The One with Thing 10

Describe your most embarrassing moment.

I am apparently a very boring person and don’t really have one.  At least a moment that anybody witnessed.  Either that or I just don’t get that embarrassed.  That can’t be true though because my face turns red whenever I make a comment in any class.

Well, one time I wiped out when I was waterskiing and my tankini bottoms fell down!  I was able to pull them back up before the boat came back to get me so I’m pretty sure nobody saw.  That actually reminds me of another swimsuit moment.  I was at my boyfriend’s apartment in college and we had just gone swimming so of course I was wearing a swimsuit.  Something must have come on TV that I wanted him to see so I ran to the back (the hallway was only about 5 feet long) but I slipped on a magazine and slid into his room, ending in the splits.  Literally.  It hurt so badly and he couldn’t quit laughing because all he heard was “dun, dun, dun (my footsteps) aaaaaahhhhh” and then I came flying in and did the splits.  Pretty embarrassing even if there was only one spectator.

Note: I wasn't wearing a yellow polka dot bikini.  I just thought the image was fun :)

The One with Thing 9

*I was going to add pictures to this post but since my computer monitor is still AWOL I'll just have to do without.

List 10 people who have influenced you and describe how.

1.   My parents.  How could anybody write a list of people who influenced them and not start it off with their parents?  Mom and Dad’s examples are huge reasons why I am the person I am today.  Or at least the person I’m trying to be.

2. My brothers (I feel like it’s cheating to just list all my siblings, I’d get to ten way too fast).  One has taught me what to do and what to look for in a husband and the other has set a better example of what not to do.  Still, they’ve both had influences on my views and opinions.

3.  My sisters.  They’ve taught me patience, kindness, French braiding, perseverance, Gibberish and optimism.  I think I’m really lucky to be the youngest and learn from my older siblings.

4.   Justin, obviously.  He’s not first simply because I’ve known him much shorter than my family.  Justin is one of the most patient, calm people I’ve ever known.  He is so extremely loyal and kind.  I consider myself a pretty practical person but there are times when he points out how absolutely ridiculous and emotional my reaction to something is and puts life back in perspective.  This is usually accomplished by him reminding me that I’m on birth control.  He’s taught me how to mountain bike and ski and how absolutely amazing it is to go through life with a true partner by my side.  I chose wisely.

5.  My former teachers/professors.  This is another big group that I could easily list individually.  Senora Jurado was my favorite teacher in high school (she obviously taught Spanish).  She really pushed me to do my very best and believed that I could do things I didn’t have the faith in myself to even try.  In college, Dr. Armstrong took notice of me in an analytical course and helped me get involved in undergrad research and go to grad school.  It’s really encouraging when someone at his level takes you under their wing.  Dr. Aspinwall and Dr. Pollard were also very encouraging and helped me realize that I was capable of more than I originally thought.

6. Kara McEuen & Misha Greer.  Kara is my oldest friend.  I think we met when we were 3 years old.  I honestly don’t remember ever fighting with her, at least nothing that lasted more than 5 minutes.  Misha was my first roommate in college and later we lived together in SLC.  She’s the only friend I’ve ever been roommates with and not had it damage our friendship.  These girls have shown me what a true friend is.  Literally through thick and thin, good times and bad, they have been there for me.  And even though we now live in different states and even opposite sides of the country I know that the next time we get together it’s going to be like no time has passed at all.

7. Ok, I cheated again.  I only got to number 6 but that is already more than 10 people!  The hard thing is there isn’t just one person that I think “I want to be like blank.”  I wish I had certain aspects of a lot of people’s personalities and that’s why I keep them around.  A few more people on that list: my Utah girls- Jane, Bailey, Meg, Camille, Lindsay and Lacey, and Andrea Krause (I'm so lucky that my husband's best friend's wife (did you follow that?) is one of my friends too!).  Hopefully some day you all rub off on me.

The One at White Pine

The last weekend of August Justin, his dad and I went backpacking to White Pine Lake.  It's actually really close to Red Pine which we've hiked to a few times before.  White Pine is the left fork on that trail and we finally took it.  We've heard that it's prettier and also an easier hike.  Neither was true unfortunately but it was still fun.  White Pine is less steep (or supposed to be- sure didn't feel like it toward the end there!) but longer (for sure!).  The weather was amazing though and we found the best campsite.  There was only one other group there so it was also quiet.

I don't think this picture does justice to the last ascent.  It was a killer!

 Our campsite!  We found it this way.  Thanks previous campers!!

It was right on the edge of a cliff overlooking the lake/pond.

 

Justin recently bought a green laser pointer.  You know you've really made it when your laser is green!!  It made the campfire smoke look really cool though.  Just in time for Halloween!!  Spooky!!!

The next morning we hiked around the reservoir and Justin had fun steering :)

These are my fluffy sleeping socks.  They keep my feet warm.  It was chilly the next morning so I just decided to hike down wearing them.  Justin thought they looked funny with my hiking boots and thermals though :)

This may have been our last camping trip of the year :(  Good thing we made it a long one!!

The One at Lake Tahoe

One of my favorite things about Justin is that he plans most of our vacations.  At least where to go.  This totally works for us because he always comes up with great places to visit or camp at while I'm good at the preparatory details, making sure we have adequate food and clothing.  For our second anniversary we went to Lake Tahoe.  Brock and Carrie actually went there on their honeymoon and highly recommended it.  And for good reason.  It is absolutely gorgeous!  You hear people say how pretty it is there but it is always an understatement.  It is the most breathtakingly beautiful place I've ever seen, and we went to Hawaii on our honeymoon!

I love having a 3-day weekend for our anniversary every year.  And I'm glad that weekend is Memorial and not Labor Day so I don't have to worry about missing the first football game of the year :)  We went on multiple hikes and a dinner cruise around the lake.  It was super fun!!

Just some shots to show you the scenery.  We explored the Emerald Bay area.  It had multiple short hikes to peaks with great views.

We forgot to check the weather and it actually snowed on us our first day there.  Not enough to really stick but it made for some cool, creepy pictures.

That's Lake Tahoe in the background.

We found some neat things along the trail.  Like Simba.

And this red mushroom.  This was about 3" tall and all by itself.  The picture doesn't do justice to how vibrantly red it was.  And random.

This is one of the smaller mountain lakes we hiked to.  We're sitting on a boulder in the middle of a huge rock slide.

It was the perfect platform for another yoga pose.  I'm really not turning into a yoga-crazed hippie, I promise.  I just like the pictures :)

Justin tried a pose too.  Remember when I said he can't touch his toes?  Proof.

Justin is so good about doing research before we go places.  Not only does he pick a great location but he has a list of fun sights to see and restaurants to try.  I'd never heard of Vikingsholm but it was cool to see.  Apparently in the early 1900's a wealthy woman wanted to build a home on the shore of Lake Tahoe and she loved the look of houses in the Netherlands.  So she hired an architect and tons of construction workers and artisans to recreate a viking lodge in Tahoe.  The best part was Justin kept calling it "Viking-shlom."  I can't even remember if he actually thought that's how it was pronounced or if we just thought it was funny.  Because it was!

This house is approaching 100 years old!  It looks so nice because it's a museum now.  We didn't want to wait or pay for the next tour so we just walked around ourselves.

This cute little chipmunk obviously gets fed by the tourists.  At one point he almost crawled up my shoe!

This is Fannette Island.  Another rich lady built a house out there just for tea parties!  It was Hermit Island for a while because this one guy lived alone on it to take care of the house during the off season, which was most of the year.

I love this shot!  Doesn't it look creepy because of the snow falling?!

Here's our dinner cruise, the MS Dixie.  It was so fun!  We sadly didn't make any new friends, we just enjoyed dinner and live music with each other :)  It was cool to get farther from shore too because the water is so clear you can see the bottom of the lake forever!

The boat had a paddlewheel.  Justin liked it almost as much as trains.

Up on top of the boat.  I was chilly :)

See.  Gorgeous!!

The second day we went on a hike where the trail was still covered in snow.  Which was awesome because there were fewer people.

Justin thought this was funny.  I slid in the snow and left perfect handprints.

I want to print this picture on canvas and hang it on our wall.

Of course we got a picture of Justin's pose.

I think this will be my new pose.

Maybe not :)

The One with Thing 8

What are 5 passions you have?

I feel like I'm going to repeat myself a lot with this.  "What are your favorite hobbies?"  -Probably the same things.

My marriage/family

Look!  It's all in one picture!  Awwww :)

Crafting
Here are some of my latest creations:

This one took for-e-ver!  It was for Payton, son of our friends Brock and Carrie.  I started it ~4 months before he was born but got sidetracked making Christmas presents.  Then I was re-motivated to finish when Payton was hospitalized for botulism.  It's really rare and really scary!  He's healthy again now and this turned into a welcome home gift.  His dad is a pretty big Utah fan so it was fun coming up with this design on my own but making it double-sided was so much work.  That's why the U's are just silhouettes.

 

This beautiful blankie was one I was saving to make for a blessing.  I love the ribbons running through it!  So cute and girly :)  I made it for Edie Beedie (Steve and Heather's baby girl) and I'm so excited to see her wrapped in it soon!  (I obviously started this post a while ago.  I just saw Eden in this blanket last weekend.)

And finally, Wyatt's blanket.  I really like the way this one turned out.  Even cuter than I imagined!

Mom and Dad just celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary!!  40 years!!  That's darn impressive.  To be honest I'm not sure if I've ever given them an anniversary present so I figured 40 was a good time to start.  I read a talk by Russell M. Nelson recently and loved this quote in it.  I thought it would be perfect for Mom and Dad so I turned it into three wall hangings.  This was my first attempt at cutting vinyl with my Cricut.  I have a new addiction :)

Volleyball

I was going to put a picture of me on my high school team but my desktop is still out of commission so I can't use the scanner.  Well, I probably could but that's too much work :)  Maybe later.

UofA

Go Cats!!!

I found this picture online!  It was taken by a guy named Max Richard, not me.  The cool thing is that is the Koffler Building!  The chemistry building on campus.  This was where I spent a lot of time between 2002 & 2006 :)

Reading

I love reading!  Always have.  For one of my birthdays when I was younger (I think I was 7) my grandpa bought me a reading lamp.  Family members should already know where I'm going with this.  I was so excited to have my own lamp on the shelves above my bed so I could read whenever and however long I wanted.  And I did.  One night I was reading under my baby blanket with my new lamp and I fell asleep.  This was clearly not a good idea and my blanket and the lamp burned up.  I am so lucky I didn't burn the house down or at least get some minor skin burns myself.  Thankfully nothing happened to me but the lamp was a melted, charred, unrecognizable mess and my beloved blanket will never be the same.