Just For Kicks and Giggles!

My cousin tagged me on Facebook and, in so doing, sentenced me 43 minutes of torment while I painstakingly thought of 25 random facts about myself. Thanks a lot Kristi! ; ) HAHA! Actually it wasn't that bad. I ended up copying and pasting 10 of them from a prior myspace blog! Since I was writing them out anyways, I though they would be fun to post here.

If you are reading this and would like to do this too, consider yourself tagged! It's fun to learn new things about friends! No pressure...

Here it goes!

(Please note that I tend to be quite enthusiastic, so...please excuse my excessive use of exclamation points! hehe)

1. Rather than buying my bedroom curtains at the store, I pick out an awesome fabric at the store and sew my own!

2. When I'm stressed I put on my headphones and listen to music or take a long drive.

3. I seriously love history and when I study American history, in particular, I actually get goose bumps...very weird, but I suppose that's true passion!

4. My dream is to go back to my roots and someday live in the South...hopefully Virginia!

5. On occasion, I get road rage and have been known to follow idiot drivers that cut me off while honking my horn. ; )

6. My senior year of high school, I painted my fingernails with a different color or style almost everyday!

7. I can play the recorder! I know that you're jealous, but I have to say that I can't really blame you!

8. I listen to Christmas music year-round!

9. I'm kind of a nerd and have actually implemented a little thing called "Science Time" when my nephews come to visit. We just do cool experiments...usually involving fire!

10. When I graduated from Chaffey College with my AA, I insisted that I HAD to have Dr. Seuss postage stamps to put on my graduation announcements and waited an hour-and-a-half in line at the Fontana Post Office, only to find that they didn't have them there. I ended up going to the Rancho Post Office, waiting less than 20 minutes, and walking out with my Dr. Seuss stamps! Then, I realized that I could have just ordered them online! lol

11. I set my alarm clock for 15 minutes before I'm supposed to get up so that I can allow myself to hit the snooze exactly three times...no more, no less!

12. I minored in anthropology and dream of actually going on an archaeological dig someday...just for kicks!

13. In my anthropology classes I learned how to tell if someone is a man or woman and about how old they were at their time of death, just by looking at their skull!

14. I teach 6th grade and love it!

15. I get lost almost everywhere I go. It used to bother me, but now I'm cool with it. In fact, in the midst of getting totally lost, I have actually found many great adventures. One time Laura and I were on our way to the LA Zoo and got super lost. We ended up having to call my friend Chris and have him use Google maps to help us find our way back to the freeway. Then some guy waving a dirty cloth tried to get us to pull over and talk to him! No thank you, scary murderer man! lol

16. My favorite color is orange.

17. November is my favorite month of the year because of all the pretty decorations in Fall colors!

18. I solemnly swear that Target is a magical wonderland! Really!

19. I have broken 5 bones: right wrist, left wrist, right hand, right ankle, and tailbone.

20. I think that I must have 10,000 pencil pouches, in a box in my closet, leftover from my million years as a college student.

21. I just finished my Master's Degree, but actually hate...no...loathe going to school, and have ever since the middle of kindergarten. Where there's a will, there's a way!

22. Hootie and the Blowfish is NOT my favorite band (Kristi!) ; )

23. I love watching scary movies and stuff about ghosts, even though it means that I probably won't be able to sleep that night! hehe

24. I cannot sleep without a blanket covering my feet, even when it's in the middle of a California summer. Also, I can't sleep when it's totally quiet; I have to have a fan on, even when it's cold!

25. I love Peter Pan, written by JM Barrie! The writing is SO good that you can practically feel the magic coming off the pages as you read! Go read it...immediately! : )

It's been a while...

So, I have already fallen off the blogging wagon. I wanted to write something everyday and then I decided once a week was fine. Now it's sort of hit and miss, but I'm new at this. ; ) Daniel (my little brother, for those who don't know) is coming home from his mission on Friday! The last 2 years have been lonely at home without him and I'm excited to see him again.
At the first of the year, the Fontana and Upland YSA branches were dissolved and we all joined with Rancho's branch. It has been awesome! There are so many people there and I am already making new friends...so exciting! The change came at a perfect time for me because I had just finished school and was ready to finally reclaim my social life and have time to spend with my friends. The new branch has given me the opportunity to start fresh and I've loved it! I was a little surprised that I was given a calling on the first day the new branch met together. I figured that with so many people I would be able to dodge a calling for a bit while I settled in and got to know more people. No such luck! (jk) BUT all is well and life is good!

Until next time...

2008 In Review

I've been on Christmas Break for the last two weeks and have had the opportunity to reflect on the past year. It definitely had its rough times and I can safely say that I am ready to leave that craziness behind me and move on (I think everyone has had a few of those moments). BUT...I also recognize that I have much to be grateful for and that I am very fortunate to have had so many awesome experiences throughout the year. Here are some pictures to chronicle some of the cool things that I got to do this year. I had lots of fun experiences this year that were not captured on film; these are just some of the highlights.

Nay and I went to the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda. It was way awesome! We were the only young ones there! HAHA!

In February I went to Disneyland with my brother's family and we got to go to the top of the Mark Twain Riverboat and the boys got to steer it, blow the whistle, and ring the bell!

In April, Nay and I took a road trip to Utah so that I could be there for Todd's and Mary's wedding. We got to hang around the city for the weekend.

In May we celebrated Kim's 24th birthday by going to Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles in Long Beach and then we went on a video scavenger hunt at The Pike. Roscoe's is amazing! You should seriously go there!

At the end of June, my siblings and I decided it would be fun to do the ghost tours at the Queen Mary. It was awesome and spoooky! Yikes! My parents were in New York at the time, so when they got back they decided they wanted to go too. So, I went with them at the beginning of July. Since we were in Long Beach I, of course, insisted that we go to Roscoe's (on both visits to the Queen Mary). My whole family was instantly converted to the goodness that is Roscoe's!

In July we got to see the Terra Cotta Warriors at The Bowers Museum in Santa Ana. We got to see the largest collection of warriors to ever leave China!

I got my first teaching job and started school on July 7th! I teach 6th grade! In August I got my first "big kid" paycheck and bought my very first new car! Hooray for having air conditioner for the first time in 6 years!

In October I went off-track with work (I had a month long break) and I got a room in the Alpine Lodge, which is a cute little motel next to Disneyland, that has fake snow on the roof and looks like a log cabin. I relaxed there, went on a couple of adventures, and spent time at Disneyland. It was my first real vacation on my own. I stayed for three days and two nights. I might make it a tradition!

On October 17th we celebrated Daely's birthday by going to Denney's in Ahaheim for breakfast and then spending the day at Disneyland. It ended up being a lot of fun! During the day we met lots of nice Disneyland crew members and we took pictures with some of them. The guy in the picture above is "Indy-Cameron". He decided to go on the ride with us!

My parents went to Europe for Thanksgiving and so Nancy and I went on an adventure with our friend, Jacob, and his two little boys. We ate at The Wheel Inn, which is the restaurant in Pee Wee's Big Adventure. "Tell 'em Large Marge sent you!" hehe! We got to see the huge dinosaurs behind it! It was a great Thanksgiving adventure!

On December 12th, we went to Disneyland, as a family, to celebrate Dad's birthday (and the other December birthdays too!) We got to see the fireworks show, which is followed by snow. The lights, the music, the atmosphere...truly magical!

On December 13th I graduated with my Master's Degree in Education with an emphasis is Curriculum and Instruction. More than anything, I was relieved! I had been so burned out with school that I almost didn't make it. Graduation day was surreal and it made all of the hard work worth it! After the ceremony I enjoyed time with my family.

Overall, 2008 was busy, productive, and adventurous! 2009 will be even better!

New Year! New Blog!

So, I've decided to start a blog. One of my goals this year is to make journal writing a regular occurance and reality, rather than something I think about doing, don't get around to, and then feel guilty about. So, here it is!