Wednesday, September 24, 2008

6 Unspectacular Quirks

So I got tagged by my friend Chelsea to write 6 weird things about me. I may be doing it wrong, but oh well - here goes nothing.

1. I love birds! Mostly parrots or birds of prey. I have a strange little desire to someday get a falconers permit and own a peregrine falcon. Coupled with this love of birds, I have a unique stupid human trick. I can whistle like a parrot without using my mouth – it comes from my throat. I have used this on many occasions to ‘woo’ the hearts of many beautiful parrots into being my friends. I know – I’m weird!

2. I get WAY excited about the silliest things. For example, last night we were just about to eat dinner (which I had to snarf because I was already late for YW because I work so dang late) when the doorbell rang. Since we don’t often have unexpected company, and since I had informed him that there had been a salesman on the sidewalk when I pulled into our neighborhood 5 minutes earlier, Neil didn’t want me to answer it. I didn’t want to be rude if it happened to be someone else, so I went to get the door. The salesman was nearly to the sidewalk when I opened, and the minute he turned around and I could read his hat, I yelled for Neil to come quick – it was the COMCAST guy!! We have made numerous calls in the past year to Comcast to see when they would be available in our area, since all other options for TV or internet SUCK. And there they were! Finally in the neighborhood and getting people to sign up! To make a long story short, I was even more late for YW but on cloud 9 the rest of the night knowing that we would have MUCH faster internet as well as the Discovery channel and BYU football on The Mtn. by Thursday! (Too bad BYU has a bye week) What can I say, I guess I’m just easy to please!!

3. I’m slightly OCD. Not in the ‘germ-a-phobe’ way, but in the sense that I am picky about making sure things are uniform and even. An extreme example would be that all through middle and high school if I had a paper that I had written my name on (with pencil of course, since if I messed up in pen, it couldn’t be fixed) and I didn’t like the way it was written, I would erase it and re-write it. After 3 attempts, the previous writings would remain visible because an eraser couldn’t get it all completely, so I would throw the entire piece of paper away (even if there was nothing else on it.) I’ve calmed down a bit and am not that bad any more, but even playing Yahtzee with Neil the other night, I had to make sure all of the dice that are set aside are facing the same way. Once again, I know – I’m a freak!

4. I hate for my food to touch. This is a weird little pet-peeve, I know. People say all the time “It’s all going to end up in the same place anyway.” But the greatest part about eating is the chewing and tasting part. And when two things that were not intentionally put together end up touching on my plate, the whole bite transforms – often into something not as pleasant as the two bites would have been had they remained separate. Some things are tolerable, but most of the time I make every effort to not let them touch in the first place. I mean seriously, who wants jello in their mashed potatoes?? (Anyone who can answer ‘me’ to that question has some serious taste bud deficiencies!!)

5. I sleep with a humidifier on every night. Sadly, it generally doesn’t even have water in it. It started as a way to drown out my husband’s snoring when we were first married. (Sorry to disclose that fact Neil.) But I have now been conditioned to the noise and frankly, I can’t sleep well without it. I’m going to have a very rude awakening soon when I need to leave it off in order to hear Avery wake up in the night. I’ve tried numerous times to practice sleeping without it, but end up having a miserable night and generally end up getting up and turning it on before morning even comes. I’m in trouble! And I’ll learn exactly how much trouble very soon.

6. I’ve been stung by a jellyfish. Well, it’s technically not a true species of jellyfish – it’s called a Portuguese Man-of-War. It was while we were on our honeymoon in Jamaica. We had done all the sight-seeing we wanted to for the day and still had a little while before we had to be back on the boat. So we decided just to go to the beach and relax. We were a little more than waist deep in the water when it felt like something bit my hand and wouldn’t let go. I jumped because it scared me so bad, and then started frantically shaking my hand to get whatever was on it off (this made things worse, as I was dragging my hand back and forth through the tentacle.) Neil carried me to shore as a bunch of locals were running over trying to offer something for relief. As I’m screaming and bawling in pain, all I can think to say is “Someone find my camera!!” We had drifted from where our towels and backpacks were on shore, and I wanted to get a picture of my hand because despite being intensely painful, it looked really cool. We rushed back to the boat only to have the infirmary tell us that if we wanted to see the doctor, it would cost $150 JUST to have him paged – let alone the fee to see him, and any treatment he would do. So we bought a $5 bottle of hydrocortisone cream and went back to our room. On the way up, the toxin glands in my armpits kicked in to keep the poison from spreading to my body and they felt like they were on fire. Then I started going into shock as I could no longer move my hand or fingers. Luckily we had met another couple our age (who actually got married in the sealing room next to us at the exact same time in the SL Temple) that same day and he and Neil were able to give me a blessing. The paralysis went away by the next day, and the numbness subsided shortly after that. We even swam with stingrays the next day (What was I thinking?!) The welts lasted a few months, but the memory will last a lifetime. And frankly, I look back on it as a humorous experience now. How many people can say they’ve been stung by the second most poisonous jellyfish in the world??

(This was taken once someone went to find my camera)

Now, here are the terms and conditions for those of you who are going to be "tagged" by me:
Link the person who tagged you
Mention the rules on your blog.
List 6 unspectacular quirks about you.
Tag 6 other bloggers by linking them.

Now, I tag Lindsey, Laura, Jenn, Tiffany, Suzie, and Loni. Have fun with this one - think hard!

Monday, September 15, 2008

Smells so sweet!

So this past weekend, our home has been filled with some GREAT smells! First was Friday when Neil gave me a giant, gorgeous bouquet of flowers for our anniversary. My favorite flower is a stargazer lily, and they are incredibly fragrant! Our whole house smells like fresh flowers - I love it!

(This picture doesn't do the flowers justice - they're GORGEOUS!)

Then on Saturday, I was feeling 'domestic' and decided to make some banana bread with some bananas that were a little to spotted for normal consumption. The bread smelled so good while it was baking and has been devoured by both of us. I'm tempted to buy some over-ripe bananas now and make some more it was so tasty!

(So this isn't my actual bread, but it looked similar.)


Then Sunday, since my previous baking experience had gone so well, I decided to make a fresh peach pie with some super sweet & juicy peaches we get from an orchard in Provo. (I've been obsessed with them lately and we're on our 4th bushel! What can I say, I'm pregnant!) I must admit, I've never made a pie before at all, so it was all new to me, but they turned out BEAUTIFUL! We baked them at my parents house last night and since they didn't get out of the oven until almost 10:30 (due to my poor planning) I haven't actually tasted it yet. But we left one of them for my parents and my dad had some for breakfast (typical of my dad!) and LOVED it! It sure did smell good on the drive home though. I must say I was quite proud of how it turned out for being my first pie ever.

(This IS a picture of my first pie! The juice made a mess of my mom's oven, but it turned out beautiful!)

Neil is probably beside himself that I've baked so much! He shouldn't get used to it though, because everyone keeps saying that I won't have time for baking once Avery arrives. I've enjoyed it so much lately (I made fresh wheat bread last week with fresh ground wheat flour!) that maybe I'll have to keep making the time for it! But our house sure has smelled good for the past few days!!

Friday, September 12, 2008

Happy Anniversary!!

I just wanted to take a minute to thank my wonderful husband! Never in a million years did I expect to end up with someone so loving, patient, strong, caring, giving, selfless - the list could go on forever! I truly couldn't imagine my life without you! You bring me such happiness on a daily basis!! These last 5 years have had ups and downs, but the ups FAR outweigh the downs!! I am so glad that I have the blessing of spending the rest of my life with you! I am so glad that together, we can welcome our sweet little Avery into this world - and other future children! You will be such a wonderful father, I have no doubt! Thank you for putting up with me at my worst, helping me through tough times, and loving me through it all! You are my one true love! Forever and for Always! Happy 5 years babe, and an eternity to come!!

I LOVE YOU!!!

Friday, September 5, 2008

Rare glimpse

So our little girl Tia is not the most social thing in the world. In fact, the opposite is more so the case! She rarely comes upstairs and when she does, she's incredibly skiddish, so we don't often get to see her get playful. I was sitting on the chair in our family room working on my laptop, when she brought up this little piece of sponge that she stole from my scrapbook stuff who knows how long ago. (This is more the personality we're used to - she's a mischievous little clepto!) She started playing with it and luckily the camera was close enough that my getting up to get it didn't scare her downstairs. So here is a VERY rare glimpse at a side of our kitty we NEVER get to see. Might be boring to you all, but I was thrilled to witness it!

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

The countdown is ON!


WOW! Only 6 weeks left! I can't believe how much time flies - it has gone incredibly fast!! A friend mentioned last night that if I were to go into labor anytime now, they would not stop me! I don't expect to anytime soon as I've been feeling GREAT, but just the thought that she could be here anytime now is so exciting! Our lives are about to change so much. I look forward to it with nothing but excitement though! I hear all of the scary, not-so-fun things like how tired we'll be, and how we can't "go out" anymore, but all I can think about when people say those things is "But OUR baby will be here." We will finally be able to see her, hold her, feel her, hear her, smell her..... I simply can't wait!

Saturday, August 30, 2008

Rise and Shout!!

The Cougars are Out!!

What a game! Despite a rough third quarter, and a few "slippery" hands in the third quarter, our Cougars pulled off a 41-17 win over Northern Iowa. BYU scored more points in this year's season opener than in the last three years' season openers combined! With some fantastic plays by our star players, and some impressive ones from some rookies, it was an exciting game! I can't wait to see what the rest of the season brings. GO MIGHTY COUGARS!!!

Friday, August 22, 2008

Desperate


Okay - so I've been needing a new post for a long time, but I never know what to post about. Does anyone else have this problem? I just feel like our lives are so boring, why would anyone find the little things that happen interesting?

So here's another one of those "generic" posts until something interesting happens in my life.

The items in bold and the ones that I have done.


1. Sang the National Anthem at a public event
2. Swam with wild dolphins

3. Climbed a mountain

4. Taken a Ferrari for a test drive

5. Been inside the Great Pyramid

6. Held a tarantula

7. Won a pie eating contest, or any eating contest

8. Said “I love you’ and meant it

9. Hugged a tree

10. Bungee jumped

11. Visited Paris

12. Watched a lightning storm

13. Seen the Northern Lights

14. Stayed up all night long and saw the sun rise

15. Gone to a huge sports game

16. Walked the stairs to the top of the leaning Tower of Pisa - (Been there, but we didn't want to spend the money, and were too pressed for time to walk to the top.)

17. Grown and eaten your own vegetables

18. Touched an iceberg

19. Slept under the stars

20. Changed a baby’s diaper­­

21. Taken a trip in a hot air balloon

22. Watched a meteor shower

23. Gotten drunk on slurpees

24. Given more than you can afford to charity - It seemed to be at the time, but I managed.

25. Looked up at the night sky through a telescope

26. Had an uncontrollable giggling fit at the worst possible moment

27. Had a food fight

28. Overcome a fear

29. Asked out a stranger

30. Had a snowball fight

31. Screamed as loudly as you possibly can

32. Held a lamb

33. Seen a total eclipse

34. Ridden a roller coaster

35. Hit a home run

36. Danced like a fool and not cared who was looking

37. Adopted an accent for an entire day

38. Actually felt happy about your life

39. Had two hard drives for your computer­

40. Visited all 50 states

41. Can recite something over 100 words long

42. Have amazing friends

43. Danced with a stranger in a foreign country

44. Watched wild whales

45. Stolen a sign
46.
Backpacked through Europe - We had on a backpack, does that count?

47. Taken a road-trip

48. Gone rock climbing

49. Midnight walk on the beach

50. Gone sky diving

51. Visited Ireland

52. Been heartbroken longer than you were actually in love

53. In a restaurant, sat at a stranger’s table

54. Visited China

55. Milked a cow

56. Alphabetized your CDs

57. Pretended to be a superhero

58. Sung karaoke

59. Lounged around in bed all day

60. Slept in a castle

61. Gone scuba diving

62. Kissed in the rain

63. Played in the mud

64. Played in the rain

65. Gone to a drive-in theater

66. Visited the Great Wall of China

67. Started a business

68. Fallen in love and not had your heart broken

69. Toured ancient sites

70. Taken a martial arts class

71. Played some sort of game for more than 6 hours straight

72. Gotten married

73. Been in a movie

74. Crashed a party

75. Eaten food you had no clue what it was but did it out of respect for your host

76. Gone without food for 5 days - Okay, so I only had juice for that long...I wouldn't consider that "food"

77. Made cookies from scratch

78. Won first prize in a costume contest - I was "Jack Sparrow." A lot of my coworkers didn't even know it was me.

79. Seen the canals in Venice

80. Been skinny dipping

81. Rafted the Snake River

82. Been on television news programs as an “expert”

83. Got flowers for no reason

84. Performed on stage

85. Been to Las Vegas

86. Recorded music

87. Eaten shark

88. Stood up for something against the crowd

89. Gone to Thailand

90. Bought a house

91. Been in a combat zone

92. Buried one/both of your parents

93. Been on a cruise ship

94. Spoken more than one language fluently

95. Asked someone for forgiveness and received it

96. Raised children - We're working on this one ;)

97. Followed your favorite band/singer on tour

98. Loved someone so much it brings you to tears

99. Taken an exotic bicycle tour in a foreign country

100. Picked up and moved to another city to just start over

101. Walked the Golden Gate Bridge

102. Sang loudly in the car, and didn’t stop when you knew someone was looking

103. Had plastic surgery

104. Survived an accident that you shouldn’t have survived

105. Wrote articles for a large publication

106. Lost over 100 pounds

107. Held someone while they were having a flashback

108. Piloted an airplane

109. Petted a stingray

110. Been afraid for your life

111. Helped an animal give birth

112. Won money on a T.V. game show

113. Broken a bone

114. Achieved a long time goal

115. Lived longer than a year in another country

116. Fired a rifle, shotgun, or pistol

117. Eaten mushrooms that were gathered in the wild

118. Ridden a horse

119. Had major surgery
- Okay, to me, ANY surgery is major.
120. Had a snake as a pet

121. Hiked to the bottom of the Grand Canyon

122. Slept for more than 30 hours over the course of 48 hours

123. Visited more foreign countries than U.S. states

124. Visited all 7 continents

125. Taken a canoe trip that lasted more than 2 days

126. Eaten kangaroo meat

127. Eaten sushi
- I don't know what all the hype is. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't very flavorful - it's just trendy in my opinion.
128. Had your picture in the newspaper

129. Changed someone’s mind about something you care deeply about

130. Gone back to school

131. Para sailed

132. Petted a cockroach - HEAVEN'S NO

133. Eaten fried green tomatoes

134. Read The Iliad

135. Selected one “important” author who you missed in school, and read it

136. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - I say fish count

137. Skipped all your school reunions
- Only been one so far and we were on vacation.
138. Communicated with someone without sharing a common spoken language

139. Been elected to public office - I was Sophomore Class President in High School, does that count?

140. Written your own computer language

141. Thought to yourself that you’re living your dream

142. Had to put someone you love into hospice care

143. Built your own PC from parts

144. Sold your own artwork to someone who didn’t know you

145. Had a booth at a fair

146. Dyed your hair

147. Been a DJ

148. Shaved your head

149. Caused a car accident - So the policeman said - I don't think hitting someone that randomly U-turns in front of me counts. But apparently I was "following too close" She was stopped on the side of the road, dang it! How can I "follow" when she's pulled over. It was simply that she was some 40 year old lady, and I was 16 year old.

150. Saved someone’s life - I'd love to say I had though.

81 out of 150 - Not too bad. Some of them I'm actually PROUD to say I haven't done though! Now all of you try - I want to see what "exotic" things you may have participated in!