Merry Christmas

I hope everyone has a wonderful day as we celebrate the birth and life of our Saviour! MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Black Paint

My oldest daughter has always had the cutest most colorful room in the house. When she was six she wanted an all pink bed room. So, we panted her room bright pink with pink trim and with the help of my friend Sabine we painted darling flowers all over her walls.

Well now she’s 8, and wants a more “grown-up” room. In fact all she wants for Christmas is a camp rock room. Well there was no way I was going to paint over the flowers! Look how cute those are. So we agreed to paint her trim black.



Honestly…. I love the black trim. I think it turned out so elegant, and she loves it too. In a few years the room will probably go to her sister, and then I will probably spend two days and ten coats of paint making the trim white again, but until then, black it is.



Well, I thought I would need several more coats of paint then I did, so I was left with about ¾ a gallon of black paint. Thinking that maybe I would use it again for trim in my room, (yes I love it that much) or maybe for furniture I proceeded to take it down into the basement to store until next use.

There were three big problems with this idea:

1—I was wearing socks
2—I was running
3—The lid on the paint can hadn’t been hammered shut yet.

Yes, I slipped. I banged my arm on the paint can, giving me a healthy bruise, and popping open the lid on the paint can.




Of course it was the black paint, not the white I had used early, or even the pink. It was black!

About half of the black paint came gushing out of the can, soaking into the carpet, and splashing on the walls. I tried to clean it up, but after soaking a dozen towels, and smearing the paint more on the wall then getting it off, I gave up.



So, now we have a few very black patches on our stairs. Thank heavens it’s the stairs going into the basement! And thank heavens we’re not planning on selling our house anytime soon. Because, for now, I think the stairs will have to remain spotted in black.

My Favorite Christmas Movie

I kind have forgotten the blogging world for the last month or so, but I’m slowly coming back.

If you are looking for a great fun Christmas Movie this year, look no further…

Stalking Santa is, by far, my favorite holiday movie of all times. It’s NOT sentimental like “It’s a Wonderful Life”. It’s NOT nostalgic like “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” It’s not even a classic like “A Christmas Story”.

Stalking Santa is in a category all its own. Made locally, it is surprisingly well done, hilarious, and charming. It’s a mocumentary. (Like a documentary, but totally fake and totally funny.)

The movie is narrated by William Shatner. It’s about a man who is obsessed with Santa and is determined to prove he exists! He makes sure his kids are “extra” good so that Santa will come. He collects rare “evidence” of Santa’s existences and even has a moment of discouragement when he discovers Christmas presents his wife has bought for the kids, “just in case” Santa doesn’t come.

I think the library has a copy, but the movie is only $12 on Amazon. If you want to borrow my copy, I am happy to lend it out—I’ve already watched it twice this season. And if you have seen it I would love to hear your thoughts, I’m curious if anyone else thought it was as funny as I did.

Nano Draino

Hmmm...

yup, I think my Nano writing "baby" is on the verge of getting flushed down the toilet...

Well, there's always next year.

Half way there!

I finally reached 25,000 words which is half way to the 50,000 word Nanowrimo goal.

YAY!!

and....

CRAP!!

I'm thrilled that I'm half way there. I'm doing much better than last year, but in order to reach the goal I shoudl be at 32,000 words today. 7,000 words behind. I hope I can catch up and with Thanksgiving coming up I'm worried I won't. But I'll keep doing my best. Also considering the huge whack of writer's block I had a week ago I'm feeling proud of myself. 25,000 words down, 25,000 words left, and ten days to do it. I CAN DO IT!! (and you can do :)

Awesome video

After seeing this on my friend, Sonnett's blog, I had to post it. It made me laugh so hard.

Nana not so Wrimo

I admit, I'm slacking on my writing for the month. I've been having a huge case of writer's block, as in I don't like my story any more. I loved it for a little bit, but now it's not enjoyable, which means one thing... time to write something different, But every time I start writing crazy thoughts start coming into my head. What if this story gets boring.... what if I can't really write anymore... what I never could write in the first place... what if I've been deceiving myself for years that I was a writer and the truth is I really suck.

I'm not certain what's brought on all these insecurities at this time, or why I'm really listening to them. Whatever is causing it it's really annoying. Hopefully the words will start flowing again, I'm not use to writer's block so I don't' handle it very well. Go away stupid dumb writer's block!!

You’re Invited to a Twilight Fanfare Party!!!

Date: Saturday November 8th 2008
Time: 1:00-3:00 (It’s an open house)
Place: My house, (let me know if you need directions)

I didn’t have nearly enough invitations as I would have liked, so if you didn’t get an invitation, you are still invited. And if you did get one, please spread the word.

What is a Twilight Fanfare Party? It’s an opportunity to get some very cool Twilight merchandise! They will have Twilight T-Shirt’s, Twilight sweats, Twilight book marks, Twilight bags and even the very cool, Stephenie Meyer, approved “Bella Bracelet”. There will be munchies, awesome people, and if you need to bring your kids you are welcome to. (I have a playroom downstairs)

This is a great time to buy something to wear for the Twilight movie, to get a Christmas gift for a Twilight fanatic, or some fun stocking stuffers. Bring friends. Twilight fans of all ages are welcome.



I’ll see you there!

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

Novemeber is NaNoWriMo!




Why I do it? It's not because I need an excuse to write, I'm almost always itching to write. I do Nanowrimo because I need an excuse to tell my kids to leave me alone to write.It's a lot easier for me to say, "I need to write, because I have to get a whole novel written this month and I only have so many days to do it," then for me to say, "I need to write because, well, I just do."

Nanowrimo gives me the excuse I need. Anyone who would like to try writing a novel, Nanowrimo is a great time to do it. Go their homepage to get more details on it. (They are a little bogged down right now.) In the meantime, if I'm distance, hopefully it means I'm writing, because I really do only have 30 days to write a book.

Had to post this!

I just got my new catalogue for the Demotivational Poster. I saw this one and had to post it!

Falling off the face of the earth...

Yes, I think I have...



Sorry I'm ignoring everyone, I don't mean to. Someday I will get back to life, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Book Club Wed Oct 15th

Just a reminder that Book club will be at my house this week, on Wed Oct 15th at 7:00. We will be discussing the book,

The 13th Tale
by
Diane Sutterfield

An awesome, creepy, and very well written book.

But if you haven't read it come anyway. I'm going to have yummy fall desserts, hot chocolate and great company. See you then

Yay for the new Twilight Trailer...

No, I'm not excited at all!

Twilight trailer

Finally My Disneyland Pics

I’ve been meaning to post about our fabulous trip, but I feel like I haven’t been able to get into a schedule again since we’ve been back. So finally here is the run down…

Disneyland is not only the happiest place on earth, but I think it's also the saddest. We definitely had our fair share of melt downs.



The Princess lunch was the most expensive thing we did, but also the one thing that was most worth the price!!



Prior to the lunch we took a trip to Libby Lou where the girls got a full makeover, nails,hair, makeup and tiara's! They were set to mingle with the princesses!





Originally we were planning not to bring Hyrum--too much work. But I'm sure glad we did. I had no idea how much fun he would have!



He absolutely loved Mickey Mouse! And greeted all the characters by giving them high fives.




And he left the park singing "Yo Ho Yo Ho", everytime we'd ask him what the pirates say.

The girls got to be Jedi Warriors



And have their face painted



Not to mention the park was totally decked out for Halloween



I would say this was the best vacation of my life. Everything I had ever dreamed and wanted in a Disneyland vacation! Well, except I think if I had it MY way I would have gone to Libby Lou and had MY hair and makeup done, and I would have gotten MY pictures taken with the princess. Thank heavens for daugthers that we can live vicariously through!!!

My Very Own King

I had to post one of my all-time favorite pictures of Jason!

Happy Birthday Jason!!

Did you know…

Jason has an almost photographic memory
And he’s smart.
He’s learned to be very humble, because he’s sometimes prideful.
He’s passionate about whatever he believes in
And when there’s something he wants nothing will stop him from getting it.
He only has eight toes on his feet.
And when we were dating he wrote me poetry.
He can be a very good listener,
And he likes my cooking. :)

I love you sweetheart! Happy 34th Birhtday.

My Very Own Princess

My sweet Sarah is five years old today! Happy Birthday! She is the child that, I feel, is most like me. Which means she is not only adorable, cute, and funny, she is also high-maintenance, a drama queen, and desperate for attention. Hmm…

So, here are five things I adore about my precious Sarah!

1. That endearing dimple every time she smiles. And she knows that when she flashes it she can get away with anything!

2. She has more make-up than I do, and that’s saying a lot! She also has a talent for applying it.

3. Her favorite show is What-Not-To-Wear. She loves to watch Carmindy apply makeup and tells me constantly that she’s going to be a makeup artist when she grows up. (I have no doubt of that.)

4. She hates to leave the house without a purse.

5. She loves to wear high-heeled shoes and wishes I would wear them more often.

Just to clarify she is turning 5.

Not 16…

FIVE!

Oh I love her.

Happy Birthday Sarah, thank you for everything you bring into our family, I couldn’t imagine life without you! I love you so much.

Piano For Sale

The digital piano did not sale at the garage sale. SO...that means it's still For Sale. I actually had two people interested that said they would come back later... and never came back. LUCKY FOR YOU!!

It is a 2004 Roland Digital Piano HP1.
and Piano bench
$800

I bought it brand new for $1,800, and it's in fantastic condition. It comes with the manual, (the manual does have a few scribble marks, but not the piano) And it comes with the bench. I will post a picture of it soon, I promise. I'm just too tired to do that right now. This is just the factory picture, but I'll post actually pictures so you can see what you are buying... but it looks just like this. Leave a comment, call me, or come on over if you are interested or know of anyone who is. I'll be advertising it on Monday, but I thought I would post it here first.

You may ask why I'm selling it. I love my piano, it is a beautiful fun instrument, but I'm not using it. In fact I've gone the past two months without even turning it on. My husband recently left one of his jobs in order to focus on his private practice. That's good... and bad. Well not bad, it just puts us in a financial crunch for a few months. And I realized that the piano was something that, although I love it, is not being used by anyone in the house.

Of course, once my husband's business is strong and he's bringing in several million a month I'll have him buy me a new one... (several million a month, at least!!)

Thanks for your interest and please let me know what questions you have!

Come check out the Garage Sale

IT'S AWESOME!!

We are selling a digital piano
some antiques
and lots of cool stuff

Massive Garage Sale

Ok, we’re not really selling garages, just stuff. But it should be massive! Like giant. Huge. Really really big!

It’s my friend’s, Sabine’s, moving sale. As in, she is moving and all her stuff must go. Anything not sold will be sent to the D.I., so you better buy it now before the D.I. marks it up 200% from the price we’ll be selling it at. There will also be a cool boutique and other fun stuff.

When: SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 20th
Time: 8:00-1:00
Where: My house. (I’m not going to post the address, because I’m assuming that if you read my blog you know where I live, and if you read my blog and don’t know where I live then email me, and I’ll send you my address! Or, if you don’t want to email me, then you can randomly drive around Orem looking for garage sales on Saturday morning. We hope to put up lots of posters.)

Come by, and buy lots of fun cool stuff. We’ll have music, a play gym in the backyard for kids to play on while you browse, and lots of water for drinking. In fact, the first 100 customers get ice with their water—FOR FREE!!!

Ya can’t beat that.

See you on Saturday.

The Perm

I think it turned out cute!

Welcome to SRA (Slow Readers of America)

Hello, my name is Alyson King and I am a slow reader.

It started in elementary school when books with no pictures and pages of words terrified me. It wasn’t until eighth grade that my love of reading truly blossomed, but by then it was too late. Although I loved books I would find myself taking each word slowly, forming the sentences and stories in my head, taking three times as long to read something as those around me. I’ve tried throughout the years, I’ve struggled to skim sentences, skip over parts that seemed boring or unnecessary, but I find myself carefully reading each word. Taking days even weeks to read a book that might take only a day or two for others.

I thought I could hide this embarrassment from the world. No one ever needed to know. But I’m here today because I want help…


…OK, let me get the heart of this post. I seriously feel awful that I am such a slow reader and that there are people in book club waiting for my copy of the book that I STILL have not finished. I’m just not a fast reader. I don’t know why. But it really causes problems in my life and I don’t know how to fix it.

For most people, reading slow might not seem like a problem, but the more I’m trying to become a published writer the more I’m learning that to be a writer you need to be a reader. A good reader. A fantastic, fast, amazing, reader. I LOVE reading, but I’m not a fast, in depth reader that can devour four to six books a week in my spare time. I don’t think I could read four book s a week even if I did nothing but read. I’m not fast enough. I think I once did three books in a month, and I felt so cool afterwards. (Oh and they were all YA books that you can gobble up in a day.)

It’s becoming discouraging only because I feel that the harder I try to be a reader the further behind I fall. For ever book I read I discover three more I want to read… I'm creating this group for others out there that may feel that don't read as fast as most people, but still love to read, SRA! (Slow Readers of America) So here is my public announcement so it’s clear for all. I….a..m……a…….s..l..o..w……..r..e..a..d..e..r……

Who do you want for president?

There has been a lot of talk, lots of passion, lots of issues. Should we vote for Obama? Should we vote for McCain? Well, a solution just presented itself. Finally, someone who knows what they're doing!!

See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die

Movie clips

I had to join in the fun and post some of my favorite movie clips of all time. It was hard to pick only a few and I realized I might need to go watch some of these movies now and get them out of my system.

First up is Howl's Moving Castle. I ended up putting two scenes from this movie because I remembered just how desperately in love I am with Howl. What is it with two-dimensional anime men? I can't help but fall in love! This first scene is intensely romantic. It is one of the opening scenes in the movie and it can’t help but make you fall in love with Howl. Who wouldn’t want a wizard like this to save them?


My second clip is, by far, the funniest scene in Howl’s Moving Castle. Understand that it is about a girl who has been transformed by a witch and turned into an old woman. She is struggling to break her curse and has to deal with this selfish wizard that only cares about his own good looks. Love it!

OK, I had to include something from Grave of the Fireflies, because I think it is the saddest movie I have ever seen in my life. Since I couldn’t post the whole movie, and there isn’t just one scene over all the others that I love most, here is a montage of several scenes. The movie is about two young children trying to survive on their own in Japan during WWII.

Finally I had to include the ballroom scene from Labyrinth. Who knew that lipstick and eye shadow could look so incredible on a man? I’ve watched and diagnosed this scene far too many times; I find it interesting that it’s one of the few scenes in the movie that there are no puppets, only humans.

Thanks Kami for letting us do this. I hope others join the fun, I would love to see your favorite scenes!

Ghost Hunters ROCK!

I am a huge fan of the TV show Ghost Hunters. Sometimes I’ll watch it and it’s a little blah, as in nothing happens, but every now and then you get an episode that is just awesome and cool, and super scary! Last night’s episode was like that. Chills! What I like about them is that they go into a situation trying to prove that a place is NOT haunted, so it's very cool when there are things they can't explain.

Does anyone else out there love Ghost Hunters the way I do? I love the idea of ghosts, though I think if I ever really saw a ghost it would scare me to death!

Getting a perm

My oldest daughter wants to get a perm. I’m kind of excited by the idea, since her thin hair seems impossible to do in the mornings, since it’s so straight and, well, blah. She desperately needs some kind of style and refuses to let me cut it.

But I thought I would see if anyone out there had any feedback or information on perms for kids. When I was younger I got perms all the time, and they were always home perms. I’ve never had a professional salon perm. Has anyone? What’s the difference? I’m trying to decide if I want to perm her hair myself, or take her in and drop $50 to have someone else do it. I’ve never done it before, but I can’t imagine it would be too terribly difficult… (I say that nervously) Any feedback would be awesome, especially from all you amazing woman that do hair, what do you think, salon or home??

11 Things I Hate About You

Dearest Jason
Happy Anniversary! OK, I don’t really have 11 things that I hate about you, there’s really only one or two, and you know what they are, and I wouldn’t publicly announce them. I just had to put that as the title of this blog in honor of Miley Cyrus’s song (7 things I hate about you) because I think it’s stupid that she would list all the things she hates about a person and then tell them that she loves them… not super romantic, (in my opinion) but I’m not here to talk about Miley Cyrus, I’m here to talk about YOU.

So Jason, happy 11th year anniversary. Here is a list of 11 things I LOVE about you.

1. Your hair.
2. Your dedication.
3. Your insane ability to juggle a million things at once, (such as three jobs, a business, doctoral school, a family, and church callings) That was in no order by the way.
4. The way you kiss.
5. The fact that you call me five times a day because you miss me.
6. The way you write.
7. The way you teach.
8. I love you for buying me my dream house.
9. And giving me three beautiful children.
10. I love how forgiving and understanding you are.
11. And the fact that words like, psychopharmacology, idiosyncrasies, and paradigms, (along with a whole host of other words that I can’t think of right now) are part of you daily vocabulary.

Oh, and another thing I love about you “You make me love you!”

We Love you Stephenie! Sad news about Midnight Sun

Poor Stephenie Meyer

So, besides all the rude and angry fans that are now throwing a tizzy fit over Breaking Dawn, it appears that a copy of Midnight Sun has made its way to the internet. Besides being totally illegal it has made Stephanie so sad that she has given up on the project completely, and posted a chunk of the manuscript on her website. I can’t say I blame her, with the reactions to Breaking Dawn, and then someone stealing her story I would want to throw in the towel too. But I wish she would finish Midnight Sun. I was so excited to read that book. So here is my note to the awesome inspiring vampire authoress:

WE LOVE YOU STEPHENIE!! DON’T GET SAD! DON’T GIVE UP!

Here is a link to her website where you can read Midnight Sun.

A quick thought on Breaking Dawn and Stephenie Meyer

Stephenie Meyer and me. I'm nine months pregnant--so not an attractive pictures. (Of me. Stephenie is gorgeous)

I just wanted to say that it makes me sad how much negativity there has been on Breaking Dawn. I don’t mind people not liking a book, that’s fine, it happens all the time. Everyone should have their own opinions, but there have been petitions of people wanting to take the book back to the store and demand refunds because it wasn’t the book they wanted: people writing terrible things to Stephenie Meyer telling her how the book should have been written. I’m shocked.

Do they not understand how Stephenie Meyer has put her life on hold so she could write us this book, don’t they know she fought to give us a fourth book in the series. Whether or not we like it does not matter, it is a rare gift, given to us by an author who wanted to giveback to her fans. How selfish is it of people to be given a gift and then return it to the giver saying, it’s not good enough, it’s not what I wanted, give me something else. She must be exhausted, and rightfully so. Personally, I loved Breaking Dawn, I felt it was the best of the four books, and I enjoyed it like a delicious slice of chocolate cake. Some people don’t like chocolate cake, and that’s fine. But the least you can do is be grateful for what you have.

OK, I’m done with my soap box now. Thank you for listening, and please feel free to open up and share your thoughts on this.

Childless, just for a day…please!

I do not mean to discredit all the woman out there who are desperately trying to have children, or long to hold a baby in their arms, or swear they would put up with any trauma just to have a family. I respect that. I do. There was once a time I felt the same way.

But I wish, that for just one day, I could have no children. I want to clean my house and have it stay clean, or fold laundry and have it stay folded, instead of having it be pulled around the house by a crazy one-year-old with sticky fingers. I want to go to the store without dreading the temper tantrums that might follow. I want to buy something and not worry about how long it will be until it gets broken. I want to go to sleep at night and not be woken up because someone needs me to take care of them. I’m tired of having my hair pulled, my makeup stolen, and my books ripped apart. And I’m really tired of changing poopy diapers.

I wouldn’t change my life, not for anything. I love my children, and at the end of the day when all of them are sleeping I can look at them and think there is nothing, NOTHING, that brings me more joy.

But is one day so much to ask? I just want 24 hours of no one else to take care of but myself. I would love to say, I’m going to take a nap, or I’m going to watch a movie, or I’m going to read a book, or I’m going to run errands, or I’m going to write, and do it without any extra drama, without juggling any other obligations. Just once. That’s all I need, just a 24 hour break and then I’ll be ok for a little bit.

But I’m a mom, and mom’s never get breaks, especially not for 24 hours. There’s no sick time, no vacation time, no paid time off. There’s not even unpaid time off. I know that, I accept that, but it doesn’t mean I can’t dream of it. Things such as a clean house, or accomplishing tasks quickly and flawlessly, or sleeping are just not in my job description. Sigh. At least I have three of the most beautiful and adorable children in the world, and I get the greatest title, and the most well-earned title anyone has ever had: Mom.

Love for the Wii Fit

Do you have trouble exercising? Dread the act from beginning to end? Get the Wii fit! I can't believe how much I love this little machine. Why hasn't anyone thought of this sooner.

I'll have to blog more later, once I've used it for a week, rather than a day and see if I'm still in love with it. But as of right now, i feel that I have found a solution to my negative attitude towards exercise, and it's name is Wii Fit!

What Font are you

The tests they come up with!

Take it and find out what font you are. I'm Times New Roman!

You Are Times New Roman

You are formal and conservative. You're concerned with how you appear to others. For you, maintaining a good reputation is important. You want people to trust you. Elegant and classy, you always maintain your composure. You are never crass. You are professional, competent, and upstanding. And it shows!

What Font Are You?

30! We made it!

My 100th Post!! How cool to have it on my birthday. Seriously, it wasn't even planned.

30 years old. Taken two days ago. I just got my hair cut and I knew it would never look that good again, (since they styled it) so I threw on some jewerly, (which I never wear for fear that my son will break it) and had my mom quickly snap a shot. See how clever I am, I stood behind the chair, allowing it to hide the width of my hips. I'm so smart. :)

Today I am 30. I was struggling so much with the idea of turning 30, but I have to say that making the 30 lists really helped. It made me realize what a wonderful past I've had, it helped me see what an exciting future I have before me, but most importantly it reminded me to live and thrive in the moment.

Thank you to everyone who read all my posts, I commend you for any attempt you made! Thank you for all the comments, and if I offended or hurt anyone in any of my posts, that was never my intentions. Mostly I wanted to capture myself now. I'm not good at journals, and I wanted to have something documented for posterity. You know, so when my great-great-great grandchild has to write a report for school on one of their ancestors, they can pull these up and use it. (Hey if I really ever do have a great-great-great grandchild read this, just know that I think you are awesome for considering me for your school report. Good luck!)

So here is a list of 30 people I tag to make up 30 lists with 30 facts about themselves and 30 pictures...




just kidding


I wouldn't do that to anyone, but I would recommend it to everyone. if nothing else try to find a picture of yourself for each year of your life. Make sure you have a digital, labeled copy of it. That was hard, time consuming, and very worth it! Everyone should do that for themselves and their children too, if you are bored.

But it was surprising to me as I put these lists together, what memories I came across that I had forgotten about, what personality traits I discovered about myself, so I think it was very worth the time for me. If anyone else enjoyed them then that is just AWESOME!

Thank you for sharing with me this monumental birthday. And I really am excited to turn 30 years old today. (I should find out from my mom what time I was born, I think it was around 11:00 am)I hope all of you have a wonderful day, and if today is your birthday, (like, oh say, Maria) then Happy Birthday to you too! (a cool fact about Maria and me, not only do we share the same birthday, but our daughters have the same birthday too. how cool is that!) Oh and happy birthday to everyone out there with August birthdays. And happy birthday to everyone else turning 30 this year. In fact, Happy Birthday to everyone that is having a birthday sometime this year. I hope it's a great one for you!

30 random things about me

29 years old.

Well, we have almost covered everything. I'm sure you've read far more than you've ever wished to know. But, surprise surprise, there is still more. Here is just 30 random thigns about me. And don't worry, we really are almost done! Yes, there are some repeats on this, but I became too lazy to change them, and I figured that you probably either won't rememebr, or if you do remember then it will be just a great reminder.

1. I talk in my sleep, and say really funky things.

2. I can’t spell… at all!

3. My record of throwing up during pregnancy is 15 times in one day.

4. The day before 9/11 I was sick to my stomach with anxiety and felt like something bad was about to happen. I convinced myself and Jason that there was going to be an earthquake. Boy was I wrong.

5. I used to have prophetic dreams. But I haven’t had one for a while.

6. I floss regularly

7. Sometimes I really enjoy being alone.

8. At least once a month I stay up until 4:00am cleaning

9. Growing up my mom always gave me the most awesome birthday parties every year. My favorite was when we had a tea party and dressed up like it was the 1800's.

10. I would rather be too emotional, than not emotional enough.

11. I hate my feet! Especially my toes

12. My eyes are my favorite thing about my body

13. I love wearing makeup, but the older I get the lazier I become.

14. Growing up I always wanted to marry a king and live in a castle, guess what, now that I’m grown I’m married to a King and my house look slike a castle.

15. I think brown eyes and blond hair is the most beautiful physical combination there is. (No one in my family has it, not even me)

16. I love extra frosting on everything sweet

17. I have never been in a tanning bed, though I look much better with a tan.

18. I love the Japanese culture and wish I had lived there before I got married and had kids.

19. I love unicorns, fairies, and mermaids. But not so much dragons. Don’t know why. (You would think that with my love affair with the Japanese culture I would love dragons more than I do. Hmm, got to think about that one)

20. I have always been fascinated with ghosts and ghost stories. I have never seen a ghost but I totally believe they exist.

21. I can’t lie, it’s almost physically impossible for me to do. I would rather be honest, than deal with lying

22. But I do exaggerate, a lot. Especially when telling a story. I don’t mean to, it just happens. I think it’s the writer in my trying to make things more interesting. (so this posses the question, is exaggerating the same thing as lying… hmm, maybe I do lie, what do you think?)

23. I’m obsessive about washing my face each night, and each morning.

24. I don’t like camping; my idea of a vacation is having someone clean up after you, having meals prepared for you, and having a hot water and a comfortable bed.

25. But I love sitting around a campfire, and doing camping things, just not for extended periods of time. (Like more than 12 hours)

26. I’m a slow cleaner

27. I can resist eating sweets, but the moment I start I can’t stop. My self-control completely goes out the window.

28. After I had my third child I ate an entire box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, by myself, in an hour. And I didn’t even feel sick afterwards. (I blame it on having so much room in my body since a baby had been removed.)

29. In college I was very concerned about always wearing makeup. One night there was a fire alarm and I got up and did my makeup before I left my dorm. I know, pathetic. But at least I can laugh about it—now.

30. I can type really fast, but with tons, and I mean tons, of mistakes. I have never typed a whole page without several words being underlined in red and green. (It’s like Christmas every time I write)

30 things I hope to be doing in 30 years

28 years old. I feel like this picture was just taken yesterday. Now we're really getting close to the big 3-0

As I made up this list I realized that I'm not doing nearly enough of what I need to do in order to accomplish all the things on this list. It was a good wake up call for me, and I hope I can focus more on some of my long term goals, not just my short termed ones.

1. I want to be financially sound, (as in no debt and lots of retirement money)

2. I want to be a grandma.

3. I want to be healthy

4. I better have published something by then, even if it’s just a magazine article!

5. I would love to be on the New York Times Bestseller list, or have been at sometime in my life.

6. I hope that by then my house will stay clean for longer than ten minutes.

7. I hope that my house is more organized and NOT more cluttered.

8. I hope to have made a lot of progress on my “too read” list.

9. I would like to still be living in the same house I am living in now.

10. I hope I’m traveling the world.

11. I want my kids to be happy.

12. I want to be in a position that I can help my children through their trails that they will face as they start their own families.

13. I hope I remember and keep in touch with the friends that I have now. I’m really bad at keeping in touch with people.

14. I hope I’m more forgiving.

15. I want to be looking forward to the next 30 years of my life. (As in, I hope to live to be 90.)

16. I don’t want to be boring.

17. I hope I’m not a “slow” driver.

18. I wonder if I will still be a night owl, or if I will go to bed early.

19. I think it will be fun when I turn 60 to go back and read these lists, and see if I still agree with them.

20. I plan on celebrating my 41st wedding anniversary

21. By the time I’m 60 I want to have gone back to college, and graduated.

22. I hope I still have all my teeth.

23. I believe my husband’s private practice will be successful by then.

24. I hope I still have most of my hair.

25. I hope that all my immediate family is still alive.

26. I hope I am still alive. (My father died at only 54.)

27. I hope by then “they” have found a cure for colds and cancer.

28. I’m curious to see what kind of technology there will be that my children and grandchildren can operate that I don’t have a clue about.

29. I hope I’m stylish when I’m 60, (age appropriate stylish)

30. I hope I look back at my life and be proud of what I’ve done.

30 things about me as an adult

Just a few more days of being bombarded with useless facts about me. Almost done! Hang in there.

27 years old. My husband and me.

This was a hard list for me to write, because how do you write how you are as an adult, when you’re still trying to figure out how to be an adult. Also I felt like a lot of things were repeats, or things I was going to put in a coming up post of, “30 random things about me”. But I finally was able to put together a list.

1. I had three jobs before I became a stay at home mom. I worked the concessions stands in a movie theater, I was a waitress at Marie Calendars, and I worked at Convergys.

2. I’ve been a mother longer than I was a teenager.

3. On multiple occasions my husband and I have BBQ hamburgers at 1:00 in the morning.

4. I am awesome at playing Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time for the N64. (Because, until recently, I had very few other games and no other game console.)

5. I own way too many DVD’s. I regret I’ve spent so much money on movies.

6. I own way too many books, but I don’t regret spending money on any of them.

7. In church callings I’ve served in the nursery, in the primary, in the YW, in relief society, and on the activities committee. There’s really nothing left for me to do, so I think I’m OK if I never get called to do anything else. :)

8. I DO NOT scrap book.

9. Or make homemade, cute cards. I admire people that can do this, but it is one talent I do not have, and I’m ok with that.

10. I do not enjoy being pregnant

11. I am not a very fun person to be around when I am pregnant.

12. But I would do it over again, even twice as long if I had to, for each one of my babies!

13. Growing up I never had anyone close to me die. In five years, four people in my family passed away. (My cousin, my father, my grandmother and my uncle)

14. I was the first person in my family to get married, even though I am the middle child.

15. I’ve started reading a much wider variety of books than I used to, and I like it.

16. I used to be immune to motion sickness. I could do any ride at Lagoon without batting an eye. Now just the thought of some of those swivel rides make me nauseous. (I blame it on the pregnancies.)

17. As an adult I’ve come to realize that I still love to play with Barbie dolls, and I’m glad that I have a daughter that reintroduced that to me.

18. I buy my kids waaaaaay too many toys!

19. I can’t remember numbers for the life of me. It took me two years to memorize my zip code. (Never ask me how much something costs, I will say the first number that comes to my head and it is probably wrong.)

20. As an adult I’ve learned that I am not a good housekeeper. At all!

21. I’ve also learned that I am a very poor gardener.

22. I used to think I was a very patient, kind and loving individual. Than I had kids and realized I had no understanding of the word “patience”.

23. I often wonder how differently we would treat each other if we could see people’s divine nature, see all their potential, their goodness, and their accomplishments. If we could see them how God does, then how would we treat them?

24. I’ve realized that a happy marriage takes a lot of work. If it was easy than everyone would have it. And all the hard work makes it worth it.

25. I am a very task oriented person. (This is a fancy way of saying that I can’t do more than one thing at a time.)

26. I experience my emotions deeply. But as an adult I’m getting better at understanding them.

27. The older I get the less afraid I am of getting old.

28. I’ve learned for myself the truth to the fact that chocolate really does make everything better. At least for a little bit.

29. I think it’s an amazing thing that right after having a baby, we woman can sit there, without having taken a shower for days, leaking milk, hurting in places we never knew we could hurt, and unable to think straight from lack of sleep, and have our husbands come in, clean, showered, full of energy, holding their new infant, and look at us with more love and admiration than they’ve ever had before because of what we’ve accomplished and given them. (OK, I need someone to diagram that sentence. Wow, that was a paragraph in itself!)

30. As an adult I realize that I still feel the same age as I did as a child. I feel like I know more, I understand more, I’m taller and certainly wider, but the core of who I am has stayed the same.

30 things about me as a teenager

26 years old, right after I got a new haircut!

I don't like to remember myself as a teenager, because they weren't my favorite years. In fact I always cringe when I run into someone from high school, because I can't stop worrying about what terrible things they might remember about me from those years. Hopefully the bad memories have faded and the good ones have remained... hopefully. (Cringe)

In case if you are wondering, I graduated from Brighton High school in 1996. Wow, that was a long time ago.

1. There was a two year period that I loved wearing black and wore it almost every day. (But I wouldn't wear all black, usually)

2. I wanted to decorate my room with black carpet and lots of mirrors, (but I didn’t get to.)

3. I had an awesome earring collection with huge, long, and crazy earrings.

4. I would spend lunch writing instead of eating.

5. I woke up at 5:00 every morning just to write.

6. I would style my hair in crazy and elaborate hairstyles.

7. I wore a lot of braids.

8. I was so poor in high school that one year my family couldn’t afford to buy me a year book.

9. When I was 17 years old I had to get my first root canal.

10. My mother made huge sacrifices, just so I could have braces. It was of the greatest gifts she ever gave me. I started flossing religiously and brushing obsessively so that I could have beautiful teeth when they were taken off.

11. My first job was Nielson’s Frozen Custard. I worked here for two years, and became very addicted.

12. I only had two “official” boyfriends in high school, but I dated each one for about a year.

13. I was completely devastated when my first boyfriend dumped me after a year so he could date another girl. (Looking back, I don’t blame him. I was a little clingy,) But at the time I was so heartbroken I honestly believed I would never, EVER, be able to love again! (Don’t you love teenage angst.)

14. There was one semester when I went to school at 6:00 am for early morning seminary, and then I stayed at school until 6:00 pm for marching band practice. (This was on top of having a job, taking pre-calculus, and advanced English. No wonder teenage kids get stressed out, and I know it’s worse now than it was back then!)

15. I never watched TV. I didn’t have time.

16. One summer we had to move my bed room into the living room. It was really weird when the visiting teachers would come over.

17. Every summer, for about 2-4 weeks I would go down to St. George and spend it with Sonnett. She may never know how much that time together saved my sanity, (even though I would drive her crazy at times.)

18. I loved wearing skirts and high heeled shoes.

19. I refused to leave the house without wearing makeup.

20. I wrote a lot of fiction in middle school, but in High school I mostly wrote poetry. Lots and lots of poetry.

21. No matter how hard I tried I never received a 4.0. I missed it each time by one A-! EACH TIME!!

22. I loved being in marching band, despite how much people made fun of me for it.

23. I once had a guy send me a box of long stemmed, red roses during school, that was the coolest thing ever! (It was the end of my senior year. He was a college student that I had met the night before at a party. I felt so flattered.) I still think delivered roses are the most romantic, the coolest, the sweetest thing in the world (hint, hint… too bad my husband doesn’t read this. But if anyone sees him you can give him the message.)

24. My mother and I fought every day (but I think that’s typical for some teenage girls)

25. My family had no money for clothes, so over half my wardrobe was borrowed from friends.

26. I drove a beast of a car from 1978, (I can’t remember the make or model). It was literally the size of a boat, and it only had am radio. A bad am radio! My little brother and I would crank up the sound and drag Highland Drive, rocking out to “Papa Loves Mambo”.

27. Most of my paycheck went to pay for food for the family, or anything I needed, (i.e. shampoo, contact lens solution toothpaste..)

28. I lost the contact for my left eye, and my family was so poor I couldn’t afford another, and my only pair of glasses were broken, so for six months I only wore one contact.

29. Between my parents hating each other and hardly speaking, my family being dirt poor, my boyfriend breaking up with me, and being overwhelmed with school and work I went into a huge depression during my junior year. This is the year that I worry about what people remember of me. (Like crying all day—sitting in front of my locker crying—crying so hard in class that the teacher finally asked me to leave because I was disturbing the class so much, … It was bad. Now you probably understand why I married a therapist. Not only a therapist, but one who specialize in adolescences, especially female adolescences. Yes, I feel like the Lord has always been watching over me)

30. I was very skinny in high school. I had a 21 inch waist. And although I would love to physically have that again, I would never want to be in the emotional situation I was in that left me with such a slender frame. I’d rather have my curves and be happy, than be slender and depressed. :

30 things about me as a child.

25 years old. I'm at a fancy tea house in Seattle, celebrating my birthday.

1. I hated reading in elementary school, and I’m a slow reader because of it.

2. When I was 7, I was in a fatal car accident that changed my family forever. (Not fatal to me, obviously, but fatal to the woman who hit us.)

3. I had a uni-brow and very crooked teeth. Because of this, I’m very hyper-sensitive to how my teeth look. We couldn’t’ afford braces until I was in high school and I cried the day I got them because I was so grateful to have them.

4. I was such a nerd!

5. I was very shy and was terrified of speaking to adults. (This fear lasted until I was in my 20’s. I still get nervous sometimes.)

6. I had a fiery temper and would throw and kick things when I was mad.

7. I had very sharp finger nails and thought it was fun to claw people, (I know I was messed up)

8. I was always worried about others, especially if I had hurt them.

9. I was awful at spelling, (huh, I still am. Some things don’t change)

10. I knew I wanted to be a writer.

11. I was good at kick ball and a fast runner, then around sixth grade those kind of sporty things ended.

12. I loved camping and being in the outdoors. (I hate camping now, I don’t know what changed.)

13. I loved playing dress ups.

14. I loved playing with Barbies, and went to great lengths to hide it from my friends. (It wasn’t cool to play with Barbies in fifth grade.)

15. I was scared of the dark and thought there were goblins in my room.

16. I loved climbing trees and would dream of living in a tree.

17. Whenever I played at playgrounds I would pretend I was a princess and that the play-gym was my castle.

18. My mother called me Aly-Sunny because I was always smiling, and with my blond hair and blue eyes she felt like I looked like sunshine.

19. I had a doll named Sunshine.

20. I had gold fish named Red Hot. Trying to be funny my brother told me he died right after I bought him. I broke into hysterical sobbing for a full ten minutes until my brother showed me he was joking.

21. Everyone called me Aly, I didn’t really grasp the fact that my name was Alyson, (around seventh grade I made everyone call me Alyson because I felt it was more “grown-up” now I don’t care.)

22. I had many perms in my hair.

23. Green was my favorite color. (Now it’s blue)

24. I loved paper dolls

25. I could ride a bike with no hands.

26. I got “married” to the neighborhood boy at least three times.

27. I believed that there were fairies living in my garden.

28. I had pneumonia when I was eight and had to be hospitalized.

29. I was never allowed to have Sees chocolates at Christmas time. They were only for grownups, I remember wanting so desperately to just have one piece.

30. I only ever cheated once in my life. It was on a spelling test in second grade. I wrote the word on the desk before the test and erased it afterwards. The word was “friend”. I felt sick for years afterwards and before I graduated elementary school I finally went and told my teacher. I never cheated after that experience. And I’ve never publicly admitted to this either. (Wow, does it feel good to get THAT off my chest.)

If I were rich

24 years old. Ah, the good old Convergys days.

This is my list of things I would buy if I had more money than Bill Gates. But before you read this list, I want people to know that if I really did have tons and tons of money my first priority would be to give some of it away to help others. I am a huge believer of charity! I have been on both sides, receiving and giving, and I know how small acts have changed my life, and I know the joy that comes from sharing what you have. Most of the things on this list I probably would never really do because I couldn’t justify it.

With that disclaimer in place, it sure is fun to pretend. So here is what I would do if I had buckets of money, and everyone in the world had all their needs and many of their wants taken care of, and I could spend all of this money on myself.

I just don’t want people to think I’m selfish and that I would spend a billion dollars on myself. Come on people, I don’t need a billion dollars. I would be perfectly happy just spending a million on myself! :)

1. I would own my home!

2. I would pay to have a housekeeper come clean my house everyday!

3. I would have a cook, but I would still cook on occasion because I enjoy cooking a lot.

4. I love my house so I don’t think I would move, (unless if I had too many kids filling it up) But I would do several home improvements to it such as:
a. Add a patio
b. Repaint the whole house
c. Get tile everywhere I want
d. Finish off my basement
e. Decorate in high fashion

5. I would have a very lavish garden and hire a gardener to tend it.

6. I would get season tickets on Broadway, and go once a month.

7. I would take my entire family and Jason’s whole family on the Disney cruise for a week and then to Walt Disney World for a week, and pay for everything!

8. I would buy every Barbie doll I’ve ever wanted and have a custom-built display case made to show them off.

9. I would hire a babysitter once a week for a whole day so that I could have the entire day to myself.

10. I would buy clothes whenever I want, even if they weren’t on sale.

11. I would get my hair done once a month, (instead of once every two years, like I do now.)

12. I would go on luxury cruises all around the world.

13. I would buy every book I’ve ever wanted, and everything on my Amazon wish list.

14. I would buy a Honda Odyssey.

15. Anytime something broke I would throw it away and buy a new one, instead of fixing it or trying to reuse it.

16. I would eat out way too much, at restaurants so expensive that they don’t even put the prices on the menu.

17. I would have all my jeans custom fit, so they looked awesome and were comfortable.

18. I would hire a personal trainer and have my own in-house gym… (maybe I would have to buy a bigger home then)

19. I would buy this, just because I could.

20. I would completely spoil my kids and buy them anything they’ve ever wanted. (OK, I wouldn’t really do this because I don’t think it would be good for them, but every now and then I wish I could spoil them rotten and have them still turn out good.)

21. I would get my teeth movie-star perfect.

22. I would buy over-the-top lavish gifts for people at Christmas.

23. I would own one piece of expensive jewelry, (but only one piece because I know if I had more my kids would get into them and ruin them.)

24. I would own one expensive piece of art (When I say expensive I mean something over $1,000. It would scare me to own anything more expensive than that.)

25. I would have a kick-butt food storage and everything would be organized.

26. I would have stained glass windows put in place of my bedroom windows.

27. I would stay in super expensive hotels, in the most lavish room they have.

28. I would buy myself fresh flowers everyday.

29. I would throw the coolest most lavish parties. (These are my dream birthday parties I would give my girls. For Janae I would fly all her guests to California, go to the American Girl Doll Store, buy everyone a doll, an outfit for them and for the doll. Then we would watch a movie and eat in the restaurant. For Sarah I would take all her guest to get their hair, nails and makeup done, take them to each buy whatever dress up they would want and then rent out Hattfieldadelphia, where they have that big castle and let them be princesses for a day.)

30. My whole family would wear custom-made, awesome Halloween costumes every year. (Sounds dumb, but I’ve always wanted to go all out with Halloween, maybe it’s something leftover from my love of playing dress-up when I was younger.

30 of my favorite TV shows

8/8/08 (What are you doing to rememebr this cool date? I hope you're reading this blog. That would make me feel so awesome!)

23 years old. This picture was taken at my brother, Robby's, wedding.

I don’t really watch that much TV, except for Disney Channel and Nickelodeon, and that’s by default, not by choice. But there are a few shows that have become very near and dear to me. I also added a few shows from my childhood. Which ones do you love? (as I made up this list I actually realized I watch way more TV than I thought I did. I know—pathetic.)

1. Sailor Moon (Season Five is the best, but all five seasons are wonderful. But you need to watch it in Japanese. The English version is just plain cheesy. Endearing, but cheesy.)If no one else at least Sonnett and Sabine have to look at how cute this site is!

2. Sailor Moon Live action (hands down my favorite TV show of all-time.)

3. Ghost Hunters (So creepy and cool all at the same time)

4. What not to Wear (Who doesn’t want a personal shopping trip with Stacey and Clinton, but until I get nominated, at least we have Laura Lee living in the neighborhood. She is easily as fashion savvy!)

5. Myth Busters (A learning show that’s hilarious, and you’d be surprised how much information I glean from these guys.)

6. How It’s Made (This has become a family favorite, we sit around learning how they make everything from golf balls to gummy worms.)

7. Iron Chef (I fell in love with the Japanese version years ago, and when they first introduced it to America it was a joke. Now, with the help of Mark Dacascos as the Chairman, a sassy chef like Bobby Flay, and a witty host like Alton Brown, it has become as fun to watch as the Japanese version. Although I do miss the great English dubbing.)

8. It Takes a Thief (Who would have thought to make a show documenting men breaking into your home. But it’s awesome to learn the way a thief might think.)

9. Kim Possible (I don’t know why, but I think this cartoon rocks!)

10. The Simpsons (I grew up on this, and something comforting overcomes me when I hear the theme song. Though I haven’t watched it in years, I still laugh thinking about my favorite episodes.)

11. Wheel of Fortune (Loved watching this as a kid, and trying to figure out the words)

12. Who’s the Boss (I think I was in love with Tony, and who doesn’t want an in-house cook and cleaner who’s hot and has an accent)

13. Gummi Bears (I would rush home from school every day in order to be on time to watch this cartoon.)

14. She-Ra (A kick-butt sword woman living in a fantasy setting who is also a princess! and she has a horse that turns into a flying unicorn. What’s not to love? This is probably the basis for most of my books.)

15. Jem and the Holograms (I’m still waiting for them to make a movie of this one. I love that everyone has every color of hair, except for a shade that is realistic.)

16. Lady Lovely Locks (About a girl who had magical power in her long, long colorful hair. Sweet!)

17. The Smurfs (I have never been so dedicated to a Saturday morning cartoon as I was to this one. I was heart broken when they took it away. It was a smurfing good show.)

18. Between the Lions (This show is so clever that even I get sucked into watching it with the kids.)

19. Full House (I have a hard time watching the reruns, but I sure loved it years ago.)

20. The Twilight Zone (I love the original black and white, not the new ones. They are so creepy and well done, I still love watching them late at night.)

21. The Polka dot Door (Did anyone else grow up watching this preschooler show? It was my passion when I was three years old.)

22. Strawberry Shortcake (The original. I’m not too big on the new version. But the original is near and dear to my heart.)

23. Saved by the Bell (I laugh just thinking of the title. Oh Zack! I was so in love with you.)

24. Property Ladder (Love watching people make housing mistakes, because I know I would probably do the exact same thing)

25. Avatar, the last air bender. (This is just a great cartoon with kick-butt super powers. I wish I could live in the world with Aang. Who knew an American cartoon could be so cool?)

26. Ace of Cakes (This guy is hilarious, and he makes awesome cakes too.)

27. Jon and Kate plus Eight (This makes me realize just how easy it is to have only three kids.)

28. A Haunting (Shown on Discovery each day it tells stories of true ghost hauntings throughout the years. Kind of theatrical, but still fun to watch.)

29. Cash Cab (The coolest game show on TV!! You get a free cab ride AND can earn money.)

30. Good Eats (I think Alton Brown reminds me a Jason, except Jason doesn't cook-at all. But they are both a little ADHD. That's why I like both of them!)

30 favorite candies

22 years old. Taken right after my oldest child was born

Really, my favorite kind of candy is the kind in a black and white box from See’s. But I still, on occasion, get a craving for something I can run to the store and grab. I seriously think I have the worst sweet tooth in the world. And I wonder why I struggle losing weight. Look at my list and the answer will be apparent.

And I’m offering a contest. Do you remember how we use to make those candy-grams on poster bored, where you would incorporate as many different kinds of candy into the card and tape the candy onto the poster bored, (Hey Sugar Daddy, you take me to the Milky Way) he he he, I know, cheesy, I’ve never been good at them.

Anyway, whoever comes up with the best card, using the most kinds of candy from my list below will win a prize. (Your choice of any of the following candies) You don’t have to make me the card, (unless if you want to) just type in what you would do for it in the comments section (or you can send me an email). The winner will be announced on my birthday, August 15th. Good luck.

1. Jr. Mints

2. Rolos

3. Caramello

4. Jelly Belly (my favorite flavors are coconut, watermelon, and black licorice)

5. Hot Tamales

6. Good and Plenty

7. Red Vines

8. Butterfinger

9. Milky Way


10. Skittles and M&M’s together

11. Banana Laffy Taffy

12. Gummy Peaches

13. Cinnamon Gumdrops

14. Tootsie rolls, (when they’re fresh so they’re soft)

15. Symphony bar

16. Swedish fish

17. Pink Starburst

18. Mini Cadbury Eggs, (it’s a good thing these are seasonal)

19. Crunch

20. Mounds

21. Cherry Nibs

22. York Peppermint patties

23. Milk Duds

24. Whoppers

25. Sugar Babies

26. Pop Rocks

27. Hershey Kisses

28. Twix

29. 100 Grand

30. Orlando Bloom, (Oh, sorry I forgot we’re talking about edible candy, not eye candy. Oh, but I would like to take a bite out of him!)