And the 8's continue

I enjoyed reading Nat's blog and thought I would join her in her list of 8's!

8 Things I'm Passionate About

1. My dear family
2. BYU football and athletics
3. Respecting myself and others
4. Exercising my faith in God
5. BASKETBALL
6. Aspiring to the person I want to become
7. Ice cream, cherry coke, Cheesecake Factory
8. Finding joy in the simple, every day routine of life.


8 Things I want to do before I die

1. Meet in the Manti temple with my entire family
2. Attend EVERY (home and away) BYU football game in a season
3. perfect my piano skills so that I can sit down and play what I want
4. the husband and children thing
5. decorate my own home
6. read the entire Old Testament
7. adopt a child
8. make a small difference in the lives of my clients


8 Things I say often

1. "Basically..."
2. "I secretly..."
3. "Promise?"
4. "It's about bloody time!"
5. My list of "A...B...C.."
6. "Done and Done." (Nat, I must have picked that up from you!)
7. "Seriously?"
8. "Are you kidding me?"

8 Books I've read recently

1. Anatomy of Peace, Arbinger Institute
2. Believing Christ, Stephen Robinson
3. Letters for Emily, Camron Wright
4. The curious incident of the dog in the night-time, Mark Haddon
5. A Mormon in the White House?, Hugh Hewitt
6. Chronicles of Narnia, C.S. Lewis
7. Into The Wild, Jon Krakauer
8. The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Mitch Albom

8 Books I WANT to read in the very near future

1. The Biography of Gordon B. Hinckley
2. The Brethren, John Grisham
3. A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving
4. Peace Like A River, Leif Enger (half way through!!)
5. Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer
6. The End of Poverty, Jeffrey D. Sachs
7. Crossing to Safety, Wallace Stegnar
8. Joseph Smith:Rough Stone Rolling, Richard Bushman


8 Songs I could listen to OVER AND OVER

1. "Free Fallin'" -Tom Petty
2. "A Little Respect"-Erasure
3. "We Close Our Eyes"-Oingo Boingo
4."Like A Prayer"-Madonna
5."You Can Call Me Al"-Paul Simon
6. "Gold Digger"- Kayne West (edited of course)
7. "Don't Stop Believing"-Journey
8. "Hey Jude"-the Beatles

8 Things that attract me to my best friends

1. happy with who they are
2. ambitious
3. loyal and true
4. willing to bust a dance move with me
5. recognize the good in others
6. down for a good time
7. enjoy eating and don't mind eating in front of people
8. shared love for God

8 Things I've learned in the last year

1. The importance of exercising faith
2. be willing to accept charity gracefully, then pay it forward
3. Living in NYC was not good for my diet or pocket book
4. friends can become your family away from home
5. "be swift to hear, slow to speak..." (James 1: 19)
6. a greater understanding of God's love for me
7. Affirmation that I don't want to be single forever
8. PATIENCE!!!!!!!!!!

To keep the trend going...

8 People I think should do "8"
1. Lesley
2. Karen
3. Kristan
4. Lisa
5. Amber
6. Kez
7. Charlee
8. Tracy

Randomness

Yesterday was a big day for me. I drove an hour and a half away to take my Master's Level Social Work licensing test. I was stressing out about this test BIG TIME! In order to proceed with the job I was offered, I needed to pass this test and become licensed. The last couple of weeks I have been really going kind of crazy at home. I am done with the test and I PASSED!! I get to start working next week! No more studying for that stupid test.

Last night to celebrate, some friends and I went to dinner (get ready for it) at COSTCO! If you've never tried the hot dogs, pizza, smoothies, frozen yogurt, cesar salad, churro's, you are missing out! I personally am a big fan of their pizza and yogurt. I decided Costco would be a fun date night. I mean, you have the samples, the food, and then all the neat electronics and gadgets to look at. I am a fan! I could seriously spend hours at Costco. FYI they have a Drew Barrymore DVD collection of "Never Been Kissed" "Ever After" and "Fever Pitch" for I want to say, under 10 dollars. I thought that was a good collection. You can also buy a card/stationary kit with 34 cards/envelopes for 10 dollars. This is why I love Costco! You get tricked into buying things you think you need because they are such a good deal! Fortunately I behaved and decided to wait until I start working to spend any money!
I heart Costco.

A boy I play volleyball with, and I started talking about shopping. He told me he will never be a shopper. I said, you know you are going to have a wife someday who will want to shop and enjoy it. His response, as long as they have a recliner somewhere in the store to camp out on, I will be fine. The same boy later informed us that one of his favorite movies is Pride & Prejudice. I don't think I will ever fully understand men. They just never cease to amaze me!

THE END

Why Do I live on the East Coast?

This week has been kind of rainy and cold, which doesn't help the fact that I am feeling a little homesick. I hate missing out on family gatherings/parties, especially when everyone is there, but me. For instance, Stephen's farewell, Kyle's Wedding, Haley's first steps, etc, etc. It was great to go home for a couple of weeks in May. It is already almost September and I am feeling the need to see the family again. This much I know, I cannot wait until Christmas. I know my limits and 7 months is definitely past my limit. I am trying to talk the family into meeting in SLC for conference weekend in October! If not family, you will just have to come to me! Fortunately we all have cell phones. I think it is kind of funny actually. I haven't started my job yet, so my family calls me during the day. My mom calls every morning on her way to work. I very much anticipate this phone call. Brian would call me while he was working out on the farm. Dad and Lesley are very good about checking in as well! I think what it boils down to, is that I am very ready to start work. I need routine and structure in my life, and am excited to be a working woman. In a few months, I am sure I will look back at all this down time I've had and wish I could go back. Family, you know how much I love visitors, and I promise to show you a good time in DC! Start checking flights!!

Did You Know?!

One of my favorite books is the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. They are making a movie that opens in November! I am pretty excited for it. Check out this trailer:

Post of Gratitude

My brother called tonight to inform me that my blog entry about my hair was an excuse to fish for compliments. He was teasing me and giving me a bad time about it, so I thought I would THANK YOU ALL for the nice comments you left. I am getting used to the new look....& Brian, keep working on that tan :) haha!

"Now I aint sayin she a gold digger"

This weekend I had another NYC visitor...one of my favorite people in the world! Mel and I hadn't seen each other in three plus months, which is quite a long time considering I've spent the last three years of my life with this girl! Mel and I got some pool time in on Friday, and at lunch at one of our favorite spots in Old Town. You can't go wrong with a grilled ham & cheese sandwich and DP. Our evening adventures kind of crack me up. Mel & I share many passions, one of them being dancing. We took a short road trip to Baltimore, and danced the night away on the inner harbor. So maybe this happened to be a multi-stake institute dance...fun times, fun times! The great thing about Mel is that we are pretty much satisfied with dancing just about anywhere. We even hit up cheesecake factory afterwards for a little dessert! We didn't get to bed at a decent hour any of the nights...which was great. At one point I checked my phone on Friday night and it was 5:09am...oops. You would think after spending an entire day together alone, we would be ok with calling it a night!

Saturday we hit up the beach, technically the Eastern Shore near Annapolis, with some friends. With all of us combined, we had about every celeb magazine 7-11 owned with us on the beach. We purposely staked out our spot by the attractive lifeguard. Nice work Lisa on the pic! We hit up the Crab Shack afterwards, and that was definitely an experience. I prefer my Alaskan King Crab Legs, rather than the entire crab. So much hard work, for so little meat! I was okay with every thing but the eyes of the crab. That kind of freaked me out a little. Our waitress was amazing and brought Mel and I our very own pitcher of Cherry Coke! Pretty much loving our lives.

Do I Look Like A Boy?!

I love getting my hair done. It is such a treat to go to a salon, have them wash, color, cut, and style your hair. What can I say, I love to be pampered. But, who doesn't?! Along with moving around so much comes the joy of searching for an affordable place to get your hair done. Mel and I had an awful experience in NYC getting our hair done, so after that I scheduled appointments around times I would be in Utah or Washington visiting. The place in NYC told us our hair looked orange, charged us $35.00 for a blow dry (without mentioning it) and acted disgusted with us because we didn't let them color our hair.

After calling around to several places, and getting recommendations from friends in the area, I found a place and scheduled my appointment. I went in not knowing exactly what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted a change. Well, three inches later, and an entirely different color, I am home trying to decide if I like it. My philosophy on getting your hair done, is to try out new looks, because hair always grows back. I think it is a fun change, but I wonder if I am looking a little bit like a boy. Thoughts/opinions?

Wordless Wednesday

That's what I'm talkin' about!!

I love visitors!!

Saturday could not have been more perfect! The weather in DC was amazing. It actually reminded me of a nice summer day on the west coast. Believe it or not, the evening cooled down and the humidity was nonexistent. My friend's Bryndee and Julie came down for a quick visit...and I loved it! Bryndee and I had a VERY relaxing day. We slept in, made waffles, went to the pool for a few hours, took a nap, got pedicures, went out for dinner, and shopped a little. Could the day of been ANY better?! I think not. Sunday Erika and I went out to the Washington DC Temple. I love that temple. The grounds are beautiful. They are currently showing the Joseph Smith movie in the Visitor's Center. I was grateful for the opportunity to watch the movie again and reflect on the great faith of the Saints. They were continuously kicked out of the places they settled and had to leave everything behind. But, they kept going and exercised great faith. I am grateful for the principle of faith. It truly does shape character and bring us closer to our Savior.

Let the Countdown Begin!

Guess what happens in exactly 4 weeks from tomorrow?!

Michele starts her new job! (let's hope and pray it is sooner than that) but nope, try again.

Michele gets to fly home and visit her family because that's all she can think about right now....

September 1 is the 244th day of the year (245th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar...

First day of Spring in Australia and New Zealand...

National R.A.K. (Random Act of Kindness) Day in New Zealand...

Celebrate Tim Hardaway and Gloria Estefan's birthday...

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO...

BYU FOOTBALL SEASON BEGINS!!! RISE AND SHOUT THE COUGARS ARE OUT...WE'RE ON THE TRAIL TO FAME AND GLORY!!!!!!! BYU PLAYS ARIZONA, AND THE GAME IS ACTUALLY TELEVISED ON TV!

I am kind of in a dilemma, however. I signed up to participate in my ward's retreat. According to a great guy at institute, "It is a life changing experience!" I wouldn't want to miss out on that now, would I?! It is about an hour away from where I live. My options are as follows:

a. skip the ward retreat to watch the game

b. leave early Saturday morning to go home and watch the game, and then return Saturday night

C. See if there is anyway to watch the game in the woods

D. Miss one of the ONLY televised BYU games

I have already eliminated option D. What should I do? Will it be EFY fun or BYU football????

"Oh, What A Night"

I don't think my Friday night could have got much better. A group of friends went out to Cheesecake Factory for Lisa's birthday. This particular Cheesecake Factory is memorable, as I celebrated my 22nd birthday there a couple of years ago. I ordered the usual Chicken Maderia...you really can't go wrong with that. I was craving their yummy garlic mashed potatoes and asparagus! Our waiter kind of struggled a bit, as we had to continually ask for more baskets of bread, and refills on cherry coke.


I had been anticipating the next event all day long! A big group of us went and saw Bourne Ultimatum....ahhhhh you must see it! Seriously, I fell in love with Matt Damon again, and could go re-watch it tonight. If you are a fan of action packed movies, you need to see this one. I am told there are 5 books....so I am expecting a couple more movies, which makes me really happy! There is definitely a twist in this one that needs to develop more in upcoming movies!!! I love, love, love going to a movie on opening night, with all of the excited fans. Did I mention, Matt looks EXTREMELY attractive in this film?!