Catching Up

Hello folks! Yeah, its been a while. Sorry about that. Life has been pretty crazy lately. I figure I better catch you up on a few things before we get back to the wacky nocturnal musings of my brain.

September: I got a new position at work and became the office manager. Yes, I also got a raise. :) I also got a new camera phone. The first pictures I took were of my adorable niece, Tressa. It was her birthday. She gets her chocolate fetish from her favorite aunt...me!

October: Obviously, the best part of October is the end. So we'll skip straight to Halloween. My awesome roommates and I dressed up as characters from the board game Clue. I dare say, old chap, that we look pretty darn good! Janel is a properly prim Ms. Peacock. Andrea is a sassy, sexy Miss Scarlett. I'm a wickedly wonderful Mrs. White.

November: We went to a totally awesome One Republic concert and had a blast!! Thanksgiving was great spending time with family and feasting. Other than that it was a blur. But November needs a picture so how about one of snow in our front yard?

December: Of course Christmas was fantastic! It usually is! But here's the best story: Once upon a time, 4 Cinderellas got all dressed up for the ball. Unfortunately, the ball was a bust and no handsome princes were in attendance. Therefore the four Cinderellas along with 5 other beautiful princesses went bowling in their ball gowns and had a blast! To sum up: Ball:boring bust::bowling:blast!

January: So far its been great! Happy New Year to all of us! I spent New Years Eve at a ward party. We laughed, we sang, we played cards, and murdered people in the dark! Wahoo!

Note of Awesomeness: I'm going on a cruise!!!! Janel, Andrea, Kaija, and I will be off to the Bahamas in May! Lucky us! I'm anxiously awaiting sandy beaches, turquoise waters, and pirate adventures! Can't wait!!

Quirks?

The Rules:
Link the Person who Tagged you.
Mention rules on your blog.
Tell about 6 quirks of yours.
Tag 6 fellow bloggers to do the same.
Leave a comment to let them know.

1. I can't eat eggs unless they are mixed into something, i.e. pancakes, cookies. cakes. If I can see the egg or taste it individually, I can't eat it. The reason for this is an extra set of taste buds that I have in the back of my throat that react to the egg and induce a gagging reflex which then causes me to throw up. It sounds like I'm making this up, but I'm really not. My dad also has this as does a lady in my neighborhood.

2. My cousin wrote about organizing her colored candy before eating it. I also do this. Its a minor ADD moment. I have to make them all even in number or create a pattern with them. M&Ms, Skittles, Sweetarts, and Smarties are all subject to this behavior.

3. I make up nicknames for people whose names I don't know so that my friends and I have a way of distinguishing them. For example, one day a guy started talking to us about EBay. It was a very random conversation and we had no idea who he was, so he became EBay-boy. (Very creative, I know.)

4. I used to absolutely, positively, unequivocally hate, despise, and detest gravy. It was the most vile, disgusting thing on the face of the earth. Then one day, a good friend made me try biscuits and gravy. I've been hooked ever since. I think it was the combination of the biscuits, (yum!) sausage, and salt. (I'm a salt addict.) So gravy isn't so bad now.

5. I once got set up on a blind date with the same guy twice. The dates were 2 years apart. Both times he said he'd call and then he never did. Hooser.

6. I just got 2 wisdom teeth pulled this afternoon. Thankfully, it was just a pulling, they weren't impacted or anything. I am, however, in some small manner of pain and eagerly awaiting my hydrocodone prescription. I tried to do just Ibuprofen, but it isn't working. I can't open my mouth all the way, but the numbness has worn off so I don't sound so "thpethal" anymore. With some luck, I'll be ok for work tomorrow. Maybe.

I now tag Andrea, Janel, Tawni, Kristen/Rob, Brooke Snyder, and Lisa!

Love and Sacrifice

My roommates and I attended a new YSA ward today for the first time. We decided that we really like the ward. We want to check out another ward next week, but we'll probably go to this one.

Anyway we came home and were really tired. It had been a long week. I decided to take a nap and I had this crazy, crazy dream. My friend Annie really, really likes this guy. In my dream she and I lived in this alternate universe where we were being forced into arranged marriages. Now luckily for me, I was being matched with the guy Annie likes, but Annie was matched with a white haired old geezer. I don't know who did the matching, but it was sad.

So in the course of my engagement with the guy Annie loved, I found out that he also loved her, but due to the arranged marriages, he couldn't pursue her. We ended up searching all sorts of old laws trying to find a loophole so that Annie and her guy could marry. It was intense as Annie was due to marry the old geezer the next day and I was supposed to marry her guy later that day.

We found the loophole, but it required that someone take Annie's place. I ended up running through buildings with long corridors bumping into children and knocking over old ladies as I sprinted to stop Annie's wedding...and take her place. So yes, I married an old guy so that my friend can marry the guy she loves. What does this say about me? I don't know, but hopefully not that I like old men. Eeeww.

July 2nd

Guess what world?!!!

I'm moving out!!! Yes, you heard correctly! Three friends and I found a place, charmed the landlord with brownies, and got approved! We'll move in the middle of July! Wa-freakin-hoo!!!!!!
I've been dreaming of moving out for a couple of years now and I finally feel secure enough (financially) to do it. I'm so glad my friends invited me to find a place with them. That makes it even more fun!

So here are my dreams for living with my friends:
Sunday Dinners. I know people will want to see family and stuff, but I'd like to try one Sunday a month and fix a nice meal for all of us and eat together like a family. Essentially we will be family.

Midnight Munchies. I can see us up late some random Friday night just talking and giggling and eating Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream. Yum!

Family Prayer. Call me weird, but I'd love to do a roommate prayer together every night. Even though not all us may be there at the same time, I think it would help create an atmosphere conducive to the Spirit.

Those are just of few of my ideals and dreams. With any luck, they'll come true!

Blogathon!

I like my friends; I want to be like them. Therefore, I'm want to participate in the blogathon they are doing. Unfortunately for me, I'm already three days behind. So I''ll be playing catch up. This is what I should have written for July 1st.

I dreamed I was engaged to Mr. Darcy last night. This was the first time I've dreamed about it versus day-dreamed about it. Big difference. Many guys wonder what we girls fascination with Darcy is. Some say its just the his good looks, his money, and that he's British. (The 3 B's: Beauty, Bounty and British. Courtesy of Dave) While these are nice and admirable traits fully capable of making any girl swoon, they are not the reason we love him. He's a highly complex character. First he's resilient to the charms, and I use that term loosely, of Caroline Bingley. She only wants him for the 3 B's and does her best to prove that she is whom he should marry. By doing this she becomes catty, clingy, undesirable and a modern day witch. We admire men who can withstand the wiles of women like her.

Although Darcy is proud, once his fault is pointed out to him, he resolves to change and win the respect of Elizabeth. We want men who are willing to change and be the best that they can. We love men who treat us with respect and value our thoughts and opinions. He becomes humble insomuch that he endures becoming related to his enemy in order to have what he desires most; the love and good opinion of a good woman. He opens up more to society and learns to laugh at himself. I value this trait. We all take ourselves so seriously. Sometimes you just have to laugh at your mistakes and move on without letting little things get you down.

So guys, (I doubt any read this. If you do, leave me a note!) please realize that real women want real men. Men who are respectful, humble, strong enough to bear burdens, and strong enough to need us.

Nature Girl

It is a well known that fact that when Jewels has an adventure involving nature and the outdoors, at some point she will hit her head. Alas the curses of being tall!

Today I had a wonderful opportunity to go hike Waterfall Canyon with two good friends. The weather appeared to be perfect for the event when I woke up this morning. It was sunny, not too hot, the birds were chirping, and I was no longer dreaming that I was naked at church. (Sorry dear readers, but its true. I dreamed I was naked at church and I was very relieved to wake up and find myself clothed in PJ's and in my bed. Phew!~)

As we reached the trail head, the weather changed and it began to rain. At first it was a soft, gentle, welcome rain. It felt so nice and we laughed as we headed up the mountain. We kept our eyes open for uniquely shaped rocks and laughed and teased each other. As we progressed, the weather got worse. Soon it was hailing...hard. Our faces and hands turned red and we took shelter under a few trees. Little rivulets started to trickle down the trail making it slippery and treacherous. Our pace slackened as our caution mounted.

In such miserable conditions, it seemed hard to believe that we would keep our good humor, but we did! We laughed and talked as we huffed and puffed our way up. Even when my short friends safely passed under a low, thick tree whilst I, in my tallness, smacked my head, we laughed it off and kept going.

At last we made the top and gazed the serene beauty of the waterfall. As we rested the clouds parted, the sun burst through and our cheerfulness increased. We feasted on the goodies brought with us and continued our quest for geometrically shaped rocks. We found a heart-shaped, a square, an oval, and a round rock. The sun quickly dried our damp hoodies and jackets and we started back down.

The views were spectacular and after the rain, the foliage was lush and green. We all picked wild flowers as we came down. We were sore and tired but felt a great sense of accomplishment that we continued in less than desirable conditions and came away smelling like...well, wild flowers. It was fantastic.

So thanks girls for a great day. Next time, I'll try to keep an eye out for low lying branches!

Tears

Do not be afraid, dear reader, that this post will only serve to depress you. I've had some good things happen to me lately, including a raise from work, 2 calls from (get this!) 2 guys, and I ran a mile and felt good about it. I'm that much closer to my 5K goal.

Bearing in mind that my blog explores the weird things that happen in my head at night, I'd like to tell you about the dream I had last night. I cried a lot. I woke up with tears on my face. There were 3 things that made me cry. The first is the funniest. I went to the movies with my mom, little sister, and little brother. I believe we were seeing the new Indiana Jones movie. We were really excited to go. We found the perfect seats and were waiting for the show to start when I suddenly remembered that I hadn't gotten any popcorn yet. I ran to the concession stand and placed my order. "Two large things of popcorn, please." (No, I wasn't going to eat it all myself...I was going to share...some.) Just then the manager came out and told me in a not nice way that I was never allowed to have popcorn again. I begged and pleaded with her to let me have some, but she refused to give in. I begged so long that I missed the movie and started to sob. I was heartbroken more over the popcorn than missing the movie.

The second thing that made me cry was a guy. Go figure. Same guy as the Coldstone entry. Same reasons. I thought I was doing fine. Apparently my subconscious thought otherwise.

The third thing that made me cry was a friend. This friend has been struggling in many ways and I'm very concerned for him. This isn't the place to list his struggles, but they require more help than what I can give. The most I can do is be supportive and pray for him. I don't know if he will read this or not, but if he does, I hope that he'll recognize how many people love him and care for him.

So that's my dream. Lack of popcorn makes me cry. So do boys. But I'll just keep thinking of the good things in my life and the tears will dry pretty quickly. At least, they won't show on the outside.