Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Gratitude

Thanksgiving has come and gone and I never posted about things I am grateful for. So real quick I'm going to update on that. I'm doing it my alphabet.
Atonement. Agency.
Brothers. Books. Boyfriends. Boys.
Christmas. Chocolate.
Disneyland. Dads.
Emotions. Effective communication.
Friends. Family. Faith. Feeling.
Giselle. Gospel. Grandpa.
Hearing. Hugs.
Individuality. Ice Cream. Institute.
Jesus. Joy.
Kindness. Kisses.
Love. Laughter. Life.
Mothers. My other self. Music.
Nature.
Opinions. Outdoors.
Patience.
Q...Quirks.
Reality being better than fiction.
Stories. Smiles. Sight. Scriptures.
Temples. Togetherness. Touch. Taste.
Uniqueness.
Verla.
Weston. Worlds Wonders. Water. Warmth.
Youth. Yesterday.
Zion.
Then I realized I wanted to name people I am grateful for too:
Andrea. Amelia. Amanda.
Braden. Becca. Brennon. Britni. Brenda (Both of them)
Charlotte. Clint.
Dad. Daniel. Darla.
Eric.
Felicia. Falisha.
Grandpa. Giselle. Garna
Heather.
Jamie. Jenny. Jessica.
Keith. Kelly (Dad) Kay.
Leisl. Lucilla. Linda (all of them) Leslie. Lou.
Marles. Matt (Both). Melanie.
Nora.
Penny. Patsy.
Royce. Ray.
Sariah. Shari. Shawn. Shay.
Toni. Troy.
Verla.
Weston.
Zachary.
There are so many other things I am grateful for in this world. But I love this season. Both Thanksgiving and Christmas are the Season of Giving. I love it.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Differences in Thoughts

I'm in a pondering mood this morning and started thinking about differences in people. What makes us unique? And why can't we accept uniqueness and let bygones be bygones? I say this but I'm not good at this. I had a talk with a friend about being a vegetarian. I could understand the concept. But I couldn't wrap my head around a tofurkey and couldn't help but think his idea about not wanting to waste resources so walking in the snow for a mile is still a viable option. And I think to myself that it makes sense in so many ways and yet I still don't understand any of it. The most bizarre thing for me is the fact that it matters. It causes separation between us.
So I wonder, why do we search for differences and similarities with people? People are all different. Depending on how hard we look we will find something different. They can be little things--and I've seen discrimination upon it. And often it goes both ways.
Peoples opinions on love differ. I've seen an argument between friends on whether or not you can fall in love quickly. When in reality it goes both ways. Some people need time to fall in love. The experiences they've had or their personality allows for them to need time. Others fall suddenly and easily.
People differ on ideas and philosophies. And I'll admit I see some as wrong--mostly because they are different to me. But I'm coming to realize that if they make that person feel genuine then there's nothing I can do. I may have my differing opinions. I am just as biased as any person.
That's not the point of this post. This was just on my mind. And I wonder why. I know that I feel validated when I meet somebody who has similar ideals. But why do I feel threatened by people who are different? It's not a bad thing to walk to work everyday to preserve our natural resources. And yet I still note these differences and sometimes slander them.
And I wonder why it matters. Why do I care so much about silly differences? Why does it matter what color someone is? What religion they practice? What clothes they wear? How they fall in love? Or how they get to work?

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

So I finally uploaded some needed pictures from my camera, as you can tell from my last post I'm sure. So I just quickly wanted to post some pictures and tell about my weekend. Which was of grand proportions. First thing first I wanted to point out my adorable dog and her fairy princess outfit. She fits the princess costume all too well.

Some of my cousins little kids came over. One of them was dressed up as a puppy dog. Her dad said. "Look, you're dressed up like a little puppy dog and the puppy dog is dressed up like a little girl!" Ha ha I thought it was so funny.
I also dressed up like a fairy princess for a Halloween Party. It was a lot of fun.
Now onto my weekend. This last weekend was crazy busy. But so much fun. Luckily due to Veteran's Day, I had a day off. I do want to take a shout out to honor our veterans. I posted a video by SoundTank off of youtube for it. They are such amazing people. And they fought for YOU! And ME!
Friday my family went down to our old stomping ground and I, for the first time, got my hair done in an up-do. There was a winter semi-formal dance that night that I was going to.
It was officially amazing! I was so pleased with how it turned out. I felt like a princess.
The funniest part about the night though wasn't the dance, but getting ready for it. I wanted a little bit of poof at the end of my dress. So I scoured several stores for something that might work, but to no avail. My Aunt had something we hoped might work. You can see for yourself:
Yeah, talk about poofage. I felt like I'd stuck a Marshmallow under there. It seemed like a good idea. And it definitely gave me a laugh. I think I cried from laughing so hard. I even left it on for when he came to pick me up. Just to see his face...BUT I was laughing too hard so he knew that I didn't mean it. But here's us right before leaving. Isn't he so adorable?
Then us again. I seriously think this man is wonderful and adorable. We had so much fun at the dance. It was just great and grand.
The next day I had to wake up at 5:00 (on a Saturday! the horror!) so I could rush up to class by 8:00. And then sat in class for 8 hours. Okay, it wasn't necessarily as bad as all that. I love my classes, I learn so much and really do enjoy every moment of it. It also reminds me that I am taking the right course. I just find so much joy in it...THEN after class I got to go see:
Yes, that's right. Pretty much the best play in the universe. Same with the movies. And the books. Ha ha. It's just marvelous. Sink Me! I went to that with a friend I have in elementary school. We had so much fun together. And check out our Percy and Marguerite.
Aren't they just adorable? They had a good chemistry together to play off of. I'm a critic of this play and I was rather impressed. Then that Sunday we ended up with my boyfriend's family. They are so amazing and sweet. I really enjoy spending time with them. That's my wonderful weekend.
So here it is! The pictures of al la house. Of course I have MUCH MUCH more work that needs to be done. But really that's part of the glory of this whole thing isn't it? The befores and afters. First are the not so bad--just a LOT of cleaning and paint to go into. I've also posted some of the changes I've made so far. Here's the living/dining room area. I love love LOVE the fireplace. It's so rustic. But it makes me cheery. I think of Snow White.

Now this is the front room. I still have carpet from the 70s. And I'll continue until I can afford not to. (Trust me it's the next big expenditure after paint) But I love the 3 big windows. It provides so much light and makes the room much bigger.
This is the downstairs finished room. Most of the basement if unfinished or partially finished. This will be turned into my entertainment room. I really like the brick wall on the side. I'm excited to do some work with this.I really don't have to say much with this bedroom other than the floors, believe it or not, are orange. Yep, blue, pink, and orange all collide in this room. It will be so much fun to change. Because, seriously, no matter what I do, it has got to look better than this.

The kitchen colors aren't pretty. The wallpaper is hideous and the holes in the walls make me wonder. But really this is going to be a rather functional room. And I'm going to like it. Especially when I can make it look good.
With this next photo what I want attention drawn to is the broken cupboard at the bottom corner and the middle drawer that is completely missing.

And now a la replacemento. Hopefully I'll get the cupboards painted soon. And replacing the dishwasher.
My Bathrooms were the funnest (READ: worst!) part of everything. My toilets enjoyed it though. They were able to become friends. There they are in my dining room...wrong, on so many levels.
This is my kitchen door entryway. I have no idea how it was done. But I do know that for safety reasons it had to be fixed.
So we did some demo work.
And wa lah! I was too strapped for time and money to do the entire floor. This isn't as pretty but much more economical for my pocketbook.
Now onto the bathrooms. I don't have an original before picture just a during and an after. Just basically imagine the toilet and vanity in tact with linoleum very similar to the kitchen.
And check out this gouged out sink! Do you think they took a jack hammer to it?
Officially floorless.
The bare area was lifting so we replaced the subflooring. I love my father. But we are not the most...skilled at carpentry work.
Even without being skilled in this area of work, I do have to say I'm impressed with our work.
Then onto the finished project. New tile--FREAKING DIFFICULT-- and new vanity with sink. I think they're loverly.
Then there's the master bathroom...not that there's really anything masterful about it. There was never (at least not as long as I saw it, I'm sure there once was...long long ago) real flooring. Just the gross, rotting out, sub-flooring.
YUCK!
Starting to replace the sub-flooring with our Oh-so-amazing skillness
And then the finished project. Woo hoo. I don't have a picture showing the vanity. But whenever I get to actually finishing this, I will. Believe me, I will. As it were, I love the tiling and the colors in this room. It's going to make it much much nicer.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Beware: This post contains sloads of nauseating twitterpation.

So life has not gotten any less crazy. And still in a crazy good way. Twitterpated me. We've been doing things everyday since our first date. It's been fun and whirlwind like. This last weekend he asked me to come home with him and go on a triple date with 2 of his sisters. I'll be honest, I was terrified. I know he'd met my family but still...sisters are terrifying. The weekend was so much fun though. Before I even got into the house his 5 year old sister was running out and giving me hugs. Then we went to dinner and went bowling with 2 of his sisters and their dates. Bowling is normally among my list of evil sports, but we played a game with them this time and it was hilarious. We had a bag of skittles and you'd choose one and depending on the color you'd do a stunt. Like lay on the floor and roll the ball or spin around 5 times and roll it. Stuff like that. It was so funny. At some points, all 6 of us were on the floor laughing. The next day we spent time with his family and went on a 4 wheeler ride. We went and saw my grandpa. And he asked if we could exclusively see each other. We came home that Saturday and then he came over yesterday and we spent time with my family.
In many ways I cannot believe this. It's completely and totally not what I was expecting for my life. However, I am so ridiculously happy. I don't think I've been able to stop smiling since our first date. I'm starting to feel like tour-guide Barbie.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Twitterpation

Life is so crazy. But in a good way. In a most certainly wonderfully good way. Actually at this precise moment I am twitterpated beyond belief. It is slightly ridiculous but so wonderful. I met the boy at my institute class, he's from the same area as my Dad and went to school with my cousin and we talked about that. No biggie. I thought nothing of it. He added me as a friend on Facebook. Life went on. I missed a few weeks of institute and he facebooked me saying that he wanted to do something with me but didn't see me at institute and didn't have any other way to contact me. I gave him my number. The next week at institute he asked me out. We were supposed to go play tennis but the weather had other ideas. So instead we stayed at my house and made a cake, played games with my family and watched a movie. I found myself realizing, as the night went on, that I really liked this guy. He came over the next day...and the next. And consequently, it's happened even more as time goes on. I REALLY like this guy. And he seems to feel the same way about me. It's insane. But like I said earlier, in a crazy good way.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Quiz Results

I didn't know where to save these quiz results then decided *shrug* why not share about myself. So here's my color wheel. The test is not avery well thought out and obviously has many limitations but I still like what it says about me.

BLUE


BLUES are motivated by intimacy. They seek opportunities to genuinely connect with other and need to be understood and appreciated. Everything they do is quality-based. They are loyal friends, employers and employees. Whatever or whomever they commit to is their sole (and soul) focus. They love to serve and give freely of themselves in order to nurture others' lives. BLUES have distinct preferences and are the most controlling personality. Their code of ethics is remarkably strong and they expect others to live honest, committed lives as well. They enjoy sharing meaningful moments in conversation as well as rememebring special life events (i.e. birthdays and anniversaries). BLUES are dependable, thoughtful, analytical and can be self-righteous, worry-prone and moody. They are like "sainted pit-bulls" who never let go of something or someone once they are committed. When you deal with a BLUE, be sincere and make a genuine effort to understand and appreciate them