and so it is...

I've Moved...

2009-01-13T12:56:00.000-05:00

Come visit me and Odie at our new website: http://theovards.blogspot.com/

georgia bridal shower

2008-09-18T12:48:00.015-04:00

my first bridal shower. it ended up being a whole lot more fun than i expected. not that i didn't expect there to be fun times had by all, but i was SO nervous to have people watch me open gifts. i practiced the night before trying to have an even, uniform excitement so as to make everyone feel and know that i equally appreciated their gifts.

turns out that it was so much fun opening presents. what was i nervous about? you're sitting there surrounded by loved ones you haven't seen in SO long (we're talking young women days) and you're getting showered with gifts.

AND my cute mom did a "vintage" theme and had me dress up as a flapper. i should have been born in the 20s. truly. i loved wearing the costume around and it was the first item i packed up on my way home. that baby will get much use in future halloween costumes.

enjoy the photos!

the loot. notice the gold gloves. i felt like i should be washing dishes in them and they promptly had to be removed.

dear, dear brieanne. we were great friends in high school and now she has TWO kids.
cute sister-in-law amanda
tracy, mom, amanda

awesome food. thanks darleen for hosting!
how tasty are these petits fours that have wedding rings on top? those certainly did not help the fitting into the wedding dress goal. i'd say those were worth it.
doing my dance of excitement after putting on the dress.
everyone wrote words of advice and recipes and put them together in a scrapbook. this was by far my favorite gift and something i'll treasure. some women even gave me copies of their wedding pictures. i LOVED that.
opening the first gift...

p.s. here is my shoutout to carol. i'm so sad you weren't able to make it!

p.s.s. thank you so much to all who were able to come!

life as of late via photos

2008-09-15T17:02:00.002-04:00

i wasn't kidding about making the chain link. odie hates it and reminds him that, and i quote, "it's forever until we get married." i love it.

along with things i love, let's put this kid at the top of the list.
oh? want more things i love? how about this guy i saw on the way home. notice the lincoln directly in front of us. i was tempted to park my car and ask for a ride. driving behind him was cute until i realized his car had a max speed of about 12 miles/hour.
pleasantly happy with life.
this little diddy will be adorning the sign in table at the reception. also a find from my grandmother's house. thanks, mom, for letting me use it.
stay tuned for photos from the georgia bridal shower.

thoughts on getting married

2008-09-08T20:37:00.008-04:00

here are my thoughts on getting married, in no particular order:

1-getting married is a weighty matter. literally. is there any girl out there who doesn't start thinking about all the hundreds of photos that will be snapped of her that day? and how they'll hang in her living room for years to come? and how good she wants to look in the bathing suit she'll be sporting on el honeymoon? man oh man i was not prepared for how stressed i would get about this whole getting in shape for the marriage thing. alas, two months left.
2-what in the world is product liability insurance on food? and why do i need it?
3-i made a chain link today to count down the month and i'll make another one for the last month. i get to take one off each night if i do the five following things: 1-read my scriptures 2-work out (see above entry) 3-write in my journal 4-read some kind of spiritual matter (preferably the scripture sort) with odie 5-eat three balanced meals and two snacks/day. i'm pretty excited about the chain. i fell in love with the chain link idea in kindegarten and have not given up on making them for memorable occasions since. odie, expect many more over the course of our life together.
4-i can't wait to be endowed and go through the temple. as i've been preparing to go through, i'm struck by how powerful the sealing power is. is there anything more comforting than knowing that you can be with your family forever? FOREVER. what a lovely and fabulous concept. just the thought of it makes me want to be more focused on my family relationships. how grateful i am for the priesthood and the gospel being restored.
5-watch hotel rwanda. doesn't really relate to my getting married. but, wow, that is one powerful movie.
6-marriages are expensive. i've made it a personal commitment to always offer to help out with any future weddings. be it cooking, making signs, stuffing invitations, etc. you name it. it takes a lot of volunteers to make a wedding come off.
7-going along with numero 6, i've discovered (yet again) that i'm horrible at asking people for help. i have taken it upon me to single-handedly plan this wedding. i work in event planning so therefore i should be able to handle this, right? wrong. i'm just grateful my darling mom came up last weekend to help me out. i was stressed. badly. but she calmed me down.
8-i love my colors of light pink and gray.
9-i can't wait to be mrs. ovard. this guy of mine sure is great. so loving, so giving, so funny, so concerned for me, so humble. the list goes on. what's best about him is that he is mine and i get to take care of him. and guess what? he loves to take care of me. it's quite nice on both ends.
10-i'm so excited to go to cancun. a warm location in november sounds beyond appealing.

that's it for now. my blog layout is dreadfully boring. i'm waiting until i'm mrs. ovard to start a new and snazzy blog for the two of us to detail our upcoming adventures.

i'm off to GA this weekend for my shower. can't wait to get home.

my sister's blogs

2008-08-05T17:16:00.008-04:00

so what good would family be if you didn't shamelessly promote one another's blogs? the voncannon clan is no different and so i proudly introduce three of my sister's new blogs. one is for organic-enthusiasts, one includes reviews for hip and trendy baby products (thus the name) and the last is a review of organic baby products. i don't have kids and i love the site and easily get caught looking through all the fun products. she regularly has giveaway contests so be sure to check back often.

enjoy!

(until i can figure out how to put in a link, i'm just writing out the email addresses below)

http://www.organic4baby.com
http://www.organicinstyle.com
http://www.hipandtrendybaby.com

engaged

2008-07-21T20:31:00.000-04:00

dear neglected blog,

i apologize that you are always the last to know the news. and this time is no exception. but in case you haven't heard, i'm engaged. three weeks late, i know, but alas, here i am. check out the details at: www.tracy-dewayne.com

sincerely,
tracy

ecuador

2008-07-02T14:23:00.006-04:00

ah, ecuador. what a fun trip. let me give some background as to what landed us in that beautiful country. grayden, a good friend of ours, has parents who are mission presidents in ecuador (guayaquil to be exact). they were getting ready to finish their three-years there and grayden offered to bring some friends down with him before they left. thanks, grayden.

it was such a great idea. grayden had been a few times, with reed accompanying him on the last trip. then you had odie and i who had never been, and sweet jess who this was her first time to latin america. luckily for us, both grayden and reed are fluent in spanish, and having both traveled in ecuador before, we were set to go.

i really couldn't have asked for better dynamics in the group. everyone just seemed to mesh so well. which you have to do when you're on buses for hours and gross and scared to be horseback riding (well, that was just me), and basically just together 24/7.

a quick overview of the trip is that we spent part of the time in vilcabamba, a sleepy town up in the mountains, cuenca, the colonial, bustling town, and quayaquil. please note that it's best to actually scroll down to the first post on horseback riding and then read backwards, they make more sense that way.

enjoy the recap!

ecuador: random collection of pics

2008-07-02T14:14:00.003-04:00

by far my favorite part of traveling is seeing the different cultures and being with the people. i love watching them interact and hearing them talk. especially given that i don't understand exactly what they're saying, so it intrigues me even more. below are some photos of the people we saw, as well as some cool landscape shots.

this cute girl was at the incan ruins and i believe reed paid her to take her photo.

there was a nasty rain storm as we drove down the mountain

and of course, what highway would be complete without part of the road breaking away? yikes!

ecuador: guayaquil

2008-07-02T14:01:00.003-04:00

quayaquil is where we started, and ended, our trip. as well as where we flew in and out of (by the way, away the panama city airport at all costs). guaya, as i like to call it, is the largest city in ecuador and is a port city. i over all liked the city, but probably not as much as cuenca. the highlight definitely included staying with grayden's parents in the mission home. it was beyond welcomed to have a clean, safe place to be. that and they have a "MegaMaxi" near their house, which is like a SuperTarget of sorts. Nothing makes you feel like home like going to a store that resembles Target...

this is grayden's cute mom. she made a birthday cake for all of us that had recently had birthdays. extremely nice and tasty.

reed's best "i'm sad that it's our last day" face. the best part is that you can totally tell he was holding back a grin.

the living/dining room in the mission home

we took a pirate ship around guaya the last night we were there. this is us waiting.

grayden and jess. reading a book on pirating, perhaps?

this game, along with skip-bo, took up all of our time. it was a solitaire game of sorts. odie won once. and i cheated once and won. so i guess i didn't really ever legitimately win.

cute.

ecuador: iguanas

2008-07-01T16:44:00.004-04:00

everyone needs to visit a good iguana park now and again, and luckily, guayaquil has a great one. the iguanas there have somehow all congregated to this one square and they're everyone. i had to be careful where i walked as to not step on them. it's crazy. and you look up and they're all in the trees.

eveyone in the group sat down and fed them. besides me. i designated myself photographer and was more than happy to be on the sidelines...

here's how it works. you sit down, pull out food (preferably bananas) and up they come.

this was as close as i cared to get to one :)

ah, the animal lover

this guy gave odie a pretty nasty scratch

see how they blend in?

ecuador: ingapirca

2008-07-01T16:20:00.003-04:00

we also visited ingapirca, which is ecuador's only major inca site with a building intact, the so-called temple of the sun. apparently it was erected in an eliptical form, coinciding with the movement of the sun. the site was mostly used for ceremonies and worship.

another one of the top five favs from the trip

ah, the one piece of clothing that odie took away from ecuador. compared to some pieces he was trying on earlier, this one is quite stylish. and it's amazingly warm. perfect for the ecuador sun.

random blind man playing the random instrument.

el presidente ridd (grayden's dad) along with a llama

the site from a distance. it was really neat to walk around

the main section

ecuador: cuenca part II

2008-07-01T10:38:00.002-04:00

some more shots from cuenca:

reed giving his acceptance speech. this was the balcony attached to the room we stayed in.

this shot is so funny to me. these are the boys outside a cathedral with their candles they purchased for the intent of burning them to help grayden. you see, grayden has a fitness test coming up and they burned them in his honor :)

me and the view from our hotel

ecuador: cuenca

2008-07-01T10:04:00.007-04:00

our second stop on the trip was the town of cuenca. cuenca is one of the top three largest cities in ecuador and is very colonial. i loved their cobblestone streets and the history, plus since it's a large city there's a great vibe.

here's the main church.

the gang at a lookout point

this still makes me laugh. odie was debating buying this under the idea that he could wear it in the winter. i can only imagine him sporting this down pennsylvania avenue.

view of cuenca below

jess had her sandal break, but no worries, odie found some dental floss and sewed them back together.

these boys are really too close...

watching the ecuador vs. colombia game

interesting poster

this is one of my top five photos from the trip. this man was too cute and i just HAD to buy something from him. so i purchased a red hammock :)

the boys in the market. i LOVE latin markets and haggling for prices.

i had probably around two gallons worth of ice cream during the trip. that and probably a pounds worth of "papas fritas" aka french fries.

ecuador: vilcabamba part II

2008-07-01T09:55:00.002-04:00

thanks jess, for this cool shot

this is the life...

everyone celebrating a round of sprites for reed's new job. he received the call while we were in vilcabamba and we were so happy for him! please note how my hair looks sans a blowdryer.

reed's victory dance :)

ecuador: vilcabamba

2008-07-01T09:44:00.003-04:00

vilcabamba was our first destination in ecuador. it's a charming town that's up in the mountains and known for it's longevity (apparently people there live to be very, very old). we stayed in a hostel that was actually pretty nice. each room had a porch with hammock and picnic table. we played many a game of skip bo there. probably my favorite part were the 75-minute massages for $18 that i had. those were heaven. minus the facial i had when i was sunburned. bad idea.

here's the view from our porch.

this photo is taken from the restaurant at the hostel. it was an amazing view.

we were walking through town one day when school got out. i love this boy's face.

ah yes, what would any trip be without some soccer matches. we just happened to be there when the ecuador v. argentina game was on. that was fun. well, it was fun watching people watch the game more than i enjoyed the game itself. apparently argentina is a pretty big deal on the soccer field.

this is grayden and jess at the hostel's restaurant.

these two are so close.

i love this picture of odie.

we were there when the church was having one of their first communion sundays.

this truck pulled up and the guy would get fishes out of the tank and the lady would gut them for you. you can't beat the freshness...

ecuador: transportation

2008-07-01T09:16:00.004-04:00

when traveling, there are many modes of transportation. let's begin with the photo below. this is us on a bus. this how we spent most of our time traveling. my favorite trip was going from guaya to vilcabamba which entailed an overnight, 10 hour bus ride. that was fun. especially when we were right next to the bathroom and the guy in front of me took his shirt off and reclined so he was pretty much in my lap.

this is us on the bus headed, er, somewhere. don't remember. but i do remember being sunburned, thus the aloe.

or one can travel in a rented van...

a pirate ship is always a good way to traverse the seas...

naturally, horses are always a good option...

but let's not forget about our dear taxi driver. who wouldn't want a ride with this fellow?

and my favorite, bike riding. this is us going through town in vilcabamba. i think only two of our bikes had legit brakes which was fun when we went downhill...

ecuador: horse back riding

2008-06-30T21:48:00.005-04:00

ah yes, horse back riding. for one to fully appreciate the experience that was mine, let me first give preface to all of my interactions with horses. once, when i was nine, we went to the kentucky horse farms and rode horses for about 30 minutes. in a circle. at a slow pace. and another time, when i was 17, i got on a horse and felt, for the two minutes i was on it, that i was going to fall off it every step it took. needless to say, horses are not my forte.

but no matter. the boys in our group wanted to go horse back riding. i knew going into this trip that there were to be some adventures and i told myself i wouldn't back down, no matter the challenge (remember, i'm a WIMP). so monday morning we found ourselves in charming vilcabamba outside the tour guide's office with our five horses ready to be mounted. i can't remember the last time i was so nervous. my horse looked like the size of mount everest (in my mind), but up i went.

and up we continued for 3 1/2 hours on the mountain. it was pretty steep at points and the ground was wet which made for some scary, but beautiful, moments. the views were unbeatable. we stopped for two hours to hike up to two waterfalls. that was such a nice break off the horse and so fun. post-hike back on the horse we went for the 3 1/2 hours down.

other highlights included our darling tour guide who let me practice my spanish on him when i asked challenging questions such as "de donde eres tu?" i'm pretty sure it was a deep and meaningful conversation for him. that and when we were getting back into town and galloping on the horses i felt like the prodigal horseback rider returning having not killed myself on the mountain.

some times i looked like this:

but most of the time i looked like this:

our cute tour guide leading the way on our hike

about to start off for the day. i loved the hat they gave me.

this was my view for most of the day:

the gang.

i LOVED the hiking through the jungle. it was so fun!

ah yes, the kissing pose.

ecuador

2008-06-24T16:39:00.003-04:00

here are some quick photos from the trip. i'm going to write more and add more photos soon. let these suffice until i beat off the cold i got on our trip and thus gain energy to be witty and clever in my writing.

enjoy the preview!

let there be transportation

2008-06-24T16:33:00.003-04:00

after a month of walking around and being sans a car (both of our cars died in the last six months or so) we FINALLY have a new car! hooray for our new civic!

happy birthday, mauri!

2008-05-07T15:07:00.002-04:00

on april 25 it was mauri's birthday. mauri just happens to be my friend, roommate and co-worker. it's like a three-for-one kind of deal. i like it.

we went to an italian restaurant in pentagon city that was pretty good. or at least i thought so. the pizzas were thin crust and not huge. something that was somewhat worrying to a boy like odie. luckily we got coldstone's afterwards to fill the boy up.

guayaquil, ecuador

2008-05-06T17:23:00.002-04:00

hooray, i'm going to ecuador! i'll be gone june 13-22. i'm headed down with odie and some friends. one of my main purposes in going is to see if i can find these houses that google images so nicely gave me upon searching for "guayaquil." do the houses really look like this?

either way, i'm pretty exicted. time to start brushing up on my spanish...

mrs. laura pressley

2008-05-06T17:17:00.002-04:00

last weekend noelle and i went out to salt lake for little laura lamb's wedding. it was a beautiful wedding for a beautiful girl.

the festivities included a bachlorette party friday night, tons of shopping with noelle (banana republic has far better sales in utah than dc), the temple sealing and the reception. though i'm lacking in reception photos, suffice it to say it was beautiful.

congrats, laura!

let the shopping begin...

noelle made this cute shirt for laura

we were all roommates once. turns out now i'm the only one not married.

beautiful

the girls

introducing...

2008-04-08T17:22:00.002-04:00

Lest you think I’ve intentionally neglected my dear blog, tis not so. I have a perfectly good reason as to where all of my time has gone, including the time usually set aside for such blogging endeavors. And that reason has a name.

It’s Odie Ovard.

I’d like to introduce my dear Odie. Some of the basic stats include the following:
*His full name is DeWayne Spencer Ovard
*He is from Fredericksburg, VA
*He was born 2 February 1982
*He attended James Madison University
*He is the fifth of seven children
*He served a mission in Hawaii

Now, on to the fun details:
*He can play just about any sport freakishly well
*He’s amazing with computers
*He loves chick flicks (don’t hate me, Odie)
*He always loses at thumb war with me
*He has great break dancing skills
*He has an infectious laugh and shares it often
*He first met me at a Paulo Nutini concert last September

And most importantly, he and I have the best time together. I pretty much (along with my dear friend, Taylor) prayed him into dating me. No really. I thought he was adorable and in Thanksgiving started praying that he’d ask me out. Prayers really work my friends…

Here we are at JMU last weekend, my first time ever visiting.

Odie's favorite breakdancing move

The kite festival in DC

Kite festival part deux

I love this picture for two reasons. One I love that headband and two I love connect four. And I love Odie, so I guess that's three reasons why this is a great picture.

california

2008-03-04T09:39:00.004-05:00

last weekend we (tyler, justin, taylor and i) went to san francisco. as some of you may remember, this was my first time visiting california.

some of the weekend activities included a trip down lunbard street (scary getting up there!), alcatraz (by far the highlight), a boat toar, walking on golden gate bridge, eating at fisherman's wharf, perusing sasilito and visiting chiatown.

enjoy the photos!

sidenote-we flew virgin to get out there. i HIGHLY recommend them. each seat has a computer screen in front of it that you can play games, watch tv, movies, order food, IM anyone on the plane, etc. basically it made the six-hour flight go by so quickly...

taylor looking pretty happy for being in a jail

al capone. look at how nice he seems...

the view of san fran from alcatraz

tay and me on our way over

wow. this is one sad looking picture

me in chinatown right as i got ripped off buying a t-shirt

i loved this wall

the boys on our way to alcatraz

me and justin

and last, but not least, the bridge

request for help

2008-02-16T12:59:00.002-05:00

my dear sister, tabitha, has decided to do a walk for charity in may. below is an email she sent out. it's for such a worthy cause and i'm proud of her for getting involved. if any of you would be kind enough to donate, the links to do so are listed below. THANK YOU!

TABITHA'S EMAIL:
As some of you may know, I am participating in the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer on May 3rd and May 4th. This walk will cover 39 miles during a two-day period.

You may be asking yourself why on earth would I willingly offer to walk 39 miles in two days? Because I have a mother, and a sister and a husband. Because breast cancer is a disease that can affect any of these people in my life and in yours. And it doesn’t just affect women, but men too. The key to fighting this disease is early detection and the purpose of this walk is to increase awareness and help provide mammograms and other appropriate medical care.

So now the big question: Why am I contacting each of you? Because I need your help. As a society, we need to raise awareness of this issue. This walk will have several thousand participants. We will begin in downtown DC and will cover 39 miles walking through the city and into Virginia and Maryland. Volunteers will be on hand to make sure the event goes smoothly and family members will be on the sidelines cheering us on. To be able to participate, I have pledged to reach the minimum requirement of $1800. I cannot do this without your help. Please support me in this effort as I join hundreds of other women, men and children as we do what we can to put a stop to this terrible disease.

I have created a website titled “My Avon Walk” and you can visit it at http://www.walkingforcharity.com. I will be regularly posting my progress as I train for this event and as I continue to gather support. Please visit it often and feel free to make comments in the journal section and let your friends know as well.

If you would like to donate to my walk, just click on the “donate here” link found on my website (or click here: http://info.avonfoundation.org/site/TR/Walk2008/WashingtonDC?px=3855800&pg=personal&fr_id=1430&et=Esvx26W6N-6c23p6HzT02w..&s_tafId=253816). There is no minimum donation and anything you can contribute will be very appreciated. And don’t forget that charitable donations are a tax benefit to you as well.

just finished...

2008-01-03T13:42:00.000-05:00

it's amazing. after kite runner, i wasn't sure how hosseini's second book would fair, but it's just as amazing as the first one. but the storyline doesn't play off of the first book at all, which i wasn't expecting. it's such a gripping book (i finished it in two days, which rarely happens for me). any explanation i could give would only insult the quality of the book, so please, go read it and see for yourself.

new years

2008-01-02T13:11:00.000-05:00

new years 2007. out with the old and in with the new. to kick off the new year, we headed up to nyc. the gang included my now former roommate, rachel (i moved out last weekend to a new place), brandon and jason.

ah, the beginning of our trip. this is rachel and me in the apartment we stayed in (thanks, adam).

our plan of attack was to stay at times square. we got there at 5 and it was already packed. to kill the time, we sent text messages to this big screen that was in front of us. this one is compliments de moi.

brandon asked to take this picture on the subway. i was thinking he had an artistic eye for the great colors in the frame. was not so. turns out i was sitting in the priority seating for those with disabilities. but you have to admit, it's still a cool shot.

everytime i'm in nyc i meet up with jamar. isn't he cute? this is us eating dinner at applebees.

i loved this clock outside the restaurant.

this is us around 7:30 or so, getting ready to leave. yes, leave. we had all intentions of staying until midnight. but then reality set in. we would have had to stand in our section (they block you off in sections) for seven hours without going to the bathroom (once you leave you can't get back in) and on top of that, it was F-R-E-E-Z-I-N-G. what would you do? go get dessert like we did? precisely. it was a valiant effort though, guys.

the things you do to amuse yourself when you're cold and bored...

heading to times square they were giving out full throttles to keep people awake. thanks, new york, for the boost.

post leaving times square, we went to galaxy diner to get hot chocolate then to little italy to get dessert. it was by this time that i was dying and tried to take a power nap, but to no avail. why is it that i can stay up til 2 a.m. easily but the one night i have to stay awake til midnight i feel like i'm 85?

after little italy we headed back to times square. it was swarming even more so with people and we couldn't see the ball drop. BUT we were in central park which was fun to watch the fireworks.

welcome, welcome, 2008!

photos of merriment

2007-12-26T10:46:00.000-05:00

ah, christmas. all of the anticipation paid off and amounted to a wonderful day. my family is entirely too kind to me and i so enjoy just being in their presence. it's like that stage in a relationship when you get to the point of being fine if you're with someone and not talking. that to me is complete comfort. and that's what you get when you're around family.

the week i was home consisted of a lot of driving, shopping, eating and monk. yes, monk. my family is obsessed and i too have joined in the craze. if you haven't seen it, watch one episode. guaranteed love at first viewing.

let us not forget other highlights of christmas which do include the annual gift giving. my sweet dad put together over 300 pages of family history. i can only imagine the time and effort that went into that book. it's complete with photos, personal write-ups and even ads from his childhood. i'm not quite sure how you top that. the only thing that i could think of is if he made a movie that told our family story. i'm pretty sure nicole kidman would do a great job at playing me.

my mom also made a book of family history for us. i love that there's been this "trend" in my family to give gifts that are family history-centered. i really feel as though i need to study up on these people, especially now that i have all of the background so readily available. i was reading through her book and read a story on one of my ancestors joining the church that i had never read before. where has that been?

i simply love going home and regret that i didn't stay home longer. and yet here i sit, two days later, reeling that christmas is in fact over and i am in fact back to "real" life. i laugh at how skewed a perception of "real" life can be. i equate it to being back to work and paying bills and routines when really how much more real can life be than being at home with one's family, celebrating christmas? making memories and laughing and simply being around family, that is what life is about. (insert "business? business? mankind was my business!" from the christmas carol).

my dear dad and the picture of antigua, guatemala that i gave he and carol

no trip home is complete without a trip to good ole cracker barrel

my dad and me with "our" journal that we will write entries in and then mail back and forth to each other

skip-bo. this game took up a good chunk of my sunday. yet with as many rounds as we played, i somehow never won once.

christmas day photo. kent, mom, me, bro aaron and his fiance amanda

this photo's for you, mauri. now we can make caramel apples anytime...

christmas thus far

2007-12-25T01:58:00.001-05:00

ah yes, i am home for the holidays. and loving just about every minute (there are the inevitable slow moments one incurs when going home. but being with the family by far makes up for any said moments).

i'll describe the trip later. right now it's 2:00 a.m. on christmas eve. my dearest friend just called to tell me she got engaged this evening. i'm beyond thrilled. but also now can't sleep. you can't spring such great news on a girl and expect her to fall immediately back to slumber. but i'm also not coherent enough to write anything grand.

so instead, you get a picture of me. by our tree. standing. it's exciting, i know. i actually really like the second picture with my reflection in the ornament.

merry christmas everyone!

spreading some christmas cheer

2007-12-18T08:59:00.000-05:00

last night as i was driving home through my neighborhood i heard a fire truck in the distance. hearing a fire truck is not an uncommon occurence, so i didn't think much of it. after i got home my rommate mentioned to me that she had been hearing the fire truck for what seemed like a really long time.

as we're talking about it, i hear one getting even closer and look out my window to see the truck practically stopped in front of our house. my roommate and i exchange worried looks and went to open the door.

what do we find but a santa sitting on top of the fire truck, waving as he passed by. i thought it was the cutest thing. it was a freezing night, and here were these firefighters, equipped with their very own santa, going around town handing out candy canes to little kids. i must note that the santa looked pretty authentic and i'm slightly convinced that he may have been the real deal.

so naturally, we decide that we need to thank these darling, and pretty cute, firefighters. luckily my roommate had about 600 dozen cookies that we could share (maybe a little less, but when you're trying to not eat sweets a single dozen seems like 100). we quickly packaged some up and went on our hunt around town to find them. we found them on 23rd street and i had my roommate jump out of the car to give them to a surprised firefighter.

the cookies were delivered and merriment was had by all. thank you, firefighters!

the below picture really has nothing to do with the above story, other than the fact that there is a firetruck in the picture. as i was searching for "santa and fire truck" the below image came up. i thought it was hilarious and am shocked that somehow these tiny trucks never caught on...

additonal side note-- this is my 50th post. do i win a prize for that? where are my balloons falling from the ceiling? anybody?

shopping for kids = hard

2007-12-13T22:37:00.000-05:00

in my family we draw names for each of the siblings and spouses as to cut down on the amount of gifts we have to purchase. simple enough. i have my sister, which is also relatively simple as we have similar styles. that and she's beyond content with a sephora giftcard should all my other ideas not come to fruition.

but, i do have two adorable nieces and one handsome nephew thanks to my brother derek and his wife lori. i don't have their names this year, but i really wanted to still get something for the kiddos. it stems from fears that one day i'll show up at their house in utah and they won't recognize me and i'll think, if only i had gotten them christmas gifts each year, that would have won a place in their memories... that and the oldest niece maya, seven, is definitely old enough now to remember gifts. i can distinctly remember being that age and getting gifts from my aunt and being so excited. that's who i want to be. the cool aunt that every year the kids are excited to get gifts from.

hence my motivation to quickly run to target tonight to grab something. emphasis being on quickly.

one hour later and i found myself stressed about what to purchase for my two-year-old niece, avery. would she like the stuffed dog or lion better? or should i be buying her a book because that could stimulate her mind? everything cool is for ages 3 +, but she's smart enough, right?

alas, in the end it turns out that avery will soon be the owner of some darling bright pink shoes, kyle some sporty spiderman undies and my favorite item is this skirt below for maya.

i've decided that next year i'm definitely getting a dvd for the whole family...

i have a secret...

2007-12-12T20:36:00.000-05:00

...i've never been to california before. i know, it's a travesty given that i spent four years at byu and somehow never graced the soil of this great state. thankfully virgin america decided to put their flights out west on sale to rectify the situation. my dear friend tyler told me of the sale in the first place and initiated going out there.

tyler, justin, and i bought tickets tonight for a long weekend at the end of february. we'll be staying in san fran. i haven't decided yet if i'm more excited to actually visit california or make a cd with california related songs to listen to. you can't really do that unless you are actually visiting the state. and let's be honest, there are a ton of fabulous california related songs. "california love" anyone?

so, i now welcome any suggestions of fun things to do in san fransisco...

wide awake and thinking...

2007-12-12T03:45:00.000-05:00

it's 3:45 a.m. and here i sit. wide awake. an unknown man with a 435 area code (southern utah) called me last night and i informed him he had the wrong number. i think this man hoped that one last-ditch effort late at night might produce the person he was looking for, and decided to give me another ring at 3:30 a.m.

as i answered i again informed him that not only did he have the wrong number, but he had called and woken some one up on the east coast. he laughed and said "i'm so sorry. you and your husband are probably trying to get a good night's rest. i promise i won't call again." ha. little did he know that i was in my petite twin-sized bed, sans a husband, and had just taken my upper retainer out to answer the phone in a move characteristic of a 14-year-old.

so here i sit. typing. at my computer. wide awake. alas, thank you 435 man...

new york avec lindsay

2007-12-11T08:53:00.000-05:00

i've always heard that new york is wonderful around christmastime and thus the motivation for last weekend's trip up. that and i have a slight obsession with the city that keeps me coming back on a semi-regular basis (thoughts of moving there are increasingly stronger, but alas, that's for another post).

lindsay and i went up friday and came back sunday night. i got spoiled this summer not taking the bus up often, but was reminded on this trip why, in fact, the bus only costs $20. but it's all part of the experience that is the chinatown bus. crazy people, lots of traffic, weird movies, you really can't ask for more. the good thing on this ride up was that i FINALLY got past page 5 in my new book.

our host for the weekend was one of lindsay's mission companions and her husband. nothing like staying with a darling newlywed couple to make you want to give up your single life in a heartbeat. wow, that was one cute couple. luckily, the result of my conversations with them was an increased amount of hope in the fact that people actually do work out and actually do find each other, something that still amazes me everytime i see it.

the weekend highlights include:
*seeing the rockettes. we saw them at 9 a.m. and i loved going early. it was amazing. even from the third mezzanine, on the third row from the back, with lots of kids around me. those girls are fantastic.
*shopping at j.crew at rockefeller center. it's not the actual shopping i liked, but watching the hoards of people that were coming in and out of that store.
*meeting up with dear, dear mary stewart. i haven't seen her since byu days and really have missed her. that and i met her new little abby. she also told me the two secrets to being a mom that i will try to not forget.
*chinatown with kimber. that will never get old for us. and that girl knows chinatown in and out so it's nice to have a guide show you all the good spots (and i have to mention that i finally bought a custard purse. i've been wanting one forever...)
*getting stuck with my luggage trying to go through the roundabout in the subway. i have to admit, that was pretty funny.
*trying to find a bathroom with lindsay = impossible. new york does not like bathrooms i've decided.
*dinner with trevor, seth, adam, jamar, steph, lindsay and two of steph's roommates at city grille.
* a funny awkward scene that ensued after dinner (potentially too awkward to write on a blog, but can be discussed one on one)

contrary to what it looks like, which would be me taking out trash, this is my loot from shopping in chinatown.

yes, we stayed in brooklyn. and yes, it was far.

i LOVED this christmas tree chandelier at radio city. it was H-U-G-E.

mary and cute abby. look how warm abby looks...

my new, dear friend sheryl. she's one of those darling people you always saw at school but somehow never met.

day of thanks

2007-11-26T18:21:00.000-05:00

ah, thanksgiving. the day of all out eating and lounging. christmas day comes in a close second, but on christmas i actually feel guilty about eating so much whereas on thanksgiving it's a no-holds bar at eating.

to balance out the food, charlee and i decided to run the turkey trot in the morning. oh man, was it a beautiful day. it felt like spring. perfect weather. my favorite part of the run was when charlee and i stopped halfway through at her car to drop our new shirts off and so i could grab my iPod. which as usual, i hold in my hand and never use. except for listening once to 1,2 step as i crossed the finish line.

this year's dinner was a little different in that dad and carol sadly weren't able to come up. luckily my dear cousin andrea graciously opened her house to us (along with cooking an awesome turkey). charlee and justin tagged along which made for an even more enjoyable time.

i decided on this most important meal of the year to try my hand for the first time at baking pies. half way into baking the first one, i checked in on it to sadly realize that i was in fact cooking it in a bake pan and it was indeed caving in on itself. classic. i also burned my hand trying to get it out. not to worry, i somehow made an analogy out of it for my talk yesterday on forgiveness.

i love eating and vegging. and then eating more. everyone needs a day like this. bring on christmas is what i say...

check out the great dessert my sister made. charlee and my cousin audrey became the best of buds.

i'll admit, i had never done the whole wishbone thing before. my aunt thought this was a disgrace. i think it's a tragedy that on my first try i lost. maybe charlee wished that next time i would win...

here my cousin is describing how to take the neck meat and put it in the gravy. you can tell how i feel about that.

all the men lounging.

dear aunt sanna and the little ones

ISO: good makeup

2007-11-13T21:48:00.000-05:00

hey ladies (or guys if you have any suggestions for that matter), i'm looking for some new makeup and am officially taking recommendations. and i could use help. looking for makeup is probably one of my least favorite things to do (although i've decided that my least favorite things, in order, include: 1-finding a job 2-breaking up 3-finding a job while breaking up). but makeup is hard b/c you never know how it's going to look, it's expensive, yada yada. thank heavens for sephora and being able to return things though.

so, i'm looking for recommendations on lipstick/gloss, foundation and eyes. and any tips on how to use the products would be helpful. my sister loves mac products so i'm leaning towards getting their stuff, but if you have something cheaper, please save me so i can have money to get christmas gifts still...

charlestown aka charleston

2007-11-12T09:10:00.000-05:00

this weekend we had our "grits" girls reunion for all the ladies in mi familia. and yes, grits does in fact stand for "girls raised in the south." classic, i know. our point of destination was charleston, south carolina. having never actually been to charleston before i was excited to go.

all in all, there were about 20 women who came. we had fabulous dinners and girl talk. i stayed in a room with my cousin which was fun. other highlights include: taking $4 "rick shaws" (taxis) around town, the palm trees that lined the streets, shopping on king street and the farmers market.

i did notice something interesting about human behaviour, though. other than our scheduled dinners on friday and saturday night, the rest of the time was open to do whatever you liked. even with the other options of women i could talk to, (all of which are part of my family that i rarely see) i stuck with my sister and cousin and mom. basically people i see on a regular basis.
if given the chance, people stick with what they're familiar and comfortable with. it was a good lesson for me, especially in a work context. i would have liked if there had been more structured activities that gave us opportunities to be around other family members.

side note-did you know that charleston was the first city to switch out the british flag for an american one during the revolution?

by far my favorite photo from the weekend. sassy sister, sassy.

the dc trio-cousin andrea, tab, me

charleston is known for their "sweet grass" baskets. they were originally made by slaves and the art has been passed down for generations. the sweet grass that they're made of is now hard to find and difficult to grow, so these baskets are steadily increasing in cost.

my aunt and mom deciding which basket to snatch up

this man taught me all i know about sweet baskets...

while we're at it

2007-11-06T20:43:00.001-05:00

last christmas my dad kindly gave each of us kiddos a cd with 500 family pictures. we're talking a lot of pictures. i finally uploaded the cd tonight and had to share.

please enjoy me growing up (the good and the bad). and if you're reading this and have a blog, it's your turn to post photos of you growing up. really, it's quite liberating...

this is me and my dear grandma. her name is annie. pretty sure i'll use that as one of my daughter's names.

that's right, it says yo-yo-o-saurus. i may have even busted this out on valentine's day one year. you can only imagine how many more valentines i got that year...

ah yes, and here we hit the awkward middle school phase. notice the lack of teeth showing. i refused to show my braces and smile for the entire time i had them on. i promise i was a happy child and normally smiled.

and last but not least, what FAMILY cd would be complete without photos of ex boyfriends on there? this just makes me laugh (and i apologize for the weird sideways photo that's attached to this) that somehow a photo of me and david ended up on the cd.

like father like son

2007-11-06T20:37:00.001-05:00

behold quite possibly the cutest picture ever taken of my dad. darling, right? now check out my brother. uncanny how much they look alike...

and yes, that is me. and yes, i apparently had an affinity for resting my hand on my chin.

1234

2007-10-29T17:06:00.000-04:00

on saturday i decided i was sick of my current music selection (something that occurs quite frequently) and decided to peruse iTunes' music selection. iTunes apparently knows me well enough, and is kind enough, to personally select songs they think i would like. how kind of them.

normally the songs they suggest are less than exciting, but i found one that i love. it's feist's "1234." i downloaded it and as is my usual style, put it on repeat all day today. but here's the best part. taylor came in my office today and told me she had seen the video over the weekend and loved it. naturally we looked it up and it's pretty great.

lover of dogs?

2007-10-29T16:51:00.000-04:00

i have never considered myself an animal person. growing up my mom said she was "allergic" to animals, especially cats. i'm not quite sure if i believe that to be true (sorry mom). but either way, i grew up in a household that eschewed all things animal. i can remember thinking it was fun as a child to kill ants. how sad is that? (don't worry, my parents quickly put an end to that one. we may not particularly like animals, but we voncannons are not ant-killers). luckily my dad and stepmom currently have a yorkshire terrier so i suppose that is my only claim to being exposed to animals but it still counts.

so suffice it to say, i have never been much of a pet kinda girl.

until i met oscar.

oscar is my sister's eight-week-old cockapoo. he's darling. positively darling. i met him last sunday for the first time. his brown eyes looked up at me and he just seemed so small and helpless. how could i not love him? perhaps love is strong given that we just met and he is, well, an animal. but suffice it to say, i have a very strong affinity for my new canine friend.

it's that look that won me over.

please note my new haircut. more layers in the back.

apparently puppies are like newborns and sleep all the time.

western family picnic

2007-10-23T18:46:00.000-04:00

i have been pretty mia lately and apologize to those of you who undoubtedly check my blog daily and have been slowly dying for lack of substinence (anybody? anybody?). i understand that really, pictures of ones room can only go so far... but alas, there is good reason that i have not been in the blogging sphere as my life as of late has consisted in planning the western family picnic for work.

in a nutshell, it's an annual event centered around diplomatic outreach and we invite ambassadors and their families to attend with the hopes of friendshipping with members of the church. the venue is the marriott ranch in hume, va which is a beautiful location for a picnic.

it's my first time planning it and i'm amazed at how many details went into it. designing the program, picking out gifts, securing a speaker, deciding on who gets invited, coordinating with byu dancers, the list never seemed to end. but luckily somehow it all came together and went beautifully. we had 400 guests and seeing as how my previous largest event i planned was for 75 people, this was a big jump. but i loved it. and learned a lot. and got really worn out. oh, it's so nice to be done.

perhaps bigger than anything was the testimony builder that it was for me. (work building testimony, what?) the last two weeks leading up to the picnic were by all outside standards stressful, but i didn't feel stressful once. (okay, i can be dramatic at times, i felt stressful a few times, but seldom). i REALLY felt so blessed and was reminded that the Lord does carry our burdens if we in turn do the best that we can.

yee-haw...welcome to the marriott ranch.

senator bennett among byu living legends and folk dancers

this is our "prayer" meeting before hand. i like to pretend that as i was speaking bishop marriott was smiling at me. i'm assuming he was smiling at someone else, but i can still pretend.

the gift bag. my theme was red and white checkered with brown accents.

me and taylor

please contain yourself

2007-09-24T08:11:00.000-04:00

the following pictures may, just may, be too exciting to take in at one glance. i advise looking at one picture, checking your email for five minutes, and then coming back to the next picture. you will spare yourself an overload of excitement.

yes, yes, it is time to unveil the photos of my very own room (i have been sharing a room since i've been at byu, sad, i know). i moved in at the beginning of the month and it has been love ever since.

T & T in NYC

2007-09-17T07:55:00.000-04:00

New York, New York...I went up to NYC this weekend. It was my first time being there since July. JULY people! That's a long time. Especially given that I was going up every weekend for a while. Taylor (great friend and darling co-worker) had mentioned going up to see her brother and kindly extended an invitation.

I was so in need of this trip. All of last week built up to me feeling like I needed an escape (or break, as you will). Work has been crazy (work is always crazy for everyone I suppose), but last week really was draining on me. Add on that I was in a weird, insecure mood during the mid-week. I think it was a combination of questioning my abilities at work, recently moving and the effects of my trip to Guatemala. All of which culminated in one of those high school "who am I" moments.

I think no matter what age you are, you go through phases where you REALLY ask yourself how you are doing in life and what kind of person have you become. And you have to. It's those moments where you see places you can improve in your life. I realized that I've gotten comfortable in my life and need to push myself more to do things that typically I'd shy away from.

Insert going up to NYC without any plans other than to play around town by myself. I typically am such a people person that potentially spending the day in the city sans plans by myself intimidated me. But it ended up being exactly what I needed. Time to enjoy being by myself and to just think. It was actually a perfect combination of having time in the city by myself and meeting up with people as well. I walked away feeling more grounded and refreshed.

My Saturday first started by going to Midtown to shop and then SoHo with Taylor and her brother Ryan (who kindly let us stay at his house). I had never been to SoHo before and like what I saw (given I was only there an hour). For lunch I met up with Seth back in midtown.

Meeting up with your ex for the first time post-breakup can be interesting, but by all standards it went extremely well. Perhaps too well in fact. It was one of those situations (for me at least) where you're painfully aware of why you're not together, but at the same time still so drawn to the person.

That evening Taylor, Ryan, his girlfriend Kimberly and I went to see Xanadu. It's a spoof of the 80's film that had Olivia Newton John. I never saw it, but it's supposedly one of the worst films ever made. So clearly there's a lot of material to make fun of. It was actually really funny. We went and got dessert at Rice to Riches afterwards and met up with dear, dear Jamar, my NY buddy that I met on a trip up here back in February.

Sunday it was off to Taylor's hidden spot in Central Park. Ah, the weather was impeccable. Fall is definitely here. "Autumn in New York" was playing through my mind all weekend and I loved it. We hit up the Manhattan 8th ward for church (yes, I did in fact just use the phrase "hit up") and then grabbed lunch and were on our way. Thanks to dear Taylor for letting me tag along.

Taylor's excitement brimming over as we head to catch the bus. Or perhaps that's anxiety as we were running late.

This photo is for you Laura. Tasti D-Lite it is.

Dear, dear Jamar.

Taylor and I decided we could only take one photo together during our trip. And this one it is.

In the gardens Taylor found there was a path that had states listed, one of which being Georgia. That's what it says in the circle if you can't read it...

my trip to guatemala

2007-08-30T21:43:00.000-04:00

on august 16 i went down to guatemala with my roommate ashlee to teach english in a town called patzicia. while there we traveled to panajachel and antigua. it was my first time going to a third-world country. i delayed writing this post knowing that writing about it would mean that it was actually over, signifying that i had returned to the real world, with my real job, and real life problems.

in guatemala, all of that was gone and it was a wonderful break. once you read on, you'll see that my trip down there wasn't exactly easy, but the lessons i learned and the experiences i had made it beyond invaluable. i wanted to go down there and learn to open my heart more. and to come back more humble. and to be exposed. all of which happened.

my first days back i felt like a different person. extreme for having only been there a short time, perhaps. but i loved that feeling; it was invigorating. gone was the rush of everyday life and i came back, if only for a fleeting moment, as an observer. the change in my surroundings allowed me to come back and feel as though i was not part of the hussle and bussle that is life. there have been rare moments in my life where, for whatever reason, i don't actually feel caught up in living my life. and i can slow down long enough to actually see what's important. those are the moments that change you.

and that is what guatemala did for me. i came back and my first thoughts were not to run head-first back into my life. i wanted to soak in for as long as possible the sights and sounds that i had seen. i wanted to cling to the thoughts of the people i saw down there. i wanted to let my desire to help them fuel me as long as possible.

but as is always the case, life creeps back in. work takes over, as does the day-to-day tasks we all must complete. but i would like to think that it was not all in vain. guatemala, in even the smallest way, changed me. i came back with a deep appreciation for being born in the country that i was. and a greater love for all of god's children. and with the realization that i have to keep myself better grounded on what's important in life.

i was surrounded down there by people who truly had little to nothing. and here i am with such abundance. it creates quite the dilemma. what do we do, those who have been given so much? i don't feel as though i came back with a concrete solution other than to learn to give. to give of our time to others. to give of our hearts. to give of our finances. it can be across the globe or across the street. but the message is the same, learn to give.

i hope that i can take the lessons i learned and not let them be fleeting memories from a great, yet trying, trip...

this is my story.

patzicia

2007-08-30T20:51:00.000-04:00

we stayed and taught in a town called patzia, which is about an hour and half west of guatemala city. the first night we stayed at julio's house, (the director of all three of the schools). his kids had a pet parakeet. i was too scared to touch it but wanted a picture with it. thus, below.

the cemetary. you can see the town below.

walking to school.

miriam's children (the lady that cooked for us).

denise (on the left). she is the director of the patzicia school that we worked in.

panajachel and lake atitlan

2007-08-30T20:28:00.000-04:00

the first place we traveled was panajachel. we were there for two nights before returning back to patzicia to teach. below are some photos from our travels around. for the great stories of what happened here, read the post on marvin and company...

here is the market. not the tourist market, but the real, i get my food here and am guatemalan, market. marvin had a friend selling chicken here so we went to visit him.

marvin and ashlee on the boat.

ash and tracy (notice the volacano behind us)

the church was directly across from our hotel.

marvin on the top of the boat. notice the volcano behind him. lake atitlan is surrounded by three volcanoes.

ash and me with our friend who owned the boat we took. we went across the lake to another village called santiago. can i count that as visiting chile?

ah, heaven. this was the room we stayed in for $20/person/night. not bad, i say.

look how clean our shower was! i even took off my sandals for this one...

the boats.

me and samuel (marvin's brother and my potential husband) playing paper, rocks, scissors. and yes, i won. hence the smiling.

being sick = no fun

2007-08-30T19:37:00.000-04:00

ah, getting parasites. isn't that what every person hopes for on trips? i know i sure did. and boy did i luck out. and it even happened at the beginning of my trip. what more could a girl ask for?

our third night there we ate at miriam's house. miriam is a woman in patzicia that we paid to cook for us. ashlee had eaten her food the entire six months she lived in guatemala. this was our second meal with her and we were served hamburgers and french fries. a guatemalan trying to make an american meal is not a good idea. i remember looking in her kitchen and knowing this could not be good. towards the end of my meal i saw a small bug cooked into my fries and knew it was too late.

i got sick that night.

now, being sick in a foreign country naturally presents some difficulties. i thought that i could wait it out and i'd be fine, but there's only so much time and immodium can do. tuesday morning we decided to go to a local clinic. the health care was free and so there were lines of guatemalans to be helped. yet somehow we went straight to the front of the line. how does that work? granted i was really ill and grateful for the treatment, but still left feeling like something was not right with what just happened.

the doctor gave me four pills that i have NO clue what they were. but drank them i did. by the evening i was feeling better. i had one day of feeling fine and then thursday it reared it's ugly head again. (probably didn't help that the day before i had only eaten mcdonald's as it was the only restaurant i could trust). thursday i took yet another dose of who-knows-what and it still didn't help.

add on that hurricane deane was in the area and brought this nasty, cold rain. we were prepared for sunshine and inadequately dressed. aptly so, ashlee and i both got bad colds at the same time.

when i came back to the states i went to the doctor and found out i had an ear infection and nasty cold, but that my stomach seemed to be fine.

here is me. being sick. and cold. and sitting next to my bed.

in the car taking my pills (ash thought it was so funny and decided to document it). please notice
my hair. i was scared of our shower and put off taking one as long as possible. this is what i call my greasy look.

ah, dear samuel. the day before we left, samuel traveled two hours to patzicia to deliver a dear, dear card for us. apparently his bus broke down on his way back. that's dedication.

our bathroom. where i spent way too much time for my liking.

this is what we call "sick food." we only had tiendas, which are tiny, tiny stores with limited selections to buy our food. so i basically had soup and bananas. please notice the bleach we used to wash all the food we ate.

meeting marvin and company

2007-08-30T19:13:00.000-04:00

one of the coolest experiences i had during my trip was meeting a guy named marvin. let me describe the situation ash and i found ourselves in so you can appreciate marvin walking into our lives.

we took a trip down to panajachel (called "pana" by the locals). it's also where lake atitlan is and is popular among the tourist. on our way we were trying to transfer buses. ash being the lead that she is, talked to the bus driver and we thought all was well as we transfered buses. sadly, we realized we had been had as we ended up in the same location the bus originally left from. frustrated, ash went to try to talk to the bus driver to figure out how we could get to pana.

what do i do, of course, but try to look for anyone that looked like a tourist. a rarity in whatever town it was we were in. i did spot one guy though that looked like he could speak english (how stereotypical is that? how does someone look like they speak english?).

luckily for me, he did. and pretty well too. turns out his name is marvin and he was from the town we were going to. we had a delightful conversation with him. come to find out he's 33 and his dad was a local pastor in pana. he goes home every weekend to see his family. he had lived in los angelos for two years and that's where he picked up his english.

as we approached pana, he offered for us to come meet us family. we were inseperable for the next two days. everywhere we went marvin came with us. it was so perfect! he knew everyone in town and even got us a free boat ride when we were running out of money. his family was absolulely charming. i learned how much you can bond with people even without being able to speak the language. i also learned to say estoy who-gone-doe ("just kidding" in spanish. and yes, i have no clue how to spell it. i can barely speak it, people).

this family completely opened their arms to us. i truly could feel the spirit in their home. it was so refreshing to be around. i even developed a crush on marvin's 21-year-old brother, samuel. yes, i still have a thing for latins. he is trying to go to university to study and my heart goes out to him. i wish i could somehow get him a visa so he could come study here. that's the frustrating thing (one of them) about this country. the education system is so lacking. if you are intelligent and wanting to get higher education it's nearly impossible to get in and pay for it.

one of the highlights of meeting the family was going to a bible appreciation night with them. as their dad is a pastor, he was asked to come and help fundraise. the evening was so interesting and in some ways extreme. they had a pastor casting out sin from one woman and i was so grateful at that moment for the church and priesthood. it was a great glimpse though into just how dedicated and religious these people really are.

meet our new best friend, marvin.

this is a "tuk-tuk" aka taxi. it was a luxury that marvin graciously treated us to.

after the bible appreciation night we walked around town and got dessert. ester (their sister), samuel (marvin's brother) ash, marvin, me and marvin's friend.

ash and i went towards the end of the week to antigua, another tourist spot. marvin travelled three hours each way so he could spend the day with us. and even then we shopped most of the time. this man is a saint. he even carried our bags. don't worry, i treated him to a smoothie to make up for his troubles... this is us in the catacombs at antigua.

the gonzalez family.

this is a video of ash and marvin at the old catholic church. please ignore the camera skills (i apologize for any advance headaches it may cause).

bonding time with ashlee

2007-08-30T18:46:00.000-04:00

going to a foreign country with a person is undoubtedly going to bring out sides that you had no clue existed and that leave you wondering who this person is you're traveling with. luckily for me, that wasn't the case with ashlee. call it knowing her so well before we went, but there were no surprises.

now, lest you think all was roses, we definitely had our annoyed times with each other. yet, it added to the experience. working through annoyances actually left me feeling closer to her afterwards. funny how that happens. add on that truly all we had was each other and, well, you're naturally going to bond over that.

one bonding experience in particular comes to mind. the second day there we decided we wanted to go to a tourist town called panajachel. up until that point we had been with someone local while in guatemala. going to pana (as it's called by the locals) was our first adventure out on our own.

to get anywhere in guatemala you take buses. not systematic, government-owned buses. we're talking old American school buses that are privately owned and driven insanely and stuffed to the brim with people. to catch the bus you stand on the side of the road (anywhere, really) and flail your hand to signal you want the bus to stop.

as we waved the bus down for our first trip, i naively waited for it to stop to only be told by ashlee to run. and run we did as the bus came to a slow roll and we ran to catch up and jump in the back. the door slammed behind us and we were shoved in the back. let's just say it was standing room only. the bus chugged along with the mariachi band blarring from the speakers. i looked back at ashlee and realized that she was all i had.

i'm amazed at how used to the bus system i got. bless ashlee for taking care of me though and trying to distract me when i was scared by their crazy driving. i remember wondering on that first bus ride why ashlee was so intently talking to me about the political situation in guatemala. as the bus turned the corner, i looked to my right and saw nothing but mountain straight down about two feet away. i then understood all to well her technique to distract and was suddenly very interested in guatemalan politics.

ready for our trip...that shirt is what part of what i call my "travel ensemble." i wear it anytime i fly. really i should throw it away, but it's so blasted comfortable.

ashlee on our first night. the bathroom wasn't that nice but at least they had some nice two-tone paint going on to give some aesthetic value.

on the boat ride out to one of the villages on lake atitlan.

in the catacombs under an old catholic cathedral built in 1540's in antigua (an old colonial spanish town).

lessons learned, namely HUMILITY

2007-08-30T18:04:00.000-04:00

when i went to guatemala one of my primary objectives was to come back humble. i was amazed at how humble i came back (that sounds pretty boastful, no?). but truly, the sights that you see in a third-world country leave you overwhelmingly grateful and humble for the abudance of blessings you have.

below are some of the sights i saw around town that helped in creating this sense of gratitude within me.

this is a view of some local mayan women walking in the town we stayed in (patcizia). look at those balancing skills! our director told us that once she tried to lift one of those pans and they weighed around 60-70 pounds.

a typical home in pahute, a small village that's up in the mountains near patzicia. you can see that it's mud put in between sticks for the body of the house. notice to the left the concrete structure. that's called a pilla. the middle section has water and this is where you wash your dishes/clothes/etc.

as we were walking back we saw this little boy. he can't go to school as he works all day in the field helping his family. we asked where he was going and he was going to harvest.

so many of these children can't afford to go to school and so they are out in the streets playing most of the day. we walked down and came across these girls. notice their traditional mayan outfits that are beautiful. not pictured is their friend who was around eight or nine and she was carrying her little one-year-old brother on her back wrapped up in a tied blanket. it's no wonder these people aren't taller. they kill their backs at young ages and don't allow their kids to walk around and grow by keeping them in these blankets on their backs.

the bathroom at the first place i stayed. you'll notice a trash can next to the toilet. you don't flush toilet paper in most places in guatemala (unless it's a really nice place like a hotel).

the final ones

2007-08-30T09:40:00.001-04:00

at last...(insert etta james song here) the final wedding pictures have come along. my lonely blog without complete pictures is over. and life is like a song. oh yeah. at last.

wow. that stop sign behind is a great accent. es mi familia. my brother derek, moi, my stepmom carol, my dad and brother aaron. this is us going to a rehearsal dinner. check out those strapping men.

me and my stepmom. and my bridesmaid dress for $15. tj maxx has forever secured it's place as my favorite bargain spot.

tab and our parents.

i LOVE my sister's camera. and the pearl bracelet my sister gave me as a bridesmaid gift. what's even better about the bracelet is that she found it at an antique shop and it has the initial D on it. and somehow with my many names there is not a D to be found anywhere...

they're coming

2007-08-30T09:00:00.000-04:00

i still have photos to upload from my sister's wedding and then my trip to guatemala. but until i get them all, here's my favorite photo from my trip...

post weddingness

2007-08-11T23:51:00.001-04:00

after the day's wedding festivities, we decided to finish off the evening with introducing my parents to sushi. which i'm sad to say did not go over too well. luckily at least the monuments were a hit...

kent. this is the face he had pretty much the entire time as he was trying his sushi.

lori (sister-in-law) gazing out at the view from the lincoln. for the girls out there, please notice her sleeves. i think they're darling.

us at the lincoln

aaron in my office

kent being kent ???

it finally happened

2007-08-11T23:42:00.000-04:00

at 10:30 a.m. (well, slightly later as we got started late) on 11 august 2007, tabitha voncannon and evan liddiard were wed. in beautiful style. and with great taste. and by a darling japanese bishop that was so nervous his hands were shaking --it was quite endearing.

everything went as planned. no falls down the aisles, no awkward family moments, nothing but love really. there was even a slight breeze outside to offer a break from the painfully hot days we've been having.

i even had my very own father of the bride moment. my sister and evan were rushing out to the car with everyone blowing their bubbles and giving well wishes. i was packing things up and off in the distance. as my sister went to get in the car she looked around asking for me and then came over to give me one last hug before wisking off to her honeymoon. it hit me the tie and love that i share with my sister. i can't remember the last time that i felt this genuinely happy for someone.

enjoy the photos.

tracy and amanda (my brother's fiance)

tab and evan getting ready to leave. check out that hair.

the siblings

classy. that lace is mine and we tied it around the bouquet as the something borrowed.

the happy couple

i'm trying to figure out a way to preserve this bouquet and use it as my own...

mom and girls

sisters

preview of things to come

2007-08-09T12:42:00.001-04:00

here are some photos from the girls' (meaning my mom, my sister and yours truly) photo shoot yesterday. these were taken with my camera. i'm waiting to download the pictures from the girl who was actually paid to take them, so expect higher quality pictures soon :)

on a roll

2007-08-03T18:08:00.000-04:00

laura and me on our way to nyc

who says you can't write three posts in one day? really what this is is that i'm waiting for it to cool down so i can go running. in the meantime, i will continue writing. though i need to be reading. alas, write quickly tracy.

i'm currently listening to an npr special on the life of louis armstrong. did you know that he lied about his birthday? he was born august 4, 1901, yet told people he was born on july 4. ha, that makes me laugh. perhaps i'll switch up my birthday for kicks.

anyhow, this post is intended to be an ode to laura lamb/ode to life in general.

laura lamb has been my dear roommate for the last year. she burst into my life with her pearls and plaid polo and we've been best friends ever since. i genuinely love this girl. and i don't think i'm alone in this. there's just something about her that you can't help but love her and want to take care of her.

she has this insatiable love for life that is demonstrated in everything she does. no one that i know actually sounds excited when you go and wake her up besides laura. she honestly finds the good in every situation. her work ethic leaves me motivated to work harder after hearing about how much she put into her work days.

all in all, i love this girl. i was beyond saddened to see her go yesterday as she left to catch her plane. you see, byu has won her back. she will now begin a new phase of her life as she begins law school. what a lucky, lucky school. i like to joke that i have her past and byu law has her future (for those of you who have seen stepmom, that will make sense to you. if not, it may seem a little dramatic).

even bigger than losing a roommate, it's another reminder of the state i'm at in my life. i don't have the stability of having a husband that doesn't come and go as roommates. what i do have is an ever-changing group of people that i live with. you get comfortable with that set of people and just when you begin to understand one another, someone moves.

i am moving at the end of this month into yet another house. i laugh at how many times i've moved over the last five years. not that it's necessarily a lot, just that nothing is permanent.

ah, single life. how i love you.

8 days and counting

2007-08-03T18:03:00.000-04:00

meet tab and evan. tab is my dear sister. my only one in fact. she's 12 years old than me (don't hate me tab for saying that). i've always looked up to her. and now she's getting married. to a fabulous, christlike man.

insert evan. he and my sister have been dating for a while. i truly cannot imagine someone better suited for my sister. his qualities range from being brillant, thoughtful, witty and humble to name a few.

you always want the best for your family members. and even more so for your only sister. i want to know that whomever she ends up with will adore her. that they will put her first in all things and be genuinely concerned with her well being. that they will, as sister hinckley described president hinckley, give them room to fly.

how grateful i am that evan fits that description. congratulations evan and tab. i can't wait for next saturday.

p.s. i took that photo. if you'd like to contact me for future projects, don't. i'm an amateur :)

guatemala

2007-08-03T17:36:00.000-04:00

if you were to close your eyes and think of anywhere you could go in the world, where would it be? tahiti? bangkok? rome? perhaps even the city of love? i would bet that you probably wouldn't pick guatemala as your first choice of locations to venture to. understandably. but allow me explain why i'm headed down south.

it all began with a certain latin boy that i know. before him, i was honestly never interested in or knew much about the latin culture. call it lack of exposure. but gratefully this last year i was exposed to latin dancing, latin people, latin culture, etc. what i've come to learn is that latins are extremely loving and interesting. their closeness appeals to me. their language i find interesting. their development i want to know more about.

i decided to try out the language and began spanish classes back in january. i can't lie. my true love is french. taking these classes has reinforced that to me and i've decided to go back to taking french classes this fall. but back to all things latin...

so here you have a girl whose interest in latin america is peaked, and she is wanting to use her new, but meek, language skills. insert her roommate. my roommate spent six months living in guatemala during college, teaching english to impoverished children. she loves central america and has been back since.

put the two of us together and a trip was bound to happen. we decided to venture back to where ashlee originally taught. it's a school located in the highlands of guatemala (patzicia).the school was founded by members of the church and has branched out to three schools (the last one i believe is either being built or was recently finished).

i'll be going down august 16-25. we'll be teaching english to children, as well as building a cancha (a play field of sorts. or at least that is my understanding of the word).

so guatemala, here we come. two american girls with a nowhere near complete understanding of the language. two american girls that will no doubt stand out. two american girls who will try their hardest to be safe and smart about their traveling. but we're also two girls with big hearts who want to help out and who want to travel.

i've never been to a developing country and my emotions vary from being scared, excited and somber about going down there. no doubt i will come back with a great appreciation for the many blessings i have.

what do i hope to get out of this trip? i want to come back humbled. i want to gain a small glimpse of what daily life is like for someone in poverty. i want to develop more compassion for others. i want to come back and truly feel like i worked hard and gave my all while i was there. i want to use spanish as much as possible (given that last night i struggled to order my mexican food in spanish this should be interesting).

wish me luck.

adios! it's like i'm almost fluent...

flashback

2007-07-17T14:15:00.000-04:00

i never take my camera anywhere (partly because i forget and partly because my roommates have sleek, small ones that i'd rather use anyhow). so anytime you see photos on here chances are they've come from another source.

insert this photo. compliments of noelle (darling girl in the red). this is us on the fourth of july in front of the lincoln. quite patriotic to be sitting having the same view of ole abe and watching fireworks adore the sky of the nation's capitol.

the fourth of july in d.c. is truly one of my most favorite times to be in this city.

perhaps my next blog i'll continue the trend of going back in time and try to find something from way back when. you know, like middle school...

a photo to suffice

2007-07-16T09:19:00.000-04:00

well, it's not a photo from anywhere i've been, but it's of one of my most loved people, gina ashby. and my new love, kaede.

2007-07-09T13:59:00.000-04:00

this past weekend...funny how all i seem to do lately is update post-weekend. perhaps one of these days i'll actually (gasp) write a blog that has nothing to do with my travels.

friday night i had a pre-birthday dinner for ms. charlee voorhees. we went to lebanese taverna and i was beyond pleasantly surprised. who knew lebanese food was so good? add on that my company was the best in town and it made for a perfect evening.

saturday morning i flew up to nyc and seth and i drove up to block island, a charming island off the coast of connecticut. well, it's more like i drove up as once we started our drive seth started making incoherent sentences thus showing how beyond tired he was and in no state to drive. so, after a quick change of drivers, off we went. seth sleeping and me listening repeatedly to the one cd i brought. note to self -bring more cds on my next road trip.

once we arrived we took an hour long ferry ride over to the island. we met up with a group of mostly married and nonmarried couples with the token random intern guy that came along as well. i LOVED this island. everyone rents bikes and scooters to get around and we were running late to meet up with everyone and decided on the scooter option instead. sure it was the lazier way of getting around, but i didn't complain.

once we met up with everyone the rest of the day consisted of riding around the island, stopping at the lighthouse and getting seafood for dinner (coconut shrimp is my new favorite way of preparing shrimp).

sunday we had church and went to central park and had dinner at isabella's. and then i flew home :)

p.s. not quite sure how it happened but i forgot my camera AGAIN this weekend. i promise i do have one...

time to rest

2007-06-29T15:10:00.000-04:00

it's friday afternoon which makes for a perfect time to catch up on last weekend as i prepare to enter this one...

remember in my last blog how i mentioned that i learned the lesson to not try to leave the city on a friday afternoon? well apparently lessons are soon forgotten in my mind as my sister and i started out on our trek down to NC friday afternoon. two hours and 13 miles later, the recently learned lesson was all too apparent. needless to say, we made it safely there, just slightly delayed.

saturday was so fun as we had a bridal shower for my sister tab. nothing like a good 'ole bridal shower with a bunch of southern women, all of which are part of your family. it's times like that that i am reminded just how much i love my family and love the south. tab made out like a bandit with all of her gifts and i enjoyed playing maid of honor (a responsibility that i'm not quite sure yet what all it entails. i interpreted it to mean being social with all the guests but somehow feel as though i probably neglected at least some of my unknown duties).

sunday morning i hopped on a flight from NC up to NYC where i met seth at penn station. he had rented a car and we began our trek up to Boston. the drive was 3 1/2 hours which isn't bad. directly once we got there we headed to fenway for a bbq thank-you dinner with romney. i felt like such an outsider as i was surrounded by those that actually belonged there and had actually raised funds for romney. i luckily was able to tag along with seth and i saw a few old friends in the meantime. that evening we went to the north end and had dinner with friends.

monday we drove back to NYC and that evening had a chill night that consisted a walk around central park followed by a fabulous argentine restaurant. tuesday morning i hopped on another plane and headed back to DC and went straight to work.

i oddly enough took zero pictures this weekend. lame, i know. but i believe my sister has about 2,000 from the bridal shower so i'll see if i can muster some up and post soon. oh! that's right! i took all of the photos at the bridal shower which makes me feel like i at least fulfilled some of my duties. ah, i feel better now...

happy upcoming weekend everyone!

takin' a walk

2007-06-19T08:26:00.000-04:00

tracy and seth

it's 8:27 a.m. and i really want to be working within ten minutes so here goes. last weekend i went up to NYC again. i drove up with my dear charlee (old roommate but lifelong friend and soul mate -really we're so alike that soul mates adequately describes our relationship). we learned an important lesson which is never to leave the city at 6 assuming you won't get stuff in traffic. lesson learned.

saturday was great. seth and i met up with my old roommate kimber (who also happened to live with me and charlee). we went to south seaport and had lunch then walked across the brooklyn bridge. unfortunately for me i decided to wear my favorite custard-colored shoes that are nothing but plastic, but luckily for me i was smart enough to bring sandals in case that very situation arose. the walk was so enjoyable as kimber and i caught up and the boys, well, i think they discussed finance and i'm not exactly sure what else. after crossing the bridge we got ice cream from a charming ice cream shop (not quite sure what else to call it).

the rest of the weekend consisted of a bbq saturday night, playing with seth's nieces and heading back sunday night.

7 Things I Love

2007-06-14T08:37:00.000-04:00

ok, ok, Melissa, I dedicate this to you.

7-BBC. This website is by far my favorite for getting my news. Plus it's British which is an added bonus. And it's part of my daily routine. Come to work. Check email. Check BBC. Start day...So really my day wouldn't be complete without my British information source.

6-Runs in the city. I'm not sure if these will be in any correct order or not because 6 seems low for how much I love running in the city. Nothing provides the same feeling of escape as putting on your favorite tennis shoes, grabbing your iPod (which I carry with me but rarely use), and heading out. I've gotten in the habit of not wearing a watch which makes me feel like I'm escaping even more so as time is no longer a consideration. Add on the people. Ah, the people you see when you run down a busy street during rush hour. It's wonderful.

5-Text messages. Ha, perhaps this should go more in a "strongly like" category. Let me explain though what I love about text messages. In our day and age we rarely have the time to have long, drawn out conversations with people. Having the ability to quickly send an electronic note that says "I'm thinking of you" is the perfect solution. Edit-though texts are great, please understand that I cannot stand when they become the ONLY form of communication. In that sense I think we've become way too dependent on technology, but alas, I'm writing about things I love, back to the matter at hand...

4-Sephora. I don't consider myself very girly by way of buying and applying makeup, but when I walk in this store I feel as though it makes up for any lack of girliness I may not possess. Add on that they have every scent known to man and it makes for a fun store to peruse through.

3-My car running. I have this fear that since I'm so neglectful with my car that it'll die on me anytime. I really have no reason to think that other than I don't really understand how cars work so I just hope mine keeps running...

2-My sister's wedding. For numerous reasons. The largest probably being that she's getting married which is huge. The second being that I get to help with the invitation and details and such (though I have been busy and not as attentive as needed). Either way, I love weddings and I love them even more so when they entail your only sister getting married.

1-My health. I'm realizing as I get older (I did turn 24 you know) that my health is beyond precious and by all standards I'm as healthy as a horse. Did I really just compare myself to a horse? But I am grateful for my health.

So there you have it. My top 7 things at 8:51 a.m. that are my favorites. Though I think it somehow turned into a gratitude list more than anything. Understand please that I left off the obvious ones of family, Gospel, friends, etc. For those don't even need to be written, it is just understand.

And Melissa, again, this post is for you. Never say that I didn't give you a good wedding gift.

promise fulfilled

2007-06-08T08:28:00.000-04:00

last blog i promised that my next post would include a photo that was beyond exciting and well folks, it doesn't get much more exciting than having your photo taken with mr. mitt romney himself.

yesterday evening laura and i volunteered at a fundraiser and as such got to mingle with those that had actually paid to be there. we affectionately worked the nametag table ( i laugh at how offended people get if they have to (gasp!) write their own name on a nametag). after our official duties were done we promptly went outside to hear mitt speak.

after the speech laura and i gave each other a look of determination that communicated what we had to do. we grabbed our friend andrew (photo taker of course) and began our march through the crowds. bless laura's heart, she's so cute that of course she just grabs mitt's arm out of the mob and asks for a picture.

a priceless picture taken with mitt romney for an hour's worth of checking people in. not a bad trade off. not bad at all.

it all began on this day

2007-06-04T08:25:00.000-04:00

don't you just love birthdays? when else can you expect in one day to hear from every person that's dear to you? or to have people shower you with well wishes and to congratulate you for entering the world on that very day?

friday, june 1, was my 24 birthday. i'm pretty excited about being 24. this has been a great, borderline amazing, year so far and i only see becoming 24 as another turning point for even better things. hmm...that gets me thinking, what do i want to accomplish at the ripe old age of 24? find a husband perhaps? go to guatemala? finally finish the never ending line of books that i'm halfway through? figure out what my plans are for a masters? suggestions?

ah, but back to the present. here are some photos from my birthday gathering last evening. these photos are dreadfully boring. not that the people are, but the poses are all the same. next post, there will be more thrilling photos. just watch.

please note, the green shirt is my official "birthday shirt". i'd like to point out that i wore it saturday, sunday and i'm now wearing it to work today. sick, i know. but hey, it's a great shirt.

happy birthday!

duck beach 2007

2007-05-29T08:27:00.000-04:00

i'm converted. completely and overtly converted. to the beach that is. before this last weekend's trip down to the outerbanks of NC, i considered myself an anti-beach goer. years of growing up in a family that perhaps visited the beach once (and that's a huge maybe -- i can't imagine that we never visited the beach but can't recall a specific instance), you tend to not have an affinity for all things water related.

but after proding and convincing from a dear roommate, i relented and went down to duck. i was amazed at how much i enjoyed myself. (mind you i never once went for a swim but to me that's not what the beauty of the beach is). i spent my time walking along the sand, chatting with friends, and my personal favorite, running barefoot along the water's edge with charlee.

other highlights of the trip include: (and in no particular order of preference minus the first one)

~finding my very own duck beach crush (most likely the largest reason why all of us venture down there in the first place)
~seeing a sting ray washed up on the sand and having charlee give me the grandfather talk of "tracy, all things die one day..."
~driving back with three guys and being the token girl who discussed and analyzed each of their dating lives
~catching up with my dear, sweet friend cristy meiners
~staying at a beach house with 30 other people
~attending a ward that the congregation consisted of 800, most likely 700 of whom were all single, lds kids
~chatting on a dock out by the water with a random guy playing the guitar in the background

all in all, great weekend.

until i can figure out how to write captions for my pictures, here is a list of who's in the above photos, in order of their appearance:
~me and my dear roommate laura who really i have to thank for this trip as she was my inspiration for coming and never gave up on me
~our lovely friend caroline who came all the way from st. george, ut to be with us
~charlee strutting her stuff across the beach
~my coworker mauri and i
~the one and only cristy meiners

start spreading the news...

2007-05-25T15:27:00.000-04:00

and oh how i am...

ny, ny, how i love you. granted this love is only temporary as after a few days i no doubtedly am ready to return to my quieter and oh-so-much cleaner city but still, it's love nonetheless...

i had the wonderful opportunity to spend wednesday and thursday in new york for work training. i've been to new york before and, well, let me paint a picture of what my prior trip was like so you can fully understand how great this last one was.

my last trip consisted of me riding a 5-hour crammed chinatown bus that cost me a measley $20 and left me wishing i had spent another $20 on a portable fan as there was no AC. my roommate had a traumatic experience using their in-house bathroom that she could only describe as "the grossest experience of my life." she still has flashbacks but has made incredible progress.

clearly we were off to a good start.

upon arriving in ny we were dropped off who knows where (i honestly had no clue) and found ourselves in a nasty part of town somewhere around chinatown, upon which i fittingly stepped in sewage that would not dry for hours (my own fault, i know). after meeting up with some friends, we then proceeded to cram 4 girls into one queen sized bed in a nice, but allbeit small, hotel room. that's right, 4 girls, one bed. just think about that for a minute and let it inspire gratitude in you for whatever bed you do have.

so you get the idea.

insert my trip this week. i arrive at the airport to have someone take my carry-on and hand me a valet slip for my luggage (since when do they do that?). i could already tell i was off to a good start. after a whimpy 39 minutes in air i was there and ny welcomed me with all of her glory. it was a beautiful day (did i fail to mention that my last trip there was cold and overcast? fitting no?).

upon landing i took a cab to the manhattan temple to do baptisms. (side note-if you haven't been to this temple i will personally donate $5 to the fund to get you there, that's how much i want each of you to go see its beauty...) as i was technically there for work, we then had meetings on the second floor of the building where the temple is.

then (and this is the best part) i went and checked into the Marriott Marquis at Times Square. Me, staying in a hotel in Times Square! It was beyond beautiful. My room overlooked Times Square and as I walked in and tried to decide which of my two queen sized beds to sleep in that night, I realized I had come a long way.

gone were the days of taking the subway and fitting an obnoxious amount of girls in one bed. replaced were lots of cabs around town, amazing restaurants and my first ever broadway, the drowsy chaperone.

all in all, i'd say i've made significant progress since my last trip. will i ever have another trip as nice as this one to ny? you bet your life i won't. hence why i have to write it down.

So in the end, I am spreading the news...And the news is that no matter if you're walking through sewage or seeing a musical, ny is a great place to be.

pursuit of happiness

2007-05-14T13:52:00.000-04:00

friday night i watched "the pursuit of happiness" with will smith. i had seen ads for the movie when it came out and was sure that it promised to be a happy go lucky tale of a man's story of being homeless and his triumphant life afterwards.

what i got was a sobering story of one man's quest and determination to pick him up from his current, and heartwrenching, situation. it turned out to be not quite what i expected and at first i was bothered by this. i wanted to see he and his son ride off into the sunset of their new happy life now that he has found a stable job but the more i think about it i like the way it ended.

because really, being happy is a pursuit. plain and simple. pursuit to me denotes that it is a journey and that it requires effort. there are a lot of factors in life that could seemingly allow one to not be happy but as abraham lincoln said, we're only as happy as we make up our minds to be. i couldn't agree more.

the next morning i took a run into the city and ran by several homeless people. i am so accustomed to seeing them that they honestly they don't affect me anymore. but this morning i tried to make it a point to look in their eyes and wonder what their life has been like to get them where they are. so many of them seemed so resigned to what life had dealt them.

i walked away with more of an appreciation for the power of our attitude and just what determination can do. there truly is nothing that you can't do if you set your mind to it. that thought intimidates me and my first reaction is one of saddness for accomplishments and goals not attained that i know deep down could of been. but more than that it fills me with a great sense of power and motivation. the sky is the limit my friends as to what we can do and accomplish...

mirror mirror

2007-05-14T13:41:00.000-04:00

saturday i accompanied my darling, and engaged, sister tabitha wedding dress shopping.

my sister and i set out for our 1 p.m. appointment at david's bridal. what is it about that store that irks me? perhaps the cookie-cutterness of all their dresses, perhaps the fact that there are a billion people in there or perhaps the fact that i was hungry when i went. (hunger probably played the largest factor in my disapproval).

my sister braved dress upon dress to try to find just the perfect one which, well, was never found. but it is not the dress that i am intrigued by but the scene that takes place upon trying to find the dress.

they put you in a small room and have a complete stranger (aka saleslady) help you try on and off your dresses. then once you have your dress on you walk out and stand on a platform surrounded by mirrors. now add on that there are 20 other brides around you all trying on their dresses and standing on their own platforms. does this seem weird to anyone else?

i laugh to think of what we put our poor to-be brides through.

but when i think that they have found their "one and only" and are about to have the happiest day of their life, then i don't feel quite so bad.

dining with the first lady

2007-05-11T16:28:00.000-04:00

yesterday i had the great pleasure of having lunch with the first lady herself, mrs. laura bush. we enjoyed the wonderful setting of the lovely hilton hotel, the beautiful day outside and discussed her new project to raise money for purchasing books in areas hit by katrina. it was a lovely lunch.

oh. and did i mention that there were 2,000 additional guests at this luncheon? and that my seat was such that when she came out i could barely make out that it was a person?

but all in all, i would say we bonded. wouldn't you laura?

15 minute blog

2007-05-09T16:45:00.000-04:00

i've had several things reaffirmed to me today about myself. one of which being that i cannot stand to be alone. let me clarify. i cannot stand to be alone for more than 4 hours. under 4, piece of cake, over 4...not a piece of cake (it's the end of the day people and i can't think of something witty...)

case in point. today i come into the office to be greeted by only one coworker as everyone else, for various reasons, is out of the office. he leaves to go to capitol hill with the "i'll be back in a couple of hours" line. four hours later, and i'm feeling awfully lonely and wondering if he has been abducted by a senator.

luckily, both he and my boss come strolling in together around 3. since then it has been the complete opposite as my boss comes in every few minutes to give yet another assignment.

perhaps the loneliness wasn't so bad after all.

back by popular demand

2007-05-08T15:46:00.000-04:00

after an overwhelming majority of people demanded that i continue writing on my blog (thanks karon and melissa), i have decided...drumroll...to post again. will it be another month before another post? two days? a year? who knows. we'll see how this one goes over with the masses.

last weekend i went to utah to help my sweet mom in her quest to babysit my brother derek's children while he and his wife wisked away to cancun for a needed vacation. no sweat i thought as i purchased my plane tickets, i've got babysitting down to a fine art right?

little did i know that not only am i not ready to be a mom, i'll go as far as to say that those kids completely and unabashedly wore me out. how can people so small be so time demanding? my respect for mothers at least quadrupled this weekend.

probably one of the most hilarious hours of the trip was spent at church as i strolled in in my new heels and trendy outfit toting my 16-month-old niece ready to conquer the world and show that i can handle a baby. one hour later, chocolate stains on my skirt and several runs down the aisle to pick her up, i finally resigned.

good thing you only have one kid at a time.

and so it begins ?

2007-03-03T17:53:00.000-05:00

ah to blog or not to blog? i've wrestled with this idea many-a-time wondering who would honestly ever read this. and perhaps the answer is no one. but my motivation to start one traces back to an old roommate of mine whose blog has become an addiction for me to read thanks to her well-written posts. i hope my posts will be somewhat entertaining, informative and just plain cool to read. here we go.