Happy Birthday, Holly!

Today's Holly's 20th birthday! Here's a list of 20
things I know about her, memories I have of her, and things I like about her!

1. Hill Cumorah Pageant - twice! It was great to get to be in the Pageant with someone you know (like your sister!). I don't know that I would have been brave enough to go by myself (especially the first time), but together we can do great things!
2. I like how people tell us how much we look like sisters... and while that is totally true that we are sisters, we really shouldn't look like it.
3. She lets me boss her around! During our trips back to the Pageant, I called a lot of the shots. I often decided where to stay, where to eat, what route to take, and what to see when we got there. Lots of these decisions were based on our budget. With very few exceptions, she accepted these decisions and didn't whine... too much anyway...
4. She plays for the UVU pep band - go Wolverines!
5. Movie and song lines... Christmas Vacation, While You were Sleeping, Miley Cyrus, and more... she knows her lines!
   
6. She can be terribly silly and punny!
7. She loves listening to music - she's burned through several iPods and earbuds... time to get a warranty on these things!
8. She's a great texter - even when you're sitting right beside her!
9. She actually likes working in the nursery at church - she's great with the kids!
10. She also actually likes going to work. I'm so glad - not everyone can say they're happy to go to work! She is good with her customers, and is good at helping people figure out how much fabric they need. Her only mistakes in cutting are when she's cutting for me, and she knows I'll buy her mistake cut and what I need, too!
11. Facebook is her friend!
12. She's a pretty good and creative cook.
13. She's not scared to talk to people or to go to new places. We went to the Deaf expo last fall, and she totally embraced signing and talking to people. We went to Galudet U in DC this summer, and wasn't intimidated at all. She talked to tons of people at the Pageant - both cast members and audience members.
14. We went to see the movie Charly when it first came out. There were only about 6 other people in the theater (and senior citizens at that). We bawled and bawled, and those 6 looked at us like we were crazy...
15. No tocas!
16. Once a Wildcat, always a Wildcat!
17. She's totally in love with the Jo Bros!
18. Have a HOLLY jolly Christmas! Happy HOLLYdays! Pine cones and HOLLY berries!
    
19. She feeds the 'backyardigan' - if only she weren't so stingy with the cans!
20. Who's got what it takes to make meatloaf?!

Domestic Portfolio

My friend and co-worker, Liz, often joked about her "domestic portfolio" - documentation of her attempts and successes at being domestic. What a great thing to show a suitor and his family! She is a great cook - her leftovers that became lunches looked and smelled yummy - so her hypothetical portfolio was focused there. I don't quite have that kind of domestic skill... I can cook, but it's not very creative, and while edible, there is much room for improvement.

This fall, my mom has been enjoying her new knee, and has been excited to work on her 'retirement projects'. She's set her mind on not ever retiring, and so needs to have good reasons to finish school work at school, and come home in time to enjoy life away from school. If my mom's not ever going to retire, I certainly won't ever retire (at least my parents will get some social security... I'll never see social security, and am gambling away my own funds in the crazy stock market!), and so am working on developing my own retirement projects - perfect projects for a domestic portfolio!

My domestic portfolio will be right here - just a mouse click away to show to potential in-laws and their sons! What a great thing to show parents that I have the skills to take care of their son and grandchildren! (and grandpuppies and grandkitties too)

Watch for entries in my portfolio soon!

Go Utes!

Go Utes!
What a great pic from the DesNews!
'Nuf said!

Christmas Tag...

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? I have to wrap? You're telling me the sack from the store isn't enough?

2. Real tree or Artificial? Artificial, and small. Metal trees are good, too!

3. When do you put up the tree? Pretty late... as close to Christmas as possible.

4. When do you take the tree down? Right around the 31st... But no matter when it comes down, "I cry the day I take the tree down..."

5. Do you like eggnog? Nope!

6. Favorite gift received as a child? A play kitchen. Santa left the box in the real kitchen, and I asked him about it the next year... apparently there was some confusion with the clean-up elves.

7. Hardest person to buy for? My mom!

8. Easiest person to buy for? My dad and Holly

9. Do you have a nativity scene? Yes, several.

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail when I do them...

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? I can't really think of one... even dorky ones that I get from students, you know they thought I'd love it... Santa has always been good to me!

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Christmas Vacation - I could probably recite and perform the whole thing... sad, sad... but hilarious!

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? I start thinking in November and buying in December. If I'm making things, I try to get started early in November.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Yes, I have re-gifted, but only a few times, and only very tastefully...

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Breakfast casserole on Christmas morning.

16. Lights on the tree? Sometimes... depends which tree gets put up.

17. Favorite Christmas song? I have so many! If I'm listening in the car, I have to have fun songs to sing along with, so anything catchy...

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Stay home!

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Of course!

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Depends on the tree...

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? This is a point of disagreement in our house. Every year my parents argue, and every year, until last year, my dad won. Growing up, my dad's tradition was to open Christmas morning, and my mom's tradition was to open Christmas eve. We opened Christmas eve last year, and it was great to sleep in a bit in the morning!

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? Christmas Sing practice at school... urg!

23. Favorite ornament theme or color? I love our eclectic ornament collection. Everyone in our family gets a new ornament each year, plus we usually get a few as gifts. It's so eclectic, it works!

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner? Ham and funeral potatoes.

25. What do you want for Christmas? World Peace!

Twilight!

I took the day off today to see the Twilight movie! It was about a year ago that I finished reading all the books over Thanksgiving weekend (Twilight, New Moon, and Eclipse). I made shirts for several *lucky* people - Holly, Joee, Charlotte, JoAnne, and me - so that we could be part of the craze. And crazy it was!


I enjoyed the movie! It was pretty well done. It stuck to the story line mostly, and the characters mostly matched my imaginings of them, probably mostly due to the fact that the film was cast soon after I read the books. There were a few places where I disagreed with the movie, of course, but it was done fairly well. I loved that the crowd was into the show (even the few guys that were there), and I even liked when a few of the more serious moments in the movie were kind of humorous, just because we all knew what the characters were doing, or what was coming next.

What I didn't enjoy at all was that Joee didn't get to watch from the baseball game to the end... Bo was making some noises, and people were rude and they ended up in the hall. He really wasn't that noisy (the movie was loud at this point), and he wasn't the only baby in the theater, and definitely not the noisiest person there (women swooning all the time!). Duh, rude people!

Can't wait for the next one! :)

New Hair!

I did it... chopped it right off!
A 10-inch pony tail is getting sent to Locks of Love next week!
Ack!

Esme!

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