Day 3 - My first date.

(I'm going to start changing the titles to my instead of your since it is about me after all :))

So here is what I remember about my first date. It was my 16th birthday and my date was 2 hours late picking me up. My parents had planned a "while you were out" as my present in which they redid our TV room and made it look super awesome so that I would like having friends over. Since my date was late and I wasn't "out" I got confined to my room and not allowed to look out or come out. I remember being quite upset so I don't even remember what I actually did when my date got there. But I think we just went to dairy queen and then came home since the room was almost done.

My first date with Michael is a cause of much discord in our marriage. Not the date itself but what classified as our first date. If you ask me what our first date then I'll tell you the truth, that we went to a BYU hockey game with his sister and her husband. If you ask Mike he might say ice skating, or even more absurd, golf. Let me classify those two events for you so you can agree that they were not first date material.

Golfing: So Chandra and I took a golf class and we had to go golfing a certain number of times during the semester. Spencer decided that he wanted to see more of Chandra so he asked her to go golfing with him. Chandra, scared of dating Spencer, asked him if I could come too and if he would invite his friend Mike (my Mike's roommate at the time). Mike J decided that Mike M would probably rather go with me so he did. Spencer paid for Chandra since it was supposed to be a date for them so Mike felt obligated and paid for me too. Doesn't count as a date in my eyes..

Ice skating: so Michael got invited to go ice skating with a couple that had recently got engaged. He just happened to be telling me about it and asked if I wanted to go. My initial thoughts: "finally he's asking me on a date!" That was until he turned to everyone else and asked if anyone else wanted to come. It just so happened that the other people who wanted to come were Chandra and Spencer who were actually kind of dating so it was an engaged couple, them and us. Mike ended up paying for me because I didn't have cash. Again, doesn't count as a date.

As you can see, both of these circumstances we just ended up being us two and another couple with him paying for me. Take that for what you will but the first date he actually asked me on and wanted to be with me on was the hockey game.

Day 2 - Your Favorite Movie.

Picking this one wasn't as hard as picking my favorite song. I've had to pick a favorite movie before and since this is the one that I always tell people I'll stick to it. Plus, it is a really good movie and I've seen it a lot few times. It makes me laugh, it makes me cry. What else could you ask for in a movie!?

If only I had time to watch it right now... boo. 

Day 1 - Your favorite song.

I've always hated the questions like this that make you pick your favorite song (or favorite movie... tomorrow. ugh). It's just so hard when you like music as much as me to pick a song that is your favorite. It is always changing. In general, I love music that relates to my life. I love lyrics. My favorite type of music is currently country. Call me crazy but I love it. I told my husband that I really like country because most of the songs just make you feel good (sometimes country is known for depressing songs about losing everything but those songs are usually too twangy for me, and therefore I really don't like that kind). I love love love Taylor Swift, The Band Perry, Zac Brown Band, David Nail, Miranda Lambert, Sugarland, Rascal Flatts, Lady Antebellum.. others too but those are the big ones.

As you can see I'm trying to stall... I guess I'll get down to it. I would say that today my current favorite song is... well, I've listened to several songs now trying to figure out my favorite and it's so hard. Can I do my favorite artist instead? No... Well since I can't pick a favorite song with my favorite lyrics and favorite music and favorite artist all wrapped into one I am going to pick the one that brings me the best memory.

If I Run by The Harters.

This is the song that Michael and I danced to at our wedding. I really love it. And the lyrics are beautiful. Does it need more explanation than that?

Well, cross your fingers that I can keep this up. Now I must decide what my favorite movie is before tomorrow. TTFN!

30 Day Blog Challenge

Blogging is hard for me. Of course I want to remember everything that goes on in life but its hard when your life is as busy as mine is. As soon as school started life got crazy. I want to give myself an excuse to start blogging more often even when life is busy. So the 30-day blog challenge begins (thanks to Jessica :))

Day 1 — Your favorite song.
Day 2 — Your favorite movie.
Day 3 – Your first date.
Day 4 – Your favorite photograph of your best friend.
Day 5 – How important do you think education is?
Day 6 – A photo of an animal you'd love to keep as a pet.
Day 7 –Your wedding.
Day 8 – A song to match your mood.
Day 9 – A photo of the item you last purchased.
Day 10 – A photo of your favorite place to eat.
Day 11 – What's in your makeup bag?
Day 12 – Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play
Day 13 – The meaning behind your Blog name
Day 14 – A TV show you're currently addicted to.
Day 15 – Something you don't leave the house without.
Day 16 – Something you crave for a lot
Day 17 – How you hope your future will be like.
Day 18 – 5 things that irritate ME about the opposite/same sex.
Day 19 – Something you’re proud of in the past few days

Day 20 – Your favorite poem, book, and fictional character.
Day 21 – A photo of something that makes you happy.
Day 22 – Nicknames you have; why do you have them
Day 23 – A picture of you last year and now, how have you changed since then?
Day 24 – A photo of something that means a lot to you.
Day 25 – Who are you? What makes you different from everyone else
Day 26 – A photo of somewhere you've been and a picture of somewhere you want to go.
Day 27 – What kind of person attracts you.
Day 28 – In this past month, what have you learned?
Day 29 – Something you could never get tired of doing.
Day 30 – A photograph of yourself today + three good things that have happened in the past 30 days

Cultural Diorama

I was assigned to create a cultural diorama of 3 things that I think represent me culturally and have shaped my life and one of the ways to share it is via blog post so... here it is!

Believer, Wife, Daughter, Sister, Washingtonian:

number one:

More than anything else my family has shaped me. I wouldn't be who I am today without their love and wisdom. That is why I chose these photos of my family to represent me culturally. Growing up with 3 brothers has made me different than I would have been had my siblings been different. I was a tomboy growing up and I never really showed interest in "girly things." Each member in my family has shaped my personality and sense of humor in some way. As I grow and mature, my family becomes more diverse. When my oldest brother got married and had three kids, he added to the complexity of my family experience. Having nieces and a nephew created in me a new kind of love that I had never felt before. When I first held my niece, Avalee, in my arms, I knew I was going to love being an aunt. The time we spend together as a family during holidays or the other rare occasions that we are all home at once has become so much more special with the addition of Ryan's little family. My other older brother Tristan is now engaged and I look forward to how fun it's going to be to have his wife as a sister-in-law. Getting married added a whole new dimension to my family because I had the opportunity to join another great family from whom I've learned so much. Each member of my family is a part of me and I can't imagine life without them. 

number two:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is what I've built my life on. All my beliefs, hopes, and dreams come from the teachings of the church. The church has a distinct culture that sets its members apart from others who do not follow its standards. I love what the gospel brings to my life. It allows me to have truth in my life; it brings me joy; it fosters a sense of hope in me; it creates love in my heart; it gives me a purpose. Everything I do and everything I will do in the future is anchored in the teachings of the gospel. One thing that I feel very fortunate to have is the knowledge of God's plan for us in this life and in the life hereafter. I would feel very inadequate if I didn't have the truth that God loves each of us and has a plan for us. The way I dress, how I talk, what I do each day, what I watch, read and listen to, are all based on the standards that I learned from growing up in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 

number three:

I never realized how much I loved my home state until I moved out here to Utah for school. When I go back to visit Washington I feel so refreshed. As you can see from these pictures that I chose, Washington is breath-taking. One thing that I learned from growing up in Washington is environment awareness. I remember having to do many projects where we evaluated how environmentally friendly our houses were. We learned a lot about recycling, turning off lights, using less water, driving less and other environmentally safe practices. One thing that has been really hard to adapt to since moving to Utah is the lack of recycling here. None of the places I've lived in since coming here have had weekly recycling pick up which means that any paper, cardboard, plastic or other recyclable materials go into the trash. What I've learned from this experience is that growing up in Washington has shaped my life practices and beliefs an expectations from the community I'm living in. I lived in Washington for 18 years so it is the schema that I compare all my new experiences to. I've found that I like to say where I'm from and show that part of me.

My own Menu board

I have been wanting a menu board lately so today I decided to make one! I LOVE it. Here are some pictures.

I made this out of ribbon. Very cute if I do say so myself.

All filled out :)

Now two of my FAVORITE things in my house are hanging next to each other in the kitchen :)

Hopefully this will help me to cook yummy meals more often. I decided while I was shopping for this that I love craft stores. They are awesome and always inspire crafty ideas in my head. Plus, there are some amazing cute scrapbooking materials out there. It made me want to do a scrapbook but then I remembered that I'd be horribly bad at scrapbooking. Maybe someday...

Camping!

Mike has been reeeeally wanting to go camping all summer. We got a tent and a lantern for our wedding and then we bought a sleeping bag for me at Costco. I still feel so unprepared for camping though because there is a lot of stuff we don't have but I think I am just used to camping with my mom who has everything. So anyways, this weekend Michael has 3 performances so he has been rehearsing all week. On Monday he was in Salt Lake until about 10:30 so I had this waiting for him when he got home :)

I had to use candles because we didn't have a flashlight.

Welcome home :)

S'mores time!

It was a short camping trip because it was a lot later than I thought he would get home and he didn't want to sleep in the tent so that he could get some sleep before work. Maybe someday we can have a real camping trip :)