::25 things::

There's this silly facebook thing that's been rolling around. You're supposed to come up with 25 things about yourself, and then tag other people to do the same. I tried to resist. For quite a while. But finally I gave in. And I thought that since I took the time to think up all this stuff I might as well put it right here!

Enjoy or ignore, it's up to you. And consider yourself tagged if you want to do it too!


1. I get a lot of headaches these days. This is not a good thing about me, it's just a thing about me.

2. I hate American Idol, but I watch it because it's entertaining and it's a cultural phenomenon (or something) but I have a hard time watching it, and almost always disagree with the judges.

3. I'm finding as I get older that I like to cook but I hate to clean.

4. My new favorite food is Cara Cara Oranges. They're pink, not orange. They're delicious.

5. I met my husband in high school at band camp.

6. I hate being too hot and I hate being too cold. I don't know which I like less.

7. When Kris and I were doing study abroad in Austria I learned a ton of German. I could understand almost anything people said, but was still pretty uncomfortable speaking to people in German. People would ask me a question in german and I'd answer in english. It flustered people. It flustered me too.

8. My good friend and I drove over 6 hours to go to IKEA last year. And then when we got there we shopped for eight hours.

9. I've been in three car accidents in the last three years. None of them were my fault and all of them involved our Land Rovers. Sad!

10. I really dislike white cars, and two of the four cars we've bought since we were married ended up being white.

11. I don't like to drive. Could that have something to do with my accidents? Hmmm.

12. I haven't played my saxophone in way too long.

13. We've moved twice in the last two years. It's looking like we'll probably move two more times in the next two years. Yuck.

14. I have really enjoyed blogging in the last couple of years. It's a place for my photos and I feel so much more connected to my friends and family that are far away. I love it and I miss it when I don't do it.

15. I'm glad I have my MBA but I probably wouldn't choose to do it again if we were back at the start. It was just way too stressful.

16. I love Max. I really miss him when he was a little baby, but what can you do? They can't stay teeny forever.

17. I love the beach so much. If I could live by the beach for the rest of my life it would make me happy!

18. It's been proven through experience that I'm allergic to some dogs, all cats, horses, birds, rabbits and cows. I'm guessing I'm allergic to pretty much anything and everything else that moves and is fuzzy or feathery.

19. I loved the VW vans we had growing up. I wish there was a safer newer version out now. It would be the perfect family car.

20. I wish I knew how to surf.

21. I've been serving in one or another position in primary for the last 5 years. I'm guessing I'll be there for a while longer.

22. I love to take pictures. Sometimes I'm too busy taking pictures to enjoy whatever it is we're doing.

23. I've found in the last few years that I love going to kickboxing class at the gym. Well, I love doing it, not so much the going to it part. And I really love the part after I'm done.

24. I love to bake. I could make cookies, cupcakes and cakes all day long, and I could eat them all day long too. So even though I think I'm pretty good at it, I try not to do it very often.

25. I love going on road trips. Even when they're going to be long and crummy I can't help but feel excited about them.

and the extra: My youngest brother is 10 years younger than me. I dragged him around everywhere and took care of him a lot. I loved it. Max reminds me of him a bit, and when they're together I always always mix them up and call them the wrong name.

Well there we go. Phew, I did it!

::tagged::

My friend Amanda tagged me. And it's a photo tag, which are naturally my favorites!
For this one you're supposed to open your sixth folder of pictures, and post the sixth picture and tell the story behind it. Since I have WAY too may folders and pictures, I just kept choosing the sixth one until I finally reached a picture. And it's a good one.

It's cute little Max in 2005 eating an ice cream cone that Kris had brought home for him. He was making such a mess than we stripped him down to his diaper and had him eat it outside on the deck. He was having the time of his life.

This was back when we actually had a backyard and an awesome deck--two houses ago. And even though the yard was so slanted that it was impossible to walk down without staggering, we miss it. I think Sul and Max miss it the most though.

This is the same Max that when I was just hugging and kissing him a minute ago said, "Take it easy, take it easy!"
What a goofball. He was cute then and he's cute now, what else can I say?

Oh, and consider yourself tagged if you'd like to do this one. If you do it let me know!

.:.:Double Tagged:.:.

I've been tagged twice recently (well I thought it was recently until I looked at Annie's post that she tagged me on--it's been almost a month!!) and so I thought I could get both the taggings taken care of in one fell swoop.

The first one was from Annie who is Kris's cousin Phil's wife. (It's been fun getting to know her better via the blog world)

Here we go!

10 years ago:
I was a freshman at BYU. Majoring in saxophone performance, playing in jazz bands and concert bands and saxophone quartets and combos and all sorts of fun things. I had a really fun freshman year. I was also getting ready to go on tour with the jazz band to Russia and Finland in the summer.

Snacks I enjoy:
Anything sugary. That really does just about sum it up for me. I'm not very discriminating.
But I do also like nuts. And crackers.
Yikes.

Five things on my to-do list today:
1) Pick up Max from school

2) try to clean up stuff in my house--oh where to start

3) Work with Max on coloring and reading

4) Work

5) Go to school tonight

Things I would do if I were suddenly made a billionaire:
oh man, what kind of a question is this?

I would pay off our student loans first, obviously. Then I'd pick someplace beautiful and buy a whole bunch of houses there so all the family could live in the same place. I'd buy an old Land Rover Defender 110 (or whatever it is) for Kris and I'd get myself a whole bunch of new cameras and lenses. I'd also take some real photography and photoshop classes. Oh yeah, and I would get Kris a roof top tent for the grover. That's very important.

Is that enough? I'm sure I could think of more if I was forced...

Three of my bad habits:
1) Twiddling my hair. I like to do it in the car all the time and it drives Kris crazy

2) Leaving dishes to soak in the sink for WAY too long

3) Leaving books and magazines in the bathroom until they turn into mush because of Max's bathing (i.e. splashing) methods

Five places I have lived:
1. Provo UT

2. Orem UT

3. Vienna Austria (ok this might not count because it was just a summer. But I want it to)
4. Kansas City, MO

5. Wow. I don't have a #5. But I will in May or June when we move to RI!!

Jobs I have had:

1. Server at a Mexican restaurant

2. photo lab tech at the BYU bookstore

3. photo lab tech at Worldwide Photo in Provo

4. photo lab tech at Kenny's Photo in Orem

5. sales associate at Deseret Book in Orem (twice)

8. karaoke duplicator at Priddis Music (I can't remember where--American Fork??)

7. sales associate at Summerhays Music in both Murray and Sandy

8. Loan processor for Peak Mortgage

9. loan processor--self employed. I'm STILL doing it. Woo hoo!

Things people don't know about me:

well there might not be a lot now after being tagged before with something like this but I'll try...

1. I am a compulsive email checker so it's a good thing I have an iphone so I'm not stuck to the computer

2. Ginna isn't my real name (ok most of you know that but some of you probably don't!)

3. I love coordinating sweatsuits--you know, the kind that you buy both the hoodie jacket and the pants at the same time and they match? I love them for some reason. I try not to wear them out in public very much because I don't think they actually look that good, but I always like to have two or three around the house to wear in the evenings or on sunday afternoons.

4. I'm messier than I'd like to be

OK enough of that!!

The second tagging was by Karie who is my cousin Mat's wife. Also another family member that it's been nice to get to know a little better through blogs.
1. Pick up the nearest book (one of at least 124 pages)
2. open to page 124
3. find the 5th sentence
4. post the next 3 sentences

Sitting up on the back of the couch here is the book I read last weekend. It's called "The Alice Stories" and it's by Jesse Lee Kercheval. It was pretty good but it made me cry. I'm not sure I like that right now.

"I put on my suit, wrestled my hair into my cap, showered, and walked out onto the tile deck of the pool. Through the windows at the far end I could see the playground, empty and crusty with old snow. The lifeguard looked up from her clipboard and nodded."

Alright, I am going to tag a few of you out there. Feel free to pick either one of these things and do it. Whichever you fancy. And as always, if you don't do it I won't stay mad at you for long...

Lisa (hah! now you're double tagged too), Charlotte, Megan, Tiffany, Vhari, Lorri and Amanda!

(I got more than my usual share of tags because I did two at once.)