10 things that made me happy this week

1. only working two days last week.

2. my new red coat. it's so cute, very 1950/60's. love it!

3. eggs benedict. my favorite breakfast and we have it for christmas morning every year.

4. sleeping in.

5. having heidi, logan and afton in town for christmas.

6. afton is now smiling. next step . . . laughing . . . . can't wait.

7. putting together a wedding boutineer with duct tape. the guys loved it.

8. sarah's wedding bouquet turned out great. i was really worried for a while, but i was satisfied with the end result.

9. finally finishing "the mysteries of udolpho."

10. and last, but certainly not least . . . for christmas i got my first blue box . . .

only mine had a red ribbon instead of white (it being christmas and all). and inside . . . i found this . . . .

so exciting!! thanks mom!!

10 things that made me happy this week

i am proclaiming all happiness inducing instances for this week christmas miracles . . . i think you'll see why.

1. going christmas shopping the saturday before christmas and finding you have arrived before the crowds. no lines. no pushing. no getting stuck behind some idiot who moves slower than a desert tortoise.

2. finding the perfect gift in the first store you walk into at 50% (or more) off.

3. finding a prime parking spot at the busiest shopping center in town, which is very helpful when your shopping with a 2 month old baby.

4. said 2 month old baby making it through a 7 hour shopping day with hardly a peep.

5. coming home to find a driveway full of free firewood. enough to last us through winter.

6. fires in fireplaces.

7. canceled ward council meetings.

8. my boss deciding to close the office wednesday, thursday and friday.

9. lamenting over an almost perfect gift in a drab color, and then discovering the same gift in the perfect color hiding right behind it . . . with one more in the needed size.

10. everyone except marc is spending the night at the house . . . so we're all one big happy family tonight.

and as a christmas bonus . . .

11. my mom finally posted something on her blog. check it out. we're linked.

merry christmas everyone!!

Have you ever?

Copy the list and highlight the ones (mine are red) that are true about you!
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a Praying Mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21.Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Talked your way out of a ticket

10 things that made me happy this week

1. walking down christmas tree lane.

2. sparkle farkle . . . . you had to be there.

3. wool german lengerie being modeled on "so graham norton."

4. hugh jackman in "australia" . . . . well, actually, hugh jackman in anything . . .

5. being done with school for the semester.

6. officially getting an "A" in math.

7. thunder and lightening and hail.

8. getting 80% of my christmas shopping done in one purchase.

9. mamma mia on dvd.

10. going to a live preformance of "the Messiah."

10 things that made me happy this week . . .

i'm not going to lie . . . it's going to be hard to come up with 10 things this week . . . . it's been a rough one, but here it goes:

1. i turned in my last assignment of the semester this week. all i have left are my two finals, which i feel remarkably calm about. as soon as i turned in my paper i felt this huge sense of relief come over me. fresno state, here i come . . .

2. decorating the christmas tree.

3. sharing poetry out loud with friends.

4. yummy flavored coffee creamers. i put them in my hot chocolate and it's delicious. my favorite right now is creme brulee.

5. almost beating craig in settler of catan.

6. finding out there is a wingstop in merced, which is a lot closer than newport beach.

7. christmas music.

8. space heaters.

9. getting in touch with old friends.

10. i was really sad about walter this week, but that was just circumstantial. even when i was feeling overcome by sadness, i knew that overall i'm really happy with my life, and that gave me so much freedom to just experience my sadness without despairing. so i guess the reassurance of happiness made me happy this week . . . if that makes sense.

goodbye to walter . . .

sad times at the green house. last friday night i noticed that walter was breathing weird. he's prone to pneumonia, so saturday morning my mom and i took him to the vet. when we pulled open his mouth to see if he had congestion we discovered that he had a wad of food stuck in his mouth/throat that was almost the size of my mom's fist. the vet (with the assistance of two people) pulled the huge wad of food out and we went home armed with some antibiotics, just in case he did have pneumonia. saturday night walter was eating, which i thought was a good sign. sunday morning i went go get walter to take him out for his antibiotic shot and noticed that he had another huge wad of food stuck in his throat and mouth, so big it was affecting his ability to breathe. we took him back to the vet on monday, and they said that it could be one of two things: 1. he had a growth in his throat that wasn't allowing him to breathe, or 2. his paralysis had extended from the back of his body up to his throat, making it impossible for him to breathe. either way, the outcome was that he was starving and suffocating. we decided to have him put to sleep. it was really hard. my mom and i were sitting in the vet's office bawling over the goodbye, but i know it was the most humane thing to do. we've had him for 7 or 8 years, maybe more, and he was already several years old when we got him. the vet told us that 10 is the average life expectancy for iguanas, so he had a pretty long life. but i really miss him. i keep looking over to his little corner expecting to see him there. nevertheless, walter went out with his personality. the technician who came to get him was a male, and walter doesn't like males. he was really calm while i was holding him, but as soon as the guy took him he started struggling to get away. then the guy started to pet him to try and get him to calm down, walter opened him mouth to warn him, the little stinker. he was so unique. he will be missed.

into the refiners fire . . .

in the interest of keeping everyone updated with what's going on in my life . . . for the past year i've been one of the two gospel doctrine teachers in my ward. i've had this calling before and i was really excited to do it again. i actually LOVE teaching, whether it be in relief society or gospel doctrine. i've been so blessed with this opportunity to study the gospel a little more deeply and i'm amazed by how much clarity and greater understanding i've been given. i've gained such a strong testimony about our heavenly fathers desire to bless us abundantly anytime we put in the least bit of effort. alas . . . i have been given a new calling.

i am now the relief society president.

this just goes to prove that God does, in fact, have a sense of humor.

i'm feeling a little overwhelmed, and perhaps a bit inadequate. everyone who knows me knows that i'm not a girls girl; i've spent most of my life running with the boys. i do enjoy girly things (musicals, romantic movies, makeup, etc.), but i don't respond to situations the way most girls do. i'm not overly emotional. i don't like to talk about things without the intent to solve them. most of the time when i'm dealing with girls i think they're completely irrational, so this calling is definitely outside my comfort zone! but i am looking forward to the opportunity to serve and grow. i'm just praying for a LOT of help!

here's to progression and refinement . . . .

10 things that made me happy this week . . .

1. this morning i saw a bumper sticker that said, "metaphors be with you." I laughed out loud.
2. christmas lights going up all over town.
3. i think the weather has finally cooled off for good. i love being able to wear my mittens and scarves and hats/beanies. also, i got to put a second comforter on my bed, so it's super duper snuggly now . . . which i love love LOVE!
4. the fiasco that is taking a "family photo".
5. watching two grown adults (10 and 35 years my senior) engage in a 45-minute long bickering-death-match . . . at work. kind of exasperating . . . yet amusing at the same time.
6. trying to explain how Jesus died and then came back to life to a 4-year old who never goes to church.
7. listening to "a prairie home companion on the internet" (they archive every show . . . and this makes me very happy).
8. getting destroyed by neal in scrabble, just as i predicted. we never know who's going to win because we're pretty equally matched, so it makes playing fun . . .
9. learning about/gaining greater understanding about different cultures.
10. getting to see afton.

Funny story . . . .

last week my good friend esther (the cho to my hermione) sent me a nice little surprise in the mail. it looked like this . . .

this was amusing on many fronts. first, esther and i love getting caught up in the hysteria that surrounds books like twilight and harry potter . . . so it made me smile that she would send me a poster that half the 14-year-old girls in the country have up in their room.

second, mazur was really excited that i had received something in the mail and was anxious for me to open it (he gets excited over the prospect of opening anything).

third, mazur was even more excited when he found out it was a poster of a vampire (oh yes, he knows edward is the "bampire" from "twiwight").

fourth, mazur was even more excited when i told him that i was going to put the poster up in my room so that edward could protect me. i convinced him that edward would come out of the poster when someone was trying to hurt me. (he thought this was exceedingly interesting since edward was supposed to be in the tv) he was also trying to figure out if he could pretend to try and hurt me to make edward come out of the poster while he was there, but i told him edward was too smart for that, and would know he was only pretending . . . . kids are so fun to mess with . . .

anyway, the funny story . . . i did put the poster up on the back of my door.

last night i got in bed and turned off the lights and had my headphones in and my eyes closed. then i opened my eyes for a second and looked towards the door and thought someone was standing there. i thought it was my mom poking her head in to ask me a question, but i couldn't hear her because my headphones were in, so i took them out and asked "what?" . . . and then i realized i was talking to a poster . . . so i guess the joke is on me, not mazur . .

so thanks esther. i had a good laugh at myself last night. and the ladies at the office had a good laugh at me today when i told them the story. and now all of you can have a good laugh too.