Christmas, a la Peru!

A Peruvian Christmas dinner!

We invited a new couple over to our home for after-Christmas dinner and made them anticuchos, papas a la huancaina, chiche, Inca Kola (well, we didn't make that part) and lots of other good, Peruvian food. Here are a couple pictures from the blessed event. :D

As you can see, potatoes are definitely a staple in the Peruvian diet!

Dad busted out the grill for the anticuchos and everything. It took a hair dryer to get it going!

I especially like this one: my abuelita adding spice to the sopa de leches.

Cookie Monster!

Cookies are the best!

Geneology, I am doing it!

Today, while speaking with my abuelita, I learned that my bisabuela was a seamstress and medicinal-type person (knew how to cure lots of ailments with certains teas, etc. along with being a midwife) and my bisabuelo fixed broken bones. It was just about the coolest thing ever, and my abuelita made sure to include stories about how she got rid of cancer with vinegar and cured a twisted neck (the x-rays sounded nasty) with turpentine. I love family history. :)

Shake it up, baby!

Funny moment: hearing a woman with a thick, Spanish accent singing "Twist and Shout." I wish I had a recording!

Christmas comes but once a year!

I have the best pictures to share when I get back to a computer that will recognize my memory cards. I mean, 18 people in one house is just crazy-inducing in general, but it was also my family and Christmas. What could be better? :D

Packing

Because we moved a lot, I got really good and packing things and using as little space as possible but also planning for just about everything.

This time, however, I can't get away with one suitcase. I have to use two. And I'm sad. :(

Hermione Hair

Yeah, I'm thinking that's pretty self-explanatory. :)

So confused!

I have found a new bruise or cut on myself every day for the last week. I am currently at twelve bruises and four cuts and I have no idea how I sustained any of them. The weirdest part was the night that I discovered I'd gotten a new bruise exactly on top of an older, smaller bruise. What's going on?!

Apartment Christmas!

We had an apartment gift exchange again this year. And, since we believe in getting presents for everyone, rather than a Secret Santa thing, we had lots of little goodies for everyone. I love how much we get to know each other from things like writing letters to Santa (something we did last year) and phone calls to each other, asking if an idea is good/will be taken seriously/will be useful. Here are some pictures from our Monday night extravaganza. :)

Okay, so I got a little artsy with some of my pictures. I just really wanted to catch the paper snowflake and the Christmas tree in the same shot. :D

Erin opening her gift from Becca.

One of my presents for Emily, which I thought was pretty funny.

Kerry, marveling at Emily's gift to her.

Another Emily present--this time, for Becca!

I honestly don't remember who got Heather this gift, but I love Heather's expression!

A home teacher crashed our party, so we told him his punishment was having to take our picture so we could all be in the same shot. He included the Christmas tree, which was very nice of him.

Christmas Songs

So, I used to work at a store where I had almost no control over what music we listened to over the intercom system. This only became particularly frustrating when Christmas season hit. And I don't just mean December--I mean October 15thish - December 31st. You see, most of the "approved" radio stations would start Christmas music long before Halloween ever hit. This was kind of . . . annoying? I don't really want to use that word because I do love Christmas music, I just can't take the same 10 songs over and over again. And while in my heart I know there are more than ten Christmas songs out there (even my Church's hymnbook contains 14) it just felt like the stations couldn't wait 45 minutes before starting the same music again. So, I made a list. Mainly because I wanted to be annoying and prove that the stations COULD go more than three hours before repeating a song (I remember hearing Silent Night three times in less than 90 minutes time and, even though they were different arrangements, I more heartily starting thinking ). So, here is a list that I'm making off the top of my head. And I'm going for spiritual and secular here, so you'll see my train of thought sort of wander. If you see something you think is missing, feel free to leave a comment. :D

1. The First Noel
2. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
3. O Come All Ye Faithful
4. O Tenanbaum (Christmas Tree)
5. O Holy Night
6. Silent Night
7. Infant Holy, Infant Lowly
8. Mary, Did You Know?
9. Joy to the World!
10. Handel's Messiah (I'm just lumping them all together; giving the radio a sporting chance)
11. Up on the Housetop
12. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
13. the 12 Days of Christmas
14. Jingle Bells
15. Silver Bells
16. I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
17. I Wonder as I Wander
18. While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night
19. Santa Claus is Comin' to Town
20. Jingle Bell Rock
21. White Christmas
22. Blue Christmas
23. Santa Baby
24. Baby, It's Cold Outside
25. that Hippopotamus song
26. All I Want For Christmas
27. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow!
28. God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen
29. Deck the Halls
30. Fum, Fum, Fum
31. Ding, Dong, Merrily on High
32. What Child is This?
33. Feliz Navidad
34. Mary's Lullaby
35. Coventry Carol
36. Stars Were Gleaming
37. the Holly and the Ivy
38. We Three Kings
39. Far, Far Away on Judea's Plains
40. Angels We Have Heard on High
41. O Little Town of Bethlehem
42. Once in Royal David's City
43. We Wish You A Merry Christmas
44. Good King Wenceslas
45. Here We Come A-Wassailing
46. Christmas Waltz
47. My Grown-Up Christmas List (you know, by Mariah Carey, I think?)
48. O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
49. Carol of the Bells
50. I Saw Three Ships
51. Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella
    

There. I have 51 songs, and I only had to pause a couple of times (mostly because I can't spell 'hippo' or 'Wenceslas', but once after 39 songs, just to take a moment to see what else I could think of). Let's say the radio station plays three songs in a row, then goes to a three minute commercial break and the average song is three minutes long. That would mean that in one hour, they play 15 songs. So, I have more than three hours worth of material. Huzzah! Now, let's call our radio stations and ask them to use a little variety, eh?

Lights at Temple Square

My roommates and I were able to see the lights at Temple Square again this year. I'm loving that we've started having traditions because we've known each other for a while. :D Here are a few photos:

Becca, Kerry and Erin

The Nativity (in the foreground, and dark) and the Tabernacle.

Mary, Joseph and the Christchild.

The Salt Lake City temple.

The east spires of the temple.

Another nativity, placed in the reflecting pond just east of the temple.

Michelle and I enjoying a moment together (actually, I'd just finished rubbing some feeling back into my feet, lol!)

Twilight review

I don't believe I ever reviewed the Twilight Saga: New Moon, which is sad, because I thought it was hilarious. I don't think they meant for it to be quite so funny, but Tryn and I definitely found humor in more than one spot, especially because we'd lean into each other and say things like, "just put your seatbelt on!" and "is this where you were going?" which I suppose would only be funny to you, dear reader, if you've seen the RiffTrax version of the original Twilight.

Anyway, the movie was fine--it actually had a plot, the acting was somewhat better and because they had a better budget, everything wasn't blue the entire time. Huzzah.

And here is a picture of me and Tryn, laying on the ground, waiting for the theater to open up so we can sit in seats isntead. :D

Messiah Sing-Along!

After a crazy Sunday, it was nice to head down to Payson to enjoy a Messiah Sing-Along! With me were my roommate Becks, Kralc and his brother, Ty. We had a lot of fun, especially during the Amen chorus where the girls proceeded to get lost while the boys (who were sight-reading, mind you) chugged along. And this is a horrible picture because I'd taken almost 300 in an hour's time earlier that day and was tired of aiming and making things look good, so, yeah, here we are, scrunched together right after it ended!

the Holy War, 2009

In honor of my 250th post this year, I bring you: THE HOLY WAR.

Man, oh man, the things I could say about the Holy War! Even folks that know nothing about sports know about this battle between schools (well, if you're from Utah, or go to school in Utah, at least). Every year, football fans wait for the most anticipated match of the season: BYU vs. UofU. And I have to tell you, I was completely stoked for this game. It helps that I've had two seasons worth of prepping for it (I was only confused once when the refs called a penalty I had not heard before). Here are a couple of shots from the game:

The Deseret First Duel is a contest between the two schools to see who can do better in athletics each school year. These flags completely surrounded the north endzone.

The Cougars wore royal blue in honor of the 25th anniversary of BYU becoming the national champions.


The Utah and Cougar marching bands combine each year to play a song together. They call it the Red, White and Blue tradition. :)

Can you tell who won? I mean, there's certainly a lot of blue down there. This shot was taken moments after Andrew George caught the winning touchdown in overtime. I have several shots of the field filling with blue fans, but figured I'd keep this post to just one. :)

I snuck down to the marching band section a couple minutes before the end of the fourth quarter and watched the end of the game from there. Kralc was kind enough to sit next to me after the game had ended to enjoy the win while we waited for the field to clear.

I'm glad I went!

Hockey Game!

Last Friday I went to a hockey game with Kralc and Rockie and it was a blast! We were just on the side of the goal net and were pretty close to the action all night long. I'm glad I was able to see the Utah Grizzlies vs. the Las Vegas Wranglers. And, Rockie, I'm sorry we didn't witness any fights. :(

Week of Thanksgiving, pt. 7

It's a little late, but I've had so much fun the last couple of days that I just didn't take the time to blog.

I am thankful for kind, generous friends and sweet memories. I have been unable to go home for Thanksgiving for the last five years or so, but that hasn't stopped me from enjoying myself immensely. I have had such wonderful roommates and friends and I'm grateful for the memories that we've created together. I'm especially grateful to their parents/extended family for inviting some girl they don't know over to their house on a family holiday and making me feel at home. It gives me an example that I want to live up to a few years down the road when my children tell me their friend/roommate/significant other will be spending a holiday alone.

Week of Thanksgiving, pt. 6

I am thankful for pictures. And not just of my brand new header on this blog (thank you SO MUCH Marcie! Visit here website here) but just for pictures in general. I remember loving getting my hands on cameras as early as the age of 4 and, even though I have no skill nor do I have a fancy-pants camera, I just really like recording events and my friends and family's joy. Hooray for memories!

Week of Thanksgiving, pt. 5

Well, not sure what happened to my post about loving birthdays, but I'll go ahead and move on to my being thankful for living in America.

I love this country and love collecting books about its history and founding and celebrating its birthday and learning about all the great stuff that has come about in the last 230+ years of its existence. :) And I'm pretty sure my love of America was heavily influence by my grandma and grandpa (she was always a little sad that she was missed being born on Independence day by 2 days and he was born on Flag Day and insisted we celebrate that rather than his birthday). Happy day!

My blog ate my post?

Um, I'm a lot confused because I had posted something grateful for Sunday and my blog told me it had uploaded and I even saw the entry posted a couple of times but now it's not posted nor is it in my archives/scheduled posts/drafts folder. So . . . I'm confused about where it could have gone?

Week of Thanksgiving, pt. 4

Birthdays.

I love birthdays.

Oh, man, I can't even begin to go on about how much I love birthdays! But, considering today is my little brother's 14th birthday, I just have to mention how much I love celebrating and family-ness and giving gifts, and taking pictures and everything else that makes a birthday wonderful and special and happy!

Week of Thanksgiving, pt. 3

I am grateful for technology. I know, it sounds silly, but I wouldn't be able to keep in touch with half as many people as I do if it weren't for e-mail (huzzah, more than ten years of the same address), Facebook, and my cell phone. I am grateful that I can speak to my mother and sister almost instantaneously, even though we live in different states. I love that my brother and I can write to each other every week even though he's who-knows-where in Argentina. It's a wonderful world we live in. :)

Week of Thanksgiving, pt. 2

I am so grateful for being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and for being able to read the words of the prophets that have been sent to teach us by our loving Heavenly Father. I'm grateful for the joy that it brings to my life and for the friends I have from the many wards I've lived in over the years. I know that the gospel is true. I wish I were more eloquent, that I could share it with everyone and help them feel just as happy as I do.


P.S. Mini joy: When you go to the Church's website and select Music and hover your mouse over the menu choices, the website plays a note. If you hover over each hyperlink, it plays the notes in a song--so far I've heard "The Spirit of God" and "I Am A Child of God." Happy day!

Week of Thanksgiving, pt. 1

I am SO THANKFUL for my family! They are wonderful people and, even though I didn't show it all the time while I was a teenager at home, I love them very, very much. I just wanted to give them one HUGE shout out, rather than cheating and making each person a separate day. :)



Thank you Dad, for always knowing the answer to everything, whether it's "do I put the corn on the cob in the pot before or after the water's boiling" or "what's the word for "to twinkle" in Spanish in the past tense?" And you give the best advice. :D And Mom, thanks for all the care packages and cards over the years. I love that even though you told me to eat healthy and exercise, there was always a cake or brownie mix hidden the box of necessities that you had mailed to me. I am also grateful that your surprise gift-giving and example of service has rubbed off on me, because I can't think of anything more fun than making other people happy.



Nicoel: Thank you for becoming one of my best friends. Ever since we both moved out (and got cell phones) I can't think of a week where I didn't call you just to chat. And thanks for giving me a niece and nephew to spoil, eh? ;)

Dear Elder Judd: I'm sorry that I haven't sent a letter out to you every week that you've been away. But I'm so happy that you've chosen to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with His children in Argentina. I know you're doing a lot of good down there, and you're setting a wonderful example for not only your two younger brothers, but your older sister who misses you and can't wait to give you a HUGE hug when you get back in March!


Daniel: You're amazing. Not only are you crazy tall (which means you can reach things on shelves that I can't--which I appreciate!) you're very kind. Thanks for always taking a minute to chat with me or text me back when I'm feeling sad or icky. I'm glad Mom and Dad still have you around for a few more months (at least).

Edgar: Thank you for being you! I love when we get to visit, and that you're so willing to road trip with Mom and Dad so often so I can actually see you grow up into a young man (and I'm sorry I picked a picture from 3 1/2 years ago, but you'll always be my baby brother so I had to). You make me happy!

Dancing through life

Sometimes, it feels like "I Could Have Danced All Night" and I'm wearing something flowy and twirly and there's pretty waltz music. Sometimes it's a "Shall We Dance" moment and everything starts out all sorts of hesitant but ends up a super-crazy-awesome adventure across the dance floor. And sometimes it feels like there's an ache and a tear and you can't do very much to fix it except throw yourself into the music and the movement and hope that it gets you through whatever's going on.

Bleh and more bleh

Sometimes, we take the most random things for granted. Like, being healthy and being able to eat the amount of calories you're supposed to (whether it's 1500 - 2500). The past few days, I seriously haven't been able to eat more than a few handfuls of Cheerios (110 calories) or try to gag down some soup. Incidentally, did you know that a can of Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup has only 60 calories? And that one cup of shredded lettuce is 5 calories? And I haven't been able to drink anything except water, which has NO calories?

No wonder I'm shaking all the time and can't walk straight.

One of my first loves . . .

. . . was a CD that was made as a gift for my 16th birthday. I still have it. It's a bunch of Legend of Zelda music, orchestrated. And it kind of makes my heart happy. :D

Guess what I've been listening to while at work today?

Cancun, Day 2

Lots of beach time = happy Naazju

Already I'm favored above each of my travel companions by many a mosquito; it's quite the honor, actually. ;)

Eh, I knew coming down that I had blood that insects crave. Tryn has taken to calling me the "Bella" of our trip, and I'm still deciding if that's a good joke or an insult. :D

Friday should be a good day for Isla de Mujeres, so cross your fingers that we make it!

Cancun, Day 1

First of all, can I ask the question, "how many things can go wrong on a trip in the first day?"

• Leaving your passport in the car
• Dropping your passport in the airport
• Getting to the airport at 5:30 AM
• Scratching a who-knows-how-expensive aircraft up with a jetway
• Being delayed 5 1/2 hours because of said accident
• Getting in trouble with airport security
• Losing 100 pesos
• Not being able to find McDonalds
• Getting to McDonalds after it closes
• Leaving your ATM card in the ATM at a 7/11
  
• Getting bit like mad while at the beach
  
• Raining all night

Next, "how many things can be so completely awesome in one day?"

• Waking up in time to get to the airport
  
• Seeing Andie (hi!) at the airport before she left to meet up with her fiance
• Getting through security in less than ten minutes
• Having a safe flight from Salt Lake City to Phoenix
• Getting to watch TWO movies (including Twilight with RiffTrax) with Tryn
• Getting a $5 meal voucher from the airline and spending it on frozen yogurt and pizza
• Standing ovation/cheering from our entire flight as the new pilot walked into the terminal
• Updating facebook/texting/calling friends and family at the most random times today
• Meeting Nathan Perry's doppleganger on the new flight
• Making friends with the people on our flight
• Not dying on the taxi ride
• Not dying on the bus ride
• Finding my 100 pesos
  
• Not dying while walking the streets of Cancun in the middle of the night
• Having a very kind and honest man come up to me and my roommate with the ATM card in hand and say "is this yours?"
  
• Watching Michelle do the "beach party" dance ON THE BEACH
• Sitting on the beach, eating pizza, watching the lightning in the distance
• Running through the ocean
• Raining all night
  

This Monkey's Gone to . . . the MTC!

Oh, Fred. When I miss you, I'll think of moments like this:

Review

So, I don't do the cataloging thing very much but last week was so crazy busy that I just wanted to be able to remember what I did for the entire second half:

Tuesday
Got to hang out at Clint's house with Kralc and a few other people and watch the first "real" episode of SYTYCD. Also, clips during commercials. It kind of makes me happy that my two favorite people to watch that show with are guys. :D Plus, it gives me a completely different perspective on the show.

Wednesday
I purchased tickets to the "This Is It" show a few weeks ago, so a little before 7 pm, Elizabeth, Kralc and I piled into Rockie's car and made our way to the show. The best part? A few rows back a bunch of women were behaving like we were at an actual concert and applauded after each song and yelled things like "I love you Michael!" the entire time.

Thursday
A month ago, Becks sent a rather urgent text asking if I wanted to see the King's Singers in concert. The answer? HECK YES. Our show was scheduled for the 29th and I'd have to say that I was not disappointed, at all. They're great to see live; lots of little jokes, dancing, and, of course, they have great accents. :)

Friday
Well, this is when a lot of people celebrated Halloween. At least, the older kids. Kralc and I went to the planetarium show which was based on Harry Potter constellations/stories (I loved it! Kralc's comment? "They've tricked me into learning!" Hee hee hee.) After getting home, we put on our costumes (Harry Potter and Professor Sinistra) and made our way to the Stake Halloween dance (which was AWESOME). Unfortunately, neither of us had eaten dinner before all the festivities, so we went to Taco Bell around 10 pm and grabbed the movie RV and watched it in the lounge. Here's a picture of us in our costumes:

*I did have a hat that has stars all over it, for those of you wondering at my costume. I just wasn't wearing it for the picture.

Anyway, Saturday is a story in an of itself and I don't have those pictures with me, so I'll post another update soon. Hooray for crazy busy weeks right before traveling!

Happy Halloween!

Well, even though it was a quiet holiday, I still had a lot of fun. After all, when else can I celebrate TWO roommates' birthdays and go to a stake Halloween dance and see a Harry Potter themed planetarium show?

And even though all of that was amazing, I'm still pretty sure my favorite part was the nap I just woke up from. :D

I'm so excited!

One of the reasons BYU is so cool:

Tonight, the ESC's weekly planetarium show will be Harry Potter themed.

I love astronomy.

I love Harry Potter.

I'm super excited. :D

Let's Take a Vote

Everyone who thinks my nephew is in desperate need of a haircut, please raise your hand:

::nods:: That's what I thought. :)

In case you were wondering

Running + cold air = pain

Running - full stomach = pain

Pain + pain = stupid

Age Old Question

I don't think I ever posted vids or pics or even the set list from the concert, which goes to show just how crazy the last month has been. Here is a fabulous video, just because. (Okay, so it's a really crappy video, but it's a fabulous song!)



And since it looks like I'm allowed to upload things right now, here's the grand finale! (Ignore the crazy screaming girl, lol.)

Dreams

This weekend has included some really weird dreams.

Night before last: I was proposed to with a very nice silver band (aka a ring, not a musical group) and I told him no, a la Ella Enchanted (the book).

Last night: I was at home, which turned out to be a third or fourth story pent apartment. I was wearing a gold sweater (everyone knows I avoid yellow/gold/most cream-colored things due to my skin tone) and crying that my parents wouldn't play Beatles Rock Band with me like they had promised.

I mean, seriously?

WIth a cherry on top?

Can I just confess that I want to move to Draper, UT (where the current heading photograph was taken) because I want to live on Magic Wand Street? Please?

Dun, dun, DUN

Snow has come.

Sad day!

At some point I missed my 300th post.

That's completely out of character and tragic of me.

But, um, huzzah! I might even make it to 350 before this year is up. And wouldn't that be fantastic? Nearly a year's worth of blog posts in less than two years time. I'd be pretty happy with that, actually . . .

"Farewell"

There is a tradition that isn't allowed to be a tradition anymore (and when I say "not allowed" I mean "highly discouraged but still held all the time") called the "Missionary Farewell" and we got to go to Fred's! Here are some pictures of some mighty fine looking people, giving hugs to Fred while we still can. :D


Me and my lovely roommates (who unintentionally matched someone else in the apartment) with Fred. Hi Fred!


Everyone's favorite Kendel with Fred!


Kralc, Fred and the Barbarian High Priestess with their matching ties.

Aw, some people traveled from Las Vegas to visit! Tender . . .

Projects

I love having projects, but sometimes I forget that I'm not Wonder Woman and can't do everything I want to all the time. It's hard that I have three intense creative projects and (what seems like) no time in which to actually get all this done. Grr.

Oh dear

So . . . remember that time that I blogged about sports and how many different events I'd been to this year and the fact that I actually understood something about it?

My reward is that ESPN Game Day has now invaded my backyard.

I kid you not--the west parking lot is just behind my apartment complex and there have been trucks since late Wednesday night/early Thursday morning. Also, folks have been camping out since I left for work Thursday morning. With a tent and everything.

And, while visiting a girls' apartment, I got to explain what that meant (the ESPN game day part, not so much the camping out bit). Which made me feel very much not like myself, since I'm not usually the one saying stuff about ESPN or sports of any kind.

How many times can I write ESPN in one blog post?

Panic Attack

In two weeks I won't be in this country anymore.

Holy.

Hannah.

Boo to my body

For some reason when I'm completely exhausted, my body likes to play the "how long can I continue to stay awake, even though I'm in dire need of sleep?" game. Which is stupid, frustrating, and pointless.

Do they lie?

I'm so grateful I don't have nubs. :D

Provo Pictures

So, my roommate Amy found a place that encourages people to take pictures of their hometown every day and she finally started the one for Provo and I get to help!

I have no idea what we'll do when we leave for Mexico, but I'm really excited right now, especially because of all the GORGEOUS foliage around town. :)

I have a link on the right (among the 84 others--that's right, I'm almost to 100!) if you want to check it out. :D

Pointless

I'm fairly sure one of the most pointless arguments in the world is telling a girl she isn't fat. Even if she isn't. And all evidence points to the contrary. And everyone around you agrees, too.

Sad thing is, if you don't argue, then she thinks she's won and might do something dangerous or silly or unreasonable. So you have to have the pointless argument and hope.

Depressing/Awesome Music Moment!

Today's winner: Ungodly Hour by the Fray

Runner-up (nearly tied): Come Home by OneRepublic

"Cub hobe"

Yeah, you know what that means, don't you?

I bet everyone calling in to work today is LOVING me because I'm able to enunciate and speak clearly and loudly even.

::giggles like a maniac::

::coughing fit ensues::

Ick

I used more than 100 tissues in less than 6 hours (and I tried really hard to not use any since I participated in a musical production for 3 of those hours!)

Ew.

What ethnicity do you THINK I am?

I'm forever sad that Panda Express doesn't automatically give you chopsticks when you order a meal. I mean, if the lady at the Conference Center thinks I need translator headphones, that's gotta count for something, right?

Frustration comes in many forms

Check the time stamp. Guess when I got home from the musical review rehearsal?

Less than half an hour ago. And it started at 7 pm.

::death::

Hamburger Helper

I now know the reason I haven't eaten Hamburger Helper in the last four or five years (at least): it's nasty. When I purchased the box, fond memories of learning how to cook when I was a young tweenager and baby-sitting my younger brothers and sister came to mind. Last night, while I was cooking the stuff (not food; I'll never call it food again) a nasty smell permeated our apartment. I can't believe I actually thought that stuff was good. Or that people still go around eating it now . . .

Pride cometh before the fall . . .

Last Friday, the toilet at work stopped up. I'd never tried to unclog one before, so I actually had to google instructions on how to do it correctly (since everything I was trying was failing). Finally, after watching a vid and reading an article (yeah, isn't that weird?) I was able to get the toilet to cooperate and empty itself. I found this one of the high points of my Friday, so I proudly shared with my roommates and sister.

Of course, today, after the repairman came for the fact that it was leaking every time it was flushed (a problem that's persisted for about two weeks) and gave it a 'once over,' the toilet stopped flushing properly again. Boo-fail. (I did 'fix' it again just now. But I'm going to be humble and hope that that keeps it fixed.)

Here's hoping.

Tucked in

Sometimes, I wish I could still get tucked in at night. Especially when the wind is like a distant siren and the rain is constantly slapping against my window.

Success

I'm not dead! From anything that happened this weekend! Huzzah!

In half an hour the world will know whether or not I remember how to drive stick. :/

Family again!

Hooray! I'm with Edgar (who IS taller than me now) and my mom and dad. And we get to go to the morning session of Conference tomorrow! :D I'm happy!

FREAKING OUT

It's what I do best.

For reals?!

It is completely ridiculous for people to use jackhammers at 8 am.

And by ridiculous, I mean, "inhuman, uncivilized, thoughtless" and a whole slew of other words.

But it's not quite October!

Current temperature: 43°
Current outside conditions: overcast, gray clouds, light rain
Tomorrow's forecast: snow

Current mood: :(

I'm so excited!

And I just can't hide it!

I get to see my parents and little brother this weekend, PLUS we have tickets to the Saturday morning session of General Conference!

::confetti!::

Another Concert?

Last night, my roommate and I were able to attend an amazing concert! I was pleasantly surprised to find that I'd purchased floor seats for the two of us (which meant we were right in the middle of the action) and the night sort of progressed from there. :D The two opening bands (Nervous Records and Mariachi El Bronx) were pretty decent and I enjoyed their music. I even called my mom during the mariachi band because I loved the Mexican sound they were producing. Then, finally, the KILLERS were up on stage! Unfortunately it wasn't for long because the stage manager (or someone like him) kicked them off right after their very first song due to "technical difficulties." I can't tell you how looooong the 15 minutes that we had to wait for the band to return felt (an eternity, okay?!) but it was worth it--they had a great show, I didn't end up behind the 6'8" guys for the entire night, there was FIRE involved and I can't wait to upload pictures and videos from it! :D

Celebrate-a-Daddy Day!

This is the story about a little boy who had a lot of older sisters (never mind that he had four older brothers, they just don't show up in this picture).


He grew up (a little) and met Chabuca and they were married (not what this picture is actually from, but Mom felt shafted that she didn't get one of these picture in front of the Salt Lake City temple doors).




He grew up (a little more) and had five totally awesome kids. That's right folks. TOTALLY AWESOME. I know you're jealous. ;)


He knew how to have fun, though. I mean, who doesn't have an obsession or two? (Have you READ this blog? Ever?!)



Er, and by "or two" I guess I mean "an OBSESSION." Yeah. :D


Oh, and for some reason he really likes wearing that shirt when he hikes 14,000 ft peaks in southern Colorado. Go figure.



Anyway, today my dad turns 49!

It looks like he shares his birthday with a crocodile down at the alligator farm (it's turning 20) so they got free admission and that's where they're hanging out to celebrate. I really wish I could be with him to give him a hug on this big day, but I guess I'll have to settle for seeing him next week when my parents come up for General Conference. :D

And, as Janette (his younger sister) says, "ONE more year!" And, oh man, Nicoel and Janette and I will have a BLAST celebrating!

A rose is a rose . . .

So, this one time . . .

I'm really opinionated. I'm sure that anyone reading this already knows that, because not only am I opinionated (like John Adams) I'm kind of loud, which means you know what my opinions are. :D

Today, I had a lovely conversation (well, more than one) about names. Now, see, like most girls, I've been planning the names of my children for a loooong time (which is why I was particularly sad that Nicoel 'borrowed' three of the names I wanted to use).

Which makes me understand this even less, even though I still think it's hilarious.

A New Generation!

I just found out that the next generation has come along! If we count my grandparents as the grandparents, (we usually go by my great-grandfather, but that reference has been shifting in the last few years, now that there are so many of us on the bottom half of the generation pool), then the very first great-great-grandchild was just born! I hear she's a beautiful baby girl and I can't wait to see pictures of my cousin twice removed!

I swear, it's hilarious!

CLICK ME!

Nice and toasty

I have discovered a new love. It's name is Stouffer's Vegetable Lasagna. Come hither. :D



And that, kids, is why it's good to go to Break the Fast--you never know who you'll meet and what you'll learn. ;)

Sisterly Disagreement

First of all, I like being right. Second of all, so does my sister (I think we get it from our Latin-blooded mother and our awesomely smart father). So, we started a discussion about which of us look more like Mom. Not a mean or angry one, just one where the two of us were like, "hey! I saw this picture of myself and I couldn't believe how much I looked like Mom"! Unfortunately for the other sister, when we swapped pics, we didn't believe the other one. So we brought in the tie-breaker: Dad. I'll let you judge for yourselves before I tell you who won.


Upon the posting of this blog, I realized that I don't really have good pictures of Mom. I will have to fix this. But, hey, at least in this picture she's a) smiling and b) not blinking. :D Also, it's a straight-on shot, so you can see her full face.


This is the picture I chose to send to Nicoel. I remember looking through the pictures from the apartment photo shoot, seeing this one and thinking, "oh my gosh, when did I get a picture of Mom on a bench?"

This is the picture Nicoel chose of herself (which is why it's not her alone or a closer shot of her face). She said she was going through pictures and had a similar, "wait, why was Mom there?!" moment. :D

So, have you looked at them enough? Feel like you can come to a decision? Want a second opinion shot of our faces?

I'll give you another moment while I insert this side story:

I was watching a vid I took from one of my vacations to Colorado and someone was talking to Chanchito. I honestly can't tell if it was me, Nicoel or Mom (although I think I can narrow it down to me or Nicoel, since a phrase akin to "what the crap?!" was used and I'm fairly sure my mother doesn't say that . . . )

All right, now that I've kept you waiting long enough, I'll tell you that Dad's response was, "I hate to say it [to Nicoel], but I think Natalia has always looked more like Mom." Hooray!

Well, now that we have THAT sorted out, I can do some real work for our family . . .

::edit:: In addition to having fun looking at which of the daughters looks more like the mother, I enjoyed noticing that I'm fairly sure I'm the fairest-skinned child in the family. So far, my awards are, "oldest," "lived in most places" and "fairest skinned." In October I'll let you know if I have been shunted to "shortest." :D

BYU v Tulane

This is how we all felt about the game!

Le Beatles!

Sir Kralc, playing the drums like a crazy madman.


George, on the zither. :)


The lovely ladies of Alta. Our last Rock Band with DianeyFace!


::Original post::

So, once again, I am cursed with a computer that doesn't like uploading pictures to anything. ::sigh:: BUT, I will say that I loved Beatles Rock Band, I learned some new songs (like "Dear Prudence," which was adorable) and I can't wait for the next chance I have to play!

Hopefully I can steal a roommate's laptop for picture purposes . . .