I finally got to see Kiersty's house-decorated! I've heard so much about it and seen so many pictures of it, but it doesn't do it justice! She did such a good job decorating it! I like to think that I was helping with it, since I was on the phone with her while she picked out so much stuff for it! Anyways, it was a great weekend, and as always, over too soon!

Short and Sweet!

As you can see, I cut it off! On Friday I just decided, I'd thought enough about it, I'm gonna do it! So i went in to cut it and realized that my hair was shorter than I thought. You have to have 11 inches to donate so I told them to cut 11 in off.. Then I saw how short it was and got a little scared! But I'm actually really happy with it. I think I might go back and add some shorter layers in to give it a little more texture/body...Any thoughts? And should I cut bangs again or leave them long?

Help!

Ok, I've been thinking of cutting my hair again. I need your help. This was what I did to it 1 1/2 years ago. I was thinking about maybe this length but with some more layers. I don't know if I'll do the bangs again. Right now my hair is about a foot longer than it is in this picture. So, should I keep it really long and just do some more layers or go back to a shorter cut. I love the long hair but I just get so bored with it. I'm lucky and it grows out fairly quickly but still....Help! I need some opinions friends!

Oops

I realized that my last post sounded a bit dire and I should clarify that I just had some news delivered to me by a close friend that I was not prepared for at all. I am doing ok I am just saddened by the news and was still a bit in shock when I wrote that.

BLINDSIDED

That's pretty much how I feel today. I was told something today and feel completely unprepared for how to deal with it. It will take some time but I sure hate that feeling. Not knowing how to deal...

30 Years Ago Today.....

.....MHARI LYNAE WAS BORN!

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my big sister! I don't know that she will really appreciate me announcing her age but....too late! Anyway- I just wanted to give a little shout out to Mhari on her big day! I hope James spoils you on your birthday and Andrew gives you a little break from running after him and cleaning up the DVD's!

For those of you reading this Mhari is my oldest sister and she did her job well. I didn't have any older brothers, so Mhari filled that need! She helped us jump off the roof onto the trampoline....something that happened frequently after church when we raced to beat our parents home. She sat on top of us and held lougies above our faces...she instilled a deep love for pretty much all things 80's-minus the clothing! Although, the 80's hairstyle definitely was part of our lives for awhile! She's shown that ketchup and mustard paint can actually look good in a house! She has the cutest little boy that was ever born-I'm not partial or anything. She introduced me to corn dip and fritos, which is AMAZING!

I could've shared some amazing Mhari stories but I don't know that she would fully appreciate it. Instead I'll just say that again, Mhari, I hope you have a great birthday. Thanks for all the things you have taught me and for the great example you are to me. Love you and let yourself be spoiled!

My Totally Awesome......

........Sunday Night!

You were all hoping for something more exciting weren't you! Mostly this post is to show Kiersty that I don't have to be at her "little Oscar party" to have fun! Haha. But....my night probably wasn't as fun as it would've been watching the Oscars drinking pina colodas! Anyway, I was talking to Kiersty earlier today and she was telling me all the cool things that they were doing at her Oscar party and I was a little jealous that I couldn't come and she was being rude and rubbing my face in it so...I'm just here to prove that playing card game and not drinking pina coladas is sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo so much cooler than drinking pina coladas, eating medium mints and watching the Oscars!

Actually, I did spend my Sunday night playing games at a friends house. I've recently discovered people here in Tucson that play Nertz, it's a card game that is like group solitaire, for those of you who haven't been fortunate enough to play. I used to play that game like every Sunday back in Twin Falls, and I've missed it. So a group of us played that for awhile tonight and it's still as fun as ever. Although we did lose 2 new players pretty early in the game because they kept getting negative points....but we worked through it and still had fun! Alright, well thats pretty much all I've got for tonight. I just wanted to prove that you don't need pina coladas to have fun.....although I did think about them pretty much all night and am still craving one....Dang you Kierst!

Everything I Do - In Style Of Bryan Adams - Karaoke

Alrighty folks. In honor of my weekend attempt to karaoke, I'm posting this awesome song and want you all to stop what you're doing and sing out! I don't know about you all, but I remember LOVING this song. Especially because it was on the 3 Musketeers movie and lets face it, I had a huge crush on Chris O'Donnell, so I watched that movie A LOT!

Anyways- Lindsay, Scott and I totally jammed out to this song on Saturday and I just wanted to share the power of the song with everyone out there! So, I'm totally being serious here. STOP what you are doing and SING. Kiersty, I don't want any excuses that you're at work and you're not supposed to belt out awesome lyrics like this. DO IT. It well be awesome....and I have another post for the week!

Big Trouble In Little China

I'm not sure what to write about this week. But I said I was going to do better than last week so....

I wrote about our 80's movie nights a couple of posts ago. Well, my friend Scott came down from Tempe and we were going to continue the 80's by watching Big Trouble in Little China. I'd never seen it, but I think Linds and Scott had. Anyways, because we were watching that we wanted to do a complete asian night. We started out at the Golden Dragon Chinese restaurant. It's kind of a hole in the wall restaurant close to our apartment. It was really good, but the best part was the golden dragon "portal" that you go through to get to your table. It's pretty sweet, I wish I had a picture of it! Then we attempted to go karaokeing. We tried this once last year and had the same experience this year. By that I mean, every where we went didn't karaoke on Sat. For some reason, karaoke only happens on Friday and Sunday in the great city of Tucson. We tried multiple places and were denied each time. It was pretty sad. So...our solution was to come back to the apartment and find karaoke songs on youtube. We did, and I have to say it was pretty fun! Someday maybe we'll actually get to really karaoke! We did watch the movie eventually and I have to say it was a true 80's movie. Awful, yet hilarious! And there are so many random things that just pop up throughout the movie. Like the randome big foot/yetti, the floating head, the man with no skin...Such a strange yet funny movie! We all fell asleep throughout it, so I can't say I've seen it all.

Jamie Day

So this week I slacked on my goal to post more. I didn't post at all this week so here is one!

This guy in the picture is, Jamie. Today is a year since I got the phone call that he had been killed in a motorcycle accident. It's hard to believe that a years has gone by. This picture just seems to sum up Jamie. This was taken at the Air and Space museum. I'm not quite sure why he was doing this but really, it just seems normal! Jamie was like our tour guide at this museum. He told us all about the planes like he's doing in the picture below. I learned lot about planes that day. I also learned that there are probably reasons that museums have signs saying "Don't Touch". Jamie was opening compartments and things that didn't always want to shut again. It was pretty entertaining! Anyways. I don't really know what else I want to say. I just wanted to give a little remembrance to Jamie.

To Jamie,Thanks for......

Teaching that wearing fake glasses will make you look smarter

Random trips to Mesa at 5 am...complete with ransom notes to sleeping roomies

Early morning IHOP trips

Loud music in the car

Late night story telling complete with sounds and pictures!

Dance parties

Proving that mohawks do work for some people!

Loving the gospel and trying to be an example of it every day

Always being a missionary

Proving that people really can sleep Anywhere and on pretty much Anything, including one nasty dog pillow...

Re-introducing us to cherry dipped cones from DQ

There are more but it's late and I'm getting tired. So Jamie, here's to you. Hope you love flying around up in heaven. I imagine that the speed is just incredible. Thanks for everything Jamie!

Bowling Pictures!

Mom and Andrew. Love that they're both looking opposite ways!

The point of this picture is really Steve. His first turn he got 2 gutter balls I think. So, he thought if he stretched first it would help his game! Funny thing is, I think it actually worked!

Mom, Kiersty and Andrew

Mom bowling

the final scores! I'm pretty sure I was last

Mistake

I was informed that I failed to mention KIERSTY in the list of people who introduced me originally to the awesomeness of all 80's movies! I am so very very very sorry that I failed to mention KIERSTY! Even when she calls me a dork :)

And I should clarify. For those who watched the Baby..on a Recorder link I posted, you have to wait til the end and the on click on the box that says click here to see the reply or whatever. It goes on for a few more songs! It's worth it though!

A Tribute...

To the 80's

!

I was watching a movie the other day that talked about the different 80's movies and how she wished her life was a bit more like an 80's movie....I just started thinking about that and how some of those movies have been such a part of my life! I grew up with Ferris Bueller, Sixteen Candles, Better Off Dead, Real Genius, and many more! There are just so many good movie lines in them!

"It's a darn shame when folks be throwing away a perfectly good white boy."

"Do you know the street value of this mountain? This is pure snow."

"I've been going to this school for 7 years. I'm no dummy."

-Better Off Dead

"Dong, where is Grandpa's automobile?"

"Automobile? Lake. Big lake!"

-Sixteen Candles

"You'll rue the day."

"Rue the day. Who talks like that?"

"Kents name is on his license plate.

My mom does that to my underwear.

Your mom puts license plates in your underwear? How do you sit?"

-Real Genius

These may not make sense to everyone but thanks to Mhari and Ashely, these are part of my childhood...! For all those who know these quotes...more power to you! I know 80's movies aren't everyones cup of tea but I sure love 'em. They're just so awful and hilarious all at the same time!

Last year we had 80's movie night. There were only 3 of us who really enjoyed awful 80's movies but it was fun. We watched movies like Flight of the Navigator(also a childhood movie), Lady in White(AWFUL MOVIE!!!!), Willow, Tron(the original), and Legend(also AWFUL)!

Anywho....this is a pretty random post but hopefully some people out there will enjoy it. I know that each of my sister's will appreciate this and they could probably add some quotes to this...That is a challenge ladies. Accept it if you can!

"Baby" ... on RECORDER?!?!

So...this may seem random but I thought it was pretty amazing. It also takes a bit of time because there are really like 9 different videos attached to this. But it's pretty darn creative so I thought I'd share it! And my pictures still won't upload. I'm not really sure whats going on with them. So, until I can get them to upload, you're all getting fun videos like this....or whatever else I decide to talk about!

Bowling

First of all..boo for technology. I was trying to upload some pictures for this post and it was just not working with me! So I'll try and do that for the next post!

Christmas this year, was in Mesa and all the family was there for it. We had lots of big plans for the days we were together and sadly didn't really accomplish them all. On Christmas Eve we went bowling. I hadn't been bowling in quite some time. It was fun except that we got there after having looked to make sure they'd be open, and they told us they were closing in an hour. So, being the troopers we are, we decided to have a real fast game. It was highly entertaining to watch. I'll try and get some of those pictures posted. I have to admit that I came in last place or second to last. I started out strong and soon lost that lead! After our quick game we left and thats pretty much when all our plans fell apart. Kierst, mom and I ran to Costco real fast and that is where Mhari decided to leave her lunch! She started feeling sick towards the end of our game and by the time we got to Costco she was done. So Christmas Eve, Mhari was sick and Cora (BrieAnn's daughter) was also throwing up on their way down from Safford. Brie and Jake got sick later that night also. Christmas day, Mhari was feeling better (after having fainted twice), but then James was sick. It was pretty much the domino effect after that. One by one, we all got this nice stomach bug. With the exception of Steve and Kiersty. They were the only ones who survive the weekend. But because of our little sick bug we didn't really do much. We tried but none of us were really feeling that great! Even Andrew's 1st birthday party had to get cancelled. We still gave him a party but it was much different than we had planned! Good thing he doesn't know any better!

Anyways, this is getting long. In all honesty, despite being sick and not getting to do all that we had planned, we did make the most of our time together. I think we still had a fun week and a great Christmas! I'm glad we were all able to be together this year and it was so fun to have Andrew experience Christmas. He didn't quite get it but he did love some of his presents!

Christina Perri - Jar of Hearts Official Video

Here she is singing Jar of Hearts. I was shown this video and thought she did a really good job with it. It's really creative in my opinion. Anyways, hope you like it!

Winter Wonderjam

This is Lindsay, Elspeth, and I at Winter Wonderjam. I blogged about this before but here are a few pics I got before my camera died on me! There were 5 artists that performed here. First was Christina Perri who sings Jar of Hearts. I love that song. I'll post the video link later. Ryan Starr also sang, Ingrid Michaelson, Sara Bareillles, and the Plain White T's. It was an awesome night!

Down below: Christina Perri singing

Sara Barielles jamming out on her purple/blue piano
And this was the real reason Linds came. This is Ingrid Michaelson. She was hilarious. She had a toenail removed a few days before this show and was telling the audience about it. She was probably my favorite performer of the night. I've listened to most of her music since my roommate loves her and I really enjoy her music. But, seeing her live was pretty amazing. She just really gets the audience involved and makes it fun.

This night ended at Ihop. Mostly because that is the only place in Tucson that stays open past 11pm. I love Ihop because after 11pm there are some very interesting people there. Obviously, not me or my friends, we're the normal ones! It is just entertaining watching people. Thats all I'll say on that subject. I don't think our waitress liked us very much because we probably stayed too late and kept her from getting more tables. But at least we were making memories!

Alright family and friends...

I'm feeling a bit shamed that I've gotten so behind on this. For all those avid readers, I'm sorry! I know there has to be at least one of you that loves me that much, right? My sister had this great idea to write posts and have them publish like everyday. I'm feeling a bit inspired by that. I may not have something for everyday..but hopefully it will be more often than every two months!

So..now that you know the plan...I'm gonna go, and share that plan with someone else. ( Brownie points to whoever can name that movie!)

Seriously though, one of my goals this year is seriously to write more often. I need to write the events of my life down somewhere, since I'm not real great at journal writing. If anyone would like to here some specific Megan thoughts, please let me know and I'll blog about it! How much fun does that sound like? I know, I know. A whole lot of fun!