Bucket List

Ever thought of starting a Bucket List? We got on this topic at dinner tonight at my in-laws and it got me thinking about all the things I would like to do before I die. I did a little bit of research online first for some inspiration. I tried not to list too many places to visit because there are SO many that it would take all day to list them all. I'm always finding out about more places I would love to go to. So, it's pointless to list them all. But there are a couple of key places that I absolutely will have to visit. Here's the list I have made so far:

1. Swim with dolphins.
2. Visit The Great Wall of China.
3. Write a book.
4. Learn a foreign language.
5. Ride in a hot-air balloon.
6. Obtain a Bachelor’s Degree.
7. Run a marathon.
8. Learn to play the guitar.
9. Visit Machu Picchu.
10. Visit all 50 of the United States.
11. Learn how to juggle.
12. Make a difference in at least ONE person’s life.
13. Audition to be on a TV show.
14. Have children.
15. Attend an Olympic event.
16. Go to the Kentucky Derby.
17. Send my parents on a vacation.
18. Plant a garden.

It's not a long list yet, but it will definitely grow. I encourage everyone to start one. Then tell me what you come up with and maybe i'll add it to my own list!

Phoenix - April 6th-9th

My trip to Phoenix was a pretty fun one! It was really good to see my good friend, Cherise, and hang out with her family. I've never gotten to formally meet her daughter, so it was neat to get to know her. Her son, Ethan has gotten so big! Last time I went down he was only a little over a year old and now he's 3! I'm a little mad at myself for not taking more pictures while I was down there, but I just forget. I'll tell you a little bit about the pictures I DID take. Here is their house.

Right now they are living in a neighboorhood full of student housing. All of the houses look the same and they have no carpet inside. That helps out in the blistering heat of summer, I'm sure. Another big reason for me visiting at the time I did was to attend the Mesa Easter Pageant. I was really excited to see another one of these things because the only one I've seen is the Manti Pageant. They perform it on the grounds of the Temple. Here is the stage.

The original plan was that we'd go to the Pageant and also, sometime during the trip, do a session at the Temple. Unfortunately, during the time I was there it was closed for cleaning! :( Of all the rotten luck. This was going to be my first out of state Temple to go to. Oh well. Maybe next time. It's a really pretty Temple and they even have a mini Christus in the visitor's center. I was surprised how small it was though. I guess I just expect them to all be huge.

Here is the one picture I got of Cherise and I! Atleast it's a cute one! This is us sitting on the lawn waiting for the show to start. She was a little worried that the kids would lose interest in the play and run a muck but they were really good during it! We only had to chase them down a couple of times. It was a really fun night and we got PERFECT weather. Wow, as you can see, I've been out of the sun for a while.

After the show they had some of the cast members around that you could meet and talk to. This is the horse they used to bring Jesus up to his court hearing. It was neat to see an animal that they actually used in the play. Here is Cherise's husband, Cory, her daughter Daphne on his shoulders and little Ethan in the front. Cherise took this picture.

I was loving the weather! It was anywhere from 72º to around 80º while I was there. I came home to Salt Lake yuckyness. It's cold and rainy. I can NOT wait for warmer weather. I got a planter box from one of my wedding showers and I think it will be fun to plant some cute flowers in it. Well, that's all!

Phoenix!

I leave for Phoenix in the morning and I am SO excited! The last time I took a trip to see my good friend, Cherise, was two years ago. She came up for my wedding, but unfortunately we didn't get a whole lot of time to talk then. It will be nice to take a few days from work and just spend time with her and her family. I was looking through my pictures of the last time I went and realized we only have one picture of us together...ONLY ONE! And it wasn't a particularly good one so I decided not to post it. I will be sure to get some pics of us this time though! It should be a fun 4 days.

I met Cherise in High School. We went to Murray High together. We did so much during the first few years I knew her. We did everything together. I love that I look back on all of our memories together and can only smile. She's an incredible person. Even though certain life changing events have put us in seperate cities, we still keep in touch. She got married and moved away to The Sun (aka Phoenix). They moved there for her husband's job. She now has two children and is very happy down there. They have gotten used to the heat.

I can't wait to see her! I'll post pics when I get back. :)

So Thankful

I just wanted to express how thankful I am for all of the marvelous blessings I have in my life. I have a wonderful family that love and support me and I just married into another family that does the same. My heart is so full right now. Our new ward is wonderful. They make us feel so welcome. I am meeting new people each and every Sunday that I attend church and they are so nice. I am so glad that our ward is full of newlyweds just like us because we're all about at the same point in our lives.

My husband is amazing. He loves me for who I am. He is my rock. My past doesn't matter to him. He's all about making a future for us. I know that we will continue to learn about each other and I think that's a marvelous thing. He can really surprise me sometimes. He's making plans so that it will be possible for me to be a stay-at-home-mom someday. I've always wanted that when the time comes and I hope to be able to make it a reality. I believe the womans place is in the home and it is our responsibility as a wife and a mother to be there for the family. I know that is how it was meant to be. It's hard to have that in todays society but if we work hard and continue to pay our tithing, I know it will work out. We'll just have to make sacrifices.

I am thankful that I have a job at a time when thousands of people are losing theirs. I have worked at the same company for almost 5 years and it's so nice to have a bit of job security. It's a small company and I don't think they could keep on their feet with any less people, so I feel pretty safe.

Anyway, I just got a burst of thankfulness in my heart tonight and I wanted to share some of it.

Can I Get A Napkin, Please?

I had to share this video. These guys are known for doing different kinds of improv comedy and then posting the videos on YouTube. This is one where the actors break into a spontaneous musical in the middle of a food court. I love it. Enjoy!

Bountiful Temple

Last night I had the great opportunity of attending the Bountiful Temple with my friend Angie. I was so glad she was willing to come with me because I really did not want to go by myself! She's so nice to help me on my goal of attending every temple in Utah. I loved this temple. I don't know what it was about it, but I felt the spirit so strongly last night. All of the temple workers were super nice. I can definitely see why so many people choose this temple to get married in. It's a great one for pictures. I think my next temple to attend will probably be the Mount Timpanogos. I'm just going to keep going further and further out. My brother and sister-in-law might accompany me to the Vernal one. We'll see. We may just make a little roadtrip out of it since it's three hours away. The Monticello one we'll get to when we go down to Moab in May with some friends. St. George, I have no idea! Hopefully we'll make it there, but it's not looking good so far! Ogden and Logan should be relatively easy to get to. We'll just have to take a day and head out there. This is a fun goal I've set for myself. I'm really enjoying it. :)

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.