Christmas Tag!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I love wrapping paper! I love opening presents and watching others open them - bags are less fun.
2. Real tree or Artificial? I like artificial trees best because I like to keep them up for the whole month of December and as far into January as Jared will let me.
3. When do you put up the tree? The day after Thanksgiving
4. When do you take the tree down? See question 2
5. Do you like eggnog? Yes, but only diluted half and half with milk. I don't know if Phred likes it though, I haven't had any this year. Jared hates it.
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Probably my Samantha Parkington doll. She went everywhere with me.
7. Hardest person to buy for? Jared
8. Easiest person to buy for? Jennie
9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, I have a willow tree one, a simple wooden one that I got from Young Women's, a plastic one that I had when I was little, and an olive wood one from Jerusalem that we got for our wedding.
10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail - It's so much more fun getting Christmas cards in the mail
11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I don't think I've had one.
12. Favorite Christmas movie? Depending on the mood I'm in, it's either It's a Wonderful Life or the Muppet Christmas Carol.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Whenever I start getting ideas for people. This year I was done by Thanksgiving.
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Nope
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? I don't know, I like food in general :)
16. Lights on the tree? We currently have white lights on our tree and I like them. They have to be solid though, I don't like flashing lights on trees.
17. Favorite Christmas Song? I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day
18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? stay home
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donder, Blitzen, Rudolph
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? I like stars best.
21. Open presents on Christmas Eve or morning? Definitely morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? The snow, it makes travel miserable.
23. Favorite ornament, theme or color? I love having the hodgepodge Christmas ornaments on our tree that we've collected over the years. We have ornaments that our moms bought when we were little, ornaments from vacations we've taken, ornaments that mean things to us, and ornaments that I've made with my class.
24. Favorite food for Christmas dinner? I really like chicken cordon bleu right now.
25. What do you want for Christmas this year? I already have Phred - I'll probably be getting a lot of good books :)
I tag: Carisa, Meg, Martha

an ABC book

My friend Janice has a great blog that has ideas and great items listed for moms with young children. At a scrapbooking night my friend Christine was making a Gospel ABC book for her daughter. I thought it was a great idea and wanted to make one myself! Of course, since I don't have kids that's not very practical, so I made one for my nephew, Thomas. I took the ideas from a source that she posted, but the link doesn't work anymore so I won't put it on here. Just know that they are not all my own ideas, although some of the letters I didn't like and tweaked them myself.
A is for Angels - "When Jesus appeared to the people in the Book of Mormon, he blessed the children. Then angels descended and encircled the little ones and ministered unto them. -3 Nephi 17:18-25"B is for Baptism - "When we turn 8 years old, we can be baptized just like Jesus was baptized. When we are baptized, we become members of His church. -Matt 3:13-17"C is for Church - "I always have a happy felling when I go to church. -D&C 59:9-10"D is for Daddy - "-Malachi 4:6" (could also use disciple)E is for Eternity - "Mommy and Daddy were sealed in the temple for time and eternity. That makes us an eternal family. -D&C 132:19"F is for Family - "-3 Nephi 18:21"G is for GrandparentsH is for Heavenly Father - "When Joseph Smith went into the sacred grove to pray, Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appeared to him. Heavenly Father loves each of us verymuch. -JS-H 1:14-17"I is for I am a Child of God - "I am a child of God, and He has sent me here. Has given me an earthly home, with parents kind and dear. -Hymns #301"J is for Jesus Christ - "Jesus loves us very much. He has made it possible for us to someday live with Heavenly Father again. -D&C 14:7"K is for Kneeling - "Jesus showed us how to pray. When we kneel down to say our prayers, it shows Heavenly Father that we love and respect Him. -Luke 22:41-44"L is for Love - "Jesus loved the little children, little ones like me. -Children's Songbook #59 -Mark 10:13-16"M is for Mommy - "-Alma 57:21" (could also use marriage)N is for Noah - "Noah was a prophet. He tried to get everyone to be good. He built an ark and put two of every kind of animal on it. They all lived on the ark while it rained for 40 days and 40 nights. -Genesis 6-8"O is for Obey - "Obedience means doing what we are told to do, as long as it is right. Even the wind and the sea obey Jesus' commands. I will obey his commandments, too. -Mark 4:36-41"P is for Prophet - "We have a prophet on the earth today. He tells us what Heavenly Father and Jesus want us to know. He leads our church. -Amos 3:7"Q is for Quiet - "One of the ways we can be reverent in church is by being quiet. When we are quiet we are listening and the Spirit can tell us what to do. -Children's Songbook #27"R is for Resurrection - "Jesus was crucified, but three days later, he rose again. He made it possible for all of us to be resurrected. -John 11:25 -Alma 33:32"S is for Sacrament - "Every week we take the sacrament at church. When we eat the bread and water, we promise Heavenly Father and Jesus that we will try to be like Him and follow His commandments always. -D&C 20:75-80" (could also use scriptures)T is for Tithing - "We pay 10% of the money we earn to the Church. This money helps build temples and churches all over the world. -D&C 119:4" (could also use temples)U is for Utah - "The pioneers left their homes and went across the plains in wagons and handcarts to settle and worship the Lord in the state of Utah."V is for Vision - "A vision is a dream from Heavenly Father. Lehi and Nephi had a vision of the tree of life, the iron rod, and the straight and narrow path leading to it. -1 Nephi 8:11"W is for Word of Wisdom - "We can take care of our bodies by eating good food and staying away from strong drinks, tobacco, and other bad things. -D&C 89"X is for eXaltation - Exaltation is eternal life, the kind of life which Heavenly Father lives in the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom. Forty days after His resurrection, Jesus left his apostles and ascended into heaven in a cloud to be exalted by the right hand of God. -Acts 1:9-11; 2:32-33"
Y is for You - "Heavenly Father made you special. There is no one else like you. He loves you very much."
Z is for Zion - "Zion means the pure in heart. It is how Heavenly Father wants us to be. I can create a Zion in my home by listening to my parents, sharing with others, and making sure that I am always trying to be like Jesus. -Moses 7:18"

For any of my siblings who are now whining because they want one, don't worry, I have the materials to make you one, I just only had time to do one before Christmas. I'll definitely get you one sometime over the next year. Pictures will be uploaded later tonight.

Happy Thanksgiving!

This weekend we had a great time! We spent a bunch of days with my family in West Jordan and Salt Lake. Thanksgiving we ate at Grandma Z's with the whole crew - there are so many of us now! Friday and Saturday we spent shopping, although we don't do the early bird thing. We left the house at 10 both days. We ate at The Cheesecake Factory - it was soooo good and I didn't even get cheescake. Since I'm done Christmas Shopping, it was fun to just enjoy the atmosphere of the mall rather than rushing to find the great deals. Sunday we were back at home and we scrubbed the front room and then decorated the house for Christmas. I love our tree! It is so random and has such a hodgepodge of ornaments, it's great. I am especially grateful right now for the support and caring of my friends and family. I know I've not been the easiest person to live with right now, but especially to Jared - thank you so much!

2 Wonderful Years!!!

Today is our 2nd anniversary. That's right, we've been married now for two whole years. I can't believe the time has passed so quickly, but at the same time it seems like Jared and I have been together forever and our wedding was just a big party we threw a few years back. Jared got me a set of scriptures with my married name on them and a pretty blue dress with brown flowers and leaves on it. I got Jared a new set of temple pants (and, he says, the suit that I got for his birthday is still counting for gifts). I know, we're sooo romantic, but hey, that's what we wanted! Also, Jared got me a lovely card, which is something I didn't expect. (Jared thinks cards are pointless and talking or a phone call works just as well, but he knows that I love them). We went to dinner at Red Lobster using our "free" gift card that we got through our credit card points. Then we wandered around and did a little bit of shopping and rounded out the night with ice cream at Macey's. We were both too full from Red Lobster to consider anything more than a twist cone a piece. Here are some things I have learned over the past two years:

-Nothing is really as grim as it seems
-Sometimes belching contests are really funny
-Sleeping with a teddy bear save Jared from a lot of bruises (apparantly I'm a violent sleeper)
-Happiness is something that you create together and share with each other
-Marriage truly is ordained of God; I can think of no happier thing than coming home each day to my best friend
-Jared is my best friend
-Always be willing to talk about things, even if they're just random stupid questions
-Share the simple things that make you happy
-Share things that make you sad so that you can help each other through them
-Don't open your mouth in the temple if you can't come up with an appropriate answer (for a more detailed answer, let me know and I'll give you the story of our sealing)
-Things don't always go the way you want them to, but that's what having your best friend is for
-Football is actually a fun sport, if you understand what's going on
-God invented irony

5 Things

Okay, tagged by my sister Carissa:
5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. in junior high - ninth grade, I think. We had a very strict dress code that year and I was refusing to comply.
2. Reading Ender's Game as a school assignment.
3. Reading Gone With the Wind and loving it! (Fell in love with Rhett Kinnicut Butler)
4. Staying up late at night watching old episodes of Zorro and Wonder Woman and eating massive amounts of otter pops. (seriously, my record is 53 in one sitting - I ran out or I'd have kept going).
5. Still playing barbies with my eleven year old sister, who would make me play them to this day if I hadn't gotten "old and boring."

5 things on my to do list today
1. go to the gym
2. cook dinner
3. read my scriptures and write in my journal
4. finish updating grades for my junior high students
5. watch Heroes!

5 snacks I love:
1. Ice cream - God's gift to women to make up for child birth :)
2. popcorn with lots of butter
3. hot cheetos
4. Old fashioned donutes
5. grape leaves

5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. buy a house
2. make sure that all of my college loans and my sister's college loans are paid off.
3. Go on a very extended vacation with Jared - probably back to Kauai.
4. Pay my grandmother's medical bills.
5. Save most of it for our future

5 places I've lived:
1. West Valley, UT - from when I was born until I was in high school
2. West Jordan, UT - from high school to college
3.Heritage Halls - Freshman Year
4. Glenwood 154 - Sophomore and Junior Year
5. Our little apartment southeast of campus for 6 months until we moved by the library where we've been for the last year and a half.

5 jobs I've had:
1. First I started working for my mom filing papers at her office and then in the summers I would work there as a receptionist. During school I'd do weekends as janitor there.
2. Early morning janitorial at the UPC during my freshman year of college.
3. Records office at BYU.
4. High school special education teacher at Riverton High. I loved the kids and the friends I made at work, but it was an hour away from home and I just couldn't handle the commute. Also, the insurance didn't cover our current health needs.
5. Junior high school special education teacher at Orem Jr High. 15 minutes from and a great environment to work in. I love it!

5 people I tag
1. Marth Birk - you need to update your blog :)
2. Mirimuffin
3. Meg Larsen
4. Michelle Palmer
5. Bryce Gandy

Four Squared - Tagged by Karissa

My friend Karissa tagged everyone who read her blog to post the fourth picture in the fourth album in their pictures folder. Since I have photos both at work and home, I'll put both up:
This one is from Megan's baby shower. She looks freaked out because a few of her friends were discussing the details of home births without drugs. I almost kicked them out of my house. They really scared Megan and pissed me off, too.
This one is from Christmas 2006 in Idaho. Aunt Cyndi made all of us matching Santa slippers. Although it's almost impossible to tell, Mom, Dad, Jared, Tyler, Megan, John, Chris, Matt and me are all in this picture. Thanks Cyndi, they're awesome!

I tag Jenae Hasler, Aunt Cyndi, Carisa Brown, Aunt Cathy, Carrie Miller, Malarie Leao, Meg Larsen, Martha Harmon, Martha Birk, and Michelle Palmer.

Embarrassing moments

My friend Carrie tagged me to tell three embarrassing moments. I'm not sure what to write because I usually don't put myself out there enough to get embarrassed. Mostly I'm only out there when I'm on drugs.
For example,
I had to get a root canal and I was on loritab. I took the day off work and went to the dentist, then Jared drove me down to BYU so that I could apply for graduation. As we were wandering from our apartment to the McKay building so that I could meet with my graduation advisor, I started singing Christmas songs. But not just any songs - Scrooge from the Muppet Christmas Carol - complete with voices. I was singing and walking drunkenly across the middle of campus. I was too out of it to be embarrassed, but Jared, who was holding my hand so I wouldn't fall over, was pretty embarrassed.

Mostly Jared and I don't put ourselves out there in the first place. This means that we don't have embarrassing stories, but we don't have a lot of really good ones either. Also, once I open up to someone, I don't really care what they think of me because I know that they love me. This means that I can't get embarrased in front of them. Sorry to disappoint, folks.