Creativity Needed...

So I have spent the past few days looking at blogs that my friends have. I feel like all of theirs are so creative and fun to read... I guess comparing yourself to others is never a good idea. But I feel like this is ok because it's not that I don't know how to be creative, it's just that I need to actually use it. I'm a creative person, darn it!! So I need to get going on it. Look for more creative posts soon!! Well I'm off to start the Halloween festivities....

While My Soup Cooks....

Well I have some chicken noodle soup cooking in the microwave, so I figured I would start to update my blog while it cooks... yes this only takes 2 minutes, and it will take me longer than 2 minutes to actually write all of this, but at least I'm getting started. I just figured I would explain my title for the day. I feel like I haven't done much since my last post, and yet when I really look at it, I suppose I have done a lot. Most of it I did at work, but hey that's why my job is so great. On Wednesday, Randy's brother, Dennis came to the house with his Harley. The guys LOVED it. So we took pictures of course. Then we ate pizza and looked at all of Dennis' pictures from all of his Harley trips. It was a lot of fun! This is Randy and Dennis about to go on a ride around the neighborhood.

Then this past Friday night, I went over to my friend Tasha's and we carved pumpkins. Mine is the one on the right. I just love carving pumpkins. It's one of my favorite parts about Halloween. We also made lots of fun Halloween cards and listened to Halloween music. It was one Halloweeny night!

Then on Saturday, I went to Thanksgiving Point with work to do the corn maze! It was a lot of fun. There was tons of fun stuff to do! It was so great. We did the corn maze , took lots of fun pictures, and went on a hayride. There was other options, but the guys weren't really up for anything else. This is Kurt and I inside the maze. It was pretty difficult! I was kind of surprised.

So that's about all for now... I've got to go grocery shopping.... More updates to come!

Yet Another List

Well I'm starting this entry without really having anything in mind that I want to tell everyone. So perhaps it will become more clear as I continue to type. This past weekend was a good one. On Friday night, I went out to dinner with some old roommates and neighbors. It was a lot of fun and we got to catch up. Afterwards my friend Justin, who lives in Salt Lake now, took me to his friends apartment and we played games. We played a card game called Guillotine (spelling on that one??) and then Taboo. I must say that I was rockin at Taboo and our team won of course. :) On Saturday I worked and then that night I went and saw "Where the Wild Things Are" with all of my roommates. I was quite excited to see this movie because I grew up reading this book, and I was quite impressed at how well they created a film lengthed story line based on a book that is only 10 sentences long. The movie is so sad though!! Maybe I was just in one of those uber sensitive moods, but it just really got to me. I don't want to spoil the movie, but I guess I just felt I could relate to Max, the main character, in some ways, even though our situations are really nothing alike at all. The kid in the movie was an excellent actor though, I must say. Yesterday was church of course. After church we had our first choir practice. My calling this year is the ward choir accompanist. I'm trying so hard to not be negative about this, but I just don't like choir. I don't like being in choirs, I don't like listening to choirs, and in the past I haven't liked accompanying choirs. So hey- maybe this experience will change my mind about the whole choir situation, but for now I will have to suck it up and do my duty. It might not turn out to be so bad afterall.

Well it's time for me to focus on a few positive things in my life. Lately I feel I have been enveloped in a world of stress and negativity and I feel the best way to get over that is to focus on the positive, which I must admit I have not been the best at throughout my life. So here it goes!

1. I got my Food Network magazine yesterday. I don't get to cook as often as I'd like, but I still just love looking through this magazine and reading all of the articles. Plus it gives me the motivaton to cook, and I have awesome recipes to choose from when I do find the time.

2. My institute class is amazing. I just got back from it, actually. I feel like I talk about it all the time, and I could seriously make a blog dedicated to just the Old Testament now, but it truly is amazing how much I have learned and how much the law of Moses for example, really does apply to my life.

3. Speaking of the Old Testament, I watched the Prince of Egypt yesterday and I just love that movie. The story of Moses is just incredible in itself and then having such amazing music to accompany the story is just so fun to watch and experience.

4. I got a letter from my friend Tyler in France the other day! When I first wrote him, I really didn't think he would ever write me back, or that he would just write me back once and that was it. But he has turned out to be such a good little pen pal! And we can write our letters in French, which is always fun.

5. I subscribed to TIME magazine, and wow am I glad I did that! There's something about being aware of what's going on in the world that just makes me feel more intelligent, and it's always good to feel smart.

6. One of my roommates has really inspired me to write a book. I told her about my idea, which I've had for a while, and yet never really put anything into it because I didn't think anyone would be interested in reading it. But she's interested, so it makes me think that other people would be too. So I've started outlining stuff, which is definitely a step in the right direction. Want to know my idea? You'll just have to wait a little bit for that one...

7. I absolutely LOVE the ellen show. It is seriously so fantasticly funny. Ellen is so great, and it just brings a smile to my face. I watch it every day at work, and it's just one of those little things in my life that makes me laugh.

8. Another great thing to watch on TV these days is "Glee." Wow is it so inventive! I love all of the music , the storyline, and just the acting in general is amazing. It's the perfect tv show, seriously.

Well that's all I've got for now... until next time!

Bucket List

Well look at that... it is STILL October and I am updating my blog once again. This past week has been kind of a blah week, but I suppose there are still some highlights to add in. I am continuing to attend my Old Testament class every Tuesday and Thursday mornings. And wow am I learning SO much. I really look forward to diving in and studying the Old Testament every day and really look forward to going to class every week.

This weekend has been a good one for me. I spent most of yesterday up in Salt Lake, visiting my friend, Justin, who just moved there. It was so much fun to see him! Especially since I haven't been able to see much of him in the past two years, since we haven't lived in the same state and all. We went to lunch at a cute little Japanese restaurant called Koko's kitchen and shopping at Trolley Square and the Gateway. After that it was time for dinner, so we made grilled cheese and tomato soup and watched the Office. So funny! It was a really great night. Then today for work, we all went to the zoo. Our new guy, Randy (on the left) moved in last week and it has been a joy to get to know him. It was quite chilly out today, but it was actually a really enjoyable little visit. I'm not usually the biggest fan of the zoo, but all of the animals seemed to be perky today and it wasn't really hot, making it the perfect zoo day.

Well both of my parents had birthdays in the past week or 2. Having that in mind, I found multiple books yesterday while shopping that were something along the lines of "100 things to do with your life now that you're 50" or just things to do in general during your lifetime that if you haven't gotten accomplished yet, it was time to do. It really got me thinking about some goals that I wanted to set for things I want to get done in my lifetime, whether they be big or small. There are a LOT of things I would like to do, but I think I'll limit my list to 10 top goals I would like to accomplish by the time I die, if not by the time I'm 50.

1. Get a college degree- it might take me until I'm 50, but hey I'm going to do it! :)

2. Go to Jerusalem- if not for a semester abroad, then just in general

3. Learn to play the violin- I plan on doing this after I get married and have kids. Pretty much once all of my kids are in school, so I will have something to do during the days.

4. Play the 3rd movement of "Moonlight Sonata" on the piano- yes I WILL do this! This is not the traditional moonlight sonata that most people know, you will have to look it up to know what I'm talking about.

5. Volunteer in Africa- not really sure when I'll have the chance to do this, but I plan on doing it one day

6. Be in the live audience of the Ellen show- she is so great! And gives free stuff to people! lol

7. Stay one night in the Ice Hotel in Quebec, Canada and go dog sledding during the same visit- Look it up if you don't know what I'm talking about because it is awesome!!

8. Eat at one of Bobby Flay's restaurants (I mean the way fancy ones) in NYC- Bobby Flay is my favorite chef and I've never been to a ridiculously nice restaurant, so that's my reasoning behind that one.

9. Run a 5k- that's right! I'm already on my way to accomplishing this goal, if I can just stay on the right track

10. Write a book- I'm not really sure what kind of book yet, whether it be an autobiography, children's, research, or fiction, I will write one!

K those are a few of the things- or part of my "bucket list," if you will... What kind of things do you want to accomplish with your life?

This and That

Alright, well... it's about that time that I got back on the bandwagon for updating my blog.  I've heard enough comlaints to make me want to change my ways! :)  So here are some pictures to show you what I've been doing with my time recently.  Last week, my friend Barbara came in town from St. Louis and we had a lot of fun.  This first picture is of us and our friend Justin.  We are at a park... which you can't tell from the picture... but that's where we are.  That weekend I also had a house warming party for my new house that I moved into.  I'll put pictures up of my new roommates soon- don't worry!  Anyway... it went really well I think.  We had about 50ish people there.  I made red velvet cupcakes and they were a huge hit!!  

Barbara and I also took our friend Trevor, who recently got back from a mission in Russia to go see our friend Miles, who goes to Utah State.  It was a lot of fun!  We went to this sit down restaurant (where Miles' brother Nathan also joined us) and got a whole meal for $2.50! Can you believe it?  It's some deal they have every Monday from 3-5.  So that was good.  Then we went to this carnival, where Trevor caught a goldfish (as seen in the picture below) and we went frisbee golfing! Wow did I suck at that... but it was still fun.  

Another thing we did that weekend, was go and see my brother's water polo game.  He plays for the U and it was an awesome game!  He was the star of the show.  He was scoring left and right! At one point this guy sitting next to us was commenting to these girls saying "Are you enjoying the Parker show??"  That just goes to show you what a star player he is!  Although I'm not a big sports person, I do enjoy water polo, especially when Pooky is playing.  The final score was 20 to 14, Utah.  And Parker scored 12 of those 20 goals.  This picture of him isn't very clear, but it was hard to get a good one from up in the stands.   

I have also been attending institute at UVU this semester, if I haven't mentioned this before.  And wow is it incredible!!  I'm learning about the first half of the old testament and boy have I been missing out.  I have read a lot of the old testament before, but I never even dreamed how much more I can get out of the stories it has to offer.  My teacher is amazing as well- and for that I'm extremely grateful.  

Work is also continuing to go well.  We've had quite a bit of change lately- but I think in the end it will be a good change.  One of our guys moved out of the house for various reasons - none of them bad, but it's just too hard to explain... and we are getting a new guy at the house! He moves in this weekend.  Even though he hasn't moved in yet, I've already met him multiple times and I think he's going to be a very good fit with the other 3 guys and the staff.  More info on that later.  But due to that, my schedule at work has changed a little bit.  I'm slightly frustrated by that... but I'm sure I'll get used to it in time.  I now get off at 9 PM on Thursdays and then work 5-9 AM on Friday mornings.  Tomorrow is the first time I will actually be doing this!  It'll probably suck at first... but I'm sure I can handle it.  Hopefully it isn't so permanent.... but for now it is until someone quits basically.  

My diet and exercise are still going quite well.  I am still doing the couch to 5k program.  I went running on Tuesday night at work (we have a treadmill) and I have been SO sore ever since! I'm not really sure why..... but it's back to the running tonight!  I've also been doing a slightly different version of the Special K challenge.  It's not as strict, but still healthy.  I recently discovered an awesome sandwich though, which I found the recipe for on the Special K site.  It's wheat bread, turkey, hummus, lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers.  It's called the medditerranean turkey.  And it's SO good! Simple, yet tasty! The original recipe calls for red peppers instead of tomatoes, but I didn't have any red peppers so I made the switch.  I guess let me know if anyone tries it that way and likes it!

Two quick side notes before I leave:

1. I saw Fame and it was awesome!! I would recommend it to anyone that likes musicals! Or just movies with dancing in them... and it's PG, so it's clean!

2. Current songs I feel people need to look into are :

*Blame it on the Girls by Mika

*Say Hey (I love you) by Michael Franti & Spearhead

*Bulletproof by La Roux - if you hurry on this one you can get it free on itunes this week!

That's all for now! I will be updating again soon!

P.S.  I've added some new things to my blog so make sure to check them out! You can preview some of the songs on my top 10 list.  Also- you should follow me if you aren't already!