Layout

I don't know why the layout on my posts goes all weird like the one below. I swear I space them right when I'm writing them.

Tagged: Six Things About Me

So Melody tagged me FOREVER ago (like in January) and I'm finally doing it! I promise I didn't forget Melody, I'm just a big slacker. So basically I guess I just have to say 6 things about myself that most other people don't know and then tag 6 people. I think I finally know enough fellow bloggers to be able to tag 6, so here goes:

1: I love to scrapbook, but I never do it. Seriously, I've been working on my mission scrapbook since I got home 2 years ago but I'm still working on my first area (although if you count the MTC, I am actually on my 2nd area). Here are a couple of my fav pages:

2: I have always loved babies. My family has officially and affectionately dubbed me the "baby hog" because if there is a baby around, you can be sure that he or she is in my arms. I don't know if it's their innocence, the light in their eyes, or their cute giggles that get me, but there's just something about them that I can't stay away from! My cute nephew Luke is one of them:

3: I love my car. I've had it since last August and is the first new car I have ever bought. I guess you could say it's my first "adult" purchase. It's a beautiful icy blue 2007 manual transmission Mazda3. This baby's got some power, although I'm so careful with it that the rpms rarely get above the little '3' mark on the rpm gauge thing. Only when I'm driving 80 mph on I-15 does it go above 3. This picture isn't of my exact car, but it's the same exact model/year. It also looks silver in this pic, but it's actually icy blue (kind of like a baby blue, but icier :) ) Pretty yeah?

4: This one probably won't come as a surprise and I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who feels this way, but I abhor dating! All you married folk out there count your blessings that you don't have to go through this silly game anymore.

5: For those of you who have taken the color personality test, I am a white personality. However, depending on the situation I'm in I can change colors...like a chameleon. Before my mission I didn't have a single bit of red in me, and by the end I was like 1/6 red or something like that. At work I'm a white/red combination, but when I'm with friends or a bunch of people that I know and am comfortable with I'm more of a white/yellow combination. I'm sure I've got some blue in there somewhere. Personality tests are actually really interesting to me and I like to take different ones. Recently I took one at a seminar I went to for work that's supposed to decide whether you're a Driver, Relater, Analyzer, or Innovator. I am an Anaylzer-Relater, which means I need time to assess a situation, I'm self-reliant, like to work independently, and like to understand why things work a certain way, but I'm also a people-person, like to know "who's who", and like to have influence at work and participate in group activities. I think I'm more of an Analyzer than a Relater, but I can see where I would have some Relater in me.

6: I love to travel. I wrote earlier this month about humanitarian trips, which I love to do partly because I get to see new places I wouldn't normally see. I think my mission might have sparked some of my interest in travel because being in NY you are surrounded by hundreds of different cultures and languages, and lots of yummy food (one of the best parts about traveling). Since coming home from the mish I have been to New York (again, to visit), New Orleans, Chicago, Missouri/Nauvoo, and this summer I'm going to Guatemala (my first international trip). I also LOVE airports because there are so many interesting things/people to watch. Hopefully - cross your fingers - I will also be able to go to England/Europe this fall to visit my friend Melissa, but only if I can find a really really cheap flight. If anyone has any ideas/suggestions/free tickets :) let me know!

Wow, I didn't think I could actually come up with 6 of these things, but there ya go. Now I have to tag 6 people, so I tag: Brittany, Steph, Yvonne, Tiffany, Tricia, and Erin.

Blind Date

I'm going on a blind date tomorrow night. It's the first one I've said yes to in quite a while, so wish me luck!

Easter Weekend

Easter weekend was a lot of fun. Friday night some friends and I had a girls night out. We went to dinner at Olive Garden and then went to a movie and saw Penelope.

A few weeks ago I ordered all the seasons of Boy Meets World on DVD, so Saturday I had a Boy Meets World Extravaganza and we watched Cory, Shawn, Feeny, and Eric to our heart's content.

Sunday, Easter, I spent the day at my parents' house. Following tradition, we hunted for our Easter baskets. In mine I found these gummy rabbit teeth. Pretty hot right?

Memories #3

A couple of memories were brought back to the surface of my brain this week after I saw some people from the old ward in Ventura.

1 - Prank calls: When I was like 9 or 10 my parents went to Utah for my mom's high school reunion. On the way they dropped us off in Las Vegas to stay with the Foster family. One afternoon we (me, Stephanie, Danika, and maybe Becca) were left to our own devices. I don't remember whose idea it was, but someone had the brilliant idea of doing some prank calls. So we got out the phone book and started dialing. I don't remember what we said, but it was something about a pig. Just this last Monday when we were at the Foster's house in Farmington, I found out that someone had actually called back to let Karen know that someone had prank called them. Sure, we had to call the first person in the world with caller id.

2 - Saturday's Warrior: I went to a wedding dinner with my mom last night for a girl whose family lived in Ventura a long long time ago. Like they moved away when I was probably 8. Her younger sister is Danika's age, so I went to their house with her a couple of times when we were little. Anyways, for some reason I remember that it was at their house that I saw Saturday's Warrior for the first time. Random? Yeah.

Are there any normal guys out there?

So last night I went country swing dancing at the Union Station in Ogden with my friend Stacey. I used to go almost every week last summer, but all my friends who used to go stopped going, so I stopped as well. It's a great workout and I really enjoy it EXCEPT when the weirdos start coming around. There are always a couple there, and for some reason they're really hard to avoid. Last summer it was Brandon, a handicapped guy that will ask you out, ask for your number, ask you to dance 4 times in a row....that's one bad thing about being a girl.

Last night I had encounters with two of the aforementioned weirdos. The first was named Maguyver (MacGuyver?) or however you spell it. The name was on his t-shirt too, but I just can't spell today. He had some kind of handicap as well. I had just barely gotten there and was standing near the front against the wall (because I like being a wallflower), and he was standing sort of near me. Next thing I know, there's a hand stuck in front of my and a voice says, "Hi, I'm MacGuyver, what's your name?" So I told him, and then he asked me if I had ever been to Disneyland. He's been three times. Then he asked if I met Mickey Mouse. No, I don't think so. Then he pointed to his watch and said, "Well here he is!" He had a Mickey Mouse watch. Then, he asked me for my number. I didn't want to get in that kind of situation, so I told him I don't give out my number at places like that. He didn't back down at first, but I kept refusing...then he asked me to dance.

Weird guy #2 - Jordan. Seemed normal, though a little slow, at first. Then about halfway through the song we were dancing to (which was a slow song - they played way too many of those last night), he said, "So I'm totally going to ask you for your number." Okaaayyyyy. Here's how the rest of the conversation went:

Me: Um, ok
Him: Do you have your phone with you?
Me: No it's in my car
Him: Oh ok. I was going to ask if you could just call my phone cuz I'm too lazy to get it out.
Me: Oh. Sorry.
Him: So what are you doing tomorrow?
Me: Um, I'm supposed to be hanging out with my roommate.
- Song ends, he whips out his phone -
Him: How do you spell your name?
Me: T-a-w-n-i (I even gave him the correct spelling! What's wrong with me?)
Him: And your number?
Then I gave him my CORRECT number.
Him: You better not be playing with me.
Me: No, that really is my number.
Him: Cool, I'll totally hit you up

Aauuuggghhh! He asked Stacey to dance later, after I left, and he did the same thing to her, although she was smart enough to give him a fake number. Then he told her that he would totally hit her up and if it was wrong he would be p-o-ed.

I'm sure there have to be normal guys out there, but where are they???

California Reunion

Last night we had a little reunion with some of our CA friends. Karen (below), who now lives in Farmington, picked up Lori Hooke (still lives in CA) from the airport yesterday and invited the rest of us (who live in UT) over for dinner. It's always a lot of fun to see people from the old ward.

Lori Hooke and Brittany Pratt.

Brittany, Tage, and Diane Pratt

My sis Kaley

Haircut

So something possessed me to cut my hair today. Not only did I cut my hair, I chopped my hair. As the stylist was cutting, I was beginning to regret my decision while watching my hair drop to the ground. But after coming home and playing with it a little, I decided I kind of like it. Here I am with my new 'do:

A Taste of India

Today the receptionist at my work had a craving for Indian food and invited me to go with her to an Indian fast-food restaurant called Curry In A Hurry. Although I spent 3 transfers in Richmond Hill (aka Little India) on my mission, I never did have the opportunity to try Indian curry. I was quite excited at the idea and quickly said yes. We ordered the Half and Half Combo (below): We got chicken curry, Tandori chicken, curry potatoes, and naan (the flatbread). It was so yummy! Normally I'm not to keen on trying unfamiliar foods, but this was fun and I think I might make a hobby out of it. Here we are with our happy, full stomachs:

More Memories

Here are some more things I remember from my last 24 years:

1) Visiting Mom at Work - When we were younger my mom was (still is) a nurse and worked at Community Memorial Hospital. She didn't work a ton, maybe like once or twice a week or something, but a lot of the times that she worked we would go visit her during dinner time and she would eat with us in the cafeteria. I remember always wanting a cheeseburger, but they always made me get a grilled cheese; probably because it was cheaper. And it probably had fewer calories. When we left, my dad would always take us into the gift shop and get us a gummy thing (instead of a candy bar like we really wanted).

2) Driving - I don't remember exactly how old I was for this, but I must have been pretty small. Sometimes my dad would let me sit on his lap and "drive" while he was driving. Mom, you probably never knew about that. I think we only did it in neighborhoods, so it was safe :)

3) Mack's - This actually still happens every year. On Memorial Day we always go up to Tremonton to put flowers on my mom's mom's grave. Then it's our tradition to go to Mack's, a locally owned fast food place with the best burgers, fries, and fry sauce. They have a juke box, but I don't remember it ever working. Good food though. It's just not a trip to Tremonton without a stop at Mack's.

Singles Awareness Day Pics

Here are some pictures from the Single's Awareness Day party I wroter about a few weeks ago:

Maria, the hostess, and our friend Brittany made signs ahead of time for everyone that was coming. This is mine (because I have a llama. Not a real one. A stuffed one).

This is me with my sign.

This is my date, Greg, with his sign.

Memories

So I was thinking the other day, I should start writing down childhood memories for my posterity or whatever. Here are some that I have thought of in the last few days:

#1: KD Donuts - When I lived in Ventura I remember going swimming a lot, usually with my dad and Danika it seems. After we went swimming we would often go to KD Donuts to get a donut. It was just a small place. Seems like it was like a little house. I do remember it was a yellow building. I remember always wanting a buttermilk bar, but Dad always made me get an old-fashioned donut. I guess because they were smaller, and I was just a little girl. On a side note, thinking about swimming, I remember another time when my dad took Danika swimming and for some reason I wasn't allowed to go and really wanted to. We have pictures of me chasing after them in my regular clothes and an inner tube around my waist. I think I was about 8.

#2: Floating down the street - This memory also takes place in Ventura. The street we lived on, Channel Drive (well-named), would frequently flood when it rained hard. I only remember doing this once, but it's possible that we did it multiple times - we (me, Danika, our neighbors Justin and Josh) would float down the street in inner tubes. The current would actually get us going pretty fast. We have it on video and it looks pretty funny.

#3: Brittany - Every summer our half-sister Brittany would come visit us for a couple of weeks. We always did fun things. One summer she taught us some "cheers", which we loved. "Open up the barnyard, kick out the hay. We're the girls of the USA. Turn on the radio, whaddya hear. Johnny Carson's giving a cheer! We're gonna F-I-G-H-T. We're gonna F-I-G-H-T. We're gonna F-I-G-H-T, we're gonna Fight, Fight, Fight on a Saturday night. Yeah!" That was one of them. Another thing I remember was having a sleepover in the backyard in our sleeping bags. Me, Danika, Brittany, and the Murray girls (Meredith, Jenny, and Kelly) all slept back there. Sometime during the night Brittany, Jenny, and Kelly got into a pillow fight and since Brittany's pillow was tiny I guess she felt she had an unfair advantage, so she grabbed mine from under my head. I was kind of mad at her for the rest of the night.

#4: Push-em Pull-em Parade - This parade took place every 4th of July in Ventura. Anyone could participate, and my mom ALWAYS forced us to participate. There was a different theme every year, such as "Send in the Clowns" (you should see our pictures - we had full face makeup and everything); something to do with flowers (we actually got our picture in the paper for this one - me, Danika, and Brittany were dressed up as flowers, and Kaley was something in a wheelbarrow that my dad pushed); something to do with the army or something (our costumes this time were a little milder. I wore a green khaki shirt and some camo pants); but I think the most extravagant was when the theme had something to do with cartoon characters or something. Our whole family was dressed as the Jetson family from none other than The Jetson's. My mom was the maid (with a big ice cream carton used as the head), me, Danika, and Kaley were Judy, Brittany was Jane, Colton was Elroy (is that the boy's name?), and my dad was George. We might have even had our dog in it as their dog (I forget his name). It was classic.

That's it for now, but stay tuned. I'll keep 'em coming. Mom, don't freak out because I posted twice in one day.

Casa de Sion

You might have noticed the link in the upper right corner to a blog entitled "Casa de Sion". This is a blog for an orphanage in Guatemala which I will be visiting in July. I'm going with a group of....people (that I don't know) and we'll spend a week and a half there working on whatever projects they give us. I love doing stuff like this so I'm very excited to go. Last March I went to New Orleans with a group from Utah State to work on houses, etc. for Habitat for Humanity. We were able to work on houses in Musician's Village, build bunkbeds at the camp we stayed at, and volunteer at an elementary school the day it rained. Trips like these build memories and priceless experiences - if you every get the chance to go on a humanitarian trip TAKE IT!

Ready to work at Musician's Village. This was a project headed by Habitat for Humanity. The goal is to get the musician's back to New Orleans, to "rebuild" the city. The houses are all built by volunteers, so the purchasing cost is minimal. Notice the bright colors - what an awesome place to live!

Our second working day there, we were asked to build some bunkbeds at the camp where we were staying (Camp Hope). Previously we slept on cots. We began in our room and I think we built about 6 beds that first day (it took a little time to figure out how we wanted them to be built). Our supervisors loved them so much, they asked us to build more the next day. So for two days we built bunkbeds. It was a lot of fun because our group worked sooooo well together - completely drama-free! This is us with the beds that we built.

On the second bunk bed day, we had a huge rainstorm in the middle of the afternoon. It only lasted for about 10 minutes, but it was enough to soak us when we decided to do a rain dance. (The guys in our group didn't participate - they just watched.)

Every volunteer group got to take a little trip to the french quarter (home of Bourbon Street). We went our third night. This is us fresh out of the showers and ready to go.

If anyone is interested in more information about Casa de Sion, their website is http://www.safehomesforchildren.org/