Mocktail Party 2007

Yesterday I attended Ali, Steph, and Sandra's Annual Mocktail Party. It was filled with drinks, dancing, and dear friends. Here are a few pictures:

Me - I'm thinking of making this my profile picture. My mom says it makes me look "chunky through the middle." I replied, "I am chunky through the middle." What do you think? (Not of me being chunky, but of making this my profile picture? By the way, my current profile picture was taken at last year's Mocktail Party).

Christi & Me

Ali & Me

Shelly & Me

Dancing (I love this pic of Steph).

The Limbo

More Dancing

More Holiday Pictures

A couple of weeks ago, Katrina threw a lovely Christmas party. We spent the time among friends eating a delicious Christmas dinner and playing Rock Band. Although I was barely recovering from my near death experience (a cold), I had so much fun. Here are a few pictures:

Alina & Me - we look so precious.

Playing Rock Band - that's me on guitar.

Me & Alina singing (or screaming).

Jared playing guitar - look at that rock-n-roll face.

Singing - Jared, Charlotte, Tim, & Lesli.

Christmas Dreaming

The Big Kids

Me in my Christmas PJs

The Entire Family in Christmas PJs:
Adam, Megan, Me, & Louis
Jackie, Kyle, & Amanda

The Traditional Staircase Shot

The Little Kids

Me & Mitch

Zackie & Me

Zackie finally learned the true meaning of Christmas (well as much as a three year old can learn). I showed him the baby Jesus from a nativity (not the snowman nativity, but the olive wood one from Jerusalem) and asked him, "Zackie, who's this?" He replied, "Baby Jesus. I like the baby Jesus."

Zackie playing Hide-and-Seek,

or as he calls it "Hide-and-Geek."

Zackie showing us how a choo-choo goes
(His arms are the train wheels)

Zack opening presents

Zack, Mark, Dakota, & Dannika

My mom bought all the little kids headlamps for Christmas. She was inspired by the TV commercial that shows kids with headlamps waiting for Santa. They loved them!!

Songs of the 90s

VH1 recently aired, "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s." I loved it. As someone who LOVES musics and who spent my middle school, high school, and college years in the 90s, it was very nostalgic. I agreed with a lot of VH1's choices, but I felt that they left off a few songs (I was shocked they didn't include any Blink 182, Dave Matthews Band, or Nine Inch Nails!!) and I would have slightly rearranged the order. Here are my 20 most memorable songs from the 90s:

1. Pearl Jam "Jeremy" (#11 on VH1's list)
2. Blink 182 "All the Small Things" (not included on VH1's list)
3. Dave Matthews Band "Crash Into Me" (not included on VH1's list)
4. Nine Inch Nails "Closer" (not included on VH1's list)
5. Live "Lightening Crashes" (not included on VH1's list, although "I Alone" is #62)
6. Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit (#1 on VH1's list)
7. Weezer "Undone-The Sweater Song" (not included on VH1's list, although "Buddy Holly" is #59)
8. Bare Naked Ladies "One Week" (#72 on VH1's list)
9. Bush "Glycerine" (not included on VH1's list)
10. Red Hot Chili Peppers "Under the Bridge" (#15 on VH1's list)
11. Oasis "Wonderwall" (#35 on VH1's list)
12. Limp Bizkit "Nookie" (not included on VH1's list)
13. Korn "Shoots and Ladders" (not included on the VH1's list, although "Freak on a Leash" is #69)
14. Radiohead "Fake Plastic Trees" (not included on VH1's list, although "Creep" is #31)
15. R.E.M. "Losing my Religion" (#9 on VH1's list)
16. Will Smith "Miami" (not included on VH1's list, although "Gettin Jiggy Wit It" is #68)
17. The Presidents of the United States of America "Peaches" (#64 on VH1's list)
18. Jesus Jones "Right Here, Right Now" (not included on VH1's list)
19. EMF "Unbelievable" (#98 on VH1's list)
20. Counting Crows "Mr. Jones" (#27 on VH1's list)

Here is VH1's list:

1. Nirvana "Smells Like Teen Spirit"
2. U2 "One"
3. Backstreet Boys "I Want It That Way"
4. Whitney Houston "I Will Always Love You"
5. Madonna "Vogue"
6. Sir Mix-A-Lot "Baby Got Back"
7. Britney Spears "...Baby One More Time"
8. TLC"Waterfalls"
9. R.E.M. "Losing My Religion"
10. Sinéad O'Connor "Nothing Compares 2 U"
11. Pearl Jam "Jeremy"
12. Alanis Morissette "You Oughta Know"
13. Dr. Dre (featuring Snoop Doggy Dogg) "Nuthin' but a "G" Thang"
14. Mariah Carey "Vision of Love"
15. Red Hot Chili Peppers "Under the Bridge"
16. MC Hammer "U Can't Touch This"
17. Destiny's Child "Say My Name"
18. Metallica "Enter Sandman"
19. Beastie Boys "Sabotage"
20. Hanson "MMMBop"
21. Celine Dion "My Heart Will Go On"
22. Beck "Loser"
23. Salt-N-Pepa with En Vogue "Whatta Man"
24. House of Pain "Jump Around"
25. Soundgarden "Black Hole Sun"
26. Eminem "My Name Is"
27. Counting Crows "Mr. Jones"
28. Ricky Martin "Livin' la Vida Loca"
29. Vanilla Ice "Ice Ice Baby"
30. *NSYNC "Tearin' Up My Heart"
31. Radiohead "Creep"
32. BLACKstreet "No Diggity"
33. Spice Girls "Wannabe"
34. Third Eye Blind "Semi-Charmed Life"
35. Oasis "Wonderwall"
36. C+C Music Factory "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)"
37. Green Day "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)"
38. Christina Aguilera "Genie In A Bottle"
39. Goo Goo Dolls "Iris"
40. Color Me Badd "I Wanna Sex You Up"
41. Spin Doctors "Two Princes"
42. Collective Soul "Shine"
43. En Vogue "My Lovin' (You're Never Gonna Get It)"
44. The Fugees "Killing Me Softly With His Song"
45. Hootie & the Blowfish "Only Wanna Be With You"
46. Shania Twain "You're Still the One"
47. Marky Mark and The Funky Bunch "Good Vibrations"
48. Matchbox Twenty "3 AM"
49. Jewel "Who Will Save Your Soul"
50. Alice in Chains "Man in the Box"
51. Tupac (featuring Dr. Dre and Roger Troutman) "California Love"
52. Sugar Ray "Fly"
53. Naughty by Nature "O.P.P."
54. Joan Osborne "One of Us"
55. Fiona Apple "Criminal"
56. L.L. Cool J "Mama Said Knock You Out"
57. Jay-Z featuring Amil and Ja Rule "Can I Get A..."
58. Sophie B. Hawkins "Damn, I Wish I Was Your Lover"
59. Weezer "Buddy Holly"
60. Bell Biv DeVoe "Poison"
61. Sheryl Crow "All I Wanna Do"
62. Live "I Alone"
63. The Notorious B.I.G. featuring Mase & Puff Daddy "Mo Money Mo Problems"
64. The Presidents of the United States of America "Peaches"
65. Digital Underground "The Humpty Dance"
66. Edwin McCain "I'll Be"
67. Deee-Lite "Groove Is In The Heart"
68. Will Smith "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It"
69. Korn "Freak on a Leash"
70. Jamiroquai "Virtual Insanity"
71. Arrested Development "Tennessee"
72. Barenaked Ladies "One Week"
73. Marcy Playground "Sex and Candy"
74. Cher "Believe"
75. Kris Kross "Jump"
76. Blues Traveler "Run-Around"
77. Ice Cube "It Was a Good Day"
78. Lenny Kravitz "Are You Gonna Go My Way"
79. Meredith Brooks "Bitch"
80. Right Said Fred "I'm Too Sexy"
81. Paula Cole "I Don't Want to Wait"
82. Geto Boys "Mind Playing Tricks on Me"
83. The Breeders "Cannonball"
84. Snow "Informer"
85. Cypress Hill "Insane In The Brain"
86. The Cranberries "Linger"
87. Billy Ray Cyrus "Achy Breaky Heart"
88. Duncan Sheik "Barely Breathing"
89. Liz Phair "Never Said"
90. New Radicals "You Get What You Give"
91. Sarah McLachlan "Building a Mystery"
92. Public Enemy "911 Is A Joke"
93. Lisa Loeb & Nine Stories "Stay"
94. Fastball "The Way"
95. Montell Jordan "This is How We Do It"
96. Nelson "(Can't Live Without Your) Love and Affection"
97. Prince & The New Power Generation "Gett Off"
98. EMF"Unbelievable"
99. Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott "The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)"
100. Gerardo "Rico Suave"

Rock Band

Matt (and Jared) recently purchased Rock Band. Last night we spent 5 hours rockin' until 1 am. (That is why I don't own any video games - they would turn my house into a den of slack). I must admit, I'm pretty good at the Rock Band. I always thought being a teacher was my life calling, but now I'm not so sure - maybe I was born to rock. Here are a few of our favorite songs:

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The Ugly Christmas Sweater Party

On Wednesday I had a party at my house for some of my high school friends (Leonard's Lawn Crew). Although, Val was in charge of everything, it was at my house. Here are a few pictures (of those who would let me take their picture) from The Ugly Christmas Sweater Party (sorry the pics are so blurry - I don't know what's up with the camera).

Val, Megan, and Summer sporting their ugly sweaters.

Alicia & Me

Me, Kyle (w/ his lazy eye), & sexy Summer.

Shawn & Kevin

Val & Sum

Val & Meggie

The Reason for the Season

We are trying to teach Zack about Christmas - it's not working very well. Here are a few funny examples:

• A couple of weeks ago Jeanine was saying how excited she was about Christmas this year because Zack's old enough to know what it's all about. At that, Lesli said, "Zack, is Christmas about the baby Jesus?" He looked at her like she had gone crazy and said, "No. Santa Claus."
  
  
• Jeanine's been telling Zack that at Christmas we give presents to others to show them how much we love them. She then asked, "Why do you give presents at Christmas?" He replied, "I don't. I just get them."

• We were again talking about Christmas and the baby Jesus with Zack when my mom picked up a piece from her nativity scene and asked, "Zack, who's this?" I looked at the piece she'd picked up and saw that it was a snowman in a manger - that's right the baby Jesus snowman. Apparently all the nativity members in this particular nativity are snowman. My mom answered her own question saying, "It's baby Jesus." I burst out laughing. I don't remember the baby Jesus having a carrot for a nose. No wonder the kid has no idea what we're talking about!!

Profile Picture

I'm thinking of changing my profile picture to the one posted above. I really like my profile picture now, but it's almost a year old so I thought I should change it.

The above picture was taken at my Ward Christmas Party. I'm wearing Big S Glasses and plastic handcuffs. Those are the items I received during the gift exchange - can you think of a more appropriate gift for a Ward Christmas Party than plastic handcuffs? I think not.

Anyway, what do you think of the picture? Should I change it to my profile picture?

Sick of Being Sick

So, I've been sick for the past 5 days. Not just a cold, but sick like I thought I was going to die. I pretty much have stayed in my bed since Friday night. The horrible thing is I really haven't been able to get more than 1 hour of sleep at a time because I've been waking up in pain. I've even had to call in sick for the past two days. Now, for those who know me, calling in sick is something I do all the time. However, I'm usually not sick when I do it. I firmly believe one should go to work when one is sick and save all one's sick days for playing.

Things are looking up. I feel better today. I was able to walk up the stairs without collapsing like an asthmatic when I reached the top. I even did a load of laundry - and a little blogging. I'm planning on going to work tomorrow. I hope I can handle it. My worst fear is that it sucks up all my energy and I won't be able to make it to Katrina's Christmas party. Pray for me.

First Christmas Party

December is here and that means Christmas parties galore. I attended my first Christmas party last night - hosted by Ms. Ali Cole. It was a lot of fun to see girls I haven't seen in many, many months. How odd to think that we used to hold a girls' night out each Wednesday and I hadn't seen many of them for the past 25 Wednesdays. Anyway, here are a few pictures:

Me, Ali, & Christi

I decided to do a trial run on the giant bow. I'm thinking of wearing a giant bow in my hair to the Mocktail party this year, but I wanted to test the waters to see what others thought. Is it too ridiculous, or just ridiculous enough? Feel free to way in.

Me with my fantastic gift, Yahtzee.
It was a perfect gift. Everyone knows I love games.
Plus, the bow (in my hair).

I love this picture of Steph.
She also tried a bow in her hair.

Ali & Christi with their gifts.
Christi got green jewelry which is PERFECT for her.

Past Pics

Some of these pictures are several months old, but I just received them or found them so I thought I'd add them:

Me and Christi during game night.

Me, Kyle, Heidi, Pat, Brandon, Jen, & some women with a baby (obviously, I don't know them).

Me and Kyle

Peace on Earth (and in Hollywood)

What kind of a world are we living in? Apparently a world where the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers want to ruin my life. Because of the continued WGA strike, my favorite TV programs have been forced into re-runs and the networks have decided to shorten the TV season.

I don't think I want to live in a world where season finales occur the first week of December. That's right - season finales during December!! Last week I saw an NBC advertisement announcing that the Hero's season finale would air on December 3rd (That is if the strike continues. If it ends, they will make more episodes).

I'm hoping for a miracle. Luckily, it's the Christmas season and miracles have been know to happen.

Deck the Halls

I spent part of Thanksgiving weekend putting up my Christmas Tree and other decorations. I think they look great so I wanted to post a few pictures.

The Christmas Tree.

Unfortunately, it only fits in the upstairs landing so not very many people will see it (unless they're coming up to my bedroom).

The Upstairs Landing and more of the tree.

Taken from the stairs. I love the Christmas bough and awesome ornaments.

No Fireplace so the stockings are hung on the railing with care.

Again the pine bough and awesome ornaments. If you look carefully you can see me taking the picture in the mirror.

The Living Room. I know you can't see it very well, but the large picture is of Santa Claus.

I never thought I was a very materialistic person, but I love my house and since some of my faithful readers live out of state, I thought this would be the perfect time to show more pictures of my house.

Three years ago when I first started looking for a house, I wanted to buy an older 1940s/1950s home in Midvale, Utah. The problem was I wanted a master bedroom with a large bathroom and walk-in closet. They just didn't make those in the 40s and 50s so I had to settle for my home in Riverton.

My bedroom - I love, love, love this furniture!!

The Armoire I had to get (because it matched, of course).

The master bath with the huge tub!

The closet (actually this is just half of it).

The basement (office/work out area).

The basement - decorated in college day furniture.

The only part I don't like about the house is how small the kitchen is, but since I rarely cook, it's been okay.