Holiday Cheer!

I’ve been busy with the holidays and homework and haven’t had time to post anything new. These pictures will range from last night all the way to Halloween.

David and I were heading to Laguna Beach to walk by the water, and got sidetracked with a new art festival we hadn’t seen yet. If you’ve been to the Sawdust festival in summer time, we discovered that they have a winter version. We loved the sawdust on the floors, Santa, snow for kids, trees decorated mostly by kids, and lots of art ranging from very good to very amateur, but still fun! It was one of our best unexpected dates of the year, and only 5.75 per person plus hot chocolates!

Festival Pictures!

Oh, I can't forget my early Christmas jacket from David!

Super cute and makes me feel extra prepared for the holidays!

Halloween pictures are next! We didn’t have any good Thanksgiving pictures due to the disposable camera. Still, we had a wonderful time spent with family at my grandma’s house.

Jackie my little sister and I with the pumpkins we carved!

Hers is much better than mine, thanks David for helping!

Johnathan my big brother with his very funny pumkin!

Those teeth and little eyes had everyone cracking up!

Finally, pictures from Kelly’s wedding shower. It was at Shelley's beautiful house. She is a very talanted hostess and cook! This was really the best shower ever! As you can see, we made very fun wedding dresses out of tissue!

Kristi, Kacey, and Kellie (Such beautiful brides)!

Kristi in her very cute tissue dress and me!

My Little Mushy Blog

For the mushy at heart, I’m dedicating this blog to David my very loving husband. Since this is for him, by all means feel free to skip it and scroll ahead if this embarrasses you. After all this will be my little brag session about David.

A Few Reasons Why I’m in Love with David

• He’s an original article. Just like Johnny Cash had his own thing going on, the same could be said about David. This guy isn’t changing anytime soon.
  
• His thoughtful cards. David could be a writer if he chose. If you’ve ever gotten a card from him, than you know what I mean. It is a mixture of eloquence and humor so uniquely his own. I’m getting a little collection of these and I love it!
  
• He lets me be myself, and thinks my strange jokes are hilarious. I don’t even think my jokes are that great.
  
• His surprises – I never know when I’m going to be asked to open a Christmas Present or Birthday Present a few months early.
  
• His natural artistic ability. He was drawing three dimensionally way too young. If he’d been around during the Middle Ages, the art scene would have revolutionized sooner.
  
• The way that he talks about me in front of others. It’s sometimes embarrassing, but I’ve grown to like it.
  
• His want for good things for our family both spiritually and temporally.


• His willingness to shop for me. I really dislike clothes shopping and so about 90% of my clothes were picked out by David. What a guy!


• He puts up with my own bouts of creativity, when I transform the entire house into my art studio for months. I guess that's not really a bout then.


• Finally, the way he looks at me like I’m the most precious thing in the world to him, and then tells me so.

After having a conversation with someone about mushy blogs and how much we dislike them and would need to be challenged to write them, I’ve decided to send out the challenge. If you read this, feel free to write your own “Little Mushy Blog.”

Tagged...

I’ve been tagged, so here’s six exciting and interesting things about me. Perhaps I will expound another time, but for now I will spare you by making this a semi quick list.

1. I am a descendent of Lady Godiva. Hooray for protesting in the nude! This protest wasn't quite the exhibitionist event that people might mistakenly think it was. You should read about it.
2. “I was born and raised in Vernal. I’ve got minerals in my bones. I’ve got a lot of grit and little bit of it on the bottom of my soles.” - Camp Song
3. I get told often that I have a nice accent by people with accents. People also ask me what country I am from. I’m always puzzled by this, do I have an accent?
4. Cheese is the best! This is probably my favorite food. I use to pretend I was a mouse and nibble little pieces when I was really little.
5. I was an Alice in Wonderland kind of kid growing up. I still want a little wooden chest like the rabbit had with treats in it that say, “Eat Me, Eat Me, Eat Me...”
6. I’m madly in love with David! Oh, but you already new that didn’t you?

I’m tagging everyone on my list, I will be checking.

Childhood Obsessions

Turn your sound on for this one!
(I moved the song, find the David Bowie song while reading.)

Growing up I think most of us had slight fascinations, and to call them obsessions might be taking it too far. Yet, perhaps for a few weeks it might have been an obsession, and so my title remains.

As a 5/6 year old, I decide that I would become a nun. At night I would put a t-shirt on my head and look in the mirror, it was my apostolnik (scarf). I’m sure my mom was worried when I approached a group of nuns at a store, and asked them, “How come I never see them at church?”

After realizing nuns didn’t get married, we come upon the next phase. It starts by watching a middle aged man who looks trans-gendered jumping around with puppets while wearing tights. Oh yes, this is the “Classic David Bowie Phase,” brought on by watching the movie the Labyrinth. You will only understand if you watched this movie frequently. I wish this was my only connection to the 80’s, but it’s hard to escape this time period not being a victim.

Big hair is next, and if it wasn’t big at least it wasn’t moving. Lots of hairspray was the trick, and my hair was covered in it. My hair was so coated that I was made fun of at a St. Louis school bus stop for having my hair so coated (I was in first grade). My mom claims that I insisted, but I know she was into the hairspray just as much as I was. As you can see, this obsession lasted the longest. I’m around thirteen in this photo. At least the hair isn’t as big as Bowie’s, but it was getting there.

There are many more! What were some of your childhood obsessions?

Conference Sunday

What isn’t there to love about General Conference? After all, it is only twice a year that you can enjoy church meetings from the comfort of your own home. The hustle and bustle of getting ready flies out the door as pajamas might be the typical attire for this occasion. We enjoyed this very special event at David’s Parents with cinnamon rolls and fruit for the first session lovingly prepared by Beverly. Prior to the second session Beverly spoiled us with her wonderful BLT sandwiches and chocolate pie. I especially enjoyed talking to Amy about her baby that will be due in January, and seeing the cute Mary Jane baby socks she bought (maybe she will post pics). When the day was over we left feeling both physically and spiritually full.

Click to see pictures on Amy's Blog - Conference Day

Knott's Scary Farm

Creepy! This is how much David enjoys Halloween.

Here is a link to Sarah’s Blog for pictures – Scary Farm Pictures

Last Friday, David and I officially kicked off the festivities for Halloween with Sarah and Dan. Knott’s Scary Farm was our destination to see if we could get a good scare. Realize that I’m not even into scary movies usually, and David has been trying to get me to go for the past five years. Perhaps, it was through these years of avoidance that my curiosity finally grew. It was now me asking David if we could go. David was shocked, surprised, and maybe even excited as he is the expert when it comes to everything and anything Halloween. As we walked through the fog, I think I was the most scared out of anyone in our group. Although, Sarah did have to deal with the creepy clown that seemed to really like her. The mazes were the best with unexpected themes like Grudge II (very creepy, I couldn’t even handle the first movie). If you decide to go, realize that the scariest thing about Knott’s is the large groups of teenagers that fill every square inch of the park. Thanks Sarah and Dan for a fun night!

Update

A week and a half and I’ve not had a chance to post something new. Here’s a thorough look into my past week and a half.

9/24 Went to school and learned that by putting Vaseline on goggles you can simulate what it might feel like to have cataracts when you’re an older adult. Gotta love college!

9/25 Celebrated Beverly’s Birthday- My very wonderful mother-in-law, the most genuinely nice person you’ll ever meet. Love her Tonzs (and her son)!!

David & Beverly

9/28 Checked out the Fall decorations with my mom and sister Jackie at Disneyland. Finally, made it on the Finding Nemo ride.

9/29 Painted a bedroom(after getting three layers of wallpaper off previously). David helped a lot!

9/29 Took a fun break to go out to eat with family, provided Dan and Sarah suggested a great place to eat near their place in HB. Love them!!

Dan & my cousin Sarah (sorry I nabbed the photo)

10/1 Called AAA when David’s key got lost in the Ocean. Found out his key has a computer chip in it, and $120 dollars later drove home. (My super surfer boss said she’s done this twice – we don’t feel bad anymore).
Finally, I went to work, Mon.-Fri. Flammability Rocks!

Fall Time

How could I not get excited about our little rain storm here in Long Beach. It has been unforgivingly hot for the past month, and finally the first signs of Fall have appeared. Here are some reasons why I’m excited for Fall:

• More Rain! I love listening to it, watching it, and getting wet in it.


• The typical scenery of an often mucky California skyscape is filled with billowy clouds after a rainstorm.


• Being cuddled simply because it’s colder outside.


• General Conference


• Fall leaves, need I say more.


• Hot Chocolate at Starbucks


• David & I increasing our trips to Barnes & Noble with our Starbucks.


• My cat Tinkerbell’s new fall coat (so puffy)!


• Halloween & Thanksgiving


• Sweaters and pulling out the warmer clothes.


• Sitting in front of the fireplace with loved ones.

Grandma Gray

Aunt Vonda & Grandma Gray

Finally, I can say that I’m feeling settled into my new schedule. It has been three weeks into the semester and one week at my new job. In fact, I’m so settled that Disneyland is definitely on my mental, “what to do next list” for one of these evenings. My next challenge will be convincing David to go, but he always loves it once I get him there. In my classes I’ve lucked out with some great teachers. One teacher is retired and has officially canceled almost half of the classes. This is something worth smiling about! The other class is Gerontology where I will have to write a 17 page paper on someone over 65. I’ve already asked my 91 year old Grandma Gray if she would let me interview her, and of course she said yes. My grandma had my mom later in life and so it’s always seemed like a generation was skipped in our family. This gap in age has been a blessing, as I’ve had and known my grandma who grew up in such an awesome era. An era where they went from riding horses to seeing man travel to the moon! This paper will be a great opportunity to record her life story and possibly give it to family members! Here are a few pictures of an amazing and beautiful woman.

At her 90th last year and still going strong!

Tiffeny & Daniel

Last night David and I went to Tiffeny Wieck and Daniel Ives wedding reception. They are such a gorgeous couple (as you can see from the picture). They looked so happy and it was fun watching them dance and enjoy their guests. The best part was when she tossed the bouquet. It hit the ceiling and broke into many pieces, which I've never seen anyone do. I think all brides should try and achieve hitting the ceiling with their bouquet, because it was so cute watching all of the little girls pick up the flowers. Anyway - I'm so excited for them and what a wonderful future they have ahead of themselves. I love receptions, especially now that David and I have ours a few years behind us. You finally get to see every ones efforts payed off, and the best part is watching the couple celebrate their first day together as husband and wife!

To blog or not to blog...

To blog or not to blog... I've debated for sometime if blogging is right for me. I will admit that looking at others blogs, usually complete strangers has been my motivation to start. It has been all of the wonderful photos and interesting articles that have got me hooked. For some reason blogging reminds me of small town life where everyone is in your business but in a nonintrusive way. Anyway - enough about that. At the moment I am lacking a camera, due to the infamous Canon E18 error. So I will have to write more and post older pictures for a while until my camera is replaced. As for something significant about my day, I started a new job! Everyone was so nice plus there is even a gym, but now I have a complete headache. So, I’m sitting here eating chocolate chips and thinking about all of the acronyms that Flame Engineers use hoping that my head will hurt a little less for tomorrow.

9/11

I found this image titled 9/11 Victims at http://neveryetmelted.com/wp-images/9-11Poster.jpg. I still hold back tears when I think of that day six years ago, and perhaps always will. Posting this image is my meager way of paying tribute to those who lost their lives. Images are so powerful and a quilt of so many faces puts into perspective just how much our lives changed on 9/11/01. WE WILL NEVER FORGET.