decorating another christmas tree

This next Christmas tree was about a week and a half later (Dec. 9, I believe). It was my sister's tree. We went to their place helped decorate her family's Christmas tree. Sadly, no caramel popcorn here :(

This tree decorating was the best one for me. I got to help my cute little niece decorate the tree. This is her second Christmas, and really the first time she was able to help decorate the tree. She was having so much fun, and I was having a blast helping her. I tell you, I got winded fast, though, because of all the times I had to keep lifting her up and putting her down after she put an ornament on the tree. Overall, the tree was a total success.

My niece decorating the tree...she was really getting into it



Hi-five! We make a good team



I just like this pic

decorating the christmas tree(s)

So, we have a tradition in our family to decorate the Christmas trees (my Aunt D's family and my Aunt T's family) the first Saturday after Thanksgiving. It's a great tradition filled with decorating, laughs, and caramel popcorn...that's right...caramel popcorn...YUMMY!

So we first went to my Aunt T's house to decorate her Christmas tree. My Aunt D, her family, my grandparents, and my Uncle V from Idaho were there. The tree was decorated and then we made the caramel popcorn.

Now, sadly, I had a cold at this time...and for some reason, every time I ate the popcorn I would start having a coughing fit. It was horrible. Here I am trying to get the caramelly goodness inside of me and I'm coughing my lungs out.

After popcorn we went to my Aunt D's house and decorated her tree. All in all, it was a fun night. However, by the end I was glad to go home and go to bed (I could not breathe...rotten colds).

Here are some pictures from that night:

Uncle V getting the caramel popcorn ready

One word: YUMMY!!!

My cousins posing in front of tree #1 at Aunt T's house

My cousins apparently got bored decorating the tree...so they started to decorate my hat

i'm thankful for...

This year I really wanted to focus on things in my life that I was thankful for. So on Facebook I posted what I was thankful for every day of November. Here is that list:

Day 1: I'm thankful for having a job, and a job where I can associate with fun and supportive people :D
Day 2: I'm thankful for the fact that my car still runs

Day 3: I'm grateful for those angels who have touched my life, and have in a lot of ways saved it
 
Day 4: I'm thankful for uplifting and inspiring music, and for those who have the gift to create such great music because I am lacking in such a gift ;)
Day 5: I'm grateful for photography (now I can say I have a gift there); it is a gift I am very thankful for and I hope I can use it to benefit others

Day 6: I am thankf...ul for sunsets...it really shows that God is really there
 
Day 7: I am thankful for my friends...especially the ones who have been there for me during the hard times. The ones I laugh with...the ones I cry with...the ones I have fun with, eat with, act silly with, go crazy with...the list goes on and on.
 
Day 8: I'm thankful for Institute and the wonderful Institute teacher I have...and the class is awesome, too!!! I'm also thankful I didn't hydroplane out of control on my way to Institute.
 
Day 9: I'm thankful for things that keep me warm...warm bed, warm blanket, wood-burning stove, hot cocoa, heater in my car, etc.
 
Day 10: I am thankful for days where I can rest and just do something I want to do...like draw, write, read, or work on photography. Yeah, I like those days. :D
 
Day 11: I'm thankful my car didn't cost a fortune to fix this time :D
 
Day 12: I'm thankful for the rough days I've made it through.
 
Day 13: I'm thankful for yummy food! :D
 
Day 14: I'm thankful for the caring church leaders in my life
 
Day 15: I'm thankful for good neighbors...yep
 
Day 16: I'm thankful that I can walk (even though I still can't run)...that is something that most of us take for granted.
 
Day 17: I'm thankful for those who work to build me up...who think good of me even when I don't.
 
Day 18: I'm thankful for hugs...yep...hugs (not the chocolate kind either, though those are good too).
 
Day 19: I'm thankful for humor and for those who are really good at making me laugh (you know who you are) :D
 
Day 20: I'm thankful that my little car made it through the snow and brought me safely home.
 
Day 21: I'm thankful for the snow...it has made the air so clean and crisp...and it's great for some scenic snow pictures!!!
 
Day 22: I'm thankful for all the wonderful senses (sight, sound, touch, taste, smell) I have so I can experience the world around me.
 
Day 23: I'm thankful for not being snowed in...ha ha...just kidding. I'm thankful for the scriptures, especially my favorite ones that bring comfort to my life and keep me going.
 
Day 24: I'm thankful for my family.
 
Day 25: I'm thankful for the people in my life: family, friends, classmates, coworkers, ward family, etc. I know some pretty great people :D
 
Day 26: I'm thankful that colds don't last forever.
 
Day 27: I'm thankful for family traditions.
 
Day 28: I'm thankful for snow tires.
 
Day 29: I'm thankful for the random times I can just kick back and...act like kid!!! :D
 
Day 30: I'm thankful for days, weeks, months, and years. The more the merrier!

thanksgiving 2010

Man, I have been such a slacker when it comes to blogging lately. I will work on that...maybe.

Thanksgiving this year was fun. We had it up at my house this year and we had all the usual foods: turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, jello, salads, and pie...yummy! There were more foods, but I can't recall all of them.

The night was filled with eating, laughing, and games (a new one for us). My uncle Ingolf decided to throw in the idea of playing games...so we did. And it was fun! I definitely ate too much that day.

Here are some pictures from the night:

Me and one of my cousins (one of the few pictures I'm actually in because I'm always behind the camera)

Same cousin above using my adorable neice to clean the floor...worked pretty good actually :)

Me and my crazy aunt "D". It looks like she's flipping off the camera...hmmm

My crazy cousin "D" who is setting a bad example for the younger cousins...and me...I soon joined him

halloween

This year I did not miss out on the festivities of Halloween. Last year I was sick with the flu and had to spend Halloween in bed eating chicken noodle soup.

Halloween started with me dressing up and going to work. It is always fun to see what everyone else dresses up as. Every year my work does a costume contest. Sadly, this year I did not win...though I did have a lot of people voting for me. I was happy to hear that.

After work I went to my aunt's house where we have pizza and soda before going trick-or-treating. Every year I take my younger cousins out trick-or-treating...it's just fun. Two years ago I even collected candy with them...a pretty good load, too. This year would have been my niece's first time trick-or-treating...and we couldn't even get her into her costume. She had just woken up and was very ornery.

So I took my cousins and we hit all the houses in the cul-de-sac (about 7 of them). Then they convinced me to go back and try to persuade my niece (who is 2) to come out with us. I even trick-or-treated or her in hopes to convince her to come collect her own candy. After much persuasion and tears we finally got her costume on and out the door. By this time, however, the sun had gone down. It was rainy, getting windy, and very cold. We went to the next street over and went to another 6 or 7 houses. By the time we got to the 3rd house we were frozen and looking to head back. My niece was having a good time, surprisingly. After the last house we ran (literally ran) back to my aunt's house. It was so wet and cold!


The happy, wet, cold bunch going trick-or-treating



This was hanging above one of the doorways of a house we went trick-or-treating at. I didn't notice it until I bumped into it. Some not so nice words came out of my mouth when I looked up and realized what it was. :)

Everyone got warmed up and then checked out their very small collection of candy. It's a good thing we still had a ton that we were planning on passing out. I got a few measley tootsie rolls that no one wanted and then left for a Halloween party at Institute.



One of my favorite pics of the night with one of my favorite little people

At the party I met with my best friend from college, Kim. I love that girl. We danced and acted crazy all night. They had some crazy games like a donut-eating contest, and mummy wrapping contest. I'm not much of a dancer, but hey, I tried.

Me and my other favorite little person, Kim. I love that girl!!!

Then I went home and spent an hour trying to get all the blue out of my hair.

halloween costume

I love Halloween...mostly because I LOVE to dress up. Lately I've been trying to be creative when it comes to my costumes. I don't like to buy them already put together and ready...so not creative. Besides, you risk going to a Halloween party and running into someone who got the same costume-in-a-bag as you did. Not cool.

No, I like to make my own costumes. Now by "make" I mean take different pieces of old costumes, or articles of clothing, and combine them into a whole new costume. There is the rare occassion that I will actually sew a part of my costume (like my skirt for this year's costume), but it won't happen often until I learn how to sew properly.

This year I was a witch. You may ask how one could be creative with that. Very carefully. This costume took about 3-4 years to accumulate all the necessary pieces and accessories to work out. And it worked out pretty well. Instead of describing it, I will just show you pictures.

Now, my favorite part of my costume would have to be the striped tights and the skirt (I love that skirt). The skirt I hand-sewed a few years ago, and over the years I have added more pieces to it, making it fuller. The blue hair was a plues, too. I also loved the makeup I did. I chose to go the risky route by tracing a star over my eye and then coloring it in with glitter and eye shadow. It was very tricky, but the end result rocked. I got many compliments on it throughout the day. My least favorite part about the costume...the dang corsette. I think whoever invented the corsette was related to the person who invented heals. Beauty and torture should never coincide.



My full costume



You can see my makeup better in this one

something wicked this way comes

So here is my post on a performance I did back on October 25 called "Something Wicked this Way Comes." It was a Halloween performance put on by the Herriman Community Orchestra, A Cappellas, and the Local Zombies (which is what I am a part of).

The show was really good. It consisted of the orchestra playing various Halloween themed pieces such as the Monster Mash and Overture to Barber of Seville. Some of my favorite pieces were The Ballad of Sweeney Todd and some of the songs they played from Wicked (still need to see that). My part in the show was one of the zombies dancing to the famous Thriller by Michael Jackson. Best part of the show, if I do say so myself. It was fun dancing to it this time. I knew the dance better and even got better at making some scary faces.

Me dancing on stage to Thriller!

Yeah...don't mess with my boyfriend :)

Me and the evil countessa.

Some of the undead gals in the ward.

After the show a couple friends in my ward decided to go off and terrorize a couple grocery stores. Hey, it took us 1.5 hours to get all that makeup on, and it would take another 1.5 hours to get it off, so we needed to get more use out of it than the 5 minutes we were on stage.



The first store we went was the best when it came to terrorizing. We hobbled around the store, giving customers and workers strange looks, following them around, doing some chasing. We actually scared and chased two girls out of the store...they were screaming. Such a thrill!



Local zombies terrorizing a grocery store.



Checking out the meat department...sadly no fresh human meat *sigh*



The undead after we chased the girls after the store. I guess we were pretty scary-looking.



By the time we got to the next store it was getting late...and people were few. We managed to get some good perks there too.

Terrorizing another customer...and to think, her boyfriend was standing by doing nothing.

Then we headed off to a cemetery and took some spooky pics of us zombies there. They actually turned out pretty good. We did that for about 10 minutes because it was freezing outside (beyond freezing...it was about 35 degrees) and we were wearing what was left of our tattered and shredded clothes. After our undead photoshoot we walked shivering to my car. We were frozen.



In the cemetery...it was actually kind of creepy.



Me trying to be scary...I'm coming for you!

A couple of frozen zombies walking back to my car...brrr!!! It was freezing!

All in all, it was a fun night.

carving pumpkins

This year we carved pumpkins at my aunt Wendy's house. Funny miscommunication there. When it was planned (which I took no part in the planning whatsoever) my aunt Wendy supposedly told my grandma it might be best to do it at our house. Somehow, my grandma forgot. Now my aunt lives about 30-40 minutes away.

So the day of pumpkin carving arrives. My grandparents left about an hour before me to run some errands, and then I left. On the way saw a very beautiful sunset...and thankfully I had my camera or else I would have been cursing myself till the end of the century. After taking several pictures I pulled into my aunt's driveway. My cousin Dayton was outside my grandparents' car bent over laughing. I couldn't figure out what was so funny. Well, his mom and dad were on their way to our house to carve pumpkins, and here we were at their house. Yeah...you are probably smiling now. So we called back and forth trying to decide who should drive back. Eventually my aunt and uncle turned around, though they weren't too happy about it.

Thankfully, my grandma's little blunder was brushed aside as the night turned into a fun festivity. We had navajo tacos for dinner and then began pumpkin carving. It was just me and my cousin Keaton that carved pumpkins, Dayton was going to wait until the next day to do his.

This year I decided to go simple with my carving. I usually pick at least a medium difficulty for carving, but it takes so dang long to do it. So I did a simple Sam-R-I face on my pumpkin. I actually kind of liked it.

Me taking out the pumpkin guts.

The wonderfully carved Sam-R-I pumpkin face.



Me posing with my pumpkin. The star over my eye was my "practice" attempt for my Halloween costume.



At least this year I didn't get sick after the pumpkin carving. Very happy about that :)

thunderstorm

Thunderstorm--June 6, 2010 (Sunday)

Synopsis

-clouds moving fast

-rain

-tons of rain

-i got soaked (outside like a dork taking pictures)

-hail (got larger)

-grabbed handful of hail, put down aunt Tiffany's shirt

-aunt Tiffany fought back

-ambushed by her daughters

-i fought back

-i almost lost...but it was a draw :)

-BEAUTIFUL rainbow





oregon trip--part 4

Day 4--Tuesday (Sept. 28)

As usual, the day started off with breakfast. And again, the weather was perfect (not a usual thing). The day before we had discussed what I wanted to do the rest of my time there. It was a tough decision, there was SOOO much to do. We eventually decided to visit the Portland Rose Gardens and then the Portland Japanese Garden after that (since they were right next to each other).

The Rose Gardens were beautiful. They have almost every kind of rose imaginable. There were red ones, pink ones, oranges ones, all the way to purple. The purple one was my favorite in terms of smell (the one I got a picture of). Very sweet smelling. And I also got some pretty good macro (close-up) pics of the roses. I just love being in nature. Though it was beautiful that time of year, Sommer said I would have to come in the summer when the roses are really in bloom.



Set of stairs going through the Rose Gardens. At the top is a fountain.



Looking down from stairs onto a portion of the Rose Gardens.



Now, for one of my favorite parts of the trip: The Portland Japanese Garden. Oh, it was so beautiful there...and incredibly peaceful. The walk up to the Garden was breathtaking...all the greenery and trees with the sun peaking through...just beautiful!!! Then inside the garden. I LOVED it!!! Everything there, the garden shrubs, the trees, the moss, the sand, and wood, the water features (waterfalls, ponds, streams) all worked together in such a way to create perfect tranquility. You could tell there was much attention used when it came to detail...everything had a purpose and a certain place. It was so relaxing. There were several times walking around that we just sat and, as Sommer put it, "contemplated the mysteries of the universe."  I just wanted to stay there all day. Just thinking about it makes me want to go back. Man, how I wish that I had that in my back yard.



The scenic walk up to the Japanese Garden.



Our walk through the Garden started at the visitor center. We walked right and through the Wisteria Arbor. From there we headed to the Strolling Pond Garden where we walked past the Moon Bridge (at the Upper Pond). From the Moon Bridge we walked past the Tea Garden to the Lower Pond. We crosses the Zig Zag Bridge and there was the Lower Pond with the beautiful Heavenly Falls. I got several pictures there.



The Moon Bridge at the Upper Pond.



The Heavenly Falls at the Lower Pond.



From there, we headed to the Natural Garden. The Natural Garden had its own system of waterfalls, creeks, ponds, bridges and walkways, and was just so peaceful. From the Natural Garden we headed towards the Sand and Stone Garden, which looks like it sounds. Apparently, this type of garden if found in Zen monasteries.



One of the stairways in the Natural Garden.



The Sand and Stone Garden.



We then walked towards the Flat Garden, which is near the entrance. It consists of raked sand and two "islands" filled with plantings. The two islands depict a sake' cup and gourd-shaped bottle, signifying pleasure and a wish for the visitor's happiness. Oh, there was pleasure and happiness. We then left...much to my dismay...I wanted to stay there all day.



The Flat Garden.



We grabbed a drink of hot cocoa from a small vendor and then headed down the mountain. I asked Sommer to pullover at some point so I could get some pictures of the forest...which was also very beautiful. After passing several stopping points on the opposite side of the road, we finally found one on our side, and I eagerly got out with camera in hand. I hiked up a trail and began snapping away. Then we headed home for lunch.



One of the many scenic shots I got on the trail off to the side of the road.



After lunch I watched a movie (Pride and Prejudice) and had a nap while Sommer got caught up on some work. I guess you could say I got my fill on chick flicks :)

That night we went out with her whole family to Californian Pizza. We each ordered one dish from the menu and then shared it all. We had pizza, ravioli, and egg rolls (I think that is what those were). Very yummy (and still on the Italian streak). After dinner Sommer's husband took the kids home while Sommer and I walked around the mall complex (Bridgeport I believe it was called). We just walked and talked about our adventures during my stay there. Then it was time to go home and get ready to leave the next day.

Walked around mall complex (bridgeport)

Day 5--Wednesday (Sept. 29)

After breakfast that morning I got all my belongings packed up and ready to go. My flight wasn't until about 6 that night, so I had lots of time to get ready. After I packed up everything I sat in my room and read scriptures for a while (something I had neglected to do since getting there).

Then around lunch time we packed my bags into the back of Sommer's car and went out to lunch. I said goodbye to Sommer's family before leaving...that was hard.

We had lunch at Roses Restaurant, which is kind of like a soup and deli. Sommer got a sandwich and I ordered the French Dip. That was A LOT of food! And it was messy to eat...but it was yummy. Needless to say, I did not starve on this trip...nope. After lunch we picked up her daughter and then Sommer took me to see downtown Portland (because I had yet to see it other than the quick drive by when she had picked me up from the airport). It was a good decision because it was close to the airport and was a good last activity for the day.

Once at downtown Portland I was once again amazed...by all the bridges. That is also a site you don't see back at home. I took so many pictures of the bridges that I ran out of memory on my camera. The buildings were pretty cool, too. We spent about a little over an our walking along the river that flows right past the downtown area. Then we stopped and got some icecream and then began walking back. I would say that the downtown visit was not one of my favorites. It was very busy and crowded and full of people doing anything from schoolwork, work work, sleeping under bridges, running, biking, etc. I like quiet more.



One of bridges downtown.



Some buildings in downtown Portland. We were walking through one of the riverfront parks here.



Another bridge and some cool buildings.



While walking back, Sommer thought it was later than it was, so our walk turned into a hurried stroll. You would think her little girl would have had a hard time keeping up...but no...we had a hard time keeping up with her. When we got back to the car we laughed because we had hurried for no reason. I still had plenty of time to get to the airport. We had hurried for nothing...ha ha.

We drove the airport and Sommer walked me in. Again, I got my bag checked in very quickly (no line...just walked right up). And then Sommer, her daughter, and me walked into the airport area and said our goodbyes...or so I thought. Sommer was going to by a gift for her daughter and when I walked away I decided I should get at least one souvenir from my trip to Portland (of course I wait until I'm in the airport to do it). I bought this really cool necklace with a butterfly pendant carved from a rare wood. I then walked out of the gift shop with my souvenir and saw Sommer was still in the airport (I thought she had left). I showed her my "souvenir" and then we said another goodbye...which was even harder than the first one.

I then left, and again, walked right through security. Not too long later I was on the plane back home. The plane ride was ok...I was really tired. I sat next to a gentleman whom I will call Mr. Doug. He told me about his work and I told him how I was in Portland to visit a friend. After take off Mr. Doug fell asleep and began to snore for the rest most of the flight...thank goodness for mp3 players. We were finally flying into Salt Lake. However, we had to fly around the airport because of all the air traffic. During one of our laps around the airport we grazed another plane's jet stream which really shook our puny little jet. That scared the s#*@ out of me (pardon the french). Other than that, the landing was smooth (thankfully). I got of the plane, picked up my bags, and then met my mom outside, who took me home.

Overall, it was a good trip. Thanks, Sommer, for the visit!

oregon trip--part 3

Day 3--Monday (Sept. 27)

The day started off with a yummy breakfast...oatmeal! I love oatmeal, in you didn't know. After breakfast her other visitors left, and then Sommer and I went for a walk in a nearby park. There was a boardwalk built over a pond/swamp area. It was really pretty, and the weather was once again just beautiful and sunny (again, I was reminded of how rare that is). After the walk (which was supposed to be the main exercise of the day) we went home, showered, and then got ready for our next adventure...

WATERFALLS!!!

Sommer's plan was to go take me to see the many waterfalls that are offered in the Portland area, particularly the famous Multnomah Falls. I was SO excited...I LOVE waterfalls...and I was excited to get some really good pictures, too. Hey, I'm always thinking with a photographic mind.

On our way to the waterfalls, Sommer decided to stop at the Portland Temple because it would probably be my only chance to see it. I'm glad she did. The temple was beautiful and I kept taking pictures like crazy. We spent about 30 min. to an hour there (I don't know how long, actually). The architecture behind temples amazes me. After the temple we made our way to the waterfalls. The drive was about an hour long, but it was a beautiful drive. We followed a major river in Portland (can't remember the name, sadly) and it was an amazing site.

The first waterfall we stopped at was Wahkeena Falls. We just stayed at the bottom and looked up at the falls from afar because we wanted to save our hiking time for Multnomah. It was still pretty, but nothing compared to Multnomah.

Multnomah Falls was our next stop, and it was a huge waterfall. There were two parts to it. I couldn't get across the street without snapping a few pics at first. Once we got across the street, I continued my sporadic-picture-taking-spree. What can I say, I'm addicted to photography...and I don't get many chances to take pictures of waterfalls back at my home. We then began our hike up closer to the falls. In one of the pictures you will see a bridge that is about halfway up the waterfall...we hiked just a little above that point.

Multnomah was definitely may favorite waterfall, followed by Bridal Veil Falls, which was the next waterfall we went to go see (because we had extra time to do so). So we drove back down to Bridal Veil Falls and had to hike in to see that one. Now, for me, that one was a hike. Usually I wouldn't get winded during a relatively easy hike, which this one should have been...but I will admit that I am out of shape and in need of some major exercise (cursing knee injury right now). The hike was pretty, and the site of the falls was also worth the hike. I got some more pics and then we hiked back to the car. The hike back was worse than the hike to the falls...go figure.

We drove home and I had a long serious talk with Sommer. Once home, Sommer immediately decided on having another chick night, complete with chick food and a chick flick. Dinner consisted of a salad tossed with diced pears, feta cheese, sugar-coated walnuts, and a Balsamic vinaigrette dressing. Can you say yummy. We also had tortilla soup to go along with it...also yummy. The chick flick for that night was Letters to Juliet, which was probably my favorite chick flick out of all of them. After the movie we watched Dancing with the Stars, which I thoroughly enjoyed critiquing because of my interest in ballroom dancing (I miss those days). After that, it was off to bed.