Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Top 5 Hobbies

What are you top 5 hobbies and why do you love them?


Blog stalking
Sad but true. This was the first thing that came to my mind. I love to blog stalk. I love seeing what other crafty things people are doing. How they are making over their home. What fabulous food their eating. I love even more the blogs of friends and family as it allows me to get a closer glimpse of what is going on in their lives when normally I probably wouldn't get to see or know those things. Not sure if this is considered a hobby but I sure do it a lot. 


Reading
There is nothing like getting totally sucked into a book. I love creating the scenes in my head and trying to predict how the story will end. I have come to love all different genres of books but I will always love a good love story. 


Frugality
Again I am not sure that this can be considered a hobby but I get quite a thrill out of coming out even or even below our budget. I love to save money on groceries and see the amount of items I got for a small price. I really get pleasure out of doing things for less. 


Sports
I love to play pretty much any sport (except baseball and golf) but my favorite sports are soccer and basketball. I like to be active and enjoy the competition that comes along with playing a sport. There is always a good time to be had when a game comes together in the back yard or at the park. 


Blogging
This isn't one I do as much as I wish I did, but I do enjoy blogging. I love how therapeutic it is to write and to record memories. Sometimes when I blog about something it is like I get to relive the experience all over again as I record my thoughts and share pictures.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

My Life in 5, 10 and 15 Years

Where do you see yourself in 5years? 10 years? 15 years?


In college I had such a detailed plan for my life that I pretty nearly had dates on everything that I wanted to happen. Since then I have learned that life is a bit more unpredictable and that your goals sometimes need to be a bit broader. That being said I think I will take the approach of what I hope to occur in the next 15 years rather than where I see myself.  


Hopes for the next 15 years...

  • Graduate from law school (D)
  • Get a job (D)
  • Grow our family
  • Purchase a home
  • Pay off our student loans
  • Have some savings
  • Visit Brazil
  • Get laser hair removal from my neck down (this is my joke with D, that I want it as soon as we can afford it and before I get all old and wrinkly and don't want anyone to see my body anyway)


There are a few things on that list I am just itching to have behind us but I am really trying to enjoy the journey because so far it has been an awesome ride! 

My Chosen Superpower


If you could have any superpower what would it be and what would you do with it first? 


I couldn't think too long on this one because if I did I would probably have a hard time choosing a superpower, but the first thing that came to mind and that I find myself wishing were a reality is the power to instantly transport myself somewhere. I know kind of selfish...I should wish to be able to bring world peace or something like that but again this why I couldn't think too long on this one. 


I have thought many times, especially since living away from family that wouldn't it be great to just pop in for a birthday party, a lunch date or even a weekend stay anywhere in the world just like that!? I think I would be popping in on my parents more than they would probably like but I just think that would be so amazing. I also would love to see more of the world but flights are so expensive and take forever. I could avoid all that and just transport myself instantly to Hawaii, Greece or Africa.


I could even use this power for everyday things, like popping in to Walmart for a few needed items without having to take all the time to drive there. As you can see travel time is a real inconvenience to me.


Don't you think this would be the coolest superpower ever? I sure think so. I could also say something cool like "Beam me up Scotty" each time I wanted to go somewhere. Ah...a life of instant transportation would be awesome!


*NOTE* Just so you know, I could easily bring people along by simply holding their hand or something. This would probably be a pretty lame superpower if I couldn't take anyone with me.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

3 Significant Childhood Memories

Describe 3 significant memories from your childhood


I have a really hard time recalling memories from last year let alone my childhood so the fact that these are the memories I can actually remember is a testament that they were significant. 


"Cougars"
One of my fondest memories of my childhood was playing "cougars" with my dad. He would get down on his hands and knees and growl like a cougar and then chase after us. Once we were caught we were in for an intense tickle. We would climb up on dad's back and he would crawl around and give us rides. I can distinctly remember that growl noise he made and it would instantly send us into extreme excitement and anticipation. Even now I use that same growl when I nuzzle up to my little guy. I was so blessed to have a dad who took the time to play with us. 


Camping Trip
When I was younger we often went on camping/fishing trips to a place called Ferrin Reseviour. On one particular camping trip we were high in the mountains a long ways away from any sort of civilization and as a kid it felt even farther away. We were all getting ready to go to bed and in prep for my mom and sister to sleep in our suburban my mom had turned on the car to warm it up a bit before they got in to go to sleep. In the process mom accidentally locked the keys in the car with it still running. This was not good. We were miles and miles from any locksmith. If the car ran out of gas we wouldn't have a way to get off the mountain. As a 10 year old little girl, I found this very frightening. 


We tried a number of things with no luck. Eventually I was sent to go to bed with my siblings in tow. Before we laid down I gathered my siblings around to have a prayer. I asked Heavenly Father to help us get back into our car and to bring us peace and comfort. As I laid down my brain started clicking, I remembered that in the very back of the suburban there was a switch to unlock the back doors and that it was probably easier to get through those doors than through a side window (which were all rolled up tight). I finally crawled out of my sleeping bag and went and suggested it to my dad. We rounded up a hot dog skewer  and our friend Curtis Madsen was the one who was finally successful in getting the hot dog skewer into the car and hitting the unlock button. We were in! I am sure my parents would have figured things out on their own but the experience was a great lesson to me. Not only did testimony grow of the power of prayer but that even as a young child I could receive revelation from Heavenly Father to help me in times of need. 


Baptism
Another prominent memory I have from my childhood was the day I was baptized. I remember a lot of details about that day. I remember practicing how to be immersed with my dad prior to my baptism. I remember getting out and being all wet and finding out that my dad forgot to bring a dry white shirt to change into. Thankfully we lived basically across the street from the church so it wasn't too difficult to get one to the church in time. I remember wearing a pretty yellow dress with flowers all over it for my confirmation. I remember the moment I heard the words "receive the holy ghost" I felt warm all over and a happiness filled my body that I had never experienced before. I remember feeling so clean and holy. I remember finding a quiet place in our house amidst all the guests to write in my journal some of my thoughts and feelings from the day. I was so grateful to be the newest member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I wanted so badly to do everything right so that I could always feel this good. Obviously I learned lessons later as to why the Atonement is so important. My baptism was a day that I will never forget. It was my first step on the path back to my Heavenly Father and deep down in my heart I knew I was going the right way. 

Saturday, May 19, 2012

If I Could Live Anywhere...

Sorry, we made a short move to Utah and I basically fell off the planet for awhile, but I hope to get back to it for the remaining days in May. 


If you could live anywhere, where would it be and why? 


I have thought about this question a number of times as D and I have thought about where we want to "end up" once we leave the school phase behind us. 


The one thing that moves me to a certain place is proximity to family. I just want to be close enough to be able to drive a few hours and be with family. I grew up visiting frequently with my grandparents and I want that for our kids too.


With that being said I wouldn't be opposed to living in some of the states surrounding Utah. I like the idea of living somewhere really warm and sunny (winters just about do me in). I think I would probably really like Arizona or even St. George. I wouldn't be opposed to ending up in Utah again either. 


Let's be honest at the end of the day we will go where the job is and who knows where that will be. We are however doing all we can to make a job opportunity more likely in the areas we would prefer to live. We'll see how that works out for us. 


I am excited to find out where we may end up some day!