Counting Sheep

It's almost 2 in the a.m. and as per usuallllll, my brain isn't shutting up. So writing this blog post is my round about way of counting sheep. Besides, if I was going to count any animal, it most definitely wouldn't be sheep because they are probably the most boring animal on the planet and counting them would put anyone right to slee......oh right.

I'm going to say a couple things I am glad about. Keep in mind this is pretty much my mind word vomiting right now.

I'm glad that The Hobbit is finally out. I remember hearing urban myths that Peta Jecksin (New Zealand spelling) was making it waaaaay back in the times the Trilogy was making waves. That was like, forEVS ago. I use forevs ironically only. I was about 15. Anywho, nothing brings my family closer together than a hardy discussion of why Tolkien and all things LOTR are the greatest. I'm pretty sure the thought "what would Gandalf do" guided many of my major life decisions.

I'm glad that I and 3 other members of my family have birthdays shortly after "the holidays". You know that sort of mild depression that hits when Christmas is over and New Year's is around the corner? Well I'm pretty sure God knew I would handle this worse than the average human being and so He had me be born in January so that I could ask my mom for presents Santa didn't bring and He had my mom, dad, and older brother be born around the same month so that I could focus on other people somewhat and not be overly absorbed in my post-holidays blues.

This last one is random. But I just realized today that I am glad I spent a year working as a custodian. I am glad about it because now every time someone complains about their crappy job around me, I can be that annoying guy who is like, "you think YOUR job is crappy? I cleaned toilets for a year, talk about CRAPPY."

Uuuuummmmm, I think that concludes my session of counting sheep for the evening. Poor sheep. They are so darn boring. *yawn* Night, All!!

Hey, y'all

I haven't written in a while. Because I supposedly ran out of memory to upload pics and haven't decided what to do there quite yet.

But I do have some stories for you that have no pics.

They both involve my personal shame, so that should pique your interest.

I have locked my keys in my car 4 times in the last 5 months. It has never happened to me until this year. I am convinced that my dating life is to blame.

The most recent "episode" happened a few days ago. I was at the gym. I stuck my keys in my pocket as I was getting out of the car. In one swift, fluent, uncontrollable motion, I step out of my car, check my pocket for my keys, realize that they fell back onto the seat while at the same time slightly bumping the door just so it clicks but doesn't close all the way and I desperately shout "Nooooooo!" as I throw myself onto the door, desperately begging it to magically open up for me so I don't have to call my mom again and try to explain that it's not my fault through her ginormous sigh followed by an annoyed "Savannah!"

This all happened exactly one week after the last time I locked my keys in my car. (in the parking lot of Gabe's school, we had to wait there an hour for the breaker-inner guy to show up, all the while, Gabe was cursing me for making him remain at his school much longer than he needed to. Also, his Taco Bell lunch that I kindly bought him was sitting in T-mu, emitting the most pleasant beef aroma.) That whole story didn't really need to be in parenthesis, but it sounded right in my head. Anywho, I vowed last week to never lock my keys in again. But this just goes to show you that we really aren't at all in control of our lives. Right down to the tiniest detail of locking keys in cars. I give up. Vow broken, I now have no pressure. I wanted to just buy my own break-in kit, but I'd probably lock that in the car too.

Story number 2.

Gabe needed me to give him a ride to someone's house last night who lives not too far from our house. I decided I would just drive there barefoot since it was such a short trip. So I'm yelling, "Gabe, let's go!" as I run out the door. I literally mean run right now. Little did I realize it had been snowing for about 30 minutes and not only was the ground freezing cold, but it was slippery too, and I slid halfway across our walkway before coming to a stop spider-woman style on our lawn.

Moral to this story is don't give your little brother rides. Just kidding. Moral is, you should wear shoes in winter time and it's safe to assume the ground could be covered in that winter-y substance known as snow.

Peace and blessings!!

Wisecrack #11?

I haven't blogged in a while. Tried to last week, but stupid google said I ran out of gb spaceor whatnot. So I have to figure that out. But I haven't put a wisecrack up in a while either.

Yesterday, Gabe and Sidney and I were brainstorming to try to figure out what I should call a crochet site on Etsy if I start one. I had some cutesy ideas like StitchSavvy and others, but I want to share Gabe's ideas. He followed my criteria exactly. I said that we needed to include works such as yarn, hook, knot,...

Gabe: "Son of a stitch."
Me: "hahahaha (considering if I could get away with a name like that) I don't know if I can do that!"
Gabe: "Balls. As in balls of yarn, you know."
Me:"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA, DEFinitely can't use that one."


And that is all :)

It's time.

I think it's time I talk about my little problem again. Not drinking, not drugs, not addiction to chocolate (we will discuss that last one later) but being gluten free.

Do you people realize it's been almost 5 YEARS since I last had an OREO??? As I am thinking about the possibility of living as many as 65 more years without enjoying these little cream-filled delights, I sometimes wonder, is it worth it? Can I really go on living like this?

Because we, meaning my mom and I, have found pretty decent replacements for almost every gluten-full food EXCEPT oreos. The gluten free oreos I tried tasted like survival food. You know, the kind that isn't meant to taste good but IS meant to still be here long after mankind is not. And do you know what brought oreos to mind? A stupid, made-for-tv movie that had at least 3 scenes where they were eating oreos. Shameless product placement. Speaking of product placement, I will share my favorite Wayne's World scene with you guys.  --->      "Little, yellow, different."

Many of you probably do not know that my 10th birthday party cake was a cookies and cream ice cream cake with little eighth notes all over it. Basically my 2 passions in life at the time. Oreos and music.

this is a picture i found called "the ultimate oreo".  i keep thinking about how there are so many
things i never got to do. this is one of those things.

Next time any of you see me and I seem a little grouchy, please excuse me. I'm probably still upset about not eating oreos.

I'm a GOOD DRIVER!

It's true! I AM a good driver.

Yes, I have had my little mishaps, as have WE ALL. I backed into a dumpster, I got one speeding ticket (out of 5 possible ones), and I backed into the side of my bro's car's front bumper. There is probably a better way to word that last bit.

But there is one thing that proves I am a good driver and my family knows I am.

Between everyone in our household, we own four vehicles. We have a 3 car and a separate 2 car garage, but since we own a lot of stuff, the only car that fits in the garage is my mom's. So that leaves my dad, Dwight, and myself to park in the driveway. Now, Dwight likes to park in the shade, (family inside joke reference) so he pulls up to the end of the driveway on the left. My dad, well, I don't know why he parks where he does, but he parks his truck at the front of the driveway on the left. Since my mom has to be able to back out of the garage, we leave a large space on most of the left half of the driveway. This leaves me to park on the back right corner of the driveway. That's right, on the side of Dwight's car and in front of my dad's truck. I have to maneuver around their cars almost every time I back out of the driveway.

So, moral of the story, my family obviously considers me the best driver in the household because I have the most difficult parking spot to back out of. Thank you, family, I'm flattered :)

So you don't have to try to picture my complicated route, I have included a rudimentary paint drawing. 

Peace and blessings!!

Happy November

I got into a weird mood and decided to write a poem. I didn't try to stick with any meter, that was waaaaaaay more work than I wanted to do for a dumb, amateur poem. But here it is!!

Life is tricky, life is complicated,

It never gives us a break,

So I’m like, Hey, Life, what’s your deal?

Can’t I have a breather, for Pete’s Sake?"

And Life was like, “Savannah,

Before you start whining, listen up.

You can’t be such a wimp; there are worse problems than yours

So I’m going to do things that will help make you tough.

Your friendships will never be perfect,

Your dating life will always be a mess,

But there are lots of things you will have

That will help you pass these tests.

You’re going to have a religion,

You’re going to go to school,

You’re going to be close to your family,

Trust me, those Sommers are really cool.

You’re going to be a little shy,

And that’s okay, but you will learn to meet

The people around you, no matter how scary

Because you want to have friends to greet.

You’re probably going to make some dumb choices,

Let’s face it, it’s the way you have to grow

You have to learn the hard way

But that just helps you to know

That you can always pick yourself up again

You don’t have to stay on the ground

You can make right the wrongs

And not let ‘Mean old Life’ keep you down.”

So I was like, “Life, you’re kind of a pain.

I don’t know how to live you but I’ll always try my best,

Because deep down, I think you’re right,

There are ways I can pass these ‘tests’.”

So life and I, we sort of get along now,

Even though the relationship is somewhat hard,

Life teaches me lessons and I learn;

Each lesson leaving me a little bit scarred.

I hope you can get along with life too,

Because it really has a lot to give

Time and opportunities never seem to run out

So go out and enjoy the Life you live.

Peace and blessings!!

More flags, more fun

Sooooooooo, the Sommers' family attended a theme park the other day. ALL of the Sommers. Even Danny Sommers, the dad.

Dad Sommers doesn't care too much for crowds and the rest of us, well, we weren't too sure how we would all handle the different thrills and not-so-thrills of the park.

It was my idea to go in the first place, and since I wasn't sure if this day would be all that enjoyable for everyone, I was mustering all my faith and praying that the lines wouldn't be long, the crowd wouldn't be obnoxiously huge,... Now, maybe Heavenly Father doesn't answer those kinds of prayers, but I think He does.

Because we had a blast. The lines weren't long at all. We got to enjoy all the rides and marine mammal shows we wanted.

Our first ride was one known as The Superman. We hadn't really mentally prepped for this ride. We just kind of entered the park and that was the first ride we were able to ride on, so we hopped in line. It was super fun, I mean, fast, twisty, scary, high, scary high,... and it was little Sidney's first roller coaster ever. She sat by me and as soon as the ride was over, I looked over at her and she was white as a sheet. I was so convinced that that would be her first AND last roller coaster ride ever. But she was totally a champ and kept riding all of them after that. And as soon as we got off that ride, we discovered the slight addiction we all have to advil. As we walked away, there were many calls for it. Thankfully I had packed some. You're welcome, us.

My favorite part of this pic is Gabe snoozing in the background

This walrus was freakin' huge!! He scared the crap outta Gabe when he just loomed up out of the dark.

"Bye, Buddy, hope you find your dad"

In front of the dolphin play pen

And we discovered we love dolphins. I mean, everyone pretty much has a vague love for dolphins, whether they've seen one in person or not. Dolphins are the cool kids of the animal kingdom and everyone wants to be friends with them. But we got to watch them in a show. And they are so smart, they made me feel dumb. Just watch. So stinkin' cute.

After arriving home at 2:30 a.m. and crashing for the night, I felt like I had been hit by a train when I woke up the next day. But it was sooooo worth it. Going on all the fun rides with my family, getting totally soaked on the log ride with Gabe and Sidney, ooooo-ing and awwww-ing until our throats were dry, it was just SUCH A GREAT DAY!!.

Saturn

As a lot of you know, I own a very nice, economical, sporty, high-powered, luxurious, cute vehicle. Okay, only 2 parts of that sentence were truthful. Economical, and in my humble opinion, cute. I drive a Saturn. It's such a nice car that it doesn't even have a name. It has a model number.

I've driven the thing since I got my license way back in high school. It's always gotten good gas mileage, which is a plus when you live in BFE. But apparently Saturn as a company didn't do too well, so they no longer make cars. That's right, guys. I now drive what I consider to be a classic. Something that isn't made anymore and is out of date and pretty much not super popular.

I have a short story to tell you, then I will tell you an awesome idea I had.

I was out shopping the other day at one of my favorite stores. I won't say which store because I'm super embarrassed about it. But I will just say that I can get awesome camis and t-shirts there for really cheap and so that's why I love it. Well they had in this store a giant, magnetic mustache that could be attached to my car. Now, as if my car didn't have ENOUGH personality of its own, I was thinking this moo-stache would be the perfect addition. I even went so far as to fantasize about me driving down the road in my moo-stachio'd car and getting all kinds of reactions outta people. But I've also been trying, TRYING, to save my money and be more financially smart. So I told myself that this moo-stache was a frivolous (Big word, huh) purchase and I was able to walk away from this store holding my head high because I had not given in to temptation. Well my head was actually more turned back toward the store because I was longing to turn T-Mu into a moo-stachio'd sir. Oh yeah, T-Mu is my car's name. It's pronounced T-MOO, like what cows say. So later on in the day, I was doing some shopping at walmart (I know you must be wondering, what store is worse than walmart that she can't admit to shopping at? I shall let it remain a mystery) And this guy was giving out free car magnets for every donation, and the proceeds were going to veterans and breast cancer and such. So of course I donated cuz I'm the world's biggest sap and pushover. So now I'm excited because even though it's not a mustache, my car will now have a "support our troops" bumper
sticker/magnet. I go back to my car and first thing I do is pull this bumper magnet out and try to stick it on. It won't stick. I try every area of the rear end of T-Mu and it doesn't stick anywhere. "Well," I figured to myself, "this magnet just isn't magnety enough." But to be sure, I was going to try it on one of the other family vehicles. I get home and slap it on my mom's car, and, tadaaah! It sticks. So now I know, the Saturn that I drive is not made of enough materials with metal properties for magnets to stick. If I had bought that mustache, it would have had to adorn someone's giant fridge instead of my car. Basically, I'm driving a plastic hotwheels car. In fact, I think hotwheels are made of sturdier materials.Nice to know the little fake driver in a hotwheels car is safe while I'm praying for my life every time I pass a semi on the road now.

There are still lots of benefits to driving my little Saturn. For example, when I get a flat, I can just go snatch a tire off my sister's electric scooter and pop it on my car and T-Mu will be good as new. Or there's there fact that, as a clean freak, my car is so small it takes me seconds to vacuum it out. Plus having a car as AWESOME as mine is always a great conversation starter. ANNNND, I've gotten way more flexible from having to unlock all the doors manually every time I give people rides. Really, the unseen benefits are endless. Also, this brings me to a weekly wisecrack. Last night, after eating at BWW, Kimmy and I were walking back to my car. I asked her if my front tire looked a little flat. She said, "No, I think it's just always that small."

Now for my idea. You know how all jeep wrangler drivers do that wave thing to each other? You know, cuz they are so much cooler than us? (I've wanted a white jeep wrangler ever since the thought of owning a car popped into my head) Well I thought of something for us Saturn drivers. The Saturn Shrug. Hear me out.

Every time people with Saturns pass each other, they will just look at each other and raise their shoulders, hands, and eyebrows in a shrug that says, "Well, at least we have a car."

Take a look at this hot rod. I probably shouldn't have posted a picture of it cuz now you all are taken in fits of
extreme jealousy. As well you should be.

If any of you also own a Saturn, this one's for you.

The official "Saturn Shrug"

This is the kind of stuff I think up when I'm taking one of my many trips into town.

Peace and blessings!

Weekly Wisecrack #10

Goodness, guys. I'm sorry if none of you  think my weekly wisecracks are funny. But most of the time, there are many factors that make them funny that I can't include, such as tone of voice, personality of the person delivering the line, situation, blah blah blah.

But this weeks' wisecrack is brought to you by my dear mum. I know I'm not British, but I just love the sound of mum. Anyway, I'll create the set up for you.

There we were, all sitting around the dinner/breakfast/lunch table. I can't remember how we got on the topic,  but we were talking about Gabe and his dating life. And we started talking about giving hugs. And my mom announced, "You can't hug dates right now."

Gabarelis (my awesome nickname for him) is getting ready to go on a mission asap after he graduates, which caused my mom to establish this new rule, which I'm pretty sure the little huggable guy broke the next day.

Okay, and I just remembered another great one. So as most of you know, I teach piano as my "living". I really like quotation marks. And I teach a lot of little kids, who I absolutely love. One of them is a tiny, 6-year-old spitfire named Lily. As I was teaching her, I asked her if she had had a chance to practice some song or other. She told me that she hadn't because school was just so busy and stressful and "It's busy in your life when you're in first grade." I responded with a very serious, "I understand." while I almost exploded trying not to laugh at this little button. Teaching is way more fun than you guys might ever imagine it to be.

The (hidden) benefits to cold weather

I've been thinking about it for a while (like 2 days). There are lot of obvious reasons cold weather is fun. Hot cocoa, Christmas, food-based holidays, sledding, scarves, hot baths, food-based holidays....I could go on.

But what I've been thinking about are the less-than-obvious benefits to cold weather. And here they are.

1. This is mostly for girls. Less need to shave legs, so less leg shaving. I mean, with tights, jeans, sweats, knee high socks, long skirts, I could probably go at least 2 weeks without a blade, maybe even a month.

2. Pasty white skin is totally acceptable. For guys AND girls. So chances of skin cancer are slightly lessened by the lack of sun exposure.

3. Pound gainage is muuuuuch easier to hide with jeans and layers of shirts, jackets, scarves....

4. For those who are vertically challenged, meaning afraid of heights, not short, the invitation to go rock climbing doesn't occur with near the frequency it does in warmer seasons. This means I look like a chicken less often because I don't have to admit to my fears as much.

5. Watching a lot of movies doesn't seem as lazy as it does in summer months because it's just too cold to go out!

6. This is a personal one. But when it gets cold, my family, specifically my 12 year old sister, stops giving me guff about using five blankets every night, one of which is a down comforter.

As I'm reading back on all my grand "benefits" to cold weather, I'm realizing that most of them have to do with me letting myself go a little while still maintaining some self esteem. Oh well, that will be benefit number 10 :)

Happy Halloween-skis, everyone!!

Weekly Wisecrack #9

Hahaha, okay, I'm really sorry to do this to you guys. Okay, I'm not that sorry. But a lot of the quotes that I heard this week that really made me laugh are, um, not appropriate for this blog. So this is the dealio. I'm going to tell one of the stories in vague terms and leave the rest to your imagination....(warning, you might have to use A LOT of imagination, but don't get all dirty, it wasn't THAT kind of inappropriate.)

So I said to someone, "Someone told me such and such and it made me fell this one way."

And they said, "That's because they are so's and so's and you should probably do this one thing."

And I laughed. So imaginations of my blog readers, have at it!!

That was mean of me to do, huh. Just trust that it was really funny, maybe slightly harsh, but well meant and actually cheered me up quite a bit :)

My Nails are Drying

There are not many activities I can participate in the hour after I paint my nails. But typing is one of the few I can! I'm so multi-talented. Yay. So I'm blogging in honor of my nails drying. As such, this blog will be the unimportant ramblings of my brain thoughts. Also I might include some funny memes and photos that I enjoy. Just for the smell of it. They shall be randomly inserted with no method to the madness.

Exhibit A

AWWWWWWHAHAHAAWWW

One day when I get married, there is something my future hubby will have to be SUUUUUUUUper patient about. Assuming he's a sports fan, because let's face it, male-non-sports-fans are rare. This being some sort of sports play-off season, I'm pretty sure it's baseball, I've only asked like 12 times.....makes me realize I have what some might consider a major flaw. I don't like to watch any sport except basketball. Before anyone gets mad at me for saying this, hold up. I do enjoy watching some sports live, especially when someone I know is playing. I attended both my brothers' football games quite faithfully as well as Sidney's soccer games and at one particular game Dwight was playing, my cousins and I got the crowd to cheer louder than they ever had. We were that awesome. This is my flaw though. And it may even be a deal breaker for some. But there have been times watching certain games on TV that I would have rather shaved my eyebrows with a cheese grater. Now, I do like olympics, they are sweet. But saying you like sports because you like the olympics is like saying you like music because of Justin Bieber. No offense, J Beebs. I was a music major. I still close my eyes and flinch if a ball comes flying in my general direction.

CHYA! I remember, I still flinch when my dad asks for
his thongs. Okay, but I flinch for a different reason now.
(and my dad didn't spank us with sandals, that was my
uncle, more as a joke than anything)

On another note, there are some facebook stati that I never want to put up. I've compiled a list, I will share. The list is entitled.......

Slap me before I ever post any of the following as my status on facebook. (it should probably be entitled "I have too much free time")

1. Love song Lyrics.

2. Any statement ending in FML

3. Anything political that others might want to argue with

4. A vague cry for help/comfort such as “I can’t believe this happened” or “I wish I knew what to do”…

5. The phrase “what up,…” followed by the name of the awesome city I am in that I want everyone to know about.

6. The words “Tee Hee”

7. A mysterious statement about a person, especially something sounding remotely romantic, such as,... “I wish he knew how I felt...”

Disclaimer; any of the above phrases can be used in the event of a comical or ironic opportunity presenting itself.

This one I love because it reminds me that no matter
how bad things get, they can always get funnier.

Welp, nails are dry!!

Peace and blessings!!!

Weekly Wisecrack #8

This week was a weird week. It had it's really good points, but it also had those moments....you know, THOSE moments. But I want this blog to always be positive. So, I will give you some wisecracks ;)

1) K, first one comes from none other than Kimmy. Now, Kimmy likes to test my friendship to her by asking if she had a certain strange quirk or physical deformity, would I still be her friend. My honest answer is usually, I would hope so, but I don't know. This weeks' test was a real winner and again, I had to tell her, I honestly don't know.

She asked, as she cupped her hands around her eyes, "If I had to wear blinders in order to pay attention to you, would you still be my friend?" I really hope I would Kimmy, I hope I'm not that judgmental, I would hope I could look beyond a drooping left eye or strange dance moves or a severe speech impediment, and see the awesome person within, but I honestly don't know, haha.

2) Second came from Dwight. This morning our family was all gathered 'round to watch conference. President Monson announced that the new age limit for boys to serve full-time LDS missions would be moved to 18, considering they have their bishops' approval. My little bro just turned 18 not that long ago, and Dwight pipes up with, "Wow, Gabe really WILL get married before me!!"

Ummmmm,....Random?

Now, things I liked about this week. Exploring all Wal Mart's many wonders with Kimmy for about 2 hours and NOT buying ONE THING. Yeah, I had that much self control, I'm bragging about it.

Tuesday night, President Perry's lesson on keeping everything in proper balance. Social Life, Spirituality, Physical Fitness, and Knowledge are the four areas we always need to keep in proper balance to have optimal happiness. I really needed to hear this. My life flops from one area to the next, I feel I'm always out of balance, and I needed it put in these terms to wrap my brain around it all.

Many other great things happened as well, but to keep this short, Friday night I actually had a one on one guitar lesson for the first time with Ryan Stucki and I finally feel like with his help, I will get this whole guitar thing! Also, Justin Stucki and I baked a cake that.....is special :) that's all I will say about cake.

Oh yeah! And last week was Gabe's b-day, and his buddy Brennan came over early before Gabe was up and ran and jumped on him. And Gabe and I had a grape eating contest to see how many grapes we could shove in our mouth. It was a spontaneous and isolated event, we just had mouths and a bowl of grapes and therefore....

Gabe's b-day, his first bunny kill, him with 30 grapes in his mouth, him and Brennan, Justin with our special cake, Annie:)

Today was the first day of GC. (general conference, call it GC if you wanna feel SUPER cool.) you know, I loved many of the talks, but my recollection of who said what is so fuzzy, I will have to do some major review. But what did I like about most?? My whole family was in the same room. That rarely happens these days. We even all ate a meal together. Thank you conference for bringing us together on a Saturday. You know, I am tearing up a little as I write this. Sometimes Heavenly Father lets you go through things that bring you down a notch or two. Make you feel you really aren't as awesome as you thought, make you really stop to think about life. These things help me remember most what I need, what I'm blessed with, and how much love I really have in my life.

Peace and Blessings :D

Weekly Wisecrack(s) #7

Gabriel always cracks me up, I'd have to record all his comments and our conversations for you all to fully understand how funny this kid is. But here is just one quote from him that stands alone.

I picked him up from school one day and he randomly pipes up with, "If you think about it, Rudolph is the ginger of reindeer."

Gabe IS a ginger, so it's okay for him to use that term. As we discussed it in more detail, we realized that at first Rudolph had no friends, he has a red nose, he just doesn't fit in. All the characteristics of your stereotypical ginger. Now I don't really go for all that ginger stuff, just so you all know. I have NO IDEA how that all started, but I love my little red head brother :)

The next quote from this week comes from my little 8 year-old student, Zoe. She comes into her lesson this week all worked up and says, "My dad is really sick, he has ROCKS in his gal bladder!!! I don't think he ate rocks though..." It was all I could do to not rudely laugh and I politely asked her if they were gal stones and she said yes. It's the little things like this that make me glad I work with little kids :)

Lake Tahoe. ALWAYS fun.

Kids, did I ever tell you about the time me, your Aunt Kimmy and your Uncle Dwight went to Lake Tahoe? (I've been watching HIMYM)

It was June of 2012. Kimmy and I wanted to go to Tahoe soooooo bad and we finally had an open Saturday, so we reserved it for Tahoe. The day dawned sunny, but slightly chilly and windy down here in the valley. But we were still bound and determined to go to Tahoe, in spite of the foreboding weather conditions. We knew that any weather we had in Reno would be amplified times ten at Tahoe. But we headed up anyway with all our stuff and a big cooler of food. The group consisted of myself, Kimmy, Dwight, Conrad, Brad, Danny, Amy, and later on Rob and Dallin hit it up. Kimmy and I decided to be major optimists and not let the weather faze us whatsoever.

Upon arriving, we notice that the air is indeed a bit chilly, and the wind is a bit strong and biting. So we head out to the beach from the parking lot.

We get out there and the waves are HUGE. We are talking full on ocean surf, loud crashing noises, foam hitting our faces.... and it's so windy that we can't even hear each other talking. And Dwight, man do I wish I had a picture of his face. You know how when little babies go into sunlight, and they aren't quite used to it, so their eyes are kinda squinty and their nose is wrinkled up? That was totally Dwight's face. And Kimmy yelled something at me and I yelled back, "WHAT???" Because we couldn't hear each other talk. So the big beach wasn't going to work for us so we head to the little beach hoping that in the cove, the wind might not be as bad and the waves not as huge. We get over there and that was indeed the case, though it is still very windy and the waves are definitely not baby waves.

It was only about 63 degrees outside at this point, but we always HAVE to get in the water at least once. So Amy, myself, Conrad and Danny summon up the courage to jump in. Later on, I learned that when it is windy, Tahoe feels extra cold because all the deep water that never gets warmed up by the sun is stirred up to the surface, causing it to feel even more frigid than it usually does. We did not know this at the time, so we all just jumped in without a moments' hesitation. It was freezing. Took my breath away instantly and I jumped back out without staying in for more than 30 seconds. We all get out and try to get warm. The only way that was possibly was to lie down and stay under the wind. Which was deceptive because we would be laying there and start feeling like it was a little warmer and the wind wasn't too bad, but as soon as we tried to get back up, it would hit us full force and we would lie back down again very promptly.

So kids, that's how our first trip to Tahoe in summer of 2012 went. Kimmy and I couldn't stop laughing at the fact that we picked the single most horrible day to take a trip there that year. But as I said in the title of this post, Tahoe is ALWAYS fun, no matter what. I wish I had pictures of that trip, but my fingers were probably too cold to use a camera. Ahhh, good memories though.

Peace and Blessings!!

(Side note. I realize that I switch tenses a lot and my grammar is probably atrocious. This doesn't worry me too much, if it did, I probably wouldn't write a blog.)

Weekly Wisecrack #6

This week's wisecrack, brought to you by a 2 year old boy named Peter, who was one of the four little boys I babysat last weekend.

So I stayed over night at their house Friday night and stayed with them all day Saturday. We did cool stuff like legos and make brownies and skateboard and go to yogurt beach. And littler Peter, man that kid is stinkin' cute! He was my little buddy the whole time, we totally bonded. I don't know what won him over. It was either when I picked him up and spun him in the air until we both fell down sick or when I let him "do tricks" on my skateboard. Kids are so easy to please, I love it. Anyway, the mom and dad have another little girl named Lucy who they took with them on their trip. She is only about 8 months old. This piece of info will be relevant, I promise.

It came time for me to leave Saturday night, so I say goodbye to all and am walking out the door when Peter strolls out behind me like a sir saying, "I come with you." Simple statement of fact. Just like a sir. So I'm all, "sorry buddy, I can't take you with me." So his mom takes him inside and I later found out about this other half of the story.

She takes him inside and says, "You can't leave, Peter, I'd miss you too much!"

And he replies with, "Mom, you have Lucy now. I have Savannah."

Seriously, 2 YEARS OLD! I love little kid minds :)

I'm feelin' some words coming on

It's 1 a.m., I should never write posts this late. Or should I?

I just want to say some things I've been thinking lately. I get asked this question a lot. "Why/how are you not married yet?" When people find out I am 23, graduated from college, single... When I say I get asked that question a lot, I'm saying I have been asked it probably around 10 or so times. Also to add to that, people ask my parents too, putting in probably around 15 times. This question doesn't offend or bother me too much. Sometimes it kinda hurts to think about it if I look at it in a negative light. But mostly, this is what I try to think.

First off, 23 is still soooo young. I don't feel "old" at all. Well okay, that's a lie, sometimes when I see new kids graduating high school and coming into my YSA ward, I start feeling a little aged. But other than that, I don't feel like my hips are going to give out or anything. Oh wait, one already did! ha. But seriously, 23 is young.

The other thing I've been thinking is this. If I had gotten married at any point before this one, I would not have been through the things I have been through. I would not have met the people I've met. I would not have developed the friendships I've developed. I would not have gotten the time I have with my family.

Yes, I want to get married, I want to start my own family, I am not in any way saying that I am glad I am not married right now. But in some ways, I am grateful that it has not happened yet.

I was shy in high school, I mean REALLY shy. I was home-schooled, not out of my parents forcing me to be, but because I chose it because I was so shy. A lot of people say I was shy because I was home-schooled. No, I was home-schooled because I was shy. So that being the case, I didn't make very many friends at that point in my life, which I was okay with because I had my family. My brothers and sister, parents and cousins. But after graduating and starting at the single's ward, it was like a switch was flipped on inside me. I wanted to meet people, I wanted to have fun without inhibitions. I didn't want being shy to hold me back anymore. So I started making friends. And for the past five years since high school, I have developed such amazing friendships that I would not trade in for ANYTHING. If I had gotten married right out of high school, I would not have had those opportunities, I know it. These are friendships that I will treasure my whole life.

I have had the opportunity to get my bachelor's degree. Now, I know that I could probably still have gotten that while being married, but I know it would have been more difficult. I might not have been able to chose where I wanted to go to school, I might have had to take more time doing it...and again, I would not have met the people I met along the way.

Is it hard for me to be 23 and single? Having people ask all the time why I'm not married? Yep! It has it's down times, that's for sure, I'd be lying if I said it didn't. I see my friends getting married and having babies and I just think how much I want that in my life. But I am on God's time frame here, not mine. He is teaching me things and blessing me with things that I need in my life. And when the right one comes along, I'm not going to look back and think, "Why didn't he come sooner?" I am going to look ahead and say that this is the right time and the right person and my life has helped prepare me for this.

Some people might think that these are just the thoughts of a single girl comforting herself about her single-ness, and, well, that's probably partially true. But I love my life. I love the things I can look back on and the place I am in right now. And I know that when Heavenly Father sends the right guy my way, it's going to be another huge blessing. Until then, I just have to wait patiently, knowing that as I do my part, Heavenly Father is doing His and blessing the path my life is on with a million wonderful things and people.

Weekly Wisecrack #5

Okay, so this weeks' wisecrack is actually going to be a conversation that Kimmy and I had via text massage. (Spelled "message" like that on purpose, it sounds funnier if you pronounce it like that)

I can't remember all the exact words, but it went something like this--->

Me: "I was thinking about joining a gym, but I signed up for netflix instead."

Kimmy: "Bahahahahaha, you are my favorite person!"

Me: "Haha, the sad part is I am being totally serious. I just keep thinking of all these reasons why it's wiser not to join a gym."

Kimmy: "Yeah, because working out leads to hunger, which leads to eating, which leads to eating sugar, which leads to Diabetes!"

Me: "Yeah, and gyms also lead to driving far, which leads to using up gas, which leads to spending more money, which leads to using a credit card, which leads to debt!"

Kimmy: "So basicaly gyms turn you into a bankrupt diabetic!! I am so glad you didn't join a gym!!"

And THAT, my friends, is why you shouldn't join gyms!! Logically, it's jut not a good choice all around.

*Disclaimer* I am probably joining Fitness Connection in the next few weeks.

Weekly Wisecrack #4

This weeks' wisecrack is brought to you by my little buddy Gabe. Gabe is quite the wisecracker, he constantly makes us laugh around here. He is also a smarty pants, which causes me to use the phrase "Shut up, Gabe!" (in a funny, joking manner) about 3 times a day. He just one-ups me all the time with his sass, which of course, isn't okay.

So I got home the other night at about 9:30 from being social, I don't quite remember what I had been doing. Sidney, my mom, and Gabe were still awake. I am kind of in the habit of getting home after everyone falls asleep. I know, it's not necessary to do that every night, but I pretty much do. SO anywho, I walk in and Sidney says, "what are you doing home so early?" And Gabe adds,...

"Yeah, it's still the same day!"

To which I reply, "Shut up, Gabe!" (in a joking, non-harsh way, I swear, we all laughed)

And he gets added to my weekly wisecracks.

My Mom Left Me in Charge

Whenever my mom has to leave somewhere in the morning, I'm usually asleep. (I DO NOT accomplish anything before 10. I vowed never to wake up early again after having my 6 a.m. custodian job at SUU. I did my time, people) And she likes to leave me instructions for stuff that needs doing, stuff other people need to do, and such. But here's the problem. I am laying in my bed, which is also my favorite place to be in the morning, and I'm half awake. So my brain is pretty much thinking, "Someone is talking to me, try to understand what they are saying. Who is it? Is it Mom? I think it's Mom, I think she wants me to do something. Okay, try to remember what she wants me to do. Okay, okay, now concentrate really hard and don't forget what she is saying."

I forget everything she says. I fall back to sleep for another little while, wake up, vaguely remember someone entering my room, and now I'm left to panic thinking that if I don't remember what needed doing, the house is going to burn down, someone is going to catch swine flu, kids are going to miss school, food is going to rot....

That scenario happens pretty regularly and today is just such a time. As I am typing this, I think that there is something I'm supposed to be doing other than typing this....hmmm. Guess I'll go clean something and make sure my dog is still alive. But guess what! Happy RIB COOK OFF!!!!!!

This is from last year. I've never seen Gabe this happy, which is saying something, cuz he's usually pretty dang happy.

Peace and blessings!! :)

Weekly Wisecrack(s) #3

So, I'm still doing weekly wisecracks, even though I did miss last week after only 3 total weeks of doing it. K guys, for some reason my f key doesn't want to type so well, so if you see a strangely placed o or i, they are probably supposed to be "of" or "if". I'm trying really hard to make sure that doesn't happen though.

My weekly wisecrack this week is brought to you by my 6-year-old cousin, Carson. He is one of the little guys I got to hang out with over the weekend.

So brief story, we (Carson, Audrie, Kate, Reed and myself) were watching Star Wars episode 1 on a projector in the loft. Everything was going smoothly, Carson had done a great job of setting it up (I know, genius 6-year-old) and yeah. But suddenly the screen goes blank and me, being VERY technologically challenged, did not want to fix it for fear I'd ruin some very expensive equipment. So I of course say, let's just leave it and finish watching it downstairs on the regular TV. Again, Carson being the genius kid set it up downstairs for us and as he was fast forwarding to the spot we left off, he decided to go a little faster and said,....

"I can concentrate really good, cuz I have great eyes."

To which I replied "yes you do!" and had a little silent laugh to myself at the clever and funny and cute things little kids say :)

Thanks, Carson, for my Weekly Wisecrack!

Weekend-ing in Gilbert/Camp Lomia, AZ

So, very unlike me, I took a semi-last minute trip to AZ last weekend. I flew down Friday morning and back Sunday night. As I flew in, I took a mental note of all the pools in backyards that looked like little blue jewels from the plane and braced myself for the physical melting I was expecting to do. I totally lucked out though as it was only in the 80s or 90s on Friday, practically parka weather! It was totally great because I got to hang out with my awesome cousin Christa and her family. Her husband Scott, and four little ones. They are seriously the cutest kids, I'm not exaggerating AT ALL. Then I joined up with my new friend Rachel and her twin sisters Katie and Amy to go to a singles campout up by Payson. (sp?)  Gorgeous, gorgeous area. And we stopped at walmart in Payson on the way, where a spunky little boy was selling candy bars. I'm a sucker when it comes to kids selling stuff, I really will buy anything they try to sell me. I have like a million coupons that I will never use, but that $20 bucks went to a good cause!! So of course we promised to buy some on our way back out. Well I had to buy some hot cheetos inside because I am also a sucker for those, and when we get back out to buy our candy bars, little boy is like, "can I have a cheeto?!" Heck yes you can, little boy. Ps, I am also a sucker for cowboys (confession sesh right now I guess) which I noted Payson had a lot of. I may plan my next vacay there.

Some beautiful scenery around the camp ground

Nice path for like poems and metaphors and stuff

more nice path

Cute boys Reed and Carson

Bright-eyed baby Kate, too cute!!

Carson, Audrie, Kate and Reed in front of the Gilbert temple which is under construction

Reed wasn't liking the height too much. Gilbert temple spire. There is actually a building holding it up, you just can't see it.

Deciding which Star Wars to watch

My beautiful cousin Christa, baby Kate and I in front of the Gilbert, AZ temple.

The weekend was very fun, I enjoyed the campout and meeting new people and making new friends very much. Shout out to Amy and Katie for being so nice right off the bat and Rachel for showing me the ropes and giving me a piece of the Gilbert temple to remember everything by. And for just being willing to schlep a random stranger around AZ. And especially thanks to Christa for inviting me out and treating me like queen while I was there. I loved every minute I got to spend with you and your family!!

Peace and blessings!

I'm not a big girl

I shouldn't be this deathly afraid of needles, right? I mean, c'mon now, I've had about a million go into me at multiple points in my life. But it is 1:15 a.m. and I can't sleep because of my fear.

I can just picture myself walking in tomorrow to get the bone scan injection. I'll be acting all cool and collected, but inside I will be yelling, "What the aich ee double hockey sticks am I doing here?! This is going to hurt and I'm getting outta here!!!!"

Big girls don't have fears of needles do they? I don't want to be a big girl. I want my mommy to go with me and hold my hand and I want the nurse to say it will just be a little pinch, then give me a sucker and a sticker afterward and tell me I did such a good job.

worst pic I've ever put on my blog. Terrible stupid evil thing.

My mind is making a bigger deal out of it than it actually is. But man, there are few things I dread this much. Tuesday, August 21st has been a dark day in my mind for the past 2 1/2 weeks.

Oddly enough, blogging about it has made me feel a tiny little speck better. Thank you, Blogger. And here goes nothin'!

Weekly Wisecrack(s) #2

Well guys, so far the great Kimmy J. is in the lead as far as funny quotes of the week go. But to be fair, I did spend a total of about 17 hours in the car with her, there was bound to be some gems in those conversations.

K, the first quote happened while we were eating wings at Buffalo Wild Wings. We were watching some women's track events in the olympics and commenting on how freaking fast those ladies are. Kimmy piped up with, "How much of a head start would I need if they were all wearing snuggies?"

Okay, another of my favorites was during the car ride coming home from Utah. We were listening to the GPS on her dad's car give us directions. Kimmy said, "I wish the GPS would tell me to do something illegal, like, 'if no one is looking,....'"

The last of my favorites happened as we were driving back into Reno. I-80 was totally backed up and I asked, "why are people driving so slow?" "Shark Week." answered Kimmy. Duh, what a stupid question.

These were probably the top 3 quotes, though rest assured there are more.

Keep being funny, also, keep listening to other funny people, haha!!

Peace and blessings :)

Reunited

The Moth House Gang got back together for about 2 and 1/2 glorious days in good ole Midvale, UT. I was finally able to make it out there after about 8 months or so of promising a visit, largely due to my awesome friend Kimmy, who needed to drive out there for a wedding and was looking for a road trip buddy. As soon as she mentioned it back in May or June, I jumped at the chance to hitch a ride and see my former roommates Hailey, Jessica S. and Jessica D..

It was just like in the old days of Cedar City when we would all hang out, go out to eat, watch friends and chick flicks and giggle and talk about boy problems and just gab. It's good to be a girl with girlfriends :) I did miss Dani, Ashlee, and Ashten. But there will definitely be other visits as well as phone chats. No way I'm losing touch with these gals!!

Sunday night was a squealing reunion with Jess D. and Hailey, when I was shown my "rodent" food. Story behind that is that back in the day, my roommates were convinced I had Raynaud's, Celiac, and asthma, and that therefor, I was diseased, much like a rodent. So that was one of my awesome nicknames. Monday I got to go to Jordan High School where Jess D. works in the ceramics studio. She let me try to throw a pot on the wheel. I thought it looked pretty hard and it WAS. Want to see my pathetic excuse of a pot? Yeah, not gonna show you. But I loved trying it and Jess was very patient with me, letting me try 4 TIMES before I finally settled with the squatty little shape I had made. I splattered clay in my face too, which actually made me feel cooler because...I don't know why actually. Then Monday night, the four original Moth House Golden Girls got to hang out at a YSA bbq and 7-11. Don't worry guys, I gorged myself real good on candy and junk food the whole trip. I also got to visit Dayne's, which is the Salt Lake area's Steinway dealer. I love that place, it's pretty much a piano paradise.

Tuesday was a trip to the new City Creek mall in downtown SLC. Very beautiful mall, only about 2 stores I can afford to shop in, but still a fun visit. Also visited and ate at the Cheesecake factory. Of course, being gf, I ordered a sundae, but I did get to scrape some cake off the top of Jessica's piece and it was heavenly. Tuesday night was out to eat with the gals, and Erika also joined. She is a former roommate of my former roommates, so I've known her for a while as well.

Man, it was just a great trip!!! Love seeing these girls whenever I can, they made college life livable, they were a super huge blessing for me especially moving away from home and not knowing anybody.

okay, my "rodent" food, me trying to throw a pot, the gals, Jessica and her awesome skills, and yes, I did show you my pathetic excuse of a pot. Also, part of city creek mall and SL temple.

I am so grateful that I had Kimmy as my car buddy too. Seriously, the drive went by fast, I wasn't embarrassed at all when I almost pee'd my pants and told her to pull over the first chance she got, and we totally understood each other when it was time to buy chocolate or taco bell or a mcflurry...

Awesome few days, you guys!!

Peace and blessings!

August 10th, a great day in history

August 10th, 2000. The day my baby sister came to the world. Yesterday was August 10th, and of course we celebrated that great day. Trip to Tahoe was in order, getting buried in sand was a must, tanning our skin off, stuffing our faces with lake snacks. (lake snacks are different from regular snacks, they are much better and more appetizing)

Cousin Shelby is Sidney's best bud. She spent the whole day with us. Cute Mom, crashed in the car on the way home. (like asleep crashed, not crashed crashed)

Then last night we had to go check out the Hot August Nights cars because Sidney got a new camera for her birthday, and what a better way to use it than taking photos of all the pretty cars!!

Cars were sooooo much cooler back in the day. I mean, aquamarine paint jobs with matching interiors!! Why the heck did we stop doing that?! And look at those curves, smooooooth...

As we were leaving the lot at the GSR, we came across THE COOLEST hot rod we had seen all night.

The girls were so enthralled by its beauty. Sidney was speechless. 

Man, they don't make them like that anymore. I mean literally, they don't make this car anymore. Good thing I got one while I had the chance.

Anywho, it was a great day, and then we topped it off with pizookies at BJ's. Life can be such fun! I'm so glad my baby sis came to our family and I love her with all my heart!! Happy Birthday, Sidney Talia!!

Peace and blessings :)

New Ideer

I've been thinking I need to have some sort of regular post, you know, like a little something I post every week that goes into one category. And I've come up with an idea. I will do a weekly post on what I consider to be the funniest phrases I've heard during the week. I usually have quite a few, and by doing this, I will be required to remember them. I can call it Sunday Snicker or Weekly Wise Crack or something, we shall see what I decide. But this is a new experiment to see if I can actually be consistent with it.

SO! This weeks' funny phrase is brought to you by one of my bffs, the one and only Kimmy J.!!

Kimmy quite frequently says stuff that cracks me up, so I've taken to typing Kimmy quotes into my phone. This weeks' installment...

"Friends don't let friends have orange hair."

Let me splane.

Someone told Kimmy her hair looked orange, which she meant as a total compliment. When actually, Kimmy died a little on the inside, because, let's face it, no one wants orange hair.

So Kimmy told me this so that I could then either tell her that her hair really did look orange or I could reassure her that it didn't. Now, Kimmy n me spend a considerable amount of time together and I have never ever not even once had the thought, "Kimmy's hair looks orange." So reassure her I did, which she followed up with an "oh good" and the already mentioned "friends don't let friends have orange hair."

If I was to make a best friends rule book, that would definitely be one of them.

running changed my body

Want to know how? I'll tell you anyway.

I can eat. Like never before. It's amazing, let me tell you!! This was old me--->
1.Put a small helping of everything onto my plate.
2. Finish half of each.
3.Completely full and can't eat another bite (except for some dessert)
4.Repeat maybe 1 or 2 other times in the day.
5.Breakfast is usually skipped.
6.Never eat a full meal in a restaurant, always have lots of leftovers.

This is new me--->
1.Put large/generous helping of everything onto my plate.
2.Consume in minutes along with large glasses of water
3.Go back for large seconds
4.Consume those quickly too.
5.Find some sort of sugary dessert, even semi-sweet chocolate chips will do.
6.Consume those with large glass of milk.
7.Repeat several times daily. 2 lunches and 2 dinners are not unheard of.
8.Never miss a meal, never miss breakfast.
9.Never have any food to put in doggie bags at restaurants, can't count on more than one meal.

I have gained about 5 lbs total, which considering how much more I've been eating, isn't half bad! I'm actually grateful it's only been 5 lbs!!

Peace and blessings!

Most "Romantic" Places

Okay guys, I'm sorry, this is going to be a totally self-indulgent post. (Because most of them aren't...ha,..ha...)

I've finally figured out the type of place that is my most favorite. Not like one single place, TYPE of place. And in my head at least, they are what I consider to be the most "romantic" places. I have kind of an over-active imagination that makes it so that usually while I visit places, I kind of make up different scenarios for them and picture myself in said scenarios. I know, weird. So when I visit my favorite type of place, I do start to imagine all different scenes and such. Now when I use the word "romantic", I am only partially talking about love-story, guy and girl stuff. But I am also talking about adventurous, fanciful type stuff.

Guys, I'm really not into tropical places, is that weird? I mean, I'll visit them if given the opportunity, but they don't get me as excited as my forest-mountain-lakes do.

Okay here are some of the "romantic" places I've been, i.e. my favorite types of places.

Around Graeagle area. Mountains are my favs, especially forest-y mountains, and especially especially forest-y mountains with lakes.

Eagle Lake near Susanville, CA

Buck's Lake

More Bucks

More Buck's

Last Buck's

Somewhere near um, hmmm, Loyalton but not. Mountains with forest. That's all I needed.

Okay, forest, no mountains, but amazing coastal cliffs and ocean in Oregon. I think I'll honeymoon here.

None other than the amazsing Yosemite.

Waterfalls are pretty sweet like lakes. This is Yosemite Falls.

Half Dome and such. Pretty romantic looking to me.

Vernal Falls.

And of course, my beloved Tahoe. Prettiest lake I've ever seen.

It's actually pretty lucky for me that I like these types of places cuz there are a ton like them all around Reno. But there are many more places like this I want to see. Lots of them are in Alaska. 

Like this. Mirror Lake in Denali National Park. It would be sweet to see it in person some day.