Day 12 - WVC?

Wednesday, March 30
Day 12 – A photograph of the town you live in.


Haha...I thought that said the town you grew up in. Silly me. So I found pictures of West Valley.

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But I don't live there now. I live in Draper!

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And, if live loves John and I, we will be living in Eagle Mountain in less than a month, and we will probably be there for decades. Ooh, that's kind of a scary thought.

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Ooh we are so excited to live in Eagle Mountain! Not only are we getting a steal on our house, it's a gorgeous area! We'll live on a golf course and be surrounded by rolling hills and only minutes away from mountains. The downside is that it is a bit out there, but there are all sorts of plans to make it much more accessible. Yay!

Day 11 - Reluctantly Pretty

So yesterday I did four days' worth of blogging, but I didn't actually do yesterday's post. Not my fault, actually. Our internet cut out. It's a funny story...but not that interesting. :)

Tuesday, March 29
Day 11 – What’s in your makeup bag?

I'm not a huge make-up person. My mom most definitely does not wear make-up and neither do most of my sisters. Even if they did we don't share little life tips in my family and even if we did...I probably wouldn't take any of their advice on makeup. Let's just say we all have very different styles. 

In any case, I have taught myself most of what I know about makeup, and I've developed my own theory that it isn't that important. Sure, I recognize how dang good I look when I've painted my face up, but I just don't see the need to do it every day. It makes those days I do it even better :) And, let's face it, I'm a completely lazy piece of pooh. 

Therefore, my makeup bag is really simple, and hasn't had a lot of money spent on it. 

To start with, the bag. It's about as big as my hand and only 2 inches thick if I stuff it. It's this cute little purple thing that I got in 4th grade for my birthday from some girls who took pity on me because it was the worst birthday ever. For some reason, it has stuck around my life and somehow it's been adopted to be my makeup bag. 

Next, mascara. Right now I have my Mary Kay mascara that's on its way out but before I was ready to be completely done with it I adopted a new one. So I have two mascaras and yes, right now, I use both of them. But no biggie because mascara is the one thing that I do use relatively often. When I feel like I need that extra boost so my face isn't completely washed out I splash some on and it's good enough for me. 

Then the eyeliner. Black and brown, both Mary Kay. I've gotten over the Mary Kay thing and I will probably never buy it again. I have plenty of providers if ever I need, but I'm finding that it's not the best brand for me. The black does well enough on the inner side of my lashes (yes, I'm one of those) and the brown will sometimes decide to let me put it beneath my lashes. I use eyeliner when mascara doesn't quite do the trick but I don't have time (or energy) to do it all. 


The rest is just for dates and nights out, and even then not all of them. I am really that lazy when it comes to makeup. 


It took me years to finally break down and use foundation. The thing that did it was my first year of college, when my face broke out like it never had before. Sure, I'd had acne like every other teenager, but I'd never had it bad. Something in Logan made me break out like crazy and it took a whole semester for it to die down. Luckily I had so much self confidence at the time that it hardly phased me emotionally, but it did bother me that my face was always red and blotchy. So I went out and bought my first foundation, and still it was only because I was going to a dance. I've since decided that foundation is amazing, even though my skin is normal now. 


I've been experimenting with eyeshadow since I was little, so that's nothing new. I'm not often brave enough to do fancy colors, so I usually stick with browns and such.


Blush or rouge or whatever, is similar to foundation. It took me a long time before I decided it fit. Part of that is because I just can't apply it well and its never bothered me to not have it. Then when John and I had our Engagements done I used some of his Mom's and I loved what it did to my cheeks when I looked back through the pictures. I have yet to find the best shade, but I got a good enough one and I'm patient. 


That's pretty much it. Eyelash curler I've always liked and borrowed, but only recently bought my own. Eyelash brush I stole from my sister and only use when they really clump together. My favorite lip gloss is currently hiding somewhere in a pocket from the last date I went on so it's not in the picture, but I have my backup ones there :) Oh, yes. I hate lipstick and only keep a lovely supply for pranks. Lipgloss is the best thing on the planet!

Day 10 - 70* and Sunny

Monday, March 29
Day 10 – A photo of your favorite place to eat.

I'm a picky eater. So I have strange habits when it comes to food. I'm okay with that. Poor John has to put up with me, since he will eat just about anything. But he loves me so we make it work :)

I don't like fine dining. Nearly every nice restaurant I've been to has seriously depressed me when it came to enlightening my taste buds. Their food, if edible, is bland and feels gross in my mouth. I just don't get it. But that does mean that I'm not demanding we spend $100 every meal...so at least there are some benefits, right?

Before I went to many nice restaurants, it had actually been a big deal for me to go to any restaurant. I simply didn't grow up eating out. Like...ever. And then, when I did it was still hard for me to pick something that sounded remotely edible. I can do chicken, occasionally pork..but pretty much no other meat. That seriously limits eating abilities some places.

Then I went to Applebee's with my Madrigal group. I had never been there before. I opened up the menu and...chicken! and delicious looking chicken, no less. I was amazed. Then I ordered and ate and I fell in love.

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Ooooh yumminess!

But now I've gotten used to eating out and I've gone to more places. And now my favorite restaurant is the one that everyone is always craving.

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Yup. You guessed it. The mouth-watering salad, especially the pork one. From:

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Cafe Rio, Costa Vida, and Bajio. They're all the same to me for the most part. All delicious and pretty much the best thing the restaurant world has to offer. AND it doesn't make me want to puke because of all the grease that I can feel building up, like fast food does. Yay!

As for my favorite place to eat...I like being in parks in the Spring, for any occasion. So that's probably my favorite spot to eat. Any park, 70* and sunny.
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Day 9 - I Bought John a Present

Sunday, March 27
Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased.

Again, time sensitive post...but luckily I haven't bought anything since before Sunday :) Now let's see if I can remember...I can't. But I did purchase something yesterday that wasn't actually my purchase. It's kind of boring...a shipping label.

Like I said, boring. But I had fun in Paint, if you can't tell. :)

Hmmm...there has to be something more interesting that I've bought since last week. Oh! I bought some Swiss Rolls for John. When I went to the Bakery Thrift Shop I bought Ding-Dongs because I thought those were the ones that he likes...but they're not :( But that's okay because I bought him these:

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And I put them in a shoe box with other things to decorate and liven up his work space. Forgot to give that to him...good thing snacks like those are good forever, right? :)

Yum!

Day 8 - Mood Song?

Saturday, March 26
Day 8 – A song to match your mood.

Sadly I don't know what song matched my mood on Saturday. That's one problem with skipping days on this thing. Ah well :) I can guess =D
We worked hard that day, helping my brother's family clean up their new house's yard. So the song "A Hard Day's Night" comes to mind, simply because of the work. We had fun, but we were ready to crash.

Right now the song that's stuck in my head is the theme from Angry Birds...but that's not quite a mood.

But, ya know. I'm not in much of a mood right now. So those will have to do :)

Day 7 - Rewind and Dream

Weekends are horrible for me to get normal tasks done. I completely forget about anything else other than play, pretty much. So I missed the entire weekend...make up time! =D This probably will not be the first time I miss the weekend...but I'll do my best!


Friday, March 25
Day 7 – Your dream wedding.


Well that's just silly. I already had it :)
No, really, I did. 

Like 85% of girls, I dreamed about my wedding for as long as I can remember. I wasn't so extreme that I had every detail picked out; I did want room to budge where he wanted and to fit my personality when it did come. But I always had ideas, even if they changed all the time. 

However, before John and I had talked much about getting married, I had picked out our centerpieces, my bridesmaids' outfits, my flowers and therefore my colors...and those things stayed because it was close enough to the time that it made sense. 

I planned and planned and did as much by myself as I could. My Mom was out of town, but if I'm honest that was more of a relief than a burden because I wanted to do everything myself and having my Mom there probably would have just stressed me out. She would stress, and I can't stand people around me stressing because it rubs off on me. I am perfectly fine by myself most of the time, but once people start breathing down my neck I want to strangle theirs. 

Some people thought it was amazing that I planned my wedding almost entirely by myself. But really, basically the one thing I do regret about my wedding is that I couldn't be the wedding planner at the same time as being the Bride. The Bride may have the last say in the wedding plans, but in real time, the wedding planner does. Whether that's a professional, your Mom, or your Maid of Honor...the wedding planner has the last say. 

Unfortunately for me, I did so well at being the wedding planner by myself that no one knew everything I had in my head well enough to execute it...so they made do with what they had. That part of the planning I realized was essential, but I never got around to explaining all the details, and even if I did no one else would have read them in the moment.

So my wedding was great and had all the aspects that I wanted...but they were done just slightly wrong. That's no one's fault but my own, I realize...but that kind of makes it worse. That means that all my regret refuses to go away even though it's trivial. I could have had my dream wedding...but stupid lack of explaining the details prevented it being just right. So I felt like the whole thing was wrong.

But then I rewind. How did I feel that day? I was absolutely certain that I had the best wedding ever. The important things went without a glitch. We were married, and in the right place. Everyone was happy for us and we had all the support and love from friends and family we could ask for. We felt like we were in heaven. We were happy and in love and blissful. And married.

That's what really counts.

Day 6 - Fur, Fangs, or Feathers?

Day 6 – A photo of an animal you’d love to keep as a pet.

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I love tigers. Gabby once said she'd get me a tiger cub for my birthday. Unfortunately it's not legal...and extremely expensive. So she had to go with something else :( That's okay. I'd probably get eaten by it someday. Or worse...my kids would be. Eek! So as cool and awesome and amazing as having a tiger would be...I think we'll stick with something realistic.

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John has begged and begged and begged for me to let him have a rat. No thanks! Maybe someday when he has one of our sons to back him up I might concede...but I just don't see it happening. Yeck.

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I've asked John for a bird. I think they're so pretty and graceful. And stinky and noisy, he points out. Ah well...they're not so graceful when stuck in a cage, anyway.

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Fish are great pets...but most are ugly, at least I think so. They're pretty if you blur your eyes and block out theirs. I hate fish eyes; they're so creepy. My Mom had a Beta fish for Mother's Day that I took care of, and I liked that one. We almost got fish in Mexico. That would have been lots of fun, and we would have left them with my Mom so she could have friends. =D

Now we have a dog. She's adorable and perfect. Almost. But pretty close. I've never been a dog person, but she has definitely grown on me. We will continue to have dogs, most likely. Only one at a time, though. I'm out to raise kids, not pets.

Day 5 - High School Me

Day 5 – A photo of yourself from high school.


High School was still just yesterday for me. Some people loved it, more hated it.
I was one of the ones that did everything Senior year. The list is long, but the main three are big enough by themselves, and yes, I am very proud of my accomplishments. 

I was Senior Class Secretary, though that sounds classier and cooler than it really is. Class presidencies do very little, though Seniors have one or two bigger responsibilities than the other two. This one will stay following me for the next 5 years if not the rest of my life, as reunions fall into our hands.

I was in Madrigals, the Vice President. Though, admittedly, I'm the only one who cares about that second part. It sounds just a titch nicer on resumes =D I LOVED Madrigals and I miss being in a choir. An exclusive choir, that is. Not that I like being exclusive and "better," but because massive choirs where you're just a small notch in the noise detector aren't all that inviting. Ensemble choirs are fantastic because what you do with your voice actually matters. You need to improve every aspect of the way you personally sing or else the whole group suffers. You grow more, and you feel more. Also, its a friend-friendlier group. In Mads I was lucky enough to have most of the Mads already my friends, so we had tons of fun together on trips and performances. We spent a ridiculous amount of time together and I wouldn't trade those memories for anything.

The last third of my major contributions to Granger High was the most infuriating one. But sometimes I'm pretty sure I miss it the most. I was the Journalism Editor-in-Chief. I was in charge of the newspaper. It was challenging; it made me mad; it never lived up to my hopes and rarely my expectations; I could never do everything I wanted to do with it; I had too much to do and not enough time and definitely not enough resources; I never had enough support. But I gave my all to it (the all that wasn't involved in the other million things I was super involved in) and I ache to go back and do more. I LOVED creating and running the newspaper. The one time I had the chance to actually write an article was thrilling (because it was the only article during the whole year worth writing). However, it completely horrifies me that I will probably never get the chance to do something like that again. To work up the hierarchy of real journalism, you have to do tons of dirty, boring work that I'll never be willing to do. Like I said, I hate writing articles that aren't worth my time, and 90% of them wouldn't be. 

Day 4 - Bestie Fun

Day 4 – Your favorite photograph of your best friend.


Of course, John is my best friend. But John gets enough show time since I'm married to him. 


I've always wanted to continue to have a female best friend for the rest of my life. I have many reasons for that. My problem is that I've gone through best friends faster than I can make new ones, not entirely through my own fault. So right now I'm just saying my best friend is whomever of my close friends I think of first. Today that is Gabs. 


I tried looking for a fantastic picture of her that was already on the internet but...her activities of late do not show off her freaking gorgeous self as best as possible, so I had to delve into the piles of pictures she and I took together through the years, though old and outdated they may be. 

These pictures are 2 1/2 years old. Time flies way too fast! I guess that's what I get for having so many changes in the past two years. 


Like I said, Gabby and I have tons of pictures through the years. I guess we're both a little narcissistic and, surprisingly, taking pictures of yourself with a friend makes a fun activity.  In any case, I love the collection of pictures we have and the memories they bring. 


I've already written a few words about Gabby, but I can always ramble more. :) I think she's absolutely fantastic and I love her to death. I'm her Mom and she's my daughter. This is so for several, mostly funny, reasons, but it's primarily because I'm always nagging and worrying and doing such things like that. She's one friend I will fight for to continue to have in my life. 


I even have a ring to show for our friendship. Hilarity ensued when she got on one knee at my 16th birthday party, even if only she and I got the joke. Neither of us are at all homosexual; no worries. She has a ring too but I'm pretty sure it's stuck away forgotten under some box somewhere. Ah well :) 


Right now it's been about eight months since we've seen each other. The past few weeks all our plans have fallen through. I miss her like mad and I really want to be there for her, even if she doesn't think she needs me. I worry, like always. But such is life. 

Day 3 - Sweet Starting

Day 3 – Your idea of the perfect first date.


Hmm...this one is hard, surprisingly. For me every guy changed how I wanted it to progress because every situation was different, and I never fantasized about the first date enough to mentally plan a perfect one. Though John and I did have a fantastic first date. So I'll go with that. 


It wasn't so much what we did, but how it happened and felt. So for me, vague is better.


He was one of the few guys who asked me out on an actual date, so that was a great starter. I think every girl deserves to be asked out on dates, not just hanging out evolving into dating. I was interested in him, and I knew he was interested in me, so it wasn't just the awkward asking and more awkward, "I guess so, why not" that comes from some acquaintance first dates. 


He picked me up and we grabbed a bite to eat then had fun doing a classic activity. At that point we had done enough to constitute a good date, but we kept going. He gave me the option to do something I had never done before, but we were late so decided not to go with it. Again, he could have taken me home then, but did not. It surprised me but I was enjoying myself so I just took it as a compliment. He offered dessert so we had fun getting that. You would have thought that was the end point, but we took our dessert to the park. We played around there, then also went on a walk. Done? Nope. We finished off with a movie at home, but circumstances gave us more time to talk and have fun before it still. So from 5pm-1am it was the longest first date (not with a High School Dance) I had heard of, but it didn't feel long at all. We were comfortable with each other and it was a lot of fun. I guess it was almost like it was our first 3 dates in one, because by our second date we were cuddling and holding hands, and our third date we were officially together.  For not knowing each other much before our date, that is fairly fast. 


In any case, I think my first date with my husband was the best first date ever. 

Family Update -- March 2011

I realized that I never posted this, though I did make a post for it. 

John and I are doing well :) Our biggest news is that we got a dog. Her name is Silk and we think she's pretty much the perfect dog, or at least pretty darn close. Last week we were called as joint Sunday School teachers for the 16-17 aged youth. We may go without a class many weeks, as they go to serve the care center during the Sunday School hour. We continue to look at houses and might have news of an acceptance by next month, but it's still all unsure so we'll see :)

Day 2 - Heart-Stopping Edible Memories

Day 2 – A photo of something you ate today.

Yummy. :P
This, my dears, is a Zinger. Basically, Hostess decided the infamous Twinkies were not unhealthy enough, so they added frosting. At least it's not deep-fried, eh? ;)


I explained yesterday that I got these from the Wonder Hostess Bakery Thrift Shop. Honestly, right now I'm about ready to throw them in a food storage can and forget about them for the next 50 years. And yet I am still happy I got them :) 


Zingers actually have some sentimental value to me. You know when you were in Elementary School and it was your birthday, and YOU had to provide the happy goodness? Well these were what my Mom always gave to me to bring. And, of course, it was the only time I ever got them, despite the fact that I thought they were absolute sugar perfection. Or perhaps that's why I thought that :) 

Day 1 – Me and My Day

Day 1 – A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.

I feel...I'm not sure how I feel about it. But I had to search forEVER to get to this picture. My Bridals are the best pictures of me, which should be a good thing, except I feel like I should have a recent everyday picture of myself that I simply like...but, sadly, I do not. Anyway, the fact that I had to settle for pictures that are a year old (can you believe it!) is...unsettling? strange? not the topic I'm supposed to be focusing on right now, at least :)


My Day. 
Simple, ordinary Saturday. I woke up this morning snuggled up comfortably to my favorite person: my dog Silk. Haha, just kidding. I was snuggling with John. Silk was snuggling into his bum. And she's not a person, anyway. I love waking up next to him, especially on Saturdays when we can enjoy the laziness of waking up. We like to kid ourselves that our kids will be perfectly content watching cartoons on Saturday mornings so that we can still have those times. Hmmm...one can dream of perfect parenthood before it comes, right? =D (P.S. I have tangent thoughts on Saturday cartoons, too...we can get to those another time)  We got up eventually. Banks close early on Saturdays (and every other convenient time of the year) and we needed some loan info. Ran a few errands, cleaned house, played with the cutest puppy in the world. Typical Saturday.


Ooh, except when I went to the store I went to the Wonder Hostess Bakery Thrift Shop. Say we're weird, but John and I have been so excited to go to that store since we found out it was close. Unfortunately its hours are about as convenient as banks' so we haven't gone. I love discount sugar! Um and bread...though their loaves are not the too-big-for-toasters yumminess we love so much. I got heart-stopping live-forever Zingers and Ding-dongs. Heart stopping literally, not lovey-dovey, and the treats live forever, not you. Yay! :P


We had my family over for game night. Only Kaleb, Sarah, Joel, Joy, and Athena came. Only. :)  And the babies. I love my babies! My nieces, anyway. They're the newest ones on my side, and they're irresistible! Julia is 7 1/2 months old, and Adielyn is a month and a half. Ella was also there, and she's darn tootin cute too, if not quite a baby. Anyway, Phase 10 is really long with seven people playing. But we want family game night to happen more often so we'll have plenty of chance to get to more interesting games another time =D yay. 


Now John and I are hooked into the glowing rectangles. He's playing GTA2...wow what a crude game, and this one is the mild one of the series! But he rarely plays video games and he needs to unwind after a party. The puppy naps...wow being a dog must be so boring!!


Hmmm...bedtime!

30 Day Challenge

So I'll start this off by saying that yes, I stole this. But that's okay because the best ideas are copies...or something like that. Anyway, I've had at least two friends on facebook do this 30 day photo challenge thing, and then I ran across another friend doing it for her blog. So I had to do it. Oh, except I compared the two and they aren't the same list. So I'll do both...at the same time! Hmmm...maybe not? They're actually quite different. So maybe I'll do them one at a time. That is a lot of blogging. But that's what makes this fun, eh? :) So, I will start off with:

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Blogger 30 Day Challenge
Day 1 – A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was.
Day 2 – A photo of something you ate today.
Day 3 – Your idea of the perfect first date.
Day 4 – Your favorite photograph of your best friend.
Day 5 – A photo of yourself from high school.
Day 6 – A photo of an animal you’d love to keep as a pet.
Day 7 – Your dream wedding.
Day 8 – A song to match your mood.
Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased.
Day 10 – A photo of your favorite place to eat.
Day 11 – What’s in your makeup bag?
Day 12 – A photograph of the town you live in.
Day 13 – Your favorite musician and why?
Day 14 – A TV show you’re currently addicted to.
Day 15 – Something you don’t leave the house without.
Day 16 – Your celebrity crush.
Day 17 – A photo of you and your family.
Day 18 – Something you crave a lot.
Day 19 – Another picture of yourself.
Day 20 – The meaning behind your blog name.
Day 21 – A photo of something that makes you happy.
Day 22 – A letter to someone who has hurt you recently.
Day 23 – 15 facts about you.
Day 24 – A photo of something that means a lot to you.
Day 25 – What’s in your purse?
Day 26 – A photo of somewhere you’ve been to.
Day 27 – A picture of you last year and now and how have you changed since then?
Day 28 – Your favorite movie.
Day 29 – Something you could never get tired of doing.
Day 30 – A photograph of yourself today + three good things that have happened in the last 30 days