mukluks

Oh by golly, I love this thing. Seriously, I have daydreams about learning it with some friends and performing it sans accompaniment. I'm sure that wouldn't be the same, though. Oh well, I'm not above lip sinking. So kick back, listen, and smile to yourself. Yay for having a little brother who gets connected with random things that he then shows me and are totally hilarious.





I don't know, maybe if these guys can do it. :)

my valentine

By the way, it is super duper fun to love a boy on Valentine's. I mean, I liked Valentine's ok before, at least I was determined to.

There was a time ago when I had a friend who would send all of her family and friends Valentine's cards and stuff. Before then I'd always had that slight bit of single-person bitterness about it. However, watching her made me think, "How fun, just make it a 'Celebrate Love Day' instead of only for sweethearts." The next year I bought all my family cards, plus a few other people and I loved it! I felt so much better about the whole situation and enjoyed the season that much more. Probably because it helped me focus on how much love I had in my life rather than what I was lacking.

That said, it sure was fun to have a boy this year, :)

groundhog day

Hey, so it was Groundhog day yesterday, one of those holidays that are minor enough that you don't get time off, but just major enough for everyone to know it is happening. Well I'll tell you what, from the snow that's blowing outside of my house right now, I'm pretty sure it's another few weeks of winter. And that's ok, we have needed it.

i got tagged

So my cute friend loves these things. I am always getting emails that have been forwarded with long lists of questions or details that she's answered and now I'm supposed to answer and email back as well as to some more people. I'll usually answer them and send it back only to her since I know she likes it. Well now she tagged me with this game so I figured I'd indulge her yet again...besides some of these questions are actually pretty fun.

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning. B. Each player answers the questions about themselves. C. At the end of the game the player tags 5 people, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.


10 years ago: Am I old enough for that question? Crazy. Ok then, I was nearing the end of my first year at BYU. I had a crush on a guy in my freshman ward who's last name was Callister, but I don't remember his first name. I was playing tons of volleyball and trying to get over being shy. I'd just started a zoology class that had a 7:30 am lab every Friday where we dissected something new each week. That was pretty cool.

5 things on my to-do list today: 1) Make pizza 2) call family 3) shop for snow boots 4) get a Valentine's gift for my boyfriend 5) vacuum

Snacks I enjoy: chips and homemade salsa or guacamole, chocolate, Ben and Jerry's ice cream, cheese and crackers

I would do if I were suddenly a billionaire: pay back my parents for their help with cars, buy them four-wheelers for their new house (one with a snow shovel attachment), sell my wonderful car and buy two others--one hybrid 4-wheel drive, one super-awesome-but-not-too-ostentatious sports car (also hybrid), renovate my Aunt's kitchen to raise the ceiling and replace the cupboards, buy a vacation home in Switzerland and plan some European vacations with any family (or friends that are almost family) who wanted to come, buy Rosetta Stone and really start to learn Italian, save, invest, donate

3 of my bad habits: 1) Picking at my eyelashes. I know I know, I'm still working on it. 2) Snapping in moments of frustration. I'm not doing that anymore. I don't like being snapped at, I shouldn't do it to others. 3) Thinking I'm smarter than other people, it's hard not to though when it's true. Hee hee.

5 places I have lived: Las Vegas, NV, Provo, UT, Falls Church, VA, Murray, UT, South Jordan, UT

5 jobs that I have had: lifeguard, envelope stuffer, dry cleaners employee, entomology TA, teacher\tutor

5 things people don't know about me: This one's pretty hard considering that basically everyone reading this is family and knows almost everything. I'll give it a shot, though. 1) I always have some stuffed animal that is kind of sentimental to me in my bedroom. I've tried not to be a weirdo single girl who fills her bed with them, but as much as I always say I'm not that sentimental, there is something comforting to me about having one or two around. 2) I want to be ambidextrous. I've totally practiced writing with my left hand enough that it's perfectly legible, I use my mouse with my left hand when I can, I try eating with my left hand, I just generally try to do stuff left handed that would normally be right handed. I just think it'd be cool and possibly useful. 3) I want to ride in a hot air balloon really really badly. And if it could be in the East during the autumn that would be super duper awesome. 4) I want to learn Italian. It is just so cool sounding! 5) I like skinny dipping. I haven't done it much, but would love to have privacy such that I could.

So there you have it. I think I'll tag some people on their blogs. If you like this sort of thing I'd be curious to see your answers, if not it's no biggie...I'll love you anyway.

five hundred twenty-eight thousand, nine hundred sixty-nine feet

Do you like to run? I kind of do. Sometimes I even feel like running and I'll hop on a tread mill and go for about 20 or 30 minutes which usually translates to maybe two miles. That's usually good enough for me. Then I'll go do other stuff. I mean, I like to workout...really do. My life would not be complete without it. It makes me feel good, makes my body feel balanced and strong. I pretty much want to be able to carry my own groceries and swim laps until the day I die.

That said, I have never really understood people who run marathlons. Maybe it's a matter of purpose. My purpose in working out is for health and functionality. That's what I want and that's what my workout program brings me. People who do long races must have some other purpose, like to accomplish something difficult, or enjoy a super endorphin high, or to need to buy new sneakers on a monthly basis, or maybe they are hooked on pain. Whatever it is, I don't get it, but I do have a lot of fun wondering about it.

For example, there is a guy I know who, this Saturday, is running a race that is 100 miles long! Yes, you read that correctly. And here I was oblivious enough to think that marathons were the extent of people's craziness. It's not. If you want more proof just google something. And to hear what distances people swim sometimes is truely insane. But anyway, back to this guy.

Saturday morning he is going to wake up and go running ALL DAY. It seriously takes about 24 hours. That is 538,969 feet on his own two paws. The most amazing thing, though, is that this is his third 100-mile race. What in the?! Evidently you just go as you can, eating along the way at refueling stations and sleeping wherever and whenever you need to. And he's done two already! He must be slightly insane. I'll tell you what, though, either the slight insanity or the endorphins from all that travel certainly keeps him chipper. He always seems super happy and energetic and in the end I guess it's his deal if he wants to do that. It's just so fascinating.

So, in all my pondering I couldn't help connect my yearning for American Gladiator's to his experience. Evidently there is a part of me that would love to workout and train like crazy to get insanely fit. Only I've never done it. I wonder why or if it matters. I always tend to blame it on having to work and this guy does work at a gym so I'm sure that makes it a little easier, but that can't be all it.

Maybe I'm really just that little bit of lazy enough to not want to workout that hard.

Maybe I'm afraid of something. I tend to think I'm scared of getting that fit, and then feeling pressured to keep it up for the rest of my life. For example, if I lost 15 pounds of fat and gained 10 pounds of muscle (remember, my aspiration would be more toward Gladiatorship than running anyday) would I feel gross going back to my current and perfectly normal as well as beautiful body fat percentage? Hm, I really don't know.

Or maybe I really don't care at all, but my exposure to people who do that sort of thing makes me think I should care about being an extreme athlete, and so make me wonder if I could or should bite the bullet and do it.

Maybe I like my current diet too much. I mean, I'm no porker, but I'm pretty sure I'd have to change some things to be really top notch, and (back to the lazy bit) I really don't think I want to have to think about my food any more than I already do.

Maybe I don't want to give up the time. As much as I like to workout, there are always a million other things I want to do as much...I wonder if that priority would change once I started to see what I could do? Hm, that's an interesting thought.

So anyway, it's just an interesting thing. Overall I think I'm just perfect as I am, but every now and then I just think it'd be really cool to be that girl at the gym who has the faintest shadow of a six-pack.