Archive for October, 2008
too much info
October 30, 2008
I’m not sure whey people “tag” each other, but since I’m such a wonderful friend, I’ve decided to comply… (p.s. these are in no particular order)
10 TV Shows I Love to Watch:
1. Gilmore Girls
2. John & Kate plus 8
3. Pushing Daisies
4. Brothers and Sisters
5. Weeds
6. Project Runway
7. True Life
8. Made
9. Lost
10. Veronica Mars
10 of Favorite Places to Eat:
1. Cafe Rio/Costa Vida
2. California Pizza Kitchen
3. Macaroni Grill
4. Red Robin
5. Carrabba’s
6. Thai Ruby
7. J Dawg’s
8. Chili’s
9. Subway
10. The pupusa place on Center Street
10 Things that Happened Yesterday:
1. Externed
2. Worked
3. Picked up Halloween decorations for a party I can’t attend
4. Blogged
5. Went to Bajio’s for the LAST TIME EVER
6. Made my husband eat left-overs for dinner
7. Found out that I’ve gained 20 lbs. in the last year
8. Ate a slice of pumpkin cheesecake (this might be a contributing factor to #7)
9. Watched Friday Night Lights
10. Procrastinated studying for the MPRE
10 Things I am Looking Forward to:
1. Murder Mystery
2. Jenn’s Halloween party
3. A relaxing weekend
4. Reading The Giver for book club
5. Passing the MPRE
6. Having my in-laws come for Thanksgiving
7. Having my dad come in December
8. Getting to enjoy the ENTIRE Christmas season
9. Not having to take finals
10. Graduation
10 Things on my Wish List:
1. A full-time paying job (this would take care of all of the other things I am currently wishing for)
6th picture of 6th folder:
it’s beginning to look a lot like…
October 29, 2008
Christmas? Is it just me or do Christmas decorations go up earlier and earlier every year? I had to make a quick trip to the store today (yes, I went to Wal-Mart… so sue me… I don’t condone their employment practices but let’s be honest, they really do have lower prices than most other places plus they have almost everything you could need under one roof so when both you and your husband are still in school, you do what you gotta do).
As I walk in, the first thing I see is a GIGANTIC Christmas tree. Now I am well aware of my current need for corrective lenses but trust me, I am not mistaken. It was a pre-lit, white twinkle light Christmas tree that went from the floor to the ceiling. And as I walked past the other entrance to the store, there it was, another enormous Christmas tree (this one with lights AND cantaloupe-sized colorful ball ornaments). I just couldn’t get over the fact that in order to get to the Halloween costumes/candy/decorations, you were forced to walk past these trees. What has this world come to? We can’t even enjoy one holiday without being forced to start planning for one that is 2 months away! Don’t get me wrong, I love Christmas and everything that goes with it. But I find it odd that Christmas has become such a commercialized holiday that retailers seem to just put Thanksgiving on the back burner and put all of their energy into Christmas. Instead of spending time being grateful for the things we already have, retailers are wanting us to get an early start on purchasing more and more things we probably don’t really need.
Let me just state for the record that I didn’t really grow up having a traditional Thanksgiving because 1) my family was never a big turkey fan, 2) we don’t watch American football, and 3) it is not a traditional Brazilian holiday (duh). The only time I remember ever having traditional Thanksgiving food was when my dad was a bishop at BYU-Hawaii and the university supplied Thanksgiving dinner for each of the wards (tangent: I always found it odd that people would ward-hop on Thanksgiving… each ward had the exact same cafeteria turkey dinner; why students would want to eat it 3 or 4 times in one day is beyond my ability to comprehend).
Having said that, I want to state that I believe I am a reasonable person and I want to give each holiday its fair share of time in the spotlight. So here is my proposal: date swap. I say we celebrate Christmas at the beginning of March (which would be a great transition into Easter at the end of the month). And then we move Thanksgiving to sometime mid-December so that Thanksgiving can get its fair share of holiday spirit and excitement.
The Value of… Friendship
October 29, 2008
Every day I have the unique opportunity to sit in my time machine, and travel 2 years into the past… to a simpler time— when Tuesday nights were something to be anticipated, when loud racket from the band practicing next door could be heard throughout the complex, back to when it all started.
That’s exactly what it feels like as I’m prepping the re-release of THE PLACE. It’s really as if I’m spending some time each day, back at Branbury in 2006. And it’s just amazing to me that over 3 years since our Mikewire group met, we’re all still good friends. One could say that we’ve been eachother’s family while being away from home.
We spend holidays together…
- The time we had Easter dinner in 115 and Larkin made twice-baked potatoes
- The time we had Easter dinner at Daniel & Katey’s place
- The time we had Pioneer Day breakfast at Brent’s & my place
We spend birthdays together…
- The time we all went to Old Spaghetti Factory & All American Gymnastics for Billy’s birthday
- The time we went to Tucano’s for Daniel’s birthday
- The time we had a Rockband Party for Norm’s birthday
We celebrate special occassions together…
- The time a bunch of us went to California to be there for Daniel & Katey’s wedding
- The time a bunch of us went to Texas to be there for Sean & Sarah’s wedding
- The time a bunch of you guys were able to celebrate Natalia & my wedding
We have accrued hundreds of memories over the past 3 years, and the ones listed above are a small fraction of the full picture.
I realize that it hasn’t always been ‘perfect’ and at times, some of us have even been at odds with eachother for whatever reason, but that doesn’t change the history that we all have and the friendship that still exists. I know that Branbury and everything is in the past, and I’m happy we’ve all made the progress we’ve made thus far, but being so immersed in THE PLACE, and re-living a bit of that era every day really helps me appreciate the true value of Friendship.
happy .5 to me
October 28, 2008
Yesterday was my half birthday. With everything that we had going on, I didn’t think that Luis would remember, but he did :) He was really sweet and had cleaned the apartment so that it would look nice when I got home. We had a late lunch/early dinner at Macaroni Grill. And I was really impressed with the presents he got me. To be honest, I was expecting him to just drive me to the store and have me choose something for myself. I just didn’t think he would have any idea what to get me. But he didn’t. Instead he went to the store and got me a crock pot cookbook (which I’ve been wanting for a while), Jon & Kate’s book (since I always watch their show), and some Reese’s (my favorite candy bar right now). I love the idea of celebrating half birthdays. I think that most people (at least most young people) love their birthday. They love having a day where they get to be treated extra special. So why only celebrate once a year?
On a completely unrelated note: my knees hurt. That is all.
The Value of… New Life
October 28, 2008
As you probably know, my brother and his wife had their first child (the first grandchild for my parents) over the weekend. And overall, it was an amazing experience.
The main thing I wanted to address though, were my observations while being in the Mother Baby floor of the hospital. I was fascinated by watching all the new babies being brought into the nursery and their proud fathers sitting next to them, getting to know them, taking pictures and video of them as they’re checked out by the nurse.
Seeing my brother sitting in that chair next to his new son was weird and fascinating all at the same time. My big brother, who used to love to pick on me, who was jealous that at one time during high school I made more money than him, who always looked out for me— is now a father.
I started wondering about how my parents’ experience was when they had their first child, which was in that same hospital. And it got me thinking about when I am going to be sitting in that seat next to the baby. What kinds of things would be going through my head?
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