What do I know.

He called me Anne Kay sometimes....I liked it. He was on his way to the temple with family names in his pocket when he died. He loved the temple, and loved serving there. He did his home teaching the night before he passed away. He helped me paint "my" cemetery fence, because he knew and cared about "our people." (and because he wasn't too old) His voice is the voice I hear every time I read anything by Dr. Seuss. My earliest memory of him is him holding me and reading Dr. Seuss with me, I think I memorized Hop on Pop just for him. He made the yummiest waffles you ever ate. He was the nicest babysitter I ever had. He was always so very happy to be with family, it was visible and contagious. He always remembered and asked about something going on in my life, it made me feel important. He loves my silly, crazy Grandma. He never turned down an opportunity to serve others or to help someone in need. He was a Marine in World War II, but would never ...

My birthday has come and passed.  I am 30 years old.  It was a fine birthday, I rushed home from my ABPA Conference in San Antonio to have dinner with my brothers, sisters, sister-in-law and Ana.  They brought my chocolates, flowers, a desk ornament of a man on a toilet, and a purse.  It was lovely.   I enjoyed making a list of 30 things to do before I'm 30.  It gave me something to work on that was challenging, and added that last bit of stress I was missing while trying to juggle everything else going on in my life.  I wasn't able to finish everything, but I don't regret the things I accomplished and I hope it doesn't diminish the things I did accomplish.  To make myself feel better about my shortcomings, and utter failure, I compiled a list of everything else I did instead of everything I thought I wanted to do....... Visited Mexico and ate lots of new things. Went to Disneyland and didn't freak out...too bad. Taught myself Joo...

I didn't quite finish the Book of Mormon, I have no good excuse, there was plenty of time.  By my birthday I had about 100 pages left, and meant to read it on the plane ride home from San Antonio, but instead I fell asleep.   I never get tired of reading this book. Every time I open it I find reason to hope, I feel the love of my Heavenly Father, and I'm able to continue forward with a more confidence and faith in the future and the blessings instore for me and everyone else. Here are a few thoughts from my reading that I really enjoyed: My soul standeth fast in that liberty in the which God hath made us free. Begin to be up doing. ...only let your sins trouble you. ..God ceaseth not to be God, and mercy claimeth the penitent. ...deal justly, judge righteously and do good continually wickedness never was happiness time only is measured to unto men. some have wrested the scriptures, and have gone far astray because of this thing... there are many mysteries wh...

I went scuba diving just before Christmas.  This was a special dive, my very first in the real, live ocean.  Instead of sinking in some hot spring in the snowy mountains of Utah I swam with bright, colorful fish, slimy eels, fat turtles, and playful dolphins.   I got to see what a real life ocean shelf looks like, as I accidentally dove the deepest I've ever been, to the chagrin of my dive leader/instructor man.  But as a result I did get to scuba dive while holding hands the whole rest of the time.   In the course of the adventure I became friends with a single older lady, and a (newly) single young Australian man who's ex-girlfriend missed out on the most amazing dive of all time.  Nothing brings people together like a lively, languid, sea sport. Joey and me snorkeling. The closest picture I have to scuba diving.

Done and Done. Check it out, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the pitiful.

The only lovely and delicious egg foo yong is at Utah Noodle.  This recipe I found is the most common type of egg foo yong, I"m not a fan.  I prefer a block of egg fo yong, not a pancake.  Pancakes are for seniors.

The successfulness of the task is self-explanatory, but I did try.

My hope is to be able to write these on the plane home later today.  But since I'm still awake I may have to just dream that I wrote them while I sleep the entire way home..... Keep holding your breath on this one, it's do-able.

FAIL! **I'll try to unfail, but I don't know what the recovery time is at this point.

The Irises in their second original home in Riverdale. Irises in their new home in Draper. The Irises origination is unknown, they became known at a home in Riverdale, Utah, built in the early 1900's.  Much later a small portion of the Irises were transplanted by a Master Gardner to a new home in Riverdale, Utah built in the 70's.  Thirdly, the Master Gardner taught her favorite niece how to transplant them and a small portion were moved about 600 ft to a new home in Riverdale, Utah.  A little over a week ago the Irises were separated again, one group finding a new home in Riverdale, and the other group migrating south to Draper. There is no flourish guarantee, I guess we'll see how much they really care for Draper climate....happy first birthday Draper Irises.

I wish I had the pictures of my cemetery with me in San Antonio but I don't.  Maybe I'll find them and post them when I get home.   Here's the explanation.  We have some relatives in the Uintah Cemetery, which dates back to 1855.  The Firth Family Plot is a landmark in the cemetery.  The perimeter of the family plot is bordered with a knee-high   wrought-iron fence.  My parents must have made me go there with them for a Memorial Day at some point.  But I loved going there, not on Memorial Day, to sit in the quiet and think and stare and listen.   There is an empty spot in there, so I signed up with the sexton so he would know it was my spot.  The trouble is now the lovely fence is damaged and since my name is the name he has, I'm the one who needs to fix it.  Unfortunately I have no idea how to fix 100+ year old wrought-iron, but I drilled, and dug, and kicked it to bits until I got the broken piece to a guy at work...

Ana and my compadre, Jhonathan, already know how to Salsa.  They Salsad all over the place at her mom's house while I sat a foot or two away and watched. It was all very exciting, I learned a lot...about how to salsa, about how to handle awkward situations, about how to make up excuses to leave awkward situations...... Really though, my favorite compadre, did make me dance with him for at least 2 full minutes.  We held hands he pushed me around, my feet moved, there was loud music.  So consider this one done, and done.

A lot of you want to know what this means.....is it the actual sunshine? Is it my positive attitude? Is it some miscellaneous person you don't know? You may never know....but someday you might find out.  It will be a surprise either way.

January 7, 2010 I have yet to begin working on this goal.  After mentioning it to some co-workers I quickly adjusted my original goal of an 8 minute mile to a 10 minute mile.  Step 1:  Learn how to turn on my treadmill. I'll keep you posted. Ok, the treadmill works.....I heard Wendy running on it the other day. This one will have to be on my "during" 30 list, the only time for running I've had is to run from work to everywhere else and back again. Stay tuned.

Ok, here's the truth.  I've really struggled writing the lyrics for my one hit birthday goal wonder.  There are definitely words out there, but they are not here.  Well there are a couple words like.... Ox somewhere here someone you oooh ja booo etc.etc.  can you imagine it....when its finished you'll never forget it, I can promise you that.

Multiple times in my life I have saved up a ridiculous amount of old levis with the intention of making a quilt with them.  I'm not sure why I feel like I need to make a levi quilt, but I do.  Strangely, I think my sisters at different times have also felt this need, as far as I know none of us has done it. (well maybe Joey because she does everything). My guess is we were all implanted with the idea from our mom. She made a spectacular levi quilt at some point in her life.  It's been in existence as long as I can remember, much longer than me.  For a long time it lived on our rock fireplace, making time-outs semi-tolerable.   The rest of the time it was stowed in the trunk of the car for use on the grass, its the perfect blanket for laying around on the grass. So I have actually cut up a number of my old pants into squares, and all of my old work shirts have been chopped up too.  All that really needs to be done is the actual sewing, my guess is that w...

We did it!  One more off the list.  On Saturday, May 14, 2011 I visited, for the first time, the Hill Air Force Base Aerospace Museum.  My helpers were: Jeremy, Amber, Marlie, James, and Jack. It was a of fun, especially with a crowd.  I was surprised at how many planes and other stuff there is to see. I almost got tired walking through the big indoor hanger.  My sister-in-law told me that once a year they open up some of the planes so you can go inside.  That sounds like the day to go, although I'll bet it's really busy.   There were quite a few people there.  They have picnic tables around outside, I think someone was having a birthday party there.  Kind of a good idea.  The museum is free, outside is free, sign in at the desk if you go inside and donate a dollar or two if you're feeling generous.  Well worth the trip, especially with kids.  James really really loved it. Jack really only likes Je...

This item was added to my list as an easy cross-off.  I had rescheduled to take the GMAT just before Joey's wedding in May.  Luckily, before I failed miserably a second time, I decided to reschedule it due to lack of study time.  I'm hoping the extra $50 rescheduling fee was worth it, and I hope to never hear anyone try to tell me if I can't study for the GMAT an hour a day I won't be able to handle graduate school. Starting the new countdown to the end of June....wish me luck. I might really need it.

Kennecott Copper Mine Finally! Kennecott opened their tour up at the mine.  Its closed during the off season so people don't crash and die in the canyon.  Considerate. There was no one to go with me, so I made the trip all alone. Luckily some friendly man took my picture so I could prove that I was actually there. April 28, 2011  Here are some things I learned:         1.  It costs a min of $5.00 to visit the mine and its lovely visitor's center and Lion's sponsored  store.         b.  you should get gas long before you get to the mine, its kind of a long drive.        III.  There's a super old fire hydrant on display in the courtyard near the giant 12 foot tire.    Guess which one I noticed first.....         4.  The visitor's center video is a -must see-, mainly because you'll never get your $5.00 worth  paying ....

Let's be honest, I'm not a super fan of driving in the car.  Mostly because I sleep all the time, so I can't drive.  But I had a great road trip to California to see the Redwood Trees with my brother, Cody, and his Wife, Tiffani, and my little niece, Elizabeth. As much as no one thinks they'll be like their parents, my brothers seem to turn more and more into my dad every time they have a new baby.  One thing Cody apparently learned was eating at McDonald's while on vacation. My dad used to make us eat there for every meal while on vacation.  Luckily, Cody only made us eat there twice, and even luckier, his baby, Elizabeth, loved the chicken nuggets dipped in caramel sauce. We traveled to the south Redwoods, I can't say where they are exactly but we saw plenty of real trees and fake trees and people frolicking in the woods. We decided not to frolic ourselves, but we did race down some nearby slides. Cody and Tiffani enjoying nature. ...

At one point in the last 3 months I did sit down at an actually piano.  I played all the songs I know, 5 minutes later I gave up.  My idea is to play something other than what I can play, the one-handed church hymns. Should it be a classical piece, oldies song to go along with Blue Moon, or a two-handed church hymn I haven't been able to master yet? I don't know, if you know please let me know.

Although I looked loftily up at Mount Timpanogos since setting this goal on almost a daily basis, I did not ever set foot on the path to the top.   Actually I don't think I ever even made it across the border to Utah County.  If anyone is interested in a hike, check with me at the end of the Summer, I may have found my way by then.

I did it!! Done!  I finished this one last Sunday morning, sometime around 1:00am.  So here's what it is.  There are thousands upon thousands of records floating around the world about people who were once alive.  These records can be Census Records, Draft Notices, Death Certificates, Birth Certificates, it goes on and on. To help people track down and account for their ancestors different organizations have been working to make these records easily accessible by computerizing the data.  Because of the incredible number of records out there....they need help. I happen to love, love, love typing, sometimes just for a good time (check out TyperShark on Yahoo, you'll get hooked).  After watching Wendy, my sister, do some "data extraction" or "indexing", I decided I might give it a try.  Inadvertently, I came up with this as my goal.  And last Saturday night once I started I couldn't stop, the typing is so fun, and trying to figure out ...

I think instead of losing 30 lbs, I gained 30 lbs...I would like to thank: 1.  Work 2.  Delicious Mexican Food 3.  Addictive television programming 4.  Fatty Fat, Texan food that makes everything finger lick'in good. 5.  Work 6.  Stress 7.  Laziness 8.  Delicious ice cream 9.  Lack of $$ 10.  A never ending list of excuses.

  Happy Groundhog Day!! In celebration of Groundhog Day and Rosca de Reyes we had a wonderful feast.  In Mexico they used to? still do celebrate Christmas differently.  Instead of Santa bringing gifts on Christmas Eve the Three Wisemen bring gifts on January 6 and put them in the children's shoes.  As part of the festivities they have a delicious bread in the shape of a beautiful wreath.  A little baby Jesus is baked inside of the bread and who ever is served the piece with the baby Jesus is said to be blessed.  In return for the wonderful blessing they are expected to have a feast for their friends/family on February 2nd.  Beautiful Bread I n honor of our Christmas guest, Ana Maria, my mom tried to have this wonderful tradition.  Although it was her first try. My mom's beautiful bread. It tasted delicious, and I lucked out by being blessed with the Baby Jesus in my piece.  So I planned an amazing Rosca de Reyes - ...

I can't say I feel comfortable with marking this one off, but I"m going to anyway.  For one full week I left my house for work with or wearing high heels.  How long they stayed on, and where they ended up by the end of the day I can't say.  But I can say, it is incredibly, horribly, painful.  The level of cuteness, and girlieness did not surpass the pain. Where my high heels ended up by the end of the week. so painful so cute

Sadly, I didn't achieve this goal by my birthday, but I was able to attend the temple a number of times before my birthday, and am confident I'll reach this one in the near future.  There is nothing more peaceful than the spirit of the temple.   10% of the way there! (who knew the temple was so busy at 6am) 1/4/11          #1 - Dossia O'Quinn, AR 1/8/11          #2 - Eveleen May Bodrell, Australia 1/11/11        #3 - Marie Augustine Plocque 1/18/11        #4 - Maria Luicia Ramirez Guerrero, Venezuela 2/16/11        #5 - 2/22/11        #6 - Initiatories 3/1/11          #7 - Initiatories

Happy Cinco de Mayo! I made it to a party! The most awesome party I have ever gone to.  I can't tell you how much I missed Mexico after we got back, from the food to the good time of my Mexican friends.   Lucky for me some of my local latino friends decided to celebrate Cinco de Mayo.  I didn't know any of them but Ana, but we went and partied the night away.  Delicious food, a wild spanish kareoke loving crowd, and little to no English.  Just my kind of a party.   Can't wait until Mexican Independence day.

Thank you Jaquelin Stallings for suggesting this as my #30.  It is affordable, and it just so happens that for the last 8 years I talked about changing my hair every winter, but never did it.  I am not prejudice of people with brown hair, but when the weather changes, and things get cold and grey I always feel like coloring my hair brown because it makes me sad. I really like my blonde hair, and even more since my sister-in-law started taking care of it for me.  She is the best.  And luckily! She said she can fix it by my birthday so I was less afraid to take this one on.  I did it!! Before Blonde me.  After Brown hair me (with a strange look on my face) It turned out a little "warmer" than I anticipated, but it might fade out a little.  Guess we'll find out.  What do you think? Brown or blonde?

Day 1 (January 6) - I decided to teach Hurley to jump through a hoop.  Problem #1: I have no hoop.  Problem #2: Hurley is scared of the cardboard rectangle I tried to use as a hoop.  Problem #3: The vet thinks Hurley is a couple of pounds overweight, if I feed him treats to get him to jump through the hoop he may lose the ability to jump completely. Accomplishments: Hurley hesitantly jumped through the hoop several times, always for a treat.  I learned that I can use the hoop as a way to get him to run away from places and things that are bad. Next time: I think I might try getting a bike tube to use for a more gentle less intimidating hoop. Stay tuned. Misc. hoops for jumping. Day 2 (January 7) - He hates the cardboard hoop. Success!  He pretends not to know what I"m teaching him to do, but the second I told him we would go on a car ride if he jumped the hoop, he jumped right through it and ran to the door.  I bought a new hoop, that ...

Well, it's official, I'm going to turn 30 this year.  I don't think I'm worried about it, really I didn't want to do anything special at all, but I decided to make a list of 30 things to do before I'm 30, like my friend Ana did.  It was kind of fun, and hopefully will serve as a distraction. So as the final countdown begins. (138 days to go), I'll introduce you to my list: 30 for 30 Write a song for the guitar and perform it. Run a 10 minute mile. Teach Hurley a circus trick. Get Sunny out of my head. Learn to Salsa. Fix my cemetery. Transplant flowers from Cody's house to my house. Write on my blog 30 times. Go to the temple 30 times. Start a public blog. (should i write about water or sleep disorders?) Read the Book of Mormon. Write real letters to 30 friends or family. (if you want one, let me know). Make homemade cinnamon rolls. Make fortune cookies. Make egg foo yong. Sew a levi quilt. Go scuba...

I thought this was a good idea to force myself to do.  I quickly changed my mind.  Dating is for dummies.