Tagged for Christmas

I'm going to Dallas tomorrow and I don't know how much blog updating I'll get a chance to do. So to keep all of my superfans happy, I'm doing this post just in time for the holidays.

Krista sent this to me forever and a day ago and I'm sorry it took me a millions years to respond to it. But here it is!! Presenting. . . .Tagged:Christmas Edition

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper. I get a little OCD when wrapping presents. I have to have straight lines and double sided tape to hide the seams. I hate wrapping clothes outside of a box because there aren't straight lines. So I always try to get gift boxes for everything. I LOVE WRAPPING GIFTS!! I can spend hours doing it.

2. Real or fake tree? I love real, but have you seen how expensive they are these days? For that matter, have you seen how expensive FAKE trees are? Trees=Expensive. Anyway, we have a fake tree now, but once Marcelo and I become millionaires we will be getting a real one every year.

3. When do you put up a tree? Usually ASAP after Thanksgiving. But this year we didn't put one up in out tin shed of a house. Maybe next year.

4. When do you take it down? Usually not until late January, sometimes February. It takes so long to put up, I want to enjoy it as much as possible.

5. Do you like eggnog? Yes and no. If presented with a small glass, I will enjoy it. But I've never bought it at the store so obviously I don't like it that much. And the smell sometimes gets to me. But at Macey's they had samples of Egg Nog with sprite in it. Awesome.

6. Favorite gift received as a child? Either my pogo stick or our family's trampoline. Both lasted a freaking long time and kept me 100% occupied on bored days.

7. Hardest person to buy for? Marcelo. He takes everything back!! Now I just buy him something and I don't get offended when he takes it back. He totally appreciates the thought and I appreciate that he will get something that he really likes and will use.

8. Easiest person to buy for? Myself. Ha HA. Just kidding. It's of course Evi!! If you can chew on it, she loves it.

9. Do you have a nativity scene? No. But I desperately want one. I told Marcelo that that would be a great gift to give me next year. Let's see if he remembers

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Neither. I never mailed them out. I didn't come from a "Christmas Card" family so it's just not a tradition for me. I think that they are nice though. I might do one someday.

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? "The Shaft" aka, Candles. It's become a family joke now that we all get around together at Christmastime to watch Alicia unwrap the shaft she will inevitably receive. Because she gets shafted every year. And gets 3 candles of varying sizes, smells and colors. Yes, you read that correctly. One year I got nothing more then PJ's and candles. TRY TO LIVE THAT ONE DOWN, MOM!!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? A Christmas Story. I've loved this movie since I can remember. I don't recall the first time I saw it, it's just always been there. (Much like the birthmark on my ass) My mom recorded it off TV one year when I was REALLY young, and we would watch it all the time during the year when I was growing up. I love that it plays for 24 hours straight on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. "Randy lay like a slug. . .It was his only defense" Love it.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? As soon as I can. I usually sit around and try to plan out what I'm going to buy before I buy it. I HAAATE wandering the stores looking for "something" because I usually end up not buying what I really want. And I just hate shopping in general, so the sooner I can get it done, the better.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Heck yes, I have!! But only when the gift I received is the EXACT gift I was going to buy for someone else. So I don't think that really counts.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Chinese Food. We started the tradition of eating Chinese Food on Christmas Eve back in 1994. It is the only tradition my family has and I look forward to that meal all year long. Even though you can get Chinese Food at any time, it just tastes better on Christmas Eve.

16. Lights on the tree? Of course. Growing up we had the really clunky multi-colored glass bulbs that had CLOTH chord and would get hot hot hot to the touch. And on the base of every bulb there was a CLIP so you could clip it to a branch. I'm telling you, I freaking grew up in the 50's. Wanna know how trees started houses on fire? Those dang lights!!

17. Favorite Christmas song? Mary Did You Know. This line always gets me: "Did you know, That your baby boy, has walked where angels trod? And when you kiss your little baby, you kiss the face of God?" Makes me cry EVERY time.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Who wants to travel at Christmas? Why can't you all just come to me?

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Yes. The question is: can you name all of Hanukkah Harry's Reindeer?

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I grew up with an Angel. But I have this really nice crystal star that looks great on my tree. It's very pretty. I think I'll keep it.

21. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? Morning, of course. Who opens presents on Christmas Eve? I mean, other then people who have their birthdays on December 24th, that is. Oh, and atheist Christ haters might open them then, too.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? People who whine about not getting what they wanted. At least you didn't get a lame-o candle, buddy!! Suck it up!!

23. Favorite Ornament theme or color? Marcelo and I have a total "Bollywood" theme going on on our tree. It's awesome. We will only have it for a few years more, though. You know, until our kids start bringing home shoddily crafted ornaments that they make in preschool class.

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Turkey AND ham. It's just like Thanksgiving, but with ham added. But I love Christmas breakfast more. Eggs, sausage, OJ, etc etc. And I think this year we might be able to talk Sarah into making her famous Canadian pancake balls. This is how you make them: You get a special Canadian griddle and pour in the batter. Turn once, (very carefully). When they are done, pull them out and immediately dip them in MELTED BUTTER and then POWDERED SUGAR. Yes, you read that correctly. It's a butter/sugar explosion in your mouth with each bite. Ugh, it's so good. I wonder what all her RD friends would think of her to see her make those. . .

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? A baby that sleeps through the night. And roller blades. Wait, THIS year? Not 1994? Oh, then just the baby thing.

26. Who is most likely to respond to this? My best friends will leave witty remarks in my comment section telling me how much they love me and how they wish me a truly terrific holiday. And then they will do this same thing on their blogs too.

6 More Things

So Beth Tagged me for this again. And she's right. I could do these all day. But this time I'll actually FOLLOW all the rules and tag 6 people after I finish.

Here's a little rules refresher:

1) Link to the person who tagged you. (Beth's link is HERE)
2) Post the rules on your blog (copy and paste 1-6).
3) Write 6 random things about yourself.
4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them.
5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog.
6) Let the tagger know when your entry is up.

Random Thing #1: I hate missing the beginning of movies. I HAAAAATE that. I mean, I don't go to the movies all that often. Maybe 2 or 3 times a year going to the theater. So when I go, I want to enjoy every last cent of my $8.25. If I miss the first 2 minutes, I feel like I am missing out on something. And lots of times they have like explanations about the history of the story, etc. I would rather sit and watch 15 minutes of the lame previews at the beginning of the movie then miss 1 minute of the actual movie. I seriously hate missing the beginning of movies.

Random Thing #2: I miss Ecuador. A LOT. And when I miss it, I usually miss Judd A LOT. Some of my best memories of Ecuador I had with her. Like when we watched this GIANT moon rise while we were on the roof of the ZL's apartment in the middle of a blackout. She was sure we would get jumped walking in that neighborhood. And the Magnum ice cream bars that basically defined our companionship. And all the ladies we taught to read. And how we would walk so close together that we would have to synchronize our feet and walk on the same foot so that our hips didn't bump each other.Those were my favorite moments from my whole mission. I wish we could go back together.

Random Thing #3: I hate things on my fingers. Especially greasy, sticky or wet things. Like eggs. If i crack an egg, and some of it is on my fingers, I have to wash my hands immediately. The funny thing is that I love to touch things. I touch EVERYTHING to a fault. People are always telling me to stop touching things, but I still do it. But then when things get on my hands, I have to clean them immediately. That's why I eat popcorn and Cheetos with a spoon. I hate the residue that is left on your fingers after multiple grabs of both popcorn and Cheetos. Basically, I do anything I can to keep my hands as clean as possible. Until i touch something unasked, that is.

Random Thing #4: I love infomercials. However the new trend in infomercials is that they shout at us. You know, it all started with the Oxy Clean guy. Screaming at me about how it gets out stains in things even as delicate as lace. But now that guy as started purveying everything from steaming machines to plastic storage lids. But the shouting still remains. Does he think that the volume button on my remote is broken? Because I promise, if i am intrigued by a food dehydrator, then I will pick up the remote and turn it up.

And on a related note, what is with the guy in the "Sham-WOW" commercial? What is with the microphone he wears? Are you kidding me? In their crappy infomercial production crew, can they not afford a boom man? I mean, you can mic him under his shirt, or on the table. The head set is SO NOT NECESSARY. Maybe he feels like he "can't perform" without it. Clearly he's used to doing this little show on the carnival circuit. You know, cause he tells the camera guy to "follow him" he's used to telling the carnies and hot dog frier's to do the same. But still, what's with the headset? I don't know. But it looks ridiculous in the commercial. But I can't turn away. It's like a dear in headlights thing I got going on whenever I see it.

If you don't know what I'm talking about. Here it is.



Random Thing #5: I got Julie a "sex book" for her shower. (she asked for "naughty" gifts!!) I told her she couldn't open it till she gets married. Because it's inappropriate before then, right? Well, the pictures are like "sketch" drawings so they aren't real photo pictures. But still, they are quite disturbing to anyone who isn't married. Actually, they were pretty disturbing for Marcelo and I. And hilarious. We laughed for hours over the names of some of them. The "Tornado" the "Bird in a Cage" and the "Peephole". Actually, I don't think that last one was real. But the others are. Is seems pretty crass when you really think about it, but don't really think about it, ok? Just laugh about the hilarity of those names. And I got lots more if you want it. Which you probably don't.

Random Thing #6: I wish that I had dated more in college so I could have wild and crazy stories to share. I think Judd and Reagan are holding back on me when it comes to wild and crazy stories. I mean, I know about some of their stories, but I want more!! I have to live vicariously through you! Please tell me more stories. And if any of you have wild and crazy stories, please leave them in my comments section. Feel free to make them anonymous if you don't want everyone to know your misdeeds.

And now I tag. . .
1. Judd. I know that she doesn't have a blog. So she can just post her 6 things in my bog comments!! or she can email them to me and I'll post them where everyone can see them. Or not see them. You know, whatever.
2. Haley. My new BFF (Email style. Not Paris Hilton Style). Anyone loved by Judd is immediately loved by me.
3. Kim. Or did you already do this? Oh well. Please again!
4. Lisa. I want more posts from you!!
5. MT. you know, 6 BORING things
6. Georgia. You Rock!

Thanks Best-ies!!

6 Weird Things About Me

So Reagan Tagged me with this little game. Here are the rules:

1. Link the Person who Tagged you
2. Mention rules on your blog
3. Tell about 6 quirks of yours
4. Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same
5. Leave a comment to let them know they've been tagged.

So here you go. In no particular order, 6 quirks about me.

1. I'm addicted to TV. Becuase of that, I bought a TiVo. I love it. I don't love any appliance more then I love my TiVo. But the quirk about me is the way I watch my shows. I like to "hoard" them and then spend all day watching a bunch of one type of show. This is especially true with "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report" I will wait till Friday and then watch all 4 days of both shows. I don't know why. I just like to do it that way.

2. I love to put my nose close to my baby's head and suck her hair up my nose. It tickles and then I pull her away and it comes out. And then I do it again. Freakish, right?

3. I get really anxious when I bake things for a party or a get together or make something to take to someone or if someone is coming over to eat at my house. REALLY anxious when I think that people might judge my cooking skills or this will be the only thing to eat. I usually end up sabotaging myself and ruining whatever I'm cooking. Case in point: the situation with the cinnamon rolls today. I made THREE different batches of bread & rolls until I finally got them right. Marcelo asked me to make them so he can take them to his friend who lives up the street. THREE TIMES I had to make them. Ughh. This experience today will do nothing to lessen my anxiety in the future.

4. I have feet issues. I HATE my feet to be dirty. I walk around in socks at home. And then if I forget to put them on, I have to wash my feet before I put them in socks. But I won't wear the same socks to work out that I've been wearing around the house. Like if I walk around in them, I must change them before I put those nasty dirty socks into shoes.

A second foot issue is that I always flip rocks into my shoes. This was ESPECIALLY true on my mission, living in the "Polvo." I don't know what it was, but just ask Judd how many times I would make her stop to clear out my shoes. I had to stop sometimes every 2 minutes. I know it was an issue because she would NEVER clean out her rocks and so I was the freak tat was always slowing us down. She would just leave them and walk around with them all day. I have NO idea how she did that.

5. I don't like soda. I would rather drink anything else besides soda. I'm not used to the carbonation and it burns my throat. Don't get me wrong, it's not like I NEVER drink it. I will have sip or too if I have the urge. And I will drink it if that's the only choice, but it's not my first choice. I would take a class of water any And if I go through the drive through, I get upset when I get a soda with my meal because I don't really want it: I just want water.

6. I think I missed my calling as a ballerina. I was the youngest girl accepted into the advanced class at our ballet school. My mom took me out of classes so we could start piano lessons. She couldn't afford both piano and ballet and she was paying the bill so she chose piano. But that's why I have a daughter:to fulfill my own goals and dreams so I can live vicariously through her. They still allow parents to do that, right?

Tagged-The Good Kind

Kim tagged me to post the 4th picture in my 4th file. I've been really organized about my Evi pictures. So this one is right where it should be.

You know how all over the Boppy it's like "NO SLEEP!! DON'T LET YOUR CHILD SLEEP ON THIS!!" Yeah, I don't really pay attention to that. I figure that if she's sleeping on it and I'm 4 feet away, we are ok.

As I look at her now, i can't believe how thick and dark her hair was! Now it's all thin and really turning into her mommy's-Light brown with some red in it. Oh, and she has the bald spot on it now. She didn't have that before.

I am amazed every time I look at her just how beautiful she is. And no matter what Marcelo says, I take some credit for her looks. (Don't get him started. He thinks she looks nothing like me. Thanks honey!!) I just think she's so dark and beautiful. I really want another one!! . . . .Someday.

So that was the 4th picture in the 4th file on my jump drive. However, when I opened the file a different way, this picture ended up being the 4th one in the 4th file:



This is from my forthcoming "Blackberry Jam" post. I just haven't gotten around to doing it. This is a picture of blackberry vines. And This picture is to specifically show how close they look to Poison Oak leaves. You'll get it when I finally get around to doing the post.

Oh, and you should know that the only thing that got my child to stop screeching this morning was me turning up Juanes full blast. She's currently listening to "Para Tu Amor" and just chilling in her Exersaucer. And allowing me to do a blog post. Thank you Juanes!!!

And now, another little "tagged" post for your entertainment:

Must answer each of the questions below with one word answers. (I feel free to answer some of the questions in Spanish if I want. It's my blog. You get to make up the rules for your own blog and I won't say anything, ok?)

1.Where is your cell phone? Couch
2. Where is your significant other? School
3. Your hair color? Brown
4. Your mother? Sacrificing
5. Your father? Bastard
6. Your favorite thing? Food
7. Your dream last night? Cocaine
8. Your dream/goal? Ecuador
9. The room you're in? Front
10. Your hobby? Reading
11. Your fear? Failure
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Home
13. Where were you last night? Bed
14. What you're not? Thin
15. One of your wish-list items? Car
16. Where you grew up? Eureka
17. The last thing you did? Nursed
18. What are you wearing? Clothes!!
19. Your TV? Trash
20. Your pet? Rayita
21. Your computer? Addiction
22. Your mood? Frustrated
23. Missing someone? Judd
24. Your car? Gone
25. Something you're not wearing? Ring
26. Favorite store? Maceys
27. Your summer? Short
28. Love someone? Sometimes
29. Your favorite color? Green
30. When is the last time you laughed? Now
31. When is the last time you cried? Anoche
32. Listening to? Enrique
33. Waiting for? Holidays

So That's my post. I tag everyone. If you are reading this, you are tagged. And I'll be checking your blogs to see if you did it. And if you didn't? RECOMPENSA!

All About Evi

Reagan did this earlier. I was fighting against trying to follow the crowd, but as I started to type and update email about my Evelyn, I naturally just had 4 things to say about different things. I guess I can't fight it.

So here are some of the things wrapping up her life, in her own words, of course.

4 of my Favorite Foods:
1. Breast milk
2. Breast milk
3. Breast milk
4. Breast milk

4 Things I Recognize
1. Mommy's voice & Daddy's Face
2. Raya
3. When mommy's eating, because then it's officially time to scream
4. The sound of running water. It calms me down immediately

4 Things I can do
1. Roll over
2. "Talk" and coo. I especially like to "sing along" with hymns
3. Reach for something in front of me.
4. While on my belly, I can pull my legs up under me and scoot forward to get something that's in front of me.

4 Things I Like to do
1. Grab my feet
2. Suck my two fingers on my right hand. Sometimes I even gag myself!! Yummy.
3. Play in my Exersaucer and then shriek when I'm done so mom will come pick me up
4. Grab Raya when she comes close enough to me and laugh heartily at her when she plays with her rope tug

4 Things I do that make mom want to go crazy
1. Refuse to burp and then wake up 20 min later screaming
2. Get frustrated in my stroller and make mom CARRY me and push the stroller at the same time.
3. Refuse to poop until mom puts a brand new clean diaper on me.
4. Pulling mom's hair.

4 Things I look forward to.
1. Bath time!!!
2. Taking a walk in my stroller
3. Being held by anyone.
4. Snuggling with mom in bed during nap time

Highway 101

You know those posts where the person writes 99 things about themselves? I can fill out those things in like 12 minutes. I think it's because I'm crazy. Oh, and because I don't mind sharing things about myself. Like I'm not ashamed to admit that I've never been asked out on a date in my whole life. Ever.

I also don't have to think long about the things I put in here. I just throw them out. I don't need to look for the most "impressive" things about myself. I don't get how people are like "I can't think of anything." Unless you are Melanie, who is the most humble person in the world. And then she has her husband go and do it for her. (Her husband is amazing to do that for her, by the way)

If I like this post, I think I'll do "99 things about Reagan & Judd." I can lay out all of our embarrassing stories and make you guys wish you were their best friends too.

Anyway, I decided to do a post about Eureka. 101 Things about Eureka. And why 101? Well, cause. . .

1. Eureka, CA is located on Highway 101

2. There is no way to avoid my town if you travel from San Francisco to Oregon

3. I've lost count of how many movies have been made in my town.

4. Some of the more well known movies that were made here are: Outbreak, The Lost World, and Return of the Jedi.

5. Eureka High School has one of the most unique mascots ever: The Loggers

6. I used to think it was so cool that I had a mascot so different from every other school. Your school had a panther, or a tiger or a moose for a mascot. Super lame and super generic. But we got a super unique LOGGER. chop chop.

7. I also loved my school colors: Red and Green. People always say, "like Christmas" but I say, "No, like a Redwood Tree".

8. Most people think that California stops with San Francisco.

9. When I tell them that I live 5 hours north of S.F. and still 1 hour from the Oregon border, they say, "I didn't think that you could still be in California 5 hours north of San Francisco.

10. I look at these people and try to tell them with my eyes how dumb I think they are. Because if you look on a map, San Fran is so obviously located in the center of the state. Why would you think that that's the top? Dummy

11. The average high temp is 64 degrees

12. The average low is 52

13. The RECORD HIGH for this time of year is 74 degrees.

14. That's the way it is almost every day of the year.

15. You almost always need a sweatshirt, but you almost never need a thick thermal jacket. This is the way it will be year round.

16. It's currently 57 degrees inside my house. I'm not joking when I say that.

17. I love curling up under multiple blankets and watching TV or listening to music or just talking to my family members in our house.You always should have a blanket in Eureka

18. My house almost always smells like damp wood. It can't help it. There is so much moisture in the air.

19. The smells of Eureka make me so nostalgic.

20. Everywhere you go it smells like the ocean, salt, trees, earth and rain and running water.

21. I want to bottle up the smells and sell them as perfume. . .Like that Seinfeld episode.

22. Going to high school in Eureka could be hard if you didn't grow up here. People tend to be cliquey.

23. I moved here when I was 13, just about to start the 8th grade. People were pretty accepting to me, but that's because I played sports and because I had been visiting here since I was born. But not everyone was that lucky.

24. There is a lot of Marijuana in Eureka.

25. My mom just told me today that if you have a "215" card, you are allowed to have THREE POUNDS of pot in your possession. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? Do you know how much that is? I mean, pot is a plant, and when it dries it weighs almost nothing. Three pounds is enough to fill a small suitcase.

26. I could see the Ocean from the windows of my High School

27. My high school had amazing English program. I mean, the other classes were good too, but the English program was by far the best.

28. I read more classics in H.S. then I think the normal person reads. And the English teachers were always voted the "Most Popular" teachers

29. This doesn't have to do with Eureka, but I want to tell this one story. One thing I didn't read was anything by George Eliot. And when I went to college Mindy would always ask me if I had read "The Mill on the Floss" and I would always ask her if she had read "Catch-22". Anyway, we would always answer no to the other person's question. Anyway, when she would ask if I had read any George Eliot I would ALWAYS answer her "George Eliot? I LOVE HIM!!" To which she would always tell me that George Eliot was a girl. And I would always tell her that I knew that, and I was just kidding. And then she would forget and I would get to pull the same joke on her 3 months later. I think I did this gag at least 3-4 different times. It never got old (in my mind, anyway)

30. Eureka isn't a great sports school. It's decent, but it's not the clear cut leader of the northcoast.

31. You wouldn't know that talking to people around here.

32. Most people are obsessed with sports, especially football. Which reminds me of BYU fans and their crazy devotion.

33. For some reason, the people in Eureka always have really nice cars. They may not have good jobs, but they have great cars.

34. There are several different "burbs" in Eureka. Some of the most notable are Cutten, Henderson Center, Myrtle Town and Old Town. I live in Henderson Center.

35. Eureka is really behind on some things and really ahead on others: it's really behind on technology. We just recently got a national cell company. Until then it was just a local company and you would have to pay for roaming charges if you went 20 miles away from the center of town.

36. However it's really ahead on things like recycling and waste management. I have no idea where to go to recycle things in Utah. But I can name three recycling centers within a few miles of my house in Eureka. And it's been like that for 15 years.

37. All the beaches are cold.

38. The water is cold. You need to wear a wetsuit all the time in it.

39. There is a great white shark that patrols off the beach at moonstone.

40. Surfers try to avoid it.

41. The surfers all are crazy. I think they are smoking 1 pound of their pot before they go out there.

42. The pulp mill off of the North Jetty puts out a smelly gas. It smells like farts sometimes.

43. It's really great to suck in smelly pulp mill farts as you are jogging around outside on the track.

44. Eureka High has an open lunch policy. You can go anywhere for lunch as long as you make it back before the next class starts.

45. All schools in our school district have what is called "snack break." It's a 15 minute break between 2nd and 3rd periods.

46. Kids would use this time to go off campus and smoke, drink or do drugs.

47. Teachers too sometimes

48. Eureka High School has hardwood floors in every room, redwood banisters and a massive auditorium with great acoustics.

49. The exterior of EHS is beautiful and very ornate. See? It makes me happy to drive by it

50. If you were wondering why there are so many "Eureka High" based things on this list, it's because I'm back here for my 1o year class reunion. Just in case you cared.

51. There are actually 2 high schools in Eureka. One is called "Zoe Barnum" and it's an "alternative" H.S. Like you can totally screw off for a couple of years and then go to Zoe (Pronounced "Zoh" not "Zo-ee") and then you can make up 2 years in 1 year. If you do that, you can still graduate with your class.

52. The Zoe Kids are scary. I try to avoid them. Plus, only 20% of them actually go back to regular high school. Most of them just get their GED and start to work for Carl's Jr. right away.

53. Eureka High has a great Powder Puff game every year. Legendary even.

54. The Juniors play the Seniors and it ALWAYS gets nasty. It doesn't matter what happens before that, but on the playing field you are enemies.

55. When I was a Junior, there were lots of athletic people in my class, and we kicked the Seniors ALL OVER the field. They were SOOOOO mad at us.

56. Oh yeah, choosing a mascot for our P.P. team was a nightmare. The administration vetoed all our ideas. We ended up having to go with "Iron Maidens." Which now that I think about it is pretty cool.

57. Boys are the cheerleaders for the game. They dress in drag and usually have their balls hanging out sometime during the evening. Sometimes boys get suspended for their actions/moves on the cheer squad. It's hilarious.

58. So back to #55, The Seniors (who were the class of '97) had this AMAZING money making fundraiser. It was the sale of Christmas trees. They made so much money the 3 years that they did it, that they were able to take the whole class to the water slide park in Redding (3 hours away) for the senior trip. We went to a local park for ours. Anyway, when it was time to give the Christmas tree program to another class they *should've* given it to us because we desperately needed the money. But they were still mad about the powder puff thing and gave it to the sophomores. Bastards.

59. In my house in Eureka, there is a white board to write down messages. My father would routinely take the marker and write on the walls ABOVE the board or to the side of it. It really makes me mad. I've noticed there are still some numbers on the wall here in our house that haven't been cleaned yet.

60. There is a street in Eureka called "Bhuner". It's pronounced "Boone" but I always call it "Boner" to be crass and inappropriate.

61. Berries are everywhere. Not only are there Blackberries, but there are also marion berries, thimble berries, huckleberries. There is a feast all around you.

62. The Loleta Cheese Factory makes the best cheese curds in the world. They also have a big window where you can see the cheese being made. It's just like watching an episode of "Unwrapped" on the Food Network

63. Admission to the Sequoia Zoo in Eureka is Free

64. Up until very recently, the Sequoia Zoo was home to the worlds second oldest Chimpanzee. His name was Bill

65. Bill would throw poo at you through the bars in his cage. If you see his arm raise, he's not waiving hello at you. STAY BACK.

66. Right behind the zoo is a mini-redwood forrest. You can go hiking there, pick berries and just enjoy the smells of the damp earth

67. To get to the full redwood forrest you need to drive either 20 min north or 20 min south of my town. I prefer to go north. Because Trinidad is north and so are most of the good beaches too.

68. I do not like the beach

69. Whenever I go to the beach, I usually end up with sand in my underwear, hair, ears eyes and mouth. It doesn't matter if I just stand there and do nothing. I will get sand in my underwear.

70. Whenever you go to the beach here, you MUST have a bonfire.

71. No one wears a bathing suit at the beach. Instead you cover up with layers and layers of sweatshirts, pants, hats, etc.

72. Fort Humboldt in my town was once visited by Ulysses Grant.

73. Eureka has houses dating back to the mid 1800's

74. The town was founded during a logging boom here on the north coast. That's when my great-great grandparents came.

75. They came from Scandinavian. Johnson is their name. Do you get any more Scandinavian then that?

76. Our current home is the home that my mother grew up in

77. It's much nicer now then when she lived here.

78. This house had only 1 bathroom for over 70 years.

79. Sunday mornings were a nightmare. 7 people all trying to take a shower before 9 am church. I never got to take a shower alone.

80. Eureka is historically protected from most of the politics and influences of California by what we call "The Redwood Curtain"

81. In the winter you can go 45 minutes and get to the snow

82. In the summer you can go 45 min and get to the HOT HOT HEAT.

83. My brother and his wife always forget how cold it is here and always have to buy more sweatshirts for their kids while they are here.

84. I have never had seafood any better then when in Eureka

85. I have gone clamming in the slough, crabbing in the bay and salmon fishing in the ocean. The ocean is full of good stuff ready to be eaten.

86. Eureka has the best dungenous crabs. I don't think I spelled that correctly.

87. Most houses in Eureka have mold in them

88. There are seagulls everywhere in my town.

89. The birds were trained like Pavlov's dog: When the bell would ring to signal 5 minutes to get to class, the birds would start to circle in anticipation of gobbling up all the food the kids had left behind. If you were late getting to glass the birds would dive bomb you and you would probably get pooped on.

90. Los Bagels is the best Mexican based store selling Jewish foods in the world. It has everything: Challahs and pan de muertos. Kinishes and conchas. Bolillos and menorahs. You have to visit it and have some pesto.

91. Los Bagels is closed on Tuesdays. I can't tell you how many times that burned me on my lunch break and I had to scramble to get lunch somewhere else.

92. Eureka has the best Chinese Food ever.

93. Also there is an amazing bakery 2 blocks from my house.

94. don't forget about the great BBQ place. I had ribs for dinner last night. I'm still tasting the sauce on my lips. (It's no wonder I have such a hard time losing weight when I'm here.)

95. At my Jr. High you weren't allowed to walk on the grass

96. My Jr. High didn't have a cafeteria. Just 2 "snack food" windows.

97. I want everyone to come here and pick blackberries with me one day

98. I wish I could've seen and lived here during the late 1800's and early 1900's. I bet it was so beautiful.

99. I was lucky enough to have great friends growing up so I stayed pretty clear of the bad stuff that is so prevalent. I never drank, smoked or snorted anything. I'm sure I'm one of the only ones.

100. Eureka is not a great place to raise kids.

101. But Eureka is a great place to live after your kids are grown.

I got 99 problems, but a BABY ain't one

I know that the song from whence my title derives is somewhat more crass. But I would like to say that my baby is NOT a problem. I am not going to be over the moon about this, because I know that babies are fickle things and my 8 hours of sleep a night can be taken away from me tomorrow. But for now I will rejoice and sing her praises.

Last night she slept 4 hours, and then she was up for a feeding/changing. And then she was asleep for another 4!! I was awake and had taken a shower and done my MAKEUP before she was awake!! She really is the best baby ever. Here is another picture of her:
Just as beautiful awake as asleep, right? Don't fight the truth: She's gorgeous.

So back to the topic of this email, I need to write 99 things about myself. I'm determined to stay at this blog until I have all 99.

1. I prefer rain to snow any day
2. I had never seen trees change color until I was a freshman at BYU. I only knew that it happened in theory. When I asked what was going on with the trees up on the mountains, one of my freshman roommates made fun of me.
3. I'm too old to be watching MTV, but I still find myself doing it
4. Before she was born, I was afraid I wouldn't love my daughter as much as I love my dog.
5. Sometimes I cry just looking at my daughter being overcome with my love for her and knowing that she's all mine and I get to be her mother.
6. I will never again work at a job or for a boss that demoralizes, bullies and blackmails me.
7. I have issues with my father so deep that I fear we will never be able to speak to each other normally ever again.
8. I love being warm. I can sit in a house that's 85 degrees and never once think of turning on the A/C
9. I hate being cold. I feel like no matter how many layers I put on, I can never stay warm
10. I am very smart, but sometimes I let my intelligence make me smug and self-righteous. I hate myself when I do that.
11. When I have no respect for someone, I become incredibly condescending and I talk down to them.
12. It takes a LOT to lose my respect. You usually have to abuse me for a consistent amount of time for this to happen. But once it does, that's it: you are dead to me
13. I would rather do anything besides clean a toilet. I mean ANYTHING. Marcelo and I have an arrangement: He cleans the toilets and I clean everything else in the house. That's how seriously I hate toilets.
14. I have no interest in ever watching an episode of American Idol.
15. I think I've seen every episode of ER since it started.
16. I considered going to law school after taking a law class for my major at BYU.
17. My obsession with Law & Order also contributed to my desire to go to law school.
18. One day I'm going to take the LSAT just for myself, to see how I do. I bet I'll tear it up
19. My best friends are very intelligent. I can't stand people with a below-average intelligence. I have no patience for them
20. I don't believe in "Love at first sight" but. . .
21. The first time I saw Marcelo I knew something was going to happen between us.
22. I loved every minute of my mission. Even the moments when I was crapping my pants or fighting my eating disorder, I love those too.
23. I think that missions are for everyone, male and female.
24. I'm sad that my sister doesn't want to serve a mission. She says that she "just doesn't want to" but I think there is something else there that she's not saying.
25. I was a dirty farm kid growing up. I had to regularly check my poop for worms, and I routinely found them.
26. I didn't own a store bought dress of my own until I was 15. And even then the only reason I got one was because I was fatter than my mom and my sister and we could no longer share clothes.
27. I think I underestimate how much fun I am and how much people like to be around me. I am often surprised when people say that they love hanging out with me
28. I don't think I look good in hats
29. My favorite number is 29
30. I hate the way my chin looks. I think it swells when I gain weight, so I hate seeing how bulbous it looks
31. I am so blessed with the friends I have. I don't think I love myself half as much as my friends love me.
32. I have issues with my mom her as well, but I mostly feel badly for her. I think she's a product of her generation and of nearly 40 years of brainwashing at the hands of my father. And I know that deep down she loves me. I'm not so sure that my father does.
33. I have an amazing sense of smell. I can smell things across the room and I have total recall when it comes to certain smells.
34. I could do a lot more with myself during the day if I weren't so lazy.
35. The same goes for schooling. I can pull of an A- average working at only about 37% of my capacity.
36. I am currently fighting a little post pardom depression. But you'll be happy to know I haven't cried all day today!! (I think Lisa has something to do with that)
37. I don't have any female cousins my age. Family reunions sucked because no one would play with me. The one closest in age was all into dolls and playing "house" which I found asinine and pointless. I wanted to play G.I. Joe with the my boy cousins
38. I've had several dreams where I am smoking. I'm a good smoker in my dreams
39. I've never permanently died my hair. I've done that "temporary" dye, but that's the most I've ever done.
40. I will never dye my hair again. Even when I get old. I think people should age naturally
41. My baby has been sleeping for almost 5 hours now. How did I get so lucky?
42. Marcelo was the first person that ever loved me for me and not for anything else
43. I knew I wanted to marry Marcelo within a week of knowing him. He made me want to be better, and that has always been my #1 qualification in a husband. If I can't improve myself and if I can't be with someone that makes me be better and makes me WANT to be better, then what is the point of me being here on earth?
44. I will read my favorite books over and over again. I get excited as I start them just thinking of all the "good parts" that I'm about to get to.
45. My favorite book is "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH." I've probably read it 45 times. It always makes me cry when Justin dies.
46. I acquired "Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH." in the second grade when I had a "perfect" week and got to pick a prize out of the "Treasure Chest." I picked a book. I've always loved books
47. I am a VERY fast reader. I read faster than my brilliant ex-roommate who got a perfect score on the ACT, was a Hinckley Scholar and who is currently getting her PhD in Physics.
48. I love the smell of trees
49. I love the smell of rain on hot asphalt
50. I love the smell of new babies. When Evi was placed in my arms, it took me back to holding my little sister Julianne the day after she was born. They had the same smell.
51. I was 5 when Julie was born. See? I have total smell recall
52. My mother did an amazing job smoothing over the fact that my father is a total jerk. She always helped make sure that she created good memories for us in our minds.
53. I have seen my father yell at my mother until she's in tears over something ridiculous. I was 6 or 7. I think I lost all respect for him at that point.
54. I have never had a desire to go to France to visit. If someone who speaks French would like to take me there and show me why it's so cool, I'll be happy to go. Otherwise no dice
55. Marcelo is a great husband, but new unknown experiences scare him. I.E. he has yet to change a diaper. (He asked me 2 days ago how they worked. I think we need to have a diaper tutorial)
56. My mother may be out of whack when it comes to certain things, but she knows how her daughters' breasts are going to react to breastfeeding. She lent these little cups to my sister Sarah who mailed them to me a few weeks ago. They go in your shirt and catch that milk that comes out between feedings. Some women can catch that stuff with one of those "pads", but apparently our family is different. We produce LOTS AND LOTS of milk. How much milk? Well, this is the amount that I removed from these cups over the space of 4 hours. (Not counting the TWO times I fed my baby in those 4 hours). That is out of control. But now cups are starting to leak a little bit, so I'm on the hunt for some more. But like I said, they were once my mother's (who stopped having kids 19 years ago. Yeah, they are that old) and so I think they will be hard to find. ARGH!
57. I love cheese curds.
58. I think that I'm quite inappropriate at times.
59. I trust people too quickly and open myself up to them way too easily. I have been burned many MANY times by doing this.
60. I love my freckles
61. I think my baby will have light brown eyes when her eye color finally establishes itself.
62. I love the fact that Marcelo doesn't have any hair on his chest. Hair grosses me out
63. Almost everyone that I graduated high school with or was a roommate in college with went into teaching.
64. At one time I wanted to name my kids after English Royalty: Jane, Victoria, Andrew and Edward were my favorites.
65. At another time, I wanted to name my kids after Greek mythological characters. Andromeda (calling her Andy) and Cassiopeia (Calling her Cassie) were my favorites.
66. I think that the hottest Disney animated character is Prince Phillip from Sleeping Beauty
67. When I first saw my daughter, I thought she looked too much like me and I was upset. ( I don't think too well of my looks)
68. Because she looked too much like me, I only rated her a 4 on a cuteness scale from 1 to 10. Her swelling has since gone down and I now rate her an 8 or a 9 on the cuteness scale.
69. I have no problems with people telling me that my baby is weird looking or even mildly unattractive.
70. I think that Heavenly Father knew my weaknesses and made me unattractive for a reason
71. I have only kissed one man in my life: My husband
72. I love the smell of gardenia and lavender and sweat pea. I hate the smell of roses
73. My uncle calls me "stink weed" because I used to pick the stink weeds with red-orange flowers from our front yard and bring them in and give them to my mom as a gift.
74. I think the most beautiful place in the world is the Redwood Forest of Northern California.
75. I do not like the beach. I have never been to a warm beach in my life. To me, the beach means being cold, eating a half cooked hot dog with sand inside, and then coming home smelling like smoke and finding sand in your undies. Not a pleasant experience.
76. I've played club volleyball and volleyball in school since I was in the 6th grade. Because of that, I HATED when the ward mutual night called for playing volleyball. I had no patience for what I called "Jungle ball." Can someone just set me so I can spike the ball? DANG!!
77. I LOVE cracking crab, but I hate eating it.
78. No one would be surprised to know my favorite color is green. However, did you know my second favorite color is red?
79. I hate liars. I hate that my last job encouraged me and demanded that I lie for them every moment of every day. I hope to someday be forgiven for the horrible things that job made me do to good and decent people.
80. I used to wet the bed. Almost every night. The last time I wet the bed I was a junior in High School.
81. Because I used to wet the bed, my mom would never put a mattress pad between the plastic sheets protecting the mattress and the fitted sheet. I hated the crackle it would make as I laid down, but I knew that I didn't deserve a non-crackly bed because I couldn't keep my bed dry at night. To this day I hate the sound and smell of plastic sheets.
82. I played 2 and sometimes 3 varsity sports in High School
83. My greatest fear and biggest embarrassment growing up was to be left out of the activities of my friends. And I frequently was.
84. I dream in Spanish still sometimes
85. I miss Ecuador almost every day. Especially all the fresh fruits and vegetables.
86. I prefer water to any other thing I could possibly drink
87. I think it's easier to hate myself then to love myself
88. I was worried about how my father would feel when I didn't invite him to the blessing of my baby. I don't worry about that any more. I will invite him and he won't come because my mother will be there.
89. I don't like raw marshmallows, but I love s'mores and rice krispy treats.
90. I once wrote a 3 page list of all the foods I don't like. Bananas was at the top of the list.
91. I think that I am very blessed. I worry about what my trials in life will be because I feel like I have received nothing but blessings every day of my life
92. I need to improve my piano playing abilities. I'm sure that soon I'll get a calling where I'll need to play, and I won't be ready.
93. I didn't know I had curly hair until my senior year in high school. Even then, I didn't think it was really CURLY. Whenever someone called it that, I was always confused.
94. I don't like things touching my neck. I always get in trouble in the temple and am told to fix my clothing so it's "RIGHT"
95. I have had lots of thoughts and feelings that I'm ashamed of. I'm glad others can't read my mind
96. I think that Roses are pretentious flowers. And generic all at the same time. I would rather receive almost anything else as a gift instead of roses.
97. I hate going to General Conference at the Conference Center. I hate the crowds, the protesters shouting at me and trying to find a parking situation. Everything about it. I would rather just stay at home and watch it on TV and be in my PJ's. No reason to fight through everyone if you don't have to, right?
98. I love my Tivo. It's the best purchase I've made in the past 10 years
99. I'm sure I could do another 99 items if you asked me right now.

Well, that's it. I'm all done. It's now 11:39 so I'm going to bed. My baby should be up in just a few hours.

Here's hoping you all do this exercise too. It's super fun!

Today I Marry My Best Friend. . .

Remember when that phrase was all the rage on wedding invitations? Ugh!! So trite and generic. The next time you see me, ask me to do my impression of that phrase. It makes me laugh and I almost can't get through the whole phrase because I'm trying to suppress the giggles.

Anyway, today was a hard day. Not because of work, but because of home selling stresses. Marcelo is FINALLY at the point that he is willing to let the price go low, but maybe we've lost all our buyers? It's REALLY stressing me out. I can't sleep most nights. And then I have to wake up and deal with work and hear Jean make racist comments about Marcelo and how he choose the wrong tile color because he's MEXICAN. No joke, she said that, and then quickly corrected herself to say "hispanic."

Do you know what the word hispanic is? It's the latino version of the word "negro." Like how old racist people know that they shouldn't say the "N" word (because that word is generally "frowned upon" in good society), and they replace it with the more PC term "Negro" but it's JUST as offensive and racist. Jean is that racist person. Anyway, I have to deal with that crap all the time, AND I have to do it on very little sleep. Today was one of those days.

So we are really REALLY ready to let our incredible house go for a GREAT deal. If anyone knows someone that wants to buy a home for $30,000 under market value, please let me know.

So like I promised, I am doing a post about my wedding day. Beth calls these "Meme's". How do you pronouce that? Like "Mee-mee?" or like "Meh-Meh"? Please enlighten me(me). But here it is with the FOUND pictures.

1. What date is your anniversary?
August 14th, 2004. That's a nice date because you hit your 6-month anniversary on Valentine's Day!! Not like we DO anything for Valentine's Day, but if we WANTED to, it would be our half anniversary.


2.Where did you get married?
San Diego Temple. People always ask if I'm from there, but I'm not. I wanted to get married there because it was the first temple I got to see the INSIDE of. When I was 13 the temple was complete and dedicated and we went to the open house. I remember putting on the white booties (to protect the carpet) and then walking inside. The room that most stuck in my mind at that young age was this one with a VERY large staircase in a very pretty room with a HUGE chandelier in the middle of the ceiling.

It won't surprise you to know that that's the Celestial Room. And so when I was married, I got to trip up that staircase with my huge dress on and sit just looking at that chandelier. Very pretty, very quiet. Perfect. Also I was currently living in Utah, my best friend and brother lived in AZ and my mom and the rest of my family were in Northern CA. It was about the same distance for everyone to come to San Deigo. So it just seemed fair to make everyone travel the same amount.

Anyway, it was fairly a horrible trip for everyone who came. They ALL had to come a long way. THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO TRAVELED SO FAR TO SEE ME MARRY THE LATINO GUY!!

3. Who proposed and how?
This is a ridiculously embarrassing story. So Marcelo and I had talked about this a few times. I was pretty sure that we would be engaged when I came back from Ecuador in May. I considered myself "engaged" for a long time. (I won't tell you how long I considered that. Let's just say it was LOOOONG before I had ever kissed Marcelo) But I considered myself asi even though we really didn't have a complete understanding about everything.

Well, I went back to Ecuador and walked off the plane and Marcelo was nowhere to be found!! I sat down on a bench outside the airport and waited. And waited. And waited. And then far FAR away I see a Marcelo shaped image a long way off walking into the "Departures" wing of the Quito Airport. I hike it over there and back into the airport, and sure enough, there he is, standing around, waiting for me to do all the work. HAR HAR

Anyway, I'm incredibly nervous because, BECAUSE he's decided to bring his PARENTS!! That's right!! It's been 1 year and 2 months since I've seen his face, and he brings his parents 8 hours on a bus to make me feel crazy anxious.

That's right, 8 hours. After having been on a plane for like 4 hours, I get to get on a bus at the Terminal Terrestre in Quito, then on another bus in Santo Domingo, and then a cab to their little suburb from the main part of Quevedo. I was VERY tired already, and then I had that huge trip to deal with. And I was flooded with all these Marcelo feelings. And I was nervous because I had never kissed a boy before. And I was trying to deal with all these things at once. I'm surprised my head didn't explode.

Anyway, we get on a bus, and settle in for a long LONG ride. Where we are making out the ENTIRE TIME. You are probably wondering how we did that with his parents nearby. Not easily, that's for dang sure! But I had been wanting to kiss him for well over a year, and we only had 3 weeks before I had to get on another plane!! We had lost time to make up for! Anyway, after nearly 4 hours of non-stop making out, Marcelo comes up for air and says, "oh I forgot. I have something to ask you." I thought that he forgot to tell me something about the upcoming stake conference, or about maybe traveling to Manabi to visit his family.

But no, he says, "I forgot to ask you: do you want to marry me?" UGGGH!!! I was TOTALLY pissed off!! I told him, "You know what? Forever after this everyone will ask me how you asked me to marry you, and I'll either have to LIE or tell them that you asked me while we were making out. You suck." (By the way, I said that all in Spanish. And I called him a few other choice words too). And I was officially engaged. Bastard.

4. How long were you engaged?
TOO LONG!! A year and a half. Waiting for his Visa to be accepted we just had to wait and wait and wait. I only got to see him once again after we got engaged. And then he arrived in the country and 2 weeks later we were married!!

5. What was the favorite part of your wedding day? (besides who you were marrying, hopefully)
Getting to see Judd, Lee and all my old roommates. And listening to the sealer say great things to us. What were those great things? I have NO idea. I'm sure they were nice and inspiring, but I didn't hear a thing. I was busy translating for Marcelo and feeling anxious that everyone was looking at me all the time.



And I know Beth and Amy were probably too "cultured" to say this, but I'm going to come right out and say it. It was awesome being able to make out with my husband and KEEP GOING without guilt. I know chastity is great and all, but it's REALLY DIFFICULT to stop when you are seriously in love and going to be married in 2 weeks. So I would have to say waiting till your married and then being able to "go all the way" (to use a cheesy 7th grade phrase) without guilt is the best part of ANYONE'S wedding day. Am I right? You know I am!

6. What would you change if you could?
Just a few things, and they were some of the same things that Amy said she would've changed. I would've rented my dress instead of buying. I have this huge wedding dress hanging in my closet that I keep having to move from one place to another. I want to give it to someone else who really wants it and loves it, but I don't know when that will happen. So I just keep it around to use as my weight barometer. I'll be REALLY happy when I can once again fit into that dress.

Second:My engagement pictures. I always SWORE that I wouldn't have my ring visible and I wouldn't have that "one" pose where one person's hands are wrapped around the other. AND IT HAS BOTH!!! Now that I look in my book of engagement photos, there are so many others that I would've chosen. There is this one where Marcelo looks SOO cute, but it's too fuzzy, so that's why we didn't use it. Now I wish that we had. He looks freaking adorable, and I look pretty cute myself.

Third, I would've hung out with Judd and my friends more. That was the last time I got to see Lee, and it was the last time I got to see Judd for a REALLY long time. I feel like I neglected everyone that was there to see me. I feel badly when I look back on it.

Oh, and I would've made sure that my bouquet didn't have a fake gold handle. That was tacky.
But I didn't have a say in the matter. We ordered
the bouquet from some random place, but when we got there to pick it up, it was like a little hut on the side of the road. NO JOKE. I didn't know that I had to say, "no fake gold" to the florist. I was wrong.

7.Wedding colors?
Red and Green baby. Northern California girl all the way. I actually wanted it to be more green than red in the pictures, but I found these great shirts at Banana Republic for crazy cheap. They were the right color and so I bought them for all my bridesmaids. With the black skirts, they just make everything look so CLASSY. I really REALLY lucked out on these shirts.

8.Do you remember anything special from your ceremony? Any good advice? A comical moment?
Like I said previously, I hardly remember anything the sealer said at my wedding. I do remember several things from Judd's wedding. And I will share them here. The Sealer told her and Parmenter to look around the room, and look at all the love and support they had around them. He gave them about 3o seconds to do this. And when he spoke again he said, "Someone over my shoulder got a wink from the bride." And Judd, without missing a beat, says, "Old boyfriend." IN HER SEALING!! LOVE LOVE LOVE HER!

I immediately started crying because I knew that I would not get anymore lessons on quickness and wit from my Judd. Her husband would get all those great comments. She was no longer my best friend, she was now Frank's wife. Bastard Frank, taking away my Judd.

Also the sealer told her and Parmenter that they had all of eternity to look at each other, but he needed them to look at him right now. I bet he said this so that he knew that they were listening to him as he talked. So when I was being sealed, I didn't want to be embarrassed and told the same thing, so I didn't even try to look at Marcelo. Like didn't even try. Later my sister in law Tina told me that was weird, and that he was trying to look at me the whole time. I think that also goes under "what I would change" category. I would definitely look at my husband more on our wedding day while we were being sealed.

And finally, when we were ready to walk out, they didn't send us out the main door where all our family and friends were waiting. They pushed us out this little side door. (This is the first picture the photographer took of us after she found us.) However, our photographer was crazy professional and somehow knew that this would happen. She walked right up to me and was like "Are you Alicia?". Yep, she found us first and had taken a half a roll of film before we were joined by other members of our family. What's up with that? Why did we get the shove out the side door? Was someone more important coming through the front door? Very strange indeed.

9.Were you clean or messy when you cut your wedding cake?
Clean. My mom's good friend said to Marcelo at our reception, "Now, don't you even think about shoving cake in her face." And my dear sweet South American husband said, "why would I do that?" HA! I'm telling you, I love having a husband that doesn't know what's expected of him sometimes. It really makes him easier to "mold" sometimes.

No cake pictures here to show you. I don't have a SINGLE picture from my reception. The "photographer" (AKA, local girl from ward) didn't put a battery in the camera. Every picture came out gray. MENOS EFFICAZ!

10.Where did you go on your honeymoon?
We spent our wedding night in a hotel right across the street from Sea World. The next day (Sunday) we went to Anaheim and then Monday we went to Disneyland. Then ALL DAY TUESDAY we traveled up to my family's cabin. We only had that one night to ourselves because on Wed everyone started arriving for the family reunion. We got kicked out of the cabin and moved a mile down the road to a campsite. I was quite bitter about that. No one else has a family reunion planned right in the middle of their honeymoon. Does one day in Disneyland count as a honeymoon? LAME!!

Anyway, Marcelo did NOT like Disneyland as much as I thought he would. When we saw where our hotel was right by Sea World, I thought we should've gone there. I was right. However, it was too late, so nothing could be done about that. Marcelo didn't like Disneyland because he didn't like the scary rides. I had to trick him to go on a few of them. I am evil.

11.How long have you been married now?
Three years and 9 months. It really goes by fast. I bet it will go by even faster with a baby. But I guess everything is fast when you are with your best friend. . . .BLECH!!!

Well, I hope you all enjoyed this. I'm going to bed now. It's 2 in the morning. But I had to finish this blog. I start to get death threats when people expect a blog from me and they don't get it. SO DEMANDING!!!

Only 8 more days to go till the job is over!! WHOO HOO!!!

What's in YOUR Purse?

My old neighbor Krista got "tagged" with a unique theme. Empty your purse and describe the contents therein. Usually this just means a list. But with BLOGS you can take pictures of all the crap that's there. This also inspired me to write the previous blog about my father's choice in wallet fashion. I think I've mocked him sufficiently on that one, but I do encourage you all to go back and read it. And enjoy the photo. That's my favorite part.

Anywhere, here are the contents of my purse

Firstly, the purse itself. I just stole this purse from my mom last week. It was a gift from her daughter in law (Denisse) and Denisse's mother. My mom is REALLY picky about her purses, and will spend HOURS looking for a new purse. I should know, I have been dragged on many such trips to Mervyns and/or JCPenny. But for her a purse has to have all those components that she needs: Lots of pockets that will hold all her keys and check books. At any given time she's carrying 20 keys for different properties and 5 different check books for her many trust & operating accounts.

Her big concern and complaint about this particular purse is that when empty, it's "too heavy" for her. Whatever, she's cuckoo and I will be benefiting from her craziness. Here is a picture of my purse:



And, like I said, I just changed purses, so I just cleaned this thing out just the other week. So if I had to do this last week, you would've seen more candy wrappers and less granola bars. But I've just cleaned it out to transfer all my stuff so it's the cleanest it's ever been.

But there is a stack of stuff I always transfer over. It looks like a lot, but it all fits into one pocket. Here is a picture of the contents of my one pocket.



I'm going to start on the top left and work down each row. That red thing is a pocket pack of sticky lint remover papers. When you have a short haired dog, you absolutely need these. Well, not really, but if you have a short-haired dog AND a psycho boss then you do. She'll tell me to either clean myself off or go home and change. And because I don't have any other work clothes, I have to have something to clean off the dog hair.

Next down is an old temple recommend. I know we are supposed to throw them away, but it's the one I got before I got married, back when I was a virgin and didn't know anything. I don't know why I'm keeping it. Maybe I still want to pretend I'm virginal. The green paper is a post-it note with the phone number of the Orem Community Hospital birthing center. I was supposed to go on Dec 13 to take a tour, but I forgot. But I still want to go, so I'm saving the phone number to call and set up a showing again. Wanna come Reagan? I know you will ask the questions I don't know yet to ask.

Next, my insurance card. I use this once a month so I need to have it close at hand. Next 2 Barnes & Noble Gift Cards. One has like $40 bucks on it, and the other on has $10. But I'm very particular about buying books until I know that I like them. I feel the same about movies. I like to check them out first, enjoy them for a short time and then return them. If I think about them over and over again and want to go back and read or watch them again, then I will buy it. So basically what I'm saying is that I need to read more, and then buy the books that I love.

Second row. At the top is a stack of pictures from my wallet in high school. Yes, it has pictures of ME and some of my friends and family from my high school years. I don't know why I still have them. I've been out of H.S. for 10 years. I should really get rid of them. But if you want, you can ask me to see them when you see me next. They'll make you laugh. Below that is a stack of post-its. Because they are just practical to have around. And then an Office Max rewards card that I use once a week in my job.

And then we have the Library cards. The white one is from the Chandler Public Library System in AZ. I got this card back in 2000 when I lived with Jeff & Tina for a summer. Again, why do I have it? When will I find myself in AZ, and in desperate need of some periodicals? Or needing to keep a couple of kids occupied for an afternoon? And yet, I won't get rid of it. Probably because I almost didn't get it, and I look at it as a badge of honor. Seriously!! It was harder to get that card than it was to get a driver's license! In BOTH the states of Cali and Utah!!! Why the national security? It's a freaking library card. But the Chandler Library system takes their card application procedures VERY seriously.

To the right of it is my yellow Humboldt County Library card. I actually DO use this card when I go back to Eureka. Well, my mom uses it more than I do. You can only check out 2 videos per card, so we get as many cards together and get as many videos as possible. This one I won't be getting rid of anytime soon. If I ever find the need to rid myself of it, I will mail it to my mom so she can keep it for future video checking out needs.

Next row. That long receipt is a free $10 to Pebbles in my Pocket. I'm going to need to go spend that before I leave the state of Utah. I think that Missouri will have lots of good things, but I don't know if awesome scrapbooking stores will be one of them. And then right below it is my old CA driver's license. It's no longer valid because it has a hole in it, but I still keep it around because I have the number memorized and if a store asks me to put my DL number on a check, that's the one I write on there. And I keep it around in case they ask to see it.

Finally, at the top of the last row is a copy of my marriage license. (This blog has become SOOO long. And I'm only half way through my purse!! Sorry, stop reading if you don't care anymore) This is why I will ALWAYS listen to advice from Reagan. About a month after I met her, we were in Spanish class and she was rummaging through her wallet, cleaning it out a bit. She pulled out a Xeroxed copy of her license and I saw it. I was confused, and she said, "oh, you should carry around a copy of your license for the first year or so of your marriage. Just until you get your name changed on everything"

I had never heard this before and I NEVER heard it from anyone else. And this has been the first of a MILLION pieces of rocking advice from Reagan. This little ditty got me back in to America from Mexico after my brother's wedding when I forgot to change my name on my passport in enough time. It got me out of at least 4 different scrapes that I can think of right now. Point Simple: Reagan=Freaking genius. The more recent pieces of genius advice she's given me are to not buy a car seat too heavy, because if it's heavy now, imagine with a 20 pound baby in it. And the other was that if you buy a Graco car seat, it will fit into any Graco stroller. That way you can avoid buying the whole "travel system" and save yourself some serious money. I LOVE YOU REAGAN AND YOUR FREAKING AWESOME ADVICE

At the bottom of the pile is a Starbucks card that has like $1.82 on it or something ridiculous like that. Again, why don't I get rid of it? Because when I go into Starbucks and get a Carmel Apple Cider some day, I will be able to save $1.82 off my final bill. There is also an emergency credit card with a HUGE limit (in case I need to buy some airline tickets to Ecuador, or something) and 2 free tickets to a movie theater. Any one want to come see a movie with me? I'm paying. . .

Whew. That was extensive. Now for the last pile of crap. Here is the picture:


It's basically the "necessary" items of my purse. I don't really need all the other crap that I just spend 45 minutes talking about. My wallet, my checkbook, chapstick, my Leatherman and my bag of Tums. I don't go ANYWHERE without that bag of Tums, or without my Leatherman. I have walked into many a government building or airport only to discover that it's in my purse and I have to run it back out to the car. It's just ALWAYS with me. And I use it a couple times a week. If you don't have one, GET ONE. You'll wonder how you lived without it.

The other things in that pile are things that I don't know where else to put, so I just carry them around with me. The little brown circle is a change purse Amy brought back for me from Brazil. I love it, and everyone who sees it loves it. It's made from Coconut shells, and it's awesome. The white circle is some cuticle cream. I need to use it more. It's very dry here in Utah. The black smaller square holds business cards. I leave them at homes when I do showings. I have about 500 of these cards, and I've only used about 25 of them in the 2 and a half years I've had my license. At least I didn't pay for them, right?

Finally, there is a granola bar and a pair of nylons. I didn't put my nylons on one day this week, so I put them in my purse so I could put them on at work. But I forgot about it, and I went home early from work so they've been in my purse this whole week. I'll be wearing them tomorrow, for sure. And the granola bar is something I usually carry around with me because it will curb the hunger momentarily. However, I usually have to follow it with Tums. Granola bars fall under the "sweet things" category that give me acid in my throat. But being hungry also causes the acid. So eating the granola bar is like jumping out of the frying pan into the fire. But like I said, it will curb the hunger situation for the time being. (You can't see from the picture, but that's just a wrapper. I ate it during the hour I've been typing this FREAKISHLY LONG post)

So that's my blog about my purse. You are sorry you asked, right Krista? That'll teach you.