Dora dora Fedora, banana fana fo fora, me my mo mora, FEDORA!

I need Fedoras. Anyone got one I could use? or know of anyone that has one I could borrow? I have a vision for my final project and, I NEED A FEDORA! ASAP!

Here's whats happening riiiiight NOW!

Chase is standing against the wall chattin' on the phone. Les is on the recliner sippin' her hot cocoa that Chase so gladly prepared for her. He even bowed down to her when he served it to her. Today Chase sang Christmas carols with his school. How old is he?? We're about to watch Rudolph the rednose reindeer. We're all chillin in our PJs, about to enjoy the joy of christmas. My dishwasher makes noises and so does the washer. Kinda annoying. We can't find the DVD remote so we're watching the weird previews. Why don't they put like beepers on those things? Speaking of beepers, remember when people had beepers?? Ha! Thats funny. Beepers. Gotta love the advancement in technology! And THATS whats happening on this side of town.

"Ice Crrrream, Chocolatesssss!"--Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

I just saw an Ice Cream truck drive by the front of my house!!! Who sees that anymore? That totally takes me way back! Coincidentally enough, it takes me back to Village Way, where I just recently moved to--which is fantastic, by the way, I love my house and my roomies! But that blog is for another day. Anyway, I remember ice cream trucks from way back when my family and I use to live in the twin home on Village Way. I remember always hearing the fun songs it would play. I loved playing in the streets and hearing the truck right around the corner. I would get so excited! Everyone would hurry inside and get some money so we could all buy some deliciousness to cool us off from the hot summer days...

Can I be frank? When I think about ice cream trucks now, its kiiiinda creepy, is it not?! A creeper van that drives VERY slowly around neighborhoods that have lots of little kids, luring them to the van with their cutesy, happy, merry-go-round type songs. I mean, every kid is curious.


With a van driving by playing songs and has pictures of their favorite desserts on the door, what kid wouldn't want to frolic up to that??? I'm tellin' ya, its a creepy concept.

...Kinda reminds me of a movie I grew up watching. Love the movie, but hate this part, the part that Sachi quotes so hilariously:

"What will it be today, Ice Cream? Strawberries? Chocolates?? Come along children, all free today~! Come along, kiddie-winkies!"

Oh dear...Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a creepy show.

Granite Grizzlies Unite!

Oh my goodness, today was such an interesting day. I woke up not really expecting anything different from the day before. Class/work/eat/sleep. But this evening was the best!!
Today started off great! I made myself a healthy lunch. When I was crossing the cross walk I caught up with a friend I hadn't seen all summer. I went to class and centered my first wheelthrown pottery. It is SO much harder than it looks. I got clay all over my nice MEKs which kinda sucks. Hopefully it'll wash out. Oh, it was so fun though. I can't wait to throw my own pitcher and tea cups! Once I get an entire set, WE'RE HAVING A TEA PARTY AND YOU'RE INVITED!
I got home, chilled for a bit, realized I forgot about a meeting and rushed to Village Way to show the house to Alicia. Afterwards, met up with my mom and Sachiko at Costco and picked out some way cute frames for their glasses. Since I didn't get to buy anything from Costco, mom paid for my gas!! (THANKS MOM!) Went home, did some dishes, got on the internet, did some searching for a Washer/Dryer set on ksl.com. Skimmed through facebook, and then it hit me...
I'M LATE FOR ANOTHER GET TOGETHER!!! I totally had forgotten that my girlfriends that I hadn't seen in YEARS--we're talkin' since 6th grade--were planning to meet up at Su Casa for some dinner. We were all best friends in elementary then all went our separate ways, but Christine, bless her heart, decided one day to Facebook message all of us and got us together again! So...I rushed down town, not expecting what the night was going to be like. To be honest, I was really nervous and expected it to be awkward. But tonight was the funniest night I've had in a long time. I almost laughed till I peed!! We caught up on funny memories we all had from our Granite Grizzly days. Such funny memories! The amazing thing about our get together is, it was initiated through facebook. Lately, I've kinda been anti-FB, but I guess it really does have its benefits! Because tonight definitely wouldn't have happened if it weren't for facebook.

Megan Poole, Christine Messick, Liz Spiroff, Emily Eysser...

I love these girls!!!!!

(I apologize, this blog is kinda all over...)

I DON'T WANNA PAAAAAACK!!!!!

I am procrastinating. I'm a procratinator when it comes to packing. Ohhh how I dread the idea of packing. Seriously. I think it might be THE worst thing. Ever. Right up there with finding the milk has gone bad when you've got a delicious pack of Oreo's just waiting to be dunked. I ran down the stairs today and yelled to my mom, "PACKING STINKS! I HATE PACKING MY LIFE AWAY!" Of course she just giggled, but it really is like packing my life away into ugly brown boxes. Whoever enjoys packing, please feel free to help a lazy girl in need. Oh, and no offense, you're weird. I'm moving out next coming week so I have to get everything in boxes so I'm ready to move. On top of that, my big sis and I are flying to San Francisco tomorrow. Grrrrr~ packing should die.

This summer has been FULL of packing and unpacking. Took a quick trip down south to St. George. I've been to Japan twice (within a month--holy COW, that messed with my sleep schedule, yes it did!). I went to San Francisco. I'm going BACK to San Fran tomorrow. I'm going to St. George again in a few weeks...MAN! Despite how much I loath packing, I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE traveling. If it weren't for school and money, I'd be all over the world!!

Oh dear. I really really really really REALLY don't want to pack. Boo.

Due to jet lag, I am forcibly able to update my blog :)

Aright! Time for a new post, eh chums? I have jet lag to the max right now and cannot sleep. Therefore, I have decided to spend time wisely and get stuff done instead of...staring at the ceiling and slip slowly into madness...NAME THAT QUOTE! ...didja get it?

"The nerve of those Whos. Inviting me down there - on such short notice! Even if I wanted to go my schedule wouldn't allow it.
4:00, wallow in self pity
4:30, stare into the abyss
5:00, solve world hunger, tell no one
5:30, jazzercize
6:30, dinner with me - I can't cancel that again
7:00, wrestle with my self-loathing... I'm booked. Of course, if I bump the loathing to 9, I could still be done in time to lay in bed, stare at the ceiling and slip slowly into madness. But what would I wear!?"

If you know me, you know I love movie quotes and they are in my everyday conversations. Wanna get along with me? KNOW YOUR MOVIE QUOTES! (If you REALLY wanna impress me, know She's the Man word for word--best quotable movie.)

One of the best lines: "Viola, ...chew like you have a secret...."

Here I am. Updating my blog. Man. Blogging is harder than I thought. Its hard to keep this up to date. Its hard finding time to write all I have done and everything I want to say!

GANBARIMA~S!

I'm sitting here listening to MY NEW FAVORITE SONG, over and over again, trying to learn it. GREAT VOCALS! Its a beautiful song with such moving lyrics. My favorite part of it is, its a Japanese song! By my new favorite female artist, Ayaka. I am so amazed by her. I can tell her lyrics are truly coming from her heart. She was diagnosed with Grave's disease in 2006--your immune system attacks the thyroid gland--and she's still working hard to produce singles and albums. On top of this, what a great talent she has! Such a GORGEOUS voice. So pure. Mmmmm. Yummy. Love it.

Come on take a dip, CUZ OUR POOL RIPS!

Pool party baby, it was a cool party! Cool pool party, La la la la~! Yesterday, lots of friends came over for a pool party. I have to admit, I didn't think many people were coming. I only heard back from a few, but the turn out was pretty darn good!! Daddio made DELICIOUS cheeseburgers. Probably the best I've ever tasted (including all the major fads: Five guys, In and Out, etc, you guys don't even COMPARE to my pop's grilling skills!). And momma toasted some fantastic buns! I love my parents, they are the best!
Afterwards, we all jumped in the pool and played some volleyball. My team was definitely the best! We totally conquered!
Then we moved onto the next event: MARSHING OUR MELLOWS! Barton made me a delicious mellow with chocolate hidden inside. It was so good!! The chocolate was perfectly melted, ohhh~ man!!
By the end of the night, I was sooooo tired. It was a very successful pool party! I love pool parties!!!!

Oh Hiii~!

Wanna know a secret?

...

RONNIE'S HOME!!!!!! Topher and I just got back from the Matheson's. I think this is the happiest I have been in a loooong time. I just love him to pieces :) It was so weird--even though its been two years, it seemed like I just saw him a little bit ago. It wasn't awkward unlike some other return missionaries...It was just good ol' Ronnie baby! My little cowboy.

Ah!! Love him

Funny videos.

I just came across the funniest videos during my reminiscing. Oh man, those were the days!

Here's Brandon trying to crawl outta the small square.



And Isaiah didn't quite fit so he had to go through the big square.


I love Ronnie. He had this saying over in Moab, he thought he was the man...pffff! I tried to correct him half way through his phrase because he said it wrong and I almost got my head torn off. Don't mess with Ronnie.

Natsukashi~!!

I was thinking I should update my blog since its been a few days, and plus if I don't do it now while I have the time, I doubt I will in the next couple days...I wanna get better at this and stay on top of keeping it up to date! The term "easier said than done" definitely applies.

I think this next blog is really just for my sake. I am feeling a little nostalgic looking through old pictures...

Lately, I have had a lot of friends getting married/engaged. My best friend Malorie, aka Oak, recently tied the knot a couple months ago. We've been the greatest of friends with such a funny beginning story. First day of math class, not really knowing each other, we walked in and sat on opposite sides of the room. Malorie then remembered me from eating together at lunch a few times in 8th grade, so she invited me to sit with her. (Later in our friendship, she told me she was using me because she had no one to sit with...haha what a great way to start a friendship, right??) From then on we were inseparable. Mr. P and Mr. Barlow can attest to that--They both made their seating arrangements so we were on opposite sides of the room because we would talk too much. 9th grade was definitely the greatest year of my life so far. We've been through a lot throughout our friendship, rough times and fun times. I really miss the times we had back when we didn't have a care in the world! I can't believe I'm posting some of these pictures...but each one tells such a funny story!

Oh my goodness, we were the BIGGEST Peter Pan fans haha so after getting out of the movie, Malorie had to take a picture of the poster on the wall.
I don't know why we thought this was funny, but we decided to be pirates with a food item for the eye patch...?!? haha I really don't know, don't ask. I think this was at EFY.

We were going to be sad in this picture because Caitlin, aka Polo, was moving away. We had a photo shoot trying to get the perfect one and I was getting sick of it, so I guess I went a different direction with the "sad face".

Ninth grade, Lagoon day...This was probably right before Malorie peed...

I had to stay in Park City all day to take care of Kumi in between her dance classes, so Malorie, being the lovely girl she is, decided to accompany me. It was such a fun day window shopping and going down the slide.
This is when Mal locked my keys in the car at Bob's Brainfreeze...

Graduation with my best friends!!

Our awkward double date...

Random BBQ in the summer.

And finally, Mal's wedding. Just watching her, she seems so happy starting her new life! What an adventure.

My best buddy (since 9th grade when he and Chris sang to me and the girls at Lagoon with frozen-lemonade tainted voices) is getting married in just about a month. We had the most fun times--always having handstand contests in the basement, playing sandwich with the love sacs, drinking pure snow cone juice, fiddling with the baday toilets...the list goes on and on.



He's been dating his future wifey for the past few years, and they still can't get enough of each other. Its really been an eye opener about my life and what I'm doing with it. Not saying I want to get engaged or married anytime too soon, but its definitely been in the back of my mind...It seems like everyone is always one step ahead of me. I'm having a hard time keepin' up!!

...man, life changes so quickly, its ridunkulous. My friend Ronnie, who is very near and dear to my heart, comes home in 15 days. Oh, I cannot describe in words how excited I am. This kid, bless his heart, has been with me through thick and thin. He's been such an example to me and has always pushed me to be a better person. I have seen his testimony grow so much through all his letters over these past 2 years. He is such a spiritual giant! The more I talk about it, the more I just get so giddy about his homecoming. I know he will truly return with honor.

I can't believe how quickly these past 2 years flew by...

The refreshing drink: Lemonade.

Life has been giving me lemons lately. So, as a wise man once said, "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Ergo, I added some water and a lil' suga suga, and VOILA! Sure enough, my lemonade is tasting delicious!! Due to my "lemons", I've had a lot of leisure time lately. I only work 3 times a week during the days, teach a little singing on the side, every now and then run some errands, but other than that, I don't know what to do with my time. So, trying to be optimistic about my depressingly open schedule, I figure, HEY! I'm going to make a schedule for myself, add in some things I've been wanting to fit into my past busy schedule. I'm actually really excited!

• I'm planning on hiking Bell Canyon twice a week (Its such a fun hike/jog. Feel free to come along! The view is amazing during sunset.).
• I have set aside actual BOM study times throughout my week. I think I follow a schedule easier than just saying "I'll get it done sometime today."
  
• I'm going to start cooking meals--actual cooking. Not just putting a piece of meat and cheese between two slabs of bread.
• I want to practice more photography.
• Seeing "Wicked" inspired me to really focus on my singing, so I want to work harder at becoming stronger and more confident. (Idina Menzel's voice is ridiculously amazing!!)

Just to name off a few things on my to do list. I'm excited to actually get these things going! Before, I had a hard time checking things off my list. I think I'm really going to feel accomplished after this summer :)

I KNEW I knew his voice!!

I found it!!!

I have been searching for this version of the song for the longest time. I saw this slideshow in church a few months back and have searched for the accompanied song ever since. I have googled Come Thou Fount numerous times for this specific arrangement to no avail. I even sat at my computer for a while listening to all versions of this song to find the one I was looking for (there were the weirdest arrangements of the song...seriously. Really odd ones that even sounded like Rap and the banjo put together...) Again, I was unsuccessful. I was so flustered because I totally knew I knew the voice of the singer. I just couldn't put my finger on it and it drove me absolutely nuts! Tonight, I decided to try once more. I resorted to google again, hoping it would be in my favor and put my searching to a rest. And then I saw it. In a blur of words, the name "Freddie Ashby" stuck out to me. Click... YAY!! Third time's the charm, right?

One of my all time favorite hymns, Come Thou Fount. It is such a beautiful arrangement performed by Clyde Bawden and Freddie Ashby. (One of my favorite pondering songs is also by Freddie Ashby called "I Cry"--check it out.) There is something about Freddie's voice is so soothing. He has such a unique tone. I can't describe in words what it is exactly...is it 'smooth'? 'calming' or 'peaceful'?...

At any rate, I could listen to his music anytime, anywhere. Its so uplifting! His music has so much emotion; you can tell just by his voice that he really means what he sings--it truly comes from his heart.

This arrangement accompanies a remarkable slideshow of photographs by Mark Mabry. (This slide show really was the perfect thing for me--I have such an appreciation for both the music and the fantastic photography--I have much to learn from both!) His "Reflections of Christ" images really illustrate the life of Christ so perfectly. I absolutely love this slideshow. Its only about 6 minutes, so I hope you take a moment to watch and listen...

Here is "Reflections of Christ".

I hope it touches your heart as it has mine. Enjoy!!

This post smells like a meadow!

SO! My good friend 'LES' and I decided to go for a tulip photo shoot. Tulip Festival--Thanksgiving Point. Definitely a must see. We went a bit early in the festival, so not all the tulips were awake. But for what we saw, it was gorgeous. I'll post a few pictures from our day in the meadow of exquisite aroma. Whaddya say? Take a stroll with us.









TADA~!

Life is like a box of chocolates

Life is like a box of chocolates, right? Sometimes you get the yummiest ones of the bunch, and sometimes...you're not so lucky.

I got a yucky one.

You know when you go through the box of assorted chocolates, and you see one that's going to be unrealistically delicious because it has the perfect coating? It has that beautiful extra chocolate drizzled on top with maybe even a cute little chocolate in the form of a flower or heart or a bow on top? And you take it before anyone else can get to it, take a bite, and you come to find that the chocolate that was in your hand and is now in your mouth is actually the worst one out of the entire batch? Its like a major slap in the face. The evil chocolate you thought was going to be so sweet to your tongue is laughing in your face, and yells, "Psych!!"

Thats the one I got...

Two down. Ten to go!

Being a waitress at Su Casa has its ups and downs. Lets start with the downs, shall we? That way we'll end this blog on a happy note.

(Not in any specific order...)
1. It is a very small space. The server station downtown is like working in a submarine! I think the most frequently used phrase is, "Ope, sorry!" after bumping into another employee.
2. The parking space is limited causing the employees to have to park 3 building spaces away.
3. After working a shift at Su Casa, my DKNY:Be Delicious perfume has morphed into the ever so entrancing aroma of salt covered chips and SALSA~! Nummyyyy~...
4. Hungry people = Ornery. Enough said.

Don't get me wrong--despite the list above, I love my job!! I find it amusing meeting different types of people every day--especially our regulars. They are so entertaining! They are so specific with their orders.
-Cheese enchilada, diet coke, ABSOLUTELY NO lettuce touching the plate.
-Lunch Special--black beans in the burrito and no enchilada sauce. Diet coke--don't forget the lemon!
-#9 with onions on top with a diet coke--straight up. (His words exactly)
-#7 and a side bean tostada--extra tomatoes and extra lettuce. 2 waters.

My list of regulars could go on and on! But want to know who's order is the last one?...Elder and Sister Oaks!! Yep. They are devoted customers of Su Casa Downtown. Which brings me to my next topic of discussion--Why I love Su Casa!

1. The food--duh.
2. The location is great. The U of U is just 2 minutes east. The temple is just down the street. Gateway and Energy Solutions Arena are 5 minutes west. Trax is one block over. etc etc etc.
3. This is totally random, but we got to all dress up for Halloween and it was so fun!!

4. Su Casa Truffles!!!!
5. Due to location, we've had many general authorities come in and grace us with their presence!

I have had the opportunity to wait on Elder Holland and Elder Oaks. They are some of the happiest customers, and I LOVE IT!! After serving customers that are hungry and ornery, people like Elder Holland and Oaks make it all worth it. Elder Holland would compliment my work, even when I simply set down his tray of chips and salsa. "Oh that looks just wonderful!" He constantly was smiling his cute smile with his happy-squinty eyes. After serving them their food, he called me an angel! ...wait, Me?? Being called an angel by an apostle of god?? As cheesy as this sounds, my heart was overwhelmed with joy!! It made me so happy. I must say, along with his beautiful spirit and infinite wisdom, he is one fantastic tipper!!
Serving Elder Oaks has been so fun. I've had the pleasure of serving him a few times. And every time has been just amazing. There is a spirit that these wonderful men bring into the room. He has such a glow about him! Just talking to him made my day so wonderful!! I would serve him, and he'd thank me with his booming speaker voice, "Oh thank you dear!" Ohhh it just makes me giddy!
Ohhh I love working at Su Casa. We get apostles for customers!! I've served two so far--10 to go!! Come join the crew!!

 

Spring break. Wow. Where do I begin. Last week was the most fun week I have had in the longest time! It was a much needed break. I'm sure many others can attest to this feeling, but my life has just been a whirlwind lately--school, work, play, dating, more school, more work, more playing, more dating. Its the crazy circle of life for me.

The decision was really spontaneous come to think of it. I had been thinking about it all week and I wasn't fully decided on actually going down to St. George. But I decided, heck! Don't think and just DO! So I DID!



I went down with Michael and Coleman. Not gonna lie, at first I was a little worried I wasn't going to have as much fun being the only girl. But it honestly was one of the best vacations ever. I really got to know my awesome cousin MO a lot better--I'm glad we grew closer. He's such a stud. Also, I had the chance to get to know Coleman better, too. One of the nights, we both got so unbelievably hyper. It was hilarious, I just wish I could retell that night. It was definitely a side of Coleman I'd never seen before...nonetheless, I loved it!

Sunday night, the three of us decided we wanted to make an agenda for the next day (typical missionaries...). I thought it was a good idea until the two boys decided to make me a slave. They put down:
"Wake up at 8:30 am--Mari
Wake up at 9:00 am--Mo and Coleman"
Reason being, they wanted me to make breakfast so they could wake up to the smell of crackling bacon. Pff. Lame...But the weird thing is, my body automatically woke up at 8:29 for some odd reason, so I figured, why not be a good homemaker for my boys since I'm already up. So we had some pop ups!

The night before, the three of us decided to pull pranks...wow! Talk about taking a trip back to Jr. High. I felt like I was 14 again. We doorbell ditched the house across from us, ran and hid behind a bush, sat there for a while just giggling, and ran back home. No matter how immature that was, it definitely was hilarious!

Next day: After being lazy and sitting around for a bit we decided it was time to eat again. We went biking over to the Arby's. On our way we found some narly dirt jumps. Unfortunately I didn't get the chance to hit them up--my tire went flat. But Mo and Cole got to play on them a bit. It was fun to watch because, quite frankly, they sucked. But it made for good entertainment!

Later, we hit up Snow Canyon. It was such a cool hike down to the Lava Pots. Then we just goofed off for a bit on the rocks.

That night, we invited a few groups of friends to join us for a BBQ. Trista and her girls, Spencer and his sister, the clan from across the street--it was a pretty good turn out!

Tuesday was just a lazy day. I did wake up to make the boys blueberry muffins though, hoping they'd wake up to the delicious smell...but to no avail. They didn't wake up for another couple of hours...And my muffins were so good, fresh out of the oven!! Golly, the things I do for them...No appreciation. Seriously.

That afternoon, we went searching for the Bloomington cave--again, to no avail. Our friends wanted to take us on an adventure, so we followed them all the way to what we named, "The Devil's Platform". (We named it that after "Angel's Landing"--the place we were originally planning on hiking, and could have if we had known we were never going to find the cave.) Honestly, it was hilarious! But at the same time, everyone was so frustrated. It was like searching for a needle in a very large, very DUSTY haystack. We basically went off-roading in Brenda's very nice Hyundai (Sorry Brenda! We blame Isaac!). The car looked ridiculous! After about 45 min of searching, traveling the rockiest terrain, we come across a group of grandmas and grandpas riding 4-wheelers (Kinda a funny sight to see). They told us that Megan and Isaac's group had hit something and tore off the bottom of their car, and said that the path was too rocky up ahead, so we had to reverse to find a place wide enough to turn around. Oh, we were so angry! All that for nothing. But we made some good memories from that experience. One day, we'll all look back and laugh...one day...

On our way home, we decided to pump ourselves up again after that unsuccessful adventure, so we stopped by FIESTA FUN! We played some mini golf--girls vs boys. Girls won! After we got into the bumper boats. Coleman, Mo, and Spencer are buttheads. They tag teamed against me and shoved me into the water fountain. I was drenched! But Mo did fall into his own trap, so that was pretty funny. After that we did go-carts and the arcade. I have to say, I am getting pretty good at the arcade. A little over 2 years ago, I played at Boondocks and won the jackpot and got about 300 some odd tickets. This time, I won the jackpot again and got about the same! I am the champion of all champions. You wanna battle me?? Ha! Funny joke.

Wednesday wasn't as exciting, we just lounged around the pool for a while. It was so nice just relaxing though! Not a cloud in sight. It was just you and the sun! Lunch time was at In and Out Burger. My first experience there--Not too bad! Service was awesome. We even had someone greet us at the door. They've got my vote! We went over to Spencer's place and played some shuffle board.

Thre rest of the break was simply glorious. So so relaxing! No pressures of school or work. Just enjoying the company of my closest friends. :)

BEST WEEK EVER!

Food, GLORIOUS FOOD!

My weekend was so great. Main reason being, I got to eat two my favorites foods: #1 and always will be #1--ICE CREAM! #2, OKONOMIYAKI!

Friday night, Tyler, Sam, Syd, and I decided to make sculptures out of ice cream. Being an artist, I got really excited to make something extravagant. Maybe make a sculpture of one of the ohinamatsuri dolls. Come to find out, ice cream is not the easiest medium to work with.

It melts--duh.

Nonetheless, we had a great time. And lets be honest, how can you not enjoy an edible art piece? See, Willy Wonka knew what he was doing when he said,

"Everything you see in this room is eatable...Edible...You can eat everything in this room."

Genius, right?

About a week ago after dining on some delicious sushi, my good friend Steve, aka Stephant (its an inside joke--you wouldn't understand), and I decided we wanted to be Japanese Chefs for a night. So last night, Leslie, Stephant, Brandon and I put on an Okonomiyaki party.

Yuh. Me.

It was, shall we say, no less than fit for a king.

After the meal, I don't know if we were getting hyper off of the many pounds of chocolate chips we ate involuntarily or if it was simply pure genius, but we came up with the most amazing ideas for future food gatherings. I don't know why, but these ideas were just insanely hilarious to us, and yet had a touch of brilliance. I can't reveal them just yet. Its too soon. ...Fine! No need to beg. Ok so, idea #1

--International Night.
Every person attending must bring a dish from a foreign place they've been to (maybe a mission, study abroad, vacation, etc.) or just some place they want to learn about. Along with that, they need to bring something from or about that country--maybe teach us something about the culture, some vocabulary from their language, bring a little show-and-tell, or just dress to their culture. For example, Leslie will be bringing an African dish and will be wearing an African head wrap! I might do a Japanese dish and wear a kimono, or something fun like that. The idea is still in the making right now, but once we polish it up, it'll be an event you won't want to miss!

Idea #2

--Succulent Smoothies at Sunset.

This is the idea where we all just were throwing out loopy ideas and laughing till we were on the verge of having an "accident". Well, I can't speak for everyone but uh...ahem! Anyway! To advertize: What better way to end a hard working day than to kick back and enjoy a delicious smoothie with great company. So, everyone attending will bring a smoothie recipe, ingredients, and if possible, their own blender. We're labeling "B.Y.O.B" under the title. Now now, its not what you think. Think about it again. Bring...Your...Own... BLENDER!! Good job. (Hopefully we'll have enough sockets to plug all the blenders into...some might have to resort to bathroom sockets if the party gets too big...shkidding! EW!) The reason for B.Y.O.B is, we're going to be having all different kinds of smoothies, which is basically an open invitation for taste testers, right?? Which brings me to the next idea. We'll be having a competition to see which ones the best and most popular smoothie. And duh, of course we'll have some type of prize.

Both these ideas will be so fun once we get them running! You're not only building friendships by coming, but you'll experience new flavors for your taste buds, and for those of you who like to spend time in the kitchen, it'll help fill your recipe book! As Michael Scott would say, this situation is a win win win. Right??

Jerry brings out the giddy in me.

You know those really embarrassing moments when you do something, well, embarrassing, for lack of a better word. I had one of those moments tonight. I haven't updated my blog for quite some time, so what better way to start then by telling an embarrassing story, right?
This is also probably one of those "you had to be there" moments, but I will do my best to illustrate the event for you.

So tonight was just full of funnies and giggles. I don't remember a time I wasn't laughing my head off. I can only recall one other time in my life when I had laughed so much the entire day that I ended up with a massive headache, much like tonight. So my friend and I attended the Jazz game. It started out really fun. And then got hilarious. As time passed and as we got tired from laughing and having a good time, I think we got a bit loopy. We talked about all kinds of things, from getting CTR tattoos on our backs all the way to dropping out of med school to start a career being an officer in charge of crowd control. Random, but way funny.

On our way home right before entering the freeway, we stopped at a traffic light. I don't know why, and I'm sure many people are the same (ooooor maybe I'm just a weirdo), but when a car pulls up along the side of me, I have the natural tendency to look over to see who's going to be my traffic light neighbor for the next minute or so. So a car pulls up in the lane to the right of us, and I look over and think, 'Holy cow, I know this guy from somewhere. Maybe a TV ad? Teacher from high school? One of my friends' dad?' ...Then I realized, it was Jerry Sloan! This all went through my head in a matter of milliseconds! So being the spaz that I am, I started rapidly tapping my finger on the window, POINTING at Jerry, trying to tell Colby it was Jerry Sloan! I was so shocked that the words coming out of my mouth weren't making any sense. Just total gibberish. "...OH MY! Its! Thats! HEY! Look! Its its its its!!!" And then I noticed that...Jerry is looking straight at me while I'm still pounding my finger ever so rigidly against the window in his direction, and I probably had the most shocked/excited/flabbergasted/I've-just-seen-a-movie-star/spastic fanatic's look on my face. Then. I realized what I was doing. I'm thinking, '...oh. my. gosh...I look like the biggest idiot right now!' Oh Mari. The things I do without thinking...How pathetic. So I crouch over to Colby and try to nuzzle myself under his back/arm attempting to hide, just utterly embarrassed that Sloan caught me pointing at him like a freak. Oh my gosh, and it didn't help that the traffic light was refusing to change to green!!! I had to sit there looking like a fool so Jerry could get a better look at the dumb bum spaz next to him. I didn't have the guts to look back to see what his reaction was, but Colby later told me Jerry was just staring in awe with a confused face at what just happened...pretty sure not many can say they've experienced that. So yep. Basically Jerry and I are tight now. We have a unique friendship.

oh geez.

...But it made for some good laughter to add on to our already sore diaphrams for the drive home. Definitely a great way to end a fantastic night!!

[[*Go JAZZ*]]

Do not be decieved by the power of the sled...

Sledding. It seems like such a simple activity, right? When I think of sledding, I picture friends and family getting together on a sunny winter day, going to a hill at a park, maybe some random dogs just frolicking around, big smiles on everyone's faces,...you know! The whole shabang!

...Yeah, that wasn't the case. When you get with the right crew it is an entirely different sport. This past Thursday, a group of us decided to go sledding up at Deer Valley. When they said sledding I thought, okay, let me just grab my coat and mittens and we'll be on our way...we get to Kevin's house and, holy cow, I was SO unprepared. This kid is intense. He got out boots, snow pants, ski jackets, hats, snow gloves, goggles--the whole enchilada! Kevin's dad even told us to gear up with helmets and such...he wasn't kidding! I had no idea we were going extreme sledding. And let me tell you. It. was. EXTREME. Pretty sure we were breaking some sort of law sledding at the resort, but hey, you only live once, right?

We got up to the top of the resort and walked out onto the slippery slopes with our sleds. Usually, the hills I go sledding on end in about 15 seconds, IF THAT!...I had no idea what I was in for. I couldn't see the end of the hill! So, of course, being the little girl that I am, I decide to wait for the other two people to go first so I could watch them, just to give me some comfort in knowing I could make it out alive. And naturally, they biff it in the first 10 seconds. GREAT!! So much for that idea.

There's no turning back now! Its Denzil's and my turn. I'm already scared outta my PANTS, and it didn't help that we didn't even have a real sled. Yep. We were on the boogie board!! So who knew if that was going to be stable or not. We hop on the board and start bookin' it from the get-go. We pass up the other two and zoom right under the bridge, barely clearing the cement wall on the side, fly past a few bushes and trees, clear a couple ski posts...From then on, its all a blur to me, we were zooming like rockets! My face was covered in snow from our feet trying, and never succeeding, to slow us down. It felt like eternity till we got to the bottom of the slopes. Finally, we came to a stop...

oh. my. gosh. THAT RIDE WAS UNREAL! WHO'S UP FOR ROUND TWO!!

I have to admit, as scary as that was, I'm so glad I did it. Now I can cross "defying death" off of my life's to-do list. ;)

Unfortunately, the next part of the story gets a little scary. I would play 20 questions for you to guess what happened next to make it a little more exciting, but since this is a one sided blog, simply telling the story will have to do.

So. Round two. Same routine. We get to the top of the hill, hop on the sleds, and take off. This time, we weren't as smooth. The very last hill we went over was the steepest, but we handled it pretty well the first time, so we figured, Hey, piece of cake! Denzil and I lifted up our feet to give us more speed, but as we got closer to the end, our speed was getting to fast to control. Immediately, we threw our feet and hands down to slow us down. We got lucky and stopped right at the edge of the slope. If we had gone any further, we'd have slipped down into a gully of trees. Both of us turn around to see where Malorie and Kevin were...I saw them, and instantly, I knew this could not end good. They were going way too fast to control. Before I could even blink, they were airborne and had flown into the trees. I can't even describe how scared I was. We jumped up and saw they had both landed quite a ways away from each other. Fortunately, neither of them got knocked out, but Kevin got banged up a bit. While he was midair, he hit his head on a tree and sort of ricocheted off onto another tree hitting his leg. I was just completely shocked at what had just happened, and didn't know what to do. Mal finally got up and crawled over to Kevin and saw he was bleeding pretty bad from his eyebrow and couldn't walk on his leg. He kept saying he thought he broke his femur. Oh heavens, it was scary. We got everyone down to the car and drove to the hospital to get Kevin checked out.

Can I just say, I hate the emergency rooms. It took so long to just get him past the front desk, even with blood completely covering one side of his face (sorry, that was a bit graphic...). Unbelievable. What's more, Kevin kept saying he didn't need this but they decided to take another 5 minutes to strap him into their little stretcher guy that they'd be taking him out of in the next 5 seconds. I mean, I understand they were taking precautions, but come on. So from then on, we just sat and waited for results. Turns out he just needed stitches and his femur had a deep, deep bruise. It could have been so much worse, so we were all really thankful for that. (I just feel bad it happened right before their wedding!! Yikes.)

Moral of the story is, do not let the simple activity of sledding deceive you.

Seriously.

When the going gets tough...

This week started out pretty interesting.

The ultimate low of the week was definitely on Tuesday--and yes, I can say that even though the week isn't officially over. Nothing this week could be any worse than Tuesday's mishap. I won't go into detail, but I will say this much--I would be a mess without my family by my side! I am so thankful for my sweet family. My parents are always supporting me and comforting me unceasingly. Whenever something happens and I don't know what to do, the first place I know I can call is home. Tuesday, I found myself in a situation not knowing what to do. I immediately called my parents, and my mom and dad talked me through everything. I love them so much!

My sisters mean the world to me.

When I got home, Kumi was such a sweetheart and had bought me some delicious hot cocoa and donuts to make me feel better (nothin' like some sugary sweets to brighten up my day). That is very like Kumi to think of others first. She is always willing to help out whenever someone needs a friend. For the past 4 to 5 months, life has been a bit of a rollercoaster, and Kumi has been the best friend to me, always willing to listen.



Misa is such a cute girl! She amazes me every day. She is the youngest four sisters, yet she has been the greatest example to us. She never hesitates to show someone she loves them. She loves to talk to people and share stories (sometimes they get pretty long, but they are always great)! I have to admit sometimes we are a bit hard on her sometimes. We tease her a lot, but aren't all of the youngest teased by their older siblings? This is how sweet Misa is:

Our family has this ongoing joke about how Misa always talks and by the end of her stories, nobody is paying attention to her anymore. She knows we're only teasing her out of love. My family will never forget this one night when we went out to dinner. Kumi started telling a story, and she realized nobody was paying attention. So she yells out, "Nobody is listening to me!!" And sweet little Misa says with her cute, caring voice, "I'm listening :) ." (It was kinda a "had-to-be-there" moment.) It was so adorable, yet so very funny! We all couldn't help but laugh.

^^Last but DEFINITELY not least^^, my best friend in the entire world without a doubt, Sachiko. She has always been the most amazing sister. She's such an example to me. She's smart. She's beautiful. She's healthy. She's not afraid of taking risks. She loves the gospel so much. She's one heck of a missionary. Anything I ever had questions about, I could ask her. (But it's a little hard to call her up anytime I want right now, she's kinda busy preaching the gospel...) She's always taking the reins on all our performances and recording our album and such. I don't know how she does everything. I am very proud to call her my big sister.

I have the best family in the whole world--NO BATTLE!

Blogging.

So. Blogging...is that even a real word? Let's investigate, shall we?...well would you look at that--IT IS! According to dictionary.com, blogging is:

To write entries in, add material to, or maintain a weblog.

[(we)blog.]
blog·ger n.

...the "n" means that word is a noun right? So...I guess now that I'm "writing entries in, adding material to, or maintaining a weblog" makes me...a blogger! I am officially a blogger.

What a strange word--blogger/blog. I wonder where it originated...WIKIPEDIA TIME! (See, that is the beauty of technology. Superfluous facts right at our fingertips!)

The term "weblog" was coined by Jorn Barger on 17 December 1997. The short form, "blog," was coined by Peter Merholz, who jokingly broke the word weblog into the phrase we blog in the sidebar of his blog Peterme.com in April or May of 1999. Shortly thereafter, Evan Williams and Pyra Labs used "blog" as both a noun and verb ("to blog," meaning "to edit one's weblog or to post to one's weblog") and devised the term "blogger" in connection with Pyra Labs' Blogger product, leading to the popularization of the terms.

...Interesting...

...Alright, so let's get blogging! I have to be honest. Technically, this isn't my first blog. I just now discovered that I had created one a while ago when I was most likely delirious--I don't recall ever having one. However, I'm not surprised that I don't remember. I have the memory of a GOLD FISH. Many of my friends can attest to that! So even though this isn't the first time blogging, I still don't understand how to make my posts interesting. So, please, bear with me!

I was talking with Spencer last night about blogging. It really is like keeping a journal, but without hiding the key to the lock. It's a new way of expressing yourself and keeping readers updated on what goes through your mind. I never thought I'd have a public "diary", but it seems like its a pretty popular trend, and not to mention a fun way to keep a journal, which I've been trying to do my entire life. So I think I'm going to take a dive into my brain and run through what's been going on in there, what do you say--Join me!

Yesterday was my 21st birthday. It was a great birthday! This past friday, I had the special opportunity to share my first experience at The Roof with my good friend Celery, you know who you are. Saturday night, I got to see Spencer rock out to some of the greatest funk jams! He is one talented rock star. At 12:00 a.m. on my birthday, I was surrounded by some of my most treasured group of friends--to name a few, Mike Van, Collin, Rich, Nate--I was especially happy to have Tyler in Utah for my birthday. That was the greatest gift I could have asked for. He even sang Happy Birthday to me in Japanese!! Sunday, I got to spend a lot of time with my sisters and my parents. My mom made a very successful pop-up pancake (aka, German pancakes), a delicious sushi dinner, and very scrumptious chocolate covered cake with a hilarious singing candle running low on battery.
I've been alive for 21 years and a day now. 21 YEARS! I thought about it today, and I don't feel like I've lived that many years. I realized, while serving a cute old couple some chips and salsa, that I want to start living it up. And when I thought to "live it up", these ever so true lyrics sung by Marshall Dyllon popped into my head:

Old Man Jones with all he knows
You never see him smile
You know he's sittin' on that big portfolio
It's clear that all that's on his mind
Is the top of the ladder and the bottom line
But he can take it with him when he goes

Poor old Jones he never learned to dance
I bet he'd trade it all for one more chance to

Live it up
There ain't no time to waste no time
And there ain't no better time to celebrate
Hurry up, oh can't you feel the urgency
There ain't nothing we can do when it's too late
And too late's gonna catch us soon enough
So let's live it up...

I have so many things, little and big, that I want to do. I don't want to end up like Old Man Jones. I don't want to regret never grasping an opportunity that is standing right in front of me. I want to be able to go to a dance and have a guy swing me around without hesitating because I don't know the steps. I want to be able to cook a delicious meal for a group of people, and actually have them enjoy it! I want to sing songs without any hesitation, whether it be because I'm shy or because I simply don't know the entire song.
I know these things can't and won't come all in one day. Little by little, I'm going to work at it. I want to be able to look back and be proud of myself for what I've accomplished in my life!
It's kind of like a diet: Tonight for my birthday dinner outting, my dad and I were talking about eating healthier. He said he's going to start tomorrow. Then I thougt for a second and just said..."Why not start TODAY!" Because we all know, tomorrow never comes. Let's all start today!

Sand keeps slipping through the hour glass
Everyday's more precious than the last, so

LET'S LIVE IT UP!

P.S.
Oh. And mister Craven, you're the one that got me on top of this so--This one goes out to you.