Day 6

Day 6 : My Parents

Aren't they lovely? Well the topic "my parents" is rather broad.... So here is a picture of them. My parents' names are Flint and Freda Finlinson. Yep- that's right. Take that for some alliteration, why don't you. It's even better when you add family at the end. I still think they should have named all of us F names, but hey that's just me.

My mother is a Southern belle from Georgia. She is extremely proud of her Southern heritage, which is where I get my love of the South from. (In case you didn't know, I love the South) I'm very much like my mom in a lot of ways. She is very practical, honest, and everyone seems to love her. I'm not sure how much I am like her in that last aspect, haha. Despite her protests, I still believe she is an amazing mother, even if she doesn't think that I have that opinion. She loves Aerosmith, diet coke, Gone With the Wind, fine dining, and planning and going on family vacations.

My father is a western boy from a small farm in middle of nowhere, Utah. You would never know that form meeting him today, but he is still proud of his heritage as well and the work ethic that it taught him. I am also a lot like my dad in a number of ways. He loves being creative, fashion, and cooking. He is obsessed with cooking actually, and spends most of his leisure time planning gourmet meals and cooking them. Lucky for us, right? He is very good at keeping in touch with and having a personal relationship with all of his children- unlike a lot of fathers that I know. That is what makes him special as well as many many other things.

I love my parents very much, even though I don't say it as often as I should. (Good thing they read this blog, right?) I always say that I was first in line in the parent picking line in heaven. I had first choice, and these people are who I picked! haha. My parents also like to use that line against me when I am not happy with them. They will always say "well you picked us!'' Oh boy... either way, through good and bad, I AM glad I picked them. :)

Day 5

Day 5 : A habit that I wish I didn't have

This is a hard one because I'm always trying to start good habits as opposed to focusing on ones that I wish I didn't have. Instead of wishing, I prefer to actually try and change them. Of course I'm not saying I'm perfect and that I don't have any habits I wish I didn't have, I'm just saying that if you wish you didn't have a habit, you should change instead of wishing it wasn't so! So I guess I need to take my own advice.

I wish I was IN the habit of keeping up on current events more. So I guess I wish I didn't have the habit of ignorance? haha. I try my best to keep up with what is going on, but then I often forget. And it's so easy to just look at the New York Times online. So I wish I could get into the habit of just looking at it everyday to just know what is going on. I have TIME magazine and I need to read it more thoroughly more often. I know the basics of stuff- like oh hey there are a bunch of protests going on in Egypt right now! But I want to know the history behind them and the full on story.

The only problem is that you can never know everything that is going on in the world. I've been really good at keep track of the situation going on in Sudan right now. (Southern Sudan is seceding form Northern Sudan) And I know all the reasons and such, but that's only ONE country! How is it possible to know about the protests in Egypt, the ousting of the Tunisian president, the seceding of southern Sudan, the floods in Australia, and not to mention everything that is going on in America!? And also not to mention everything that I didn't just mention. haha. So it's a huge feat, but I'm continuing to give it my efforts. Not my BEST efforts, but hey I'm giving it effort. Anyway- I'm going to make a goal to look at the New York times every day for a week from here on out. Here's to habits that we (I) want to change! Who's with me?

Day 4

Day 4: My first love

I highly considered not doing this topic and just choosing some other random topic, but I suppose I'm not that creative in thinking of blog topics... so here we are. I'm not one to have extremely personal blog entries, so I'll keep this one kind of vague. For those of you who know the story, you'll know what I'm talking about, and for those of you that don't, you can ask me in person!

So my first love... eh hem...

When I was a mere 15 I met this boy at a youth dance. We hit it off and I really enjoyed his company and he seemed to be enjoying mine as well. Not really thinking anything of it, I would talk and dance with him and so forth. All of my friends during this dance saw what was going on and didn't waste any time in finding out if we were interested in each other- and it turns out that we were! And a young, exciting romance blossomed from there. I couldn't actually date him, since I wasn't 16 yet, but we were "going out" haha. Oh man.... it all sounds so silly looking back at it now.

Anyway, we hung out with in groups for the next 6 months, talked on the phone incessantly and just couldn't get enough of each other. I found myself wanting to be a better person, loving life to its full extent and just wondering how I could have been so lucky to have this happen to me. I know this may surprise many of you, knowing me now, but hey I was 15! I was stupidly "in love." haha I put quotes because I don't actually think someone that young really knows what love is, but that's what I thought I knew at the time.

Those 6 months were great and I thoroughly enjoyed the entire experience. Due to complications that I don't wish to get into and the consequential teenage drama that ensued, it obviously didn't last. He broke up with via another friend (which I was SUPER pissed about) and that was that. I was devastated, but I did survive and live to tell the tale today. I've liked/dated a few guys since that time, but I have yet to recapture that 'stupidly in love' feeling that I felt during that first experience. And that is why I'm not married I suppose! I'm glad I went through that experience.

I actually went back through my journals over this past Christmas break when I was in town, and OH BOY. My first love experience filled the pages during those 6 months, as you would imagine. And as I read the entries, I felt all of the emotions all over again- from the excitement of having a boyfriend to the sadness of breaking up. It was intense!! Because you know that 15 year old girls are so much more dramatic than 23 year old ones.... (or are they?) I'd like to think so.... Either way it will be interesting to see how I am once I am in love as an adult. Here's to the future!

Day 3

Day 3 is to describe a really good memory. I chose the last day of my San Francisco road trip. The group actually went down to the Carmel/Monteray area and went on a scenic drive. We stopped at one point to have a picnic on the beach and take pictures. It was absolutely beautiful. The weather was perfect, the company was perfect, and everything was just perfect. I have a LOT more pictures where this came from, but blogger is taking forever to load plus I don't want to make this post THAT long. Needless to say, this is a really great memory of mine.

Day 2

Day 2 is to describe the meaning behind my blog name. As you can see my blog name is "How Sweet the Sound." I'm hoping that everyone has caught onto why it is called that, but just in case, I will explain. My name is Grace, as you all SHOULD know. Whenever I meet someone new, they often will sing Amazing Grace to me, which happens to be one of my favorite songs. Most people would say they get sick of the same old "Oh you are singing Amazing Grace... never heard that one before..." but in reality I love when people do it. Not only does the song name have my name in it, but just the concept of grace in general is absolutely beautiful. And the words to this song are amazing. Amazing Grace is also a really good movie that I would definitely recommend! So with that being said, the next line in the song after "Amazing Grace" is "how sweet the sound," which is where I got my blog title. So not only is the word grace sweet, but hey so am I! haha... So yeah... there it is.

30 Day Challenge: Day 1

Well I've been thinking about doing this for a while now. A few of my friends have done this on their blogs and if for no other reason, I think it'll be fun! So basically there is a topic for each day and then I blog about it. Blogging daily... we will see if I'm up for the task! So let's get started, shall we?

Day 1: A Recent Picture of yourself and 15 interesting facts about yourself

1. I'm watching 30 Rock at this very moment in time. I freaking love this show, and I must say that Tracy Jordan is hilarious. Tina Fey is basically my hero for being an amazing creator of a great show and being hilarious at the same time.

2. My favorite color is purple. I'm actually kind of obsessed with it. Whenever I'm clothes shopping, I always go towards the purple sweaters, tank tops, dresses, skirts, etc. My purse is purple, my iphone case is purple, my sheets are purple, and trust me I have lots of other things that are purple. (you get the point)

3. Speaking of obsessions.... even more than the color purple, I am obsessed with Michael Jackson. I have been ever since my parents introduced me to his Thriller album when I was about 11 or 12 years old. I listened to that CD on repeat for months at a time, and then of course expanded to his other albums. I read everything I could about his life and watched every possible documentary on him. And nothing has changed. When he died, yes I cried while watching his funeral. A lot of my Christmas gifts through the past years of been Michael Jackson themed. Calendars, puzzles, DVDs, CDs, and this year the wii video game! Anyway, enough about Michael...

4. I just started a fashion blog. I really enjoy it and it's a nice little hobby I can do since I enjoy fashion but don't exactly want to get a career in the field.

5. I love making movies. They aren't amazing, but I still love filming them, editing them and then watching them and laughing a ton after I finish them.

6. I've been growing my hair out for about 2 years now and it is freaking long. Sometimes I just want to chop it all of because it really is a pain, and yet I love it being long. I've been hesitant to cut it because I've invested 2 years of time into at this point! haha. For now I'm going to keep it long though.

7. Until the age of 7 or 8, I SERIOUSLY thought my middle name was Lydia. I don't actually have a middle name, and was apparently upset by this as a child, so my parents told me that I did have a middle name and that it was Lydia. Fast forward a few years to my freshman year at BYU. I received a letter from BYU for some reason (I don't remember the contents) and guess who it was addressed to? Miss Grace L. Finlinson. Now you tell me what that L stands for!

8. Every time I look at the clock and it is 12:08, I always announce that it is 12:08 or at least smile to myself if I'm alone because it reminds of my birthday December 8th. I also get super excited when I meet other people that do this same thing. It's rare, but hey it happens!

9. I have a few mottos that I live by which some people think are kinda odd I suppose. One of them is the whole idea of mind over body. I believe this to an extreme actually. I honestly believe that being sick is a mental thing and that you can keep yourself healthy by simply putting your mind to it. It's not as simple as it sounds, but that's the basic idea.

10. I love nail polish and having painted nails. (As you can see from my last post) And as much as I love having painted nails, I hate having chipped nails, so I paint my nails a LOT. I have my phases where I won't paint them as much, but in general that's what I do.

11. I love Old Navy. I buy all of my clothes from there. Literally all of them. Every article of clothing that I am wearing right now is from Old Navy.

12. I never eat breakfast, but I love breakfast food. Savory breakfast food that is.

13. I took a picture every single day in the year 2010. I made the goal on Jan 1, 2010. And I stuck it out all the way to Dec 31, 2010. I have all the way to September 30th scrapbooked. Hopefully the rest will be done soon.

14. I love pop music. The poppier the better. I love Miley Cyrus, Justin Bieber and most people in that same category. And I'm not afraid to admit it!

15. It took me far too long to come up with 15 things... and I'm once again watching 30 Rock. so good!

Today

Call me girly, if you will. But I find so much joy in having freshly painted nails. And I'm loving my new(ish) pink nail polish! I found some time to paint my nails while eating 30 rock today. Yes that's right- I said eating. Anyway- today has been a good day. I got to sleep in, have lunch with Kjerstin, and have cute, perfectly painted pink (try saying THAT 10 times fast) nails. Oh! And it snowed today. And I love snow! I know i'm in the minority on this one- but I really do love it. So overall - a good day. Now on to some homework...