"I brought sexy back FIVE TIMES"

I just failed THREE TIMES in a converastion that lasted less than five minutes.

*Fail*

"If you give a Natalia a cookie . . . "

Sometimes I just want to post a blog because I really liked the idea for a title.

More music

Reasons why I could never be a DJ:

• I have weird taste in music
• By weird, I mean, I like a lot of stuff but am never sure if it correlates with other people's tastes and, since I'm a people-pleaser, this stresses me out
  
• Sometimes, I just want to rock out to music rather than formally dance
• Sometimes, I just want to formally dance rather than listen to the words
• If it's a church function, I get hyper-stressed about whether or not the message/lyrics/overall feel of the song is "church appropriate"
• I have a much less rigid set of standards for myself, so I like music like this and this. (Not that I'd ever play either one at a dance, I'm just using them as an example.)
  

But in the future . . .

Mother Worry #Who-Knows:
My three-year-old daughter will not be able to keep anything down and I'll panic. Like I am right now.

Tootsie Roll Pop

How many times can I listen to Fall Out Boy's "Thanks for the Memories" without getting sick of it?

I have yet to find out.

25 OTHER Random Things

1. I love pillows. A lot. I currently have six on my bed.
2. I'm also a huge fan of blankets. I own . . . eight, that I can think of off the top of my head. No, wait, I just thought of another one. That's nine. :D
3. I hate having short hair. I'm always jealous of girls that can still look feminine with short haircuts. The last time my hair length was above my shoulders was when I was six. I got to put my hair in a machine and got a unicorn necklace in return.
4. I like people. They're kind of my favorite. One of my favorite compliments was when someone told me I was "genuinely gregarious."
   
5. I hate confrontation. Asking me uncomfortable questions counts.
   
6. I can listen to the same (good) song repeatedly. Some days at work are a "insert-song-here" day.
   
7. Ever since I was about 10 years old I've wanted a subscription to National Geographic. I've planned to somehow sneak it onto my wedding registry (whenever that may happen).
8. I collect stamps. At least, I buy sheets of stamps and never use them and have been doing that for years. Requirements: they must be awesome.
9. I have inadvertently named my niece and nephew.
10. I have always wanted to have twins. Looking through my family's genealogy has shown that each generation on my dad's side (and a few on my mother's) have had a set of twins. My generation hasn't had any yet. I want them. ;)
11. By popular demand: I enjoy two fruits enough to call them my favorites. Oranges and strawberries.
12. I call all dogs "puppy" unless they scare the heebie-jeebies out of me, in which case I hide because I was bit by a dog when I was nine.
13. When I was about six years old, I had a Coke to drink with my breakfast (don't ask me why or how). We left for church and I left my can on the table and was ecstatic to still see it there three hours later. I immediately began to drink. Unfortunately, a cockroach had climbed into it at some point and I drank him, too (I had decent reflexes because before he went down, I spat him out. Ick.) This is the reason I hate cockroaches (and probably Coca-Cola, too).
14. I apparently have no sense of how wide or tall I am. I frequently bump into door frames, stub my toes, bonk my head, etc.
15. I cannot concentrate in absolute silence. I attribute this to the fact that I am the oldest of five children which means I haven't known quiet in any sense of the word.
16. I both love and hate surprises. I love planning them for others. I hate getting them. Except at Christmas. Then it's okay because everyone is in on it.
17. My favorite numbers are 8, 10 and 18. The reasons: I was baptized when I was 8, I loved being 10, and 8 + 10 = 18 (which made it super, duper awesome, right, kids?) It wasn't until a few years later that I put it together that I had just made my birth day one of my favorite numbers. :)
18. In a first grade production of the Three Billy Goats Gruff, I co-played the smallest Billy Goat Gruff. I still remember the song I had to sing. ("I'll miss the sound of the bumblebees and the beautiful butterflies. I'll miss the robins in the trees, it's hard to say good-bye. Goody-bye, good-bye to everyone I'll remember what you did to make me smile, to give me cheer, when I was just a kid.")
19. Birthdays are just about the most awesome thing ever. I always know what fraction of the year I am (I just hit my 5/6ths!) and I love finding gifts throughout the year for family and friends. It's much more awesome that way.
20. For my sixteenth birthday, my parents took me to Sizzler (or someplace like it (I have it scrapbooked, I'll check later)) and I ordered a 16 oz T-bone steak (with a baked potato, of course). After writing down my order the waitress looked at me and said "you're really think you can eat all that?" to which I (rather obstinately, I'm sure) said "of course" and did, as soon as I got the food.
21. My freshman roommate (somehow) talked me into going to a tanning salon. I remember the exact date because it turns out you have to be 18 to fake-n-bake and it was two days before my birthday. This meant that I thought I was off the hook, however, they made an exception. I still claim it did nothing. Sorry, Mary. :D
22. I helped build five bookcases in about a year's time. Most of those were at around 5 in the morning.
23. My first four birthdays were celebrated in different countries: USA, Perú, South Korea, Canada. I need to start this tradition up again. :D
24. I am mildly OCD. Some things have to be just so. Like, when I'm going up and down stairs, I like to end with my right foot so if they're stairs I've never been on before, I will count the steps to make sure I end "properly." If I don't have time to, or screw up the counting, I take the last two steps with my right leg to "fix it."
25. If I were a kitchen appliance I would be an oven. I'll let everyone come up with their own reasons why.
    

How much of a coincidence is THAT?

Today a customer came in and winked at me.

Three times.

Little flirt

Sometimes, and without realizing it, I wink at customers that I'm on the phone with. I have no idea why.

Ladies . . .

You know how sometimes a name is ruined for you because it was the class bully in first grade or the crazy roommate in college?

Well, sometimes words can be ruined, too. By almost-but-not-quite-creepy hug-rapers.

I'm just sayin'. ;)

Random Thought

I am going to get fabulously fat from eating all this chorizo leftover stuff. :D

Drama

My high school friends and I used to say that a camera crew needed to follow us around and record all the soap opera-style drama that seemed to follow a few of us around. And now I'm thinking, dang it, where is that camera crew again?!

**edit** I totally blogged about this way back in September '08. :D

Sundays

There is a secret part of me that hates going away for vacations/other reasons because I know I'll be away from my "home ward" (and by this I totally mean my ward here in Provo, UT). I'm quite attached to the people that are here and I especially love going to church with my ward. However, today, I was away for twelve hours and didn't mind in the least. It felt really nice to go to a "regular ward" and, in addition, to be away from my apartment (I still love you, roommates) and completely disattached from my cell phone (I love you, Hilary and Janae, and will call you Monday!) and just be able to relax and enjoy a Sunday for what it was meant to be--a day of rest with people you love.

"A fedora is a sexy hat" - Michelle

I so fail at getting my brother's calendar done.

*facepalm*

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet ... "

Does anyone else ever spend time worrying about how people you know will get along with other people you know?

For instance, last year I threw myself a birthday party. It was ridiculously fun for me (because I knew everyone that came) however, I'm not really sure how everyone else felt about it since half of the invites were for my (current) ward and the other half were for my (previous) job. In fact, because everyone came in clumps, they tended to stick to their own group--the living room was dedicated to ward members and the kitchen housed my co-workers.

And I always think to myself "wouldn't so-and-so and what's-her-bucket really be good friends if they just knew each other?" But then I back that thought up and think, "what if they did meet and they totally hated each other?" In fact, Macaroony and Hilary, I totally thought that you two should meet because both of you in the same room would be fantastic. But then I had those doubts . . .

Random, random me

My most tagged items (thus far):

6 - awesomeness, traditions, love
9 - family
11 - friends
12 - Christmas (not shocking, since I did 12 days)
20 - randomness, music
29 - joy

I think my life is fairly complete if joy and music are among the top 3 things that I always talk about. :D

Hint #1: It's black and white with a little red

Something that I've realized: Even though I detest regular socks (footies and knee highs do not count), I think I own more white socks than Michael Jackson.

FTL

I feel almost like a sinner: I just changed the posts on the right to be listed according to updates. There are just too darn many.

I feel like a failure.

On the other hand, it did take 33 blogs before I did it. :D

Too subtle for you, hmm?

Apparently I've been too subtle (or, to put it another way, haven't dropped enough "anvil-sized hints").

Hey, guess what bloggers at large? I'm dating someone. And he's pretty frawesome. He can be found here.
And . . . I kind of really like him. And I have yet to take a picture of the two of us (soon to be rectified) but if you'd like some amusing stories to keep you happy while I go and collect those, you can be directed to here and the comments here.

*edit* Here's a picture, kids:

Draper Open House

The pictures will come soon, I promise! I just happened to forget my camera when I left for work today.

Anyway, I was able to go to the Draper Open House with Janae on Thursday afternoon. It's been a few years since I've been able to attend one (my first was the St. Louis and the second was Nauvoo (huzzah for being raised in the mid-West)) and I was very grateful for the chance to be able to go inside the Lord's house and see more than just the entrance hall and the baptistry (although those rooms were also beautiful).

I'm always amazed at the details that can be found in the craftsmanship of each of the Lord's houses. I remember going to the Salt Lake Temple (not the open house, obviously) and just looking around in awe. Especially every time I opened a door and realized that there was a miniature beehive on pretty much every handle.

I love all the hard work that goes into building these sacred buildings. I love the spirit that can be felt in them. I'm grateful to be a member of this church so I can have these opportunities.

Skirts and other trinkets

You can totally tell what mood I'm in based on the accessories that I choose. I have no idea why, but I love creating outfits based on one thing--a necklace, a skirt or a pair of shoes, even. Today's choice: a skirt. Yesterday's choice: a headband. Yes, I'm crazy. I'm also a girl.

"Everybody sing like it's the last song."

Some people are very dear to my heart. Some of these people happen to scream like Willy Wonka in the 1971 film.

Baby-sitter for a day.

Baby-sitting would be so much easier if I had had a full night's rest. Unfortunately, the baby-sittee was just as interested in staying up late as the baby-sitter.

Now, before you think I'm complaining about some four-year-old (why on earth would I? Have you not read my posts about children?!) take a chill pill and remember that all is right with the world. It was Bring-Your-Friend-Missionary-to-Work-Day and I didn't want to be made fun of for not participating.

All right, so it's all a little sketchy. The truth is, I got to be awesomely selfish and keep Sister Kristen Kennedy to myself for pretty much 24 hours straight. And sometimes, girls just want to have chats. That last for hours. Like, until 4 am. Sometimes girls forget that they have to be at work at 9 am. And, sometimes, bosses are really cool people that let missionaries hang out with you for the last four hours of your shift and don't judge that you've done absolutely nothing work related in that time period.

**edit: pictures!**



Sometimes, someone doesn't look at the camera like they're supposed to. . .


Sometimes other people don't. . .


And sometimes the picture is just right!

I'm from the city, thanks

My boss just spent an hour trying to convince me that I would love country music. Unfortunately for him, several of my friends have played this game with me before and it always comes to the same ending: I find very few country songs to my liking and I've heard most of the ones that they are "absolutely sure" I'll love. My boss took a slightly different approach--I hadn't been exposed to the right kind of country. So he went through and choose several different kinds of songs and, slightly shocking to him, I was able to name the artist of most of the pieces and even throw some titles in there. I sang along to a few of them, too, just to prove that I'd been exposed plenty of times to country music. I feel a little bad that, in five new songs (this is not including any music that I was already familiar with) that I heard, I only liked one. I guess I'll just have to stick with rocking out to folks like Coldplay, Linkin Park, Good Charlotte, Paramore, etc.

Not the first

I'm totally depressed that the ward directory stuff took up all day so I didn't get to post anything with the date labeled as "February 1st."

On the other hand, I'm totally impressed that I had 35 posts for January. :D