Looking back on 2008

1. What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before?
Got my driver's license, bought a car, graduated college, and rode the sky glider at the state fair (three or four times, the number is a little hazy).

2. Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
No I did NOT keep my new years resolutions from last year, and I will make more for next year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Hmmm actually no, but a few close friends got pregnant :)

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, thank goodness.

5. What countries did you visit?
Utah, if you count it as a separate country. Seriously you should need a passport to visit there (no offense, but it is quite a different culture).

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
A full time job with benefits.

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
July 23. Word. Best day ever. I met Brian :)

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Graduating college (finally) with two Bachelor of Science Degrees.

9. What was your biggest failure?
I slid my car down a hill sideways in the icy storm.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Uh tonsilitis I think 9 times total, maybe only 8.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
My PT Cruiser, woot!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
Steve's. He finally took the plunge and married the lovely Lindsey Lou. We all know how hard it was for him. Yay Steve!

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
My own...honestly...bleah.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Student loan and car payments.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Going to the Kalahari with Brian!

16. What song will always remind you of 2003?
2003? Do they mean 2008? Either way, I'll give a song for both.

2003-"Accidentally in Love" Counting Crows.
2008-"I Will Show You Love" Kendall Payne

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder?

WAY Happier. I'm graduated, dating the best guy EVER, and living in Wisconsin. I don't say that to bash Utah, utah is a grand place, I just missed my family a lot.

ii. thinner or fatter?

Thinner by 10 pounds.

iii. richer or poorer?

Poorer...sad...I graduated college and I"m poorer than I was to begin with.

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Hung out with my friends in Cedar before I left.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Eating crap food.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
I spent the morning at my house opening presents, the afternoon and evening at Brian's house racing cars with his nephew and reading about dinosaurs (and subsequently learning I can't pronounce their names), and then the night at my parent's house with Brian.

22. Did you fall in love in 2008?
I sure did :)

23. How many one-night stands?
One, but it was just a one night make-out.

24. What was your favorite TV program?
Gossip Girl

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
Yeah I do, but not hate, just intense dislike.

26. What was the best book you read?
Breaking Dawn...sad that that was the best book. I need to read more.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Kendall Payne, seriously, love that girl's music. Or Katie Armiger.

28. What did you want and get?
A Wii.

29. What did you want and not get?
a full-time job with benefits.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
Juno or Enchanted.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I spent it at my parent's house, then watched the flood in downtown Waukesha, and then went to Bill's

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
A Full-time job with benefits.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?
GAP. All my clothes are now from there...sad.

34. What kept you sane?
Brian!

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
the girl who plays Blair on Gossip Girl. Only because I want to be able to dress like she does on the show ha ha and I want to look like her...seriously.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Prop 8 (way after it was over...sorry for those who were affected by my ignorance on the issue)

37. Who did you miss?
My Utahns

38. Who was the best new person you met?
Brian!

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
That in the end, it will surprise you who your true friends are. And I have great friends. And a great boyfriend too.

Best Christmas EVER!

So I guess it's time for my obligatory Christmas post :) Or maybe I'm just bored which is why I'm doing said post, but either way enjoy. I'll try to include pictures for you too.

My Christmas started out kind of sad because Christmas Eve was cancelled. You see, Christmas Eve is my favorite day of the whole entire year. It's like the only time that my whole family on my moms side gets together, but for reasons I'm not entirely sure of, it was nixed. I was bummed the whole day to the point of actually crying a bit, but it turned out ok. Santa brought us an early present, which was a Deal or No Deal and Who Wants to Be A Millionaire DVD game. It's actually way fun to play, but still I'm sad that we didn't have Christmas Eve. What worries me most is that my Grandpa has been really sick and I'm petrified that this could have been his last Christmas Eve...but I'm praying in hopes thats not going to be the case.

Now I will say that Christmas Day was the best Christmas Day ever. My parents, brother, and I opened all our presents to eachother in the morning. I got some way cool stuff from "Santa", including a ring from Tiffany's that I've wanted for basically forever. It looks like this (I got the picture from the Tiffany's website):



I'm in love with it, but we think I'm allergic to it (just like I'm allergic to the ring Brian gave me ha ha) so it might be returned. I also got Season 3 of Greys Anatomy on DVD, a SUU Alumni license plate holder for my car, a Wii case, an itunes gift card, a CD, a CD holder for my car, earrings, and a Marc Jacob's Daisy perfume gift set (it came with perfume, loition, and 2 travel perfumes).

Then later that day I went to Brian's house to have dinner with his mom's side of the family. It was way fun, although I did spend most of the time racing cars with Brian's 5 year old nephew...but thats just fine by me. His family is much larger than mine, so it really can be overwhelming, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

After dinner at Brian's parents we went to my house and exchanged our presents with eachother. He got me a digital photo frame, a Scrabble page a day 2009 calendar, and the Willow Tree I've wanted for forever. Its the Bright Star one for those of you who have worked it at Bulloch Drug and have them all memorized ;)

It was the best Christmas I think I've ever had, and Brian and I even took a picture by the Christmas tree. My mom wanted to include the tree (apparently Brian is so tall he hides our tree) so this is what she got:


We're pretty cute if I do say so myself :)

Grown-up Christmas List

If I could have anything for Christmas that don't necessarily cost money I'd want the following things:

-A real grown up job with benefits

-Brian's law business to pick up (side note: that means he's busier and has less Stacey time, but I'm willing to make that sacrifice).

-My own apartment/condo

-The ability to go to Utah whenever I wanted

-Diet coke to taste like regular coke

-Weight: 140, height:5'6"

-my student loans miraculously to disappear (with Brian's law school loans)

-the scary statues surrounding the altar at our church (st. rita's? Crap I obviously haven't gone to mass at Three Holy Women in far too long) to not be so scary in my eyes, and/or to not think Jesus is a leprachaun every time we go to St. Luke's courtesy of the rainbow behind Jesus in the stained glass window. Basically, I want to be more reverent ha ha.
and

-A pleo dinosaur

I don't think that's too much to ask for. K thanks Santa!

Reason Number 258 I miss Utah...

Apparently it's Utah week at the mall in Wisconsin for me. First there was the awesome fry sauce discovery. Then today I was walking through the mall happy with my cute new outfit I got from the Gap as my "I lost 8 pounds" present...wait...I have to share my cute new outfit.

This is the shirt:



And these are the pants



And then I got a strand of grey pearls from Boston Store to go with it. The best part is, with my discount for being such a fantastic employee, I got the outfit for $56.00. Not bad for pants a sweater and some pearls.

Anyway, the reason I'm missing Utah for the 258th time is, I saw someone wearing a Dixie State Rebels hoodie. Now i've seen U of U and a billion BYU hoodies on people, but never someone from SUU or Dixie State. It made me all sorts of Southern Utah home-sick, and I can't wait to go back to visit and actually have some girlfriends to hang out with.

Now don't get me wrong, I still lay claim to be dating the greatest guy ever. For example, a week or so ago I was on my way home and we had a conversation something like this:

Me: "dang I need to run some errands today to get some stuff for my mom's christmas present"
Him: "where are you going?"
Me: "JoAnn fabrics, blah blah blah something about more places to go I'm sure involving the mall"
Him: "I'll go with you if you want"

Yes, that's right, he VOLUNTEERED WILLINGLY to go to the crafts store and the mall with me, and stood in the bajillion person long line to get fabric cut. Thats true love right there. And he even gave his opinion beyond the typical guy answer of "I don't care". Just another example of how great Brian is.

Anyway, sometimes a girl just needs a girl to talk to, shop with, and to have a girl night complete with a cheesey romance movie with. I regret being so stuck up and stupid in high school and early college, because honestly I don't have any friends in Waukesha who are girls. Plus I don't do the whole bar thing so I have no clue what I'd do with any girl friends here even if I did. I definitely am in need of some Cami/Lindsey/Judy (with little James ha ha cause he's the cutest 1 and a half year old I know)/Schmemily time. Hopefully it'll only be a few more months til I can have some girl time!! I know I've talked about all that before, but I just felt the need to vent about it again, so there you go.

Reason number 257 I miss Utah...

So a week or so ago, my friend Brynlee told me that I needed to check out her facebook pictures for a surprise. I indeed had a GREAT surprise created by her, Jens, and Sydney. They spelled out my name one day with their bodies and it made me so happy I just had to share (I hope the 3 of them don't mind)...








I love these guys! And it makes me miss them oh so much, and I'm excited to visit sometime this summer. I'm totally putting these pictures side by side in a long frame in my room it makes me that happy.

In other happy news, I found fry sauce today at a restaurant in Wisconsin (actually at the food court in the mall I work at) and now my life is complete. I think Brian was a little weirded out by how excited I was with my dipping sauce for my chicken strips. Ah well.

I've done 46 out of 100 things

100 things stolen from Ashley :)

Copy this and bold the things you have done: (I also changed mine to a different color! The Red answers are the things I've done!)

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (a friend needed studio hours, and asked me to pose)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own?

Aprons and a Snowman!

I've been meaning to blog about this for a week or so, but due to life being crazy for a variety of reasons, I have been behind.

First off, I finished my apron for the Sassy Apron Swap this time around and I liked how mine turned out. My mom ended up helping me a ton again (thanks mom!) but it also was the most complicated apron I've done thusfar. My partner wanted a vintage apron, and this is what I came up with (the picture really doesn't do it justice for the record). Oh and the fabric had gold as the trim for everything so that's why I chose gold rick-rack to add some pizazz. I hope my partner likes it!






My mom's partner just wanted something Christmas related so she had free reign to do whatever. Seeing that my mom is the applique queen she came up with the cutest apron again. I love her stuff!



So then I got my package for the swap from Shawnee and I got the cutest gingerbread apron (my picture definitely doesn't do this justice) with many gingerbread goodies like gingerbread stickers and a stamp, yummy lotion I've been using non-stop, scissors that are a gingerbread man (so cute!) and the gingerbread baby friend's book. Most of you know why i LOVE gingerbread men, so this was like so awesome I cried. Here is a picture of my way super cute apron I got (I couldn't get a self portrait to work ha ha so my door is modeling it).



I can't wait to wear this while baking Christmas cookies! Thanks again for the awesome package...I love it and sorry I didn't get to thank you sooner!

So then last Sunday we got a ton of snow, and it was the wet stuff that is perfect snowman snow. I decided to text Brian telling him I wanted to build a snowman, not thinking he would really come over, but he did! And we built a giant snowman taller than me. His name is Marshall and he is still just as tall as he was the day we rolled him up. We had to be creative for face things, so his nose was a small orange, and his eyes and mouth were buttons. Here is our family picture ha ha:



Then to top it off Brian helped me shovel my driveway and sidewalk so my dad wouldn't have to snowplow. What a great guy :)