A Look Back

Wow! I cant believe that 2008 is almost over!! Time has gone by so fast as it always seems too! I found this cool thing on my friend Danielle's blog and I thought it would be fun to answer the questions. It was interesting to think back on the year and remember things I had totally forgotten!!!

MY 2008...
1.What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Traveled outside of the United States

2.Did you keep your New Year's resolutions and will you make more for next year?
Haha!! I hardly ever keep the resolutions I make. But 2009 will be different, I promise!!

3.Did anyone close to you give birth?
One of the ladies I visit teach had a baby in January, a friend I worked with had a baby in March and I have a friend that is so close to having her first baby!

4.Did anyone close to you die?
My grandpa died about four weeks ago

5.What countries did you visit?
England, France Switzerland, Italy, and a brief stop in a German airport

6.What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
More willpower!

7.What date from 2008 will remain etched in your memory, and why?
The day I found out I would be able to graduate in the spring, the day my grandpa died and the day I did my first solo teaching at preschool

8.What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Being part of the Weigh Biggest Loser challenge with West Jordan City and loosing 16 pounds. Too bad it didn’t last long!

9.What was your biggest failure?
Not being very good with my money

10.Did you suffer illness or injury?
Oh geez!! If you know me, then you know I am a big klutz! I fell on campus and rolled my ankle, I fell off my bench and hurt my wrist and I’m sure there were a few more times I hurt myself at the beginning of the year that I cant even remember now! And illness, yeah, I have a crummy immune system and have gotten the flu/cold 3 times this year. Yuck!

11.What was the best thing you bought?
My cool new LG Shine phone!

12.Whose behavior merited celebration?
I don’t know….

13.Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
The creepy man on my plane ride to London!! And the crazy blind date boy!

14.Where did most of your money go?
Probably fast food, lip gloss, gas for my car (especially in the summer) and DVD’s

15.What did you get really, really, really excited about?
My shadow boxes for my bedroom (I’ve been asking for them for years) and my trip to Europe!!

16.What song will always remind you of 2008?
Love Song by Sara Bareilles and 4 Minutes by Madonna and JT

17.Compared to this time last year, are you:
i.happier or sadder?
This time last year was so long ago!! But it’s probably pretty close to the same for me!
ii.thinner or fatter?
Oh I’m pretty sure I am much fatter!
iii.richer or poorer?
Hmmmm, again, it’s been a long time since last December. I am making more money at work, but I think I have more debt so I’m not sure.

18.What do you wish you'd done more of?
Spend time with friends, be spontaneous and be more frugal

19.What do you wish you'd done less of?
Stressed so much about school, and procrastinated

20.How will you be spending The New Year?
Hanging out with a good friend, and seeing Edward Cullen one last time this year!! Haha!!

22.Did you fall in love in 2008?
No :0(

23.How many one-night stands?
None

24.What was your favorite TV program?
Survivor, Jon & Kate + 8 and Lost

25.Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I try not to actually hate any one…. But as for disliking some people the the furthest extent, now those I have one or two of

26.What was the best book you read?
Twilight!!!

27.What was your greatest musical discovery?
I have found that I really like a lot of Rihanna’s songs

28.What did you want and get?
I have wanted to go get laser hair removal for SO long and this year it finally happened!

29.What did you want and not get?
A new car. I was SO close at one point this year and it fell through…. Probably for the best though

30.What was your favorite film of this year?
Twilight!! ***sigh, Edward*** :0)

31.What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I cant believe I turned 23 years old this year!! I feel ancient!! It was my first day of classes (lucky huh) so I had to go up to school that morning. But then my mom and I went to the Cheesecake Factory for dessert. After that, while on my way back up to school, my car overheated and broke down (again, lucky me huh) so my parents had to come up and save me. I was so upset about it that I ditched my first day of class!! Haha!! And my parents got me a big bouquet of balloons which I was SO excited about!! And that was about it!! Birthdays are not as exciting when you are old!

32.What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Having more money and being skinnier (I guess that's two things, but I am leaving them both there)


33.How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
Well, I am usually in work clothes (business attire) and I would like to think that my style is hopefully on trend and sophisticated

34.What kept you sane?
Alone time with music on!


35.Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
I have a big new crush on Robert Pattinson!

36.What political issue stirred you the most?
Hmmm, probably almost anything to do with education because they are usually so stupid about it!

37.Who did you miss?
My best friend Lacey. It’s hard getting older and going separate ways!!

38.Who are your favorite people that you met this year?
I met my awesome new friend Amanda Y and I got to meet Mary Nichols from Channel 2 news which was sort of exciting.

39. Quote a song lyric that accurately summarizes this year.
“Romeo save me I’ve been feelin’ so alone….”

Well, I hope you all have a fun and safe New Year's Eve! And good luck on making some new resolutions!!

Snowed In

So, I don't know about everyone else and where you are at this moment, but here is West Jordan we are getting major snow!! It just keeps coming down! And it's not little, light flurries, its the big snow flakes that stick and pile up! My poor dad has been out shoveling snow all morning long and as soon as he gets some drive ways cleared, the snow starts back up! We probably have between 12 to 15 inches in our yard right now! Whoa!! And if it hadn't rained yesterday we would probably have a lot more!

In our front yard, we have a green electricity box that is probably about three feet tall. Here is a picture of it, getting close be being buried in the snow!

My dad had to clear a path from our back porch to the shed with the snow blower because it was to heavy to do it with a shovel!

Also, I cant believe that another Christmas has come and gone. I am not ready to take the trees down (especially my awesome Twilight tree at work, pictured below), to put away the decorations and turn off the music! It didn't matter that I started listening to Christmas music in October, it still flew by!! With school and work there just wasn't a lot of time of focus on it! I am really hoping that next year, with school out of the way, I will be able to enjoy it! That is not to say that this Christmas wasn't a good one, because it was! I asked for a yellow, iPod nano and I was excited to find one under the tree!! Along with a bunch of new movies, some gift cards, a piano book and a cute new Willow Tree angel! I was also super excited about our new Nintendo Wii!! I kept telling my parents that we really should get one, but I never thought they would!! We played Wii sports, and took my sister down in boxing, but was defeated by my mom! We also played Smash Brothers, which was interesting because none of us really know how to work the controllers so we were just moving our hands all over the place and pushing buttons!! Very fun!! :0) We also go to talk to my brother the other day, who is on his mission in South Korea. It sounds like he is doing a really great job and it is crazy to think that he will be coming home in about 4 months! Wow, time goes by so fast!! While we were on the phone with him, he told us that he had convinced his mission president to let their zone watch Home Alone, one of his favorite movies!! So that night (Christmas Eve for us) as I was wrapping presents, I watched that movie too! I had forgotten how hilarious that movie is!! And then yesterday I watched Home Alone 2 and was again rolling with laughter!! So it was a good Christmas, it just came to fast!! And I cant believe that we are only a week away from 2009!! I better start coming up with some resolutions!!

Random Acts of Writing

So this post is going to just be about a million different things that I have been thinking about all week long, starting with:

SNOW!
Oh geez, where to start on this one. Probably with the fact that I HATE IT!! I hate driving in it, I hate the coldness of it, the wetness of it, the fact that is ruins my hair-do's, the fact that I have to scrape it off my car in the morning and that it soaks the bottoms of my pants.
I guess I shouldn't complain about it to much, because really we haven't had to deal with it for to long, but we still have months to go before it is really over. AHHHHHH!! I don't know how many more driving-to/from-work days I can take!! Coming home from work on Friday was so scary and the worst part about it was that I didn't have my cell phone. I felt so lost without it.
And while I am on the topic of driving in the snow, I have to mention the stupid drivers out there. The ones that tailgate me and make me more nervous than I already am and the ones that cut me off as if I had all the time in the world to slam on my brakes so I wont plow into them. It drives me crazy!! So I have decided that when I finally get some money to buy a car, it WILL have AWD cause I hate being without it!!

Next would be CHRISTMAS SHOPPING!
This time of year is so crazy! There are only 4 days to Christmas and guess what.... I DON'T HAVE ALL MY SHOPPING DONE!! And I'm not talking about being short a gift or two, oh no.... I don't have gifts for about 5 people. No good!! With my finals only ending this week it has been hard to focus on anything else. And then there is the fact that I didn't get paid until the 15th, so my money supply was short. And worst of all, I have had so much trouble trying to figure out what to get people. I am really indecisive any way, but this year seems to be extra hard. I don't know what to get any one, and even though I have wandered 5 or 6 stores, just hoping that things will pop out at me, I am having NO LUCK!! So really need to get all of it done on Monday and guess what will be here just in time for that.... yup another snow storm, just my luck!

Now for a RANDOM THOUGHT.
I went to Gardner Village tonight to do some of that wandering I mentioned, and on the way there, I passed the West Jordan City Cemetery. This is where my Grandpa was buried and for some reason it just hit me and I had a little melt down in the car. It's still just weird to think that he is gone and that this is the first Christmas with out him.

My addiction: LIP GLOSS!!
So, I know I am supposed to be shopping for other people, but it's not going so well. But that doesn't stop me from finding stuff for myself!! And some of you may know, I have a slight addiction to lip stuff, especially if it comes in cool packaging! And I know that stores are totally watching for suckers like me, and that is why they put stuff like this in the check out line so you are forced to look at it while you are waiting. This is exactly what happened while I was at Bath & Body works tonight. I found some way cool lip gloss while I was standing in line and I cant wait to use it!!

And for you Twilight fans here's some NEW MOON info:
First of all, we only have to wait a year (well, technically less than a year) to see our favorite vampire as the release date is set for November 20th, 2009!! I am already counting down!! There is a new director for the movie, Chris Weitz, and it will be interesting to see his take on it. Hopefully he will stay true to the book and will make an awesome movie even though he only has a short time to do it. Also, there are talks that they will be replacing Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black, which to me is pretty sad. I have never been a big Jacob fan, but I hate it when they change actors. I understand what they are thinking on it, but its just not the same when they change people. I also read online today that Ben Barnes (Prince Caspian from the new Chronicles of Narnia movie) is wanting the part of Aro. HUH??? Okay, so he's a pretty good looking kid, but he is so young and Aro is supposed to look WAY old!! I just don't get it!! So who knows what will happen! I just hope the whole thing works out and that the movies just keep getting better!!

Well, I think that is about it. Sorry for all of the crazy random-ness!! Good luck to any of you that are still Christmas shopping (I share you pain) and drive safe in our crazy Utah weather.

Christmas Is Coming

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

ABC Tag

So I love doing these tag things! Seriously!! My life is pretty boring so I dont have lots to blog about, so I like it when I get tagged because it gives me something to write about. So here is my fun ABC tag!!

A--Attached or Single: Single
B--Best Friend: Lacey. She has been my friend since we were 1 and 1/2

C--Cake or Pie: CheeseCAKE

D--Day of Choice: Probably Friday, because you can stay up late, and usually sleep in the next day

E--Essential Item: Mascara

F--Favorite Color: Brown

G--Greatest Accomplishment: It hasn't happened quite yet, but I will have my Bachelors Degree in 4 months!

H--Hometown: West Jordan

I--Indulgences: Chocolate

J--January or July: July

K--Kids: I teach them, but dont have any
L--Life is incomplete without: Family

M--Marriage Date: Dont have one of these either
N--Number of Siblings: 3

(The little boy with the buzz cut is not one of my brothers, he's my cousin)
O--Oranges or Apples: It seriously depends on the day

P--Phobias or fears: Thunder/lightning and spiders


Q--Quotes: "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And if my be necessary from time to time to give a stupid or misinformed holder a black eye."
R--Reason to Smile: It's FINALLY the winter break from school
S--Season: Autumn

T--Tag 5 Friends:









U--Unknown facts about me: I still watch Arthur when I get ready for work in the morning. Yeah... that's right people, what??

V--Very favorite store: Roberts

W--Worst habit: Procrstination

X--X-ray or Ultra Sound: Never had an ultra sound, but I have had TONS of X-rays in my life time

Y--Your favorite food: Right now I am loving soup

Z--Zodiac: Virgo

Look-Alike

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebs - Collage - Morph

Ahhh, the things you can find on the Internet when you surfing the web on a Sunday evening. I came across this and thought it would be fun to do! I tried it with a couple of different pictures and Katherine Heigl and Sally Field came up almost every time. And even though she is not on this list, Judy Garland came up a lot when I used different pictures!
So yeah, if you are bored like me and have nothing better to do, check it out!!

In Loving Memory

I have been meaning to do this for awhile, but this time of year is so crazy, that it has been hard to find a spare moment to sit down and actually write it. I’m going to apologize in advance because this is long (and seriously don’t feel like you have to read all of it) but I like to use my blog as a kind of journal for myself and I want to remember the things that have happened in the last week. So here it goes…
Last Wednesday, my grandpa on my Mom’s side passed away from bone cancer. A few months ago he went to the doctor because he was having back pain that he thought was from a work injury. But after doing a bunch of tests, they told him they were pretty sure it was cancer and that it had already spread throughout most of his bones. He was in a lot of pain for awhile and it was sad to think of him suffering because he was always such a strong man. This is his obituary that ran in the paper on Saturday and Sunday:

Bruce Scrowther 1932 ~ 2008 Verner Bruce Scrowther passed away peacefully at his daughter's home, surrounded by loved ones, December 3, 2008. He was born February 28, 1932 in Smithfield, Utah to Verner LeGrand and Viola Bingham Scrowther. He attended North Cache High School in Richmond, Utah where he lettered in football. He served four years in the United States Navy; two of them were during the Korean War. He loved to sing and was part of a Barber Shop Quartet for several years. He enjoyed dancing and never missed a chance to take a twirl with his sweetheart, Linda, on the dance floor. He was an avid bowler, participating in The World Senior Olympic Games in St. George, UT, winning numerous medals. His profession was a craftsman in the flooring industry. He was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and served as a temple worker at the Jordan River Temple. He is survived by his wife of 12 years, Linda; step children: Lisa Wallace, Leslie (Brad) Lund and Lyn Mortensen; seven children with Carole Maxfield, later divorced; daughters: Terri (Robert) Everill, Debbie (Joseph) Knorr, Linda (Gregory) Smith, Marilyn (Kurt) Markus, Susan (Ammon) Warby, Wendy (Shawn) Smart; son, David Scrowther; 30 grandchildren;11 great grandchildren; sister, Sharon Mason, Arizona; brother, Ned (Nancy) Scrowther. He is preceded in death by his wives, Gloria Warmoth and RaNae Barton; parents, Verner and Viola Scrowther; sisters, Colleen Sugden and LaNae Scrowther; daughter, Cynthia Jane. Special thanks to Hospice of Utah. Funeral services will be held Monday, December 8, 2008, at the LDS Church,1600 East Buttercup Dr. (10075 So.). A viewing will be held Sunday, 6-8 p.m. at McDougal Funeral Home, 4330 South Redwood Road. Interment, West Jordan City Cemetery.

The Sunday before he died my family went over to my aunt’s house to visit him and that was really hard for me. When we first walked in the door my thought was “I don’t think I want to do this.” I haven’t had a close family member die since I was little, so I was just not sure I how to handle the whole situation. Seeing him in his hospital bed was so hard. He had lost so much weight and just wasn’t the Grandpa I remembered. At one point he tried to wake up and turn on his hearing aide, but was having a really hard time, and he couldn’t get one of his eyes to open so he was trying to lift his eye lid wit his finger and that made me so sad. So I waved and said hi to him and had to leave the room. He was also having a really hard time remembering who people were and kept forgetting people’s names, but my mom told me that when she visited him the next day he had remembered that I had been there, so I was really glad that I went.
We have had some family come in town for his funeral and it was nice to spend time with them. We sat around together, telling stories, and I learned a lot of new things about my grandpa. My mom and her sisters were also able to share some really cool experiences that they have had with my grandpa in the last weeks of his life and it was so amazing to hear them. One of my favorite stories is that my grandpa really hated to take his medicine because he didn’t like the taste of if. So after my aunt would give it to him, he would chase it down with a spoon full of sugar. Well my grandpa has always loved to sing, so he would sing that song when my aunt would give him his medicine every day.
His funeral services were really nice and there were so many wonderful things said about him. My aunt asked each of her 6 siblings to share their favorite memory of my grandpa and then during her talk she shared those experiences with us. Some of the stories were so funny and others were very sweet. When we went to our cars to go to the cemetery it was freezing cold and snowing on top of that. The services at the cemetery we amazing, despite the frigid cold! My grandpa was in the navy so the RVA was there to help with his internment. There was a bagpipe player that played Amazing Grace while the pallbearers carried the casket to the site and it was so incredible. After the prayer was said the RVA took over and did their part, which included a gun salute, the playing of Taps and folding of an American flag. One of my cousins is in the army so he actually got to help with that part of the service and it was such a neat thing to see. He’s not an emotional guy, so when I saw him crying right at the very beginning, I lost it. When the flag was folded, he kneeled in front of my Step Grandma and said “On behalf of the President of the United States, thank you for the service of your loved one” and then saluted her and handed her the flag. I can’t even think of the right words to explain how I felt at that moment. The bagpipe player started playing again and we took roses and laid them on top of his casket as we left.
Later that day, in honor of my grandpa’s love for bowling, we went to the lanes in Sandy and bowled for a few hours. It was so much fun spending time with family, laughing and just having fun. Each of my grandpa’s kids took a turn using his bowling ball and that was really fun to see, even though most of them were not strong enough to roll it the right way and had to granny style it!
So even though it is sad he is gone, I know that I will get to see him again. I’m also glad that he is free from the pain that his cancer caused him, and that he can finally rest of work and everything else he worried about! And I also know how much happier he is now! He had so many people on the other side waiting for him and I’m sure they are all celebrating his return! And I wouldn’t be surprised if my grandpa was trying to set up some kind of angel’s bowling league!