Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Here's some information I found about St. Patrick. Even though he did a lot of good in bringing Christianity to the Irish, Ireland really doesn't recognize St. Patrick's Day. It's much more of an American thing, surprisingly. Anyway, here's a little tidbit about the guy anyway.

Some 1,500 years ago a teenage boy from what is now Great Britain was kidnapped and enslaved by marauders from a neighboring country. Not since Paris absconded with Helen of Troy has a kidnapping so changed the course of history.

The invading marauders came from fifth-century Ireland. The teenager they captured eventually escaped, but returned voluntarily some years later. In the meantime, he had become convinced that he was handpicked by God to convert the entire country to Christianity.

Apparently, he was right.

In the process of converting the primitive people of Ireland, however, the former slave experienced a conversion, too. In the years that followed, he not only shared God with the people of Ireland, but also grew in his understanding of God through them.

And so it was that a young Briton named Patricius died an Irishman named Patrick. And neither Ireland nor Christianity was ever quite the same.

Origins of Friday the 13th

I decided this morning that I was curious as to the origin of Friday the 13th and why it's considered such an unlucky day. It especially peaked my interest because I found out that we don't only have ONE Friday the 13th this year, but THREE! This month is the second one, the first being in February, and then the final is in November. According to Wikipedia (which is not the best source in the world, but it will work) Friday the 13th occurs at least once, but not more than three times a year. So who knows how long it will be before there is another year where we will have three! (2012 according to Wikipedia)

There are lots of theories on the internet that you can find in regards to how it became so unlucky. The one I found the most interesting was this one:

The number twelve, in numerology, is considered the number of completeness, as reflected in the twelve months of the year, twelve signs of the zodiac, twelve hours of the clock, twelve tribes of Israel, twelve Apostles of Jesus, twelve Gods of Olympus, etc., whereas the number thirteen was considered irregular, transgressing this completeness. There is also a superstition, thought by some to derive from the Last Supper or a Norse Myth, that having thirteen people seated at a table will result in the death of one of the diners.

Fridays have been considered an unlucky day since the 14th century's The Canterbury Tales, and many other professions have regarded Friday as an unlucky day to undertake journeys or begin new projects. Black Friday has been associated with stock market crashes and other disasters since the 1800s. It has also been suggested that Friday has been considered an unlucky day because, according to Christian scripture and tradition, Jesus was crucified on a Friday.

Wiki also goes on to talk about the rate of accidents reported on Friday the 13th. They are actually quite a bit lower because people tend to be more cautious and stay at home. So, there you have it. That's my little bit of research on Friday the 13th. Be safe!

Adele - 19

Adele is a new singer that I recently found out about. I've heard her song on the radio called Chasing Pavements, but I didn't have too much of a desire to check out her CD.

I saw it at Wal-mart for only $10 so I decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did! Her voice is so amazing! I love the entire CD. She even did a re-make of the song Make You Feel My Love and I love it. It's one of my favorite songs on the album. If you're looking for something new to listen to, please try her out. Amazing voice. I added Make You Feel my Love to my music playlist incase you wanted to check it out.

Google Picture Blog

A friend of mine did this and I thought it would be fun to try out. I just googled all of the pictures. Try it for yourself!

AGE: I am 26 years old. Come July 7th I will be 27. I'm getting so old! Haha. It's all good. I feel I've only gotten better with age.

FAVORITE COLOR: Pink! I love pink. I don't necessarily like EVERYTHING pink, but I love to wear it. It's such a fun color.

WHERE I GREW UP: Salt Lake City. Born and raised! I have liked living here. I hate the bad snow seasons and super hot summers, but the Fall and Spring are awesome. They are my favorite time of year!

FAVORITE VACATION SPOT: So far, it's the Mediterranean. I went on a Mediterranean cruise in October 2007 and loved every country I visited! I went to Italy, Turkey, Greece, Cyprus, and Egypt. It was an amazing adventure and I can't wait to do some more!

WHERE I'D LIKE TO VISIT: I'm going to have to say Ireland because my husband can't seem to get past the idea of going there. It's the next international trip he wants to take. We're thinking about just visiting the entire UK because I went there in 2006 and planned the whole trip myself and I remember how to get around. It's quite easy. Their transportation is VERY easy to use.

FAVORITE FOOD: Mexican Food. It's a big time comfort food for me! I think chimichangas are my favorite. And quacamole. I can never get enough of it.

FAVORITE TREAT: The Chocolate Molten Lava Cake at Chili's! The picture says it all!

PAST LOVE: This is so funny, but I used to have the biggest crush on David Bowie in The Labryinth. I thought he was SO hot! I just remember watching this movie and thinking, "Oh, there he is! There is Jared!" In retrospect I tell myself "What were you thinking?" But I had the hots for him BIG TIME. White tights and all.

FAVORITE ANIMAL: This one is hard because I can't pick just one. I decided to go with my favorite zoo animal which is a giraffe. I always love to look at the giraffes. I also like to watch when the zoo workers are feeding them. They are so odd and yet so neat to see.

FINALLY!

Look out! I'm doing a happy dance! So, I have always considered myself pretty good with money and finances. I even used to work for a credit card company and would laugh at how bad people were about taking care of their debts. Or just how clueless they were about what they had gotten themselves into. You would THINK I would be wise enough not to get a credit card after dealing with those types of people. But, no. I decided when I turned 19 that a credit card was a great idea and I would pay the balance off every month. Did that happen? No. It went from using it a little bit here and there to relying on it. I got comfortable in my spending habits and decided I was "managing" my debt just fine because I could make a payment on it each month. Well, one credit card turned into three and before you know it I was racking up a nice pile of debt. I'm such a sucker. Credit cards are evil! Well, the reason why I'm doing a happy dance is because we have officially PAID THEM ALL OFF! Oh, it's the biggest relief. I can't even tell you. During a Relief Society meeting one Sunday, we got onto the topic of debt and finance. My Bishop said it best when he said "Those who understand interest, GAIN it. Those who don't, PAY it." That's when it finally hit me that maybe I DON'T manage things as well as I thought I did. So, Howie and I decided that something HAS to change. So, we worked hard and we got it done. Our tax return helped out a ton, too. But now we only have two debts, Howie's car and our home. His car will be paid off within the next month. This is such a great thing for us. It will enable us to do so much more. I am proud of us! :)

Phantom - Hale Centre Theatre

Last night, Howie and I went to the play "Phantom" at Hale Centre Theatre. It was absolutely fantastic! I knew it wasn't going to be the Andrew Lloyd Webber version, but it was pretty close. This play gave more of a detailed explanation why the Phantom is the way he is and how his face got all messed up. And of course the music wasn't the same, but it was all still very enjoyable! The lead actress was amazing! Her voice was probably the best I have ever heard at Hale Theatre. We both loved it. I would go see it again in a heartbeat. If you're a fan of The Phantom of the Opera, go and see this play! It's playing at the Hale Theatre in West Valley and it goes until April 18th. Buy your tickets ASAP though because I bought our tickets for this show two months ago and it was already almost sold out then! Don't hesitate! You will love it!

www.halecentretheatre.org

Traitor

Here is another new book I have just started reading. This one was reccomended to me by a co-worker. He found out I was done with the Harry Potter series so he thought I should take this one up next. This is the first of, so far, a two book series. This one took a couple of chapters to really get me hooked and now that I'm this far into it I can't put it down. I've never read a fictional book by an LDS author so it's been fun. It's a story set in World War II so I get into the war part of it then I'm thrown off guard when the author mentions things about The Holy Ghost. Haha. But I like it so far. Here is what it's about:

With the war raging in Europe, the only way Marie can be with Felix is to join the Allied forces. However, as Marie parachutes into France to join the Resistance, she not only lands into the arms of her fiance, but also drops into the hands of the enemy.

Major Rolf Shulmann has been struggling between personal convictions and his duty to the German Fatherland. Now he must decide what to do with the captured fiance of the man who gave him a new chance at life-a man he once loved as a brother. The Gestapo will do whatever it takes to dispose of Marie. If Rolf helps her escape he will have enemies on all sides-is it a sacrifice he is willing to make? Can Marie possibly trust her life to a man torn between two masters?

Join acclaimed suspense writer Sandra Grey on a journey of unexpected twists and turns through the trenches of love, suspicion, and faith.

Check it out!

Valentine's Day

I just LOVE Valentine's Day! I love having a day where couples can express to each other how much they mean to them. Of course, you should be doing this on a daily basis, but I love having an official holiday dedicated to celebrating it. It gives us an excuse to do fun, expensive stuff. :) Howie started out by buying me a dozen roses. I have always loved roses. They are just so classic. Nothing beats a beautiful dozen of roses. I put them in two vases because I love to enjoy them in multiple rooms.Howie offered to buy me this beautiful pink vase when my eyes lit up when I saw it at the grocery store. Isn't it cool? I just fell in love with it. I'll be able to use it every February now! I keep this one in my room so I can wake up to it every morning.Here are my other 6 roses. I kept these in the dinning room.Here is the super yummy breakfast Howie put together! We had PERFECTLY cooked cinnamon rolls, fruit, and juice. It was such a good way to start off our fun day!After breakfast we got ready to go and get our professional massages! This was entirely Howie's idea and I couldn't have been more thrilled! I LOVE getting massages. We went to a place called Massage Envy in Sugarhouse and they were amazing. I want to go back for one every month now! My surprise to Howie was to make a yummy fondue dessert. He was so excited about it that we ended up doing that BEFORE dinner! I got the cutest fondue set for our wedding and I couldn't wait to use it. It has a cute bowl shaped like a big apple for the chocolate, one shaped like an apple for apples, banana for bananas and one for strawberries. I just think that set is the cutest thing. Here is Howie dipping into his chocolatey goodness!I melted down a few creamy milk chocolate Symphony bars for it. It was the PERFECT flavor of chocolate.After dessert, we watched the second installment of The Work and the Glory. I have seen it before but it had been a while. It was good to see it again. I have yet to see the third but maybe sometime this week we'll finish it up. When the movie was done it was time to start the preparations for dinner! Howie is a soup making master. He makes this cheesy potato, vegetable soup that is to die for. He promised to make it for Valentine's Day so here he is!

A master at work!Our cat has had a bit of a cold lately so I found it quite funny when I came into the front room to find him like this. Poor kitty. He's so cute.This was such a fun Valentine's Day. I did not want it to end. I hope to have many more just like this!

A Neat Experience In An Unexpected Place

I wanted to share with everyone something that happened to Howie and I tonight. It's the little serendipitious moments like this that really open my eyes to the wonderful people around me. This evening we went out to eat at a local Sizzler's. We don't normally go out on Sundays like this, but Howie had Army stuff all weekend and this was the only night we had to spend together. Anyway, right after we sat down at our table an older gentleman came up to us and said to Howie "You probably don't deserve a pretty girl like that, do ya? I don't think so." Howie just laughed and the man turned to me and said "But you probably do, don't ya?" And I said "Yes, he's a good guy." The old man continued to tease us by saying to me "Did you have your glasses on when you first saw him?" I laughed and said "Actually, these glasses came a little while later." Then he said to us both "I just love to see young couples. It reminds me of my wife. We used to come here." His eyes suddenly filled with tears and I could see the pain in his expression. He then turned to Howie and said "Never let her go." And then he walked away. I didn't know what to say after he said that and my eyes instantly filled with tears after I noticed that his did. I was completely speechless. After the man left, his words were all I could think about. I felt sorry for him and what he was going through. I can't imagine what it's like to go through the emotions of losing someone you love. I've never lost anyone I've been super close to. I've lost Grandparents, but they were all when I was quite young. This experience has made me not want to take any moment for granted. We only get one shot at this life and I don't want to look back at the life Howie and I shared and think there could've been so much more I could've done to make the most out of it. I want to enjoy the journey now. I am glad that we had this experience. I truly believe we were supposed to be there at that moment. It did us good because Howie's hand didn't leave mine for the remainder of the evening and I could tell there was just a bit more of an urgency in opening doors for me. This mans words meant a lot to us and I'm glad he said them. I will remember this instance for a long time to come.

Two down, 11 to go!

Yesterday, Howie and I attended a session at the Jordan River Temple. This is now the second temple that I have done a session at. My first being at the Salt lake Temple for my own endowments. Again, our goal is to visit every temple in Utah this year and I fully plan to stick to this. Which means, we'll have to visit about one a month. I've looked up photos of all the Utah temples and I'm so excited to visit them all and see how they are different and alike. So far, the Salt Lake is my favorite. Who knows if that will change. The Salt Lake Temple has always held a special place in my heart. I'm a bit partial to it.