Ooh, nifty!

I've seen this once before and didn't participate and now I have the chance again!

Here are the tagging instructions: The first 3 people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. No guarantees that you will like what I make.
2. However, what I create will be just for you.
3. It'll probably take a while because:
a. I'm not super creative and it'll probably take me a while to think of something to make;
b. I'm taking care of a 4-month-old; and
c. I'm poor. :D
4. You have no clue what it's going to be.
5. I reserve the right to do something unusual.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and offer the same to the first 3 people who do the same on your blog. Or, since I know there are some people who read my blog who don't have a blog of their own, you can win if you are willing to make something for three random people. The first 3 people to leave a comment telling me they will win it forward get a fabulous homemade gift by me! Oh, and if you have a blog, be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it.

Smirk Giveaway

Yes, I'm entering a giveaway.

Yes, that is why I'm posting this.

Yes, the stuff is adorable and I want it! :D

Check it out!

Backwards Blogging

In order to help me better remember when things happened, I like to have my blog posts post near or on the dates they happened. This means that even though I updated my blog about five times this afternoon, not all the posts will show up as the last five things I've posted. To help, I have entries on July 2, 3, 4, 9 and two for today (the 11th).

100!

I am now following 100 blogs. That's kind of really exciting!

100!

I am now following 100 blogs. That's kind of really exciting!

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?

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 . . .

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

I swear, it's hilarious!

CLICK ME!

Shameless plug

Once upon a time I had this awesome friend in high school. We both decided we really wanted to go to BYU, so we stayed friends while we were at college. Then, she up and got married and had almost three kids (next month, lady!) While she was wiling away the pregnant hours (well, probably long before that) she decided that she would take a skill and hone it. And by that, I mean she started her own photography business.

FINALLY.

She's way talented. :) Anyway, you should check out her photo blog here. She works really well with children (if you have 'em), loves smiling faces (which all of you have) and is right here in Happy Valley. Click! Now!

Shout Out

Sometimes, DianeyFace makes me really happy!

Anniversary!

::confetti!::

Welcome, one and all, to my one year anniversary of having a blog! Does anyone else think it's disturbing that I've actually written semi-consistently for a whole year? I mean, really?

The past year I have: sent off a missionary (or two or three), not moved once, taken a million billion pictures (I believe the accurate number on my own camera is over 5,000 (but keep in mind that I've borrowed one or two as well)), become a stalker of Brandon Sanderson, visited my family three times (in less than a year! I'm shocked, too!), followed more than 60 blogs (I love you all!), and had several crazy adventures with my dear roommates, Clark, and his awesome roommates, too.

Seriously, I'm so lucky and blessed.

Here's to another awesome year!

This message brought to you by the letters W and V

Has anyone else ever wondered how many "automated responses" you'd actually get if you left off the word verification in comment moderation? I mean, really, who is going to sit on the computer and just create programs to leave annoying messages on random people's blogs?

Really?

Memories gushing forth

I love finding blogs of people I used to live with/was in the same ward as/work with/etc. I love how people change and evolve and can be so different after as little as a few months to as much as five or more years.

I also love that writing is such an amazing way of conveying thought and emotion. I wish I were better at it and am completely in awe of those of my friends who have a gift of expressing themselves through this medium.

I did it!

AUGH! I can upload pictures again! Prepare for a slew* of updates!



*on Facebook

Darn it!

So, I'm fairly sure my work computer hates me. It hasn't let me upload pictures in quite a while, which makes me sad because I have about three different blog posts I'd love to put on here. :(

Dying Happy

Holy.
Crap.

I can die happy, once the new blog I've discovered is done completing itself.

*melts into pool of joy*

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

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

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.
    

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