Quite the Adventure

Last weekend was quite the adventure. Clay and I went to bodyworlds on Friday night. We had nine thirty tickets and expected to be done around midnight. Well. . . it turned out that we waited in line from nine thirty till midnight. But the exhibit was amazing and well worth the wait! We got through around two in the morning and discovered we had a 12 block walk ahead of us to the gateway. On our journey, we took ourselves on a tour of the Grand America Hotel. Pretty Amazing. And three in the morning is pretty close to midnight. Right?

Sunny Winter Days

I am not a person that loves WINTER. In fact, I could probably go as far to say that I don't love winter. It is entirely too cold for me and when you mix in a 45 minute commute up a canyon on icy roads, really. . . what is there to love? I have a few clients at work that live in Pheonix and they continually tell me how perfect the weather is during the winter. When I am old I think I will be one of those people that spends the winter in Arizona. But really, why wait till I am old? Is that a possibility now? But the purpose of this post is not for me to complain about the snow, the cold, the ice and all the negatives of winter. It is to say how beautiful winter is! I was driving to work this morning and the sun was shining and all the snow glistening and sparkling! The temperature was working up to a nice 40 degrees. I even enjoyed the falling snow outside the windows of work as it glistened in the beaming sunlight. There was a soft spot in my heart that said, winter is pretty. . .and add in a little sunshine and bearable temperatures and winter isn't so bad.

Year in Review

I can't believe 2009 is already here! I love the newspaper right around new years when they put together the year in review page. It is always fun to remember all the things that happened in the news that year. I wanted to remember all the things in my life that I did in 2008, so I compiled my own Year in Review.

• Ran the Moab 1/2 Marathon and the Top of Utah 1/2 Marathon. And I have got to say that I am hooked on half marathons.
• Graduated from Utah State
• Graduation Trip to Hawaii
• Trip to New York. . . just for fun
• Got my first real job in Park City
• Not having power for two days at our little house in Logan two days before moving out. 
• Took a spring break road trip to St. George with Jen. We did all sorts of fun and random things, like stopping at cove fort, quail lake, and the st. george tabernacle. Along with our side trip to mesquite.
• Senior Exhibit
• Experiencing True Aggie night...don't ask i have no idea
• Jana's wedding in Logan
• Jen's wedding in Alpine
• Building a bed with my dad
• Designing the PCTV cooking show set
• Working on a PC showcase home
• Watching fireworks from suncrest on top of Britton's explorer
• The Devine Wedding. . . being set up on a blind date with the best man from Spencer Devine's wedding. . .  for the luncheon and reception. 
• A stand still on the freeway and being stuck for three hours from 1-4 in the morning. I still can't believe that was real. And then setting off my car alarm twice. . .embarassing.
• A phone call that lead to a Sunday visit that lead to a Wednesday lunch, which then led to the lights on temple square which led to a dinner at Zupa's and then. . . a december full of fun and good times. Who would have guessed?

Thanks to all my friends and family who have truly made 2008 so great. I am so blessed to have such amazing people in my life. I hope this next year I can be a better friend and a better person. . . I guess I should make a list of Resolutions:)

Celebrate the Season

This year December has flown by so quickly it feels as though I haven't had time to do all the things I wanted to truly get into the christmas spirit. However, I wanted to make a list of all the fun festive things I have done this season to remind myself that I have made good use of Christmas time!

• Saw the Lights on Temple Square
• Watched Elf, Home Alone, and Muppets Christmas Carol
• Went to the Forgotten Carols
• Saw the play Savior of the World
• Experienced Ultimate Sledding in Park City
• Drank Hot Chocolate
• Made gingerbread cookies
• Listened to lots of Christmas music
• Decorated the Christmas tree
• Wrapped gifts
• Had a Christmas dinner in the Joseph Smith Building
• Went to an ugly sweater party
• Built a Gingerbread House of Graham Crackers
• Hung out with Family
• Attended the Family Christmas Recital
• Went to the fesitval of Trees

Everyone's a bit quirky

I was tagged by Britton to name six quirky things that I do. I found this a little hard because these things are just normal to me, but probably pretty wierd to other people. Anyway, here it goes . . .

• When watching sports, especially basketball, I love when the scores are even numbers. I feel a sense of relief and satisfaction when a three pointer changes the score from an odd to an even number.
• I keep most of my shoes in shoe boxes. I like the organization and I don't like my shoes to be stacked on top of each other. In my mind they are staying nice and new longer.
• I am really picky about the condition of my socks. I can't stand it when I step in something wet with socks on, or when I walk across the kitchen floor and get crumbs on the bottom of them.
• I put salt on oranges.
• This is a weird one that comes with past jobs and being a design student. I think of colors as either paint colors or chartpak rendering marker colors. A normal person would say that is brown, I would say that is "shaker beige" or "lenox tan." What one person calls red I would call "brick red" or "bing cherry."
• When I make toast for breakfast, I take a peice of bread from the bag and then take a bite before putting it in the toaster. My toast always comes out of the toaster with a bite taken out. Odd.

My New Headboard

Working at a high end furniture and design firm makes you want really nice furniture. And since there is no way I can have the really pretty things I see all the time, I decided to design and build my own! My dad helped me with all the sawing and screwing, but together we built a pretty awesome bed. It is an upholstered headboard with upholstered side rails and foot board. I love it! I have slowly been putting the bedding together and decided to splurgo on some expensive daniel stuart fabric for pillows.

I am Thankful for...

I love Thanksgiving, I love the food, I love family and I love the occasion to think about all the things I am grateful for. Although my list could go on for a mile, here are a few things that I am especially thankful for this season.

1. Every good list starts with family, what a blessing!

2. The oppurtunity to go to school and get an education.

3. The opportunities and freedom to TRAVEL

4. Thoughtful friends who send nice little messages that really make my day!

5. The gift of creativity and being surrounded by inspiring design

6. A passion for music

7. All things that the gospel entails. This week I am especially grateful for a loving bishop and this awesome book he graciously gave me to read.

8. Elder Eugdorf's talk on HOPE. What an inspiration to get us through these crazy times.

9. Coats, Jackets and Boots...I am grateful for fun coats and jackets that keep me warm and are fun to wear.

9. Amazing Friends

10. A yummy Thanksgiving Dinner!

What to do on a Friday night?... Go to Snowbird! First, round up all your snow gear and head to the lift for some great tubing. If you are me, crash on your first run down. Make sure to take pictures on the ski lift and in the nets below. Then check into your room at the lodge and throw on your swim suit. Head up to the roof top pool and enjoy the hot tub! When it gets too hot, go back inside and make hot chocolate in the coffee maker. For first time coffee maker users: it takes a LONG time to heat water. That is what to do on a Friday night!