The Life and Times . . .

So, here's what's been going on lately:

I. I named the fish Penelope.

II. The leaves changed colors and Jed and Vicki played in them.

III. Jed was sad when we told him the leaves looked so pretty because they were dead and he left.

IV. Vicki's Twin Mattress + My Twin Mattress + Jenni's Queen Mattress = Monster Bed in the Living Room!

V. Sometimes we like to send mom pictures of us "killing" each other. She tries to act upset, but everyone knows she loves it.

VI. Birdman Nation above! If you know the rules you have to play this stupid game.

VII. Trying to take family pictures at Thanksgiving.

VIII. Our "way cute" Christmas Tree!

XI. Karla's "way cute" baby in her "way cute" winter jumper!

X. Prom pictures at ward mingle!

XI. Other fun pictures with the random balloons we found at church.

XII. We decided to take the balloons home and decorate for ward prayer! They didn't quite fit.

Just Keep Swimming . . .

Today I met up with my sister Katie for lunch. Katie happens to work next door to a Petco. I decided to go in and look around. Now I am the proud owner of a BEAUTIFUL Double-Tail Betta.

I just can't come up with a name, though. I've decided it's a girl and I want a really pretty name. Maybe a little old fashioned. Something like Thaddeus or Reuben, but those are boys names. Please help!

My Vegan Week . . .

So, I have this great friend at work that just happens to be Vegan. I have never had the desire to even be Vegetarian, let alone Vegan, but I was rather intrigued by her lifestyle choice. So I decided to try it out for a week.

Now, when I first started I really was excited. I thought to myself, "This will be a piece of cake!" (As long as it's Vegan cake.) I looked up recipes and bought lots of vegetables and beans and lentils. I even bought a turnip which I've never had!

So I went to work on Monday with some delicious veggie sandwich fixins. I figured a week was nothing. A person could do anything for a week, right? Right! Tuesday came and went with no problems. I was still going Vegan strong!

Wednesday was a bit of a rough day for me, and I actually wanted a hamburger on my way home from work. I convinced myself that a hamburger would still taste just as good next week, so I got a small fry and went home and made some vegetable soup instead.

I didn't think Thursday would be bad because I decided to get a cheese-less pizza! It was delicious, but I just kept thinking about how it would be so much better with cheese on it. I just kept telling myself that I could do it.

Friday was the real clincher, though. It was my first day off all week. I'd been eating the same vegan dishes for lunch all week, so I was starting to get sick of it. I was hating food! Everytime I would even think about the veggie soup I'd been eating half the week for lunch, I wanted to throw up. I went to a party that night and I couldn't eat anything. I was in a grumpy mood all day.

And that's when I decided to just screw it. It's not like I was doing it for any good, moral reason. I just wanted to see what it was like. I figured five days was plenty of time. So, Saturday morning I went to brunch with my sister and had eggs, bacon, and toast with real butter! It made me so happy I even bought some flowers for my roommates on the way home! And what's funny is that I didn't even make the connection! Vicki's the one that noticed I was feeling much better after eating some protein.

So, the moral of the story is this: Unless you like hating your life, eat Meat! And Dairy! And Eggs! . . . Also, I don't like turnips :(

Quite the Productive Morning!

So, after a night of not-so-good sleep I awoke at 4:30 this morning and decided to just get up for the day. I thought I'd go to the temple first, but I realized that it wasn't open yet. Then I figured I'd clean.

I popped in my headphones so as not to wake Jenni and started some laundry while I cleaned the kitchen, worked my way into the living room, and then ended up in my bedroom. All of which weren't very messy so that didn't take much time. Then I decided to get updated on all of the blogs I follow. That actually took awhile.

Once that was done, it was time to go to the temple (mind you, it was still only 6:30). I was all ready (I even left Jenni a "Have a great day" note), but I missed the first bus. I had a half hour to kill, so I thought I'd turn on the yoga video I checked out from the library.

That was a little difficult to do in a dress. But then Jenni got up and I chatted with her for awhile. Then I finally made my way to the temple (but not after missing the bus again). At the temple I happened to see

Elder Richard G. Scott!

And

Haha! JK! JK!

But I did also see Elder Quentin L. Cook!

After the temple, I went to the bank, got some breakfast, came home and took a shower. All this before 9 am! Whew! I think it's about time for a nap.

Pulling Teeth

Okay, so I've never had any of my teeth pulled, but it does not look like my idea of a good time.

Bayside is one of my favorite bands. They're a little dark at times, but I love their lyrics. They have a great line that I've been thinking about a lot lately.

"You're pulling out your teeth, and I'm the Novocaine you pump in your cheek."

So, this line really got me thinking about what I like to call our "guilty pleasures" in life. The things we do to make ourselves feel better when life sucks. I feel like most of the time (if not ALL of the time) this turns out to be self-destructive. Alcohol, sex, drugs, food, cutting . . . pick your poison. I'll admit that it's great at first, but pretty soon it's "feel good" powers start to wear off. Then you find yourself doing it just because you don't know what else to do, and you still feel like crap. Actually you feel worse about yourself. Man, it's such a great song! I keep listening to it over and over again. If you wanna check it out, it's called "They're Not Horses, They're Unicorns".

Anyway, I didn't mean this to be a dramatic post. Just something that's been on my mind the past few days . . .

Everyone's Got A Body, Right?

I always wondered what our bodies were made of, and Dr. Steve Brule shows us in a slightly disturbing but extremely funny way.

Save Second Base!

About a year ago, Vicki and I decided to do the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. It's probably one of the best things I've done in my life. The race was held again this past Saturday, so Vicki and I decided to do it and to recruit some of our friends, Mandy and Dave.

We even talked Scott and Sean into doing it with their roommates, Brenton and Tyler!

There were so many people there to support the cause, it was great! There were great teams like "Show Your Support" and "Tutus for Tatas"! Our favorite was "Save Second Base"!

It was a great experience to be able to see so many people come together! There were definitely some sad moments. Everytime I saw a sign that said "In Memory Of . . ." it just broke my heart and kinda choked me up a bit.

But then it was so great to see the happy ones that said "In Celebration Of . . ."!

Overall, it was one of the best days ever! And not just because of this:

But because we helped make a difference and lifted each others spirits. This was my favorite T-shirt of the day:

"It's kind of fun to do the impossible."

-Walt Disney

Cemetary

So, today I went to the local cemetary with the roommies and Tyler. It was a great way to spend an overcast Sunday afternoon. There were some really great headstones. Some of them were HUGE! I'm not sure what kind of one I would like. Maybe something in the middle. Not too big, not too small, you know? It was kinda sad to see some of them broken. I think it would be cool to know some of their stories. Like what kind of life they led, and maybe how they died. We happened across a couple of sections that were just children and it seemed so sad :( I think that would be a very hard thing to lose a child. Even with the gospel in my life it seems like it would be pretty devastating. There was also a section for servicemen. It was cool to see some from men that fought in the Civil War and the Spanish American War. Overall it was a nice sombering experience.

There were a ton of deer in the cemetary.

I also saw some geese with their little . . . are they called goslings? Or is it just that actor's last name that I'm confusing it with?