another year gone

 I can't believe 2012 is almost gone!  Looking back, it was a pretty good year.  The biggest thing that comes to mind is:

I spent some time tonight with one of my favorite humans, Katy, and her husband and parents who were in town for the weekend.  We got some yummy pizza from NYPD pizza, then went back to Katy and John's apartment for snacks and to watch The Dark Knight Rises.  Normally I don't like to be out on NYE because I don't want to deal with drunk drivers, but I am home now--safe and sound.  It's 9:45pm and I'm going to crawl into bed with a book.  I don't know if I'm going to make it to midnight, so I'll just wish you all a Happy New Year right now!!

myfitnesspal.com

Decided this morning to get back on myfitnesspal.com to get a headstart on my 2013 resolutions.  With hopes that Kristy and I are going on a big trip this summer, I want to lose some weight.  Wish me luck!

christmas is over :(

So...photo fail.  I didn't take ANY pictures this year of Christmas.  I know.  Lame.  Let's see if I can remember everything that happened...

Sunday was Megan's blessing.  It was a very nice blessing and her little dress was gorgeous!

After church I hung out at Mom and Dad's for a couple hours before the McLaws Family Christmas party that night.  Julia and I decorated Mom and Dad's tree.  The family party this year was at the Priday's house.  Dinner was a pasta bar with different kinds of pasta and sauces and was yummy.  Then we did the traditional white elephant gift exchange.  I ended up with the "Most Interesting Man in the World"  aka Dad's picture that's been going around the family for the last three years!  He is now hanging on the wall in my bedroom.

Monday (Christmas Eve) I slept in, since I had the day off, did some laundry, made a cheese ball for later that night, practiced my flute for the special number Mom asked me to do for our Christmas Eve program, then packed up everything I needed to sleep over at Mom and Dad's and headed over to their house.  Julia and I ran to Target so she could get the last item she needed to finish her last gift, then just hung out at  the house until everyone else showed up.  Mom made a yummy tortilla soup in the crockpot and J.R. brought some yummy bread he made.  For our Christmas Eve program I played "Oh Come, All Ye Faithful" on my flute, Julia and J.R. did a duet on the guitar and ukulele that Julia sang too, also, of "Silent Night," Dad gave a nice thought, and Mom passed out Faith Binders that she made everyone and that we're going to add to over the years with stories and experiences that help strengthen our faith.  Steven shared a story about the origin of the song "The 12 Days of Christmas" and then we opened our sibling gifts.  I gave to Esther this year.  I gave her a bag of Reese's peanut butter cups and the book "Act in Doctrine" by Elder Bednar.  Kristen had me this year.  A few weeks ago she and Steven came over and gave me some service by putting the legs on my new couches (since I don't have an electric drill) and shredding a big bag of papers that needed to be shredded.  Kristen also gave me a $15 Amazon gift card. (Last night I used the gift card to buy two books I've wanted, "Beauty and the Baron" and "Dragon Bound" and the DVDs "Prince Caspian" and "Voyage of the Dawn Treader.")  After we all opened out gifts we had treats (including the cheese ball I'd made earlier) and Christmas punch (except this year Mom made it with orange sherbet because that we the only flavor she could fine...it's just not the same orange.  Uusually it's green.)  J.R., Esther, John, Barbara, and I all slept over at Mom and Dad's.  I didn't end up going to bed until 11:30pm and I know Mom was up later than that.

Tuesday we were all woken up about 7:30 by John screaming/crying that he wanted to open presents!  Slowly we all got up and dressed.  Mom got out breakfast stuff and we ate while waiting for Steven, Kristen, and baby Megan to arrive before we started opening presents.  I got so much good stuff!  Last month Mom gave me two gifts early: the wise men for my Willow Tree nativity set and a gingerbread house snowglobe for my gingerbread house collection.  It was fun to be able to enjoy those two things all month.  I got a really pretty glass dogwood basket, another (different than I already have) dogwood pattern teacup and saucer, an awesome "Happy Birthday/Congratulations!" homemade cloth banner, a slow cooker cookbook recipe book, my Ensign subscription renewed, "10 Great Souls I want to Meet in Heaven" by S. Michael Wilcox, "Look Up My Soul: The Divine Promise of Hope" by Gerald N. Lund, and lots of other really cool stuff!  For lunch we made Chinese haystacks, then cleaned up all the wrapping paper and ribbons that were all over the front room.  Steven and Kristen had to leave to go do Christmas with Kristen's family and J.R., Esther and the kiddos left because they had to go pack for their trip up to Utah to see Esther's family for the rest of this week.  Faith left to go spend some time with her boyfriend, so Mom, Dad, Julia and I drove out to see Grandma and Grandpa McLaws.  We spent a little bit of time visiting with them and ate some leftover ham and cheesy potatoes that they had.  Once we drove back to Mom and Dad's I gathered up all my stuff and finally drove home myself.

Wednesday (today) was back to work.

It's always a bit of a let down once it's all over and done with but it was a great Christmas!  Mom always works so hard to make it a nice day and puts so much time and thought into everybody's gifts.  I've already put my thank you notes in the mail and I'm trying to think about what my New Year's resolutions are going to be.  Any thoughts or suggestions??

I hope you had a Merry Christmas and, if I don't blog again until then, a Happy New Year!

locks for love

After cuddling with this bug at the Temple Visitor's Center while Kristen and Steven were at her brother's sealing, I ran a couple errands then went and picked up Mom so we could then go pick up Julia at the airport.  While we were driving back home I mentioned that I had made the decision that I wanted to cut my hair and donate it to Locks for Love.  I asked Mom if she would feel comfortable doing it.  She said no.  But then said, "I have a free haircut at Fantastic Sam's, we could go right now and do it!"  So I did!

i survived

paper cut poisoning

Pretty sure I'm going to die this weekend. 

I made a bad decision to get nachos last night at the movie theatre when Katy and I went to see "Rise of the Guardians" (which, BTW is a really cute movie!) and I'm still feeling the affects.  It was a rough night. 

I got a REALLY bad cardboard paper cut on my left middle finger that KILLS.  Yes, paper cut poisoning is a real thing.  I decided. 

On Sunday I am playing my flute as part of a flute ensemble for a special Christmas musical number, accompanying someone else who is singing in church, AND teaching Relief Society.  Why did I say yes when they asked me??

If I make it to Moday, it will be a miracle!

fox in socks

Here's something you may not know about me:  I HATE buying ridiculous, necessary things.  Like socks.  And underwear.  I think it's stupid.  When I'm President, I'm going to make socks and underwear free and they will magically appear in a box at your front door when you need new ones.

However, I'm not the President.

And I've put off buying new socks far too long.

So, I did what I hate and bought some new socks today.

couching

I learned a new sewing skill last night.  Couching.  I've been cross stitching for almost as long as I can remember and I've never done a design that called for couching.  In fact, I had to Google what it was.  After reading the instructions, this was the result:

Couching is what it took to do the little curly q's.  I think they turned out pretty good for my first try, if I do say so myself!

Here's the finished project:

Pretty awesome, huh?  :)

a christmas miracle

Last week I got a text from the library letting me know that an audiobook I had requested was in and ready for pick-up.  Two seconds later I got another text from the library telling me there was a fine due on my account which caused my blood pressure to spike and me to have a heart attack.

Why was there a fine due on my account?!?!  I don't destroy library books!  I'm a very responsible person and always make sure to take care of everything that isn't mine.  I return them WAY before they're due so there's never any problem!  I don't understand!!

So, I promptly got online and logged into my library account.  Low and behold, there was a fine on my account.  For $129.00!!

That was when I died.

There was no information as to why there was suddenly a fine for $129 on my account when the last time I even checked out a book was over a month ago!  The only thing that was listed was the book that the fine was in reference to.  Turns out, I remember the book.  It was an audiobook and it was stupid.  I only listened to two or three CDs before stopping.  I never finished it.  So now I was thinking, "Great!  It was probably a CD at the end that was missing from the previous person who checked it out and because it was too stupid to finish I didn't realize it and now I'm stuck with the fine for replacing the stupid thing!"

I seethed and stewed for a while at my desk.

But then I remembered that I had made a promise to myself to try and be more aware of service opportunities this month when they came my way in order to help spread the Christmas Spirit.  I had money in my checking account to cover the fine and maybe the person who checked it out before me wouldn't have the money, so this was going to be my Christmas gift to them and the library.

Sigh.

So, I went in today to pick up my books on hold and pay my fine.  When I got up to the counter I asked, what the fine was in reference to.  The librarian told me it was because a CD was missing.  She then went and got the audiobook and brought it up to the counter.  As she was going through it she was counting, "Disc 1, disc 2, disc 3, and here it's missing disc 4."  She went to turn the sleeve to continue counting but I stopped her.

There WAS a disc in the disc 4 spot, it was just turned around so the back was showing instead of the front.  I pulled it out, flipped it over and said, "Here's disc 4 right here."  

.....

"Oh, I'm sorry."  She says.  "They obviously didn't go through this very carefully.  Let's get that taken care of."

SIGH OF RELIEF!  I DIDN'T HAVE TO PAY THE FINE!!  IT WAS A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!!!

My day went from this:

To this:

In a heartbeat and suddenly everything was right with the world once more!!  It was a VERY tender mercy from the Lord because, although I DO have the money to pay the fine, there are more important things (like my credit card debt) that I need to be using every spare penny I have towards.

my favorite word

snapshots

I was watching an episode of "Alias" tonight.  In one scene two of the main characters were talking over lunch.  Will says to Sydney, "Tommy has a theory that we are always going to be the person we were in 6th grade."

My mom has a theory that whatever a person is doing, and wherever they are educationally, socially, and career-wise, at 25 will tell you who they are, and what their level of commitment/motivation will be for the rest of their lives.

So, that got me thinking.  Am I still the person I was in 6th grade?  What was I doing at 25?  Are either of those ages who I am today?  Are either of the theories right?

Let's take a look...

Sixth Grade:

What I think about when someone says "Sixth Grade":  Ardenwald Elementary, Mrs. Davis (she was my teacher and was awesome!  I still remember doing cool science projects and she had a pretty dog named Cinnamon that she would sometimes bring in to the classroom as a special treat), living in Oregon, starting my period (TMI, I know), being extremely emotional and having wild mood swings because of starting my period.

Pictures of me in 6th grade...

Yes, those are shorts overalls with only one shoulder buckled AND socks WITH sandals.  I have no justification whatsoever besides: it was the 90's!  LOL

Here's a journal entry from when I was in 6th grade (complete with misspellings and horrible grammar):

May 8, 1994 - "Today is Sunday.  It's Mothers Day.  I made my mom a little jar with a fabric lid and a little bow on it.  And also a little box I sewed with little hearts.  Yesturday I went to Silver Falls with the young women.  It was so fun.  We hiked so far in to the Water Falls, that it took a long time to get back to the parking lot.  And before that I spent the night at Jennifer Terrys' house.  We stayed up till 1:30am.  We were watching a movie called "So I Married an Axe Murdurer."  It is so funny.  There is a guy on it, I forget his name, but he is sooo cute.  Yesturday we watched a movie called "The Rocketeer" There is a guy on it, his name is Clifford.  He's sooo cute. I would die to marry him.  Only he's older than me.  Being in young womens is such a spiritual experiance for me.  I think being in it is really going to strengthen my testimony of Jesus Christ.  My only problem is I don't like giving talks in primary. So I'm going to die if I have give a talk in Scarement Meeting.  Next year me and J.R. are going to a school called: Benjamin Franklin Acadamy.  It's run by Mormons and you only go Tues, Wed, Thurs, from 8-12 and no homework! Well I gotta go so - Bye."

Clearly not much has really changed.  I still fall in love with fictional characters way too easily and have multiple celebrity crushes at a time!

Age 25:

What I remember...not much.  I was back living in Arizona.  I had graduated with my Bachelor's degree and was working full time as the receptionist for Junior Achievement. I was living in Mesa in my own apartment and going to the Fiesta YSA ward over by MCC.

Here are a couple snapshots of me from 2007...

As you can see, my fashion sense (thankfully!) got significantly better between the ages of 11 and 25!  The bottom picture is from our family trip to San Diego for the 4th of July.

Here's a journal entry from that year:

April 29, 2007 - "Mom and Dad's anniversary was yesterday.  26 years!  So, to let them have the time together I had the girls come over to my place on Friday night and then they spent all day yesterday with me.  It was fun.  We watched some movies, and while Faith was at a birthday party in the afternoon, Julia and I went on a picnic with J.R. and Esther.  It was such a beautiful day yesterday.  We went to Kiwanis park in Tempe and sat in the shade by the pond.  We fed the ducks and ate and laughed.  Today I spoke in my ward.  The topic was "Come Unto Christ."  I kind of had a difficult time writing it.  I really wasn't getting any inspiration until I sat down to put my thoughts together yesterday.  But even then I wasn't satisfied with it.  So, I got up early this morning and read through a few more church books and did some tweaking on what I had written down.  It seemed to come out alright in the end.  Lots of people came up to me and complimented me and thanked me for it.  Mom, Dad and Julia came to listen to me.  I made a decision last week that I am going to go back to school.  I have decided that I am going to apply to BYU for Fall 2008 to get my Master's in History with the Museum Practices Certificate that BYU offers.  I missed the deadline for this fall so I have to wait until February to apply for next fall.  But that's okay.  It gives me the chance to take a few classes at ASU that I'm interested in taking and gives me time to study for and take the GRE again. I need to try and get a higher score so I have a better chance of getting into the program.  I called Kristy last Sunday to tell her and she is way excited about the possibility of me moving back to Utah and about us being roommates.  It would be a blast to live together.  Hopefully things will fall into place and things will go as planned.  I'm really excited about this and want to do it."

What I find funny when comparing this journal entry to the one from when I was 11: Before I was exclaiming I would die if I ever had to give a talk and in this one I gave a talk.  Clearly I didn't die.  I actually remember writing this talk very vividly still, I'm not sure why.  I remember waking up that Sunday morning and completely rewriting everything but it wasn't me writing it.  I definitely had some divine help putting that one together.   Also what's funny is the contrast in my attitude toward school.  Before I was all about only having to go three days a week for 4 hours and not having any homework, and here I'm all gung-ho about jumping into a Master's program.

Conclusion:

I'm not sure if either theory is right, but it was fun to go back and do the comparison.  I'm still overweight. I'm still awkward around, and have no idea how to talk to, guys.  I still get overly emotional and have crazy mood swings sometimes.  I did get a Master's degree, but it was in psychology, not Museum Studies.  I've changed jobs and I'm still trying to decide what I want to do with my life.  Kristy and I have yet to be roommates, but my fashion sense is SOOO much better than from when I was a kid.

At least I hope it is.

What do you think?  Are these snapshots an accurate representation of who I am and who I'm going to be for the rest of my life?

changing of the seasons

Over the last month we've been having a feather scavenger hunt competition at work which is going to culmintate this Friday with a turkey decorating contest in which each team is supposed to use the feathers they've found to decorate their turkey.  Here's our little guy...

Some of the feathers have been bent and the little orange one up front (right behind his head) is all scraggly, so when I found this picture of a mad/disgruntled looking turkey on the internet, I knew we had to use it!  I'll let you know if we win!

Now that Thanksgiving is over I am in the full Christmas swing!  A couple weeks ago Katy and I met up one Saturday at Hobby Lobby to do some shopping.  We each picked up a miniature Christmas tree for our cubes at work.  Here's mine all decorated...

It's so cute!!  I love it!  I've also put up garland around the top of my cube and extra lights.  And tomorrow I'm bringing Christmas cookies in for my team just because.  Here's the decorating I did at the house last weekend....

My tree!  Complete with the 10 new Santas that I cross-stitched this year!

My gingerbread house village!  Complete with new additions!

My Willow Tree nativity set!  Mom gave me the final piece this year (the Wise Men) as an early Christmas present!

All my other random decorations!

thanksgiving 2012

Another successful McLaws Thanksgiving!

Dinner Wednesday night at Grandma and Papa's house:

Playing at the park on Thursday:

Then blowing things up:

Enjoying the beautiful desert landscape and sunset:

Finally back at Grandma and Papa's for tostadas for dinner!  It was a great Thanksgiving!!