Just following my brother's lead (I told you I was a Me Too Iguana, didn't I??) and using my Facebook note for a blog post. :)
25 Random Things About Me:
1. I am compulsively honest with my mom and husband. If there's something I plan to not tell them, it's almost guaranteed that I'll tell them anyway. That's why it's such a miracle that I was able to successfully throw a big surprise party for husband's 30th birthday.
2. I played the trombone through grade school and my first year of college, making it into district band and winning a jazz band soloist award. Haven't played since 2000, although I own two trombones.
3. I'm apparently completely predictable - anytime I play Loaded Questions or Imaginiff or any other game that requires people to guess what you'd say or how you think, everyone always automatically pegs me right on. I hope that doesn't mean I'm boring.
4. Playing the piano is one of my best stress-relievers, but I absolutely cannot perform for people (even my family). Unfortunately, we don't have a piano, and I haven't played in years. Maybe that's why I'm so stressed...
5. When I was 8 or 9, my mom and I got into a car accident just minutes after I'd asked her if she'd ever been in an accident before, and she had said no. Someone crossed a double yellow line in front of us. Scary.
6. When I was 6 or 7, I was in my grandma's car with my brothers and a cousin or two, and we were listening to the story of Bambi on tape and hit a deer. (Hm, I must have bad car karma.) We automatically switched the tape to Alice in Wonderland, but one of my cousins mentioned that we'd probably hit a white rabbit (luckily, we didn't).
7. I never had a real honeymoon. We drove from Indiana to SLC in three days. Sigh. [Update: Yeah, we did get to stay at a wonderful B&B, and we did have a lovely time on the three-day drive. We could have taken our time on that drive and/or stayed at nicer places or tried to sightsee a bit, but we didn't. My pity party is over. :) Someday, though, I'd like to travel somewhere with just my husband - a cruise, or Europe, or somewhere. Guess that's what I'm really getting at here.] :)
8. I got married in the Nauvoo temple in Illinois - husband's ancestor had designed the original Nauvoo temple, and my ancestors had helped build it. Husband and I stayed in a bed and breakfast there for a couple nights and had some of the best food I've ever eaten, but I haven't been able to track down the manager (who is no longer at that B&B) to get the recipes.
9. I am learning to cook, slowly branching out and experimenting with recipes and seasonings. This is thanks to husband's family, who seasons things so well, and especially husband's mom, who is an amazing cook. I want to be an amazing cook!
10. I love planning parties and vacations almost more than I enjoy the parties/vacations themselves. I'm working on not being that way.
11. When I was really little, my mom and stepdad were worried I'd grow up to be a stand-up comedian. I was a real ham.
12. I got 1st runner up in the Little Miss Clarkstown pageant when I was 6. Probably because I improvised a ballet dance to Mozart that went on and on (they hadn't realized when they were supposed to stop the tape and I just kept going and going and going).
13. I did NOT only eat Pop-Tarts and hotdogs growing up, as most of my family will tell you. But it's true that I didn't eat much beyond those. (I didn't even like pizza! How is that possible?!?) I'm much less picky these days, but still don't like seafood, cooked mushrooms, or pork (most of the time). But I can stomach any of the three if I have to! :)
14. If I hadn't married my husband, I would very likely be 50-70 lbs heavier than I am. Thank you, husband. Also, I thank The Firm.
15. I am a homebody. I enjoy going out with friends, but have to force myself to do so.
16. I spent almost my entire engagement to husband at a big cat sanctuary in Texas, caring for 66 exotic cats (lions, tigers, cougars, jaguars, etc.). A lot of it was picking up poop (you've never seen/smelled poop like that before), but a lot of it was really amazing. It would have been better if I hadn't been engaged during that, though, because I would have been able to enjoy/absorb it more! I was living my dream.
17. I've also done internships with reptiles and birds. Both have much more personality than you'd think. I would LOVE to own a snake (not sure what kind...maybe a rainbow boa) and a toucan.
18. I can't stand scrapbooking. I've only ever done two pages in my life, and will not do any more. Bless my wonderful husband for hating scrapbooking, as well.
19. I would love to brush up on my Appalachain basket weaving skills (took a course with my sister-in-law my last semester at BYU and made some pretty dang awesome baskets!).
20. I usually complained when my family traveled for vacations growing up - now, I am SO grateful for all the places I got to visit (England, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Canada, Ireland), and I'm worried I'll never get to travel again.
21. I would love to have my own little business - that might happen someday when I'm home with our kidlets. The type of business is yet to be determined.
22. One of husband's and my favorite things to do together is read. We've read The Chronicles of Narnia, the Harry Potter series and Twilight series, The Life of Pi, Ender's Game, and The Goose Girl together (maybe more - that's all I could think of currently). Right now we're reading The Last Lecture.
23. Husband and I are possibly the most indecisive couple on the face of the earth. A solution we've found is to trade off Friday date nights - one of us at a time picks everything. Neither of us can decide which turn is better - getting to choose everything or not having to choose anything.
24. I'm slowly ticking off things on my must-do-while-I-still-live-in-Utah list - went skiing, hiked to the summit of Mt. Timpanogos, hiked to the Y, hiked to the Timpanogos caves. We still need to do some trips - Yellowstone, Bryce, Zion's and the Grand Canyon, Shakespeare Festival, Capitol Reef...the list could go on.
25. I credit my success in school with my two older brothers - they were and still are amazing and I'm consistently motivated to keep up with them.
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Take Two
Okay, so it's been quite a long time. I told you there were no guarantees. (There still aren't.) But I'm going to try to get back on the blogwagon.
For today, I just have a quick recommendation to check out icanhascheezburger.com. If you're a cat-lover, mostly, but even if not. I confess I am a nerd and check it every day, only because it usually gets me to laugh out loud every time I look at it. A few favorites are inserted below:
I was even geeky enough to make and submit my own - this was the aftermath of Buttercup's first discovery of the joys of toilet-paper-roll-demolition.
What do I like about this strange site? It captures so much of cats' quirky personalities and antics. I wouldn't be surprised if their thoughts aren't too far off of what we think they might be sometimes. :)
For today, I just have a quick recommendation to check out icanhascheezburger.com. If you're a cat-lover, mostly, but even if not. I confess I am a nerd and check it every day, only because it usually gets me to laugh out loud every time I look at it. A few favorites are inserted below:
I was even geeky enough to make and submit my own - this was the aftermath of Buttercup's first discovery of the joys of toilet-paper-roll-demolition.
What do I like about this strange site? It captures so much of cats' quirky personalities and antics. I wouldn't be surprised if their thoughts aren't too far off of what we think they might be sometimes. :)
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Wanna Recipe?
So, I think this might be the most awesome recipe in the world - tried it Monday night and was VERY pleasantly surprised.
[Disclaimer: They don't look QUITE as beautiful as this, but they ARE beautiful considering how easy they are.]
1 spice cake mix (mmmmm....spice cake...)
1 29-oz. can pumpkin
1 package (or desired amount) chocolate chips
Mix top two ingredients together first, then add chocolate chips. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes (mine were done at 15). Hello, does it get better than that? No butter or oil, and they taste great! Maybe not the best pumpkin chocolate cookies I've EVER had, but reeeeeeally good and about the easiest recipe I've ever seen.
Yes, I know this is a lousy post for not having blogged in ages, but I'm not just lazy in baking lately, obviously. Sorry, folks!
[Disclaimer: They don't look QUITE as beautiful as this, but they ARE beautiful considering how easy they are.]
1 spice cake mix (mmmmm....spice cake...)
1 29-oz. can pumpkin
1 package (or desired amount) chocolate chips
Mix top two ingredients together first, then add chocolate chips. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes (mine were done at 15). Hello, does it get better than that? No butter or oil, and they taste great! Maybe not the best pumpkin chocolate cookies I've EVER had, but reeeeeeally good and about the easiest recipe I've ever seen.
Yes, I know this is a lousy post for not having blogged in ages, but I'm not just lazy in baking lately, obviously. Sorry, folks!
Friday, August 15, 2008
Me Too Iguana
View from the graduates:
View from where I was standing...and yes, it was all a blur: ;)
Sorry for the lack of posts the past few weeks - Commencement was August 2nd and I got sick the weekend after that. The ceremony went very well and I've received many nice compliments on how smoothly everything went. Beyond that, I'd rather forget about it and move on (just brings back stressful feelings!).
Now, on to the topic for today. In the past several months, I have come to a self-discovery of sorts. I am a Me Too Iguana. For those of you unfamiliar with this charming children's book series, you'll stay unfamiliar, I'm afraid, since it's out of print. :) But I loved it growing up, and always enjoyed this particular story of an iguana that wants to be like everyone around her. She sees the lion and wants mane like him ("Me too, me too, I want mane too!"), so she makes some fake mane to wear. She likes the zebra's stripes, so paints them on herself...you get the picture. Why am I a Me Too Iguana? I always pick up some of the the idiosyncrasies and personalities of the people with whom I associate - I don't TRY to do this, but I just do unconsciously. For instance, my dear friend Eve used to say "Curses!" a lot while we were roommates. I picked up on that. A coworker now says "Bah!" and I find I've picked up on that, too. I even try very hard not to say "Bah!" but find myself doing it anyway. Growing up, I picked up on the Winnie the Pooh theme - my brother liked Eeyore, so I liked Tigger. My brothers did band, so when it came time for me to choose between dance and band in junior high, band was the obvious choice. I even changed my major in college from Psychology to English (Eeyore brother was also majoring in English). I like ABBA like my dad...in fact, most of my musical taste comes from my family. I've picked up on working out (thankfully!) from my wonderful husband. There are countless other examples...which means...I have no personality of my own! :(
I talked with my mom about this whole issue, and she pointed out that since I was just a wee thing, I always mimicked accents (Cowboy, Irish, British, whatever I heard) and did imitations. I know my parents thought that was cute, and that it drove my brothers nuts (especially Cowboy). I guess I'm a born sponge.
Look at it this way - I pick up on things because I respect and love the people I copy. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! So, I will just have to embrace the fact that I'm a Me Too Iguana and not be ashamed.*
*even though the whole point of the story is that the iguana learns to like herself for who she is and stops copying everyone else. *sigh*
View from where I was standing...and yes, it was all a blur: ;)
Sorry for the lack of posts the past few weeks - Commencement was August 2nd and I got sick the weekend after that. The ceremony went very well and I've received many nice compliments on how smoothly everything went. Beyond that, I'd rather forget about it and move on (just brings back stressful feelings!).
Now, on to the topic for today. In the past several months, I have come to a self-discovery of sorts. I am a Me Too Iguana. For those of you unfamiliar with this charming children's book series, you'll stay unfamiliar, I'm afraid, since it's out of print. :) But I loved it growing up, and always enjoyed this particular story of an iguana that wants to be like everyone around her. She sees the lion and wants mane like him ("Me too, me too, I want mane too!"), so she makes some fake mane to wear. She likes the zebra's stripes, so paints them on herself...you get the picture. Why am I a Me Too Iguana? I always pick up some of the the idiosyncrasies and personalities of the people with whom I associate - I don't TRY to do this, but I just do unconsciously. For instance, my dear friend Eve used to say "Curses!" a lot while we were roommates. I picked up on that. A coworker now says "Bah!" and I find I've picked up on that, too. I even try very hard not to say "Bah!" but find myself doing it anyway. Growing up, I picked up on the Winnie the Pooh theme - my brother liked Eeyore, so I liked Tigger. My brothers did band, so when it came time for me to choose between dance and band in junior high, band was the obvious choice. I even changed my major in college from Psychology to English (Eeyore brother was also majoring in English). I like ABBA like my dad...in fact, most of my musical taste comes from my family. I've picked up on working out (thankfully!) from my wonderful husband. There are countless other examples...which means...I have no personality of my own! :(
I talked with my mom about this whole issue, and she pointed out that since I was just a wee thing, I always mimicked accents (Cowboy, Irish, British, whatever I heard) and did imitations. I know my parents thought that was cute, and that it drove my brothers nuts (especially Cowboy). I guess I'm a born sponge.
Look at it this way - I pick up on things because I respect and love the people I copy. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! So, I will just have to embrace the fact that I'm a Me Too Iguana and not be ashamed.*
*even though the whole point of the story is that the iguana learns to like herself for who she is and stops copying everyone else. *sigh*
Monday, July 28, 2008
Memory Tag
I've been tagged by Margot! Here's what to do:
1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember (it can involve the family or the husband, too)!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll be sure to write one about you... either on your blog, in my comment box, or I will email you back!
3. If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all ☺
4. Consider this a Tag: if you've read it, you have to do it!
1. As a comment on my blog, leave a memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you know me a little or a lot, anything you remember (it can involve the family or the husband, too)!
2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll be sure to write one about you... either on your blog, in my comment box, or I will email you back!
3. If you can't say something nice, don't say nothin' at all ☺
4. Consider this a Tag: if you've read it, you have to do it!
Friday, July 11, 2008
Back in School
First of all, as a follow-up to last week's post, working out at work is a no-no. Yuck. Maybe yoga, but nothing involving cardio. That is all I will say about that.
This Monday I began my third semester at TUI University. I'm working towards an MA in Education, focusing on Higher Ed. I hadn't had any particular plans to get a master's degree after finishing my undergrad, and if I thought about it, I thought more along the lines of cognitive psychology (if you're curious about that, you can ask, but I won't go into it right now). Then I fell into this position as a registrar, and found that on the whole I quite like it. It suits my personality and skill set - or at least I think so. I'm anal about details and organization, and that works perfectly.
So, last November I got the impression that I should get my master's degree. If I was ever going to do it, now is a good time - while husband's in school, too, and we don't have any kids. President Monson would be proud of how quickly I acted on that impression, because I registered in early December and started in January (now if only I could do better to respond to promptings of service! alas!). Amazingly enough, after this semester, I only have three courses left - I'll be done in late March. No thesis (hurrah!), so that will be that. Crazy how fast it's going (and yet it seems to drag at the same time, you know?).
I definitely enjoy learning - I had actually been jealous when husband quit his job and went back to school, and found myself living vicariously through him as I scheduled his courses and bought his textbooks (now he takes care of all that himself, in case you're wondering). So to some extent, I am enjoying being back in school myself. I've taken courses in the psychological foundations of teaching and learning, research methods (not as bad as it sounds!), law and ethics, and information systems (okay, that last one was pretty dry). I'm currently in Cultural and Cross-Cultural Perspectives in Education, and Assessment in Higher Education. Every course is applicable to what I do, so I hope all this is making me a better registrar.
I do NOT like staying late at work to work on my homework. I am quite the home-body (to the point of being anti-social sometimes). I LOVE to be home (as long as I'm not stuck there, like I was in the first year or two of our marriage when I didn't have a car). I've tried to do homework at home, though, and it just doesn't work. We must live in a worm hole or something, because time just disappears at home. Add to that the aforementioned lack of Internet, and school and home REALLY don't get along. I usually end up staying at work until at least 8PM Monday through Thursday - then, if I've been good and met my homework goals for the week, I give myself Friday through Sunday off, which definitely helps my sanity.
The only other thing I don't like about my degree is that it's all papers. Two papers a week for ten weeks each semester, with participation in discussion boards added to that. That really doesn't make for incredibly exciting coursework. For each paper, I have to force myself to start typing something, because otherwise I freeze up due to lack-of-any-desire-whatsoever-to-begin-another-paper. Couldn't they assign a project of some kind? A poster? A crossword puzzle? ;) Dull, dull, dull, and sad when the course itself is about assessment and finding effective ways to engage students in their coursework. Hello?!
Well, that's probably more than you wanted to know about my degree. Sorry. My happy news for the day is that I met my goal for this first week (two papers and two discussion board posts), so I get to leave on time tonight and go to dinner and WALL-E with my husband and mom!! What a reward!! One week down, nine to go. :)
This Monday I began my third semester at TUI University. I'm working towards an MA in Education, focusing on Higher Ed. I hadn't had any particular plans to get a master's degree after finishing my undergrad, and if I thought about it, I thought more along the lines of cognitive psychology (if you're curious about that, you can ask, but I won't go into it right now). Then I fell into this position as a registrar, and found that on the whole I quite like it. It suits my personality and skill set - or at least I think so. I'm anal about details and organization, and that works perfectly.
So, last November I got the impression that I should get my master's degree. If I was ever going to do it, now is a good time - while husband's in school, too, and we don't have any kids. President Monson would be proud of how quickly I acted on that impression, because I registered in early December and started in January (now if only I could do better to respond to promptings of service! alas!). Amazingly enough, after this semester, I only have three courses left - I'll be done in late March. No thesis (hurrah!), so that will be that. Crazy how fast it's going (and yet it seems to drag at the same time, you know?).
I definitely enjoy learning - I had actually been jealous when husband quit his job and went back to school, and found myself living vicariously through him as I scheduled his courses and bought his textbooks (now he takes care of all that himself, in case you're wondering). So to some extent, I am enjoying being back in school myself. I've taken courses in the psychological foundations of teaching and learning, research methods (not as bad as it sounds!), law and ethics, and information systems (okay, that last one was pretty dry). I'm currently in Cultural and Cross-Cultural Perspectives in Education, and Assessment in Higher Education. Every course is applicable to what I do, so I hope all this is making me a better registrar.
I do NOT like staying late at work to work on my homework. I am quite the home-body (to the point of being anti-social sometimes). I LOVE to be home (as long as I'm not stuck there, like I was in the first year or two of our marriage when I didn't have a car). I've tried to do homework at home, though, and it just doesn't work. We must live in a worm hole or something, because time just disappears at home. Add to that the aforementioned lack of Internet, and school and home REALLY don't get along. I usually end up staying at work until at least 8PM Monday through Thursday - then, if I've been good and met my homework goals for the week, I give myself Friday through Sunday off, which definitely helps my sanity.
The only other thing I don't like about my degree is that it's all papers. Two papers a week for ten weeks each semester, with participation in discussion boards added to that. That really doesn't make for incredibly exciting coursework. For each paper, I have to force myself to start typing something, because otherwise I freeze up due to lack-of-any-desire-whatsoever-to-begin-another-paper. Couldn't they assign a project of some kind? A poster? A crossword puzzle? ;) Dull, dull, dull, and sad when the course itself is about assessment and finding effective ways to engage students in their coursework. Hello?!
Well, that's probably more than you wanted to know about my degree. Sorry. My happy news for the day is that I met my goal for this first week (two papers and two discussion board posts), so I get to leave on time tonight and go to dinner and WALL-E with my husband and mom!! What a reward!! One week down, nine to go. :)
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
So much for ... a lot of things
So Much For #1: Our yearly AC Challenge. We couldn't make it. We turned on the air conditioning yesterday, and I've never been happier to lose a challenge, quite frankly. When you wake up and it's 83 degrees in your house in the early morning, and the outside temperature is supposed to hit 100 for the next several days, common sense kicks in. I had the best night of sleep last night that I've had in a loooooong time. Hooray!
So Much For #2: My quick thinking. I am blogging right now for two reasons. One, Friday is a holiday and I won't be at work (we don't have Internet at home. That is both incredibly annoying and surprisingly liberating, let me tell you). Two, I locked my keys in my car. :( Will is coming to get me, but he still has to take the bus home from school and then drive here from our house, so it will likely be half an hour. I miss having my workplace be a ten-minute walk from my house. *Sigh*
So Much For #3: My being in a health/fitness "slump" - for the last couple of months I've been slipping from my resolutions regarding no treats at work (unless there's a party), portion control in general (especially with desserts!), and exercising at least 5-6 days a week. Result? I gained five pounds instead of losing the last ten I was hoping for. But I'm back on track, folks. I'm determined, and feeling focused and positive. Hopefully focused and positive enough to stay on that track even after my next semester starts on Monday. Bah! I'm hoping to use six-minute workouts from Tracey Mallet's "Sexy in 6" Program as a boost (in addition to my beloved Firm workouts) to get my metabolism going in the middle of the day at work...we'll see how successful that goal is.
So Much For #2: My quick thinking. I am blogging right now for two reasons. One, Friday is a holiday and I won't be at work (we don't have Internet at home. That is both incredibly annoying and surprisingly liberating, let me tell you). Two, I locked my keys in my car. :( Will is coming to get me, but he still has to take the bus home from school and then drive here from our house, so it will likely be half an hour. I miss having my workplace be a ten-minute walk from my house. *Sigh*
So Much For #3: My being in a health/fitness "slump" - for the last couple of months I've been slipping from my resolutions regarding no treats at work (unless there's a party), portion control in general (especially with desserts!), and exercising at least 5-6 days a week. Result? I gained five pounds instead of losing the last ten I was hoping for. But I'm back on track, folks. I'm determined, and feeling focused and positive. Hopefully focused and positive enough to stay on that track even after my next semester starts on Monday. Bah! I'm hoping to use six-minute workouts from Tracey Mallet's "Sexy in 6" Program as a boost (in addition to my beloved Firm workouts) to get my metabolism going in the middle of the day at work...we'll see how successful that goal is.
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