Brown Paper Packages Tied up with String

I've heard it said many a times that a grateful person is a happy person. Well, I fell like I need a little more cheer right now, so I pulled out a journal from a few years ago that contains my "Favorite Things" list. I thought I's share and hopefully brighten your day a little too :o)

long jeans

road trips

hot chocolate

warm spots on the carpet from the sunshine
popsicles
ferris wheels
going on adventures
crispy corn dogs
cool pool on a summer day
my husband
my family
listening to music
Christmas lights (and anything Christmas for that matter)
going for long drives
the smell of rain
the sound of rain on a tin roof
my cabin
snow angels
China
skydiving
Chinese children
trying new things
stepping on CRUNCHY leaves
the smell of drywall mud
the beach
driving fast
comfy pajamas
breakfast in bed
Italian
the piano
rocking chairs
twinkle lights
good, solid friendships
the Grinch
soft blankets
smell of cedar wood
ant farms
firm toothbrushes
warm, heavy quilts
big, soft towels
traveling
Mexican food
mistletoe
being crafty
scrapbooking
scarves (scarfs?)
teaching
glasses
success
new dollar bills
super green grass
barbecues
soft carpet
pine trees
hair
flip-flops
purses
trampolines
computers (esp Gregron)
letters
clouds
cartoon movies (esp Disney)
pillows
books
Tetris
scriptures
bikes
wood floors
air conditioning
seeing my breath on a cold morning
tulips
daffodils
textures
fireworks
'pitter patter'
rice cakes
cuddling

What about you? What are some of your favorite things?

The last month

**Warning: This post may be a little unorganized and hodgepodge-ish**

Well, this last month has been a good one. It seems like a lot has happened. Let me share.



My birthday came and went. I'm 23 now! Well, it just so happened that my birthday was the last day of school (I was working in the class I student taught in). My mentor teacher bought me this great cake and we had a little class party :o)


Some of the students made me this marvelous sign.


Tanner and I went to the Cheesecake Factory for my birthday. It's been some time since we're gone out to dinner so it was such a nice treat!


My real diploma came in the mail.


For my mother-in-law's birthday my father-in-law let her shave his beard! He's had it for about 15 years, so it was a BIG deal!


On our family reunion we went to Sea World. Yes, we saw Shamu, yes that is now what he lives for.



We go to San Diego every year for my family reunion. This year I was in a room on the third floor. Here's the view from my little balcony! Beautiful!


Me on the beach, sporting my new hat. :o) I have always wanted a cute hat, however I don't really look good in hats... I decided that in order to fulfill my 'hat dream' I needed to get one someday, and this one looked better that other styles. And the beach always makes pictures nice...


We also had the chance to go to the San Diego temple. It was incredible, absolutely stunning!


I went to a music night {yes, my parents were there. The music night was dedicated to my grandmother [my mom's mom] who passed away. So the owner invited my whole family, seeing how the piano used to be in our family...} Anyways, we were able to talk my parents into singing this silly two part song: Bad Man's Blunder. It was a crack up!

New addition

In my last post I said "There's a new addition to [my] family! Any guesses as to what it might be? I'll give you a hint: it's NOT a baby/child/fetus/anythinglikethat"

I got some pretty good guesses! My favorites:

* A robot named Monte for Gregron to have a friend
* Are you pregnant with a full-grown man?
* Jude Law

Gregron did not get a robot friend, sorry to say. He still has only human friends...

And thankfully I am not pregnant with a full grown man! I hear being pregnant with a small fetus is uncomfortable; I can only imagine how horrible it would be to be pregnant with a full grown man!

It's not Jude Law. Sadly I cannot afford celebrities...

* * *

In the end Camille won. She nailed it right on the nose. I got a Bosch mixer!!!

I love it! I LOVE love LOVE it!!!

There it is in it's new home. I'm quite pleased that it's been getting along with the other kitchen appliances/gear. I don't know why I was worried about that... The blender and toaster have always been more than kind.

I decided to break it in by making a pizza. The dough recipe I used this time used honey instead of sugar. It was a different texture than I am used to, but it turned out pretty good! And yes, I did put zucchini on my half. Yes, it was good.

If you know me at all then you know I have this inner need to name inanimate objects: my laptop, my car, things like that. Well, I want to name this new addition to my family. I haven't had any FABULOUS ideas. I haven't even decided if it should be male or female. I need help! And ideas for a good name for my mixer?

Copy Cat

Yes, I am a copy cat. Lauren does this thing on her blog where she posts "Things Lauren is Happy About".

This post is:
Things Lindsey is Happy About!
(Thanks Lauren)

1) I'm a college graduate!

I graduated Summa Cum Laude from ASU! I now hold a bachelors degree. I also got my teaching certificate last week, so I am a real teacher now. It feels G.R.E.A.T. for anyone who is now in school, hang in there.

This picture made possible by my brother Brad.

On the way to graduation. That face is because I am NOT looking forward to putting on the ugly hat.

With Tanner, the ugly hat, and my empty diploma case (they mail the REAL diploma later).

Seriously though, those graduation caps are attrocious! I mean we're graduating from college--this has required a good amount of time, energy, work and money--doesn't that deserve better?! I mean they should give us the cutest hat ever invented, not that ugly piece of junk. I don't think anyone looks good in those (well, except Afton at high school graduation)

Camille, thanks for being my graduation buddy and sitting next to me!

Thanks family for being so supportive and making the sacrifices to be there (especially you Brandon!). And thanks for dinner at Chevy's afterwards.

2) My little brother Connie (his real name is Austin) got his mission call!

He's going to Omaha, Nebraska and leaves July 1st.

This is just me, my sis-in-law, and my nephew Brig. Love him.

3) Lisa, one of my former roomates, got married!!!

This is the old roomies at the cheesecake factory after her bachelorette party.

Here she is at her reception. She was beautiful! And VERY skinny! I think my bones alone make me fatter than that!

4) My brother is cute and took Brig on a lawnmower wide. I love this picture.

5) Tanner and I made collages!


Here's the one I made for Tanner. My favorite part=the picture of bottles of mayonaise. He told me that just seeing the pictures of the mayo made him feel gross. Haha.

Here's the one he made for me. It's really funny. My favorite part='recycling: rest in peace'.
That's funny because it's true. I really don't recycle. I'm the opposite of green (what does that make me? Red? And I'm totally fine with that).

6) my birthday is this Thursday. And guess what the universe decided to give me... The season premier to So You Think You Can Dance!!!!!!! Thank you universe!


7) There's a new addition to our family! Any guesses as to what it might be? I'll give you a hint: it's NOT a baby/child/fetus/anythinglikethat.

...Lately...

Just a little hodgepodge of what's been on my mind.

1) I passed the AEPA! That's the big, long, awful test you have to pass to teach in the state of Arizona. I found out last night that I passes both sections I took! Horray!

2) I found this incredible picture on my Gregron (my Computer)! Yes, these were to help show which bathroom was which.


3) I made this purse. I'm loving it!


And yes, I did donate blood. I save lives.

4) I have been sleeping alone at night. No, Tanner and I did not get in a fight. Tanner has been working nights (10 to 6) staying over at a friend's grandparent's house helping the grandpa who is up most of the night. I just try to get to bed before he leaves and I wake up just as he's getting home--that way it almost feels like he's never even gone. I don't like being all alone at night. Someone could break in and kill me (or worse) and I'd have no one to hear my screams...

5)Tanner and I went to dinner at Famous Daves. It's always like pulling teeth to get him to take a picture...

I REALLY wanted to get a picture of us with the Famous Daves pig, but Tanner put his foot down there. We volunteered to take the picture but for my life he wouldn't be IN the picture with me. Sad.

6) I cut my friend Rhonda's hair. Here's the before:


And after:

7) I'll be a college graduate in 2 1/2 weeks!

End

She's mine! All mine...

Meet Stella.

She's mine.  I own her.  She's basically my slave.

I took a loan out 5 years ago, and now it's paid off!!!  That's 163 dollars every month that I don't have to pay towards Stella.  As a celebration I cleaned her real good: inside and out.  I don't think she's been this clean since I bought her.  (And I think if she knew she'd get treatment like this she would have paid herself off a long time ago...)

Freedom feels so good!

And next month I'll know what freedom from school feels like.

Only 4 more weeks till graduation!!!!

Hmm...

Yes, I know...it's been a while.

Yes, I feel bad every time i think about my poor abandoned blog.

Yes, I will write you a blog right NOW!

I've had lots of things I've been meaning to write ab

out.  Here:

1) My house was BAD--I mean ugly, sick, and smelly.  But don't worry, it's better now.  I have some before and after pictures though just so you can see. 

One wall in the living room.

Then

Now

The corner of the living room

Then

Now

Outside

Then

... Coming soon!  I don't have a "now" picture yet and it's too dark to take one right now...

Now

My kitchen! 

I don't have any before pictures, but I'm sure you et the point of what it USED to look like.

More of the kitchen.  I made that little rag thing.  Inspired by Adell (Camille's sister).

Kitchen again.

Okay, here's the bathroom before.

And here it is.

What's that?  You like my little curtain?  Thanks!  I actually made it myself!

2)  I went to the races out at Manzanita Speedway.

There's the track.  The cars are so fast and my camera is SO SLOW so this picture isn't nearly what it could be, but that white blur on the track is actually a car!

Here's my coworker Doris and her man Jimmy.  We went with them and it was a BLAST!

Here I am with Tanner.  He didn't want to have to take a picture.

3) As I just mentioned, Tanner hates taking pictures.

Last Sunday while playing Settlers I wanted to take a picture.  

This is what I got.

I reverted to bribery.

Then finally, with the help of my brother Brandon (and his natural talent of being hilarious)  I got a decent picture.

4)  The other night I lost a filling!  

I was flossing and it just came right out.  Shoddy workmanship...

I was upset!  As you can see...

5) I bought some flowers a while back.  

I have a good assortment of colors and they make me feel so fancy!

That's it for the most part.  Well, that and I'm more than half way done student teaching!  I graduate in about a month and a half!  Crazy...