Leaving 2009

My sister Lera tagged me on this 2009 recap and it's a good thing; I have had the hardest time thinking up new blog ideas. Here we go...

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before? I saw the Statue of Liberty for my first time. It was amazing.
2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year? Only one was kept; I travelled more. I had a trip to Disneyland and New York. This year I have made a ton of resolutions. Let's see how I do.
3. Did anyone close to you give birth? The two that I'm very close to were my sister Lera and my good friend Jamie.
4. Did anyone close to you die? No, thankfully.
5. What countries did you visit? None, that will hopefully change in the next few years.
6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009? A better self-esteem and a small amount of debt.
7. What date from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory and why? Emily and Jenn's wedding day. Also, my little nephew Brody was born.
8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? surviving.
9. What was your biggest failure? Not living life passionately.
10. Did you suffer illness or injury? Last year was a harsh year for depression.
11. What was the best thing you bought? Tour tickets in New York. Thanks for finding it London!! Also, I bought my first Black dress.
12. Whose behavior merited celebration? All of my close friends and family were amazing, however, I would really like to focus on my nephew Trevor. He really has become such a smart little guy. He is such a character.
13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? this is not a nice question...
14. Where did most of your money go? Vacations, credit card bills, and eating out
15. What did you really, really, really get excited about? I know that this is going to sound lame, but I love books and there were a lot of good reads this year.
16. What song will always remind you of 2009? Feeling Good- Muse
17. Compared to this time last year are you: Happier? This year was a hard one for me to feel happy. Thinner? No, ha. Richer? Sadly, I've lived paycheck to paycheck...
18. What do you wish you’d done more of? service
19. What do you wish you’d done less of? eat
20. How did you spend Christmas? sleeping in and family time
21. How will you be spending New Years? I spent it at my pal Alice's house with her family and Rookie.
22. Did you fall in love in 2009? not so much.
23. How many one-night stands? Zero.
24. What was your favorite TV program? Chuck
25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year? I don't hate anyone.
26. What was the best book you read? Two. The Peacegiver and Catching Fire
27. What was your biggest musical discovery? Sia!! How I love her urban soul voice.
28. What did you want and you got? A new TV
29. What did you want and not get? A bigger paycheck
30. What was your favorite film of this year? Probably Star Trek, however, I saw North and South for my first time in 2009. That is a great movie!!
31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old did you turn? Family dinner and I turned 25
32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? If I had become more active/strong in the church.
33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009? Dark colors with colorful accessories.
34. What kept you sane? My sisters and amazing friends
35. Which celebrity did you fancy the most? I love Ewan, Richard Armitage is freaking awesome.
36. What political issue stirred you the most? The economy
37. Who did you miss? My mom, so much, and my friend Jenn- she moved to New York :(
38. Who was the best new person you met? Brody
39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009: forgiveness and appreciation
40. Quote or Song Lyric that sums up your year: Happiness is a perfume you cannot pour on others without getting a few drops on yourself.
Ralph Waldo Emerson



I want to tag Lisa, Rookie, and Sam. Have at it girls!

Updating my personal favorites...

designer- Kenneth Cole, Burberry Britt, & Vera Wang
painter- James C. Christensen
makeup brand- MAC
perfume- Burberry Britt
men's cologne- Kenneth Cole
shoe maker- D&G, Sergio Rossi, & many, many others.
kind of hat- Cabby hat
Animal- Camels, llamas, and owls
superhero- superman
bird- black bird
flower- Lilies and poppies
tree- weeping willow
playground equipment- swing
penny candy- Swedish fish
favorite take-out- Chinese
best fries- leatherby's cheese fries
best shake- Hometown Shakes in Garden City
favorite smoothie flavor- Aloha Pineapple
favorite fruit- blueberry
favorite vegetable- anything green
favorite restaurant meal- sushi
comfort food- mac and cheese
favorite day of the week- Saturday
favorite vacation spot- Washington
lucky number- 3
board game- Loaded Questions and Ticket to Ride
tv show- Chuck
reality tv show- Biggest Loser
shape- Triangle
poem- weep you no more, sad fountains
video game- I suck at them all but I like to watch them. That's even more lame.
food- spicy
sport- bowling
color- Brown
holiday- Halloween
website- Facebook
store- Barnes and Noble
subject- Creative Writing
book- Sense and Sensibility
movie- Big Fish
collection- scarves
drink- Diet Coke
song- imagine, black bird, hallelujah, and Feeling Good
band- Muse
chick flick- The Holiday
teen fiction- The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, and The Host
Actress- Kate Winslet and Ginnifer Goodwin
Actor- Ewan Mcgregor
occupation- writer

whirlwind of thoughts

1. I can't decide what to blog about.

2. I am so grateful for my job in such hard financial times. Now all I need to do is start spending my money wisely.

3. I really get stressed out over car and computer issues. Right now both are working great (knock on wood, twice) and I do appreciate that. I don't just notice the bad incidences, I'm noticing the good ones. Alice, (My cars name.) your smooth riding has been a miraculous thing as of late. I love that I can depend on you to get to and from work even when the gas light is on. Bean, (My 'puter's name. I know, I have a name for my computer...) thank you so much for keeping my book-in-progress safe!! Even through that nasty viral worm and not so modest SPAM pop ups, you've stuck in there.

4. I also love romantic period movies. Oh, Richard, your acting in North and South truly makes me swoon. I love you!! And BTW, I would have looked back at you.

5. I can't decide what color my hair is going to be dyed. I like the dark but I think it's time for a change. I miss the days in school when I would have every color of the rainbow. I'm trying to be more modest - I have to remind myself.

6. I really want an entire chocolate brown leather living room set. Over my life I have sat in many brown leather chairs and yearned to take them home with me. The comfort one feels in a nice brown leather chair is probably comparable to sitting in a celestial cloud. Just saying.

7. I truly love my nephews. I need to make more time to hang with them.

8. My favorite job was Blockbuster. I am a total movie buff and I loved working with the crazy/cool/nerdy people there. If you ever need a wake up call to interesting personalities, get a job at Blockbuster.

9. I think some people need to come off their high horse. Self righteous know-it-alls need to back the freak off me. I am so tired of people looking down their nose at me because they think they are... smarter/cuter/wiser/skinner/richer/married/"perfect". Seriously, my dears, you are just as imperfect as I am. It's time to wake up and smell the reality. There is a big difference between being a friend and giving wise advice and being a jerk.

10. I LOVE my sisters. Lera- you complete me. lol. You really are such an amazing women. You, even in the worst of time, prove to be so dedicated to me. I appreciate your constant support and love. London- I have never met anyone that could match your passion for life. You are such a great example on how to be happy in a poopy world. You are always so kind to me, I'd have to say more than I deserve. You two are power-houses. Positive examples. I am so proud to call you two my sisters.

11. I love comic book movies, violent ones, epic wars, dumb humor, anime, and sci-fi. Now all I need is a guy to watch them with. :)

12. I'm so grateful that blogspot is a website I can visit on my work breaks. If not- I might never blog. I also get to read all of my favorite blog pages at work. I check them about 3 times a day. I'm a major stalker.

13. I waste a lot of hours surfing the ksl classifieds. I love looking at everything and I want to buy most of it. I wish I owned a truck so I could haul the things I want.

14. I have thought about trading my car in for a truck. I love them. I love how high they are, I love the bed, I love the power under the hood. I don't love the payments or the gas. Those two things I could live with out.

15. I love drinking Diet Coke for breakfast. Case closed.

16. I can't stand my handwriting. It embarrasses me. I have to rewrite my to do lists over and over because I can't stand looking at it.

17. I love flowers and foliage and trees and rocks and fog and mists and rain. At work when I need a breather I look at the ol' google image and search for random things. X-ray flowers are my new obsession. I also love Tim Burton-ish trees. <3

18. I'm not as girly as I wish to be, but I so love bows in my hair. I love putting clips and headbands that lash out wildly against my frizzy hair. I would love to have a closet full of hair stuff!!

19. I secretly have a binder full of things I would want in my future wedding. Oops. I let the secret out there. I know what type of dress I want, hair, shoes, cake, wedding song play list... I'm a freak. It's probably the only thing I have remotely organized in my life. It's also likely I might not be able to use it.

20. It is time to do a super spring cleaning. Everything I own is littered everywhere. I don't need all of this stuff. Soon EBAY, KSL, and the DI are going to be full of my stuff.

21. I'm heart broken for the people in Haiti.

22. Debt is an evil horrible demon. I know it's my fault. I know I made my own bed. I know that debt never sleeps. I've heard it all. Sadly just hearing it has obviously not made a dent in my small overspending mind.

23. Friends are amazing. There isn't much that can top a loyal, loving, and kind friend.

24. I don't think that I have worn matching socks in over a month. I have all sizes and colors of black and white. It seems that none have a match. But I still can't throw the odd ones away. Maybe, in the next few weeks, the dyer will give them back to me.

25. I have over 36,000 words in my book. I'm so proud of what I've done but I still have so much more to write. I'm nervous it's going to be crap. I'm scared of the many grammar/continuity/plot mistakes I have made. People are so harsh. I am too harsh on myself.

My 3 day weekend - highlights

Friday: I took work off and spent the day sleeping, writing, and cleaning some house. I wanted to be able to relax and taking this day off helped me out big time. Getting enough sleep really does make life so much better. I'm at 31,400 words in my novel. I'm already in love with it's characters and I can't wait for the day that I can read more about them.

Saturday: I watched my very loved nephew Palmer. He is so happy. I just love every piece of his adoreble personality. We played a very funny game of Palmer humming me to sleep, (as the picture above details) we learned how to baa like a sheep, and we laughed at hotdogs and the funny ways we can eat them. He really is the cutest thing ever. I'm so grateful for his reminders on how life can be such a wonderful place to be.
I read an entire book called Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief. It was an extremely easy read and very entertaining. While reading about Poseidon I thought how it would be a very cool name for a fish. I saw a betta in my head and I remembered how much I loved having fish. I went to PetsMart at 9 pm and bought my Poseidon. I love him.

Sunday: We had a delicious greek dinner, with indian rice and glueten free cupcakes, all provided by my sister London in celebration of her hubby's birthday. Shea brought her boyfriend McWayne over and I finally got to meet him face to face. He is a great guy for my bud Shea. I think that they compliment each other perfectly.