Day 44 - Something that fascinates me, and why

Growing up, I loved to act and sing.  I was always in the school play, and always vying for the lead role (only got it once, though - in second grade!).  Throughout high school I was always a supporting actress, which I learned to love (less pressure, less singing, more fun, and it's always great to have the funny roles).  However, I slowly started to become more and more fascinated with the "behind-the-scenes" work rather than being in front of the camera (or stage, or whatever).

Whenever we watch movies, I have to watch the special features afterwards.  I love the bloopers, I love the little features about "how it's made".  I also like to go to imdb.com ("internet movie database) and look up trivia about movies.  It is SO fascinating to me.  I love learning all the little-known-facts about the movies and actors/actresses.

When I was working at the BYU Library, I did a few projects helping the A/V team make promotional videos (for the library).  Sometimes I held the boom microphone (the huge microphone on a long stick, you hold it over the actors out of the camera's shot), sometimes I sat on the set while they got the lighting just right, sometimes I was in charge of the consistency of the shots (like, if we were shooting the same scene two times from two different angles, I had to make sure that the actors were consistent for each shot).  I loved doing all of that.  I think it would be so much fun to work behind the scenes of a movie... it wouldn't have to be anything important.  I just like seeing the inner workings of a movie (or tv show) being made and learning about everything that goes into it.

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Up tomorrow: A letter to myself a year ago

Day 43 - My favorite place in the world

I don't think I have one favorite place in the world - I love being anywhere my family is, whether it's Garrett's family, my family... I'd love to be anywhere if it meant we were spending time with them!

Let me describe our most recent vacation, taken just two weeks ago.  We spent about a week and a half with my family and it was so much fun.

We spent our days lounging on the front porch, watching the kids play in the grass...

Here's a view from the bridge over the river.  My grandparents' house (where guests stay) is on the right.  My parents' little farmhouse is the one on the far left.

Another view of my grandparents' house.

The farmhouse.  It's over 100 years old!

We took rides on my parents' Ranger...

And the four-wheelers, too (Ellie was a little nervous, obviously.  By the time they got back, though, she was all smiles!)

The Ranger.

Love the views...

Played golf...

Rode tractors...  Abby did not like this but I'm the sort of Mom who forces my kids to try some things at least once...

And those pictures are just a glimpse of what we did... we spent time shopping, doing puzzles, playing Wii games, had campfires at night, played hours of Mexican Train, did Tim Tam Slams (I'll explain in another post), read books, talked, napped, fished, scanned old family pictures into our laptop, picked raspberries from my mom's garden, had a fun "photo shoot" by the barn, watched college football, went antiquing, visited a little wild animal zoo, cooked meals, rode four-wheelers, saw LOTS of deer, and there was even a bear on my parents' front porch one evening!  Fun times in middle-of-nowhere, PA.  It was so nice for us to be together as a family, and to also see some of my siblings and nephews.  It's sort of a September tradition now, and I can't wait until next year's! (Although, hopefully we'll get up there one more time before we move to Florida... got to take advantage of being only an 8-hour drive away!)

Thanks SO MUCH Mom and Dad for a great stay, and thanks to my grandparents too, for having such an amazing place to be together as a family!

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Up tomorrow: Something that fascinates me, and why

Day 42 - A bad habit

A bad habit?  Just one? How about I list some for you:

-I bite my nails when I'm nervous and/or bored
-I rarely wash off my makeup before going to bed (so lazy)
-I leave laundry in the dryer for a couple days, sometimes.   That is, if I even DO the laundry.  Garrett starts the laundry most of the time (but I am usually in charge of the folding, it seems).
-Procrastinating
-Throwing together last-minute meals... for a week straight.  I know it's great to be able to throw together a good meal at the last minute, but I think I do this waaay too much.  I mean, I go grocery shopping with a weeklong menu in mind, but then as the week progresses I get lazy (or just too busy), and I start throwing together simple meals instead of nice dinners that I have planned.  I need to make more nice dinners.
-Going along with that, another bad habit is that I don't always stick to my grocery list.  I try really hard to stick to the list in order to save money, but I'm not usually very successful.  I suppose I should just add "Stacy's Pita Chips" to my grocery list, and then this won't be an issue anymore.

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Up later today: A picture of my favorite place in the world

Day 41 - (free day) - "Rush"

...I get a rush when I get emails from people I miss and haven't seen in a long time

...I get a rush when Garrett gets home from work, especially if I haven't seen him for a few days

...I get a rush when I win something on eBay

...I get a rush when someone says, "Let's go out for dinner"

...I get a rush when I can run 3 miles without stopping to walk

...I get a rush when I come home to a clean house (it happens pretty often, I have the best husband!)

...I get a rush when I hear certain songs that bring back great memories

...I get a rush when I find a pair of jeans that fits just right (AND looks good!)

...I get a rush when I get a package in the mail

...But I really get a rush when I see these two girls giggling loudly together.  No one can make Ellie laugh like Abby can.  A deep belly laugh (that sometimes sounds so fake!) that just makes me laugh too.  These two girls light up my life.

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Up tomorrow: A bad habit

Day 40 - A deceased person I wish I could talk to

My friend Haley posted that she would like to talk to her grandparents, and I'm going to agree with her on this one!  My mom's parents died when I was young and I don't remember much about them at all.  I wish I could talk to them and hear stories about when they were growing up, and stories about my mom growing up (from their perspectives).

I also wish I could talk to my great-grandparents, on all sides.  I just love family history and hearing about how people lived a long time ago.  It makes me so sad that none of my ancestors kept journals, because I sure would love to get my hands on something like that!

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Up tomorrow: Free day 

Day 39 - Zodiac sign, and does it fit me?

In short, Aries are:

Adventurous and energetic (hmm... I'd rather lie on the beach than build a sandcastle but ok...)

Pioneering and courageous (sounds good...)

Enthusiastic and confident (Check, check)

Dynamic and quick-witted. (Why thank you.)

However, Aries are also:

Selfish and quick-tempered (I can see that)

Impulsive and impatient (Definitely impatient in some situations.  But I'm usually not impulsive.  The opposite, actually!)

Foolhardy and daredevil (I am SO chicken it's not even funny.  I barely even like driving the 4-wheelers at my parents' house!)

Truthfully I didn't know a whole lot about Aries, so I found an article on the trusty old internet and read up all about myself.  Here are the highlights:

You will not find a more defensive and loving parent in all the zodiac.

You can easily be irritated by slowness in others. (Definitely true of me!! I'm working on this one.)

They do not make very good followers because they are too "take charge". (Well come on, things are always better when I am in charge)

Their immense energy makes them aggressive and restless, argumentative occasionally, headstrong, quick tempered, easily offended and capable of holding grudges if they feel themselves affronted. (Well if you know me you know I am definitely NOT easily offended and I generally don't hold grudges... but I certainly can be argumentative and quick tempered).

Aries are intellectual and objective, but can be in rare situations bigoted and extremist in religion and politics. (I don't really consider myself intellectual and I'm certainly not extremist about anything.)

You make good athletes and climbers, doctors, explorers (including adventuring to outer space), soldiers, sailors and airmen, and leaders, though awkward subordinates in industry and politics. (Definitely NOT an athlete... you should have seen me try to play basketball in junior high.  One time I went to a climbing wall, does that count?  And does being MARRIED to a doctor count for the doctor thing?  Also, I don't see myself going to outer space anytime soon, just fyi.)

Aries governs the brain, so you are said to be prone to headaches, particularly migraines, sunstroke, neuralgia, and depression.  Indigestion and nervous disorders are also threats to you, and your rashness, impetuosity, and wholesale physical commitment make you liable to accidents and physical injuries. (Thankfully I rarely get headaches... we're talking maybe once a year.  Maybe.  Never had any physical injuries either, thankfully.  Don't worry, I knocked on wood.)

You like extremes.  Physical, emotional, and mental; but if your extremism goes too far, then expect to be extremely lonely. (Noted)

Choice of color for Aries: RED (eh. I like to wear red sometimes but other than that I don't really like the color.)

Your starstone: Diamond (I'll take it!)

In short: I don't believe in zodiac signs or symbols or whatever you want to call them, but it was fun to read a bit more about Aries and what apparently represents who I am.

Do you believe in zodiac signs?


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Up tomorrow: A deceased person I wish I could talk to

Day 38 - A photo of my parents

Aaaaand, I'm back!  Sorry about the week-long hiatus, but we were on vacation!  I meant to schedule some posts before we left, and I also meant to blog while we were gone, but that didn't really happen!  But don't worry, we're back now and I'm excited to get down to blogging the remainder of this 50-day challenge.

(.... because I know you were all worried!! :) 

This was taken just this morning!!!  Love you, Mom and Dad, and we miss you already!  We had a great time in Pennsylvania (and I'll blog about it soon!).


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Up tomorrow: My zodiac sign, and does it fit me?

Day 37 - A song I like to dance to

Hmmmmm.....

I really like to dance.  When I was at BYU I took a country dancing class, a tap dance class, and folk dance.  They were all really fun but I think I liked country dancing the best.  We learned a few line dances, but mostly it was couples dancing.  It was kind of awkward because I was married, but it was still really fun.  Garrett was really sad that he couldn't take the class with me* but for some reason he couldn't fit it into his class schedule.  I also would have loved to take ballroom dance or social dance, but never did.

I did try out for the folk dance ensemble at BYU.  Twice.  I mean, I didn't try out for the actual team (that would have been a joke), but the real team actually has 4 "backup" teams where you just rehearse with the real team, and you do some performances here and there.  Anyway, I tried out a couple of times.  Never did make it past the first cut, though. Big surprise.

I loved going to all the church dances when I was in high school and we really had a lot of great people to hang out with there (until I was about 17... then they got a little boring because all the guys were younger than I was and that wasn't very appealing).  I have a lot of great memories of church dances.






*hahahahahahaha yeah right.

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Up tomorrow: A photo of my parents

Day 36 - Some hobbies

Hobbies:

-reading
-watching Netflix with Garrett
-quilting/sewing
-running/exercise
-blogging
-sudoku puzzles
-playing the piano
-going for walks
-watching sports
-spending time with family and friends
-learning about money management (recent new hobby)
-food storage stuff

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Up tomorrow: A song I like to dance to 

Day 35 - A letter to an ex

Dear ex,

I don't even know if you really qualify as an "ex" because we never were an official couple, I don't think.  I liked you before I turned 16 so we were never really "dating", and then by the time I did turn 16 things had changed between us so we never became a couple, really.  Still friends, but not a couple.

I thought I was going to marry you. For years, I always kind of assumed (and hoped and prayed) that we would end up together.  Even when I was dating other people, or when I was single, in the back of my mind I always just kind of assumed we'd get together again someday.  You were the first guy I ever loved and I guess I just assumed that it would last forever.  Sure, there were other guys I dated, even seriously, but you were always the One I would end up with.

The first time you broke my heart -- in high school -- was devastating.  My first heartbreak!  But eventually we came around and became friends again.  We could hang out without my heart feeling crushed, and I could breathe without feeling like there was a huge weight on my chest.  Of course, I still liked you but it wasn't painful anymore.

When you left on your mission I breathed a huge sigh of relief.  You would be busy for the next two years (and not thinking about girls, whew!), and I could just focus on my life and not us, which I'd been obsessing about for so long.  It was nice.  Of course I missed you, but I knew that you were doing what you were supposed to be doing, and life was good.

Fast forward a couple years later: you decided to transfer to BYU.  Of course, this was my dream come true and I knew that we would get together again!  I was so excited. We studied together, hung out with my roommates together, went to sporting events, went grocery shopping.  It was so much fun and I loved spending time with you - it was (almost) everything I'd ever wanted.  Our official "relationship status" was still up in the air, though, and it was hurting and confusing me.  I was tired of always wondering how you really felt about me.  So finally, in October, I decided to just make a move.  I remember telling myself, "Ok, this is it.  I'm going to take one last shot and if I am rejected, I'm done.  I just can't go on like this anymore!"

So, I did just that.  And, you rejected it.  I was so embarrassed -- I'm embarrassed right now just thinking about it.  I went into my apartment and cried in my room for about 2 hours straight (that is exhausting, by the way!), then I found my roommate Lexi and cried some more to her.  That was the second time you broke my heart.  After that, I didn't see too much of you but that was what I needed to get over you.  I really missed our friendship but it was too painful for me.  It was especially hard because it seemed like every other song on the radio was one that reminded me of you (that still seems to be a trend, btw).

Last month I was reading my journal from that time, and something really stuck out to me.  I wrote, "Even though this is really hard, I feel like it's the right thing."  I don't remember writing that, and I certainly don't remember feeling like that.  It took me a really long time to get over you - it was hard to stop thinking about something that I had been thinking about for the last 5 or 6 years! Thinking about you was a habit!  And it was hard to erase all those dreams of getting married and having kids and growing old with you.

I still have all your letters; for a long time I just didn't know what to do with them, especially since I was married, but throwing them away just seemed wrong.  That was such a happy time in my life and in my youth and I cherish all the memories.  They are part of me.  You are part of me, because you make up such a huge portion of my past.  Thanks for all the memories -- the painful ones included, because they made me the person I am today.

Hannah

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Up tomorrow: Some hobbies

Day 34 - Your favorite quote

I have a couple of favorite things I like to read for inspiration.  Here are a few of them:

Favorite scripture right now: 1 Nephi 3:7 (in The Book of Mormon)

"...I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded, for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them."


It's reassuring to remember that the Lord will always give us a way to keep the commandments.  It may be difficult and seem impossible at times, but the Lord will never ask us to do something without preparing a way for us to do that.

I have two favorite hymns, and both are under-sung in my opinion.  The first one is hymn #240, "Know This, That Every Soul is Free."  I just love the lyrics about freedom and choice and agency:

Know this, that every soul is free to choose his life, and what he'll be;
For this eternal truth is giv'n: That God will force no man to heav'n.


He'll call, persuade, direct aright, and bless with wisdom, love, and light,
In nameless ways be good and kind, But never force the human mind.


Freedom and reason make us men; Take these away, what are we then?
Mere animals, and just as well the beasts may think of heav'n or hell.


May we no more our pow'rs abuse, but ways of truth and goodness choose;
Our God is pleased when we improve his grace and seek his perfect love.


God wants us to return to him someday but he will not force anyone.  Agency is the greatest gift he gave to us, his children.  As a parent I can really appreciate how difficult that must be, to watch your children make mistakes but allow it to happen.

My other favorite hymn is #219, "Because I Have Been Given Much":

Because I have been given much, I too must give;
Because of thy great bounty, Lord, each day I live
I shall divide my gifts from thee with every brother that I see
Who has the need of help from me.


Because I have been sheltered, fed by thy good care,
I cannot see another's lack and I not share
My glowing fire, my loaf of bread, my roof's safe shelter overhead,
That he too may be comforted.


Because I have been blessed by thy great love, dear Lord,
I'll share thy love again according to thy word.
I shall give love to those in need; I'll show that love by word and deed:
Thus shall my thanks be thanks indeed.


I am the first to admit that I have a lot of faults and shortcomings, but you could never accuse me of being ungrateful.  I recognize that my life has been pretty easy.  I've always had shelter, food, and love.  I have lived a very blessed life.  I never forget that, and one thing I am determined to teach my children is to be grateful.  I think that having gratitude is one of the best qualities a person can have.  Have you ever been around someone who is ungrateful?  It's no fun at all.

One of the reasons Garrett really looks forward to a doctor's salary is so that we can use our money for good.  There have been a few instances where we have learned that someone is struggling financially, and Garrett always tells me how much he wishes we had money so we could help.  I am really, really looking forward to using our money to help other people.

And finally, another great quote is from President Uchdorf, who is one of the 12 Apostles of our Church.  He said,

"God doesn't need us to love him.  But oh, how we need to love him.  What we love determines what we seek.  What we seek determines what we think and do.  What we think and do determines who we are, and who we will become."




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Up tomorrow: Letter to an ex

Day 33 - What you're craving right now

Right now craving: sleep

Always craving: sushi (seriously people, I'm always craving sushi)

Also craving: Some family time at the farm... and I'm going to get it starting this weekend!  We're going to see my parents and grandparents in PA, and my brother will be there (I haven't seen him in forever) with his wife and kids, and my sister Molly (aka best aunt ever) will be there too.  Emma, we'll miss you. :(

Foods I frequently crave: Stacy's Pita Chips with guac or hummus, chips & salsa, raspberries, any sort of fattening pasta dish, really great sandwiches, bread with olive oil & herbs, really good pizza, blueberry pie w/ cream cheese.

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Up tomorrow: Favorite quotes

Day 32 - A photo you took

Picnic at the park, August 2010

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Up tomorrow: What I'm craving right now

Day 31 - Free day - Money Talk

I have always struggled with keeping track of our money.  I don't balance a checkbook, I don't have spreadsheets to tell me how much money we have.  Don't get me wrong, we've never over-drafted or gone into credit card debt. Throughout our married life I always just had a "spend as little as possible" mentality.  Each semester (during medical school) we'd get a huge lump sum of money (aka student loan) into our bank account and we'd just spend as little of it as possible and hope it lasted until the next installment (thankfully it always did).  I enjoyed getting money that way (well, not the loan part obviously).  I like have a big cushion of money to draw from and having a large amount of "padding" in case of an emergency.  Don't think, however, that this meant I could go out and spend money willy-nilly.  Haha, I wish!  But Garrett was very firm in the fact that this was not our money, so we couldn't go out and spend it on wants.  It was for needs only.

However, it was really frustrating because sometimes there's a fine line between "need" and "want", and Garrett and I frequently disagreed on this line.  Did I need to buy a few baskets/bins to put loose office supplies in?  According to me, yes I did.  Garrett disagreed.  Did I need to drive 5 miles to go running at a certain location, or could I have saved the gas money and just run in our neighborhood?  Do I need to buy paper towels?  Not when a washcloth will do.  Did I need to put 2 little shelves up on Abby's wall, or could those things have just sat on the floor or gone in a drawer? (or, if Garrett got his way, we would have gotten rid of that stuff). Did I need to put cheese in this recipe, or could we have saved the $3 and just gone without? (haha okay, the cheese thing happened while we were at BYU.  And it was actually me saying we couldn't afford it.  We couldn't!)

I'm not saying all those things to complain, but to just make a point that Garrett and I had very different views of "needs" and "wants" so it was difficult a lot of times.  Of course, sometimes I still spent money on clothes, shoes, and fabric that I didn't "need", don't think I was completely deprived.  But it was still hard and we learned a lot about ourselves (and each other!).

So now, I can't even tell you how thrilling it is to be getting a paycheck every two weeks!  It's not a ton of money but it's enough, and we finally got the chance to sit down and create a monthly budget.  Garrett asked me last week if I'd ever heard of the website mint.com.  To his delight, I already had a membership, haha.  I actually joined 2 years ago but never did anything with it because it's all about money management and since we didn't really have an income, there was nothing to really manage (remember, beforehand it was just a "spend as little as possible" mentality.).  Mint is nice because you input your bank information and your credit card information, and it puts all your transactions in one nice spreadsheet (or you can see them separately if you want to).  And yes, it's a secure website so everything is safe (presumably... I mean, I've had my info in there for over 2 years now and it's been fine). Note: this is not an advertisement for Mint.com, I'm just sharing something that's been working for us!

So, last week we updated our Mint account and created a budget using their really neat graphics (bar graphs, pie charts.... it's awesome!).  Here's the breakdown of how we decided to budget our money:

Tithing: 10%

Heath Insurance: 12%

Rent: 27%

Savings: 20%

Internet/Utilities: 7.5%

Food/toiletries: 7.5%

Gas: 3% (this is not nearly enough $$ for this month, Garrett has been working 20 miles away!)

Car insurance: 3% (our premium is only due 2x per year, so this 3% added up over 6 months will equal the premium)

Potential car payment: 6.9%

Vacation/trips: 1.5% (mostly just gas money to pay for trips to temple, visit family, etc.  The amount we don't use will roll over into the next month, and I'm really hoping that by springtime we'll have enough for a trip to FL to look for housing, without having to dip into our savings for it)

Dr. appts: 1.25% (supposed to cover co-pays, etc.  Another rollover amount, so hopefully soon we'll be able to afford some trips to the dentist since we don't have dental insurance!) :)

Eating out/date night: 1.25% (aka once, MAYBE twice a month depending where we go)

Gifts: .6% (that's POINT six, don't think I'm spending as much on presents as I am on food, although I wish I could!  This is another rollover category, hopefully by Christmas we'll have a nice little amount of money to spend on gifts for people)

Clothing/Home decor: .6%.  (yes, another POINT 6!  It's not enough by any means, so this is supplemented with some of my piano lesson money)

Fast food: .3% (this doesn't seem like a legit category to me, but sometimes we need to drive through somewhere, like if we are on a trip or something.  So, I added it in the budget.)

"Extra" money not included in the budget: $2 per month :)

When we were creating our budget on the website, you don't actually put percentage amounts for each category, you put dollar amounts - I just did the percentages to give you an idea of how we've allotted everything. But I have to say, I LOVE LOVE LOVE having a line in the budget for "gifts".  And "clothing".  And "date night"!!  We never had these before for obvious reasons.  We went on real dates a couple of times, but it was only if it was our anniversary or birthday or something.  Yes, we are lame but some people couldn't justify using loan money for fun things (I love you, honey!). :)  So, having money now to buy all those "extras" feels like SUCH a luxury, even if it isn't a lot of money.  It's something!!  I do wish, however, that there was a bit more money for some fun things (like personal money for each of us), but oh well.  That's what my piano lesson money is for I guess.

Yesterday we went to the temple in D.C. and stopped for some fast food on the way home.  And, last night I got an email telling me I had gone overbudget on my fast food for the month already!  Haha whoops!!  This month has been difficult food-wise because Garrett hasn't been working much at the hospital (where he gets free food).  So, we love the website to say the least, and there are some other neat features that we haven't even really looked at yet.  

We decided to put 20% in savings because we are working on our 6-month emergency fund.  We'll also be moving next June and hopefully buying a house then, so we're saving up for all of those expenses as well.  In October and December and April, Garrett will get THREE paychecks (5 Fridays!), and since our monthly budget only uses two paychecks, we will (hopefully) be able to put three entire paychecks into savings, which will be great.  

So, that's how we're doing money-wise!  Now we're just crossing our fingers that we can actually defer the student loans throughout residency.  It used to be pretty standard, but the rules have gotten a lot stricter so it's actually quite difficult to qualify for that.  But I'm pretty sure we'll be okay.

(Why am I pretty sure?  Well, Garrett went to a financial aid seminar last spring at his school, and they were telling the students that hardly anyone can defer.  Someone asked them, "who exactly can defer?" And they were told, "Well.... say you have two kids.... and your wife stays at home.... things like that.  But really, who wants to be in that situation??")

Day 30 - The friendliest person I knew for one day

Okay, some of the other topics have been a bit challenging, but this is downright difficult.  The friendliest person I knew for one day??  First of all, I don't have the greatest memory.  Secondly... well I just can't think of anyone.  So, I'll just list some friendly people I have come across:

The man who switched seats with Garrett on one of our flights last spring.  I booked all our tickets together, but for some reason the airline put Abby and me together, and Garrett in the row behind us (in a middle seat).  So, there I was sitting in a window seat with Ellie on my lap (and she was being extra squirmy, you know how they are on airplanes!) and Abby next to me, with Garrett alone behind us (trust me, I offered to sit alone instead of Garrett, but I knew that wouldn't work.  I knew that wherever I sat, I would have Ellie on my lap, so I figured I would rather sit between Abby and a window rather than two strangers).  Anyway, the man who was assigned to sit in the row with us switched seats with Garrett so that he could sit with us.  I was so grateful.  It was a long flight (3.5 hours) and I needed all the help I could get!

Another nice person was a flight attendant who took pity on me.  This was a different trip, but I had Ellie on my lap and Abby next to me, and we were on a plane where each person had their own tv screen.  Woo hoo!  However, I was disappointed to find out that you could only watch something if you pay $5, which I was not about to do.  But what do you know, a flight attendant came over to me and said I was a "preferred" customer and then she swiped her special card on my screen so it would work!  Hallelujah, it was great.

Hmm... I'm trying to remember more examples but this is all I'm coming up with right now.  But, the older I get the more I notice that the world really is full of nice, genuine people.  Sure, there are some bad seeds or whatever, but most people we come across every day are just people, just like us, with a lot of the same desires, fears, and doubts that we have.  Most people are nice, even the ones who don't seem nice at the time we meet them... maybe they are just having a bad day.  Perhaps I have rose-colored glasses on but I like them and I'm not planning on taking them off any time soon.

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Up tomorrow: Free day

Day 29 - Color spectrum test

So, instead of talking about my favorite colors I'm going to refer you all to take this color spectrum test.  If you have a few minutes, click on the link and take the test to see how well you see different colors.  It's challenging!

The score goes from 0 to 99, and the lower your score is, the better.  I got a 12.  You can even see (below) which spectrums of color I "struggled" with.  Looks like blues and greens get me all mixed up!

What was your score?

Ok, and if you must know.... I really like blue.  And pink.  And recently I'm really liking kelly green.

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Up tomorrow: The friendliest person I knew for one day. (??????)

Day 28 - Favorite places to shop

I love Target.  Maybe it's cliche for a twentysomething mom to love Target, but I do and I probably always will. I like their clothes (sometimes), their home decor, their diapers.  If I could only shop at one store for the rest of my life it would have to be Target.

I have also recently come to really love TJ Maxx and HomeGoods.  Now that I have a few extra dollars each month to spend on non-essentials, it's really fun to go shopping there and pick out some things for our house.  Many people think that TJ Maxx is full of clothes that didn't sell and other stores, and that everything is so last season (not that that matters to many people, including me), but that isn't even the case!  Once department stores have bought all the merchandise (from the designers) they want, the designers sell the "extras" to TJ Maxx, Marshalls, etc.  Most of the time they are in the discount stores at the exact same time as the department stores.  And if something IS "last season", it's marked as such.  And they get new shipments every week, so there's ALWAYS an excuse to go. :)  Not that I need an excuse (well, I need an excuse to tell Garrett why I'm going.  I certainly don't need an excuse to get me there).

Many people ask me where I buy my clothes, and I have to say it's a good mix of TJ Maxx, Target, Gap.  I can't remember the last time I actually paid full price for any article of clothing, even at Target.  I always go straight to the clearance section at each store and don't usually look through the full-price items at all.  Same goes for shoes.

Oh and back to TJ Maxx, Marshalls, etc.  Did you know that those stores sell more than just clothes and home furnishings?  They have TONS of random stuff - nice head phones, luggage, shoes, even some food (although I'll admit I've never bought food from there.... I feel sketchy just looking at all those dusty jars of tomato sauce and fancy olives.  But, I'm sure they're fine.).

And I'll admit, I really, really love shopping at upscale grocery stores.  Oh, did I say "shopping"?  I meant, wandering the aisles and wishing I could buy stuff.  I just love fancy food.  Fresh Market, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods.... I love them all.  I'm a yuppie like that, I guess.  But I will say, while I'm not shelling out extra money for "organic" foods just yet, I am being a lot more picky lately about what I feed myself and my family. Just being more conscious of what we eat (the preservatives, additives, etc).  But yes I still feed my kids Goldfish (and I love them, too).

Online, I like to shop at Amazon and etsy.com.  I love etsy and I love handmade items, and I love to support artists and the "little people".

Ikea is great, but unfortunately I've never lived close to one. Costco is cool, I wish I had a membership.  I also really love bookstores but I never buy anything, I just like to browse and make a library list.

I wish I could find great things at yard sales and thrift stores, but I'm not one of those people that really loves thrift stores so I tend to stay away.  Maybe that sounds snobby but I can't leave a thrift store without feeling like I need to take a shower.  Yard sales are okay.  I don't go to them too often, and when I do I leave my purse in the car.  So far, nothing I've seen at a yard sale is worth the energy of walking back to the car to get my purse.

Where do you like to shop?

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Up tomorrow: Favorite color (what is this, third grade?  I might choose to just have a free day and blog about something else.  We'll see.)

Day 27 - A talent of mine

I don't really know how I feel about this category.  I mean, I'm supposed to list all my talents??  Sounds a little like showing off.  But, since that's pretty much what blogging is, I guess I'll have to indulge you all.  But just know that I don't like it!  I don't like to toot my own horn, you know.

Okay, was that convincing enough?

I am decent at playing the piano and organ.  During my senior year of high school I was one of the organists in my ward, and it was really nerve-wracking but it was good for me I think.  Then I got to BYU and realized that I'm actually not very good at the piano (compared to everyone else), so I didn't play for a really long time.  Now I play a lot for fun and started teaching piano lessons.  Don't love that too much, but I'm not going to lie, I love the extra money so it's worth it.

One of my roommates used to always compliment me on being tactful.  I don't know if many people consider that a talent, but I do.

Along those same lines, my boss at the BYU library used to always tell me how good I was at.... talking about things I know nothing about. (You know........"b.s.").  For example, for my second interview at the job, I had to make a Powerpoint presentation about ways to improve student employee training or some other such thing.  I had absolutely no idea what I was talking about but I just made something up and presented it as if I was an expert on the topic (I was totally clueless, though).  And I got the job!  In the two years that I worked there, I was constantly up in front of a lot of people doing various presentations and pitching ideas and I rarely knew what the heck I was doing, but I am good at keeping a straight face and pretending to know what's going on.  My boss also used to compliment me on my tact as well and told me I would make a great HR person for those reasons (the tact and b.s. combined).  Nice.

(As a side note, I came up with [and implemented] a plan that saved the BYU Library $80,000 a year.  And for the record, I DID know what I was talking about for that one.  Thanks.)

Other talents include: having no reflexes in my knees (runs in the family), wiggling my ears, watching t.v., making Garrett's favorite cookies, making the bed, playing Tetris, and eating.

And to round out the talent portion, let me list a few things I'm horrible at.  Because let's face it, those are always more fun and interesting to read:

I am terrible at:

-jumping

-loading the dishwasher nicely

-drawing pictures, even stick figures

-riding a bike

-hiccuping (this seems strange I know, but Garrett HATES when I hiccup because he says I do it way too loudly.  I can't help it!  So, I'm including it on the list)

-folding fitted sheets

-most sports (I am good at watching, though)

-driving a stick shift

-doing lunges (exercises)

-making big decisions (like buying a car)

-roller skating

-keeping my face out of the cookie dough

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Up tomorrow: Favorite places to shop

Day 26 - Favorite books

I love to read, and there isn't much I love more than getting lost in a good book.  I love to have a good book waiting for me at the end of the day, and I love thinking about a book I'm reading during the day, anticipating the time when I can get some peace and quiet to read again.

Unfortunately, since moving to Virginia I haven't had a chance to get a library card yet, so I haven't read much lately.  However, there are some really great books that I don't mind reading over and over again, and they are:

*The Work and the Glory series (Mormon fiction books)
*"The Firm" by John Grisham
*The Hunger Games series is fantastic (strangely, I still haven't read the third book yet, though, but I will soon! Strange, because I was seriously obsessed when I read the first two books, and I started a countdown for the third book, but then got busy and stopped thinking about it.  Still excited to read it though, don't get me wrong.)
*Little House in the Big Woods series (I have a very old set of these books that I would love to get re-covered so they will last.  They are classics and I love them!)
*When I want a "beach" book (i.e., I mindless reading), I have enjoyed Sophie Kinsella's books (Shopaholic series.  The movie was actually okay too)
*books by Mary Higgins Clark are always good when I'm in the mood for a mystery
*Children of the Promise series is good too (another Mormon fiction series).  In fact I liked those books so much that I took a class at BYU that was taught by the author.  It turned out that the class was actually a lecture series, so he never really taught any lectures, but there were treats after every class so it was okay.

The lack of true "classics" on this list is kind of sad, but I'm okay with that.

I am always taking book recommendations, so load me up!

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Up tomorrow: Talents

Day 25 - Someone I judged by their first impression

I was supposed to post this yesterday but to be honest, this seems like a strange topic and I couldn't think of any examples.

I think we judge everyone by first impressions.  It's human nature to have instincts and opinions about people that we meet on the street or people who show up at our front door.  These instincts can keep us safe or warn us about possible threats or dangerous situations.  First impressions might not always be correct, but that doesn't mean it's wrong to go by our first impression.

It's when we refuse to keep an open mind that judging on first impressions becomes wrong.  If I come across someone who looks grungy and angry, my first impression is to stay away.  I judge (in my mind) that this is someone I don't want to associate with.  However, if for some reason I was forced to meet this person and talk with them, I try to keep an open mind and discover why they are the way that they are, and THEN I decide if I want to continue talking with them/getting to know them.  Sometimes our first impressions are correct, and sometimes they couldn't be more off.

Sometimes I think that when people first meet me, like at Church or something, their first impression might be that I am snobby (in fact, I know this is the case because someone once told me this).  I do not usually approach people I don't know and introduce myself and ask questions about them.  The real reason for this is that I'm kind of shy.  I get really insecure about myself when I am in situations where I don't know many people, so I keep to myself or to the people I know.  For example, if there is another mom at the park with her kids, I am not very likely to approach her and talk because I'm just shy.  It's too bad, too, because last week I was at a park in Richmond with the kids and another mom was there with her 3 kids.  About 20 minutes after our kids started playing together (and about 5 minutes before we left), I finally started talking to her and getting to know her.  Turns out she is LDS and we have a lot in common -- and I realize I missed an opportunity to really meet someone and get to know them.

So, I don't blame people for judging me on their first impression and thinking that I am snobby.  I hope people get over that first impression because I really am a great person to get to know (if I do say so myself), and I really appreciate when people approach me and spark up a conversation.  That being said, I'm trying to work on the way I come across when I first meet people, but it's not easy.

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Up tomorrow (or later tonight): Favorite books